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Biden defends foreign policy record despite ongoing crises

Washington — Outgoing President Joe Biden sought to burnish his foreign policy record Monday and said U.S. adversaries are weaker than when he took office four years ago despite global crises that remain unresolved. 

A week before handing over to President-elect Donald Trump, Biden in a rare State Department speech touted his administration’s backing for Ukraine against Russia’s 2022 invasion and for Israel’s wars in the Middle East. 

Biden said the United States was “winning the worldwide competition” and would not be surpassed economically by China as had been predicted, while Russia and Iran have been weakened by wars without direct U.S. involvement. 

“Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are weaker,” Biden said. “We have not gone to war to make these things happen.” 

While wars continue to rage in Ukraine and the Middle East, officials hope a deal between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas can be reached before Biden departs the White House on Jan. 20. 

Biden said negotiators were close to reaching a deal that would free hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and halt the fighting in the Palestinian enclave to allow a surge of humanitarian aid. 

“So many innocent people have been killed, so many communities have been destroyed. Palestinian people deserve peace,” he said. 

Biden has faced criticism for providing Israel with weapons and diplomatic support during its assault on Gaza after Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. 

Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave laid to waste and most of its population displaced. 

Protesters shouting “war criminal” greeted Biden outside the State Department on Monday, some with signs and some throwing red liquid intended to look like blood. 

Biden said he had helped Israel defeat adversaries like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, both backed by Iran. The U.S. president also hailed Washington’s support for Israel during two Iranian attacks in 2024. 

“All told, Iran is weaker than it’s been in decades,” he added, noting the collapse of the Syrian Assad government. “There’s no question that our actions contributed significantly.” 
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Russia says Iran’s president will visit this week, sign partnership pact with Putin

Moscow — Russian President Vladimir Putin will host his Iranian counterpart this week for the signing of a broad partnership pact between Moscow and Tehran, the Kremlin said Monday.

The agreement on “comprehensive strategic partnership” between the countries will be signed during Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s visit to Moscow on Friday, the Kremlin said.

It added that the leaders will discuss plans for expanding trade and cooperation in transport, logistics and humanitarian spheres along with “acute issues on the regional and international agenda.”

Ukraine and the West have accused Tehran of providing Moscow with hundreds of exploding drones for use on the battlefield in Ukraine and helping launch their production in Russia. The Iranian drone deliveries, which Moscow and Tehran have denied, have allowed for a barrage of long-range drone strikes on Ukraine’s infrastructure.

Iran, in turn, wants sophisticated Russian weapons like long-range air defense systems and fighter jets to help fend off possible attacks by Israel.

Pezeshkian will visit Moscow three days before the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has pledged to broker a peace deal on Ukraine.
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‘Exhausted’ Frenchman held in Iran since 2022 reveals identity

PARIS — A Frenchman held in Iran since October 2022 on Monday revealed his identity in an audio message broadcast on a French radio station, saying he was becoming increasingly exhausted over his ordeal.

Olivier Grondeau, 34, had previously only been identified by his first name and French authorities had not released details of his case. 

In an audio message aired on France Inter on Monday, Grondeau fully identified himself and warned that he and the other two French detainees held in Iran were “exhausted.”

The other two French nationals currently held in Iran are teacher Cecile Kohler and her partner, Jacques Paris, who were detained in May 2022. They are accused of seeking to stir up labor protests, accusations their families have vehemently denied.

“You, who have the power to influence this matter, hear this truth,” he said in the audio message, apparently addressing the French authorities.

“Cecile’s strength, Jacques’ strength, Olivier’s strength — it is all running out,” he said. “Your responsibility is called upon to ensure the survival of three human beings,” he said.

Grondeau was arrested in Shiraz, in southern Iran, in October 2022, and sentenced to five years in prison for “conspiracy against the Islamic republic,” his mother Therese Grondeau told France Inter.

His family rejects the charges, describing Grondeau as a passionate fan of Persian poetry who was traveling to Iran on a tourist visa as part of a world tour.

On Friday, France summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest Tehran’s holding of the trio, describing them as “state hostages.”

Their “situation is intolerable, with undignified detention conditions that, for some, constitute torture under international law,” the French foreign ministry said.

The tensions have come after an Italian journalist, Cecilia Sala, arrested and jailed in Iran since December, was freed and returned to Rome earlier this month.

Her swift release — in contrast to the prolonged detention of the French nationals —  was the result of “intense work through diplomatic and intelligence channels” by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government, her office said. 

