fish farming

The states that saw the most active attacks against election certification two years ago certified the results of this year’s races without controversy this week, prompting the Arizona secretary of state to proclaim that “election denialism” is a thing of the past. Others said they weren’t so sure. Certification proceeded normally this year in part because Donald Trump won the presidential race, quieting his supporters after he had spent the campaign making unsubstantiated claims that he could lose only through widespread cheating . The statewide certification votes Tuesday in Nevada and New Mexico follow a vote Monday to certify the results in Arizona. In all three states, the certification process was tumultuous during the 2022 midterms when Democrats won most statewide offices. Those controversies followed attempts by Trump and his allies to halt or challenge certification in Michigan, Georgia and other battleground states in 2020, disrupting what until then had been a routine administrative process. This year, some who have been the most vocal in questioning the integrity of elections have instead been celebrating Trump’s victory. “The results are being accepted in the manner that they are, in part, because those who have been eroding trust or casting doubt on the integrity of U.S. elections have a result they feel good about,” said David Levine, a former local election official in Idaho who now advises on election administration issues. “Hopefully we can get back to a place where Americans can feel confident in the results even if it’s one they disagree with.” On Tuesday, Nevada and New Mexico certified their statewide results with little discussion. During Monday’s certification in Arizona, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes reflected on the lack of controversy this year. “I think the age of election denialism, for all intents and purposes, is dead,” he said. Sitting next to Fontes, state Attorney General Kris Mayes, a fellow Democrat, said she was more skeptical. Her Republican opponent in 2022 spent two years challenging his loss . “Do I think election denialism is dead? No, I don’t,” she said. “We’ll see over the next couple of election cycles what happens, but I don’t think we’re there yet.” Public confidence in elections has dropped since Trump challenged his loss in 2020 and made false claims of widespread fraud, particularly among Republicans . Some Republicans began targeting the certification process, when local and state boards certify the results after local election officials provide them with the final tally of votes. A firestorm erupted in Georgia over the summer when the state election board, with a new pro-Trump majority, attempted to politicize the certification process with changes later blocked by the courts. While certification battles did not surface after the Nov. 5 election , a vocal segment within the Republican Party remains deeply skeptical of election processes, particularly of the availability of mail ballots and the use of ballot scanners to tally votes. During a forum Monday on the social platform X led by the group Cause of America, the group's director expressed doubt about voting equipment. Shawn Smith, who also is a retired Air Force colonel, argued the certification process suppresses legitimate concerns and goes against “the sovereignty of the people.” Although not as widespread as four years ago, this sentiment did surface sporadically at the local level this month. In Washoe County, Nevada, which includes Reno and voted narrowly for Vice President Kamala Harris, the vote to certify the results was 3-1 with one abstention. Commissioner Jeanne Herman has consistently voted against certification and did not make a public comment about her vote this year. Commissioner Mike Clark, a staunch Trump supporter who had also previously voted against certification, said he would abstain and left before the vote. “I am not an election denier and clearly the person I wanted to win, won this state,” Clark said before leaving the meeting. “However, that does not mean that all the protocols were followed and that we can truly certify the election.” Such skepticism, whether in Nevada or elsewhere, leaves the door open to certification disputes during future elections. The questioning of election results isn't limited to Republicans. Even though Harris quickly conceded after losing all seven presidential battleground states , online posts among her supporters continue to raise concerns about her loss. One Reddit community that has amassed 23,000 members features a steady drumbeat of Democrats scrutinizing a result they can’t believe is real. Some posting in the group have issued calls to contact Harris and her running mate to ask them to demand a recount or otherwise object to the outcome. Among the battlegrounds, Michigan was among those where Trump and his allies pressed to halt certification of the 2020 election for Democrat Joe Biden amid false claims of fraud and manipulation. Two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers who initially opposed certification eventually relented. The state board of canvassers eventually voted to certify, even after one Republican member abstained. This year, the state board voted unanimously on Nov. 22 in favor of certifying and praised the state’s election workers. In Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger certified his state’s results on Nov. 22. Four years ago, the Republican state official was facing immense pressure from Trump and his allies to investigate their unsubstantiated claims of fraud. Also certifying results Tuesday, and doing so unanimously, was the state Board of Elections in North Carolina. It was the only presidential battleground state won by Trump in 2020 — and the only one where he and his allies didn't make claims of fraud. Cassidy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Ken Ritter in Las Vegas, Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, and Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have the slimmest of playoff hopes and must win out to have any chance of keeping them alive. Figuring out who they are would be a first step in the right direction. The Titans (3-9) also must bounce back from last week’s that cost this franchise yet another chance to string together consecutive wins for the first time in more than two years. “We know that this is a big opportunity for us to develop as a team and to create and to continue developing our identity,” quarterback Will Levis said. “And so we’re going to make sure that we do our best throughout these next few weeks to do that.” The Jacksonville Jaguars (2-10) for the rest of the season after the hit he took from Texans linebacker in Their already dim playoff hopes were extinguished Monday night when Denver won. That leaves the Jaguars playing for pride and potentially drafting No. 1 overall for the third time in five years. “It’s all about how you finish,” tight end Evan Engram said. “How we finish probably won’t erase the feeling we have of the season. But as the pride of this franchise, the pride of the team, it’s definitely worth going to finish strong and going to get some wins and fighting for that.” Stop the run The Titans went into Washington with one of the NFL’s stingiest defenses and wound up shredded, giving up a season-worst 267 yards rushing. Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson said, “We can’t allow what happened last week to happen again.” Ridley revenge game Wide receiver Calvin Ridley says he’s excited to see some old teammates Sunday and downplayed a question about how close Jacksonville’s offer to keep him last March might’ve been when instead. “Doesn’t matter right now,” Ridley said. “I’m excited for this week. Jags come in here, play with my boys. I’m excited.” Ridley played one season with Jacksonville after the . He had 76 catches for 1,016 yards and eight TDs last season with the Jaguars. So far this season, Ridley has 43 receptions for 679 yards and three TDs. “I just know I’m going to be ready,” Ridley said. Streaking Jaguars Jacksonville has lost 16 consecutive games when tied or trailing at halftime. It’s a complete flip from the 2022 season, in which the Jaguars rallied to beat Dallas, the Las Vegas Raiders and Tennessee down the stretch to make the playoffs. The in the regular-season finale that year is the last time coach Doug Pederson’s team has come from behind to win after trailing or being tied at the break. Tennessee led 13-7 at the half in that one and was minutes from winning a . Hines-Allen nears sack record Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen needs 4 1/2 sacks to break the franchise record of 55 held by Tony Brackens. Hines-Allen has at least half a sack in four consecutive games against Tennessee, which has given up 43 sacks in 2024. “My family knows about it probably more than me,” Hines-Allen said. “My wife tells me all the time, ‘Hey, get that record. All you just need is four sacks.’ Like, you can just (get) four sacks. “I had a couple games last year where I had three, so I can’t say it’s out of the realm. But I never had four sacks; don’t know what it feels like to do that in one game. But hopefully speak it into existence.” QB challenge will be starting at quarterback and is 0-2 with the Jaguars this season. He has one more interception (three) than touchdown passes (two) in five appearances. The Titans are looking to see if can keep building on his strong play of the past month and start turning those into wins. Levis is 1-3 since returning from a strained throwing shoulder. He has seven TD passes with two interceptions for a 101.3 passer rating in his past four games. He also is completing 61.7% of his passes for 960 yards. “The cool thing right now for Will is that as we’ve corrected things, he’s corrected them,” . “And that’s been really fun to watch as he’s made adjustments from game to game, sometimes even from in the game made an adjustment to a coverage or a read, and that part’s been good to see.” ___ AP Pro Football Writer Mark Long in Jacksonville, Florida, contributed to this report. ___ AP NFL:Penn State's James Franklin Eyes Equal Conference Schedules After CFP Bracket Revealfish farming 。

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MONTREAL — The Vegas Golden Knights exploded for five unanswered goals in the second period to roll over the Montreal Canadiens 6-2 on Saturday night. Tomas Hertl, Callahan Burke, Ivan Barbashev, Tanner Pearson and Keegan Kolesar each scored. Montreal’s Emil Heineman and Jayden Struble scored in the third before Golden Knights’ Jack Eichel collected his seventh of the season. Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill stopped 15 of 17 shots. Montreal’s Sam Montembeault gave up five goals on 25 shots before he was replaced in the third period by Cayden Primeau, who turned away two of three shots. Takeaways Golden Knights: Vegas recovered from losing back-to-back games earlier in the week with a second straight road win. Eleven different players registered at least a point in Montreal. Canadiens: The even-strength play that helped Montreal win four of five games vanished as the Canadiens regressed to its early season disarray at both ends of the ice. Key moment Less than a minute after falling behind 2-0, Montreal turned the puck over at the offensive blue line and Barbashev scored on a two-on-one rush. Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill (33) stops Montreal Canadiens' Nick Suzuki (14) as Knights' Noah Hanifin (15) defends during first period NHL hockey action in Montreal, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. Credit: AP/Graham Hughes Key stat Montreal allowed five or more even-strength goals for the sixth time this season. Up next The Golden Knights continue their road trip Monday in Philadelphia. Montreal hosts the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday.

