by Tage

Biden administration extends temporary status for 4 nationalities

MIAMI, FLORIDA — About 600,000 Venezuelans and more than 230,000 Salvadorans already living in the United States can legally remain another 18 months, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday, barely a week before President-elect Donald Trump takes office with promises of hard-line immigration policies. Biden’s administration has strongly supported Temporary Protected Status, which he has expanded to cover about 1 million people. TPS faces an uncertain future under Trump, who tried to sharply curtail its use during his first term as president. Federal regulations would allow the extensions to be terminated early, although that’s never been done before. Homeland Security also extended TPS for more than 103,000 Ukrainians and 1,900 Sudanese who are already living in the U.S. The TPS designation gives people legal authority to be in the country, but it doesn’t provide a long-term path to citizenship. They are reliant on the government renewing their status when it expires. Conservative critics have said that over time, the renewal of the protection status becomes automatic, regardless of what is happening in the person’s home country. Friday’s announcement, which came as Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro took office for a third six-year term in Caracas amid widespread international condemnation, is “based on the severe humanitarian emergency the country continues to face due to political and economic crises under the Maduro regime,” the department said. Homeland Security cited “environmental conditions in El Salvador that prevent individuals from returning,” specifically heavy rains and storms in the last two years. Congress created TPS in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters or civil strife, giving people authorization to work in increments of up to 18 months at a time. About 1 million immigrants from 17 countries are protected by TPS, including people from Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ukraine and Lebanon. Venezuelans are one of the largest beneficiaries, and their extension runs from April 2025 to October 2, 2026. Salvadorans won TPS in 2001 after earthquakes rocked the Central American country. TPS for Salvadorans was to expire in March and was extended until Sept. 9, 2026. Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, suggested they would scale back the use of TPS and policies granting temporary status as they pursue mass deportations. During his first administration, Trump ended TPS for El Salvador but was held up in court. In recent months, advocates have increased pressure on the Biden administration to … “Biden administration extends temporary status for 4 nationalities” →

by Tage

Donald Trump sentenced without penalties in New York court

A New York judge Friday sentenced President-elect Donald Trump to an “unconditional discharge” over 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The sentence spares him penalties but allows the convictions to stand. During sentencing, the president-elect again said the case was politically motivated. VOA senior Washington correspondent Carolyn Presutti reports. Contributor: Kim Lewis; Video editor: Rob Raffaele …

by Mirits

Preventive action can’t avert wildfires but can save lives, meteorologists say

GENEVA — The World Meteorlogical Organization says that preventive action cannot avert natural disasters such as the wildfires raging across Los Angeles, but that it can help save lives and mitigate loss of property. “Land management and prevention, regular clearing of underbrush play a key role in fire management, and evacuation plans are important in saving lives,” the WMO said Friday. “These are all part of effective early warning systems.” In a briefing to journalists in Geneva, Claire Nullis, a WMO spokesperson, stressed the importance of preparing adequate evacuation plans and early warning systems to prevent some of the worst impacts from a natural disaster. While acknowledging the staggering losses from the devastating wildfires sweeping across parts of Los Angeles in the United States this week, she said “The early warnings have, in this instance, been very, very good. “You know, people have been evacuated. It has been impossible to save houses, and the loss of life is still too high, but it has been kept to a relative minimum,” she said. Media reports say at least 10 people have been killed in this week’s Southern California wildfires, although more bodies are expected to be found once the fires have been contained and searchers can go through the debris. More than 10,000 structures reportedly have burned, and 180,000 people are under evacuation orders. While California is no stranger to wildfires, the WMO calls this catastrophic event “extraordinary” in that it is affecting one of the largest cities in the United States. The WMO said that last year’s rainy season for the Los Angeles area as a whole was slightly above normal, but so far, this year it has been dry. “The big compounding factor in this context is the winds. … They cause temperatures to rise, and they cause very low humidity, drying out the ground and vegetation,” Nullis said. The WMO said destructive wildfires have been made worse by climate change. “Climate change, including increased heat, extended drought and a thirsty atmosphere, has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the western United States during the last decades,” it said, citing data from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The WMO said wildfires require the alignment of a number of factors, including temperature, humidity and the lack of moisture in fuels such as trees, shrubs, grasses and forest debris. “All these factors have … “Preventive action can’t avert wildfires but can save lives, meteorologists say” →

