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Ukraine has mounted a fierce defence of Pokrovsk for the fifth straight week since Russia’s concerted offensive began to take its eastern city, while at the same time it tries to finesse a Russian-inspired United States peace plan heavily criticised by US lawmakers.

The Russian Ministry of Defence said on Monday its “assault groups of the 2nd Army have completely liberated the Gornyak and Shakhtersky microdistricts in Pokrovsk.

On Tuesday, it said its forces were fighting in the Vostochny and Zapadny districts of Myrnohrad, to the east of Pokrovsk.

Both cities, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, lie within an envelope which Russian forces have gradually tried to seal shut. Supplies and reinforcements can currently only reach Ukrainian forces from the west – and Russia claims to have effective fire control over those supply routes.

Ukrainian officials insisted the defence of Pokrovsk was still very much a contest. “Our positions are held in the centre of Pokrovsk, shooting battles continue, and the enemy fails to consolidate,” said Ukraine’s head of the Center for Countering Disinformation Andriy Kovalenko on Sunday, citing the 7th Air Assault Brigade fighting there.

Ukraine has evidently strained its resources to defend the Pokrovsk-Myrnohrad enclave, whereas the concentration of Russian offensive forces in Pokrovsk has not compromised their ability to assault elsewhere.

During November 20-27, Russia claimed to have seized Petropavlovka in Kharkiv, Novoselivka, Maslyakovka, Yampol, Stavki, Zvanovka, Petrovskoye, Ivanopolye and Vasyukovka in Donetsk, Tikhoye and Otradnoye in Dniperopetrovsk, and Novoye Zaporozhiye and Zatishye in Zaporizhia.

The Russian forces’ recent rate of advance has amounted to about half a dozen villages a week.

But Ukraine disputes some of Russia’s claims.

On November 20, Russian chief of staff Valery Gerasimov said his forces had seized the city of Kupiansk in Ukraine’s northern Kharkiv region, and were setting upon retreating Ukrainian units on the left bank of the Oskil River.

But Kovalenko replied on the Telegram messaging service: “Russia did NOT occupy Kupiansk. Gerasimov is just a liar,” and he repeated the claim a week later.

Ukraine has also had successes on the ground, according to its commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskii. “Despite enemy pressure, the Defence Forces of Ukraine managed to carry out counteroffensive actions in the Dobropillia direction from the end of August to October this year,” he said, referring to a failed Russian flanking manoeuvre towards a town northwest of Pokrovsk.

“As a result, the units split the enemy’s offensive group and liberated over 430 square kilometres [166 square miles] north of Pokrovsk. Russian losses amounted to more than 13,000 killed and wounded.”

Russia also kept up pressure on Ukraine’s rear, launching 1,169 drones and 25 missiles at its cities during the week of November 20-26. Ukraine downed 85 percent of the drones and 14 of the missiles, but Zelenskyy called for more short- and medium-range defences.

Questionable diplomacy

Europe, Ukraine and members of the US Congress have all pushed back against a 28-point peace plan presented by the US administration of Donald Trump last week, describing it as too Russia-friendly.

In its original form, the plan granted key points that Russia has demanded. That included a promise from Ukraine never to join NATO and the surrendering of almost all the territory Russia has taken by force, along with the unoccupied remainder of Donetsk. The US and Ukraine’s other Western allies would have to recognise those annexations as legal.

Ukraine would have to hold an election within 100 days of the plan’s signature – one that Russia seems to believe would unseat Zelenskyy.

Russia has also demanded that Ukraine effectively disarm. The 28-point plan suggests reducing its armed forces by about a third, to 600,000 personnel.

“Right now is one of the hardest moments in our history,” Zelenskyy told the Ukrainian people after seeing the plan, describing it as a choice between “either the loss of our dignity or the risk of losing a key partner”.

The Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee Senator Roger Wicker said in a statement: “This so-called ‘peace plan’ has real problems, and I am highly skeptical it will achieve peace.”

Polish Premier Donald Tusk politely said on social media: “It would be good to know for sure who is the author of the plan and where was it created.”

The plan drew heavily from a Russian non-paper submitted to the White House in October, said the Reuters news agency.

“Trump’s 28-point plan, which we have, enshrines the key understandings reached during the Alaska summit,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters.

“I would say not all, but many provisions of this plan, they seem quite acceptable to us,” Putin aide Yury Ushakov told the TASS Russian state news agency.

The United Kingdom, France and Germany drafted a counter-proposal on Sunday, and a Ukrainian delegation led by former Defence Minister Rustem Umerov met with US negotiators under Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Geneva to discuss both documents.

Europe ruled out accepting territorial exchanges resulting from aggression, and suggested territorial negotiations begin from the line of contact without prior Ukrainian concessions. It also suggested Ukraine maintain a strong army of no fewer than 800,000 people, and receive an effective NATO security guarantee.

Their joint statement on Monday simply said they would “continue intensive work”, with final decisions to be made by Trump and Zelenskyy.

Much had been done to refine the original 28 points into a workable agreement, said Zelenskyy. “Now the list of necessary steps to end the war can become doable,” he told Ukrainians somewhat cryptically, describing the work that remained as “very challenging”.

Ukraine has pushed for a meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump before December to thrash out the plan’s final form, but on Tuesday, Bloomberg released transcripts of a leaked telephone conversation between Trump confidant Steve Witkoff and Putin aide Yury Ushakov, in which Witkoff advised Ushakov to have Putin call Trump before Zelenskyy had a chance to meet him. Witkoff suggested that Putin flatter Trump as a peacemaker to win his favour and shape the peace plan directly with him.

That leak prompted opposition to Witkoff travelling to Moscow next week to discuss the reworked plan with Russian officials. The White House said he is to replace General Keith Kellogg, who resigned as mediator for Ukraine after seeing the original 28-point plan.

“It is clear that Witkoff fully favors the Russians. He cannot be trusted to lead these negotiations. Would a Russian paid agent do less than he?” wrote Republican Congressman Don Bacon on social media.

For those who oppose the Russian invasion and want to see Ukraine prevail as a sovereign & democratic country, it is clear that Witkoff fully favors the Russians. He cannot be trusted to lead these negotiations. Would a Russian paid agent do less than he? He should be fired. https://t.co/dxMsda0YV5

— Rep. Don Bacon 🇺🇸✈️🏍️⭐️🎖️ (@RepDonBacon) November 25, 2025

In his first extensive remarks on the peace proposal, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin backed away from an agreement with Ukraine, saying, “Signing documents with the Ukrainian leadership is pointless,” because Zelenskyy was a president who had outlived his mandate.

“I believe that the Ukrainian authorities made a fundamental and strategic mistake when they succumbed to the fear of participating in the presidential elections,” he said, referring to the spring of 2025, when Zelenskyy’s four-year term expired.

Zelenskyy was elected in 2019, and the parliament has twice extended his tenure under the constitutional provision of a national emergency.

