“I hope the person I vote for brings peace,” she said of the seven candidates vying to become head of state. They include Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera, who is seeking a third consecutive term. Displaced by decades of conflict, young people such as Abdramane who live in camps around the town of Birao see the elections as a chance for a better future. Her father had been killed a few months earlier. Now the teenager and other young people are counting on the elections to bring them peace, education and opportunities beyond life as displaced persons. The last polls were in 2020, but lack of security meant even those old enough to vote at the time were unable to do so. There is a crowd outside the community radio station in the Korsi neighborhood of Birao, which serves as a distribution center for voter registration cards. Marina Hajram, 18, would be voting for the first time. “I'm so happy,” she said, clutching her voter card. Peace is one of the things these young people most want. This is mainly due to incursions by Sudanese armed forces, who are waging war in a region already plagued by abuses blamed on rebel groups. Issene Abdoulkasim, 23, only made it to the third year of primary school. Because as an MP I'll be able to bring peace and development,” he said. State media praised Peng Peiyun (彭珮雲), former head of China's National Family Planning Commission from 1988 to 1998, as “an outstanding leader” in her work related to women and children. “Those children who were lost, naked, are waiting for you over there” in the afterlife, one person posted on China's Sina Weibo platform. The move breaks with decades of precedent among US administrations, which have tended to leave career ambassadors in their posts US President Donald Trump's administration has ordered dozens of US ambassadors to step down, people familiar with the matter said, a precedent-breaking recall that would leave embassies abroad without US Senate-confirmed leadership. They would not be fired, but finding new roles would be a challenge given that many are far along in their careers and opportunities for senior diplomats can The US pushed for the October deal to be ready for a ceremony with Trump, but sometimes it takes time to create an agreement that can hold, a Thai official said Defense officials from Thailand and Cambodia are to meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of resuming a ceasefire between the two countries, Thailand's top diplomat said yesterday, as border fighting entered a third week. A ceasefire agreement in October was rushed to ensure it could be witnessed by US President Donald Trump and lacked sufficient details to ensure the deal to end the armed conflict would hold, Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow said after an ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The two countries agreed to hold talks using their General Border Committee, an established bilateral mechanism, with Thailand Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday announced plans for a national bravery award to recognize civilians and first responders who confronted “the worst of evil” during an anti-Semitic terror attack that left 15 dead and has cast a heavy shadow over the nation's holiday season. Albanese said he plans to establish a special honors system for those who placed themselves in harm's way to help during the attack on a beachside Hanukkah celebration, like Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Syrian-Australian Muslim who disarmed one of the assailants before being wounded himself. Sajid Akram, who was killed by police during the Dec. 14 attack, and

Patients' finances can be devastated by lawsuits, especially with the interest charges, lawyer fees, and court costs. As we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation, your support is urgently needed. This past June, Ashley Voss-Barnes received a court summons in the mail. PrairieStar Health Center, a nonprofit community health center in south-central Kansas, was suing her for $675 and her wife for $732 in unpaid medical bills. Voss-Barnes knew the clinic received federal funding to make preventive health care accessible in a region where many families, including her own, needed financial help. As a result, years ago, the couple had asked PrairieStar if they could set up an ongoing payment plan to automatically take money from their checking accounts multiple times a month. Voss-Barnes, a nurse who feels confident navigating the health care system, wanted to push back. “I know we're not the only ones this has happened to,” Voss-Barnes said. The lawsuits against the two women are among at least 1,000 that PrairieStar has filed against patients since 2020 for unpaid medical bills, according to a ProPublica analysis of state court records over that period. Many patients PrairieStar sued were uninsured and made so little money they qualified for discounted care, a former patient accounts employee told ProPublica. They were established during the Civil Rights Movement-era “War on Poverty,” when federal officials realized that low-income Americans, overwhelmed by long drives and crowded hospitals, were forgoing medical attention. The health centers receive federal grants in exchange for serving patients regardless of their ability to pay, increasing access across large swaths of the country. Our search, which was not exhaustive, focused on states and counties where court records are publicly accessible online. We also reviewed documents from a municipality in Alaska and a county in California that run community health centers, which showed they use outside debt collectors to pursue what patients owe. Leaders of five community health centers, including PrairieStar, told ProPublica they send patients to collections or file lawsuits against them as a last resort, after sending statements and offering payment plans. All five stressed that they did not turn away patients who could not afford medical care, citing a goal to make health care accessible. In response to questions from ProPublica, PrairieStar CEO Bryant Anderson said that the health center faces “a perfect storm” caring for patients while