VIENNA — The United Nations atomic watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution on Thursday again ordering Iran to urgently improve cooperation with the agency and requesting a “comprehensive” report aimed at pressuring Iran into fresh nuclear talks. 

Britain, France, Germany and the United States, which proposed the resolution, dismissed as insufficient and insincere a last-minute Iranian move to cap its stock of uranium that is close to weapons-grade. Diplomats said Iran’s move was conditional on scrapping the resolution. 

Iran tends to bristle at such resolutions and has said it would respond in kind to this one. After previous criticism at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board, it has stepped up its nuclear activities and reduced IAEA oversight. 

China, Russia and Burkina Faso voted against the text, diplomats in the meeting said. Nineteen countries voted in favor and 12 abstained. 

Standoffs

The IAEA and Iran have long been locked in standoffs on a range of issues, including Tehran’s failure to explain uranium traces found at undeclared sites, its barring last year of most of the agency’s top uranium-enrichment experts on the Iran inspection team, and its refusal to expand IAEA monitoring. 

The resolution seen by Reuters repeated wording from a November 2022 resolution that it was “essential and urgent” for Iran to explain the uranium traces and let the IAEA take samples as necessary. The resolution in June of this year did the same. 

The new text asked the IAEA to issue “a comprehensive and updated assessment on the possible presence or use of undeclared nuclear material in connection with past and present outstanding issues regarding Iran’s nuclear program, including a full account of Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA on these issues.” 

Western powers hope that report, due by spring 2025, will pressure Iran into negotiations on fresh restrictions on its nuclear activities, albeit less far-reaching ones than in a 2015 deal with major powers that unraveled after then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from it in 2018. 

With Trump set to return to office in January and Iran having taken its uranium enrichment far beyond the deal’s limits, it is far from clear whether Trump would back negotiations aimed at setting new limits before those of the 2015 deal are lifted on “termination day” in October of next year. 

If no new limits are agreed before then, the report could be used to strengthen the case for so-called “snapback,” a process under the 2015 deal where the issue is sent to the U.N. Security Council and sanctions lifted under the deal can be re-imposed.  

Iranian reaction

Last week IAEA chief Rafael Grossi visited Tehran, hoping to persuade new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is seen as relatively moderate, to improve Iran’s cooperation with the agency.

Grossi formally reported to member states on Tuesday that “the possibility of Iran not further expanding its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% U-235 was discussed” in his meetings with Iranian officials, and that the IAEA had verified Iran had “begun implementation of preparatory measures.” 

Iran already has enough material enriched to that level — close to the roughly 90% purity that is weapons grade — for four nuclear weapons if enriched further, according to an IAEA yardstick. It has enough material enriched to lower levels for more bombs, but Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons. 

Grossi said on Wednesday he had asked Iran to cap that stock of 60% material and Iran had accepted his request.  

He said at a news conference that day that it was “a concrete step in the right direction,” suggesting that he felt a resolution could undermine that progress. 

With the resolution passed, Iran is likely to respond. 

Moments after the vote, Iranian state media cited a joint statement by the foreign ministry and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran saying Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami has issued orders for measures like activating various new and advanced centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium. 

“If there is a resolution, it [Iran] will either increase its activities or reduce the agency’s access,” a senior diplomat said before the vote. 
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned Russia’s use of a fast, powerful new missile to attack the city of Dnipro on Thursday, calling it a “nuclear adventure” and a stark escalation in the war.

The attack has ignited fears of a dangerous new phase in the war. In a nationwide address, Russian President Vladimir Putin later confirmed the use of a medium-range ballistic missile in the strike.

Zelenskyy pointed to the strike as a sign of Moscow’s broader strategy, stating, “It is obvious that Putin is using Ukraine as a testing ground for weapons that threaten the world.”

His remarks underscored the growing alarm in Kyiv over the deployment of advanced Russian missile systems against civilian targets.

In his address, Putin framed the use of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile as a routine test within the conflict.

“The Russian Federation tested a medium-range ballistic missile, known as Oreshnik, during its operation in Ukraine,” he said.

While he offered few technical details, analysts said the use of the missile and Putin’s acknowledgment appears intended to showcase Russia’s military capabilities to NATO and the United States.

Putin’s announcement marks the first time Russia has openly acknowledged using such a missile during the war.

In Washington, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said the missile used was based on Russia’s RS 26 rubes intercontinental ballistic missile model.” In terms of notifications to the United States, the United States was pre notified briefly before the launch through Nuclear Risk Reduction channels,” she said.