Romanians Rally For European Path Before Presidential Runoff With Pro-Russian Candidate

TORONTO, Nov. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — today announced results for its fourth quarter and year ended September 30, 2024. In addition, Exco announced a quarterly dividend of $0.105 per common share which will be paid on December 31, 2024 to shareholders of record on December 17, 2024. The dividend is an “eligible dividend” in accordance with the Income Tax Act of Canada. Free Cash Flow and EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures. Please see “Non IFRS Measures” section of this press release and separately released MD&A. “Exco delivered resilient results despite challenging market conditions, showcasing progress in innovation and operational improvements. While automotive headwinds impacted our performance this quarter, we remain exceptionally well positioned for strong earnings growth in the coming years.” Consolidated sales for the fourth quarter ended September 30, 2024 were $155.4 million compared to $160.2 million in the same quarter last year – a decrease of $4.7 million, or 3%. Foreign exchange rate movements increased sales by $2.6 million in the quarter. Fourth quarter sales in the Automotive Solutions segment of $79.2 million were down 10% from the prior year quarter. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, segment sales decreased $9.8 million, or 11%. The sales decrease was driven by lower automotive production volumes in North America and Europe, customer driven delays in certain program launches, and unfavorable vehicle mix. Looking forward, industry growth may be tempered near term by increasing OEM inventory levels, elevated interest rates, relatively high vehicle average transaction prices, and softening global economic conditions. Countering these headwinds, central banks are lowering interest rates, vehicle sales have remained resilient, dealer inventory levels remain below pre-COVID-19 levels, vehicle fleets continue to age, and OEM incentives are rising. As well, Exco’s sales volumes are expected to benefit from awarded program launches that should provide ongoing growth in our content per vehicle. Quoting activity also remains encouraging and we believe there is ample opportunity to achieve our targeted growth objectives. The Casting and Extrusion segment recorded sales of $76.3 million in the fourth quarter compared to $72.6 million last year – an increase of $3.7 million or 5%. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange movements, the segment’s sales were up 3% for the quarter. Demand for our extrusion tooling remained relatively resilient in both North America and Europe, though activity slowed through the quarter with key end markets such as building and construction as well as automotive showing signs of softer conditions. Other end markets such as sustainable energy however remain firm. We remain focused on standardizing manufacturing processes, enhancing engineering depth and centralizing critical support functions across our various plants. These initiatives have reduced lead times, enhanced product quality, expanded product breadth and increased capacity, contributing to share gains in our core markets. Management continues to develop its Castool Morocco and Mexico locations which provide the opportunity to gain market share in Europe and Latin America through better proximity to local customers. In the die-cast tooling market, which primarily serves the automotive industry, demand and order flow for new moulds, associated consumable tooling and rebuild work remained firm during the quarter, though slowed slightly from recent activity. Industry vehicle production volumes remain relatively healthy and new, more efficient internal combustion engine/transmission platforms are being launched, including an increase in hybrid powertrain platforms. Battery electric platforms continue to be developed, albeit at a slower pace compared to prior expectations. Demand for associated giga-sized tooling has similarly pulled back, although management continues to expect this market segment will see significant growth in the coming years. We have reworked our plants and equipment to accommodate this larger tooling and believe we have the most advanced capabilities among our competitors globally. Our leading market 3D printing group continued strong sales activity supported by six additive printers. As well, our pace of innovation within this market is clearly gaining momentum, yielding more and more applications for our additively printed tooling components. Consequently, demand for Exco’s 3D printed tooling continues to grow strongly as customers focus on greater efficiency in all large mould size segments – ie for both giga and non-giga sized die-cast machines. Sales in the quarter were also aided by price increases, which were implemented to protect margins from higher input costs. Quoting remains very active and our backlog for die-cast moulds remains elevated relative to historical norms. The Company’s fourth quarter consolidated net income decreased to $7.7 million or earnings of $0.20 per share compared to $9.2 million or earnings of $0.24 per share in the same quarter last year. The effective income tax rate was 26% in the current quarter compared 25% in the same quarter last year. The change in income tax rate in the quarter was impacted by geographic distribution, foreign tax rate differentials and losses that cannot be tax affected for accounting purposes. Fourth quarter pre-tax earnings in the Automotive Solutions segment totalled $7.8 million, a decrease of $2.1 million or 22% over the same quarter last year. Variances in period profitability were due to lower sales, product mix shifts, rising labour costs in all jurisdictions and foreign exchange movements. Labour costs in Mexico have been particularly challenging in recent years and are seeing added pressure given the significant rise in wages. Vehicle production volumes and product releases however remain relatively stable, which has led to improvements in labour scheduling and reduced expedited shipping costs. As well, pricing action and efficiency initiatives continued to temper inflationary pressures. Although production volumes have largely stabilized from a macroeconomic and global perspective from recent years, volumes in the segment’s first quarter are expected to follow typical seasonality trends due to OEM December holidays. Apart from these specific impacts, management is cautiously optimistic that its overall cost structure should improve margins in coming quarters. Pricing discipline remains a focus and actions are being taken on current programs where possible, though there is typically a lag of a few quarters before the impact is realized. As well, new program awards are priced to reflect management’s expectations for higher future costs. Fourth quarter pre-tax earnings in the Casting and Extrusion segment totalled $6.3 million, an increase of $1.0 million or 18% over the same quarter last year. The Pretax Profit improvement is due to higher sales volumes within the die-cast and extrusion end markets, program pricing improvements, favorable product mix, and efficiency initiatives across the segment (including the ongoing use of lean manufacturing and automation to improve productivity through standardization and waste elimination). In addition, volumes at Castool’s heat treatment operation continue to increase providing savings and improved production quality while efficiency initiatives at Halex are progressing. Offsetting these cost improvements were ongoing start-up losses at Castool’s greenfield operations and an increase in segment depreciation ($0.5 million for the quarter) associated with recent capital expenditures. Management remains focused on reducing its overall cost structure and improving manufacturing efficiencies and expects such activities together with its sales efforts should lead to improved segment profitability over time. The Corporate segment in the fourth quarter recorded expenses of $2.0 million compared to $0.8 million last year was primarily due mainly to higher foreign exchange gains in fiscal 2023. As a result of the foregoing, consolidated EBITDA in the quarter was $20.6 million (13.3% of sales) compared to $22.9 million (14.3% of sales) last year. Operating cash flow before net changes in working capital was $16.7 million in the quarter compared to $23.5 million in the prior year quarter. The primary drivers on operating cash flow include a $5.0 million change in deferred income taxes, lower net income and interest expense. Fourth quarter net change in non-cash working capital contributed $12.2 million of cash compared to $5.9 million cash used in fiscal 2023. Improvements to working capital were driven primarily by lower accounts receivable due to management’s focus on collections throughout the year, slightly lower fourth quarter sales, and due to customer payment delays in 2023 due to the UAW strike. This improvement was partially offset by lower accounts payable reflecting significant payables in the prior year. Investment in fixed assets of $8.7 million compared to $9.6 million in the prior year quarter. Included in the current year quarter is $3.3 million in growth capital. The difference relates to timing of equipment purchases and the completion of major projects from the prior year. Exco ended the quarter with $73.4 million in net debt compared to $94.2 million in the prior year. The Company has $46.5 million in available liquidity under its banking facilities at year end. By the end of fiscal 2026, Exco is targeting to produce approximately $750 million annual revenue, $120 million annual EBITDA and annual EPS of roughly $1.50. Exco has made significant progress towards achieving these targets since they were announced in Fiscal 2021 and continues to believe its targets remain obtainable. These targets are expected to be achieved through returns on greenfield and strategic initiatives, the launch of new programs, general market growth, and also market share gains consistent with the Company’s operating history. Despite current macro-economic challenges, including slightly increasing levels of unemployment, relatively high interest rates, persistent inflation, policy shifts which may occur related to the US election, the overall outlook is favorable across Exco’s segments into the medium term. Consumer demand for automotive vehicles remains stable in most markets. And while dealer inventory levels have been increasing, average transaction prices for both new and used vehicles remain firm, incentives are increasing and the average age of the broader fleet has continued to increase. This bodes well for strong levels of future vehicle production and the sales opportunity of Exco’s various automotive components and accessories. In addition, OEM’s are increasingly looking to the sale of higher margin accessory products as a means to enhance their own levels of profitability. Exco’s Automotive Solutions segment derives a significant amount of activity from such products and is a leader in the prototyping, development and marketing of the same. Moreover, the movement towards an electrified and hybrid fleet for both passenger and commercial vehicles is enticing new market entrants into the automotive market while causing traditional OEM incumbents to further differentiate their product offerings, all of which is driving above average opportunities for Exco. With respect to Exco’s Casting and Extrusion segment, the intensifying global focus on environmental sustainability has created significant growth drivers that are expected to persist through at least the next decade. Automotive OEMs are utilizing light-weight metals such as aluminum to reduce vehicle weight and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This trend is evident regardless of powertrain design – whether internal combustion engines, electric vehicles or hybrids. As well, a renewed focus on the efficiency of OEMs in their own manufacturing process is creating higher demand for advanced tooling that can enhance their profitability and sustainability goals. Certain OEM manufacturers have begun utilizing much larger die cast machines (“giga-presses”) to cast entire vehicle sub-frames using aluminum-based alloy rather than stamping, welding, and assembling separate pieces of ferrous metal. Exco is in discussions with several traditional OEMs and their tier providers who appear likely to follow this trend. While the growth of EV’s in North America and Europe has been delayed from prior expectations, contributing to a slower adoption of giga-presses, Exco nonetheless continues to expect these trends will occur and has positioned its operations to capitalize accordingly. Beyond the automotive industry, Exco’s extrusion tooling supports diverse industrial end markets which are also seeing increased demand for aluminum driven by environmental trends, including energy efficient buildings, solar panels, etc. On the cost side, inflationary pressures have intensified post COVID while prompt availability of various input materials, components and labour has become more challenging. The intensity of these dynamics have generally moderated in recent quarters with the exception of labour costs in Mexico, which continue to see significant increases. We are offsetting these dynamics through various efficiency initiatives and taking pricing action where possible although there is typically several quarters of lag before the counter measures yield results. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Middle East conflict have added additional uncertainty to the global economy. And while Exco has essentially no direct exposure to these countries, Ukraine does feed into the European automotive market and Europe has traditionally depended on Russia for its energy needs. Similarly, the conflict in the Middle East creates the potential for a renewed rise in the price of oil and other commodities as well as logistics costs and could weigh on consumer sentiment. Exco itself is also looking inwards with respect to sustainability trends to ensure its operations meet expectations. We are investing significant capital to improve the efficiency and capacity of our operations while lowering our carbon footprint. Our Sustainability Report is available on our corporate website at: . For further information and prior year comparison please refer to the Company’s Fourth Quarter Financial Statements in the Investor Relations section posted at . Alternatively, please refer to . Non-IFRS Measures: In this News Release, reference may be made to EBITDA, EBITDA Margin, Pretax Profit, Net Debt, Free Cash Flow and Maintenance Fixed Asset Additions which are not defined measures of financial performance under International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”). A reconciliation to these non-GAAP measures is provided within this MD&A. Exco calculates EBITDA as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and EBITDA Margin as EBITDA divided by sales. Exco calculates Pretax Profit as segmented earnings before other income/expense, interest and taxes. Net Debt represents the Company’s consolidated net indebtedness position offsetting cash from bank indebtedness, current and long-term debt. It is calculated as Long-term debt plus Current portion of Long-term debt plus Bank indebtedness less Cash and cash equivalents. Free Cash Flow is calculated as cash provided by operating activities less interest paid and Maintenance Fixed Asset Additions. Maintenance Fixed Asset Additions represent management’s estimate of the investment in fixed assets that is required for the Company to continue operating at current capacity levels. Given the Company’s elevated planned capital spending on fixed assets for growth initiatives (including additional Greenfield locations, energy efficient heat treatment equipment and increased capacity) in recent years, the Company has modified its calculation of Free Cash Flow to include Maintenance Fixed Asset Additions and not total fixed asset purchases. This change is meant to enable investors to better gauge the amount of generated cash flow that is available for these investments as well as acquisitions and/or returns to shareholders in the form of dividends or share buyback programs. EBITDA, EBITDA Margin, Pretax Profit and Free Cash Flow are used by management, from time to time, to facilitate period-to-period operating comparisons and we believe some investors and analysts use these measures as well when evaluating Exco’s financial performance. These measures, as calculated by Exco, do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and are not necessarily comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. To access the listen only live audio webcast, please log on to , or a few minutes before the event. Those interested in participating in the question-and-answer conference call may register at to receive the dial-in numbers and unique PIN to access the call. It is recommended that you join 10 minutes prior to the event start (although you may register and dial in at any time during the call). For those unable to participate on November 28, 2024, an archived version will be available on the Exco website until December 15, 2024. theAbout 3,000 people marched in Bucharest on December 5 demanding Romania maintain its pro-European path ahead of a runoff that will decide whether a far-right pro-Russian candidate will become the country’s next president. With the country braced for a December 8 second round vote pitting pro-European centrist candidate Elena Lasconi against Calin Georgescu , who won the first round amid allegations of election