by Tage

US slaps new sanctions on Venezuelan officials as Maduro inaugurated

WASHINGTON/HOUSTON, TEXAS — The United States imposed sanctions Friday on eight Venezuelan officials and increased to $25 million the reward it is offering for the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro. The actions came on the day of Maduro’s inauguration to a third term following a disputed election last year. It was the latest in a series of punitive steps by the outgoing Biden administration against Maduro’s government in the aftermath of the July vote, which both his ruling Socialist party and the OPEC nation’s opposition claim to have won. The new officials sanctioned include the recently appointed head of Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA, Hector Obregon, and Venezuela’s transportation minister, Ramon Velasquez. The U.S. move coincided with sanctions announced by Britain and the European Union. Maduro and his aides have always rejected sanctions by the U.S. and others, saying they are illegitimate measures that amount to an “economic war” designed to cripple Venezuela. He and his allies have cheered what they say is the country’s resilience despite the measures, although they have historically blamed some economic hardships and shortages on sanctions. The country’s electoral authority and top court claim Maduro, whose time in office has been marked by a deep economic and social crisis, won last year’s presidential vote, although they have not published detailed tallies. The government, which has accused the opposition of fomenting fascist plots against it, said it will arrest opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez should he return to the country from exile and has detained prominent opposition members and activists in the lead-up to the inauguration. The opposition says Gonzalez, 75, won in a landslide. It has published its own vote tallies as evidence, winning support from governments around the world, including the United States, who consider Gonzalez the president-elect. International election observers have said the vote was unfair. Maduro, 62, has been in power since 2013, and the new sanctions come little more than a week before U.S. President Joe Biden will end his term and be succeeded by Donald Trump on Jan. 20. In addition to the sanctions, the U.S. government increased to $25 million the reward it is offering for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Maduro, who has long faced U.S. drug trafficking charges. The reward was $15 million. Maduro has held onto power despite heavy pressure from successive U.S. administrations, retaining the support of Venezuela’s military as well as China, … “US slaps new sanctions on Venezuelan officials as Maduro inaugurated” →

by Mirits

Biden levies new sanctions against Russian energy sector, but it’s up to Trump whether to keep them

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s administration announced Friday it’s expanding sanctions against Russia’s critically important energy sector, unveiling a new effort to inflict pain on Moscow for its nearly 3-year-old war in Ukraine as President-elect Donald Trump gets set to return to office vowing to quickly end the conflict.  The outgoing Democratic administration billed the new sanctions as the most significant to date against Moscow’s oil and liquefied natural gas sectors, the driver of Russia’s economy. Officials said the sanctions, which punish entities that do business with the Russians, have the potential to cost the Russian economy upward of billions of dollars per month.  More than 180 oil-carrying vessels that are suspected to be part of a shadow fleet utilized by the Kremlin to evade oil sanctions as well as traders, oil field service firms and Russian energy officials are also targeted by the new sanctions. Several of the vessels targeted are also suspected of shipping sanctioned Iranian oil, according to the Treasury Department.  British officials are also announcing complementary sanctions against Russia’s energy sector Friday. Both countries are targeting two of Russia’s major oil producers, Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, and dozens of the companies’ subsidiaries.  “The United States is taking sweeping action against Russia’s key source of revenue for funding its brutal and illegal war against Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement. “With today’s actions, we are ratcheting up the sanctions risk associated with Russia’s oil trade, including shipping and financial facilitation in support of Russia’s oil exports.”  Biden administration officials said that it will ultimately be up to Trump’s administration whether to keep or scrap the new sanctions.  Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the sanctions. But Trump told reporters on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants to meet, and we are setting it up.”  Trump’s warm relationship with Putin over the years has come under heavy scrutiny. The Republican president-elect has also balked at the cost of aid to Kyiv, pledging to move quickly to end the conflict upon his return to office on Jan. 20.  Trump added a new layer of doubt about future American support earlier this week when he appeared to sympathize with Putin’s position that Ukraine should not be part of NATO. The president-elect has criticized the Biden administration for expressing support for Kyiv’s eventual membership in the transatlantic military alliance.  The Kremlin … “Biden levies new sanctions against Russian energy sector, but it’s up to Trump whether to keep them” →

by Tage

Trump will be sentenced in hush money case, days before his inauguration 

New York — In a singular moment in U.S. history, President-elect Donald Trump faces sentencing Friday for his New York hush money conviction after the nation’s highest court refused to intervene. Like so much else in the criminal case and the current American political landscape, the scenario set to unfold in an austere Manhattan courtroom was unimaginable only a few years ago. A state judge is to say what consequences, if any, the country’s former and soon-to-be leader will face for felonies that a jury found he committed. With Trump 10 days from inauguration, Judge Juan M. Merchan has indicated he plans a no-penalty sentence called an unconditional discharge, and prosecutors aren’t opposing it. That would mean no jail time, no probation and no fines would be imposed, but nothing is final until Friday’s proceeding is done. Regardless of the outcome, Trump, a Republican, will become the first person convicted of a felony to assume the presidency. Trump, who is expected to appear by video from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, will have the opportunity to speak. He has pilloried the case, the only one of his four criminal indictments that has gone to trial and possibly the only one that ever will. The judge has indicated that he plans the unconditional discharge — a rarity in felony convictions — partly to avoid complicated constitutional issues that would arise if he imposed a penalty that overlapped with Trump’s presidency. The hush money case accused Trump of fudging his business’ records to veil a $130,000 payoff to porn actor Stormy Daniels. She was paid, late in Trump’s 2016 campaign, not to tell the public about a sexual encounter she maintains the two had a decade earlier. He says nothing sexual happened between them, and he contends that his political adversaries spun up a bogus prosecution to try to damage him. “I never falsified business records. It is a fake, made up charge,” the Republican president-elect wrote on his Truth Social platform last week. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office brought the charges, is a Democrat. Bragg’s office said in a court filing Monday that Trump committed “serious offenses that caused extensive harm to the sanctity of the electoral process and to the integrity of New York’s financial marketplace.” While the specific charges were about checks and ledgers, the underlying accusations were seamy and deeply entangled with Trump’s political rise. … “Trump will be sentenced in hush money case, days before his inauguration “ →