Putin said the 28 points did not amount to a peace treaty, calling them “a set of questions that were proposed for discussion and final wording”.

“In general, we agree that this can be the basis for future agreements,” Putin said.

Green card applications from ‘countries of concern’ will be reviewed after Afghan national named as suspect in shooting of National Guard members.

United States President Donald Trump said he plans to suspend immigration from “all Third World countries”, the day after an Afghan national was named as a suspect in the shooting of two members of the National Guard in Washington, DC.

Trump’s announcement marks the latest in a series of escalating restrictions on immigration to the US, after he earlier ordered the US government to re-examine all green card applications from 19 “countries of concern”, in the wake of the Washington, DC, shooting.

“I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries to allow the US system to fully recover, terminate all of the millions of Biden illegal admissions,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform on Thursday.

While he did not define the term “Third World,” the phrase usually refers to developing countries in the Global South.

Trump also said that he will “remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country”.

He added that all federal benefits and subsidies to “noncitizens” will end, and he will “denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquillity, and deport any foreign national who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western civilization”.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow said earlier on Thursday that, “at the direction” of President Trump, he had ordered “a full-scale, rigorous re-examination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern”.

“The protection of this country and of the American people remains paramount, and the American people will not bear the cost of the prior administration’s reckless resettlement policies,” Edlow said.

Edlow did not elaborate on which countries’ applicants would be reviewed, but his office directed The Associated Press (AP) news agency to a June 4 presidential proclamation restricting citizens of 19 countries from entering the US. The list includes Afghanistan, Haiti, Iran, Myanmar, Venezuela and Yemen.

Citizenship and Immigration Services had earlier announced that it would indefinitely suspend all Afghan immigration requests “pending further review of security and vetting protocols”.

The restrictions on immigrants in the US come as Jeanine Pirro, US attorney for the District of Columbia in Washington, DC, identified the suspect in the shooting of the National Guard members as Rahmanaullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who previously worked with US forces in Afghanistan.

Lakanwal came to the US under a programme known as “Operation Allies Welcome” following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, according to Pirro. She said federal authorities, including the FBI, would be reviewing his immigration history and the vetting process.

The Trump administration has already taken aggressive measures to restrict immigration to the US. In October, it announced it would accept only 7,500 refugees in 2026 – the lowest number since 1980.

The US government is also in the midst of a major review of recent US refugee arrivals, according to a memo signed by Edlow and obtained by the AP on Monday.

The memo orders the review of the approximately 200,000 refugees admitted to the US under the administration of President Joe Biden, according to the AP.

It also suspends green card applications from refugees who came to the US during that period.

The government announces the closing of all government offices and schools as weather conditions grow worse.

Sri Lanka has closed government offices and schools as the death toll from floods and landslides across the country has risen to 56, with more than 600 houses damaged, according to officials.

Sri Lanka began grappling with severe weather last week, and the conditions worsened on Thursday with heavy downpours that flooded homes, fields and roads, and triggered landslides across the country.

More than 25 people were killed on Thursday in landslides in the central mountainous tea-growing regions of Badulla and Nuwara Eliya, which is about 300km (186 miles) east of the capital, Colombo.

Another 21 people were missing and 14 were injured in the Badulla and Nuwara Eliya areas, according to the government’s disaster management centre, quoted by The Associated Press news agency.

Others died in landslides in different parts of the country.

Daily life heavily impacted

As the weather conditions grew worse, the government announced the closing of all government offices and schools on Friday.

Due to heavy rains, most reservoirs and rivers have overflowed, blocking roads. Authorities stopped passenger trains and closed roads in many parts of the country after rocks, mud and trees fell on roads and railway tracks, which were also flooded in some areas.

Local television showed an air force helicopter rescuing three people stranded on the roof of a house surrounded by floods on Thursday, while the navy and police used boats to transport residents.

Footage on Thursday also showed a car being swept away by floodwaters near the eastern town of Ampara, leaving three passengers dead.

North Korean hacking group Lazarus is suspected to be behind a recent breach of around 45 billion won (US$30.6 million) worth of cryptocurrency from South Korea’s largest crypto exchange Upbit, sources said Friday.

According to government and business sources, authorities plan to carry out an on-site investigation at the crypto exchange with a belief that Lazarus was behind the hacking.

Dunamu, which operates Upbit, said Thursday it confirmed the transfer of 44.5 billion won worth of Solana-affiliated assets to an unauthorized wallet address and plans to cover the full amount with assets the company owns.

The hacking group had been suspected of stealing 58 billion won worth of Ethereum from Upbit in 2019.

Authorities said the methods used in the latest incident resembled those of the 2019 theft.

“Instead of attacking the server, it is possible that hackers compromised administrators’ accounts or posed as administrators to make the transfer,” a government official said.

Experts note the hacking incident came while Pyongyang is seeking to raise money amid a shortage of foreign currency.

“It is the tactic of Lazarus to transfer crypto to wallets at other exchanges and attempt money laundering,” a security official said, noting such methods make it impossible to track the transaction.

Others said hackers may have intentionally chosen Thursday for their attack, as Naver Corp., South Korea’s top search engine operator, announced its decision on the previous day to acquire Dunamu as a wholly owned subsidiary of Naver Financial through a share-swap deal.

“Hackers have a strong tendency toward self-display,” another security official said.

President Vladimir Putin has said he is ready to guarantee in writing that Russia will not attack another European nation, as he dismissed claims that Moscow intends to invade another country as a “lie” and “complete nonsense”.

Speaking on Thursday in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek – where he attended a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a Russia-led military alliance that includes some former Soviet republics – Putin branded claims Moscow is planning to attack Europe as “ridiculous”.

“The truth is, we never intended to do that. But if they want to hear it from us, well, then we’ll document it. No question,” the Russian president told reporters.

Putin’s denials that Moscow is planning another invasion have been met with scepticism from European leaders, who point to the fact that he repeatedly denied Russia would invade Ukraine before doing so in February 2022.

Responding to questions about efforts to end the war in Ukraine, Putin expressed optimism about a draft United States-backed peace plan, saying it could serve as the “basis for future agreements”.

While Putin said Russia is ready for a “serious” discussion to end the war, he also warned that Moscow was prepared to fight on if necessary and take over more of Ukraine.

A basic prerequisite to end the fighting, he reiterated, was that Ukrainian troops withdraw from Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, including leaving areas that Russian troops do not currently control.

“Ukrainian troops must withdraw from the territories they currently hold – then the fighting will stop. If they do not pull back, we will achieve this by military means,” he said.

Ukraine has said that such a withdrawal would leave the way open for a Russian assault on its capital, Kyiv.

‘The president has lost his legitimate status’

Putin also suggested that he was open to a negotiated settlement with Kyiv, but once again branded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government illegitimate, adding that it was “legally impossible” to sign any agreements with them.

