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Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom said Saturday it will halt gas supplies to Moldova starting on Jan. 1, citing alleged unpaid debt by the European Union candidate country, which has brought in emergency measures as it braces for power cuts. Gazprom said in an online statement that it reserved the right to take further action, including terminating its contract with Moldovagaz, Moldova's main gas operator, in which the Russian company owns a majority stake. The cessation of gas will stop supplies to the Kuciurgan power plant, the country’s largest, which is situated in the separatist pro-Russian Transnistria region. Moldova reacted by accusing Moscow of weaponizing energy supplies. Gazprom supplies the gas-operated Kuciurgan plant, which generates electricity that powers a significant portion of Moldova proper. The plant was privatized in 2004 by Transnistrian officials and later sold to a Russian state-owned company. Moldova, which has a West-leaning central government and has repeatedly complained of Russian interference, doesn’t recognize the privatization. Earlier this month, Moldova's parliament voted in favor of imposing a state of emergency in the energy sector over fears that Russia could leave Moldova without sufficient energy this winter. A special commission was also set up to manage “imminent risks” if Moscow fails to supply gas to the Kuciurgan plant and on Friday approved a series of measures aimed at saving energy. Gazprom has said Moldova owes close to $709 million for past gas supplies, a figure fiercely disputed by the government in the capital Chisinau. Read: Russia's Gazprom stops flow of natural gas to Austria Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean on Saturday condemned the move, saying that his government does not recognize the debt cited by Gazprom, which has been “invalidated by an international audit.” Moldova claims, citing findings by British and Norwegian audit firms, that its debt stands close to $8.6 million, a small fraction of that claimed by Gazprom. Recean added that Chisinau has pushed to diversify its natural gas supplies to reduce dependence on the Kuciurgan plant, and said the government will “carefully analyze legal options, including resorting to international arbitration” to protect Moldova’s national interests. “Our country is prepared to handle any situation that arises following the Kremlin’s decision,” he said. Moldova’s government on Friday announced it would implement a series of measures starting Jan. 1 to reduce energy consumption. These include limiting lighting in public and commercial buildings by at least 30%, and energy-intensive businesses operating during off-peak hours. In late 2022, Moldova suffered major power outages following Russian strikes on neighboring Ukraine, which is interconnected to the Kuciurgan plant. Transnistria, which broke away after a short war in 1992 and is not recognized by most countries, also declared its own state of emergency earlier this month, in case the region does not receive gas supplies. When Russia fully invaded Ukraine in 2022, Moldova, a former Soviet republic of about 2.5 million people, was entirely dependent on Moscow for natural gas but has since pushed to diversify and expand its energy sources. Read more: Gazprom keen on exploring 5 more gas wells in Bhola; Russia will continue to support Bangladesh: Ambassador In October, Moldova’s pro-Western President Maia Sandu won a second term in office, and a referendum voted in favor of securing the country’s path toward the EU, in two votes overshadowed by ongoing claims of Russian interference to derail the country’s westward shift in recent years. Russia denies it is meddling in Moldova. Russia cut off most natural gas supplies to Europe in 2022, citing disputes over payment in rubles, a move European leaders described as energy blackmail over their support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. European governments had to scramble to line up alternative supplies at higher prices, much of it liquefied natural gas brought by ship from the U.S. and Qatar.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people, but stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible. Putin's apology came as allegations mounted that the plane had been shot down by Russian air defenses attempting to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya. An official Kremlin statement issued Saturday said that air defense systems were firing near Grozny airport as the airliner “repeatedly” attempted to land there on Wednesday. It did not explicitly say one of these hit the plane. The statement said Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev “for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace.” The readout said Russia has launched a criminal probe into the incident, and Azerbaijani state prosecutors have arrived in Grozny to participate. The Kremlin also said that “relevant services” from Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are jointly investigating the crash site near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. The plane was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny when it turned toward Kazakhstan, hundreds of kilometers (miles) across the Caspian Sea from its intended destination, and crashed while making an attempt to land. There were 29 survivors. According to a readout of the call provided by Aliyev’s press office, the Azerbaijani president told Putin that the plane was subject to "external physical and technical interference," although he also stopped short of blaming Russian air defenses. Aliyev noted that the plane had multiple holes in its fuselage and that the occupants had sustained injuries “due to foreign particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight.” Read: Ukrainian drone attack linked to Azerbaijani plane crash, says Russian aviation chief He said that a team of international experts had begun probing the incident at Azerbaijan's initiative, but provided no details. Earlier this week, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's office confirmed that investigators from Azerbaijan are working in Grozny. On Friday, a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an external weapon, echoing those made by aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defense systems responding to a Ukrainian attack. President Joe Biden, responding on Saturday to a reporter asking whether he thought Putin should take responsibility for the crash, said: “Apparently he did but I haven’t spoken to him.” Biden made the comment after leaving church in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it was circling over Grozny. Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, said Friday that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones were targeting the city, prompting authorities to close the area to air traffic. Yadrov said that after the captain made two unsuccessful attempts to land, he was offered other airports but decided to fly to Aktau. Earlier in the week, Rosaviatsia had cited unspecified early evidence as showing that a bird strike led to an emergency on board. In the days following the crash, Azerbaijan Airlines blamed “physical and technical interference” and announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports. It didn’t say where the interference came from or provide any further details. If proven that the plane crashed after being hit by Russian fire, it would be the second deadly civil aviation accident linked to fighting in Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed with a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 people aboard, as it flew over the area in eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014. Read more: Kazakhstan Reports 42 Feared Dead in Azerbaijan Airlines Plane Crash Russia has denied responsibility, but a Dutch court in 2022 convicted two Russians and a pro-Russia Ukrainian man for their role in downing the plane with an air defense system brought into Ukraine from a Russian military base. Following Wednesday’s suspension of flights from Baku to Grozny and nearby Makhachkala, Azerbaijan Airlines announced Friday that it would also halt service to eight more Russian cities. Several other airlines have made similar announcements since the crash. Kazakhstan’s Qazaq Air on Friday said it would stop flying from Astana to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains for a month. Turkmenistan Airlines, the Central Asian country’s flagship carrier, on Saturday halted flights to Moscow for at least a month, citing safety concerns. Earlier this week, Israel’s El Al carrier suspended service from Tel Aviv to the Russian capital, citing “developments in Russia’s airspace.”

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday ordered parliament dissolved and set new elections for Feb. 23 in the wake of the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition, saying it was the only way to give the country a stable government capable of tackling its problems. Scholz lost a confidence vote on Dec. 16 and leads a minority government after his unpopular and notoriously rancorous three-party coalition collapsed on Nov. 6 when he fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revitalize Germany’s stagnant economy. Steinmeier said he made the decision because it was clear after consultation with party leaders that there was no agreement among Germany's political parties on a majority for a new government in the current parliament. “It is precisely in difficult times like these that stability requires a government capable of taking action and a reliable majority in parliament,” he said as he made the announcement in Berlin. "Therefore I am convinced that for the good of our country new elections are the right way.” China sanctions 7 companies over US military assistance to Taiwan Since the post-World War II constitution doesn’t allow the Bundestag to dissolve itself, it was up to Steinmeier to decide whether to dissolve parliament and call an election. He had 21 days to make that decision. Once parliament is dissolved, the election must be held within 60 days. Leaders of several major parties agreed earlier on the election date of Feb. 23, seven months earlier than originally planned. Steinmeier warned about outside interference in the poll, saying it is “a danger to democracy, whether it is covert, as was evidently the case recently in the Romanian elections, or open and blatant, as is currently being practiced particularly intensively on platform X.” A top Romanian court annulled the first round of the country’s presidential election, days after allegations emerged that Russia ran a coordinated online campaign to promote the far-right outsider who won the first round. The campaign is already well underway. Polls show Scholz’s party trailing the conservative opposition Union bloc led by Friedrich Merz. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the environmentalist Greens, the remaining partner in Scholz’s government, is also bidding for the top job — though his party is further back. If recent polls hold up, the likely next government would be led by Merz as chancellor in coalition with at least one other party. Key issues include immigration, how to get the sluggish economy going, and how best to aid Ukraine in its struggle against Russia. The populist, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which is polling strongly, has nominated Alice Weidel as its candidate for chancellor but has no chance of taking the job because other parties refuse to work with it. Germany’s electoral system traditionally produces coalitions, and polls show no party anywhere near an absolute majority on its own. The election is expected to be followed by weeks of negotiations to form a new government. It’s only the fourth time that the Bundestag has been dissolved ahead of schedule under Germany’s post-World War II constitution. It happened under Chancellor Willy Brandt in 1972, Helmut Kohl in 1982 and Gerhard Schroeder in 2005. Schroeder used the confidence vote to engineer an early election narrowly won by center-right challenger Angela Merkel.

