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Inside N.J.’s Mosaic: SZA’s new songs and tour dates, Sophia DeTorres tribute, and comfort food delightsU.S. President Jimmy Carter's Democratic presidency was marred by the 444-day Iran hostage crisis but he was hailed as a humanitarian figure later in life, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Carter died at age 100 on December 29. Here is a roundup of reactions from leaders around the world following news of his death. U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN : “America and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian. “Over six decades, we had the honor of calling Jimmy Carter a dear friend. But, what’s extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people throughout America and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well. “ U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP : “The challenges Jimmy faced as president came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans. For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude.” FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA : "Elected in the shadow of Watergate, Jimmy Carter promised voters that he would always tell the truth. And he did — advocating for the public good, consequences be damned. He believed some things were more important than reelection — things like integrity, respect, and compassion. "Because Jimmy Carter believed, as deeply as he believed anything, that we are all created in God’s image." FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH : Carter's legacy will "inspire Americans for generations [and he] set an example of service that will inspire Americans for generations. "He was loyal to his family, his community, and his country. President Carter dignified the office." FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: " From his commitment to civil rights as a state senator and governor of Georgia; to his efforts as president to protect our natural resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, make energy conservation a national priority, return the Panama Canal to Panama, and secure peace between Egypt and Israel at Camp David; to his post-Presidential efforts at the Carter Center supporting honest elections, advancing peace, combating disease, and promoting democracy; to his and Rosalynn’s devotion and hard work at Habitat for Humanity—he worked tirelessly for a better, fairer world." FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON: "Throughout his life, Jimmy Carter has been a steadfast advocate for the rights of the most vulnerable and has tirelessly fought for peace. France sends its heartfelt thoughts to his family and to the American people." BRITISH PRIME MINISTER KEIR STARMER: "I would like to pay tribute to his decades of selfless public service. "His presidency will be remembered for the historic Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, and it was that lifelong dedication to peace that saw him receive the Nobel Peace prize. "Motivated by his strong faith and values, President Carter redefined the post-presidency with a remarkable commitment to social justice and human rights at home and abroad." HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH : “Jimmy Carter, former US president who was committed to human rights, has died. He was 100 years old. "Carter set a powerful example for world leaders to make human rights a priority, and he continued to fight for human rights after he left office.” WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION CHIEF TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS: "His unwavering commitment to people's wellbeing in the United States and around the world will be remembered forever. "His work through the Carter Center has saved countless lives and helped bring many neglected tropical diseases close to elimination." Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, whose presidency was marred by the 444-day Iran hostage crisis, has died at age 100. "Jimmy Carter, 39th president of the United States and winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, died peacefully Sunday, December 29, at his home in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by his family," the Carter Center in his home state of Georgia said in a statement . U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement that “America and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian.” Biden said he will order a state funeral to be held in Washington, D.C., although he did not set a date as of yet. President-elect Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that “the challenges Jimmy faced as president came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans.” “For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude.” Human Rights Watch said in a statement that "Carter set a powerful example for world leaders to make human rights a priority, and he continued to fight for human rights after he left office." The iconic Empire State Building in New York City was lit up in red, white, and blue to honor Carter. Carter, a one-term leader, is also remembered for having brokered a peace deal between Israel and Egypt and later received the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work and efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts. But it was the Iranian hostage crisis that would come to define Carter's presidency from 1977 to 1981. The Islamic Revolution in 1979 toppled the U.S.-backed shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and brought to power a group of clerics led by exiled Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Carter granted the ailing shah political asylum, to the anger of many Iranians. In late 1979, a group of hardline Iranian students who were believed to have had the tacit support of Khomeini stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took 52 Americans hostage. They demanded the return of the shah and an apology for past actions by the United States in Iran. Carter said the United States could not give in to the hostage-takers, and the crisis dragged on for over a year. "It's vital to the United States and to every other nation that the lives of diplomatic personnel and other citizens abroad be protected, and that we refuse to permit the use of terrorism, and the seizure and the holding of hostages, to impose political demands,” he said. “No one should underestimate the resolve of the American government and the American people in this matter." With negotiations with the Iranians proving fruitless, Carter ordered U.S. Special Forces to try to rescue the American hostages in April 1980. The mission ended in disaster, and eight U.S. soldiers died in an accident caused by equipment failure. Carter announced the failed rescue mission to the nation: "I share the disappointment of the American people that this rescue mission was not successful. And I also share the grief of our nation because we had Americans who were casualties in this effort to seek freedom for their fellow citizens who have been held hostage for so long. But I also share a deep pride in the commitment and courage and the integrity and the competence and determination of those who went on this mission." The Iranian hostage crisis -- and Carter's inability to resolve it -- dominated the news in the United States throughout 1980, a presidential election year. He was easily defeated in his reelection bid by Ronald Reagan, a former Hollywood actor who had energized the Republican party with his smooth appearance and supply-side economic policies. In a final insult to Carter, Iran decided to release the hostages on January 20, 1981, the day Carter left office and Reagan was inaugurated as president. One of Carter's first goals after becoming president was to work on a second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, known as SALT II, with the Soviet Union. The treaty was designed to further limit the number of nuclear weapons held by both countries. Negotiating the treaty with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev was difficult because of Carter's persistent criticism of Moscow's human rights record. But in June 1979 the two leaders signed SALT II. The U.S. Senate did not ratify the treaty following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, but its terms were honored by both sides. In response to the Soviet invasion, the president announced what came to be known as the Carter Doctrine -- that the United States would defend its interests in the Persian Gulf with military force if necessary. The United States also boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. "I have given notice that the United States will not attend the Moscow Olympics unless the Soviet invasion forces are withdrawn from Afghanistan before February 20,” said Carter at the time. “That deadline is tomorrow, and it will not be changed." Though his term in office is often characterized as a failure, Carter's presidency had its share of triumphs. He established an effective national energy policy and encouraged the creation of 8 million new jobs, although at the cost of high inflation. He also improved the operation of the U.S. federal government through reform of the civil service. Carter's greatest achievement as U.S. president was the 1978 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, brokered at the Camp David presidential retreat. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts. Carter's wife, Rosalynn, died in November 2023, at age 96. New Syrian de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa told the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television channel that he wants relations with Iran and Russia, but he insisted any ties must be based on mutual "respect." Russia and Iran were major allies of Syria under the regime of President Bashar al-Assad until the totalitarian leader was ousted by rebels in early December. The West is closely watching the new ruler's actions, including the depth of any future ties with Tehran and Moscow. "Syria cannot continue without relations with an important regional country like Iran," Sharaa told Al Arabiya in a wide-ranging interview on December 29. But relations "must be based on respect for the sovereignty of both countries and noninterference in the affairs of both countries," he added. Sharaa urged Tehran to rethink its regional policies and interventions and pointed out that opposition forces protected Iranian positions during the fighting to oust Assad, even though rebels knew Iran was a major backer of the president. Sharaa said he had expected positive overtures from Iran following these actions but said they have not been forthcoming. Sharaa, previously known by the nom de guerre Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, said that while he expects Moscow to withdraw its forces from Syria, he also spoke of "deep strategic interests" with the "second most powerful country in the world." "We don't want Russia to exit Syria in a way that undermines its relationship with our country,” he told Al-Arabiya, without providing details. "All of Syria's arms are of Russian origin, and many power plants are managed by Russian experts.... We do not want Russia to leave Syria in the way that some wish," he said. According to flight data analyzed by RFE/RL, Russia is reducing its military footprint in Syria and shifting some of its assets from the Middle Eastern country to Africa. To offset the potential loss of its air base in Hmeimim and naval base in Tartus, Russia appears to be increasing its presence in Libya, Mali, and Sudan, although experts say the loss of Syrian bases is a major blow to the Kremlin. Meanwhile, Sharaa also said that organizing elections in the country could take up to four years and that a new constitution could require three years to be finalized. The leader expressed hope that the new U.S. administration under Donald Trump -- set to take office on January 20 -- would lift sanctions on his country. "We hope the incoming Trump administration will not follow the policy of its predecessor," Sharaa said. The rebels who ousted Assad were led by Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Islamist group, a U.S. and EU-designated terrorist organization. Sharaa has publicly pledged to adopt moderate policies regarding women's rights, national reconciliation, and relations with the international community, although world leaders say they remain wary of the new rulers pending concrete actions. Russia on December 29 claimed to have seized another town in Ukraine's Donetsk region as it continues its long, bloody drive against the strategic -- but nearly destroyed -- southern logistics hub of Pokrovsk . Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces have captured Novotroyitske, a settlement with a prewar population 6,300 about 16 kilometers south of Pokrovsk. The Ukrainian military did not comment specifically about Novotroyitske, but it said Russian troops had carried out 133 attacks on its positions as of 4 p.m. on December 29 -- the largest number in the Pokrovsk area. "In the Pokrovsk direction, since the beginning of the day, the occupiers have already made 26 attempts to push our defenders out of their positions" in several settlements, it said. On December 15, British intelligence said Russian forces had made gains south of Pokrovsk, but it is not clear what the Kremlin forces' next steps will be. The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said geolocation data suggested the Russian military was about 10 kilometers from the border of the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions. "[Russian President Vladimir] Putin may be putting pressure on the Russian military command to advance to the border, and not to cover Pokrovsk at this time," it wrote. Heavy fighting was also reported in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces battle to hold territory taken earlier this year. "In the Kursk region, Ukrainian defenders repelled 16 attacks by Russian invaders today, 19 clashes continue. In addition, the enemy launched 152 artillery attacks," the military said. Meanwhile, Russia's assault on Ukraine's Mykolayiv region in the south also intensified. Regional Governor Vitaliy Kim on December 29 said defense forces had shot down at least nine Iranian-made Shahed drones, although falling debris hit one of the targets -- an energy infrastructure facility -- causing a fire and injuring one person. On December 28, the military said Ukrainian defenders had neutralized all 16 drones launched by Russia in Mykolayiv city, the capital of the region adjacent to Kherson. Russia and Ukraine have used drones regularly since Russia launched the full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022, with the Kremlin increasingly targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure as the winter cold sets in. Russia has denied it targets civilian infrastructure sites, despite widespread evidence of such attacks, as the Kremlin seeks to solidify positions in the territories it has occupied, not only since the February 2022 full-scale invasion but since its invasion of 2014. In an interview with RFE/RL, Viktor Muzhenko, the former Ukrainian military commander, said any truce between Kyiv and Moscow that leaves swaths of Ukrainian territory under Russian control would represent a victory for the Kremlin and "fully compensate [it] for its costs of the war." Muzhenko, who led the military from 2014-19, said the situation with the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions and parts of Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions is "critical" -- "not only for the loss of territories, but also [the loss of] half of the resource base of Ukraine." On the foreign-aid front, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov on December 29 said Kyiv had received an additional 150 million euros ($156 million) in aid from Denmark, France, and Lithuania to help finance the country's defense industry. "These funds, in particular, will be used for the production of missiles, deep-strike drones and artillery installations.," he said in a Facebook post. Meanwhile, outgoing German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said she does not expect the next government in Berlin to "abandon" Ukraine in its fight against Russia. "No German government devoted to the security of Germany and Europe will abandon the people of Ukraine," she said in an interview published by Bild newspaper on December 29. Germany will vote on February 23, a day after the anniversary of Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion. after a coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed last month. Berlin trails only Washington in the amount of support provided to Ukraine, although Scholz has been reluctant to send heavy weaponry to Kyiv, often angering the Ukrainian leadership. Addressing worries that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may push a peace deal detrimental to Kyiv following his January 20 inauguration, Baerbock underlined the importance of providing for Ukraine's security needs in any such agreements. "Only reliable, long-term and, above all, truly sustainable security guarantees will prevent [Russian President Vladimir] Putin from resorting to further campaigns of conquest. Only then will there be lasting peace and stability in Ukraine," she told Bild, without being specific. A Russian man arrested in October for operating a travel agency for gay customers was found dead in his Moscow cell while in pretrial detention, the OVD-Info rights group said on December 29. The group quoted the lawyer of Andrei Kotov, 48, as saying the man had died by suicide in his cell, although the report cannot independently be confirmed. Kotov was director of the Men Travel agency, and was facing charges of "organizing extremist activity and participating in it." Russia in recent years has intensified its relentless crackdown on LGBT rights, often accusing suspects of extremist activities. To read the original story by Current Time, click here . Kazakh authorities on December 29 said the cockpit recorders of the Brazilian-made plane involved in a deadly crash are being sent to Brazil for investigation amid accusations by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that Russia is trying to "cover up" the cause of the tragedy. The Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane was flying from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to Grozny in Russia's Chechnya region on December 25 when it was diverted and crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 people on board. There has been growing evidence that the jet was hit by a Russian air-defense missile in Chechnya before it went down near the city of Aqtau in western Kazakhstan. The Kazakh Transport Ministry said the commission in charge of the probe had "decided to send the flight recorders to the Center for the Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents in Brazil" -- the country that manufactured the popular Embraer-190 jet, utilized mainly for flights of less than three hours. Aliyev said the plane was mistakenly shot down while approaching Grozny, adding that the jet's GPS systems were affected by electronic jamming. "Our plane was hit by accident," Aliyev told state television on December 29. "Therefore, admitting the guilt, apologizing in a timely manner to Azerbaijan, which is considered a friendly country, and informing the public about this -- all these were measures and steps that should have been taken." "Unfortunately, for the first three days, we heard nothing from Russia except for some absurd theories," added Aliyev, citing statements in Russia that attributed the crash to birds or the explosion of some sort of gas cylinder on the plane. Those theories, Aliyev said, showed "that the Russian side wanted to cover up the issue." Aliyev's comments came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Aliyev but did not accept blame for the plane crash. In a phone call with Aliyev, Putin said Russian air defenses were repelling an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on Grozny when the plane was trying to land at the airport there, a Kremlin statement said. Putin "conveyed his apologies in connection with the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace," the statement said, indicating that Putin acknowledged the plane was damaged over Chechnya but stopped short of stating a Russian missile strike was the cause. Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation into the possible violation of flight safety rules, the statement said. It said two Azerbaijani prosecutors were working with Russian law enforcement in Grozny and that Russian, Azerbaijani, and Kazakh authorities were working together at the crash site in Kazakhstan. The Kremlin statement is likely to further increase suspicions that a Russian missile damaged the Embraer-190 jet before it was diverted to Aktau, across the Caspian Sea from Chechnya, where it crashed near the shore after a steep descent and burst into flames. Evidence of a missile strike includes footage of damage inside the plane before the crash and images of the hole-pocked tail section after the crash, as well as comments from survivors who said they heard at least one explosion outside the plane over Chechnya. Azerbaijani lawmaker Hikmat Babaoghlu told RFE/RL on December 27 that there is a "very strong" possibility that the plane was damaged by a Russian air-defense missile. He said that the "observations and conclusions drawn so far support the idea that the plane being shot down is the closest to the truth." TBILISI -- Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former soccer player and right-wing populist, has been sworn in as Georgia's new president amid a monthslong political crisis , likely further complicating the country's prospects for European Union membership. Outgoing President Salome Zurabishvili left her residence in the presidential palace in the capital, Tbilisi, on the same day but said she remained the legitimate head of state. The pro-Western Zurabishvili, whose term ended on December 29, had said she would not step down. She claimed her successor -- chosen by an electoral college dominated by the ruling Georgian Dream party -- is "illegitimate." Georgia has been the scene of anti-government protests since Georgian Dream claimed victory in October parliamentary elections that were marred by instances of vote-buying, double-voting, physical violence, and intimidation. The rallies intensified after a government decision last month to delay negotiations on the South Caucasus country joining the European Union. In a defiant speech to thousands of supporters outside the presidential palace on December 29, Zurabishvili said she remained the "only legitimate president" and vowed to continue to fight on. "This building was a symbol only as long as a legitimate president was sitting here," she said. "I take the legitimacy with me." Zurabishvili, who called for new parliamentary elections, called Kavelashvili's inauguration a "parody." Her remarks came moments after the 53-year-old Kavelashvili, a hard-line critic of the West, was formally sworn in during a ceremony in parliament. In his speech, Kavelashvili called for the country to unite behind him around "shared values, the principles of mutual respect, and the future we should build together." Kavelashvili has been known to make fiery anti-Western remarks in the past, although during his speech he stated that Georgians should "strengthen our country and move toward the European family." In 2016, he helped found the People's Power party, a more-radical offshoot of Georgian Dream. But he has remained close to the ruling party and has been criticized for his ties to Moscow-friendly billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, a former prime minister and founder of the Georgian Dream party, The presidency is a largely ceremonial post, but in the current tense political environment holds deeper symbolic meaning, and the departure of Zurabishvili could deepen Georgia's split with the West -- once the nation's closest backers. Several hundred protesters rallied outside the parliament building, with some holding up red cards in a gesture to Kavelashvili's soccer career. The demonstrators dispersed shortly afterward but vowed to rally again in the evening. The Interior Ministry said six protesters were detained outside the parliament building. Local media reported that several demonstrators were injured by police. A day earlier, Zurabishvili joined protesters in Tbilisi as rally participants waved Georgian and EU flags, played music, and marched along the Saarbruecken Bridge in the capital to form a "chain of unity." The rally marked one month since the start of the recent wave of protests, which have been met with violent police action, injuries, and mass arrests by Georgian authorities. Protesters accuse the Georgian Dream-led government of moving the country away from the EU and tilting closer to Russia. A U.S. State Department spokesperson on December 29 told RFE/RL in e-mailed comments that the United States is closely monitoring the situation in Georgia. The spokeperson added that respect for the freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly are critical to a functioning society. On December 27, the United States said it had slapped fresh sanctions on Ivanishvili for undermining Georgia's democracy for the "benefit of the Russian Federation." "Under Ivanishvili's leadership, Georgian Dream has advanced the interests of the Kremlin by derailing Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic trajectory -- in direct contradiction to what was envisioned by the Georgian people and the Georgian Constitution," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. The action prompted anger from the Georgian Dream party, while the Georgian opposition hailed the action and called on the EU to also move against Ivanishvili and other Georgian leaders. Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said in an X post on December 29 that he commends Zurabishvili "for her vital leadership and unwavering commitment to Georgia's European course." "For a month now, Georgian people are peacefully defending their democratic and European future in the streets despite violence and intimidation," he said, adding that the Georgian government should "restore public trust" and "consider possible new elections." Zurabishvili -- who has spilt with the government and backed the protesters early in the wave of rallies -- had called on Georgian Dream to set a date for new parliamentary elections by December 29. In another show of Western support, U.S. Republican House member Joe Wilson on December 27 wrote on X that he welcomed the new sanctions and added that he had invited Zurabishvili -- "as the only legitimate leader in Georgia" -- to Donald Trump's presidential inauguration on January 20. Georgia received EU candidate status in December 2023, but ties with Brussels have been tense in recent months following the adoption in May of a controversial "foreign agent" law pushed through parliament by Georgian Dream, which has been in power since 2012. Russia's state energy giant Gazprom on December 28 said it would cease gas deliveries to Moldova at the end of this year because of a dispute over debt with the small Balkan nation that is aligned with the West. Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean condemned Gazprom's decision, describing it as "an oppressive tactic" through which Russia "uses energy as a political weapon" and said he would pursue international legal means to fight it. The head of Moldovagaz said that, as early as December 2022, the entire volume of gas supplied by Gazprom was intended for the Moscow-backed separatist region, Transdniester , located on the left bank of the Dniester River. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Moldovan Service, click here . Drone attacks and fighting intensified in Ukraine and Russia on December 28, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Slovakia's prime minister of taking "orders" from the Kremlin to harm Kyiv and his own people as an energy feud heightened as well. "It appears that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin gave [Robert] Fico the orders to open the second energy front against Ukraine at the expense of the Slovak people's interests," Zelenskiy wrote on social media. "Fico's threats to cut off Ukraine's emergency power supply this winter while Russia attacks our power plants and energy grid can only be explained by this." The comments came after Fico on December 27 threatened to halt supplies of electricity to Ukraine if Kyiv blocks transit of Russian gas to Slovakia. Ukraine has announced it will not extend the transit contract of Russian state-owned company Gazprom after January 1 -- ceasing deliveries of gas to several European nations -- as the West looks to cut off the Kremlin's source of funding for the war. The transport deal was signed before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, and most European nations have since begun developing alternative sources of gas, although Fico says finding alternatives would be too costly for Slovakia. Fico, along with Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, has angered the West by continuing to have close ties to Putin despite U.S. and EU sanctions. Fico visited Putin in Moscow earlier this week and has offered to host potential peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. Zelenskiy said Slovakia accounts for nearly 20 percent of Ukraine's power imports. "Slovakia is part of the single European energy market and Fico must respect common European rules," Zelenskiy wrote. "Any arbitrary decisions in Bratislava or Moscow's orders to Fico regarding electricity cannot cut Ukraine's power supply, but they can certainly cut current Slovak authorities' ties to the European community," he added, suggesting the move would deprive Slovakia itself of some $200 million a year. Meanwhile, as Russia's full-scale invasion grinds on toward its fourth year, Ukraine and Russia exchanged accusations of drone attacks in several regions as battlefield clashes intensified along the front lines, with the "hottest" fighting reported around the embattled Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk. Russian air defenses destroyed 56 drones overnight, the Defense Ministry said on December 28. It said 28 drones were shot down in the Rostov region, 17 in the Voronezh region, and 11 in the Belgorod region, where local officials reportedly said two residents of a village were injured by shrapnel from a blast. The Russian claims could not be independently verified. A Russian occupation official said on Telegram that four people were wounded in what he said was a Ukrainian drone attack that hit a car in the Russian-held city of Nova Kakhovka in Ukraine’s Kherson region early in the morning. In Mykolayiv, the Ukrainian-held capital of a region adjacent to Kherson, the military said Ukrainian defenders had neutralized all 16 drones launched by Russia on December 28. "Of the 16 UAVs launched, 15 were shot down, another one was a simulator. All 15 were shot down in the Mykolaiv region," the Ukrainian Air Force said Earlier, a Russian drone attack in the city caused fires on the roof of a five-story residential building and on the grounds of a commercial enterprise, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegra. He said that nobody was hurt, and that the military had destroyed 12 drones over the region overnight . Russia and Ukraine have used drones regularly since Russia launched the full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022. There are mounting suspicions that the crash of a Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet earlier this week near Aqtau, Kazakhstan, that killed 38 of the 67 people aboard was caused by Russian air-defense systems on alert for Ukrainian drone attacks on the Chechnya region, where the jet was due to land in Grozny before it was diverted across the Caspian Sea. Ukraine said its forces struck a "protected facility" of the Russian military in the Oryol region near the border with Ukraine. It said the target was a warehouse holding Iranian-made Shahed drones. Also on December 28, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed it had thwarted a plot to kill a high-level Russian military officer and an unnamed Russian “war blogger” who writes about the invasion. The FSB, whose claim could not be independently verified, said it had arrested a Russian man it said was acting under instructions from Ukrainian military intelligence. It said it had found a cache outside Moscow with an improvised explosive device camouflaged as a stereo speaker. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the FSB claim, which came 11 days after the general who headed Russia's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Forces (RKhBZ) was killed, along with an assistant, by a bomb concealed in a scooter. A source at Ukraine's SBU security service told RFE/RL that the blast that killed Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his assistant was the result of a special operation by the Ukrainian agency. In the United States, White House spokesman John Kirby on December 27 said Washington has reports of North Korean soldiers fighting alongside Russian troops "taking their own lives rather than surrendering to Ukrainian forces." He said the action was "likely out of fear of reprisal against their families in North Korea in the event that they’re captured. " In a video address, Zelenskiy had said "several" North Korean soldiers -- badly wounded in fighting alongside Russian forces -- have died after being captured by Ukrainian troops on the battlefield. Zelenskiy said, without providing details, that Kyiv had reports of North Korean "enforcers" executing wounded soldiers to prevent them being captured alive by Ukrainian forces. Western sources estimate that 12,000 North Korean troops are in Russia's Kursk region, parts of which are occupied by Ukrainian forces amid ongoing pitched battles and reports of heavy losses. Germany's foreign minister described the suspected sabotage of a Baltic Sea power cable as a "wake-up call" for the West and urged the European Union to impose new sanctions targeting what is known as Russia's " shadow fleet ." Meanwhile, a media outlet focusing on shipping news and intelligence reported that the ship suspected of damaging the cable linking Finland and Estonia on December 25 was equipped with "special transmitting and receiving devices that were used to monitor naval activity." The Eagle S "had transmitting and receiving devices installed that effectively allowed it to become a 'spy ship' for Russia," Lloyd's List reported on December 27, citing "a source familiar with the vessel who provided commercial maritime services to it as recently as seven months ago." Finland seized the Eagle S on December 26, citing suspicions that it caused an outage of the Estlink 2 undersea power cable and damaged four Internet lines. Finnish investigators said the ship may have caused the damage by dragging its anchor along the sea floor. Finnish and EU officials say the Eagle S is believed to belong to a "shadow fleet" of old, uninsured oil vessels used to bypass Western sanctions and maintain a source of revenue for Russia's economy and its war against Ukraine. The poor condition of these ships has also raised concerns about environmental disasters. "The suspected vessel is part of Russia’s shadow fleet, which threatens security and the environment , while funding Russia's war budget," the European Commission said on December 26, suggesting the incident was part of a deliberate effort to damage "critical infrastructure" in Europe. "We will propose further measures, including sanctions, to target this fleet." In comments on December 28, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock urged "new European sanctions against the Russian shadow fleet," which she said is "a major threat to our environment and security" that is used by Russia "to finance its war of aggression in Ukraine." "Almost every month, ships are damaging major undersea cables in the Baltic Sea," Baerbock said in a statement to the Funke media group. "Crews are leaving anchors in the water, dragging them for kilometers along the seafloor for no apparent reason, and then losing them when pulling them up.” "It's more than difficult to still believe in coincidences," she said. "This is an urgent wake-up call for all of us." TBILISI -- On the eve of a potentially explosion day, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili called for supporters to gather at the presidential palace on December 29 as she joined a mass rally against the Georgian Dream-led government’s moves to delay closer European Union integration. "Greetings from the Orbeliani Palace,” she said in a video released to social media. "I am here, I will be here, I will spend the night here as well." "Tomorrow, I will be waiting for you...at 10 a.m. -- and from here, I will tell you what tomorrow will be like. I will tell you what the following days will be like, and what the days of victory will be like." A potential showdown looms on the streets of Tbilisi on December 29 as Zurabishvili has vowed not to step down at the end of her term on that day, claiming her successor -- chosen by an electoral college dominated by Georgian Dream -- was "illegitimate." She joined protesters in the capital on December 28 as rally participants waved Georgian and EU flags, played music, and marched along the Saarbruecken Bridge in the capital to form a " chain of unity ." The rally marked one month since the start of the recent wave of anti-government protests, which have been met with violent police action, injuries, and mass arrests by Georgian authorities. Protesters accuse the government of the Georgian Dream party of moving the country away from the EU and tilting closer to Moscow. The political crisis erupted after Georgian Dream claimed victory in October parliamentary elections that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said was marred by instances of vote-buying, double-voting, physical violence, and intimidation. The rallies intensified after a government decision last month to delay negotiations on Georgia joining the EU. On December 24, Human Rights Watch called for Georgian security forces to be investigated for the "brutal police violence" against largely peaceful protesters who have taken to the streets for the demonstrations. On December 27, the United States said it had slapped fresh sanctions on Russia-friendly billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, a former prime minister and the founder of the Georgian Dream party, for undermining Georgia's democracy for the "benefit of the Russian Federation." "Under Ivanishvili's leadership, Georgian Dream has advanced the interests of the Kremlin by derailing Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic trajectory -- in direct contradiction to what was envisioned by the Georgian people and the Georgian Constitution," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. The