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- By AFP
Pakistani Businessman And Son Aboard Missing Titanic Sub
A prominent Pakistani businessman and his son are among five people aboard a submersible that has gone missing while exploring the wreckage of the Titanic in the North Atlantic, their family said on June 20. The 6.5-meter tourist craft, operated by OceanGate Expeditions, began its descent on June 18 but lost contact with the surface less than two hours later, according to authorities. Shahzada Dawood -- the vice-chairman of the Karachi headquartered conglomerate Engro -- and his son Suleman were aboard the vessel, which is equipped with only 96 hours of oxygen supply, a family statement said.
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Trial Of Former Nagorno-Karabakh Leaders Begins In Baku
The trial of 16 people, including former leaders of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, has begun in Baku, Azerbaijan, after the defendants spent more than a year in pretrial detention.
The defendants are being tried on charges of terrorism, crimes against humanity, and crimes against the state of Azerbaijan, some of which can carry terms of life imprisonment.
Azerbaijan retook control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region from Armenian separatists in September 2023 following a lightning offensive. Since then, Azerbaijan and Armenia have held negotiations on a peace treaty.
Among the defendants on trial is Ruben Vardanyan, a former Russian businessman of Armenian descent who was a leader of Nagorno-Karabakh's separatist government.
Also on trial are former de facto presidents of Karabakh, Arayik Harutyunian, Arkadi Ghukasian, Bako Sahakian, former de facto Foreign Minister David Babayan, and de facto parliamentary speaker David Ishkhanian.
Three judges from the Baku Military Court conducted the hearing, which is being held in a purpose-built courtroom. Though the authorities announced the trial was open, only state media was permitted to attend the January 17 hearing.
Fifteen of the defendants are being tried together, while Vardanyan is being tried separately.
'I Reiterate My Complete Innocence'
Vardanyan is specifically accused of financing terrorism, forced deportations, torture, and illegal border crossings, as well as other crimes -- charges which he and his family deny.
"I reiterate my complete innocence and the innocence of my compatriots and demand the immediate cessation of this politicized case against us, " he said in a statement issued on the eve of the trial.
In the statement, Vardanyan said he had not been granted the opportunity to fully review the official indictment. He has also asked for an open trial and the combination of his case with that of 15 other defendants.
Prosecutors said Vardanyan had received full access to the case materials and had been granted rights to a legal defense, the use of his preferred language, and other procedural rights during the investigation.
At the first hearing on January 17, the court assigned the defendants state-appointed lawyers and translators fluent in Azerbaijani and Armenian.
The trial also features testimonies from hundreds of alleged victims, including relatives of those who died in the Nagorno-Karabakh fighting.
Baku and Yerevan were locked in conflict over Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh for years. Armenian-backed separatists seized the mainly Armenian-populated region from Azerbaijan during a war in the early 1990s that killed some 30,000 people.
Diplomatic efforts to settle the conflict brought little progress and the two sides fought another war in 2020 that lasted six weeks before a Russia-brokered cease-fire, resulting in Armenia losing control over parts of the region and seven adjacent districts.
The separatist regime in Karabakh declared its dissolution in 2023 but later renounced this decision after moving to Armenia.
The trial will resume on January 21.
Russian Missile Strikes Kill 4 In Ukraine's Kryviy Rih
Four people were killed and seven others were wounded in a Russian missile strike deep in the heart of Ukraine, partially destroying an educational facility in the central city of Kryviy Rih, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's hometown.
Serhiy Lysak, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, said that of those injured in the January 17, four were hospitalized and in a serious condition.
Witnesses said explosions from the attack could be heard throughout the city, while Lysak said two multistory buildings, one of which caught fire, were damaged.
One resident, Ihor Stepanenko, who had already lost his wife and been displaced in an attack in the Russia-occupied part of Kherson region, told RFE/RL his new partner was killed in the Kryviy Rih attack.
"We have been living here since 2023. My apartment in Kherson was blown up. There, I've buried my father; I've buried my wife.... Nothing else was left," he said.
"Here, I met a woman who worked at the 114th lyceum. She didn't survive [today's attack]. After two pieces of shrapnel hit her, she died," he added.
The Russian attack came a day after Moscow said Kyiv launched six U.S.-made ATACMS missiles at Russia's Belgorod region. Officials had pledged to retaliate for that attack and any others that involve longer-range Western-supplied missiles.
The January 17 attack on Kryviy Rih appears to have again targeted civilian infrastructure, which Russia had denied doing despite mounting attacks on such installations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the attack was conducted using ballistic missiles, underlining the continued threat posed by Russia's weaponry.
"Every terrorist strike speaks loudly about the enemy we are fighting. Russia will not stop itself -- it can be stopped only through joint global pressure by all those who cherish life," Zelenskiy said.
Russian officials have not publicly commented on the Kryviy Rih attack.
Supporters Chant 'Heroes!' As Russian Court Jails Navalny's Lawyers
A Russian court sentenced three lawyers of Aleksei Navalny to lengthy prison sentences for carrying correspondence from the late anti-corruption crusader out of prison, prompting his supporters at the hearing to erupt into chants of "heroes."
The court in the Vladimir region, just east of Moscow, convicted Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin, and Aleksei Liptser on January 17 of belonging to an "extremist group" for helping transport writings from Navalny that became the basis for his memoir, Patriot, which chronicled his life as President Vladimir Putin's most-vocal critic and as the country's most recognized political prisoner.
Kobzev received a prison sentence of 5 1/2 years, while Lipster was sentenced to 5 years and Sergunin, the only one to have admitted his guilt, to 3 1/2 years. All three have been in pretrial detention since October 2023.
"This is illegal political persecution," Pervy Odtel (First Department), a legal association in Russia that represents people accused of major crimes, said on Telegram.
"Defense is not complicity!" it said "Lawyers are not partners or accomplices of their clients, they provide them with defense, the right to which is enshrined in the Constitution of Russia...This is a gross violation of the very principles of law."
Those who managed to cram into the courtroom to hear the verdict -- the trial was held behind closed doors -- began chanting "Guys, you are heroes! We are proud of you!" as the three lawyers stood in a cage reserved for defendants.
Mediazona, meanwhile, reported that several journalists who had arrived to cover the hearing had been detained by police.
Arrest warrants have been issued to two other Navalny lawyers, Olga Mikhailova and Aleksandr Fedulov, on the same charges but they fled the country before they could be detained.
The verdicts highlight the Kremlin's crackdown on civil society and any dissent inside the country -- a situation that has become even more brutal since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Navalny's groups and his organization were labeled as extremist and banned in Russia in June 2021.
Two months later, Navalny, who was already in prison on charges he and his supporters called political motivated, was found guilty of creating an extremist organization, with the Moscow City Court more than doubling his prison sentence to 19 years.
The charges against Navalny were widely seen as retribution for his efforts to expose what he called the pervasive lawlessness, corruption, and repression within Putin's political system.
Navalny was Russia's loudest opposition voice and galvanized huge anti-government rallies before he was jailed.
He died in prison in February 2024 under mysterious circumstances.
The official autopsy report said that hypertension and other diseases caused a heartbeat disorder which led to Navalny's demise.
After Navalny's death, however, officials refused to hand the body over to his mother for more than a week, prompting accusations from his supporters that officials were trying to hide evidence of his murder.
In 2020, Navalny was poisoned with a Novichok-like nerve agent but survived after he was airlifted to Germany and treated there. Navalny accused Putin of ordering his poisoning then, which was denied by the Kremlin.
Ex-Pakistani PM Khan Sentenced To 14 Years In New Graft Case
A court in Pakistan has convicted the country’s already imprisoned former prime minister, Imran Khan, and his wife Bushra Bibi in a new corruption case that he has disputed as politically motivated.
"The prosecution has proven its case. Khan is convicted," Judge Nasir Javed Rana said in announcing a 14-year prison sentence on January 17 for Khan and a seven-year prison term for his wife.
The couple were convicted of accepting a gift in the form of land from business tycoon Malik Riaz in exchange for laundered money when Khan was in power.
Prosecutors alleged the amount in the case totaled some 190 million British pounds ($240 million) -- the largest case of alleged financial wrongdoing against Khan.
The 72-year-old former cricket superstar-turned-politician, who served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022, has been in jail since August 2023 and faces more than 150 criminal cases.
"I will never accept this dictatorship and I will stay in the prison cell for as long as I have to in the struggle against this dictatorship, but I will not compromise on my principles and the struggle for the true freedom of the nation," Khan said in a post on X.
