German professor and political scientist Volker Perthes was nominated Thursday as United Nations Special Representative to Sudan, where he will lead the organization's new mission in that country, according to a statement from the UN.
The 62-year-old, who speaks fluent English and Arabic, was nominated by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres only four months after beginning his post as the senior advisor of Berlin's German Institute for International and Security Affairs in September.
Perthes previously worked for the UN's special envoy to Syria from 2015 to 2016 before taking several teaching positions in Germany and Libya.
-Mr. Volker Perthes brings to this position over 25 years of experience in academia, research, international relations and diplomacy, including with the United Nations, as well as deep expertise in conflict resolution and regional geopolitics- Guterres said in the statement. 
The position of UN representative to Sudan had been vacant since the June 2020 creation of the Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS).
Following the December 31 end of the UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID), the Khartoum-based UNITAMS will work to support authorities through the political transition begun with the ouster of former president Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. 
The country set up a joint military-civilian government in August 2019, which was given a three-year mandate to oversee this transition process. 
Diplomatic sources said that Sudan's willingness to allow a Western head of UNITAMS -- despite desires for African management of political affairs on the continent -- is likely borne out of a hope to more easily gain international funding.&nbsp;

Volker Perthes was nominated Thursday as United Nations Special Representative to Sudan, where he will lead the organization's new mission in that country, according to a statement from the UN

Volker Perthes who speaks fluent English and Arabic, was nominated by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

German professor named to head Sudan UN mission

Turkey and France are working on a roadmap to normalise ties and talks are going well, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday, adding Ankara was ready to improve ties with its NATO ally if Paris showed the same willingness.
Turkey has repeatedly traded barbs with France over policies in Syria, Libya, the eastern Mediterranean and Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as the publication of cartoons of Prophet Mohammad in France. Paris has led a push for EU sanctions on Turkey.
Speaking at a news conference in Lisbon, Cavusoglu said the current tensions between Ankara and France stemmed from Paris being “categorically” against Turkey on several fronts.

Turkey has repeatedly traded barbs with France over policies in Syria, Libya, the eastern Mediterranean and Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as the publication of cartoons of Prophet Mohammad in France

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu attends a news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov following their meeting in Sochi, Russia December 29, 2020.

Turkey says talks with France to normalise ties going well

Hours after hundreds of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in a harrowing assault on American democracy, a shaken Congress on Thursday formally certified Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.Immediately after the certification, the White House released a statement from Trump in which he pledged an “orderly transition” on Jan. 20 when Biden will be sworn into office.
Congress had resumed its work certifying Biden’s Electoral College win late on Wednesday after the chaotic scenes on Capitol Hill, with debate stretching into the early hours of Thursday.
After debate the Senate and the House of Representatives rejected two objections to the tally and certified the final Electoral College vote with Biden receiving 306 votes and Trump 232 votes.
Vice President Mike Pence, in declaring the final vote totals behind Biden’s victory, said this “shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected president and vice president of the United States.”
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will take office alongside Biden on Jan. 20.
The outcome of the certification proceedings had never been in doubt, but had been interrupted by rioters – spurred on by Trump – who forced their way past metal security barricades, broke windows and scaled walls to fight their way into the Capitol.Police said four people died during the chaos - one from gunshot wounds and three from medical emergencies - and 52 people were arrested.
Some besieged the House of Representatives chamber while lawmakers were inside, banging on its doors and forcing suspension of the certification debate. Security officers piled furniture against the chamber’s door and drew their pistols before helping lawmakers and others escape.
The assault on the Capitol was the culmination of months of divisive and escalating rhetoric around the Nov. 3 election, with the Republican president repeatedly making false claims that the vote was rigged and urging his supporters to help him overturn his loss.
Trump persisted in making the false claims he had won even as he said the transition would be orderly.
-Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th- he said in a statement posted on Twitter by White House spokesman Dan Scavino.
Wednesday’s chaos unfolded after Trump - who before the election refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he lost - addressed thousands of supporters near the White House and told them to march on the Capitol to express their anger at the voting process.

He told his supporters to pressure their elected officials to reject the results, urging them “to fight.”
Some prominent Republicans in Congress strongly criticized Trump, putting the blame for the day’s violence squarely on his shoulders.
-There is no question that the President formed the mob, the President incited the mob, the President addressed the mob. He lit the flame- House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney said on Twitter.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton, a leading conservative from Arkansas, called on Trump to accept his election loss and “quit misleading the American people and repudiate mob violence.”

