Mild weather has left many regions of Europe that would normally be blanketed in snow at this time of year bare, and winter sports resorts are fearing for the future.

Many are using snow machines to make artificial pistes or ‘snow runs’ leaving thin white lines snaking through otherwise green and brown landscapes.

In the Swiss village of Adelboden, organizers of Saturday’s ski World Cup race grappled with above-freezing temperatures to ensure athletes could compete in the popular event while spectators basked in the blazing sunshine.

Experts say this season’s lack of snow offers a glimpse of winters to come, as global temperatures keep rising due to human-caused climate change.

The impact is likely to be felt far beyond the regional tourist industry. Winter snow in European mountains such as the Alps is an important natural water store for parts of a continent that’s already suffering regular droughts the rest of the year.
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As artillery boomed outside and fighter jets flew overhead, Orthodox Christians in a battered eastern Ukrainian town held a Christmas service in a basement shelter Saturday, vowing not to let war ruin the holiday.

Nearly all the congregants and all but one choir singer had already fled Chasiv Yar for safer territory, leaving just nine people to attend the service in a residential building that partially collapsed from shelling in November.

“Christ was born in a cave. You and I are also in a cave,” priest Oleg Kruchinin told the group, gesturing to the basement lined with exposed wires and pipes and lit with an exposed bulb.

“This probably has a special meaning: Do not lose heart, do not give up… Because the Lord was born in a cave, and we also celebrate Christmas in cramped conditions.”

Chasiv Yar is situated 10 kilometers south of Bakhmut, the hottest point on the front line, and has lived under the constant threat of bombardment for many weeks.

For the first nine months of the war, the town’s Orthodox Christians worshipped in a white-brick church with golden domes, even though the building had no underground shelter.

But two weeks ago, a missile landed in the churchyard and shattered its windows, forcing them to relocate.

“One of our parishioners lives in this house, and now, since her apartment is partially destroyed, she lives in the basement, and she called us here,” explained Olga Kruchinina, the priest’s wife.

The church has done what it can to brighten the space, placing a tiny Christmas tree atop a wooden cupboard, hanging white and red tapestries and wrapping tree branches around one pipe like a garland.

Kruchinina said she was proud of the effort, even as she whipped out her mobile phone to show pictures of the larger, more lavishly decorated trees that stood in the church entrance a year ago.

“For us, everything is going well,” she said.

“When I think about the military guys I know, they are in much worse conditions.”

‘Unusual’ holiday

During the two-hour service, worshippers did their best to tune out the war, flinching only once in response to artillery fire.

Lighting beeswax candles, they lined up to give confession and receive communion as the strong smell of incense filled the low-ceilinged rooms.

The choir, formerly 15 strong, featured just one member: 62-year-old Zinaida Artyukhina, who led the group in psalms that often became solo performances.

“Normally I sing the alto part, so it was difficult to lead,” she said afterward.

“It’s unusual here. Today is my first time here in the basement,” she added.

“Thank God that we gathered at all.”

In his remarks, Priest Kruchinin compared the plight of those who have fled Chasiv Yar to that of Jesus, whose family fled to Egypt to escape King Herod.

“Today, many of our parishioners also evacuated. But everyone prays today with us wherever they are, where the Lord saved them from bombs and shells,” he said.

“And we hope that just as the Holy Family returned to their Jerusalem, in the same way our parishioners will return to their Chasiv Yar.”

In the meantime, the church hopes to keep the basement open to worshippers like Nina Popova, 77, who walks 3 kilometers to the building every day to read hymns — even when the temperature falls well below zero, as it did Saturday.

“We will serve as long as there is an opportunity,” said Kruchinina.

“If this becomes point ‘zero’ (on the front line), then of course we will not serve. But we don’t want it to turn out like this.”
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Thousands of Kurds from around France and Europe marched through Paris Saturday to show their anger over the unresolved murders of three Kurdish female activists in the French capital 10 years ago.

The marchers are also mourning three people killed outside a Kurdish cultural center in Paris two weeks ago in what prosecutors called a racist attack.

Kurdish activists from Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium arrived in buses escorted by police and joined fellow Kurds from France in a peaceful march through northeast Paris. The demonstration was timed to mark the 10th anniversary of the killings of Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Saylemez on Jan. 9, 2013.

Cansiz was a founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, also known as the PKK, which Turkey, the United States and the European Union consider a terrorist group.

Kurdish activists suspect the Turkish intelligence service was involved in the killings. The suspected attacker, a Turkish citizen, died in French custody before the case reached trial. Turkish officials suggested at the time that the killings may have been part of an internal feud among Kurdish activists or an attempt to derail peace talks.

Marchers carried banners bearing the victims’ portraits, as well as flags for the PKK, which is banned in Turkey.

Berfin Celebm, a 26-year-old who came from Amsterdam for the march, accused Turkey of involvement in both the 2013 and 2022 attacks.

“I want to support my struggle and I want to support Kurdish women,” she told The Associated Press.

While most marchers were Kurdish, the crowd also included left-wing French activists and some ethnic Turks.

“Today we are here to support our Kurdish friends because I am Turkish myself, and it is very important, because what is happening with the Kurdish people can happen to us as well tomorrow,” said Ibrahim Halac, a Turkish man living in Paris.

Organizers sought to keep the crowd contained. Paris police were on alert Saturday after skirmishes at Kurdish gatherings in the past, notably in response to last month’s shooting.

After the December 23 attack, the suspected assailant told investigators he had a “pathological” hatred of non-European foreigners, according to prosecutors. He was handed preliminary charges of racially motivated murder, though Kurdish activists suspect the attack was politically driven.

Turkey summoned France’s ambassador last week over what it called propaganda by Kurdish activists in France after the shooting.

The PKK has waged a separatist insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984. Turkey’s army has battled Kurdish militants affiliated with the PKK in southeast Turkey as well as in northern Iraq, and recently launched a series of strikes against Kurdish militant targets in northern Syria.
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In response to the hanging of two Iranian protesters, a German lawmaker of Iranian descent has demanded that Germany expel the ambassadors of the Islamic Republic.

Earlier Saturday, Iran executed Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini by hanging. They had been convicted of killing a member of the Basij, a volunteer paramilitary in Iran.

“Let me express my condolences to the parents of the executed youth who are really grieving these days. The news this morning really stunned us, and we don’t know what to say,” said Sepehr Amiri, a member of the Christian Democratic Union party and a representative in the parliament of the German state of Lower Saxony.

In Germany, more than 100 politicians sponsor political prisoners in Iran.

The lawmakers’ sponsorship means they use their political heft in communicating with Iranian ambassadors, other politicians and human rights organizations in bringing attention to the plight of individual Iranian prisoners.

The hope is that the attention given to the prisoners will prevent Iranian judges from handing down harsh sentences, including the death penalty, in trials that are often not open to the public.

Politicians in other countries, such as Canada, Britain, France and Sweden, also sponsor Iranian political prisoners.

After the two protesters were executed Saturday, Amiri underscored that more needs to be done.

“As I said a few weeks ago, I am sure that political sponsorship is indeed a very good lever, because it disseminates information, and people outside Iran can know what is happening in Iran,” he told Voice of America’s Persian News Network.

“But the lives of the detainees remain in danger. We must take more drastic measures, including deporting those who work for the Islamic Republic of Iran, and closing all Iranian consulates in Germany,” he told VOA.

Last month, Amnesty International said Iran is seeking the death penalty for at least 26 protesters after what it said were sham trials.

The violent suppression of peaceful protests by Iranians, and the issuance and execution of death sentences by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran have drawn a wave of global condemnations.

Many Iranian protesters do not consider the imposition of sanctions against high-ranking political officials of the Iranian government to be enough, and they have demanded the closure of the representative offices and embassies of the Islamic Republic and the expulsion of all its ambassadors from Western countries.
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The U.N. human rights office has called on the government of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to drop criminal charges against Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Ales Bialiatski and to immediately free him from detention. 

