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Russian ambassador summoned to Berlin over claims Kremlin is seeking to destabilise Germany – Europe live

Russia’s central bank said it was suing the Belgium-based Euroclear financial group, which holds Moscow’s frozen international reserves, as the EU moves closer to using the funds to support Ukraine, AFP reported. The bank said it was filing “a lawsuit against Euroclear in the Moscow Arbitration Court” due to what it called “the illegal actions” of the institution. “The actions of Euroclear depository caused damage to the Bank of Russia due to the inability to manage funds and securities belonging to the Bank of Russia,” the bank said in a statement. AFP noted that it was unclear what the implications of any Russian-based legal claim would be. Responding to the move, the European Commission’s chief spokesperson Paula Pinho said that the EU’s proposal to use frozen Russian assets to guarantee a reparations loan for remained under discussions, but the commission was “confident [about] its legality.”

Friday briefing: How the Free Birth Society’s philosophy contributed to a preventable death

Good morning. Last month, we brought you the story behind the Guardian’s year-long investigation into the US-based Free Birth Society, a multi-million dollar business whose philosophy has been linked to traumatic births and even baby deaths around the world. The society promotes a version of free birth (or unassisted birth) with no medical support that is seen as extreme, even among advocates of the practice. Unlike home births, which have a midwife in attendance, free birth involves delivering without medical help. The group influences women via podcasts, social media and online schools and, the Guardian found, advises mothers to steer clear of doctors and midwives, is anti-ultrasound, which it falsely claims harms babies, and downplays serious medical conditions. For today’s newsletter, we revisit the story to focus on one young woman’s experience with the society, told as part of a new six-episode podcast series, The Birth Keepers, which came out on Thursday, and is presented by Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne. Lorren Holliday, a former actor, moved from Los Angeles with her husband, Chris, to a cactus-strewn desert in the middle of Joshua Tree national park, to be with nature and to live “wild and free”. The young couple wanted kids, and she became pregnant quickly. Then she discovered and joined the Facebook group of Emilee Saldaya, the founder of FBS, and became captivated by the society’s podcasts. It was a discovery that led to tragedy. After the headlines, more on what the Guardian podcast series reveals, and what happened to Lorren. A warning: what follows is distressing and graphic in its description of what Lorren experienced. Five big stories UK news | The US is engaging in “extreme rightwing tropes” reminiscent of the 1930s, British MPs warned ministers on Thursday, after the release of Donald Trump’s national security strategy. Health | The NHS is facing its “worst-case scenario” for flu cases this month across England after the number of people in hospital with the illness increased by 55% in a week. Iran | A child bride who was due to be executed this month in Iran over the death of her husband has had her life spared by his parents, who were paid the equivalent of £70,000 in exchange for their forgiveness. UK politics | Downing Street has vowed to force the Lords to vote on the employment rights bill again next week, after Conservative and cross-bench peers blocked it on Wednesday night. Topic | The US wants Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the Donbas region, and Washington would then create a “free economic zone” in the parts where Kyiv has held off the Russian invasion – but “they don’t know” under whose control it would be, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. In depth: ‘Am I about to lose everything right now?’ “My goal for my life was to be basically wild and free roam the land, barefooted, you know, in the sand,” Lorren tells Sirin and Lucy in the podcast. After she became pregnant, Lorren’s initial plan was a hospital birth, but her first meeting with a doctor put her off. A home birth midwife she liked cost $5,000, but the couple had just begun a new business and money was tight. She began scrolling online for information on natural birth and then her algorithm served up the Free Birth Society. “I just got hooked,” she tells Sirin and Lucy. She began listening to FBS podcasts on “amazing, successful” birth stories, sometimes as many as seven a day. She joined the Facebook group and became friendly with Emilee Saldaya, whom she says she “trusted, very much”. “I felt like she proved herself since she had led all these other women to these great victories in their births,” she said. Chris was also on board: “I loved the concept,” he said. Many things in Lorren’s story, the Guardian found, were similar to other stories of women they talked to, linked to FBS: women discovering their content through social media algorithms, the addictive nature of the podcast with its positive free birthing stories, a bad experience with the mainstream medical industry. All of the women, the Guardian found, felt strongly they were doing this for their babies. “They tell you not to do the OBGYN stuff,” said Lorren. “I quit doing that. No more doctors. No blood work or visits or ultrasounds, nothing.” When her due date came, in October 2018, Lorren was confident her birth would play out like the stories she had heard. But she was blindsided by how excruciatingly painful it was. And she began to feel something wasn’t right. *** ‘There’s no way out’ By day two, Lorren felt like her labour wasn’t progressing and decided to message Saldaya directly on Facebook. She told her that the pain was “unbearable” and that she had been throwing up. “The pain is not unbearable,” Saldaya replied. “This is birth, You make a choice to move though one sensation