# The West supports Ukraine against Russia's aggression. So why is funding its defense in question?
By **LAURIE KELLMAN**
December 15, 2023. 2:02 PM EST

---

**LONDON (AP)** - Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelenskyy issued a warning to allies as he hopscotched continents urging them to support his war-scarred country as it defends itself against the Russian invasion.

Moscow's "real target," he said in Washington, "is freedom."

That idea functioned as a rallying cry as the West lined up behind Ukraine at the start of the war. But 21 months later, support for Ukraine has become complicated, especially when it comes to spending government money. Zelenskyy headed home Friday without billions in aid proposed in the U.S. and the EU, with those plans pushed into limbo.

Here's how it all unfolded:

## THE ASK
Zelenskyy received a hero's welcome around the world from the start of the war, but now he's having to make in-person appeals for aid as his country fights, he said this week, "for our freedom and yours."

"It's very important," he said in Washington, "that by the end of this year we can send very strong signal of our unity to the aggressor and the unity of Ukraine, America, Europe, the entire free world."

The risk of inaction, he says: emboldening Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"If there's anyone inspired by unresolved issues on Capitol Hill, it's just Putin and his sick clique," Zelenskyy told an audience of military leaders and students at the National Defense University in Washington.

He underscored the urgency in an interview with The Associated Press earlier this month, saying the winter posed additional challenges after a summer counteroffensive affected by enduring shortages of weapons and ground forces.

"Winter as a whole is a new phase of war," Zelenskyy said in an exclusive interview this month in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine.

## TANGLED SUPPORT IN THE U.S.
Close to half of the U.S. public thinks the country is spending too much on aid to Ukraine, according to polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Those sentiments, driven primarily by Republicans, help explain the hardening opposition among conservative GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill who are rebuffing efforts from President Joe Biden to approve more aid for Ukraine.

Republicans have linked Ukraine's military assistance to U.S. border security, injecting one of the most divisive domestic political issues - immigration and border crossings - into the middle of an intensifying debate over wartime foreign policy.

Zelensky's visit to Washington this week - where he appeared at a news conference with Biden and was squired around Capitol Hill by leading lawmakers - did nothing to change that. Congress left town for the holidays on Thursday without a deal to send some $61 billion to Ukraine.

## A HOLDOUT IN EUROPE
There were two questions before the EU on Friday: Whether to advance Ukraine's future membership in to the bloc, and whether to approve a 50 billion-euro ($54 billion) financial aid package that Ukraine urgently needs to stay afloat.

Hungary's Viktor Orban left the room, effectively abstaining on the first question. Zelenskyy led a round of celebration for his war-ravaged country, tweeting thanks to "everyone who helped" the EU take the step.

But Orban wasn't done.

He reappeared hours later to veto the proposal for wartime aid to Ukraine to prop up its war-weakened economy. He was the only member to vote against the package.

"Summary of the nightshift: veto for the extra money to Ukraine," Orban wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. He also suggested that he had plenty of time to block Ukraine's drive to join the EU down the road.

## WHAT'S NEXT?
In the U.S., Senate negotiators and the Biden administration were still racing to strike a compromise before the end of the year. The Democratic-led Senate planned to come back next week in hopes of passing the package. But the Republican-led House showed no such inclination.

U.S. aid to Ukraine hasn't dried up, but it's complicated. The Pentagon and State Department on Dec. 6 said the U.S. is sending a $175 million package of military aid to Ukraine, including guided missiles for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), anti-armor systems and high-speed anti-radiation missiles, the Pentagon and State Department said.

The EU hasn't given up either. French President Emmanuel Macron said later that there were other ways the EU could send aid to Ukraine. But he urged Orban to "act like a European" and support Zelenskyy's country,

European Council President Charles Michel said leaders would reconvene in January to try to break the deadlock.


# Village council member in Ukraine sets off hand grenades during a meeting and injures 26
December 15, 2023. 3:16 PM EST

---

**KYIV, Ukraine (AP)** - A village council member in western Ukraine detonated three hand grenades during a meeting Friday, critically injuring himself and at least two dozen other people, authorities said.

A video posted on social media showed a man entering a room where the village council of Keretsky was meeting to discuss and approve the community's budget.

The man, who was preliminary identified as Serhii Batryn, a council member who belongs to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party, took three grenades from his pockets, removed the pins and threw the weapons on the floor in front of him.

Transcarpathian region police said in an official statement that 26 people were injured, six of them critically. The man who set off the grenades suffered grave injuries and medics worked to save his life, police said.

There was no immediate word on a possible motive or if the attack was somehow connected to Russia's war in Ukraine.