by Mirits

UK Treasury chief heading to China to revive suspended economic, financial talks 

London — Britain’s Treasury chief is travelling to China this weekend to discuss economic and financial cooperation between the countries, as the U.K.’s Labour government seeks to reset strained ties with Beijing. The Treasury said Friday that Rachel Reeves will travel to Beijing and Shanghai and will meet with her Chinese government counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng. Reeves’ trip is expected to revive the China-U.K. Economic and Financial Dialogue — annual bilateral talks that have been suspended since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and deteriorating relations in recent years. A series of spying allegations from both sides, China’s support for Russia in the Ukraine war and a crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong, a former British colony, have soured ties. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority’s chief executive, Nikhil Rathi, are also in the delegation, according to the Treasury. Representatives from some of Britain’s biggest financial services firms will join the trip. Officials did not provide details, but media reports have said senior executives from HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered were included. Reeves’ visit comes after Foreign Secretary David Lammy travelled to China in October and Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil in November. The meetings form part of a bid by Starmer, who was elected as leader in July, to strengthen political and economic ties with China, the U.K.’s fifth-largest trading partner. Officials said Starmer wanted a “pragmatic” approach to working with Beijing on global stability, climate change and the transition to clean energy. But some in the opposition Conservative Party have criticized his stance and said trade ties should not come at the expense of national security and human rights concerns. British political leaders and intelligence chiefs have warned repeatedly of the security threats that China poses. Calls to tackle the challenge grew louder last month when it emerged that an alleged Chinese spy had cultivated close ties with Prince Andrew and carried out “covert and deceptive activity” for China’s ruling Communist Party, according to officials. Nevertheless, Lammy told reporters in London on Thursday that “there are many areas of trade that don’t impact on national security.” He said Reeves “will repeat many of the messages that I took to China.” “What we’ve said is in this complex relationship with a global superpower, we are guided by three … “UK Treasury chief heading to China to revive suspended economic, financial talks “ →

by Mirits

Russia ‘observing’ Greenland situation, as Europe cautious on Trump remarks

Russia says it is closely watching the situation with Greenland, following US President-elect Donald Trump’s refusal to rule out military or economic measures to take control of the territory from Denmark. As Henry Ridgwell reports, geopolitical tensions are growing in the Arctic region amid rapid global warming. Camera: Henry Ridgwell …

by Mirits

Russia attacks Ukraine with 72 drones overnight, Kyiv says

KYIV, UKRAINE — Ukraine’s air force said on Friday on Russia attacked it with 72 drones overnight though it downed 33 of them while 34 others disappeared from radar without reaching their targets. Five drones struck various buildings in the northern region of Chernihiv, wounding one person, the air force said. One downed drone fell on a building in the capital Kyiv but did not cause casualties. Video footage filmed by Reuters carried the sound of an explosion and showed a fire burning in the distance in Kyiv during the overnight attack. More footage after daybreak showed the charred corner of a high-rise apartment block in Kyiv with windows blown out and a line of cars parked below suffering damage. Massed Russian aerial attacks using long-range drones have been a near-daily occurrence over Ukraine in the past several months, as Moscow looks to exhaust Kyiv’s air defenses almost three years into its full-scale war against its neighbor. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s army struck a supermarket on Friday in the Russian-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine in an attack that used U.S.-supplied missiles and wounded two people, a senior Russian-backed official said. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine and Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. Unverified photos posted on social media showed a burnt out car in front of a shattered two-story circular building surrounded by debris. Dashcam footage posted by a driver nearby appeared to show the moment the supermarket — called Moloko (Milk) — was struck, with an ensuing large explosion and flames soaring into the sky. Reuters was able to confirm the location from a nearby building’s facades, signages and road layout that matched satellite imagery and street view imagery. The date was verified by a timestamp on the footage. Denis Pushilin, a senior Russian-backed official, accused the Ukrainian army of firing U.S.-supplied HIMARS missiles into the area during the morning rush hour. Russia’s TASS state news agency said other buildings and around 15 cars had been damaged in the same attack. Pushilin said in a statement on his official Telegram account that an apartment building in the city of Svitlodarsk in the Donetsk region had also been struck by Ukrainian forces, killing one woman and wounding four others.  …

