BLOGONITY

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

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

PARIS — France’s far-right and left-wing lawmakers joined together Wednesday to pass a no-confidence motion prompted by budget disputes that forces Prime Minister Michel Barnier to resign. The National Assembly approved the motion by 331 votes. A minimum of 288 were needed. President Emmanuel Macron has insisted he will serve the rest of his term, which ends in 2027. However, he will need to appoint a prime minister for the second time after July’s legislative elections led to a deeply divided parliament. Macron, on his way back from a presidential visit to Saudi Arabia, said discussions about him potentially resigning were “make-believe politics,” according to French media reports. “I’m here because I’ve been elected twice by the French people,” Macron said. He was also reported as saying, “We must not scare people with such things. We have a strong economy.” The no-confidence motion rose from fierce opposition to Barnier’s proposed budget. The National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament, is deeply fractured, with no single party holding a majority. It comprises three major blocs: Macron’s centrist allies, the left-wing coalition New Popular Front, and the far-right National Rally. Both opposition blocs, typically at odds, united against Barnier, accusing him of imposing austerity measures and failing to address citizens’ needs. Barnier, a conservative appointed in September, could become the country’s shortest-serving prime minister in France’s modern Republic. In last-minute efforts to try to save his government, he called on lawmakers to act with “responsibility” and think of “the country’s best interest.” “The situation is very difficult economically, socially, fiscally and financially,” he said, speaking Tuesday evening on national television TF1 and France 2. “If the no-confidence motion passes, everything will be more difficult and everything will be more serious.” Speaking at the National Assembly ahead of the vote, National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, whose party’s goodwill was crucial to keeping Barnier in power, said, “We’ve reached the moment of truth, a parliamentary moment unseen since 1962, which will likely seal the end of a short-lived government.” “Stop pretending the lights will go out,” hard-left lawmaker Eric Coquerel said, noting the possibility of an emergency law to levy taxes from January 1, based on this year’s rules. “The special law will prevent a shutdown. It will allow us to get through the end of the year by delaying the budget by a few weeks.” While France is not at risk of a … “French lawmakers oust PM in first successful no-confidence vote since 1962” →

PARIS — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and U.S. first lady Jill Biden are among global dignitaries expected in Paris Saturday as the city’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral reopens five years after a massive fire. Trump’s visit to Paris is expected to be his first foreign trip since winning the election last month. U.S. President Joe Biden is not expected to attend. It has taken five years, 2,000 artisans and workers, and hundreds of millions of dollars to restore the medieval Gothic masterpiece. It was nearly destroyed during a fire in April 2019. French President Emmanuel Macron visited the restored cathedral Friday and said the reconstruction workers had participated in an unprecedented project. Macron will join the archbishop of Paris, along with Catholic and other dignitaries, for official opening ceremonies Saturday. The cathedral will open its doors to the public on Sunday as part of weeklong reopening events. Even covered with scaffolding and closed to visitors, Notre Dame has attracted hordes of tourists during the years of reconstruction. Manuele Monica, a visitor from Italy, said, “I can understand why people in the past created buildings such as this one, because it’s so huge. It’s really tall — like it’s going up in the sky.” The event offers a short reprieve for France, which is facing pre-Christmas strikes, soaring debt and an uncertain political future. …

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration issued a fresh round of Russia-related sanctions on Wednesday, taking aim at what it called an illicit finance network that allowed Russian elites to leverage digital assets to avoid sanctions. In a statement, the U.S. Department of Treasury said it was targeting five people and four entities tied to “a sprawling international network of businesses and employees that have facilitated significant sanctions circumvention” known as the TGR Group. The targets also include an entity based in Wyoming that is owned in part by a sanctioned individual, the department said. “Through the TGR Group, Russian elites sought to exploit digital assets — in particular U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins — to evade U.S. and international sanctions, further enriching themselves and the Kremlin,” Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith said in a statement. The international network actions include “the laundering of funds associated with sanctioned entities; providing an unregistered service to exchange cash and cryptocurrency; the receipt of cash and making the value available to clients in the form of cryptocurrency; providing a prepaid credit card service; and obfuscating the source of funds to allow high-net-worth Russian nationals to purchase property in the United Kingdom,” according to the department’s statement. Such sanctions generally prohibit any U.S. persons or entities from conducting any transactions with sanctioned targets and freeze any U.S.-held assets belonging to the sanctioned people or entities. Among those targeted in Wednesday’s action are George Rossi, a Russian-born Ukrainian national born in Russia that the Treasury Department said is believed to control the TGR Group, and Rossi’s direct subordinate, Russian national Elena Chirkinyan, among others. …

