The European Parliament on November 28 passed a resolution calling for new legislative elections in Georgia and sanctions on senior members of the ruling Georgian Dream party.

The same day, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said his government would not open EU accession talks with Brussels until 2028 -- when his government's tenure is over.

Western governments have questioned the October parliamentary elections in Georgia, in which Georgian Dream secured 54 percent of the vote, arguing that the elections were marred by violations and Russian influence.

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In its resolution, the European Parliament said the result of the election did "not serve as a reliable representation of the will of the Georgian people."

It also called on the European Union, which froze Georgia's EU membership application last month, to place sanctions on key officials within the ruling party, including Kobakhidze, Georgian Dream Chairman Irakli Gharibashvili, billionaire power broker and party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, and Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze.

Speaking at the Georgian Dream headquarters, Kobakhidze said Tbilisi was suspending accession talks while also rejecting all budgetary grants from the EU until 2028.

"We are not going to join the European Union by begging and standing on one leg, but in a dignified manner with a sound democratic system and a strong economy," the prime minister told reporters without taking any questions.

Earlier, during a parliamentary session to approve his government, Kobakhidze said his government's goal was for Georgia to join the EU by 2030.

"We are ready to observe and take into account all conditions [set by the EU] that do not go against our national interests," he said to applause from Georgian Dream lawmakers.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, a staunch critic of Georgian Dream, is scheduled to meet with foreign diplomats in Tbilisi before making a statement later on November 28.

Georgia received EU candidate status in December 2023 but relations with Brussels have soured in recent months, beginning with the adoption of the controversial "foreign agent" law that critics say threatens to publicly discredit thousands of media outlets and civil society groups as "serving" outside powers.

The United States in July announced it would pause more than $95 million in assistance to the Georgian government, warning that it was backsliding on democracy.

A top Romanian court has ordered the recount of the ballots cast in the first round of the presidential election that saw a far-right candidate take a shock lead.

The Constitutional Court said in a statement on November 28 that it had "unanimously ordered the reverification and recounting of the voting ballots for the November 24 presidential election." The court in Bucharest said the decision was final.

The Central Election Bureau is scheduled to meet later in the day to discuss the court ruling.

Calin Georgescu, the pro-Russian far-right independent candidate scored a surprise victory in the first round of the election, garnering nearly 23 percent of the vote.

Georgescu is set to face off against center-right Elena Lasconi, a staunch Euro-Atlanticist, in the December 8 runoff after both pushed ahead of favorite leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.

Without the backing of a party, Georgescu's campaign relied heavily on the social media platform TikTok, where his account had 1.6 million likes and where he posted videos of himself attending church, doing judo, running on a track, and speaking on podcasts.

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Separately, Romania's Supreme National Defense Council said after the court ruling that it had found evidence suggesting that "cyberattacks" had been used to influence the outcome of the election. Without naming Georgescu, the council also charged that TikTok had "given preferential treatment" to a particular candidate.

Romania's president has significant decision-making powers, including on matters of national security and foreign policy.

Elected for a five-year term, the president can also reject party nominees for prime minister and government nominees for judicial appointments.

A former British soldier, whose prison escape sparked a massive manhunt in 2023, has been found guilty of passing on sensitive information to the Iranian intelligence service.

Prosecutors said that Daniel Abed Khalife, 23, played a "cynical game" by claiming he wanted to be a double agent for Britain after he had delivered a large amount of restricted and classified material to Iran, including the names of special forces officers.

The verdict was delivered at London's Woolwich Crown Court on November 28.

Prosecutor Mark Heywood told jurors at the start of the trial that Khalife collected sensitive information between May 2019 and January 2022.

Khalife stood trial charged with gathering information that might be useful to an enemy, namely Iran, obtaining information likely to be useful for terrorism.

Khalife, who was expelled from the army after he was charged, was also accused of planting fake bombs in his military barracks. But the court cleared him of a charge of carrying out a bomb hoax.

Khalife snuck out of a London prison in September 2023 while awaiting trial and spent three days on the run.

With reporting by AP

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi says his country may change its nuclear doctrine and develop a bomb if UN sanctions are reimposed on Tehran.

Speaking to reporters on November 28 in Lisbon, Portugal, Araqchi said Iran had long had the technical know-how to build a bomb but doing so "is not part of Tehran’s security strategy," according to Iranian media.

His comments come as negotiators from Iran and the E3 (Britain, France, and Germany) are scheduled to meet in Geneva to discuss a range of issues, including Iran’s nuclear program and conflicts in the Middle East.

Araqchi described the meeting on November 29 as a “brainstorming session” to see “if there really is a way out” of the current nuclear impasse.

The Geneva meeting is not billed as nuclear talks by any party but Iran’s atomic program is expected to be a central topic. Talks between Iran and world powers to restore the 2015 nuclear deal have stalled since September 2022.

Last week, the 35-member board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passed a censure resolution against Iran and tasked the UN nuclear watchdog to prepare a “comprehensive and updated assessment” on the state of Iran’s expanding nuclear program, including past and present attempts to develop a bomb.

The report could pave the way for referring Iran’s case to the UN Security Council in a bid to trigger the so-called “snapback” mechanism to reimpose UN sanctions that had been lifted under the terms of the 2015 agreement with world powers.

In response to the resolution, Iran activated several “new and advanced” centrifuges to enrich uranium.

Araqchi said he was “not optimistic” about the Geneva talks because he was unsure whether Tehran was “speaking to the right party.”

The 2015 nuclear agreement began to unravel after President-elect Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the accord during his first term in office in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran. Tehran responded by expanding its nuclear program, limiting inspections of its nuclear sites, and enriching uranium to as high as 60 percent.

A new truce agreement has been reached between feuding Sunni and Shi'ite communities in Pakistan's northwestern region of Kurram, where more than 100 people were killed and dozens more injured in a new bout of sectarian violence, local officials said.

Authorities said late on November 27 that government troops will be deployed in key locations in Kurram, a remote tribal district in the volatile Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, to ensure the cease-fire.

"Negotiations will continue to ensure lasting peace," the provincial minister's office said in a statement.

It also pledged to pay compensations to the victims' families.

The violence erupted on November 21 when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a convoy of some 200 passenger vehicles carrying Shi'a traveling through Kurram's Parachinar area.

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Dozens of people, including women and children, were killed in the attack, which triggered a week of clashes between the two communities.

Regional officials brokered a seven-day truce on November 24, but it did not hold.

Most of Pakistan's some 250 million people are Sunni Muslims. But Kurram has a large Shi'ite population, and the two communities have clashed for decades. More than 200 people have been killed since July, alone.

Sectarian violence in the region is often linked to land disputes.

With reporting by AFP

Russia unleashed a "massive" attack on Ukraine’s infrastructure on November 28, leaving more than 1 million people without power in freezing temperatures across the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of a "despicable escalation," as the Interior Ministry recorded damage to infrastructure in nine regions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the latest attack was Moscow's "response" to Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with U.S. medium-range ATACMS missiles.

Speaking during a trip to Kazakhstan, Putin warned that Russia's future targets could include "decision-making centers" in Kyiv.