North Korean troops are suffering heavy losses in the fighting in Russia's Kursk region and facing logistical difficulties as a result of Ukrainian attacks, Ukraine’s military intelligence said Thursday. The intelligence agency, known under its acronym GUR, said Ukrainian strikes near Novoivanovka inflicted heavy casualties on North Korean units. It said North Korean troops also faced supply issues and even shortages of drinking water. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this week that 3,000 North Korean troops have been killed and wounded in the fighting in the Kursk region. It marked the first significant estimate by Ukraine of North Korean casualties several weeks after Kyiv announced that North Korea had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the almost 3-year war. The casualty disclosure came as the Biden administration was pressing to send as much military aid as possible to Ukraine before President-elect Donald Trump takes over in January. Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into the Kursk region in August, dealing a significant blow to Russia's prestige and forcing it to deploy some of its troops from eastern Ukraine, where they were pressing a slow-moving offensive. The Russian army has been able to reclaim some territory in the Kursk region from Ukrainian forces, but has failed to fully dislodge them. At the same time, Russia has sought to break Ukraine's resistance with waves of strikes with cruise missiles and drones against Ukraine's power grid and other infrastructure. The latest attack on Christmas morning involved 78 missiles and 106 drones, striking power facilities, Ukraine’s air force said. It claimed to have intercepted 59 missiles and 54 drones and jammed 52 other drones. Read: North Korea's Kim vows steadfast support for Russia’s war in Ukraine On Thursday, Russia attacked Ukraine with 31 exploding drones. Twenty were shot down and another 11 didn’t reach their target due to jamming, the Ukrainian air force said. As part of the daily barrage, Russian forces also struck a central market in Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region with a drone, wounding eight people, according to local authorities. Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened Thursday that Russia could again hit Ukraine with the new Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile that was first used in a Nov. 21 strike on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Speaking to reporters, Putin said Russia has just a few Oreshnik missiles, but added that it wouldn't hesitate to use them on Ukraine. “We aren't in a rush to use them, because those are powerful weapons intended for certain tasks,” he said. “But we wouldn't exclude their use today or tomorrow if necessary.” Putin said Russia has launched serial production of the new weapon and reaffirmed a plan to deploy some of Oreshnik missiles to Russia's neighbor and ally Belarus. Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko told reporters Thursday that his country could host 10 or more. Ukraine struck back with drone strikes of its own. Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications said the military struck a plant in Kamensk-Shakhtynsky in Russia’s southern Rostov region that produces propellant for ballistic missiles. Read more: North Korean leader calls for expanding his nuclear forces in the face of alleged US threats “This strike is part of a comprehensive campaign to weaken the capabilities of the Russian armed forces to carry out terrorist attacks against Ukrainian civilians,” it said in a statement.

