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ROVANIEMI, FINLAND — With less than a month to go until Christmas, Santa Claus is busy preparing, but the warming climate and lack of snow in his Arctic hometown have him worried.   By this time of year, the town of Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland — marketed by tourism officials since the 1980s as the “real” home of Santa Claus — should be white and pretty.   But on a recent visit, rain poured down from a gloomy slate sky and the temperature was well above freezing, with the thermometer showing +2 degrees Celsius (35.6 degrees Fahrenheit).   “My reindeer can fly, so that’s no problem,” said the man in the red suit and long white beard, resting his weary legs after a long day of meeting excited children and adults.    But “we can see that climate change is real. And it’s affecting the reindeer. It’s affecting life here in the Arctic,” added the man, whose employers declined to identify him by his real name.   Herders say milder and more unpredictable winters have left reindeer struggling to dig up their main food, lichen.   Snow and ice have melted and refrozen, burying it under layers of packed ice.   The Arctic is warming faster than other parts of the world due to climate change — nearly four times as fast, according to research published by Finland-based scientists in the journal Nature in 2022.   Warming global temperatures, driven by humans burning fossil fuels, have been aggravating weather disasters such as floods and droughts worldwide in recent years.    In Finnish Lapland, after a historically warm summer, a new November temperature record was set a few weeks ago when 11.1 C (51.98 F) was measured in the town of Utsjoki, breaking the previous record of 11.0 C (51.8 F) from 1975.   Tourism boom Tourists flock to Rovaniemi from around the world to see its enchanting snowy landscapes and experience the Arctic cold.  With only a few hours of daylight this time of the year, many also hope to see the spectacular colors of the Northern Lights streaking across the dark skies.   Last year, the town registered a record high of more than one million overnight stays.    Visitors looking to get a glimpse of Santa can meet the man himself at different locations in Rovaniemi, including the Santa Park underground theme park and the nearby Santa Claus Village.   “It’s super nice. It’s like in the Christmas movies, super magical,” said … “As Arctic climate warms, even Santa runs short of snow” →

PRISTINA, KOSOVO — An explosion Friday evening damaged a canal in northern Kosovo supplying water to two coal-fired power plants that generate nearly all of the country’s electricity, Prime Minister Albin Kurti said, blaming what he called “a terrorist act” by neighboring Serbia. There were no immediate reports of injuries and the cause of the blast, which also impacted drinking water supplies, was not clear. Serbian officials did not respond to requests for comment, and Reuters found no immediate evidence of Belgrade’s involvement. “This is a criminal and terrorist attack with the aim to destroy our critical infrastructure,” Kurti said in a televised address. He said that some of the country could be without power if the problem is not fixed by morning. In a sign of ethnic tensions between the two Balkan countries, Kurti echoed Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani by blaming Serbian criminal gangs without providing proof. Earlier on Friday, Kosovo police announced increased security measures after two recent attacks where hand grenades were hurled at a police station and municipality building in northern Kosovo where ethnic Serbians live. It was not clear if the incidents were linked. Local media showed pictures of part of the canal destroyed and leaking water and a heavy police presence at the site. Faruk Mujka, the head of water company Ibar-Lepenci, told local news portal Kallxo that an explosive device was thrown into the canal and damaged the wall of a bridge. He said the water supply, which also feeds drinking water to the capital, Pristina, must be halted to fix the problem as soon as possible since it was the main channel for supplying Kosovo Energy Corporation, the country’s main power provider. Independence for ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo came in 2008, almost a decade after a guerrilla uprising against Serbian rule. However, tensions persist, mainly in the north where the Serb minority refuses to recognize Kosovo’s statehood and still sees Belgrade as their capital. The EU’s Kosovo ambassador, Aivo Orav, condemned the attack that he said was already “depriving considerable parts of Kosovo from water supply.”   …