Strategic escalation

Valeriy Chaly, Ukraine’s former ambassador to the U.S., described the attack as a “new stage” in Russia’s aggression. Speaking to VOA, he emphasized that the strike was not just a challenge to Ukraine but also to its Western allies.

“This isn’t just about Ukraine,” Chaly said. “It’s a challenge to the European security system and the United States. Moscow is signaling its readiness to escalate dramatically to influence the West.”

He said that the response to the attack “must be clear, united, and decisive — anything less risks emboldening Russia and jeopardizing global security.”

Western leaders quickly condemned the strike. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer labeled it “reckless and dangerous,” while EU foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano described it as a “qualitative escalation” in Russia’s tactics.

Dnipro attack

The missile targeted industrial facilities in Dnipro, injuring two people and causing significant damage. Ukrainian officials initially suggested the use of an ICBM, or intercontinental ballistic missile, citing the weapon’s speed and trajectory. Some analysts, including those in the U.S., believed it was more likely a medium- or intermediate-range ballistic missile, consistent with Putin’s confirmation.

Dnipro residents, accustomed to regular air-raid sirens and missile attacks, reported that this strike felt uniquely different.

Oleksiy Poltorazky, a local resident, recounted: “We’ve learned to recognize the sounds of different missile types. This one was different — it hit almost immediately after the siren. Many here believe it was a ballistic missile because there was no usual warning sound.”

The speed and power of the strike left many shaken.

Poltorazky, however, remained resolute. “There’s no panic, no apocalypse as everyone says. We have to live through this, raise our kids, protect our families and work. We have to fight and do everything possible for our country,” he told VOA.

George Barros, an expert on the Russia team at the Institute for the Study of War, told VOA that Ukrainians should try not to overreact to the attack.

“It seems that the Russians targeted the city with an R-26 IRBM,” Barros said, referring to a Soviet-era intermediate-range missile. “The main thing is to not panic. There’s no reason to think that Putin’s likelihood to use a nuclear weapon or a weapon of mass destruction is any higher than at other points in the war.

“This is not the first time that Russia has used nuclear-capable weapon systems against Ukraine,” he said. “Russia regularly uses Iskander nuclear-capable weapons, and this appears to be a signaling effort designed to deter further Western support for Ukraine.”

Strategic ambiguity

While Putin confirmed the missile test, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov and Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova provided limited details about the strike. Zakharova was reportedly instructed not to address the attack at all during a Thursday press conference.

The calculated reticence deepens global unease, as Moscow oscillates between overt warnings and veiled threats, said some analysts, suggesting the ambiguity is part of a broader strategy to keep Western nations uncertain about Russia’s next moves.
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Washington — A new survey of public opinion in Ukraine indicates that for the first time a slight majority of Ukrainians say they are ready to concede their lands for peace; however, other recent polls indicate opinions may be more complicated.

The Gallup polls released Tuesday, conducted in August and October, found that 52 percent of Ukrainians want their country to negotiate a quick end to the war, while 38 percent want to keep fighting until victory.

Although media reports about the survey said it reflects a shift in popular opinion from the outset of the war, when most Ukrainians wanted to fight until victory, other surveys have reported less support for a quick resolution.

In September and October of this year, the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) Center for Insights in Survey Research (CISR) found that “strong majorities believe that Ukraine will defeat Russia in the current war and support recapturing all lost territory.”

According to this survey, released November 12 and conducted by computer-assisted telephone interviews in the Kyiv-controlled territories in late September and early October, 88% of Ukrainians believe that Ukraine will win the war. This number is lower than 98% in June 2022 but has not changed since February 2024.

Similar results came from surveys conducted by Ukrainian pollsters. A study from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) conducted in September-October 2024 found that 81% of Ukrainians believe Ukraine can succeed if the West provides adequate support. Only 14% believe Russia is too strong (up from 7% in December 2023).

Similarly, a national survey conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Foundation “Democratic Initiatives” with the sociological service of the Razumkov Center in August reported that Ukrainians are not ready to capitulate to Russia’s territorial demands.

Only 9% of Ukrainians said they would agree to recognize the occupied territories as part of the Russian Federation in exchange for peace (up from 5% in August 2023), and 81% consider it unacceptable (down from 90% in August 2023).

Pollsters attribute the differences in their results to different methodologies.

Benedict Vigers, the author of the Gallup report, says while they asked questions by phone, the Razumkov survey asked questions in person. There are also some differences in sample coverage. For instance, the IRI survey did not get data from in Donetsk or Kherson.

In a written response to VOA, Vigers explained that a desire to end the war as soon as possible does not equal a willingness to give away territories. He points out that only half of those who want to negotiate peace are open to unspecified territorial concessions.