A Russian cargo ship sank in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria, leaving two crew members missing, Spain's maritime rescue agency and the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. Fourteen of the Ursa Major's crew were rescued uninjured from a lifeboat and transferred to Spain, the agency said. The Russian ministry said the ship started sinking following an explosion in the engine room. The vessel was owned by SK-Yug, a subsidiary of the Russian shipping and logistics company Oboronlogistika, which was established under Russia's defense ministry and placed under U.S. and European Union sanctions for its ties to Russia's military. Spanish authorities said there were empty containers and two cranes on board. They did not confirm the cause of the accident. In a statement on Dec. 20, Oboronlogistika said the cargo ship was headed to Russia’s far eastern city of Vladivostok carrying two cranes for the port weighing 380 tons each. Ursa Major had left St. Petersburg 12 days ago, Russian state news agency Ria Novosti said. Spanish authorities said they received an alert around 1 p.m. Monday when the vessel was roughly 57 nautical miles (106 kilometers) from Almería in southeastern Spain. The maritime rescue agency contacted a ship nearby that reported poor weather conditions, a lifeboat in the water and the Ursa Major listing. Read: UAE stresses on security of eastern Mediterranean, Arab regions Authorities said a Russian warship arrived later Monday to oversee rescue operations, and the 142-meter (466-foot) cargo vessel sank around midnight. The Russian embassy in Spain told RIA Novosti it was investigating the accident and was in contact with local authorities. Ursa Major was in the western Mediterranean at the same time as Sparta — another Russian cargo ship under U.S. sanctions — whose destination as reported Tuesday was Port Said in Egypt, according to ship-spotting platform MarineTraffic.com. It’s not unusual for Russian ships going from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok to transit through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal. With global warming, the Northern Sea Route via Russia’s Arctic is increasingly traversed year-round, but most ships still choose the southern route in winter. Spanish maritime rescue units remained in the area Tuesday to monitor for pollution and remove any floating objects that could be dangerous for navigation, authorities said.

 France’s president and prime minister managed to form a new government just in time for the holidays. Now comes the hard part. Crushing debt, intensifying pressure from the nationalist far right, wars in Europe and the Mideast: Challenges abound for President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Francois Bayrou after an already tumultuous 2024. What's wrong with French finances? The most urgent order of business is passing a 2025 budget. Financial markets, ratings agencies and the European Commission are pushing France to bring down its deficit, to comply with EU rules limiting debt and keep France’s borrowing costs from spiraling. That would threaten the stability and prosperity of all countries that share the euro currency. France’s debt is currently estimated at a staggering 112% of gross domestic product. It grew further after the government gave aid payments to businesses and workers during COVID-19 lockdowns even as the pandemic depressed growth, and capped household energy prices after Russia invaded Ukraine. The bill is now coming due. But France’s previous government collapsed this month because Marine Le Pen’s far-right party and left-wing lawmakers opposed 60 billion euros in spending cuts and tax hikes in the original 2025 budget plan. Bayrou and new Finance Minister Eric Lombard are expected to scale back some of those promises, but the calculations are tough. “The political situation is difficult. The international situation is dangerous, and the economic context is fragile,” Lombard, a low-profile banker who advised a Socialist government in the 1990s, said upon taking office. “The environmental emergency, the social emergency, developing our businesses — these innumerable challenges require us to treat our endemic illness: the deficit,” he said. “The more we are indebted, the more the debt costs, and the more it suffocates the country.” How long will this government last? This is France’s fourth government in the past year. No party has a parliamentary majority and the new Cabinet can only survive with the support of lawmakers on the center-right and center-left. Le Pen — Macron’s fiercest rival — was instrumental in ousting the previous government by joining left-wing forces in a no-confidence vote. Bayrou consulted her when forming the new government and Le Pen remains a powerful force. That angers left-wing groups, who had expected more influence in the new Cabinet, and who say promised spending cuts will hurt working-class families and small businesses hardest. Left-wing voters, meanwhile, feel betrayed ever since a coalition from the left won the most seats in the summer's snap legislative elections but failed to secure a government. Read: Staying in office is the main challenge for troubled France's new government The possibility of a new no-confidence vote looms, though it's not clear how many parties would support it. What about Macron? Macron has repeatedly said he will remain president until his term expires in 2027. But France's constitution and current structure, dating from 1958 and called the Fifth Republic, were designed to ensure stability after a period of turmoil. If this new government collapses within months and the country remains in political paralysis, pressure will mount for Macron to step down and call early elections. Le Pen's ascendant National Rally is intent on bringing Macron down. But Le Pen faces her own headaches: A March court ruling over alleged illegal party financing could see her barred from running for office. What else is on the agenda? The National Rally and hard-right Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau want tougher immigration rules. But Bayrou wants to focus on making existing rules work. “There are plenty of (immigration) laws that exist. None is being applied," he said Monday on broadcaster BFM-TV, to criticism from conservatives. Military spending is a key issue amid fears about European security and pressure from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for Europe to spend more on its own defense. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who champions military aid for Ukraine and ramping up weapons production, kept his job and stressed in a statement Tuesday the need to face down ‘’accumulating threats'' against France. Read more: Macron to address France after no-confidence vote ousts govt More immediately, Macron wants an emergency law in early January to allow sped-up reconstruction of the cyclone-ravaged French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean off Africa. Thousands of people are in emergency shelters and authorities are still counting the dead more than a week after the devastation. Meanwhile the government in the restive French South Pacific territory of New Caledonia collapsed Tuesday in a wave of resignations by pro-independence figures — another challenge for the new overseas affairs minister, Manuel Valls, and the incoming Cabinet.