also dealing with higher costs and unstable funding. He also said every patient is given the option to apply for sliding-scale discounts based on income and about a third choose not to provide that information. “We understand that sending accounts to collections can seem at odds with that mission, and it's not a decision we take lightly,” said Renee Hively, the CEO of CareArc, a community health center in Kansas. CareArc has appeared in local news for pursuing one patient's medical bill through a lawsuit and wage garnishments for more than 12 years, contributing to her being unable to afford basic utilities. (CareArc did not respond to a request for comment about that particular case.) A spokesperson for the department that oversees community health centers in Monterey County, California, told ProPublica that most unpaid bills it sends to collections “involve small amounts that do not justify the cost of initiating legal proceedings.” As a result, none of its patients have been sued since 2019. Most of the public attention on medical debt and related lawsuits has been focused on hospitals, especially nonprofit hospitals that receive tax breaks in order to make care more affordable. Hospitals must provide emergency care regardless of whether the patient can afford it but are not required to provide primary care like checkups or routine screenings. Nonprofit hospitals are required by federal law to check whether patients qualify for financial help before suing them or garnishing their wages. Community health centers, on the other hand, must make “every reasonable effort” to collect money from patients before writing it off, according to federal law. He also said that ProPublica may be trying to “induce” other health centers to violate federal law by reporting and writing this story. “Your messaging would therefore be dangerous and intimate that such health centers were not required to make ‘every reasonable effort to secure payments' for their services,” he wrote. “There's no law that says you have to garnish wages or that you have to go after someone through collections,” said Ray Jorgensen, a health care billing consultant who said he has worked with hundreds of community health centers over about 30 years. Anderson did not answer specific questions about PrairieStar's lawsuits or wage garnishments. Nor did he respond directly to questions about Voss-Barnes' experience, even though she and her wife signed privacy waivers allowing him to do so. Voss-Barnes said that he reached out to her directly, telling her that everyone in their Kansas city would know that she had failed to pay her medical bills if she moved forward with the article. Medical debt experts said they were surprised and horrified to hear that community health centers were using lawsuits and third-party debt collectors to recover money from patients, given their intended purpose of providing care to people who have no other options. Under federal law, community health centers must provide discounted care on a sliding scale for patients who make at or below 200% of the federal poverty guideline, an amount that varies based on family size and household income. Medical debt disproportionately burdens Black, Hispanic, low-income and uninsured patients — groups more likely to use community health centers for affordable care. “Patients who have been sued because of medical debt are likely to avoid care in the future,” said Miriam Straus, policy adviser for Community Catalyst, a health advocacy group. Over the last decade, Eastern Shore Rural Health filed more than 7,000 lawsuits for unpaid medical bills in two counties where 45,000 people live. It sued one couple for $59 in January 2024, an amount that ballooned by more than 600% within months due to interest, court costs and lawyer fees. Court records show money regularly garnished from people working in the low-wage industries that abound on the Eastern Shore, including poultry processing and retail. On an August morning in Accomack County's civil court, Eastern Shore Rural Health accounted for most of the cases on the judge's docket. One man who showed up to court told ProPublica that the visit potentially cost him hundreds of dollars because he missed out on lucrative hours harvesting oysters and clams. Most people didn't show up to court at all, meaning the health center won by default. Eastern Shore Rural Health began using lawsuits to collect medical debt about 20 years ago after conversations about “maximizing our revenue,” according to Kandy Bruno, the organization's chief financial officer. A local company called Bay Area Receivables handles its collections and takes 30% to 40% of what it recovers from patients through the court. The minimum amount that Eastern Shore sends to collections is $25, Bruno said. Bruno said Eastern Shore sends patients to collections when it has exhausted other options, including sending out letters, offering interest-fee payment plans and helping fill out Medicaid applications. Patients are never refused health care, no matter how much they owe, she said. Virginia recently passed a law that experts say would stop at least some of Eastern Shore Rural Health's debt collection practices starting next summer. The law prohibits large medical providers from garnishing wages of patients who qualify for financial assistance. More than 70% of people who live on the Eastern Shore see doctors at the health center, including higher-income people with private insurance through their jobs, Bruno said. That means some of the patients, she said, make enough to “take responsibility for their care.” But the health center does not track what percentage of patients sent to collections receive financial assistance or make so little that their checks legally cannot be garnished. Brittney Shea, a single mom with two teenagers, has been sued three times by Eastern Shore Rural Health since 2021. Most recently, the health center sued her last October for about $2,000 in medical bills and an additional $760 in lawyer fees and court costs, records show. But she said the money just isn't there on the front end, especially when she has been out of work due to health emergencies. The cycle of lawsuits