Putin said Russia launched more than 90 missiles and 100 drones in the "comprehensive strike" on November 28 and that 17 targets had been hit -- the type of detail that the president rarely gives.

Ukraine's air force said it had shot down 79 missiles and 35 drones, while 62 drones were "lost," meaning they had likely been disrupted by electronic warfare.

All missiles or drones aimed at the capital, Kyiv were downed, officials said.

The attack forced national power-grid operator Ukrenerho to "urgently introduce emergency power cuts," Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said early on November 28.

"Once again, the energy sector is under massive enemy attack. Attacks on energy facilities are taking place across Ukraine," Halushchenko wrote on social media.

Energy provider DTEK said early in the day that emergency power outages were being introduced in the regions of Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, and Donetsk.

Kyiv had also reportedly disconnected several nuclear power units from the network during the attack. Ukraine gets more than half of its electricity from nuclear plants.

It comes as the temperatures across Ukraine dropped to around zero degrees Celsius.

Earlier this month, a senior UN official, Rosemary DiCarlo, warned that Moscow's targeting of Ukraine's energy infrastructure may make this winter the "harshest since the start of the war" nearly three years ago.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Defense Minister Rustem Umerov's talks in South Korea on November 27 focused on cooperation on the security of both Ukraine and South Korea in light of the deployment of North Korean forces in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Zelenskiy said Umerov went to Seoul at his instruction to discuss all aspects of North Korea’s involvement in the war “and the things we can do together to defend our nations and to secure our regions together.”

Umerov said earlier that he had discussed joint steps to strengthen security and stability with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol while in Seoul. Umerov also met with South Korea’s defense minister and national-security adviser.

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"We believe that our arguments about the need to increase cooperation between Ukraine and the Republic of Korea will lead to a tangible strengthening of security for our peoples and regions," Umerov said on Telegram.

Umerov said he raised the presence of the North Korean troops and the North Korean military's "active" support for energy infrastructure attacks on Ukraine.

For South Korea, the deployment of the North Korean troops poses a serious threat because they are gaining combat experience, which could create additional security challenges, he said.

A statement issued by Yoon’s office does not say whether the parties discussed the possibility of Seoul supplying weapons to Ukraine.

Ukraine has previously asked Seoul for weapons, and South Korea has said it could consider such aid, depending on what Russia and North Korea do.

Zelenskiy also said in his nightly address that decisions made in July at the NATO summit in Washington on air defense and other supplies to the front line “have not yet been fully implemented…and this, of course, has had a significant impact on our people’s motivation and morale.”

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The recent authorization of long-range strikes on military targets in Russia “has been helpful, but the pressure on Russia must be maintained and increased at various levels to make Russia feel what war really is,” Zelenskiy said.

Russian forces have been making steady gains along the front line as Kyiv's troops battle a larger and better equipped enemy.

Zelenskiy did not mention a news report that President Joe Biden's administration is urging Ukraine to quickly increase the size of its military by drafting more troops.

A senior Biden administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, was quoted earlier on November 27 by the Associated Press as saying that the outgoing administration wants Ukraine to lower the mobilization age to 18 from 25 to help expand the pool of fighting-age men.

The official said “the pure math” of Ukraine's situation now is that it needs more troops in the fight, according to the AP.

The official said the Ukrainians believe they need about 160,000 additional troops, but the U.S. administration believes they probably will need more than that.

With reporting by Reuters

Calin Georgescu, the pro-Russian far-right independent candidate who scored a shock victory in the first round of Romania's presidential election, has denied that he wants the country out of NATO and the European Union.

Georgescu, who garnered nearly 23 percent of the vote in the November 24 poll, will face off against center-right Elena Lasconi, a staunch Euro-Atlanticist, in the December 8 runoff after both pushed ahead of favorite leftist Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.

Without the backing of a party, Georgescu's campaign relied heavily on social media platform TikTok, where his account had 1.6 million likes and where he posted videos of himself attending church, doing judo, running on a track, and speaking on podcasts.

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He has described NATO as "the world's weakest alliance" and the alliance's ballistic missile-defense shield in Deveselu, southern Romania, as a "shame of diplomacy," claiming the military alliance would not defend any of its members in case of a Russian attack.

Instead, he recommended "Russian wisdom" as Romania's best path forward and launched a TikTok campaign calling for an end to Romanian aid for Ukraine. Under incumbent Klaus Iohannis, Romania has been one of Kyiv's staunchest allies.

But facing a public backlash as hundreds of mostly young people took to the streets of Bucharest and other big Romanian cities chanting, "No Putin, no fear, Europe is our mother," and "Young people ask you not to vote for a dictator," Georgescu denied in a YouTube video on November 26 that he wanted Romania out of the Euro-Atlantic structures.

"I do not want out of NATO, I do not want out of the European Union," Georgescu said, standing side-by-side with his wife, adding, "but I do want us to stand firm, not to kneel there, not to accept everything, to do everything in our national interest."

He went on to say that he wanted peace, adding, "We cannot get into other peoples' wars for their interests that cause us prejudice," again alluding to Romania's support for Ukraine.

For the December 8 runoff, Georgescu has rallied the support of far-right pro-Russia AUR party of which he used to be a member until 2022 and whose leader, George Simion, garnered almost 14 percent in the first round, while the center-right liberals threw their weight behind Lasconi, a former TV reporter and mayor of the small southern Romanian city of Campulung Muscel.

But first, Romanians will elect a new parliament on December 1, with Ciolacu's Social Democratic Party, the centrist National Liberal Party, and Lasconi's Save Romania Union favorite to win most of the 332 seats in the lower Deputy Chamber and 137 mandates in the upper chamber, the Senate.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on November 27 tapped Keith Kellogg, a retired army lieutenant general who has long served as a top adviser to Trump on defense issues, as his nominee to be special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

"Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration," Trump said on social media.

Kellogg "was with me right from the beginning," Trump said on Truth Social. "Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!"

Kellogg's nomination comes after Trump's criticism during the 2024 presidential campaign of the billions of dollars that the United States has poured into Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

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Trump also said he could end the war within 24 hours of retaking the White House, a statement that has been interpreted as meaning that Ukraine would have to surrender territory that Russia now occupies.

Kellogg has already put forth a plan for ending the war that involves freezing the battle lines where they are and forcing Kyiv and Moscow to the negotiating table, Reuters reported in June.

According to Reuters, Kellogg has advocated telling the Ukrainians that if they don't come to the negotiating table, U.S. support would dry up, while telling Russian President Vladimir Putin that if he doesn't come to the table, the United States would give the Ukrainians "everything they need to kill you in the field."

NATO membership for Ukraine would be off the table as part of the incentive for Russia to come along, while putting it back on would be punishment for holding back.

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Kellogg, 80, earlier this year wrote that "bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties."

He made the statements in a research paper written for the America First Policy Institute, a think tank formed after Trump left office in 2021.

"The United States would continue to arm Ukraine and strengthen its defenses to ensure Russia will make no further advances and will not attack again after a cease-fire or peace agreement," the document said.

"Future American military aid, however, will require Ukraine to participate in peace talks with Russia."

Kellogg served in several positions during Trump's first term, including as chief of staff on Trump's national security council and national-security adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence.