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will take office alongside Biden on January 20th

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden speaks about the protests taking place in and around the U.S. Capitol in Washington as the U.S. Congress held a joint session to certify the 2020 election results, at a news conference at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S., January 6, 2021.

U.S. Congress certifies Biden win hours after harrowing Capitol Hill assault

The NATO secretary-general on Wednesday outlined key areas for the alliance in 2021, addressing the Christian Social Union (CSU) Parliamentary Group meeting in the German parliament.
Jens Stoltenberg said the COVID-19 pandemic, NATO’s military presence in Afghanistan, arms control, and transatlantic relations will occupy the agenda of the alliance this year.
-2021 will also be a pivotal year for NATO because we need to decide on our presence in Afghanistan- noted Stoltenberg, saying the alliance welcomed the peace talks between Taliban and the government in Kabul.
The NATO chief also said the defense ministers of the alliance will meet next month to discuss the decision of whether to stay or leave Afghanistan.
If NATO leaves, it will risk that Afghanistan once again becomes a safe haven for international terrorists, and if it stays, then it will risk being engaged in a prolonged military presence, said Stoltenberg.
-The most important condition is to make sure that Taliban meets that requirement, that they break all ties with international terrorists, including the al-Qaeda. We will of course, assess the situation on the ground, we will assess the development in the peace talks, and then make our decision- he said.
-This is a very difficult decision often we need to make together. Because whatever we do, we need to do it in a coordinated and well-planned way- he added.
Stoltenberg on the arms control said: “We need to make sure that when the New START [Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty] agreement expires next month, that we don't end up in a situation where there is no agreement regulating nonroad nuclear warheads.”
The NATO chief also said the new year will provide an opportunity to “re-energize” the transatlantic cooperation between North America and Europe.
-Any attempt to divide Europe and North America will not only weaken the transatlantic bond of NATO but also divide Europe. So, we need to stand together, North America and Europe, and I really count on Germany playing a key role in these efforts- he said.
Stoltenberg also pointed out that he is looking forward to working with the US President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, adding that he invited Biden for this year's NATO leaders’ summit.
On the pandemic, the secretary-general said: “2021 is a year we all have hopes that we will be able to turn a corner in the fight against the pandemic and our major forces, NATO allies, to provide support to the civilian efforts to trying to cope with the pandemic.”

COVID-19 pandemic, NATO’s military presence in Afghanistan, arms control, transatlantic relations will be on NATO’s agenda

Jens Stoltenberg said the COVID-19 pandemic, NATO’s military presence in Afghanistan, arms control, and transatlantic relations will occupy the agenda of the alliance this year

NATO chief outlines key areas for alliance in 2021

Tanzanian human rights activist Tito Magoti has been freed from prison after two years under a plea bargain over alleged economic crimes, his lawyer announced on Tuesday.
Magoti, of the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), was arrested in December 2019 in Dar es Salaam.
His case drew international attention after Amnesty slammed his ongoing detention as a bid to silence government critics.
He was charged with various economic crimes, including money laundering, possession of a computer programme designed for the purpose of committing an offence and leading organised crime.
The prosecution dropped the first two charges and kept that of organised crime against Magoti and his co-accused, a fellow member of the LHRC, Theodory Giyani.
The two paid 17 million Tanzanian shillings ($7,300 / 6,000 euros) for their release after agreeing to plead guilty.
-The two agreed to plead guilty in the plea bargaining- Kambole posted on Twitter. 
-It should be remembered that they have been in detention for more than a year pending investigations- he said.
The case was postponed 26 times before it entered into plea bargaining on Tuesday, the LHRC said.
Amnesty International called the detention "an affront to justice and a clear attempt to silence government critics by keeping them behind bars."
President John Magufuli, who won a disputed second term in October 2020 elections, has been accused of intimidating the opposition and suppressing democracy and human rights.
Last year, journalist Erick Kabendera was also released after seven months in detention. He pleaded guilty over money laundering and tax evasion charges in plea bargaining.