“Broadly speaking, of course, we ultimately want to reach an agreement with Ukraine. But right now, this is practically impossible,” Putin said, repeating previous unfounded claims that Kyiv had lost the right to govern after failing to hold elections when Zelenskyy’s presidential term expired in May 2024.

“The Ukrainian leadership made a fundamental strategic mistake when it feared presidential elections, because since then, the president has lost his legitimate status,” Putin added.

Kyiv has maintained it could not hold elections while under martial law and defending its territory against Russian attacks. In February, lawmakers in Ukraine’s parliament overwhelmingly approved a resolution affirming Zelenskyy’s legitimacy to stay in office.

Putin also claimed that, due to the Zelenskyy government’s purported illegitimacy, any peace deal must be recognised by the international community, and that the international community must also recognise Russian gains in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, reiterated on Thursday that Zelenskyy “will not sign away territory”.

“As long as Zelenskyy is president, no one should count on us giving up territory,” Yermak told US magazine The Atlantic.

Last week, the US revealed a 28-point peace plan for Ukraine that was widely viewed as extremely favourable to Russia. It called for Kyiv to make major concessions, including ceding territory and abandoning its NATO ambitions.

The plan has since been altered with Ukrainian input, Ukrainian First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya said, nixing a 600,000-member cap on Ukraine’s army and a general war crimes amnesty.

On Thursday, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian delegations are set to meet with Washington officials to work out a formula discussed at previous talks in Geneva to bring peace and provide security guarantees for Kyiv.

He added, without providing details, that there would be further talks next week.

US representatives, including Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, are also set to travel to Moscow next week to continue discussions on key issues, including security guarantees for Ukraine and Europe.

Putin said his delegation intends to raise its own “key issue” with the US delegation, specifically a passage in the peace plan stating that Washington only intends to recognise Russia’s de facto control over Crimea and other Ukrainian territory, which Moscow claims as its own.

“That is precisely what our talks with the American side will be about,” Putin said.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko recently announced his intention to pay an official visit to Myanmar. Under other circumstances, this visit might have gone unnoticed, but amid the Myanmar crisis, every visit by a foreign leader to Naypyidaw attracts attention. According to Lukashenko, the trip will be part of a larger international tour that will also include Oman, Algeria, and Kyrgyzstan. The two leaders have already met four times in 2025: during Myanmar President Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to Minsk in March, during Victory Day celebrations in Moscow in May, during the Eurasian Economic Forum in June, and at the PLA parade in Beijing in September. This is a reciprocal visit intended to strengthen relations between Belarus and Myanmar.

The signing of 18 agreements in various fields is planned, including the mutual waiver of tourist visas, a cooperation agreement between the Myanmar Space Agency and the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, an agreement on mutual legal assistance, and so on. Expect Myanmar opposition media to talk about Belarusian educational programs for Tatmadaw (Myanmar’s armed forces) officers and the supply of Belarusian UAVs. For now, all of this fits the “pariah in arms” pattern: the familiar cooperation of two regimes suffering from sanctions pressure and accused of human rights violations. But could something more lie behind Lukashenko’s visit? And can Myanmar’s military leadership learn lessons from its Belarusian partner’s strategy? Let’s discuss the less obvious aspects of Myanmar-Belarus relations.

Lukashenko as a mediator in Ukraine and… Myanmar?

Lukashenko is often portrayed as a Russian proxy, but in practice, Belarusian politics is quite complex. A charismatic former collective farm director, Lukashenko came to power in the 1994 presidential election. His victory came amid a wave of nostalgia for the USSR that swept Belarusian society, which was facing the costs of establishing a free market: declining production, rising prices, rampant crime, and a profoundly uncertain future. At the time, the relatively young populist boldly criticized the nomenklatura, which the people had grown tired of.

At the same time, Lukashenko clearly declared himself a supporter of integration with Russia and an opponent of Belarusian pro-Western nationalism. He kept his promises: the population became more socially secure, organized crime groups were defeated, and the trend toward forced “Belarus-ization” was halted (most ethnic Belarusians prefer to communicate in Russian in everyday life and are skeptical of the opposition’s calls to switch to Belarusian).

At the same time, Lukashenko has always staunchly defended the independence of the Belarusian state and has sometimes even clashed with Moscow. In the 2000s, high-profile “energy wars” erupted between Minsk and Moscow. In 2006, after the Russian state-owned company Gazprom revoked preferential terms for oil supplies to Belarus, the outraged Belarusian leadership retaliated: it imposed additional duties on the transit of Russian oil and began pumping oil from the pipeline. Moscow was forced to back down.

In 2010, Russia demanded that Lukashenko pay off its natural gas debts, after which Lukashenko reminded Russia of its own debts. A series of anti-Lukashenko propaganda films was shown on Russian television. The conflict was resolved through mutual debt repayment, but Minsk could claim victory by upholding its strategic autonomy in the post-Soviet space. In his campaign against Gazprom, the Belarusian leader stoked anti-oligarchic sentiment in Russia and, as a result, gained popularity among the left-wing opposition. For a long time, dreams of a merger between Russia and Belarus were popular among this group, with Lukashenko being tipped as the president of the union state. Among older Russians nostalgic for the Soviet era, Lukashenko rivaled Putin in approval ratings.

“Multi-vectorism” has become the hallmark of Belarusian foreign policy. Minsk has responded to the growing tensions between Russia and the EU/USA head-on, maintaining contacts with all stakeholders. During the first phase of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in 2014-2020, Lukashenko ambitiously positioned Belarus as a neutral “Slavic” platform for Russian-Ukrainian negotiations. A Belarusian diplomatic triumph was the adoption of agreements in Minsk in 2014-2015, involving not only Russia and Ukraine, but also Germany and France. At the same time, despite his Russophile rhetoric, Lukashenko continued to sell diesel fuel (produced from Russian oil!) to the Ukrainian armed forces.

Lukashenko immersed himself in multi-vector diplomacy and overlooked the changing mood of Belarusian society – people were growing tired of the uncontested leader. Conviction that the 2020 presidential election results had been rigged brought people out onto the streets; mass protests engulfed the country, forcing Lukashenko to make temporary concessions, only to later unleash an avalanche of brutal repression on the protesters.

It was at this time, amid the threat of revolution and moral condemnation from the West, that Minsk decided to move closer to Moscow. However, domestically, Belarusian propaganda, in addition to the standard accusations against the US and EU of supporting the opposition, declared the protests a “Russian oligarchs’ plot to overthrow the legitimate president.” Even in a situation where only Moscow could ensure Lukashenko’s continued power, he preferred to retain the freedom to maneuver in his own interests.

Contacts between Washington and Minsk continue, and Trump’s team appears to be closer to mutual understanding with the Belarusians than with the Russians (the Belarusian president personally meets Americans and invariably ends negotiations with a vodka-fueled feast). At the same time, Belarus’s active diplomacy in the post-Soviet space is noteworthy, where Minsk is particularly friendly with Azerbaijan (despite its clashes with Moscow) and the countries of Central Asia. Beijing is also emphatically lenient in its relations with Lukashenko, who emphasizes that, unlike other former Soviet countries, Belarus has retained a reverence for its communist legacy.