and garnishments has made it harder to provide for her children, she said. Many regions served by community health centers lack primary care options and have a real need for them. When Aimee Jones started working at PrairieStar in 2015, she had only ever been on the patient side of debt collection. After a difficult divorce decades earlier, she'd had trouble paying outstanding medical bills and filed for bankruptcy to avoid having her wages garnished. The last notice told them that their bill would be sent to collections. Jones said she convinced her bosses to change some policies in favor of patients. In more recent years, that amount increased to $500, she said. In Kansas, unlike Virginia, lawmakers have not significantly limited how health care providers can recover medical debt. Kansas is also one of 10 states that has chosen not to expand Medicaid, leaving thousands of people unable to get health insurance — and potentially more reliant on community health centers. Many of the patients who qualified for discounted care based on their income had no insurance, Jones said. And even with lower fees, some struggled to afford medical care at PrairieStar. “You don't stay on top of it or you come in a lot, it's going to accumulate quite fast,” Jones said. According to the health center's financial assistance policy, not all services qualify for discounts. She was aware that some people, especially those on fixed incomes, had almost nothing to spare. If they didn't pay their bills or sign up for a payment plan within about six months, she handed their names over to the collection agency. Jones could request permission to write off some bills for people who had endured extreme hardship, like a woman whose baby died in a house fire or another whose boyfriend and son died in a car accident. PrairieStar hired a company that handles collections for hospitals in many Kansas counties — Account Recovery Specialists Inc., which has a documented history of requesting arrest warrants for patients who don't show up to court. (The collections agency told ProPublica that the warrants were ordered by a judge and that it could not discuss its contract with PrairieStar. Each summer, the agency would send PrairieStar a long list of patient accounts deemed “uncollectible” because they had no income or assets, Jones said. She wonders if PrairieStar could have convinced more people to agree to payment plans if it hadn't contracted with an outside agency. The health center's patients would have benefited from a law like Virginia's, she said, which prevents providers from garnishing wages of patients receiving financial assistance. Pursuing debt in court is a choice, and some community health center leaders have opted out. Several years before Krista Postai founded the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas in the state's poorest region, she worked at a hospital that took extreme measures to collect medical debt. As part of her job, she fielded calls from patients unhappy with the billing process. At times, she said, patients reported receiving warnings that they would be sent to collections, even though they hadn't received a bill. “If your goal is really keeping people healthier, it makes more sense to deliver care at the lowest cost possible and not drive them into ERs and hospitals,” she said. Hospitals do not make much from suing their patients, according to research in several states. (Experts did not know of similar studies on community health centers.) But patients can see their finances devastated by these lawsuits, especially with the added interest charges, lawyer fees and court costs. The National Consumer Law Center, a nonprofit that focuses on consumer protection, urges states to set limits on health care providers collecting medical debt. “The idea here is that certain types of egregious and aggressive debt collections really should just be banned,” she said. Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, based in a county with a poverty rate almost twice that of the state as a whole, provides care to many people who can't afford to immediately pay their bills. Postai said the health center makes “every reasonable effort” to collect money from patients, as required by federal law. The center's internal policy says it will not send patients to collections “to ensure that patient dignity is maintained.” Its peers, she said, should do the same. “It makes no sense to take an already stressed population and stress them further.” Instead, the health center finds creative ways to pull in more patients — using federal grants to open discount pharmacies, serving patients at jails and prisons, partnering with other local nonprofits. It has branched out to neighboring counties with no other sources of affordable medical care. Last year, it wrote off about $5.3 million of bad debt from patients who didn't pay their bills, about 5% of its total revenue, federal reports show. “That's a big hole in the safety net,” she said. Thanks to a generous supporter, your one-time gift today will be matched immediately. We have just 4 days left to raise $44,000 and receive the full match. As Trump attempts to silence dissenting voices and oppositional nonprofits, reader support is our best defense against the right-wing agenda. Help Truthout confront Trump's fascism in 2026, and have your donation matched now! Aliyya Swaby is a reporter in ProPublica's South unit covering children, families and social inequality. Her reporting in Texas exposed school officials criminalizing students for vaping, highlighted the state's role in remote learning failures and drew attention to mental health challenges among young children. Her series on the legacy of school segregation in Texas was a Livingston Award finalist. Before joining the Tribune, Swaby was a local reporter at the New Haven Independent covering public education, transit and zoning, and an independent reporter in Panama covering social issues in Black communities. Get the news you want, delivered to your inbox every day. Thanks to a generous supporter, your one-time gift today will be matched immediately and your monthly donation will be matched for the whole first year.