Belarusian Laureate Ales Bialiatski went on trial Thursday in the capital, Minsk, on charges that human rights activists widely view as bogus.  If found guilty, he faces up to 12 years in jail.

Two other representatives of his organization, the Viasna Human Rights Center, also are on trial and could face lengthy prison sentences.  U.N. human rights spokesman Jeremy Laurence says his office has serious concerns about the conduct of their trial.

“The trio are among hundreds detained after a violent crackdown on anti-government protests back in 2020,” said Laurence. “We call for the charges against them to be dropped and their immediate release from detention.”  

Bialiatski jointly won the 2022 Nobel peace prize along with Russian human rights organization Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties.  Bialiatski did not attend the award ceremony in October because he was in prison.

Laurence says Bialiatski and his colleagues are being held on charges of financing protests against the government and of violating public order.

“I am not a lawyer, so I cannot go into the technical detail of the laws itself under which they have been charged,” said Laurence. “Suffice to say that we consider these to be arbitrary arrests, constitute arbitrary detention.  And that the charges are simply politically motivated.” 

Laurence notes the human rights office, and the special procedures unit are closely following the case.  He says concerns about widespread, gross violations in Belarus have been raised at the Human Rights Council and the U.N. General Assembly.
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A senior State Department official is leading a U.S. delegation to three Western Balkan nations in the coming days following weeks of ethnic tensions in the region.

Counselor of the United States Department of State Derek Chollet and the U.S. delegation will be traveling to Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia.

The border between Kosovo and Serbia is open again after roadblocks by protesting Serbs led authorities to close border crossings between Kosovo and Serbia, as authorities worried the tensions could turn violent.

Chollet told VOA Serbian on Thursday that his visit next week comes at a key moment.

“The last few weeks has, unfortunately, seen a rise in tensions between Kosovo and Serbia. In the last 48 hours we’ve seen barricades come down, we’ve seen the border crossings reopened between Kosovo and Serbia. That’s good news,” he said.

Since 2011, Serbia and Kosovo have been part of an EU-facilitated dialogue whose purpose is the normalization of relations. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 – which was never recognized by the Serbian authorities.

The European Union facilitated dialogue between the two sides last year, but the talks frequently ended up deadlocked.

Chollet said he wants to focus on talking about the future of Kosovo and Serbia as well as the normalization proposal laid about by the EU.

In the recent months, American and European officials were engaged in speeding up the dialogue regarding the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo. The European Union has presented a proposal, but Chollet declined to provide details.

“I think sometimes in any negotiation, some of those details are best left behind closed doors until they’re ready. But we think the EU has laid out a viable path. Again, it’s going to be hard, and it’s going to require a lot of work, tough decisions, and courage by leaders to put aside differences and to do what’s in the best interests of their country. We want to help them achieve that goal,” Chollet said.

He also said that the U.S. continues to prioritize the 2013 Brussels Agreement that calls for forming the association of Serbian municipalities.

“We’ve been very clear about this. We believe that this is a commitment that’s been made and should be set up. But there are many other issues, both sides have obligations here we’d like to see them move forward,” said Chollet.

The Association of Serbian municipalities is a planned association of municipalities with a Serb majority population in Kosovo. It should have an overview of the areas of economic development, education, health, urban and rural planning.

Kosovo authorities are opposed to its creation citing it is unconstitutional and pushed by the Serbian government from Belgrade.

Yet, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti praised the European proposal for an agreement between the two countries, saying it includes universal principles, such “as territorial integrity, sovereignty, independence, equality, rule of law, democracy, [and] self-determination” that he said would make an agreement sustainable.

But he told VOA Albanian Service that Belgrade has not signaled that it is ready to accept it.

“To mask the rejection of this proposal they resigned from the institutions in Kosovo north of the Ibar (river) and with these barricades on one side they wanted to territorialize the issue … and on the other hand they wanted to stifle the political pluralism of the Serbian community.”

The prime minister said the agreement on the Association of Serbian Municipalities has not passed the test of Kosovo’s Constitutional Court.
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The Islamist Taliban joined British critics Friday to denounce Prince Harry for admitting to being responsible for the killing of 25 people in Afghanistan while serving as a military helicopter pilot there.

The British prince made the disclosures in his upcoming memoir, Spare, claiming the army had trained him to view members of the then-insurgent Taliban not “as people” but instead as “chess pieces” to be removed from the board.

Taliban foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi slammed Harry’s revelations.

“The western occupation of Afghanistan is truly an odious moment in human history and comments by Prince Harry is a microcosm of the trauma experienced by Afghans at the hands of occupation forces whom murdered innocents without any accountability,” Balkhi told VOA in written comments.

“Some of the recent reports highlighting the scale of murder by foreign airpower and raids including by UK forces is what Prince Harry also participated in,” Balkhi said.

Harry is quoted as saying that the death of the 25 people “wasn’t a statistic that filled me with pride but nor did it leave me ashamed.”

The 38-year-old Duke of Sussex said he killed the insurgents during his second deployment to Afghanistan in 2012, when he conducted six combat missions as an Apache helicopter co-pilot.

“Mr. Harry! The ones you killed were not chess pieces, they were humans; they had families who were waiting for their return. Among the killers of Afghans, not many have your decency to reveal their conscience and confess to their war crimes,” tweeted Anas Haqqani, a central Taliban leader.

Harry also came under fire from British media and former army officers for what they denounced as irresponsible disclosures by the prince, fearing they could endanger his personal security and expose British soldiers serving overseas to revenge attacks by Taliban sympathizers.

“Love you #PrinceHarry but you need to shut up!” Ben McBean, a former Royal Marine who served with Harry in Afghanistan, tweeted Thursday. “Makes you wonder the people he’s hanging around with. If it was good people, somebody by now would have told him to stop.” 

Harry’s autobiography is scheduled for publication in Britain on January 10. It showed up on bookshelves in Barcelona, Spain, on January 5. 

More than 240,000 people, most of them civilians, died as a direct result of the war in Afghanistan since the U.S. invaded the country to topple the Taliban in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S.

The U.S. and its NATO allies lost the lives of 3,586 soldiers, including 2,442 Americans, according to figures released by the Brown University’s Costs of War project in 2021.

“I don’t expect that the [International Criminal Court] will summon you or the human rights activists will condemn you, because they are deaf and blind for you. But hopefully these atrocities will be remembered in the history of humanity,” Haqqani wrote.

Haqqani is the younger brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the interior minister in the interim Taliban administration.

The Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August 2021 from the then internationally backed government as the United States-led western troops withdrew from the country after 20 years of war with the insurgents.

The Taliban themselves were accused of committing war crimes while waging insurgent attacks against foreign forces and their Afghan partners.

The elder Haqqani led and trained a large group of militants, plotting high-profile attacks in support of Taliban insurgents and killing hundreds of people, including foreign nationals.

“The Haqqanis killed some Americans, yes. But they killed vastly more Afghans—the same people, with the same humanity, that he’s lecturing Harry about,” tweeted Jonathan Schroden who directs the U.S.-based Countering Threats and Challenges Program at the CNA Corporation.

The U.S. still lists the so-called Haqqani Network of militants as a global terrorist organization and carries a multimillion-dollar bounty for information leading to the arrest of its head, the current Taliban interior minister.

The Islamist rulers have rolled back the human rights of Afghans and placed restrictions on women’s access to public life, as well as education since taking control of Afghanistan.

The Taliban have reintroduced their strict interpretation of Islamic law or Shariah to govern Afghanistan, regularly carrying out public flogging of alleged criminals, including women, in defiance of global calls for halting the punishment. The group also staged its public execution of a convicted murder last month, triggering a global outrage.

The Taliban have rejected calls for reversing bans on women and other polices, effectively deterring the international community from formally granting legitimacy to the de facto rulers in Kabul.
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United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Tuerk has warned about what he sees as the “systematic countering of women’s rights and gender equality” around the world.