TBILISI, GEORGIA — Georgian police on Wednesday raided the offices of an opposition party and arrested its leader in an apparent attempt to squelch a wave of mass protests triggered by the governing party’s decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union. During the past six nights, riot police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, who threw fireworks at police officers and built barricades on the Georgian capital’s central boulevard. More than 300 protesters have been detained since Thursday, and over 100 people have been treated for injuries. On Wednesday, the Coalition for Change opposition party said that police raided its offices and detained its leader, Nika Gvaramia. It shared a video showing several officers dragging Gvaramia into a car. Georgian media reported that police also raided the offices of several other opposition groups and nongovernment organizations. The ruling Georgian Dream party retained control of parliament in the disputed October 26 election, which was widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s EU aspirations. The opposition and the pro-Western president have accused the governing party of rigging the vote with neighboring Russia’s help and boycotted parliament sessions. Mass opposition protests sparked by the vote gained new momentum after the governing party’s decision on Thursday to put the EU accession talks on hold. Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili refused to recognize the official election results and contested them in the Constitutional Court, which rejected her appeal on Tuesday. Zourabichvili, who plays a largely ceremonial role, has declared that she would stay on the job even after her six-year term ends later this month to lead the opposition demand for a new parliamentary election. The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on condition that it meet the bloc’s recommendations but put its accession on hold and cut financial support in June after the passage of a “foreign influence” law that was widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms. It requires organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interest of a foreign power,” similar to a Russian law used to discredit organizations critical of the government. The Georgian government’s announcement of the EU accession talks’ suspension came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution criticizing October’s election as neither free nor fair. On Monday, the EU reiterated its “serious concerns about the continuous democratic backsliding of the country.” … “Police in Georgia arrest opposition leader as mass protests continue” →

Beijing — Business sentiment among German companies in China is at an all-time low, a German business lobby group said on Wednesday, as they face rising Chinese competition and a slowing economy. Over half of German companies said conditions in their industry had worsened this year, the German Chamber of Commerce in China said citing a survey, while only 32% forecast an improvement in 2025 – the lowest since records began in 2007. “This year has been difficult for the majority of German companies, prompting a downward adjustment of their business outlook,” said Clas Neumann, chair of the German Chamber of Commerce’s east China chapter, while adding that 92% of German companies planned to maintain their operations in the $19 trillion economy. Germany is China’s biggest European partner, and prominent German firms with large investments in China include automakers Volkswagen as well as BMW and auto parts supplier Bosch. The German survey comes just a day after a British sentiment survey of companies operating in China painted a downbeat picture. While foreign direct investment, seen as a signal of confidence in China, represents only 3% of the country’s total investment, it has been falling for two straight years. The chamber said investing to keep up with local competitors was the primary motivation for 87% of the 51% of German companies planning to step up their investment in China over the next two years, an annual eight percentage point increase. The chamber also said that companies were, for the first time, reporting that they were contending with a “Buy China” trend, with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s self-sufficiency drive “Made in China 2025” resulting in local customers opting to buy from local producers. An official factory activity survey released on Saturday showed that new import orders for parts and components used in finished goods fell for an eighth consecutive month in October, while new orders expanded for the first time in seven months. The chamber called on Berlin to place more emphasis on Beijing as a partner and revise its China strategy to better align with German industry’s desire to invest more in localization in China, over boosting exports to the market. Berlin opposed the European Commission’s tariffs of up to 45.3% on Chinese-built electric vehicles in an October vote. German automakers have heavily criticized the EU measures, aware that possible higher Chinese import duties on large-engined gasoline vehicles would hit them hardest. … “German firms’ China market sentiment falls to record low, survey shows” →

