RIYADMEDIA

Amid the biggest regional security crisis in decades, as Finland waits to join NATO, the defense minister has chosen to claim nearly two months of parental leave from his job.  

And Finns aren’t batting an eyelid. Ditto their Nordic neighbors, who are used to family-oriented social policies and work-life balance. 

Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen, a 48-year-old father of two, makes a stirring argument for taking parental leaving starting January 6 to dedicate mainly to his 6-month-old son. 

“Children remain small only for a moment, and I want to remember it in ways other than just photos,” Kaikkonen tweeted, assuring that Finland’s security “will be in good hands.” 

He later told Finnish news agency STT that “although ministerial duties are very important to me, you’ve got to be able to put family first at some point.”

The five Nordic countries — Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden — have made gender equality a top priority in their policies, and that includes encouraging dads to spend more time with their children. 

In Sweden, both parents together receive 480 days of parental leave per child, with each parent able to use half — 240 — of those days, which are also transferable. In the case of multiple births, an extra 180 days are granted for each additional child. 

In September, Finland launched a gender-neutral parental leave system allowing both parents to take 160 days of paid leave each and to transfer a certain amount of days between each other. 

Top male politicians in the Nordic states have made use of their paternal leave rights to a certain extent but it’s still not common practice. 

In Denmark, Finance Minister Nicolai Wammen began a two-month paternity leave in late 2020, saying that his son “has mostly seen his father on TV.” Others in Denmark to do so include the former ministers of immigration, Mattias Tesfaye, and culture, Joy Mogensen. 

In Finland, former Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen, a trailblazer in combining politics and fatherhood, took paternal leave in the distant 1998, albeit for a much shorter period. Lipponen, now 81, received plenty of positive coverage in international media for his family arrangements. 

Beyond the Ukraine war and rumblings from neighboring Russia, the Finnish defense minister’s move also comes at a politically sensitive time: Finland faces a general election in early April, and its NATO accession is in limbo mainly due to resistance from alliance member Turkey — which claims Finland and neighboring NATO candidate Sweden must first address its concerns over alleged activities of Kurdish militants in the two countries. 

The parliaments of Turkey and Hungary have yet to ratify Finland and Sweden’s applications. The 28 other NATO states have already done so.  

Finland’s leading newspaper Helsingin Sanomat said in an editorial that the country is likely to join NATO only after the new government has taken office, and took a positive note on Kaikkonen’s leave, saying it contained “a message to society.”  

“Observers outside Finland may not only be surprised but also sympathize with the fact that the defense minister can take paternity leave right now. At least it shows that there’s no panic in Finland,” Helsingin Sanomat said. 

Emilia Kangas, a researcher on equality, work and family issues at Seinajoki University of Applied Sciences, said Finland has seen a substantial change in attitudes both in the corporate world and in politics over the past decade toward favoring parenthood that is equally divided between father and mother. 

Kaikkonen’s paternity leave “tells much about our (Nordic) values and welfare society,” Kangas said. 

Paternity leave has become common in the Nordic corporate world. 

“I do encourage everyone in efforts to take time off when kids are small,” said Antti Hakkarainen, a partner at financial consultancy KPMG Advisory Services in Helsinki. A father of three boys, he took eight months of leave in 2007. 

“That time has been one of the highlights of my life so far,” he said. 
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Kyiv’s military administration said Monday the Ukrainian capital came under Russian drone attacks, hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed his calls for allies to help boost Ukraine’s air defenses in its battle against Russia’s invasion.

Ukrainian forces shot down nine Iran-made Shahed drones Monday, Kyiv’s military administration said in a Telegram post.

Russia has repeatedly used the drones to attack Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address Sunday that air defense is a “constant priority” for his administration.

“By helping us fully protect our skies, by providing us with more modern air defense systems in sufficient numbers, you can deprive the terrorist state of its main instrument of terror,” Zelenskyy said. “This will be one of the most powerful steps that will bring the end of aggression closer. Russia will have to follow the path of cessation of aggression, when it can no longer follow the path of missile strikes.”

Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, told ABC News’s “This Week” show Sunday, “We see what happens when we don’t have enough air defense.”

Markarova said half of Ukraine’s energy grid has been destroyed by Russian missiles. “We have to stop it. And the only way to do it is with increased number of air defense everywhere in Ukraine,” she said.

U.S. officials say they are planning to send a Patriot missile air defense battery to Ukraine to help shoot down incoming Russian airstrikes, but no official announcement has been made. Russia has condemned the anticipated U.S. action and called it a provocation heightening U.S. involvement in the conflict.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will on Monday announce a major new artillery package for Ukraine during a meeting of Nordic, Baltic and Dutch counterparts in Riga.

Sunak will arrive in Latvia on Monday for the meeting to discuss ongoing efforts to counter Russian aggression in the Nordic and Baltic region with fellow members of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).

Sunak will call on the leaders to maintain or exceed 2022 levels of support for Ukraine in 2023, a statement issued by the prime minister’s office said.

He will also announce that the U.K. will supply “hundreds of thousands of rounds of artillery ammunition next year under a £250 million ($304 million) contract that will ensure a constant flow of critical artillery ammunition to Ukraine throughout 2023,” the statement said.

The U.K. had led the way in “providing defensive aid to Ukraine including sending Multiple Launch Rocket Systems and recently 125 anti-aircraft guns,” it said.

“We have also provided more than 100,000 rounds of ammunition since February, with the deliveries directly linked to successful operations to retake territory in Ukraine,” it added.

Sunak last month visited Kyiv to offer further support to Ukraine in its fight against Russian forces following the February invasion.

“The U.K. and our European allies have been in lockstep in our response to the invasion of Ukraine, and we remain steadfast in our ambition for peace in Europe once again,” Sunak said in the statement.

“But to achieve peace, we must deter aggression and our deployments across the region together are vital in ensuring we are able to respond to the gravest of threats,” he added.

The JEF meeting, which brings together the leaders of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, will also be addressed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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The Belgian government called on Sunday for Belgians in Iran to leave the country, mired in a violent crackdown on nationwide protests, because of the risk of arbitrary detentions. 

“All Belgian visitors, including (dual) nationals, are at high risk of arrest, arbitrary detention and unfair trial. This risk also applies to people who are simply visiting Iran for tourism,” the government said in a statement.

“In the event of arrest or detention, respect for fundamental rights and the safety of individuals are not guaranteed.”

Officials said on Wednesday that Iran had imposed a 28-year jail term on a Belgian aid worker, stirring an already bitter debate over a stalled prisoner exchange treaty.

Olivier Vandecasteele was arrested in February and is reportedly being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, in conditions that Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne described as “inhumane.”  