He was charged with various economic crimes, including money laundering

Tanzanian human rights activist Tito Magoti has been freed from prison after two years under a plea bargain over alleged economic crimes, his lawyer announced on Tuesday

Tanzanian rights activist free after two years in jail

The accused Emir Ališić, born in 1970 in Sanski Most, a citizen of B&amp;H who has been in custody, in the presence of his lawyer fully pleaded guilty to the criminal offence he is charged with, under the indictment of the Prosecutor’s Office of B&amp;H.
The accused pleaded guilty to going to the territory of Syria, where he joined paramilitary formations that operated within the structures of the so-called “ISIL”, which was declared a terrorist organization by a decision of the UN Security Council.
The proposed sentence is in line with the role and responsibility of the accused in the commission of the criminal offense.
In accordance with his confession, a sentence of two years and six months in prison was proposed for the accused.
After considering the agreement, it was accepted and the proposed sentence was imposed on the accused Emir Ališić, stated the B&amp;H Prosecutor's Office.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The proposed sentence is in line with the role and responsibility of the accused in the commission of the criminal offense

In accordance with his confession, a sentence of two years and six months in prison was proposed for the accused

Ališić admits to fighting for ISIL in Syria, sentenced to 30 months of prison

Norwegian rescue workers gave up hope on Tuesday of finding more survivors from a Dec. 30 landslide that swept away a dozen buildings but vowed to continue the search for three people who are still missing.
Seven men, women and children have so far been found dead after a landslide struck a residential area in the municipality of Gjerdrum, some 30 km (19 miles) north of the capital, Oslo.
-While we no longer have hope of finding survivors, we’re not ending the search- police chief Ida Melbo Oeystese told a news conference.
Police and other rescue workers used dogs, drones and helicopters, including heat-seeking equipment, to search for survivors in the debris.
The landslide and the rescue effort have gripped the Nordic nation of 5.4 million, but with temperatures well below freezing, the hope of finding anyone alive had rapidly faded.

Seven men, women and children have so far been found dead after a landslide struck

Rescue workers interrupt the search in the ruins, following the large landslide that destroyed several buildings, after an alarm was triggered in the area, in Ask, Gjerdrum, Norway January 5, 2021.

Missing people presumed dead after Norway landslide, police chief says

Turkish police on Tuesday detained 17 people after hundreds attended a student-led protest against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's appointment of a rector to a top university in Istanbul.
Officers conducted dawn raids in 13 districts in the city, Istanbul police said in a statement, while operations were continuing to catch 11 other suspects.
At least 1,000 people demonstrated outside Bogazici University's campus on Monday in response to a January 1 presidential decree in which Erdogan appointed Melih Bulu as the public institution's rector.
Bulu ran as a candidate in the 2015 election for Erdogan's ruling party.
Critics claim the appointment was another example of political interference in Turkey's education sector by Erdogan, who assumed the power to appoint rectors after surviving a failed coup in 2016.
Before July 2016, university rectors were appointed through elections.
This is the second time Erdogan has appointed a trustee after his decision in November 2016 also attracted angry reactions and created tensions. 
The police accuse the 28 suspects of violating a law on demonstrations and marches, and "resisting an officer on duty".
A official at the Istanbul police headquarters said those detained were not students but members of "extremely marginal leftist" groups who supported the protests.
The university was known as Robert College when it was established in 1863.
It was handed to Turkey in 1971 and was renamed after the campus location by the Bosphorus river -- "Bogazici" in Turkish.
Despite the detentions, there are plans for more protests on Wednesday.

Officers conducted dawn raids in 13 districts in the city

Students of Bogazici University protest against President Tayyip Erdogan’s appointment of a new rector in Istanbul on Jan. 4, 2021.