"Our resolve is true freedom, democracy and the rule of law, which we will continue to fight for until the last ball. I will not make any deals and will face all false cases."
Khan and his Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI) political party have said the cases are politically motivated to prevent him from returning to office.
Khan -- who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in parliament in April 2022 -- enjoys huge popularity among Pakistanis.
The ruling was delivered by an anti-graft court in a prison in Rawalpindi, where the former premier has been jailed.
Local media reported that Bushra Bibi was taken into custody shortly after the verdict, having been out on bail.
Khan’s defense lawyer Faisal Chaudhry said the verdict will be challenged in higher courts, as lawmakers from PTI rallied outside the parliament, saying the former premier had been wrongly punished.
The PTI said in a statement that the case against Khan and his spouse “lacks any solid foundation and is bound to collapse."
“This is a bogus case, and we will approach an appeals court against this decision,” said Omar Ayub Khan, a senior PTI leader who is not related to the former premier.
Some of Khan’s supporters gathered outside the Adiala prison in Rawalpindi, and chanted slogans against the government, demanding Khan’s release.
Khan had previously been convicted in three separate cases on charges of corruption, revealing official secrets, and violating marriage laws, and sentenced to 10, 14, and seven years, respectively.
According to Pakistani law, he is to serve the terms concurrently: meaning, the length of the longest of the sentences.
Trial For Former Leader Of Nagorno-Karabakh Set To Open In Azerbaijan
The trial of Ruben Vardanian, the former de facto prime minister of Nagorno-Karabakh, on charges of terrorism, crimes against humanity, and crimes against the state of Azerbaijan is set to begin on January 17 in Baku.
Vardanian, a former banker who made a fortune in Russia, rejects all the charges against him and in a statement issued by his family on Telegram complained that he had not been given enough time to prepare his defense.
"I reiterate my complete innocence and the innocence of my compatriots and demand the immediate cessation of this politicized case against us, " he said in the statement issued on the eve of the trail.
Prosecutors said Vardanian had received full access to the case materials and had been granted rights to legal defense, the use of his preferred language, and other procedural rights during the investigation.
Vardanian disputed that, saying in the statement that he had been informed that he faces 42 charges, including some carrying sentences of life imprisonment, but he said he had not been granted the opportunity to fully review the official indictment.
He said the 422 volumes of the criminal case against him had been presented to him and his lawyer on December 9 in Azerbaijani, a language he does not speak.
He appealed for support from the public to have numerous demands met, including more time to study the indictment, an open trial, and the combination of his case with that of 15 other defendants.
Vardanian also said that, despite being detained for more than 470 days, including 340 in solitary confinement and 23 in a punishment cell, he had neither “malice nor hatred” and wanted "true peace" between Armenians and Azerbaijanis.
According to prosecutors, the accusations against him include torture, gun-running, forcibly deporting people, seizing power by force, and planning and conducting a war of aggression.
Vardanian, who was born in Yerevan, moved to Nagorno-Karabakh in 2022, serving as de facto state minister, the equivalent of prime minister, from late 2022 until February 2023. His Russian citizenship was revoked in December 2022.
He is the former chief executive officer and shareholder of the Troika Dialog investment bank that was bought by Sberbank in 2011. Forbes estimated his wealth at $1 billion in 2021.
In September 2023, Azerbaijan recaptured Nagorno-Karabakh, known as Artsakh to Armenians, ending three decades of de facto independence since it broke away from Baku's control in a war that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Vardanian was arrested when he fled as part of a mass exodus of some 100,000 Armenians from the mountainous territory.
The 15 other people who have been charged, including several former politicians in Nagorno-Karabakh, such as Arayik (Ara) Harutyunian, who served as the region’s de facto president, also face trial.
The charges against them include genocide and war crimes, according to Azerbaijani prosecutors.
With reporting by Reuters and dpa
Amid Biting Sanctions, Russia And Iran Sign Pact To Deepen Ties
Iran and Russia, two of the most-sanctioned nations in the world, have signed a "comprehensive strategic partnership" treaty as Moscow and Tehran deepen cooperation that has steadily increased since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian, on his first visit to the Kremlin since he won a presidential election last July, signed the pact in Moscow on January 17 after meeting for talks that both leaders said would strengthen relations in a broad spectrum of areas.
The new treaty, which runs for 20 years, aims to strengthen Tehran and Moscow's "military-political and trade-economic" relations, the Kremlin said.
While details of the agreement are scarce, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a news conference on January 15 that the treaty “is constructive in nature and is aimed at strengthening the capabilities of Russia, Iran, and our friends in various parts of the world."
The agreement reportedly does not include a mutual defense clause.
Russia and Iran are both under severe Western sanctions, including restrictions on their energy industries.
Pezeshkian’s visit and the signing of the treaty are further signs of the deepening relationship between Tehran and Moscow. The two countries have also expanded their military cooperation despite warnings from Western countries over the supply of Iranian-made Shahed drones to Russia.
Europe and the United States have imposed several rounds of sanctions on Iranian entities and individuals for providing various types of support to Russia, including the Shaheds. Iran claims to be "neutral" in the Ukraine war.
Pezeshkian's visit to Russia comes just days before President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Trump, who withdrew the United States from an international deal designed to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief and ordered the killing of one of Iran's top generals in 2020, was the target of an alleged Iranian plot to kill him last year.
Britain To Initiate Talks With Poland On Pact To Protect Against ‘Russian Aggression’
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was due in Warsaw on January 17 for talks with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk after making his first visit to Ukraine since becoming prime minister and signing a 100-year partnership agreement.
Britain and Poland are expected to start work on a new defense and security agreement during Starmer’s visit, Starmer's office said in a statement.
"The treaty will support our militaries to work more closely together to protect Europe from Russian aggression and do more to tackle disinformation and hybrid threats. It will also see the two nations work together to smash the people smuggling gangs, secure our energy supplies, and protect our infrastructure," the statement said.
Starmer said it’s time to “take our partnership to the next level” in light of “ever-increasing threats to Europe’s security” from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression to “vile people smuggling gangs.”
Starmer said in Kyiv on January 16 that any deal to end the war in Ukraine must "guarantee" Ukraine's security and independence.
The visit was the latest meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and top officials of Ukraine's allies before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20.
Zelenskiy met later on January 16 with Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp. The Ukrainian president expressed gratitude to the two countries for their support.
Ukraine and other European countries have been unsettled by Trump’s claim that he could end the war swiftly after his inauguration. They are concerned that a hastily drafted deal could force Ukraine to give up territory to Russia in exchange for peace.
Trump’s position on Ukraine has also stoked fears in Kyiv and Europe that his administration will cut vital U.S. military aid.
Starmer said he would "work with all of our allies" to ensure any settlement would be "robust enough to guarantee Ukraine's security, guarantee any possible peace, and deter any future aggression."
Britain has been one of Ukraine's biggest military backers, pledging £12.8 billion ($15.6 billion) in military and civilian aid since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
Under the 100-year partnership agreement, London and Kyiv pledged to "deepen defense cooperation" and boost Ukraine's defense industry, recognizing it as a "future NATO ally.”
Starmer hailed it as a “a new partnership between the U.K. and Ukraine that reflects the huge affection that exists between our two nations."
After signing the agreement, Starmer said Britain would also discuss with allies deploying peacekeeping troops to Ukraine to help guarantee security following any cease-fire with Russia. The proposal has been put forward by French President Emmanuel Macron, who has discussed it with Zelenskiy.
"We will be discussing this with a number of allies, including of course President Macron, including President Zelenskiy here today, and we will play our full part," he said.
Zelenskiy hailed the 100-year accord, saying he hoped for similar agreements with other allies.
"Relations between Ukraine and the U.K. are now closer than ever," he said in his evening address.
With reporting by AFP and Reuters
Thousands Rally In Montenegro Demanding Stronger Government Response To Mass Shooting
Thousands of people rallied on January 16 in the streets of the Montenegrin capital to protest what they call an inadequate government response to a mass shooting that killed 13 people in the city of Cetinje on January 1.
The protesters in Podgorica demanded the resignation of top security officials, saying the mass shooting was a consequence of a broken system and irresponsible actions by authorities.
"No one has taken responsibility, and so we ask: Where are those responsible? Why have they remained silent for days?" said a protester, who did not provide her name.
Participants carried posters saying the resignation of government officials would be the minimum step toward taking responsibility.