The Belarusian multi-vector model for Naypyidaw

Lukashenko arrives in Naypyitaw at a time when the Myanmar government is desperate for international recognition. It’s hard to say whether the Myanmar generals ever considered using their Belarusian partner as a go-between to establish ties with Trump’s team. However, this approach clearly seems preferable to multi-million dollar investments in American lobbying firms, which have so far yielded no results. A new round of talks on Ukraine involving Belarus will take place in December, and Myanmar could very well use this opportunity to use Lukashenko to generate positive interest in the White House.

Beyond the short-term benefits of friendship with Minsk, Myanmar could learn from Belarus the art of multi-vector foreign policy. The configuration of Russian-Belarusian relations is reminiscent of China-Myanmar relations: both Belarus and Myanmar are “small nations” located within the sphere of influence of their larger neighbors, Russia and China, but at the same time striving for strategic autonomy. Chinese infrastructure projects in Myanmar, in particular the oil and natural gas pipeline from Yunnan Province to the port of Kyaukphyu in Rakhine State, designed to provide China with access to the Indian Ocean, can be compared to Russian energy infrastructure in Belarus (the Druzhba pipeline). Minsk can act as a senior mentor to Naypyidaw in defending its energy independence from China.

Stabilizing Myanmar Based on the Belarusian Experience: Pros and Cons

There are vast differences between Myanmar and Belarus – in history, traditions, religion, and ethnic composition. Nevertheless, Naypyidaw could borrow some Belarusian wisdom not only in foreign policy but also in domestic policy.

Mass protests in Belarus in 2020 were sparked by obvious vote rigging in favor of Lukashenko. Paradoxically, the 2020 elections in Myanmar were held under the majoritarian system adopted in Belarus and resulted in a constitutional transfer of power in favor of the military due to electoral fraud by the NLD. The political regimes of Myanmar and Belarus have different backgrounds and structures: the populist Lukashenko is more reminiscent of Aung San Suu Kyi, while the Belarusian army lacks independence and is incapable of military coups. But most importantly, Minsk and Naypyidaw are united by common challenges: internal instability fueled from abroad. Significantly, NUG representatives are simultaneously establishing contacts with the Belarusian government-in-exile of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

Lukashenko successfully overcame the critical moments of the 2020-2021 crisis and, at the cost of systematic human rights violations—something he had done before, by the way—defeated the opposition. What’s interesting here is not the moral aspect of the issue, but the regime’s survival strategy. Lukashenko alternately used carrots and sticks, and alongside repression, he recruited media opposition figures. A well-known example is that of radical opponent of the regime Roman Protasevich, who, after his unexpected arrest, found common ground with the regime and became its sincere defender. This demonstrates the potential for the Myanmar government to exploit loyal elements of the former NLD and even members of the NUG and PDF who agreed to cooperate with the regime.

On the other hand, it should be remembered that in a number of respects, the Myanmar regime is more lenient than the Belarusian one: several large-scale amnesties for political crimes were carried out by the “junta” without prior agreements with the United States. Lukashenko released several dozen of his opponents with guarantees that sanctions would be lifted; the Myanmar military has released thousands of far more dangerous convicts, guided not only by political expediency but also by the Buddhist ideal of compassion (there is no contradiction here, as Buddhism underlies realpolitik in Myanmar). This ideal is widely accepted by all Burmese, regardless of their views on current politics. Unlike the Belarusians, who underwent the brainwashing of communist atheism in the 20th century and practically lost their national identity, the Burmese have preserved their traditional culture, religion, and language and are able to resist the dual pressures of the West and China.

Conclusion

Learning from the Belarusian experience, Myanmar’s foreign policy is returning to its usual course. Long before independent Belarus appeared on the world map in 1991, Myanmar had already pursued a multi-vector policy. It is significant that even when relations with China’s Maoist regime deteriorated to the lowest point in the 1960s, due to Beijing’s support for the Communist Party of Burma (CPB), Ne Win’s government refrained from entering into anti-Chinese alliances with the United States or the USSR. This was a far-sighted decision. To a certain extent, modern Belarus could become Myanmar’s equivalent of Yugoslavia during the Cold War: both under U Nu’s democratic system and under Ne Win’s military dictatorship, the neutralist diplomacy of Titoism was admired.

While Republican and Democratic representatives repeat stereotypical misconceptions about Myanmar learned from Burmese exiles, the generals are gradually bringing the country out of isolation. The most important thing for the Myanmar people to remember is that their nation, the heir to ancient Buddhist kingdoms, has never been and never will be in the service of external powers: the Americans, the Chinese, the Russians, or anyone else. Lukashenko’s visit provides an opportunity to creatively develop the potential of Myanmar diplomacy.

Nov. 26 (UPI) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro donned military fatigues, wielded Simon Bolivar’s sword and urged Venezuelans to defend the nation against U.S. aggression during a rally in Caracas.

Maduro held the rally in Caracas on Tuesday to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the nation’s liberation and told attendees that it is their duty to oppose foreign aggressors in the manner of Venezuelan hero Bolivar, who led a successful revolt against the Spanish, The Guardian reported.

The rally was held in response to the Trump administration’s military strikes against alleged drug traffickers and the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group in the Caribbean Sea near Venezuela.

“We have to be capable of defending every inch of this blessed land from any sort of imperialist threat or aggression, wherever it comes from,” Maduro said while holding Bolivar’s unsheathed sword in his right hand.

“I swear before our Lord Jesus Christ that I will give my all for the victory of Venezuela,” Maduro said.

The U.S. military has killed more than 80 while carrying out more than 20 aerial strikes on small vessels said to carry illicit drugs destined for the United States and Europe over the past four months, according to Time.

President Donald Trump also has accused Maduro of being a drug trafficker and a leader of the Cartel de los Soles, which the Trump administration on Monday designated as a foreign terrorist group, along with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which infiltrated the United States during the Biden administration.

The United States has placed a $50 million bounty for information leading to Maduro’s arrest, and Trump has authorized the CIA to operate in Venezuela.

He also has threatened to drop leaflets over Venezuelan cities to encourage a revolt against Maduro, who has been accused of claiming victory in the nation’s 2024 presidential election despite exit polling strongly suggesting he lost.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday accused the United States of “bullying” Venezuela and expressed support for the nation and Maduro.

Iranian leaders have accused the Trump administration of trying to destabilize the governments of Iran and Venezuela and maintain close ties with Maduro and Venezuela.

The tensions between the United States and Venezuela prompted a cautionary notice regarding international flights in the region from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Many international airlines have canceled flights to Venezuela, which has some travelers stranded in Caracas.

Aman says it will take ‘all available measures’ to stop Russian authorities from recruiting its citizens to fight in war.