NATO chief Mark Rutte said Tuesday he is confident that whatever military aid allies can supply to Ukraine in the coming months will be provided, as he warned that Russia is again using the onset of winter as a weapon in its war in Ukraine. Rutte told reporters in Brussels ahead of talks with NATO foreign ministers that there is a priority on protecting Ukrainian energy infrastructure and ensuring Ukrainian forces have the air defenses necessary to defend against Russian attacks. In addition to the war in Ukraine, the foreign ministers are also discussing what Rutte said was an “escalating campaign” of Russian hostile actions toward NATO countries, including acts of sabotage and cybercrimes. Ukraine’s military said Tuesday it shot down 29 of 50 drones that Russia launched in its latest round of overnight attacks. The intercepts took place over the Chernihiv, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Sumy and Ternopil regions, the Ukrainian air force said. Officials in Kharkiv reported damage to a business from a downed drone, while officials in Sumy said Russian shelling damaged several buildings. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday it shot down 24 Ukrainian drones overnight, and another 11 drones early Tuesday. Officials in Russia’s Ryazan region said a drone damaged four houses, but caused no casualties. Ukrainian drones were also shot down over the Rostov, Bryansk, Belgorod, Krasnodar, Kursk and Kaluga regions, the ministry said. …

GENEVA — The United Nations on Wednesday sought $47 billion in aid for 2025 to help around 190 million people fleeing conflict and battling starvation, at a time when this year’s appeal is not even half-funded and officials fear cuts from Western states including the top donor, the U.S. Facing what the new U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher describes as “an unprecedented level of suffering,” the U.N. hopes to reach people in 32 countries next year, including those in war-torn Sudan, Syria, Gaza and Ukraine. “The world is on fire, and this is how we put it out,” Fletcher told reporters in Geneva. “We need to reset our relationship with those in greatest need on the planet,” said Fletcher, a former British diplomat who started as head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) last month. The appeal is the fourth largest in OCHA’s history, but Fletcher said it leaves out some 115 million people whose needs the agency cannot realistically hope to fund: “We’ve got to be absolutely focused on reaching those in the most dire need, and really ruthless.” The U.N. cut its 2024 appeal to $46 billion from $56 billion the previous year as donor appetite faded, but it is still only 43% funded, one of the worst rates in history. Washington has given over $10 billion, about half the funds received. Aid workers have had to make tough choices, cutting food assistance by 80% in Syria and water services in cholera-prone Yemen, OCHA said. Aid is just one part of total spending by the U.N., which has for years failed to meet its core budget due to countries’ unpaid dues. While incoming president Donald Trump halted some U.N. spending during his first term, he left U.N. aid budgets intact. This time, aid officials and diplomats see cuts as a possibility. “The U.S. is a tremendous question mark,” said Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, who held Fletcher’s post from 2003-2006. “I fear that we may be bitterly disappointed because the global mood and the national political developments are not in our favor.” Project 2025, a set of conservative proposals whose authors include some Trump advisers, takes aim at “wasteful budget increases” by the main U.S. relief agency, USAID. The incoming Trump administration did not respond to a request for comment. Fletcher cited “the disintegration of our systems for international solidarity” and called … “UN seeks $47 billion in aid as donor appetite shrinks while crises multiply” →