They called for Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic and the deputy prime minister in charge of security, Aleksa Becic, to step down.
The participants, who observed 13 minutes of silence to honor the victims, also called for the confiscation of firearms, stricter regulations for obtaining gun licenses, and the reintroduction of civic education as a mandatory subject in schools.
The New Year's Day shooting killed 13 people, including two children, in Cetinje, a city in southern Montenegro with a population of about 13,000 located about 34 kilometers west of Podgorica. Relatives and friends of the suspected shooter, Aco Martinovic, were among the victims.
Martinovic died on the way to the hospital after attempting suicide. The motive for the shooting is unclear. Authorities in 2022 confiscated illegal weapons from Martinovic, and he received a three-month prison sentence in late 2024, which he had appealed.
In response to the shooting, the government on January 3 announced a raft of new gun-control measures following a seven-hour session of the National Security Council.
The proposals include the reverification of existing weapons licenses and severe penalties for those who fail to surrender illegal weapons within a two-month period.
A protest led by students on January 5 filled the streets of Podgorica and also called for more of a response from the government. The students declined an invitation from Prime Minister Milojko Spajic to meet and discuss their demands.
They said their demands were clear and asked the government to publicly announce whether they would be adopted.
Belarusian State TV Airs Third Propaganda Film Targeting RFE/RL Journalists
MINSK -- Belarusian state broadcaster ONT has aired the third part of its propaganda series, Svaboda Slova (Freedom of Speech), about RFE/RL journalists who are accused by authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka's regime of trying to "set Belarus on fire."
The 20-minute program on January 16 spotlighted Ihar Karney, a former journalist with RFE/RL's Belarusian Service, known locally as Radio Svaboda, who was arrested in 2023 and sentenced to three years in prison on "extremism" charges.
It showed Karney, thin, stooping, and obviously exhausted, being led to an interview in handcuffs, which were taken off as he was pressed against a wall. He was filmed in the courtyard of a KGB detention facility wearing a black prison jacket and knitted cap, his breath visible in the freezing air.
The interview was conducted by propagandist Andrey Alyaksandrau (aka Kozel), who has become notorious for accompanying security forces during politically motivated arrests.
RFE/RL has a long-standing policy of not quoting statements made by imprisoned people under duress.
The program concluded with a trailer for the upcoming episode featuring opposition activist and lawyer Yuras Zyankovich, a dual Belarusian-American citizen who is jailed in the so-called "conspirators' case."
Belarus is holding a presidential election on January 26. Lukashenka, who has been in power since 1994, is expected to win a seventh term.
ONT started the Freedom of Speech series on January 14 with an episode showing RFE/RL journalist Andrey Kuznechyk. The next day it featured another RFE/RL journalist, Ihar Losik, illustrating the regime's continued persecution of independent media and the opposition.
Karney was convicted in March 2024 for alleged participation in an "extremist group" and sentenced to three years in prison. While in prison, his term was extended by 10 months for "violating internal order of the penitentiary."
Losik was arrested in June 2020 and sentenced in December 2021 to 15 years imprisonment for "organizing mass riots, participating in mass disorders, inciting social hatred," and other less clearly specified counts. Losik has been held repeatedly in solitary confinement, staged a hunger strike, and engaged in self-mutilation to protest his imprisonment.
Kuznechyk was detained in November 2021 and sentenced in June 2022 to six years for allegedly forming an "extremist formation." He denies all the charges.
The arrests came after the mass protests of 2020 when tens of thousands took to the streets to challenge the result of a presidential election widely regarded as rigged. The response of the security forces was a violent crackdown; more than 30,000 people were arrested, many of whom reported torture and ill-treatment while in custody.
The clampdown has compelled most opposition politicians to flee the country for their own safety.
Many Western governments still refuse to recognize the outcome of the 2020 election or Lukashenka as president of Belarus.
Since August 2020, the Belarusian authorities have been methodically dismantling independent media. Radio Svaboda's website was blocked, its Minsk office was raided, and its journalists were stripped of their accreditations. In December 2021, the regime labeled Radio Svoboda's content "extremist" and criminalized its operations.
Currently, 42 representatives of independent media are imprisoned in Belarus, which ranks 167th out of 180 in the Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index.
NOTE: This article has been updated to clarify the duration of the extension to Ihar Karney's sentence.
Woman Severely Injured After Car Plows Through Protest In Belgrade
BELGRADE -- A 20-year-old student has been seriously injured during a rally to honor the victims of a deadly roof collapse last year when a car plowed through the crowd in central Belgrade.
Protesters were blocking an intersection in the Serbian capital on January 16 to demand justice for the victims and accountability for the collapse of a reconstructed concrete canopy at the Novi Sad central railway station that killed 15 people.
According to witnesses, the female student was standing on the sidewalk when a car veered onto the curb, striking her.
Video widely circulated on social media show the car hitting the woman, who then flies up over the top of the vehicle before tumbling down the back of it.
The driver sped away but was later arrested by police. The suspect is under arrest for attempted aggravated murder.
The injured student was taken to hospital. Doctors said she was conscious and in stable condition.
Thousands of protesters, mainly students, have protested against the collapse of the train station roof on November 1, saying it was due to corruption and poor government oversight of construction projects.
They have also called for the release of activists detained during earlier protests and an end to legal proceedings against them.
RFE/RL journalists at the protest said that, after the incident, the students were chanting "You will not trample us" as they marched toward the Prosecutor's Office.
Thirteen people, including a former government minister, have been indicted by the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Novi Sad over the deadly collapse.
Opposition Accuses Georgian Ruling Party Of Cover Up Over Beating Of Former PM
Officials from one of Georgia's main opposition groups have demanded a hotel in the Black Sea coastal city of Batumi release security footage that shows the party's leader being beaten in the hotel's lobby by members of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Berdia Sichinava, a senior member of the For Georgia party, said on January 16 that the Sheraton Hotel, where former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia was beaten, should make security footage public after government-aligned media broadcast edited video he says alters the real events of a day earlier.
The ruling Georgian Dream party is "trying to portray the attackers as victims and victims in society through propaganda tools," he said.
Gakharia said on Facebook that he was "doing OK" after the attack and thanked supporters. His health was stable after sustaining injuries to his face and head.
For Georgia officials told a press conference in Tbilisi that the ex-premier was attacked on the morning of January 15 while alone in the hotel lobby, and not the other way around as video shown on the pro-government Imedi television claims.
"The risks regarding the possible destruction of video evidence are increasing every minute, especially in conditions where the [current] prime minister and other officials are already openly and publicly dictating to the judiciary what direction and version they should take," Sichinava said.
"Therefore, we are officially requesting the Sheraton Hotel to provide us with the video footage of the attack on Giorgi Gakharia," he added.
Sichinava has accused billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia's most powerful man and the founder of Georgian Dream, of "orchestrating" the attack.
Georgian Dream has in turn accused Gakharia of touching off the incident by throwing a drink at Georgian Dream parliamentary deputy Dimitri Samkharadze.
"Let's establish who attacked whom. There was a verbal argument, and there is footage of Gakharia hitting Dimitri Samkharadze in the face with a glass," said Mamuka Mdinaradze, the leader of the Georgian Dream parliamentary faction.
“The physical violence was initially on [Gakharia’s] part. Now the only thing that needs to be investigated is whether it was politically motivated or not,” he said.
He said Samkharadze was completely justified in his response and noted that Gakharia could face charges for assaulting a state political official.
The Georgian Interior Ministry said it was investigating, but no charges have been filed.
Gakharia was diagnosed with a broken nose and a concussion. Samkharadze has not reported any health consequences as result of the incident.
The Sheraton Hotel, where the incident occurred, has said it would hand over all video recordings to the investigation, though it was unclear when it would do so.
Only one short video has been made public so far, and the hotel said it was not from its cameras.
The unverified video, which has been broadcast by Imedi, shows Gakharia throwing a plastic cup and then being beaten.
Georgians have been protesting the country's October parliamentary elections, which the opposition says were stolen by Georgian Dream. Georgian Dream denies any wrongdoing.
The protests escalated in November when Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that Georgia would suspend European Union accession talks until 2028.
The pro-EU protests have been met with a crackdown by police, with rights groups pointing to hundreds of arrests and beatings.
On January 15,the British and U.S. embassies in Tbilisi condemned what they said was a resurgence in violence against opposition leaders, journalists, and protesters.