# The EU's drip-feed of aid frustrates Ukraine, despite the promise of membership talks
By **RAF CASERT**
December 15, 2023. 12:11 PM EST

---

**BRUSSELS (AP)** - Drop by drop, Ukraine is being supplied with aid and arms from its European allies, at a time when it becomes ever clearer it would take a deluge to turn its war against Russia around.

On Friday, EU leaders sought to paper over their inability to boost Ukraine's coffers with a promised 50 billion euros ($54.5 billion) over the next four years, saying the check will likely arrive next month after some more haggling between 26 leaders and the longtime holdout, Viktor Orban of Hungary.

Instead, they wanted Ukraine to revel in getting the nod to start membership talks that could mark a sea change in its fortunes - never mind that the process could last well over a decade and be strewn with obstacles from any single member state.

"Today, we are celebrating," said Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda.

Ukrainian government bookkeepers are unlikely to join in. Kyiv is struggling to make ends meet from one month to the next and to make sure enough is left to bolster defenses and even attempt a counterattack to kick the Russians out of the country.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is traveling the world - Argentina, United States, Norway and Germany in just the past week - to make sure the money keeps flowing.

After the close of the summit on Friday, the most the EU could guarantee was that funds would continue to arrive in Kyiv in monthly drips of 1.5 billion euros at least until early next year.

Orban, the lone EU leader with continuing close links to Russian President Vladimir Putin, claims war funding for Ukraine is like throwing money out of the window since victory on the battlefield is a pipe dream.

"We shouldn't send more money to finance the war. Instead, we should stop the war and have a cease-fire and peace talks," he said Friday, words that are anathema in most other EU nations.

Since the start of the war in February 2022, the EU and its 27 member states have sent $91 billion in financial, military, humanitarian, and refugee assistance.

All the other leaders except Hungary, however, said they would work together over the next weeks to get a package ready that would either get approval from Orban or be approved by sidestepping him in a complicated institutional procedure.

"I can assure you that Ukraine will not be left without support. There was a strong will of 26 to provide this support. And there were different ways how we can do this," said Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. A new summit to address that is set for late January or early February.

In the meantime, Ukraine will have to warm itself by the glow from the promise of opening membership talks, announced on Thursday.

"It will lift hearts," said Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, "where there are people tonight in bomb shelters and tomorrow morning defending their homes, this will give them a lot of hope."


# Albania returns 20 stolen icons to neighboring North Macedonia
By **LLAZAR SEMINI**
December 15, 2023. 4:06 PM EST

---

**TIRANA, Albania (AP)** - Albania on Friday returned 20 icons to neighboring North Macedonia that were stolen a decade ago, Albania's Culture Ministry said.

The return marked the final stretch on a long, 10-year road with "much inter-institutional and international cooperation," said Albania's Culture Minister Elva Margariti. It also showed Albania's commitment to "the fight against trafficking of the cultural inheritance objects," she said.

A handover ceremony was held at the National Historic Museum in the Albanian capital of Tirana. No further details were provided about the icons.

Later, the cargo arrived at the National Museum in North Macedonia's capital, Skopje, where they were unpacked and briefly presented to the public. They will be kept for up to 45 days in a special chamber to avoid damage from atmospheric pressure changes, after which experts will start their restoration.

North Macedonia's Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski and head of the Orthodox Church, Archbishop Stefan joined the ceremony.

In 2013, Albanian authorities in Tirana seized more than 1,000 stolen religious and secular pieces of art dating from the 15th to the mid-20th century and arrested two men suspected of planning to sell them abroad.

The icons, frescoes and other pieces were taken from churches and cultural centers in southeastern Albania and in the neighboring North Macedonia.

North Macedonian Culture Minister Bisera Kostadinovska thanked Albanian authorities.

In 2013, North Macedonian experts recognized the icons when Albanian television stations broadcast Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama inspecting icons seized by police. Skopje officially put in a request for their return in 2018.

In 2022, the two governments signed the agreement for their return during a joint Cabinets' meeting in Skopje, the first of its kind in the region.

Many icons and other artworks in Albania are believed to have been looted from churches and other places, especially during the anarchy of 1997 in Albania, when many in the country - among some of the continent's poorest people - lost their life savings in failed pyramid schemes.

Over the past two decades, more than 10,000 religious artifacts have been stolen from North Macedonia's churches, including precious icons painted in the stylized Byzantine tradition. Thieves removed sections of altar screens, crosses, lamps and Bibles.

Icons recovered from Albania are the first to be returned so far.

Both Albania and North Macedonia have launched full membership negotiations with the European Union.