Istanbul police detain 17 after student protests

Ukrainian police said on Monday they were investigating documents and audio recordings dating back to 2012 about plans to murder a Belarusian journalist who was subsequently killed by a car bomb in Kyiv in 2016.The police released a statement on the case on the same day as online newspaper EUobserver published a recording of what it said was the Belarusian KGB security service in 2012 discussing plans to kill investigative journalist Pavel Sheremet.
The Ukrainian police gave few details of the audio recordings it is looking into and did not identify any suspects.
If the veracity of the recording published by EUobserver is confirmed, it would increase suspicions that Belarus’s KGB was involved in killing Sheremet, a critic of the Belarusian leadership under President Alexander Lukashenko.
The Belarusian KGB did not reply to a request for comment.
In the recording, which EUobserver said it obtained through a Belarusian opposition activist, plans are discussed to kill enemies of Lukashenko’s rule with poison or explosives.
The Ukrainian police said they obtained their own material through the country’s foreign intelligence service.
Fragments of the information they obtained “have been published on the internet. Unidentified persons are discussing the murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet,” the police statement said.
Lukashenko has cracked down on protests since a disputed election in August which his opponents say was rigged. Lukashenko has denied electoral fraud.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made investigating the killing a priority when he came to power two years ago.
Three Ukrainian suspects are on trial in Ukraine in connection with the killing but the authorities have not established who ordered the murder. The suspects deny wrongdoing.
Sheremet was given Russian citizenship after fleeing alleged persecution in Belarus but relocated permanently to Ukraine in 2014 after no longer feeling safe in Moscow.
Sheremet worked for the online news website Ukrayinska Pravda whose founder, Georgiy Gongadze, was also murdered in 2000. Gongadze’s decapitated body was discovered in a forest outside Kyiv.

Documents and audio recordings are dating back to 2012 about plans to murder a Belarusian journalist who was subsequently killed by a car bomb in Kyiv in 2016.

A man places flowers at the site where journalist Pavel Sheremet was killed by a car bomb in central Kiev, Ukraine, July 20, 2016.

Ukraine investigates audio recordings discussing journalist's murder

A British judge on Monday blocked WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's extradition to the United States to face espionage charges, finding he was at serious risk of suicide.
District Judge Vanessa Baraitser said the 49-year-old Australian publisher faced "oppressive" conditions in maximum-security isolation if detained in the US.
In court, Assange wiped his forehead as the decision was announced while his fiancee Stella Moris burst into tears and was embraced by WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson.
Outside the Old Bailey court in central London, his supporters who had gathered since early morning erupted in cheers and shouted "Free Assange!"
Assange and his legal team have long argued that the protracted case, which has become a cause celebre for media freedom, was politically motivated.
It follows more than a decade of legal controversies but the ruling is still subject to appeal. Assange was remanded in custody but a bail hearing could be heard later on Monday.
Any decision to block extradition should meet a high bar given Britain's treaty obligations, Baraitser said.
But facing the "harsh conditions" likely in the US jail system, Assange's mental health would deteriorate, "causing him to commit suicide" with the determination of a person with autism spectrum disorder, she ruled, siding with a diagnosis by psychologists.
Baraitser rejected US experts' testimony that Assange would be protected from self-harm, noting that others such as disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein had managed to kill themselves in custody despite wardens' supervision.
-For this reason I have decided extradition would be oppressive by reason of mental harm and I order his discharge- she said.

The US non-profit Freedom of the Press Foundation said the case against Assange was "the most dangerous threat to US press freedom in decades".
-The extradition request was not decided on press freedom grounds; rather the judge essentially ruled the US prison system was too repressive to extradite.-
Assange faced 18 charges in the United States relating to the 2010 release by WikiLeaks of 500,000 secret files detailing aspects of military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
If convicted in the United States, Assange faced up to 175 years in jail.
Before the ruling, both Germany and a UN rights expert expressed concern over the human rights and humanitarian problems presented by the extradition.
Assange has a history of depression and a respiratory condition that makes him more vulnerable to Covid-19, which has infected several inmates at the high-security prison where he has been held in London.
He has also complained of hearing imaginary voices and music during his detention.

UN special rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer has urged US President Donald Trump to pardon Assange, saying he is not "an enemy of the American people".
-In pardoning Mr Assange, Mr President, you would send a clear message of justice, truth and humanity to the American people and to the world- he wrote in December.
-You would rehabilitate a courageous man who has suffered injustice, persecution and humiliation for more than a decade, simply for telling the truth.-
The prospect of a possible pardon from the outgoing US leader has gained ground following a slew of others granted to a number of Trump's political allies.
Moris, with whom Assange has two young sons, also appealed to Trump directly.
The UK hearing was told Trump promised to pardon Assange if he testified Russia hacked into the computer servers of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) during the 2016 election campaign.
WikiLeaks later published the emails, which proved politically damaging to Trump's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton before the vote.
Washington claims Assange helped intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to steal the 2010 documents before exposing confidential sources around the world.
After Sweden first issued an arrest warrant for Assange in 2010 over allegations of sexual assault, he sought asylum in Ecuador's embassy in London, where he remained from 2012 until 2019.
In April 2019, Ecuador, by then ruled by right-wing President Lenin Moreno, revoked his citizenship. British police dragged Assange out of the embassy.&nbsp;He was arrested for breaching his bail terms but remained in custody pending the ruling on the extradition request. 
The earlier Swedish assault investigation against him was later dropped due to lack of evidence.