Mikhail Alexseev, a professor of political science at San Diego State University whose research focuses on Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, told RFE/RL that the appointment signals "the intent to enforce some kind of cease-fire and conflict settlement which Trump said he would try to achieve within 24 hours."

Alexseev said Kellogg seems to be a straight shooter who would "detect very quickly whether a peace proposal would be unrealistic" and would be able to see through "Putin’s repeated record of breaking agreements.”

Alexseev doesn't believe the proposal to get the parties to negotiate is going to work but said Kellogg "would be among the first to see why and how it wouldn’t work."

Mark Cancian, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Relations, told RFE/RL that negotiations will be "difficult," because the "two sides are so far apart. Russia thinks its winning. Ukraine wants all its territory back, including Crimea, reparations, war crimes. [The Trump team] has indicated that they'll use U.S. aid as a tool against both sides. Maybe that will work."

Cancian adds that he also expects to see "personal diplomacy." He expects that Trump "will meet personally with both Putin and [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskiy. That is his style. I mean, he's a New York real estate developer, and to get something done, you threaten, you bluster, but then in the end, you sit down face to face, and you make a deal, because if you don't make a deal, you don't make any money."

Russian Deputy Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky told a UN Security Council meeting that any decision by Trump's incoming administration to cut support for Ukraine would be a "death sentence" for the Ukrainian Army.

"Even if we're to lay to one side the prediction that Donald Trump will cut assistance to Ukraine, which for the Ukrainian Army would essentially be a death sentence, it is becoming clearer that he and his team will, in any case, conduct an audit of the assistance provided to Kyiv," Polyansky said.

Polyansky said Russia had repeatedly offered to negotiate, but Ukraine and its Western backers have favored escalation. Ukraine has consistently rejected Russian offers to negotiate because Moscow's conditions, including accepting Russia's occupation of Ukrainian territory, have been unacceptable to Kyiv.

The Russian diplomat also accused the Biden administration of trying through its increased support to Ukraine to create a "mess, both in Russia and with the new team in the White House."

He warned the decision by the Biden administration and its European allies to authorize the Ukrainian military to use long-range missiles against targets inside Russia had "placed the world on the brink of a global nuclear conflict" and said Russia would respond decisively.

"I will be frank, we believe that it is our right to use our weapons against the military facilities of those countries who allow the use of weapons against our facilities."

Speaking earlier at the same Security Council session, UN Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca highlighted recent Russian long-range missile strikes on Ukraine and called the use of ballistic missiles and related threats against Ukraine "a very dangerous, escalatory development."

U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood told the session Washington would "continue to surge security assistance to Ukraine to strengthen its capabilities, including air defense, and put Ukraine in the best possible position on the battlefield."

With reporting by Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been warmly received in Kazakhstan, where he and Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev discussed boosting energy and industry ties.

Putin arrived in Astana on a state visit on November 27 and was greeted by Toqaev with a handshake, according to images released on social media.

Toqaev said he had "carefully read" Putin’s commentary published in state newspaper Kazakhstanskaya Pravda ahead of the visit and said he had published his own commentary on the state of the relationship between Moscow and Astana in the Russian media.

"I think that we have very thoroughly, as if in unison, outlined our approaches to the development of cooperation aimed at the future," Toqaev said.

He emphasized in his article that Kazakhstan "remains a reliable strategic partner and ally of Russia in this very difficult time," Toqaev's press service quoted Toqaev as saying.

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Putin thanked Toqaev "for his careful attitude toward the Russian language," a reference to the lower house of parliament's ratification of an agreement to create the International Organization for the Russian Language a few days before Putin's arrival.

Kazakhstan has tried to distance itself from Moscow's war in Ukraine but remains highly dependent on Russia for exporting oil to Western markets and for imports of food, electricity, and other products.

Underscoring that more than 80 percent of Kazakhstan's oil is exported to foreign markets via Russia, Putin said he and Toqaev always focus on "a specific result" in their talks.

"Our countries are...constructively cooperating in the oil and gas sector," Putin wrote in his article, which was also featured in the Kremlin's website.

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists on November 26 that Putin and Toqaev would sign a protocol on extending an agreement on oil supplies to Kazakhstan. He did not give details.

The two leaders said after their meeting that they had discussed plans to increase the transit through Kazakhstan of Russian natural gas to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, part of Moscow's pivot away from European energy markets. They also said they talked about joint projects in hydroelectric power, car tires, and fertilizers and other areas.

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Putin said in his article that Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom was "ready for new large-scale projects." The company already is involved in some projects in Kazakhstan, which in October voted in favor of constructing its first nuclear power plant. Neither leader mentioned the nuclear project after their talks.

Toqaev said he had raised the issue of agricultural trade following a Russian ban on imports of grain, fruit, and other farm products from Kazakhstan in October. Moscow imposed the ban after Kazakhstan barred Russian wheat imports in August to protect its producers.

"Our countries should not compete on the Eurasian Economic Union market or foreign markets," Toqaev said, referring to agricultural exports within and outside a Moscow-led post-Soviet trade bloc.

With reporting by Reuters

Nordic-Baltic countries and Poland have pledged to step up support for Ukraine, including making more ammunition available to strengthen deterrence and defense against hybrid attacks.

The leaders of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway, Poland, and Sweden, who met near Stockholm on November 27, also said they were ready to step up sanctions against Russia and backers of its Ukraine invasion and discussed an investigation into the severing of undersea communication cables earlier this month in the Baltic Sea.

"Together with our allies, we are committed to strengthening our deterrence, and defense, including resilience, against conventional as well as hybrid attacks, and to expanding sanctions against Russia as well as against those who enable Russia's aggression," the leaders said a statement.

The leaders met for talks covering transatlantic relations, regional security cooperation, and a common policy on the war in Ukraine. The meeting was the first of the Nordic-Baltic heads of government since 2017. Poland attended for the first time.

Ahead of the meeting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk proposed joint monitoring of the Baltic Sea by the navies of the Baltic states following damage to two undersea communication cables that is being investigated as a hybrid attack.

"Baltic air policing already exists for the airspace over the Baltic Sea," Tusk said. "I will convince our partners of the necessity to immediately create an analogous formula for the control and security of the Baltic Sea waters, a naval surveillance," he added.

The underwater cables -- one linking Finland and Germany and the other connecting Sweden to Lithuania -- were damaged on November 17-18, prompting suspicions of sabotage.

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Sweden, Germany, and Lithuania have all launched investigations, but the cause of the damage is still unknown.

Finnish police have said they believe the incident was caused by a Chinese ship dragging its anchor, and Swedish investigators have focused on the Chinese cargo ship Yi Peng 3, which is thought to have passed both locations at the times of the cable breaks.

The ship now sits idle in international waters but inside Denmark's exclusive economic zone.

Sweden has asked the vessel to return to Swedish waters to help facilitate the investigation, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on November 26, but he stressed he was not making any accusations.

Kristersson told a press conference he was hopeful China would respond positively to the request to move the ship to Swedish waters.

"From the Swedish side we have had contact with the ship and contact with China and said that we want the ship to move towards Swedish waters," Kristersson said.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said communications with Sweden and other relevant parties had been "unobstructed."