action prompted anger from the Georgian Dream party, while the Georgian opposition hailed the action and called on the EU to also move against Ivanishvili and other Georgian leaders. Zurabishvili -- who has spilt with the government and backed the protesters early in the wave of rallies -- on December 22 called on Georgian Dream to set a date for new parliamentary elections by December 29. In a show of Western support, U.S. Republican House member Joe Wilson on December 27 wrote on X that he welcomed the new sanctions and added that he had invited Zurabishvili -- "as the only legitimate leader in Georgia" -- to Donald Trump's presidential inauguration on January 20. "I am in awe of her courage in the face of the assault by Ivanishvili and his friends" in China and Iran, Wilson added, without mentioning Russia. Earlier this month, an electoral college dominated by Georgian Dream chose Mikheil Kavelashvili, a 53-year-old former soccer player and right-wing populist, as Georgia's next president. His inauguration is supposed to take place on December 29, though the 72-year-old Zurabishvili, whose term ends this year, has said she will not step down, setting up the potentially tense showdown. "Next week at this time, I will be president," Zurabishvili restated on December 27. Georgia received EU candidate status in December 2023, but ties with Brussels have been tense in recent months following the adoption in May of a controversial "foreign agent" law pushed through parliament by Georgian Dream, which has been in power since 2012. Afghanistan's Taliban-led government said Taliban forces targeted what it claimed were "centers and hideouts for malicious elements" it said were involved in a recent attack in Afghanistan, as an upsurge of cross-border fighting continues. The statement from the Taliban's Defense Ministry followed reports of deadly early morning clashes on December 28 between Taliban forces and Pakistani border guards. It came days after the government said Pakistani aircraft bombed targets in Afghanistan in an attack it said killed dozens of civilians. The ministry gave few details about the strikes, which it said were launched against targets in several districts behind the "hypothetical line" -- a reference to a portion of the border with Pakistan that Afghan authorities have long disputed. Local sources told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that three people in Paktia Province were killed and two wounded by gunfire from Pakistani border guards, and that clashes also took place in the Khost province. The reports could not be independently verified. There was no immediate comment from the Pakistani government. But the head of a community in the Kurram district told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal that Taliban forces fired rockets at two security posts near the border at about 6 a.m., setting off fighting that continued for several hours. The Taliban's Defense Ministry suggested the strikes on Pakistan were retaliation for what the Taliban-led government said were Pakistani air strikes that killed 46 civilians in Paktika Province, which also borders Pakistan, on December 24. Pakistan says that militants from the Islamist group Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are hiding across the border in Afghanistan, and Islamabad has repeatedly asked the Afghan Taliban to take action against them. The Afghan Taliban say the TTP is in Pakistan. There has been a steady increase in TTP attacks in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in August 2021 following the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from Afghanistan. Authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka extended a wave of pardons ahead of a January presidential election in Belarus, ordering the release of 20 prisoners jailed on extremism charges his opponents and rights groups say were politically motivated. Lukashenka's press service suggested the pardons were issued on humanitarian grounds, saying 14 of those ordered released have chronic illnesses and 10 of them have children. It said 11 of the 20 are women. The press service claimed the prisoners had all sought pardons and expressed remorse, an assertion that could not be independently verified. It said that authorities would "monitor their behavior following their release." Since July, Lukashenka has pardoned more than 225 people whom activists consider political prisoners. Rights groups have recognized nearly 3,600 people as political prisoners since the state launched a massive crackdown when pro-democracy protests erupted after Lukashenka, in power since 1994, claimed a landslide victory in an August 2020 election that millions believe was stolen though fraud . Many of those have served out their sentences. Ahead of a January 26 election in which he is certain to be awarded a new term, Lukashenka may be seeking to signal to the West that he is easing off on the persistent clampdown that the state has imposed since the 2020 election. But the crackdown continues, with frequent arrests and trials on what activists say are politically motivated charges. At least 1,253 people whom rights groups consider political prisoners remain behind bars, and the real number is believed to be higher. Lukashenka has roped Belarus closely to Russia and has provided support for Russia's war on neighboring Ukraine, including by allowing Russian forces to invade from Belarusian territory, and he says Russian nuclear weapons have been deployed in Belarus. But over 30 years in power, he has often tried to capitalize on Belarus’ position between Russia in the east and NATO and the European Union to the west and north. Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized over the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane this week, the Kremlin said, amid growing evidence that the jet was hit by a Russian air-defense missile in the Chechnya region before it went down in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 people on board. In a phone call with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Putin said Russian air defenses were repelling an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on Chechnya’s capital, Grozny, when the plane was trying to land at the airport there, a Kremlin statement said. Putin "conveyed his apologies in connection with the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace," the statement said, indicating that Putin acknowledged the plane was damaged over Chechnya but stopped short of stating a Russian missile strike was the cause. "In the conversation, it was noted that...the aircraft tried more than once to approach the Grozny airport for landing," it said, adding that “at this time, Ukrainian combat drones were attacking Grozny [and the nearby cities of] Mozdok and Vladikavkaz, and Russian air-defense systems were repelling these attacks." Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation into the possible violation of flight safety rules, the statement said. It said two Azerbaijani prosecutors were working with Russian law enforcement in Grozny and that Russian, Azerbaijani, and Kazakh authorities were working together at the crash site near Aqtau, Kazakhstan. The Kremlin statement is likely to further increase suspicions that a Russian missile damaged the Embraer-190 jet before it was diverted to Aktau, across the Caspian Sea from Chechnya, where it crashed near the shore after a steep descent and burst into flames. Evidence of a missile strike includes footage of damage inside the plane before the crash and images of the hole-pocked tail section after the crash, as well as comments from survivors who said they heard at least one explosion outside the plane over Chechnya. Azerbaijani lawmaker Hikmat Babaoghlu told RFE/RL on December 27 that there is a "very strong" possibility that the plane was damaged by a Russian air-defense missile. He said that the "observations and conclusions drawn so far support the idea that the plane being shot down is the closest to the truth." On the same day, White House spokesman John Kirby said U.S. experts "have seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air-defense systems." Reuters quoted an Azerbaijani source familiar with the investigation as saying results indicated the plane was hit by a Pantsir-S air-defense system, a self-propelled antiaircraft gun and missile system designed by Russia. The crash has disrupted air traffic in the Caucasus and beyond. An Azerbaijan Airlines flight bound for the Russian spa town of Mineranlye Vody, not far from Grozny, took off from Baku on December 27 but then abruptly headed back after receiving a flight information notice that Russian airspace it was due to fly through was closed. Azerbaijan Airlines later said it is suspending flights to several Russian cities, including Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa, Samara, Grozny, and Makhachkala. Turkmenistan Airlines announced on December 28 that it was canceling all its flights between the capital, Ashgabat, and Moscow from December 30 to January 31, giving no reason for the decision. Turkmenistan borders Kazakhstan on the eastern shore of the Caspian. Also on December 28, Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said that restrictions were briefly placed on the operation of the airport in the Tatarstan regional capital, Kazan, to ensure flight safety, and media reports said that all departures and arrivals had been suspended. Flights heading to Kazan from the Siberian cities of Tomsk, Surgut, and Kemerovo were redirected to an airfield in Nizhnekamsk, Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing the airport's press service. No specific reason was given for the measures, which Rosaviatsia said had been lifted a few hours later. Russia has closed airports at times due to alleged drone attacks, and a drone attack hit high-rise buildings in Kazan on December 21. NATO has said it would bolster its presence in the Baltic Sea after undersea power lines and Internet cables were damaged by suspected sabotage believed to be carried out by vessels belonging to Russia’s so-called “ shadow fleet .” Estonia also announced on December 27 that it had begun a naval operation to guard a crucial electricity line in the Baltic Sea in coordination with allies as tensions mounted in the region. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said in a social media post following discussions with Finnish President Alexander Stubb that "NATO will enhance its military presence in the Baltic Sea." Both Finland and Estonia have coastlines on the Baltic Sea. When asked for details about planned actions, NATO officials told AP that the alliance “remains vigilant and is working to provide further support, including by enhancing our military presence” in the region. "We have agreed with Estonia, and we have also communicated to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, that our wish is to have a stronger NATO presence," Stubb told a news conference. Stubb added that investigators did not want to jump to conclusions, but a day earlier he had said that "it is necessary to be able to prevent the risks posed by ships belonging to the Russian 'shadow fleet.'" The "shadow fleet" is a reference to old, uninsured oil vessels typically used to bypass Western sanctions on Russia and maintain a source of revenue. European government and the United States have accused Russia of intensifying "hybrid attacks" following reports of damage to Baltic Sea communications cables, although they have not yet directly tied Moscow to the damage. NATO stepped up monitoring critical infrastructure in the Baltic following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the destruction of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline seven months later. Chinese-linked ships have also been suspected of sabotaging undersea infrastructure over recent years. Sweden -- NATO's newest member, which also has a coastline on the Baltic Sea -- said its coast guard had stepped up surveillance of sea traffic and had deployed aircraft and vessels in concert with regional allies. The European Commission on December 26 said a cargo ship suspected of having deliberately damaged power and Internet cables in the Baltic Sea was part of Russia's "shadow fleet." The poor condition of these ships has also raised concerns about environmental disasters. Finnish authorities on December 26 boarded and took command of the Cook Islands-registered Eagle S oil tanker in the Baltic Sea as part of its investigation into the damages, saying it likely belong to the "shadow fleet." Investigators have said the damage could have been caused by the ship intentionally dragging its anchor. The Kremlin said it had no connection to the ship seized by Finland. It has regularly denied that it is involved in any of the many incidents involving Baltic Sea region infrastructure assets. The United States said it has slapped fresh sanctions on Russia-friendly billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, a former prime minister and the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, for undermining Georgia's democracy for the "benefit of the Russian Federation." "Under Ivanishvili's leadership, Georgian Dream has advanced the interests of the Kremlin by derailing Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic trajectory -- in direct contradiction to what was envisioned by the Georgian people and the Georgian Constitution," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on December 27. Blinken added that "Ivanishvili and Georgian Dream's actions have eroded democratic institutions, enabled human rights abuses, and curbed the exercise of fundamental freedoms in Georgia." "We strongly condemn Georgian Dream's actions under Ivanishvili's leadership, including its ongoing and violent repression of Georgian citizens, protesters, members of the media, human rights activists, and opposition figures." The new measures will block transactions involving entities owned by Ivanishvili, the statement said. According to Bloomberg News, Ivanishvili's fortune is estimated at $7.5 billion, much of it coming through metals, banking, and telecom assets in Russia during the 1990s. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze called the U.S. action "blackmail" and said it was Ivanishvili's "reward" for protecting Georgia's national interest. However, opposition leader Giorgi Vashadze of the Unity National Movement hailed the U.S. decision, according to Georgia's Interpress news agency. "I welcome this step from the United States and believe that we are quickly moving toward victory and will celebrate Georgia without Ivanishvili, who is the bringer of chaos and misery to this country," he was quoted as saying. In a previous action, the United States on December 12 said it would "prohibit visa issuance to those who are responsible for, or complicit in, undermining democracy in Georgia." That move affected some 20 people, "including individuals serving as government ministers and in parliament, law enforcement and security officials, and private citizens," it said in a statement , without naming the individuals. Georgia, once a closer U.S. ally, has angered Washington and the European Union with its perceived tilt toward Russia and its violent crackdown on dissent in the Caucasus nation. The sanctions come at a crucial time, as Georgia's fate hangs in the balance -- whether it will intensify its tilt toward Moscow, return to the pro-Europe path, or remain in an environment of unrest and uncertainty. Police in Tbilisi have clashed with pro-West protesters over the past several weeks, detaining dozens and injuring scores of people who accuse the government of the Georgian Dream party of moving the country away from the European Union and closer to Moscow. The political crisis erupted after Georgian Dream claimed victory in October parliamentary elections that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said was marred by instances of vote-buying, double-voting, physical violence, and intimidation. The rallies intensified after a government decision last month to delay negotiations on Georgia joining the EU. The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) on December 24 called for Georgian security forces to be investigated for the “brutal police violence” against largely peaceful protesters who have taken to the streets for huge anti-government demonstrations. Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili – who has spilt with the government and backed the protesters -- on December 22 called on Georgian Dream to set a date for new parliamentary elections by December 29. "Next week at this time I will be president," Zurabishvili restated on December 27. U.S. Republican House member Joe Wilson wrote on X that he welcomed the new sanctions and added that he had invited Zurabishvili -- "as the only legitimate leader in Georgia" -- to Donald Trump's presidential inauguration on January 20 "I am in awe of her courage in the face of the assault by Ivanishvili and his friends" in China and Iran, Wilson added, without mentioning Russia. Earlier this month, an electoral college dominated by Georgian Dream chose Mikheil Kavelashvili, a 53-year-old former soccer player and right-wing populist, as Georgia's next president. His inauguration is supposed to take place on December 29, though the 72-year-old Zurabishvili, whose term ends this year, has said she will not step down, setting up a potentially explosive showdown. Georgia received EU candidate status in December 2023, but ties with Brussels have been tense in recent months following the adoption in May of a controversial "foreign agent" law pushed through parliament by Georgian Dream, which has been in power since 2012. PODGORICA -- After a multinational back-and-forth legal battle, Montenegro on December 27 said it would extradite South Korean cryptocurrency entrepreneur Hyeong Do Kwon -- the so-called Crypto King -- to the United States. Do Kwon is sought by both the United States and South Korea and also faces possible legal action in Singapore. Montenegrin courts have previously issued at least eight often-contradictory decisions regarding Do Kwon's fate. In September, the Montenegrin Supreme Court ruled that Do Kwon could be sent to either the United States or South Korea and that the final decision on which country would be up to Justice Minister Bojan Bozovic. On December 24, Do Kwon lost his final appeal against extradition with Montenegro's Constitutional Court. In the latest ruling, the Justice Ministry said the U.S. request had met the threshold for removal and, as a result Bozovic "issued a decision approving the extradition." The ministry said the criteria included the gravity of the criminal acts, the order of submission of the extradition requests, and the citizenship of the person in question. The former CEO and co-founder of the cryptocurrency company Terraform Labs is wanted by U.S. and South Korean authorities for his alleged role in capital market and securities fraud involving assets worth some $40 billion. Do Kwon was arrested with business partner Chang Joon in March 2023 at Podgorica airport while attempting to fly to Dubai using on allegedly forged passports. They each received a four-month prison sentence on the forged-passport charge. Chang, who was wanted only by South Korea, was extradited to that country on February 5. After serving his sentence, Do Kwon was sent to a shelter for foreigners near Podgorica, where he awaited extradition. Do Kwon in October claimed that the South Korean charges were illegitimate and "politically motivated." Despite the legal struggle, Do Kwon's trial in absentia took place in the United States, where a New York jury on April 5 found him and Terraform labs liable on civil fraud charges, agreeing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that they had misled investors. Terraform Labs agreed to pay about $4.5 billion in a civil settlement with the SEC following the court's ruling. Do Kwon was ordered to pay $204 million. Following the verdict, a Terraform spokesperson said, "We continue to maintain that the SEC does not have the legal authority to bring this case at all" and that the company was weighing its options. Italy’s Foreign Ministry said journalist Cecilia Sala, who was in Iran to carry out "journalistic activities," has been detained by Tehran police authorities. The ministry said in a statement on December 27 that Sala, who has a podcast called Stories that covers life in places around the world, was detained on December 19. It gave no reason for the detention, but said in a statement that the ambassador from Italy's embassy in Tehran had paid a consular visit "to verify the conditions and state of detention of Sala." "The family was informed of the results of the consular visit. Previously, Sala had the opportunity to make two phone calls with her relatives," it said. Sala posted a podcast from Tehran on December 17 about patriarchy in the Iranian capital. Iran is routinely accused of arresting dual nationals and Western citizens on false charges to use them to pressure Western countries. Earlier this month, Reza Valizadeh , a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen and former journalist for RFE/RL's Radio Farda, was handed a 10-year sentence by Tehran's Revolutionary Court on charges of "collaborating with a hostile government." Valizadeh resigned from Radio Farda in November 2022 after a decade of work. He returned to Iran in early 2024 to visit his family but was arrested on September 22. His two court sessions, held on November 20 and December 7, reportedly lacked a prosecution representative, with the judge assuming that role. Sources close to the journalist claim he fell into a "security trap" despite receiving unofficial assurances from Iranian security officials that he would not face legal troubles upon returning to Iran. Iran is among the most repressive countries in terms of freedom of the press. Reporters Without Borders ranked Iran 176th out of 180 countries in its 2024 World Press Freedom Index. The Paris-based media watchdog says Iran is now also one of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists. An Azerbaijani lawmaker said there is a "very strong" possibility that the crash of a passenger jet earlier this week was caused by Russian air-defense systems on alert for Ukrainian drone attacks. Speculation has mounted that the Azerbaijan Airlines plane, which was headed from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechnya region, may have been hit by an air-defense missile before crossing the Caspian Sea and crashing near Aqtau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 passengers and crew. Lawmaker Hikmat Babaoghlu told RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service in an interview on December 27 that such an explanation is most likely "closest to the truth." "This is only a possibility, but a very strong one, and the observations and conclusions drawn so far support the idea that the plane being shot down is the closest to the truth," he said. "In this specific case, the incident involves Azerbaijan's airliner being damaged within the territory of the Russian Federation, with the event causing the crash occurring there. Therefore, there is no doubt that responsibility falls on the Russian Federation. If these assumptions are correct, accountability also undoubtedly rests with Russia," he added. Kazakh experts arrived on December 27 to examine the crash site and black box of the ill-fated passenger jet, as speculation -- and evidence -- mounted suggesting that a Russian air-defense missile may have inadvertently struck the craft. Even as the probe intensifies, countries with victims aboard the plane -- Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan -- continue to mourn their dead and treat the injured from the crash of the Embraer 190 aircraft. Since the crash, uncertainty has rocked the aviation industry throughout the Caucasus. An Azerbaijan Airlines flight bound for the Russian spa town of Mineranlye Vody took off from Baku on December 27 but then abruptly headed back after receiving a flight information notice that Russian airspace it was due to fly through was closed . Azerbaijan Airlines later said it is suspending flights to several Russian cities, including Mineralnye Vody, Sochi, Volgograd, Ufa, Samara, Grozny, and Makhachkala. Speculation has swirled around the tragedy, with some experts pointing to holes seen in the plane's tail section as a possible sign that it could have come under fire from Russian air-defense systems engaged in thwarting Ukrainian drone attacks. White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters on December 27 that the United States has seen signs suggesting that the jet could have been hit by Russian air defense systems. U.S. experts "have seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems," he said. Kirby added that Washington has “offered our assistance...should they need it" to the ongoing investigation being conducted by Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Evidence, yet to be corroborated by authorities, includes footage from inside the plane before the crash, images of the hole-pocked tail section after the crash, a survivor's comments, and accounts indicating there was a suspected drone attack around the time the plane apparently tried to land in Grozny. Reuters quoted an Azerbaijani source familiar with the investigation as saying results indicated the plane was hit by a Pantsir-S air-defense system, a self-propelled antiaircraft gun and missile system designed by Russia. It was not immediately clear where the black box would be examined. The process can be highly technical, and not all countries have the resources to undertake such work. Gulag Aslanli, a leader of Azerbaijan's opposition Musavat party, told RFE/RL that an international commission was needed to investigate the incident. "Russia cannot be allowed there," he said. "If the black box is going to be taken to Russia and examined there, I will look at its outcome with suspicion." Officials said it typically takes about two weeks to fully assess a black box, although various conditions can alter that time frame. Commenting on unconfirmed reports that the plane may have been shot down by a missile, Kazakh Senate Speaker Maulen Ashimbaev said it was "not possible" to say what may have damaged the aircraft until the investigation is finished. "Real experts are looking at all this, and they will make their conclusions. Neither Kazakhstan, Russia, nor Azerbaijan, of course, is interested in hiding information, so it will be brought to the public," Ashimbaev said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made a similar comment, reiterating Moscow's previous stance on the deadly incident. "An investigation is under way, and until the conclusions of the investigation, we do not consider we have the right to make any comments and we will not do so," Peskov told reporters on December 27. Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Russian officials as saying the plane, commissioned in 2013, had passed a maintenance check in October and that the pilot had "vast experience" with more than 15,000 flying hours. Azerbaijan Airlines President Samir Rzayev also told reporters the plane had been fully serviced in October and that there was no sign of technical malfunction. But he said it was too early to determine a cause: "The plane has been found with a black box. After detailed research, all aspects will be clear." The airline suspended flights along the route of the crash pending completion of the investigation. Azerbaijan's Prosecutor-General's Office said that "all possible scenarios are being examined." As the first seven survivors arrived back in the country on December 26, Azerbaijan observed a national day of mourning. Burials of four of those who lost their lives were conducted during the day, with additional funerals expected in the coming hours and days. Officials in Baku said the wounded arrived on a special flight arranged by Azerbaijan's Emergency Affairs Ministry and that the injured, many with severe burn wounds, were accompanied by medical professionals. Ayhan Solomon, Azerbaijan’s chief consul in Aqtau, told reporters that 26 of those killed were Azerbaijani citizens. He said 16 Azerbaijani citizens survived. “Of those, 10 to 12 are in good condition and others remain critically stable,” he added. Azerbaijan Airlines' supervisory board said on December 26 that the families of those killed will be compensated with 40,000 manats ($23,460), while those injured would receive 20,000 manats ($11,730). Along with the 42 Azerbaijani citizens, those aboard Flight J2-8243 were listed as 16 Russian nationals, six from Kazakhstan, and three Kyrgyz citizens, officials said. The survivors include nine Russian citizens, who were flown to Moscow on December 26 by the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry. Three of the Russian survivors were in critical condition, according to Russian health authorities. KYIV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said “several” North Korean soldiers – badly wounded in fighting alongside Russian forces – have died after being captured by Ukrainian troops on the battlefield and he accused Moscow of having little regard for their survival. Zelenskiy, echoing earlier remarks by U.S. officials, said soldiers sent to Russia by Pyongyang are suffering major losses in fighting in Russia's Kursk region. The Ukrainian leader accused Moscow and North Korean “enforcers” of leaving the soldiers unprotected in battle and even executing fighters to prevent them from being captured alive. He did not provide evidence to back up the claims and they could not independently be verified. The North Korean military has suffered “many losses. A great deal. And we can see that the Russian military and the North Korean enforcers have no interest in the survival of these Koreans at all,” he said in a video address on December 27. “Everything is arranged in a way that makes it impossible for us to capture the Koreans as prisoners – their own people are executing them. There are such cases. And the Russians send them into assaults with minimal protection.” He said Ukrainian soldiers had managed to take some prisoners. "But they were very seriously wounded and could not be saved.” The remarks came after South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said that a North Korean fighter had died of wounds suffered before his capture by Ukrainian special operations troops in the Kursk region. "We have confirmed through an allied intelligence agency that a North Korean soldier who was captured on the 26th died a little while ago due to serious injuries," the news release said. On December 26, the Ukrainian news outlet Militarnyi said a soldier believed to be North Korean had been captured by Ukrainian Special Operations Forces in the Kursk region. A photo of a captured soldier, who is believed to have been injured, also was previously shared on Telegram. The photo has not been independently verified. Details about the soldier's condition and status are not known. Last month Pyongyang ratified a "comprehensive strategic partnership" agreement with Russia, cementing a deal that paved the way for its soldiers to fight on Russian soil against Ukraine. Western sources estimate that 12,000 North Korean troops are in the Kursk region, parts of which are occupied by Ukrainian forces amid ongoing pitched battles. U.S. Response White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters on December 27 that North Korean forces are suffering heavy casualties on the front lines, adding that some 1,000 of their troops have been killed or wounded in the Kursk region over the past week. "It is clear that Russian and North Korean military leaders are treating these troops as expendable and ordering them on hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defenses," Kirby said. Kirby said also U.S. President Joe Biden would likely approve another package of military aid for Kyiv in the coming days as he bids to bolster Ukraine’s forces before leaving office on January 20. U.S. officials later told reporters that a new package of military assistance worth $1.25 billion is scheduled to be announced on December 30. North Korean Losses Zelenskiy on December 23 said more than 3,000 troops, or about a quarter of the North Korean special forces sent to Russia, had been killed or injured, though he couched his statement by saying the data was preliminary. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service reported on a lower figure, saying on December 19 that about 1,100 North Korean special forces have been killed or injured in Russia since entering the fray against Ukraine. On December 15, Skhemy (Schemes), an investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, received photos from Ukrainian military sources purportedly showing the bodies of dead soldiers in Kursk, including what was said to be North Korean fighters. RFE/RL has not been able to independently verify the claims. Russia has not commented on the report. North Korean military support is coming at a critical time in the war. Russia is seeking to overpower an undermanned and under-resourced Ukrainian infantry and gain territory before its own manpower and resources become constrained. Russia has lost more than 600,000 soldiers in the nearly three-year war, the Pentagon said in early October. It has burned through so much war material that it is struggling to replace its artillery and missile needs amid sweeping Western sanctions. Now nearly two-thirds of the mortars and shells Russia launches at Ukraine come from North Korea, the Wall Street Journal reported , citing Andriy Kovalenko, a Ukrainian Army officer. And every third ballistic missile was made in North Korea, Ukrainian officials said. The European Commission said a cargo ship suspected of having deliberately damaged power and Internet cables in the Baltic Sea is part of Russia's so-called "shadow fleet," prompting the EU to threaten new sanctions against Moscow. "We strongly condemn any deliberate destruction of Europe’s critical infrastructure," the commission said in a statement on December 26. "The suspected vessel is part of Russia’s shadow fleet, which threatens security and the environment, while funding Russia’s war budget. We will propose further measures, including sanctions, to target this fleet," the statement added. The statement added that "in response to these incidents, we are strengthening efforts to protect undersea cables, including enhanced information exchange, new detection technologies, as well as in undersea repair capabilities, and international cooperation." The remarks come after two fiber-optic cables owned by Finnish operator Elisa linking Finland and Estonia were broken on December 25. A third link between the two countries -- owned by China's Citic -- was damaged, authorities said. An Internet cable running between Finland and Germany belonging to Finnish group Cinia was also believed to have been severed, according to officials. Investigators said the damage could have been caused by the ship intentionally dragging its anchor. Finnish authorities on December 26 boarded and took command of the Cook Islands-registered Eagle S oil tanker in the Baltic Sea as part of the investigation. The Finnish customs service said the Eagle S is believed to belong to Russia's so-called “shadow fleet” of old, uninsured oil vessels used to bypass Western sanctions and maintain a source of revenue. The poor condition of these ships has also raised concerns about environmental disasters. Finnish President Alexander Stubb also suggested the cargo has Russian links and that his country is closely monitoring the situation. "It is necessary to be able to prevent the risks posed by ships belonging to the Russian shadow fleet," Stubb wrote on X . EU foreign ministers on December 16 adopted a package of sanctions against Moscow targeting tankers transporting Russian oil as the bloc looked to curb the circumvention of previous measures aimed at hindering Kremlin's ability to wage war against Ukraine. Meanwhile, NATO chief Mark Rutte said on December 26 that the alliance is ready to help Finland and Estonia as they launch their probe into the possible "sabotage." "Spoke with [Estonian Prime Minister] Kristen Michal about reported possible sabotage of Baltic Sea cables,” he wrote on X. “NATO stands in solidarity with Allies and condemns any attacks on critical infrastructure. We are following investigations by Estonia and Finland, and we stand ready to provide further support." Russian President Vladimir Putin said on December 26 that Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is ready to offer a “platform” for possible peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv to end the war in Ukraine. Putin told the media Fico said during a recent meeting that "if there are any negotiations, [the Slovaks] would be happy to provide their country as a platform." Most terms suggested so far by Putin have been deemed unacceptable to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Fico is one of the few European leaders Putin has stayed friendly with since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, prompting criticism of the Slovak leader by Zelenskiy and many Western leaders. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here . Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian is scheduled to travel to Russia on January 17, state-controlled media in Iran and Russia reported on December 26. Quoting Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali, Iran's Tasnim news agency said that “the president will visit Russia on January 17 and a cooperation agreement between the two countries will be signed during the visit." Russia and Iran both are under severe financial sanctions imposed by Western nations and have stepped up bilateral cooperation on many fronts in recent years. The West has accused Iran of providing weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine. Tehran has denied the allegations despite evidence widespread use of Iranian-made drones in the war.LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Thomas Brown insists he's focused on the job at hand and not the one he might have down the line. His immediate task as the interim coach of the Chicago Bears is helping the team finish strong over the final five games, starting this weekend at San Francisco. The rest of his life can wait. “I think about just the moment. ... I obviously understand the role that I'm in, understand what might come with it," he said Wednesday. "But I also understand that we make most situations bigger than what it has to be because of the outside noise, what everybody else puts a value on it.” The Bears are in a moment unlike any other in the history of the founding NFL franchise. on Friday with a 4-8 record and the team in a six-game losing streak marked by head-scratching decisions. They promoted Brown, who in a span of three weeks went from passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator and now the person in charge. The tipping point was a on Thanksgiving, when the Bears let the clock run down rather than call a timeout following a sack. It led to Caleb Williams throwing an incomplete pass from the Lions 41 as time expired when Chicago should have been able to run more than one play. Star cornerback Jaylon Johnson interrupted Eberflus' postgame speech and made his feelings clear. Other players had gone public in recent weeks with their frustrations over the coaching decisions, and they didn't exactly hide their emotions following the Detroit game. On Wednesday, defensive end DeMarcus Walker said he sensed a change was coming after the loss to the Lions. “You guys just look at the whole turnaround, how everything had been going, we just knew some changes were going to be made,” he said. The 38-year-old Brown now has a huge opportunity. He spent last season as Carolina's offensive coordinator and the previous three on Sean McVay's staff with the Los Angeles Rams — the final two as assistant head coach. Prior to that, he spent nine years as a college assistant, including stops at Wisconsin, Georgia, Miami and South Carolina. It's his job to help right a team that came into the season thinking a playoff spot was in reach. Williams' development obviously will be front and center. To that end, the No. 1 overall draft pick has looked more comfortable in the three games since Brown took over for the fired Shane Waldron as offensive coordinator, completing 75 of 117 passes for 827 yards with five touchdowns, no interceptions and a rating of 99.2. Though Brown will continue to call plays, the Bears have another new offensive coordinator in wide receivers coach Chris Beatty. “I think it is a stepping stone actually with my development because I think down the line I’ll have different OCs or different head coaches or whatever the case may be,” Williams said. “And so being able to handle it my first year, handle a new playbook, handle all these different changes, handle all of this I think it definitely will help the development instead of hurting it or anything like that.” Beyond the development of the prized quarterback, Brown also will be judged during his audition for the regular job on his preparation, decisions during games and command of the locker room. He said he reached out to each player individually on Friday and Saturday and tried to set a tone when the team met on Monday. “I want them to be excellent,” Brown said. “I can nitpick at every single play and tell a guy how he wasn’t perfect. And, so, perfection’s not the goal. It’s to excel at your craft.” Notes: The Bears had a lengthy injury report on Wednesday. WRs Keenan Allen (ankle) and DJ Moore (quad), RBs D'Andre Swift (quad) and Roschon Johnson (concussion), DB Elijah Hicks (ankle) and OL Ryan Bates (concussion) all missed practice. S Kevin Byard (shoulder) and OLs Darnnell Wright (knee) and Coleman Shelton (knee) were limited. AP NFL coverage:

In a Sunday matinee at the United Center, the Chicago Bulls welcomed the Philadelphia 76ers in a battle of two franchises hovering around the soft, middle-underbelly of the NBA. Despite a solid first-half start by the Bulls, Joel Embiid eventually found his form in the second quarter of the game and fueled the 76ers' push to a 108-100 victory over the Bulls. On to the next one. Zach LaVine: 30 pts (10-21 FG) pic.twitter.com/dbubcdobFs A Glimpse of a Balanced Bulls Offense The Bulls opened the game against the Sixers with a pleasing balanced-shooting profile that featured the Bulls shooting 5/12 from the three-point line and 14 paint points in the first quarter. The Bulls finished the first quarter with a 10-point lead over the 76ers, 33-23. Zach LaVine was the Bulls leading scorer in the first quarter with 10 points. Just getting started. Zach LaVine: 10 points (3-5 FG) pic.twitter.com/UcuIw89KOS Joel Embiid Sons the Bulls Again Hope was in the air for the Bulls going into the second quarter as the game remained scoreless until the 9:53 minute mark of the period. From that point on, the 76ers kicked off a 7-0 scoring run that morphed into the Sixers feeding Embiid a healthy 8/12 (67%) shooting from the field in the second quarter. Joel Embiid is up to 15 PTS in the 2Q! PHI-CHI | NBA League Pass https://t.co/MEYHq5fpUM pic.twitter.com/C0UisfQ8ZL Embiid finished the game with an infamously signature stat line against the Bulls, with 31 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks in the contest. Embiid had an INSTANT impact in his return! 31 PTS 12 REB 4 AST 2 BLK pic.twitter.com/LwRnU9WIAd Tug of War Second Half The 76ers fed off Embiid finding his form in the second quarter and carried that momentum and resilience against Bulls runs into the second half of the game. Philadelphia opened the third quarter with a 15-10 scoring run. Embiid fights through the contact PHI-CHI | 3Q | NBA League Pass https://t.co/MEYHq5eS5e pic.twitter.com/Kok2NyvmsR The Sixers started the third quarter with a modest 12-point lead over the Bulls, by the 8:16 minute mark of the period the 76ers added weight to their lead over the Bulls, 77-60. JALEN SMITH FROM HALFCOURT Bulls cut it to single digits entering the 4Q! PHI-CHI | NBA League Pass https://t.co/MEYHq5eS5e pic.twitter.com/E6luKfkbBS The Bulls fought as best they could to close their scoring deficit against the 76ers but Philadelphia never relinquished their lead during the second half of the game. The 76ers took care of business, 108-100. What's On Tap Next? The Bulls are set to enter an extended period without game action. Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, is the next Bulls game when they host the Charlotte Hornets at the United Center. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. CT and the game will air on Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) . This article first appeared on On Tap Sports Net and was syndicated with permission.

Seatless independent backs neighbour as PM hits WANone

Bears interim coach Thomas Brown insists he's focused on task at hand and not what his future holdsNEW YORK — He's one of the most famous corporate leaders in the world, delivering products embraced by billions. But it's the haters that companies like Mark Zuckerberg's Meta worry about. In an era when online anger and social tensions are increasingly directed at the businesses consumers count on, Meta last year spent $24.4 million on guards, alarms and other measures to keep Zuckerberg and the company's former chief operating officer safe. Some high-profile CEOs surround themselves with security. But the fatal shooting this week of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson while he walked alone on a New York City sidewalk put a spotlight on the widely varied approaches companies take in protecting their leaders against threats. Thompson had no personal security and appeared unaware of the shooter lurking before he was gunned down. Today's political, economic and technological climate is only going to make the job of evaluating threats against executives and taking action to protect them even more difficult, experts say. People are also reading... "We are better today at collecting signals. I'm not sure we're any better at making sense of the signals we collect," says Fred Burton of Ontic, a provider of threat management software for companies. After Thompson's shooting, Burton said, "I've been on the phone all day with some organizations asking for consultation, saying, 'Am I doing enough?" Some of the biggest U.S.companies, particularly those in the tech sector, spend heavily on personal and residential security for their top executives. Meta, whose businesses include Facebook and Instagram, reported the highest spending on personal security for top executives last year, filings culled by research firm Equilar show. Zuckerberg "is synonymous with Meta and, as a result, negative sentiment regarding our company is directly associated with, and often transferred to, Mr. Zuckerberg," the Menlo Park, California, company explained this year in an annual shareholder disclosure. At Apple, the world's largest tech company by stock valuation, CEO Tim Cook was tormented by a stalker who sent him sexually provocative emails and even showed up outside his Silicon Valley home at one point before the company's security team successfully took legal action against her in 2022. Cook is regularly accompanied by security personnel when he appears in public. Still, the company's $820,000 allotted last year to protect top executives is a fraction of what other tech giants spent for CEO security. Just over a quarter of the companies in the Fortune 500 reported spending money to protect their CEOs and other top executives. Of those that did, the median payment for personal security doubled over the last three years to about $98,000. In many companies, investor meetings like the one United Healthcare's Thompson was walking to when he was shot are viewed as very risky because details on the location and who will be speaking are highly publicized. "It gives people an opportunity to arrive well in advance and take a look at the room, take a look at how people would probably come and go out of a location," said Dave Komendat, president of DSKomendat Risk Management Services, which is based in the greater Seattle area. Some firms respond by beefing up security. For example, tech companies routinely require everyone attending a major event, such as Apple's annual unveiling of the next iPhone or a shareholder meeting, to go through airport-style security checkpoints before entering. Others forgo in-person meetings with shareholders. Government health insurance provider Centene Corp. joined that group Thursday, citing the UnitedHealthcare executive's death in announcing that its upcoming Investor Day will be held online, rather than in-person as originally planned. "But there are also company cultures that really frown on that and want their leaders to be accessible to people, accessible to shareholders, employees," Komendat said. Depending on the company, such an approach might make sense. Many top executives are little known to the public, operating in industries and locations that make them far less prone to public exposure and to threats. "Determining the need for and appropriate level of an executive-level protection program is specific to each organization," says David Johnston, vice president of asset protection and retail operations at the National Retail Federation. "These safeguards should also include the constant monitoring of potential threats and the ability to adapt to maintain the appropriate level of security and safety." Some organizations have a protective intelligence group that uses digital tools such as machine learning or artificial intelligence to comb through online comments to detect threats not only on social media platforms such as X but also on the dark web, says Komendat. They look for what's being said about the company, its employees and its leadership to uncover risks. "There are always threats directed towards senior leaders at companies. Many of them are not credible," Komendat said. "The question always is trying to determine what is a real threat versus what is someone just venting with no intent to take any additional action." Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Democratic Party sued on Friday to block the potential removal of tens of thousands of ballots tallied in an extremely close state Supreme Court race, saying state election officials would be violating federal law if they sided with protests initiated by the trailing Republican candidate. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Democratic Party sued on Friday to block the potential removal of tens of thousands of ballots tallied in an extremely close state Supreme Court race, saying state election officials would be violating federal law if they sided with protests initiated by the trailing Republican candidate. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Democratic Party sued on Friday to block the potential removal of tens of thousands of ballots tallied in an extremely close state Supreme Court race, saying state election officials would be violating federal law if they sided with protests initiated by the trailing Republican candidate. The lawsuit filed in Raleigh federal court comes as attorneys for Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin also went to state courts on Friday to attempt to force the State Board of Elections to act more quickly on accusations contained in the protests. The board tentatively planned to hold a public hearing on the protests next Wednesday, according to a board email provided with Griffin’s motion. Griffin wants a final decision from the board earlier. Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs leads Griffin by 734 votes following a machine recount of over 5.5 million ballots cast in their Nov. 5 election. A partial hand recount began this week and is nearly complete. But Griffin, joined by three other GOP state legislative candidates, contend that well over 60,000 ballots shouldn’t have counted, casting doubt on election results. Among their complaints: voter registration records of some voters casting ballots lack driver’s license or partial Social Security numbers, and overseas voters never living in North Carolina have run afoul of state residency requirements. The Democratic Party’s lawsuit said that some of the protests represent “systematic challenges to voter eligibility” that counter a federal law’s prohibition of what’s essentially removing people from voter registration lists retroactively after an election. The lawsuit wants a judge to declare federal law and the Constitution prevents the votes from being discarded and to order the election board — a majority of its members Democrats — to comply. “No North Carolinian deserves to have their vote thrown out in a callous power grab,” state party Chair Anderson Clayton said in a written statement. According to state law, a board considering an election protest could correct a ballot tally, direct another recount or order a new election. Griffin’s attorneys filed requests Friday for judges to demand that the board issue final rulings by late Tuesday afternoon. They were filed in Wake County Superior Court and at the Court of Appeals — the same court where Griffin serves. Usually three members on the 15-judge court — second only to the Supreme Court in state’s jurisprudence — hear such motions. “Public trust in our electoral processes depends on both fair and efficient procedures to determine the outcome of our elections. By failing to give a timely decision, the State Board continues to undermine the public interest,” Griffin attorney Troy Shelton wrote. Attorneys for Riggs separately on Friday also responded to Griffin’s actual protests before the board, saying they should all be denied. Griffin led Riggs — one of two Democrats on the seven-member court — by about 10,000 votes on election night, but that lead dwindled and flipped to Riggs as tens of thousands of qualifying provisional and absentee ballots were added to the totals through the canvass. Riggs has declared victory. The three Republican legislative candidates joining Griffin’s protests all trailed Democratic rivals after the machine recounts. One is GOP Rep. Frank Sossamon, who trails Democratic challenger Bryan Cohn by about 230 votes. Should Cohn win, Republicans would fall one seat short of retaining its current veto-proof majority in both chambers. That would give more leverage to Democratic Gov.-elect Josh Stein in 2025. The Associated Press has not called the Supreme Court race and two of the three legislative races highlighted in the protests. AdvertisementWhy Luke Lango sees stocks rising in December ... China bans exports to the U.S. of a key rare earth metal ... pricing challenges at MCD ... ADP jobs data ... and Apple partners with Coinbase It was a blistering November for stocks. The S&P 500 rose 5.73% and the Dow jumped 7.54%, marking their best monthly performance of 2024. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq climbed 6.21% for its largest gain since May. Where does the market go next? According to our tech expert Luke Lango, the answer is “even higher.” Let’s quickly tour through his four reasons, the first of which is “bullish seasonality.” From Luke: Since 1950, the stock market has risen about 80% of the time between Thanksgiving and the New Year. And for the past five years, the market rallied from Dec. 2 into the end of the year all but once. The second is “a dovish Fed”: The Federal Reserve will likely play the part of Santa, not the Grinch, later this month... It is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points at that upcoming meeting. But more important than the actual rate-cut decision will be Fed Board Chair Jerome Powell’s tone in the post-meeting press conference... [We think he will sound] dovish and signal that the cuts will keep coming. Third, Luke points toward “robust consumer spending”: It looks like this holiday shopping season will be quite a strong one. According to data from Mastercard ( MA ), Adobe Analytics, and Salesforce ( CRM ), the 2024 holiday shopping season is off to a record start... By some metrics, we’re looking at potentially the best holiday shopping season since Covid emerged more than four years ago. Finally, Luke highlights “falling inflation:” Reinflation fears have, in our view, been the one obstacle holding the market back in recent weeks – and rightfully so. For a while there, real-time measures of inflation had been reheating... But [Truflation’s U.S. Inflation Index] has slid to 2.7% over the past two weeks. This seems to suggest that the recent bout of reinflation has at least temporarily stalled. Put it altogether and Luke believes we’re in for a strong Santa Rally to end the year. This comes after what was an extraordinary November for Luke’s Innovation Investor subscribers. They locked in the following profits: We’re thrilled to highlight these wins for subscribers and couldn’t be prouder of Luke . Better still, if he’s right, more profits are on the way as we round out the year. Yesterday brought news that China has tightened its grip on two obscure yet indispensable elements that are cornerstones for next-gen technologies. Here’s Bloomberg with more: China ratcheted up trade tensions with the US with a ban on several materials with high-tech and military applications, in a tit-for-tat move after President Joe Biden’s government escalated technology curbs on Beijing. Gallium, germanium, antimony and superhard materials are no longer allowed to be shipped to America, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement Tuesday. Beijing will also place tighter controls on sales of graphite, it added. This is important because these elements have a wide range of applications – from semiconductors, to satellites, to night-vision goggles, and beyond. Here’s a graphic illustrating how many industries rely on gallium. If you can’t see/read it, the takeaway is basically “all things tech.” After news broke yesterday, western-based rare-earth materials companies popped. For example, Las Vegas-based Mp Materials Corp ( MP ) shot up 11%, Canadian-based Ucore Rare Metals added 23%, and tiny Texas Mineral Resources Corp erupted 34% (and it’s up another 15% as I write Wednesday). This could serve as a preview of what’s on the way if Trump ratchets up the trade war with China. It risks putting upward pressure on inflation for related tech products in 2025 – a dynamic we’ve been warning about repeatedly here in the Digest . We’ll keep you updated as this story unfolds. In the wake of the pandemic and supply chain problems, McDonald’s raised prices as its input costs soared. You may recall last May when the president of McDonald’s U.S. business, Joe Erlinger penned an open letter, explaining why the average price of a Big Mac in the U.S. is 21% higher than in 2019. He pointed toward the company’s own higher costs. The problem is that these higher prices (which protected McDonald’s profit margins) have made the fast-food giant no longer affordable for a huge percentage of Americans. From Bloomberg : After decades of stagnant wages, depleted pandemic savings and the highest inflation since the disco era, many Americans are broke. So much so that in February, McDonald’s Chief Executive Officer Chris Kempczinski told investors that fewer “low-income consumers,” by which he means households earning $45,000 a year or less, are showing up for meals at McDonald’s. According to the latest Census Bureau data, roughly 28% of US households earn less than $45,000 a year. This translates into roughly 90 million Americans. Now, so far, this hasn’t made a dent in McDonald’s overall profitability. But at some point, the fast-food icon will have trouble passing along inflationary cost increases to protect its margins without kneecapping revenues. Back to Bloomberg : [If inflation rises], someone will have to pick up the tab. Companies shouldn’t assume it will be consumers, as McDonald’s has discovered... What is clear is that McDonald’s can no longer serve the broad public, as it always has, without absorbing some of the cost because a substantial portion of its customers have reached their spending limit. It’s a balance that many U.S. executives may have to navigate in 2025: Do you raise prices to protect margins, while risking raising them too high, resulting in fewer customers... or do you eat some of your higher input costs to keep customers happy, which means lower profit margins? At the end of the day, which will have the greatest positive impact on overall profitability? Keep in mind that analysts are projecting calendar year 2025 earnings growth of 15% and revenue growth of 5.7% for the S&P. That’s a lot. For context, for 2024, analysts project earnings growth of 12% and revenue growth of 4.7%. This is happening as the labor market tightens up, which could mean even tighter purse strings for some Americans, which brings us to our next story... ADP released its latest private payrolls report showing that U.S. businesses added 146,000 jobs on the month. That was shy of the downwardly revised 184,000 in October and less than the Dow Jones estimate for 163,000. In positive news, wage growth accelerated by 4.8%, which was faster than October’s increase. Here’s ADP’s chief economist, Nela Richardson: While overall growth for the month was healthy, industry performance was mixed. Manufacturing was the weakest we’ve seen since spring. Financial services and leisure and hospitality were also soft. The more closely watched labor report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics comes out Friday. You’ll recall that its October release showed an increase of just 12,000 jobs. This was artificially lowered by the Boeing strike and hurricanes in the south. The estimate for November is 214,000 jobs. You can be sure the Fed will be watching closely as it tries to thread the needle between maintaining a healthy labor market and taming inflation. In what marks a momentous step into the mainstream, Apple announced that it’s partnering with crypto platform Coinbase to enable crypto purchases through Apple Pay in third-party apps. From CEO Today : The integration is part of Coinbase Onramp—a service designed to streamline the conversion of traditional currencies, such as USD, into digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum. The move signifies a turning point for the cryptocurrency ecosystem, as two major tech and financial players join forces to simplify the notoriously complex process of acquiring digital currencies. By leveraging Apple Pay’s widespread adoption and Coinbase’s crypto expertise, this partnership could redefine how consumers and developers interact with cryptocurrencies. Here’s more from Coinbase’s CEO, Brian Armstrong: This partnership is a game-changer. It eliminates many of the barriers that have kept average consumers from exploring cryptocurrencies. By integrating with Apple Pay, we’re bringing crypto to the fingertips of millions of users. We continue to be bullish on Bitcoin and the emerging “altcoin season.” If you missed yesterday’s Digest on altcoins, click here to catch it . Bottom line: We believe a tremendous amount of wealth will be made in the crypto sector in 2025. This latest news from Apple and Coinbase only adds to that conviction. We’ll end today by circling back to Luke’s bullishness at the start of the issue. Yes, there are reasons to maintain caution today, and we’ll continue highlighting them so that you’re not caught off-guard as we move into 2025. But we’re in a money-making market. So, until bullish momentum turns, stay invested. While it may or may not be a white Christmas, from the looks of it, it’ll be plenty green. Have a good evening, Jeff RemsburgNew Year, New Fortune! AI and Crypto Take Tech to New Heights

Mumbai : Bigg Boss 18 is nearing its grand finale next month and the competition has reached an intense level now. With just 11 contestants remaining in the house, all are leaving no stone unturned to deliver their best performances and secure their spot in the finale. This week, seven contestants have been nominated, putting their fate in the hands of their fans. The nominees for this week are: The voting lines are open, and fans have been rallying to save their favorite contestants. However, the latest voting trends reveal that three contestants are trailing behind and are currently in the danger zone. These bottom three are: Among these, Sara Arfeen Khan is widely speculated to be the next contestant to leave the house, based on the ongoing buzz among fans and viewers. However, there is also speculation that no elimination might take place this week because of the festive season of Christmas and New Year and the makers may decide to keep the celebratory mood intact. On the other hand, Vivian Dsena and Rajat Dalal are currently leading the polls with the highest number of votes, showcasing their strong fan following and popularity. The final decision will be revealed during the weekend episode, and all eyes are now on the upcoming developments. Stay tuned to Siasat.com for more interesting scoops and updates on Bigg Boss 18.