“Of the 52% who think Ukraine should seek to negotiate an ending to the war as soon as possible, around half (52%) are open to making some territorial concessions to achieve peace with Russia. Another 38% are not open to these concessions,” he wrote.

That means that only a quarter of Ukraine’s polled population is open to territorial concessions in exchange for peace.

“There is still a significant chunk of society that wants to keep fighting until victory, and for most of these people, victory means taking back all land lost since 2014, including Crimea,” Vigers said.

Mykhailo Mishchenko, deputy director of the Ukrainian Razumkov Center Sociological Service, showed how a slight difference in the question’s wording can alter the results.

“When you ask the question, ‘Do you agree that Ukraine should be open to making some territorial concessions as a part of a peace deal to end the war?’ you get a different answer. It does not mean that all 52% of those who said ‘yes’ in the Gallup poll agree to the territorial concessions. They may be open to considering this question,” Mishchenko told VOA.

He said that Ukrainian society is tired of war after 2.5 years, and the number of people who support negotiations has grown. They also can observe the change of rhetoric from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said that Russia should be invited to the next peace summit. But Mishchenko cautions against interpreting the polls’ results as a desire of Ukrainians to surrender.

In one of his previous interviews, Mishchenko pointed out that many Ukrainians do not believe that territorial concessions would end the war.

“Among those who are ready to make concessions, 26% answered that Russia’s goal is genocide and the physical destruction of the majority of Ukrainians. Another 20% of this category indicated that Russia’s goal is the destruction of the Ukrainian nation. In total, it is 46%. And only 15% of those who are ready to make concessions answered that Russia’s goal is to keep the already occupied territory without claims to the rest of the territory of Ukraine,” he said in an interview with an independent Russian newspaper.

Mishchenko points out that Russian polls indicate a greater willingness of Russian society to return lands they occupied to Ukrainians in order to end the war. One such poll was conducted in September 2024 by the Levada Center, a Russian independent pollster.

“They asked respondents if they thought ‘it was necessary to continue military operations or start peace negotiations,’ ” Michshenko said.

“The majority (54%) of the surveyed Russians were in favor of peace negotiations, and the minority (39%) were in favor of the continuation of hostilities. In September 2022, 48% of Russians supported negotiations, and 44% supported the continuation of hostilities,” he said.
…

Ukrainian officials reported damage Thursday to an industrial site in the Dnipropetrovsk region after a series of Russian attacks.

Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said the attacks hit the city of Dnipro and also caused several fires.

Volodymyr Artiukh, governor of Ukraine’s Sumy region, said on Telegram that Russian forces shelled areas along the border between the two countries and attacked with an aerial drone.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses destroyed two Ukrainian drones over the Rostov region and two drones over Volgograd.

Yuri Slyusar, the acting governor of Rostov, said on Telegram there were no casualties and no damage as a result of the Ukrainian attack.

US mines

The U.S. is planning to send Ukraine antipersonnel land mines to help Kyiv’s forces fend off the advance of Russian ground troops, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday.

The decision is the second U.S. policy reversal in recent days after President Joe Biden, in the last two months of his White House tenure, switched his stance and said Ukraine is now free to launch Washington-supplied, long-range missiles deeper into Russia.

Ukraine quickly targeted munitions warehouses with its first attack on Tuesday.

Austin, speaking to reporters traveling with him on a trip to Laos, said allowing the shipment of the U.S. land mines to Ukraine became necessary because of changing battlefield tactics by Moscow’s forces.

He said Russian ground troops are leading the movement on the battlefield, rather than forces protected by armored carriers, so Ukraine has “a need for things that can help slow down that effort on the part of the Russians.”

Russia has captured more territory in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks.

Austin said the land mines that the U.S. will provide can be controlled for self-activation and self-detonation.

Russia, like the United States, did not sign the United Nations convention on the prohibition of anti-personnel mines, but Ukraine had, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted on Wednesday.

Russia has deployed at least 13 types of land mines in Ukraine, according to Human Rights Watch, and uses them extensively in territory it has captured from Ukraine, according to The Washington Post.

The U.S. on Wednesday also said it is sending another $275 million package of munitions to Kyiv, including arms for rocket systems, artillery and antitank weapons. It is the 70th such shipment since August 2021.

The changing policies and additional arms supply appear to be an effort by Biden and his defense team to shore up Ukraine’s war effort before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office January 20.

Trump has been a skeptic of continuing U.S. support for Ukraine, claiming he will have the war ended before he even takes office but not offering any details on how he would do so.

VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb contributed to this report. Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.
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It’s reported that Ukraine has fired British-supplied Storm Shadow long-range missiles into Russia for the first time. It follows U.S. President Joe Biden’s reported decision earlier this week to approve the use of American longer-range missiles on targets deep inside Russia. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named Matt Whitaker, a former acting attorney general from his first presidency, as the U.S. ambassador to NATO, the cornerstone Western military alliance whose member countries Trump has criticized for not spending enough money on defense.

In a statement, Trump described Whitaker, 55, as “a strong warrior and loyal patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO allies and stand firm in the face of threats to peace and stability.”

As with several of Trump’s choices for positions in his new administration, the nomination of Whitaker to the 32-country North Atlantic Treaty Organization based in Brussels is unusual in that his professional background does not match the job to which he is being named. Whitaker has a long career as a lawyer but is not steeped in foreign or military policy.

Whitaker, like numerous other Trump appointees, has been an ardent Trump loyalist. Whitaker has been a vocal critic of the two federal criminal cases brought against Trump that are now likely to be erased as he assumes power again on January 20.

During his first administration, Trump goaded other NATO countries that did not meet the alliance’s military spending goal: 2% of their national economic output. As he left office in 2021, six of the NATO countries were spending that much on defense. But 23 of the 32 do now as the threat of Russian aggression against nearby NATO countries mounted after Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which is not a NATO country but wants to join.

During his presidency, Trump assailed the countries who were not spending enough on defense, saying they were in arrears in their “dues” to NATO.

“NATO was busted until I came along,” Trump said at a political rally earlier this year. “I said, ‘Everybody’s going to pay.’”

Trump said that “one of the presidents of a big country” at one point asked him whether the U.S. would still defend the country if they were invaded by Russia even if they “don’t pay.”

“I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ They couldn’t believe the answer.”

“No, I would not protect you,” Trump recalled saying to that president. “In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You got to pay. You got to pay your bills.”

Under the NATO treaty, member nations are obligated to protect each other militarily if they are attacked. The obligation has been invoked only once in the 75-year history of the alliance that was formed in the aftermath of World War II. That was when other NATO countries joined the United States in fighting al-Qaida in Afghanistan after the terrorist group attacked the U.S. in 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.

Whitaker, a former federal prosecutor in the Midwestern state of Iowa, served as acting attorney general between November 2018 and February 2019, as special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was ending.

Before then, Whitaker was chief of staff to Trump’s first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, before being picked to replace his boss after Sessions was fired amid Trump’s lingering outrage over his decision to withdraw from the Russia investigation. Whitaker held the acting attorney general position for several months without Senate confirmation, until William Barr was confirmed as attorney general in February 2019.

Other appointments

Trump has been making new top appointments to his nascent administration on an almost daily basis.

Late Tuesday, he named Linda McMahon as his nominee to lead the Education Department, even though Trump and some Republican lawmakers want to abolish the agency and hand over most education policy decisions and much of the current federal funding to state and local control.

McMahon served as the head of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s previous term in office and is well known for her decadeslong role, along with her husband, in helping lead World Wrestling Entertainment.

“Linda will use her decades of leadership experience, and deep understanding of both education and business, to empower the next generation of American students and workers and make America number one in education in the world,” Trump said in a statement. “We will send education back to the states, and Linda will spearhead that effort.”

Also on Tuesday, Trump announced he’d nominate Wall Street financier Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary in his new administration.

Additionally, the president-elect picked Dr. Mehmet Oz, a longtime television show host, as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that oversees the government’s two key health insurance programs for older Americans and impoverished people. Trump backed Oz’s failed attempt to win a Senate seat in Pennsylvania in 2022.
…

MADRID — Spain will legalize about 300,000 undocumented migrants a year, starting next May and through 2027, the country’s migration minister said Wednesday.

The policy aims to expand the aging country’s workforce and allow foreigners living in Spain without proper documentation to obtain work permits and residency. Spain has largely remained open to receiving migrants even as other European nations seek to tighten their borders to illegal crossings and asylum seekers.

Spain needs around 250,000 registered foreign workers a year to maintain its welfare state, Migration Minister Elma Saiz said in an interview on Wednesday. She contended that the legalization policy is not aimed solely at “cultural wealth and respect for human rights; it’s also prosperity.”

“Today, we can say Spain is a better country,” Saiz told national broadcaster Radiotelevision Espanola.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has often described his government’s migration policies as a means to combat the country’s low birthrate. In August, Sanchez visited three West African nations in an effort to tackle irregular migration to Spain’s Canary Islands.