at time or you make a choice to go to the hospital. There’s no way out.” She told Lorren that “you’ll have to die a thousand deaths and let go of everything you think you can’t do”. Days after her contractions began, Lorren started seeing what she thought might be meconium, which can be a sign that a baby is in distress and can sometimes be dangerous if it gets into a baby’s lungs. She messaged Saldaya again, with details of fluids and a picture of stains. An exchange of texts followed, with Saldaya saying the fluid looks like normal, adding: “All looks well and healthy. Ride those waves sister your baby is coming, all is well.” While Lorren was in her trailer messaging Saldaya, she also turned to the FBS Facebook group to ask if this seemed normal. “I was just getting nothing but, ‘you’re doing good, you’re just at the beginning’,” she recalls. *** ‘Please go to the hospital’ Renee LaPonte, a midwife from Massachusetts, was also in the group and had grown concerned with Lorren’s prolonged labour. LaPonte told the Guardian: “I remember saying, that’s not OK, and people saying, that’s a variation of normal. That’s not a variation of normal. She needs help. And I remember typing, ‘Please go to the hospital’. But as quickly as I would type it, it would get taken down. There were several of us doing that.” The posts were being deleted by FBS group admins, because they were against the groups rules. There was no “assistance” talk, meaning you could never recommend someone go to the doctors, call a midwife or home birth group, LaPonte said. Lorren says she can’t remember ever seeing messages urging her to go to hospital. *** ‘A scratch on the soul that just would never leave’ Six days into her labour, Lorren sent Saldaya a picture of a luminous green stain. “That’s [meconium]”, she messaged back. The next morning, Saldaya asked if Lorren knew any midwives who could come over, adding: “How far are you from hospital, do you feel concerned?” When Lorren replied that she was 30 minutes from hospital and there were no midwives around, Saldaya warned her what to expect if she goes to hospital. “Some people fudge the date when their waters open,” she said, adding that if they have been open for 24 hours, they will perform a c-section. Lorren, who could still feel the baby, told Saldaya she was going in. “I was like, all right, we’re going to have the baby today. Let’s go to the hospital. We’re done.” But, after being admitted, Lorren and Chris were told there was no heartbeat. “I remember looking over at my husband. And he just went: ‘It’s OK, it’ll be OK’, and we had to stay strong until she was born.” What followed was “an excruciatingly painful” procedure, involving seven doctors, to deliver the baby. Her daughter’s arm and shoulder were lodged on the right side of Lorren’s pelvis, so much so that they had to use a vacuum and forceps. She found out later that the doctors told Chris there was a chance she could die, too. “So many thoughts are going through my head,” Chris recalls in the Guardian podcast. “Of just, am I about to lose everything right now? And it’s one of those moments in life that just kind of create that little scratch on the soul that just would never leave.” Lorren and Chris’s baby was stillborn, weighing 8 pounds 13 ounces. They had already chosen a name, and called her Journey Moon. *** ‘A preventable death’ After being shown the messages between Lorren and Saldaya, one professor of midwifery told the Guardian there were “huge warning signs that the baby was in distress”. Another expert said: “This was not a tragedy, but a preventable death.” And an experienced home birth midwife told us that “this outcome was overwhelmingly avoidable”. Emilee Saldaya and her business partner Yolanda Norris-Clark were both approached for comment. Neither provided a substantive response. In reply to one email, Saldaya said: “Some of these allegations are false or defamatory”. In May, FBS issued a disclaimer, saying its content was not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any medical condition related to pregnancy or birth. After the Guardian published its investigation last month, Saldaya published a statement on Instagram, branding the report propaganda and suggesting it contained lies. She has previously criticised other media coverage for unfairly depicting her a “cult leader” and says she wants women to have the option to choose free birth. Saldaya has always denied involvement in Journey Moon’s death. “The story wound up that I was her virtual midwife,” she has told students, “which is not true. We had never worked together. I didn’t know this woman at all.” The Guardian Investigates: The Birth Keepers is our six-part podcast series on how two influencers made millions radicalising pregnant women around the world – and the tragedies that followed. The entire series can be listened to now. What else we’ve been reading This piece on gay male and non-binary popstars hitting a glass ceiling is an incredibly interesting and thoroughly depressing read. Poppy Noor, newsletters team I’ve not played Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 with its “Belle Époque” setting, but this behind the scenes interview with the French team behind the game has me intrigued to give it a whirl. Martin If you’re in need of a hope injection I very much recommend Lucy Knight’s piece on the Sunderland charity that’s been improving lives (and fighting far-right hate) one house, park and shop at a time. Poppy For i-D magazine, Pedro Pinho has this look at the style and personalities of people attending the BATEKOO Festival in São Paulo, a showcase of Brazil’s Black queer counterculture. Martin Labour is talking big on its commitments to reduce the welfare bill – while quietly gutting the programmes needed to keep deindustrialised regions out of poverty. Larry Elliott on this topic is a must read. Poppy Sport Netball | Receiving her first centre pass at London’s Copper Box Arena will be an unforgettable moment for England captain Nat Metcalf