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Macron praises World War II French Resistance activist, author

PARIS — France’s President Emmanuel Macron has paid tribute to former French Resistance activist and author Genevieve Callerot, who has died at age 108.

Callerot, who was among the last survivors of the groups that fought the country’s World War II occupation by Nazi Germany, died Thursday in a care home in Saint-Aulaye-Puymangou, a town in the Dordogne region of southwestern France where she had lived since childhood, according to local media reports.

A statement from the presidential Elysee Palace said Macron offered “his heartfelt condolences to her loved ones, to all those who were illuminated by her solar presence, and finally to those whose lives she saved.”

Callerot “takes with her a little piece of France, a certain France that is tough on suffering and intimidation, tender toward the beauty of the world, as quick to raise its fist in the face of oppression as it is to extend its hand,” the statement said.

Born in 1916, Callerot was 24 when France surrendered to Adolf Hitler’s invasion forces in June 1940, an event “which forever marked her life and revealed her to herself,” the statement said.

It said she and her family joined a Resistance network that smuggled people across the demarcation line that separated Nazi-occupied areas that included Paris, northern France and the country’s Atlantic seaboard and the so-called free zone governed by the French Vichy administration that collaborated with the Nazi occupiers.

She participated in the escape of 200 men and women, including Jews and American and British war-wounded, “whose lives she saved with anonymous heroism, and who often never knew what they owed” her, Macron’s office said. It said German forces took her into custody three times — twice releasing her for lack of evidence and holding her in prison for several weeks the third time.

She and her husband worked as farmers after the war.

When she was 67, she published her first novel — Les cinq filles du Grand-Barrail, or The Five Girls of Grand-Barrail — about a family of sharecroppers. 
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Swedish forces in Latvia make their largest NATO deployment to date

WARSAW, POLAND — Hundreds of Swedish troops arrived in Latvia on Saturday to join a Canadian-led multinational brigade along NATO’s eastern flank, a mission Sweden is calling its most significant operation so far as a member of the Western defense alliance.

A ship carrying parts of a mechanized infantry battalion arrived early Saturday in the port of Riga, the Latvian capital, escorted by the Swedish air force and units from the Swedish and Latvian navies, the Swedish armed forces said in a statement.

Latvia borders Russia to its east and Russia ally Belarus to its southeast. Tensions are high across Central Europe due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Sweden’s armed forces said that the mission of 550 troops will contribute to the alliance’s deterrence and defense efforts and ensure stability in the region, and that it “marks Sweden’s largest commitment yet since joining NATO” last year.

Commander Lieutenant Colonel Henrik Rosdahl of the 71st Battalion said he felt great pride in contributing to the alliance’s collective defense.

“It’s a historic day, but at the same time, it’s our new normal,” he said.

The Swedish troops join one of eight NATO brigades along the alliance’s eastern flank. The battalion is stationed outside the town of Adazi, near Riga.

Sweden formally joined NATO in March as the 32nd member of the trans-Atlantic military alliance, ending decades of post-World War II neutrality and centuries of broader nonalignment with major powers as security concerns in Europe spiked following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Finland also abandoned its longstanding military neutrality to join NATO in April 2023.
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Ukraine officials say 4 killed in Russian strike on Kyiv

Ukrainian officials say at least four people were killed early Saturday in a nighttime Russian attack in the capital, Kyiv.

Timur Tkachenko, head of the Ukrainian capital’s military administration said on Telegram that the deaths occurred in the city’s Shevchenkivsky district.  He said the Holosiivsky district on the west bank of the Dnipro River that runs through the city and the Desnyansky district on the opposite bank were hit with falling debris.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said air defenses were in operation around the city.

On Friday, a Russian missile attack killed at least four people and injured at 14 others in the southern-central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address.

“Such strikes, such losses, simply would not have happened if we had received all the necessary air defense systems that we have been talking about with our partners for such a long time and that are available in the world,” he said.

Earlier Friday, Zelenskyy, who was born in Kryvyi Rih, condemned the attack on Telegram. “Each such terrorist attack is another reminder of who we are dealing with. Russia will not stop on its own — it can only be stopped by joint pressure,” he said.

The attack also damaged an educational facility and two five-story buildings, officials said.

VOA was unable to independently verify the reports.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack late Friday ignited a fire at an industrial site in Russia’s Kaluga region, about 170 kilometers from the shared border.

“As a result of a drone attack in Lyudinovo, a fire broke out on the territory of an industrial enterprise,” regional Governor Vladislav Shapsha posted on Telegram.

Agence France-Presse reported that unverified videos on unofficial Russia social media showed what they said was the attack targeting an oil depot.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has previously said he would be able to stop the war in Ukraine in one day, but he has not specified how he would do so.