Mao Ning said at a regular news briefing on November 27 that China has shown "consistent support" in working with other countries to maintain the security of international undersea cables and other infrastructure.

Yi Peng 3 left the Russian port of Ust-Luga on November 15. Russia last week said suggestions it had anything to do with the breaches were "absurd."

The Wall Street Journal reported on November 27 that the ship has been surrounded by European warships in international waters for a week. Investigators suspect the crew of the Yi Peng 3, which is loaded with Russian fertilizer, deliberately severed the cables by dragging its anchor for more than 160 kilometers, the newspaper reported.

The probe centers on whether the captain of the ship was induced by Russian intelligence to carry out the sabotage, the report said.

With reporting by Reuters, dpa, and The Wall Street Journal

Georgia's billionaire political power broker Bidzina Ivanishvili has introduced a Euroskeptic former soccer player as his ruling party's nominee for a disputed presidential vote next month, despite mounting constitutional disagreements and a post-parliamentary election boycott in the Caucasus nation.

The nomination of Mikheil Kavelashvili came hours into a new legislative session dominated by the ruling Georgian Dream party -- which Ivanishvili founded -- that the current president, Salome Zurabishvili, contends is unconstitutional because of alleged flaws in last month's parliamentary vote.

The fractured opposition disputes the results and sought to nullify the seating of legislators in order to spark a constitutional impasse.

The Georgian Dream claimed victory with 88 seats in the 150-seat parliament after voting on October 26, suggesting it will try to steamroll opposition to put the fiery 53-year-old former international footballer and right-wing populist lawmaker Kavelashvili in the presidency.

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Kavelashvili is one of the founders of a 2-year-old, anti-Western offshoot of the Georgian Dream party called People's Power.

His party introduced a draft law on "foreign agents" in 2023 that sparked massive protests before it was withdrawn and replaced earlier this year with a slightly reworded bill to curb "foreign influence" at nongovernment groups.

Amid this year's protests against the polarizing so-called Russian law, Kavelashvili invoked Georgia's "civil war started in the '90s" to accuse its opponents -- including current Georgian international soccer great Khvicha Kvaratskhelia -- of stoking violence.

The law was eventually enacted when lawmakers overrode Zurabishvili's veto.

The looming presidential vote is the country's first under a 2017 change from a direct to an indirect vote by an electoral college for the head of state, a largely ceremonial post that Zurabishvili has used to oppose what Georgian critics decry as a "Russian law."

Zurabishvili has called the legislature that emerged from the October elections "unconstitutional" and appealed to the Constitutional Court for their annulment over alleged Russian influence and fraud.

The European Union has stalled Tbilisi's bid to join the bloc, while the United States has vowed to "revise" its relations with Georgia over the law and other recent moves by the Georgian Dream-led government.

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Zurabishvili has accused the ruling party of "capturing" Georgia and diverting it from its pro-EU path, a goal that is enshrined in the constitution and supported by an overwhelming majority of around 80 percent of Georgians, and toward Russia instead.

Georgian Dream lawmakers voted on November 26 to hold the presidential election on December 14, a move some experts say is illegal until the courts rule on Zurabishvili's and other postelection challenges.

Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia and is the influential honorary chairman of Georgian Dream, called Kavelashvili "the best embodiment of a Georgian man" when he introduced him as the party's presidential choice the same day.

In a pointed shot at Zurabishvili, who has fallen out dramatically with Georgian Dream since that party nominated her to the presidency in 2018, Ivanishvili said Kavelashvili would "fully restore the dignity temporarily taken from the institution of the presidency."

In accepting the disputed nomination, Kavelashvili accused Zurabishvili of having "insulted and neglected" the Georgian Constitution and that she "continues to violate it today."

Detractors have pointed out Kavelashvili's apparent lack of a university degree, or at least the absence of any information about it in his official parliamentary profile.

In 2015, Kavelashvili filed a lawsuit seeking to cancel a provision of the national soccer federation's guidelines requiring presidents of that body to have a university degree.

A new criminal trial against imprisoned former Moscow municipal deputy Aleksei Gorinov, known for his outspoken criticism of Russia's war against Ukraine, began at a Russian military court on November 27.

Before the hearing started, Gorinov displayed a hand-drawn message on piece of paper that said: "Stop killing. Let's stop the war."

When court bailiffs attempted to confiscate the makeshift poster, Gorinov refused to hand it over, saying that he was not breaking any regulations and insisting the bailiffs must document the seizure formally.

Asked about his health before the session, Gorinov revealed ongoing struggles with illness. "There's no treatment available," he said, adding that he relied on psychotherapy.

"I don’t understand why they’re targeting an ordinary person like me."

His lawyer, Alyona Savelyeva, said that Gorinov was suffering from bronchitis, which makes his transportation to court and time spent in cold rooms particularly difficult.

Gorinov, 63, was sentenced in July 2022 to seven years in prison for spreading "fake news" about the Russian military because of his public opposition to Russia's full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

In October 2023, the authorities opened a new case against him, accusing him of "justifying terrorism" based on alleged conversations with fellow inmates about Ukraine's Azov Regiment.

During the hearing, Gorinov firmly denied any ties to terrorism. "I am far from any ideology of terrorism," he said.

"I am a committed internationalist and an opponent of war and violence, as I have consistently stated publicly throughout my life."

Gorinov's initial conviction stemmed from an anti-war speech he delivered at a city council meeting in Moscow's Krasnoselsky district.

He was the first person sentenced under Russia's new law criminalizing "fake news" about the military, introduced after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Earlier this year, Gorinov was transferred from a detention center in Moscow to a prison in the Vladimir region. He complained of harsh conditions, including solitary confinement in a cold cell without a mattress, blanket, or access to hot water.

Dmitry Muratov, editor in chief of the Novaya gazeta newspaper and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross for an urgent inspection of the conditions Gorinov was being held in.

Following this, local officials and prosecutors inspected the facility, resulting in Gorinov's relocation to a slightly improved cell with a window that opens and closes, a functioning toilet, and reportedly no mice.

Gorinov has been repeatedly subjected to punitive measures, including spending extended periods in solitary confinement. In spring 2023, he spent 48 consecutive days in a punishment cell, a treatment often reported by other political prisoners in Russia.

The Russian state-run Channel One television company in Germany said the government has ordered two of its journalists to leave the country, prompting Moscow to revoke the accreditations of two correspondents from German media group ARD.

The affected Channel One journalists, correspondent Ivan Blagoi and cameraman Dmitry Volkov, said they were informed that they must depart Germany by mid-December. The media outlet confirmed the expulsions on social media on November 27.

Blagoi said the decision was justified by the German authorities as being "in the interest of the security of the Federal Republic of Germany."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news conference on November 27 that Moscow had revoked the accreditations of two ARD correspondents, saying, "we have to take tit-for-tat measures." She gave no further details.

The expulsions mark the latest in a series of escalating tensions between Russia and Western countries over the role of Russian state media.

Since Moscow launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian broadcasters have faced bans, restrictions on access to social media platforms, and accusations of disseminating propaganda.

Channel One, a Russian-language broadcaster popular among older audiences in Russia and some other former Soviet republics, has come under scrutiny for its coverage.

