Europe

The Haitian government on Wednesday celebrated the 221st anniversary of the country’s independence. In his speech, Leslie Voltaire, president of the Presidential Transition Council, called for peace in the country and took the opportunity to ask France to repay the debt of independence and reparations for slavery. Click here for the full story in Creole. …

The Kremlin is using uncertainty following the ouster of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, and the potential loss of Russia’s military toehold in Syria, to accuse the United States of sowing instability in the country.  On Dec. 29, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov signaled that the end of the Assad regime would push Russia to “make certain adjustments to Russia’s military presence in Syria.”  Lavrov said …

LONDON — A worker digging up clay in a southern England limestone quarry noticed unusual bumps that led to the discovery of a “dinosaur highway” and nearly 200 tracks that date back 166 million years, researchers said Thursday.  The extraordinary find made after a team of more than 100 people excavated the Dewars Farm Quarry, in Oxfordshire, in June expands upon previous paleontology work in the …

Rome — Italy’s foreign ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador on Thursday to demand the immediate release of reporter Cecilia Sala, who was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19 while working under a regular journalistic visa. The ministry said in a statement it had relayed “serious concern” over Sala’s detention and stressed the need for humane treatment and respect for her human rights.   Italian media have …

Ukraine’s military said Thursday it shot down 47 drones Russian forces launched overnight at areas in central and eastern Ukraine. Russia used a total of 72 drones in its attacks, the military said. Ukrainian air defenses shot down drones over the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Odessa and Sumy regions. Officials in those areas did not immediately report any major damage. …

LONDON — Parts of the United Kingdom were flooded Wednesday as heavy rains and powerful winds continued to disrupt New Year’s celebrations. Several communities in the Manchester area were flooded, with several homes evacuated and cars submerged up to their roofs on roads and in parking lots after nearly a month’s worth of rain fell in two days. A major incident was declared and mountain rescue …

PODGORICA, MONTENEGRO — At least 10 people, including two children, were killed and four others were wounded in a shooting on Wednesday that followed a bar brawl in a western Montenegrin city, officials said. The shooter was on the run. Police identified the attacker as Aco Martinovic, 45. He killed the owner of the bar in the city of Cetinje, the bar owner’s children and his …

WASHINGTON — Press freedom groups and media organizations are calling for Iran to release an Italian journalist who was arrested last month.   Cecilia Sala, who works for the daily Italian newspaper Il Foglio, was arrested on Dec. 19 and is being held in Iran’s notorious Evin prison. The 29-year-old was reporting in Iran on a journalist visa and was due to return to Italy on Dec. …

ROME — Pope Francis ushered in the New Year with a renewed appeal for the faithful to reject abortion, calling for a “firm commitment” to protect and respect life from conception to natural death.  Francis, 88, celebrated a New Year’s Day Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday that was dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus.  In his homily, he prayed that everyone learns to …

Geneva — U.N. human rights monitors find that almost three years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the human rights situation in the country and areas occupied by Russia is on a downward spiral, as military operations intensify, civilian casualties rise, and torture, summary executions and other gross violations proliferate. “The human rights situation remains bleak with a still-rising number of civilian casualties, continued executions and torture …

Russian gas exports crossing through Ukraine were halted Wednesday with the expiration of a transit agreement. The development will force some European nations to find alternative sources of gas with the interruption of the decades-old route. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine had already prompted many in the European Union to cut their dependence on Russian gas. “We stopped the transit of Russian gas. This is …

Officials in Ukraine’s capital said Wednesday a Russian drone attack injured at least six people. Serhii Popko, head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration, said on Telegram that the attack damaged multiple buildings and a tram track. In Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, Governor Serhiy Lysak said Russia attacked with artillery, rockets and drones, damaging seven houses and a medical center. Officials in the Cherkasy and Mykolaiv regions …

VOA Russian speaks to regional experts who believe that President Vladimir Putin has unexpectedly found himself in a corner after it appears Russian air defense accidentally shot down an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane. Azerbaijan will not completely break away from Russia, but Baku’s strong statements indicate that Russia’s influence over the region will rapidly decrease. Click here for the full story in Russian. …

BELGRADE, SERBIA — Instead of the traditional boisterous street partying on New Year’s Eve, tens of thousands of protesters led by university students gathered overnight in Belgrade and other Serbian cities to demand political reforms and justice in the Balkan country. The protesters have been actively demonstrating following the tragic collapse of a concrete canopy in the northern city of Novi Sad’s central train station on …

ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST — Ivory Coast announced on Tuesday that French troops will leave the country after a decadeslong military presence. It is the latest African nation to downscale military ties with its former colonial power. Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara said the pullout would begin in January. France has had as many as 600 troops in Ivory Coast. “We have decided on the concerted and organized …

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA — Romania and Bulgaria became full members of the Schengen zone on Wednesday, expanding the borderless area to 29 members and ending a 13-year wait for the two eastern European countries. The expansion, made possible when Austria and other members dropped their objections to the former communist countries joining, officially took place at midnight on Wednesday, marked by ceremonies at various border posts. Romania …

France said Tuesday it had carried out airstrikes against Islamic State militant positions in Syria. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said in a post on X that the strikes happened Sunday, but did not specify where in Syria they took place. The French action follows several rounds of U.S. strikes against Islamic State targets in the weeks since rebels ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from …

CHISINAU, MOLDOVA — On a frigid morning in Moldova’s capital, 39-year-old postal worker Petru Murzin braces for a difficult winter as he fears a looming energy shortage could leave many Moldovans with “no heating, no light.” His concerns aren’t unfounded. On January 1, Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom is set to halt gas supplies to the European Union candidate country over an alleged $709 million debt …

Russian officials said Tuesday that debris from a destroyed Ukrainian drone fell on an oil facility in the Smolensk region, causing a fire.  The Russian defense ministry said it shot down a total of 68 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 10 over Smolensk.  Intercepts also took place over the Bryansk, Crimea, Krasnodar, Tver, Rostov, Kursk and Kaluga regions, the ministry said.  There were no other reports …

BELGRADE, Serbia — A court in Serbia on Monday convicted the parents of a teenage boy who last year shot dead nine pupils and a school guard and wounded six more people in a school in central Belgrade.  The Higher Court in Belgrade sentenced Vladimir Kecmanovic, father of the boy, to 14 years, six months in prison for “grave acts against public safety” and for child …

Paris — French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou arrived Monday in the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte to unveil a recovery plan three weeks after Cyclone Chido brought devastation. Bayrou, recently appointed prime minister, also updated the death toll to 39 but urged caution, saying the final number could range from “a few dozen to a few hundred.” Days after the cyclone, Mayotte’s prefect, François-Xavier Bieuville, had …

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced a rule change that will allow companies to retain foreign workers on H-1B visas whom they consider “talented.”  Click here to see the full story in Spanish.  …

ATHENS, GREECE — Greece announced plans on Monday to enhance parental oversight of mobile devices in 2025 through a government-operated app that will help get digital age verification and browsing controls.  Dimitris Papastergiou, the minister of digital governance, said the Kids Wallet app, due to launch in March, was aimed at safeguarding children under the age of 15 from the risks of excessive and inappropriate internet …

Berlin — The German government on Monday sought to downplay efforts by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk to get involved in the country’s general election campaign by again endorsing the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party. Musk caused uproar over the weekend after backing the AfD in an opinion piece in a major newspaper, leading to the resignation of the paper’s opinion editor in protest. “Freedom …