on her return to action. Darts | Luke Littler won on opening night 3-0 over Darius Labanauskas on the opening night of the PDC world darts championship at Alexandra Palace. Football | Youri Tielemans struck within eight minutes of coming on to earn a 2-1 win for Aston Villa in Basel in the Europa League, their eighth victory in succession. Igor Jesus’s late goal sealed Nottingham Forest a 2-1 win in Utrecht and boosted their hopes of a top-eight finish. Something for the weekend Our critics’ roundup of the best things to watch, read, play and listen to right now Exhibition Hyakkō: 100+ Makers from Japan | ★★★☆☆ On show at London’s Japan House is the work of more than 100 pairs of eyes and hands, constituting an overwhelming profusion of human creativity, corralled into an exhibition of laconic simplicity. About 2,000 objects – bowls, trays, cups, metalwork, glassware and some perplexing bamboo cocoons – are grouped according to their makers on long, softly lit display tables. At first glance, you might think you have stumbled into an especially refined John Lewis homeware department, but then you notice the delicate black and red lacquer work, the gleaming gold on the inside of a perfectly shaped sake cup, the intricacy of the bamboo and some eccentrically shaped vessels, like alien seedpods, that look like ceramics but turn out be a kind of petrified leather. Catherine Shoard TV Man Vs Baby, Rowan Atkinson’s festival slapstick | ★★☆☆☆ Trevor Bingley is not Mr Bean, but the two have a few things in common. For a start, they are both self-destructively single-minded when it comes to overcoming trivial annoyances. In Netflix’s 2022 series Man vs Bee, Bingley ended up building a fake explosive-laced hive to destroy the insect who refused to vacate the swish home he was house-sitting; for Bean, life consists almost exclusively of finding absurd solutions to minor problems. Both are pitiable figures: Bean because he’s a walking disaster zone; Bingley because he’s lonely and broke, having lost numerous jobs due to general ineptitude. In Man vs Baby, Bingley is back, struggling to make ends meet in a chocolate-box village in the home counties. It’s Christmas and he has just been let go as a primary school caretaker. His final job is to assist with the nativity (the opportunity to shamelessly channel Love Actually is not wasted). There, he discovers a baby on the doorstep; this must be the local child starring as Jesus in the play! Except, worryingly, it’s not. Rachel Aroesti Film Ella McCay | ★★☆☆☆ This new comedy drama written and directed by James L Brooks, feels like a relic, and not just because it’s set, seemingly arbitrarily, in 2008. Broadly appealing, well cast, neither strictly comic nor melodramatic, concerning ordinary people in non-IP circumstances, it’s the type of mid-budget adult film that used to appear regularly in cinemas in the 90s and aughts, before the streaming wars devoured the market. Even its lead promotional image, turned into a life-size cardboard cut-out at the theatre – Emma Mackey’s titular Ella in a sensible trenchcoat, balancing on one foot as she fixes a broken block heel – recalls a bygone era of films like Confessions of a Shopaholic, Miss Congeniality or Little Miss Sunshine, that would now go straight to streaming. Adrian Horton Theatre Museum of Austerity at the Young Vic | ★★★★☆ Here is an excoriating production that examines what austerity meant for those targeted by it. They include some of the most vulnerable members of society – people who were abused, destitute, disabled, mentally ill and jobless (what was it that Pearl Buck said about the test of a civilisation?). The show is based on the lives of people who were denied welfare benefits and died. Directed by Sacha Wares, it is an installation that combines promenade theatre with holograms. Wearing a mixed-reality (MR) headset, you enter a room where eight static figures emerge, played by actors. They lie on gurneys, bare mattresses, park benches, pavements and soiled duvets, and make for a woeful army of “invisibles” who have, for this time, come into our line of vision. Arifa Akbar The front pages “UK facing worst winter flu crisis within a fortnight as cases surge” warns the Guardian and the i paper says “‘Super flu’ hits UK, with cases highest in young children”. The Times runs with “Streeting: strikes may force NHS to collapse”. The Express catches both strains: “Stop ‘reckless’ strikes as NHS fights super flu”. The Telegraph has “Britain ‘must not rely on US for defence’” – its interview is with Al Carns, a defence minister. Looks like the Mail was at the briefing too: “Minister: Britain’s on a war footing”. “World cup of greed” – the Mirror says high ticket prices are a “new low for shameful Fifa”. The Metro leads with the Bristol Museum robbery: “Raiders of the lost archive”. Top story in the Financial Times is “China leads resistance to US carve-out on OECD global minimum tax regime”. Today in Focus Is the far right hijacking Christianity? Are US-style Christian politics finally taking root in the UK? With Lamorna Ash Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad Until last year, residents of Bor, South Sudan, filled up their jerrycans with dirty water from the nearest stretch of the White Nile. Now, a new water treatment plant has transformed the town in what is being seen as a beacon of climate crisis adaptation. In 2020, the White Nile broke its banks and submerged the town in floods that had not been seen there for 60 years. Experts say extreme flooding due to climate breakdown has displaced just under 380,00 South Sudanese people. The town has now recovered, with the $5.4m (£4m) project bringing in jobs for locals and connecting 704 households, seven schools and a hospital to the network. Locals say clean water has been life-changing: “Before, we have been suffering. But now we can get water anytime.” Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday Bored at work? And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply

Ukraine war briefing: ‘Terrorist’ attack kills serviceman in Kyiv and injures four

Two improvised bombs exploded in Kyiv on Thursday killing a serviceman and wounding four others, including two police officers, in a “terrorist” attack, prosecutors said. “The first explosion occurred while two national guard servicemen were patrolling the area, as a result one of them died,” the Kyiv city prosecutor’s office said, adding that the second bomb was detonated when police and medics were responding to the first. Ukrainian drones hit two chemical plants in Russia’s Novgorod and Smolensk regions, the commander of drone forces said on Thursday. Maj Robert “Magyar” Brovdi said the factories were producing components for explosives used by Russian troops fighting in Ukraine. Other sources including the dissident Russian social media channel Astra reported the strikes and posted pictures. The Kyiv Independent described the PJSC Acron plant at Veliky Novgorod city as one of the largest such facilities in Russia. The Ukrainian army’s eastern command on Thursday denied Russian claims to have taken control of Siversk. It is located about 30km (18 miles) east of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the last two major cities still under Ukrainian control in the Donbas. The area “remains under the control of the armed forces of Ukraine” said the army. “The enemy is trying to infiltrate Siversk in small groups, taking advantage of unfavourable weather conditions but most of these units are being destroyed on the approaches.” The Institute for the Study of War said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces had recently advanced near Pokrovsk; while Russian forces recently advanced in northern Kharkiv oblast and the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area and near Oleksandrivka. Nato’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, has warned allies “we are Russia’s next target” in a speech in Berlin in which he said “too many don’t feel the urgency, too many believe that time is on our side” and painted a vision of European war with Russia within next five years. The estimated €210bn of Russian central bank assets in the EU will stay frozen for the foreseeable future under a plan to be put before EU finance ministers for formal approval on Friday. A majority of ambassadors from EU member states on Thursday approved the plan to use exceptional powers under article 122 of the EU treaty to fast-track the measure. Hungary’s Kremlin-friendly government has hit out at the decision. The freeze will no longer require a twice-yearly vote that Hungary could veto. It helps pave the way for an loan to Ukraine, funded by the frozen Russian assets, that the Europeans are scrambling to finalise. Kim Jong-un hailed North Korean troops’ fighting in the Ukraine war, state media said on Friday. It came at the end of a three-day meeting of the dictatorship’s central committee. The soldiers, Kim said, had “demonstrated to the world the prestige of our army and state as the ever-victorious army and genuine protector of international justice”. At least 600 of them have been killed and thousands more wounded, according to South Korean estimates. The US wants Ukraine to withdraw its troops where they still hold the Donbas region and Washington would then turn it into a “free economic zone” run by “they don’t know [who]”, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday. The idea was that Ukrainian troops would withdraw but Russian troops would not advance into the territory, said the Ukrainian president. As Shaun Walker writes from Kyiv, Zelenskyy continued: “If one side’s troops have to retreat and the other side stays where they are, then what will hold back these other troops, the Russians? Or what will stop them disguising themselves as civilians and taking over this free economic zone? This is all very serious. It’s not a fact that Ukraine would agree to it, but if you are talking about a compromise then it has to be a fair compromise.” If Ukraine did agree to such a scheme, only “the Ukrainian people” could ratify it via elections or a referendum. Zelensky pushed back against the idea of a unilateral Ukrainian withdrawal in the Donetsk region without the Russians doing likewise. “Why doesn’t the other side of the war pull back the same distance in the other direction?” he said, adding there were “a great many questions” still unresolved. “We have two key points of disagreement: the territories of Donetsk and everything related to them, and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. These are the two topics we continue to discuss.” Donald Trump on Thursday said the US would send a representative to participate in talks in Europe on Ukraine this weekend if there is a good chance of making progress on a ceasefire.

Dozens killed in hospital strike in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state

Dozens have been killed in a military strike on a hospital in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, according to an aid worker, a rebel group, a witness and local media reports, as the junta wages a withering offensive ahead of elections beginning this month. “The situation is very terrible,” said on-site aid worker Wai Hun Aung. “As for now, we can confirm there are 31 deaths and we think there will be more deaths. Also there are 68 wounded and will be more and more.” The hospital in Rakhine’s Mrauk U township was struck late on Wednesday by bombs dropped by a military aircraft, said Khine Thu Kha, a spokesperson for the Arakan Army, which is battling the ruling junta along parts of the coastal state. “The Mrauk U General Hospital was completely destroyed,” Khine Thu Kha told Reuters news agency. “The high number of casualties occurred because the hospital took a direct hit.” A junta spokesperson did not respond to calls for comment. UN human rights chief Volker Turk said such attacks may amount to a war crime and called for an investigation. A spokesperson for the US state department called the reports “disturbing” and said the military government should cease violence against civilians. Local media reports said dozens had been killed in the hospital strike, with photographs from the scene showing the shattered remains of the health facility, and shrouded bodies visible on the ground outside the facility after the attack. The Guardian could not immediately verify the images. Soon after he heard the sound of explosions on Wednesday night, a 23-year-old resident of Mrauk U said he rushed to the scene. “When I arrived, the hospital was on fire,” he told Reuters, asking not to be named because of security concerns. “I saw many bodies lying around and many injured people.” The 300-bed hospital was overflowing with patients at the time of the strike, said aid worker Wai Hun Aung, as most healthcare services across swathes of Rakhine state have been suspended amid the ongoing fighting. The junta has increased airstrikes year-on-year since the start of Myanmar’s civil war, conflict monitors say, after seizing power in a 2021 coup that ended a decade-long democratic experiment. The military has set polls starting 28 December – touting the vote as an off-ramp to fighting – but rebels have vowed to block it from territory they control, which the junta is battling to claw back. Rakhine state is controlled almost in its entirety by the Arakan Army (AA) – an ethnic minority separatist force active long before the military staged a coup toppling the civilian government of democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The AA has emerged as one of the most powerful opposition groups in the civil war ravaging Myanmar, alongside other ethnic minority fighters and pro-democracy partisans who took up arms after the coup. Scattered rebels initially struggled to make headway before a trio of groups led a joint offensive starting in 2023, back-footing the military and prompting it to bolster its ranks with conscripted troops. The AA was a key participant in the so-called “Three Brotherhood Alliance” but its two other factions this year agreed to Chinese-brokered truces, leaving it as the last one standing. While the military-run election has been widely criticised by monitors including the United Nations, Beijing has emerged as a key backer saying it should “restore social stability” to its neighbour. The AA has proven a powerful adversary for the junta and now controls all but three of Rakhine’s 17 townships, according to conflict monitors. But the group’s ambitions are largely limited to their Rakhine homeland, hemmed in by the coast of the Bay of Bengal and jungle-clad mountains to the north. The group has also been accused of atrocities including against the mostly Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority from the region. With Agence France-Presse and Reuters

