Finland entered into a defense cooperation agreement with the United States on Monday, allowing the U.S. military access to Finnish national security facilities. In the past month, Finland closed its border with Russia, accusing the Kremlin of sending migrants in an act of “hybrid warfare.” Eastern Europe chief Myroslava Gongadze visited the Finnish-Russian border and has this story. (Camera and Produced by: Daniil Batushchak)
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Month: December 2023
Julian Assange’s ‘Final’ Appeal Against US Extradition to be Held in February
LONDON — WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange’s possible final legal challenge to stop his extradition from Britain to the United States, where he is wanted on criminal charges, will be held at London’s High Court in February, his supporters said on Tuesday.
Assange, 52, is wanted by U.S. authorities on 18 counts, including one under a spying act, relating to WikiLeaks’ release of vast troves of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables which Washington said had put lives in danger.
Britain has given the go-ahead for his extradition, but he has been trying to overturn that decision. Campaigners said a public hearing would take place at the High Court on Feb. 20-21, when two judges will review an earlier ruling that had refused Assange permission to appeal.
“The two-day hearing may be the final chance for Julian Assange to prevent his extradition to the United States,” WikiLeaks said in a statement.
WikiLeaks first came to prominence in 2010 when it released hundreds of thousands of secret classified files and diplomatic cables in what was the largest security breach of its kind in U.S. military history, which U.S. prosecutors say imperiled the lives of agents named in the leaked material.
Assange’s supporters say he is an anti-establishment hero who has been victimized because he exposed U.S. wrongdoing, and that his prosecution is an assault on journalism and free speech.
He spent seven years holed up in Ecuador’s embassy in London before he was dragged out and jailed in 2019 for breaching bail conditions. He has been held in prison ever since.
His lawyers have also applied to the European Court of Human Rights which could potentially order the extradition to be blocked.
“The last four and a half years have taken the most considerable toll on Julian and his family, including our two young sons,” said his wife Stella, who he married in prison.
“The persecution of this innocent journalist and publisher must end.”
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Mental Health on Minds of International Students Studying in US
Mental health is a big topic of discussion on U.S. college campuses, with universities themselves continually reaching out to students to make sure they are OK. Many international students studying in the U.S. say the concern is novel but welcome. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has more. Camera and video editing by Saqib Ul Islam.
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West Accuses Iran of Illegally Testing Missiles, Sending Russia Drones
UNITED NATIONS — The Western powers in the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran accused Tehran on Monday of developing and testing ballistic missiles, transferring hundreds of drones to Russia, and enriching uranium to an unprecedented 60% level for a country without a nuclear weapons program — all in violation of a U.N. resolution endorsing the deal.
Iran and its ally, Russia, dismissed the charges by Britain, France and Germany, strongly supported by the United States, which pulled out of the agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2018.
The six-party agreement was aimed at ensuring that Iran could not develop atomic weapons. Under the accord, Tehran agreed to limit enrichment of uranium to levels necessary for the peaceful use of nuclear power in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
The sharp exchanges came at the Security Council’s semi-annual meeting on the implementation of its resolution endorsing the 2015 nuclear deal.
Both Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Iravani and Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia blamed the United States’ withdrawal from the JCPOA, Western sanctions and an “anti-Iran” stance for the current standoff.
Iravani said Iran is allowed to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and Nebenzia rejected alleged evidence that it was using Iranian drones in Ukraine.
Then-President Donald Trump said when unilaterally pulling out of the accord in 2018 that he would negotiate a stronger deal, but that didn’t happen. Iran began breaking the terms a year later and its 60% enrichment is near weapons-grade levels, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
Formal talks to try to find a roadmap to restart the JCPOA collapsed in August 2022.
At Monday’s council meeting, U.N. political chief Rosemary DiCarlo stressed that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres still considers the JCPOA “the best available option to ensure that the Iranian nuclear program remains exclusively peaceful.”
She urged Iran to reverse course, as did the three European countries who issued a joint statement quoting the IAEA as saying Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium now stand at 22 times the JCPOA limit.
“There is no credible civilian justification for the state of Iran’s nuclear program,” the UK, France and Germany said. “The current trajectory only brings Iran closer to weapons-related capabilities.”