District Judge Vanessa Baraitser said the 49-year-old Australian publisher faced "oppressive" conditions in maximum-security isolation if detained in the US

Assange has been in a London prison since April 2019.

UK court rejects Assange's extradition to US

Cambodia has started reopening schools and museums as it relaxes a six-week lockdown following a coronavirus outbreak late last year, marking a contrast with some neighbouring countries that are facing new restrictions due to rising COVID-19 cases.&nbsp;The Southeast Asian country of just over 16 million people, one of the least impacted by the novel coronavirus with just 382 infections and no deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, saw a rare cluster of cases in November.
On Monday, students wearing masks lined up for temperature checks and hand washing before being allowed to enter the Sovannaphumi primary school in the capital Phnom Penh.
While private schools have started reopening this week, students at public schools are due to return next week.
At the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a former Khmer Rouge torture centre and prison in the capital, staff and “tuk tuk” motorcyle taxi drivers awaited the arrival of visitors.
-I am worried that we can get infected, but I see that we Cambodians are following the instructions set by the government on wearing masks, washing hands with alcohol or soap and social distancing- said Theun Ngor, a 43 year-old tuk-tuk driver.
In November, Cambodia put in a place of range of restrictions after a rare outbreak of community transmission linked to a 56-year-old woman who had travelled to the country’s two biggest cities since Nov. 20.
As Cambodia loosens curbs, authorities in neighbouring Thailand warned on Monday that the country could face a strict lockdown as infection numbers climbed and spurring it to declare 28 provinces high-risk zones.
While welcoming the prospect of more business, a coffee vendor near the Tuol Sleng museum was concerned after hearing that some Cambodians working in Thailand had been infected.
-I am so worried that they could spread it here again- said Ngeth Sokuntheary, 27, as she prepared iced coffee.

The Southeast Asian country of just over 16 million people, is one of the least impacted by the novel coronavirus with just 382 infections and no deaths since the beginning of the pandemic

A student from the Sovannaphumi school wearing a face mask has her temperature checked as Cambodia reopen schools and museums after months of shutdown due to surging of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, January 4, 2021.

Cambodia reopens schools and museums as others lock down

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will learn on Monday whether a British judge has approved his extradition to the United States to face charges including espionage over the release of secret U.S. military documents.U.S. authorities accuse Australian-born Assange, 49, of 18 counts of conspiring to hack government computers and of breaching a secrecy law by releasing vast troves of confidential military records and diplomatic cables over a decade ago.
If extradited and then found guilty of espionage, Assange could go to prison for 30 to 40 years, his lawyers say, though prosecutors say he would face no more than 63 months in jail.
Whoever loses Monday’s ruling is likely to appeal to London’s High Court and the case could go the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court, further delaying the final outcome.
U.S. prosecutors and Western security officials see Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, as a reckless and dangerous enemy of the state whose actions put at risk the lives of agents whose names were in the material.
Supporters regard him as an anti-establishment hero who has been victimised because he exposed U.S. wrongdoing in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and say his prosecution is an assault on journalism and free speech.
Assange’s legal team said in its closing written submission to Judge Vanessa Baraitser that the prosecution had been politically motivated “during a unique period of U.S. history under the (U.S. President Donald) Trump administration.”
The legal team representing the United States has challenged that assertion, saying U.S. federal prosecutors are forbidden to consider political opinion in making their decisions.

WikiLeaks published a U.S. military video in 2010 showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff. It then released thousands of secret classified files and diplomatic cables.
The legal saga began soon afterwards when Sweden sought Assange’s extradition from Britain over allegations of sex crimes. When he lost that case in 2012, he fled to the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he spent seven years, during which he fathered two children.
When he was finally dragged out in April 2019, he was jailed for breaching British bail conditions although the Swedish case against him had been dropped. Last June, the U.S. Justice Department formally asked Britain to extradite him.
Assange’s legal team say the charges are politically motivated, his mental health is at risk, conditions in U.S. prisons breach Britain’s human rights laws, and he and his lawyers were spied on while he was in the Ecuadorean embassy.
The U.S. legal team has said many of Assange’s defence arguments are issues that should be addressed in a trial and have no bearing on extradition.
There is also a possibility that Joe Biden might reverse the decision to prosecute Assange after Biden succeeds Trump as president later this month.