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ARD is an association of German public broadcasters.

German authorities reportedly accused the outlet of spreading propaganda and disinformation among the Russian-speaking diaspora in Germany, which numbers in the hundreds of thousands. The accusations include claims the channel justifies the Russian invasion of Ukraine and portrays Ukraine's defenders as "Nazis."

The expulsions follows a report aired by Blagoi on November 24 regarding Nikolaj Gajduk, a German citizen detained by Russia's Federal Security Service in October.

The report alleged that Western intelligence agencies, including the CIA, were involved in Gajduk's alleged actions ordered by Ukrainian special services.

The timing of the decision to expel the journalists, shortly after this broadcast, raises questions about the broader geopolitical dimensions of the incident.

Russia has consistently retaliated against measures targeting its state media. Following Germany's 2022 ban on RT, a Kremlin-backed broadcaster, Moscow shut down the Deutsche Welle bureau in Russia and revoked accreditations for German journalists.

Similar restrictions have been imposed on other foreign correspondents, reflecting a tit-for-tat approach.

The German government has not publicly detailed the reasons behind its decision, but the move underscores the increasing focus on disinformation as a national security threat. Channel One claimed its journalists had complied with German laws and accused the authorities of using vague accusations to stifle alternative narratives.

Germany has a large number of residents who have emigrated from the former Soviet Union, who are mostly ethnic Germans from Kazakhstan and Russia.

With reporting by TASS, AFP, Channel One, and RIA Novosti

A Russian drone strike on Kyiv early on November 27 wounded two people and damaged a nonresidential building, the mayor of Ukraine's capital, Vitali Klitschko, said on his Telegram channel. Ukraine's air force, meanwhile, said that Russia launched 89 drones at eight regions -- Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskiy, and Mykolayiv. Ukrainian air defenses shot down 36 of the attacking drones, while 48 were lost due to the jamming of their navigation systems by electronic means, the air force said on Telegram. Five other drones left the territory of Ukraine in the direction of Belarus and back to Russia, it said. Russia's Defense Ministry said separately that its air defenses shot down 10 Ukrainian drones over the Rostov region and two off the Black Sea port of Sevastopol. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, click here.

Police arrested nearly 1,000 supporters of Imran Khan as security forces cracked down on a massive protest in Islamabad demanding the release of the jailed former Pakistani prime minister, police said on November 27.

Islamabad police chief Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi told a news conference that 19 Afghan citizens were among the 954 protesters arrested by Pakistani security forces over the past three days.

The protesters, who had marched for days toward Islamabad from Khan's stronghold of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in the northwest, were dispersed and the capital cleared during a sweeping midnight raid by Pakistani security forces.

Rizvi said police used only nonlethal means during the overnight raid.

Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI) party issued a statement on X on November 27 saying the protest, during which at least six people -- four members of the security forces and two protesters -- had been killed, was being suspended "for the time being" and accused the government of brutality.

PTI spokesman Sheikh Waqas Akram confirmed the suspension of the protest.

Party officials said Khan's wife, Bushra Bibi, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, a key Khan ally, had returned "safely" to the province from Islamabad following the security forces' crackdown.

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Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told journalists in Islamabad at the late-night briefing that the protesters, some of whom were armed with sticks and slingshots, had been successfully dispersed after the Pakistani military deployed to the capital earlier on November 26.

He announced that schools would reopen on November 27 and all roads would be cleared.

The minister also said that details regarding the involvement of Afghan nationals in the protest would be shared with the media on November 27, adding that "an important decision has been taken about Afghan nationals," which would be announced in the next few days.

PTI claimed on X that the police in Islamabad fired directly at protesters. The capital had been locked down since late on November 23 and mobile Internet services were sporadically cut.

The Islamabad city administration last week announced a two-month ban on public gatherings, but convoys of Khan supporters traveled from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province on November 25 determined to enter the city.

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PTI's chief demand is the release of Khan, who served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022.

The 72-year-old former cricket superstar-turned-politician has been in jail for more than a year and faces more than 150 criminal cases, although he enjoys huge popularity among Pakistanis. PTI has said the cases are politically motivated.

PTI has defied a government crackdown since Khan was barred from running in elections in February with regular demonstrations aiming to seize public spaces in Islamabad and other large cities.

Before the raids, security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at Khan supporters after thousands defied roadblocks to march some 150 kilometers from the northwest toward Islamabad despite a lockdown and a ban on public gatherings.

The party is also protesting alleged tampering in the February polls and a recent government-backed constitutional amendment giving it more power over the courts, where Khan is tangled in dozens of cases.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government has come under increasing criticism for deploying heavy-handed measures to quash PTI's protests, which have largely cut off Islamabad from the rest of the country, with travel to other parts of Pakistan almost at a standstill.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

A cease-fire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah has come into effect in southern Lebanon after almost 14 months of fighting that triggered concerns of a wider conflict in the region.

After the cease-fire kicked off at 4 a.m. local time, the Israeli military warned civilians not to return to their homes in south Lebanon yet and not to approach Israeli positions.

However, convoys of civilians crossed into southern Lebanon, defying the both the Israeli warning and appeal by the Lebanese Army, which is set to deploy to the area to replace the Israeli forces.

Hezbollah is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and its military wing is blacklisted by the European Union.

The cease-fire was overwhelmingly approved by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, Netanyahu’s office said on November 26, marking a major development toward peace between Israel and Hezbollah militants.

The move was immediately welcomed by U.S. President Joe Biden, who said it represents a fresh start for Lebanon and shows that peace is possible after nearly 14 months of cross-border fighting that forced tens of thousands of Israelis to flee and killed thousands of Lebanese.

Netanyahu’s office said the plan was approved by a 10-1 margin. Earlier, Netanyahu defended the cease-fire agreement as he recommended his security cabinet adopt the plan, vowing to strike Hezbollah hard if it violates the deal.

In the hours leading up to the meeting, Israel carried out its most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs and issued a record number of evacuation warnings, while Hezbollah said it launched drones toward Israel amid cross-border fire.

In a televised address, Netanyahu did not say how long the truce would last but noted that the length of the cease-fire "depends on what happens in Lebanon."

He added: "If Hezbollah violates the agreement and attempts to rearm, we will strike. If they try to renew terror activities near the border, we will strike. If they launch a rocket, dig a tunnel, or bring in a truck with missiles, we will strike."

The cease-fire marks the first major step toward ending the violence triggered by the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, by Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

However, the truce will not apply directly to Israel's ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Shortly after the cease-fire took effect, Hamas said it was also "ready" for a truce.

Earlier, Netanyahu said on November 26 that Israel would now focus its efforts on Hamas and releasing the hostages seized by the militants on October 7.

"From Day 2 of the war, Hamas was counting on Hezbollah to fight by its side. With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left on its own," he said.

"We will increase our pressure on Hamas and that will help us in our sacred mission of releasing our hostages."

Biden said that Israel reserved the right to resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce.

"This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities," Biden said at the White House shortly after Netanyahu announced the security cabinet approval of the truce. If any party breaks the terms of the deal, "Israel retains the right to self-defense."

