Europe

Paris — A trial of France’s former President Nicolas Sarkozy and 11 co-defendants started Monday over alleged illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign by the government of then-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Sarkozy, who served as president from 2007 to 2012, did not speak to the press at arrival. He has denied any wrongdoing. He faces charges of passive corruption, illegal campaign financing, concealment of embezzlement …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that North Korea and China are the “biggest ongoing drivers” allowing Russia to carry out its war in Ukraine, and that security assurances will need to be a part of potential future negotiations ending the conflict. Speaking during a visit to South Korea, Blinken said North Korean supplies of artillery, ammunition and troops, along with Chinese support …

London — Heavy snow and freezing rain brought widespread disruptions across Europe on Sunday, particularly in the U.K. and Germany, with several major airports forced to suspend flights. With the weather set to stay inclement on Sunday in the U.K., there are concerns that many rural communities, particularly in the north of England, could be cut off, with up to 40 centimeters (15 inches) of snow …

Podgorica, Montenegro — Several thousand people rallied in Montenegro on Sunday demanding the resignations of top security officials over the shooting earlier this week that left 12 people dead, including two children. Chanting “Resignations” and “Killers,” protesters outside the Interior Ministry building in the capital, Podgorica, demanded that Interior Minister Danilo Saranovic and Deputy Prime Minister for Security and Defense Aleksa Becic step down. Milo Perovic, …

Athens, Greece — The head of the Albanian Orthodox Church, who was airlifted to a hospital in Athens due to complications from a virus, is in a critical condition, the Evangelismos hospital said Sunday. Archbishop Anastasios, 95, was taken to the Greek capital Friday evening, four days after being admitted to hospital in Tirana with what Church officials called a “seasonal virus.” “His Beatitude’s condition is …

Paris — Convoys of farmers set off Sunday to try to block roads around Paris in protest of what they say is unfair competition from overseas and excessive regulation. Farmers from France, the European Union’s biggest agricultural producer, led European-wide protests at the start of 2024, but demonstrations fizzled out as the year went on. However, a move last month by the EU and South American …

Vienna — Austrian People’s Party on Sunday nominated its General Secretary Christian Stocker as interim leader after the expected resignation of Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Austrian news agency APA reported.  Nehammer announced Saturday he would resign in the next few days after coalition talks with the Social Democrats collapsed.  Stocker, a lawyer and member of the Austrian Parliament, has served as general secretary of the People’s Party …

ATHENS, GREECE — Costas Simitis, former prime minister of Greece and the architect of the country’s joining the common European currency, the euro, has died at age 88, state TV ERT reported.  Simitis was taken to a hospital in the city of Corinth early Sunday morning from his holiday home west of Athens, unconscious and without a pulse, the hospital’s director was quoted as saying by …

KYIV, UKRAINE — The pro-Russian breakaway Moldovan region of Transdniestria, left without Russian gas supplies no longer transiting through neighboring Ukraine, faced longer periods of rolling power cuts on Saturday, local authorities said.  Flows of Russian gas via Ukraine to central and eastern Europe stopped on New Year’s Day after a transit deal expired between the warring countries and Kyiv refused to extend it.  Transdniestria, a …

WASHINGTON — An investigation by a U.S. Senate panel has found that troubled investment bank Credit Suisse concealed information during previous inquiries into Nazi-controlled bank accounts during World War II. Tens of thousands of documents discovered during an ongoing examination have provided new proof of the existence of account holders linked to the Nazis, the Senate Budget Committee said in a statement released Saturday. The bank …

VIENNA — Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said Saturday he will resign in the coming days after talks on forming a new government failed a second time.  The announcement came after the People’s Party and the Social Democrats on Saturday continued coalition talks a day after the liberal Neos party’s surprise withdrawal from discussions.  “Unfortunately, I have to tell you today that the negotiations have ended and …