Foreign ministries whose nationals have been held by Iran are known to sometimes advise families to keep a low profile and not announce the arrest of their loved ones publicly, in the hope the situation can be resolved behind the scenes.               
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Austrian woman kidnapped in Niger’s Agadez city, authorities say

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 been informed of the kidnapping of an Austrian woman in Agadez and was in contact with regional authorities on the ground.

Residents and local media identified the victim as Eva Gretzmacher and reported she is an aid worker who has lived in Agadez — hundreds of kilometers away from the capital city of Niamey — for more than 20 years.

“(She) is well known for her social commitment (and) created a skills center in 2010 that initiated various projects, notably in the fields of education, women’s empowerment, ecology, culture and art,” the online newspaper Air Info Agadez reported.

Gretzmacher also supported education programs through her development work and provided assistance to local nongovernment organizations in various sectors, local media said.

No group claimed responsibility for her abduction and authorities in Niger did not immediately comment on the incident.

Niger has for many years battled a jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, a security crisis that analysts say has worsened since the military toppled the country’s government in July 2023. Despite their promise to restore peace in hot spots, the junta’s capacity to improve Niger’s security has increasingly been questioned amid increasing attacks.

Niger was seen as one of the last democratic countries in Africa’s Sahel region that Western nations could partner with to beat back the jihadi insurgency in the vast expanse below the Sahara Desert. The country has severed decadeslong military ties with the West and turned to Russia as a new security partner.
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Tens of thousands protest in Belgrade

Belgrade, Serbia — Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters in Belgrade on Sunday switched on the lights on their mobile phones and stood in silence for 15 minutes to commemorate victims of a railway station roof collapse for which they blame authorities. 

The protest was organized and led by students from Belgrade state university who are demanding that those responsible for the roof collapse are brought to justice. 

They blame the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) of President Aleksandar Vucic for corruption and nepotism, which he and the party deny. 

Students at state universities in Belgrade, Kragujevac and Nis have been blockading classes for weeks to demand the release of all documents relevant to the renovation of the station, as well as criminal prosecution of officials responsible for the disaster. 

Every day they block traffic in front of their faculties for 15 minutes to commemorate the 15 victims. 

The concrete awning of the recently renovated roof of Novi Sad station caved in on Nov. 1, killing 14 and injuring three. One of the injured died later. 

Opposition leaders and the public have taken to the streets repeatedly, blaming the accident on shoddy construction resulting from government corruption and nepotism. 

The ruling coalition denies those charges, and Vucic has said those responsible must be held to account. 

“We have been unhappy for years. We came here to express our revolt (with authorities), and to support students,” said Tamara Kovacevic, one of the protesters.
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Italy’s justice minister seeks to revoke arrest of Iranian based on US warrant 

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 a U.S. warrant on Dec. 16, three days before Italian journalist Cecilia Sala was detained while on a reporting trip to Iran. Sala, who was believed held as a bargaining chip for Abedini’s release, returned home last week, giving rise to speculation about Abedini’s fate. 

An official note released by the Justice Ministry on Sunday said that under Italy-U.S. extradition treaties, “only crimes that are punishable according to the laws of both sides can lead to extradition, a condition which, based on the state of documents, can’t be considered as existing.” 

The ministry said that the potential charge against Abedini — criminal association for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a U.S. federal law — “did not correspond to any conduct recognized by Italian law as a crime.” 

The U.S. Justice Department has accused Abedini of supplying the drone technology to Iran that was used in a January 2024 attack on a U.S. outpost in Jordan that killed three American troops. 

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni described a “diplomatic triangulation” with Iran and the United States as being key to securing Sala’s release, confirming for the first time that Washington’s interests in the case entered into the negotiations. 

Sala’s release came after Meloni made a surprise trip to Florida to meet U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
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Croatia’s President Milanovic overwhelming favorite to win reelection in runoff vote

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 behind.

The runoff between the top two contenders was necessary because Milanovic fell short of securing 50% of the vote by just 5,000 votes, while Primorac trailed far behind with 19%.

The election comes as the European Union and NATO member country of 3.8 million people struggles with biting inflation, corruption scandals and a labor shortage.

Milanovic, 58, is an outspoken critic of Western military support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. He is the most popular politician in Croatia and is sometimes compared to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for his combative style of communication with political opponents.

Milanovic served as prime minister in the past with a mixed record. He has been a fierce critic of current Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and the pair have long sparred with each other.

