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Long-forbidden French anti-riot force sent to Martinique as thousands defy bans on protests

Mexico City — France has sent a group of special anti-riot police that’s been banned for 65 years to the French Caribbean island of Martinique, where protesters have gathered despite the government barring demonstrations in parts of the island. 

The force arrived this weekend after the local representative of France’s central government in its overseas territory said in a statement that protests were forbidden in the municipalities of Fort-de-France, Le Lamentin, Ducos and Le Robert until Monday. The government also issued a curfew. 

The restrictions came after violent protests broke out on the island last week over the high cost of living, with gunfire injuring at least six police officers and one civilian. Police launched tear gas and government officials said several stores were also looted. 

Officials said the bans were meant “to put an end to the violence and damage committed at gatherings, as well as to the numerous obstacles to daily life and freedom of movement that penalize the entire population, particularly at weekends.” 

But the measure was met by defiance by many on the island, with massive peaceful protests breaking out Saturday night. Videos from local media show crowds of thousands peacefully walking along highways overnight banging on drums and waiving flags. 

As protests wound on without violence, the force of French anti-riot police arrived on the island and were staying at a hotel in Fort-de-France on Sunday. It wasn’t immediately clear how many were sent. 

The elite riot police, known as the Companies for Republican Security, were banned in the French territory following bloody riots in December 1959. The unit had been accused of using disproportionate force against protesters, ending in the deaths of a number of young demonstrators. The force is rarely deployed in French territories in the Caribbean but was called on during riots and strikes in Guadeloupe in 2009. 

Martinique’s leaders requested the forces amid the recent protests in an historic shift for the island, and one met with a sharp rejection by some in the territory. 

Beatrice Bellay, a representative of the socialist party on the island, blasted the move, saying: “Martinique is not in a civil war, it is a social war.” She called for an “open and transparent dialogue” between protesters and the government. 

“This measure … only serves to aggravate tensions and distract attention from the legitimate demands of the people of Martinique,” she wrote in a statement Sunday. 
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In Switzerland, voters reject plan to better protect country’s biodiversity

Geneva — Switzerland, known for natural beauty like pristine lakes and majestic Alpine peaks, ranks among the world’s richest countries whose plant and animal life is under the greatest threat. Environmentalists were seeking better protections for the country’s biodiversity in a nationwide vote that culminated Sunday.

Final official results showed more than 63% of voters casting ballots had rejected the initiative that aimed to boost public funding to encourage farmers and others to set aside lands and waterways to let the wild develop more, and increase the total area allocated for green spaces that must remain untouched by human development.

The contest was decided by mail-in ballots followed by a morning of in-person voting Sunday.

Factors behind the weakening biodiversity in the country of rivers, lakes, valleys and mountains include intensified agriculture, soil alteration, a fragmentation of the landscape — such as the building of roads and housing that cut through wildlife habitats — and pollution and climate change, proponents of the measure said.

The federal government — parliament and the executive branch — opposed the plan, as did many rural voters and the country’s main right-wing party, according to polls. They called it too costly, saying 600 million Swiss francs (over $700 million) is already spent on biodiversity protection each year, and fear economic development will suffer.

Passage was estimated to cost at least another 400 million francs for national and local governments, the Federal Council estimates. The initiative would also, for example, prohibit the construction of new railway lines through protected dry meadows — even if such meadow is set aside and developed elsewhere, it says.

“Passage of the biodiversity initiative would severely limit (sustainable) energy and food production, restrict the use of forests and rural areas for tourism, and make construction more expensive,” argued the campaign for a “no” vote on its website. “YES to biodiversity, but NO to the extreme biodiversity initiative.”

Proponents, meanwhile, pointed to dwindling natural resources in Switzerland and threats to bees, frogs, birds, mosses and other wildlife. They argued that protected green spaces are “the main capital for tourism” and more of them would support local economies.

“Diversified nature guarantees air purity, drinkable water, pollination, fertility of the soil, and our food supply,” said a committee that backed the idea. “But in Switzerland, biodiversity is suffering. One-third of all our plant and animal species are threatened or have already disappeared.”