In an exclusive interview Wednesday with Agence France-Presse, the French news agency, Tuerk said he was very concerned about the “backsliding and the pushbacks” he has seen against women recently, particularly on social media.

“We see it in social media, for example, where misogynistic, sexist comments seem to be allowed in a way, and thriving, which is very concerning,” he said.

Tuerk cited Afghanistan and the ruling Taliban as the “worst of the worst,” and called their repression of women “unparalleled.” Last month, the Taliban banned women from working in nongovernmental organizations and had previously reneged on promises to allow women and girls to receive university and secondary education.

The human rights chief called on the international community to “act in utmost solidarity with the women and the girls of Afghanistan, and we need to make sure that this cannot be the norm in the future.”

Tuerk has also sought to visit Iran, where protests have rocked the country since September, when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody after she allegedly violated the country’s strict dress code for women. He said the Iranian authorities had yet to respond to his request.

Tuerk said if he is allowed to go, he would again call for a repeal of “discriminatory practices against women and girls” and raise the subject of the authorities’ brutal crackdown on the protests. He expressed particular alarm at the use of the death penalty in connection with the protests.

He said, the death penalty “must absolutely not be used in this type of context under any circumstances.”

Oslo-based monitor Iran Human Rights says nearly 500 people have been killed in the crackdown, while thousands have been arrested.

Beyond the systematic actions taken by states, Tuerk called for a “global consensus” on how to address misinformation and hate speech, how to counter it on social platforms, how to make sure they act responsibly and “don’t add fuel to the fire, to conflict situations … or the backlash that we saw on gender issues.”

Overall, the U.N. human rights chief interpreted these acts of misogyny as “a last attempt by patriarchy to show its force,” against a worldwide movement toward the empowerment of women and gender equity.

He said, “They cannot prevent the new world from giving birth, and I’m very, very confident that this will be a thing of the past because patriarchy is not for the future. It’s something that has to be put into the history books.”

Information for this report came from Agence France-Presse.
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In early December, Ukrainian officials said they estimated 10,000 to 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. We visited Lviv to meet with some of the families that have lost loved ones in the war. Omelyan Oshchudlyak has the story. Camera: Yuriy Dankevych
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“Militias from the Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) and Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) were formally integrated into the Russian armed forces on 31 December 2022,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said Friday in its update on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, posted on Twitter.

Luhansk and Donetsk are both internationally recognized as being part of Ukraine.

However, Russia “claims the LNR and DNR as intrinsic parts of the Russian Federation following the fixed accession referendums of September 2022,” the ministry said.  In addition, Russia “has discreetly controlled both since 2014, creating DNR’s 1st Army Corps and LNR’s 2nd Army Corps and supporting them with Russian military officers.”

“The status and identities of the DNR and LNR likely remain divisive within the Russian system.  Even before the February 2022 invasion, these territories represented a significant drain on Russian finances,” the British Defense Ministry said.  “Now the Kremlin has overtly committed to supporting them, they will likely constitute a large political, diplomatic and financial cost for Russia which will last well beyond the current phase of the conflict.”

Meanwhile, the United States will send 50 Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine as part of a new round of military aid to Kyiv, two defense officials tell VOA.

The Bradleys will come with hundreds of TOW anti-tank guided missiles and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition, according to a government document shared with VOA before an official announcement expected Friday.

U.S. President Joe Biden first announced that Bradleys would be included in the new package, a statement the Pentagon confirmed later Thursday.

“It’s not a tank, but it’s a tank killer,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters. “It will provide a significant boost to Ukraine’s already-impressive armored capabilities, and we’re confident that it will aid them on the battlefield.”

Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Bradleys are “a significant improvement compared to what the U.S. has already provided.”

“The Bradley Fighting Vehicle will help infantry forces accompany fast-moving armored forces, providing the infantry additional protection, agility and firepower,” Bowman said.

Germany and France also are sending armored vehicles, the two countries announced this week.

In addition, Germany will match the U.S. in sending Ukraine a Patriot missile battery for defense, the White House said Thursday. Training to use the Patriots, which former officials say will take months to complete, is still being finalized.

“We’re exploring a variety of options, to include potential training here in the U.S., overseas or a combination of both,” Ryder told reporters at the Pentagon.

The Patriot is the most advanced surface-to-air missile system the West has provided to date to help repel Russian aerial attacks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday thanked France for its AMX-10 RC armored fighting vehicles, which are built around a powerful turret-mounted GIAT 105mm gun, while also calling on allies to provide heavier weapons.

“There is no rational reason why Ukraine has not yet been supplied with Western tanks,” Zelenskyy said.

Asked last month why the U.S. had not yet supplied Ukraine with the American-made M1A1 Abrams tanks, Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper told VOA the U.S. prioritized the supply of armored personnel carriers like Humvees that Ukraine could use “right now,” along with helping refurbish Soviet-type tanks that Ukrainians are already familiar with and could be “deployed immediately.”

“Something like a Western-style tank would take a much longer time period, not just to train on, but a much more complex and challenging maintenance and sustainment system,” she said in an exclusive interview. “[It’s] not something that could happen in the immediate future.”

Pressed on Thursday about possibly sending M1A1 Abrams, Ryder added, “We’re going to keep all options on the table.”

Orthodox Christmas cease-fire

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered a 36-hour cease-fire in his war against Ukraine over the Orthodox Christmas holiday.

He ordered Russian troops to stop attacks for a day and a half on its neighboring country starting at noon Friday, the Kremlin said. Many Orthodox Christians, including those living in Russia and Ukraine, celebrate Christmas on Jan. 6 and 7.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a supporter of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, called on Thursday for both sides of the war in Ukraine to observe a Christmas truce. But the Kyiv government dismissed it as “hypocrisy” and a cynical trap, and Ryder also expressed skepticism.

“While Russia seems to be pretty good at exporting violence, they don’t seem to be pretty good at exporting the truth. And so we’ll see,” Ryder said in response to a question from VOA.

In an order, Putin said, “Proceeding from the fact that a large number of citizens professing Orthodoxy live in the areas of hostilities, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare a cease-fire and allow them to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as on Christmas Day.”

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior aide to Ukraine’s president, characterized the Russian Orthodox Church as a “war propagandist” that had incited the “mass murder” of Ukrainians and the militarization of Russia.

Separately Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Putin that negotiations to halt Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should be supported by a unilateral cease-fire.

Erdogan’s office said he and Putin spoke by phone and that peace talks should include a “vision for a fair solution.”
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France announced it will send light tanks to Ukraine, a French official said on Wednesday after a phone call between the two countries’ leaders.

French President Emmanuel Macron told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that France would send light AMX-10 RC armored combat vehicles — a light tank model the French military has used since the 1980s but is being phased out — to help its war effort against Russia, the official said.

“The president [Macron] wanted to increase … aid” to Ukraine by delivering the AMX-10 RC light tanks, a Macron aide told reporters on condition of anonymity after the call. “It is the first time that Western-designed tanks are supplied to the Ukrainian armed forces.”

In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy thanked France, adding that Ukraine needed other allies to also provide heavier weapons.

“This is something that sends a clear signal to all our partners. There is no rational reason why Ukraine has not yet been supplied with Western tanks,” he said.

France did not say how many of the combat vehicles would be given to Ukraine.

U.S. President Joe Biden also said Wednesday that the U.S. is considering sending Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine.

While traveling in Kentucky, Biden was asked by reporters whether the U.S. was considering providing Ukraine with the Bradley, “a lightly armored, fully tracked transport vehicle that provides cross-country mobility, mounted firepower and protection from artillery and small-arms fire.”

The president said “yes,” without offering further comment.

Nearly 11 months ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, saying the pro-Western country needed to be “demilitarized” and “de-Nazified.” The United States and Western allies have criticized the military action and are providing financial and military aid while also leveling multiple rounds of sanctions against Russia.

