PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s leftwing party won most seats in the weekend parliamentary election but was left without a majority in the house, forcing it to look for an ally to form the next government, according to preliminary results released Monday.

The vote on Sunday was key in determining who will lead Kosovo as talks on normalizing ties with rival Serbia remain stalled and foreign funding for one of Europe’s poorest countries is in question.

The election marked the first time since independence in 2008 that Kosovo’s parliament completed a full four-year mandate. It was the ninth parliamentary vote in Kosovo since the end of the 1998-1999 war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists that pushed Serbian forces out following a 78-day NATO air campaign.

Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence.

With 88% of the votes counted, Kurti’s Self-Determination Movement Party, or Vetevendosje!, had won 41.3%, according to the Central Election Commission, the election governing body.

The Democratic Party of Kosovo, or PDK, whose main leaders are detained at a Netherlands-based international criminal tribunal in The Hague and accused of war crimes, won 21.8% of the vote.

Next, with 17.8% support is the Democratic League of Kosovo, or LDK, the oldest party in the country. The LDK lost much of its support after the death in 2006 of its leader, Ibrahim Rugova. The Alliance for Kosovo’s Future of former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj garnered 7.7% of the votes.

Still, Kurti was upbeat, though his remarks gave nothing away about who he plans to ask to join his coalition government.

“The people won. Vetevendosje! won. We are the winners who will form the next Cabinet,” Kurti told journalists as his supporters took to the streets to celebrate.

The commission’s webpage was down temporarily on Sunday as it was overloaded “due to the citizens’ high interest to learn the results,” election body said. Results were collected manually.

A preliminary turnout after 92% of the votes counted was 40.6% — about 7% lower than four years ago.

The new 120-seat parliament reserves 20 seats for minorities regardless of election results, 10 of them for the Serb minority.

Kurti’s new term will face multiple challenges after Washington recently announced it was freezing foreign aid and the European Union, almost two years ago, suspended funding for some projects and initiatives. He also is under pressure to increase public salaries and pensions, improve education and health services, and fight poverty.

Kosovo, with a population of 1.6 million, is one of the poorest countries in Europe with an annual gross domestic product of less than $6,000 per person.

Kurti also is likely to try and repair ties with Western powers, at odds since his Cabinet took several steps that raised tensions with Serbia and Kosovo’s ethnic Serbs, including the ban on the use of the Serbian currency, the dinar, and dinar transfers to Kosovo’s Serbs.

Kosovo’s ethnic Serb minority depends on Belgrade’s social services and payments.

The United States, the European Union and the NATO-led stabilization force in Kosovo, or KFOR, have urged the government in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital, to refrain from unilateral actions, fearing the revival of inter-ethnic conflict.

In Sunday’s election, Srpska Lista, the main party of the ethnic Serb minority, won 2.8% of the vote — just over half of its winnings four years ago.

The party’s leader, Zlatan Elek, said it was “the absolute winner of this election,” and thanked Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic for the “strong support for our people.”

KFOR had increased its presence in Kosovo after last year’s tensions with Serbia, as well as ahead of the election.

A team of 104 observers from the EU, 18 from the Council of Europe and about 1,600 others from international or local organizations, monitored the vote.
…

your ad here

LONDON — The Church of England’s elected governing body will gather Monday at a time of “unprecedented crisis” following a number of sexual abuse scandals.

The meeting of the General Synod will see members debate the Makin Review, a damning report which set out a series of failings around a Christian camp leader and serial abuser, John Smyth.

On Tuesday, a debate on a new way to handle safeguarding will also be held.

The meeting comes a month after the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby stepped down as head of the world’s Anglicans over failures in the Church of England’s handling of the Smyth case.

“There’s never been anything like this in our lifetime, because the Church is in an unprecedented crisis,” Synod member Ian Paul told the domestic PA news agency.

Paul said “the crisis we’re facing now is a result of gradual erosion over years of trust and confidence and lack of openness, lack of transparency.

“And suddenly the rafters, the rotten rafters, break, the roof collapses.”

Paul was one of the people behind a petition last year calling on Welby to resign.

Welby announced his resignation in November after an independent probe found that he “could and should” have formally reported decades of abuse by Church-linked lawyer Smyth to authorities in 2013.

‘Prolific’ abuser’

Smyth, who organized evangelical summer camps in the 1970s and 1980s, was responsible for “prolific, brutal and horrific” abuse of up to 130 boys and young men, according to the independent Makin Review.

It concluded the Church of England — the mother church of Anglicanism — covered up the “traumatic physical, sexual, psychological and spiritual attacks,” which occurred in Britain, Zimbabwe and South Africa over several decades.

Stephen Cottrell, who became Archbishop of York in 2020, has temporarily replaced Welby while also tainted by scandal himself.