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a think tank that counts 38 mostly rich countries as members, has produced a comparative look at threats to plant and animal life. Switzerland ranks among the top four countries with the highest rates of threatened species in all eight categories of wildlife.

The voting was part of the latest Swiss referendums, which take place four times a year to give voters a direct say in policymaking in the country of around 9 million people. The only other nationwide issue up for consideration this time was a pension reform plan backed by the government.

More than two-thirds of voters turned down the pension reform plan, the final results showed.
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Angry French cognac makers see red over Chinese tariffs threat

Cognac, France — Frustrated cognac producers in southwestern France are growing increasingly anxious over the looming threat of Chinese tariffs on European brandy, a move industry representatives worry could force French liquor from the Chinese market.

Some 800 protesters riding on tractors and carrying signs gathered in France’s southwestern town of Cognac this week demanding a delay to an upcoming European Union vote to impose duties on Chinese electric vehicles.

This protest — the first since 1998 — comes after Beijing refused to rule out future tariffs following an anti-dumping investigation into brandy imported from the European Union.

The probe was launched months after the EU undertook an investigation into Chinese electric vehicle (EV) subsidies.

And with the EU set to vote next week on introducing tariffs on Chinese EVs, France’s brandy makers are worried about the consequences that vote could have on their livelihood.  

“The situation is urgent,” said Anthony Brun, the union head for Cognac’s brandy makers, adding that a decision to levy tariffs on Chinese EVs “will jeopardize the entire industry.”

Cognac’s interprofessional association BNIC said it was recently notified that China intends to impose tariffs of around 35% on European brandy, a move seen as targeting France.

This comes despite repeated assurances from Beijing it would not implement provisional tariffs after it found European brandy had been dumped into China, threatening the country’s domestic industry with “substantial damage.”  

“For a year now, we have been warning French and European authorities about this risk and the need to stop this downward spiral,” wrote Brun in a letter addressed to new French Prime Minister Michel Barnier about the tariff threat.

“We are the victims without being in any way responsible. … We have not been listened to,” Brun said, writing on behalf of the cognac union.

In May, French President Emmanuel Macron thanked his Chinese counterpart for not imposing customs duties on French cognac amid the probe, presenting Xi Jinping with bottles of the expensive drink.

But cooperating with Chinese authorities has produced “no results” and incurred millions in costs, said Florent Morillon, head of BNIC.

Tariffs could force French brandy to “disappear from the Chinese market,” which accounts for a quarter of exports, added Morillon.

The threat of losing the Chinese market could be existential for some brandy makers, who count on overseas consumers for up to 60% of their profits.

China imported more brandy than any other spirit in 2022, with most of it coming from France, according to a report by research group Daxue Consulting.

Cognac producers are calling on the EU to postpone its September 25 vote on imposing tariffs on EVs imported from China, fearing China will respond with customs duties on European brandy.

“We have no way out,” said Rodolphe Texier, a member of a farmers’ union in France’s western Charente region.

“If Europe doesn’t follow us, we’re dead,” said Texier, adding he is concerned about widespread repercussions throughout the industry which could impact everyone from distillers to barrel makers to truck drivers.

With more than 4,400 farms and some 85,000 jobs, France’s cognac industry is already in trouble after it saw a 22% drop in sales in 2023 and dramatically reduced new vine planting zones.

France’s brandy makers are not the only ones under pressure, as Beijing launched a probe into EU subsidiaries on some dairy products in August.

Even though a meeting is set “in principle” between BNIC and the prime minister’s office, Florent Morillon told AFP there is a feeling of being “taken hostage” by Paris and Brussels.

“The French and European authorities have decided to sacrifice us,” wrote union head Anthony Brun.

“Never mind our jobs, our weight in the local economy, our contribution to trade, and to France’s image,” he added.
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Kyiv-born entrepreneur in US helps Ukrainian children get online education

A business owner in Baltimore, Maryland, who was born in Kyiv has started a charity to help Ukrainian children affected by war.  Andriy Borys has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. VOA footage by Viacheslav Filiushkin.
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Russian strike on Ukraine’s Kharkiv wounds 21 

Kharkiv, Ukraine — A Russian strike on a residential neighborhood in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv wounded 21 people including three minors, the regional governor said Sunday. 