Such actions "appear intended to intimidate Georgians from exercising their fundamental freedoms, do nothing to return Georgia to the Euro-Atlantic path the majority of Georgians want. Georgia deserves better," the U.S. Embassy said without referring directly to the attack on Gakharia.
British Ambassador Gareth Ward called the situation "deeply disturbing."
Protesters on January 15 staged a wide-ranging strike to demand new elections by temporarily leaving their workplaces.
- By RFE/RL
U.S. Representative Who Backed Aid To Ukraine Removed From Committee Chairmanship
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has removed the chairman of the powerful House Intelligence Committee who has been an outspoken supporter of assistance for Ukraine.
Johnson (Republican-Louisiana) told reporters on January 15 that Representative Mike Turner (Republican-Ohio) would no longer lead the committee, which oversees the nation's intelligence agencies.
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Johnson said he made the decision because the “intelligence community and everything related to [the committee] needs a fresh start.”
He said it was not connected to President-elect Donald Trump, who is set to be inaugurated on January 20.
"This is a House decision, and this is no slight whatsoever to our outgoing chairman. He did a great job,” Johnson said.
Turner, who served as chairman of the committee since 2023, contradicted Johnson’s explanation, telling U.S. broadcaster CBS that Johnson cited "concerns from Mar-a-Lago" -- Trump's Florida estate.
He said on X he was honored to have served on the committee, saying that under his leadership the integrity of the committee had been restored and its mission returned to its core focus of national security.
Beyond his vocal support for aid to Ukraine, Turner held other views that were at odds with Trump and pushed back when Trump made false claims last year during the presidential election campaign about Haitian migrants in his district eating pets.
Johnson, who has aligned himself closely with Trump, said Turner would play an important role in working with NATO. He said Turner's successor would be announced on January 16.
The chairman of the committee is among eight congressional leaders who are briefed on classified intelligence matters.
With reporting by AP and Reuters
- By RFE/RL
Biden Warns Of Dangers Of 'Oligarchy' In America As Tech Billionaires Flock To Trump
U.S. President Joe Biden delivered a farewell address to nation on January 15, warning that a “dangerous oligarchy” of extremely wealthy people is taking shape in America and wielding power and influence that threatens democracy.
“I am concerned about the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few wealthy people,” Biden said, speaking from the White House.
He said the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few threatens not only democracy but basic rights and freedoms and the expectation that each person deserves “a fair shot" to get ahead.
After serving one term, Biden will leave the presidency on January 20 with the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, a billionaire, who has been backed by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, and other ultrawealthy people.
Musk, who shares Trump's hard-right politics, spent tens of millions of dollars helping his presidential campaign last year and will attend the incoming president's inauguration.
Two other prominent U.S. billionaires -- Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Facebook co-founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg -- are also expected to attend Trump's inauguration.
Biden named a number of his accomplishments, including guiding the country out of the coronavirus pandemic during his first two years in office, supporting domestic manufacturing, and limiting the cost of prescription drugs.
But he said U.S. values are “constantly being tested,” warning about the potential rise of what he called the “tech industrial complex” and the future of artificial intelligence.
“Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power,” he said. “The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies both for power and for profit.”
To counter those trends, he said social media platforms must be held accountable to protect America’s children, families, and democracy from the abuse of power.
AI, he said, is an exciting development that has the potential to help solve problems, even help find a cure for cancer, but it could also “spawn new threats to our rights, our way of life, to our privacy, how we work, and how we protect our nation.”
“AI is the most consequential technology of our time, perhaps of all time. Nothing offers more profound possibilities and risks for our economy, our security, our society, for humanity,” he said.
But it must be “safe and trustworthy and good for all humankind,” he said, adding that it’s more important than ever that “as the land of liberty, America, not China, must lead the world in the development of AI.”
Biden, who ousted Trump in the 2020 presidential election, will leave office next week. He had stepped aside amid concerns over his mental fitness in the 2024 race to allow Vice President Kamala Harris to run against Trump as the Democratic party's candidate. Harris lost to Trump in the November 5 election.
Belarus Parades Jailed RFE/RL Journalist Ihar Losik On State TV
Belarus state TV has aired a propaganda program parading imprisoned RFE/RL journalist Ihar Losik, who has not been heard from in nearly two years.
The segment, broadcast on the state ONT channel, was the second part of a propaganda series about RFE/RL journalists held in Belarusian prisons, which accuses them of "trying to set Belarus on fire."
Belarus is holding a presidential election on January 26, where the country's authoritarian President Alyaksandr Luksahenka is expected to win a seventh term.
The 32-year-old RFE/RL's Belarus Service journalist, who has maintained his innocence, was arrested in June 2020 and sentenced in December 2021 for "organizing mass riots, taking part in mass disorder, inciting social hatred," and several other charges that remain unclear.
2020 Crackdown
In 2020, tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest the result of a presidential election, which was widely considered by international observers to be rigged. The security forces responded with a brutal crackdown, arresting over 30,000 people, many of whom reported torture and ill-treatment while in custody.
The crackdown has pushed most opposition politicians to leave Belarus fearing for their safety and freedom.
Many Western governments have refused to recognize the results of the 2020 election and do not consider Lukashenka to be the country's legitimate leader.
The 25-minute broadcast marked the first time Losik has been seen publicly since June 25, 2020, when he was detained and later sentenced to 15 years in prison in a closed trial.
RFE/RL, rights groups, and foreign governments have called the charges against Losik politically motivated.
His family received his last letter in February 2023, and there has been no subsequent contact, raising concerns about his treatment and well-being.
Hunger Strikes, Self-Harm
In the footage, recorded at a KGB detention center in Minsk, Losik appeared hunched over and visibly thinner.
Losik was interviewed in the TV program, however RFE/RL does not quote statements obtained under unknown circumstances from individuals in detention.
Before the interview began, a guard escorted Losik down a steep staircase with his hands restrained behind his back. At one point in the footage, which was recorded at night in apparently freezing temperatures, he was made to stand facing a wall.
According to human rights groups, since his detention, Losik has undertaken two prolonged hunger strikes and, on two occasions, inflicted self-harm as a form of protest by cutting his hands and neck.
Losik's wife, Darya, was given a two-year sentence in January 2023 on a charge of facilitating extremist activity that stemmed from her interview with the Poland-based Belsat news outlet, which has been declared an extremist group by Minsk. She was released in July 2024, as part of a mass amnesty.
Losik is one of three RFE/RL journalists -- the other two are Andrey Kuznechyk, who is being held in Belarus, and Vladyslav Yesypenko, a correspondent for RFE/RL's Ukrainian service who is being held by Russia-installed authorities in Ukraine's occupied Crimea -- currently imprisoned on charges related to their work.
Three Jailed Journalists
RFE/RL, rights groups, and several U.S. and EU politicians have called repeatedly for the release of all three, saying they have been wrongly detained.
In October 2023, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Belarus violated international human rights law by imprisoning Losik, concluding that his arrest and detention were "based solely on his journalistic activity and his exercise of the freedoms of expression and of association."
The first program in the series, broadcast on January 14, focused on Andrey Kuznechyk, a journalist with RFE/RL’s Belarus Service who was detained in November 2021.
In the broadcast, Kuznechyk appeared emaciated and tired as he talks with one of the filmmakers in what appear to be prison surroundings.
Kuznechyk, a father of two, was initially sentenced to 10 days in jail on hooliganism charges that he rejected. After serving that penalty, he was charged with creating an extremist group and sentenced in June 2022 to six years in a medium-security penal colony.
The state-controlled channel also previewed the next segment in the propaganda series, featuring former RFE/RL's Belarus Service journalist Ihar Karney, who has been imprisoned since July 2023.
- By Kian Sharifi
Israel, Hamas Agree Cease-Fire Deal, Although Much 'Uncertainty' Remains
Israel and the U.S.-designated Palestinian terrorist group Hamas have reached a multiphase cease-fire deal that includes the exchange of Israeli hostages for some 1,000 Palestinian prisoners and the delivery of urgent humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
Mediated by Qatar and Egypt, the agreement will go into effect on January 19, according to Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani. It includes three stages, with the final stage focusing on the reconstruction of Gaza.
The conflict broke out in October 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked settlements in southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages to Gaza.
Israel retaliated by launching a devastating war in the Palestinian enclave that has killed over 46,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities. The conflict has led to the mass destruction of the territory and the displacement of most of its 2.3 million residents.