washington — The U.S. ratings agency Moody’s downgraded its outlook for Hungary’s government debt Friday citing “institutional and governance weaknesses” and concerns its antagonistic relationship with the EU could have financial consequences. Hungary is a recipient of substantial amounts of funding from the European Union, which are conditional on meeting certain criteria, including adherence to the rule of law. The country’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orban, has clashed with Brussels on a range of issues in recent years, some of which could see it lose out on those EU funds, Moody’s indicated in a note explaining its decision. “Our decision to change the outlook to negative (from stable) reflects downside risks related to the quality of Hungary’s institutions and governance,” Moody’s analysts wrote in a note explaining their decision. What that means, they said, is that Hungary could ultimately lose out on a “substantial” amount of EU money “because it does not meet the conditions for the release of these funds.” “In turn, this could lower trend GDP growth and weaken fiscal and debt metrics,” they added. In the same note, Moody’s affirmed Hungary’s investment grade foreign- and local-currency credit rating of Baa2. Moody’s said that the total EU funds allocated to Hungary were equivalent to around 3.4% of economic output per year. Given the ongoing “difficult negotiations” between Hungary and the EU, Moody’s noted there were “elevated risks that Hungary will miss out on a substantial amount” of some of that funding. …

TBILISI, GEORGIA — Thousands of demonstrators protesting the Georgian government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union rallied outside the parliament and clashed with police for a second straight night Friday. The night before, police used water cannons, pepper spray and tear gas to disperse protesters who took to the streets of Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze of the ruling Georgian Dream party announced the suspension. The interior ministry said it detained 43 people during the protests. On Friday evening, protesters again swarmed the parliament, with some trying to break the metal gates to the building. Riot police used water cannons to push them away from the building and later moved to force them farther back along Rustaveli Avenue, the city’s main boulevard. Some of the protesters used garbage bins and benches to try to build barricades. Clashes between police and protesters also erupted late Friday in the Black Sea port of Batumi. Georgian Dream’s disputed victory in the October 26 election, which was widely seen as a referendum on the country’s aspirations to join the European Union, has sparked massive demonstrations and led to an opposition boycott of the parliament. The opposition said the vote was rigged under the influence of Russia, which seeks to keep Georgia in its orbit. President Salome Zourabichvili joined protesters Thursday after accusing the government of declaring “war” on its own people. In Friday’s address to the nation, Zourabichvili urged police not to use force against protesters. The Georgian president, who has a largely ceremonial role, has declared that the ruling party rigged the election with the help of Russia, Georgia’s former imperial master. The government’s announcement that it was suspending negotiations to join the EU came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution that condemned last month’s vote as neither free nor fair, representing yet another manifestation of the continued democratic backsliding “for which the ruling Georgian Dream party is fully responsible.” European election observers said October’s vote took place in a divisive atmosphere marked by instances of bribery, double voting and physical violence. The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on the condition that it meet the bloc’s recommendations but put its accession on hold and cut financial support earlier this year after the passage of a “foreign influence” law widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms. EU lawmakers urged for a rerun … “Georgian protesters clash with police for 2nd night after EU talks suspended” →

seoul — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has told the Russian defense minister that Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons is the result of direct military intervention by the United States and that Moscow is entitled to fight in self-defense, state media said Saturday.   The state-run Korean Central News Agency said Kim met Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov on Friday, and it quoted the North Korean leader as saying, “The U.S. and the West made Kyiv authorities attack Russia’s territory with their own long-range strike weapons.” Russia should take action to make “hostile forces pay the price,” Kim said. “The DPRK government, army and people will invariably support the policy of the Russian Federation to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity from the imperialists’ moves for hegemony,” KCNA quoted Kim as saying.  DPRK is short for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.  Kim pledged to expand ties with Russia in all areas, including military affairs, under the comprehensive strategic partnership he signed with Russian President Vladimir Putin in June, which includes a mutual defense agreement, KCNA said.  Moscow and Pyongyang have dramatically advanced ties since their leaders held a summit in September 2023 in Russia, and the North has since shipped to Russia more than 10,000 containers of ammunition, as well as self-propelled howitzers and multiple rocket launchers, according to South Korea’s spy agency.  KCNA made no mention of whether Kim and Belousov discussed North Korea’s deployment of troops to Russia.  South Korea’s spy agency has said that North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia and that they have been moved to the front lines, including the Kursk region, where Russian forces are trying to expel Ukrainian forces.   Ukraine has fired U.S. ATACMS missiles to strike Russian territory after the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden gave permission to use them for such an attack this month.   Russia in turn unleashed attacks against Ukraine’s military and energy infrastructures, saying they were made in response to the use of U.S. medium-range missiles.   Belousov separately held talks with North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol and said the partnership pact signed by Kim and Putin would contribute to maintaining the balance of power in Northeast Asia.  Kim personally attended a reception hosted by the defense ministry for Belousov’s delegation, KCNA said.  …