by Tage

Death toll rises to 10 as Los Angeles wildfires ravage city

Authorities in the western U.S. state of California say at least 10 people have been killed in massive wildfires that have ravaged the city of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County medical examiner late Thursday announced the new death toll, which doubled from earlier reports. Officials warn that number could increase once the fires have been brought under control and workers can comb through the ruins. Firefighting operations continued into the night, with water-dropping helicopters taking advantage of a temporary lull in winds. President Joe Biden told a White House briefing Thursday afternoon that federal resources and additional funding have been made available to California to fight the wildfires that he described as the “worst fires to ever hit Los Angeles.” The money will be used, the president said, to cover all of the costs for 180 days for temporary shelters, the removal of hazardous materials, first responder salaries and measures to protect life. Vice President Kamala Harris, a former U.S. senator for California, also spoke at the briefing. Harris described the situation in California as “apocalyptic” and “something that is going to have an impact for months and years to come.” The vice president has a home in an evacuation zone, but it was not immediately clear whether her house sustained any damage. While the death toll from the Los Angeles wildfires stands at five, Southern California officials say that number will likely increase once the fires have been brought under control and workers can comb through the ruins. Authorities said the wildfires burning in and around the city of Los Angeles have prompted the evacuation of nearly 180,000 people, destroyed thousands of homes, and burned tens of thousands of hectares of land. “This is absolutely an unprecedented, historic firestorm,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said. At a news briefing Thursday, Los Angeles city and county officials provided an update on the fires and the efforts to bring them under control. Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley told reporters the fierce winds that had driven the fires calmed enough to allow firefighters to increase containment and air operations to resume. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said it is fighting five active wildfires in the Los Angeles area: the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Lidia and Sunset fires, with the Palisades and Eaton fires being the largest. The sparking of a sixth fire — the Kenneth Fire, near Woodland … “Death toll rises to 10 as Los Angeles wildfires ravage city” →

by Tage

Artificial Intelligence is the star at CES tech show

Technology companies, industry executives and entrepreneurs are in Las Vegas, Nevada, this week for CES, the consumer electronics show featuring the latest advancements in artificial intelligence, vehicle technology, robotics and more. Tina Trinh reports from Las Vegas. …

by Tage

US court declines to block release of one special counsel report on Trump

A U.S. appeals court on Thursday declined to block the U.S. Justice Department from releasing a special counsel’s investigative report on President-elect Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election. The ruling from the Atlanta-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit appeared to clear the way for the release of the report as early as next week. The appeals court’s decision did not immediately lift an order from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon earlier this week pausing the release of the report. But Cannon set her order to expire three days after the appeals court ruled on the issue. The appeals court invited the Justice Department to bring a separate appeal if it wished to reverse that ruling. The report is likely to be the final act from special counsel Jack Smith, who brought two historic cases against Trump for attempting to subvert the 2020 election results and for mishandling classified documents. Smith dropped both cases after Trump’s election victory and neither reached a trial. Thursday’s ruling came after Trump’s two former co-defendants in the classified documents case, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, asked the appeals court to block the release of the report, arguing it would interfere with their ongoing prosecution. The report for now is set to detail only the 2020 election probe after Attorney General Merrick Garland, who appointed Smith, decided not to publicly release the portion focused on the classified documents while legal proceedings against Trump’s two former co-defendants continue. The Justice Department plans to allow only certain senior members of Congress to review that section of the report, the department said in a court filing. Nauta and De Oliveira argued that even the limited release of the documents section of the report to Congress could harm their defense against obstruction charges. Both have pleaded not guilty. It is unclear how much new information the public portion of the report will contain. Smith and a House of Representatives panel have already released detailed accounts of Trump’s actions surrounding the 2020 election, including during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges and claimed the cases against him were part of an effort to damage his political campaign. …

by Mirits

Russia turns to China to step up AI race against US

WASHINGTON — Russia’s efforts to obtain China’s help in enhancing artificial intelligence is seen as a bid to challenge America’s lead in the field even as the outgoing Biden administration is expected to impose new export control measures to further curb Beijing’s access to AI chips. As the new year began, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the country’s state-owned Sberbank, to work with China in researching and developing AI technology, according to the Kremlin. “The Russian president sees his country in global competition for AI with the United States and has positioned the state resources to try and compete with the U.S. in information and cyberspace – two areas where artificial intelligence is supposed to aid Russia in what they see as Western narratives and influence,” said Samuel Bendett, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. Moscow views Beijing’s success in AI as an example to follow, and its “cooperation with China is viewed as a necessary step towards acquiring artificial intelligence-related skill sets, knowledge and technology,” Bendett told VOA in written comments. The U.S. currently leads in AI innovation, followed by China, which is falling behind by wide margins, according to a November report by the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. Russia ranks 31st out of 83 countries in AI implementation, innovation and investment, according to U.K.-based Tortoise Media’s Global AI Index. Response to sanctions Western sanctions imposed on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 have limited the country’s AI development, and Moscow has turned to Beijing to offset the restriction, according to Bendett in his report “The Role of AI in Russia’s Confrontation with the West.” Sberbank, which Putin instructed to collaborate with China, is under Western sanctions. It is Russia’s largest bank and leads the country’s AI development efforts. The outgoing Biden administration is expected to impose a new set of export control measures aimed at further limiting China’s ability to access chips that support AI technology. The new measures could come as early as Friday, according to Bloomberg. Sberbank CEO German Gref said in 2023 that Russia cannot obtain graphics processing units, microchips needed to support AI development, according to Reuters. But the bank’s first deputy CEO, Alexander Vedyakhin, said in December that despite Western sanctions, Russia can improve its AI ranking by 2030 through its own development. Another key area where Russia has sought to further apply AI help … “Russia turns to China to step up AI race against US” →

