Ten million Ukrainians are without power just as temperatures fall to freezing and below after more Russian missile attacks, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. CNN spoke to Kyiv residents and how they’re coping
News outlets will not be allowed to broadcast former President Donald Trump’s arraignment on Tuesday in a New York state court, a judge said Monday night, but he will allow some photographers to take pictures in the courtroom before the proceedings formally begin.
Acting New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan rejected the request by several media organizations, including CNN, for permission to broadcast the historic proceedings. Trump’s arraignment — like most arraignments in the Manhattan courthouse — is a public proceeding, but news cameras are not usually allowed to broadcast from inside the courtroom.
However, the judge is allowing five pool photographers to take still photos at the beginning of the proceedings “until such time as they are directed to vacate the jury box by court personnel.”
Earlier on Monday, Trump’s lawyers urged the judge to reject the media’s request for live cameras in the courtroom. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office told the judge they didn’t have a position.
The media outlets that tried to get cameras into the courtroom argued that “the gravity of this proceeding … and, consequently, the need for the broadest possible public access, cannot be overstated.”
Trump is now in Manhattan ahead of the arraignment. A grand jury indicted the former president last week.
The arraignment is also expected to bring the unsealing of the criminal charges against Trump, which have not yet been seen by his lawyers or the public.
The indictment stems from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into hush-money payments, made during the 2016 presidential campaign, to women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump, which he denies.
Trump denies all wrongdoing and his lawyers said last week that they’ll fight to get the charges dropped.
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The White House says it “remains to be seen” whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will ultimately face justice for alleged war crimes after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest Friday, but the US will continue to help Ukraine document Moscow’s misdeeds.
“We’re going to stay committed to helping Ukraine as they document and analyze and preserve the kinds of evidence of the war crimes, the atrocities, the crimes against humanity that have occurred inside Ukraine at the hands of Russian forces,” National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Friday.
The United States does not recognize the ICC, but Kirby said the US is “not going to back off our belief that accountability for these war crimes has got to be had, however long that takes.”
Kirby said the US wants to see “any perpetrators of war crimes held to account,” but he declined to say if US President Joe Biden would tell law enforcement to arrest Putin if he came to the US. He said it was “very, very unlikely” the Russian leader would travel to the United States.
Asked if the US would ask other countries like Israel or India – who also do not recognize the ICC – to arrest the Russian leader, Kirby said it would “have to be sovereign decisions those leaders make.”
Remember: Russia also does not recognize the ICC, and the court does not conduct trials in absentia, so Putin would either have to be turned over by Moscow or arrested in a foreign country for him to face charges from the court.
Moscow’s ties to Beijing: Tapper also asked Kirby if there was any intelligence indicating China has decided to give Russia weapons to help with the country’s assault on Ukraine.
“We don’t believe that they’ve taken it off the table still, but we also don’t see any indication, any confirmation, that they’re moving in that direction or that … they have sent lethal weapons,” Kirby said.
“We don’t think it’s in their interest. It shouldn’t be in anybody’s interest, quite frankly, to help Mr. Putin continue to slaughter innocent Ukrainians,” he added.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping will fly to Moscow next week to meet with Putin in his first visit to Russia since Putin launched his devastating invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago.
The visit will be seen as a powerful show of Beijing’s support for Moscow in Western capitals, where leaders have grown increasingly wary of the two nations’ deepening partnership as war rages in Europe.
CNN’s Nectar Gan and Anna Chernova contributed to this report.
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Europe is scrambling to buy diesel fuel from Russia before a ban on imports comes into force in early February, but the frantic stockpiling is unlikely to prevent a new price shock for truckers, drivers and businesses.
In the first two weeks of January, European countries snapped up almost 8 million barrels of Russian diesel, according to energy data provider Vortexa, roughly on par with imports this time last year before Russia invaded Ukraine. Imports in the fourth quarter of 2022 were up nearly 19% on the same period the previous year.
Russia is the bloc’s biggest supplier, making up 29% of its total diesel imports last year, data from Rystad Energy shows.