Trump expands Venezuela sanctions as Maduro decries new ‘era of piracy’

Donald Trump has exerted more pressure on Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro, expanding sanctions and issuing fresh threats to strike land targets in Venezuela, as the South American dictator accused the US president of ushering in a new “era of criminal naval piracy” in the Caribbean. Late on Thursday, the US imposed curbs on three nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, as well as six crude oil supertankers and the shipping companies linked to them. The treasury department alleged the vessels “engaged in deceptive and unsafe shipping practices and continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro’s corrupt narco-terrorist regime”. The targeted vessels recently loaded crude oil in Venezuela, according to state oil company PDVSA’s internal shipping documents. Four of the tankers are Panama-flagged, with the other two flagged by the Cook Islands and Hong Kong. In comments on Thursday night, Trump also repeated his threat to soon begin strikes on suspected narcotics shipments making their way via land from Venezuela to the US. The comments come after the US seized a “dark fleet” tanker named the Skipper off the coast of Venezuela, sparking concerns among some US lawmakers that Trump is “sleepwalking us into a war with Venezuela”. On Thursday, Maduro responded to the seizure, saying at a presidential event: “They kidnapped the crew, stole the ship and have inaugurated a new era, the era of criminal naval piracy in the Caribbean.” He added that “Venezuela will secure all ships to guarantee the free trade of its oil around the world.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the US would take the Skipper to a US port. “The vessel will go to a US port, and the United States does intend to seize the oil,” Leavitt said during a briefing. “However, there is a legal process for the seizure of that oil, and that legal process will be followed.” Trump earlier told reporters that the US planned to “keep” the oil on board the tanker. Asked whether she viewed the seizure as an escalation of US pressure against Maduro, Leavitt said: “I think the president considers the seizure of the oil tanker as effectuating the administration’s sanctions policies.” “Prolonged war is definitely not something this president is interested in,” she added. Reuters on Thursday citing anonymous sources said that the US is preparing to seize more oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela. Asked whether the US would do so, Leavitt said: “We’re not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narcoterrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world.” The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, called Maduro on Thursday after the rare seizure to “reaffirm” Russia’s support for the current Venezuelan government, despite calls from the Trump administration, other countries in the region and Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado for him to step down. A Kremlin readout of the call said Putin called Maduro to express “solidarity” with the Venezuelan people and to continue to build economic and energy cooperation, which includes offshore oil ventures in the Caribbean Sea. Senior Democratic lawmakers and at least one Republican have condemned the seizure of the oil tanker, with one saying Trump was “sleepwalking us into a war with Venezuela”. Maduro has reacted defiantly to US pressure and his government called the oil tanker seizure “blatant theft” and “an act of international piracy”, adding it would “defend its sovereignty, natural resources and national dignity with absolute determination”. But neighbouring countries have said Maduro’s exit could help pave a way to the end of the crisis. In a radio interview on Thursday, Colombia’s foreign affairs minister, Rosa Villavicencio, indicated her government would be willing to offer Maduro a place to live or “protection” if needed. “Colombia would have no reason to say no,” Villavicencio said, although she believed he would be more likely to go somewhere further away. It was the first time a senior Colombian official had said Maduro could receive asylum in the country, although Villavicencio had previously discussed the potential for a transitional government. That followed a public statement by Colombia’s leftwing president, Gustavo Petro, on Wednesday: “It is time for a general amnesty and a transitional government with the inclusion of all and everyone,” Petro said, adding that he opposed an “invasion by foreigners” of Venezuela, pushing back against direct action by the US. Celso Amorim, a top adviser to Brazil’s leftwing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, earlier this week told the Guardian that “asylum is a Latin American institution [for] people of both right and left” but added that he did not want to speculate, “so as not to appear to be encouraging” the idea. Speaking in Oslo on Thursday after being awarded the Nobel peace prize, Machado repeated her call for Maduro to step down and predicted he would soon have no choice but to leave Venezuela. “He’s going out,” she insisted, although so far the autocrat has shown no sign of being willing to relinquish power after nearly 13 years as president. At a rally on Wednesday, Maduro urged his supporters to be ready to “to smash the teeth of the North American empire if necessary”. In an apparent bid to project nonchalance, he also danced to the sound of the Bobby McFerrin song Don’t Worry Be Happy. Ricardo Hausmann, a former Venezuelan minister and opposition supporter, said he believed dramatically increasingly US military pressure on Maduro was the only way to force him out. “If you know [you’re going to] confront some kinetic threats by a credible military force, then suddenly going into exile sounds that much more attractive,” Hausmann said. “That’s why my preference would be to clearly use the military threat to convince Maduro to go.” “If staying in power means that you may get missiles thrown at you, like [Iranian general Qasem] Soleimani, then you might want to consider seriously whether you want to stay in power,” Hausmann added. Maduro was democratically elected in 2013, inheriting the Bolivarian revolution from his mentor, Hugo Chávez, but has led the country in an increasingly authoritarian direction. The former union leader is widely believed to have stolen last year’s presidential election, with an independent analysis of election data gathered by the opposition suggesting Maduro suffered a landslide defeat to Machado’s ally, the retired diplomat Edmundo González. Even longstanding allies of the Chavista movement, such the leftist presidents of Brazil and Colombia, have refused to recognise Maduro’s claim to have beaten González, who ran in Machado’s place after she was banned from taking part. While the US seizure of the Guyana-flagged Skipper was quickly seen as an escalation of pressure on Venezuela, it also coincided with a number of attacks on other “dark fleet” ships around the world that carry oil between sanctioned countries in violation of global maritime regulations. Maritime data collected by Windward, a maritime AI data company, and shared with the Guardian indicated that the ship had regularly “spoofed” its location and made multiple trips to Venezuela and Iran, which is also under US sanctions, and had transported oil to China. “The US seizure of Skipper off the coast of Venezuela sends a powerful message that dark fleet tankers are now a legitimate military target,” the company wrote in an analysis. There are 30 sanctioned tankers operating in Venezuelan waters, the company said, including seven that are falsely flagged and operating off the coastline. “Despite flouting global maritime regulations that underpin global trade, hundreds of these tankers have operated around the world unchallenged – until now,” it said. The Trump administration framed Wednesday’s seizure as a law enforcement action, noting that the US Coast Guard led the operation and directing the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, to announce the seizure. “For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organisations,” she said. “This seizure, completed off the coast of Venezuela, was conducted safely and securely – and our investigation alongside the Department of Homeland Security to prevent the transport of sanctioned oil continues.”