by Tage

Biden refutes Trump attacks, pledges federal aid to fight California fires

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said wildfires ravaging Los Angeles show climate change is real, days before President-elect Donald Trump is to take office. Trump has threatened to pull back on U.S. efforts to combat global warming. “Climate change is real. … There is global warming, it’s real,” Biden told a crisis meeting at the White House on the fires. “This is the most widespread, devastating fire in California’s history,” Biden said as he convened the meeting. Trump has used the wildfires to attack Biden and California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom on social media. The outgoing president canceled a trip to Rome to stay in Washington and coordinate the U.S. government response to the fires, which have killed at least five people. He said the federal government would cover 100% of the costs of dealing with the disaster for the first 180 days, at Newsom’s request. Biden said he was surging 400 federal firefighters and 30 firefighting planes and helicopters to Los Angeles, while the Pentagon will send eight large planes and 500 wildfire clearance personnel. Meanwhile, Biden sought to debunk claims pushed by Trump that there was a water shortage that left firefighters struggling to put out the inferno. Biden said the problem lay not with a shortage of water but with power cuts that took water pumps offline. During wildfires, utility companies can cut electricity amid fears that faulty power lines could spark more fires. Trump’s remarks on Wednesday and Thursday came as firefighters were trying to contain the blazes that have killed five people and destroyed more than 2,000 structures. “One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground,” Trump said on his Truth Social network late Wednesday, blaming the fires on Newsom and calling on him to resign. Trump returned to the subject Thursday morning as the blazes continued to rage. Without providing evidence, he variously accused Newsom of “incompetence” in managing the fires and of wasting water in drought-hit California. The California governor strongly rejected Trump’s claims in an interview with CNN. “People are literally fleeing. … This guy wanted to politicize it. I have a lot of thoughts, and I know what I want to say. I won’t,” Newsom said. Trump accused Biden on Thursday of diverting money to “Green New Scam” climate policies instead of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Biden has repeatedly denied … “Biden refutes Trump attacks, pledges federal aid to fight California fires” →

by Mirits

Denmark says it has neglected Greenland defense for years 

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — Denmark acknowledged Thursday that it had long neglected the defense of Greenland, a vast and strategically important Arctic island – and one that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has called vital for U.S. security. Trump, who takes office Jan. 20, said this week that U.S. control of Greenland – a sovereign Danish territory – was an “absolute necessity,” and he did not rule out using military or economic action against Denmark to make it happen. “We have neglected for many years to make the necessary investments in ships and in aircraft that will help monitor our kingdom, and that is what we are now trying to do something about,” Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told journalists. The U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen said earlier Thursday that the United States had no plans to increase its military presence in Greenland. “There are no plans to increase the United States’ current military footprint in Greenland,” the spokesperson told Reuters. “We will continue to work closely with Copenhagen and Nuuk [Greenland’s capital] to ensure any proposals meet our common security needs.” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said late Thursday that she had asked for a meeting with Trump but did not expect one to happen ahead of his inauguration. US military presence Greenland has been controlled by Denmark for centuries, though its 57,000 people now govern their own domestic affairs. Its security and foreign affairs, however, are still handled by Copenhagen. The U.S. military maintains a permanent presence at the Pituffik Space Base in Greenland’s northwest. Greenland is crucial for the U.S. military and its ballistic missile early-warning system, since the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the island. “I think that the Americans are quite concerned that Russia could actually launch or initiate a major attack against the United States, and that could be done from the Russian side,” Jens Wenzel at Nordic Defense Analysis told Reuters. “There is no real monitoring of the airspace in Greenland. It is largely a free-for-all,” he said. Greenland is already covered by U.S. security guarantees via Denmark’s membership in NATO. Frederiksen said this week that she could not imagine the United States would use military intervention in Greenland and said it was up to the people of Greenland to decide what they want. ‘Tightrope’ Frederiksen summoned leaders of Denmark’s political parties to a meeting Thursday for a briefing about Trump’s renewed … “Denmark says it has neglected Greenland defense for years “ →

