Month: December 2023

Washington — U.S. and Ukrainian researchers say Western nations are making progress in trying to curb illicit transfers of Western electronic components to a Russian facility suspected of making Iranian-designed attack drones, but that more needs to be done. The White House released a U.S. intelligence finding June 8 asserting Russia was receiving Iranian materials needed to build an attack drone manufacturing plant in its Alabuga special economic zone. Russia has said it relies on its own resources in using drones to attack Ukraine; Iran has acknowledged supplying drones to Russia but only before Moscow’s February 2022 Ukraine invasion. Neither Russia’s …

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Rome — Pope Francis turned 87 on Sunday, closing out a year that saw big milestones in his efforts to reform the Catholic Church as well as health scares that raise questions about his future as pope. Francis celebrated his birthday with cake during a festive audience with children Sunday morning, and there were “Happy Birthday” banners in St. Peter’s Square during his weekly noon blessing. One early present came Saturday, when a Vatican tribunal handed down a mix of guilty verdicts and acquittals in a complicated trial that Francis had supported as evidence of his financial reforms. The biggest-name defendant, …

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Paris — Notre Dame Cathedral got its rooster back Saturday, in a pivotal moment for the Paris landmark’s restoration.   The installation by a crane of a new golden rooster, reimagined as a dramatic phoenix with licking, flamed feathers, goes beyond being just a weathervane atop the cathedral spire. It symbolizes resilience amid destruction after the devastating April 2019 fire — as restoration officials also revealed an anti-fire misting system is being kitted out under the cathedral’s roof.  Chief architect Philippe Villeneuve, who designed this new rooster, stated that the original rooster’s survival signified a ray of light in the catastrophe. …

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chisinau, moldova — Moldovan President Maia Sandu hailed the adoption by parliament Saturday of a new defense strategy — calling for anchoring Moldova alongside its Western allies — and identifying Russia as a threat to the former Soviet state.  Sandu posted on Facebook two days after the European Union agreed to open talks on extending its membership with both Moldova and neighboring Ukraine — more than 21 months into Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.  Sandu has denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and accused Moscow of plotting a coup to oust her. She said the new security strategy outlined the “main threats” facing …

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LISBON, Portugal — Portugal’s Socialist Party (PS) on Saturday elected Pedro Nuno Santos to lead them in a March 10 snap parliamentary election, following Antonio Costa’s resignation as prime minister and party leader last month amid a corruption investigation. The 46-year-old former infrastructure minister beat acting Interior Minister Jose Luis Carneiro, who was seen as a more moderate candidate, with 62% of the vote to become the PS secretary-general.Nuno Santos, who has described himself as “a cobbler’s grandson, son of a businessman,” is from the left wing of the center-left party and is known for successfully coordinating support in parliament for …

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VATICAN CITY — A Vatican court Saturday sentenced a once powerful Italian cardinal to five years and six months in jail for financial crimes at the end of a historic trial. Angelo Becciu, 75, a former adviser to Pope Francis who was once considered a papal contender himself, was the most senior clergyman in the Catholic Church to face a Vatican criminal court. He and nine other defendants, including financiers, lawyers and ex-Vatican employees, were on trial for accusations of financial crimes focused on an opaque London property deal. Court President Giuseppe Pignatone read out the verdict Saturday, with Becciu accused …

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RUKLA, LITHUANIA — Two German Leopard tanks damaged in Ukraine were test driven in Lithuania on Friday following repairs, to showcase how the Baltic NATO member has become a hub for such work. Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas sat on a turret on one of the tanks as he was driven along a rough road in the military training area in the central town of Rukla. “What can I say?… A powerful tank,” he told reporters. The tanks presented on Friday — among the first repaired in Lithuania — are expected to reach Ukraine next month, nearly two years after it …

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