The archipelago off the coast of Africa is seen by many as a step toward continental Europe with young men from Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and elsewhere embarking on dangerous sea voyages there seeking better job opportunities abroad or fleeing violence and political instability at home.

The new policy, approved Tuesday by Spain’s leftist minority coalition government, simplifies administrative procedures for short and long-term visas and provides migrants with additional labor protections. It extends a visa offered previously to job-seekers for three months to one year.

By mid-November, some 54,000 undocumented migrants had reached Spain this year by sea or land, according to the country’s Interior Ministry. The exact number of foreigners living in Spain without documentation is unclear.

Many irregular migrants make a living in Spain’s underground economy as fruit pickers, caretakers, delivery drivers or other low-paid but essential jobs often passed over by Spaniards.

Without legal protections, they can be vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Saiz said the new policy would help prevent such abuse and “serve to combat mafias, fraud and the violation of rights.”

Spain’s economy is among the fastest-growing in the European Union this year, boosted in part by immigration and a strong rebound in tourism after the pandemic.

In 2023, Spain issued 1.3 million visas to foreigners, according to the government.
…

MOSCOW/IRTYSH VILLAGE, RUSSIA — Russian farmers say they will sow less wheat after heavy losses this year, switching to more profitable crops such as peas, lentils, or sunflowers.

Such decisions will have direct implications for global wheat prices and inflation in major buyers like Egypt, as Russia is the world’s top exporter of the grain.

The trend represents a challenge for President Vladimir Putin’s plan to expand exports and cement Russia’s position as an agriculture superpower, while trying to gain more international clout amid confrontation with the West over its actions in Ukraine.

The country’s wheat harvest will decline to 83 million tons this year due to frosts and drought, down from 92.8 million tons in 2023 and a record 104.2 million tons in 2022. New forecasts point to a clouded outlook for next year as well.

Although Russia has been exporting wheat at a near record pace in the recent months, exports are expected to slow due to a bad harvest and export curbs aimed at containing domestic price growth, including an expected cut in export quota by two-thirds from January 2025.

At a farm in Siberia’s Omsk region, which was hit by heavy rain during the peak of the harvesting season, farmer Maxim Levshunov takes advantage of a rare sunny day to collect what remains in the fields.

He chuckles as he picks up ears of wheat that sprouted early due to the moisture. Now, most of his crops are only suitable for animal feed, meaning the farm will receive a fraction of the price, and income, it had hoped for.

“We’ll probably start moving away from wheat, cutting back as much as possible. So, we’ll be thinking about what more profitable crops we can replace it with right now,” Levshunov told Reuters.

As this year’s harvesting campaign comes to an end, Russian farmers are assessing their losses from the exceptionally bad weather and considering their next steps amid falling profit margins for wheat, Russia’s main agricultural export.

Winter wheat became the first victim as areas sown with it are set to shrink by 10% this year, the lowest since 2019, according to data from Rusagrotrans, Russia’s flagship grain rail carrier.

“There are losses on each ton. The selling price does not cover the cost,” said Arkady Zlochevsky, head of the Russian Grain Union industry lobby, predicting that Russia’s 26% share of the global wheat trade will shrink.

Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut joked that farmers might pray to Saint Ilya, the patron saint of weather in Russia, to improve conditions for winter crops. The joke did not go down well with farmers, who are considering more pragmatic options.

Some say they have already decided to plant less wheat next year. Others are waiting to see how global wheat prices perform in the next few weeks before making a final decision.

“The profitability of grain crops is approaching zero. The company has reduced the volume of winter wheat sowing by 30%. There are two drivers now — soybeans and sunflower,” said Dmitry Garnov, CEO of Rostagro Group, which owns land in the Penza and Saratov regions around the Volga River.

Rising costs of equipment and fuel, high export duties, a rising benchmark interest rate that hit 21% in October as the country’s central bank fights inflation, and the removal of some agricultural subsidies have also eaten into profit margins.

“It is evident that in 2022-2024, the price has been practically the same, while the cost of grain production has increased by at least 28%,” said Sergei Lisovsky, a member of the lower house of Russia’s parliament from the Kurgan region.

Lisovsky argued that the high export duty for grains, introduced in 2021, as well as rising transportation costs for regions with no direct access to seaports, were also factors behind low margins.

“Therefore, as of today, farmers are not planting grain, not because of the autumn drought, but because they are waiting to see what the price will be, and have not yet made a decision,” Lisovsky added, referring to spring wheat sowing.

In Russia’s most fertile Krasnodar region, the profitability of wheat is still holding around 10%, but some large local farms are also pondering a change of strategy as droughts become more severe each year.

