News
Small Protests Continue As Kazakh Government Tightens Grip
Small anti-government protests in the Kazakh city of Zhanaozen continued on January 8 as Kazakhstan's security forces tightened their grip in the capital, Nur-Sultan, and in cities across the country. Dozens of people were killed in unprecedented nation-wide crackdown on protests triggered by a sharp fuel price hike.
- By RFE/RL
Taliban Foreign Minister Visits Iran For Talks Focused On Refugees, Economic Issues
The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan sent its foreign minister to Iran on January 8 to discuss Afghan refugees and a growing economic crisis.
"The visit aims at discussions on political, economic, transit and refugee issues between Afghanistan and Iran," Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said on Twitter.
The Taliban delegation led by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has already held a preliminary meeting with Iranian officials, he said.
It is the first such trip since the Taliban seized power amid the collapse of the Western-backed government and a chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign forces in August.
Iran, which has not recognized the new government formed by the Taliban, is hosting millions of Afghans and fears a new influx of refugees.
Last month its border guards clashed with Taliban fighters along a segment of the border in what Iranian-state media reported was a "misunderstanding" from the Afghan side.
Shi’ite Iran, which shares a 900-kilometer border with Afghanistan, did not recognize the Sunni movement's rule the first time the Taliban held power in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
"Today, we are basically not at the point of recognizing" the Taliban, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told a news conference earlier this week.
The Taliban has formed an all-male cabinet made up entirely of members of the group and almost exclusively of ethnic Pashtuns.
It has further restricted women's rights to work and study, triggering widespread international condemnation.
Based on reporting by AFP
Protesters Opposed To Lithium Mining In Serbia Block Roads
Demonstrators opposed to an international mining company’s plans to mine lithium in western Serbia blocked roads in several cities in the country on January 8 in the latest protest aimed at forcing the government to reject the plans.
The demonstration, which began at 1 p.m. local time and lasted one hour, blocked main highways in the capital, Belgrade, and Novi Sad. An RFE/RL reporter in Novi Sad said the highway was blocked in both directions, and its off-ramps also were blocked, causing long lines of cars.
About 100 people also gathered in Pesak, blocking the main road there. Similar demonstrations were held in other towns and cities.
For weeks, demonstrators have staged regular protests and blocked roads demanding the government reject London-based Rio Tinto, the world's second-largest metals and mining company, which is studying the development of a lithium mine.
Lithium is a key component of car and other batteries, and demand for it is expected to surge in the coming years as automakers switch to the production of battery-powered cars to meet lower carbon emission standards.
The mine would have the potential to generate significant export revenue and jobs for Serbia, especially if the country pursued plans to refine it locally.
But environmental activists say mining for lithium would damage the region’s farmland, ecosystem, and water.
Rio Tinto, which thus far has only carried out explorations, has said it would respect laws and environmental standards.
Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said her government was “close to deciding to annul” deals that have been reached thus far with Rio Tinto. But she said the government must first estimate what that would cost.
“You don't want Rio Tinto, you don't want excavations, all right. Let's see what we owe," the prime minister told Pink TV on January 8.
Interior Minister Aleksandar Vulin said he would ask Brnabic for “clearer arguments” for any decision to withdraw from agreements reached with Rio Tinto.
The Ecological Uprising Movement has demanded that the government make public all agreements that have been reached with Rio Tinto.
With reporting by AP
Jailed Iranian Poet Baktash Abtin Dies After Contracting COVID-19
Jailed Iranian poet and filmmaker Baktash Abtin has died in a hospital in Tehran, the Iranian Writers Association has reported.
Abtin's death, which was announced on January 8, came after the 48-year-old was recently placed in a medically induced coma while attempting to recover from a severe case of COVID-19.
Abtin suffered from coronary heart disease, and after he contracted COVID-19 his family managed to transfer him from Tehran's notorious Evin Prison to a capital hospital on December 14.
A prominent writer and free-speech advocate, Abtin was serving a six-year prison sentence related to his ties to the Iranian Writers Association, whose members are frequently pressured by the authorities, and due to his visitation of graves of victims of political assassinations.
He had been imprisoned along with two fellow Iranian Writers Association board members, Reza Khandan Mahabadi and Keyvan Bajan, since September 2020.
The open expression advocacy group PEN America in October jointly awarded the three writers the 2021 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award.
Abtin's imprisonment amid the coronavirus pandemic was harshly criticized by rights watchdogs.
Reporters Without Borders in a January 8 tweet said that Abtin had been denied proper medical care and said it "blames the high regime's authorities for his death."
- By RFE/RL
Serbian Tennis Star Djokovic Challenges Australian Visa Cancellation
Top-ranked tennis player Novak Djokovic has launched a legal challenge to the Australian government's decision to cancel his visa, saying he contracted COVID-19 last month and thus qualified for a medical exemption to the country's vaccination requirements.
The Serbian star's legal team filed a 35-page document on January 8 stating his case that the decision to cancel his visa should be reversed, potentially freeing him up to defend his Australian Open title later this month.
The challenge, which includes a certified document showing Djokovic, an outspoken critic of vaccination against COVID-19, tested positive for the coronavirus on December 16 and was free of symptoms by December 30, is expected to be heard in an Australian court on January 10, one week before the start of the tournament.
The filing also shows Djokovic said he received a letter from Tennis Australia's chief medical officer stating he had a medical exemption from vaccination as a result of him contracting COVID-19.
A Facebook post by the Belgrade tennis association showed Djokovic presenting trophies and awards during a youth tennis awards ceremony in the Serbian capital on December 17, a day after he says he tested positive. Djokovic is shown posing with Serbian tennis officials and around 20 youths, with none of them wearing masks. On December 16, the date of his positive test, Djokovic attended a gathering for Serbia's postal service, which was launching a series of stamps honoring him.
Djokovic's case continues to cause controversy ahead of the new year's first Grand Slam tennis event.
The world No. 1 has been forced to await the court hearing in detention at a Melbourne immigration center, causing an outcry in his home country.
Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic on January 8 said the government stood ready to provide all necessary guarantees to allow Djokovic to be granted permission to enter Australia.
"He's staying in Park Hotel until the final decision is made," Brnabic told Serbian media.
"We've managed to make sure gluten-free food is delivered to him, as well as exercising tools, a laptop, and a SIM card so that he is able to be in contact with his family."
Members of Djokovic's family held a rally of support for the third consecutive day in front of the Serbian parliament building in Belgrade.
Djokovic’s father, Srdjan Djokovic, said he was "disgusted" at the way his son was being treated.
"It's appalling what Novak has been going through," he told about 300 protesters.
"The worldwide support he is getting is worth more than dozens of grand slams,” he said. “They can't call this tournament of theirs an Open anymore when it's closed."
Djokovic, 34, initially received an exemption from local Australian officials despite tight restrictions on foreigners' entry amid a spike in infections.
Tennis Australia says his exception “was granted following a rigorous review process."
The Australian government has released a letter showing it wrote the tennis organizing body in November saying that prior infection with COVID-19 was not necessarily grounds for exemption in Australia.
Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has said that a third vaccination exemption granted in connection with the Australian Open is being investigated.
Another player whose visa was canceled despite receiving a vaccination exemption has left the country. Czech women's doubles specialist Renata Voracova decided not to challenge the decision and left Australia on January 8, the Czech Foreign Ministry said.
With reporting by AP, AFP, Metro, and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Kazakh Authorities Say Nearly 6,000 Detained In 'Anti-Terrorism' Sweep
NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakh authorities said on January 9 that they have detained nearly 6,000 people in security operations around Kazakhstan to quell the worst violence the country has seen in its 30 years of independence.
Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry said at least 5,969 people had been detained so far. He said 133 of them were being held on suspicion of committing “serious crimes.”
The news website Vlast.kz reported that at least 164 people were confirmed dead since unrest broke out on January 5.
According to Vlast.kz, 103 of the deaths occurred in the country’s largest city, Almaty.
Internet and phone connections have been problematic in Kazakhstan since the state-run KazakhTelecom blocked services amid angry nationwide protests on January 5, making independent confirmation of casualty figures difficult.
Kazakh media on January 9 carried comments from Aidos Ukibay, the spokesman for former president Nursultan Nazarbaev, who said Nazarbaev made the decision to step down from his powerful post as secretary of the country’s security council on January 5.
Ukibay said Nazarbaev did so because he “was well aware that riots and terror demanded a prompt, tough and uncompromising response from the country's leadership.”
Ukibay said Nazarbaev “has always supported efforts to protect the people, the country, and the future of the nation.”
Nazarbaev has not been seen in public since December 28 when he visited Russia. But Ukibay said on his Twitter account on January 8 that Nazarbaev was in the capital Nur-Sultan and was calling on Kazakhstan's people to rally around President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev.
On January 5, Nazarbaev was widely reported to have been sacked by Kazakh President Toqaev along with the head of the country’s National Security Committee, longtime Nazarbaev ally Karim Masimov.
Kazakh authorities announced on January 8 that Masimov was under arrest and faces charges of treason.
Toqaev said on January 9 he would announce personnel changes in the government on January 11. He didn't elaborate.
Order has been restored in most of Kazakhstan, though the country’s Khabat-24 television channel reported on January 9 that there had been another outbreak of fighting between security forces and protesters in Almaty overnight.
Small groups of protesters also were continuing to demonstrate on January 9 in the western cities of Zhanaozen and Aqtau.
The protests started in those cities on January 2 in response to sharp increases in fuel prices. As emonstrations quickly spread throughout the country, they turned into protests against the failure of authorities to make good on promises of economic and political reforms.
Authorities have appealed to people to stay off the streets while they continue a security operation against what President Toqaev has called “foreign-trained terrorists."
Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Ministry and head of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security Kamchybek Tashiev have called on Kazakh authorities to explain why one their citizens was shown on Kazakh television confessing to being a foreign terrorist.
The television station Qazqstan Ulttyq Telearnasy showed Vikram Ruzakhunov, whose face bore the marks of a recent beating, confessing that traveled to Kazakhstan to join the protests there after receiving a phone call on January 1 from someone promising to pay him 90,000 tenge (about $200) if he did so.
The Kazakh television station described Ruzakhunov as “unemployed.”
But RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports that Ruzakhunov is, in fact, a popular jazz pianist who regularly travels to Almaty for concerts.
Ruzakhunov's relatives told RFE/RL that he had bought his plane ticket to Almaty on December 16 in order to fly into the city on January 2 and attend a concert.
On the night of January 8 police detained civil activists Aibek Sabitov, Zhanmurat Ashtayev, Nurlan Syzdyk, Lyazzat Dosmagambetova at their homes in Shymkent, according to their relatives and other activists.
Ashtayev's wife, Moldir Nuranova,says dozens of armed men dressed in black and wearing masks had stormed into their home in the middle of the night.
Ashtayev's relatives said they tried to protect him. But they said Ashtayev left voluntarily after a gun was put to the head of his brother.
They also said Ashtayev was beaten by police.
Toqaev's office says he spoke by telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on January 9, "noting that the situation in the country is stabilizing."
Toqaev also said that "the focus of terrorist attacks remains" and "therefore, the fight against terrorism will continue in a serious manner."
Toqaev requested help from the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) as the protests spread on January 5.
The CSTO quickly sent more than 3,000 troops to Kazakhstan, mainly Russian soldiers, but also small forces from CSTO member states Belarus, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia.
RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports that those troops are now guarding key infrastructure facilities, including Almaty's airport, several government buildings in Almaty, and the Soviet-era Baikonur cosmodrome that Russia continues to use for its rocket launches.