The Europeans and U.S. Minister Counselor John Kelley stressed that they would use all means to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
As for the future, Kelley told the council: “Iran should take actions to build international confidence and de-escalate tensions and not continue nuclear provocations that pose grave proliferation risks.”
“The United States is fully committed to resolving the international community’s concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program through diplomacy,” he said. “Unfortunately, Iran’s actions suggest this goal is not its priority.”
Iran’s Iravani said Tehran “has persistently worked toward the JCPOA revival” and “stands prepared to resume the full implementation of its commitment on the JCPOA once it is revived.” That requires the U.S. and all other parties to fully implement their obligations as well as “genuine political attentiveness,” he said.
And Nebenzia said: “The Russian Federation is firmly convinced that there is no alternative to the JCPOA.”
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Berlin Zoo Sends First Giant Pandas Born in Germany to China
BERLIN — The Berlin Zoo has sent the first giant pandas born in Germany to China, dispatching the 4-year-olds on a journey that was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pit and Paule, who also are known by the Chinese names Meng Xiang und Meng Yuan, departed from Berlin on Saturday aboard an Air China cargo jet and have now arrived at their new home, the Chengdu Panda Base, the zoo said Monday.
“Pit and Paule coped well with the flight,” said Andreas Pauly, the zoo’s head of animal health, who accompanied the panda brothers to China. “When the bamboo is right, pandas are usually very relaxed. It was the same on the flight.”
The pair will now spend 30 days in quarantine at the panda base.
The young pandas were a star attraction in Berlin since their birth in 2019, but their return to China was contractually agreed from the start.
While China gifted friendly nations with its unofficial mascot for decades as part of a policy of “panda diplomacy,” the country now loans pandas to zoos on commercial terms.
Pit and Paule’s parents, Jiao Qing and Meng Meng, arrived in Berlin in 2017. They are expected to remain in the German capital for another nine years.
When the young pandas turned 4 in August, the zoo said the animals would soon travel to China — a trip that it said generally happens when the animals are 2 or 3 but was delayed by the pandemic.
Giant pandas have difficulty breeding, and births are particularly welcomed.
There are about 1,800 pandas living in the wild in China and a few hundred in captivity worldwide.
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Marvel, Disney Drop Actor Jonathan Majors After Assault Conviction
New York — Jonathan Majors was convicted Monday of assaulting his former girlfriend after a trial that he hoped would vindicate him and restore his status as an emerging Hollywood star. It did just the opposite: Marvel Studios and the Walt Disney Co. dropped him hours after the verdict.
A Manhattan jury found Majors, 34, guilty of one misdemeanor assault charge and one harassment violation stemming from his March confrontation with then-girlfriend Grace Jabbari. She said he attacked her in a car and left her in “excruciating” pain; his lawyers said Jabbari was the aggressor.
Majors, who was acquitted of a different assault charge and of aggravated harassment, looked slightly downward and showed no immediate reaction as the verdict was read. He declined to comment as he left the courthouse.
His lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, said in a statement that he “still has faith in the process and looks forward to fully clearing his name.” While he was convicted of an assault charge that involves recklessly causing injury, she said his team was grateful for his acquittal on the other assault count, which concerned intentionally causing injury.
“Mr. Majors is grateful to God, his family, his friends and his fans for their love and support during these harrowing eight months,” Chaudhry said.
Marvel and Disney immediately dropped the “Creed III” star from all upcoming projects following the conviction, said a person close to the studio who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Before his arrest, Majors had been on track to become a central figure throughout the Marvel Cinematic Universe, playing the antagonist role of Kang. Majors had already appeared in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and the first two seasons of “Loki.” He was to star in “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,” dated for release in May 2026.
Majors, whose credits include “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” “Devotion” and “Da 5 Bloods,” had been one of the fastest-rising stars in Hollywood. The Yale School of Drama graduate also starred as a troubled amateur bodybuilder in “Magazine Dreams,” which made an acclaimed debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January and was set to open in theaters this month. Ahead of Majors’ trial, Disney-owned distributor Searchlight Pictures removed “Magazine Dreams” from its release calendar.