Belgium insists he is innocent, effectively held as a hostage in Tehran’s efforts to force Belgium to release an Iranian agent convicted of terrorism.

News of Vandecasteele’s sentence has revived debate in Belgium over a prisoner exchange treaty with Iran.

Prime Minister Alexander De Croo’s government has described this in the past as the only option for a transfer.

The treaty was signed with Iran earlier this year and, while not tailored explicitly for Vandecasteele, Brussels confirmed that he would have been eligible for exchange.

But last week, Belgium’s constitutional court suspended the implementation of the treaty pending a final ruling on its legality within the next three months.

Opponents of the Iranian government have challenged the deal, which they argue was “tailor-made” to permit the release of Assadollah Assadi, an Iranian diplomat sentenced last year to 20 years in prison for supplying explosives.

An Antwerp court convicted Assadi of supplying explosives to a couple from Belgium who were to travel to Paris to target a meeting of Iran’s exiled opposition.

In Spain on Sunday, relatives and friends of Spanish football fan Santiago Sanchez, arrested in Iran on his way to the World Cup, demanded his release during a rally outside Tehran’s embassy in Madrid.
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When Igor Ponochevny drew his first political cartoon, he was living in Russia and working at a bank. Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014 inspired him to draw under the pen name Alyosha Stupin. VOA Russian spoke with the artist. Anna Rice narrates the story. Camera: Vazgen Varzhabetian.
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Argentina won its third World Cup in extraordinary style on Sunday, beating France 4-2 in a penalty shootout after Lionel Messi scored twice in a 3-3 draw that featured a hat-trick for Kylian Mbappe as the holders recovered from 2-0 down after 80 minutes.

It was an incredible night of drama and fluctuating fortunes, delivering one of the all-time great finals to cap a wonderful tournament.

Argentina had looked to be cruising to a one-sided victory after Messi’s penalty and a brilliant goal by Angel Di Maria in the first half put the team in total control but Mbappe converted an 80th-minute penalty and volleyed in an equalizer a minute later to take the game to extra time.

Messi put Argentina ahead again but Mbappe leveled with another penalty, becoming the second man to score a World Cup final hat-trick after Geoff Hurst for England 1966.

That took the game to a shootout where Argentina keeper Emiliano Martinez saved Kingsley Coman’s penalty and Aurelien Tchouameni fired wide to give Gonzalo Montiel a chance to win it, which he gleefully took.

It meant that after his record 26th World Cup match, at the fifth and final time of asking, the 35-year-old Messi finally claimed the trophy that he and his nation demanded, lifting him up alongside Diego Maradona after Argentina’s first football God carried the country to its emotional second triumph in 1986 following its first in 1978.

It had all looked to be going so smoothly earlier.

Di Maria, with just a few minutes under his belt since the group stage, looked dangerous from the start and when he left Ousmane Dembele flailing with a neat turn, the flummoxed Frenchman clumsily tripped him from behind after 23 minutes.

Messi took the penalty, calmly steering the ball low beyond Hugo Lloris and then Di Maria took center stage again after 36 minutes when he finished off one of the best goals to grace a final.

Nahuel Molina cushioned a first-time clearance to Alexis Mac Allister, who instantly played the ball to Messi. The captain changed the direction of attack with a great turn and layoff on halfway, Julian Alvarez clipped it back to Mac Allister, who advanced and slid the ball perfectly across the field for Di Maria to take in his stride and slot home.

France had barely had a kick and coach Didier Deschamps took decisive action, hauling off Oliver Giroud and Dembele and throwing on Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani after 41 minutes.

It made little impact until they were given a lifeline in the 80th minute when Nicolas Otamendi tripped Kolo Muani and Mbappe, previously anonymous, expertly converted the penalty.

A minute later he swept in a brilliant equalizing volley after combining cleverly with Thuram, stunning the massed Argentine fans watching their team concede two quick-fire goals for the third time in the tournament.

Argentina regained the lead after a counter-attack when the tireless Lautaro Martinez smashed a shot at Hugo Lloris and Messi pounced on the rebound, technology confirming the ball had crossed the line.

The drama was not over, however, as Mbappe hammered a shot against the arm of Montiel to produce another penalty in the 117th minute, which he calmly dispatched.
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Russia on Sunday shelled the center of Kherson, the southern Ukrainian city it retreated from last month, in the latest in a barrage of attacks on the region.

Three people were wounded in the assault on Kherson, one Ukrainian official said, while the regional governor, Yaroslav Yanushevych, said that Russia in the past day had launched 54 attacks with rocket, mortar and tank fire in the Kherson area, killing three people and wounding six.

Meanwhile, in Russia, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region, said Sunday that one person was killed and eight others wounded in Ukrainian shelling of the area, which lies along Ukraine’s northern border.

For weeks, Russia has been targeting Ukrainian infrastructure as winter sets in, attempting to knock out water and electricity supply lines to demoralize the Ukrainian population.

Rolling blackouts have hit much of the country, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Saturday that power has been restored to almost 6 million Ukrainians. He said crews have been working nonstop to stabilize the energy grid to restore heat and water supplies.

The most difficult situation, he said, is in “Kyiv and the region, Vinnytsia and the region, Lviv and the region.” But large-scale power outages are affecting many other regions, as well, including Dnipro and Dnipropetrovsk.

Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, told ABC News’s “This Week” show, “We see what happens when we don’t have enough air defense.”

Markarova said half of Ukraine’s energy grid has been destroyed by Russian missiles. “We have to stop it. And the only way to do it is with increased number of air defense everywhere in Ukraine,” she said.

U.S. officials say they are planning to send a Patriot missile air defense battery to Ukraine to help shoot down incoming Russian airstrikes, but no official announcement has been made. Russia has condemned the anticipated U.S. action and called it a provocation heightening U.S. involvement in the conflict.

Nonetheless, the United States will provide additional security assistance to Ukraine, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told VOA in an interview on Friday.

Asked if Washington would heed Russia’s warning not to deliver sophisticated Patriot air defense missiles or risk the consequences, Kirby replied, “Russia will not dictate to the United States or any other country what security assistance we provide to Ukraine.”

The U.S. official said Washington is in “lockstep with the Ukrainians, talking to them almost every day about what their needs are, and making sure that we are best meeting those needs.”

Zelenskyy thanked the European Union and United States for decisions to provide defense, energy and financial support to Ukraine in the coming year. He added there is more to be done and urged “a reliable air defense shield,” that will protect the Ukrainian people from “the main form of Russian terror – missile terror.”