France’s president and prime minister managed to form a new government just in time for the holidays. Now comes the hard part. Crushing debt, intensifying pressure from the nationalist far right, wars in Europe and the Mideast: Challenges abound for President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, after an already tumultuous 2024. What's wrong with French finances? The most urgent order of business is passing a 2025 budget. Financial markets, ratings agencies and the European Commission are pushing France to bring down its deficit, which threatens the stability and prosperity of all countries that share the euro currency. France’s debt — currently estimated at 112% of gross domestic product — has been high for years. It grew further after the government gave aid payments to businesses and workers during COVID-19 lockdowns even as the pandemic depressed growth, and capped household energy prices after Russia invaded Ukraine. The bill is now coming due. But France’s previous government collapsed this month because Marine Le Pen’s far-right party and left-wing lawmakers opposed 60 billion euros in spending cuts and tax hikes in the original 2025 budget plan. Bayrou and new Finance Minister Eric Lombard are expected to scale back some of those promises, but the calculations are tough. “The political situation is difficult. The international situation is dangerous, and the economic context is fragile,” Lombard, a low-profile banker who advised a Socialist government in the 1990s, said upon taking office. “The environmental emergency, the social emergency, developing our businesses — these innumerable challenges require us to treat our endemic illness: the deficit,” he said. “The more we are indebted, the more the debt costs, and the more it suffocates the country.” How long will this government last? This is France’s fourth government in the past year. No party has a parliamentary majority and the new Cabinet can only survive with the support of lawmakers on the center-right and center-left. Le Pen — Macron’s fiercest rival — was instrumental in ousting the previous government by joining left-wing forces in a no-confidence vote. Bayrou consulted her when forming the new government and Le Pen remains a powerful force. That angers left-wing groups, who had expected more influence in the new Cabinet, and who say promised spending cuts will hurt working-class families and small businesses hardest. Left-wing voters, meanwhile, feel betrayed ever since a coalition from the left won the most seats in the summer's snap legislative elections but failed to secure a government. The possibility of a new no-confidence vote looms, though it's not clear yet how many parties would support it. What about Macron? Macron has repeatedly said he will remain president until his term expires in 2027. But France's constitution and current structure, dating from 1958 and called the Fifth Republic, were designed to ensure stability after a period of turmoil. If this new government collapses within months and the country remains in political paralysis, pressure will mount for Macron to step down and call early elections. Le Pen's ascendant National Rally is intent on bringing Macron down. But Le Pen faces her own headaches: A March court ruling over alleged illegal party financing could see her barred from running for office. What else is on the agenda? The National Rally and hard-right Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau want tougher immigration rules. But Bayrou wants to focus on making existing rules work. “There are plenty of (immigration) laws that exist. None is being applied," he said Monday on broadcaster BFM-TV, to criticism from conservatives. Military spending is crucial, amid fears about European security and pressure from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for Europe to spend more on its own defense. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who wants more military aid for Ukraine and to ramp up France’s own weapons production, kept his job and enjoys broad support. More immediately, Macron wants an emergency law in early January to allow speeded-up reconstruction of the cyclone-ravaged French territory of Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean. Thousands of people are in emergency shelters and authorities are still counting the dead more than a week after the devastation. Meanwhile the government in the restive French South Pacific territory of New Caledonia collapsed Tuesday in a wave of resignations by pro-independence figures — another challenge for the new overseas affairs minister, Manuel Valls, and the incoming Cabinet.