by Tage

Vance to resign from US Senate ahead of his inauguration as vice president

washington — Republican Vice President-elect JD Vance said Thursday that he would resign from his U.S. Senate seat from Ohio at midnight ahead of his inauguration later this month. President-elect Donald Trump and Vance defeated the Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, in the Nov. 5 U.S. election. Vance’s Senate seat will be filled by a person appointed by Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine. The replacement will serve until a special election is held in November 2026. The winner of that election will finish the remainder of Vance’s Senate term, which ends in January 2029. In his resignation letter to the Ohio governor, Vance wrote that “it has been a tremendous honor and privilege to serve the people of Ohio in the Senate over the past two years.” Republicans won a narrow majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives in the November elections. …

by Mirits

Russia ‘observing’ Greenland situation; Europe cautious on Trump remarks 

london — Russia has said it is closely watching the situation with Greenland, following U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s refusal to rule out military or economic measures to take control of the territory from Denmark. “We are observing this rather dramatic development of the situation, but so far, thank God, [it remains] at the level of statements,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday. “The Arctic zone is a zone of our national and strategic interests. We are present in the Arctic zone, and we will continue to be there,” Peskov added. The vast territory of Greenland — most of which lies above the Arctic Circle — has been officially part of the Kingdom of Denmark since 1953, although the island has its own government. National security Questioned at a news conference in Florida on Tuesday, Trump said the United States needs Greenland for security purposes, and he refused to rule out using economic or military means to achieve that goal. “People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right to it. But if they do, they should give it up because we need it for national security. That’s for the free world. I’m talking about protecting the free world,” Trump said. “You have Chinese ships all over the place. You have Russian ships all over the place. We’re not letting that happen,” he added. Like much of the Arctic, Greenland is rapidly warming. That is changing the geopolitics of the region, said analyst Liana Fix of the Council on Foreign Relations. “The Arctic is increasingly becoming a zone of a great power competition and rivalry. And the United States is concerned it is losing this game,” Fix said. “The Arctic becomes much more accessible, both for trading goods but also for critical minerals, especially for rare earth [minerals],” Fix said. “And also it becomes increasingly a militarized zone,” she added, noting that Russia is cooperating with the Chinese coast guard in the region. Not for sale Denmark has made it clear that Greenland is not for sale. Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen rejected the suggestion that Trump’s comments presented a foreign policy crisis for his government. “I see a president who is on his way into the White House, who has a heightened focus on the Arctic, and I can understand that he has that. We also have that from the Danish side, and we also have that … “Russia ‘observing’ Greenland situation; Europe cautious on Trump remarks “ →

by Mirits

Italy’s FM encourages post-Assad transition, calls for EU to review sanctions

ROME — Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani is traveling to Syria on Friday to encourage the country’s transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad by Islamist insurgents, and said Europe should review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.  Tajani presided Thursday over a meeting in Rome of foreign ministry officials from five countries — Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States — and spoke earlier by telephone with his counterparts from Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The aim, he said, is to coordinate the various post-Assad initiatives, with Italy prepared to make proposals on private investments in health care for the Syrian population.  Going into the meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and their European counterparts, Tajani said it was critical that all Syrians be recognized with equal rights. It was a reference to concerns about the rights of Christians and other minorities under Syria’s new de facto authorities of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, an Islamic militant group that the U.S. and United Nations have long designated as a terrorist organization.  “The first messages from Damascus have been positive. That’s why I’m going there tomorrow, to encourage this new phase that will help stabilize the international situation,” said Tajani.  Speaking to reporters, he said the European Union should discuss possible changes to the sanctions regime on Syria. “It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.  Syria has been under deeply isolating sanctions by the United States, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and spiraled into civil war.  HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on December 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.  The U.S. has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of a Syrian rebel leader whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.  Syria’s new leaders also have been urged to respect the rights of minorities and women. Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population … “Italy’s FM encourages post-Assad transition, calls for EU to review sanctions” →

by Tage

Carter funeral brings together 1 current, 4 ex-presidents to honor one of their own

WASHINGTON — As they filed into the front pews at the National Cathedral, wearing dark suits and mostly solemn faces, one current and four former presidents came together for Jimmy Carter’s funeral. For a service that stretched more than an hour, the feuding, grievances and enmity that had marked their rival campaigns and divergent politics gave way to a reverential moment for one of their own. Barack Obama and Donald Trump, the first two of the group to take their seats Thursday, shook hands and chatted at length. Trump, the former president who will retake the Oval Office in 11 days, leaned in and listened intently to his predecessor. At times, the two flashed smiles. Obama, who attended without his wife, Michelle, shared a second-row pew with former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, along with their spouses. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived last and sat in the pew just in front of them. Members of the exclusive presidents’ club were on their best behavior. Bonded by the presidency, they rarely criticize one another or the White House’s current occupant — although Trump has flouted those rules frequently. He has praised and criticized Carter in recent days, and he complained that flags will still be at half-staff to honor the deceased president during his inauguration. Trump looked up when Vice President Kamala Harris — whom he defeated in November’s hard-fought election — entered the cathedral, but he didn’t move to greet her as she and husband Doug Emhoff took seats directly in front of him and Melania Trump. Nor did Harris acknowledge him. After the service, Emhoff turned around to shake hands with Trump. Obama, with Trump on his left, also turned to his right to chat with Bush. Clinton, with wife Hillary, was the last of the ex-presidents to take a seat and got in some chatter with Bush as well. The White House said the former presidents also met privately before taking their seats. Funerals are among the few events that bring members of the presidents’ club together. In a way, former President Gerald Ford was there, too: Ford’s son Steven read a eulogy for Carter that Ford had written before he died in 2006. Busy with personal pursuits, charitable endeavors and sometimes lucrative speaking gigs, the former leaders don’t mingle often. They all know the protocol of state funerals well — each has … “Carter funeral brings together 1 current, 4 ex-presidents to honor one of their own” →