In December, the 66-year-old faced calls to stand down over claims he mishandled a sexual abuse case during his time as the Bishop of Chelmsford, in southeastern England.

Priest David Tudor remained in his post despite Cottrell knowing that the Church had banned him from being alone with children and had paid compensation to a sexual abuse claimant, the BBC reported.

Cottrell has said he is “deeply sorry that we were not able to take action earlier” but defended his actions.

In a fresh blow last month, the Bishop of Liverpool, John Perumbalath, said he was stepping down after a broadcaster aired allegations of sexual assault and harassment against him.

Perumbalath denied wrongdoing but said in a statement a “rush to judgment and my trial by media… has made my position untenable”.

He said a church safeguarding team had investigated the allegations and had found them “unsubstantiated” and the first allegation was investigated by the police who decided to take no further action.

Ahead of the synod meeting, Andrew Graystone, an advocate for abuse survivors, called on church leaders at the four-day meeting in London to show “radical humility.”

“No one wants another hand-wringing apology; no one wants another ‘lessons learned’ review; no one wants another reminder of how hard it is to be a bishop.

“We don’t want any more words at all. Instead, we want radical humility from the Archbishop (Cottrell) downwards.”

The Anglican Church is the established state church in England and dates back to King Henry VIII’s split from the Roman Catholic Church in the 1530s.

King Charles III, its supreme governor, appoints archbishops on the advice of the prime minister.
…

your ad here

Climate change is rapidly altering the Arctic region, creating environmental danger, economic opportunity and geopolitical tension as the world’s major powers scramble to control newly accessible shipping lanes and resource deposits.
…

your ad here

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday told soldiers, police and other law enforcement officials from around the world that armed force can only be used for legitimate defense and must always respect international law.

The pontiff reappeared in public for the first time since he was diagnosed with bronchitis Thursday to celebrate an outdoor Jubilee Mass for the armed forces, police and security personnel. However, after a few words, he handed off his homily to an aide to read, saying he was having difficulty with his breath.

“I would like to recall the teaching of the Church in this regard: The Second Vatican Council says that those who exercise their profession in the ranks of the army in the service of their homeland should consider themselves as servants of the security and freedom of their people,” Francis said in his final prayer.

“This armed service must be exercised only for legitimate defense, never to impose dominion over other nations, and always observing international conventions regarding conflicts,” he added.

The pontiff launched a new appeal for peace, citing conflicts around the world, including Ukraine, the Middle East, Myanmar and Sudan.

“Let the weapons be silenced everywhere and let the cry of the people asking for peace be heard,” Francis said.

Since being diagnosed with bronchitis Thursday, the pope had continued his activities and audiences indoors at Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican residence where he lives, until Sunday.

Francis has long battled health problems including long bouts of bronchitis. He uses a walker or cane when moving around his apartment and recently fell twice, hurting his arm and chin.

Speculation about the pope’s health is a constant in Vatican circles, especially after Pope Benedict XVI broke 600 years of tradition and resigned from the papacy in 2013.

Francis has said that he has no plans to resign anytime soon, even if Benedict “opened the door” to the possibility. In his autobiography “Hope” released this month, Francis said that he hadn’t considered resigning even when he had major intestinal surgery.
…

your ad here

VILNIUS — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said on Sunday they had successfully synchronized their electricity systems to the European continental power grid, one day after severing decades-old energy ties to Russia and Belarus.

Planned for many years, the complex switch away from the grid of their former Soviet imperial overlord is designed to integrate the three Baltic nations more closely with the European Union and to boost the region’s energy security.

“We did it!,” Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said in a post on social media X.

After disconnecting on Saturday from the IPS/UPS network, established by the Soviet Union in the 1950s and now run by Russia, the Baltic nations cut cross-border high-voltage transmission lines in eastern Latvia, some 100 meters from the Russian border, handing out pieces of chopped wire to enthusiastic bystanders as keepsakes.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, herself an Estonian, earlier this week called the switch “a victory for freedom and European unity.”

The Baltic Sea region is on high alert after power cable, telecom links and gas pipeline outages between the Baltics and Sweden or Finland. All were believed to have been caused by ships dragging anchors along the seabed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia has denied any involvement.

Poland and the Baltics deployed navy assets, elite police units and helicopters after an undersea power link from Finland to Estonia was damaged in December, while Lithuania’s military began drills to protect the overland connection to Poland.

Analysts say more damage to links could push power prices in the Baltics to levels not seen since the invasion of Ukraine, when energy prices soared.

The IPS/UPS grid was the final remaining link to Russia for the three countries, which re-emerged as independent nations in the early 1990s at the fall of the Soviet Union, and joined the European Union and NATO in 2004.