Milanovic regularly accuses Plenkovic and his conservative Croatian Democratic Union party of systemic corruption, calling the premier a “serious threat to Croatia’s democracy.”

Plenkovic has sought to portray Sunday’s vote as one about Croatia’s future in the EU and NATO. He has labelled Milanovic “pro-Russian” and a threat to Croatia’s international standing.

Primorac echoed this position as he cast his ballot on Sunday. He said the presidential vote was “very important” and “about the future of Croatia, … about the future of our homeland, our citizens, and, really, the direction that it would go from here.”

Political analyst Viseslav Raos said the increasingly outspoken Milanovic has no motive to “try to please someone or try to control himself.”

“If there was no cooperation with the prime minister for the first five years (of his presidency), why would it be now?” he added.

Though the presidency is largely ceremonial in Croatia, an elected president holds political authority and acts as the supreme military commander.

Despite limited powers, many believe the presidential position is key for the political balance of power in a country mainly governed by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) since gaining independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

During a TV debate ahead of the Sunday vote, Milanovic and Primorac exchanged barbs while exposing deep political differences.

Primorac, 59, entered politics in the early 2000s, when he was science and education minister in the HDZ-led government. He unsuccessfully ran for the presidency in 2009, and after that mainly focused on his academic career including lecturing at universities in the United States, China and in Croatia.

Milanovic denied he is pro-Russian but last year blocked the dispatch of five Croatian officers to NATO’s mission in Germany called Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine. He also pledged he would never approve sending Croatian soldiers as part of any NATO mission to Ukraine. Plenkovic and his government say there is no such proposal.

Milanovic accused Primorac of associating with “mass murderers,” referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s associates and the war in Gaza. He also claimed that Plenkovic was Primorac’s sponsor and dubbed Primorac “the last communist” — a reference to his membership of the former ruling Communist Party of Yugoslavia in the late 1980s.

Primorac meanwhile claimed that Milanovic’s only political allies were Bosnian Serb separatist leader Milorad Dodik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Hungary’s populist leader Viktor Orban. 
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Cyclone-ravaged Mayotte on red alert as it braces for new storm

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 called for “extreme vigilance” following the devastation wrought by Cyclone Chido in mid-December.  

Meteo-France predicted “significant rain and windy conditions,” saying that very heavy rain could cause flooding. 

Residents were advised to seek shelter and stock up on food and water. 

The storm hit the northeastern coast of Madagascar on Saturday evening around 1630 GMT and was heading straight for the tourist island of Nosy Be.  

It is expected to pass to the south of Mayotte on Sunday morning, according to forecasts. 

“Nothing is being left to chance,” Manuel Valls, France’s new overseas territories minister, told AFP, referring to forecasts of “heavy and continuous rain” and winds of up to 110 kilometers per hour (kph). 

As it hit Madagascar, average winds were estimated at 130 kilometers per hour, with gusts up to 180 kph. 

The most devastating cyclone to hit France’s poorest department in 90 years caused colossal damage, killing at least 39 people and injuring more than 5,600 in December. 

“We need to be seriously prepared for the possibility of a close passage of the cyclone,” the Mayotte prefecture said on social media platform X. 

Prefect Francois-Xavier Bieuville, the top Paris-appointed official on the territory, said Mayotte would be placed on a red weather alert from 1900 GMT on Saturday.  

“I have decided to bring forward this red alert to 10 p.m. to allow everyone to take shelter, to confine themselves, to take care of the people close to you, your children, your families,” Bieuville said on television. 

Messages in French and two regional languages were broadcast on radio and television to alert the population. 

Bieuville told reporters Saturday that the cyclone was forecast to pass within 110 kilometers (70 miles) of the archipelago’s southern coast.  

“We even have systems telling us 75 kilometers. So, we have something that is going to hit Mayotte very closely”, he said. 

The storm intensified from a tropical storm to a tropical cyclone Saturday morning, but forecasters are not expecting it to further intensify. 

More than 4,000 personnel have been mobilized in Mayotte, including members of police and the army, said the interior ministry. 

The prefect has requested that mayors reopen accommodation centers such as schools and gymnasiums that sheltered around 15,000 people in December. 

He also ordered firefighters and other forces to be deployed to “extremely fragile” shantytowns in Mamoudzou and elsewhere. 

Potential mudslides were “a major risk”, the prefect said. 

“Chido was a dry cyclone, with very little rain,” he added.  

“This tropical storm is a wet event; we are going to have a lot of rain.”  