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky take part in a signing ceremony at Mariinskyi Palace in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 24.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press Prime ‍Minister Mark Carney on ‍Saturday ​announced an additional $2.5-billion of ⁠economic aid for Ukraine. The assistance will ‌help ‍Ukraine unlock ‍financing from ‌the International ⁠Monetary ​Fund, Carney said during an appearance with Ukrainian ​President Volodymyr Zelensky, who also spoke briefly ⁠to ⁠reporters. Carney and Zelensky met in Halifax today ahead of peace talks hosted by the U.S. President this weekend. The Ukrainian leader's stop in Canada follows a phone call between him and Carney on Friday. Canada has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February, 2022, committing military support along with humanitarian aid. Zelensky has said the U.S-backed peace plan is about 90 per cent ready, but sticking points remain on security guarantees and other issues. In a social media post after speaking with Carney, Zelensky said he believes much can be accomplished between Ukraine and the U.S., though he accused Russia of dragging its feet and trying to waste time. Meanwhile, Russia attacked Ukraine's capital with missiles and drones early Saturday morning, killing one person and wounding 27 others, a day before the talks, local authorities said. Explosions boomed across Kyiv for hours as ballistic missiles and drones hit the city. The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that it carried out a “massive strike” overnight, using “long-range precision-guided weapons from land, air, and sea, including Kinzhal hypersonic aeroballistic missiles” and drones, on energy infrastructure facilities “used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” as well as “Ukrainian military-industrial complex enterprises.” Ukraine open to creating demilitarized zone in Donbas, Zelensky says Earlier on Saturday, the ministry said its air defenses shot down seven Ukrainian drones over the Russian regions of Krasnodar and Adygeya overnight. Civil aviation authority Pansa said the two airports had since resumed operations. Russia targeted Ukraine with almost 500 drones and 40 missiles of various types, Zelensky said in a post on Telegram. The main target was energy and civilian infrastructure in Kyiv, he said. “Russian representatives hold long talks, in reality the `Kinzal' and `Shaheds' speak for them.“ People were being evacuated from under the rubble of collapsed buildings. A body was found under the rubble of one damaged building, said Klymenko. A 24-story residential building in the Darnytsia district was also hit, Tkachenko said, and more fires broke out in the Obolonskyi and Holosiivsky districts. Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

But starting in January, the Frankenfelds might need to ask for the same treatment from their own doctors, since they will become uninsured. The Point Pleasant, New Jersey, couple will no longer be able to afford their Obamacare plan after the enhanced premiums subsidies lapse at year's end. Though they are both healthy, the idea of losing coverage keeps Lisa Frankenfeld, 62, up at night — worrying one of them might be diagnosed with cancer, suffer a stroke or heart attack or get into a serious accident. “We are health care providers who cannot afford benefits. We're just going to cross our fingers and hope for the best.” The Frankenfelds are among the millions of Affordable Care Act enrollees who are facing tough decisions this open enrollment season, which ends January 15 in most states. More than 90% of ACA policyholders — or about 22 million people — receive the enhanced subsidies, which spurred record sign-ups for Obamacare coverage this year. Nearly half of adults in the individual health insurance market — the vast majority of which is purchased through Obamacare exchanges — are affiliated with a small business, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group. And even though several told CNN their Obamacare coverage requires they spend a lot out of pocket for care, they say it's still better than being uninsured. However, without the enhanced subsidies, which were enacted by the Biden administration as part of a 2021 Covid-19 relief package, enrollees' premium payments are expected to jump 114%, on average, next year. The provision's lapse also means that consumers who make more than 400% of the federal poverty level — about $62,600 for an individual and $84,600 for a couple — will no longer qualify for any federal aid. The House is set to vote in January on extending the beefed-up assistance for three years after four Republicans bucked their caucus and supported a Democratic proposal. But the measure faces a difficult path in the Senate, which voted down a similar Democratic bill earlier this month. The premium for their plan is shooting up to nearly $2,670 a month, from $625 this year. The cheapest one they could find is nearly $1,870 a month. Although the couple had high out-of-pocket costs for care, their Obamacare policy gave them peace of mind in case one of them had to deal with a major illness or accident, Kathy Many told CNN. Being uninsured next year will be “very nerve-wracking,” she said. Instead of having health insurance, Many plans to sock away the $625 a month they were paying this year and “pray” that it will cover their health care expenses until her husband enrolls in Medicare in the fall and she qualifies in 2029. Jeff , a freelance musician from New York City who earns so little that he did not have to pay a premium this year and last year, waited until mid-December to sign onto his state's exchange. The fact that Republicans in Congress are not renewing the enhanced subsidies infuriates Jeff, 50, a registered Democrat who asked that his last name not be used to protect his privacy. “We can find money to build an arch and a ballroom that are completely unnecessary and tax cuts for billionaires,” he said, referencing President Donald Trump's construction plans and the GOP domestic agenda package that passed this summer. “But we can't insure people medically in this country. Some small business owners, however, can't afford to go without health insurance because they have medical conditions and need care. The spike in premiums is forcing them to consider big decisions. Sonja, who owns several real estate businesses with her husband, said they are looking into joining with another company in the hope that they can obtain group health insurance with lower premiums if they have a larger workforce. The Minnesota couple will have to shell out more than $2,150 a month next year to cover themselves and their daughter, up from roughly $1,000 this year. Sonja, 49, is not willing to go without insurance, especially after her husband had to have surgery this year, though the higher premiums might force them to sell part of their holdings or stop saving for retirement. “In the event that we would have a major health issue, paying for insurance would be a much better spend than being uncovered and opening ourselves to the potential of losing way more,” she said.