What We Know
The details of the agreement have not been formally published, but a clear image has emerged from official comments and media reports based on leaked drafts of the deal.
In the first phase, a six-week cease-fire will begin, during which Israeli troops will gradually withdraw from central Gaza.
During this phase, Hamas will release 33 hostages -- expected to be mostly women, the elderly, and the sick -- in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Some hostages were released in November 2023 in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas is still holding 94 hostages, but Israel believes that only 60 are still alive.
Palestinians displaced by the conflict will be allowed to return to their homes in the first phase of the deal, while humanitarian aid will start to flow into the Hamas-run enclave. Nearly the entirety of Gaza residents were forced to flee their homes, fueling a major humanitarian crisis.
Further negotiations on the second and third phase of the agreement will begin on the 16th day of the deal’s implementation, and analysts say this could pose the first real challenge to the cease-fire’s longevity.
The second phase of the agreement involves the release of the remaining hostages and, crucially, the end of the war.
“There is a lot of uncertainty as to whether Israel is committed to a permanent end of the conflict,” said Michael Horowitz, the head of intelligence at the Bahrain-based Le Beck International consultancy.
What It Means
The Iran-backed Hamas has suffered greatly in the course of the war, losing its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, and his successor, Yahya Sinwar, within months of each other.
Horowitz said Hamas will claim victory simply because it survived the war.
“The question is whether it can truly return to power in Gaza, retain its military capabilities, and even capitalize on this perceived victory to consolidate its presence outside of Gaza, namely in the West Bank,” he added.
Iran, whose so-called axis of resistance has suffered multiple setbacks since the outbreak of the Gaza war, sees the cease-fire as good news.
Israel fought a devastating war with the U.S.-designated Lebanese political party and armed group Hezbollah late last year, decimating its senior leadership and degrading its military capabilities. Hezbollah came out of the war a shell of its former self, and its weakening led to the election of a president and prime minister in Lebanon who are favored by Western powers and Iran’s regional rivals.
Adding insult to injury, Syrian rebel forces opposed to the government of Iran’s longtime ally Bashar al-Assad launched a lightning offensive on the very day that Hezbollah and Israel agreed to a cease-fire. The Iran- and Russia-backed government of Assad fell in under two weeks, dealing a major blow to both Tehran and Moscow’s regional ambitions.
Horowitz said the Gaza cease-fire allows Iran to fully de-escalate and engage the Donald Trump administration once he takes office later this month.
Iran may also sit back and recalibrate its strategy, such as deciding whether to re-arm Hamas, which Horowitz said may not pose the same threat to Israel as it once did for a long time.
“I think the West Bank may be more interesting for Iran, as this is where the future of the Palestinian divide between Hamas and Israel will play out,” he added.
Many in Israel will welcome the end of the war and the return of hostages, but the cease-fire deal could turn into a headache for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has claimed several times that the war will continue until “total victory” over Hamas.
Given the staunch opposition to the deal among far-right members of his cabinet -- some of whom have threatened to quit -- Netanyahu’s top priority will be to ensure his government does not collapse, according to Horowitz.
- By Todd Prince
Rubio, Trump's Pick For Secretary Of State, Says Ukraine Must Make Concessions
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the top U.S. diplomat said it is “unrealistic” to expect Ukraine to recover all the land Russia has seized since launching its full-scale invasion nearly three years ago, adding Kyiv will have to make concessions to Moscow to end the fighting.
Ukraine Invasion: News & Analysis
RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
“There's no way Ukraine is also going to push these people [Russian forces] all the way back to where they were on the eve of the invasion just given the size dynamic,” Republican Senator Marco Rubio told lawmakers during his Senate confirmation hearing on January 15.
Trump ran on a promise to quickly end the war in Ukraine, raising concerns he would force Kyiv to cede territory -- at least temporarily -- to Moscow. Russia currently controls about 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory.
Rubio declined to speculate on what concessions Ukraine might have to make but told lawmakers NATO membership would be part of the negotiations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said his country needs Western security guarantees like NATO membership to prevent Russia from invading again in a few years.
Russia and Ukraine have been trying to seize as much land from each other as possible in the run-up to Trump's inauguration on January 20 to improve their respective bargaining positions ahead of possible talks.
Russia has had the initiative on the battlefield since Ukraine's counteroffensive concluded unsuccessfully in late 2023. It has been seizing territory in eastern Ukraine at the fastest pace since the start of the war in February 2022. Russia is on the verge of capturing Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in Donetsk region.
Meanwhile, Ukraine in August seized a chunk of Russian territory in Kursk region as part of a successful surprise attack. After giving up nearly half those gains since then, Ukraine has recently launched a small-scale offensive in the region.
Ukraine's struggles on the battlefield of late stem from its inability to replenish its infantry forces. While Russia has suffered enormous losses -- more than 700,000 according to U.S. intelligence -- Moscow has been able to recruit more and more men, giving it a significant manpower advantage.
“Despite high casualties, the Russian military maintains an offensive footing on multiple fronts,” Can Kasapoglu, an analyst at the Hudson Institute, said in a January 15 note.
The Biden administration has repeatedly said the United States would support Ukraine "for as long as it takes" and has committed nearly $66 billion in military aid to the country since the start of the invasion.
Rubio said that position is “not a realistic or prudent" one, highlighting Ukraine's manpower problems.
“Ukraine isn’t running out of money, it is running out of people,” he said. “If we want to be honest about bringing that [war] to an end, true diplomacy will require concessions from every party engaged in those conversations."
Experts say that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in ending the war now because he believes he is winning. He also hasn't given up his goal of conquering Ukraine, John Kirby, U.S. national security spokesman for the Biden administration, told reporters on January 14.
"When the Trump team starts engaging in these kinds of discussions, they will find that getting Putin to abandon his goal of subjugating all of Ukraine will be the hardest thing in this process," Mikhail Alexseev, a political science professor at San Diego State University who focuses on Russia and Ukraine, told RFE/RL.
While Trump claimed during the campaign that he would be able to quickly end the war in Ukraine, he has recently taken a more cautious stance on the prospects of striking a deal soon.
Rubio admitted it will be difficult to reach an agreement between the warring sides.
“This is not going to be an easy endeavor…it's going to require bold diplomacy,” he said.
U.S. Aid
In the meantime, questions remain about whether Trump will continue to supply Ukraine with military aid.
The president-elect repeatedly criticized the amount of aid the Biden administration sent to Ukraine while on the campaign trail. However, he also said he was open a lend-lease type program in which Kyiv would pay back the United States over time for military aid.
The Biden administration has surged aid since September to ensure Kyiv has enough weapon systems and ammunition to get it through the first months of 2025 should Trump end or cut support.
Alexseev said that Trump will need to continue aid to Ukraine if he is serious about getting Putin to end the fighting.
"We will have movement toward a negotiated settlement only if Ukraine acquires greater capabilities to inflict damage inside Russia. Until that happens, Putin has very little incentive to abandon his strategy of making gradual gains on the battlefield and just waiting for the West to abandon support," he said.
Alexseev also said Trump may seek to change Putin's calculus on Ukraine by countering the Kremlin's interests in other regions like the Arctic, Middle East, Africa or targeting his allies like Iran and North Korea.
"What we may see from from Trump is a broadening of the bargaining game, taking it to other areas to send more and more messages to Putin," he said.
NATO, U.S. Hostages
During his confirmation hearing, Rubio reiterated his support for U.S. alliances but said that European members of NATO have to increase spending on defense. Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, only a handful of NATO members met spending targets.
“I think it's important that we have alliances, but we have to have alliances with strong and capable partners, and not those who sort of viewed the U.S. and the NATO defense agreement as an excuse to spend less on defense and more on some domestic needs,” Rubio told lawmakers.
Trump has repeatedly criticized European allies for failing to meet defense spending targets and reportedly raised the question of withdrawing from the alliance during his first term in office from 2017-21.
Amid that threat, Rubio co-authored a bill that would prevent any president from withdrawing the United States from NATO without approval from the Senate or an Act of Congress. That bill was passed in December 2023.
Rubio told lawmakers he still supports that law.
Rubio also addressed the issue of American prisoners. He said Russia and other adversaries are taking American citizens hostage with the hope of getting concessions from the United States.
“There is now an active global market for detaining Americans wrongfully in Venezuela, in Russia, in China or somewhere else, Iran, and then using to trade for something they want in the future,” he told lawmakers.