Oleg Synegubov posted on Telegram that eight of the victims were hospitalized, two in critical condition, after the strike late Saturday, when dozens of people were asleep in the two multistory buildings that were hit. 

Russia has repeatedly targeted Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, near the Russian border in the country’s east that counted 1.4 million inhabitants before Moscow launched its war in February 2022. 

Rescue workers used torches to search through the rubble, while one girl shook with sobs and held fast to a corridor wall, too scared to descend the stairs, and calling for her mother, an AFP reporter saw at the scene. 

A rescuer took her by the hand, saying, “Everything is OK,” and guided her down to her mother, Oleksandra. 

“It has just blown up. It’s terrible in there, the place is a wreck,” she said. 

The city’s mayor, Igor Terekhov, said at the site that “As you can see, there are no military here.” 

“Every day and every night Kharkiv suffers the hits,” he said. 

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the attack showed why his forces needed to use weapons supplied by Western allies to strike deeper into Russian territory, which, so far, they have refused. 

“We must reinforce our capabilities to better protect lives and ensure our security,” he said in a statement ahead of a U.S. trip this week, where he will address the U.N. General Assembly and hold talks in Washington.
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In US visit, Zelenskyy plans to press case for long-range missiles

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Germany’s far-right AfD on track for another state election win

berlin — The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is predicted to come first in an election in Brandenburg on Sunday, seeking to build on gains in other eastern states this month and beat Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats in a traditional stronghold.

The AfD became the first far-right party to win a state election in Germany since World War II, in Thuringia, on September 1 and just missed first place in Saxony.

It is one of several far-right groups in Europe capitalizing on worries over an economic slowdown, immigration and the Ukraine war — concerns that are particularly strong in formerly Communist-run eastern Germany.

The party, which is unlikely to be able to govern because it is polling short of a majority and other parties would refuse to work with it, is also seeking to gain from discontent over infighting in Scholz’s three-party federal coalition.

“We urgently need a thorough course correction so the country does not go to the dogs,” the AfD’s lead candidate in Brandenburg, Hans-Christoph Berndt, said at a campaign event earlier this month.

An AfD victory in the state election would be a particular embarrassment for the Social Democrats (SPD), which has won elections in Brandenburg and governed the state of 2.5 million people since reunification in 1990.

It would also raise further questions about the suitability of Scholz, the least popular German chancellor on record, to lead the party into next year’s election.

Brandenburg’s popular SPD premier Dietmar Woidke has mostly shunned campaigning with Scholz, who lives in the state’s capital, Potsdam. In an unusual move, Woidke has also criticized the behavior and policies of the ruling coalition.

Instead, he has sought to highlight economic success stories during the five years since the last state election such as the opening of a TeslaTSLA.O factory and Brandenburg airport — which serves Berlin and is now Germany’s third most important aviation hub.

Narrow the gap

In recent weeks, the SPD has managed to narrow the gap with the AfD, opinion polls have shown.

A poll published by pollster Forschungsgruppe Wahlen on Thursday put the AfD on 28% in Brandenburg with the SPD just one point behind on 27%, followed by the conservatives on 14% and the new leftist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) on 13%.

“My greatest challenge in this legislative period … to not allow right-wing extremists to have anything to say in this country ever again,” Woidke said at a campaign event on Tuesday.

He has threatened to resign if his party comes in behind the AfD. AfD party leader Tino Chrupalla said Scholz should do the same.

“It is high time this government suffer the consequences after this state election,” Chrupalla said.

Both of Scholz’s junior coalition partners, the Free Democrats and the Greens, look set to struggle to win the 5% needed to enter the state parliament, polls show.

At a national level, the three parties in Scholz’s coalition are now collectively polling less than the opposition conservatives although political analysts say much could change before the federal election due in September 2025. 
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Hong Kong diaspora media in Britain reports ‘government-backed attacks’

london — The Chaser, a news website run by Hong Kong journalists in Britain, says Google informed the diaspora media outlet that its company email was being targeted by “government-backed attacks.”  