France has provided Kyiv with state-of-the-art artillery, armored personnel carriers, anti-aircraft missiles and air-defense systems. And the U.S. has provided Ukraine with more than 2,000 combat vehicles, including 477 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles and more than 1,200 Humvees, The Associated Press reported.

In December, Biden also announced the U.S. would for the first time send Ukraine a Patriot missile battery, the most advanced surface-to-air missile system the West has provided to help repel Russian aerial attacks.

Russia’s Putin dismissed the announcement of the weapons system, saying they were old and Russia’s missile systems would shoot them down.

“The Patriot air defense is outdated. An antidote will always be found. … Russia will knock down the Patriot system,” he said at the time.

Also Wednesday, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby discussed the fighting in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, calling it “bloody” and “vicious.”

“The fighting there in the Donbas has been quite intense in recent weeks, and it’s pretty clear to us, and certainly clear to the Ukrainians, that the Russians continue to flow manpower in to try to tip the balance there, particularly in the Donetsk area,” Kirby said.

“Though winter is upon us, the fighting has not stopped and the fighting in the east has been particularly intense in the last several weeks,” he added. “And I think we need to expect that that kind of fighting will continue for quite some time.”

Earlier this week, Ukraine struck Russian military barracks in the Russian-held eastern Ukrainian town of Makiivka. At least 89 Russian soldiers were killed, and Moscow sought to blame the soldiers’ use of mobile phones for giving away their location, allowing for the strike.

Britain’s defense ministry also said Wednesday that the attack may have been exacerbated by Russia storing ammunition close to where Russian troops were staying.

“Given the extent of the damage, there is a realistic possibility that ammunition was being stored near to troop accommodation, which detonated during the strike, creating secondary explosions,” the ministry tweeted in its latest daily assessment.

The British defense ministry added that Russia had a history of unsafe ammunition storage before it launched its invasion of Ukraine, “but this incident highlights how unprofessional practices contribute to Russia’s high casualty rate.”

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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The deadliest Ukrainian strike on Russian troops reported so far has reignited criticism of Moscow’s mobilization drive and laid bare a lack of trust in officials almost a year into the offensive.

The Russian army announced 89 soldiers were killed when Kyiv struck a temporary base in the Russian-occupied town of Makiivka with U.S.-supplied rockets just after midnight at New Year’s, while Ukraine put the toll in the hundreds.

Widespread reports of many recently mobilized men being among the dead stirred some anger after months of discontent over the chaotic draft.

There were also rare displays of public grief in Russia, with some frustration toward the army, whose actions in Ukraine are shrouded in secrecy.

Usually, officials would rush to blame the West and Ukraine.

But this time, for many pro-Kremlin commentators, the culprit was closer to home: the army leadership.

Many questioned if 89 was the real death toll, as reports spread on social media that ammunition was stored near where the soldiers slept.

The army blamed the troops themselves, saying the devastating strike likely came after they used their cell phones despite a ban.

But, in a rare move, the army also promised to punish its own officials for mistakes after an investigation.

Placing the blame on the troops caused some anger.

“Well of course. It is not the commander who gave the order to place personnel in the school building that is to blame,” Moscow lawmaker Andrei Medvedev said on Telegram. “But just a simple fighter with a phone, apparently, is to blame for the tragedy.”

‘Something is not going to plan’

Russia has introduced harsh laws against “discrediting the army” since sending troops to Ukraine, de facto banning criticism of its offensive.

And sociologist Denis Volkov said such deadly strikes have little short-term impact on the mood of Russians as state media had not been dedicating much airtime to Russian losses.

After authorities declared an end to the draft in late October, Volkov said “apathy has risen considerably” in Russian society.

He did, however, say that a series of defeats and withdrawals in Ukraine has led to a feeling among some Russians “that something is not going to plan.”

“People notice and it does influence the feeling that not everything is as rainbowlike as is portrayed or as they would like it to be,” Volkov said.

“But still, the majority think that everything is fine and that we need to continue (the offensive).”

‘I am shocked’

Yet in the Samara region, where some of the soldiers were known to have been from, the strikes led to public vigils that have been rare since Russia President Vladimir Putin launched the offensive.

Concern quickly spread on the social media pages of relatives of soldiers from Samara, calling for a thorough investigation.

“It is not cellphones and their owners that are to blame, but the banal negligence of the commanders, who I am sure did not even try to resettle the personnel,” read one social media post.

“I am shocked the commanders did not warn of the dangers,” one woman wrote on the same page.

Some questioned why authorities needed a mobilization in the first place.

Others were divided over whether the cellphones led to the devastation.

A group of activists in Samara have also called for army officials to be punished and for names of the dead to be made public.

“This is a big tragedy for the Samara region,” the group wrote on social media.

“It is important to remember, these were mobilized (people), not professional soldiers.”
…

Britain’s Prince Harry says his older brother and heir to the throne Prince William knocked him to the floor during a 2019 argument over Harry’s American wife, Meghan, in his much-awaited memoir, which went on sale days early in Spain on Thursday.

In his book Spare, Harry also discloses how the brothers, the sons of King Charles, had begged their father not to marry his second wife, Camilla, now Queen Consort, and that he had taken cocaine as a teenager.

The book was due to be published on January 10, but The Guardian newspaper printed leaked extracts overnight, and Reuters and other media have been able to obtain Spanish-language versions that went on sale early in Spain.

Details of its contents also come as ITV released a clip of an upcoming interview with Harry in which he said he could not commit to attending his father’s coronation in May and defended his decision to speak out.

Revelations

Harry’s memoir gives a personal account of his struggles dealing with the death of his mother Princess Diana, his time in the military — when he said he killed 25 Taliban insurgents while serving in Afghanistan — and his conflicts with the press.

But the most striking revelations concern the relationship with his family, something that has hung like a shadow over the British royals since he and Meghan stepped down from official duties in 2020 to move to California to forge a new life.

As is usual for the royal family, spokespeople for King Charles and Prince William have declined to comment.

Harry, 38, wrote in his memoir that his brawl with William, 40, took place in 2019 at his then London home after his brother had called Meghan “difficult,” “rude” and “abrasive.”

“He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor,” Harry wrote.

“I landed on the dog’s bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”

William then challenged his younger brother to hit back, but Harry said he refused. William later returned to the scene, “looking regretful, and apologized,” Harry wrote, with his brother asking him not to tell Meghan that he had “attacked” him.

William and Harry were once seen as very close after the death of their mother in a Paris car crash in 1997. But the brothers have fallen out since Harry married Meghan, a former actress, in 2018 and the couple then quit their royal role.

In another section of the book, Harry refers to his first meeting with Camilla, whom Diana had blamed for the breakup of her marriage. Harry says he and William had approved of Camilla but asked their father not to marry her.

“Despite the fact that Willy and I asked him not to do it, my father went ahead,” Harry wrote. “Despite the bitterness and sadness we felt in closing another loop in the history of our mother, we understood this was irrelevant.”

Stinging criticism

Since their exit from royal life, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as Harry and Meghan are officially known, have delivered stinging criticism of the Windsors and the British monarchy, which has included accusations of racism that William himself has dismissed.

Last month, Harry and Meghan’s six-part Netflix documentary, which attracted record audiences, aired with renewed accusations, including that William had screamed at Harry during a crisis summit to discuss his future.

The main criticism from Harry and Meghan is that royal aides not only refused to hit back at hostile, inaccurate press coverage but were complicit in leaking negative stories to protect other royals, most notably William.

“I don’t know how staying silent is ever going to make things better,” Harry said in Thursday’s ITV clip.

Asked why he was invading the privacy of his family, something he had railed against, he replied: “That will be the accusation from the people that don’t understand or don’t want to believe that my family have been briefing the press.”

The title of his book Spare comes from an oft-cited quote in British aristocratic circles about the need for an heir, and a spare.

Harry says Charles reputedly said to Diana on the day he was born: “Wonderful! Now you’ve given me an heir and a spare — my work is done.”