Jordan has demanded that Russian authorities stop illegally recruiting its citizens after two Jordanians were killed fighting in the Russian military.

Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the warning on Thursday against Moscow and external “entities” working online to recruit people on Moscow’s behalf.

The ministry did not mention Russia’s almost four-year-long war on Ukraine, where thousands of paid foreign fighters have joined Moscow’s side.

In a statement shared on X, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said it would “take all available measures” to end the further recruitment of Jordanians and called for Moscow to terminate the contracts of its currently enlisted citizens.

The recruitment is a violation of both Jordanian domestic and international law, the ministry said, and “endangers the lives of [its] citizens”.

The statement did not provide any further identifying information or say where or when the two citizens were killed, though Russia has a track record of recruiting foreigners to fight in Ukraine.

Ukraine says Moscow has recruited at least 18,000 foreign fighters from 128 countries, according to figures shared by Brigadier General Dmytro Usov. In a post on the Telegram messaging app, he said another 3,388 foreigners have died fighting for Russia.

Usov did not provide a breakdown of the foreign soldiers fighting in Ukraine for Russia, but the vast majority were likely from North Korea.

The New York-based Council on Foreign Relations said Pyongyang sent between 14,000 and 15,000 soldiers to fight for Russia in 2024, citing Western officials.

Moscow has also recruited at least 1,400 Africans from more than 30 countries, using methods ranging from deception to duress, according to Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha.

Sybiha said previously that signing a contract with the Russian military was “equivalent to signing a death sentence” for foreign recruits.

“Foreign citizens in the Russian army have a sad fate. Most of them are immediately sent to the so-called ‘meat assaults,’ where they are quickly killed,” Sybiha said in a November 9 post on X.

“The Russian command understands that there will be no accountability for the killed foreigner, so they are treated as second-rate, expendable human material,” he said.

Nov. 27 (UPI) — A federal judge who oversaw the sex trafficking case against Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday demanded prosecutors explain how they are protecting victims’ privacy after the release of unredacted documents.

New York-based Judge Richard Berman issued the order in response to a letter raising alarm about how the names of some of Epstein’s victims were included in a trove of documents released by Congress earlier this month.

The order comes amid a recent push for more transparency into the investigation of Epstein, a now-deceased financier who had ties to the wealthy and powerful.

However, Bradley Edwards and Brittany Henderson, attorneys representing the victims, wrote in a letter to Berman on Tuesday that transparency cannot “come at the expense of the privacy, safety and protection of sexual abuse and sex-trafficking victims.”

“These women are not political pawns,” the attorneys wrote. “They are mothers, wives and daughters. These are women who were abused by Jeffrey Epstein, and in some instances by others, and who have already had their rights violated in the past by the government.”

The House Oversight Committee has released dozens of documents from the Justice Department and Epstein’s estate that exposed victims’ identities, causing them “significant emotional distress,” they wrote. Victims have already been approached by the press after their names were released, the attorneys wrote.

The attorneys called the situation “absolutely unacceptable and a problem that must be rectified prior to the release of any additional documents.” One victim described being unable to sleep or function after the release.

The Department of Justice unsuccessfully asked Berman to unseal grand jury transcripts and exhibits in Epstein’s case. However, the victims’ attorneys wrote in their letter that the documents reveal little compared to the department’s investigative files.

Earlier this month, Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed a bill directing the DOJ to release files on its investigation into Epstein.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton wrote to a separate judge Wednesday that the department “intends to redact or withhold victim information to the fullest extent permitted” by the recently passed law.

At least 10 injured as traffic and trains disrupted amid severe weather and rising floodwaters across multiple regions.

Landslides and floods triggered by heavy rains have caused more than 40 deaths in Sri Lanka, where the authorities have stopped passenger trains and closed roads in some parts of the country, officials say.

The government’s Disaster Management Centre on Thursday said 25 of the reported deaths occurred in the mountainous tea-growing regions of Badulla and Nuwara Eliya in central Sri Lanka about 300km (186 miles) east of the capital, Colombo.

Another 21 people were missing due to landslides in the same areas while 10 people were injured, the centre said.

Sri Lanka began experiencing severe weather last week, made worse by downpours over the weekend that wreaked havoc by flooding homes, fields and roads.

Reservoirs and rivers have overflowed, blocking roads. Some key roads connecting the provinces have been closed, officials said.

Authorities stopped trains in some areas in the mountainous region after rocks, mud and trees fell onto railway tracks. Local television showed workers removing the debris. In some areas, floods have inundated the tracks.

Local television showed an air force helicopter rescuing three people stranded on the roof of a house marooned by floods while navy and police used boats to transport residents.

Footage also showed a car being swept away by floodwaters near the eastern town of Ampara, about 410km (256 miles) east of Colombo, killing three passengers.

This week’s weather-related toll is the highest since June last year when 26 people were killed due to heavy rains. In December, 17 people were killed by flooding and landslides.

The worst flooding this century was in June 2003 when 254 people were killed.

Sri Lanka depends on seasonal monsoon rains for irrigation and hydroelectricity, but experts have warned that the country faces more frequent floods due to the climate crisis.

Nov. 27 (UPI) — Foreign nationals from 19 nations of concern will undergo reviews of their visas following Wednesday’s attack on two National Guard members in Washington.

President Donald Trump has ordered U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials to review the visas held by individuals from those nations.

“At the direction of [the president], I have directed a full-scale, rigorous re-examination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said on Thursday in a social media post.

“The protection of this country and of the American people remains paramount,” Edlow continued in another post.

“The American people will not bear the cost of the prior administration’s reckless resettlement policies,” he said. “American safety is non-negotiable.”

Edlow on Wednesday announced USCIS has stopped all processing of immigration requests from Afghan nationals after West Virginia National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, were shot about two blocks from the White House while patrolling the capital.

The suspect, Rahmanulla Lakanwal, 29, is an Afghan national who entered the United States in 2021 through the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome that was intended to protect Afghans who assisted the U.S. military.

Trump and others in his administration have accused the Biden administration of improperly vetting visa applicants.

When asked which nations’ citizens will undergo additional scrutiny, USCIS officials directed NBC News to the president’s related executive order made in June.

The Trump administration identified a dozen nations as national security and public safety risks and potential sources of terrorism and suspended or limited visa approvals for their respective citizens.

They include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Eritrea. They also include Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

The Trump administration also identified seven nations for partial suspension of visa approvals.

Those are Barundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Tofo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

Here are the key events from day 1,373 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here’s where things stand on Friday, November 28.

Fighting

• Russian forces have “completely surrounded” the embattled Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk and control 70 percent of it, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
• Putin also said that once Ukrainian troops withdraw from their positions in key areas, then the fighting will stop. But if they do not, then Russian forces will achieve their objectives by force.
• The Russian president added that the pace of Russia’s advance in all directions on the front line was “noticeably increasing”.
• Oleksandr Syrskii, Ukraine’s top commander, painted a different picture, saying on social media that Ukrainian troops had been blocking attempts by Russian forces to stage new assaults on Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad. Syrskii also said that Russia had been forced to bring reserve forces into the fight.
• Russia’s air defences shot down 118 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 52 over Russia’s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence in Moscow said.