influence orchestrated by Russia, Romanians gathered in University Square chanting "Freedom" and "Europe." Georgescu's first-place finish sparked fears and triggered protests, especially among younger Romanians, over the future of democracy in the country. The country was rocked further when Romania's Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT) on December 4 declassified documents revealing the country was the target of an "aggressive hybrid Russian action" that led to Georgescu's shock first-round victory. Activists, including poet Ana Blandiana, prominent actors and other Romanians spoke at the rally, which was sponsored by the group Romania Hope. Blandiana said the vote represents more than just a simple election. The balloting is a true referendum: "'Yes' - for Europe or 'no' for the past that I came out of 35 years ago," she told the crowd. Serban Pavlu, an actor known for playing in feature films and television series, echoed Blandiana's comments, urging voters to choose the pro-European candidate. "We cannot, 30 years after the revolution, fear that the Russians will come after us," Pavlu said. Both speakers referred to the events of December 1989 when civil unrest spread through the country and resulted in the Christmas day execution of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena. Actress Oana Pellea told the gathering that there is only one path for Romanians: the one toward freedom "so that we don't end up spending our holidays [in Russia] in St. Petersburg." After each speaker, the people gathered in the square shout "Freedom! Freedom!" as they were urged to vote for Lasconi, a small town mayor and former journalist. History professor Marcel Bartic opened the rally by telling people they were using their voices to speak out against fascism, which he said Romania doesn't want. "We are here to remind our compatriots that Romania says no to extremists, to fascism. We want Europe, European values and we are not afraid to say it," Bartic said. The group's announcement on Facebook said Romania is at a decisive moment after the revolution opened the country's path to freedom and democracy. The organization said the country had been on a “difficult road...with many disappointments” since 1989 but had still achieved the right to travel, settle, study, and work in the countries of Europe and membership in NATO. “Human dignity, fundamental freedoms, equality between persons, solidarity, citizens' rights, and justice are the values that can unite us all,” the organization said, adding that it represents a “common cry for the protection and strengthening of these fundamental values.” Britain’s counterterrorism police say they are awaiting the extradition of two Romanian men who are suspects in the stabbing in March of a journalist working for a Persian-language media organization in London. Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on December 5 that Nandito Badea, 19, and George Stana, 23, had been arrested in Romania and charged in the attack on Pouria Zeraati, a London-based TV host for the Iran International news network. Badea and Stana appeared in a Romanian court after their arrest on December 4 for the start of extradition proceedings," a CPS spokesperson was quoted by Reuters as saying. "We continue to work closely with Romanian authorities, to ensure that our extradition request is progressed through the courts." British authorities have authorized charges against both of "wounding and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm," according to a statement issued by the London Metropolitan Police. Zeraati, a British-Iranian journalist, suffered injuries after being stabbed near his home on March 29 in southwestern London. Counterterrorism police have led the investigation into the attack over concerns he had been targeted because of his job at Iran International, which is critical of Iran's government. “We now await the extradition process to progress so that the men can face prosecution here in the U.K.,” Acting Commander Helen Flanagan of the Counter Terrorism Command said in the statement. Flanagan said the command planned no further comments on the investigation and urged others not to speculate about the case, given criminal proceedings are now pending. Officials had previously said that the Romanians were suspected of being associates of an Eastern European crime network hired to carry out an attack directed by Iran’s security services. The suspects were likely hired to carry out the attack and had arrived in Britain shortly before the incident, according to British police sources quoted by The Guardian newspaper. British police, security officials, and politicians have issued a number of warnings about what they say is Iran's growing use of criminal proxies to carry out attacks abroad. The U.S. Justice Department last month unsealed criminal charges that included details of a plot allegedly backed by Iran to kill President-elect Donald Trump before the November 5 election. FBI Director Christopher Wray said at the time that the charges exposed Iran's “continued brazen attempts to target U.S. citizens” and dissidents who criticize the Iranian regime, which has rejected accusations that it is involved. One of the targets of the alleged plot was dissident journalist Masih Alinejad, who said on X that she was shocked to have learned of the conspiracy from the FBI. Alinejad, who has criticized Iran's laws requiring women to wear a hijab, was the target of a kidnapping plot in 2021 according to U.S. prosecutors, and in 2022 a man was arrested with a rifle outside her home. Britain and the United States have imposed sanctions on Iranian officials who they say have been involved in threats to kill journalists on their soil. Iran International said the network is pleased that the police investigation has made progress. “It is reassuring for our journalists, as for others in organizations under similar threat," said Adam Baillie, a spokesman for the network, according to Reuters. Authorities initially believed three suspects were involved in the attack on Zeraati. The three men abandoned their vehicle shortly after the incident and left the country by air within hours, police said. A third person was detained in Romania on December 4, but was later released, according to individuals familiar with the case quoted by The Washington Post. The London Metropolitan Police statement did not mention the third person or specifically accuse those arrested of acting on behalf of Tehran. Zeraati did not comment directly on the developments but posted links on his X account to news stories about the arrests made in Romania. Georgian law enforcement officers conducted searches of homes owned by former Defense Minister Davit Kezerashvili following a decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to uphold a ruling that he had embezzled over 5 million euros ($5.3 million) during his tenure as defense minister more than a decade ago. It was not clear what was being sought during the December 5 investigative actions. Details will be announced once the searches are complete, Kezerashvili's lawyer said. The searches took place amid large anti-government protests in the country over the ruling Georgian Dream party’s decision to suspend talks on Georgia joining the European Union and a crackdown that has drawn international condemnation and sanctions. One of the leaders of the opposition United National Movement (ENM), Dimitri Chikovani, currently lives in one of the homes searched. Chikovani reacted to the search on social media, saying it was an attempt to intimidate by “the Russian regime” and vowing that it would not succeed. “They want to form a dictatorship in the country, and they are wrong if they think they can do it,” Chikovani said. “Home invasions, illegal arrests, and pressure on individuals will not stop anyone. The Georgian people will soon force the Russian dictator and his regime out of Georgia forever and ever.” Kezerashvili, who fled Georgia in 2012 for France, reacted to the searches by taunting the Georgian authorities in a post on social media. "The so-called authorities have been so overwhelmed by the ECHR's decision that they are entering my house at the moment. Come on boys, keep it up. We still got this!!" Earlier on December 5, Georgian Justice Minister Anri Okhanashvili told a news conference in Tbilisi that the embezzled funds had been designated in the state budget for the Georgian armed forces shortly before the August 2008 war with Russia. Okhanashvili described Kezerashvili’s actions as a “blatant act of corruption,” and added that the former minister had signed a fictitious agreement with an offshore company for army training, bypassing the General Staff of the Defense Forces. The justice minister said the Strasbourg-based ECHR ruling showed thatthere had been no political prosecution against Kezerashvili and the judgment of the Supreme Court of Georgia on Kezerashvili's guilty plea was also substantiated and the presumption of innocence against him was not violated. “The court unequivocally found no violation of the presumption of innocence and affirmed that the Supreme Court of Georgia’s verdict was well-founded,” he said. "I congratulate our state, the Georgian Army, and our community on this worthy victory in the European Court," Okhanashvili added. However, ECHR decision indicated that an article of the Convention on Human Rights on the right to a fair trial was violated in Kezerashvili’s case. The court held that the presence of former Prosecutor-General Shalva Tadumadze on the three-judge panel that convicted him was sufficient to question the objectivity of the Supreme Court during the hearing of the appeal. But the court did not believe that the Supreme Court's decision was unsubstantiated and would result in a denial of the fairness of the proceedings as a whole. Kezerashvili filed the case with the ECHR in February 2022. The decision was made by the Grand Chamber of the ECHR with the consent of seven judges. The Syrian Army said it was redeploying troops "to preserve civilians lives and prevent urban combat" after Islamist-led rebels entered the key city of Hama, another loss for the country's president, Bashar al-Assad, as well as his allies in Russia and Iran. "Over the past few hours, with the intensification of confrontations between our soldiers and terrorist groups...these groups were able to breach a number of axes in the city and entered it," a Syrian Army statement said on December 5. Hama, Syria's fourth-largest city, is key to the defense of Damascus and the gateway to the coastal cities of Tartus and Latakia, the former being home to a strategic Russian naval base. Syrian and Russian forces had shelled the rebels a day earlier and used air strikes to try and stop their advance. "With that (advance in Hama), Assad's in real trouble. Homs is next & its countryside is FAR more amenable to facilitating an opposition advance," Charles Lister, a senior fellow and the Director of the Syria and Countering Terrorism & Extremism programs at the Middle East Institute, wrote on X . The rebels, led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), have made major advances over the past several days, including the capture of Aleppo, the country's largest city, as well as 14 central villages and towns, and gotten as close as 35 kilometers from the Russian-operated Khmeimim Airbase. Syria turned over the air base to Russia in 2015 as Moscow moved in to help Damascus turn the tide of a four-year civil war in its favor. Besides HTS, the rebels also include an umbrella group of Turkish-backed Syrian militias called the Syrian National Army. The United Nations has said tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced by the fighting. The European Union has ordered TikTok to freeze all its data amid reports that the Chinese-owned social platform had been instrumental in implementing a Moscow-orchestrated campaign to influence Romania's presidential and parliamentary elections. Romania's Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT) on December 4 declassified documents revealing the country was the target of an "aggressive hybrid Russian action" that led to last month's surprise victory of pro-Russian far-right candidate Calin Georgescu in the first round of presidential elections. CSAT said the document showed EU and NATO member Romania was the target of various coordinated actions, most likely orchestrated by a "state actor," leading up to the November 24 election won by Georgescu, who ran as an independent. The European Commission -- the bloc's executive arm -- on December 5 issued a "retention order" to TikTok under its Digital Services Act (DSA) that would preserve evidence "related to actual or foreseeable systemic risks its service could pose on electoral processes and civic discourse in the EU," the commission said in a statement . It added the move was necessary in case of a further probe of TikTok's "compliance with its obligations under the DSA." According to the declassified documents, Romania's intelligence services believe Georgescu was massively promoted on TikTok with backing from Russia through multiple methods, including coordinated accounts, algorithms to boost his presence on the platform, and paid promotion. The documents purported to explain how Georgescu's popularity increased from 1 percent shortly before the race to 22 percent through a vast operation of manipulation that involved influencers and ensnared Romanian institutions as well as ordinary voters. A parliamentary election a week later resulted in a surge for three pro-Russia far right parties that garnered about a third of the vote, although the pro-European parties appear to have enough votes to form a coalition government. On December 8, voters will decide the winner of the presidential election in a runoff that pits Georgescu against pro-European centrist candidate Elena Lasconi. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denied Russia was interfering in the election. "The campaign for the Romanian presidential election...is accompanied by an unprecedented outburst of anti-Russian hysteria," Zakharova said. "More and more absurd accusations are being made by local politicians, officials and media representatives," she added. "We firmly reject all hostile attacks, which we consider absolutely groundless." Ahead of the vote, the United States called for a thorough investigation into Moscow's alleged actions. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that while the United States does not interfere with the Romanian people's choice or the election process, Washington is "concerned by the CSAT's report of Russian involvement in malign cyberactivity designed to influence the integrity of the Romanian electoral process." Miller said Romania is a strong NATO ally and the United States values its contributions to the alliance's security and the country's hard-earned position in the transatlantic community cannot be reversed "by foreign actors seeking to shift Romania's foreign policy away from its Western alliances." Such a change in policy would have "serious negative impacts on U.S. security cooperation with Romania," Miller said. The declassified documents say influencers on TikTok were recruited to promote Georgescu directly by publicly supporting him and indirectly through neutral messages that contained labels associated with him. Dozens of TikTok accounts were found that falsely used the intelligence service's logo and the title Anti-Terrorist Brigade, each displaying thousands of followers and over 100,000 likes. Romania's intelligence services hinted that large sums of money would have been spent in the operation. Georgescu has told Romanian electoral authorities that he spent nothing on his campaign. Romanian intelligence linked the operation to Russia by noting that access data for official Romanian election websites was published on Russian cybercrime platforms. The access data was probably procured by targeting legitimate users or exploiting the legitimate training server, the intelligence services said. The State Department statement said Washington has been "closely following the elections in Romania" and that it "will continue to work together [with Romanian authorities] "to preserve the security of our nations and the prosperity and well-being of our citizens." On December 5, three Romanian institutions, including the country's top political sciences school, and a former presidential candidate asked the Constitutional Court to annul the first round of presidential elections and repeat them. It was not known immediately if the Court would consider the requests just hours ahead the start of the runoff abroad. TBILISI -- A Georgian opposition leader who was beaten unconscious during his arrest is recovering and expecting a court hearing, his lawyer said on December 5, as the United States firmly condemned the ruling Georgian Dream party's use of violence against demonstrators protesting the party's move to halt accession talks with the European Union. Nika Gvaramia, leader of the Akhali party under the Coalition for Change umbrella, was detained on December 4 by police during searches by authorities at opposition parties' headquarters in Tbilisi and was repeatedly hit in the stomach until he lost consciousness before being dragged motionless into a police vehicle. Gvaramia's lawyer, Dito Sadzaglishvili, said on December 5 that the opposition leader's health is "satisfactory." Sadzaglishvili said Gvaramia was arrested for "petty hooliganism and failing to comply with police orders" and a court hearing in his case should take place within 48 hours from his arrest. Another prominent member of the Coalition for Change, activist Gela Khasaia, was also taken into custody during the police operation. The wave of repression unleashed by the Georgian Dream government against protesters drew international condemnation as well as sanctions. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a stern warning to the Georgian Dream government, urging it "to cease its repressive tactics, including its use of arbitrary detention and physical violence" as Tbilisi was roiled by a sixth day of mass protests that were met with excessive force by riot police. "The United States strongly condemns the Georgian Dream party's brutal and unjustified violence against Georgian citizens, protesters, members of the media, and opposition figures," Blinken said in a statement. Blinken reaffirmed the United States' "solidarity with the Georgian people and their democratic aspirations," warning those attempting to suppress the Georgians' right to freedom "will be held to account," including through additional sanctions. Washington in July suspended $95 million in assistance to Georgia after the Georgian Dream-controlled parliament adopted legislation related to foreign agents that critics say was inspired by a similar Russian law used by the Kremlin to crack down on political dissent and that sparked weeks of mass protests. Blinken's statement came after the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi on December 4 urged authorities to treat protesters with dignity as law enforcement authorities conducted raids on the offices of several Georgian opposition parties and protest leaders. On December 5, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced that Kyiv was imposing sanctions on 19 Georgian individuals. Zelenskiy's move came after the three Baltic states on December 2 announced joint sanctions against 11 Georgians, including Ivanishvili and Gomelauri. The list included Georgian Dream founder and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, State Security Service chief Grigol Liluashvili, Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri, Tbilisi City Mayor Kakha Kaladze, and a number of judges and lawmakers. Despite the growing protests, Kobakhidze has refused to back down and threatened to punish political opponents, whom he accuses of being behind violence that has occurred at the protests. Georgia's ombudsman accused police of torturing pro-EU protesters. Levan Ioseliani, whose role is to defend citizens' rights, said he and his officials had met people subjected to "the harshest treatment" by police. Protesters have described to RFE/RL the brutality employed by security forces against them. "They were hitting us in the head," protester Salome Zandukeli said, describing how she and a friend had been chased on the night of December 2 by some 25 riot police into a building in downtown Tbilisi before taking refuge in a cafe. Activist Gia Jvarsheishvili told RFE/RL that he was thrown to the ground by charging officers and beaten before being shoved into a police van where police pushed detainees to the floor and began stomping on them. "Suddenly, I was in unbearable pain and I realized that I had been injured. I didn't know it then, but I had a broken rib," Jvarsheishvili said. Georgia's pro-European president, Salome Zurabishvili, who has sided with the demonstrators, said on X that many of the arrested protesters had injuries to their heads and faces. Some people were subjected to systematic beatings between arrest and transportation to detention facilities, she added. Georgia has been thrown into the latest wave of turmoil since parliamentary elections in October in which Georgian Dream secured 54 percent of the vote. The opposition and Western governments argued that the poll was marred by violations and Russian influence. Kobakhidze has blamed the unrest on foreign "instructors" and tried to explain the decision to halt EU accession talks through 2028 by saying Georgia is ready for the talks, "but only with dignity and justice and without blackmail." Georgia received EU candidate status in December 2023 but relations with Brussels have soured in recent months, beginning with the adoption of a Russian-style "foreign agent" law, which critics say threatens media outlets and civil society groups. accusing them of "serving" outside powers. A majority of Georgians support EU membership, and efforts to join the bloc are mandated in the Georgian Constitution. Documents declassified by Romania's security council on December 4 said the country was the target of an "aggressive hybrid Russian action" during recent election campaigns, including last month's surprise victory of a pro-Russian far-right candidate. The Supreme Council of National Defense declassified the documents, saying they showed that Romania was the target of various coordinated actions leading up to the presidential election's November 24 first round, won by Calin Georgescu. Voters in the EU and NATO member state will decide the winner of the presidential election in a runoff on December 8 that pits Georgescu against pro-European centrist candidate Elena Lasconi. It had already been reported that TikTok was used to generate support for Georgescu and connect him to a Romanian audience in the millions. But the declassified documents show that Romania's intelligence service believes that Georgescu was massively promoted on TikTok with backing from Russia through multiple methods, including coordinated accounts, algorithms to boost his presence on the platform, and paid promotion. The documents help explain how Georgescu's popularity increased from 1 percent shortly before the race to 22 percent artificially, through a vast operation of manipulation that involved influencers and ensnared Romanian institutions as well as ordinary voters. Some 25,000 TikTok accounts allegedly used to increase Georgescu's popularity "became very active two weeks before the date of the elections," according to the declassified documents. About 800 of these accounts had extremely low activity until November 11. From that date onward "the entire network was activated at full capacity," according to the documents. The intelligence service documents also show that influencers on TikTok were recruited to promote Georgescu directly by publicly supporting him and indirectly through neutral messages that contained labels associated with him. Another method used to promote the independent candidate involved the creation of accounts that falsely represented institutions of the Romanian state. Dozens of TikTok accounts were found that falsely used the intelligence service's logo and the title Anti-Terrorist Brigade (BAT), each displaying thousands of followers and over 100,000 likes. These fake accounts had supportive posts for Georgescu, presenting the false notion that these state institutions supported him. In addition, Georgescu's posts were not marked as belonging to a candidate, and this favored their mass dissemination. Other candidates whose posts were labeled as belonging to a candidate had a diminished online presence. Romania's intelligence services hinted that large sums of money would have been spent in the operation. Georgescu, according to information revealed in the declassified documents, declared to Romanian electoral authorities that he spent nothing on his campaign. The intelligence service linked the operation to Russia by noting that access data for official Romanian election websites was published on Russian cybercrime platforms. The access data was probably procured by targeting legitimate users or by exploiting the legitimate training server, the intelligence service said. It added that it had identified more than 85,000 cyberattacks that aimed to exploit system vulnerabilities. "The attacks continued intensively including on election day and the night after elections," the agency said in one of the declassified document. "The operating mode and the amplitude of the campaign leads us to conclude the attacker has considerable resources specific to an attacking state." Russia has denied any interference in Romania's elections. TikTok confirmed the deletion of electoral propaganda materials two days after the request of the Central Electoral Bureau, but it did not delete the electoral content as requested by the Permanent Electoral Authority, and it continued to be available to the public even after the end of the election campaign, including on election day, in violation of Romanian election law. Serbian lawmakers have begun deliberating a bill submitted to parliament that would establish a " foreign agents " registry, a move that may alienate Serbia from its EU ambitions. Initiated by members of the Movement of Socialists, led by pro-Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin, the bill aims to regulate organizations and individuals receiving more than 50 percent of their funding from foreign sources. Supporters of the law argue that it aims to ensure greater transparency in the NGO sector. They claim that some foreign-funded organizations work against Serbia's national interests. However, critics -- both within Serbia and internationally -- warn that such a law could stigmatize civil society organizations, hinder their operations, and limit freedom of expression. "This draft law poses a serious and direct threat to civil society organizations, jeopardizing their role in safeguarding democratic values, human rights, and European integration," the EU's Economic and Social Committee said in a statement . "As with similar initiatives in other candidate countries, such as in the case of Georgia, the EESC reiterates that such legislation is incompatible with the fundamental values of the European Union, which Serbia, as an EU candidate country, is expected to uphold." The regional trend toward adopting such laws, legislation that mirrors Russian law and is often driven by pro-Russian political forces, highlights a broader geopolitical struggle in the Balkans. Several countries in the region find themselves in a situation where they try to balance historic ties with Russia and their aspirations for European integration. Serbia, alongside Montenegro, is considered a front-runner in the EU accession process. However, to achieve membership, candidate countries must harmonize their laws, policies, institutions, and practices with EU standards. Any legislation perceived as suppressing civil liberties, the EU has said, could jeopardize this progress. In Montenegro, a comparable draft law was introduced in October by the coalition For the Future of Montenegro, which includes pro-Russian parties such as the New Serbian Democracy and the Democratic People's Party. The bill in Serbia is also steeped in further controversy because of its origins. Deputy Prime Minister Vulin, a staunch ally of Russia, has positioned the bill as a transparency measure, comparing it to the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). However, Serbian opposition figures and international observers argue that the draft law more closely resembles the restrictive legislation seen in Russia. Vulin's close ties to Moscow -- underscored by frequent visits and his role in coordinating Serbia's BRICS-related activities -- have drawn international attention. In 2023, he was placed under U.S. sanctions for allegedly facilitating Russian activities in the Balkans. Critics view the proposed law as aligning with Moscow’s pattern to muzzle independent civil society organizations and limit dissent. YEREVAN -- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian declared on December 4 in parliament that Yerevan had effectively passed the "point of no return" regarding its reintegration into a Russian-led military alliance. His remarks came in response to recent statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who argued that the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) could not intervene in the 2020 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh because it did not occur on Armenian territory. "With all due respect to the Russian president, this statement highlights the fundamental issues within the CSTO," Pashinian said. His comments underscored the growing tensions between Armenia and the CSTO, marking a pivotal shift in the region's security dynamics. The relationship between Armenia and the CSTO has been strained for some time, particularly since the 2022 incursion by Azerbaijani forces into Armenia's sovereign territory. Yerevan accused the CSTO of failing to uphold its commitment to defend a member state, even as Armenia flagged the imminent threat to its allies. According to Pashinian, initial assurances from CSTO allies that Armenia's borders were a "red line" were later dismissed as ambiguous claims of undefined boundaries. "When the aggression occurred, we said that the red line had been crossed. They responded by saying, 'Well, the border isn't officially delimited,'" Pashinian said, stressing the lack of a clear response from the alliance. Armenian authorities have also criticized Russian peacekeepers for failing to prevent Azerbaijan's rapid offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023, which ultimately resulted in Azerbaijan regaining control over the region after nearly three decades of ethnic Armenian rule. This lack of action led to Yerevan's decision to freeze its participation in CSTO activities. Armenia did not attend the CSTO Collective Security Council meeting on November 28 in Kazakhstan and has skipped joint military exercises and other meetings. However, it has stopped short of officially withdrawing from the organization. Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are also CSTO member states. CSTO Secretary-General Imanghali Tasmaghambetov of Kazakhstan has downplayed Armenia's absence, stating that it does not affect the alliance’s overall efficiency. He reiterated on December 4 that Armenia remained a formal ally and that all CSTO commitments to Armenia were intact. Tasmaghambetov also emphasized that Armenia could resume full participation at any time, noting that there are no objections or obstacles from other member states. Despite these reassurances, Armenia's criticisms of the CSTO's inaction in the face of Azerbaijani military moves have fueled a broader debate about the alliance's reliability. Many in Armenia see the CSTO’s hesitancy as a sign of its weakening relevance in addressing the region's security challenges. The deepening divide between Armenia and the CSTO also reflects a broader realignment in Yerevan's foreign policy. Armenia’s growing criticism of the CSTO and its strategic turn toward other international partners suggest a waning dependence on Russian-led security structures. This shift is particularly significant as regional powers, including Turkey and Azerbaijan, assert greater influence in the South Caucasus. While Armenia has not formally initiated the process of leaving the CSTO, Pashinian's remarks signal that such a move may not be far off. The longer Yerevan remains at odds with the alliance, the more its security policies are likely to diverge from the CSTO framework. Senior Russian authorities, including President Vladimir Putin, were directly involved in ordering the forcible transfer , fostering, and later adoption of Ukrainian children moved out of war zones and occupied regions of Ukraine, U.S. researchers found. In a report released on December 3, investigators from Yale University said at least 314 children from Ukraine were subject to a "systematic program of coerced adoption and fostering" by Russian individuals and families. "The Russian Federation engaged in systematic, deliberate, and widespread forced adoption and transfer of children from Ukraine," the report says. "The operation...was initiated by Putin and his subordinates with the intent to 'Russify' children from Ukraine." The findings add to a growing body of evidence pointing to possible culpability for war crimes by Putin and other top officials. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023 for the "war crime of unlawful deportation" and "unlawful transfer" of children from Ukrainian territory to Russia. The Kremlin's commissioner for children's rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, was also charged. Researchers at Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab, whose work is partially supported by the U.S. State Department, said they had documented since 2022: The majority of the children from Ukraine who are listed in Russian databases, the report says, were taken from Donetsk, an eastern Ukrainian region that has been partially occupied by Russian and Russian-allied forces since 2014. The Kremlin has declared the annexation of the Donetsk region, and three other Ukrainian regions -- Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson -- plus the Crimean Peninsula. Only Syria and North Korea have recognized the move. Russian officials frequently portray their efforts as a humanitarian gesture, sheltering, feeding, or protecting children from war or the breakdown of services in occupied regions. However, in many cases, Russian authorities did little to identify parents or relatives or legal guardians of the Ukrainian children. Ukrainian officials, journalists, and civil society activists, meanwhile, have also compiled substantial evidence of state support for transferring and deporting children out of Ukraine. In many cases, the effort strained Russia's already overburdened social welfare infrastructure. Hundreds of Ukrainian children were transferred from occupied Ukrainian regions and sent to a network of summer and holiday camps in Belarus, where they were exposed to pro-Russian education and propaganda, RFE/RL found. According to official Ukrainian figures , as of July 24, 2024, 19,546 children had been deported from Ukraine to Russia since the start of Russia's all-out invasion in February 2022. Ukraine’s human rights commissioner last month said 1,012 children had been returned from Russia to date. The U.S. State Department said in a statement on December 4 that it was pursuing visa restrictions for five Russian officials backed or installed by Russia in response to their involvement in human rights abuses in Ukraine, including the forced deportation of children. "Many of these children have had their identities changed and origins obscured, have been subjected to pro-Russian indoctrination and militarization, or have been adopted by Russian families," the State Department said. It did not identify the five Russian officials but added that Kremlin authorities had created obstacles preventing the return of the children to Ukraine. "Russia's continued contempt for its international legal obligations to report the locations of these children makes securing their safe return nearly impossible," the State Department said. The head of the Zaporizhzhya region's military administration, Ivan Fedorov, has alleged that the mayor of the Ukrainian town of Dniproprudne died after being tortured while in Russian custody. Fedorov said in a statement on Telegram on December 4 that the body of Yevhen Matveyev was recently returned to Ukraine during a prisoner exchange with Russia, which has occupied Dniproprudne since the early days of the February 2022 full-scale invasion. Matveyev was captured by Russian forces on March 13, 2022. Last month, Ukraine recovered the bodies of 502 fallen soldiers and civilians, including 17 from morgues in Russia, as part of an exchange of prisoners of war between the two countries. "He was held captive by the occupiers for two years and eight months and tortured to death. During the last exchange, his body was returned to Ukraine," Fedorov said. He gave no further details. Russian officials have not commented publicly on the allegations. Despite the occupation, Matveyev refused to abandon his town and worked to ensure the functioning of essential services and kept the population informed about ongoing events, Federov noted. Matveyev's death underscores the brutal conditions under which Ukrainian officials and civilians have been held while in Russian captivity. In October 2023, a UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine found "continued war crimes and human rights violations gravely impacting civilians," including confirmation that "Russian authorities have used torture in a widespread and systematic way in various types of detention facilities." Ukraine has also been accused of committing war crimes during the conflict, though to a far lesser extent. A war monitor and state media say that Syrian government forces have launched a counterattack against Islamist-led rebels who were getting close to a Russian-operated airbase after capturing a string of towns and closing in on the key city of Hama. The government forces' counteroffensive came after a blitz advance over the past several days by the rebels led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). They have captured Aleppo, the country's largest city, as well as 14 central villages and towns, and gotten as close as 35 kilometers from Khmeimim Airbase. President Bashar al-Assad's regime turned over the air base to Russia in 2015 as Moscow moved in to help Damascus turn the tide of a four-year civil was in its favor. The Syrian state news agency SANA said rebels on December 4 retreated some 20 kilometers from government-held Hama, Syria's fourth largest city, after government troops backed by Russian air strikes repelled the rebels from the city's outskirts. Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said the rebels only withdrew some 10 kilometers. Hama, which is key to the defense of Damascus, is the gateway to the coastal cities of Tartus and Latakia, the former being home to a strategic Russian naval base. Besides HTS, the rebels also include an umbrella group of Turkish-backed Syrian militias called the Syrian National Army. UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, said on December 3 that tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced by the fighting. Police and security officials have cordoned off a large area near Dusanbe after a drone resembling a military unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed in a nearby town in an area where there are both Tajik and Russian military bases. Officials have not given any details on the drone, which went down on December 3 in the town of Sharora, just 5 kilometers from Tajikistan's capital. Eyewitness footage from the site, obtained exclusively by RFE/RL's Tajik Service, indicated that the drone struck a utility pole before crashing to the ground. The video shows flames at the crash site, which was quickly cordoned off by police and military personnel. The incident occurred near a residential area, but no injuries or damage to homes was reported, according to local residents. Tajikistan's Defense Ministry did not respond to RFE/RL's attempts to get comments from its representatives. The crash site is located near significant military facilities, raising questions about the drone’s origin and purpose. The Aini Military Airbase, controlled by the Defense Ministry, is situated just outside Dushanbe. A Russian military base, part of the 201st Military Division, is also nearby. Both facilities play strategic roles in the regional security infrastructure. Given the size and apparent military design of the drone, some analysts have speculated whether it could also have been a UAV from a third country. Tajikistan has increasingly relied on drone technology in recent years, acquiring UAVs from various sources, including Turkey and China. The presence of advanced drone technology also highlights the increasing militarization of Central Asia, as nations modernize their arsenals. The Russian military base nearby, which accounts for Moscow's largest military presence outside of Russia, also regularly conducts drone operations as part of its regional activities. The region around Dushanbe, including the Hisor district where Sharora is located, is critical to Tajikistan’s national security. Imprisoned Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has been temporarily released for at least three weeks after receiving urgent medical care, her lawyer said on December 4. "According to the medical examiner's opinion, the Tehran Prosecutor's Office suspended the execution of Ms. Narges Mohammadi's sentence for three weeks and she was released from prison. The reason for this is her physical condition after tumor removal and bone grafting, which was done 21 days ago," human rights lawyer Mostafa Nili said in a post on X. Sources confirmed to RFE/RL's Radio Farda that Mohammadi, 52, had been released. Analysts said that by suspending Mohammadi's sentence instead of granting her a medical furlough, the time she spends outside of prison will be added to her sentence. A medical furlough would have meant time spent outside of prison would be considered the same as time spent incarcerated. A United Nations spokesman told AFP it was important that Mohammadi was released temporarily for health reasons in order to receive adequate treatment. The spokesman said the UN reiterated its call for her immediate and unconditional release. Mohammadi has been campaigning for human rights in Iran for decades and has been in and out of prison for the last 20 years. She has been convicted five times since March 2021 and is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for "spreading propaganda" against the Islamic republic. Last month, her husband, Taghi Rahmani, said his wife had been moved to a Tehran hospital after suffering health issues for more than two months. "She had an operation, and the operation was on the right leg, and even moving in the prison, sitting, and doing simple things became impossible for her, and even some prisoners went on hunger strike demanding her release," Rahmani told Radio Farda. "Although prison is not a place for Narges, there is no place for human rights activists in prison at all. She should not go back to prison and all human rights activists and civil activists should be released from prison," he added. Despite being nearly continuously incarcerated since 2010, Mohammadi has often tried to raise awareness about prison conditions and alleged abuses faced by female prisoners. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023. Her teenage children accepted the award in Oslo on her behalf and read out a statement by Mohammadi in which she criticized Iran's "tyrannical" government. "Weeks of enduring excruciating pain in prison, despite tireless advocacy from human rights organizations, and international figures, highlights the persistent disregard for Narges Mohammadi’s basic human rights and the inhumane treatment she endures -- even after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize," the Narges Foundation said in a statement . "The Narges Foundation asserts that a 21-day suspension of Narges Mohammadi's sentence is inadequate. After over a decade of imprisonment, Narges requires specialized medical care in a safe, sanitary environment -- a basic human right. As doctors have emphasized, a minimum of three months' recovery is crucial for her healing." NATO members have agreed to make protecting Ukraine's infrastructure a top priority, alliance chief Mark Rutte said on December 4, as Russia continues to pound Ukrainian cities and towns with drone and missile strikes. Speaking to reporters ahead of the second day of a meeting of foreign ministers from the 32-member military alliance, Rutte said the gathering discussed providing Ukraine with enough air defenses to protect its infrastructure from Russian attacks. "There was a clear agreement around the table last night that to help Ukraine, particularly with its infrastructure, has to be a priority," Rutte said. "I'm confident that allies will follow up in the coming days and weeks in making sure that whatever they can supply to Ukraine will be supplied." Russia has been targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure for the third winter in a row, causing casualties and hampering the supply of electricity to thousands of civilians. Early on December 4, Russian drones attacked the northern Cernihiv region, damaging several houses in a village, regional governor Vyacheslav Chaus said on Telegram. In the central region of Vinnytsya, debris from a falling drone set a house on fire in the Haysyn district, partially destroying it, the State Emergencies Service said on December 4. Separately, the Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched a guided air missile and 50 drones at targets in Ukraine. Ukrainian air defenses shot down 29 drones in nine regions -- Kyiv, Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Chernihiv, Khmelnytskiy, Ternopil, Mykolayiv, and Donetsk -- the air force said, adding that 18 drones were neutralized after their navigation systems were jammed using Ukraine's electronic-warfare capabilities. Separately, strong explosions were reported overnight in Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, one of the main hubs for Russian oil exports and an important military port that hosts part of Russia's Black Sea fleet. An air alert was announced and Novorossiisk Mayor Andrei Kravchenko called on residents to take shelter because of a drone attack. Neither Ukraine nor Russia have so far commented on the explosions. TBILISI -- The United States has urged the Georgian government to treat protesters with dignity after several days of a brutal crackdown in Tbilisi and accusation of excessive use of force and even torture by riot police. Early on December 4 security forces again used water cannons and tear gas to disperse protesters taking part in the sixth consecutive night of protests in the Georgian capital triggered by the ruling Georgian Dream party's announced that it would halt accession talks with the European Union. The U.S. Embassy to Georgia posted a laconic message on its Facebook page on December 4, reading only three words: "Leadership with dignity?" The U.S. message came a day after a similarly curt sentence told the Georgian government "Don't blame others" in a post on Facebook, noting it was Georgian Dream that stopped the EU membership process and the party was to blame for a decision by Washington to halt a strategic partnership between the two countries. On December 4, demonstrators moved from the central Rustaveli Avenue to a nearby subway station after security forces blocked their access to the parliament building and arrested several protesters. Later in the day, law enforcement authorities conducted raids on the offices of several Georgian opposition parties. Offices targeted include those of the United National Movement and the Coalition for Change. Notably, Nika Gvaramia, founder of the Mtavari television network and leader of the opposition party Akhali under the Coalition for Change, was detained by police near the offices of allied parties Girchi -- More Freedom and Droa following searches at those locations. Gvaramia's lawyer, Dito Sadzaglishvili, said on Georgian television that during the arrest the policemen hit him repeatedly in the stomach, resulting in Gvaramia losing his breath for a few seconds. Sadzaglishvili also said that Gvaramia learned that he was arrested for petty hooliganism and failure to comply with a police officer's order by eavesdropping on the conversation of the police. These are commonly used administrative offenses. Sadzaglishvili said a hearing should take place within 48 hours. Another prominent member of the Coalition for Change, activist Gela Khasaia, was also taken into custody during the police operation. The crackdown extended beyond party offices. Law enforcement entered the home of Ilia Glonti, administrator of the Facebook platform Daitove. The platform is known for facilitating the coordination of protest activities, where organizers and participants share logistical details and updates about rallies. Despite the growing protests, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has refused to back down and threatened to punish political opponents, whom he accuses of being behind violence that has occurred at the protests. Security forces started dispersing demonstrators gathered in front of the parliament building after the Interior Ministry said some of them had insulted law enforcement officers and thrown various blunt objects, fireworks, and inflammable items in their direction. Three influential U.S. senators -- U.S. Helsinki Commission Co-Chairman Ben Cardin (Democrat-Maryland), Roger Wicker (Republican- Mississippi), and John Cornyn (Republican-Texas) issued a joint statement in support of the Georgian protesters and condemning the excessive use of violence by the government. "The Georgian Dream's move to abandon European Union membership negotiations is a profound betrayal of the Georgian people’s clear and overwhelming desire to embrace European values and institutions," the three senators said in their statement. "This is not the conduct of a government committed to democratic reforms and pluralism but of an insecure regime dragging Georgia toward Russian-style autocracy. These actions flagrantly violate international democratic norms and undermine the legitimate aspirations of the Georgian people," the statement said, adding, "We strongly condemn the violence unleashed against peaceful protesters – tear gas, rubber bullets, water cannons, beatings, and mass arrests have no place on the streets of Tbilisi." Georgia's ombudsman accused police of torturing pro-EU protesters. Levan Ioseliani, whose role is to defend citizens' rights, said he and his officials had met people subjected to "the harshest treatment" by police. "In most cases, they have received serious injuries in the face, eye and head area, which practically excludes even the possibility that the police used the necessary, proportional force against them every time," he said in a statement. Protesters have described to RFE/RL the brutality employed by security forces against them. "They were hitting us in the head," protester Salome Zandukeli said, describing how she and a friend had been chased on the night of December 2 by some 25 riot police into a building in downtown Tbilisi before taking refuge in a cafe. Activist Gia Jvarsheishvili told RFE/RL that he was thrown to the ground by charging officers and beaten before being shoved into a police van where police pushed detainees to the floor and began stomping on them. "Suddenly, I was in unbearable pain and I realized that I had been injured. I didn't know it then, but I had a broken rib," Jvarsheishvili said. Georgia's pro-European president, Salome Zurabishvili, who has sided with the demnstrators, said on X that many of the arrested protesters had injuries to their heads and faces. Some people were subjected to systematic beatings between arrest and transportation to detention facilities, she added. Georgia has been thrown into turmoil since parliamentary elections in October in which Georgian Dream secured 54 percent of the vote. The opposition and Western governments argued that the poll was marred by violations and Russian influence. Kobakhidze has blamed the unrest on foreign "instructors" and tried to explain the decision to halt EU accession talks through 2028 by saying Georgia is ready for the talks, "but only with dignity and justice and without blackmail." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy criticized the crackdown on protesters and accused the country's leaders of "pushing the country into obvious dependence on Russia." When the Georgian government receives praise from Moscow "it clearly shows who they are working for in Tbilisi and who the protests are being dispersed for," Zelenskiy said in his evening address. He added that Ukraine was working with European countries on a response and he has "given the order to prepare appropriate sanctions resolutions." A majority of Georgians support EU membership, and efforts to join the bloc are mandated in the Georgian Constitution. Georgia received EU candidate status in December 2023 but relations with Brussels have soured in recent months, beginning with the adoption of a Russian-style "foreign agent" law, which critics say threatens media outlets and civil society groups. accusing them of "serving" outside powers. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed the need for diplomacy to resolve the conflict in northern Syria in a phone call on December 3 to discuss the renewed fighting. A statement from Erdogan’s office after the call said Syria should not become a source of greater instability. "President Erdogan emphasized that while Turkey continues to support the territorial integrity of Syria, it also strives for a just and permanent solution in Syria," Erdogan told Putin in their conversation on December 3, according to the statement from Erdogan's office posted on X. He also said it is important to open more space for diplomacy in the region and the Syrian regime must engage in the political solution process, according to the statement. Erdogan vowed Turkey will maintain its determined stance on the fight against the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been designated as a terrorist group by Turkey and the United States, and its "extensions,” who are trying to take advantage of the recent developments in Syria, the statement said. Erdogan and Putin spoke as Syrian rebels advanced against government forces after capturing Aleppo last week. The rebels pushed close on December 3 to the major city of Hama, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the rebels said. The Syrian Observatory said on December 3 that the toll from the rebel offensive in the north had risen to 602 dead, including 104 civilians. An attack on Hama would ramp up pressure on Assad, whose Russian and Iranian allies have scrambled to support him against the revived rebellion. The city has remained in government hands since civil war erupted in 2011. A statement from Syria's army command said its forces were striking "terrorist organizations" in north Hama and Idlib provinces with Russian air support. The Kremlin said Putin stressed the need for a "speedy end to the terrorist aggression against the Syrian state by radical groups." Both leaders noted the importance of further close coordination between Russia, Turkey, and Iran on the matter, a Kremlin statement said. "The two presidents will continue to be in contact with each other in the context of seeking steps to de-escalate the crisis," the statement said. The Syrian civil war had been mostly dormant for years until a major offensive by militants in northwestern Syria revived the conflict. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies last week seized control of most of Aleppo and the surrounding countryside, marking the biggest offensive in years. HTS is a militant Islamist group that seeks to establish a state in Syria governed by Islamic law. The U.S.-designated terrorist organization has between 5,000 and 10,000 fighters, according to U.S. intelligence estimates. The conflict has pitted Moscow and Tehran against Turkey, which supports armed groups involved in the HTS-led offensive. Russia's ambassador to the United Nations late on December 3 accused Ukrainian intelligence services of aiding the HTS. Rebels fighting with HTS are "openly flaunting" that they are supported by Ukraine, Vasily Nebenzya told the UN Security Council. The envoy said there was an "identifiable trail" showing Ukraine's GUR military intelligence service was "providing weapons to fighters" and claimed Ukrainian military instructors from the GUR are training HTS fighters for combat operations, including against Russian troops in Syria. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said earlier that Russia and Iran "bear the main responsibility" for the recent escalation in fighting. It also noted Ukrainians were being targeted on a nightly basis by Iranian-designed drones. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his allies in Iran "continue to make every effort not to lose control over the puppet Syrian regime, which is associated by the majority of Syrians with inhuman cruelty, tyranny, and crimes," the ministry said on December 2. There are indications the conflict could escalate. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on December 3 in an interview with a Qatari news outlet that Tehran would consider sending troops to Syria if Damascus asked. Iraqi Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani said Baghdad would not be "a mere spectator" in Syria and blamed Israeli military strikes on the Syrian government for the rebel advance, his office said. Compounding Assad's problems, fighters from a U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led coalition battled government forces in the northeast, both sides said, opening a new front along a vital supply route. SUKHUMI, Georgia -- De facto lawmakers of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia on December 3 rejected an investment deal with Russia, a document that has caused political turmoil and mass protests, highlighting the region’s fraught relationship with Moscow. The extraordinary parliamentary session, convened at the request of 19 deputies, saw 23 members in attendance, while 12 did not show up. The majority voted against the agreement. There were two abstentions and no votes in favor. The investment agreement, signed on October 30 in Moscow, aimed to strengthen economic ties between the breakaway region and Russia but was met with widespread opposition. Critics, including opposition figures and civil society groups, labeled the deal "exploitative," claiming it would give undue advantages to Russian investors while undermining Abkhazia’s sovereignty. The backlash against the agreement intensified, ultimately leading to the resignation of Abkhazia’s de facto leader, Aslan Bzhania, on November 19. During the parliamentary session on December 3, lawmaker Kan Kvarchia talked to opposition activists who gathered in front of the parliament building describing the agreement as "enslaving for Abkhazia" and lambasting the breakaway region's executive branch for pushing it forward despite widespread opposition. Kvarchia highlighted internal resistance to the agreement, including warnings from parliamentary leaders to delay its signing, which were reportedly ignored by the Economy Ministry. The opposition supporters demanded accountability from acting leader Badra Gunba and called for Bzhania to publicly address allegations of deceit regarding the agreement. The protesters also urged swift action against government officials involved in the controversial deal. Bzhania resigned to maintain "stability and constitutional order," a move he negotiated with opposition leaders to end the occupation of government buildings by protesters at the time. However, Bzhania signaled his intention to contest the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for February 15, 2025. In the interim Gunba has assumed leadership, while Valery Bganba, a former parliamentary speaker, has been appointed de facto prime minister. The current administration will remain in a caretaker capacity until a new leader is elected. The rejection of the agreement and the overall political crisis underscore the delicate balancing act Abkhazia faces in its relationship with Russia. While Moscow provides essential economic and military support, the opposition and segments of the public are wary of overreliance on Russia, fearing it could erode Abkhazia's "independence." Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke away from Georgia's rule after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Moscow recognized the independence of the two regions after Russian forces repelled a Georgian attempt to retake South Ossetia in a five-day war in the summer of 2008 that ended with Georgia's defeat. Most countries still recognize Abkhazia as part of Georgia. The ongoing political crisis also highlights internal divisions within Abkhaz leadership. The opposition’s success in mobilizing public dissent and forcing Bzhania’s resignation suggests growing discontent with the current de facto administration’s handling of governance and external policies. The events could serve as a turning point, potentially reshaping the region’s political landscape ahead of the February 2025 elections. A Russian national, Nomma Zarubina, has been arrested on possible charges of providing false information to U.S. law enforcement and maintaining connections with Russian intelligence services, linking her to another suspected spy who fled the United States while being pursued by authorities. According to FBI allegations presented in a New York Southern District Court hearing in late November, Zarubina was recruited by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in 2020 and operated under the codename "Alyssa." She allegedly worked to build a network of contacts among journalists and experts while carrying out tasks for an FSB officer from her native city of Tomsk in Siberia. The FBI claims that Zarubina deliberately misled agents in 2021, denying any connection with Russian intelligence. Contrary to her statements, she allegedly attended forums and meetings in Europe and the United States to fulfill assignments from the FSB. Notably, Russian opposition figure in exile Leonid Volkov said on Facebook on December 2 that he saw Zarubina at a Washington gathering with his supporters in January 2023. The case also links Zarubina to Elena Branson (aka Chernykh), the head of the Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots in the United States, who was charged in 2022 for illegal activities on behalf of Russian intelligence. Branson, who fled the United States after police searched her New York apartment at the time and is believed to be currently in Russia, has reportedly mentored Zarubina since 2016. Zarubina has been released on $25,000 bail, with restrictions barring her from leaving New York, contacting Russian officials, and surrendering her passport. She said her bail was guaranteed by a third party, but did not say who the party was. Zarubina has maintained an active public profile, often participating as an expert at conferences, such as the Forum of Free States of Post-Russia. On social media, she speculated about Siberia's political future, advocating for a United States of Siberia. Despite her public statements denying espionage, her online activity suggests a more complex narrative. For instance, until September 2023, her profile on VKontakte included posts supporting Kremlin policies, including President Vladimir Putin's 2014 speech on the annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region, a move the United Nations, the United States, and the European Union have all called illegal. Blurred Lines In an interview with RFE/RL's Siberia.Realities, Zarubina denied working as an FSB agent but admitted to being contacted by Russian intelligence in late 2020. She described being coerced into a meeting with FSB officers in Tomsk, where she discussed her personal background and was subsequently monitored by them. Zarubina asserts that she also contacted the FBI in April 2021 to cooperate, sharing insights on various topics, including Ukraine, and has continued to meet with them. Zarubina says she did not expect that FBI would arrest her, stating: "I thought we had good relations; I was helping them. I didn't expect them to use my information against me." She fears reprisal from Russian intelligence, which she believes was unaware of her cooperation with U.S. authorities. "This is no longer about false testimony -- it’s treason in their eyes," she said. Zarubina's case underscores the complexities of modern espionage and influence operations. Her alleged dual involvement with Russian and U.S. intelligence highlights the blurred lines between cooperation and subversion. The mention of her internship at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies and her outreach to opposition activists adds to her narrative. While Zarubina downplays the risk of deportation , citing her American-born daughter, the case is a test of the U.S. judicial system's ability to handle allegations involving foreign intelligence activities. Ukraine has again called for membership in NATO, saying that only joining the alliance in full would guarantee its future security as it fights to stave off Russia's nearly three-year-old full-scale assault. "We are convinced that the only such real guarantee of security for Ukraine, as well as a deterrent factor for further Russian aggression against Ukraine and other states, is only Ukraine's full membership in NATO," Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a statement released ahead of a December 3 meeting of the alliance's foreign ministers in Brussels. In reaction to the ministry's statement, Kremlin spokesman Dimtry Peskov said on December 3 that Ukraine's joining NATO would be "unacceptable" and a "threat" to Russia. The statement comes just days after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Sky News that Ukraine's NATO admittance could end what he described as the “hot phase of the war” triggered by Russia when it launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Zelenskiy told Sky News on November 30 that he would be willing to consider a cease-fire if Ukraine’s unoccupied territories fell under NATO's protection, as long as an invitation to join the alliance recognized Ukraine's international borders. "If we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we need to take under the NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control," Zelenskiy said. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha is set to brief his NATO counterparts in Brussels on the current situation on the eastern front, where Russian troops have been making incremental but steady advances against Kyiv's outnumbered and outgunned forces. The meeting in Brussels is to focus on NATO's continued military support for Ukraine, examine Kyiv's air-defense needs, and also discuss Russia's launching last month of an experimental ballistic missile against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Russia has said that the new medium-range missile, called Oreshnik, can also strike targets across Europe and cannot be stopped by air defenses. On December 3, Zelenskiy announced that Ukraine had conducted a test on new, domestically developed missiles. "We thank our Ukrainian missile developers. We're speeding up production," Zelenskiy said on Telegram after a meeting with the leadership of the Ukrainian military. Russian hybrid attacks and sabotage incidents against NATO members is also due to be discussed in Brussels. Early on December 3, Russia launched yet another drone attack on Ukraine that was largely repelled by Ukrainian air defenses, which shot down 22 out of the 28 incoming drones over nine regions -- Kyiv, Chernihiv, Vinnytsya, Khmelnytskiy, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Odesa, Mykolayiv, and Dnipropetrovsk. Russian shelling also killed a woman early on December 3 in the Dnipro district of the southern region of Kherson, local officials reported . TBILISI -- Riot police used water cannons and tear gas against protesters taking part in the sixth consecutive night of protests in Tbilisi after the the Georgian Interior Ministry warned protesters against committing violent acts. The ministry said on December 3 that "aggressive members" of the protest started illegal and violent actions shortly after gathering in central Tbilisi. Special forces started dispersing demonstrators gathered in front of the parliament building after the ministry said some of them had insulted law enforcement officers and thrown various blunt objects, pyrotechnics, and inflammable items in their direction. At around 11:30 p.m. local time, police used water cannons to move protesters away from the parliament building, pushing them in the direction of the Marriott hotel as they had done on previous nights. The special forces periodically also shot tear gas canisters. Police officers responded by directing water cannons at the protesters, some of whom danced in the stream of water while others sheltered under umbrellas. The Caucasus country has been rocked by demonstrations since the ruling Georgian Dream party announced last week it would halt accession talks on Georgia's application to join the European Union. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has refused to back down and threatened to punish political opponents, whom he accuses of being behind violence that has occurred at the protests. The U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi earlier on December 3 blasted the Georgian Dream party for taking decisions that have cost the country Western support and sparked the demonstrations. Georgia has been thrown into turmoil since parliamentary elections in October in which Georgian Dream secured 54 percent of the vote. The opposition and Western governments argued that the poll was marred by violations and Russian influence. Kobakhidze has blamed the unrest on foreign "instructors" and tried to explain the decision to halt EU accession talks through 2028 by saying Georgia is ready for the talks, "but only with dignity and justice and without blackmail." The U.S. Embassy responded by saying, "Don't blame others" in a post on Facebook, noting it was Georgian Dream that stopped the EU membership process and that the party was to blame for a decision by Washington to halt a strategic partnership between the two countries. The embassy statement came hours after security forces dispersed demonstrators on the fifth night of protests in Tbilisi using tear gas and water cannons. In a change of tactics, several hundred protesters on December 3 left Tbilisi's Chavchavadze Avenue near the state university as police in balaclavas massed in the area following nightlong clashes with demonstrators outside the parliament building, where they have gathered each night since November 28, when the ruling Georgian Dream party declared its decision on EU talks. Georgian security forces' use of excessive violence against protesters has prompted a wave of outrage in the country and abroad, with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte calling it "deeply concerning." At a news conference in Brussels ahead of a meeting of the alliance's foreign ministers, Rutte said NATO members "urge the Georgian government to stay on the path" toward "more EU and NATO integration." "The reports of violence are deeply concerning, and I condemn them unequivocally," he said. Twenty-six people, including 23 protesters and three members of the security forces needed hospitalization after the clashes on the night of December 1, Georgia's Health Ministry said on December 3. "None of the injuries are life threatening," the ministry added in a statement. The Interior Ministry said 224 protesters were detained on administrative charges and three on criminal charges. In addition, three police officers were hospitalized and 113 others have required medical treatment, the ministry said on December 2. Georgian pro-European President Salome Zurabishvili, who has sided with the protesters, said on X that many of the arrested protesters had injuries to their heads and faces. Some people were subjected to systematic beatings between arrest and transportation to detention facilities, she added. Writing on X on December 3, she said force had been used "disproportionately" against the protesters, while Georgia's ombudsman accused police of torturing pro-EU protesters. Levan Ioseliani, whose role is to defend citizens’ rights, said he and his officials had met people subjected to “the harshest treatment” by police. “In most cases, they have received serious injuries in the face, eye and head area, which practically excludes even the possibility that the police used the necessary, proportional force against them every time,” he said in a statement . “The location, character, and degree of the injuries create a credible impression that the police use violent methods against citizens in order to punish them. Intentional, severe violence for the purpose of punishment constitutes an act of torture.” Kobakhidze has claimed that protests were "funded from abroad" and vowed "there will be no revolution in Georgia." Western governments have questioned Georgia's parliamentary elections in October in which Georgian Dream claimed 54 percent of the vote, arguing the elections were marred by violations and Russian influence. Zurabishvili says people wanted free elections, not revolutions. Kobakhidze said earlier that Zurabishvili must leave office at the end of her term later this month. His announcement came despite her pledge to stay in office "until a president is legitimately elected." Zurabishvili and the opposition have alleged fraud and other improprieties and refuse to recognize the new parliament, which last week scheduled an indirect election for a new president for December 14 despite ongoing legal challenges. One of those challenges suffered a setback on December 3 when Georgia's Constitutional Court declined to hear a lawsuit seeking to annul the election results. The case was brought forward by the pro-EU Zurabishvili, whose powers are mostly ceremonial. Her term ends next month. A majority of Georgians support EU membership, and efforts to join the bloc are mandated in the Georgian Constitution. But the ruling Georgian Dream's enactment this year of what Zurabishvili and critics call a "Russian law" clamping down on NGOs and media financed from abroad, as well as a controversial bill on LGBT rights and public attacks on the West by Kobakhidze and other officials, have raised fears the current government is leading the country back into Russia's orbit. 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, which critics say threatens to publicly discredit thousands of media outlets and civil society groups as "serving" outside powers. The United States on December 2 announced a new $725 million military aid package for Ukraine that includes another shipment of landmines and ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and other artillery systems, Stinger missiles, and drones. The United States announced a first shipment of land mines last month in a move that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said was necessary because Russian forces were using dismounted infantry units instead of vehicles to lead their advances. The Ukrainian defenders "have a need for things that can help slow down that effort," Austin said. The Biden administration is working to provide more aid to Kyiv before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump has repeatedly criticized U.S. assistance to Kyiv. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement called the new aid a “significant package of urgently needed weapons and equipment.” The Taliban has ordered all private educational institutions in Afghanistan to cease female medical education starting December 3, according to two informed sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. The directive from the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, was announced on December 2 during a meeting of the extremist group's Public Health Ministry in Kabul. The two sources told RFE/RL that the heads of the private medical institutions affected by the order were summoned to the ministry for the announcement. As a result of the order, all institutions offering training in midwifery, dental prosthetics, nursing, and laboratory sciences are now barred from enrolling or teaching female students, the sources said. Taliban spokesmen were not immediately available for comment. Polish authorities have arrested Irina Rogova, the wife of the former coordinator of the now defunct Open Russia project, on charges of espionage. Rogova (aka Moseikina) will remain in custody for three months, according to a report by the Vot Tak online channel citing the Polish Prosecutor-General's Office. The primary charge is espionage linked to aiding an attempt to commit a crime, Polish officials said but gave no further details. The case appears to be part of a broader investigation. Poland’s Internal Security Agency on November 27 conducted a search of the residence of Danila Buzanov, a Russian acquaintance of Rogova and her husband, Igor Rogov. According to Buzanov, agents inquired about possible ties between Igor Rogov and Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). "They asked questions like, 'Do you know this man?' and 'Did Irina ever mention Igor’s connections to the FSB?'" Buzanov told journalists. Igor Rogov was arrested in late July in the Polish city of Katowice. He faces charges of making a direct threat to the lives and health of numerous individuals as well as significant property damage through sabotage. Despite these allegations, no charges of espionage have been brought against him. Open Russia was a Russian pro-democracy organization established by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a self-exiled former oil magnate and outspoken critic of the Kremlin. The group aimed to promote civil society, democracy, and human rights in Russia. Over the years, it became a platform for opposition figures, activists, and independent journalists. The Russian government labeled Open Russia as an "undesirable organization" in 2017, effectively banning its activities in the country. Members and affiliates faced harassment, legal persecution, and accusations of extremism or foreign collaboration. The group's coordination efforts extended across Europe, engaging with Russian diaspora communities and advocating against the Kremlin’s authoritarian policies. Igor Rogov’s role as a coordinator for Open Russia suggests his work may have included organizing opposition activities or disseminating critical information about Russian governance, potentially putting him under the scrutiny of Russian intelligence agencies. Polish authorities have not confirmed whether Rogov’s involvement with Open Russia is directly linked to the charges of espionage against his wife. BAKU -- A district court in the Azerbaijani capital on December 2 fined the chairman of the opposition Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (AXCP), Ali Karimli, over accusations that he defamed a bitter rival in connection with his expulsion from the party five years ago. Tempers flared outside the Nasimi District courthouse before Judge Babek Panahov handed down the fine of 1,500 manats ($882) against Karimli, who announced his intention to appeal the decision. AXCP representatives said police detained multiple people after ordering Karimli supporters gathered outside to disperse and to move their vehicles before the court session began. Karimli tweeted that "Using force, the police detained six activists of the [AXCP]." RFE/RL efforts to learn details of the detentions from the Interior Ministry were unsuccessful. The case has drawn criticism from domestic observers and international human rights organizations, further highlighting concerns about judicial independence in Azerbaijan. The accusation stems from a complaint filed as a special indictment against Karimli. Aydin Aliyev, a former AXCP member expelled five years ago but subsequently reinstated by court order, accused Karimli of slandering him in television appearances by alleging that Aliyev was collaborating with government authorities. He has sought Karimli's prosecution under a defamation article of the Criminal Code. Karimli denies the accusation, arguing that Aliyev’s actions were inconsistent with AXCP’s political agenda, thus justifying his expulsion. He and his lawyer said the ruling -- after a monthslong delay -- appeared to lack legal reasoning. "The Azerbaijani authorities dragged this case on for four months, despite knowing that neither the Azerbaijani public nor the international community took it seriously," Karimli said. "Arresting a political opponent on such an absurd charge would have been indefensible, so they chose this measure instead." President Aliyev has ruled the oil-rich South Caucasus state with an iron fist since 2003 after taking over from his father, Heydar, who was president for a decade.

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Power planners have found nuclear energy does not stack up for Australia even after considering new parameters, with large-scale solar and big batteries still the lowest-cost option. or signup to continue reading In the draft generation cost update released on Monday, scientists and energy officials warn taxpayers will need deep pockets and a lead time of at least 15 years to develop nuclear energy generation. For the seventh straight year, renewables were the lowest-cost of any new-build electricity-generating technology. After a global energy crisis and equipment supply crunch several years ago, large-scale solar and lithium battery storage have weathered the inflationary period the best of all technologies. The cost of batteries recorded the largest annual reduction, with capital costs down by one-fifth. Rooftop solar costs are also coming down. The draft GenCost 2024-25 Report comes as the coalition pushes for an end to Australia's nuclear ban and promises to have reactors online in as soon as 10 years if elected in 2025. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, eyeing sites in seven regional centres, has pledged to release the coalition's nuclear costings "this week". But nuclear energy generation would be 1.5 to two times more expensive than large-scale solar, according to the analysis released by the national science agency CSIRO and the Australian Energy Market Operator. A one-gigawatt nuclear plant has a price tag of roughly $9 billion, but the bill would double to $18 billion as the first of its kind. Operators would also need to establish new connection points to safely supply the national electricity grid, experts warn. Advocates have demanded greater recognition of the potential cost advantages of nuclear's long operating life compared to solar panels and wind turbines, but CSIRO chief energy economist and GenCost lead author Paul Graham said he found none. "Similar cost savings can be achieved with shorter-lived technologies including renewables, even when accounting for the need to build them twice," Mr Graham said. Nuclear's capacity factor - referring to how much of a year a reactor could operate at full tilt - remains unaltered at 53-89 per cent based on verifiable data and consideration of Australia's unique electricity generation needs. Nor would the often-touted United Arab Emirates example of a relatively quick 12-year nuclear construction time-frame be achievable here, the report found, because Australians require consultation. An increase in gas generation costs in the update included a premium for hydrogen readiness that was not included in previous data. All new gas turbine projects, including Kurri Kurri in NSW, are expected to include the capability for hydrogen blending and eventual conversion to hydrogen firing when supply becomes more readily available. The draft report is open for feedback until February 11, with a final version due in the second quarter of 2025. Advertisement Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date. We care about the protection of your data. Read our . AdvertisementJoel Dahmen has handled the pressure of closing out a PGA Tour victory, but even that didn't equate to the emotional weight he felt standing over a 5 1/2-foot putt in Georgia on Friday. Miss it, and Dahmen was assured of missing out on fully exempt status on the PGA Tour for 2025. Make it, and he would get to live to fight another weekend. The 37-year-old steadied his hands to drain the putt and make the cut on the number at 1-under par at The RSM Classic on Sea Island, Ga. Dahmen enters the weekend projected to finish 126th in the FedEx Cup Fall standings -- only the top 125 earn fully exempt status for next year. "It was a great putt. I was very nervous," he admitted after the round. "But there's still work to do. It wasn't the game-winner, it was like the half-court shot to get us like at halftime. But without that and the way I played today, I wouldn't have anything this weekend. "I'm hoping I play great this weekend and I hit 36 greens and I just kind of plod my way around and it's super easy, but that's not the way golf is. Really proud of myself today, but there's still work to do." Nothing has come easy this season for the winner of the 2021 Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. Ranked as high as 58th in the Official World Golf Ranking, Dahmen has plummeted as low as 240th this year while posting a lone Top 10 finish against 10 missed cuts in 28 events. This week marks No. 29, including all eight during the FedEx Fall swing as Dahmen has attempted to improve his FedEx Cup ranking. He finished T14 in Mexico two weeks ago, but hasn't managed better than a T40 in the other six. That included a missed cut in Bermuda last week, which ratcheted the pressure up that much more. "You can't get away from anything. The room's a little more quiet around you. Like a pitcher throwing a no-hitter this week, it's a little different," Dahmen said. "Once I missed the cut in Bermuda last week, stress has been high. "You lay in bed, try to go to sleep, but it's like you're sleeping on the lead of a major every night. That's kind of what it feels like, but a little more stressful than that." Dahmen's chances of securing exempt status appeared bleak after opening with a 73 on Thursday. He fell to 2 over with an opening bogey on No. 1, then managed three birdies over his next 15 holes to set up the all-important putt on 18. When the putt dropped, Dahmen hugged his wife, Lona, and playing partner Mark Hubbard said the all the drama during a Friday round in November caused him to "stress drink." "I'm sorry for them, I'm sorry that they're feeling the way I'm feeling," Dahmen said. "I know my wife has been stressed. I have a lot of great people around me and so it's hard on them, but it's just because they love me and they care about me. "I mean, job's not done. ... We have two more steps to go." If Dahmen doesn't improve his standing at least one spot by the end of the weekend, he will still retain conditional status in the Nos. 126-150 category. Either way, Dahmen -- who gained "every man" fame along with caddie Gino Bonnali in the Netflix documentary "Full Swing" -- said his professional golf story is far from done. "I still got more to write this weekend, for sure, but without having the opportunity to play this weekend, my story would be a lot shorter this year," he said. "What happens this weekend, my story's still not done. I have a lot left in me and I'm going to give my all. "But this weekend's big, for sure." This article first appeared on Field Level Media and was syndicated with permission.

