As sabotage allegations swirl, NATO struggles to secure the Baltic Sea
Voice of America
Navy divers of the Latvian Armed Forces take part in NATO exercise Freezing Winds 24, led by the Finnish Navy, in the Gulf of Finland, the Baltic Sea, Finland, November 23, 2024. Finnish Defence Forces/Handout via REUTERS FILE - A view of the anchor of the Chinese ship, the bulk carrier Yi Peng 3, in the sea of Kattegat, near the City of Grenaa in Jutland, Denmark, November 20, 2024.
On Nov. 18, hours after two communication cables were severed in the Baltic Sea, 30 NATO vessels and 4,000 military staff took to the same body of water for one of northern Europe's largest naval exercises.
A drone view shows Georgia's parliament building covered with paint and damaged during recent opposition protests against the government's decision to suspend talks on joining the European Union, in Tbilisi, Georgia December 3, 2024.
This handout taken and released on December 4, 2024 by the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) shows a China coast guard ship, right, deploying a water cannon at a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel.
Charles Chikunda, UNESCO’s officer for climate education in southern Africa, speaks in Pretoria, South Africa, Dec. 3, 2024. Sosten Chiotha, director of the Leadership for Environment and Development Southern and Eastern Africa, in Pretoria, South Africa, Dec. 3, 2024.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and French President Emmanuel Macron review an honor guard during a ceremony in Paris on Nov. 28, 2024, as part of Tinubu's state visit to France.
FILE - A woman walks in front of Chinese stores in Laos' capital, Vientiane, on Oct. 8, 2024.
FILE - People walk in front of a hospital in Congo on Nov. 4, 2021. Up to 143 have died from a mysterious, flu-like disease between Nov. 10 and Nov. 25, 2024, in southwestern Congo, local authorities have reported.
Palestinians walk in a devastated neighborhood due to Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis on Dec. 2, 2024, Palestinians walk in a devastated neighborhood due to Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis on Dec. 2, 2024. Thick smoke rises from explosions as Israeli forces reportedly demolish dwellings in the border town of Khiam in southern Lebanon, on Dec. 1, 2024, days into a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, 2nd left, attends trial in an appeal she filed against her death sentence in a financial fraud case in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Dec. 3, 2024.
U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with Angolan President Joao Lourenco ahead of their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Luanda on Dec. 3, 2024. U.S. President Joe Biden inspects the honor guard with Angolan President Joao Lourenco at the Presidential Palace in the capital, Luanda, on Dec. 3, 2024.
FILE - The benches of a school sit empty in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 22, 2022. A Taliban decree that reportedly took effect Dec. 3, 2024, bans medical schools in Afghanistan from admitting female students.
FILE - The United States Steel Mon Valley Works Clairton Plant is in Clairton, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. FILE - A rally by U.S. Steel employees is held outside the United Steel Tower in downtown Pittsburgh to display their support for the transaction with Nippon Steel, Sept. 4, 2024.