Peace process

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian delegations will meet with those from the United States this week to work out a formula discussed at talks in Geneva to bring peace and provide security guarantees for Kyiv.
• Putin said that the draft peace proposals discussed by the US and Ukraine could become the basis of future agreements to end Moscow’s war on Ukraine, but if not, that Russia would fight on.
• Putin also called the Ukrainian leadership illegitimate and said it was senseless to sign any peace documents with them.
• The Russian president said the Ukrainian leadership lost legitimacy after refusing to hold elections when Zelenskyy’s elected term expired. Kyiv says it cannot hold elections while under martial law and defending its territory against Russian attacks.
• Zelenskyy will not agree to give up land to Russia in exchange for peace, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, told the US magazine The Atlantic.
• “As long as Zelenskyy is president, no one should count on us giving up territory. He will not sign away territory,” Yermak said.
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that even after a peace agreement with Russia, Ukraine will need strong armed forces and security guarantees, while no territorial concessions should be forced on the country.
• “We view the efforts of the US government to find a solution here very positively. However, we also say that the security interests of Europeans and also the security interests of Ukraine must be safeguarded,” Merz said.
• Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Ukraine’s membership in NATO remains unacceptable to Moscow.
• “For us, the threat is still the expansion of NATO,” she told reporters. “NATO’s desire to pull Ukraine into its orbit remains a threat to us.”

Sanctions

• The United Kingdom issued a temporary licence allowing companies to continue doing business with Lukoil International, a subsidiary of Russia’s sanctioned Lukoil, which is based in Austria. The licence, effective until February 26, permits payments and other transactions under certain conditions, including that funds due to Lukoil remain frozen.
• Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said the European Union’s plan to use frozen Russian state assets to help Ukraine stay solvent could endanger the chances for a potential peace deal to end the nearly four-year war.
• “Hastily moving forward on the proposed reparations loan scheme would have, as a collateral damage, that we as EU are effectively preventing reaching an eventual peace deal,” De Wever said in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, seen by the Financial Times.
• Putin said Russia is preparing a package of retaliatory measures in response to potential seizures of Russian assets in Europe. He warned that any move to confiscate Russian assets would be “a theft of property” and harm the global financial system.

Regional security

• A Ukrainian man suspected of coordinating the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in 2022 has arrived in Germany after Italy’s top court approved his extradition last week, German federal prosecutors said. The explosions that destroyed the pipeline in the Baltic Sea three years ago largely severed Russian gas transit to Europe.
• Hungarian President Viktor Orban said he plans to hold talks on Friday to ensure that Hungary gets adequate Russian crude and gas supplies, which would also allow it to provide crude to neighbouring Serbia.
• Russia said it will shut the Polish consulate in Irkutsk at the end of December in retaliation for Warsaw’s decision to close the Russian consulate in Gdansk.

Russian politics

• A Russian military court sentenced eight men to life in prison over their purported role in a deadly Ukrainian truck bomb attack on the bridge that links southern Russia to Crimea.
• The eight men, convicted on terrorism charges, were accused of being part of an organised criminal group that helped Ukraine carry out the bombing.
• Ukraine’s SBU domestic intelligence agency claimed responsibility for the attack, which in October 2022 ripped through part of the 19km (11.8-mile) bridge, killing five people and damaging what was a key supply route for Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.

BREAKINGBREAKING,

US president says second National Guard member is ‘fighting for his life’ after the attack a day earlier in Washington, DC.

United States President Donald Trump said that one of the two National Guard troops shot a day earlier near the White House has died, while the other soldier is “fighting for his life”.

Trump said on Thursday evening that West Virginia National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom died from wounds following the double shooting on Wednesday, a short distance from the White House.

The president hailed Beckstrom as a “highly respected, young, magnificent person” and said the second member of the National Guard targeted in the gun attack was critical.

“He’s in very bad shape,” Trump said as he addressed troops in a video call to mark the Thanksgiving holiday in the US.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow soon. 

BBC

Handout

‘Was it as glamorous as it looked? No!’

ITV/ Shutterstock

‘I had no idea why I picked Sue – it was just eenie meeny miny moe’

Handout

‘Blind Date Wedding of the Year’

Handout/Alex and Sue Tatham

ITV/ Shutterstock

‘I am just lucky to have picked her’

Handout/Alex and Sue Tatham

Nov. 27 (UPI) — French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday the creation of a new voluntary military service amid concerns about a possible confrontation with Russia.

Calling it an “act of trust in our youth,” Macron made the announcement in a speech to troops stationed at a base just outside of Grenoble in southeast France, the BBC reported.

The new service will launch next summer, offering monthly payments to recruits, mostly aged 18 and 19, of at least 800 euros, or about $930, a month for 10 months of training, according to the BBC.

“The only way to avoid danger is to prepare for it,” Macron said. “We need to mobilise, mobilising the nation to defend itself, to be ready and remain respected.”

The new initiative seeks to recruit 3,000 initial volunteers and steadily increase to 50,000 youth joining by 2035, “depending on evolving threats,” with volunteers having the option to stay in the military or become reservists, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“We can’t go back to the times of conscription, but we’re in need of mobilization,” Macron said.

Macron has actively sought to bolster Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s ongoing invasion. France recently signed a deal to sell Ukraine 100 advanced fighter jets. More broadly, Macron helped spearhead the creation of the so-called “Coalition of the Willing,” a group of 34 mostly European countries willing to offer more security backing to Ukraine.

In his speech, Macron did not call out Russia, but said he was launching the initiative “at a time when all our European allies are moving forward in the face of a threat that weighs on us all, France cannot remain immobile,” The New York Times reported.

Other European countries, including Germany, Denmark and Poland, have looked into ways to increase the ranks of their respective armed forces, according to the Times.

Speaking during a press conference on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed the idea that he was planning to attack Europe.

However, the specter of a confrontation between Russia and France has loomed, according to the BBC.

Recently, Gen Fabien Mandon, France’s chief of staff, raised alarms when he said the French military was planning around the assumption of a conflict with Russia in the coming years.

In the world’s most fragile states, war is no longer merely a political tragedy, it is an economic opportunity for those positioned to profit. From the mountains of northern Myanmar to the gold fields of Sudan, a common pattern has emerged: when governance collapses, external powers rush in to secure the minerals, metals, and strategic commodities that the global economy demands. These regions become places where human suffering and environmental destruction become collateral for uninterrupted flows of resources. Two cases stand out in late 2025, Myanmar’s rare earth boom, fueled by Chinese demand, and Sudan’s gold boom, powered by the United Arab Emirates, together reveal a disturbing truth about the global marketplace; world’s green and gold transitions are being built atop the ruins of countries trapped in conflict.