China is presumed to be behind the attacks, something Beijing denies. Analysts say the case highlights the growing difficulties Hong Kong journalists face both at home and overseas. 

On Tuesday, The Chaser published a report about the incident on its website, including a screenshot of the email from Google about the government-backed attack. The email listed the severity of the attack as high. 

According to Google, only 0.1% of users worldwide have been subjected to similar attacks. Google also pointed out that it cannot rule out that the warning may be a false alarm, but the company believes it has detected suspicious activities. 

These could include attempts to steal passwords or personal information through emails containing harmful attachments, harmful software download links or links to fake websites. 

VOA reached out to Google for more details on the attack but has yet to receive a response. 

‘There is no way out’

The Chaser said it immediately reviewed all online security measures after receiving the notice and has taken the necessary protective actions. 

The Chaser said in a statement, “At a time when Hong Kong’s press is mired in the White Terror, the invisible black hand has unscrupulously reached out to the diaspora media overseas. 

“Our team members are from Hong Kong and came to the UK three years ago, hoping to continue chasing news on free soil. In today’s turbulent world of press freedom in Hong Kong, there is no way out. Our team strongly condemns all threats to press freedom and pledges to remain at our posts.” 

VOA efforts to seek a response from China’s Embassy in Britain were unsuccessful, but the Chinese Embassy in Washington denied that China was involved in the cyberattack.  

“China firmly opposes and cracks down on all forms of cyberattacks in accordance with law. Without valid evidence, they jumped to an unwarranted conclusion and made groundless accusations against China,” the embassy said in an emailed statement Thursday. “It is extremely irresponsible and is a complete distortion of facts. China firmly opposes this.” 

Last month, The Chaser released an investigative report that said the Chinese Embassy in Britain had pressured Dragons Teaching, a British publishing house, in 2018 to remove the phrase “Republic of China” from chapters about Taiwan in Chinese textbooks. The Republic of China is Taiwan’s official name.  

Beijing is relentless in its global campaign to quash any recognition of the democratically ruled island — no matter how small.   

The publishing house eventually gave in to pressure from Beijing, according to the report from The Chaser. The textbooks are used in exams for secondary school courses in Britain. The Chinese Embassy in Britain has declined to comment on the incident and report, though other British media picked up the story. 

Journalists report harassment 

The cyberattack comes as journalists in Hong Kong are under increasing pressure. 

Last week, the Hong Kong Journalists Association said that from June to August of this year, dozens of journalists, their families, employers, landlords or neighbors were harassed and intimidated in different ways on the internet and in their daily lives, which was unprecedented. 

Benson Wong, a Hong Kong political scholar living in Britain, doesn’t believe the attacks on The Chaser and other Hong Kong journalists are purely coincidental, especially as China’s National Day is approaching. 

“From their point of view, it is understandable that the national security and intelligence units would do some things or do some ‘homework’ as part of their performance,” he said. 

He said he believes the attack is meant to send a signal that Hong Kong journalists who make critical remarks about China cannot expect to be safe from interference or even attacks just because they move overseas. 

VOA reached out to Britain’s National Cyber Security Center for comment on the attack but has yet to receive a response. 

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
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Russia, China start naval exercises in Sea of Japan, report agencies

moscow — Russia and China started naval exercises in the Sea of Japan on Saturday, Russian news agencies cited Russia’s Pacific Fleet as saying. 

“A joint detachment of warships of the Pacific Fleet and Chinese Navy set out from Vladivostok to conduct the joint Russian-Chinese “Beibu/Interaction – 2024″ naval exercise,” the RIA news agency quoted the Pacific Fleet as saying. 

The exercises will include anti-aircraft and anti-submarine weapons, RIA reported. 

Russia and China practiced missile and artillery firing this month as part of Ocean-2024 naval drills, which Russian President Vladimir Putin cast as a bid to counter the United States in the Pacific. 
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Zelenskyy will visit US ammunition factory to thank workers

washington — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday will visit the U.S. ammunition factory that is producing one of the most critically needed munitions for Ukraine’s fight to fend off Russian ground forces. 