“It is gradually getting warmer in the south, and we need to think about changing the structure of the sowing areas for the future,” said Yevgeny Gromyko, executive from Tkachev Agrocomplex, one of Russia’s largest landowners, and a former deputy agriculture minister.

The niche crops have the potential to become new export success stories with Russia’s allies among the BRICS countries, aiding the government in achieving Putin’s goal of increasing agricultural exports by half by 2030.

Russia overtook Canada this year as the top peas exporter to China. Regulators in India, the leading importer of lentils, used to make daal, a staple for millions of people, gave a green light to Russian imports.

Russia takes pride in being the world’s top wheat exporter, with the older generation recalling the food shortages of the Soviet era and the humiliating grain imports from Cold War foes like the United States and Canada.

However, for struggling farmers, it is declining profits, not global status, that matter most.

“Many farms that specialized exclusively in wheat crops have operated at a loss this year and will face very serious financial difficulties, potentially leading to bankruptcy,” Levshunov said.
…

Several international human rights organizations have raised alarm about Azerbaijan’s crackdown on rights defenders, government critics and journalists before the start of the COP29 climate change conference currently being held in its capital, Baku. 

“We urge every delegation attending COP29 to press the Azerbaijani government to end its clampdown on civil society, guarantee the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly throughout and beyond the conference, and take meaningful action to reverse the deterioration of human rights in the country,” Amnesty International said in a statement before the start of the event on Nov. 11.

The United Nations’ annual conference on combating global warming, COP29, began last week as the Azerbaijani government escalated its crackdown on government critics.

Azerbaijani authorities have jailed at least 14 journalists since November 2023. Many of them are facing charges of currency smuggling. All of them deny the allegations, calling them bogus.

On November 12, a group of Azerbaijani civil society representatives issued an open appeal to COP29 participants, claiming that after Azerbaijan was announced as the conference host in December 2023, the country’s government began to silence dissidents and alternative voices.

“In a short period of time, opposition leaders, human rights defenders, socio-political activists, independent media organizations, including the leaders and employees of ‘Abzas Media,’ ‘Toplum TV,’ ‘Kanal 13,’ and the civil society organization Institute for Democratic Initiatives, were detained on politically motivated charges. The trial of those arrested was postponed until December, as they coincided with COP29,” they said.

The Azerbaijani government, which has rejected accusations that the arrests were politically motivated, insists that journalists and activists are being detained “on the basis of credible suspicions of violations of individual articles of the Criminal Code [of the Republic of Azerbaijan].” 

Climate change and human rights

On Tuesday, COP29 hosted a debate titled “No Climate Justice Without Civic Space and Meaningful Participation,” organized by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and several other human rights organizations.

After the event, Fuad Hasanov, head of the nongovernmental organization Democratic Monitor, told VOA that the main theme of the debate was that it is impossible to hold discussions on climate change in an environment where the space for civil society is limited.

Panel members also called on Azerbaijani authorities to release all political prisoners, including journalists, and to create conditions for the free operation of independent civil society institutions and the media.

In a letter to President Ilham Aliyev published on Monday, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty also urged the immediate release of all political prisoners.

“I share with you my concern about the recent arrests of a number of human rights defenders, journalists and civil society activists,” O’Flaherty said in the letter.

O’Flaherty said that as a member of the Council of Europe, Azerbaijan should create a safe environment for human rights.

“I urge the Azerbaijani authorities to take the necessary steps to ensure that all laws and practices in connection with freedoms of association, assembly and expression and the situation of human rights defenders, journalists and civil society activists in the country comply with relevant Council of Europe human rights standards,” O’Flaherty said.

Rufat Safarov, executive director of the human rights organization Defense Line, told VOA that the 29th annual U.N. Climate Change Conference should not have been held in Baku. He said this legitimizes the country’s authorities, who deny fundamental rights and freedoms in Azerbaijan, on the international stage.

“In an environment where law is worthless, human rights are ignored, political rights are denied, violence has become the official state policy, and there are 319 political prisoners, holding COP29 in Baku serves the interests of the repressive regime at best,” Safarov said.

Azerbaijan response

The unsigned response letter from Azerbaijani authorities to the Council of Europe commissioner emphasizes that Azerbaijan remains committed to upholding its international obligations, including those under international human rights law, and ensuring the safety and freedom of all persons. The letter was made available on the Council of Europe commissioner’s website Monday.  

The letter stated: “It should be emphasized that no journalist or media representative is being targeted for carrying out their professional work in Azerbaijan. Every individual, irrespective of their standing, is equal before the law and is expected to adhere to the legislation in force, as this forms the foundation of the rule of law principle.