Since Russia’s invasion in February last year, the European Union has made a huge effort to wean itself off Moscow’s oil and natural gas supplies.
EU countries drastically reduced their imports of crude from Russia ahead of the ban, but that isn’t happening with diesel because it’s much harder to find alternative sources of the fuel.
The EU ban will tighten the global market for diesel, according to Mark Williams, a research director at Wood Mackenzie, told CNN — unless Russia can successfully divert its cargoes to Latin America and Africa, regions which typically import from the United States. That would free up US barrels to be sent to Europe, plugging the gap left by Moscow, he said.
But importing diesel from suppliers further afield, including the United States and Saudi Arabia, will push up freight costs, feeding into higher consumer prices, he said.
“We are expecting diesel prices to rise in Europe. We’re expecting a spike sort of February, March time,” Williams said.
According to Wood Mackenzie’s estimates, the price of a barrel of diesel will average $40 for the first three months of this year. That’s up a whopping 470% from the average price for the whole of 2021, before Russia’s invasion sent prices soaring.
Read more here.
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A version of this story appeared in the November 18 edition of CNN’s Royal News, a weekly dispatch bringing you the inside track on Britain’s royal family. Sign up here.
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When King Charles III celebrated his birthday earlier this week, the headlines focused on the new monarch taking on a new park ranger post previously held by his father, Prince Philip.
Then there were, of course, the military bands performing “Happy Birthday” outside Buckingham Palace at the changing of the guard. And many of the family posted celebratory notes and photographs to official social media accounts. All of this will have probably helped make the day a memorable one.
But separately, the King also moved to address a dilemma that has remained unresolved since long before Queen Elizabeth II’s death.
On Monday, Charles asked the UK Parliament to allow his siblings, Princess Anne and Prince Edward, to become Counsellors of State. The move would empower them to step in for him temporarily when directed to do so. The King said in a message read out in the upper chamber, the House of Lords, that maintaining the smooth running of the government was behind the request.
“To ensure continued efficiency of public business when I’m unavailable, such as while I’m undertaking official duties overseas, I confirm that I would be most content should Parliament see fit for the number of people who may be called upon to act as Counsellors of State under the terms of the Regency Acts 1937 to 1953 to be increased to include my sister and brother, the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex and Forfar, both of whom have previously undertaken this role,” the King wrote.
The same message was also read out in the lower house, the Commons.
At present, by law, the group of royals who can fill in for the sovereign numbers five – limited to the monarch’s spouse and the first four family members in the line of succession over the age of 21. Two counselors can be appointed to act on the monarch’s behalf through a letters patent and help keep the state ticking over. Currently, that means the cohort includes Queen Consort Camilla as well as the Prince of Wales, Duke of Sussex, Duke of York and Princess Beatrice.
Experts have long suggested the existing pool of counselors is too small, while public debate on the topic grew toward the latter part of the late Queen’s reign as she became increasingly frail. Charles and William were authorized to act as counselors on occasion when the Queen was unwell. But it was not lost on many that her other two counselors were Princes Harry and Andrew, despite no longer being working members of the family – albeit for very different, well-covered reasons.
Normally, the machinations of royal duties would remain behind palace walls. But the topic re-emerged with Charles’ accession, and because any changes to the Regency Act require legislation, the discussion was broached in the House of Lords for the first time late last month.
Labour Peer Viscount Stansgate challenged Andrew and Harry’s regency powers, remarking that the Duke of York “has left public life,” while the Duke of Sussex “has left the country.” He queried if it was time “to approach the King to see whether a sensible amendment can be made to this Act?” In response, the Lord Privy Seal, Lord True, said he wouldn’t divulge “any private conversations” he may have had with the King or the Royal Household but that “the government will always consider what arrangements are needed to ensure resilience in our constitutional arrangements.”
The King’s moves this week confirm that the palace has been thinking about the dilemma and the options available. And adding to the group of official stand-ins is not unprecedented, having previously been done for the Queen Mother in 1953 after Elizabeth II came to the throne.