WASHINGTON (AP) — After several weeks working mostly behind closed doors, Vice President-elect JD Vance returned to Capitol Hill this week in a new, more visible role: Helping Donald Trump try to get his most contentious Cabinet picks to confirmation in the Senate, where Vance has served for the last two years. Vance arrived at the Capitol on Wednesday with former Rep. Matt Gaetz and spent the morning sitting in on meetings between Trump’s choice for attorney general and key Republicans, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The effort was for naught: Gaetz announced a day later that he was withdrawing his name amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations and the reality that he was unlikely to be confirmed. Thursday morning Vance was back, this time accompanying Pete Hegseth, the “Fox & Friends Weekend” host whom Trump has tapped to be the next secretary of defense. Hegseth also has faced allegations of sexual assault that he denies. Vance is expected to accompany other nominees for meetings in coming weeks as he tries to leverage the two years he has spent in the Senate to help push through Trump's picks. The role of introducing nominees around Capitol Hill is an unusual one for a vice president-elect. Usually the job goes to a former senator who has close relationships on the Hill, or a more junior aide. But this time the role fits Vance, said Marc Short, who served as Trump’s first director of legislative affairs as well as chief of staff to Trump’s first vice president, Mike Pence, who spent more than a decade in Congress and led the former president’s transition ahead of his first term. ”JD probably has a lot of current allies in the Senate and so it makes sense to have him utilized in that capacity,” Short said. Unlike the first Trump transition, which played out before cameras at Trump Tower in New York and at the president-elect's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, this one has largely happened behind closed doors in Palm Beach, Florida. There, a small group of officials and aides meet daily at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort to run through possible contenders and interview job candidates. The group includes Elon Musk, the billionaire who has spent so much time at the club that Trump has joked he can’t get rid of him. Vance has been a constant presence, even as he’s kept a lower profile. The Ohio senator has spent much of the last two weeks in Palm Beach, according to people familiar with his plans, playing an active role in the transition, on which he serves as honorary chair. Vance has been staying at a cottage on the property of the gilded club, where rooms are adorned with cherubs, oriental rugs and intricate golden inlays. It's a world away from the famously hardscrabble upbringing that Vance documented in the memoir that made him famous, “Hillbilly Elegy.” His young children have also joined him at Mar-a-Lago, at times. Vance was photographed in shorts and a polo shirt playing with his kids on the seawall of the property with a large palm frond, a U.S. Secret Service robotic security dog in the distance. On the rare days when he is not in Palm Beach, Vance has been joining the sessions remotely via Zoom. Though he has taken a break from TV interviews after months of constant appearances, Vance has been active in the meetings, which began immediately after the election and include interviews and as well as presentations on candidates’ pluses and minuses. Among those interviewed: Contenders to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray , as Vance wrote in a since-deleted social media post. Defending himself from criticism that he’d missed a Senate vote in which one of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees was confirmed, Vance wrote that he was meeting at the time "with President Trump to interview multiple positions for our government, including for FBI Director.” “I tend to think it’s more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49-46 rather than 49-45,” Vance added on X. “But that’s just me.” While Vance did not come in to the transition with a list of people he wanted to see in specific roles, he and his friend, Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is also a member of the transition team, were eager to see former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. find roles in the administration. Trump ended up selecting Gabbard as the next director of national intelligence , a powerful position that sits atop the nation’s spy agencies and acts as the president’s top intelligence adviser. And he chose Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services , a massive agency that oversees everything from drug and food safety to Medicare and Medicaid. Vance was also a big booster of Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who will serve as Trump's “border czar.” In another sign of Vance's influence, James Braid, a top aide to the senator, is expected to serve as Trump’s legislative affairs director. Allies say it’s too early to discuss what portfolio Vance might take on in the White House. While he gravitates to issues like trade, immigration and tech policy, Vance sees his role as doing whatever Trump needs. Vance was spotted days after the election giving his son’s Boy Scout troop a tour of the Capitol and was there the day of leadership elections. He returned in earnest this week, first with Gaetz — arguably Trump’s most divisive pick — and then Hegseth, who has was been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2017, according to an investigative report made public this week. Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing. Vance hosted Hegseth in his Senate office as GOP senators, including those who sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee, filtered in to meet with the nominee for defense secretary. While a president’s nominees usually visit individual senators’ offices, meeting them on their own turf, the freshman senator — who is accompanied everywhere by a large Secret Service detail that makes moving around more unwieldy — instead brought Gaetz to a room in the Capitol on Wednesday and Hegseth to his office on Thursday. Senators came to them. Vance made it to votes Wednesday and Thursday, but missed others on Thursday afternoon. Vance is expected to continue to leverage his relationships in the Senate after Trump takes office. But many Republicans there have longer relationships with Trump himself. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, said that Trump was often the first person to call him back when he was trying to reach high-level White House officials during Trump's first term. “He has the most active Rolodex of just about anybody I’ve ever known,” Cramer said, adding that Vance would make a good addition. “They’ll divide names up by who has the most persuasion here,” Cramer said, but added, “Whoever his liaison is will not work as hard at it as he will.” Cramer was complimentary of the Ohio senator, saying he was “pleasant” and ” interesting” to be around. ′′He doesn’t have the long relationships," he said. "But we all like people that have done what we’ve done. I mean, that’s sort of a natural kinship, just probably not as personally tied.” Under the Constitution, Vance will also have a role presiding over the Senate and breaking tie votes. But he's not likely to be needed for that as often as was Kamala Harris, who broke a record number of ties for Democrats as vice president, since Republicans will have a bigger cushion in the chamber next year. Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.Conners shot 4 of 9 from the field, including 2 for 5 from 3-point range, and went 9 for 10 from the line for the Mountaineers (4-2). Tate scored 17 points, going 6 of 14 from the floor, including 3 for 6 from 3-point range, and 2 for 4 from the line. Jackson Threadgill had 11 points and shot 4 for 11, including 1 for 3 from beyond the arc. Lamar Wilkerson led the way for the Bearkats (3-3) with 22 points. Marcus Boykin added 11 points, five assists and four steals for Sam Houston. Dorian Finister also had 10 points and seven rebounds. Threadgill scored nine points in the first half and Appalachian State went into the break trailing 33-30. Tate scored a team-high 10 points for Appalachian State in the second half. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .

Aston Villa’s disallowed goal would have counted in England – Unai Emery

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Tens of thousands of Spaniards marched in downtown Barcelona on Saturday to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in the popular tourist destination. Protesters cut off traffic on main avenues in the city center, holding up homemade signs in Spanish reading “Fewer apartments for investing and more homes for living” and “The people without homes uphold their rights.” The lack of affordable housing has become one of the leading concerns for the southern European Union country, mirroring the housing crunch across many parts of the world, including the United States . Organizers said that over 170,000 had turned out, while Barcelona’s police said they estimated some 22,000 marched. Either way, the throngs of people clogging the streets recalled the massive separatist rallies at the height of the previous decade’s Catalan independence movement. Now, social concerns led by housing have displaced political crusades. That is because the average rent for Spain has doubled in last 10 years. The price per square meter has risen from 7.2 euros ($7.5) in 2014 to 13 euros this year, according to the popular online real estate website Idealista. The growth is even more acute in cities like Barcelona and Madrid. Incomes meanwhile have failed to keep up, especially for younger people in a country with chronically high unemployment. RELATED COVERAGE Barcelona’s Yamal and Lewandowski out due to injuries Barcelona’s attack keeps clicking and Catalan club earns another big Champions League win Heavy rains in Barcelona disrupt rail service as troops search for more flood victims in Valencia Protester Samuel Saintot said he is “frustrated and scared” after being told by the owners of the apartment he has rented for the past 15 years in Barcelona’s city center that he must vacate the premises. He suspects that the owners want him out so they can renovate it and boost the price. “Even looking in a 20- or 30-kilometer radius outside town, I can’t even find anything within the price range I can afford,” he told The Associated Press. “And I consider myself a very fortunate person, because I earn a decent salary. And even in my case, I may be forced to leave town.” A report by the Bank of Spain indicates that nearly 40% of Spaniards who rent dedicate an average of 40% of their income to paying rents and utilities, compared to the European Union average of 27% of renters who do so. “We are talking about a housing emergency. It means people having many difficulties both in accessing and staying in their homes,” said Ignasi Martí, professor for Esade business school and head of its Dignified Housing Observatory. The rise in rents is causing significant pain in Spain, where traditionally people seek to own their homes. Rental prices have also been driven up by short-term renters including tourists. Many migrants to Spain are also disproportionately hit by the high rents because they often do not have enough savings. Spain is near the bottom end of OECD countries with under 2% of all housing available being public housing for rent. The OECD average is 7%. Spain is far behind France, with 14%, Britain with 16%, and the Netherlands with 34%. “I think it’s impossible to make prices fall to what they were a few years back. It makes me cry,” said protester Laia Pizjuán. “It’s so upsetting. I know so many people who are in a bad situation. I have relatives living together in crowded apartments because they can’t afford to live on their own.” Carme Arcarazo, spokesperson for Barcelona’s Tenants Union which helped organize the protest, said that renters should consider a “rent strike” and cease paying their monthly rents in a mass protest movement. “I think we the tenants have understood that this depends on us. That we can’t keep asking and making demands to the authorities and waiting for an answer. We must take the reins of the situation,” Arcarazo told the AP. “So, if they (the owners) won’t lower the rent, then we will force them to do it.” The Barcelona protest came a month after tens of thousands rallied against high rents in Madrid. The rising discontent over housing is putting pressure on Spain’s governing Socialist party, which leads a coalition on the national level and is in charge of Catalonia’s regional government and Barcelona’s city hall. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez presided over what the government termed a “housing summit” including government officials and real estate developers last month. But the Barcelona’s Tenants Union boycotted the event, saying it was like calling a summit for curing cancer and inviting tobacco companies to participate. The leading government measure has been a rent cap mechanism that the central government has offered to regional authorities based on a price index established by the housing ministry. Rent controls can be applied to areas deemed to be “highly stressed” by high rental prices. Catalonia was the first region to apply those caps, which are in place in downtown Barcelona. Many locals blame the million of tourists who visit Barcelona, and the rest of Spain, each year for the high prices. Barcelona’s town hall has pledged to completely eliminate the city’s 10,000 so called “tourist apartments,” or dwellings with permits for short-term rents, by 2028.Business Don't miss out on the headlines from Business. Followed categories will be added to My News. There are two clear groups of Australians right now – those with the cash and those without it, and the cash holders are laughing all the way to the bank. The latest figures from financial regulator APRA show households stashed an extra $19.5bn into cash deposits in October, taking their total holdings to a record $1.54 trillion. Research group Canstar says household deposits have risen more than $272bn since the Reserve Bank began raising interest rates in 2022. Meanwhile, the victims of those rate rises – people with home loans – continue to struggle with repayments costing them 62 per cent more than they were paying in 2022, while the relief of potential RBA rate cuts keeps getting pushed further back into 2025. They are losing because others are winning, and the fact that a large chunk of the population continues to hoard cash suggests there is still plenty of money to be spent in the economy to fuel inflation – and that’s not good news for borrowers. Canstar insights director Sally Tindall says most people would not have predicted that deposits would surge at the same time the RBA cash rate remained at 4.35 per cent. “The recent tax cuts and savings from the energy bill rebates could have easily been spent at the shops, but it appears many Australians are far more focused on saving this extra cash than spending it,” Tindall says. The benefits of holding cash are clear, with interest rates near 5 per cent providing a decent income return that was not available for many years, plus your savings are government guaranteed. It’s a brilliant buffer to hold in uncertain times, and economic and political uncertainty may be a reason why people are stashing more cash. However, anyone with a home loan should avoid holding any cash because the numbers don’t stack up. It makes little sense to have money in a bank account paying you 5 per cent, which is then taxed at your marginal rate, when you can instead divert that to your mortgage through offset accounts or redraw facilities, which deliver an instant 7 per cent after-tax saving in interest. If people are following this golden rule of finance, it suggests that the vast majority of Australians’ $1.54 trillion in cash deposits belongs to households that don’t have home loans. That’s a lot of spending power, and could continue to keep Australia’s inflation higher for longer, which will keep the RBA sitting on the sidelines for longer. Bank deposits continue to climb as home loan customers struggle. Picture: iStock The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics monthly Consumer Price Index indicator showed headline inflation steady at an annual rate of 2.1 per cent, which is will within the 2-3 per cent target band the RBA seeks to achieve with its rate movements, as it was pushed lower by temporary government energy bill rebates. However, underlying annual inflation, which strips out the volatile stuff and is the preferred measure for the RBA when watching CPI, rose from 3.2 per cent in September to 3.5 per cent in October. That’s way above the 2-3 per cent target and heading in the wrong direction for borrowers seeking rate relief. Canstar’s Tindall says the latest inflation date points to a May 2025 RBA rate cut at the earliest, and bank forecasters are tipping at least three cuts next year. Borrowers have learned in the past year or two that these forecasts are rubbery at best. As savers continue cheering these ongoing high interest rates, the wealth gap grows. More Coverage CBA backs down on bank fees David Ross, Cliona O’Dowd Inflation and interest rates: how to stay financially afloat Anthony Keane Originally published as Bank deposits boom as mortgage borrowers battle – the gap widens Join the conversation Add your comment to this story To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout More related stories Business Social licence the missing piece in green dream The head of renewables giant Enel’s Australian business says the absence of a social licence framework for developers is holding back the energy transition. Read more Business Costings cast cloud over Dutton’s nuclear dream The CSIRO has stepped up its attack on the price of Peter Dutton’s nuclear ambition, claiming the cost of large-scale power plants far exceeds firmed renewables over the long term. Read more

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