Trump aides recently said the new plan is to end the war within the first 100 days of the administration.

Some information in this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse. 
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Russia adds VOA, Current Time, BBC journalists to register of ‘foreign agents’

WASHINGTON — Russia’s Justice Ministry on Friday added more journalists to its list of so-called foreign agents, including reporters for Voice of America, Current Time and the BBC.

Six journalists were named to the registry, including Ksenia Turkova, who works for VOA’s Russian language service in Washington, and Iryna Romaliiska, who works for Current Time, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty program in partnership with VOA.

Others designated by Russia include Anastasia Lotareva and Andrey Kozenko, who work for BBC Russian; Alexandra Prokopenko, a journalist and research fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin; and Anton Rubin, a journalist at exiled media outlet Ekho Moskvy, who is also the director of a nongovernmental organization that helps orphans.

Authorities use law to target critics

Russia’s foreign agent law came into effect in 2012. Since then, say watchdogs, it has been used by authorities to target groups and individuals who are critical of the Kremlin. Hundreds of media outlets, journalists and civil society groups have been listed by the Justice Ministry.

Those named as foreign agents have to mark any online content, even personal social media posts, as having come from a foreign agent, and to share financial details. Failure to comply can lead to fines or even imprisonment.

Both VOA and its sister network RFE/RL have been designated as so-called foreign agents. Turkova is the first VOA journalist to be named individually.

In a statement, VOA director Mike Abramowitz said that VOA and its journalists, by law, provide “a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news around the world.”

“We stand with our journalists who often face repercussions for providing this vital public service and we remain committed to ensuring that audiences can access the vital content that VOA provides,” he said.

Turkova told VOA that she considers the designation by Russia a “meaningless label.”

“For the authorities, it’s a synonym for ‘traitor,’ ‘enemy of the people,’ ” she said. “For those whom the Russian authorities are targeting, it’s, in general, an empty sound, a word that means absolutely nothing.”

Previously, Turkova worked in Ukraine, where she reported on Russia’s occupation of Crimea, the war in Donbas and repressive actions by Moscow.

Since moving to Washington, Turkova said, “I continued to write and speak about the topics that I consider very important. First of all, it’s the war in Ukraine. It’s repression in Russia and it’s the role of propaganda.”

Current Time’s Romaliiska said she did not care about the designation.

“This only means that the Current Time channel is working great, that our team is doing a good job, which is what we will continue to do, regardless of any lists and statuses,” she told Current Time.

30 journalists behind bars

Russia has a dire media freedom record, ranking 162nd out of 180, where 1 shows the best environment on the World Press Freedom Index.

It is also a leading jailer of journalists, with 30 behind bars, according to data released Thursday by the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ.

The report noted that as well as the high number of journalists in custody, Russia in 2024 “took its transnational repression to new levels.”

Foreign correspondents and Russian reporters in exile faced in absentia arrest warrants or sentences. The CPJ report described the action as “an intimidatory tactic,” adding that it “serves as a chilling illustration of Moscow’s determination to control the narrative of its war in Ukraine.”
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Journalists in Azerbaijan face trials, jailings, travel bans

WASHINGTON — An Azerbaijani court on Friday denied petitions by two jailed journalists to be released from house arrest, their lawyers said.

The journalists, Aynur Elgunesh and Natig Javadli, work for Meydan TV, an independent outlet based in Germany. They were among six journalists arrested in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, in early December.

Azerbaijan is among the worst jailers of journalists in the world, with more than a dozen behind bars, according to a report released this week by the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ.

Azerbaijan is currently detaining at least 18 journalists for their work, according to CPJ.

The group’s latest prison census, which acts as a snapshot of media workers in custody as of Dec. 1, listed 13 journalists in the Azerbaijani prison. One of those was released after the census was taken, but authorities then jailed six more journalists, including Elgunesh and Javadli.

The arrests are a concern for local activists and reporters.

“Independent and critical media in Azerbaijan is going through its most difficult period,” Azerbaijani activist Samir Kazimli told VOA. “If this policy of repression does not stop, if it continues, independent media in Azerbaijan may completely collapse.”

The annual CPJ report found 361 journalists behind bars around the world. Azerbaijan ranked eighth worst in the census, behind countries such as China, Israel, Myanmar, Belarus and Russia.

“Azerbaijan has been cracking down on independent media for well over a decade,” CPJ’s CEO, Jodie Ginsberg, told VOA. “It doesn’t often get the attention that it deserves.”

Local journalists like Shamshad Agha are worried that Azerbaijani authorities are trying to stamp out independent media.