Majors’ sentencing was set for Feb. 6. He faces the possibility of up to a year in jail for the assault conviction, though probation or other non-jail sentences also are possible.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement that the trial “illustrated a cycle of psychological and emotional abuse, and escalating patterns of coercion.”
The dispute between Majors and Jabbari began in the backseat of a chauffeured car and spilled into the streets of Manhattan.
Jabbari, a 30-year-old British dancer, accused Majors of hitting her in the head with his open hand, twisting her arm behind her back and squeezing her middle finger until it fractured.
Majors’ lawyers alleged that she flew into a jealous rage after reading a text message — from another woman — on his phone. They said Jabbari had spread a “fantasy” to take down the actor, who was only trying to regain his phone and get away safely.
But as Majors sought vindication from the jury, the trial also brought forth new evidence about his troubled relationship with Jabbari, whom he met on the set of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” two years ago.
Prosecutors shared text messages that showed the actor begging Jabbari not to seek hospital treatment for an earlier head injury. One message warned “it could lead to an investigation even if you do lie and they suspect something.”
They also played audio of Majors declaring himself a “great man,” then questioning whether Jabbari could meet the high standards set by the spouses of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama. Majors’ attorneys countered that Jabbari had surreptitiously recorded her boyfriend as part of a plot to “destroy” his career.
Over four days of tearful testimony, Jabbari said Majors was excessively controlling and prone to fits of explosive rage that left her afraid “physically quite a lot.” She broke down on the witness stand as a jury watched security footage of him pushing her back into the car after the backseat confrontation. Prosecutors described the video as showing Majors “manhandling” her and shoving her into the vehicle “as if she was a doll.”
Majors arrived in the courtroom each morning carrying a gold-leaf Bible, accompanied by family members and his current girlfriend, actress Meagan Good. Expressionless for much of the testimony, he wiped away tears as Chaudhry urged jurors during her closing arguments on Thursday to “end this nightmare for Jonathan Majors.”
Majors did not take the stand. But Chaudhry said her client was the victim of “white lies, big lies, and pretty little lies” invented by Jabbari to exact revenge on an unfaithful partner.
The attorney cited security footage, taken immediately after the shove, that showed Majors sprinting away from his girlfriend as she chased him through the night. Jabbari then followed a group of strangers she’d met on the street to a dance club, where she ordered drinks for the group and did not appear to be favoring her injured hand.
“She was revenge-partying and charging Champagne to the man she was angry with and treating these strangers to fancy Champagne she bought with Jonathan’s credit card,” Chaudhry alleged.
The next morning, after finding Jabbari unconscious in the closet of their Manhattan penthouse, Majors called police. He was arrested at the scene, while Jabbari was transported to a hospital to receive treatment for the injuries to her ear and hand.
“He called 911 out of concern for her, and his fear of what happens when a Black man in America came true,” Chaudhry said, accusing police and prosecutors of failing to take seriously Majors’ allegations that he was bloodied and scratched during the dispute.
In her closing arguments, prosecutor Kelli Galaway said Majors was following a well-worn playbook used by abusers to cast their victims as attackers.
“This is not a revenge plot to ruin the defendant’s life or his career,” Galaway said. “You were asked why you are here? Because domestic violence is serious.”
your ad hereProtecting Palestinian Civilians a ‘Strategic Imperative,’ Pentagon Chief Says
In Israel on Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reaffirmed his country’s “unshakable” support for the Jewish state. He also stressed the importance of protecting Palestinian civilians and reaching a two-state solution after the war ends. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports.
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Egypt’s El-Sissi Elected to Third Presidential Terms With 89.6% of Vote
CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, who has ruled with an unquestioned grip for the past nine years, won reelection to a third, six-year term in office, election authorities announced Monday. He ran against three virtually unknown opponents.
El-Sissi recorded a landslide victory, securing 89.6% of the vote, the National Election Authority said. Turnout was 66.8% of more than 67 million registered voters.
“The voting percentage is the highest in the history of Egypt,” declared Hazem Badawy, the election commission chief, who announced the official results in a televised news conference.