But starting in January, the Frankenfelds might need to ask for the same treatment from their own doctors, since they will become uninsured. The Point Pleasant, New Jersey, couple will no longer be able to afford their Obamacare plan after the enhanced premiums subsidies lapse at year's end. Though they are both healthy, the idea of losing coverage keeps Lisa Frankenfeld, 62, up at night — worrying one of them might be diagnosed with cancer, suffer a stroke or heart attack or get into a serious accident. “We are health care providers who cannot afford benefits. We're just going to cross our fingers and hope for the best.” The Frankenfelds are among the millions of Affordable Care Act enrollees who are facing tough decisions this open enrollment season, which ends January 15 in most states. More than 90% of ACA policyholders — or about 22 million people — receive the enhanced subsidies, which spurred record sign-ups for Obamacare coverage this year. Nearly half of adults in the individual health insurance market — the vast majority of which is purchased through Obamacare exchanges — are affiliated with a small business, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group. And even though several told CNN their Obamacare coverage requires they spend a lot out of pocket for care, they say it's still better than being uninsured. However, without the enhanced subsidies, which were enacted by the Biden administration as part of a 2021 Covid-19 relief package, enrollees' premium payments are expected to jump 114%, on average, next year. The provision's lapse also means that consumers who make more than 400% of the federal poverty level — about $62,600 for an individual and $84,600 for a couple — will no longer qualify for any federal aid. The House is set to vote in January on extending the beefed-up assistance for three years after four Republicans bucked their caucus and supported a Democratic proposal. But the measure faces a difficult path in the Senate, which voted down a similar Democratic bill earlier this month. The premium for their plan is shooting up to nearly $2,670 a month, from $625 this year. The cheapest one they could find is nearly $1,870 a month. Although the couple had high out-of-pocket costs for care, their Obamacare policy gave them peace of mind in case one of them had to deal with a major illness or accident, Kathy Many told CNN. Being uninsured next year will be “very nerve-wracking,” she said. Instead of having health insurance, Many plans to sock away the $625 a month they were paying this year and “pray” that it will cover their health care expenses until her husband enrolls in Medicare in the fall and she qualifies in 2029. Jeff , a freelance musician from New York City who earns so little that he did not have to pay a premium this year and last year, waited until mid-December to sign onto his state's exchange. The fact that Republicans in Congress are not renewing the enhanced subsidies infuriates Jeff, 50, a registered Democrat who asked that his last name not be used to protect his privacy. “We can find money to build an arch and a ballroom that are completely unnecessary and tax cuts for billionaires,” he said, referencing President Donald Trump's construction plans and the GOP domestic agenda package that passed this summer. “But we can't insure people medically in this country. Some small-business owners, however, can't afford to go without health insurance because they have medical conditions and need care. The spike in premiums is forcing them to consider big decisions. Sonja, who owns several real estate businesses with her husband, said they are looking into joining with another company in the hope that they can obtain group health insurance with lower premiums if they have a larger workforce. The Minnesota couple will have to shell out more than $2,150 a month next year to cover themselves and their daughter, up from roughly $1,000 this year. Sonja, 49, is not willing to go without insurance, especially after her husband had to have surgery this year, though the higher premiums might force them to sell part of their holdings or stop saving for retirement. “In the event that we would have a major health issue, paying for insurance would be a much better spend than being uncovered and opening ourselves to the potential of losing way more,” she said.

