World
Ukraine's Yermak meets senior Trump advisers, source says
Ukrainian delegation met on Wednesday with senior representatives of President-elect Donald Trump, a source familiar with the meeting said, as Ukraine seeks support from the incoming team in its war to repel Russian invaders.
The Ukrainian delegation was led by Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The group met in Washington with Trump’s choice for White House national security adviser, Mike Waltz, and his Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, the source said, without providing details.
The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment about the meeting.
Trump has vowed to bring about a negotiated end to the nearly three-year-old conflict between Ukraine and Russia, but has thus far not provided details.
World
Georgians vow to continue pro-EU protests 'until victory'
Police have reportedly resorted to more heavy handed tactics in a bid to clamp down on the unrest with more than 400 protesters, including opposition leaders and activists, detained and more than 100 people treated for injuries.
Police in Georgia have used water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds as mass protests sparked by the government’s decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union continue for a ninth night.
Police have reportedly resorted to more heavy handed tactics in a bid to clamp down on the unrest with more than 400 protesters, including opposition leaders and activists, detained and more than 100 people treated for injuries.
One 22-year-old protester was placed in an induced coma after he was allegedly hit with a tear gas capsule.
In a post on X, Georgia’s pro-EU President Salome Zourabichvili condemned what she called “brutal terror and repression” and accused security forces of “gross violations of human rights”.
More than 50 journalists have also been injured in the protests so far.
The ruling Georgian Dream retained control of parliament in the disputed 26 October election, a vote widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s EU aspirations.
The opposition have accused the governing party of rigging the vote with the help neighbouring Russia to keep the Moscow-friendly ruling Georgian Dream party in power.
But the protests against the election became angrier and spread beyond the capital Tbilisi after the Georgian Dream’s decision last Thursday to put EU accession talks on hold until at least 2028.
“Georgian citizens are in the streets defending Article 78 of the Constitution, which states that each governmental entity must support European integration. Angry citizens have taken to the streets. The force the regime is using against peaceful demonstrators closely resembles that of the Russian regime. Therefore, we are fighting against it,” said protester, Giorgi Natroshvili.
The decision to suspend accession talks was in response to a European Parliament resolution that criticised the elections as neither free nor fair.
It said the election represented another manifestation of Georgia’s continued democratic backsliding “for which the ruling Georgian Dream party is fully responsible.”
International observers say they saw instances of violence, bribery and double voting at the polls, prompting some EU lawmakers to demand a re-run.
“People continue coming because, day by day the government is becoming worse. They’re getting more and more violent and they’re shifting towards authoritarianism,” said protester, Luka Andguladze.
“So people believe that with our strong will, they will crumble, they will tire, the West will support us, and there will be a time when they will step aside and they will fulfil our request, which is new fair elections under fair laws.”
The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on condition that it meet the bloc’s recommendations, but Brussels put that process on hold earlier this year after the passage of a controversial ‘foreign influence’ law, which was widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms.
Critics have also accused Georgian Dream of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow. The party recently pushed through laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.
World
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World
Turkey’s Erdogan encourages Islamist rebels to continue advances as Assad regime scrambles to survive
JERUSALEM — After Turkey-backed radical Islamist forces seized the pivotal Syrian city of Hama on Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cheered the astonishing military advance of his allies.
“I would say we hope for this advance to continue without any issues,” Erdogan said on Friday, according to a Reuters report.
He added that the capital city of Damascus, where Syrian dictator Bashar Assad resides, is the objective. “The target is Damascus.”
Erdogan continued, “However, while this resistance there with terrorist organizations is continuing, we had made a call to Assad,” referring to his approach to Assad earlier this year to meet and normalize ties after more than a decade of animosity.
ISLAMIST REBELS IN SYRIA CATCH ASSAD, PUTIN, IRAN REGIMES OFF GUARD GIVING US NEW MIDEAST HEADACHE
“These problematic advances continuing as a whole in the region are not in a manner we desire, our heart does not want these. Unfortunately, the region is in a bind,” he said, without elaborating.
Erdogan’s comment about terrorist entities within the ranks of the insurgency are an apparent reference to the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the former Islamist Al-Qaeda affiliate that is part of the rebel force.
Turkey is a member of the American-led NATO alliance. Turkey’s reported support of terrorist groups like Hamas and its purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems has triggered outrage among many U.S. lawmakers.
According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which tracks the civil war in the fractured Syrian Arab Republic, HTS is now within striking distance of the pivotal crossroads city of Homs.
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