How much the disclosures will resonate with the public is unclear. A YouGov poll this week found 65% of those surveyed were “not interested at all” in his upcoming book, while another found greater sympathy among respondents for William and his wife, Kate, than for Harry and Meghan.

Charles himself is still hoping for a reconciliation with his son, unnamed sources told newspapers this week.

In its leaked extracts, The Guardian says the king had stood between his two sons during a difficult meeting at Windsor Castle following the April 2021 funeral for their grandfather Prince Philip, the late Queen Elizabeth’s husband.

“Please, boys,” Harry quoted his father as saying. “Don’t make my final years a misery.”
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The corruption scandal at the European Parliament deepened this week as officials said they would seek to lift immunity on two more lawmakers accused of taking bribes from Qatar.

The Gulf state has warned that the investigation could impact economic ties between Europe and Qatar, a key emerging supplier of energy to the EU as it tries to reduce reliance on Russia.

Andrea Cozzolino, an Italian member of the European Parliament, and his Belgian colleague, Marc Tarabella, are the latest suspects in a corruption scandal that has rocked Brussels. Both men deny taking bribes from Qatar.

Following a yearlong investigation, Belgian police last month raided offices and homes linked to current and former members of the European Parliament. They discovered around $1.6 million in cash.

Police said nearly $158,000 was discovered inside the home of Greek MEP Eva Kaili, one of 14 vice presidents of the parliament. She is accused of taking bribes from Qatar.

“The purpose of the bribery was to favor this Gulf country in the economic, financial and political decisions of the European Parliament,” Eric van Duyse, a spokesperson for the Belgian Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, told reporters December 13.

Qatar links

The European Parliament voted last month to strip Kaili of her role as vice president.

In November, following a visit to Qatar ahead of its hosting of the FIFA World Cup, Kaili spoke strongly in favor of the Gulf state during a debate with other European lawmakers, accusing its critics of hypocrisy.

“Today the World Cup in Qatar is a proof actually of how sports diplomacy can achieve a historical transformation of the country, with reforms that inspired the Arab world. I alone said that Qatar is a front-runner in labor rights,” Kaili said November 21.

“[Qatar] committed to a vision by choice and they opened to the world. Still, some here are calling to discriminate [against] them — they bully them and they accuse everyone that talks to them or engages [with them] of corruption. But still they take their gas,” she added.

Kaili’s partner, Francesco Giorgi, an Italian parliamentary assistant, is also accused of involvement in the bribery allegations. It’s reported that police found $789,000 in his hotel room, stashed in a suitcase. Both Kaili and Giorgi deny the accusations and are being held in custody pending the investigation.

An Italian former member of the European Parliament, Pier Antonio Panzeri, and an Italian lobbyist named as Niccolo Figa-Talamanca are also being investigated by Belgian police. They also deny the accusations.

Visa deal

There are growing demands for recent policy decisions on Qatar to be re-examined in the wake of the bribery allegations, said Andre Wolf of the Berlin-based Centre for European Policy, an expert on EU-Qatar relations.

“In the last couple of months, there was a legislative procedure regarding the liberalization of visas for citizens of Qatar to Europe, to the EU, and apparently [Qatar] tried to exert influence on the decision-making regarding this legislation,” Wolf told VOA. “This legislation has already been passed. It has been suspended now as a consequence of the ongoing investigation.”

Qatar denies trying to bribe EU officials. It has warned that relations with Europe are at risk.

Gas shortage

Germany and Belgium are among European nations that have signed deals to buy Qatari liquified natural gas, or LNG, as the bloc tries to wean itself off Russian energy in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a statement, the Qatari mission to the EU said last month, “The decision to impose such a discriminatory restriction that limits dialogue and cooperation on Qatar before the legal process has ended will negatively affect regional and global security cooperation, as well as discussions around global energy.”

Analyst Wolf said the timing of the scandal was delicate. “Qatar, with its developed infrastructure and its relative proximity to Europe, will be an important player and will be ever more important for overall gas imports to Europe,” he said.

World Cup

Wolf added that Qatar was angered by European criticism of its human rights and equality laws during its hosting of last month’s World Cup.

“It also affected, I think, some rather deeply rooted issues related to culture and religion, which should better not be blended with the World Cup or other political issues. But I think the bilateral relations can overcome this period because it’s in both their interests to cooperate,” he told VOA.

The president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, warned last month that the criminal proceedings were damaging trust in the EU. “Trust that has taken years to build but only moments to destroy will need to be rebuilt, and this work starts now,” Metsola said.
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The U.S. Treasury Department said Thursday it was taking joint action with Turkey against a network it said played a key role in money management, transfer and distribution for the Islamic State group operating in Iraq and Syria.

Turkey has frozen the assets of members to the network, who also were added to the U.S. sanctions list, the Treasury Department said in a statement.

Those sanctioned included an Iraqi national living illegally in Turkey, Brukan al-Khatuni, his two sons, and two businesses they used to transfer money on behalf оf the Islamic State between Turkey, Iraq and Syria, it said.
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Mourners pour into St. Peter’s Square for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to pay their final respects to the German theologian who made history by retiring and to participate in a rare requiem Mass for a dead pontiff presided over by a living one, The Associated Press reports.
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Pope Francis presided at the funeral of former Pope Benedict on Thursday, delivering a homily comparing his predecessor to Jesus before tens of thousands of mourners in St. Peter’s Square.

To the sound of tolling bells, 12 pallbearers had carried the wooden coffin holding Benedict’s remains out of St. Peter’s Basilica and placed it on the ground before the largest church in Christendom.

Applause broke out across the vast cobbled esplanade,  in a sign of respect for Benedict, a hero to Roman Catholic conservatives who shocked the world by resigning nearly a decade ago.

Francis arrived in the square in a wheelchair. Troubled by a bad knee, the pontiff sat in a chair looking down on the coffin, slightly hunched and glum-faced as choirs sang in Latin.

In his homily read from the same spot, Francis used more than a dozen biblical references and church writings in which he appeared to compare Benedict to Jesus, including his last word before he died on the cross: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

Francis also referred to Benedict indirectly in paraphrases of other biblical references to Jesus, including “love means being ready to suffer” and that the congregation was “commending our brother into the hands of the father.”

Also referring to Benedict during the Mass concelebrated by 125 cardinals, 200 bishops and about 3,700 priests, Francis spoke of “wisdom, tenderness and devotion that he bestowed upon us over the years.”

He mentioned Benedict by name only once, in the last line, saying: “Benedict, faithful friend of the bridegroom, (Jesus) may your joy be complete as you hear his voice, now and forever!”

Clergy from around the world, a handful of heads of state and thousands of faithful attended the ceremony as the sun slowly broke through the fog.

More than 1,000 Italian security personnel were called up to help safeguard the event, and air space around the tiny Holy See has been closed off for the day. Italy ordered flags around the country be flown at half staff.

Left his mark

People from all over the world, many from Benedict’s native Germany, began arriving the dark of the night to say farewell to Benedict.

“Even though at our age we were just children when he was pope, he left his mark,” Xavier Mora, 24, a Spaniard who is studying for the priesthood in Rome, told Reuters as he approached the square with two other seminarians.

“We have been studying his theology for three years, and even though we did not know him personally, we have great affection and esteem for him,” he said.

About 200,000 people filed past Benedict’s body while it was lying in state until Wednesday evening.

An account of Benedict’s papacy, along with other items, including Vatican coins minted during his reign, was also tucked into the coffin.

The account of his life and papacy, written in Latin, says he “fought with firmness” against sexual abuse by clergy in the church.

While many leading figures have praised Benedict since his death, criticism has also been aired, including by victims of clergy sexual abuse, who have accused him of seeking to protect the church at all costs.

After the funeral ceremony, the coffin will be taken back inside the basilica and encased in zinc before being sealed in a wooden casket.

Because Benedict was no longer a head of state when he died, only two countries, Italy and his native Germany, sent official delegations Thursday.

