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Hi, I'm VOA's Alexis Strope with your worldwide news update.
Russia says it will do whatever it needs to achieve its goals in Ukraine. AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports. Russia's top diplomat says Moscow will use all means to defend its interests. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says U.S. permission for Ukraine to use American longer-range missiles to strike Russian territory is a dangerous escalation and while Moscow does not seek war with Washington. "We will be ready to do anything to defend our legitimate interests." In an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Lavrov said a recent Russian strike on Ukraine using a new hypersonic missile should have sent that signal. President Vladimir Putin has warned Russia could use the new missile to hit military facilities of Western nations that allow Ukraine to use their weapons against Russian territory. Sagar Meghani, Washington. Syrian rebels took a string of towns near the strategic crossroads city of Homs on Friday. Their approach to the city, part of a lightning advance that has shifted front lines frozen for years, imposed a major challenge to President Bashar al-Assad. Reuters correspondent Lucy Fielder has more. The advance, led by a former al-Qaeda affiliate known as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, is the biggest challenge for years to Assad's rule. In Hama, crowds toppled the statue of Assad's father. Assad regained control of most of Syria in 2016 after his key allies, Russia, Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah group, came to his aid. But they've all been diverted by other crises in the region and Ukraine, which gave the Sunni Muslim militants a window to fight back. A senior Iranian official said on Friday Iran would send missiles, drones and more advisers to Syria. That was Reuters correspondent Lucy Fielder. This is VOA News. Romania's top court annulled an ongoing presidential election after accusations of Russian meddling and said on Friday the entire process, which had been due to conclude this weekend, would have to be rerun. Olivia Zollino from Reuters has the story. It would have pitted Călin Georgescu, a far-right pro-Russian candidate, against pro-EU centrist leader Elena Lasconi. Romania's top security council declassified documents on Wednesday that said the country was a target of, quote, "aggressive hybrid Russian attacks" during the election period. Romania's anti-organized crime prosecuting unit said it was launching an investigation into Georgescu's campaign after analyzing the declassified documents. Russia has denied any interference in Romania's election campaigns. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis's term was due to end on December 21, but he said on Friday he will stay on until a new president is elected. That was Reuters correspondent Olivia Zollino. South Korea's governing party chief is expressing support for suspending the constitutional powers of President Yoon Suk Yeol for imposing martial law in a bombshell reversal that makes Yoon's impeachment more likely. People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon said he had received intelligence that Yoon had ordered the arrests of unspecified politicians based on accusations of anti-state activities during the martial law. He said Yoon poses a risk of extreme actions that could put South Korea and its citizens in danger. Notre Dame reopens this weekend after being devastated by a fire five years ago. AP correspondent Jackie Quinn reports. Ceremonies will be held to breathe new life into the iconic cathedral, while an American carpenter looks back at the restoration work that he and his colleagues have done. Hank Silver's been in France for nearly two years working on the timber framework for the nave roof. "We just thought it was impossible. And we had 600 logs just for our part in the nave." The 42-year-old Silver says he feels a kinship with the craftsman who completed the cathedral in the 1300s. "Your fingers are tracing the same patterns. We're using the same tools, same gestures that, you know, our forebears used 800 years ago." The great doors of Notre Dame reopen with Archbishop Laurent Ulrich tapping them with a bishop's staff, newly made from pieces of the cathedral roof, which collapsed in the devastating 2019 fire. I'm Jackie Quinn. The European Union has reached a blockbuster free trade agreement with Brazil, Argentina and three other South American nations in the Mercosur trade alliance. Provided it is ratified, the accord would create one of the world's largest free trade zones. Its critics in France, the Netherlands and other countries with big dairy and beef industries say the pact would subject local farmers to unfair competition and cause environmental damage. That wraps up this update, but the world and news never stop. For additional updates, visit our website. I'm Alexis Strope, VOA News. |