In September 2021, a tall, young colonel in the Guinean army announced that he and his comrades had forcibly seized power and toppled the longtime leader Alpha Condé. Not long after, Doumbouya announced a 36-month timeline for transition to civilian rule in the resource-rich west African nation on the Atlantic coast, shrugging off pressure from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), which wanted a swifter return to democracy. His actions triggered widespread protests and criticism from opposition groups and civil society, most of whom doubted his vow not to personally run for office. The opposition coalition Forces vives de Guinée has called his candidacy a betrayal. “The man who presented himself as the restorer of democracy chose to become its gravedigger,” it said in a statement last month after Doumbouya officially deposited his intent to run with the supreme court. Political upheavals have been a recurring feature in west Africa, a region that has earned the moniker of “coup belt” after seven successful coups and several unsuccessful attempts since 2020. While Guinea has remained under the Ecowas umbrella, fellow juntas in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, angered by its post-coup sanctions, have split from the regional bloc to form the pro-Russian Alliance of Sahel States (AES). Within Guinea, many believe the general's victory is a foregone conclusion, given his consolidation of power since ascending to the presidency and promoting himself to a general. Even now, the presidential race is notable not for those who are on the ballot, but for those who are not. The biggest opposition parties remain suspended, and their most prominent leaders have been detained, barred from running or – like the former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea, are in exile. Many say a climate of fear pervades the country due to the junta's crackdown against its critics, with several dissidents in jail. Conversely, Doumbouya pardoned the former dictator Moussa Dadis Camara who was given a 20-year sentence for his role in one of Guinea's most serious human rights atrocities: the 2009 massacre and mass rape of protesters at a stadium in Conakry. The pardon, granted before the final hearing, prompted several human rights groups to write a joint open letter to the junta leader alongside families of victims, urging him to reconsider. Ahead of the vote, Doumbouya has been accumulating goodwill.This month, the shiny new Simandou mine, which has the world's largest untapped reserve of iron ore, was launched after nearly three decades of delays caused by political instability and corruption. Doumbouya's government is touting the project as a bridge to prosperity for Guinea and a sign of incoming development, despite mass job losses and environmental complaints. “Our salvation lies in a return to the [proper] constitutional order,” said Abdoulaye Koroma, a presidential candidate for the Rally for Renaissance and Development party. The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said. If you can safely use the Tor network without being observed or monitored, you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform. Finally, our guide at theguardian.com/tips lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each.

Region famed for molecular gastronomy begins video project to collect and share rustic recipes Catalonia's avant garde chefs have made a name for themselves with their revolutionary techniques and molecular gastronomy, yet they are fond of saying they are merely paying homage to the simple dishes served at their grandmother's table. Maybe so, but now the grannies have been given a chance to show off the real thing under a Catalan government initiative called Gastrosàvies. The project has collected more than 300 recipes from all over Catalonia, and videos of home cooks preparing 12 of them have been posted on the Gastrosàvies website, with more to follow. While these rustic dishes can still be found in bars and restaurants in rural Catalonia, they are increasingly hard to come by in Barcelona where they have been usurped by pizza, kebabs, ramen, sushi and the ubiquitous Argentinian empanadas. Udina's mother cooked for her and her five siblings, “simple dishes with local products, a lot of potatoes, a lot of rice. She is also a champion of local produce such as the Penedès cockerel that she and her husband farmed until a few years ago. She says the Penedès variety has more flavour and a better texture than supermarket chicken because it's reared for twice as long and is fed on grape seeds from local vineyards. She lists what in her view are Catalan cuisine's three essential characteristics: the sofregit made with olive oil, onions, tomatoes and sometimes peppers or carrots, which is the ground zero of dozens of dishes; the use of herbs such as rosemary, bay and thyme, and finally the picada, a paste made from olive oil, ground almonds or hazelnuts, garlic, parsley and fried bread, served as an accompaniment to many dishes and a key ingredient in suquet de peix, the Catalan version of bouillabaisse. She admires these avant garde chefs and accepts that their cuisine is rooted in tradition. However, she is sceptical about the claim that it's simply a homage to their mother's and grandmother's tables. For example, Udina says, wild mushrooms are a staple of Catalan cooking but at Can Fabes, “we had six or seven dishes that were all made with wild mushrooms, including an ice-cream”. “That's nothing like what their mothers would have cooked,” she says, adding that she believes there's a move back towards simpler, less innovative cuisine and hopes that Gastrosàvies will encourage “our children and grandchildren to cook traditional food instead of pizza, hamburgers and Pot Noodles”.