Francis himself has made clear that he would not hesitate to step down some day if his mental or physical health prevented him from carrying out his duties, but Vatican officials always doubted he could do this while Benedict was still alive.

Even though Benedict largely avoided public appearances in subsequent years, he remained a standard-bearer for Catholic conservatives, who felt alienated by reforms ushered in by Francis, including cracking down on the old Latin Mass.

At his request, Benedict will be buried later Thursday in the underground Vatican grottoes in the niche where first Pope John XXIII and then John Paul II were interred before their remains were transferred to more prominent places in the basilica above.
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Mourners poured into St. Peter’s Square early Thursday for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to pay their final respects to the German theologian who made history by retiring and to participate in a rare requiem Mass for a dead pontiff presided over by a living one.

Thick fog shrouded the Vatican before dawn as police manned metal detectors and barricades and herded well-wishers into the square. Heads of state and royalty, clergy from around the world and thousands of faithful are flocking to the Vatican, despite Benedict’s requests for simplicity and official efforts to keep the first funeral for an pope emeritus in modern times low-key.

Many hailed from Benedict’s native Bavaria and donned traditional dress, including boiled wool coats to guard against the morning chill.

“We came to pay homage to Benedict and wanted to be here today to say goodbye,” said Raymond Mainar, who traveled from a small village east of Munich for the funeral. “He was a very good pope.”

The former Joseph Ratzinger, who died December 31 at age 95, is considered one of the 20th century’s greatest theologians and spent his lifetime upholding church doctrine. But he will go down in history for a singular, revolutionary act that changed the future of the papacy: He retired, the first pope in six centuries to do so.

Pope Francis has praised Benedict’s courage to step aside, saying it “opened the door” to other popes doing the same. Francis, for his part, recently said he has already left written instructions outlining the conditions in which he too would resign.

Francis was due to preside over the funeral, which authorities estimated some 100,000 would attend, higher than an original estimate of 60,000, Italian media reported, citing police security plans.

Only Italy and Germany were invited to send official delegations, but other heads of state and government took the Vatican up on its offer and come in their “private capacity.” They included several other heads of state, at least four prime ministers and two delegations of royal representatives.

Early Thursday the Vatican released the official history of Benedict’s life, a short document in Latin that was placed in a metal cylinder in his coffin before it was sealed, along with the coins and medallions minted during his papacy and his pallium stoles.

The document gave ample attention to Benedict’s historic resignation and referred to him as “pope emeritus,” citing verbatim the Latin words he uttered on February 11, 2013, when he announced he would retire.

The document, known as a “rogito” or deed, also cited his theological and papal legacy, including his outreach to Anglicans and Jews and his efforts to combat clergy sexual abuse “continually calling the church to conversion, prayer, penance and purification.”

The funeral rite calls for Benedict’s coffin to be carried out from the basilica and placed before the altar as the faithful recite the rosary. The ritual itself is modeled on the code used for dead popes but with some modifications given Benedict was not a reigning pontiff when he died.

After the Mass, Benedict’s cypress coffin was to be placed inside a zinc one, then an outer oak casket before being entombed in the crypt in the grottos underneath St. Peter’s Basilica that once held the tomb of St. John Paul II before it was moved upstairs.

While the ritual is novel, it does have some precedent: In 1802, Pope Pius VII presided over the funeral in St. Peter’s of his predecessor, Pius VI, who had died in exile in France in 1799 as a prisoner of Napoleon.

Some 200,000 paid tribute to Benedict during three days of public viewing in the basilica, with one of the last, Friar Rosario Vitale, spending an hour praying by his body. He said Benedict had given him a special dispensation to begin the process of becoming a priest, which was required because of a physical disability.

“So today I came here to pray on his tomb, on his body and to say ‘thank you’ for my future priesthood, for my ministry,” he said.

Benedict never intended his retirement to last as long as it did — at nearly 10 years it was longer than his eight-year pontificate. And the unprecedented situation of a retired pope living alongside a reigning one prompted calls for protocols to guide future popes emeritus to prevent any confusion about who is really in charge.

During St. John Paul II’s quarter-century as pope, Ratzinger spearheaded a crackdown on dissent as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, taking action against the left-leaning liberation theology that spread in Latin America in the 1970s and against dissenting theologians and nuns who didn’t toe the Vatican’s hard line on matters like sexual morals.

His legacy was marred by the clergy sexual abuse scandal, even though he recognized earlier than most the “filth” of priests who raped children, and actually laid the groundwork for the Holy See to punish them.

As cardinal and pope, he passed sweeping church legislation that resulted in 848 priests being defrocked from 2004-2014, roughly his pontificate with a year on either end. But abuse survivors still held him responsible for the crisis, for failing to sanction any bishop who moved abusers around and identifying him as embodying the clerical system that long protected the institution over victims.

“Any celebration that marks the life of abuse enablers like Benedict must end,” said the main U.S. survivor group SNAP.
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Pope Francis will preside at a funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Thursday for his predecessor, former Pope Benedict, who died Saturday at 95.

More than 60,000 people are expected to attend. There will be official delegations from Italy and Benedict’s native Germany. Other leaders, including the king and queen of Belgium and the queen of Spain, and about 13 heads of state of state or government, will attend in a private capacity. Most countries will be represented by their ambassadors to the Vatican.

Here is a guide to what is expected to happen:

End of lying in state

Since Monday, the body of the emeritus pope has been lying in state in St. Peter’s Basilica, where more than 160,000 people had filed past to pay their respects as of midday Wednesday.

The viewing is due to end at 7 p.m. local time (1800 GMT). The body will then be placed in a coffin made of cypress wood, along with several papal items such as vestments symbolizing his role as pope and bishop, and coins and medals that were minted during his pontificate. Also included will be a lead tube with a deed in Latin listing the key points in his pontificate.

The cypress coffin will be closed privately in the presence of a few close aides, such as Archbishop Georg Ganswein, who was Benedict’s longtime secretary, and other members of the household where he lived after he resigned the papacy in 2013, the first pope to do so in 600 years.

Procession, prayers and Mass

At 8:45 a.m. local time (0745 GMT) Thursday, ushers known as papal gentlemen will carry the coffin in procession out of the basilica and place it on the steps facing St. Peter’s Square. The faithful will pray the rosary for about 45 minutes.

The funeral Mass presided over by Pope Francis is to start at 9:30 a.m. local time (0830 GMT). At first, the pope will sit before the coffin facing the crowd. The Sistine Chapel choir will start its singing with the introductory rites.

The pope will then move to a chair to the side of the altar and preside from there, sitting most of the time because of a knee aliment that impedes him from standing for too long. The celebrant standing at the altar will be Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals.

Francis will deliver the homily at the Mass, which will be con-celebrated by 120 cardinals, 400 bishops and nearly 4,000 priests.

At the end of the Mass, Francis will recite The Final Commendation and Farewell asking God to “console the Church.”

The liturgy for the funeral Mass is based mostly on that for a pope who dies while reigning, with some minor modifications, particularly in a few prayers and readings.

One prayer will include petitions to God for both Benedict and Francis.

Near the end of the Mass, Francis will sprinkle holy water on the coffin and wave incense around it.

He will say in Latin: “Gracious Father, we commend to your mercy Pope Emeritus Benedict, whom you made successor of Peter and shepherd of the Church, a fearless preacher of your word and a faithful minister of the divine mysteries.”

The choir will then sing in Latin: “May the angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs come and welcome you and take you into the holy city, the new and eternal Jerusalem.”

Private service and burial

The pallbearers will then carry the cypress coffin back into the basilica for a private service in which it will be sealed and wrapped in ribbons.

It will then be placed into a zinc coffin, which will be soldered shut. Both will then go into a larger, wooden coffin.

Benedict will then be buried according to his wishes in the same spot in the crypts under St. Peter’s Basilica where Pope John Paul II was originally interred in 2005 before his body was moved up to a chapel in the basilica in 2011.