With reporting by RFE/RL Kazakh Service correspondents in Nur-Sultan and RFE/RL Kyrgyz Service correspondents in Bishkek
- By RFE/RL
U.S. Has Questions About Kazakhstan’s Request For CSTO Troops, Blinken Says
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the United States has questions about Kazakhstan’s request for assistance from a Russia-led security organization to help quell protests that have left dozens of people dead in the Central Asian country.
The top U.S. diplomat said the Kazakh authorities “certainly have the capacity to deal appropriately with protests” in a way that respects the rights of protesters while maintaining law and order.
“So it's not clear why they feel the need for any outside assistance, so we're trying to learn more about it,” Blinken said January 7 during a press conference at the State Department.
Kazakhstan earlier this week requested help from the six-member Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) made up of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Armenia amid nationwide protests sparked by higher energy costs.
Russia has sent a few thousand troops to Kazakhstan under the auspices of the CSTO.
“I think one lesson in recent history is that once Russians are in your house, it's sometimes very difficult to get them to leave,” Blinken said.
Blinken’s comments came after President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev issued a stark warning to protesters that he has given security personnel a green light to “shoot to kill” even as the country’s police forces appeared to be in control of most cities in Kazakhstan.
Dozens were killed in the unprecedented anti-government demonstrations over a fuel price hike before law enforcement took control of the situation. It was the worst violence in the Central Asian state's 30 years of independence.
The Interior Ministry said Republican Square in Almaty, one of the main flashpoints of violence, had been cleared “of criminal groups.” RFE/RL journalists said they saw three bodies in different locations around the square as they surveyed it.
Correspondents in Shymkent said earlier on January 7 that the situation was calm, with an unknown number of people dead or injured.
The dead included 18 security officers killed in the clashes, the Interior Ministry said. The number of people detained reached 3,811, the ministry said, according to state television channel Khabar 24.
Toqaev said early on January 7 that order had "basically" been restored in the country, but later followed up those comments in a televised state address that “bandits” -- a word officials have used repeatedly to describe protesters who have threatened his authoritarian government’s survival -- would be dealt with severely.
"I have given the order to law enforcement agencies and the army to shoot to kill without warning," Toqaev said in the address while rejecting international calls for dialogue.
The protests erupted in the western region of Mangystau on January 2 over the doubling in the price of subsidized liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) before spreading and morphing into calls for political reform in the tightly controlled country.
Mobs stormed government buildings, setting some of them on fire, looted businesses, and torched and overturned cars as they called for reforms after decades of stifling rule in the oil-rich former Soviet republic.
In response, Toqaev declared a nationwide state of emergency until January 19, with curfews, restrictions on movements, and bans on mass gatherings.
Blinken said the U.S. hopes the government can quickly address the problems, which he said were "fundamentally economic and political in nature."
He said the United States values its relationship with Kazakhstan in calling for a "rights-respecting resolution" to the crisis.
The first Russian paratroopers arrived on January 5 after Toqaev asked the CSTO to help "stabilize” the situation. They were followed by troops from CSTO member Belarus on January 6. More Russian troops were expected to arrive on January 7 alongside units from Armenia and Tajikistan, which approved sending 200 troops to its neighbor. Kyrgyzstan also approved on January 7 sending 150 troops and military equipment to Kazakhstan.
The speed at which CSTO arrived on the scene in Kazakhstan was seen by some analysts as another sign of the Kremlin's strategy to act quickly to safeguard its influence in the former Soviet Union.
Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan's BTA Bank and outspoken critic of the government, told Reuters on January 7 that claims by Toqaev and officials in Moscow that “foreign-trained terrorists” were behind the protests were an attempt to distract people from the fact that the unrest is a result of internal problems caused by the government.
He added that Kazakhstan is now the focus of a geopolitical play, with Russian President Vladimir Putin looking to use the situation to “methodically impose his program: the re-creation of a structure like the Soviet Union."
Ablyazov is the leader of the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement, which for months has openly called on Kazakhs to rally against the government. The authorities labeled the DVK "extremist" and banned it in March 2018.
Ablyazov managed BTA when it was the country's largest private bank, but he later had a falling out with government officials. He accused former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev and many of Nazarbaev's family members of being involved in large-scale corruption and embezzlement and fled to London in 2009. The bank was subsequently nationalized by the Kazakh government.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, AFP, AP, dpa, and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Blinken Blasts Kremlin For Instigating Crisis Over Ukraine But Says Diplomatic Solution 'Still Possible'
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a diplomatic solution to deter a Russian invasion of Ukraine is “still possible” but warned that the West is ready to “respond forcefully” if that fails.
Speaking at the State Department in Washington on January 7 ahead of his meetings with allies and Russian officials to address the buildup and European security in general, Blinken blasted the Kremlin, accusing it of instigating the crisis along Ukraine’s border in an attempt to carve out a sphere of influence.
Blinken said the West is going into the talks “committed to diplomacy” but will not compromise on key principles, such as NATO’s open-door policy and the right of Ukraine to join the alliance.
Russia massed about 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine and in Crimea in the late autumn before presenting the United States and NATO with a list of demands for security guarantees, including an end to the alliance’s eastward expansion.
The United States has said the buildup could be a prelude to another invasion of Ukraine, something the Kremlin has denied.
Blinken said Russia is trying to turn three sets of talks next week into a debate about NATO but that Ukraine will be “front and center on the agenda...because that's what precipitated this crisis.”
U.S. officials will meet with their Russian counterparts on January 10 in Geneva followed by a NATO-Russia Council meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels on January 12. A meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) -- which includes the United States, Ukraine, and Russia -- will be held in Vienna on January 13.
Blinken used his address at the State Department to lay out what the United States sees as the root cause of the crisis, highlight Russian "malign" activities that have destabilized Europe, and counter various Russian interpretations of events.
Blinken dismissed Russian allegations that Ukraine was to blame for the current crisis as “absurd” and more “gaslighting.”
The top U.S. diplomat said the root cause of the crisis lies in Russia’s inability to accept Ukraine’s decision to pursue a democratic path.