The three staunch supporters of Kyiv stopped purchases of power from Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but have relied on the Russian grid to control frequencies and stabilize networks to avoid outages.
…

your ad here

GRANADA, SPAIN — Narco-musical Emilia Perez won best European film at Spain’s equivalent of the Oscars on Saturday, after social media posts by the movie’s star prompted a backlash in the middle of awards season. 

The mostly Spanish-language musical tells the story of a Mexican drug cartel boss who transitions to life as a woman and turns her back on crime.

Before the scandal broke, the film earned 13 Oscar nods, picked up four Golden Globes in January and won multiple prizes at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.

But old social media posts by star Karla Sofia Gascon, in which she denigrates Islam, China and African American George Floyd, unleashed a scandal that has harmed her reputation and the film.

Voting for the Goya awards closed on Jan. 24, days before the posts were uncovered.

Spaniard Gascon, the first transgender woman nominated for an Oscar for best actress, has apologized for her posts and distanced herself from publicity for the film.

She lives near Madrid but did not attend the Goya awards ceremony in Granada.

The movie’s French director Jacques Audiard has called the posts “inexcusable” and “absolutely hateful.” 
…

your ad here

MUNICH, GERMANY — More than 200,000 protesters rallied in Munich, Germany, on Saturday against far-right extremism ahead of the country’s general election. 

The far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is in second place in recent polls and has prompted widespread protests across the country before voters cast their ballots on Feb. 23. 

The protest at Munich’s Theresienwiese — where Oktoberfest takes place each year — brought a significantly larger crowd than expected, according to the German dpa news agency. The event’s organizer estimated the crowd could be up to 320,000 people, many of whom carried signs against the AfD with slogans like, “Racism and hatred is not an alternative.” 

The protest was supported by activist groups as well as the Munich Film Festival, churches and Munich soccer clubs FC Bayern and TSV 1860, among others. Police told dpa that the demonstration was peaceful. 

Similar protests attracted large crowds Saturday in Hanover, Rostock and elsewhere in Germany, mirroring other demonstrations that have occurred across the country in recent weeks. 

Last month at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, a huge crowd blew whistles, sang antifascist songs and carried banners denouncing AfD. Activists said they hoped the rally also would draw attention to other far-right parties in Europe and the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. 

Demonstrators have recently also opposed Friedrich Merz, the center-right leader and front-runner in the upcoming election, and his Christian Democrats for last month sending to parliament proposals for tough new migration rules that received AfD’s backing. 

The protesters say Merz and his party broke Germany’s unwritten post-Nazi promise by all democratic parties to never pass any rule or resolution in parliament with the support of far-right, nationalist parties like the AfD. Merz insists his position is unchanged and that he didn’t and won’t work with the party. 

The 12-year-old AfD entered the national parliament in 2017, benefiting from then-Chancellor Angela Merkel ’s decision two years earlier to allow large numbers of migrants into the country. 
…

your ad here

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not confirmed that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump next week but said the coming weeks may be “very intensive in diplomacy.”

Trump said on Feb. 7 that he is likely to meet with Zelenskyy next week. The site of the meeting “could be Washington,” he said, adding that he would not be going to Kyiv.

He also said he would “probably” be speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin soon but did not give a time frame. Zelenskyy said it is important that he and Trump meet in person before the U.S. president meets with Putin.

Zelenskyy did not confirm a meeting with Trump but said diplomacy would be ramping up.

“The coming weeks may be very intensive in diplomacy, and we will do what’s needed to make this time effective and productive. We always appreciate working with President Trump,” he said shortly after Trump spoke.

“Weʼre also planning meetings and talks at the teams level. Right now Ukrainian and American teams are working out the details. A solid, lasting peace shall become closer.”

In his comments earlier at the White House, the U.S. president reiterated that he is interested in tying continued military aid to access to Ukraine’s raw materials.

“One of the things we’re looking at with President Zelenskyy is having the security of their assets. They have assets underground, rare earth and other things, but primarily rare earth,” he said.

“We’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earths and other things,” Trump said on Feb. 3.

He said on Feb. 7 that the United States wants “an equal amount of something” in exchange for U.S. support. “We would like them to equalize,” Trump said.

More than four dozen minerals, including several types of rare earths, nickel and lithium, are considered critical to the U.S. economy and national defense. Ukraine has large deposits of uranium, lithium and titanium.

Ukraine floated the idea of opening its critical minerals to investment by allies last year when it presented its plan to end the war and now suggests it could be open to a deal.

“If we are talking about a deal, then let’s do a deal. We are only for it,” Zelenskyy said on Feb. 7, emphasizing Ukraine’s need for security guarantees from its allies as part of any settlement of the war.