Papua New Guinea grapples with HIV epidemic as it battles stigma and US aid cuts

After battling illness for years, Nancy Karipa tested positive for HIV in 1999. She had just given birth to her first child. “It was a crossroads moment for me, with the fear of denial, but I chose action,” Karipa, who is now in her 50s, said at an Aids awareness event in Papua New Guinea’s capital Port Moresby in December. She and the baby received treatment, and her child remains healthy. Karipa, from East Sepik in northern PNG, is unusual in sharing her story. The stigma around the disease is high in the Pacific nation, but speaking out has never been more important. This year PNG declared HIV a “national crisis”. UNAids, the UN agency that fights HIV/Aids globally, says the epidemic in PNG is among the fastest growing in the Asia-Pacific region, along with Fiji and the Philippines. New infections have doubled since 2010 and it is estimated that only 59% of people living with the virus know they are HIV positive. The rise of infections in women and children is particularly alarming, UNAids says. “The transmission of [the virus from] mother to child is very high in Papua New Guinea, one of the highest globally,” says Manoela Manova, UNAids country director for PNG. Changes to funding for HIV support and prevention have hit PNG hard. The suspension of US foreign aid by the Trump administration this year has affected hundreds of clinics. Sharp global reductions in funding for UNAids is also worrying health providers, and calls for the PNG government to do more are growing. Manova says HIV awareness has declined over time and now, “it’s like the feeling that the epidemic does not exist”. “That’s the perception in both the public and in the political class.” The crisis in the country of about 10 million people is compounded by a combination of factors, including inadequate testing and lack of awareness. UNAids says PNG recorded an estimated 11,000 new cases in 2024, with nearly half of all new infections among children and people aged under 25. An estimated 2,700 infants were infected with HIV in PNG in 2024. In most cases, mothers were unaware of their HIV status and didn’t receive the necessary antiretroviral therapy (ART) which could have prevented transmission to their child. “A lot of people do not know their status and that’s the first step to addressing the epidemic [and] to be put on treatment,” Manova says. US aid freeze hits clinics The government declared HIV a national crisis in June and put in place an emergency response plan including more testing, treatment and support. Deputy secretary of health, Ken Wai, says while the government is responsible for drug supplies, other support services and community outreach has depended heavily on US aid. In January, the Trump administration cut foreign aid, which was distributed through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), although Wai says some funding has been restored to specific programs. “USAID finances an organisation called FHI360; they help us with data recording, and one laboratory coordinator assists at the central public health laboratory,” Wai says. Chair of the national Aids council, Wep Kanawi, says the government must do more to address the crisis. The council works to prevent HIV transmission and provide treatment across the country. Kanawi says the government does not receive direct funding from USAID for HIV medicines, but PNG does seek funding from global not-for-profit organisations which receive contributions from USAID. That then supports some HIV programs in PNG, including paying staff salaries, he says. Kanawi says more than 200 clinics run by the government or churches that provide HIV services have lost funding after the US suspended foreign aid earlier this year, without providing further details about the services the clinics provide. Kanawi wants the government to do more, and says about K45-K50m (US$10m) annually is needed to deal with the epidemic. “Many of our centres are operating but scaling down on their operations,” Kanawi says. Kaugere Clinic in Port Moresby, which provides HIV and other health services, is one of the centres affected by the funding freeze. Rose Marai, a social worker at the clinic, says when aid was suspended by the Trump administration, salaries at the clinic were withheld because there was no funding. “There was no second plan given to us and we were told to close down the clinic, which had affected the communities,” Marai says. “I used to receive K1,000 (US$235) to run a day awareness program in communities but since the stop of funding I now receive K240 monthly. “I started doing voluntary counselling of referral patients who were already tested positive, STI and gender-based violence couples.” The US embassy in PNG did not respond to questions about USAID or US funding. In a statement, it said the US is “committed to our partnership with Papua New Guinea”. “US foreign assistance to PNG, managed through the Department of State and other US agencies, includes robust programs in security cooperation, disaster preparedness, and health.” At the same time, UNAids has this year seen what it describes as a “historic funding crisis” because of cuts in the US foreign aid budget and reductions from other donor countries. A December report from UNAids said abrupt funding reductions and