TBILISI, Georgia — Thousands of demonstrators in the Georgian capital converged on parliament again on Tuesday, venting outrage against the governing party’s decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union. Like on five previous nights, riot police used water cannons and tear gas to push back the protesters, who threw fireworks at police officers and built barricades on the Georgian capital’s central boulevard. Nearly 300 protesters have been detained, and 26 people, including three police officers, have been hospitalized with injuries. “The more force they use, the angrier people become, because everyone they arrest has relatives, and everyone understands that this is injustice,” said Tamar Kordzaia, a member of Unity National Movement opposition group. Kordzaia voiced confidence that the protesters will achieve their goal of calling new elections and joining the EU, noting that police on Monday “looked very tired. I am sure we need to withstand a little longer.” The ruling Georgian Dream party retained control of parliament in the disputed Oct. 26 parliamentary election, which was widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s EU aspirations. The opposition and the pro-Western president have accused the governing party of rigging the vote with neighboring Russia’s help and boycotted parliament sessions. Mass opposition protests sparked by the vote gained new momentum after the governing party’s decision on Thursday to put the EU accession talks on hold. “We are fighting for our democracy, to protect human rights, human dignity,” said Rusudan Chanturia, who attended Tuesday’s protest. Another demonstrator, David Jandieri, said the daily protests must continue until the demonstrators achieve their goal. “In fact, we do not have another choice,” he said. Georgia’s Interior Ministry said Tuesday that 293 protesters were detained on administrative charges and five arrested on criminal charges. Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has refused to recognize the official election results and contested them in the Constitutional Court, which rejected her appeal on Tuesday. Zourabichvili, who plays a largely ceremonial role, has declared that she would stay on the job even after her six-year term ends later this month to lead the opposition demand for a new parliamentary election. The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on condition that it meet the bloc’s recommendations but put its accession on hold and cut financial support in June after the passage of a “foreign influence” law that was widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms. It requires organizations that … “Demonstrators converge on Georgia’s parliament, protest EU bid delay” →

The government of France faces a no-confidence vote Wednesday, a move that could topple the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier. Analysts predict French lawmakers will likely vote in favor of a no-confidence motion. Barnier warned the politicians that voting his government down “would make everything more difficult for France.” The no-confidence vote follows a seldom-used constitutional move the prime minister invoked Monday when he pushed through the 2025 budget without parliamentary approval, something Barnier said he did to maintain “stability” amid France’s deep political divisions. Barnier, who has been prime minister for just three months, is seeking to bring France’s gigantic budget deficit under control. The government can pass legislation without parliamentary approval under Article 49.3 of France’s constitution. That move, however, opens up the option of no-confidence motions. The prime minister’s action prompted Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally and the leftist New Popular Front to both respond with filings for no-confidence motions. The left and the far-right together hold enough votes to overturn the prime minister’s government, according to Reuters, which reports that Le Pen has confirmed that her party would support a left-wing alliance’s no-confidence motion. A far-right motion would not receive enough votes from lawmakers. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said the lawmakers voting in favor of the no-confidence vote were playing Russian roulette with France’s future. French President Emmanuel Macron said he could “not believe” the lawmakers had teamed up for the no confidence motion against the government and accused Le Pen of “unbearable cynicism.” “We must not scare people with these things. We have a strong economy,” the president said. Macron said he is holding on to the hope that the politicians will not censure the French government. “It doesn’t make sense,” he told reporters during a trip to Saudi Arabia. He compared the situation to “political fiction.” There have also been calls for Macron’s resignation, but the president said he has no intention of resigning before his term ends in 2027. “It so happens that if I am before you, it is because I was elected twice by the French people,” he said. “I am extremely proud of this, and I will honor this trust with all the energy that is mine until the last second to be useful to the country.” Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. …

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock this week repeatedly criticized China’s economic and military support for Russia’s war against Ukraine, which she said is threatening peace in Europe. During a visit to China, she also pledged to stand up for Germany’s economic interests when it comes to electric vehicles, climate and security policy. VOA Mandarin spoke with analysts about what China’s muted response to her criticism may mean. See the full story here. …

The FBI has charged Nomma Zarubina, a Russian national living in New York, with two counts of making false statements to FBI agents regarding her ties to Russian intelligence services. According to the FBI, Zarubina sought connections with U.S. journalists, military personnel, and think tank experts on behalf of Russian intelligence agencies. Court documents reveal that she initially lied to U.S. authorities about her ties to FSB but later admitted to cooperating with FSB agents. See the full story here. …

Record numbers of migrants have arrived on Spain’s Canary Islands from West Africa this year, according to the latest government figures. Spain plans to offer visas to hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants already in the country – as the government says it needs young workers to boost its economy. Henry Ridgwell reports. Alfonso Beato contributed. …