Zelenskyy is expected to go to the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in the state of Pennsylvania to kick off a busy week in the United States shoring up support for Ukraine in the war, according to two U.S. officials and a third familiar with Zelenskyy’s schedule who spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that were not yet public.

The Ukrainian leader also will address the United Nations General Assembly annual gathering in New York and travel to Washington for talks on Thursday with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. 

The Scranton plant is one of the few facilities in the country to manufacture 155 mm artillery shells. They are used in howitzer systems, which are towed large guns with long barrels that can fire at various angles. Howitzers can strike targets up to 15- 20 miles (24-32 kilometers) away and are highly valued by ground forces to take out enemy targets from a protected distance. 

Ukraine has already received more than 3 million of the 155 mm shells from the U.S. 

Still pushing for permission

With the war now well into its third year, Zelenskyy has been pushing the U.S. for permission to use longer range missile systems to fire deeper inside of Russia. 

So far he has not persuaded the Pentagon or White House to loosen those restrictions. The Defense Department has emphasized that Ukraine can already hit Moscow with Ukrainian-produced drones, and there is hesitation on the strategic implications of a U.S.-made missile potentially striking the Russian capital. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia would be “at war” with the United States and its NATO allies if they allow Ukraine to use the long-range weapons. 

At one point in the war, Ukraine was firing between 6,000 and 8,000 of the 155 mm shells per day. That rate started to deplete U.S. stockpiles and drew concern that the level on hand was not enough to sustain U.S. military needs if another major conventional war broke out, such as a potential conflict over Taiwan. 

In response, the U.S. has invested in restarting production lines and is now manufacturing more than 40,000 155 mm rounds a month, with plans to hit 100,000 rounds a month. During his visit, Zelenskyy is expected meet and thank workers who have increased production of the 155 mm rounds over the past year. 

Two of the Pentagon leaders who have pushed that increased production through — Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, and Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer — are also expected to join Zelenskyy at the plant, as is Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania.

US largest donor of aid

The 155 mm rounds are among the scores of ammunition, missile, air defense and advanced weapons systems the U.S. has provided Ukraine — everything from small arms bullets to advanced F-16 fighter jets. The U.S. has been the largest donor to Ukraine, providing more than $56 billion of the more than $106 billion NATO and partner countries have collected to aid in its defense. 

Even though Ukraine is not a member of NATO, commitment to its defense is seen by many European nations as a must to keep Putin from further military aggression that could threaten bordering NATO-member countries and result in a much larger conflict. 
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Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says end of war with Russia depends on allies’ resolve

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Climate protesters say pace of change isn’t fast enough

NEW YORK — Six years after a teenage Greta Thunberg walked out of school in a solitary climate protest outside of the Swedish parliament, people around a warming globe marched in youth-led protest, saying their voices are being heard but not sufficiently acted upon.

Emissions of heat-trapping gases and temperatures have been rising and oil and gas drilling has continued, even as the protests that kicked off major weeklong climate events in New York City have become annual events. This year, they come days before the United Nations convenes two special summits, one concentrating on sea level rise and the other on the future.

The young people who organized these marches with Fridays for Future said there is frustration with inaction but also hope. People marched in Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, New Delhi and elsewhere, but the focus often is in New York City because of Climate Week NYC. Diplomats, business leaders and activists are concentrating their discussions on the money end of fighting climate change — something not lost on protesters.

“We hope that the government and the financial sector make polluters pay for the damage that they have imposed on our environment,” said Uganda Fridays for Future founder Hilda Flavia Nakabuye, who was among a few hundred marching in New York Friday, a far cry from the tens of thousands that protested in a multigroup mega-rally in 2023.

The New York protest wants to take aim at “the pillars of fossil fuels” — companies that pollute, banks that fund them and leaders who are failing on climate, said Helen Mancini, an organizer and a senior at the city’s Stuyvesant High School.

“A lot of older people want to make sure the economy is intact, and that’s their main concern,” said Julia Demairo, a sophomore at Pace University. “I think worrying about the future and the environment is worrying about the economy.”

On a day that was at least 8 degrees warmer than average, protest signs included “This is not what we mean by Hot Girl Summer,” while others focused on the theme of fighting the coal, oil and gas industries: “Youth Didn’t Vote for Fossil Fuels,” “Don’t Be a Fossil Fool” and “Climate Crisis = Extermination By Capitalism.”