The vote was overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on Egypt’s eastern border, which has threatened to expand into wider regional turmoil.
The North African country is also in the midst of an economic crisis, with monthly inflation surging above 30%. Over the past 22 months, the Egypt pound has lost 50% of value against the dollar with one third of the country’s 105 million people already living in poverty, according to official figures.
A key Western ally in the region, el-Sissi has faced international criticism over Egypt’s human rights record and harsh crackdown on dissent. A career army officer, el-Sissi, as defense minister, led the 2013 military overthrow of an elected but divisive Islamist president amid widespread street protests against his one-year rule.
El-Sissi was first elected as president in mid-2014, then reelected in 2018. A year later, constitutional amendments, passed in a general referendum, added two years to el-Sissi’s second term, and allowed him to run for a third, six-year term.
His victory in the latest election was widely deemed a foregone conclusion. His three opponents were marginal political figures who were rarely seen during the election campaign.
Hazem Omar, head of the Republican People’s Party, came second with 4.5% of the vote, followed by Farid Zahran, head of the opposition Social Democratic Party with 4%. Abdel-Sanad Yamama, chairman of the Wafd Party, received less than 2% of the vote.
An ambitious young presidential hopeful, Ahmed Altantawy, dropped out of the race after he failed to secure the required signatures from residents to secure his candidacy. He was considered el-Sissi’s most credible opposition figure and said that harassment from security agencies against his campaign staff and supporters prevented him from reaching the vote threshold for candidacy.
In the months prior to the election, el-Sissi vowed to address the country’s ailing economy without offering specifics.
Experts and economists widely agree that the current crisis stems from years of mismanagement and lopsided economy where private firms are squeezed out by state-owned companies. The Egyptian economy has also been hurt by the wider repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, which rattled the global market.
El-Sissi’s government initiated an ambitious IMF-backed reform program in 2016, but the austerity measures sent prices soaring, exacting a heavy toll on ordinary Egyptians.
Last December, the government secured a second IMF deal on the promise of implementing economic reforms, including a floating exchange rate. The cost of basic goods has since jumped, particularly imports.
Timothy Kaldas, deputy director of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy in Washington, said a quick fix to Egypt’s economy is highly unlikely.
Inflation will remain high and investors weary, he said. “Without inclusive growth and investment, Egypt will never reach a stable footing.”
Under el-Sissi’s watch, thousands of government critics have been silenced or jailed. They are mainly Islamists but also prominent secular activists and opposition figures, including many of those behind the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
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France Urges Lebanese Leaders to Work on Bringing Calm Along Border With Israel
BEIRUT — France’s foreign minister urged Lebanese leaders on Monday to work on reducing tensions along the border with Israel, warning that the Israel-Hamas war could still spread to other parts of the region.
Catherine Colonna’s visit to Lebanon came a day after she visited Israel, where she called for an “immediate truce” aimed at releasing more hostages, getting larger amounts of aid into Gaza and moving toward “the beginning of a political solution.”
While she was in Beirut, Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group exchanged fire with Israeli troops along the tense frontier, which has seen violent exchanges since October 8 — a day after the Palestinian militant Hamas group attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians.
In Beirut, Colonna held talks with Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri about the situation on Lebanon’s southern border. Officials from France, once Lebanon’s colonial ruler, have visited Lebanon over the past two months, urging for calm. For the past few years, Lebanon has been in the grips of the worst economic crisis in its modern history, which has significantly destabilized the country.
Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shiite militant group, are bitter enemies that last fought a war in summer 2006. Israel estimates that Hezbollah has around 150,000 rockets and missiles on Lebanese soil aimed at Israel.
During the meeting with Colonna, Mikati called on Israel to implement U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war, saying Israel should abide by it, according to a statement released by his office. He was apparently referring to almost daily violations of Lebanese airspace by Israel’s air force.
The resolution also states the border area in southern Lebanon must be “free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons” other than Lebanese government forces and U.N. peacekeepers. Under the resolution, Hezbollah should not have a military presence in the border region.
A day after the Hamas-Israel war started, Hezbollah fighters have been attacking Israeli posts along the Lebanon-Israel border. Israeli tanks, artillery and air force have been also striking areas on the Lebanese side of the border.