When asked about the case of Mark Fogel, a 66-year-old American teacher serving a 14-year sentence on charges of marijuana possession, Rubio called the case “ridiculous” and said he has been in touch with his family.
Rubio said Russia should release Fogel in a gesture of good especially if progress is made on ending the war in Ukraine.
“If they're not willing to do this … then I think the chances of improvement in U.S. Russian relations are impossible,” he said.
Massive Russian Attack Targets Ukraine Energy Sites Amid Winter Freeze
Russia and Ukraine exchanged 50 prisoners of war, the first swap this year, just hours after Moscow launched a massive attack on Ukrainian energy targets, causing rotating power outages that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said highlighted the need for Western help to strengthen the existing capabilities of Ukraine’s air shield.
Russia's Defense Ministry said on January 15 that as a result of talks mediated by the United Arab Emirates, 25 Russian servicemen were returned from territory controlled by Kyiv in exchange for 25 Ukrainian soldiers.
Ukraine Invasion: News & Analysis
RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
Zelenskiy confirmed the swap, noting that those returning to Ukrainian control include soldiers who fought at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol in one of the most intense battles fought in the early stages of the war.
The exchange came after several regions across Ukraine were rocked by explosions early on January 15, hobbling the country’s power system in the dead of winter.
Power operator Ukrenerho reported emergency outages in several regions, while the head of the Lviv region reported two hits on critical infrastructure.
"It's the middle of winter, and the target for the Russians remains the same: our energy sector. Among the targets are gas infrastructure and energy facilities that ensure people's normal lives," Zelenskiy said.
Russian troops also attacked Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka, the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, Vadym Filashkin, reported on January 15 as he reiterated a call for residents of the region, especially those with families, to evacuate.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces conducted strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities, successfully hitting all designated targets.
The ministry said the strikes were in response to Ukrainian attacks using U.S. ATACMS missiles and British-made Storm Shadow missiles and an attack on Russia's Krasnodar region aimed at halting gas flows through the Turkstream pipeline network.
A major fire broke out at an oil depot in the Liski district of the Voronezh region late on January 15. Eyewitnesses posted videos, which have not been verified by RFE/RL, showing flames and smoke rising from the oil depot. There has been no official confirmation from either side.
As crews worked to restore Ukrainian energy facilities, Zelenskiy was in Warsaw to meet with Polish leaders on bilateral relations.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said after meeting Zelenskiy that his country will use its current position as head of the rotating presidency of the EU to push forward Kyiv's accession to the bloc.
"We will break the standstill we have in this issue.... We will accelerate the accession process,” Tusk told a news conference.
Tusk also accused Russia of planning acts of "air terror" against airlines around the world, saying Moscow seeks sabotage and diversion on Polish soil and beyond.
He did not provide any evidence to back up the claims, saying "I will not go into details, but I can confirm the validity of these fears is that Russia has been planning acts of air terror, and not only against Poland, but against airlines all over the world."
Poland has been a staunch ally of Kyiv since Russia launched its full-scale invasion almost three years ago, but ties have shown signs of strain for decades over the Volhynia massacre of ethnic Poles by Ukrainian nationalists between 1943 and 1945.
Tens of thousands of Poles, and thousands of Ukrainians died in the massacres by the nationalist Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists under Stepan Bandera.
The Polish parliament has said the events bore elements of genocide.
The two sides have agreed that the exhumation of the victims of the tragedy will begin in April in the Ternopil region and be carried out by the Freedom and Democracy Foundation with experts from the Pomeranian Medical University, specialists from the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, and Ukrainian archaeologists.
Warsaw has long sought the exhumation and proper burial of Polish victims and the issue is looming in a May presidential election in which Karol Nawrocki, a conservative historian who heads the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), is running as a nationalist candidate.
Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski is seen as the leading candidate to succeed President Andrzej Duda. He represents the liberal-conservative coalition led by Tusk.
Duda is ineligible for reelection as he was already elected twice.
Kosovo Raids Parallel Serb Institutions Amid Simmering Ethnic Tensions
Authorities in Kosovo raided municipal offices in 10 Serbia-backed areas as the government continues to press the closure of so-called parallel institutions that gave Belgrade leverage in its former province.
Kosovo's Internal Affairs Minister Xhelal Svecla said the raids on January 15 were aimed at ending “the era of Serbia's parallel and criminal municipalities and institutions in the Republic of Kosovo.”
The municipalities involved in the raids -- which come ahead of Kosovar parliamentary elections in February -- include Lipjan, Obiliq, Pristina, Fushe Kosove, Vushtrri, Novoberde, Kamenica, Viti, Rahovec, and Skenderaj he added.
Ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo have been guided for decades by Belgrade and its parallel structures in the region, including Serbian banks, a pension system, and unemployment benefits.
Authorities in Kosovo say that the work of these Serbian institutions, which have been in operation since the post-war period in 1999, is "illegal."
Last year, the government began taking steps to dismantle parallel structures in an effort to extend Pristina's authority in the north as much as possible. The government has also phased out the Serbian currency, the dinar, which many Serbs received their salaries or pensions in, replacing it with the euro.
Belgrade has never acknowledged the independence that Pristina declared in 2008, and violent flare-ups and standoffs persist between Kosovar authorities and tens of thousands of ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo in a region still scarred by brutal wars and ethnic cleansing in the 1990s.
Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic said that the "development of the situation" in Kosovo is being followed carefully.
"We will take all measures to protect the Serbian population from new attacks by [Prime Minister] Albin Kurti, who, apparently, has turned his pre-election campaign into a continuation of the mistreatment of our people," he said.
Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric added that "these aggressive moves are not just an attack on institutions but a blatant attempt to undermine the collective rights and identity of Serbs in Kosovo."
Kosovo's government has spent much of the past year trying to root out Serbian influence in the daily lives of many of those Serbs, eliciting concerns among Western partners that such "unilateral" actions will stir up unnecessary trouble just a generation removed from bitter ethnic bloodshed.
Pristina says it is merely trying to enforce its constitutional order.
Kosovo and Serbia have been negotiating normalization since 2011 through the Brussels dialogue, which is supervised by the EU.
They reached an agreement on normalization steps in early 2023, but key elements of the deal remain unfulfilled. Kosovo insists that this agreement must be signed first, although the EU says it is binding on the parties regardless of signature.
Kosovo, which is majority ethnic Albanian, has faced increased criticism from international partners, including the United States and the EU over "unilateral" and "uncoordinated" actions affecting the daily lives of its ethnic Serb minority.
Belgrade and EU and U.S. officials have also pressed for Pristina to lay the legal groundwork to establish an association of mostly Serb municipalities that it originally pledged to create more than a decade ago.
A U.S. Embassy spokesperson said Kosovo’s actions to close "Serbia-run institutions directly and negatively impact Kosovo citizens -- ethnic Serbs and other communities -- and could undermine Kosovo’s aspirations to join the Euro-Atlantic community."
The spokesperson added that the actions were "against our best advice" and "weaken trust in the relationship and constrain our ability to help Kosovo secure the best and brightest future for all its people."
The European Union said Kosovo's recent actions go against its obligations toward the European Union under the normalization process.
The status of Serbia-supported structures is foreseen to be resolved through the EU-facilitated dialogue, the EU said in a press release. "Kosovo must demonstrate and remain consistent with its obligations under the EU-facilitated Dialogue and its recent recommitment to it."
Russian Forces Tried To Stop Removal Of Captured North Korean Soldier From Battlefield
Russian forces tried to prevent Ukrainian troops who captured a North Korean soldier in Kursk earlier this month from taking him off the battlefield, according to a Ukrainian soldier involved in the mission in comments to RFE/RL.
The Ukrainian soldier said the Russian forces launched a barrage of artillery fire at members of Ukraine’s 8th Regiment of Special Operations Forces, stopping them from leaving the forest with the captured soldier.
"They probably guessed that we wanted to take their fighter, and massive artillery shelling began, said the soldier, who identified himself only by his call sign, Greek. “And they were shooting very close and very accurately. They didn't want us to take him out of there until the last moment.”
The Russian forces also attempted to use an FPV (first-person view) drone.
“It didn't hit either, but that's good for us," said Greek.
The Ukrainian special forces came upon the soldier after seeing an opportunity to advance in an area they had been observing. The retreating soldiers left without the North Korean, who had an injured leg.
“We took them by surprise. They had not yet had time to orient themselves, as we pushed them away from that point and simply took the prisoner,” a second Ukrainian soldier involved in the capture identified only by his call name, Badger, told RFE/RL.