“Strong security always has many elements, and each one matters,” he said on X. “Ukraine possesses some of the largest strategic resource reserves in Europe, and protecting Ukraine also means protecting these resources.”

Less than 20% of Ukraine’s mineral resources, including about half its rare earth deposits, are under Russian occupation, Zelenskyy said in an interview with Reuters published on Feb. 7. Moscow could open those resources to North Korea and Iran if it maintains its hold on the territories.

“We need to stop Putin and protect what we have — a very rich Dnipro region, central Ukraine,” he told Reuters.

Zelenskyy is likely to further discuss the idea with allies next week at the Munich Security Conference.

Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, said this week he plans to attend the conference but denied a report that he will present Trump’s plan for ending the war in Ukraine at the gathering, which starts Feb. 14.

Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, said he had spoken to Kellogg about the battlefield situation, the safety of Ukrainian civilians and meetings at the annual security conference. He also said Ukraine is looking forward to Kellogg’s visit later this month.

Some information for this report came from Reuters and dpa.
…

your ad here

Sweden said Friday it wants to tighten its gun laws, following a lone gunman’s mass shooting of 10 people Tuesday with his licensed firearms at an education center in Orebro, about 200 kilometers west of Stockholm.

After killing seven women and three men between the ages of 28 and 68, the attacker apparently killed himself with one of his weapons.

The coalition government said in a statement that it has come to an agreement on a proposal restricting access to semiautomatic weapons, specifically citing the AR-15 rifle, which has been used in several U.S. shootings. It is “an example of a weapon that is compatible with large magazines and can cause a lot of damage in a short time,” the statement said.

“There are certain types of weapons that are so dangerous that they should only be possessed for civilian purposes as an exception,” the government said.

While it is not immediately clear what weapons were used in Tuesday’s shooting, Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told Reuters a ban on the AR-15 would be a “preventative measure.”

Sweden’s government also called for a reassessment of the requirements for hunting licenses that would allow Swedes to possess an AR-15, which could then be used, with some adjustments, in a mass shooting.

AR-15 rifles have been allowed in Sweden for hunting since 2023, Reuters reported and since then 3,500 licenses have been issued.

Police have not revealed what weapons were used in this week’s incident but have said that three rifles found near the suspect’s body were licensed to him. Police have seized a fourth gun also licensed to the suspect.

Police say they have not determined a motive for the shootings. However, Broadcaster TV4 has shown a video shot by a student hiding in a bathroom during the ordeal.  Someone can be heard in the video shouting, “You will leave Europe.”

The police have not released the nationalities of the victims, nor have they released the identity of the shooter.

The Swedish press, however, has identified the suspect as 35-year-old Rickard Andersson, whom they describe as a recluse with mental health issues.  
…

your ad here

While Russia is still controlling Central Asian countries politically and economically, those states are also looking for new partners, especially with China, to help ensure their own development. And according to the regional experts, even if the U.S. starts a tough policy against Beijing, it will not have a serious impact on Central Asia, and they will not stop their economic relations with China. 

Click here for the full story in Uzbek. 
…

your ad here

The U.S. special envoy to Russia and Ukraine said Thursday the U.S. plans to significantly step up pressure on Russia through sanctions to end the war in Ukraine. 

In an exclusive interview with the New York Post, Special Envoy Keith Kellogg said there is a lot of room to increase sanctions on Russia, particularly in Russia’s energy sector. He characterized sanctions enforcement on Russia as “only about a 3” on a scale of 1 to 10 on “how painful the economic pressure can be.” 

Kellogg told the Post he understands that both Moscow and Kyiv will have to make concessions to end what he called the “industrial-sized” killing in the war. 

In the interview, Kellogg also was critical of the approach by the administration of former President Joe Biden of “supporting Ukraine as long as it takes,” calling it “a bumper sticker, not a strategy.” 

Kellogg said the Trump administration is focused on a “holistic approach” to ending the war, combining support for Ukraine with increased pressure on Russia. 

Kellogg’s Chief of Staff Ludovic Hood echoed those sentiments when he told the GLOBSEC Transatlantic Forum in Washington on Thursday, “Nothing’s off the table at this stage” as far as negotiations for a peace deal. 

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s presidential website reported the U.S. special envoy also spoke Thursday with Ukraine’s head of the office of the president, Andriy Yermak. In a statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said the two discussed Kellogg’s upcoming visit to Ukraine, as well as the situation on the front lines and security issues for Ukrainian civilians.  

The statement said the two gave “special attention” in their conversation to the upcoming Munich Security Conference, scheduled to begin in one week. 

In a separate interview with the Associated Press on Thursday, Yermak stressed the importance of “active engagement” between Ukraine and the Trump administration, particularly as any peace negotiations. 