He listed a long series of Russian aggressions against the country -- including territorial annexation, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, energy strangulation -- ever since Ukrainian citizens ousted Kremlin-leaning President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.
Blinken also rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims that the West broke an agreement with the Soviet Union not to expand NATO and that the alliance is a threat to Russia.
He said no such agreement was ever reached between the West and Moscow and said that NATO had reduced the size of its forces following the end of the Cold War until Russia attacked Ukraine in 2014.
Blinken did not exclude that Russia's "nonstarter" demands could be a ruse to justify military action against Ukraine, saying it’s “part of [the Kremlin’s] playbook.”
He also said Russia could try to instigate an incident and then use it as a justification to attack Ukraine, “hoping that by the time the world realizes the ruse, it'll be too late.”
He said another attack against Ukraine likely will only work counter to Putin’s stated goals as NATO would be forced to bolster its presence on the continent.
However, Blinken held out hope the West and Russia could make progress on some issues, including increasing transparency, instituting new risk reduction measures, and on arms control.
He said Russia must address the concerns of the West about its malign actions across the continent.
“We go into [these meetings] committed to diplomacy, committed to dialogue, but equally committed to stand up for the principles that Russia is putting at risk,” he said.
- By RFE/RL's Radio Farda and
- Stuart Greer
'They Beat Us So We Don't Come Back': Afghan Refugees Face Deportation From Iran
Afghan refugees in Iran say they are facing hunger, abuse, and deportation. The flood of Afghans seeking refuge in Iran and other countries increased after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021. RFE/RL's Radio Farda spoke to several Afghans struggling to survive in Iran who are desperate to stay in the country despite the hardships.
In Shock Verdict, Bulgarian Journalists Convicted Of Defamation, Fined
Two journalists in Bulgaria and a website have been convicted of defamation and ordered to pay the equivalent of some $35,000 for articles published in 2018 in what is being described as an unprecedented verdict, RFE/RL’s Bulgarian Service reports.
The Sofia City Court (SCC) found that Boris Mitov, now a journalist for RFE/RL’s Bulgarian Service, and Stoyana Georgieva had caused physical and mental anguish to Svetlin Mihailov, a former chairman of the SCC, and ordered them and the website that published the articles four years ago to pay him damages amounting to 60,000 Bulgarian lev ($34,659).
In 2018, Mitov was covering for the news website Mediapool Mihailov’s bid to become head of the SCC, Bulgaria’s largest district court. At the time, Georgieva was the editor in chief of Mediapool.
Four of those articles were examined by the court, and Judge Daniela Popova ruled on December 21 that they contained “defamatory allegations against [Mihailov].”
Lawyers for Mitov and Georgieva argued that the articles in question contained information about Mihailov, including questions about his sizable wealth and property, that had appeared at the time and since then in other publications.
RFE/RL President Jamie Fly called the court’s decision “outrageous” and said it was meant to intimidate some of Bulgaria’s finest investigative journalists for reporting publicly known facts.
“The public has a right to accountability, and intimidation tactics like this will not keep RFE/RL from informing its audience about issues of public interest,” Fly said in a statement.
In her ruling, Popova did not specify exactly what extracts from the articles in question she found “indecent, vulgar, and cynical.”
Popova ordered the two journalists and Mediapool to each pay Mihailov 20,000 lev ($11,553).
Lawyers for the two journalists and Mediapool have appealed the ruling, although no date has been set yet for that hearing.
Vox Pop: Armenians Respond To The Deployment Of Troops To Kazakhstan
A straw poll of residents in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, indicated that they were mostly unhappy about the decision to send their country's troops as part of a Russian-led military intervention to shore up the authoritarian regime in Kazakhstan. The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) mission was requested by Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev after days of anti-government protests swept the country.
- By RFE/RL
Iran Offers 'Bilateral' Talks With States That Lost Nationals In Downing Of Ukrainian Airliner
Iran said on January 7 that it is prepared to meet bilaterally with countries whose nationals died in Iran's accidental downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet two years ago, but it couched the offer in defiant terms that echoed days of denials after the tragedy played out in the skies over Tehran.
The statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry followed a joint announcement by Ukraine, Britain, Canada, and Sweden that they were abandoning a two-year effort to negotiate with Tehran over reparations for the victims and would pursue the matter through international legal channels.
Iranian officials eventually blamed the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), a branch of Iran's armed forces, for firing on Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 with 176 people aboard because of technical and human error and with tensions high between Tehran and the United States.
"Despite certain countries' illegal actions and attempts to exploit this tragic event..., Iran remains ready to negotiate bilaterally with each of the relevant states," Iran's Foreign Ministry said via state media.
It said any talks should respect "sovereignty, domestic laws, and international obligations."
It was unclear what illegalities the Iranians believed any other countries had committed.
More than 130 of the passengers had ties to Canada. Citizens or residents of Afghanistan, Britain, Iran, Ukraine, and Sweden were also killed.
Canada said in June that it found no evidence of premeditation in the downing of the aircraft.
In May, Human Rights Watch accused Iranian security agencies of harassing and abusing the victims' families to "squash any hope for justice."
A Canadian court last week awarded $84 million and interest to the families of six of the victims.
The Iranian government said separately on January 7 that it has begun paying compensation to the families of those killed.
"The Transport Ministry has made transfers to a certain number of [victims'] families," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Arash Khodaei, a vice president of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, said that "the sum of $150,000 has been transferred" to some families, while "the process has begun" for others.
The payment "does not infringe upon [their[ right to take legal action," state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
Ukrainian and Canadian officials strongly criticized the announcement, saying compensation should not be settled through unilateral declarations.
The Foreign Ministry statement marked the second anniversary of the downing of the flight on January 8, 2020. Three days after the Kyiv-bound flight was shot down, the Iranian armed forces admitted its forces had acted "by mistake."
With reporting by Reuters and AFP
EU Leadership Says 'No Solution' To Russia-Ukraine Tensions 'Without Europe'
The European Commission chief and the EU's new French leadership have stressed the need for European involvement as Russia and the West continue to square off diplomatically over the possible threat of escalated conflict in Ukraine.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on January 7 that "one thing is clear: no solution without Europe. Whatever the solution, Europe has to be involved."