This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content, and analyzing our website traffic. By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies. Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent. MAEBASHI — Two people died and 26 were injured in a massive pileup involving 67 vehicles, 20 of which caught fire, on the Kan-Etsu Expressway in Gunma Prefecture on Friday night, according to police. Miyuki Wakita, 77, died after being transported to a hospital. Police confirmed that five of the injured were in serious condition. As of Saturday evening, the expressway remains closed in both directions between the Yuzawa and Tsukiyono interchanges in Minakami. According to the prefectural expressway police, the initial collision occurred at about 7:25 p.m. A medium-sized truck skidded and stopped sideways on the road and was struck from behind by a large truck. A chain reaction followed as oncoming vehicles collided with one another to avoid the initial crash. The accident occurred on a two-lane downhill stretch with a gentle curve to the left. Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting, readable fomat.

WASHINGTON, December 27. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has expressed his concern by the recent military escalation in southeast Yemen and urged both sides to show restraint. "The United States is concerned by recent events in southeastern Yemen. We urge restraint and continued diplomacy, with a view to reaching a lasting solution," the top US diplomat wrote on the X social network. Rubio also expressed US support to diplomatic efforts of its partners in the region - the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. On December 9, Aidarus al-Zoubaidi, chairperson of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, declared full control over the Hadhramaut and Al Mahrah governorates. Next-stage plans, he noted, include establishing institutions of a future state in southern Yemen. December 25, the Saudi Foreign Ministry slammed separatists' actions as an unjustified escalation and urged the STC to withdraw its forces from the two regions. Earlier, Mustafa Ahmed Noman, deputy foreign minister in Yemen's internationally recognized government, warned that Riyadh could give a tough response if the situation escalated. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday that Moscow was concerned about the escalation of the military-political situation in the southern Yemeni provinces of Hadramout and Mahra, and called on all parties involved to exercise restraint and seek mutually acceptable solutions to the problems.

More than 60 million people across the north-east have received winter weather alerts as up to ten inches of snow are expected More than 60 million people across the north-east of the US have received winter weather alerts with New York expected to experience its heaviest snowfall in four years. So far, more than 750 flights into or out of the city on Friday have been cancelled and hundreds more delayed, including more than a dozen to or from London, according to data from FlightAware. Travel to or from John F Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport has been the worst affected, with 329 and 224 flights cancelled, respectively. LaGuardia international airport follows closely behind with 204 cancellations either flying into or out of New York. Kathy Hochul, the New York Governor, warned passengers flying on Boxing Day that they “may wish to rearrange travel plans”. “If you must be on the road, leave yourself extra time between destinations and ensure your vehicle is packed with safety essentials,” she said. Eric Adams, the outgoing mayor, also issued a storm warning advising New Yorkers to leave work early and stay off the roads if possible. The storm first hit Wisconsin and Michigan in the Midwest on Friday morning before moving east towards Pennsylvania and New York. The last time New York saw more than four inches of snow was in 2022, when eight inches fell in Central Park. “If you must drive or travel in the storm, remember to share your travel plans with your friends…and make sure you have an emergency kit,” the forecaster said. Forecasters said a secondary storm on Sunday night may wash away the snow and sleet that is expected to fall over the next 24 hours. Weather warnings have been issued in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, while Massachusetts and Rhode Island are also expected to be hit with heavy snow.