Yermak emphasized the importance of keeping the Trump White House up to date and providing accurate information about the battlefield situation. He said direct communication with U.S. partners is crucial for establishing a shared position, because it is impossible to form any peace plans without Ukraine. 

Meanwhile, in the latest reports from the battlefield, Ukraine’s air force reported Friday – from its Telegram social media account – Russian attacks across multiple Ukrainian regions killed at least three civilians and injured five over the past 24 hours.  

The report said Ukrainian air defenses shot down 81 of 112 Shahed combat drones and decoy drones Russia launched over nine oblasts, or regions, while 31 other drones were lost without causing damage.

From his Telegram account, Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said Russian shelling killed one person and wounded five others, and two high-rise buildings and six private houses were damaged. 

The regional administration in Sumy Oblast says two people were killed when Russian shelling destroyed a two-story apartment building. The report said the victims’ bodies were found in the rubble as rescue crews cleared the area and there are fears more bodies could be found.  

 
…

your ad here

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday authorized economic and travel sanctions targeting people who work on International Criminal Court investigations of U.S. citizens or U.S. allies such as Israel, repeating action he took during his first term.  

The move coincides with a visit to Washington by Israel’s Prime Minister Benajmin Netanyahu, who — along with his former defense minister and a leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas — is wanted by the ICC over the war in the Gaza Strip.  

It was unclear how quickly the U.S. would announce names of people sanctioned. During the first Trump administration in 2020, Washington imposed sanctions on then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her top aides over the ICC’s investigation into alleged war crimes by American troops in Afghanistan. 

The ICC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The sanctions include freezing any U.S. assets of those designated and barring them and their families from visiting the United States. 

The 125-member ICC is a permanent court that can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression against the territory of member states or by their nationals. The United States, China, Russia and Israel are not members.  

Trump signed the executive order after U.S. Senate Democrats last week blocked a Republican-led effort to pass legislation setting up a sanctions regime targeting the war crimes court.  

The court has taken measures to shield staff from possible U.S. sanctions, paying salaries three months in advance, as it braced for financial restrictions that could cripple the war crimes tribunal, sources told Reuters last month. 

In December, the court’s president, judge Tomoko Akane, warned that sanctions would “rapidly undermine the Court’s operations in all situations and cases, and jeopardize its very existence.”

Russia has also taken aim at the court. In 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Russia has banned entry to ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan and placed him and two ICC judges on its wanted list. 
…

your ad here

Azerbaijani authorities detained two more journalists this week, bringing the number held in the past year to nearly two dozen.

Police on Wednesday arrested Shamshad Agha, of the news website Argument, and Shahnaz Beylargizi of Toplum TV. A court in the capital, Baku, on Thursday ordered the journalists to be held in pretrial detention for two months and one day, and three months and 15 days respectively, according to their lawyers.

The journalists are charged with smuggling — a charge used in several other cases since November 2023, as authorities detained at least 23 journalists.

Many of those currently detained had worked for the independent outlets Abzas Media and Meydan TV.

All the journalists being investigated since November 2023 have denied wrongdoing, and media watchdogs say they believe the cases are designed to silence media.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, said that Agha’s arrest “underscores a grim intent by Azerbaijani authorities to silence and further restrict the country’s small and embattled independent media community.”

“Azerbaijan’s government should immediately reverse its unprecedented media crackdown and release Agha along with all other unjustly jailed journalists,” said a statement from CPJ’s Gulnoza Said.

Bashir Suleymanli, who is head of the Baku-based legal assistance group known as the Institute of Civil Rights, believes that the arrests are an attempt by authorities to stifle free speech.

“It seems that the process will continue until the complete elimination of independent journalism in the country,” he told VOA.

Lawmaker Bahruz Maharramov, however, says the arrests are not a press freedom issue.

“Law enforcement agencies have taken relevant measures based on facts and irrefutable evidence, the authenticity of which is beyond doubt,” he told VOA. “Of course, since such media organizations are formed more as instruments of influence of the West, the legal and judicial measures taken against them are observed with inadequate reactions from the West.”

Based in Azerbaijan, human rights activist Samir Kazimli says that independent media and news outlets critical of the government are undergoing a difficult period.

“If this policy of repression does not stop, independent media in Azerbaijan may be completely destroyed,” he told VOA.

Kazimli said that the international community, including rights groups, politicians and U.S. and European officials “must take steps using urgent and effective mechanisms to stop the Azerbaijani authorities’ attacks on civil society and independent media.”

One of the journalists detained this week had recently spoken out about concerns for the future of independent media in Azerbaijan.

“The lives of all independent journalists are in danger,” Agha told VOA in January.