If extradited and then found guilty of espionage, Assange could go to prison for 30 to 40 years

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange makes a speech from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy, in central London, Britain February 5, 2016.

WikiLeaks founder Assange to hear UK judge's ruling on extradition to US

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that relations between the European Union and China had strengthened in recent years, following an investment deal that will give European companies greater access to Chinese markets.
“The dialogue between Europe and China has strengthened and become more balanced these past few years. It continues,” Macron said in a statement on Twitter.
The investment agreement was sealed earlier on Wednesday.
According to a transcript of an online meeting between EU leaders and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Macron offered to visit China in the coming months along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss other areas of cooperation, such as healthcare and the environment.

The investment agreement was sealed earlier on Wednesday

French President Emmanuel Macron attends an EU-China video-conference meeting along with Chinese President Xi Jinping, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council Charles Michel, at the Fort de Bregancon in Bormes-les-Mimosas, France December 30, 2020.

France's Macron says dialogue between EU and China now stronger

The Russian Investigation Committee on Wednesday opened a criminal case against Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny over alleged embezzlement of donations.
In a statement, the committee said investigators have collected enough evidence to initiate an investigation on large-scale fraud.
The committee said Navalny and his supporters gathered more than 588 million rubles (about $8 million) for non-profit organizations and then allegedly stole 356 million rubles ($4.8 million) of the amount and spent it for personal purposes.
-He [Navalny] acquired property, material values, and paid for his vacation abroad [with this money], among other things. The funds collected from citizens for the needs of the non-profit organizations were stolen- it said. 
Navalny has been at odds with the country's authorities for many years. 
He accuses Russian officials of taking advantage of their position, using undue influence, and spending budget money for their own needs. 
He also claims the Russian Federal Security Service was behind his alleged poisoning this year.

Investigative committee accuses opposition politician of stealing donation money collected for non-profit organizations

Alexey Navalny claims the Russian Federal Security Service was behind his alleged poisoning this year

Russia launches ‘fraud’ probe against Navalny

The United States and European Union on Tuesday demanded that China release a citizen journalist jailed for reports from Wuhan, with top US diplomat Mike Pompeo accusing Beijing of covering up Covid-19.
Zhang Zan, a former lawyer in custody since May, was Monday handed four years in prison over her early online accounts that provided a rare unvarnished glimpse of the city where the mysterious respiratory illness was first detected a year ago.
Pompeo in a statement called on China to "release her immediately and unconditionally."
"The Chinese Communist Party has shown once again it will do whatever it takes to silence those who question the party's official line, even regarding crucial public health information," outgoing President Donald Trump's secretary of state said.
Zhang's reports challenged Beijing's official narrative that the government valiantly defeated the virus, questioning hospital capacity and access to virus testing in the early days and showing aggression on the part of Chinese authorities to her filming on her phone.
The 37-year-old was sentenced by a Shanghai court for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble."
Pompeo is an outspoken critic of Beijing who has attacked China over its role in the origins of the pandemic, which has claimed more than 1.7 million lives worldwide.
Amid criticism of Trump's handling of Covid-19, widely seen as a factor in his election defeat, Pompeo has not ruled out theories, dismissed by mainstream scientists, that China deliberately unleashed the virus.
Pompeo said Tuesday that Beijing's censorship of Zhang was more evidence of how a "controllable outbreak turned into a deadly global pandemic."
-Lying is a feature, not a bug of authoritarian regimes- Pompeo said.
The Chinese government's "fear of transparency and its ongoing repression of fundamental freedoms are a sign of weakness, not strength, and a threat to all of us."
The European Union demanded that China release Zhang as well as 12 Hong Kong activists detained at sea.
"According to credible sources, Ms. Zhang has been subject to torture and ill-treatment during her detention and her health condition has seriously deteriorated. It is crucial that she receives adequate medical assistance," EU foreign policy spokesman Peter Stano said in a statement.
The EU statement comes as the bloc finalizes on an investment deal with China after seven years of painstaking negotiations, despite concerns about Beijing's rights record.