Russia struck Dnipro, Ukraine, with an experimental Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile on November 21. Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the day after that the missile could not be intercepted. The claim is likely false. Leonid Martynyuk explains. …

TALLINN, ESTONIA — Imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Gorinov was convicted again on Friday for opposing Russia’s war in Ukraine and handed a three-year prison term. A swift, three-day trial against Gorinov, once a low-profile activist, underscored Moscow’s intolerance of any dissenting voices. Gorinov, a 63-year-old former member of a Moscow municipal council, is already serving a seven-year prison term for public criticism of the full-scale invasion. Taking into account his previous conviction and sentence, a court in Russia’s Vladimir region ordered him to serve a total of five years in a maximum-security prison, a facility with stricter conditions than the one he’s currently in. Russia’s independent news site Mediazona quoted Gorinov’s lawyer as saying that it means he will spend a year more behind bars compared to his previous sentence. Gorinov was first convicted in July 2022, when a court in Moscow sentenced him to seven years in prison for “spreading false information” about the Russian army at a municipal council meeting. Gorinov allegedly voiced skepticism about a children’s art competition in his constituency while saying that “every day children are dying” in Ukraine. He was the first known Russian sent to prison under a 2022 law that essentially bans any public expression about the war that deviates from the official narrative. His arrest, conviction and imprisonment has shocked many. In written comments to The Associated Press from behind bars in March 2023, Gorinov said that “authorities needed an example they could showcase to others (of) an ordinary person, rather than a public figure.” Authorities launched a second case against him last year, according to his supporters. He was accused of “justifying terrorism” in conversations with his cellmates about Ukraine’s Azov battalion, which Russia outlawed as a terrorist organization, and the 2022 explosion on the Crimean bridge, which Moscow deemed an act of terrorism. Gorinov vehemently rejected the accusations Wednesday, independent news site Mediazona reported. It quoted him as telling the court that he merely said the annexed Crimean Peninsula was Ukrainian territory and called Azov a part of the Ukrainian army. Gorinov’s trial began Wednesday in the Vladimir region, where he is serving time stemming from his previous conviction. Photos from the courtroom, published by Mediazona, showed a weary Gorinov in the defendant’s cage, with a hand-drawn peace symbol on a piece of paper covering his prison badge. He held a hand-written placard saying: “Stop killing. Let’s stop the war.” … “Kremlin critic convicted again, handed new prison term for opposing war in Ukraine” →