In an intelligence update Saturday, Britain’s Defense Ministry said, “In recent days, there has been an uptick in Russia’s campaign of long-range strikes against Ukraine’s critical national infrastructure.”

The ministry tweeted, “The waves of strikes have largely consisted of air and maritime launched cruise missiles but have almost certainly also included Iranian-provided unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) being launched from Russia’s Krasnodar Region.”

Ukraine has said that restoring its pre-2014 border with Russia is its goal in defending against Russia’s nearly 10-month war, including retaking the Crimean Peninsula that Moscow annexed in 2014.

Markarova acknowledged that “taking everything back is difficult,” but added, “There is no other option.”

Russia last week announced the formation of creative brigades to boost the morale of troops on the front line, with plans to send opera singers, actors and circus performers. In a new intelligence update Sunday, however, the British defense ministry said that while “fragile morale almost certainly continues to be a significant vulnerability across much of the Russian force,” the soldiers’ concerns lie elsewhere.

The ministry said, “Soldiers’ concerns primarily focus on very high casualty rates, poor leadership, pay problems, lack of equipment and ammunition, and lack of clarity about the war’s objectives.”

“The creative brigades’ efforts are unlikely to substantively alleviate these concerns,” the British report concluded.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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European Union negotiators reached a political deal on Sunday to overhaul the bloc’s carbon market, cutting planet-heating emissions faster and imposing new CO2 costs on fuels used in road transport and buildings from 2027.

The EU carbon market requires around 10,000 power plants and factories to buy CO2 permits when they pollute — a system central to meeting the EU’s target to cut its net emissions 55% by 2030 compared with 1990 levels.

Under the deal agreed by negotiators from EU countries and the European Parliament, the EU carbon market will be reformed to cut emissions by 62% from 2005 levels by 2030.

The plan involves removing 90 million CO2 permits from the system in 2024, 27 million in 2026 and cutting the rate at which the cap on CO2 permits in the system falls by to 4.3% from 2024-2027 and 4.4% from 2028-2030.

“From 2027 on, its crunch time. Everybody needs to reduce emissions by then or will have to pay a lot,” said the European Parliament’s lead negotiator Peter Liese, adding that he hoped this looming deadline would encourage investment in green energy.

From 2026-2034, the EU will phase out the free CO2 permits it currently gives industries to protect them from foreign competition. Those permits will be wound down as the EU phases in a carbon border tariff designed to prevent domestic firms from being undercut by overseas competitors.

After 30 hours of talks that started on Friday, the EU also agreed to launch a new carbon market covering suppliers of CO2-emitting fuels used in cars and buildings in 2027.

After EU lawmakers resisted including households in the scheme, negotiators agreed several measures to shield citizens from high CO2 prices.

If fuel prices are as high in 2027 as today, the introduction of the carbon market would be delayed to 2028. If its CO2 price hits 45 euros ($47.62), then extra CO2 permits will be released into the market to attempt to tame prices.

The price of EU carbon permits has soared in recent years, boosted by the expectation that tougher EU emissions targets would curb the supply of CO2 permits in the scheme. The benchmark EU carbon price closed trading at around 84 euros per ton of CO2 on Friday, roughly ten times its value five years ago.

The EU will also launch a 86.7 billion euro fund to help consumers and small businesses cope with the CO2 costs and invest in energy-saving building renovations or electric vehicles – funded partly by revenues from the new EU CO2 market, and partly by national governments.

The provisional deal still needs to be formally adopted by the European Parliament and the European Council.
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DUBAI, Dec 18 (Reuters) – Qatar reiterated on Sunday that the country denies any involvement in a corruption case being investigated by Belgian authorities involving people linked to the European Parliament. 

Belgian authorities have charged four people linked to the European Parliament over allegations World Cup host Qatar lavished them with cash and gifts to influence decision-making. Qatar has previously denied any wrongdoing. 

A statement on Sunday by a diplomat from Qatar’s mission to the European Union said the country had been “exclusively criticized and attacked” in the investigation and was deeply disappointed that the Belgian government “made no effort to engage with our government to establish the facts.”

The statement added that “limiting dialogue and cooperation” on the issue before a legal process has ended will negatively affect security cooperation and discussions on global energy security. 
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February brought large-scale land warfare back to Europe, plunging the world into a dangerous new era of conflict and nuclear brinkmanship. The West responded with huge supplies of arms for Ukraine and harsh sanctions on Russia. Henry Ridgwell reports.
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Russia is sending opera singers to its frontline troops in Ukraine to raise the morale of Russian soldiers.  Russia announced the formation of the creative brigades last week, which will also include actors and circus performers.

In the British Defense Ministry intelligence update Sunday on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the agency said that while “Fragile morale almost certainly continues to be a significant vulnerability across much of the Russian force,” the soldiers’ concerns lie elsewhere.

The ministry said, “soldiers’ concerns primarily focus on very high casualty rates, poor leadership, pay problems, lack of equipment and ammunition, and lack of clarity about the war’s objectives.” The ministry said, “The creative brigades’ efforts are unlikely to substantively alleviate these concerns.”

A day after Russia’s massive airstrikes on Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that power has been restored to almost 6 million Ukrainians. However, he added, crews have been working nonstop to stabilize the energy grid in an effort to restore heat and water supplies to residents.

The most difficult situation, he said, is in “Kyiv and the region, Vinnytsia and the region, Lviv and the region.” Large-scale power outages are affecting many other regions, as well, including Dnipro and Dnipropetrovsk.

Russia fired more than 70 missiles at Ukraine on Friday, in one of its biggest attacks since the start of the war, Ukrainian officials said. The attack knocked out power in the second-largest city, Kharkiv, and forced Kyiv to implement emergency blackouts nationwide, officials said.

Zelenskyy also said on Saturday that, so far, “Russia’s large-scale investment in terror” amounted to “more than 4,000 missiles.”

Zelenskyy thanked the EU and the United States for decisions to provide defense, energy and financial support to Ukraine in the coming year. But he added there is more to be done and urged “a reliable air defense shield,” that will protect the Ukrainian people from “the main form of Russian terror – missile terror.”

Britain’s Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update Saturday that “in recent days, there has been an uptick in Russia’s campaign of long-range strikes against Ukraine’s critical national infrastructure.”

The ministry tweeted, “The waves of strikes have largely consisted of air and maritime launched cruise missiles but have almost certainly also included Iranian-provided uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) being launched from Russia’s Krasnodar Region.”

“Previously, these UAVs had been primarily launched from locations within occupied Crimea,” the ministry tweeted. “The change of launch site is likely due to Russian concerns about the vulnerability of Crimea, while it is also convenient for resupply from the weapons’ likely arrival point in Russia, at Astrakhan.”