Meanwhile, gold prices have surged 70% over the past year. A potential election in Ukraine can hardly be considered fair unless the votes of millions of Ukrainians living in Russia are counted, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik told Izvestia. However, it is not clear when the voting could take place. Experts doubt it will be held any time soon, while Ukraine's Central Election Commission has said it would be optimal to arrange an election within the next six months. "If we take [Vladimir] Zelensky's statement regarding holding an election within the next 60 to 90 days, I'll tell you as a lawyer and a former parliamentarian that it would be impossible," he said. He cited opinion polls showing Zelensky trailing former Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny and head of Ukraine's military intelligence Kirill Budanov (listed in Russia as a terrorist and extremist). Bogdan Bezpalko, a member of the Russian Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations, argued that the election process, if it ever takes place, will at least face delays, "because Ukrainian and European politicians may also expect the geopolitical situation to change <…> which would dispense with the need to hold this election at all," he added. Against this background, he has been actively floating the idea of online voting, which creates opportunities for fraud, as the Verkhovna Rada fears. Political analyst Denis Denisov said in an interview with Izvestia that developing a fully secure remote-voting system within a matter of months is almost impossible. The United States is planning to develop a new class of battleships that will be named after President Donald Trump. Besides standard weapons and missiles, Trump emphasized, the new battleships will be equipped with hypersonic missiles, electromagnetic railguns, and high-powered lasers. Phelan said the US Navy would need 20 to 25 such vessels. The US is unlikely to build such battleships soon at an optimal price, Shkrobtak continued. "The American shipbuilding industry, including warship building, faces major systemic problems that would hamper implementing this project any time soon," he said. Therefore, Shkrobtak emphasized, not only the Trump administration but also future Republican administrations might put it into practice, and Trump's successors, especially Democrats, may abandon the initiative. According to him, this could be a good, secure battleship with structural protection that would withstand attacks with most types of drones, but such a vessel has yet to be designed and built. "The ability to design new ships and launch their serial production has been completely lost, and this is the case for all manned ship projects currently being implemented for the US Navy without exception," Kramnik maintained. On Tuesday, gold soared past $4,500 per troy ounce, and analysts say it will rise above the psychological level of $5,000 per ounce in 2026. Even if gold prices correct lower, the precious metal will be very expensive going forward. Gold has risen to a new all-time high of $4,550, the latest exchange data showed. Gold prices stood at below $3,000 per ounce at the start of 2025, therefore gold has so far risen by approximately 70%, yielding such a return to those who had bought it in advance. Gold prices have been mostly driven by a global liquidity glut, deglobalization, trade wars, expectations of Fed rate cuts, the risk of the Federal Reserve losing its independence amid pressure from the Trump administration, the rapid US sovereign debt growth rate and dollar weakening, according to Mikhail Vasilyev, chief analyst at Sovcombank. The latest spike in gold prices in the past few days was triggered by yet another bout of geopolitical tensions, this time between the United States and Venezuela, Marina Nikishova, lead economist at Bank Zenit, added. Among other key factors pushing gold prices higher is the strong growth in demand for the metal from global central banks, especially in developing economies. Actually, this, among other aspects, shows a declining confidence in the USD as a global reserve currency as countries attempt to hedge their foreign reserves with something safer or less ephemeral than another currency. As long as global stability has not been increasing in either geopolitical, economic or trade terms, the above-mentioned drivers behind gold's rise are highly likely to persist into at least 2026. According to Vasilyev's estimates, gold prices will climb beyond $5,000 per troy ounce in 2026, and a similar forecast is valid for the next few years as well. "We believe that deglobalization will continue in the next few years, with the United States actively increasing its debt and printing dollars. Therefore, we expect that gold will continue to rise and that its prices will hover above $3,400 to $4,000 per ounce from now on," Vasilyev predicts. However, gold will hardly keep rising at this year's pace. "Given the precious metal has reached its record highs, a price correction is inevitable. While we do not expect it to dive, we see a range between $3,900 and $4,000 per ounce as quite possible," Nikishova told Rossiyskaya Gazeta. African nations account for more than half of that number, with the US president planning a radical diplomatic reform. The United States will focus on getting access to natural resources there and squeezing rivals, mostly China. Neither Joe Biden nor Barack Obama reshaped the US diplomatic corps at such a scale. Trump's critics say he'd better concentrate on filling the existing personnel gaps in countries that are key to the United States' foreign policy. The country has yet to appoint an ambassador in Germany, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, South Korea, Australia, and, surprisingly, Ukraine. While the New York Post report has not been formally confirmed and is based on information from sources, the chiefs of US missions in 29 countries have received letters saying that their tenures will expire in January, the AP reported. Meanwhile, the heads of US diplomatic missions in 15 African countries will leave their posts. Furthermore, the competition for influence over Africa against rivals, mostly China, will intensify. Under these circumstances, humanitarian issues and democracy, which used to serve as ideological wrappers to conceal the true US interests in the region, will likely fade into the background," Sergey Nenashev, a senior research fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute for African Studies, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. The dollar exchange rate globally has fallen to levels of three months ago amid bearish sentiment as investors anticipate more Fed rate cuts and the declining share of dollar assets in global central banks' foreign reserves. The USD has been weakening in Russia, too, including because of increased supply from exporters. Alexey Mikheyev, investment strategist at VTB My Investments, said the global dollar rate will climb higher if investors flee risk assets. TASS is not responsible for the material quoted in these press reviews