The editor of Argument, a news website covering democracy, corruption and human rights, said he has been banned from leaving the country since July.

The research organization Freedom House describes Azerbaijan as an “authoritarian regime” and states that authorities have “carried out an extensive crackdown on civil liberties in recent years.”

Elshan Hasanov of the Political Prisoners Monitoring Center told VOA that the total number of detainees documented by the Azeri nonprofit is 331.

Azerbaijani authorities reject criticism on detainees as biased.

Parliamentarian Maharramov told VOA that media in the country are free and that conditions for providing everyone with information, including diversity of opinion and freedom of action in the media sector as a whole, are fully ensured.

Azerbaijan is among the worst jailers of journalists in the world, according to data by the CPJ. The country ranks 164 out of 180 on the Press Freedom Index, where 1 shows the best environment for media. 

This story originated in VOA’s Azeri Service.
…

your ad here

Police in Sweden investigating the nation’s worst mass shooting said at a news briefing Thursday that the scene at an adult learning center was an “inferno” of smoke, with injured and dead victims.

The attack on Tuesday left 10 people dead, including the suspected shooter, at Campus Risbergska in the city of Orebro, about 200 kilometers west of Stockholm. The facility offers adult courses, including Swedish language classes for immigrants. Law enforcement officials say the shooter, who Swedish media have identified as 35-year-old Rickard Andersson, may have been a student at the center.

Law enforcement officials have not officially identified the suspect, whose cause of death remains unclear.

Orebro police Chief Lars Wiren said at the news conference Thursday that about 130 officers arrived at the scene within 10 minutes of an alarm, where they found “dead people, injured people, screams and smoke.”

As officers entered the building, they reported it was partially filled with smoke, making it difficult for them to see. They reported gunfire that they believed was directed at them but reportedly did not return fire.

Police said the smoke was not caused by fire but by “some sort of pyrotechnics.” Several officers had to seek medical treatment for smoke inhalation.

Chief investigator Anna Bergkvist said Thursday that the suspect had a license for four guns, all of which have been confiscated.

“Three of those weapons were next to him when police secured him inside the building,” she said.

Bergkvist said investigators have not determined a motive for the mass shooting, telling Agence France-Presse that “multiple nationalities, different genders and different ages” were among those who were killed.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
…

your ad here

VILNIUS, LITHUANIA — Nearly 3 1/2 decades after leaving the Soviet Union, the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania this weekend will flip a switch to end electricity-grid connections to neighboring Russia and Belarus — and turn to their European Union allies.

The severing of electricity ties to oil- and gas-rich Russia is steeped in geopolitical and symbolic significance. Work toward it sped up after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine three years ago, battering Moscow’s EU relations.

“This is physical disconnection from the last remaining element of our reliance on the Russian and Belarusian energy system,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda told The Associated Press in a recent interview.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and other dignitaries are expected at a ceremony on Sunday as a specially-made 9-meter-tall clock in downtown Vilnius counts down the final seconds of the Baltic states’ electricity ties to Russia.

Chilly ties since the fall of the Soviet Union

The Baltic countries, which are all NATO members, have often had chilly ties with Russia since declaring independence from the USSR in 1990 — and relations soured further over Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Sixteen power lines that used to connect the three Baltic states with Russia and Belarus were dismantled over the years as a new grid linking them with the rest of the EU was created, including underwater cables in the Baltic Sea.

On Saturday, all remaining transmission lines between them and Russia, Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad — a Russian exclave wedged between EU members Poland and Lithuania and the sea — will be switched off one by one.

Then, for 24 hours, the Baltic Power System will operate solo in an “island operation mode.” The next day, the power system is set to merge with the Continental European and Nordic grids through several links with Finland, Sweden and Poland.

The Kaliningrad region, which has no land ties to mainland Russia, already relies on its own power generation, according to Litgrid, Lithuania’s electricity transmission system operator.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the disconnection plan was announced in advance by the Baltic countries and the Russian energy sector had taken preparatory steps to ensure smooth operation on its side.

“Those plans were announced a long time ago, and they required certain actions by our and their electric companies,” Peskov told reporters. “We have taken all necessary measures to ensure reliable and uninterrupted operation of our unified energy system.”

Risks of troublemaking?

The three Baltic countries, which together share a 1,633-kilometer-long border with Russia and Belarus, officially informed Moscow and Minsk of the disconnection plan in July. Their national transmission system operators credited 1.2 billion euros, or $1.25 billion, in EU and other support, to help the countries synchronize with the Continental Europe Synchronous Area.

“Lithuania has done a lot in the last 30 years to disconnect, to become independent,” Nausėda said. Three years ago, “we stopped buying any kind of energy resources from Russia. It was our response to the war in Ukraine.”