“The dangers of the conflict spreading are still high,” Colonna said, adding that she came to Lebanon to urge all parties to avoid expanding the conflict.
“I am very worried. … Escalation must stop,” she said.
On Friday, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said during a visit to Israel that a “negotiated outcome” is the best way to reassure residents of northern Israel, where tens of thousands of its civilians have been evacuated from Israeli towns and villages along the border with Lebanon. Some have said they have no plans to return home as long as Hezbollah fighters are across the border in Lebanon.
Earlier Monday, Lebanon’s state news agency said an Israeli drone fired a missile at a building close to where the funeral of a Hezbollah fighter was being held in a southern border village, without inflicting any casualties. On Sunday, Israeli strikes killed three Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon; more than 100 Hezbollah fighters have been killed since October 8.
In Monday’s strike, the missile hit the roof of a building about 40 meters from a square where the funeral of Hezbollah fighter Hassan Maan Surour was underway in the border village of Aita al-Shaab, the state-run National News Agency said.
Hezbollah claimed it targeted one of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense systems batteries in northern Israel, while the Israeli military said its fighter jets struck a series of Hezbollah targets on Monday, including infrastructure, a launch post and a military site.
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Holiday Window Displays Pack the Streets of New York City
Each year, crowds of tourists and locals alike are drawn to New York City’s department store holiday window displays. Aron Ranen has the story from the Big Apple.
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US Airstrike Targets ‘High-Ranking’ Al-Shabab Commander
WASHINGTON — The Somali government has reported that a high-ranking al-Shabab commander in the south of the country was targeted in collaboration with the United Sates military.
Somali Information Minister Daud Aweis said in a post that the operation “aimed to neutralize the terrorist leader in charge for orchestrating terror attacks.”
The Somali government said the strike occurred in the Middle Jubba region on December 17. The militant commander has not been identified.
The United States military command in Africa, known as AFRICOM, confirmed to VOA the accuracy of the report of the Somali government.
The last time a U.S. airstrike targeted a senior al-Shabab commander was in May when the head of the radical militant group’s external operations, Moallim Osman, was injured in the strike. Osman is accused of overseeing the recruitment of foreign fighters to Somalia to help with al-Shabab’s ongoing battle against the Somali government.
The United States trains an elite Somali unit, donates weapons to the Somali forces and conducts airstrikes against al-Shabab — which has been fighting the Somali government and African Union peacekeeping forces for more than one-and-a-half decades.
The Somali government has vowed to root out the group. The militants aim to establish a government based on their interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law.
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US Lawmakers Still Negotiating Ukraine Aid Deal as Holidays Near
Capitol Hill — The U.S. Congress is running out of time to pass a new aid package for Ukraine, as Senate lawmakers worked through the weekend to negotiate a deal for border security funding in return for Republican votes.
The United States has already dedicated more than $100 billion to arming and supporting Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, and President Joe Biden has asked Congress to approve another $60 billion. However, Republicans in Congress have become increasingly skeptical about the need to continue underwriting Ukraine’s defense.
In recent weeks, Republicans in the Senate have conditioned approval of any additional money for Ukraine on the simultaneous strengthening of immigration rules aimed at reducing the number of people entering the U.S. at its southern border and expelling some who are already in the country.
A small group of lawmakers from the two parties, along with representatives from the Biden administration, are trying to hammer out an agreement that can gain enough support from both sides to protect it from that body’s various legislative pitfalls.
The U.S. Senate had been scheduled to hold its last day in session for this year last Thursday but adjusted the schedule to allow for time for further negotiations. The House of Representatives went out of session for the rest of the year but could be called back to vote if a deal is reached.
As of Monday morning, lawmakers still had not agreed on legislation and a vote appeared increasingly unlikely.
House wants more
Even if an agreement passes in the Senate, it likely would not survive in the House, where Republicans hold a very narrow majority. A significant group of Republican House members opposes additional aid to Ukraine, and the party recently voted out a speaker who partnered with Democrats to pass legislation.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who took over after predecessor Kevin McCarthy was ousted, has said that more funding for the border is essential to any Ukrainian aid package; however, he also wants more conditions placed on the aid.