Agha is editor of Argument.az, a news website covering democracy, corruption and human rights.

“The lives of all independent journalists are in danger,” he told VOA. Agha said he has been banned from leaving the country since July 2024.

Azerbaijan’s Washington embassy did not immediately reply to VOA’s email requesting comment.

Many of the journalists jailed in Azerbaijan are accused of foreign currency smuggling, which media watchdogs have rejected as a sham charge.

Many of those currently detained work for the independent outlets Abzas Media and Meydan TV.

Farid Mehralizada, an economist and journalist with the Azerbaijani Service of VOA’s sister outlet, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, is among those currently imprisoned.

Jailed since May, Mehralizada is facing charges of conspiring to smuggle foreign currency, as well as “illegal entrepreneurship, money laundering, tax evasion and document forgery.” He denies the charges, which carry a combined sentence of up to 12 years behind bars.

On Thursday, Ulviyya Guliyeva, a journalist who has been a contributor to VOA’s Azerbaijani Service since 2019, was summoned to a police station in Baku for questioning.

The journalist said she was questioned about Meydan TV, even though she is not an employee there. Guliyeva said she was also placed under a travel ban that blocked her from leaving the country.

“This is a very disturbing situation for me,” Guliyeva said. “I see this as pressure on my journalistic activities.”

Parvana Bayramova of VOA’s Azerbaijani Service contributed to this report.
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UK leader condemns ‘poison of antisemitism’ on Auschwitz visit

WARSAW, POLAND — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday condemned what he called “the poison of antisemitism rising around the world” after a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the former German Nazi concentration camp.

His visit came as many international delegations are expected to attend the Jan. 27 ceremony commemorating 80 years since the Soviet Red Army liberated the death camp built in occupied Poland.

King Charles III will be among those attending the ceremony, Buckingham Palace said Monday, in his first visit to the former camp.

“Time and again we condemn this hatred, and we boldly say, ‘never again,'” Starmer said in a statement following his visit.

“But where is never again, when we see the poison of antisemitism rising around the world” in the aftermath of October 7th, he said.

The Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas staged the deadliest attack in Israeli history.

The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has left 46,876 people dead, the majority civilians, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, figures the United Nations has described as reliable.

Last week, the Polish government said it would grant free access to Israeli officials wanting to attend the commemoration, despite a warrant issued in November by the International Criminal Court for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he had information from the Israeli Embassy that the country would be represented by its education minister.

The International Criminal Court issued the warrant in November over the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza, prompting outrage from Israel and its allies.

Auschwitz has become a symbol of Nazi Germany’s genocide of 6 million European Jews, 1 million of whom died at the site between 1940 and 1945, along with more than 100,000 non-Jews.
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Iranian president in Moscow for treaty signing with Putin

MOSCOW — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in Moscow on Friday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the signing of a strategic partnership treaty involving closer defense cooperation that is likely to worry the West.

Pezeshkian, on his first Kremlin visit since winning the presidency last July, will hold talks with Putin focusing on bilateral ties and international issues before signing the treaty.

Ahead of the talks, the Kremlin hailed its ever closer ties with Tehran.

“Iran is an important partner for us with which we are developing multifaceted co-operation,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Moscow has cultivated closer ties with Iran and other countries hostile towards the U.S., such as North Korea, since the start of the Ukraine war, and already has strategic pacts with Pyongyang and close ally Belarus, as well as a strategic partnership agreement with China.

The 20-year Russia-Iran agreement is not expected to include a mutual defense clause of the kind sealed with Minsk and Pyongyang, but is still likely to concern the West which sees both countries as malign influences on the world stage.

Moscow and Tehran say their increasingly close ties are not directed against other countries.

Russia has made extensive use of Iranian drones during the war in Ukraine and the United States accused Tehran in September of delivering close-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine. Tehran denies supplying drones or missiles.

The Kremlin has declined to confirm it has received Iranian missiles, but has acknowledged that its cooperation with Iran includes “the most sensitive areas.”

Pezeshkian visit to Moscow also comes at a time when Iranian influence across the Middle East is in retreat after Islamist rebels seized power in Syria, expelling ally Bashar al-Assad, and after Iran-backed Hamas has been pounded by Israel in Gaza.

Israel has also inflicted serious damage on the Tehran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Russia too finds itself on the backfoot in Syria where it maintains two major military facilities crucial to its geopolitical and military influence in the Middle East and Africa but whose fate under Syria’s new rulers is now uncertain.

Putin met Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan in October and at a cultural forum in Turkmenistan the same month.