He said that over the next 60 days civilians on both sides will be able to safely return to their own communities. The deal requires Israeli troops to withdraw from south Lebanon and Lebanon's army to deploy some 5,000 troops in the region, while Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the border south of the Litani River.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the cease-fire and said it was a "fundamental step towards establishing calm and stability in Lebanon."

The war has killed at least 3,799 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

On the Israeli side, the hostilities have killed at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians, authorities say.

The war in Lebanon escalated after nearly a year of limited cross-border exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah.

Separately, Syria's Defense Ministry said six people were killed in Israeli strikes on border crossings with Lebanon just after midnight on November 27, hours before the cease-fire took effect.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

Protests against the rise of pro-Russian politician Calin Georgescu spread beyond Bucharest to other Romanian cities on November 26 after his surprise victory in the first round of a presidential election over the weekend.

Protests opposing Georgescu took place on the evening of November 26 in Bucharest, Timisoara, Iasi, Brasov, and Sibiu.

Georgescu faces a runoff against pro-Western center-right candidate Elena Lasconi on December 8 after winning 22.94 percent of the vote in the first round of balloting on November 24 in the EU and NATO member state.

About 1,000 people turned out in Bucharest for the second night of protests against Georgescu in the Romanian capital's University Square.

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Most of those who took to the streets were young people who expressed their concern about Georgescu's radical attitudes and the future of their country.

"I came here because at the moment our democracy is in a precarious situation and I strongly believe that we, the young generation, can prevent a future disaster, which could take place in the second round," said a student from Bucharest who declined to be identified by name.

Another protester said she was demoralized that people chose not to inform themselves about Georgescu before the election.

"I cannot accept that I or my future children...would be led by a fascist," said the protester, who also declined to provide her name.

She said that Romanians must go down the path of democracy and there is still a chance for that in parliamentary elections scheduled to take place on December 1 and in the December 8 runoff in the presidential race.

"We can go back 35 years and see what our parents and grandparents went through...the mass misinformation they went through when [communist Romanian dictator Nicola] Ceausescu was elected,” she said. “Let's inform ourselves before choosing. We have to go massively to the vote. We young people have a voice and we have to use it.”

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In Timisoara, young people chanted "Today in Timisoara, tomorrow throughout the country," a reference to the December 1989 revolution, which began in Timisoara.

The protesters also displayed posters saying, "Down with the legionaries," a reference to statements made by Georgescu in television appearances in which he affirmed his sympathy for the legionary or religious fascist Iron Guard movement in Romania and its leaders.

Similar protests were held on November 26 in Iasi and Brasov, where several dozen young people gathered.

The protesters in Iasi said they did not want to be led by a dictator or a sympathizer of anti-Semitic and fascist leaders from Romania in the 1930s and 1940s.

Georgescu, 62, has denied that he is an extremist or a fascist and referred to himself as "a Romanian who loves his country."

He had been polling in single digits before a viral TikTok campaign calling for an end to aid for Ukraine. The independent candidate insisted "there is no East or West" and stressed that neutrality was "absolutely necessary."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet has overwhelmingly approved a cease-fire deal with Hezbollah, Netanyahu’s office said on November 26, marking a major development toward peace between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants.

The move was immediately welcomed by U.S. President Joe Biden, who said it represents a fresh start for Lebanon and shows that peace is possible after nearly 14 months of cross-border fighting that forced tens of thousand of Israelis to flee and killed thousands of Lebanese.

Netanyahu’s office said the plan was approved by a 10-1 margin. Earlier, Netanyahu defended the cease-fire agreement as he recommended his security cabinet adopt the plan, vowing to strike Hezbollah hard if it violates the expected deal.

In the hours leading up to the meeting, Israel carried out its most intense wave of strikes in Beirut and its southern suburbs and issued a record number of evacuation warnings.

In a televised address, Netanyahu did not say how long the truce would last but noted that the length of the cease-fire “depends on what happens in Lebanon."

He added: "If Hezbollah violates the agreement and attempts to rearm, we will strike. If they try to renew terror activities near the border, we will strike. If they launch a rocket, dig a tunnel, or bring in a truck with missiles, we will strike."

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A cease-fire would mark the first major step toward ending the violence triggered by the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, by Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

Biden said that, under the deal reached between Israel and Hezbollah, the cease-fire will take effect at 4 a.m. local time on November 27. He stressed that Israel reserved the right to resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce.

“This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,” Biden said at the White House shortly after Netanyahu announced the security cabinet approval of the truce. If any party breaks the terms of the deal, “Israel retains the right to self-defense.”

He said that over the next 60 days civilians on both sides will be able to safely return to their own communities. The deal requires Israeli troops to withdraw from south Lebanon and Lebanon's army to deploy in the region, while Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the border south of the Litani River.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the cease-fire and said it was a "fundamental step towards establishing calm and stability in Lebanon."

The cease-fire does not address the war in Gaza, but Biden said it deserves a cease-fire deal as well.

Netanyahu said Israel would now focus its efforts on Hamas militants and his top security concern, Iran.

"From day two of the war, Hamas was counting on Hezbollah to fight by its side. With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left on its own," he said.

"We will increase our pressure on Hamas and that will help us in our sacred mission of releasing our hostages."

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier that a cease-fire would save lives and livelihoods in Lebanon and in Israel.

“It will make a big difference in creating the conditions that will allow people to return to their homes safely in northern Israel and in southern Lebanon,” Blinken said at a briefing at the conclusion of a Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting in Fiuggi, Italy.

He said he also believed that de-escalating tension could help end the conflict in Gaza by letting Hamas know that it can’t count on other fronts opening up in the war.

“In terms of Gaza itself, I also think this can have a significant impact…. Because one of the things that Hamas has sought from day one is to get others in on the fight, to create multiple fronts, to make sure that Israel was having to fight in a whole series of different places,” Blinken said.

The war has killed at least 3,799 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

On the Israeli side, the hostilities have killed at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians, authorities say.

The war in Lebanon escalated after nearly a year of limited cross-border exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah.

The Lebanese group said it was acting in support of Hamas after its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized countries expressed their support for Ukraine on November 26 in the final statement following their summit in Italy. They also condemned what they described as Russia's "irresponsible and threatening nuclear rhetoric."

The G7 ministers’ statement also warned that North Korean support for Russia marked a dangerous expansion of the war, condemning the development and saying Russia’s procurement of North Korean ballistic missiles and munitions was a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

“We stand firm against Russia’s war of aggression. We vehemently condemn the brutal attacks against Ukraine’s cities and critical civilian infrastructure and its unacceptable toll on the civilian population,” the minister said in a joint statement at the conclusion of their two-day meeting.

The foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States noted Russia’s use of an intermediate range ballistic missile on November 21, saying it is “further evidence of its reckless and escalatory behavior.” They also said their support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence “will remain unwavering.”

The ministers, who were joined by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha and the EU’s foreign policy chief at their meeting in Fiuggi, a spa town southeast of Rome, added that they hoped to start distributing a $50 billion loan package stemming from frozen Russian assets by the end of the year.

They also pledged to act against groups helping Russia to evade sanctions and called on China, a long-standing ally of North Korea, to act against the deployment of North Korean troops to the battlefield.