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday hosted Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, in a rare visit to the Kremlin by an EU leader since Moscow's all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Fico arrived in Russia on a “working visit” and met with Putin one-on-one on Sunday evening, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s RIA news agency. According to Peskov, the talks were expected to focus on “the international situation” and Russian natural gas deliveries. Russian natural gas still flows to some European countries, including Slovakia, through Ukraine under a five-year agreement signed before the war that is due to expire at the end of this year. At a summit in Brussels on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told EU leaders that Kyiv has no intention of renewing the deal, something Fico insisted will harm his country's interests. Fico said on Facebook after meeting with Putin that he informed European Union leaders about his trip on Friday. He said the talks in Moscow were a reaction to what Zelenskyy told him on Thursday in Brussels, that he is against any gas transit to Slovakia through Ukraine. Fico also said that Zelenskyy is in favor of sanctions against Russia’s nuclear program, which he said was unacceptable and against the interest of his country that relies on nuclear energy. Fico said Putin confirmed to him that Russia is still ready to deliver gas to the West. He said the two also discussed the military situation in Ukraine, chances for a peaceful solution to the war and the bilateral relations between their two countries which Fico said they will seek to “standardize.” His trip was condemned by the major Slovak opposition parties. Slovakia last month signed a short-term pilot contract to buy natural gas from Azerbaijan, as it prepares for a possible halt to Russian supplies through Ukraine. Earlier this year, it struck a deal to import U.S. liquefied natural gas through a pipeline from Poland. The country can also receive gas through Austrian, Hungarian and Czech networks, enabling imports from Germany among other potential suppliers. Read: Germany's Merkel recalls Putin's 'power games' and contrasting US presidents in her memoirs Visits and phone calls from European leaders to Putin have been rare since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine, although Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited Russia in July, and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer met with the Russian leader just weeks into the full-scale war. Both trips drew condemnation from Kyiv and European leaders. Orbán, widely seen as having the warmest relations with Putin among EU leaders, has routinely blocked, delayed or watered down EU efforts to assist Kyiv and impose sanctions on Moscow for its actions in Ukraine. He has long argued for a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine but without outlining what that might mean for the country’s territorial integrity or future security. Fico’s views on Russia’s war on Ukraine differ sharply from most other European leaders. The Slovakian PM returned to power last year after his leftist party Smer (Direction) won parliamentary elections on a pro-Russia and anti-American platform. Since then, he has ended his country’s military aid for Ukraine, lashed out at EU sanctions on Russia, and vowed to block Ukraine from joining NATO. Read more: Russia to use new missile again in 'combat conditions': Putin Fico has also been a rare senior EU politician to appear on Russian state TV following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. In an interview with the Rossiya-1 channel in October, he contended the West has “prolonged the war” by supporting Ukraine, adding that sanctions against Russia were ineffective. He declared that he was ready to negotiate with Putin. Fico also vowed to attend a military parade in Moscow next May that will mark the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II. The Kremlin has used the annual “Victory Day” celebrations to tout its battlefield prowess, and Putin hailed Russian troops fighting in Ukraine as “heroes” at this year’s event.