The burial will also be a private service. 
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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday sent a frigate armed with the country’s latest Zircon hypersonic missile on a trans-ocean cruise in a show of force as tensions with the West escalate over the war in Ukraine.

Russia says the Zircon missile can evade any Western air defenses by flying at an astounding 11,265 kilometer per hour.

Here is a glance at the ship and its weapons.

Pride of the Russian navy

Commissioned by the navy in 2018 following long trials, the Admiral Gorshkov is the first ship in the new series of frigates that were designed to replace the aging Soviet-built destroyers as a key strike component of the Russian navy.

Armed with an array of missiles, the ship is 130-meters long and has a crew of about 200.

In 2019, it circled the world oceans on a 35,000-nautical mile journey.

Intensive tests

The Admiral Gorshkov has served as the main testbed for the Zircon, Russia’s latest hypersonic missile.

In recent years, Zircon has undergone a series of tests, including being launched at various practice targets. The military declared the tests successful, and Zircon officially entered service last fall.

Zircon is intended to arm Russian cruisers, frigates and submarines and could be used against both enemy ships and ground targets. It is one of several hypersonic missiles that Russia has developed.

Putin praises Zircon as ‘unique’

Putin has hailed Zircon as a potent weapon capable of penetrating any existing anti-missile defenses by flying nine times faster than the speed of sound at a range of more than 1,000 kilometers.

Putin has emphasized that Zircon gives the Russian military a long-range conventional strike capability, allowing it to strike any enemy targets with precision.

Russia’s hypersonic weapons drive emerged as the U.S. has been working on its own Conventional Prompt Global Strike capability that envisions hitting an adversary’s strategic targets with precision-guided conventional weapons anywhere in the world within one hour.

Putin heralded Zircon as Russia’s answer to that, claiming that the new weapon has no rival, giving Russia a strategic edge.

Months before ordering the invasion of Ukraine, Putin put the U.S. and its NATO allies on notice when he warned that Russian warships armed with Zircon would give Russia a capability to strike the adversary’s “decision-making centers” within minutes if deployed in neutral waters.

Speaking via video link during Wednesday’s sendoff ceremony, Putin again praised Zircon as a “unique weapon” without an “equivalent for it in any country in the world.”

Other Russian weapons

Russia has commissioned the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles for some of its ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles that constitute part of Russia’s strategic nuclear triad. Putin has hailed Avangard’s ability to maneuver at hypersonic speeds on its approach to target, dodging air defenses.

The Russian military also has deployed the Kinzhal hypersonic missiles on its MiG-31 aircraft and used them during the war in Ukraine to strike some priority targets. Kinzhal reportedly has a range of about 1,500 kilometers.

Patrol duty

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin on Wednesday that the Admiral Gorshkov will patrol the Atlantic and Indian oceans and the Mediterranean Sea but didn’t give further details.

Shoigu said the Admiral Gorshkov’s crew will focus on “countering the threats to Russia, maintaining regional peace and stability jointly with friendly countries.” He added the crew will practice with hypersonic weapons and long-range cruise missiles “in various conditions.”

Some military experts say a single, hypersonic missile-armed warship is no match for the massive naval forces of the U.S. and its allies.

But others noted that the frigate’s potential deployment close to U.S. shores could be part of Putin’s strategy to up the ante in the Ukrainian conflict.

“This is a message to the West that Russia has nuclear-tipped missiles that can easily pierce any missile defenses,” pro-Kremlin political analyst Sergei Markov wrote in a commentary.
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With Russian rockets targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and electrical grid, scientists in the northern city of Sumy, some 330 kilometers east of Kyiv, are hoping to start mass producing solar technology that could help keep the lights on. Olena Adamenko has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera and video editing by Mykhailo Zaika.
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Iran warned France on Wednesday of consequences after satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo published cartoons depicting supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Tehran deemed to be insulting. 

The weekly magazine had published dozens of cartoons ridiculing the highest religious and political figure in the Islamic republic as part of a competition it launched in December in support of the three-month-old protest movement in Iran. 

“The insulting and indecent act of a French publication in publishing cartoons against the religious and political authority will not go without an effective and decisive response,” tweeted Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. 

“We will not allow the French government to go beyond its bounds. They have definitely chosen the wrong path,” he added, without spelling out the consequences. 

Later Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it had summoned French Ambassador Nicolas Roche. 

“France has no right to insult the sanctities of other Muslim countries and nations under the pretext of freedom of expression,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said. 

“Iran is waiting for the French government’s explanation and compensatory action in condemning the unacceptable behavior of the French publication,” he added. 

Seen by supporters as a champion of freedom of speech and by critics as needlessly provocative, Charlie Hebdo’s style is controversial, even within France. 

But the country was united in grief when in January 2015 it was targeted in a deadly attack by Islamist gunmen who claimed to be avenging the magazine’s decision to publish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. 

‘Not last word’

The issue in the latest controversy contained a variety of sexual images depicting Khamenei and fellow clerics. Other cartoons pointed to the authorities’ use of capital punishment as a tactic to quell the protests.

“It was a way to show our support for Iranian men and women who risk their lives to defend their freedom against the theocracy that has oppressed them since 1979,” Charlie Hebdo director Laurent Sourisseau, known as Riss, wrote in an editorial. 

All the cartoons published “have the merit of defying the authority that the supposed supreme leader claims to be, as well as the cohort of his servants and other henchmen,” he added. 

Nathalie Loiseau, a French member of the European Parliament and former minister loyal to President Emmanuel Macron, described Iran’s response as an “interference attempt and threat” to Charlie Hebdo.  

“Let it be perfectly clear: The repressive and theocratic regime in Tehran has nothing to teach France,” she said. 

Khamenei, the successor of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, is appointed for life. Above day-to-day politics, criticism of him is prohibited inside Iran. 

Khomeini in 1989 famously issued a religious decree, or fatwa, ordering Muslims to kill the British author Salman Rushdie for what he deemed the blasphemous nature of Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses. 

Many activists blamed Iran last year when the writer was stabbed at an event in New York, but Tehran denied any link. 

The Iranian regime has been shaken by three months of protests triggered by the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd who was arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women. 

It has responded with a crackdown that Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights said has killed at least 476 people in protests, which Iranian officials generally describe as “riots.” 

Charlie Hebdo published the caricatures in a special edition to mark the anniversary of the deadly attack on its Paris office, which left 12 people dead, including some of its best-known cartoonists. 

“Eight years later, religious intolerance has not said its last word,” its director said. “It continues its work in defiance of international protests and respect for the most basic human rights.” 
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The first high-level talks between Turkey and Syria in over a decade held in Moscow last week reflect the common interests of the two nations in limiting the autonomy of Syrian Kurds, experts say. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said more talks are planned for later this month.

Analysts speaking to VOA believe that if the process moves forward, an Erdogan-Assad meeting might be in the works. But they caution Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad might be unwilling to hand Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a political gift before the elections in Turkey, possibly in May.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and intelligence chief Hakan Fidan met their Syrian counterparts last Wednesday in Moscow. They were joined by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and discussed the “Syrian crisis, the refugee problem and joint efforts against all terror groups on Syrian soil,” according to a statement by the Turkish Ministry of Defense. 

Turkey supported the armed rebels that sought to topple Assad in Syria during the civil war that began in 2011, locking the two countries in bitter animosity for years. 

The first contact between Turkey and Syria since the beginning of the civil war discreetly started between their intelligence services some time ago. Recent talks between the defense ministers underscored Ankara’s effort to engage in dialogue with Damascus, representing a major foreign policy reversal.

Common interests 

Last week’s meeting follows Turkey’s threat to launch another military offensive against the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria, an action opposed by Russia, the United States and Iran.

The YPG forms the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the U.S. ally in the fight against Islamic State. Turkey sees the YPG as the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU.