“What the Biden administration seems to be asking for is billions of additional dollars with no appropriate oversight, no clear strategy to win, and none of the answers that I think the American people are owed,” he said this week.
EU aid blocked; Putin celebrates
Worries about continued U.S. funding for Ukraine sharpened Friday after another key source of support was shut down. With the European Union considering a package of aid worth more than $50 billion, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban used his veto to scuttle the plan.
Orban’s vote came just a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly celebrated the fact that Ukraine appears to be losing support in the West.
“Ukraine today produces nearly nothing; they are trying to preserve something, but they don’t produce practically anything themselves and bring everything in for free,” he said, according to The Associated Press. “But the freebies may end at some point and apparently it’s coming to an end little by little.”
While opponents of aid to Ukraine often denigrate aid packages as being a “blank check” handed over to the Ukrainian government, most of the aid is in the form of military hardware. The dollar figures in the aid packages mostly represent money spent in the U.S. to pay arms manufacturers for the equipment the U.S. ships to Ukraine.
There is little doubt that a significant delay in additional funding from the U.S. would adversely impact Ukraine on the battlefield, but experts differed on the question of how long it would take before the effects become apparent.
“My current understanding is that there’s sufficient money remaining in the presidential drawdown authority for the Biden administration to continue sending arms to Ukraine for several more weeks, so into January,” said Nicholas Lokker, a research associate in the Center for a New American Security’s Transatlantic Security Program. “Once you start getting into January, the money is going to start running out.”
Lokker said that Ukraine is already experiencing shortages of artillery shells and air defense munitions, and that a cutoff or significant delay in aid from the U.S. would exacerbate those shortages.
Giving Russia time
Gian Gentile, a retired U.S. Army colonel and now a senior historian with the RAND Corporation, said that he thinks a delay in U.S. funding might take a little longer, perhaps months, to become apparent on the battlefield.
Gentile, however, said a significant delay, or reduction in U.S. support, could have a major impact on the dynamics of the war.
“If it’s such an extended delay that Ukraine has to really pull back on the amount of artillery it’s using and goes completely on the defensive, that gives Russia time and space,” he told VOA. “If they’re taking fewer casualties, that allows the Russians to spend more time on training, rebuilding and getting ready for another offensive.”
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Pope Approves Blessings for Same-Sex Couples if the Rituals Don’t Resemble Marriage
Rome — Pope Francis has formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, with a new document explaining a radical change in Vatican policy by insisting that people seeking God’s love and mercy shouldn’t be subject to “an exhaustive moral analysis” to receive it.
The document from the Vatican’s doctrine office, released Monday, elaborates on a letter Francis sent to two conservative cardinals that was published in October. In that preliminary response, Francis suggested such blessings could be offered under some circumstances if they didn’t confuse the ritual with the sacrament of marriage.
The new document repeats that rationale and elaborates on it, reaffirming that marriage is a lifelong sacrament between a man and a woman. And it stresses that blessings should not be conferred at the same time as a civil union, using set rituals or even with the clothing and gestures that belong in a wedding.
But it says requests for such blessings should not be denied full stop. It offers an extensive definition of the term “blessing” in Scripture to insist that people seeking a transcendent relationship with God and looking for his love and mercy should not be subject to “an exhaustive moral analysis” as a precondition for receiving it.
“Ultimately, a blessing offers people a means to increase their trust in God,” the document said. “The request for a blessing, thus, expresses and nurtures openness to the transcendence, mercy, and closeness to God in a thousand concrete circumstances of life, which is no small thing in the world in which we live.”
He added: “It is a seed of the Holy Spirit that must be nurtured, not hindered.”
The Vatican holds that marriage is an indissoluble union between man and woman. As a result, it has long opposed same-sex marriage.
And in 2021, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said flat-out that the church couldn’t bless the unions of two men or two women because “God cannot bless sin.”
That document created an outcry, one it appeared even Francis was blindsided by even though he had technically approved its publication. Soon after it was published, he removed the official responsible for it and set about laying the groundwork for a reversal.