“Therefore, it is of utmost importance to exercise due diligence and refrain from any actions, especially calling for immediate release of the persons under criminal investigation, that may be construed as interfering with the judicial process.”

Lawmaker Bahruz Maharramov, a member of the parliament’s Human Rights Committee, told VOA on Thursday that the attacks on Azerbaijan from the West under the guise of human rights and democracy on the eve of and during COP29 are “an instrument for cheap imperialist intentions.”

“In this sense, the claims and statements of those circles are irrelevant for us, and we rightly consider these claims to be part of a smear campaign against Azerbaijan,” he said.

This story originated in VOA’s Azerbaijani Service.
…

TEHRAN, IRAN — Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday slammed as unjustified the new sanctions by the European Union and United Kingdom against Tehran over its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“While the president of Ukraine has admitted that no Iranian ballistic missiles have been exported to Russia, the measures of the European Union and United Kingdom in applying sanctions against Iran cannot be justified,” ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a statement.

Later Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassador of Hungary, which holds the rotating EU presidency, to protest the new sanctions.

The European Union on Monday widened sanctions against Iran over its alleged support for Russia’s war on Ukraine, including targeting the national seafaring company, vessels and ports used to transfer drones and missiles.

Acting in parallel, the U.K. also announced fresh sanctions against Iran on Monday, freezing the assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line.

The sanctions also included the national airline, Iran Air, for transporting ballistic missiles and military supplies to Russia for use in Ukraine.

Iran has repeatedly rejected Western accusations that it has transferred missiles or drones to Moscow for use against Kiev.

Ahead of the sanctions announcement, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Sunday the EU was using the “nonexistent missile pretext” to target its shipping lines.

“There is no legal, logical or moral basis for such behavior. If anything, it will only compel what it ostensibly seeks to prevent,” Araghchi wrote on X.

“Freedom of navigation is a basic principle of the law of the sea. When selectively applied by some, such shortsightedness usually tends to boomerang,” Araghchi wrote.

Iran’s economy is reeling from biting U.S. sanctions following the unilateral withdrawal of Washington in 2018 from a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Baghaei said the new sanctions against Iran, which “affect the interests and fundamental rights of Iranians, are clear examples of systematic violations of human rights.”

“The Islamic Republic of Iran will use all of the capacities of cooperation with its partners to ensure its interests and national security,” he said.
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As the COP29 climate summit enters the final stretch in Azerbaijan, there are growing frustrations over the apparent lack of progress toward securing a deal on climate finance – seen as a crucial step in reducing emissions and limiting global warming. Henry Ridgwell reports.
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NEW YORK — Arthur Frommer, whose “Europe on 5 Dollars a Day” guidebooks revolutionized leisure travel by convincing average Americans to take budget vacations abroad, has died. He was 95.

Frommer died from complications of pneumonia, his daughter Pauline Frommer said Monday.

“My father opened up the world to so many people,” she said. “He believed deeply that travel could be an enlightening activity and one that did not require a big budget.”

Frommer began writing about travel while serving in the U.S. Army in Europe in the 1950s. When a guidebook he wrote for American soldiers overseas sold out, he launched what became one of the travel industry’s best-known brands, self-publishing “Europe on 5 Dollars a Day” in 1957.

“It struck a chord and became an immediate best-seller,” he recalled in an interview with The Associated Press in 2007, on the 50th anniversary of the book’s debut.

The Frommer’s brand, led today by his daughter Pauline, remains one of the best-known names in the travel industry, with guidebooks to destinations around the world, an influential social media presence, podcasts and a radio show.

Frommer’s philosophy — stay in inns and budget hotels instead of five-star hotels, sightsee on your own using public transportation, eat with locals in small cafes instead of fancy restaurants — changed the way Americans traveled in the mid- to late 20th century. He said budget travel was preferable to luxury travel “because it leads to a more authentic experience.” That message encouraged average people, not just the wealthy, to vacation abroad.

It didn’t hurt that his books hit the market as the rise of jet travel made getting to Europe easier than crossing the Atlantic by ship. The books became so popular that there was a time when you couldn’t visit a place like the Eiffel Tower without spotting Frommer’s guidebooks in the hands of every other American tourist.

Frommer’s advice also became so standard that it’s hard to remember how radical it seemed in the days before discount flights and backpacks. “It was really pioneering stuff,” Tony Wheeler, founder of the Lonely Planet guidebook company, said in an interview in 2013. Before Frommer, Wheeler said, you could find guidebooks “that would tell you everything about the church or the temple ruin. But the idea that you wanted to eat somewhere and find a hotel or get from A to B — well, I’ve got a huge amount of respect for Arthur.”