Earlier Saturday, emergency workers pulled the body of a 1-year-old boy from the rubble of an apartment building in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, following a Russian missile strike.

The barrage of long-range Russian strikes aimed at Ukraine’s infrastructure was coming as Russian President Vladimir Putin conducted meetings with his armed forces commanders, seeking proposals on Russian military strategy against Ukraine, the Kremlin said.

Russia has said attacks on basic infrastructure are militarily legitimate. Ukraine has said attacks, which are intended to cause civilian misery, are a war crime.

The United States will provide additional security assistance to Ukraine, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told VOA in an interview, Friday.

Asked if Washington would heed Russia’s warning not to deliver sophisticated Patriot air defense missiles or risk the consequences, Kirby replied “Russia will not dictate to the United States or any other country what security assistance we provide to Ukraine.”

The U.S. official said Washington is in “lockstep with the Ukrainians, talking to them almost every day about what their needs are, and making sure that we are best meeting those needs.”

Kirby emphasized that air defense capabilities are becoming a chief requirement of Ukraine’s military after Russia’s “unprecedented” airstrikes with cruise missiles and Iranian drones “the likes of which we’ve just seen again over the last 12 to 18 hours,” he told VOA.

Kirby said Washington’s focus is to help Ukraine succeed in the battlefield in whichever way Zelenskyy sees fit. The U.S., he said, does not dictate to Ukraine how to defend its territory.

Russia’s foreign ministry has warned the U.S. that if it ships sophisticated Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine, Moscow would consider it a “provocative move” that could prompt a response from the Kremlin.

Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova did not spell out what Moscow’s response might be but said the U.S. should “draw the right conclusions” from Russia’s warnings that equipment supplied by the U.S. is a legitimate target for Russian attacks. With its arms shipments to Ukraine, she said the U.S. already had “effectively become a party” to the war.

U.S. officials this week confirmed to reporters plans to send the Patriot missile system to Ukraine, which Zelenskyy has long said Ukraine needs to defend itself against an onslaught of Russian airstrikes targeting vital infrastructure, including power and water facilities. So far, no official announcement has been made.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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Chancellor Olaf Scholz Saturday inaugurated Germany’s first liquefied natural gas terminal, declaring that the speed with which it was put into service is a signal that Europe’s biggest economy will remain strong.

The top three officials in the government — Scholz, Economy Minister Robert Habeck and Finance Minister Christian Lindner — attended the inauguration in the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven in a sign of the importance that Germany attaches to several new LNG terminals that it is scrambling to build following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The terminals are part of a drive to prevent an energy crunch that also includes temporarily reactivating old oil- and coal-fired power stations and extending the life of Germany’s last three nuclear power plants, which were supposed to be switched off at the end of this year, until mid-April.

Scholz announced days after Russia invaded Ukraine in February that the government had decided to build the first two LNG terminals quickly.

“When we said that, for example, such a terminal should be built here in Wilhelmshaven this year already, many said that’s never possible, that would never succeed,” the chancellor said at Saturday’s ceremony. “And the opposite is true.”

Port facilities were completed a month ago and a specially equipped ship, a so-called “floating storage and regasification unit,” docked Thursday with 165,000 cubic meters of LNG. The Economy Ministry said that regasification is expected to start in the coming days and “regular service” in January.

Two more terminals are slated to open this winter, with another three expected to be available next winter. Scholz said their total capacity will be well over half the amount of Russian pipeline gas that was supplied last winter.

Sluggish planning processes have long been a concern in Germany. Scholz proclaimed Saturday that “this is now the new German speed with which we are moving infrastructure forward.”

“This is a good day for our country and a good signal to the whole world that the German economy will be in a position to continue being strong, to produce and to deal with this challenge,” he said.

Efforts to make Germany independent of Russian gas were well underway before Russia started reducing supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which was its main supply route, in mid-June. Russia, which used to account for more than half of the country’s natural gas supply, hasn’t delivered any gas to Germany since the end of August.

Scholz underlined the importance of pursuing Germany’s transition to renewable energy sources and stressed that a new pipeline to Wilhelmshaven was planned in such a way that it can in the future be adapted to transport hydrogen.

Still, the new gas terminals have drawn criticism from environmental groups.

And while they have broad mainstream political support, a leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, Tino Chrupalla, argued Saturday that the Wilhelmshaven facility wouldn’t solve the energy crisis and called for the government to drop sanctions against Russia. 
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A U.S. company that helped build a huge aquarium in Berlin says it is sending a team to investigate the rupture of the tank, which sent a wave of debris, water and tropical fish crashing through the hotel lobby it was in and onto the street outside.

Reynolds Polymer Technology, which says it manufactured and installed the cylinder component of the AquaDom tank 20 years ago, said in an emailed statement that “at this point, it is too early to determine the factor or factors that would produce such a failure.” 

Police have said they found no evidence of a malicious act but the cause of the spectacular collapse shortly before 6 a.m. Friday, in which two people were slightly injured, remains unclear. Berlin’s top security official, Iris Spranger, told German news agency dpa Friday that the “first indications point to material fatigue.”

Officials said Friday evening that the hotel building itself was assessed to be safe.

The local government said that nearly all the 1,500 fish that were inside at the time of the rupture died but “a few fish at the bottom of the tank” were saved. About 400 to 500, mostly small fish from a separate set of aquariums housed under the hotel lobby, were evacuated to other tanks in a neighboring aquarium that was unaffected.

The AquaDom aquarium opened in December 2003 and was modernized in 2020.

Grand Junction, Colorado-based Reynolds Polymer, which says on its website that 41 of its acrylic panels were used in building the tank cylinder, said it “offers its sincere concern” to the hotel guests and workers who were affected and to those who were injured. It said that “we are also deeply saddened by the animals and aquatic life lost.”
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The French soccer team has not been overly troubled by the virus that has hit several players in the past few days, coach Didier Deschamps said, as the squad prepares to finish off their World Cup campaign in Sunday’s final against Argentina.

Defenders Dayot Upamecano, Ibrahima Konate, Raphael Varane, midfielder Adrien Rabiot and forward Kingsley Coman were all infected during the week, although most of them have recovered.

On Friday, only Konate, Coman and Varane missed collective training as Rabiot and Upamecano were back with the squad after being ruled out of the semi-final against Morocco on Wednesday.

“We try to take the maximum precautions, to adapt and to deal with it without going overboard,” Deschamps said during a news conference on Saturday. “It is obviously a situation. If it could not exist it would be better, but we manage as best we can.”