In the new document, the Vatican said the church must shy away from “doctrinal or disciplinary schemes, especially when they lead to a narcissistic and authoritarian elitism whereby instead of evangelizing, one analyzes and classifies others, and instead of opening the door to grace, one exhausts his or her energies in inspecting and verifying.”
It stressed that people in “irregular” unions — gay or straight — are in a state of sin. But it said that shouldn’t deprive them of God’s love or mercy.
“Thus, when people ask for a blessing, an exhaustive moral analysis should not be placed as a precondition for conferring it,” the document said.
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Internally Displaced Ukrainian Women Find Housing, Stay Hopeful
A mother of three, a boarding school teacher, and a successful supply manager — three Ukrainian women who became internally displaced after Russia invaded Ukraine. Anna Kosstutschenko met with the women, who have found a temporary home in Odesa. Camera and video editing by Pavel Suhodolskiy.
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Senegalese Journalists Seek Safety, Training Ahead of Vote
As Senegal gears up for elections in February, some reporters are turning away from coverage, citing attacks and threats. In a bright spot, some journalists and police are training together to find a better way forward. For VOA, Senanu Tord reports from Dakar, Senegal. (Camera: Senanu Tord, Video Edited by: Jon Spier)
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Top US Lawmaker ‘Very Optimistic’ on Ukraine, Border Deal
Washington — As U.S. congressional negotiators worked deep into the weekend in a bid to craft an urgent deal linking aid to Ukraine and Israel to new border security, one top Democrat said he was “very optimistic” about a resolution.
“I’m very encouraged. I’m very optimistic they’re moving in a very positive way,” Senator Joe Manchin, a centrist Democrat, told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
He said he had been in touch with negotiators from both parties, as well as the White House, and “they understand that the border is broken” and needs to be fixed.
Three Senate negotiators — independent Kyrsten Sinema, Democrat Chris Murphy and Republican James Lankford — met Saturday and were to meet again Sunday in search of a compromise that would also include aid for Taiwan.
All three cited progress after the Saturday talks, Politico reported.
But at least one senior Republican senator, Lindsey Graham, sounded a more cautious note Sunday, suggesting that some lawmakers were bridling at the pressure for a quick deal.
“The bottom line here is we feel like we’re being jammed,” Graham told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” We’re not anywhere close to a deal. It’ll go into next year.”
The Biden administration has stressed the urgency of getting new aid, particularly as Ukraine faces another winter under Russian attack.
Democrats support a proposed $61 billion package of military, humanitarian and macroeconomic assistance.
But Graham and other Republicans insist that Congress must first shore up border security to stem a continuing influx of migrants.
He said a compromise was possible but warned Democrats that “I will not help Ukraine, Taiwan or Israel until we secure a border that’s been obliterated.”
Lawmakers had been due to go into recess Thursday evening.
But Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday that the chamber would return Monday, giving negotiators time to reach “a framework agreement.”
Any deal reached in the Senate would also need to pass the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which has begun its holiday recess. Its members can in theory be recalled to Washington to vote if an agreement is reached.
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South African Kidnapped in 2017 Released in Mali
Bamako, Mali — A South African paramedic who had been held by jihadists in Mali for over six years has been released, security and humanitarian sources told AFP on Sunday.
Gerco van Deventer, 48, was kidnapped in Libya on November 3, 2017, on his way to a power plant construction site around 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) south of the capital Tripoli.
Three other Turkish engineers seized at the same time were freed seven months later, but van Deventer remained in captivity and was moved to Mali.
“We learned that the South African hostage was released the day before yesterday,” a Malian security source told AFP.
A foreign humanitarian source said that van Deventer was released on the border between Mali and Algeria, adding that she had briefly met the freed hostage at the border.
The security source said van Deventer was currently under observation at a hospital in Algiers.
His wife, Shereen van Deventer, told AFP that she did not wish to comment immediately, saying they were “a little overwhelmed as a family” by the news and the number of calls.
The two sources confirmed information given by an influential South African charity, Gift of the Givers, which was involved in mediation efforts for his release.
The NGO said in a statement it got involved “at the request of the family” and “made contact with JNIM” — the Al-Qaeda-linked group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen, to whom van Deventer was sold in 2018.