“Arthur did for travel what Consumer Reports did for everything else,” said Pat Carrier, former owner of The Globe Corner, a travel bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The final editions of Frommer’s groundbreaking series were titled “Europe from $95 a Day.” The concept no longer made sense when hotels could not be had for less than $100 a night, so the series was discontinued in 2007. But the Frommer publishing empire did not disappear, despite a series of sales that started when Frommer sold the guidebook company to Simon & Schuster. It was later acquired by Wiley Publishing, which in turn sold it to Google in 2012. Google quietly shut the guidebooks down, but Arthur Frommer — in a David vs. Goliath triumph — got his brand back from Google. In November 2013 with his daughter Pauline, he relaunched the print series with dozens of new guidebook titles.

“I never dreamed at my age I’d be working this hard,” he told the AP at the time, age 84.

Frommer also remained a well-known figure in 21st century travel, opinionated to the end of his career, speaking out on his blog and radio show. He hated mega-cruise ships and railed against travel websites where consumers put up their own reviews, saying they were too easily manipulated with phony postings. And he coined the phrase “Trump Slump” in a widely quoted column that predicted a slump in tourism to the U.S. after Donald Trump was elected president.

Frommer was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, and grew up during the Great Depression in Jefferson City, Missouri, the child of a Polish father and Austrian mother. “My father had one job after another, one company after another that went bankrupt,” he recalled. The family moved to New York when he was a teenager. He worked as an office boy at Newsweek, went to New York University and was drafted upon graduating from Yale Law School in 1953. Because he spoke French and Russian, he was sent to work in Army intelligence at a U.S. base in Germany, where the Cold War was heating up.

His first glimpse of Europe was from the window of a military transport plane. Whenever he had a weekend leave or a three-day pass, he’d hop a train to Paris or hitch a ride to England on an Air Force flight. Eventually he wrote “The GI’s Guide to Traveling in Europe,” and a few weeks before his Army stint was up, he had 5,000 copies printed by a typesetter in a German village. They were priced at 50 cents apiece, distributed by the Army newspaper, Stars & Stripes.

Shortly after he returned to New York to practice law at the firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, he received a cable from Europe. “The book was sold out, would I arrange a reprint?” he said.

Soon after he spent his month’s vacation from the law firm doing a civilian version of the guide. “In 30 days I went to 15 different cities, getting up at 4 a.m., running up and down the streets, trying to find good cheap hotels and restaurants,” he recalled.

The resulting book, the very first “Europe on 5 Dollars a Day,” was much more than a list. It was written with a wide-eyed wonder that verged on poetry: “Venice is a fantastic dream,” Frommer wrote. “Try to arrive at night when the wonders of the city can steal upon you piecemeal and slow. … Out of the dark, there appear little clusters of candy-striped mooring poles; a gondola approaches with a lighted lantern hung from its prow.”

Eventually Frommer gave up law to write the guides full-time. Daughter Pauline joined him with his first wife, Hope Arthur, on their trips starting in 1965, when she was 4 months old. “They used to joke that the book should be called ‘Europe on Five Diapers a Day,'” Pauline Frommer said.

In the 1960s, when inflation forced Frommer to change the title of the book to “Europe on 5 and 10 Dollars a Day,” he said “it was as if someone had plunged a knife into my head.”

Asked to summarize the impact of his books in a 2017 Associated Press interview, he said that in the 1950s, “most Americans had been taught that foreign travel was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, especially travel to Europe. They were taught that they were going to a war-torn country where it was risky to stay in any hotel other than a five-star hotel. It was risky to go into anything but a top-notch restaurant. … And I knew that all these warnings were a lot of nonsense.”

He added: “We were pioneers in also suggesting that a different type of American should travel, that you didn’t have to be well-heeled.”

To the end of his life, he said he avoided traveling first class. “I fly economy class and I try to experience the same form of travel, the same experience that the average American and the average citizen of the world encounters,” he said.

As Frommer aged, his daughter Pauline gradually became the force behind the company, promoting the brand, managing the business and even writing some of the content based on her own travels. Her relationship with her father was both tender and respectful, and she summed it up this way in a 2012 email to AP: “It’s wonderful to have a working partner whose mind is a steel trap, and who doesn’t just have smarts, but wisdom. His opinions, whether or not you agree with them, come from his social values. He’s a man who puts ethics at the center of his life, and weaves them into everything he does.”

In addition to Pauline, Frommer’s survivors include his second wife, Roberta Brodfeld, and four grandchildren.
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