Pezeshkian, who is holding talks with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin before meeting Putin, is accompanied to Moscow by his oil minister, and Western sanctions on the sector and the subject of how to circumvent them are likely to be discussed.
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Russia upholds jail term for ex-US Consulate worker

MOSCOW — A Russian court on Friday upheld the jail term of Robert Shonov, a former U.S. Consulate worker sentenced to almost five years for “secret collaboration with a foreign state.”

Shonov, a Russian citizen, worked for more than 25 years at the U.S. Consulate in the far eastern city of Vladivostok until 2021, when Moscow imposed restrictions on local staff working for foreign missions.

He was arrested in 2023 on suspicion of passing secret information about Russia’s military offensive against Ukraine to the United States in exchange for money and sentenced to four years and 10 months prison in November 2024.

“The judicial act was upheld,” a court in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk ruled, according to its website, rejecting an appeal Shonov had made against his sentencing.

The United States strongly condemned the conviction last year, calling it an “egregious injustice” based on “meritless allegations.”

In September 2023, Russia expelled two U.S. diplomats it accused of acting as liaison agents for Shonov.

In recent years, several U.S. citizens have been arrested and sentenced to long jail terms in Russia.

Others are being held pending trial.

Washington, which supports Ukraine militarily and financially against Russia’s military offensive, accuses Moscow of arresting Americans on baseless charges to use as bargaining chips in prisoner exchanges.

Even after a landmark prisoner swap in August, several U.S. nationals and dual nationals remain in detention in Russia.
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Britain, Ukraine sign 100-year agreement

Britain and Ukraine signed a 100-year agreement Thursday, with Britain pledging to provide Ukraine with $3.6 billion in military aid this year.

The deal was announced during a joint news conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, at the presidential palace where British Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Starmer is on his first trip to Ukraine since he took office.

Starmer called the agreement historic and said the new partnership “reflects the huge affection that exists between our two nations.” The partnership will include cooperation in the areas of culture, education, science and technology.

Regarding military assistance for Kyiv’s war against Russia, Starmer said Britain plans to provide Ukraine with a loan of more than $2.6 billion. He said the loan “will be paid back not by Ukraine, but from the interest on frozen Russian assets.” Starmer also announced that Britain was providing Ukraine with 150 artillery gun barrels and a new mobile air defense system.

In his comments, Starmer credited Ukraine’s allies, particularly the United States, for contributing to the success Ukraine has had against “aggression from Russia.” He said he wanted to pay tribute to the U.S. for “the work that the U.S. has done here, the support that they have put in, because it’s been a vital component of what has been quite an incredible achievement by Ukraine.”

The comments came just days before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, a critic of U.S. support for Ukraine, takes office and a day after the new president’s pick to be the U.S. secretary of state, Republican Senator Marco Rubio, told a Senate panel the war must end.

Speaking at his confirmation hearing, Rubio called the conflict a “war of attrition” and a “stalemate” that must be ended. He said the first step should be a ceasefire that halts ground fighting, which has for more than a year mostly occurred in eastern Ukraine.

Rubio called the destruction in Ukraine “extraordinary,” saying it will “take a generation to rebuild.”

“The truth of the matter is that in this conflict, there is no way Russia takes all of Ukraine,” Rubio said. “It’s also unrealistic to believe that somehow, a nation the size of Ukraine … is also going to push these people all the way back to where they were on the eve of the invasion.”

Even as he argued for a negotiated settlement to end the fighting that started with Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Rubio said it was unlikely that there would be much change in the current battle lines. Russia currently holds about a fifth of the internationally recognized Ukrainian land mass.

Democrats, and some Republicans on the committee, continued to voice their support for more military aid to Ukraine, saying it was important to give Kyiv leverage in any eventual peace talks with Moscow.

But Rubio said that one of Ukraine’s key problems was not a shortage of ammunition or money but its inability to train and recruit enough troops.

At Thursday’s news conference in Kyiv, Zelenskyy refused to speculate on what U.S. support for Ukraine will look like under a Trump administration.

“It is too early to talk about the details, because we have not yet had a detailed conversation with the new U.S. administration about security guarantees,” he said.

Trump has voiced skepticism about continued U.S. military support for Kyiv and repeatedly vowed that he would end the war when he assumed the presidency on Monday.

In recent days, his aides have said the new timeline is ending the war in the first 100 days of his administration, which would be by the end of April.

Ken Bredemeier and Chris Hannas contributed to this report. Some information came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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Putting aside past tensions, Turkey’s Erdogan sees new Trump presidency as opportunity

With Donald Trump returning to the White House, analysts say Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sees an opportunity to rekindle what he calls his close working relationship with the president-elect. However, as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, the incoming Trump presidency poses risks as well as opportunities.
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