Gift of the Givers claims that “the initial request for Gerco was $3 million, and over a period of time we negotiated the amount down to $500,000.”
But it did not specify whether the money was paid and if so, by who, saying in the statement that the family could not afford the ransom.
Van Deventer, an emergency paramedic, had been working for a security company, according to his family, who had launched a fresh appeal in March for his release.
His wife told AFP in an online interview at the time that she and their three children “desperately need him home.”
There was a flurry of negotiations for his release during the first few years after his kidnapping, but the COVID-19 pandemic put the brakes on those efforts until earlier this year, she had said.
The Sahel has been ravaged by a jihadist campaign that began in northern Mali in 2012, sweeping over into neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger in 2015.
Mali has been ravaged by different groups affiliated to al-Qaida and the Islamic State, as well as by self-declared self-defense forces and bandits.
The north in particular has seen intensified military clashes following the withdrawal of U.N. forces at the demand of the ruling junta, which set off fighting between the military and Islamist and separatist forces to control the area.
Kidnappings of foreigners and Malians are common.
In March, French journalist Olivier Dubois, 48, and 61-year-old American aid worker Jeffery Woodke — kidnapped in 2021 and 2016 respectively — were freed.
Dubois posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday that the news of van Deventer’s release was “A wonderful Christmas present!!!!”
In a post-release interview with Radio France Internationale (RFI) earlier this year, Dubois had said he spent slightly more than a year with van Deventer in captivity and said the South African “needs to go home.”
Gift of the Givers helped in efforts to secure the 2017 release of Stephen McGown, another South African held in Mali for nearly six years.
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Car Plows Into Parked Vehicle in Biden’s Motorcade Outside Delaware Campaign Office
WILMINGTON, Del. — A car plowed into a parked SUV that was guarding President Joe Biden ‘s motorcade Sunday night while the president was leaving a visit to his campaign headquarters. The president and first lady Jill Biden were unharmed.
While Biden was walking from the campaign office to his waiting armored SUV, a sedan hit a U.S. Secret Service vehicle that was being used to close off intersections near the headquarters for the president’s departure. The sedan then tried to continue into a closed-off intersection, before Secret Service personnel surrounded the vehicle with weapons drawn and instructed the driver to put his hands up.
Biden was ushered into his waiting vehicle, where his wife was already seated, before being driven swiftly back to their home. His schedule was otherwise unaffected by the incident.
The Secret Service did not immediately comment on the incident.
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Britain Calls for Jimmy Lai’s Release as Hong Kong Trial Begins
London — Britain called for Hong Kong to release Jimmy Lai ahead of the trial of the leading China critic and media tycoon on charges he colluded with foreign forces, including the United States.
David Cameron, who became foreign minister in November, toughened Britain’s stance on Sunday by explicitly calling for the release of British national Lai, who faces possible life imprisonment.
Lai’s long-awaited national security trial opens in Hong Kong on Monday, with foreign envoys and others saying it is a key test for the city’s judicial independence and freedoms under the sweeping national security law imposed by China in 2020.
Lai, 76, the founder of now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily and one of the most prominent Hong Kong critics of China’s Communist Party leadership, has pleaded not guilty to all charges he faces in the new trial.
His son Sebastien Lai, who has met with Cameron to discuss the case, previously criticised Britain for being “incredibly weak” in standing up for his father.
“As a prominent and outspoken journalist and publisher, Jimmy Lai has been targeted in a clear attempt to stop the peaceful exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and association,” Cameron said in a statement.
“I call on the Hong Kong authorities to end their prosecution and release Jimmy Lai.”
Cameron said Hong Kong’s National Security Law was a “clear breach” of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which returned Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule more than 25 years ago under a deal guaranteeing a high degree of autonomy, including freedom of speech, under a “one country, two systems” formula.
“(The national security law) has damaged Hong Kong, with rights and freedoms significantly eroded,” Cameron said.
“I urge the Chinese authorities to repeal the National Security Law and end the prosecution of all individuals charged under it,” he added.
China has in the past responded to similar criticism by accusing Britain of acting with a colonial mindset.
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