# 'I didn't change my number': Macron still open to dialogue with Putin if it helps to bring peace
By **SAMUEL PETREQUIN**
December 15, 2023. 11:15 AM EST

---

BRUSSELS (AP) - French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday he would still consider talking with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin if it helps creating a sustainable peace between Ukraine and Russia.

Macron and Putin enjoyed a good working relationship before Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022. In weeks preceding the start of hostilities, Macron's diplomatic efforts failed to stop the war but he then kept open a line of communication with the Russian president for months.

Their diplomatic and personal links deteriorated badly as the war dragged on. Earlier this year, Macron weighed the possibility of stripping Putin of France's highest medal of honor.

Putin was asked Thursday during his year-end news conference by a journalist from the French channel TF1 about his views on France and Macron.

Putin said: "At some point the French president stopped the relationship with us. We didn't do it, I didn't. He did. If there's interest, we're ready. If not, we'll cope."

Speaking in Brussels at the end of a summit where EU leaders decided to open membership negotiations with war-torn Ukraine, Macron said he remained open to dialogue with Putin on finding a peaceful solution if the Russian leader reaches out to him.

"I didn't start the war unilaterally, breaking the treaties I'd agreed to. And it wasn't France that decided to commit war crimes in the north of Ukraine, making discussions virtually impossible," Macron said. "Well, we have to be serious, so I have a very simple position. I haven't changed my number."

Macron added that if Putin shows a will to kick-start a dialogue that can build a lasting peace, France is ready to help.

"If President Putin has a willingness to engage in dialogue and serious proposals to move forward and emerge from the conflict and build a lasting peace, that is to say one that respects international law and therefore Ukrainian interests and sovereignty, I'll take the call," Macron said.

Putin said this week there would be no peace until Russia achieves its goals, which he says remain unchanged after nearly two years of fighting.


# Moldova and Georgia celebrate as their aspirations for EU membership take crucial steps forward
By **EMMA BURROWS**
December 15, 2023. 12:49 PM EST

---

**LONDON (AP)** - Moldova and Georgia celebrated after European Union leaders buoyed their aspirations to join the 27 member nation bloc by removing key hurdles on their long path toward membership.

Lawmakers in both the Moldovan and Georgian parliaments waved EU flags and played the bloc's anthem at Friday's opening of their parliamentary sessions, following Thursday's surprise announcement to open membership negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova and to grant candidacy status to Georgia. The announcement came despite strong opposition from Hungary and the fact that Ukraine and Georgia are partially occupied by Russia which also has troops deployed in Moldova's Transnistria region.

Thousands of Georgians gathered in the country's capital Tbilisi to celebrate.

"The EU and integration with Europe is important for us. Not only will it be a security guarantee for us and enable the country to get stronger economically, but it is important for other values too including sports and culture, among others," said Erekle Sarishvili, a student who took part in the rally. "We, the young generation, have fought for this result but we also need to remember the older generations that have brought Georgia here."

Moldova's President Maia Sandu invited citizens to a pro-European gathering scheduled for Sunday in the capital Chisinau to herald what she described as a "historic step for the destiny of our country."

Moldova's pro-Western Prime Minister Dorin Recean echoed Sandu, saying "Moldova is European" and "our future is in the EU."

Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili congratulated the nation, saying that "this historic victory belongs to you, to our undefeated, unbroken, freedom loving Georgian people."

By opening membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova and by offering Georgia candidate status, the EU has sent "a very important message to Russia," Natia Seskuria, director of the Regional Institute of Security Studies in the Georgian capital Tbilisi said.

Although the path to full membership could take decades, the move "has a lot of symbolism," she said, because if the countries had been rejected "it would be another sign for Russia that they can basically do whatever they want."

Both Moldova and Georgia were part of the Soviet Union for decades and both have struggled to emerge from Moscow's shadow. On Friday, the Kremlin responded with irritation to the news.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the move was "absolutely politicized" and that it was driven by the bloc's "desire to annoy Russia further and antagonize these countries towards Russia."

Peskov said membership talks could take "years and decades," adding "such new members could destabilize the EU."

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moldova has faced a long string of crises, including a severe energy shortage after Moscow dramatically reduced gas supplies last winter, skyrocketing inflation, and anti-government protests by a Russia-friendly political party.

In February, Moldovan President Maia Sandu also accused Moscow of plotting to overthrow the government to put the nation "at the disposal of Russia," and to derail it from its course toward EU membership. Russia denied the accusations.

Debris from rocket fire has also landed several times in Moldova as a result of fighting in neighboring Ukraine. Tensions also soared in the country in April last year after a string of explosions in Transnistria - a Russia-backed separatist region of Moldova where Russia bases about 1,500 troops.