Zhang Zan, a former lawyer in custody since May, was Monday handed four years in prison

Police attempt to stop journalists from filming outside a Shanghai court where citizen journalist Zhang Zhan was tried for her early reports from Wuhan on Covid-19

US, EU urge release of Wuhan citizen journalist

Fifty journalists and media workers were killed in connection with their work in 2020, the majority in countries that are not at war, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Tuesday.
The figure shows an increase in the targeting of reporters investigating organised crime, corruption or environmental issues, the watchdog said. 
It highlighted murders in Mexico, India and Pakistan.
Eighty-four percent of those killed this year were "deliberately targeted" for their work, RSF said in its annual report, compared to 63 percent in 2019.
-For several years now, Reporters Without Borders has noted that investigative journalists are really in the crosshairs of states, or cartels- said Pauline Ades-Mevel, RSF editor-in-chief.
Mexico was the deadliest country, with eight killed. "Links between drug traffickers and politicians remain, and journalists who dare to cover these or related issues continue to be the targets of barbaric murders," said the report.
None of the Mexico killings had yet been punished, added RSF, which has compiled annual data on violence against journalists around the globe since 1995.
Five journalists were killed in war-torn Afghanistan, it said, noting an increase in targeted attacks on media workers in recent months even as peace talks between the government and Taliban are ongoing.
RSF also highlighted the case of Iranian opposition figure Ruhollah Zam, who ran a popular social media channel that rallied regime opponents, and who was executed in December.
His execution "confirms Iran's record as a country that has officially put the most journalists to death in the past half-century," it said.

Ades-Mevel said RSF had also noted the "developing" trend of violence against media workers covering protests, notably in the United States following the killing of George Floyd, and in France against a controversial new security law.
The total number of journalists killed in 2020 was lower than the 53 reported in 2019, although RSF said fewer journalists worked in the field this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the first part of the report, published this month, RSF said it was concerned that measures imposed by governments to fight the pandemic had contributed to a "significant peak in violations of press freedom".
It listed 387 jailed journalists, which it called "a historically high number". 
Fourteen of those had been arrested in connection with their coverage of the coronavirus crisis, it said.
On Monday Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, who sent dispatches from Wuhan during the chaotic initial stages of the outbreak, was jailed for four years for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble".
Chinese authorities have punished eight virus whistleblowers so far as they curb criticism of the government's response to the outbreak.

Eighty-four percent of those killed this year were "deliberately targeted" for their work

Reporters Without Borders said it was concerned that measures imposed by governments to fight the pandemic had contributed to a "significant peak in violations of press freedom"

German professor named to head Sudan UN mission

Turkey says talks with France to normalise ties going well

U.S. Congress certifies Biden win hours after harrowing Capitol Hill assault

NATO chief outlines key areas for alliance in 2021

Tanzanian rights activist free after two years in jail

Ališić admits to fighting for ISIL in Syria, sentenced to 30 months of prison

Missing people presumed dead after Norway landslide, police chief says

Istanbul police detain 17 after student protests

Ukraine investigates audio recordings discussing journalist's murder

UK court rejects Assange's extradition to US

Cambodia reopens schools and museums as others lock down

WikiLeaks founder Assange to hear UK judge's ruling on extradition to US

France's Macron says dialogue between EU and China now stronger

Russia launches ‘fraud’ probe against Navalny

US, EU urge release of Wuhan citizen journalist

50 journalists killed in 2020: watchdog

World

German professor named to head Sudan UN mission

Turkey says talks with France to normalise ties going well

U.S. Congress certifies Biden win hours after harrowing Capitol Hill assault

NATO chief outlines key areas for alliance in 2021

Tanzanian rights activist free after two years in jail

Ališić admits to fighting for ISIL in Syria, sentenced to 30 months of prison

Missing people presumed dead after Norway landslide, police chief says

Istanbul police detain 17 after student protests

Ukraine investigates audio recordings discussing journalist's murder

UK court rejects Assange's extradition to US

Cambodia reopens schools and museums as others lock down

WikiLeaks founder Assange to hear UK judge's ruling on extradition to US

France's Macron says dialogue between EU and China now stronger

Russia launches ‘fraud’ probe against Navalny

US, EU urge release of Wuhan citizen journalist

50 journalists killed in 2020: watchdog