Practically, it seems there is a desire within Parliament to resolve the issue quickly. A day after Charles’ request, members of the Lords replied to the monarch, assuring him they would act “without delay” and “will provide such measures as may appear necessary or expedient for securing the purpose set out by His Majesty.”
And the Lords weren’t kidding when they offered expedience, with the Counsellors of State Bill 2022-23 whipping through the Palace of Westminster at breakneck speed. It was given its first reading by Tuesday afternoon and is set to have its second reading and be debated next week.
Expanding the group of royals who can deputize for the King in his absence is an elegant solution to a potential constitutional crisis. It provides for more flexibility while probably going some way to avoid family awkwardness and shields the two dukes from the public embarrassment that might have arisen had they been stripped of their positions. Charles’ approach means both are still technically counselors on paper but firmly puts an end to speculation over whether Harry or Andrew will ever be called upon.
William sends England squad off to World Cup in style.
The Prince of Wales visited the England soccer squad on Monday at St. George’s Park, the team’s HQ, ahead of their departure for the World Cup in Qatar, which kicks off this weekend. Just before the Three Lions swapped the drizzly winter weather for the heat of Doha, William was on hand to wish the team well. “I’m really here to point out that the rest of the country is behind you,” he told the squad, as he presented each player with their shirt number. “We are all rooting for you, enjoy it.”
While William serves as president of England’s Football Association, many Welsh fans on social media suggested the visit was tactless for the holder of the Prince of Wales title and questioned his loyalties.
William has never been shy about being a passionate England fan, as we mentioned last week. And he has been a presence in the Wembley stands, along with his son, George, cheering the team on at previous tournaments. However, he sought to address the criticism mid-week during a trip to the Welsh Parliament in Cardiff. “I’m telling everyone I’m supporting both, definitely. I can’t lose,” he said. “I’ve got to be able to play carefully with my affiliations because I worry otherwise if I suddenly drop England to support Wales then that doesn’t look right for the sport.”
William continued that while he was growing up, Wales didn’t qualify for many football tournaments and so he picked England. But he’ll be cheering both teams on in their first games on Monday and more broadly, he’s found a way to back both countries over the years. “I’ve supported England [football] since I’ve been quite small, but I support Welsh rugby. That’s kind of my way of doing it.”
This year’s tournament is Wales’ first World Cup in more than half a century. The two teams are set to clash in the group stages on November 29.
King Charles shares ‘concern’ after Australia floods.
The King sent a letter to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese late last week to express his concern after flash floods devastated parts of Victoria, a state in the southeast of the country. “Our heartfelt thoughts are with all those affected and for the losses that have been suffered,” Charles wrote. “It has been particularly inspiring to see how communities have pulled together to protect homes and livestock and to support each other during this appallingly difficult period,” he added. The floods are the latest threat caused by climate change that Australia has faced in recent years – after battling wildfires for months in 2020. According to PA Media, Albanese said in September that he would be “very comfortable” with the King expressing his views on the “importance of climate change. It is about the very survival of our way of life,” he said.
Kate visiting Ukrainian refugees who have resettled in the UK.
The Princess of Wales visited Reading Ukrainian Community Center on Thursday, to meet with displaced Ukrainian families who have arrived in the United Kingdom following Russia’s invasion of their home country. After hearing the stories of these families – whose lives at the end of the year are unrecognizable from how they were at the beginning – Kate joined Ukrainian children taking part in an art session. Kate’s visit followed a virtual roundtable meeting she hosted last week, where she discussed with the First Lady of Ukraine how best to provide mental health support to Ukrainians amid the ongoing conflict.
Harry pens deeply personal letter to bereaved military children.