persistent funding shortfalls “are having profound, lasting effects on the health” of millions of people, although it noted funding for some HIV programs has restarted. UNAids in PNG say the country has so far been shielded from the hit as Australia stepped in with additional funding. In October, the Australian government said it would “increase its annual HIV development funding to almost A$10m this financial year”. Manova says additional funding from Australia will help maintain the UNAids office in PNG “for another two years”. Still, concerns are rising in PNG that the epidemic highlights the fragility of the health sector and the heavy reliance on foreign aid, amid a surge in infections. Foreign minister Justin Tkatchenko says the country needs a “fallback position”. “The longterm strategy is doing it ourselves. We can’t continually rely on other donor partners to help us,” he says. Rebecca Bush contributed to this report

‘It’s not going to end’: Thai evacuees fear for future after fresh clashes with Cambodia

Rangsan Angda and many of his neighbours in border areas of Thailand had already packed their bags, fearing that a ceasefire with neighbouring Cambodia would soon collapse. The ceasefire deal – brokered by Donald Trump, who proclaimed himself “President of PEACE” after he helped end five days of deadly clashes in July – had seemed precarious from the start. “Both sides are confronting one another all the time,” said Rangsan, 50. On Sunday, the announcement he had feared rang out on loudspeakers across his village, warning that fighting had again erupted. For the second time this year, everyone was ordered to evacuate immediately. Families piled into their cars or waited for lifts with local officials. For hours they queued on traffic-clogged roads, making their way to temples, schools and government buildings. More than 500,000 people across Cambodia and Thailand have made similar journeys since the skirmishes broke out on Sunday. No one knows when they will be able to return home, or how the latest round of fighting might be halted. Trump, who oversaw the signing of an enhanced ceasefire deal in October, told reporters this week he would call the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia on Thursday, saying he could bring an end to the clashes “pretty quickly”. “I think I can get them to stop fighting. Who else can do that?” the US president said. In the border areas of Thailand, few share his confidence. “If he did have power to sort the conflict there wouldn’t be this war right now,” said Patcharee Kotmakti, 45. She left her home on Monday, when the din of gunfire first rang out across her village. Just four months ago, clashes were so intense that her house shook from the impact. “I would say I’m used to it by now,” she said. She fears the fighting could drag on for months. “I won’t be able to make ends meet,” she said. Patcharee and many of her neighbours have no fixed income and instead depend on daily work. “Some people who stay here don’t have money, they have to borrow money and pay it back with interest.” She just wanted the situation to end, she said. “The sooner the better.” Trump has previously used the threat of tariffs to pressure Thailand and Cambodia to stop fighting. Dr Napon Jatusripitak, a visiting fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, said this intervention was “absolutely pivotal” in bringing an end to fighting. “Before that, Thailand had rejected all third-party mediation,” he added. Whether Trump can have the same impact today is unclear. With an election due in 2026, the Thai prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul, might choose to appeal to nationalist sentiment by maintaining that Thailand had acted legitimately in defence of its territorial sovereignty, said Napon. Doing so “could resonate with large segments of Thais who view Cambodia as the party that instigated the crisis and the United States as exerting unwarranted pressure on Bangkok,” he said. “This is a moment when he cannot afford to appear soft.” A poll in August found that more than half of those surveyed believed Thailand should not be associated with Cambodia. It also found many were sceptical of Trump’s interventions in the conflict. Almost two-thirds of respondents said interference was in the interest of the superpowers, not Thailand. Fewer than 10% agreed such involvement was intended to restore peace. At shelters in Ubon Ratchathani evacuees questioned Trump’s bold claims of bringing peace. “It is his perspective,” said one older woman diplomatically. But evacuees were divided over what the Thai authorities should do next. Gen Chaiyapruek Duangprapat, the Royal Thai army’s chief of staff, told media this week that the military aimed to crush Cambodia’s military capability, neutralising it as a threat in the long term. “Each person has their own opinion,” said Rinda Metmat, 44. “I don’t want anyone to experience loss. I feel sorry for the soldiers, for their families and their children. Cambodian soldiers also have families. I think they don’t want a war.” Some question whether negotiations can work, regardless of input from Trump or others. “It’s not going to end no matter how many parties involved [in talks], two countries or with a third party, it’s not going to be resolved,” said Rangsan. “Talking never seems to lead to anywhere.”