Myanmar: The Human Cost of a Resource Rush

In early 2025, a young man named Sian traveled deep into the mountains of Shan State, Myanmar, desperate for work in a country where the formal economy has collapsed and nearly half the population lives on less than two dollars a day. He was lured by rumors of wages unheard of in today’s Myanmar, $1,400 a month at new rare-earth mining sites run by Chinese companies in territory controlled by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the most powerful of Myanmar’s ethnic armed groups. After hours riding a motorbike through dense forest, he arrived at a mine and was hired for a daily pay of about $21. His job was brutal: drilling boreholes and installing pipes for in-situ leaching, a method that involves pumping acidic solutions directly into mountainsides to dissolve and extract elements like dysprosium and terbium, metals that are vital for electric vehicles, wind turbines, advanced radar systems, and nearly every technology central to the green-energy revolution.

The process leaves behind poisoned rivers, contaminated soil, landslides, respiratory diseases, and entire villages unlivable. Researchers and civil society organizations have documented extensive damage: deforestation, chemically burned waterways, collapsed hillsides, and workers buried in mud after heavy rainfall liquefies the weakened terrain. “The toxic effects of rare-earth mining are devastating,” says political geographer Jasnea Sarma. “These communities endure the harm so that others may benefit.”

Yet the industry is thriving. China has cracked down on domestic rare-earth extraction due to environmental damage, but it has not reduced its demand. As a result, the extraction simply shifted across the border into Myanmar, where environmental regulations are weak, labor is cheap, and local armed groups, desperate for revenue, grant Chinese firms access in exchange for payments or profit-sharing.

Satellite imagery analyzed by Myanmar Witness and the Stimson Center shows hundreds of rare-earth mining sites exploding across Shan State, particularly in areas controlled by the UWSA and other China-aligned ethnic armies. Chinese customs data confirms the trend: between 2017 and 2024, roughly two-thirds of China’s rare-earth imports came from Myanmar. In effect, Myanmar has become the hidden engine of the world’s tech economy and its most toxic dumping ground.

For villagers, this boom is a slow-moving catastrophe. People report respiratory ailments, skin rashes from chemical exposure, and contaminated water sources. The deadliest risks are landslides triggered by aggressive deforestation and chemical injection into the hillsides. A 2024 study of rare-earth mining areas in Kachin State found extreme levels of ammonia, radioactive elements, and dissolved heavy metals in local waterways, conditions researchers describe as “entirely unsuitable for human consumption or agriculture.”

What makes Myanmar particularly vulnerable is not just poverty or geography, but political breakdown. Since the 2021 military coup shattered national governance, armed groups have expanded their autonomy, Chinese companies have expanded their presence, and Myanmar’s natural resources have been strip-mined with almost no oversight. In this vacuum, the global economy finds a steady supply of strategic minerals at the lowest possible cost, while local communities absorb the full environmental and human toll

How the UAE is Cashing In on Sudan’s War

If Myanmar reveals how civil wars feed the green-energy transition, Sudan reveals how they feed the financial one. Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a brutal war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Amid mass displacement, ethnic cleansing in Darfur, widespread starvation, and one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, another story has quietly unfolded: the UAE’s deepening role as the central hub for Sudan’s conflict gold.

Sudan is Africa’s third-largest gold producer, and gold has become the lifeblood of the RSF’s war machine. Investigations by the UN, Global Witness, and multiple governments show that the UAE has been the primary destination for Sudanese gold for years, even as the war intensified. Much of this gold is smuggled out of conflict zones in Darfur, Kordofan, and Blue Nile, which are areas where the RSF maintains control through massacres and forced displacement. Once the gold reaches Dubai, it is refined, laundered through opaque supply chains, and sold into global markets.

The UAE denies wrongdoing, but the pattern is unmistakable. Gold shipments spike when fighting escalates. The RSF’s ability to sustain operations depends heavily on gold revenues. And the UAE’s own global gold-trading infrastructure, built on lax regulations, low taxes, and discreet financial systems, makes it the ideal partner for armed groups seeking to convert looted resources into weapons and cash.

Sudan mirrors Myanmar in a darker way: where Myanmar supplies the materials for the world’s green future, Sudan supplies the materials for its financial present, stabilizing gold markets, supporting global luxury demand, and solidifying the UAE’s status as an international trading powerhouse. In both cases, the profits flow outward, while the devastation remains local.

Foreign Wars as a Business Model

The parallels between Myanmar and Sudan reveal a broader pattern of 21st-century extraction economics. War and political collapse weaken regulation, eliminate oversight, and create desperate labor pools. Armed groups become local gatekeepers, selling access to mines or smuggling routes. Foreign corporations and governments capitalize on the chaos to secure strategic resources cheaply.

In Myanmar, ethnic armed groups benefit from mining revenues while China secures rare earths vital for its technology sector. In Sudan, the RSF funds its military operations through gold smuggling while the UAE strengthens its global commodities market.

This model is not new. But the urgency of the green transition and the volatility of global commodity markets have made it more aggressive than ever. The world wants cheap inputs for clean energy, financial reserves, and technological superiority. Conflict zones deliver them, evidently at enormous human cost.

The Moral Cost of The Green and Gold Transitions

The stories of Sian in Shan State and the civilians trapped in Sudan’s war zones expose a deeper contradiction at the heart of global development. The world says it wants sustainable energy and ethical supply chains. Yet the materials needed for these transitions are often sourced from places where sustainability and ethics are impossible.

Myanmar, Sudan, Congo, Bolivia, and other resource-rich conflict states are the hidden foundation of modern life in first world countries. Their suffering directly creates the conveniences and technologies that wealthier countries take for granted.

Until the international community demands transparency, enforces sanctions on conflict-linked commodities, and insists that the green future not be contradictorily built on burned earth, Myanmar and Sudan will remain cautionary tales and examples of what happens when the world’s hunger for resources meets its willingness to ignore suffering.

The decision follows Castillo’s failed 2022 bid to dissolve Congress and avoid a third impeachment attempt.

A court in Peru has sentenced former President Pedro Castillo to 11 years, five months and 15 days in prison for seeking to dissolve Congress.

The decision on Thursday came nearly three years after Castillo sought to disband the legislature on December 7, 2022, as he faced a third set of impeachment hearings.

The first two attempts to impeach Castillo had been unsuccessful. But after he appeared on television to impose a state of emergency and suspend the legislature for eroding the rule of law, Congress swiftly voted for his removal. He was arrested the same day.

Castillo, a former teacher and union leader, was charged with rebellion and conspiracy against the state for his alleged power grab, which some have described as a “self-coup”.

A left-leaning, socially conservative politician from Peru’s rural north, Castillo had faced up to 34 years in prison at his sentencing.