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has urged his NATO counterparts to issue an invitation at a meeting in Brussels next week to Kyiv to join the Western military alliance, according to the text of a letter seen by Reuters on Friday. The letter reflects Ukraine’s renewed push to secure an invitation to join NATO, which is part of a “victory plan” outlined last month by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to end the war triggered by Russia’s 2022 invasion. Ukraine says it accepts that it cannot join the alliance until the war is over but extending an invitation now would show Russian President Vladimir Putin that he could not achieve one of his main goals — preventing Kyiv from becoming a NATO member. “The invitation should not be seen as an escalation,” Sybiha wrote in the letter. “On the contrary, with a clear understanding that Ukraine’s membership in NATO is inevitable, Russia will lose one of its main arguments for continuing this unjustified war,” he wrote. “I urge you to endorse the decision to invite Ukraine to join the Alliance as one of the outcomes of the NATO Foreign Ministerial Meeting on 3-4 December 2024.” NATO diplomats say there is no consensus among alliance members to invite Ukraine at this stage. Any such decision would require the consent of all NATO’s 32 member countries. NATO has declared that Ukraine will join the alliance and that it is on an “irreversible” path to membership. But it has not issued a formal invitation or set out a timeline. Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister in charge of NATO affairs, said Kyiv understood that the consensus for an invitation to join NATO “is not yet there” but the letter was meant to send a strong political signal. “We have sent a message to the allies that invitation is not off of the table, regardless of different manipulations and speculations around that,” she told Reuters. In his letter, Sybiha argued an invitation would be the right response “to Russia’s constant escalation of the war it has unleashed, the latest demonstration of which is the involvement of tens of thousands of North Korean troops and the use of Ukraine as a testing ground for new weapons.” In recent days, however, diplomats have said they do not see any changes of stance among NATO countries, particularly as they await the Ukraine policy of the United States — the … “Ukraine asks NATO for membership invite next week, letter shows” →

After more than five years of frenetic reconstruction work, Notre Dame Cathedral showed its new self to the world Friday, with rebuilt soaring ceilings and creamy good-as-new stonework erasing somber memories of its devastating fire in 2019. Images broadcast live of a site visit by French President Emmanuel Macron showed the inside of the iconic cathedral as worshippers might have experienced it back in medieval times, its wide, open spaces filled with bright light on a crisp and sunny winter’s day that lit up the vibrant colors of the stained-glass windows. Outside, the monument is still a construction site, with scaffolding and cranes. But the renovated interior — shown in its full glory Friday for the first time before the public is allowed back in on December 8 — proved to be breathtaking. Stonemasons fixed the ripped-open ceilings Gone are the gaping holes that the blaze tore into the vaulted ceilings, leaving charred piles of debris. New stonework has been carefully pieced together to repair and fill the wounds that had left the cathedral’s insides exposed to the elements. Delicate golden angels look on from the centerpiece of one of the rebuilt ceilings, soaring again above the transept. The cathedral’s bright, cream-colored limestone walls look brand new, cleaned not only of dust from the fire but also of grime that had accumulated for centuries. The cathedral attracted millions of worshippers and visitors annually before the April 15, 2019, fire forced its closure and turned the monument in the heart of Paris into a no-go zone except to artisans, architects and others mobilized for the reconstruction. Macron entered via the cathedral’s giant and intricately carved front doors and stared up at the ceilings in wonder. He was accompanied by his wife, Brigitte, the archbishop of Paris and others. Techniques new and old deployed Powerful vacuum cleaners were used to first remove toxic dust released when the fire melted the cathedral’s lead roofs. Fine layers of latex were then sprayed onto the surfaces and removed a few days later, taking dirt away with them. Cleaning gels were also used on some walls that had been painted, removing many years of accumulated dirt and revealing their bright colors once again. Carpenters worked by hand like their medieval counterparts as they hewed giant oak beams to rebuild the roof and spire that collapsed like a flaming spear into the inferno. The beams show the … “Notre Dame Cathedral unveils new interior 5 years after devastating fire “ →

Vinnytsia resident Vyacheslav Strazhets lost his right arm in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but even as an amputee, he is doing what he can to help other soldiers fight the war. Anna Kosstutschenko has the story. Camera: Pavel Suhodolskiy …