The ministers also tried to raise the pressure on Israel to accept a cease-fire deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying "now is the time to conclude a diplomatic settlement."

They called on the Israeli government to facilitate humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.

"We express our strongest condemnation for the rise in extremist settler violence committed against Palestinians, which undermines security and stability in the West Bank and threatens prospects for a lasting peace," the statement added.

With reporting by Reuters

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has written an autobiography in which she reaffirms her decision to push back against offering Ukraine future membership in NATO at a summit in 2008 despite criticism that such a move may have prevented Russia from invading Ukraine.

In the book, Merkel reflects on how that decision and others during her 16 years in office have fared over time and recalls her relationships with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Freedom: Memoirs 1954-2021 was launched in Berlin on November 26 nearly three years to the day after she left office and ahead of a promotional tour of major European cities and the United States.

The 70-year-old Merkel, known for her calm and unflappable leadership style, in the book rejects blame for any of the current strain in the West's relations with Russia in a rare commentary on her time in office.

Concerning the 2008 Bucharest NATO summit, Merkel noted a pledge that Ukraine and Georgia would eventually join the western military alliance was a "battle cry" to the Russian leader, adding that he later told her: "You won't be Chancellor forever. And then they'll become a member of NATO. And I want to prevent that."

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Six years later Putin launched the Russian occupation and annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, and followed that with the February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which the Russian president has justified in part by citing Kyiv's NATO membership desires.

Russia Is 'An Indispensable Geopolitical Factor'

Putin was always on guard not to be treated badly and engaged in power games, according to the book.

Merkel wrote about his inclination to make others wait and recalls how, despite her fear of dogs, he allowed his black Labrador to be in the room during a meeting in 2007 in Sochi.

“You could find all this childish, reprehensible, you could shake your head at it,” she writes. “But that didn’t make Russia disappear from the map. Russia with its nuclear arsenal exists and remains “an indispensable geopolitical factor.”

Merkel also details her experience with Trump during his first term as president, saying he “judged everything from the perspective of the real estate developer he had been before entering politics.”

She writes that they “talked on two different levels,” in their March 2017 meeting at the White House. “Trump on an emotional level, me on a factual one.”

Trump 'Captivated' By 'Dictatorial Tendencies'

She added that Trump, who won a second non-consecutive term on November 5, did not share her conviction that cooperation could benefit all but instead believed that all countries were in competition with each other.

“He did not believe that prosperity of all could be increased through cooperation,” she writes of the U.S. president, who "was captivated by politicians with autocratic and dictatorial tendencies."

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Merkel also writes about the difficulties of being the first female candidate for chancellor and her decision to welcome large numbers of migrants and displaced people in 2015 in the 700-plus page memoir, which is being simultaneously published as an audiobook and translated into more than two dozen languages, including French and English.

She will make a special presentation in Washington on her book tour to to present it in the United States on December 2 alongside former U.S. President Barack Obama.

The book is being published as Germans rethink her legacy, including her policy on migration, which many in Germany believe led to a surge in the far right.

The former leader of Germany's center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) uses the book to justify the decisions she made regarding Russia, which launched its invasion of Ukraine just five months after Olaf Scholz of the Social Democrats (SPD) was elected to succeed Merkel, who had decided not to seek reelection.

Under Scholz the German economy has stagnated. The war in Ukraine prompted Berlin to wean itself off cheap Russia gas. At the same time the country has had to deal with a reduction in exports to China.

Scholz now faces a challenging campaign for reelection after the collapse of his coalition government.

The flight recorders of a cargo plane belonging to global courier DHL that crashed near Vilnius on November 25 have been found as investigators continue to search for the cause of the deadly accident.

The Boeing 737-476 aircraft crashed as it attempted to land at Vilnius International Airport, killing the jet's Spanish pilot and injuring another Spanish crew member, a German, and a Lithuanian.

The crash came amid concerns among Western security officials that Russian intelligence is preparing acts of sabotage targeting Western cargo aircraft, though officials have said so far they have no evidence of a link.

The plane's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, the so-called black boxes, "were found and removed from the wreckage," Lithuania's Justice Ministry said in a statement, adding that investigators are analyzing the data on the two devices.

"The goal of a safety investigation is to prevent future accidents," the statement said, adding the probe "does not seek to determine who is at fault or responsible."

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Lithuanian Chief Prosecutor Arturas Urbelis separately said at least 19 witnesses were interviewed in connection with the incident but so far no indication has been found of "more serious actions."

The plane that departed Leipzig, Germany, about 90 minutes before the crash hit several buildings as it skidded hundreds of meters, according to the police and DHL. One of the buildings hit by the plane was a house whose occupants survived, authorities said.

Firefighters were not able to determine whether the plane began burning or breaking up while still in the air, and authorities have appealed to the public to hand over possible video recordings of the crash.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the crash could have been a "hybrid incident" with outside involvement.

"We must now seriously ask ourselves whether this was an accident or whether it was another hybrid incident," Baerbock told reporters at a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy.

"We have recently seen multiple hybrid attacks in Europe, often targeting individuals and infrastructure, whether underwater or hard infrastructure," she said, alluding to the recent severing of telecom cables in the Baltic Sea that officials have said could have been sabotage.

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German authorities are working very closely with the Lithuanian authorities to get to the bottom of the crash, she added.

Lithuanian authorities have so far stopped short of making the same link.

"We cannot reject the possibility of terrorism...but at the moment we can't make attributions or point fingers because we don't have such information," Lithuanian counterintelligence chief Darius Jauniskis told reporters.

Many Western intelligence agencies have accused Moscow of involvement in sabotage acts in Europe, which they have said are aimed at destabilizing allies of Ukraine as it relies on Western governments in its war against Russia's full-scale invasion.

Lithuanian Commissioner-General of Police Arunas Paulauskas said surviving crew members told investigators there was no smoke, fire, or other emergency situation in the cabin prior to the crash. He also said the probability of an external force impact was very low.

The crash came after a series of fires at DHL depots in Britain and Germany during the summer. Western security officials were quoted in a news report earlier this month linking the fires to a test run of an alleged Russian operation aimed at igniting fires on cargo or passenger aircraft bound for North America.

The Wall Street Journal quoted security officials as saying devices that ignited in July in DHL depots in Leipzig and the British city of Birmingham were part of the test run.

Last month, Polish officials said four people had been detained as a result of the investigation into parcels that caught fire while en route to United States and Canada.

The activities of the four people "consisted of sabotage and diversion related to sending parcels containing camouflaged explosives and dangerous materials via courier companies to European Union countries and Great Britain, which spontaneously ignited or detonated during land and air transport," Polish prosecutors said in a statement on October 25.

"The group's goal was also to test the transfer channel for such parcels, which were ultimately to be sent to the United States of America and Canada," the statement said, adding that foreign intelligence services were to blame. The statement did not directly accuse Russia of involvement.

Canada in early November expressed concern to Russian officials after he arrests were announced. Russia responded by summoning a Canadian diplomat on November 8 to rebut allegations that Russia's secret services had orchestrated the campaign to mail explosive packages.