The showdown at the Lusail stadium will be Deschamps’ third World Cup final after he won it in 1998 as Les Bleus’ captain and then four years ago as their coach.

He oozed calm on Saturday despite the pressure of facing a team looking to give Lionel Messi his maiden World Cup title.

“I have no worries or stress. The important thing in preparing for a match like this is to remain calm,” said Deschamps.

“In a World Cup final, there is the match, but also the context which is particular,” he added. “But I know that the Argentinians, and maybe some French people too, would like to see Messi win the title.”

Captain Hugo Lloris said the game was bigger than Messi, however.

“The event is too important to focus on one player. It’s a final between two great nations,” he said. “When you face this kind of player [Messi], you have to pay attention to him, but this game is not just about him.”

France has shown they can adapt to any kind of team, which could be a big asset against Argentina, who have tested out several systems during the World Cup.

“You have to be willing to suffer at times. You have to make the most of the good situations, too,” said Lloris. “Tomorrow there will be a game plan to respect. We are still studying this team and preparing for this big game. There are always things we are not prepared for.”

To face that, he said, “we need a perfect mindset, to be ready to go above and beyond. We know that we are capable of playing with possession and on the counterattack. We have a lot of fast players offensively. The strength of our team is that we can adapt to any type of scenario.”

Asked to compare the 2018 final against Croatia and Sunday’s match against Argentina, Lloris refused to look back.

“We want to write our own story. We want to finish it in the best way possible. As long as nothing is done, the hardest part is still to come,” he said. “We have to be ready to surpass ourselves, to make the effort despite the circumstances with the virus, despite the fatigue. We must finish the job.”
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In what may have been Luka Modric’s final World Cup match, Josko Gvardiol made a play to be Croatia’s next go-to guy.

Modric has been the man in the middle for Croatia for more than a decade, leading the team to the World Cup final four years ago and the semifinals of this year’s tournament. But at 37, his time at the top is surely coming to an end.

Modric was again central to Croatia’s 2-1 victory over Morocco for third place at the World Cup on Saturday, but it was Gvardiol who stepped up from the back at Khalifa International Stadium.

“We made a comeback,” said Gvardiol, referring to Tuesday’s loss to Argentina in the semifinals. “We knew we had to be focused and show grit. Today we proved we deserved third place. We are going home celebrating.”

Gvardiol, wearing a black mask after breaking his nose during a Bundesliga match last month, plays a different position and looks to be nearly twice the size of the diminutive No. 10. But at 20 years old he is also almost half the age of Modric and plays like a veteran rather than someone who was still the age of a high school student when Croatia lost to France only four years ago in the 2018 final.

Nicknamed “Little Pep” because of the similarities between his last name and that of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, Gvardiol scored Croatia’s opening goal in the seventh minute of Saturday’s match with a diving header.

His head was involved on the other end of the field as well. As a center back playing just behind Modric, Gvardiol was constantly being called upon to shoo away Morocco’s chances, to keep the area clear of red shirts, and keep the ball out of his team’s net.

He did that, and he was named player of the match because of it.

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic, reflecting on Gvardiol’s imposing presence throughout the tournament in Qatar, said the defender deserved to be named the best young player of the World Cup.

“If not the best young player, he must be in the competition for the best young player,” Dalic said. “Usually the forwards, the top scorers, are considered for this award, but Josko has proven that defense players deserve this, and I believe he deserves the award.”

Gvardiol is listed at 6-foot-1, only five inches taller than Modric, but he fills a huge space in Croatia’s defense, and he showed he can also move like a smaller player.

Running through the middle of the field with the ball at his feet in the second half, Gvardiol crossed into the opposite penalty area with only the goalkeeper to beat. Morocco midfielder Sofyan Amrabat, however, appeared to clip Gvardiol’s left foot. He went down in a heap and called for a penalty, but the referee wasn’t buying it.

The big man in the black mask wasn’t happy, sitting on the grass with his arms in the air before rejoining play on the other end, immediately jumping to try to head the ball out of danger from in front of his own goal.

“I think there was a touch there,” Gvardiol said of the possible penalty. “I’m a defense player. That’s the worst part, that I don’t know how to fall.”

Gvardiol was central to Croatia’s strong defense from the start in Qatar, with the team allowing only one goal in three group matches. They continued that stingy play into the knockout rounds until being undone in the 3-0 loss to Argentina in the semifinals.

Despite what Dalic said, Gvardiol was unconcerned with the individual award, preferring instead to win something with his teammates.

“I am not interested in any such award for best young player,” Gvardiol said. “What I care about is the bronze medal and I fulfilled my dream.”

Gvardiol came into the World Cup after recently extending his contract with German club Leipzig, a deal that ties him to the team through 2027. But some of Europe’s biggest clubs may have something to say about that with the January transfer window coming up in a matter of weeks.
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Pope Francis marked his 86th birthday on Saturday by rewarding three people involved in charity work, including a homeless man who gives other street dwellers part of the alms he receives.

The pope gave the three the Mother Teresa Prize as recognition of their different forms of charity. The nun, who died in 1997, worked among the poorest people in India and founded the Missionaries of Charity.

The homeless man was identified by the Vatican only by his first name, Gian Piero and his street name, WuÃ.

The other two honored were Franciscan priest Hanna Jallouf, a Syrian who works in his country, and Italian industrialist Silvano Pedrollo, for his work in building schools and bringing clean drinking water to the poor in developing countries.

Francis gave them the prize, a small globe of the world in a cube-shaped frame with an image of Mother Teresa holding a child, at a ceremony in the Vatican.

At the ceremony, the pope kissed the homeless man’s hand, and one of the nuns of the order founded by Mother Teresa put a flower garland around the pope’s neck.

At a separate audience, Rome seminarians presented him with cake. No other particular birthday celebrations were planned.

Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires in 1936. Next March, he will mark the 10th anniversary of his election as head of the 1.3 billion-member Roman Catholic Church.
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The broadcast licenses of six Moldovan television stations have been suspended.
Moldova’s Commission for Exceptional Situations said the suspensions were issued because the TV stations were spreading misinformation and were attempting to manipulate public opinion.

The commission, founded after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, announced the suspensions of First in Moldova, RTR Moldova, Accent TV, NTV Moldova, TV6 and Orhei TV late Friday.

The Associated Press reports that four of the six stations “regularly re-transmit programs from Russian TV channels that on Friday were banned by the European Council as part of a fresh wave of sanctions against Russia.”

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
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Britain’s Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update Saturday that “In recent days, there has been an uptick in Russia’s campaign of long-range strikes against Ukraine’s critical national infrastructure.”