by Mirits

VOA Mandarin: Ex-UK PM Truss issues warning about China in VOA interview 

In an exclusive interview with VOA, former U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss issued a stark warning against China’s authoritarian ambitions and called for the West to adopt a tougher stance to protect global freedom. Truss laid out her vision for an “economic NATO” to deter Beijing, criticized the Labour government’s soft approach to China, and defended her controversial lobbying for a defense export license involving China. Click here to read the full story in Mandarin. …

by Tage

‘Worst in Show’ CES products put data at risk and cause waste, privacy advocates say

LAS VEGAS — So much of the technology showcased at CES includes gadgets made to improve consumers’ lives — whether by leveraging AI to make devices that help people become more efficient, by creating companions to cure loneliness, or by providing tools that help people with mental and physical health.  But not all innovation is good, according to a panel of self-described dystopia experts that has judged some products as “Worst in Show.” The award that no company wants to win calls out the “least repairable, least private, and least sustainable products on display.”  “We’re seeing more and more of these things that have basically surveillance technology built into them, and it enables some cool things,” Liz Chamberlain, director of sustainability at the e-commerce site iFixit told The Associated Press. “But it also means that now we’ve got microphones and cameras in our washing machines, refrigerators and that really is an industry-wide problem.”  The fourth annual contest announced its decisions Thursday.  A new smart ring every few years?  Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit, awarded the Ultrahuman Rare Luxury Smart Ring the title of “least repairable.”  The rings, which come in colors like dune and desert sand, cost $2,200. Wiens said the jewelry “looks sleek but hides a major flaw: its battery only lasts 500 charges.” Worse, he said, is the fact that replacing the battery is impossible without destroying the device entirely.  “Luxury items may be fleeting, but two years of use for $2,200 is a new low,” he said.  Ultrahuman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  An AI-powered smart crib?  Bosch’s “Revol” crib uses sensors, cameras and AI that the company says can help monitor vital signs like how an infant is sleeping, heart and respiratory rates and more. The crib can also rock gently if the baby needs help falling asleep and signal to parents if a blanket or other object is interfering with breathing.  EFF Executive Director Cindy Cohn said the crib preys on parents’ fears and “collects excessive data about babies via a camera, microphone, and even a radar sensor.”  “Parents expect safety and comfort — not surveillance and privacy risks — in their children’s cribs,” she said in the report.  A spokesperson for Bosch told The Associated Press that all data is encrypted end-to-end and stored on Bosch-administered servers, “while all data at rest is secured locally with individual data encryption keys.”  “Caregivers … “‘Worst in Show’ CES products put data at risk and cause waste, privacy advocates say” →

by Tage

Biden administration battles on against plea deal for accused 9/11 mastermind

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration doubled down Thursday on its unusual court battle to derail a plea deal that the government itself had reached with accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. It urged a federal appeals panel to block Mohammed’s guilty plea from going forward as scheduled Friday at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Defense lawyers described the attempts to throw out the agreement as the latest in two decades of “fitful” and “negligent” mishandling of the case by the U.S. military and successive administrations. The fight has put the Biden administration at odds with the U.S. military officials it had appointed to oversee justice in al-Qaida’s attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, that killed nearly 3,000 people. It was the latest tumult and uncertainty in two decades of troubled prosecution tied to one of the deadliest attacks on American soil. A new filing Thursday from Justice Department lawyers argued that the gravity of the “extraordinarily important case” warranted Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin intervening to throw out the plea deal. Asked about the appeal Thursday after a meeting in Germany with allies about military support for Ukraine, Austin told reporters he had not changed his mind on the matter and cited the court challenge in declining further comment. The deal, negotiated over two years and approved by military prosecutors and the Pentagon’s senior official for Guantanamo in late July, would spare Mohammed and two co-defendants the risk of the death penalty. It also obligates them to answer any lingering questions that families of the victims have about the attacks. Defense attorneys say that the plea agreements are already in effect and that Austin has no legal authority to throw them out after the fact. At Guantanamo, preparations have moved ahead for Friday’s proceedings, and family members of some of the victims already have gathered. If the hearing goes forward, Mohammed would swear an oath in the military courtroom and then defense attorney Gary Sowards would enter pleas on his behalf to 2,976 counts of murder, along with other charges. Pleas by co-defendants Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al Hawsawi would follow later this month. Attorneys say months of sentencing hearings to follow would give the government an opportunity to outline its case and allow families to speak of their loss. The federal appeals panel appears on track to rule Thursday on the emergency request by the Biden administration. Legal and logistical challenges have bogged … “Biden administration battles on against plea deal for accused 9/11 mastermind” →