US wants Ukraine to withdraw from Donbas and create ‘free economic zone’, says Zelenskyy

The US wants Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the Donbas region, and Washington would then create a “free economic zone” in the parts Kyiv currently controls, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said. Previously, the US had suggested Kyiv should hand over the parts of Donbas it still controlled to Russia, but the Ukrainian president said on Thursday that Washington had now suggested a compromise version in which Ukrainian troops would withdraw, but Russian troops would not advance into the territory. “Who will govern this territory, which they are calling a ‘free economic zone’ or a ‘demilitarised zone’ – they don’t know,” said the Ukrainian president, speaking with journalists in Kyiv on Thursday. Zelenskyy said Ukraine did not believe the plan was fair without guarantees that Russian troops would not simply take over the zone after a Ukrainian withdrawal. Zelenskyy said: “If one side’s troops have to retreat and the other side stays where they are, then what will hold back these other troops, the Russians? Or what will stop them disguising themselves as civilians and taking over this free economic zone? This is all very serious. It’s not a fact that Ukraine would agree to it, but if you are talking about a compromise then it has to be a fair compromise.” He said if Ukraine did agree to such a scheme, there would need to be elections or a referendum to ratify it, saying that only “the Ukrainian people” could make decisions on territorial concessions. Under the US plans, said Zelenskyy, Ukraine would withdraw from Donbas, where Russia is advancing, while the frontlines would be frozen in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Russia would give up a few small pockets of land it controls in other regions. Zelenskyy has been under immense pressure from Donald Trump to sign up to the US peace plan. In recent days Trump has attacked Zelenskyy, claiming he “has not even read” the draft peace plan and suggesting he lacks legitimacy and Ukraine should hold an election. Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on Thursday: “The president is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war, and he is sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting.” Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian negotiating team had sent their revised plan back to Washington on Wednesday, and that questions over territory and control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant were two of the remaining sticking points. “It’s not the final plan; it’s a reaction to what we received … the plan is constantly being worked on and edited, and this is a continuous process that is still going on,” he said. If Washington and Kyiv do agree, the much bigger question remains of whether Vladimir Putin is really ready to sign a deal or is merely buying time with fake negotiations and hoping to continue his military advance over the winter. In Berlin, the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, said on Thursday that if Putin was allowed to get his way in Ukraine then the prospect of war in Europe would become more real, warning that the continent had been “quietly complacent” over the threat from Russia. A new war waged by Russia could come within the next five years and could be “on the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured”, Rutte suggested. He issued a now-familiar call for all European countries to increase defence spending. “Too many believe that time is on our side. It is not. The time for action is now,” he added. Rutte is among the European politicians who have been working hard to keep the Trump administration on side when it comes to Ukraine policy, as the US president appears to get ever more impatient with the lack of a peace deal. On Thursday afternoon, Zelenskyy held a video call with about 30 leaders from the “coalition of the willing” nations, which support Ukraine, but without Trump. In some European capitals there is increasing sentiment that Ukraine will have to make painful compromises, as the country enters its fourth winter of full-scale war, with a difficult situation on the frontline and huge power issues caused by repeated Russian strikes on energy infrastructure. However, the leaders of France, Britain and Germany, who met Zelenskyy in Downing Street on Monday, are keen to stress that only Ukraine can decide on territorial questions. “It would be a mistake to force the Ukrainian president into a peace that his people will not accept after four years of suffering and death,” Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, said on Thursday. Zelenskyy said that in addition to the overall framework agreement, there were two separate documents that Ukraine hoped to sign in the coming days, one on potential security guarantees that would come into effect if Russia attacked Ukraine again and one on Ukraine’s economic renewal. Also on Thursday, top EU officials met in Lviv, in western Ukraine, to discuss Ukraine’s accession prospects, even as Hungary’s Russia-friendly leader, Viktor Orbán, continues to block formal negotiations. All other EU members are in favour of Ukraine joining, and officials have said they want to accept Ukraine anyway provided the country can move forward on aligning its laws and practices with EU regulations. “Ukraine will become a member of the EU, and nobody can block it,” said Marta Kos, the EU enlargement commissioner, at the talks. Zelenskyy said he hoped Trump would put pressure on Hungary and any other EU country that might block Ukraine. “We all understand that the US president has various levers of influence, and these will work on those who are currently blocking Ukraine,” he said.