Russia has expelled a second secretary in the Political Department of the British Embassy in Moscow, accusing him of espionage under diplomatic cover.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) announced the decision on November 26, claiming the diplomat was part of an "undeclared intelligence presence" in Russia, deepening tensions between Moscow and London.

According to the FSB, the diplomat entered Russia with false information and engaged in "intelligence and subversive activities" that posed a threat to national security.

The diplomat, reportedly linked to the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s Directorate for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, has had his accreditation revoked. Russian authorities have given him two weeks to leave the country.

The expulsion follows the removal of six British intelligence officers in August amid strained relations between the two countries over issues ranging from the war in Ukraine to alleged interference in domestic affairs.

The move comes on the same day Russia’s Foreign Ministry expanded its sanctions list, barring 30 prominent U.K. officials, military personnel, and journalists from entering the country. The list includes Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, and high-profile figures in the defense and technology sectors.

In a statement, Moscow accused Britain of pursuing an "aggressive, Russophobic policy," including support for Ukraine, disinformation about Russia, and direct involvement in the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin warned London to abandon its "futile course" and engage in constructive dialogue.

The announcements mark a further escalation in the strained relations, reflecting the deepening crisis in relations between the Kremlin and the West over Moscow's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

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Russia’s actions highlight a deliberate strategy to challenge what it perceives as Western interference. By targeting both diplomatic channels and influential figures, Moscow is signaling that it will not tolerate perceived provocations.

At the same time, these moves are part of a broader pattern of Russia asserting its geopolitical stance against the West amid ongoing tensions over Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The diplomatic expulsion, coupled with expanded sanctions, reflects the Kremlin’s view of the United Kingdom as a central player in the Western coalition supporting Ukraine, escalating an already hostile dynamic.

The so-called Supreme Court in Ukraine's Russian-occupied Donetsk region has sentenced Mamuka Mamulashvili, leader of the Georgian Legion, to 23 years in prison in absentia.

The court, operating under Russia’s authority in the illegally annexed region, accused Mamulashvili of recruiting and training foreign mercenaries to fight against Russian forces in Ukraine.

According to the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, the 46-year-old Mamulashvili, who says he has been the focus of several poisoning attempts, was found guilty under several articles of the Russian Criminal Code.

While the ruling will likely have no practical impact on Mamulashvili or the Georgian Legion’s operations, it provides valuable propaganda for the Kremlin as it continues its campaign to suppress dissent and isolate Ukraine diplomatically.

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For Ukraine and its allies, the verdict underscores the ongoing challenges in countering Russia’s narrative both on and off the battlefield.

The charges allege that from 2014 to 2024 Mamulashvili recruited ex-military personnel from Georgia and other nations not directly involved in the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Prosecutors claimed Mamulashvili provided training, weapons, and logistical support to these recruits, enabling their participation in military operations.

The court further stated Mamulashvili received compensation equivalent to over 23 million rubles ($221.500) for his activities.

Russian authorities also highlighted an April 2022 interview Mamulashvili gave to the Khodorkovsky-LIVE YouTube channel where he voiced staunchly anti-Russian sentiments and criticized Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

In addition to Mamulashvili, three other Georgian fighters -- Giorgi Rusitashvili, Nodar Petriashvili, and Vano Nadiradze -- were sentenced in absentia to 14 years in prison each. They were convicted of participating as mercenaries in an armed conflict.

The Russian prosecutor’s office stated that all four individuals would serve their sentences in a strict-regime penal colony if captured.

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The Georgian Legion, founded in 2014, is a volunteer military unit supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.

Composed primarily of Georgian ex-soldiers, the group has been actively involved in key battles across eastern Ukraine.

Russia has labeled the Georgian Legion a terrorist organization, aligning with its broader narrative of framing foreign support for Ukraine as illegitimate and criminal.

The in absentia sentencing of Mamulashvili and other Georgian fighters appears to serve several purposes beyond legal action.

It reinforces Moscow’s portrayal of foreign volunteers aiding Ukraine as mercenaries and terrorists, undermining their legitimacy.

By focusing on Mamulashvili’s recruitment efforts and financial rewards, Russian authorities aim to discredit the broader network of international support for Ukraine’s resistance.

The verdict also underscores Russia’s effort to project authority over Donetsk, a region it annexed in violation of international law.

Issuing high-profile verdicts from a “Supreme Court” in the occupied territory serves to normalize its judicial and political structures in the eyes of its domestic audience, despite their lack of international recognition.

Russia's Investigative Committee announced on November 26 that it had opened a criminal case against James Scott Rhys Anderson, a British citizen accused of committing terrorism and mercenary activities.

Anderson, who is alleged to have fought for Ukraine's International Legion, was detained in Russia's Kursk region after crossing the border in mid-November. His case underscores the growing complexities of international involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war and the heightened risks faced by foreign volunteers.

According to the Investigative Committee, Anderson, alongside other members of Ukrainian forces and foreign mercenaries, illegally entered Kursk with weapons, military equipment, and drones armed with explosive devices.

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Russian authorities claim the group carried out actions intended to intimidate the local population, cause "significant" property damage, and destabilize government operations.

A statement from the Investigative Committee said Anderson and his associates were armed with automatic firearms, missile systems, and drones, underscoring the technological capabilities of Ukraine's forces and their international allies. The authorities allege these actions constitute terrorism under Russian law.

A video circulated on pro-Russian Telegram channels and by the state news agency TASS over the weekend showed a man identifying himself as James Scott Rhys Anderson, a 22-year-old former British Army signalman who joined Ukraine's International Legion after leaving military service in 2023.

Speaking with a clear British accent, Anderson confirmed his identity and discussed his role in the ongoing war. However, the footage has not been independently verified, raising questions about the circumstances surrounding its recording.

Anderson's situation highlights the dangers faced by foreign volunteers in Ukraine's resistance, as well as the propaganda value such incidents hold for Russia.

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The Kremlin has consistently sought to portray foreign fighters as illegitimate actors, using their presence to bolster its narrative that Ukraine's defense is dependent on mercenaries and extremists.

Since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's 2022 call for international recruits, thousands of foreign volunteers have joined Ukraine’s International Legion.

The elite unit, integrated into Ukraine’s military, has attracted fighters from across the globe, including Western nations.

For many, the war represents a fight against Russian aggression and a defense of democratic values, but their participation also exposes them to legal and physical risks.

Anderson's case is not the first instance of a foreign fighter being captured or accused by Russia.

Moscow has consistently sought to criminalize foreign involvement, labeling such fighters as mercenaries -- a status not protected under international law -- and often accusing them of terrorism. This tactic not only targets individual fighters but also aims to deter further international participation in Ukraine's defense.

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The announcement of Anderson's detainment comes amid shifting dynamics in the border regions, including Kursk.

Ukraine's recent cross-border operations signal an escalation in tactics, challenging Russian defenses within its own territory. These incursions, while symbolic of Ukraine's bold resistance, also amplify Moscow's narrative of external aggression threatening its sovereignty.

At the same time, reports of Russia employing North Korean soldiers and pushing to reclaim territory lost during Ukraine's August counteroffensive suggest a deepening of the conflict.

Russia's efforts to portray foreign fighters like Anderson as central to these operations serve as both a legal and propaganda tool, distracting from its own controversial use of international personnel and tactics.