Nakabuye said she was in New York to represent Uganda “that is bearing the brunt of the climate crisis.”

“We feel like we are creating an impact in the community. However, we are not listened to enough; there is more that needs to be done, especially right now when the climate catastrophes are intensifying,” said Nakabuye. “We need to even raise our voices more to demand change and to demand that fuels should end.”

In the six years since Thunberg founded what became Fridays for Future, global carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels have increased by about 2.15%, according to Global Carbon Project, a group of scientists who monitor carbon pollution.

The growth of emissions has slowed compared with previous decades and experts anticipate peaking soon, but that’s a far cry from the 43% reduction that a U.N. report said is needed to keep temperature increases to an agreed-upon limit.

Since 2019, carbon dioxide emissions from coal have increased by nearly 900 million metric tons, while natural gas emissions have increased slightly and oil pollution has dropped a tiny amount, according to the International Energy Agency, or IEA. That growth has been driven by China, India and developing nations.

But emissions from advanced or industrialized economies have been falling and in 2023 were the lowest in more than 50 years, according to the IEA. Coal emissions in rich countries are down to levels seen around the year 1900, and the United Kingdom next month is set to shutter its last coal plant.

In the past five years, clean energy sources have grown twice as fast as fossil fuels, with solar and wind individually growing faster than fossil fuel-based electricity, according to the IEA. Developing countries — where more than 80% of the world population lives — say that they need financial help to curb their increasing use of fossil fuels.

Since 2018, the globe has warmed more than 0.29 degrees Celsius, with last year setting a record for the hottest year and this year poised to break that mark, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the European climate agency Copernicus.

“We’re making progress, even if it’s slow progress,” said 17-year-old Ashen Harper of Connecticut, a veteran protester turned organizer. “Our job right now is to accelerate that progress.”

In Berlin, hundreds of people took to the streets, although in fewer numbers than in previous years. Activists held up signs saying, “Save the Climate” and “Coal is Over!” as they watched a gig put on outside the German Chancellor’s Office. Protesters in London held up letters spelling out “Pay Up,” calling for the country to pay more to adapt to climate change and transition away from fossil fuels.
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Czechs vote in Senate, regional elections in aftermath of flooding

PRAGUE — Czechs went to the polls on Friday in a two-day vote for a third of the seats in Parliament’s upper house, which is the Senate, and to select their representatives in regional elections.

The elections took place as the Czech Republic was recovering from massive floods that hit Central Europe in recent days. The floods claimed at least 24 lives in the region, five of them in the Czech Republic.

State officials helped dozens of the hardest-hit towns organize the ballot in the northeast of the country, where schools and various other buildings that serve as polling stations were submerged and damaged.

Interior Ministry officials took over the organization of the vote in five towns where local authorities were preoccupied with cleanup and recovery efforts.

In some places, voting took place in tents, shipping containers or outside.

The current ruling five-party coalition led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala has a clear majority in the 81-seat Senate, where 27 seats are up for grabs in the two-round election. The runoffs take place next week.

Parliament’s lower house dominates the legislative process, but the Senate plays an important role in passing constitutional amendments and approving Constitutional Court judges.

In separate regional elections, a political movement led by former populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis is the favorite to win for the third straight time.

Babis’ ANO (YES), which is currently in opposition, is also favored to win the next general election, scheduled for next year.

The results of the elections will be known late Saturday.
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Ukraine says Russian missile strike kills 3

Kyiv, Ukraine — An overnight Russian missile strike on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih killed a 12-year-old boy and two elderly women, regional governor Serhiy Lysak said Saturday.

“Again, a terrifying enemy attack on Kryvyi Rih. In the middle of the night, when the city slept,” Lysak wrote on Telegram.

He said three more people were injured and were taken to a hospital with injuries of medium severity.

The two women killed by the attack were 75 and 79 years old. Lysak also said two buildings were destroyed and 20 more damaged.

Kryvyi Rih, a major steel-producing city, is near Russian-occupied territory. It is regularly hit by air strikes.
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