Despite the advance notice, the Baltic nations are still on watch for a possible response from their former Soviet partners.

“The risk of cyberattacks remains substantial,” Litgrid said last week, adding that continued vigilance, collaboration, defensive steps and “robust” cybersecurity measures were needed to effectively mitigate potential threats.

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa warned Wednesday of possible provocations, but said Latvia was well-prepared and services including the armed forces and national guard were stepping up their vigilance and security measures.

“Clearly there are risks, we understand that very well. But the risks are identified and there is a contingency plan in case these risks materialize,” Siliņa said.

After the disconnection plans were announced, propaganda campaigns cropped up on social media and in printed leaflets in city streets that issued fake-news warnings about blackouts, severe energy shortages and sky-high energy bills for consumers.

“We heard those rumors, but we are used to such things already,” said Jolanta Karavaitiene, a retired teacher, in central Vilnius. “Of course, we must disconnect from them. Given the geopolitical situation, I see no reason for us to be there (in the Russian grid).”

Still, some in the region were taking precautionary measures.

Estonia’s public broadcaster ERR has reported surging sales of generators. Home appliance chain Bauhof sold dozens more generators last month compared to January a year ago, and rival Ehituse ABC had to limit their purchases the report said.

A long road toward energy independence

The Baltic countries’ steps toward energy independence have been decades in the making.

In 2003, prior to joining the EU, Lithuania decided to shut down the Soviet-built Ignalina nuclear power plant in response to concerns in Brussels over its safety. It was decommissioned in 2009.

Lithuania built an offshore oil terminal in the Baltic Sea in 1999. Seven years later, it became the country’s sole crude oil import point after Russia’s surprise move to halt supplies of oil to Lithuania through Russia’s vast Druzhba pipeline network.

Rokas Masiulis, the CEO of Litgrid, said Lithuania has “suffered a great deal” because of Russian actions in the past, such as through halting oil supplies and jacking up prices for gas that his country once depended on.

He said Lithuania today has “much more than we need” in terms of electricity capacity, from both fossil fuels but also increasingly solar and wind. “So we are safe,” he said.

The disconnection with Russia “is neither bad for them, (nor) bad for us,” Masiulis said. “We were sort of interconnected and interdependent on each other. Now we will just part our ways.”

The three Baltic countries have rebuilt power lines and launched a vast construction and reconstruction program to turn their networks away from Russia and toward the West, the Litgrid CEO added, calling it a technological feat.

“Actions by Russia — by them being aggressive and pushing their neighbors — has really helped us,” Masiulis said. “Maybe we’ve suffered a little with oil prices, with gas prices, but we were forced to act. So we built alternative routes.”

“Now we’re in much better state than we were before,” he added. “So maybe they wished us ill, but ultimately everything worked very well for us.” 
…

your ad here

ANKARA, TURKEY — Two years after the deadliest and most destructive earthquake in modern Turkish history, hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced, with many still living in temporary housing, as rebuilding efforts lag behind initial targets.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake on Feb. 6, 2023, and its aftershocks rattled 11 Turkish provinces and parts of northern Syria, killing more than 55,000 people and injuring more than 107,000.

The disaster reduced entire towns to rubble, including homes, hospitals, and historical landmarks, with Hatay, Kahramanmaras and Adiyaman hardest hit.

The government has pledged to build 650,000 homes, with President Tayyip Erdogan promising in the weeks after the tremor that 319,000 would be delivered within a year.

“We are fortunate to have delivered 201,431 independent units to their rightful owners less than two years after the earthquake,” Erdogan said after a Cabinet meeting on Monday.

Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum said $75 billion had been spent on rebuilding across the quake region.

The critical phases of reconstruction have been completed, he said, adding that housing and business projects were progressing rapidly.

Many residents, however, remain in makeshift conditions, while others have left their home provinces entirely, disrupting communities and livelihoods.

Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition CHP, said only 30% of the pledged reconstruction had been completed. The housing completion rate in Hatay, one of the worst-hit provinces, was only 18%, he said.

“Only three out of 10 who believed in Erdogan now have homes, while the other seven are still in containers or seeking refuge in the homes of relatives,” Ozel said on Tuesday.

“How can they look into the eyes of those they forced to live in containers for two years and say, ‘We have kept all our promises, thank God’?”

Lingering hardships

International and local aid groups say a full recovery remains far off, with thousands of Turks still facing barriers to returning home.

The Hatay Earthquake Victims’ Association said in a report that more than 400,000 people remain in container-home cities, facing poor sanitation, inadequate health care, and an uncertain future.

It also raised concerns about asbestos exposure from unregulated demolitions and land seizures under emergency decrees.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said that millions of people in Turkey and Syria were still struggling to rebuild their lives. It called the pace of reconstruction “far too slow” for such a disaster.