The United States and its EU partners have stepped up warnings of major consequences if Russia invades Ukraine as Moscow masses troops near the border and presses demands for security guarantees against NATO expanding eastward.
Von der Leyen said the European Union was "very present" in Ukraine, including through giving billions in financial assistance to Kyiv and the bloc's reliance on Russian natural gas shipments via Ukraine.
Speaking alongside von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed direct U.S.-Russian talks slated for next week but stressed that "European security architecture" was "up to us to build."
France officially took up the six-month, rotating European Union presidency at the start of January.
Western leaders are said to be working on what they have pledged are tough financial and other punitive measures to be implemented if Russia escalates militarily against Ukraine.
Macron said, "it's a good thing that there are discussions between the United States and Russia," and added that "coordination between the Europeans and Americans is exemplary on the matter."
But he called for the European Union to hold its own talks with Moscow.
"Dialogue does not mean making concessions," he added.
NATO foreign ministers are scheduled to meet virtually on January 7 to coordinate members' approaches to Russia.
U.S. and Russian officials are to meet in Geneva on January 10. This will be followed by NATO-Russian and EU gatherings with discussion of the Ukraine crisis high on the agenda.
Based on reporting by AFP
Paris Echoes U.S. Hints At 'Progress' In Iran Nuclear Talks, Says 'Time Running Out'
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has expressed optimism over an eventual return to a hobbled nuclear deal with Iran but warned that "time is running out" on those international negotiations.
"I remain convinced we can reach a deal. Bits of progress have been made in the last few days," Le Drian told BFM TV and RMC Radio on January 7. "We have been heading in a positive direction in the last few days, but time is of the essence, because if we don't get an accord quickly there will be nothing to negotiate."
The United States, whose withdrawal from 2015's multiparty Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA) three years ago led to renewed unilateral sanctions to pressure Iran's leadership, said this week that a round of talks begun on January 3 had seen "modest progress."
The talks restarted late last year after a pause accompanying the installation of a new, hard-line Iranian president last summer.
Tehran took steps to breach the JCPOA after the U.S. withdrawal and frustrated international inspection efforts more recently, and has insisted the United States lift its sanctions before it returns to a deal.
Western leaders urging a return to the deal have resisted specific deadlines but warned that there are "weeks not months" to hammer out an agreement to salvage the six-year-old agreement.
Iran has consistently rejected Israeli and Western accusations that it is seeking a nuclear weapons capability, even as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has cited deception and obfuscation in the past by Tehran over sensitive nuclear activities.
Based on reporting by Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Tennis Ace, Anti-Vaxxer Djokovic Spends Christmas Holiday In Australian Limbo
Top world tennis player Novak Djokovic is spending Orthodox Christmas in a Melbourne immigration center as he awaits a hearing over his quashed vaccine exemption to enter the country to defend his Australian Open title.
His case continues to cause ripples ahead of the new year's first Grand Slam tennis event, particularly as news emerged that a Czech women's tennis player in Australia on a COVID-19 exemption had been detained after Djokovic's complications this week, despite the fact that she had already been competing in a warm-up event in Melbourne.
Djokovic and most of his native Serbia mark the holiday on January 7 along with most of the Orthodox world.
The 34-year-old Serbian national hero's mother has spoken out against his placement in a sparsely equipped detention center for potential migrants in Melbourne, saying "they are keeping him like a prisoner."
"It’s just not fair, it’s not human," Dijana Djokovic said in Belgrade after speaking with her son by phone. "I hope he will stay strong as we are also trying, to give him some energy to keep going. I hope he will win."
The multimillionaire, 20-time Grand Slam singles champion's accommodations are "terrible...with bugs, it’s all dirty, the food is terrible," she added.
Djokovic thanked "people around the world" for their "continuous support" on Instagram on January 7.
"I can feel it and it is greatly appreciated," he said.
Australian officials have said Djokovic is free to leave -- just not to enter Australian territory as a federal court prepares for a hearing on January 10 over his injunction request against deportation.
Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has said that two other exemptions granted in connection with the Australian Open are also under investigation.
A general consul of the Czech Republic in Sydney confirmed on January 7 that a Czech player, doubles specialist Renata Voracova, was among "several other tennis players" in quarantine at the same immigration hotel.
Australian ABC news outlet said Voracova had "already played in a warm-up tournament in Melbourne" before she was detained on January 6. It suggested she entered Australia last month after getting an exemption based on previous COVID-19 infection and recovery.
It was unclear if the 38-year-old Voracova, who is ranked 81st in global doubles rankings, similarly planned to challenge her possible deportation.
The timing of her detention could suggest that Australian officials revisited hers and other cases after Djokovic's case was made public amid growing outrage among Australians over the exceptions.
The Australian Open is scheduled to begin on January 17.
Djokovic has been an outspoken critic of vaccination against COVID-19 and sought, and initially received, an exemption from local Australian officials despite tight restrictions on foreigners' entry amid a spike in infections.
Tennis Australia says his exception “was granted following a rigorous review process" although neither side has revealed the basis of the request.
After his arrival at Melbourne airport, the Australian Border Force on January 5 rejected his exemption as invalid, canceled his visa, and moved him to the immigration hotel.
Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said that two other exemptions granted in connection with the Australian Open are also under investigation.
With reporting by AP, Metro, and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
NATO Chief: No Compromise On Core Principles As Alliance Prepares For Talks With Russia
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has pledged to engage "in good faith and on substance" in talks with Russia next week, but he said the alliance will not compromise on core principles, including the right of nations to decide whether they want to join.
Stoltenberg spoke at a press conference on January 7 in Brussels after a videoconference of NATO foreign ministers, saying the meeting had stressed "that any further aggression against Ukraine would have significant consequences and carry a heavy price for Russia."