Speaking to journalists before the talks in Moscow, Akar said Ankara had been in contact with Moscow about using Syrian airspace for a possible military operation.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford told VOA that Ankara and Damascus share an interest in limiting the autonomy of the Syrian Kurds in northern Syria, and the talks reflect common security concerns with respect to the YPG.

“I do not discount a coordinated Syrian-Turkish effort against the YPG, particularly in Tel Rifaat or Manbij,” Ford said. “More likely, Ankara hopes Moscow and Damascus can convince the YPG to quit these locales without fighting and allow restoration of full Syrian control backed by Russian forces.” 

Ford is currently a fellow at Yale University and at the Middle East Institute, based in Washington.

He added that despite having difficult relations, the Assad regime and the YPG sometimes cooperate because Assad finds their presence in the northeast “occasionally useful.”

Alan Makovsky, a senior fellow for national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress, agrees that Turkey’s effort for dialogue with the Syrian government is partly dictated by its YPG concern. He said Erdogan wants to find common ground with Assad to remove the YPG from the border area and repress any Kurdish bid for autonomy.

Election concerns amid refugee problem

Experts speaking to VOA believe that the upcoming Turkish elections represent another significant factor at play.

Turkey hosts more than 4 million Syrian refugees. The government says it’s working on a plan to send 1 million Syrians back to their country on a voluntary basis. The refugee issue has recently been a sensitive one in Turkey’s domestic politics with elections a few months away.

Pointing to the Turkish public’s strong sentiment regarding the refugee issue, Makovsky told VOA that Erdogan hopes he can convince voters that dialogue with Assad will lead to the return of most Syrian refugees. 

Cavusoglu hinted at more talks later this month, possibly at the foreign minister level, with Damascus.

“Russia has come forward with a date, but we’re not available on those days. So, we are working on some other proposals,” he told journalists on Tuesday.

Cavusoglu did not completely rule out the possibility of a meeting between the two presidents before the Turkish elections but said the decision would be up to Erdogan, adding that presidential level talks could be considered after the foreign ministers meet.

Reuters reported last month that Syria opposed the idea of a leaders’ summit with Turkey, saying Damascus believed such a meeting could boost Erdogan ahead of the elections.

Some analysts said there has to be some political progress before the two leaders can meet.

“I would expect an Erdogan-Assad meeting only if Erdogan needed a dramatic step to address the refugee issue, or if Assad was ready to make a major concession, such as guaranteeing safety for returning refugees. Assad is unlikely to hand Erdogan any political gift,” Ford said.

Turkey’s reconciliation effort with Syria continues to dominate the headlines in the Turkish press and public discussion. Experts say recent polls indicate there is a strong desire among Turkish citizens for a dramatic shift in the government’s Syria policy.

Makovsky said recent diplomatic momentum and political logic suggest an Assad-Erdogan agreement by spring. He pointed to a recent survey by Turkish polling company Metropoll that highlighted the domestic political dynamics in Turkey.

“Turks favor talking to Assad by 59-29 [percent], according to the survey. Erdogan could derive some political benefit from a mere photo-op. But Assad probably has no interest in helping Erdogan’s reelection bid. Turkey’s opposition party, CHP, has called for dialogue with Assad and noninterference in Syria since 2011. However, Russia almost certainly does want Erdogan to be reelected, and it’s well-positioned to make Assad agree to meet the Turkish president,” he told VOA. 

US criticism and Russia 

A spokesperson from the U.S. State Department said in a statement sent to VOA’s Turkish Service last week that the U.S. does not support countries “upgrading their relations to rehabilitate the brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad” and urged the nations to “carefully consider the atrocities inflicted by the Assad regime on the Syrian people” over the last decade. 

Analysts speaking to VOA say Washington does not want to see the Assad government in Syria being legitimized and emboldened, because it would be a diplomatic and geopolitical success for Russia, from Washington’s perspective.

They also believe the U.S. does not want an agreement between Damascus and Ankara that would enable either the Turkish military or Syrian government forces to “weaken or distract the YPG” from its focus against Islamic State.

Some argue that Russia might be willing to give the green light to a military operation by Turkey in return for dialogue with the Assad government. Makovsky challenges that view, saying Russian opposition to another military action by Turkey appears quite firm.

He said Ankara’s request to purchase F-16 military fighter jets from Washington could be a factor in coming months, noting that foreign arms sales are subject to U.S. congressional approval.

Cavusoglu said he will meet Secretary of State Antony Blinken later this month in Washington to discuss bilateral issues, including Ankara’s F-16 request.

The two recently spoke by phone, and according to the readout provided, Blinken expressed concern over the situation in Syria. 

The State Department confirmed the planned talks in the statement sent to VOA’s Turkish Service but did not provide additional details.  

This story originated in VOA’s Turkish Service. Dilge Timocin contributed to this report.

 
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Pope Francis praised Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s “acute and gentle thought” as he presided over a packed Wednesday general audience in the Vatican, while thousands of people paid tribute to the former pope on the final day of public viewing in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Francis was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd in the Paul VI auditorium and shouts of “Viva il papa!” or “Long live the pope” as he arrived for his weekly catechism appointment with the faithful.

This week’s audience was conducted as tens of thousands of people continued to flock to St. Peter’s to pay their respects to Benedict’s body, lying in state, before the official viewing ends Wednesday evening. From Monday through midday Wednesday, nearly 160,000 people had passed through the basilica, the Vatican said.

“It is my duty to come,” said Małgorzata Nowska, a Polish resident of Rome as she paid her respects Wednesday. She said she wanted to give Benedict “a last hug, a last prayer.”

Francis is due to preside over the late German pope’s funeral on Thursday, an event that is drawing heads of state and royalty despite Benedict’s requests for simplicity and Vatican efforts to keep the first Vatican funeral for an emeritus pope in modern times low-key. Only Italy and Germany were invited to send official delegations, and the Italian government announced Wednesday that Italian and European Union flags would fly at half-staff on public buildings across the country Thursday.

Francis drew applause when he opened his remarks by giving a shout-out to all those who were outside paying tribute to Benedict, whom he called a “great master of catechesis.”

“His acute and gentle thought was not self-referential, but ecclesial, because he always wanted to accompany us in the encounter with Jesus,” Francis said.

Later Wednesday, Vatican officials were to place Benedict’s body in a cypress coffin — the first of three coffins —along with a brief, written summary of his historic papacy, the coins minted during his pontificate and his pallium stoles.

After the funeral in the piazza, the remains will be carried back into the basilica, where the coffin will placed inside a zinc one, and then finally into another made from oak.

In keeping with Benedict’s wishes, his remains will be placed in the crypt once occupied by the tomb of St. John Paul II in the grottos underneath the basilica. John Paul’s tomb was moved upstairs into the main basilica ahead of his 2011 beatification.

Benedict, who was elected pope in 2005 following John Paul’s death, became the first pope in six centuries years to resign when he announced in 2013 he no longer had the strength to lead the Catholic Church. After Francis was elected pope, Benedict spent his nearly decade-long retirement in a converted monastery in the Vatican Gardens.

“We can’t forget the example that he gave in his resignation, that he more or less said, ‘Look, I’m not in this for the prestige, the power of the office, I’m in it for service, as Jesus taught,'” recalled Cardinal Timothy Dolan, whom Benedict named archbishop of New York in 2009 and cardinal in 2012.

Thursday’s rite takes into account the unusual situation in which a reigning pope will preside over a funeral for a retired one, making important changes to a funeral ritual for popes that is highly codified.

Two key prayers, from the diocese of Rome and the Eastern rite churches, that were recited during John Paul’s funeral, for example, will be omitted because Benedict wasn’t pope when he died and because both branches of the Catholic Church still have a reigning pope as their leader: Francis. 

While the funeral will be novel, it does have some precedent: In 1802, Pope Pius VII presided over the funeral in St. Peter’s of his predecessor, Pius VI, who had died in exile in France in 1799 as a prisoner of Napoleon, the Vatican noted Wednesday.
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