Prince Harry may not have been in the UK for last weekend’s Remembrance Day but he found his own way to mark the occasion. The Duke of Sussex wrote a letter to bereaved military children through the British charity Scotty’s Little Soldiers, offering his sympathies and sharing how he has navigated his grief. “We share a bond even without ever meeting one another, because we share in having lost a parent. I know first-hand the pain and grief that comes with loss and want you to know that you are not alone,” he wrote. The charity supports children whose parents have died in service of the British armed forces. On Remembrance Sunday, dozens of these brave children marched through London wearing the charity’s black and yellow scarves. Harry also wrote knowingly of the “difficult feelings” acts of remembrance can stir. “Whenever you need a reminder of this, I encourage you to lean into your friends at Scotty’s Little Soldiers,” he said. “I couldn’t be more grateful and relieved that you have amazing people walking beside you throughout your journey.” Over in the United States, Harry commemorated Veterans Day by attending a remembrance service at Pearl Harbor, while on his Archewell foundation’s website, he and wife Meghan praised the “brave men and women” who have “made tremendous sacrifices and embody duty and service.” Read Harry’s full letter here.
Getting grilled about his footballing allegiances was not William’s principal reason for going to Cardiff. The Prince of Wales visited the Senedd Wednesday to meet representatives of the Welsh Parliament and hear about the issues of the greatest importance to the Welsh people. William also met the Welsh Youth Parliament, whose members opened up about topics concerning their generation of future leaders.
Charles III led Britain’s annual Remembrance Sunday service for the first time as monarch last weekend. The King attended the service alongside Camilla, the Queen Consort, and other members of the royal family at the Cenotaph monument in central London. The new monarch laid a wreath, the design of which paid tribute to the wreaths of his grandfather, King George VI, and his mother, the late Queen. Camilla was joined by other senior royals including the Princess of Wales to view the moment from the balcony of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which looks out onto the war memorial. A wreath was laid on the Queen Consort’s behalf for the first time. Find out more in our story.
The speech during the reception at Buckingham Palace on Thursday was the first time Camilla had publicly spoken in her role as Queen Consort.
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Ten million Ukrainians are without power just as temperatures fall to freezing and below after more Russian missile attacks, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. CNN spoke to Kyiv residents and how they’re coping under these conditions.
Volodimyr Hontar, 32, is the head of the training department of the Emergency Medical Care Center in Kyiv. Due to the nature of his work, ambulance stations are always independent of power outages and have electricity. However, it’s when he comes home that problems begin.
“I live on the 9th floor, it’s hard to go up without the elevator, which is turned off during power outages,” he says. “But with my wife, it’s romantic by candlelight in the evenings.”
But Hontar is most concerned about soldiers at the front line. He says that if they’re alright, everyone will be alright.
Olena Kravchuk, 35, is a utility worker who lives in Irpin and works in Kyiv. The blackouts aren’t affecting her job because she works outside, but at home, her kids have trouble logging into school online and miss classes.
“If there is no electricity and gas, there will be no heat, we are very worried about it,” Kravchuck says. “When you come home from work, there’s no light, you can’t call your children, there’s no cell phone or internet.”
Elena Khaykina, 63, and Larisa Polyakova, 66, are pensioners displaced from Kharkiv who have been living in Kyiv for the past three months. Both women are very concerned about their loved ones who remain in Kharkiv.
“My son in Kharkiv has no electricity 24 hours a day, it worries me a lot,” Polyakova says. The power cuts are not as intense in the capital.
“We are from Kharkiv, and we are united here in Kyiv and try to support each other,” Khaykina says. The windows in her Kharkiv apartment are broken from shelling, and she cannot go back and survive winter there.
Bogdan, 30, is a food delivery man in Kyiv. Bogdan, who did not want to give his last name, says power outages affect his work because many cafes have to close, and there are less orders.
He also finds it difficult to charge his electric bike that he uses for deliveries. Heavier snow will make it more difficult to bike around the city.
When there is no power at home, he listens to audiobooks downloaded on his phone.
He worries about the soldiers in the trenches facing a harsh winter. And the rest, he says, “we will get through the rest.”
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A version of this story appears in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.
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The final 2022 primary elections, conducted Tuesday, saw more clear victories for the “Make America Great Again” wing of the GOP.
The more moderate Republican running for US Senate in New Hampshire, state Senate President Chuck Morse, conceded defeat Wednesday to the 2020 election-denying retired US Army Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc.
In fact, it was a sweep of House and Senate races in New Hampshire for the more Trump-aligned candidates.