But he appeared to dismiss a key Russian demand on NATO expansion.
“We will not compromise on core principles, including the right for every nation to decide its own path, including what kind of security arrangements it wants to be a part of,” Stoltenberg told reporters.
Stoltenberg also said a Russian military buildup near Ukraine has continued.
"We see armored units, we see artillery, we see combat ready troops, we see electronic warfare equipment, and we see a lot of different military capabilities,” he said.
The buildup, combined with Russia's security demands, and its track record in Ukraine and Georgia, "sends a message that there is a real risk for a new armed conflict in Europe,” Stoltenberg said.
The U.S. Mission to NATO said earlier that NATO’s 30 members were united against Russian military action in Ukraine.
"Ahead of the forthcoming NATO-Russia Council, they underlined the need for diplomacy, dialogue, and de-escalation," the mission said on Twitter.
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics echoed the U.S. mission’s comments, saying on Twitter the alliance is “ready to engage in dialogue with Russia but not at the expense of our values or key principles."
The foreign ministers held the videoconference amid Western warnings about tens of thousands of Russian troops amassed near the border and with Russian President Vladimir Putin demanding guarantees that NATO won't allow Kyiv to join the transatlantic military alliance.
Ukraine, which has been fighting a war with Russia-backed separatists in its east since Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014, has repeatedly asserted its strategic and foreign policy goal of NATO membership since the alliance promised eventual full membership in 2008.
Moscow has responded by accusing the United States of destabilizing the Black Sea and other nearby regions and saying its troop movements are an internal matter.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on January 6 about "risk reduction near Ukraine’s borders," according to the Pentagon.
The NATO foreign ministers’ meeting was the first in a flurry of high-level talks involving NATO, senior U.S. and Russian officials, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) over the next week.
Boots On The Ground: Satellite Images Reveal Russian Troop Buildup Near Ukrainian Border And In Crimea
The first is scheduled to take place in Geneva on January 10 when veteran U.S. and Russian diplomats are scheduled to gather in an effort to avert a crisis. The same day, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will visit NATO headquarters in Brussels.
The NATO-Russia Council is then slated to meet for the first time since 2019 on January 12 to discuss Ukraine, transparency, and risk reduction.
EU foreign ministers then meet in northwestern France on January 13-14, with reports suggesting they and their allies are preparing harsh punitive measures to be enacted if Russia escalates militarily against its neighbor.
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed direct U.S.-Russian talks slated for next week but stressed that "European security architecture" is "up to us to build."
France officially took up the six-month, rotating European Union Presidency at the start of January. Macron spoke alongside European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen on January 7, both stressing the need for European involvement.
"One thing is clear: no solution without Europe. Whatever the solution, Europe has to be involved," von der Leyen said.
Von der Leyen said the European Union is "very present" in Ukraine, including through billions in financial assistance to Kyiv and the bloc's reliance on Russian natural-gas shipments through Ukraine.
Western leaders are said to be working on what they have pledged are tough financial and other punitive measures to be implemented if Ukraine escalates militarily against Ukraine.
Macron said "it's a good thing that there are discussions between the United States and Russia," and added that "coordination between the Europeans and Americans is exemplary on the matter."
But he called for the European Union to hold its own talks with Moscow.
"Dialogue does not mean making concessions," he added.
With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa, and Politico
Bulgaria's Population Falls 11.5 Percent In Decade
Bulgaria’s population has declined by 11.5 percent over the past decade, according to preliminary census results.
The population fell by more than 844,000 people, from 7.3 million to 6.5 million people, the National Statistics Institute said on January 6.
Experts attribute Bulgaria’s demographic decline to low birth rates, high mortality and an aging population, low fertility rates, and emigration from the EU's poorest member.
Only in the capital, Sofia, did the population increase. Decreases were registered in all other parts of the country, with a dramatic 26 percent drop in the northwestern provinces of Vidin and Montana, and the northeastern province of Dobritch.
The National Statistics Institute expects the final results from the census by the end of 2022.
The last census was held in 2011.
British Warship Collided With Russian Submarine, UK Defense Ministry Confirms
A British warship hit a Russian hunter-killer submarine with the ship’s sonar equipment while on patrol in the North Atlantic, the U.K. Ministry of Defense has revealed.
The Royal Navy’s HMS Northumberland was tracking the Russian submarine in late 2020 when the Type 23 frigate’s towed array sonar – a long cable with hydrophones that trails underwater behind a ship – collided with the submarine.
The incident was captured by a film crew for a Channel 5 documentary, Warship: Life at Sea, that is airing in the UK.
The Ministry of Defense had previously never commented on the collision but has confirmed it now because it was captured on camera.
“In late 2020 a Russian submarine being tracked by HMS Northumberland came into contact with her towed array sonar," the Ministry of Defense said in a statement provided to several British media outlets on January 6. "The Royal Navy regularly tracks foreign ships and submarines in order to ensure the defense of the United Kingdom."
A Defense Ministry source told the BBC that it was unlikely the submarine deliberately collided with the sonar cable.
In the television program, there is a scene of the moment the crew on the HMS Northumberland realizes something happened. The crew shouts: “What the hell was that?”
It is unclear whether the Russian submarine suffered any damage.
However, the HMS Northumberland had to return to port in Scotland to replace the damaged sonar.
- By RFE/RL
Kazakh President Gives Stark 'Shoot-To-Kill' Order Amid Unprecedented Uprising
President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has issued a stark warning to protesters in Kazakhstan that he has given security personnel a green light to “shoot to kill” even as the nation’s police forces, bolstered by a Russian-led troop contingent, appeared to be in control of most cities in Kazakhstan after dozens were killed in unprecedented anti-government demonstrations..
Though sporadic gunfire could still be heard in the main city of Almaty on January 7, the unrest over a fuel price hike that has ravaged many cities in recent days appeared muted, with RFE/RL correspondents in several cities saying law enforcement had taken control of the situation.