The ministry tweeted, “The waves of strikes have largely consisted of air and maritime launched cruise missiles, but have almost certainly also included Iranian-provided uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) being launched from Russia’s Krasnodar Region.”

“Previously these UAVs had been primarily launched from locations within occupied Crimea,” the ministry said. “The change of launch site is likely due to Russian concerns about the vulnerability of Crimea, while it is also convenient for resupply from the weapons’ likely arrival point in Russia, at Astrakhan.”

Washington’s focus: Help Ukraine succeed

The United States will provide additional security assistance to Ukraine, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told VOA in an interview Friday.

Asked if Washington would heed Russia’s warning not to deliver sophisticated Patriot air defense missiles or risk the consequences, Kirby replied “Russia will not dictate to the United States or any other country what security assistance we provide to Ukraine.”

The U.S. official said Washington is in “lockstep with the Ukrainians, talking to them almost every day about what their needs are, and making sure that we are best meeting those needs.”

Kirby stressed that air defense capabilities are becoming a chief requirement of Ukraine’s military after Russia’s “unprecedented” airstrikes with cruise missiles and Iranian drones “the likes of which we’ve just seen again over the last 12 to 18 hours,” he told VOA.

Kirby said Washington’s focus is to help Ukraine succeed in the battlefield in whichever way Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sees fit. The U.S., he said, does not dictate to Ukraine how to defend its territory.

In his video address, Friday, Zelenskyy said Russia still had enough missiles for more massive strikes like the one it launched earlier in the day against Ukraine’s electrical grid.

“Whatever the rocket worshipers from Moscow are counting on, it still won’t change the balance of power in this war,” he said in a video address.

Warning from Russia

On Thursday, Russia’s foreign ministry warned the U.S. that if it ships sophisticated Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine, Moscow would consider it a “provocative move” that could prompt a response from the Kremlin.

Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova did not spell out what Moscow’s response might be but said the United States should “draw the right conclusions” from Russia’s warnings that equipment supplied by the U.S. is a legitimate target for Russian attacks. With its arms shipments to Ukraine, she said the U.S. already had “effectively become a party” to the war.

U.S. officials this week confirmed to reporters plans to send the Patriot missile system to Ukraine, which Zelenskyy has long said Ukraine needs to defend itself against an onslaught of Russian airstrikes targeting vital infrastructure, including power and water facilities. However, no official announcement has been made.

Russia fired more than 70 missiles at Ukraine Friday in one of its biggest attacks since the start of the war, knocking out power in the second-biggest city and forcing Kyiv to implement emergency blackouts nationwide, Ukrainian officials said.

Three explosions were heard in the city of Kyiv alone, one of which was close to the home of VOA’s reporter Anna Chernikova. She reported from Kyiv that the explosion was so powerful, it shook her apartment building.

Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said late Friday that just a third of its residents had both heat and water and 40% electricity. The metro system — a crucial transport artery – remained shut down, he added.

Despite widespread damage on the country’s power infrastructure, after some repairs, Ukrainian grid operator Ukrenergo lifted a state of emergency that had forced it to impose blackouts. But Ukrenergo also warned that more time would be needed to repair equipment and restore electricity than in previous bombardments.

Other explosions were reported in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia, Donetsk, and some western regions. The northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest, was also badly hit, knocking out electricity, heating and running water. Later Friday, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency cited regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov as saying that 55% of the city’s power was back up, and 85% in the surrounding region.

Local authorities of the city of Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s hometown, reported strikes in the residential area. Three people were killed and more than a dozen were injured when an apartment block was hit in central Kryvyi Rih. Another person died in shelling in Kherson in the south, they said. Russian-installed officials in occupied eastern Ukraine said 12 people had died by Ukrainian shelling.

Ukrainian Air Force Command reported that Russia has launched some 76 missiles at Ukraine targeting critical energy infrastructure. About 60 of those missiles were destroyed by air defense. Thirty-seven of 40 missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defense over Kyiv alone. Ten missiles were destroyed in the air over the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Moscow says attacks on basic infrastructure are militarily legitimate. Ukraine says the attacks intended to cause civilian misery are a war crime.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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VOA Russian White House correspondent Mykhailo Komadovsky spoke with John Kirby, National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for Strategic Communications, on Dec. 16, 2022, about the latest on U.S. support for Ukraine, White House opposition to ending support for Saudi Arabia in its war in Yemen, and Russia-Iran ties.

The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.

VOA: John Kirby, thank you very much for your time. So, let’s start with Ukraine, if I may. So recently we’ve heard multiple reports of explosions and presumable drone attacks in the Russian Federation. In one of your interviews, you said the following, let me quote you. ‘We’re not encouraging or enabling Ukrainian operations inside Russia. We’re trying to make sure that they can defend their territory and win back their ground in Ukraine.” From your point of view, is it possible to win the war without targeting military infrastructure within Russia that is actively used to attack Ukrainian civilians?

National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby: Well I think we’d let the Ukrainians, President Zelenskyy as Commander in Chief in particular, define what his intentions are, what his specific objectives are. What we’re focused on is making sure that they can defend their territory, they can win back lost ground that the Russians have illegally taken from them.

The war has evolved over time. You know, the first few weeks it was all about Kyiv. The Battle of Kyiv which the Ukrainians won, and back then we were talking about anti-tank missiles. Then it moved into artillery, as the fighting really concentrated on the Donbas, which is a lot like Kansas, very open farmland. And now given these, well, I think the only word to say is, unprecedented air assaults by Russia, both from cruise missiles and from Iranian drones, the likes of which we’ve just seen again over the last 12 to 18 hours, air defense capabilities are becoming a chief requirement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

VOA: Russia warned Thursday that if the U.S. delivers some sophisticated air defense missiles, like the Patriots, it’s going to be a red line for them and it’s going to prompt a reaction from the Kremlin. And is this the reason why you’re not announcing the delivery of the Patriots to Ukraine as planned? As we’ve heard from President Biden, we have heard him literally an hour ago, when he said, way off the mic, the following – ‘You’ll hear in a few minutes.’ Still no statement, so are you concerned?

Kirby: We have provided more than 25 presidential drawdown packages to Ukraine, not to mention other security assistance initiative funds for contracts, for security assistance for Ukraine over the last nine months, and there will be more. There will be another announcement of a security assistance package for Ukraine, I’m sure, in coming days. When we have a package to announce, we’ll speak to that, we’ll speak to the contents, we’ll speak to the amount of money that’s being spent on it, and we’ll talk about the timing in terms of getting it into the hands of Ukrainian soldiers as fast as possible.