Both Ukrainian soldiers said the North Korean soldier may not have realized what was happening. They said they approached very quickly and were difficult to see in their camouflage.
Other soldiers held him at gunpoint to prevent him from harming any of the Ukrainian troops present. He was also frisked for any means he may have had to commit suicide.
The prisoner was given an anesthetic injection for his wound and handed over to the medics. According to the Ukrainian military, he wanted food and water.
Two previous attempts to capture North Korean soldiers were unsuccessful, the military said. The first was seriously wounded and died shortly after being captured; the second committed suicide.
The successfully captured North Korean soldier is one of two that Ukraine reported its forces captured in the Russian region of Kursk this month.
South Korea’s intelligence agency confirmed their capture, but it has not been confirmed by either Moscow or Pyongyang. The agency quoted one of the captured North Korean soldiers as saying that "there were significant losses among North Korean soldiers in Russia."
It also said that one of the prisoners had been without food and water for four to five days before he was captured.
Ukraine's Military Intelligence (HUR) said on January 13 that the two soldiers would be interrogated.
Yevhen Yerin, a representative of HUR, told RFE/RL the information gathered from them “is important not only for operational intelligence but also as a political tool to reveal the participation of the North Korean Army in Russia's military actions."
South Korea's intelligence service reported on January 13 that more than 300 North Korean soldiers had been killed in the Russian region of Kursk and 2,700 more injured. The arrival of North Korean military personnel in Kursk became known in October.
Moscow has reclaimed some 40 percent of the territory Ukraine claimed after launching an incursion in August, but Ukrainian troops still control more than 500 square kilometers of the region.
Kallas Says Europe Should Increase Pressure On Moscow In Push To End War
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Kyiv and its partners should continue to apply pressure on Russia to improve Ukraine’s position in any eventual negotiations to end the war.
Kallas, speaking on January 14 in an interview with RFE/RL and several European newspapers, said increasing economic pressure on Moscow and isolating it internationally are the only ways to prevent Russia from gaining the upper hand.
“We should not underestimate our own capabilities and overestimate the Russians,” Kallas said. "Russia sometimes seems like a mysterious power that cannot be defeated. This is not true. We are stronger in terms of both military and economic capabilities. We should approach things from a position of strength.”
Signs of strain on Russia's economy include key interest rates above 20 percent, Gazprom cutting 40 percent of its management, a labor market in "very bad shape,” and the recruitment of North Korean soldiers to fight on Moscow's side, she said.
"All this shows that they are not in a good position,” she added.
Russia is convinced that time is on its side, but Kallas said she believes this is wrong and Kyiv's Western allies should further increase economic pressure.
"We see that their cash reserves are completely depleted. They have much less income from the sale of oil and gas than before," she said.
The European Union will discuss sanctions as they try to decide on a 16th package to coincide with the February 24 anniversary of the war, an EU official told RFE/RL. It will be a substantive package despite the difficulty of finding new areas to sanctions, the official said.
The focus of the package is therefore expected to be technical and anti-evasion measures. In addition the discussions will consider import restrictions on primary aluminum, tariffs on agricultural products, including chemicals used in fertilizers, and more measures to restrict Russia's so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers, according to the official.
Kallas expressed confidence that the European Union will be able to maintain unity on its policy of sending arms and other aid to Ukraine despite resistance from a few European governments that are sympathetic to Russia.
The former Estonian prime minister said the European Union has been able to maintain unity despite "difficult negotiations" with those governments.
“This is becoming increasingly difficult,” she admitted. "Yet I still have confidence that we can represent a unified position, because only with this can we remain strong.”
The stronger Ukraine is on the battlefield, the stronger it will be at the negotiating table, she said.
Kallas also commented on President-elect Donald Trump’s statement that he will be able to end the war quickly, saying that the world awaits Trump’s plan. If Trump, who is set to be inaugurated on January 20, really uses U.S. power to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw his troops from Ukraine and stop the bombing of civilians and civilian infrastructure, the war could end in a timely manner, she said.
But she reiterated the EU's position that there should be no decision about Ukraine without Ukraine’s consent and that goes for Europe as well.
“It is clear that whatever agreement is reached, Europe must be part of it. It is up to the Ukrainians to decide what kind of agreement is acceptable to them,” she said.
Whether Putin truly wants peace is another question, she said, warning that a cease-fire would only be used by the Russians to regroup and rearm their forces.
"The Russians have never respected cease-fires. That’s why it’s important for Europe that the peace is sustainable and lasting,” she said.
Kallas also spoke about recent attacks on undersea cables in the Baltic Sea, stressing that it would be a mistake to treat them separately from attacks on different European critical infrastructure. The incidents should be considered collectively and also in the context of similar attacks that she said China has carried out against Taiwan and South Korea.
This points to the need to further develop international maritime law and the need to further tighten sanctions against Russia's so-called shadow fleet that it uses to evade sanctions on its oil exports, she said.
U.S., Armenia Sign Strategic Partnership Agreement
The United States and Armenia on January 14 signed a strategic partnership agreement expanding cooperation in security and several of areas as Yerevan seeks to distance itself from traditional ally Russia.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan signed the agreement at the State Department in Washington.
The United States is "working with Armenia in the realm of security and defense, and in particular, to support its efforts to assert its independence and sovereignty over its own territory," Blinken said at the signing ceremony.
"We are increasingly strong partners, and I think that is for the good of both of our countries, as well as the good of the region and beyond," Blinken said, describing the agreement as a milestone in cooperation on defense, security, the economy, and democratization.
He announced that in the coming weeks, a U.S. customs and border patrol team would travel to Armenia to work with Armenian partners on developing border security capabilities.
In addition, the agreement calls for the United States to start negotiations with Armenia on nuclear cooperation in the civilian space, and Yerevan will formally join a U.S.-led coalition on defeating the Islamic State extremist group.
Armenia is formally an ally of Russia through the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), and Moscow maintains a military base in Armenia. But relations have soured over what Armenia called a failure by Russia to provide sufficient assistance when Azerbaijan in 2023 seized Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing some 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee.
Blinken has tried unsuccessfully to broker a lasting peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Mirzoyan saluted that effort and said Armenia appreciates U.S. “steadfast support for Armenia's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity."
"We believe that a stable and prosperous South Caucasus is in the interest of all regional actors and the broader international community," Mirzoyan said at the signing ceremony.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on January 14 that the Russian partnership with Armenia had been positive for Yerevan, while the United States had “never played a stabilizing role in the South Caucasus."
Peskov said that relations with Russia offer "a significant dividend for Armenia and its people,” adding that Moscow intends to further develop them.
Belarusian State TV Airs Propaganda Film Featuring Jailed RFE/RL Journalists
The Belarusian state TV channel ONT has aired the first segment of a propaganda film about RFE/RL journalists held in Belarusian prisons, accusing them of "trying to set Belarus on fire."
The series, Svaboda Slova (Freedom of Speech), appears aimed at discrediting independent journalists who have been reporting on government abuses and repression in the country just weeks before voting begins in a presidential election.
Opposition leaders called the last election -- held in August 2020 -- rigged, triggering mass protests and a brutal crackdown by authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
They see the upcoming January 26 vote as a sham to hand Lukashenka, who has run the country since 1994 and is a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a 7th term in office.
The first segment of the broadcast shows Andrey Kuznechyk, a journalist with RFE/RL’s Belarus Service who was detained in November 2021.
Kuznechyk appears emaciated and tired as he talks with one of the filmmakers in what appear to be prison surroundings. Snow can be seen falling, with bars and prison walls in the background of the undisclosed location.
Kuznechyk, a father of two, was initially sentenced to 10 days in jail on hooliganism charges that he rejected.
After serving that penalty, he was charged with creating an extremist group and sentenced in June 2022 to six years in a medium-security penal colony.
Dressed in a jacket and hat, Kuznechyk spoke in calm and measured tones but looked fatigued. The segment concluded with footage of him being escorted away under guard.
RFE/RL's Belarus Service does not quote statements obtained under unknown circumstances from individuals in detention.
At the end of the video, the state-controlled channel previewed the next segment in the propaganda series, saying it features RFE/RL Belarus Service journalist Ihar Losik, former veteran reporter Ihar Karney, and opposition activist Yuras Zyankovich, who holds dual Belarusian-American citizenship.