The Interior Ministry said Republican Square in Almaty, one of the main flash points of violence in clashes between police and protesters, had been cleared “of criminal groups.” RFE/RL journalists said they saw three bodies in different locations around the square as they surveyed it.
Dozens of people -- including 18 security officers -- were killed in the clashes as protesters torched and ransacked public buildings in several cities in the worst violence in the Central Asian state's 30 years of independence.
The number of people detained reached 3,811, the Interior Ministry said, according to state television channel Khabar 24.
Toqaev said early on January 7 that order had "basically" been restored in the country, but later followed up those comments in a televised state address by saying that “bandits” -- a word officials have used repeatedly to describe protesters who have threatened his authoritarian government’s survival -- would be dealt with severely.
"I have given the order to law enforcement agencies and the army to shoot to kill without warning," Toqaev said in the address while rejecting international calls for dialogue.
The protests erupted in the western region of Mangystau on January 2 over the doubling in the price of subsidized liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) before spreading and morphing into calls for political reform in the tightly controlled country.
Mobs have stormed government buildings, setting some of them on fire, looted businesses, and torched and overturned cars as they called for reforms after decades of stifling rule in the oil-rich former Soviet republic.
PHOTOS: Russian Troops Depart For Kazakhstan As Soldiers In Almaty Open Fire
In response, Toqaev declared a nationwide state of emergency until January 19, with curfews, restrictions on movements, and bans on mass gatherings.
The spiraling violence also prompted him on January 5 to ask the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a regional military alliance, to help "stabilize” the situation, which Toqaev has blamed on foreign-trained "terrorists."
I think one lesson in recent history is that once Russians are in your house, it's sometimes very difficult to get them to leave."-- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
The first Russian paratroopers quickly arrived, followed by troops from CSTO member Belarus on the evening of January 6. More Russian troops were expected to arrive on January 7 alongside units from Armenia and Tajikistan, which approved sending 200 troops to its neighbor. On January 7, Kyrgyzstan also approved sending 150 troops and military equipment to Kazakhstan.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington has questions about Kazakhstan’s request for assistance from the CSTO. The top U.S. diplomat said the Kazakh authorities “certainly have the capacity to deal appropriately with protests” in a way that respects the rights of protesters while maintaining law and order.
“So it's not clear why they feel the need for any outside assistance, so we're trying to learn more about it,” Blinken said on January 7. “I think one lesson in recent history is that once Russians are in your house, it's sometimes very difficult to get them to leave."
Blinken also said the U.S. hopes the government can quickly address the problems, which he said were "fundamentally economic and political in nature."
China, which also shares a long border with Kazakhstan, has backed Toqaev so far. State television on January 7 said President Xi Jinping spoke with Toqaev, noting that Beijing opposed any use of force to destabilize Kazakhstan and threaten its security.
The speed at which the CSTO arrived on the scene in Kazakhstan was seen by some analysts as another sign of the Kremlin's strategy to act quickly to safeguard its influence in the former Soviet Union.
Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan's BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the government, told the Reuters news agency on January 7 that claims by Toqaev and officials in Moscow that “foreign-trained terrorists” were behind the protests were an attempt to distract people from the fact that the unrest is a result of internal problems caused by the government.
He added that Kazakhstan is now the focus of a geopolitical play with Russian President Vladimir Putin looking to use the situation to "methodically impose his program: the re-creation of a structure like the Soviet Union."
Ablyazov, is the leader of the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement, which for months has openly called on Kazakhs to rally against the government. The authorities labeled the DVK "extremist" and banned it in March 2018.
Ablyazov managed BTA when it was the country's largest private bank, but he later had a falling out with government officials -- he accused former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, and many of Nazarbaev's family members of being involved in large-scale corruption and embezzlement -- and fled to London in 2009. The bank was subsequently nationalized by the Kazakh government.
The Interior Ministry said 26 "armed criminals" had been "liquidated" and more than 3,000 detained. Eighteen police and national guard troops had been killed since the start of the protests this week, it added.
The Health Ministry said on January 6 that more than 1,000 people had been injured and 400 hospitalized since three days of protests erupted into violence on January 5. Sixty-two people are in intensive care, it said.
An unknown number of people have reportedly also been killed in at least two smaller towns, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported.
Some journalists reported at least a partial restoration of Internet services that had been cut off in much of the country, but connection problems were still hampering communication.
A report from regional website kg.24 claimed that two airplanes that belong to the family of 81-year-old Nazarbaev, who ruled the country firmly for almost three decades, had landed at Manas Airport in neighboring Kyrgyzstan overnight, and at least one had then left Manas shortly after midnight local time.
But RFE/RL could not confirm that report, and there was no word on who might have been aboard the aircraft.
In an attempt to distance himself from the past, Toqaev on January 5 dismissed Nazarbaev from the powerful post of head of the country's Security Council and relieved a longtime Nazarbaev associate of his post as chairman of the National Security Committee (KNB).
With reporting by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, AFP, AP, dpa, and Reuters
Statue Of Iranian Commander Soleimani Torched Hours After Being Unveiled
A statue erected to honor top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani has been torched by unknown assailants hours after it was unveiled in southwestern Iran, domestic media reported on January 6.
Soleimani, who headed the elite Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, was killed on January 3, 2020, in a U.S. drone strike at Baghdad airport.
Earlier this week, a statue to honor him was unveiled in the southwestern Iranian city of Shahrekord. But it was set on fire in the evening, Iranian media reported.
"This treacherous crime was carried out in darkness, just like the other crime committed at night at Baghdad airport," when Soleimani was killed, Shahrekord Friday Prayers Leader Mohammad Ali Nekounam said in a statement published by the semiofficial ISNA news agency.
Iranian authorities have unveiled several sculptures dedicated to Soleimani since his assassination two years ago, and his portraits dot the landscape across Iran.
State broadcaster IRIB condemned the latest attack as an "insulting" act, that comes as Iran marks the second anniversary of Soleimani's killing.