The Senate race was yet another case of the candidate preferred by the Republican establishment in Washington, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, falling to a candidate who pushes conspiracy theories and was aligned with former President Donald Trump. It wasn’t enough that a super PAC aligned with McConnell had poured more than $4 million into the race to pump up Morse.
In this particular case, it should also be noted that Democrats helped Bolduc along by spending millions to run ads attacking Morse and tying him to McConnell.
Democrats’ cynical strategy of helping the Trumpier GOP candidates in multiple states and races is a dangerous gamble that could either help them keep control of the Senate or could put more election deniers in office, depending on what happens in November. It also undercuts their message of trying to protect democracy.
As CNN’s political team reported in takeaways from the New Hampshire primary, “Bolduc joins a list of candidates national Republicans worry won’t be able to appeal to the broader November electorate.” Read more takeaways.
Bolduc is the kind of candidate who has talked about abolishing the FBI and repealing the 17th Amendment, which requires states to directly elect their senators.
While Trump didn’t technically endorse Bolduc and he ran unsuccessful primary campaigns in the past, he joins Georgia’s Herschel Walker, Arizona’s Blake Masters, Pennsylvania’s Dr. Mehmet Oz and Ohio’s J.D. Vance in the camp of Trump-endorsed, first-time candidates in danger of losing seats Republican leaders must win to get control of the Senate.
There was more evidence of MAGA-fication in a primary for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District, which pitted two former Trump administration aides against each other.
The one who expressed confidence in elections lost.
From CNN’s report:
Where (Matt) Mowers had “confidence in New Hampshire elections,” (Karoline) Leavitt said she believed “the 2020 election was undoubtedly stolen from President Trump.” Where Mowers suggested hearings to determine whether President Joe Biden should be impeached, Leavitt unequivocally said the President should be impeached. And where Mowers said he “supports science” when asked about the newly rolled out coronavirus vaccine, Leavitt said it was “none of your business.”
CNN’s Daniel Dale writes Wednesday that more than half of Republican Senate candidates have “rejected, cast doubt upon or tried to overturn the 2020 election results.”
Nineteen of the GOP primary winners have questioned the 2020 results, according to Dale’s list, which includes five incumbent senators and 11 other candidates who could feasibly win in November.
There’s an even longer list of candidates for governor – at least 22 – and secretary of state – at least 11 – who have espoused similar theories and will be in a position to influence the way elections are carried out in their states if they win in November.
On the other hand, most of the Republicans who voted to impeach Trump have been purged by GOP primary voters or had announced plans for retirement.
Most notably, Rep. Liz Cheney, the Wyoming Republican who has helped lead the House investigation into the January 6, 2021, insurrection, lost her primary in August.
Just two of the 10 Republican House members who voted to impeach Trump, Reps. David Valadao of California and Dan Newhouse of Washington state, will be on the ballot in November. So will Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the only Republican senator who voted for impeachment and is up for reelection this year.
CNN’s Adam Wollner looked at how these few Republicans have survived and notes Murkowski is something of a political anomaly. She won reelection in 2010 with a write-in campaign after losing that GOP primary, which is the political equivalent of pulling a rabbit out of a hat.
But more importantly, he identified the one thing that ties the three surviving impeachment Republicans together:
“Murkowski, Newhouse and Valadao did not face a traditional Republican primary,” Wollner wrote in August. “Instead, they participated in contests where all candidates, regardless of party, appeared on the same ballot. In California and Washington, the top two finishers move on to the general election, while the top four advance in Alaska.” Read more of Wollner’s analysis.
The Brookings Institution did a more holistic review of primary candidates from both parties and found that Republicans have embraced Trump and his brand of conservatism far more completely than Democrats have embraced their most progressive ideas.
Trump endorsed less than 13% of GOP candidates, but more than 96% of those he endorsed won their primaries.
Most Republican candidates – nearly 60% in the Brookings review – put no mention of Trump or his MAGA and America First mantras on their website. But only 30% of those candidates who didn’t push Trumpism won.