Mayotte’s population stands officially at 320,000, but there are an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 more undocumented inhabitants living in shanty towns that were destroyed by the cyclone in December. 
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Turkey’s Kurdish leaders meet jailed politician; 2 sides inch toward peace

ISTANBUL — A delegation from one of Turkey’s biggest pro-Kurdish political parties met a leading figure of the Kurdish movement in prison Saturday, the latest step in a tentative process to end the country’s 40-year conflict, the party said. 

Three senior figures from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) met the party’s former co-chairperson, Selahattin Demirtas, at Edirne prison near the Greek border. 

The meeting with Demirtas — jailed in 2016 on terrorism charges that most observers, including the European Court of Human Rights, have labelled politically motivated — took place two weeks after DEM members met Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned head of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). 

While the PKK has led an armed insurgency against the Turkish state since the 1980s, the DEM is the latest party representing left-leaning Kurdish nationalism. Both DEM and its predecessors have faced state measures largely condemned as repression, including the jailing of elected officials and the banning of parties. 

In a statement released on social media after the meeting, Demirtas called on all sides to “focus on a common future where everyone, all of us, will win.” 

Demirtas credited Ocalan with raising the chance that the PKK could lay down its arms. Ocalan has been jailed on Imrali island in the Sea of Marmara since 1999 for treason over his leadership of the PKK, considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and most Western states. 

Demirtas led the DEM between 2014 and 2018, when it was known as the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and he is still widely admired. He said that despite “good intentions,” it was necessary for “concrete steps that inspire confidence … to be taken quickly.” 

One of the DEM delegation, Ahmet Turk, said: “I believe that Turks need Kurds and Kurds need Turks. Our wish is for Turkey to come to a point where it can build democracy in the Middle East.” 

The armed conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state, which started in August 1984 and has claimed tens of thousands of lives, has seen several failed attempts at peace. 

Despite being imprisoned for a quarter of a century, Ocalan remains central to any chance of success due to his ongoing popularity among many of Turkey’s Kurds. In a statement released on December 29, he signaled his willingness to “contribute positively” to renewed efforts. 

Meanwhile, in an address Saturday to ruling party supporters in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the Kurdish-majority southeast, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the disbandment of the PKK and the surrender of its weapons. 

This would allow DEM “the opportunity to develop itself, strengthening our internal front against the increasing conflicts in our region, in short, closing the half-century-old separatist terror bracket and consigning it to history … forever,” he said in televised comments. 

The latest drive for peace came when Devlet Bahceli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party and a close ally of Erdogan, surprised everyone in October when he suggested that Ocalan could be granted parole if he renounced violence and disbanded the PKK. 

Erdogan offered tacit support for Bahceli’s suggestion a week later, and Ocalan said he was ready to work for peace, in a message conveyed by his nephew. 
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France starts 2025 with fresh controversy, questions over Africa

PARIS — France starts 2025 with a further drawdown of its military presence in its former African colonies, and fresh tensions ignited this week with controversial remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Chad, Senegal and now Ivory Coast have followed Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso in asking France to withdraw its troops from their soil. The reasons vary — from growing anti-French sentiment to calls for greater sovereignty and strengthening ties with other foreign powers. But the impact is the same.

“There is a clear collapse of French policy in Africa,” said Thierry Vircoulon, a researcher at the French Institute for International Relations’ Africa Center. “The withdrawal of the French troops and basically the end of the French military presence in Africa is a symbol of that collapse.”

French-African relations haven’t improved in recent days. On Monday, Macron suggested some Sahel countries had forgotten to thank French troops for spearheading a decadelong fight against Islamist insurgencies.

That drew sharp criticism from leaders in Chad and Senegal. French authorities say Macron’s remarks were taken out of context.

Jean-Pierre Maulny, deputy director of the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs think tank, said he believes France needs to be less focused on the immediate fallout and instead concentrate on longer-term ties with francophone African countries.

France should think more about development and sharing the future of Africa’s security, he said, and less about adopting a big brother attitude.

Macron’s government announced plans last year to reduce its military presence on the continent — where it also has troops in Gabon and Djibouti — and make it more responsive to countries’ demands.

France has also expanded ties beyond francophone Africa. Its two biggest trading partners, for example, are Nigeria and South Africa.

But analyst Vircoulon predicts France’s long-term influence in Africa will remain limited, at best.

“There’s very little that the French government can do, and it’s playing in favor of Russia and other countries that are not Western,” he said.

He said he believes France’s strategic priorities will shift to potential conflicts in Europe.
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