Europe

Washington — The U.S. Treasury Department said Wednesday that it is expanding the web of sanctions on companies and institutions supporting Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine, re-designating about 100 entities for sanctions and placing sanctions on 15 new entities. A senior Treasury Department official said that under the sanctions, any company that does meaningful business with parts of Russia’s military industrial complex also would face the …

London — Support appears to be growing in the West to fully seize hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of Russian assets that were frozen following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, amid speculation that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will try to seek a peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv soon after he takes office next week. Nations, including the United States, Canada, Britain, several European Union …

Support is growing in the West to seize hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of Russian assets that were frozen following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As Henry Ridgwell reports, European allies fear incoming U.S. President Donald Trump may slash military aid for Kyiv – and some say the Russian assets could make up the shortfall. …

Officials in western Ukraine said Wednesday a Russian missile attack hit critical infrastructure facilities in the Lviv region. Lviv Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said the missile strikes took place in two separate areas, and that there were no casualties. Ukraine’s military issued air alerts for regions across the country Wednesday, while the national power grid operator instituted power cuts in six regions. Cherkasy Governor Ihor Taburets …

As Russian President Vladimir Putin and his key ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, organize waves of illegal immigration into the EU as a tool of their hybrid war against the West, Poland has been building a wall on the border with Belarus, shielding itself from current and potentially future Russia’s hostile efforts. The wall, more than 5 meters high, stretches for more than 136 kilometers. …

The Russian army is strengthening its positions in villages around the key eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk in an attempt to encircle it and lay siege to a vital transport hub linking embattled Donbas with the rest of Ukraine. Ukrainian forces have been repelling the Russian attacks so far, but the battle is continuing for every remaining house in the villages surrounding Pokrovsk. Click here …

PARIS — France’s new prime minister, Francois Bayrou, announced Tuesday the renegotiation of a contested plan raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, in a crucial move to seek more stability for his minority government.  In his first address to lawmakers at the National Assembly, Bayrou said: “I’m choosing to put this subject back on the agenda, with the social partners, for a short time …

HELSINKI — European nations must be prepared to face further incidents in the Baltic Sea following the recent damage to undersea infrastructure, leaders of NATO countries in the region said on Tuesday ahead of a security meeting in Helsinki. Baltic Sea nations are on high alert after a string of power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline outages in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine …

LONDON — Britain’s antitrust regulator said on Tuesday it would investigate Google’s search services using its new powers to see how they impact consumers and businesses, including advertisers, news publishers and rival search engines. The Competition and Markets Authority, which has gained new powers to examine big tech, said search was vital for economic growth and it was critical that competition was working well. “Millions of …

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius visited Ukraine on Tuesday in a show of support for the country in its fight against the Russian invasion that began nearly three years ago. German officials said the visit was aimed at reassuring Ukraine it will continue to receive support, with Pistorius to meet with top Ukrainian officials. The visit comes less than a week before U.S. President-elect Donald …

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — Malaysia said on Tuesday it will encourage sustainability while maintaining the competitiveness of its palm oil industry ahead of the implementation of the European Union’s anti-deforestation law at the end of this year. The EU last month approved a one-year delay to the landmark deforestation law, which bans the importation of palm oil, soy and other goods linked to the destruction of …

KYIV, UKRAINE — Russian forces are bypassing a key stronghold in eastern Ukraine that they have fought for months to capture and are focusing instead on cutting supply lines to it, a Ukrainian official said Monday. Russian troops are going around the vital logistics hub of Pokrovsk, where a steadfast Ukrainian defense has kept them at bay, and are taking aim at a highway that leads …

CHISINAU, MOLDOVA — The prime minister of Moldova’s separatist Transniestria region said Monday that the abrupt curtailment of Russian gas supplies that plunged the region into an energy crisis has also shattered both its exports and imports. The cutoff, prompted by Ukraine’s refusal to renew an agreement allowing Russian gas to transit through Ukraine, has led to daily blackouts in the pro-Russian region of some 350,000 …

Pro-Kremlin Russian media lost millions of readers and viewers in 2024, with some state propaganda outlets having their audiences slashed by up to a third. The main propaganda TV channel, Channel One, has lost a quarter of its viewers since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Experts who spoke to VOA Russian note this has become a steady trend that the Kremlin has so …

U.S. experts believe that Western sanctions imposed on Russia turned out to be not painful enough for the oligarchs in Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. They say that the West has also overestimated the influence that oligarchs have on Putin and on his intent to continue the war in Ukraine. Despite having some of their assets frozen, the oligarchs managed to prosper, benefiting from their loyalty …

Around 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed and 2,700 others injured in Russia’s war in Ukraine, South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers in a closed briefing Monday. The National Intelligence Service said it had participated in the interrogation of several North Korean troops who were captured by Ukrainian forces. The briefing came days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the capture of two North …

Niamey, Niger — An Austrian woman has been kidnapped by gunmen in Niger’s Agadez city, residents and the Austrian Foreign Ministry said Sunday. It is the first time a European citizen is known to have been kidnapped in the conflict-hit West African nation since a military junta took power in 2023. The ministry said the Austrian Embassy in Algeria, which is also responsible for Niger, had …

London — Hundreds of Londoners headed down to the Underground on Sunday afternoon, stripped down to their underwear and travelled around a bit, trying to look as though nothing unusual was going on. As if. This was the Official No Trousers Tube Ride, an annual event with no point other than injecting a little levity into the bleak midwinter. No deep meaning, no bigger motive. The …

BUCHAREST — Tens of thousands protested in Romania’s capital on Sunday against a top court’s decision last month to annul the presidential election after an outsider candidate unexpectedly emerged as the frontrunner. Many of the demonstrators in Bucharest honked horns and waved Romania’s blue, yellow, and red flags, while others brandished placards bearing slogans such as “Democracy is not optional” and “We want free elections.” Many …

Rome — Italy’s justice minister has asked an appeals court to revoke the arrest of an Iranian citizen wanted by the U.S. over a drone attack in Jordan that killed three Americans a year ago.  Mohammad Abedini is scheduled to appear at a Milan court on Wednesday in connection with his bid for house arrest pending the extradition process to the U.S.  He was arrested on …

KYIV — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on allies on Sunday to honor all promises to supply Ukraine with weapons, including those to counter Russian air attacks. Zelenskyy said that over the past week Russian forces had launched hundreds of strikes on Ukraine and nearly 700 aerial bombs and over 600 attack drones were used. Ukrainian air defenses downed 60 out of 94 drones launched by …

ZAGREB, CROATIA — Croatia’s incumbent President Zoran Milanovic was the overwhelming favorite to win reelection as he faced a candidate from the ruling conservative party in a runoff presidential vote on Sunday. The left-leaning Milanovic comfortably won the first round of voting on December 29, leaving his main challenger, Dragan Primorac, a forensic scientist who had unsuccessfully run for presidency previously, and six other candidates far …

MAMOUDZOU, FRANCE — Residents of the French territory of Mayotte braced Saturday for a storm expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain less than a month after the Indian Ocean archipelago was devastated by a deadly cyclone.  Mayotte was placed on a red weather alert from 1900 GMT on Saturday in anticipation of the passage of Cyclone Dikeledi to the south of the territory.  Authorities …

RIESA, GERMANY — The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party set out a radical program Saturday at a party congress ahead of next month’s snap general election as thousands of protesters took to the streets to voice their opposition to the party.  Demonstrators shouting “No to Nazis” outside the venue in the eastern town of Riesa succeeded in delaying the start of the congress by around …