Brookings compared those figures with the percentage of Democrats who embraced the left wing of the party. Most – 72% of Democratic candidates – had no endorsement from left-wing groups and no mention of left-wing issues – anything from Medicare for all to defund the police – on their website. Nearly half of these won their primaries.
A small minority of Democrats, just about 6%, were endorsed by extremely progressive leaders like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders or groups that share his priorities. Half of them won their primaries.
Brookings’ conclusion: “On the Republican side, candidates have embraced Trump – even when he has not embraced them – and done very well in the primaries because of it. On the Democratic side, the impact of Bernie Sanders’ revolution has been smaller, more muted, and less successful in primaries.”
CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to reflect which candidates former President Donald Trump has endorsed.
Prince William extends an olive branch to the Sussexes
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The US is moving $3.5 billion to the new “Afghan Fund,” but officials said they won’t release the money imminently to an institution in Afghanistan because there is no trusted institution to guarantee the funds will benefit the Afghan people, the officials said.
Instead, it will be administered by an outside body, independent of the Taliban and the country’s central bank.
“The Fund may use assets to provide Afghan banking sector liquidity, keep Afghanistan current on its debt service obligations, support exchange rate stability, transfer funds, as appropriate to public Afghan financial institutions, or any other use for the benefit of the Afghan people that is approved by the Fund’s Board of Trustees,” said a State Department official.
Down the line, transferring these funds to the Afghan central bank could happen but it would depend on two key factors: responsible management of the bank and assurances that the funds will not be diverted to terrorists or criminals, the officials added.
“We do not have that confidence today,” said a senior US official. At minimum the Afghan central bank will need to “demonstrate its independence from political influence and interference.” It will also need to demonstrate it has “instituted adequate anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism controls” and “complete a third party needs assessment and onboard a reputable third party monitoring,” the official explained.
The US has been clear in telling the central bank — known as the Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) — what steps it would need to take and reiterated those steps in a letter this week from the United States deputy secretary of the Treasury, which CNN reviewed. The letter cites the need for the DAB to demonstrate independence from Taliban influence and interference, among other expectations.
Earlier this year President Joe Biden signed an executive order allowing for the $7 billion in frozen assets from Afghanistan’s central bank to eventually be distributed inside the country and to potentially fund litigation brought by families of victims of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. The funds were frozen by the US government after the Afghan government collapsed last year and the Taliban took over control of the country.
Afghanistan — now under Taliban control for over a year — is facing a potential economic catastrophe. Lawmakers have pushed the Biden administration to release the funds in order to keep the country running, for necessities such as paying teacher salaries. Last month, the UN said that the humanitarian support being provided to the country is not enough to sustain its economy.
The timing of when the central bank could meet the expectations laid out is hard to estimate, US officials said this week. In recent months US officials have said that recapitalization of the Afghan central bank is not a “near-term option.”
Setting up the new fund will enable the funds to flow quickly, without having to go through the central bank to distribute funds.
“The people of Afghanistan face humanitarian and economic crises born of decades of conflict, severe drought, COVID-19, and endemic corruption,” said Wendy Sherman, US deputy secretary of state. “Today, the United States and its partners take an important, concrete step forward in ensuring that additional resources can be brought to bear to reduce suffering and improve economic stability for the people of Afghanistan while continuing to hold the Taliban accountable.”
The fund’s board will consist of a US and Swiss government official, as well as two Afghan economic experts. The Taliban is not part of this financing mechanism, the officials emphasized.
Still, the US remains in contact with the Taliban for “pragmatic engagement” in support of the Afghan people and to advance America’s interests, one of the senior US officials said.
By setting up this mechanism the US is making it clear that they intend to get the frozen funds to the Afghan people, though they do not intend to recognize the Taliban which is currently leading the country.
“I think relief organizations as well as countries that care about Afghans have sought to continue to work with almost 500,000 civil servants that continue to work on behalf of the people that includes teachers and includes health workers includes engineers, and it’ll include depth technocrats as well,” said the senior US official.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect the new fund will distribute frozen money independent of the Taliban and Afghanistan’s central bank.
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