Prosecutors in the case argued that Castillo aimed to undermine Peru’s Constitution with his actions. But at trial last week, Castillo denied the charges against him. Addressing his televised 2022 speech, he said he merely read out “a document without consequence”.

Castillo is part of a series of presidents in recent decades to face investigations and criminal charges in Peru. The country has had eight presidents within the last 10 years alone.

After his surprise victory in the 2021 presidential election, Castillo, now 56, was dubbed the country’s first “president of the poor“, given his working-class roots in the northern city of Puna. He had never previously held elected office.

His brief tenure, which lasted only around 16 months, was defined by frequent shake-ups among his top ministers and clashes with the opposition-led Congress.

Castillo’s arrest in 2022 sparked pushback from Indigenous residents and his rural base, members of which blocked roads, particularly in Peru’s south.

The unrest fuelled widespread, years-long protests across the country. His successor, former Vice President Dina Boluarte, oversaw a brutal crackdown of those demonstrations that left at least 50 people dead.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has accused the government of using “disproportionate, indiscriminate and lethal use of force” in its response to the protests.

Boluarte, the country’s first female president, was subsequently impeached in October, amid concerns about rising crime and investigations into her behaviour. She has been replaced by the right-wing politician Jose Jeri, who previously was the head of Peru’s Congress.

Thursday’s sentencing caps a nine-month trial punctuated by a diplomatic rift.

During the court proceedings, the Mexican embassy granted asylum to Castillo’s former prime minister, Betssy Chavel, who was also facing charges related to the former president’s effort to consolidate power.

Peru’s government subsequently labelled Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, a vocal supporter of Castillo, “persona non grata”.

Castillo has been denied the possibility of serving his sentence under house arrest. Instead, he is slated to join several other former presidents at Barbadillo Prison in the capital Lima. The prison, situated at a police academy, was set up to hold convicted leaders who might face safety hazards in other detention facilities.

Detainees at Barbadillo include Ollanta Humala, who served as president from 2011 to 2016 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison this year for money laundering.

Alejandro Toledo, who served from 2001 to 2006, was sentenced last year to 20 years in prison for taking bribes. He too is at the prison.

And Martin Vizcarra, who was sentenced on Wednesday to 14 years in prison for bribery, was transferred there this week.

Senegal’s Foreign Ministry says Umaro Sissoco Embalo arrived in the country a day after he was deposed in a military coup.

Guinea-Bissau’s deposed president, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, has arrived in Senegal, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed, a day after a group of military officers in Guinea-Bissau seized power in a coup.

Senegal’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday night that Embalo had arrived in Senegal after authorities engaged with actors in Guinea-Bissau to try to secure his release.

Embalo reached Senegal on board an aircraft chartered by the Senegalese government, it said.

“The government of the Republic of Senegal reaffirms its readiness to work alongside ECOWAS, the African Union and all relevant partners, with a view to supporting dialogue, stability and the rapid restoration of constitutional order and democratic legitimacy in this brotherly nation,” the statement said.

Embalo was deposed on Wednesday after military officers announced they had seized “total control” of Guinea-Bissau ahead of the expected release of presidential election results in the West African nation.

Embalo had been vying for re-election against his main challenger, Fernando Dias. Both had declared victory ahead of the release of the provisional results.

But the main opposition PAIGC party was barred from presenting a presidential candidate, raising criticism from civil society groups, which said the election was illegitimate.

Dubbing themselves the “High Military Command for the Restoration of Order”, the military officers read out a statement on television on Wednesday, declaring that they had ordered the immediate suspension of the electoral process “until further notice”.

They also ordered the closure of Guinea-Bissau’s borders and an overnight curfew.

On Thursday, General Horta Inta-A was sworn in as the country’s transitional president, defending the military takeover by saying that there had been “sufficient [evidence] to justify the operation”.

But the coup – one of several to hit Guinea-Bissau since the country gained independence from Portugal in 1974 – has spurred widespread concern, including from regional bodies.

The chairperson of the African Union Commission condemned the situation earlier on Thursday, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Embalo and all other detained officials.

Mahmoud Ali Youssouf also urged “all parties to exercise the utmost restraint in order to prevent any further deterioration of the situation”.

Nov. 27 (UPI) — Post-holiday travel plans might be impacted by potentially dangerous weather sweeping through much of the northern United States through the weekend, while rainstorms soak southern states.

Storm systems in the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes region are making road travel more dangerous and could trigger flight delays and cancellations during what the Federal Aviation Administration said is the busiest Thanksgiving holiday travel since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 6 million travelers are expected to fly during the holiday travel period that officially runs from Tuesday evening through Sunday, NPR reported. Airports are operating at full capacity following the extended government shutdown.

Those traveling by plane on Thanksgiving day will mostly have good weather, but delays are expected in Buffalo, Cleveland, Syracuse, N.Y., Chicago and Seattle, according to the National Weather Service.

A winter storm made many roads impassable in North Dakota Tuesday night and into Wednesday, but those roads have reopened, including Interstates 94 and 29.

The storm system that caused those travel disruptions is moving east into the Great Lakes area, where a larger storm system is active and also moving eastward.

Seattle and other parts of the Pacific Northwest are seeing a storm system moving out of the area, but another is coming on its heels and could disrupt air and road travel through the weekend.

The storm system that is exiting the Pacific Northwest is moving into the northern Great Plains, which could bring more winter weather capable of making travel dangerous while causing flight delays and cancellations.

The NWS said travelers should expect delays or slower traffic on Saturday and Sunday, especially in the central United States on Saturday and in the east on Sunday.

Weather could affect flights at the Dallas-Fort Worth and Kansas City airports late Friday, and lake-effect snow could impact travel across the Great Lakes region.

Wrap-around snow showers also might affect travel in northern New England.

Further west, the NWS said Winter Storm Bellamy will expand as it exits Montana and moves into the Northern Plains. which will affect Black Friday travels in the Dakotas and south across the Missouri Valley.

The storm system will move into the Midwest by Saturday, where it could disrupt air travel in Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Kansas City, St. Louis and as far south as Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where heavy rains and thunderstorms are anticipated.

The Chicago-O’Hare International Airport will be especially vulnerable to weather-caused flight disruptions, according to the NWS. Thunderstorms could cause localized flash flooding in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Houston and the middle and lower Mississippi Valley.

On Sunday, the NWS said air travel might be affected in Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Detroit, New Orleans, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and the nation’s capital.

Winter Storm Bellamy is expected to affect northeastern states and bring mostly rainfall to the I-95 corridor, which could affect air travel throughout the area.

Some snowfall and lake-effect snow are likely in the Great Lakes, while rain showers and thunderstorms could impact the Southeast, from Virginia and the Carolinas to the northern Gulf Coast.

The central and southern Rocky Mountains also might see significant amounts of snowfall that could move into the High Plains, moving from Colorado and western Kansas into northern New Mexico, as well as parts of the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma.

Rain showers also might affect travel in areas are far west as Arizona, the NWS said on Thursday.