VOA: Are you concerned about the warnings coming from Moscow to Washington? Because they’ve been pretty clear. If you provide Ukraine with that type of munition, we’re going to respond. But they’re not specifying the weight of that response.

Kirby: Russia is not going to dictate to the United States or to any other country what security assistance we provide Ukraine. We’re doing that in lockstep with the Ukrainians, talking to them almost every day about what their needs are, and making sure that we are best meeting those needs. And if we can’t, then the United States has proven able and willing to talk to allies and partners about how they might meet those capabilities.

VOA: After the swap of Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout, you said that the administration will hold Viktor Bout accountable should he commit any wrongdoing again, or should he become a threat to the United States again. What are the national security concerns related to Bout? And what are you going do to mitigate those concerns?

Kirby: Well, let’s not get ahead of where we are. We did a national security assessment before that prisoner exchange, that is common practice, we do that routinely. And as a result of that assessment, we came out of it believing that whatever risk there might be to our national security by Mr. Bout, plying his old trade was a manageable risk. We will always be vigilant about our national security, and if Mr. Bout decides with his newfound freedom that he wants to go back and do his old line of work, then he will be held accountable by the United States.

VOA: Have you heard from Brittney Griner since she came back to the United States? How is she doing, because we haven’t seen her publicly so far since the day of the swap.

Kirby: I would let Ms. Griner speak for herself. We’re focused on making sure that she’s getting the care she needs as she prepares to reassimilate back into society, go back to her team, and go back to her friends and family, and that’s what we all want.

VOA: Let’s move to Yemen. So, in opposing the War Powers resolution on the war in Yemen, the White House has argued that withdrawing U.S. troops for the Saudi-led war would complicate ongoing diplomacy here. Can you explain that? How does ending support for a war prevent peace?

Kirby: Well, we all want to see the war in Yemen end. We’ve been working to that for years. Unfortunately, for way too long we’ve been supporting the U.N.-led process there and we’ll continue to do that. Too many innocent Yemenis have fallen victim and prey to this ghastly war. Now, what we are proud of is our role in helping foster what is now the longest truce in the history of this Yemeni war, going on 10 months here of a cease-fire, which literally has helped save thousands of Yemeni lives. We want to see that cease-fire, we want to see that peace enduring, and we want to see it sustainable.

VOA: Can you give us the latest on the U.S. intelligence on the joint weapons production between Russia and Iran?

Kirby: We do believe, as we have said, that Iran and Russia are trying to deepen their defense partnership. Part and parcel of that could be the development of a joint production facility in Russia for Iranian drones. And we continue to believe that that’s the case. But again, I think you got to step back here. It’s not just about production of drones, which of course the Russians will use to propagate more violence on the Ukrainian people and civilian infrastructure. It’s about this deepening relationship, which is not only not good for the people of Ukraine, it’s not good for the people of the Middle East. An Iran that benefits from enhanced military assistance capabilities from Russia is an Iran that becomes an even bigger threat in the region.

VOA: What about the deepening relationship between North Korea and Russia?

Kirby: We still haven’t seen much in terms of the consummation of some sort of transaction here from a military perspective between North Korea and Russia. That said, noteworthy that Russia would reach out to a nation like North Korea. They’re running out of friends. They’re running out of sympathetic ears, and that they would go to a nation like North Korea to procure what we think would be artillery shells … It shows you the degree to which Mr. Putin is under pressure in Ukraine, that his own defense industrial base is having trouble keeping up with the needs, the rate of expenditure of weapons systems and ammunition inside Ukraine, and that he has to reach outward, outside Russia. You know, this was a military that was put forth by Mr. Putin as one of the most powerful on the planet and the most — one of the most advanced, and here he is, after nine months of war in Ukraine, having to reach out to countries like Iran and North Korea.

VOA: Since we’re approaching the end of the year. Let’s wrap it up. And I’m going to ask you about the biggest challenges that you and your team faced during 2022.

Kirby: It’s been the war in Ukraine and Russia’s aggression and the way in which it has literally transformed the security environment in Europe. That security environment is different now as you and I sit here than it was 9, 10 months ago. It has changed; not is changing, not will change. It has changed and the United States has changed with it. We now have 20,000 more troops on the European continent than we did before the war. And those 20, extra 20,000 will stay in a rotational basis. But our relationship with our NATO allies is certainly as vibrant and as strong as ever and getting stronger by the day. And soon, NATO will be joined by two more very modern militaries.

China also has continued to change the security environment around the world. Now, as you’ve heard us say, we, we look at China as a strategic competitor. We don’t want to see conflict with China. And yet, we have to be ready for the security challenges that China has posed in the information environment in 2022, including their efforts to achieve a new normal with respect to Taiwan in the wake of recent activity there in Taiwan.

And then, while we’re in the Indo Pacific, let’s talk about North Korea. The Kim regime, which has now increased the number, the frequency, of missile tests, rocket exercises…

VOA: A muscle-flexing game.

Kirby: …and they are definitely continuing to pursue their nuclear ambitions. We have said time and time again, over the course of this year, that we’re willing to sit down without preconditions to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful diplomatic way. They have rebuffed those offers and instead only increased instability, only made things worse. And so one of the things that we have done over the course of this year is really try to deepen and strengthen our vast network of alliances and partnerships in the region.

The president has made a focus, particularly working with South Korea and Japan, bilaterally, they’re of course treaty allies, and trilaterally between all three countries. We have conducted more exercises, we are much more engaged than we were in the past. And we have also unilaterally, the United States, has increased our intelligence capabilities there off the peninsula.

I might also add counterterrorism. A couple of very, very noteworthy counterterrorism operations in 2022, including taking out al-Zawahiri, de facto leader of al Qaeda, as well as ISIS terrorists.

VOA: It’s been quite a bumpy ride here. But if you were to pick one or two of your biggest achievements in 2022, what would it be?

Kirby: Well, I believe one of the biggest achievements is the manner in which President Biden and this administration has really revitalized this network of alliances and partnerships. When you just take a look at where U.S. leadership on the world stage sits now as to where it was when President Biden came into office, it’s night and day. NATO is a much more, not that it wasn’t before, but it’s just, it’s a much more vibrant alliance. It’s more relevant than ever before. And people will say, ‘Well, that’s because Putin and his war.’ It’s because of the leadership the United States has shown in the wake of those kinds of threats, really unifying the world stage. You just have to see in 2022, how much more important and relevant U.S. leadership is on the world stage, and how President Biden has really worked to solidify that, and I have every expectation that going into 2023 you’re going to see the same thing.
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In a one-on-one interview with VOA’s Russian White House correspondent Mykhailo Komadovsky, NSC spokesperson discusses U.S. support for Ukraine and Saudi Arabia, ties between Russia and Iran
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In 2012, actress Chulpan Khamatova was campaigning for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now based in Latvia, she speaks out against Putin and his war on Ukraine. Anna Rice narrates this story from VOA’s Russian Service.
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Rising domestic demand is forcing Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to cut back or halt natural gas exports to China, prompting a shakeup of regional energy markets and a rethinking of trade relationships across Central Asia. Meanwhile, American experts have been urging the West to invest in the region’s energy infrastructure, arguing that this kind of support “will create steady partners and balance Chinese and Russian ambitions.”