Delays in reconstruction hurt long-term stability and risk depopulation of the region, some aid groups say.

In Hatay, in southernmost Turkey, empty streets, shuttered businesses, and demolition work still define the city, which was once a bustling mixture of cultures and religions, and a draw for tourism.

Ankara says its response to the earthquake has been effective and on track.

Kurum, the government minister, said 423,000 homes and workplaces will be handed over to survivors by the end of 2025, adding that Turkey had allocated $19 billion for recovery efforts. 
…

your ad here

British Foreign Minister David Lammy met Wednesday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and announced a new $68.7 million financial package for Ukraine as its war with Russia continues.

“Our support for Ukraine remains unbreakable,” Lammy said. “We are determined to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position, both in its fight against Russia and beyond.”

Later Wednesday, Zelenskyy told reporters that an international force of troops would be needed if forces were deployed to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire deal with Russia.

It would be a “major mistake” if U.S. troops were not included, the president said. “This isn’t just a matter of numbers. It’s about sharing responsibility and ensuring security guarantees.”

Ukraine and Russia exchanged captured soldiers on Wednesday. Each country returned 150 prisoners of war.

Zelenskyy shared on Telegram photographs of some of the Ukrainian soldiers, saying, “They are all from different sectors of the front, but they have one thing in common — they fought for Ukraine.”

A Ukrainian drone attack sparked a fire at an oil depot in Russia’s Krasnodar region, the area’s governor said Wednesday.

The fire, which was later put out, happened in the village of Novominskaya.

Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said that debris from a destroyed drone caused the fire, and that there were no injuries.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday it shot down two Ukrainian drones over the Kursk region and two more drones over Belgorod, both of which border Ukraine.

Officials in Kursk reported damage to a building but no casualties.

Ukraine’s military said Wednesday it shot down 57 of the 104 drones that Russian forces launched in overnight attacks.

The intercepts took place over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Poltava, Sumy and Zhytomyr regions.

Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov said the attacks damaged several buildings and injured one person.

Officials also reported damage to buildings in Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad and Sumy.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
…

your ad here

ATHENS, GREECE — Earthquakes rattled Greece’s volcanic island of Santorini every few minutes through the night and into Wednesday as authorities bolstered their emergency plans in case the hundreds of temblors over the past few days are a harbinger of a larger quake to come.  

A coast guard vessel and a military landing craft were in the wider area as a contingency should an evacuation be required, Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said Wednesday during an emergency meeting with security officials, scientists and the prime minister in Athens.  

“We are obliged to draw up scenarios for better and for worse regarding the prolonged seismic activity,” Kikilias said during the meeting, which was televised live.  

Predicting earthquakes is not scientifically possible, and experts cannot yet determine definitively whether the seismic activity between the islands of Santorini and Amorgos could be a precursor to a significantly larger earthquake, or is part of an earthquake swarm that could continue shaking the area with small or moderate intensity quakes for weeks or months. 

 “I understand the fear of what it means at the moment to be on a Santorini that is constantly moving,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, as he called on residents to remain calm and follow authorities’ instructions.  

Rescue crews with a sniffer dog and drones have been deployed on Santorini as a precaution since Sunday, while authorities have banned access to several coastal areas and ordered schools on several islands to shut for the week. Public events on Santorini have been banned, and local authorities were restricting access to clifftop areas that are among the biggest tourist draws to the island.  

Thousands of residents and visitors have already left Santorini, frightened by the hundreds of earthquakes measuring between magnitude 3 and magnitude 5 that have struck the area since the weekend.  

Ferry lines and commercial airlines have added ships and flights to their schedules this week to accommodate the increased demand. However, ferry services were disrupted on Wednesday due to rough weather.  

The quakes, which all have epicenters beneath the seabed between Santorini and the Amorgos, have so far caused no injuries or major damage, although limited rockslides and cracks in some older buildings have been reported on Santorini. Greece lies in a highly seismically active part of the world and earthquakes are frequent. But it is extremely rare for any part of the country to experience such an intense barrage of frequent earthquakes. 

 Last week, authorities said monitors had picked up increased volcanic activity within Santorini’s caldera, or flooded crater, but scientists say this is unrelated to the current quakes. They have also said the seismic activity northeast of the island is unlikely to trigger either of the two volcanoes in the area.  

Southeast Aegean regional governor Giorgos Hatzimarkos told Greek state television that the country’s electricity provider had sent staff and equipment to the island to prepare contingency plans in case of power cuts, while civil engineers were checking the road network. Digital Governance Deputy Minister Konstantinos Kyranakis said the government was working with telecommunications providers to ensure backup plans in case of a network outage in the area.
…

your ad here