PRAGUE — Lola Tagaeva has no problem acknowledging that she is not an easy boss. But when you’re running a startup news outlet from exile while your home country is at war, a steely demeanor can be an asset. “I think it’s incredibly tough to work with me,” Tagaeva said with pride, when we met at a Prague cafe on a rainy October morning. Tagaeva asks her reporters “to travel to the future,” she said, and to figure out what stories haven’t been told yet. “We have to be two steps ahead,” she said. That outlook is what helped put the outlet she founded — Verstka — on the map in such a short period of time. Tagaeva founded the news website from exile shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The outlet now reaches millions of people each month and has grown into a major player in the independent Russian media landscape. Originally from the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Tagaeva left Russia for Prague in 2019 — not because of safety concerns over her work, but because of her daughter. “I never wanted to move, actually, but when I gave birth to her, I understood that I wanted her to grow up in a free place,” Tagaeva said. Tagaeva had worked at top Russian independent outlets, including Novaya Gazeta and TV Rain. But after years of hoping that her work would bring change to Russia, only to see the country become more authoritarian, she was burned out. “Every day was news from [an] apocalypse,” Tagaeva said. Tagaeva’s break from journalism lasted about three years. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the journalist knew that many more stories would need to be told and that the Kremlin would embark on a harsher crackdown on independent media. “I started to feel some kind of responsibility,” she said. So, she founded Verstka. Verstka is Russian for “layout,” like the layout of a newspaper’s front page. The outlet started in April 2022 and now reaches millions of people each month, about 70% of whom are inside Russia, according to Tagaeva. Verstka’s success is at least partly a product of the time in which it was founded, when Russian journalists were figuring out how to reinvent themselves during war and as a media crackdown forced them into exile, according to Karol Luczka, who covers eastern Europe at the International Press Institute in Vienna. “They [Verstka’s staff] were able to … “Russia’s war in Ukraine inspires exiled journalist to found media startup” →

When Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in an August 2023 plane crash, many analysts said his death could mark the end of the Wagner Group, the private military company he co-founded that provided thousands of Russian mercenaries for Moscow’s initiatives and other interests abroad. But more than a year later, the picture of Russian mercenary activities has only grown more complicated, researchers say. Before Prigozhin’s death, Wagner’s mercenaries had fought in conflicts around the world –– from Ukraine to the Middle East and Africa –– and helped Russia to spread its influence far beyond its borders. Along the way, Wagner faced allegations of murdering African civilians and committing war crimes. Then, in June 2023, Prigozhin launched an unexpected insurrection against Russian authorities over their handling of the war in Ukraine. His mercenaries captured the city of Rostov-on-Don and marched on toward Moscow. Prigozhin stood down only after the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, mediated a deal. After such brazen insubordination, many were unsurprised when Prigozhin died in a plane crash less than two months later. But predictions that the Wagner Group’s activities would die with him have proven to be untrue. Wagner Group fighters are still active in the Central African Republic and Mali. In other countries like Niger, it has been replaced by Africa Corps, a successor organization subordinate to Russia’s defense ministry. In other cases, different Russian militarized structures have picked up the Wagner name and symbols. What is clear to analysts is that Russian mercenaries are not going away. If anything, the future of Russian private military companies will be “more sustainable and less spectacular” according to Jack Margolin, an independent researcher who recently published a book on the Wagner Group. Since Prigozhin’s death, Russia has “really effectively created infrastructure and incentive structures in order to draw in former [Wagner] fighters and build this system of semi-formal forces,” he told VOA. Ties with the Russian state The Wagner Group’s activities around the world have always been intertwined with Russian foreign policy, but the exact nature of that connection is a subject of debate among experts. Margolin notes that Wagner co-founder Dmitry Utkin –– who also died in the August 2023 plane crash –– served in the special forces of Russia’s foreign intelligence agency, commonly called the GRU. Around 2014, he and Prigozhin founded the Wagner Group, which was initially small. That same year, Wagner took part … “Over a year after Wagner Group leader’s death, Russian mercenaries aren’t going away” →

Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday threatened to strike “decision-making centers in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, with Russia’s new Oreshnik hypersonic cruise missiles, after pounding Ukrainian energy infrastructure and cutting off power to more than one million people across the country. “We do not rule out the use of Oreshnik against the military, military-industrial or decision-making centers, including in Kyiv,” Putin told a news conference in the Kasakh capital, Astana. He said he launched Thursday’s drone and missile attack against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with U.S. medium-range ATACMS missiles. The attack marked Russia’s second big attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure this month. Officials said it was the 11th major strike on Ukraine’s energy system since March. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of a “despicable escalation,” saying it had used cruise missiles with cluster munitions. The attack marks Russia’s second big attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure this month. Officials said it was the 11th major strike on Ukraine’s energy system since March. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow launched the attack in response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with U.S. medium-range ATACMS missiles. Putin also said Russia’s future targets could include “decision-making centers” in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. Ukraine called on the international community to respond to Putin’s threats to target government centers in Kyiv. “We expect those countries that have urged everyone to avert the expansion of the war to react to the statements voiced by Putin today,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said. In addition to the more than 1 million people who lost power in the aftermath of the strikes, millions more had their existing schedule of rolling power cuts escalated. The Ukrainian air force said Russia used 91 missiles and 97 drones in the assault. The air force said 12 of those hit their targets, the majority of which were energy and fuel facilities. All missiles or drones aimed at Kyiv were brought down, officials said. “The enemy is using a large number of missiles and drones. Their massive use in certain areas often exceeds the number of means of [air defense] cover,” the air force said in a statement. In the Lviv region, 523,000 subscribers lost electricity, regional head Maksym Kozytsky said on social media. The region, in the western part of the country, borders Poland. Directly north of the Lviv region, 215,000 customers lost power in the … “Putin threatens Kyiv with new hypersonic cruise missile” →

N’DJAMENA, chad — Chad’s government said Thursday that it had ended its defense cooperation pact with France, a move that could see French troops leave the Central African country.  In a statement, Chad’s foreign ministry said the country, a key Western ally in the fight against Islamic militants in the region, wanted to fully assert its sovereignty after more than six decades of independence.   It said the decision to end the defense cooperation agreement revised in 2019 would enable it to redefine its strategic partnerships.   Chad has cooperated closely with Western nations’ military forces in the past, but it has moved closer to Russia in recent years.   The decision is another nail in the coffin of France’s historic and colonial role in West and Central Africa after being forced to pull its troops out of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso following military coups.   The military juntas have since turned to Russia, which has mercenaries deployed across the Sahel region – a band of countries stretching from Africa’s northwest to northeast coasts – and has been fostering closer ties with Chad’s President Mahamat Deby.  “In accordance with the terms of the accord, Chad will respect the modalities of the termination, including the necessary deadlines, and will collaborate with French authorities to ensure a harmonious transition,” the statement said.  The French foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment.  France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, on Thursday visited Chad’s border with Sudan.   There were no indications that Paris had been given advance notice of the decision, although a French envoy to President Emmanuel Macron this week handed in a report with proposals on how France could reduce its military presence in Chad, Gabon and Ivory Coast, where it has deployed thousands of troops for decades.  France has around 1,000 troops as well as warplanes stationed in Chad.  In a further blow to France, Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said in an interview with French state TV on Thursday that it was inappropriate for French troops to maintain a presence in his country.   He stopped short of saying if or when French troops would be asked to leave, but he said Paris would be the first to know. Around 350 French troops are based in Senegal.  The statement by Chad’s foreign ministry said the decision to end the nation’s defense partnership with France should in no way undermine the … “Chad ends defense cooperation agreement with France” →

Former Moscow lawmaker Alexei Gorinov, serving a seven-year prison sentence for criticizing Russia’s war in Ukraine, unfurled an anti-war banner in a courtroom cage as he went on trial on new, more severe charges of justifying terrorism. Gorinov was the first individual jailed in Russia for openly opposing the war. Human rights activists demand his release. See the full story here.   …

Previously all-powerful, the Wagner Group has slowly been reduced in size and dismantled in many of the countries it operated in since the death of its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in August 2023. VOA Russian spoke to U.S. and Russian researchers who have written books about the Wagner Group in the past year, and they tell a story of the military group now narrowly focused only on certain countries in Africa where they continue to serve the Kremlin’s interests. See the full story here.   …