by Mirits

Thousands protest as Austria’s far-right-led coalition talks set to begin

VIENNA — Talks to form a coalition government led by Austria’s far-right Freedom Party, or FPO, will begin Friday, the party said on Thursday, as thousands protested in Vienna against the prospect of the country’s first FPO-led government. The eurosceptic, Russia-friendly FPO won September’s parliamentary election with around 29% of the vote but was initially sidelined as centrist parties tried to form a ruling coalition without it. That effort failed at the weekend, and FPO leader Herbert Kickl was tasked with forming a government. “First step: negotiations on the budget as of tomorrow,” Kickl said in a statement on Thursday evening while protesters carrying placards reading “Nazis out” and “History is repeating itself” gathered in the square that stands between the offices of the president and the chancellor. Chancellor Karl Nehammer of the conservative Austrian People’s Party (OVP), who had led the centrist coalition talks, said on Saturday he was stepping down because they had collapsed. His successor as head of the caretaker government, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, is due to take over on Friday. Various nongovernmental organizations that deal with human rights, refugees and the environment called Thursday’s protest. “Our republic is at a crossroads,” the organizers said in a statement. “The threat of an extreme right-wing chancellor looms and with him an attack on democracy, human rights, judiciary, independent media and social cohesion in our country.” More than 10,000 protesters packed tightly together on the square and streets leading into it whistled, jeered and shone their phone lights toward the chancellor’s office, chanting “Kickl out” in a peaceful atmosphere. The OVP, which under Nehammer said it would not govern with Kickl, calling him a conspiracy theorist and a security threat, now says under interim leader Christian Stocker that it prefers to reach a coalition deal with Kickl to holding a snap election. On Wednesday, however, Stocker said he demanded assurances from Kickl that he wants to keep Austria free from Russian interference — a reference to FPO positions including opposing sanctions against Moscow over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Support for the FPO has only increased since September, polls show, and the party now has a lead of more than 10 percentage points over the OVP. “We are entering negotiations with the FPO,” the OVP said in a statement minutes before the FPO’s, confirming that Kickl and Stocker had held initial discussions and that the first issue would be the … “Thousands protest as Austria’s far-right-led coalition talks set to begin” →

by Tage

In photos: State funeral for former President Jimmy Carter at National Cathedral

Jimmy Carter, the 39th U.S. President, is being honored with the pageantry of a state funeral in the nation’s capital, The Associated Press reported. He will later be honored a second service and burial in his tiny Georgia hometown that launched a Depression-era farm boy to the world stage. …

by Tage

New York’s highest appeals court declines to block Trump’s sentencing in hush money case

ALBANY, NEW YORK — New York’s highest court on Thursday declined to block Donald Trump’s upcoming sentencing in his hush money case, leaving the U.S. Supreme Court as the president-elect’s likely last option to prevent the hearing from taking place Friday.  One judge of the New York Court of Appeals issued a brief order declining to grant a hearing to Trump’s legal team.  Trump has asked the Supreme Court to call off Friday’s sentencing. His lawyers turned to the nation’s highest court Wednesday after New York courts refused to postpone the sentencing by Judge Juan M. Merchan, who presided over Trump’s trial and conviction last May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Trump has denied wrongdoing.  In a filing to the top New York court, Trump’s attorneys had said Merchan and the state’s mid-level appellate court both “erroneously failed” to stop the sentencing, arguing that the Constitution requires an automatic pause as they appeal the judge’s ruling upholding the verdict.  While Merchan has indicated he will not impose jail time, fines or probation, Trump’s lawyers argued a felony conviction would still have intolerable side effects, including distracting him as he prepares to take office.  Trump’s attorneys have argued that the Manhattan trial violated last summer’s Supreme Court ruling giving Trump broad immunity from prosecution over acts he took as president. At the least, they have said, the sentencing should be delayed while their appeals play out on the immunity issue.  Judges in New York have found that Trump’s convictions related to personal matters rather than official acts.  Trump’s attorneys called the case politically motivated, and said that the sentencing threatens to disrupt the Republican’s presidential transition as he prepares to return to the presidency on Jan. 20.  Sentencing Trump now would be a “grave injustice,” his attorney D. John Sauer wrote. Sauer is also Trump’s pick to be solicitor general, who represents the government before the high court.  The emergency motion to the U.S. Supreme Court was submitted to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who hears emergency appeals from New York. …