Four women and a 9-year-old boy were killed and 200 people were injured when a Saudi doctor drove into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers in the German city of Magdeburg — an attack that has left Germans mourning the victims and with a shaken sense of security. How did the attack unfold? At first, Thi Linh Chi Nguyen thought the loud bangs were fireworks. The 34-year-old manicurist from Vietnam, whose salon is near the Christmas market, was on the phone during a break when she heard the noise just after 7 p.m. on Friday. Then she saw a car drive through the market at high speed. People screamed and a child was thrown into the air by the car. The woman recalled seeing the car bursting out of the market and turning right onto Ernst-Reuter-Allee street and then coming to a standstill at a tram stop where the suspect was arrested. The market stood empty and cordoned off by police tape, with armed officers deployed around it. Nearby, people stopped Sunday to light candles or leave flowers at a growing makeshift memorial. Who are the victims? Police say the dead are four women, aged 45, 52, 67 and 75, and a boy aged 9. Authorities said 200 people were injured, including 41 in serious condition. They were being treated in multiple hospitals in Magdeburg, which is about 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of Berlin, and beyond. Who’s the suspect in the attack? Prosecutors said the suspect, a 50-year-old Saudi doctor, is under investigation on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and bodily harm. In a closed-door hearing on Saturday evening, a judge ordered that he be kept in custody pending a possible indictment. Several German media outlets identified the suspect as Taleb A., withholding his last name in line with privacy laws, and reported that he was a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy. He has lived in Germany since 2006, practicing medicine in Bernburg, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Magdeburg. The suspect's X account describes him as a former Muslim. It is filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion, while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who left the faith. He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamification of Europe.” He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Some described Taleb as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. Recently, he seemed focused on his theory that German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum-seekers. What was the motive? Investigators are trying to understand what motivated the man to drive his black BMW into a crowd in the eastern German city. Prosecutors said the motive may have been “dissatisfaction with the treatment of Saudi refugees in Germany.” Investigators have to analyze computers, mobile devices and other evidence, “and at the end of the day we will know, or at least hope to know, what drove him to this act.” Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees acknowledged Sunday it had received a warning about the suspect last year, and said it “was taken seriously.” The office also noted that it is not an investigative authority and that it referred the information to the responsible authorities. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is facing criticism about security lapses that allowed the attack to happen, and was heckled by some bystanders during a visit to Magdeburg on Saturday. A string of attacks The violence shocked Germany and the city, prompting several other German towns to cancel their weekend Christmas markets as a precaution, and out of solidarity with Magdeburg’s loss. Berlin kept its markets open but increased the police presence. Germany has suffered several extremist attacks in recent years, including a knife attack that killed three people and wounded eight at a festival in the western city of Solingen in August. Friday’s attack came eight years after an Islamic extremist drove a truck into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 people and injuring many others. Those attacks have led cities to beef up security at Christmas markets and other events. The horror triggered by yet another act of mass violence in Germany make it likely that migration will remain a key issue as German heads toward an early election on Feb. 23. It is the latest in a string of incidents around the world in which vehicles have been used as weapons by jihadi attackers, far-right extremists and others whose motives were unclear.

Germany’s foreign minister is warning anyone involved in atrocities for the ousted Syrian government against seeking refuge in her country, saying they would face “the full force of the law.” Germany has been a major destination for Syrian refugees over the past decade, and several hundred thousand Syrian nationals live there. In rulings since 2021, former Syrian secret police officers already have been convicted in Germany for overseeing or facilitating the abuse of detainees. “To any of (former President Bashar) Assad’s torturers who might be considering fleeing to Germany now, I can only say clearly: We will bring all the regime’s henchmen to account for their terrible crimes with the full force of the law,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told Sunday’s edition of the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. South Korea's opposition chief urges swift action from top court on impeachment Baerbock called for international security authorities and intelligence services to work closely together. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said Germany is “extremely vigilant” and pointed to border checks that the country already has put in place on its frontiers as it tries to reduce irregular migration. She told Bild am Sonntag that “no one who participated in atrocities is safe from prosecution here.” She said the convictions already handed down show that Germany pursues such crimes rigorously and should act as a deterrent against people involved in them going there. More broadly, German officials have stressed that many well-integrated arrivals of recent years will be welcome to stay after the removal of Assad. That was followed by some talk of Syrians going home, which Chancellor Olaf Scholz acknowledged in a video released Friday “deeply unsettled” them. “Anyone who is working here, who is well integrated, is and remains welcome in Germany,” he said. “That goes without saying.” “Some of the refugees hope they can soon return to their homeland. We will support that as soon as the situation allows," he added. But “only the coming days, weeks and months will show what direction Syria takes after Assad.”