Soleimani was considered a main architect of Iran's Middle East military strategy and his assassination brought the United States and Iran close to a military conflict. Tehran retaliated by launching a missile strike targeting U.S. forces in Iraq.
With reporting by AFP
Doctors Without Borders Leaves Polish-Belarusian Border Zone Without Reaching Migrants
The international humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says its teams have left Poland's border with Belarus after being repeatedly denied access by the Polish authorities to the migrants and refugees they went to help.
Doctors Without Borders, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, said it spent three months seeking permission for its emergency response workers to enter the forested border zone where asylum seekers are reportedly stranded in freezing winter weather.
“Since October, MSF has repeatedly requested access to the restricted area and the border guard posts in Poland, but without success,” Frauke Ossig, the group's emergency coordinator for Poland and Lithuania, said in a statement on January 6.
The European Union accuses Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka of flying in migrants and funneling them to the borders of EU member states Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania to retaliate for sanctions the bloc imposed over a sweeping crackdown since last year’s disputed presidential election.
Poland has also taken steps in response to the migrant crisis, including building a barbed wire fence and massing thousands of soldiers along its 400-kilometer border with Belarus. Reporters and humanitarian workers need special permission to enter.
“We know that there are still people crossing the border and hiding in the forest, in need of support, but while we are committed to assisting people on the move wherever they may be, we have not been able to reach them in Poland,” Ossig said.
Based on reporting by AP and dpa
Prominent Iranian Sociologist Prevented From Leaving Country To Conduct Research At Yale
Iranian authorities have prevented a prominent Iranian sociologist from leaving the country to begin a one-year research program at Yale University.
Saeed Madani, a scholar and former political prisoner, said earlier this week that he had been prevented from boarding a flight out of Tehran by the intelligence branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which confiscated his passport.
In a January 4 letter to Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, Madani said he was interrogated by the Intelligence Ministry before his planned departure in early December and told that he was free to travel.
Iranian authorities have in past years prevented a number of activists, journalists, and scholars from leaving the country by confiscating their passports.
Madani has been arrested and sentenced to prison several times in the past over his membership in a banned nationalist-religious opposition group.
- By RFE/RL
Russian Troops Deploy To Timbuktu In Mali After Withdrawal Of French Troops
Russian soldiers have deployed to the city of Timbuktu in northern Mali to train Malian forces at a base vacated by French troops last month, Mali's army spokesperson said on January 6.
Mali's government said last month that "Russian trainers" had arrived in the country, but Bamako and Moscow have so far provided few details on the deployment, including the number of deployed Russians.
Last month, over a dozen Western countries strongly condemned the deployment in Mali of Russian mercenaries working for the Vagner group, accusing Moscow of providing material backing for the fighters.
The countries, who included, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, said the deployment can deteriorate the security and human rights situation in Mali.
The U.S. State Department said last month hat Vagner Group forces “will not bring peace to Mali, but rather will destabilize the country further."
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the Vagner Group does not represent the Russian state and is not paid by it. He has also said private military contractors have the right to work and pursue their interests anywhere in the world as long as they do not break Russian law.
Mali's government has denied any deployment of Russian mercenaries, saying “Russian trainers” are in the country as part of a bilateral agreement.
"We had new acquisitions of planes and equipment from [the Russians]," the Malian Army spokesperson told Reuters. "It costs a lot less to train us on site than for us to go over there ... What is the harm?"
He did not say how many Russians had been sent to Timbuktu.
Local residents told Reuters that uniformed Russian men were seen driving around town.
There was no immediate comment from Russian officials.
France helped to recapture Timbuktu from Al-Qaeda-linked militants in 2013. France's withdrawal from the city is part of a significant drawdown of a previously 5,000-strong task force in West Africa's Sahel region sent to battle jihadist groups.
Mali has experienced sustained political instability since 2012. A military transitional government took power in May.
With reporting by Reuters
Serbian Residents Voice Support For Novak Djokovic
Several hundred people demonstrated on January 6 outside the Serbian parliament in Belgrade in support of Novak Djokovic. The world tennis No. 1 has been denied entry into Australia after initially being granted a medical exemption from the country's COVID-19 vaccination requirements so that he could play in the Australian Open. The 34-year-old Serb and public critic of vaccines has been confined to a hotel room in Melbourne since Australian border forces rejected his vaccination exemption.
- By RFE/RL
U.S., Russian Defense Chiefs Discuss 'Risk Reduction' Near Ukraine's Borders
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke on January 6 with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu and discussed "risk reduction near Ukraine’s borders," the Pentagon said in a brief statement.
"We're obviously still very concerned by what we're seeing," a U.S. defense official told Reuters, without commenting on the call itself.
The conversation comes amid Western concerns that Russia's buildup of around 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders could part of preparations for a potential invasion. Moscow has denied it.
Russia has demanded guarantees that Ukraine and other former Soviet countries will not join NATO and that there will be a rollback of the alliance’s military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.
The West has rejected Moscow’s ultimatums regarding NATO and threatened severe sanctions and other measures if Russia launches a fresh incursion into Ukraine.
Russia illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimea in 2014 and continues to rule the peninsula.
With reporting by Reuters
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.
To find out more, click here.
Editors' Picks
Top Trending
Iranian IRGC Warship Crosses Equator For First Time
2U.S. Weapons Are Coming To Ukraine. But Russian Forces Have The Momentum.
3Xi Heads To Europe Looking For A Larger Chinese Role In Ukraine
4Kazakh Billionaire Buys English Soccer Club
5Russia Claims Control Over Eastern Ukrainian Town, As Rocket Strikes Kill 3
6Truck Careens Into Children In Kyrgyzstan; Dozens Injured, 3 Seriously
7Why Are U.S. Sanctions Against Iran's Oil Exports Ineffective?
8Draft Resolution On Srebrenica Genocide Sent To UN General Assembly
9Eyewitnesses Say Georgian Police Used Rubber Bullets In Crackdown On Protesters
10Live Briefing: Russia Invades Ukraine
Subscribe