Russia-appointed officials in Moscow-occupied Crimea announced a regional emergency Saturday, as oil was detected on the shores of Sevastopol, the peninsula’s largest city. Fuel oil spilled out of two storm-stricken tankers nearly three weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, close to eastern Crimea — about 250 kilometers from Sevastopol, which lies on the southwest of the peninsula. “Today a regional emergency regime has been declared …

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis warned that bullying in schools prepares students for war rather than peace, in a speech to Catholic educators gathered at the Vatican on Saturday.  Speaking to about 2,000 Italian educators and parents, Francis stressed his message against bullying, asking the audience to pledge to fight against it both at school and at home.  The pontiff praised educational efforts at schools to …

LONDON — Prince William expressed his shock and sadness Saturday at the news of the death of his former nanny’s stepson in the New Year’s truck attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people. London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed Saturday that they are supporting the family of 31-year-old Edward Pettifer, including helping them through the process of returning his body to the United Kingdom. Pettifer, who is …

Russia’s defense ministry said on Saturday that Russian forces had taken control of the village of Nadiya in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region and had shot down eight U.S.-made ATACMS missiles. Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports. The ministry said its air defense systems had shot down 10 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory on Saturday morning, including three over the northern Leningrad region. St. …

NEW YORK — Say hello to the latest dog in the American Kennel Club’s lineup of recognized breeds. Or you might say “hej.” The Danish-Swedish farmdog — yep, that’s the official name — joined the pack Thursday. The designation makes the breed eligible to compete for many best in show trophies, and it likely augurs more widespread interest in the small, sprightly dogs. The prospect both …

Kyiv, ukraine — Moldova faces a security crisis, Prime Minister Dorin Recean said Friday, after its separatist pro-Moscow Transdniestria region, cut off from supplies of Russian gas, closed factories, restricted central heating and imposed rolling power blackouts.  Flows of Russian gas via Ukraine to central and eastern Europe were halted on New Year’s Day after a transit agreement between the warring countries expired and Kyiv rejected …

VIENNA — Talks on forming a new three-party government in Austria collapsed Friday as the smallest of the prospective coalition partners pulled the plug on the negotiations. The talks had dragged on since Austria’s president tasked conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer in October with putting together a new government. That decision came after all other parties refused to work with the leader of the far-right Freedom Party, …

PODGORICA, Montenegro — A top-level meeting in Montenegro on Friday looked for ways to curb illegal weapons after a gunman fatally shot 12 people in a second such tragedy in less than three years in the small Balkan country. An emergency session of Montenegro’s National Security Council is expected to call for a new gun law and urgent actions to confiscate what are believed to be …

DUBAI — Iran’s foreign ministry summoned the Italian ambassador on Friday over the detention of an Iranian national wanted by the United States for his alleged role in a deadly drone strike against U.S. forces, Iranian state media reported. The summons came a day after a similar move by Italy over Iran’s arrest of Italian reporter Cecilia Sala, who was seized in Tehran on December 19 …

KYIV, UKRAINE — A Russian drone attack towards the Ukrainian capital on Friday killed one person and wounded four in the Kyiv suburbs, local officials said. Moscow’s forces have escalated their aerial strikes across Ukraine through the first weeks of winter, including a New Year’s Day drone attack targeting central Kyiv that killed two. “One person killed and four wounded in enemy air attack on Kyiv …

DAMASCUS, SYRIA — The foreign ministers of France and Germany are headed to Damascus on the first official visit to Syria by top diplomats from European Union countries after the fall of former President Bashar Assad, in what the German minister said is a clear signal that a “new beginning” between Europe and Syria is possible. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, who began the visit Friday …

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump could be “decisive” in the outcome of the yearslong war between Ukraine and Russia. “Trump can be decisive. For us, this is the most important thing,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with Ukrainian television. Zelenskyy said Trump had told him he would be one of the first to visit Washington after the presidential inauguration …

The Human Rights Association in Turkey announced that three female prisoners had been tortured in Patnos Prison in Agri, and despite some complaints, no investigation has been initiated. The prison administration neither denied nor confirmed the torture to VOA.   Click here for the full story in Kurdish.     …