Kuznechyk, who has maintained his innocence, and some 150 other Belarusian political prisoners, including Losik and former would-be presidential candidate Viktar Babaryka, are serving sentences at the same prison in the northern city of Navapolatsk. The facility is known as one of the most-restrictive penitentiaries in the country.
Human rights groups in Belarus have recognized Kuznechyk as a political prisoner and his case is seen as part of the larger campaign of repression against RFE/RL journalists and independent media in Belarus.
Losik, who is a father of one, was detained in June 2020 at his home in Baranavichy.
He was first charged with organizing and participating in mass riots only to have more charges added later. He was sentenced to 15 years in December 2021 in a closed trial held at a detention center.
Belarusian authorities subsequently stepped up their efforts to suppress independent media by targeting RFE/RL's Belarus Service, known locally as Radio Svaboda.
The same month that Losik was sentenced a court of Minsk ruled that Radio Svaboda's Telegram channel, social media pages, and YouTube content extremist, and the Interior Ministry officially recognized a group of citizens who worked with the online resources of Radio Svaboda as an extremist group.
Authorities blocked access to Radio Svaboda's website and more than 40 other independent media outlets amid mass protests in August 2020 over the disputed presidential election. These websites are available only via VPN services in Belarus.
Since the disputed election, which handed authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka a sixth term in office, tens of thousands of Belarusians have been arrested for voicing any dissent against the regime.
The crackdown has pushed most opposition politicians, who say the vote was rigged, to leave the country fearing for their safety and freedom.
Many Western governments have refused to recognize the results of the election and do not consider Lukashenka to be the country's legitimate leader.
Many countries have imposed of sanctions against the regime in response to the suppression of dissent in the country.
- By Mike Eckel
Top Russian Diplomat Again Signals Readiness For Trump's Ukraine Proposals
Russia’s foreign minister signaled that Moscow was ready to hear from President-elect Donald Trump and advisers on proposals to resolve the Ukraine war, saying the incoming administration had "started to acknowledge the realities on the ground."
The comments from Sergei Lavrov, made during an annual news conference on January 14, were the latest in a series of remarks by Russian officials ahead of potential cease-fire proposals for the conflict, which will mark its third anniversary next month.
Trump has said he wants to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin directly to try and resolve the war, which has killed or wounded more than 1 million troops on both sides.
Russia, whose troops currently occupy around 20 percent of Ukrainian territory, has justified its all-out February 2022 invasion of Ukraine in a series of shifting rationales, including preventing it from ever joining the NATO military alliance.
"We will be waiting for specific initiatives. President Putin has said on multiple occasions that he is ready to meet, but no proposals have been made yet," Lavrov told reporters during the three-hour news conference.
"President Trump also said that Putin wanted to meet and he believed they should meet but he first needed to take office.”
In the waning days of his tenure, President Joe Biden has rushed to ship billions of dollars in weaponry and other equipment to Ukraine, seeking to bolster its arsenals in the event that the incoming Trump administration scales back arms shipments.
In Kyiv, Ukrainian officials have also signaled an openness to hearing Trump’s peace proposals.
Speaking in an interview with Newsmax on January 13, Trump asserted that Putin was ready to meet soon after Trump's inauguration on January 20.
"I know he wants to meet and I’m going to meet [him] very quickly," he said.
"I would've done it sooner but...you have to get into the office. For some of the things, you do have to be there."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters shortly before Lavrov's event that there were no specifics agreed on yet for a Trump-Putin meeting.
Trump's incoming national-security adviser, Mike Waltz, also emphasized a new diplomatic push to resolve the fighting. But he also signaled Ukrainian demands that Russia withdraw from all occupied territories was unlikely.
"I just don't think it's realistic to say we're going to expel every Russian from every inch of Ukrainian soil, even Crimea," Waltz told ABC News in an interview broadcast on January 12.
"President Trump has acknowledged that reality, and I think it's been a huge step forward that the entire world is acknowledging that reality. Now let's move forward."
Ukraine Targets 'Strategic Sites' With Drone Attacks In Russia
Ukraine launched a massive attack on targets inside Russian territory on January 14, hitting weapons production plants, oil refineries, and warehouses.
Hours after the attacks, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius arrived in Kyiv in an unannounced visit as European leaders look to underscore their support for Ukraine.
Two industrial facilities in Russia's western Saratov region were damaged in a drone attack, regional Governor Roman Busargin said on social media, while Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, said five Russian cities had been targeted.
Kovalenko did not specifically say Ukraine launched the attacks -- officials rarely comment directly on such events -- but he did say in a post on Telegram that a series of drone attacks targeting critical infrastructure across Russia have been undertaken.
"The porous Russian air defense continues to fail, allowing strikes on strategic economic facilities," he said, noting targets include factories manufacturing parts for weapons, oil refineries, fuel depots, warehouses, and air defenses, which are crucial for the Russian military and economy.
The January 14 attacks also targeted facilities in Kazan, the capital of Russia's Tatarstan, where a fire broke out near the Kazan Orgsintez plant, which produces high-strength plastics.
Kazan, Tatarstan:
Local Telegram channels shared videos of an enormous fire with officials in Tatarstan attributing the blaze to falling debris from intercepted drones. There were no reports of casualties.
In the Saratov region city of Engels, drones struck an industrial plant, igniting a fire at one of the fuel depots damaged in a previous attack on January 8.
Engels, Saratov region:
Busargin confirmed the facility was destroyed but provided no other specifics.
Flights at airports in the surrounding area -- which serve cities including Saratov, Penza, and Kaluga -- saw operations limited as a precaution.
Ukrainian officials said the Russian military sent 80 drones from several directions overnight, but Ukrainian air defenses managed to shoot down 58 drones over various regions, including Kyiv, Poltava, and Odesa.
While there were damages to private and residential buildings and injuries, no deaths have been reported.
Pistorius's visit comes a day after NATO chief Mark Rutte told members of the European Parliament that Ukraine is currently not in a position to begin peace talks with Russia as the three-year anniversary of the war nears.
"This visit proves that Germany, as the largest member of NATO in Europe, stands in solidarity with Ukraine and our allies," he said.
Among other things, Pistorius discussed the potential for joint military exercises and intelligence sharing. He also negotiated further military aid, including delivering new RCH 155 self-propelled howitzers that would help significantly increase the strength of Ukraine's artillery.
- By Kian Sharifi and
- Iliya Jazaeri
Lebanon Names ICJ Chief As Prime Minister In Latest Blow To Iran
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun's designation of Nawaf Salam, the head of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as the country's new prime minister appears to deal another blow to Iran's declining regional influence.
Lawmakers on January 13 nominated Salam for the post, favoring him over the incumbent, Najib Mikati, who was said to be the preferred candidate of Hezbollah, the political party and armed group backed by Iran and designated as terrorists by the United States.
Aoun himself was elected president by lawmakers on January 9, filling a role that had been vacant for over two years, not least because lawmakers from Hezbollah and its Shi'ite ally Amal Movement would refuse to attend sessions to prevent the parliament from reaching quorum.
The U.S.- and Saudi-backed former army chief was elected president in the second round of voting after Hezbollah lawmakers opted to vote for him, having withheld their ballots in the first round in an apparent attempt to show that the group still held some power.
However, Salam's designation as prime minister further reflects the weakening of Hezbollah -- and by extension the waning of Iran's influence.
"It means that Iran's dominance in the region has come to an end," Makram Rabah, a history lecturer at American University of Beirut, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.
Mohammad Raad, leader of the Hezbollah bloc in parliament, claimed on January 13 that opponents of the group were working to exclude it from power and sought to divide the country.
The Lebanese lawmaker said the group had "extended its hand" by helping Aoun become president but found the "hand was cut off" after meeting him following the parliament's nomination of Salam.
Raad warned any government that "opposes coexistence has no legitimacy whatsoever."
Rabah said Salam's designation as prime minister "does not pose a challenge for anyone," but if Iran and Hezbollah believe that his becoming Lebanon's premier is "an attempt to end them," that means the Islamic republic and its Lebanese ally "harbor ideas and policies that contravene the principles of governance and progress."
Once a powerful force in Lebanon, Hezbollah's recent war with Israel has left it politically and socially weak and militarily degraded.
Under Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing political system, the president must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of parliament a Shi'ite Muslim.
Salam, who comes from a historically political family, served as Lebanon's ambassador to the United Nations in 2007-17 before elected to serve on the ICJ, with his term beginning in 2018. In 2024, he became the first Lebanese judge to be elected as the head of The Hague-based court.
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