Residents in Central Asia not only face bitterly cold winters but also endure energy cuts during this season. They blame the government for corruption and lack of accountability, but authorities blame decreasing production and supply bottlenecks.

“Stop exporting, start delivering!” blare many social media debates in Uzbekistan, to which officials respond: “We are not exporting. … This is all we have.”

“We import natural gas in winter to meet domestic needs and export it in summer to return the gas we have received,” said Jurabek Mirzamahmudov, Uzbekistan’s energy minister.

The China-Central Asia pipeline from Turkmenistan carries gas across Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

Beijing, the region’s biggest trade partner, mostly buys energy products, including natural gas and oil, from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

In the first quarter of 2022, Turkmenistan, China’s largest gas supplier, delivered $2.87 billion worth, according to official Chinese data. Ashgabat increased gas exports by 53% this year, with October’s cost volume amounting to $8.23 billion.

Kazakhstan, selling $270.6 million worth of gas to China at the beginning of the year, will halt exports, instead using it for domestic consumption. The government has warned that gas prices, currently subsidized by exports, will rise.

Uzbekistan aims to end gas exports in coming years due to rising domestic demand. This year its plan is to export 3.3 billion cubic meters, a notable decrease from 2019, when it sold 12.2 billion cubic meters. China’s General Administration of Customs reported that Uzbekistan exported $132.8 million in gas to China from January to April.

On December 7, Mirzamahmudov confirmed that Uzbekistan had stopped gas exports to China, then 6 million cubic meters a day. “However, our daily domestic demand has gone up to 25 million cubic meters a day,” he said.

Relations with China

Meetings in Tashkent with Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua in early December indicated the countries are working toward boosting business and aiming to grow annual trade to $10 billion from about $8 billion.

Official news agency Xinhua highlighted that “Uzbekistan is willing to deepen cooperation with China in such fields as trade, investment, transportation, energy, infrastructure … and advance the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and other connectivity projects to benefit people in the two countries and the region.”

“China wants to engage and invest in Central Asian resources as a bridge towards markets in Europe, towards hydrocarbon resources and politically friendly parts of the Middle East, such as Iran, and increasingly Saudi Arabia and Iraq. … It wants to reshape the international economic order,” said Wesley Hill, one of the authors of a recent report from Washington-based International Tax and Investment Center (ITIC), which focused on Central Asia’s energy potential.

In Kazakhstan, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, a vision of building land and sea trade routes from China to other countries through investments and infrastructure. Kazakhstan was also the first country Xi visited since COVID-19 became a public health emergency.

Western interests, Russian ambitions

Beyond China, “Efficient exports of Central Asian resources to potential trading partners requires infrastructure investments, including pipelines and specialized port terminals,” said the ITIC report, since existing ones mostly cross Russia or Iran.

Kazakhstan earns 40% of its revenue from oil, but 80% of the energy exports pass through Russia via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium.

“Kazakhstan is a responsible actor,” said First Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Umarov, who was visiting Washington for the annual Strategic Dialogue earlier this month.

“Over 70% of our oil exports go to the European Union,” he told journalists and experts gathered at George Washington University on December 6. “Kazakh oil exports account for more than 1.5% of global supply.”

As the West intensifies ties with Central Asia, American analysts caution that Russia is likely to weaponize energy, intimidating regional exporters, “hoping to prevent their role as potential suppliers to Europe. Similarly, China could attempt to increase its leverage while Russia is preoccupied in Ukraine and protect its own economic interests.”

Like many reports from U.S. think tanks, the ITIC study also stresses multivector cooperation and regional integration, underlining “these are not in Russian or Chinese interests.”

“Western investment — both government-directed and private — should prioritize the energy infrastructure of states whose resources make them best able to meet current demand: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan,” the ITIC publication says.

“As Russia escalates its bid for hegemony over formerly Soviet states, the strengthening of the Central Asian republics’ energy sectors allows them a pathway to greater autonomy and prosperity … Kazakhstan with oil and uranium, Uzbekistan with natural gas and uranium, and Turkmenistan with natural gas.”

By supporting the region’s energy industry, the ITIC experts urge, “the democratic world will create steady partners and balance Chinese and Russian ambitions.”

Observers in Washington agree, this is a time of economic uncertainty and assertive Russian aggression.

The Carnegie Endowment’s Russia and Eurasia expert, Paul Stronski, said Washington should avoid asking Central Asians to pick sides.

“They are sympathetic to Ukraine and wary of Russia. But Russia is willing to muck around,” he said.

Stronski suggested the U.S. provide security assistance and encourage the region to seek new linkages.

“We and Central Asians don’t want the region to be stuck between Russia and China.”

“Economic engagement is key but largely depends on these countries’ willingness to reform. In Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, specifically, Washington should hold governments accountable for their promises, while providing technical support,” Stronski said.

The ITIC report noted, as energy exporters, Central Asian states must continue “market liberalization and anti-corruption reforms, building confidence that energy and infrastructure projects will not be hindered by grift, needless roadblocks, expropriation, or confiscatory and punitive taxation” and ensure the rule of law to be attractive “safe harbors for foreign investment.”
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A massive aquarium in Berlin has burst, spilling 1,500 tropical fish and a million liters of water into the complex surrounding the structure and into the street.

About 100 emergency workers responded to the scene early Friday at the DomAquaree building .

Officials say they do not know what caused the Aqua Dom to collapse.

The aquarium was the centerpiece of the Radisson Blu hotel lobby and opened in 2003.

Guests have been moved out of the hotel.
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Ten people, including five children aged 3 to 15 years, were killed in a fire that broke out Friday morning at a residential building in Vaulx-en-Velin, near the French city of Lyon, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

Darmanin said the cause of the fire was not yet known.

“There are several scenarios and a probe will be opened,” he said, adding he was in touch with President Emmanuel Macron about the incident.

Around 180 firefighters were at the site. The fire was extinguished, Darmanin said, adding he was heading to the site.

The fire occurred in the early hours of Friday morning at a seven-story residential building. A security cordon was set up at the site, the authority of the Rhone area said.
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