Russia also has forces in Georgia after the two countries fought a short war in 2008 that ended with Georgia losing control of two Russia-friendly separatist regions. In November, Russian troops shot and killed a Georgian civilian in South Ossetia, one of the breakaway regions, prompting condemnation from Georgian authorities.

Seskuria, from the Regional Institute of Security Studies, said EU membership has been a "generational dream for Georgians." Although it's Georgia's "biggest success" so far toward EU membership, Seskuria cautioned that there's still a "long way ahead" and warned Georgia needs to deliver on the kind of progress the EU is seeking for the country to fulfill strict membership criteria.

That applies for all three countries which need to tackle corruption and organized crime while strengthening the rule of law.

Membership talks could also heighten tensions in Georgia where Salome Zourabichvili, Georgia's pro-EU president, has long been a vocal supporter of joining the bloc, putting her at odds with the ruling Georgian Dream party which is widely seen as being pro-Russian by the Georgian opposition.

Speaking shortly after the EU leaders' meeting, Zourabichvili said "Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova are the examples of what it means to fight for freedom, to fight for Europe, for those common values that we share with Europe and stay true to them."

Zourabichvili has criticized a foreign agent registration bill which protesters in Tbilisi earlier this year said was inspired by a similar law in Russia used to silence critics of the Kremlin.

Opponents of Georgian Dream say the party's founder, former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire who amassed a fortune in Russia, has continued calling the shots in the former Soviet republic of 3.7 million people even though he currently doesn't hold a government job.

Georgian Dream has repeatedly denied any links to Russia or that it leans toward Moscow.


# Shops in 2 Dutch cities start selling legally grown cannabis in an experiment to regulate pot trade
By **MIKE CORDER**
December 15, 2023. 10:54 AM EST

**BREDA, Netherlands (AP)** - A paradox at the heart of the Netherlands' permissive pot policy went up in smoke Friday in two Dutch cities as "coffeeshops" began selling the country's first legally cultivated cannabis as part of an experiment to regulate the trade.

The experiment could mark the beginning of the end for a long-standing legal anomaly - you can buy and sell small amounts of weed without fear of prosecution in the Netherlands, but growing it commercially remains illegal.

"This is really a very, very big step in the right direction," Derrick Bergman, chairman of the Union for the Abolition of Cannabis Prohibition, said as he sat in the De Baron cannabis cafe in the southern Dutch city of Breda.

Dutch Health Minister Ernst Kuipers visited earlier to launch the new policy. The plan for the experiment dates back to 2017 and is seen as as a way of providing "quality-controlled" weed to coffeeshops - places that are allowed to sell marijuana - and shutting out illegal growers.

"By regulating the sale of cannabis, we have a better insight into the origin of the products and the quality," Kuipers said. "In addition, we can better inform consumers about the effects and health risks of cannabis use."

Bart Vollenberg, who grows cannabis for the experiment, called it a "happy day for the Netherlands."

"The most significant advantage is that it is not criminal activity, and it becomes transparent," he said. "You can test the weed in the laboratory. With all the knowledge and skills of Dutch horticulture, we can start improving the quality of the weed now. No longer need to make all kinds of twists and turns in illegality."

A trailblazer in decriminalizing pot since the 1970s, the Netherlands has grown more conservative. Amsterdam, long a magnet for marijuana smokers from around the world, has been closing coffeeshops in recent years and has banned smoking weed on some of the cobbled streets that make up its historic center.

Across the nation, there are 565 coffeeshops. That is down from around 2,000 "in the real heyday," Bergman said.

Meanwhile, other countries around the world and some U.S. states have taken steps to legalize the recreational use of cannabis.

"We are finally taking a small place on the international stage back again," Bergman said. "It's not like we're back full on. It's a small experiment."

Friday marked the first day of what the government calls the "closed coffeeshop chain experiment." The initial phase is scheduled to last a maximum of six months and could then be rolled out to 11 municipalities across the Netherlands.

"During the startup phase, growers, coffeeshop owners, transporters and supervisors will gain experience with the supply and sale of regulated cannabis and its supervision, secure transport and the use of the track and trace system," the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport said in a statement.

Coffeeshops in Breda and nearby Tilburg are allowed to have a maximum of 500 grams (17.64 ounces) of weed from legal growers in stock at a time.

Breda Mayor Paul Depla said the initial experiment in his city and Tilburg would help detect any "growing pains" in the system.

"It is also a great opportunity to see how cooperation within the closed chain between legal growers, coffeeshop owners and all other authorities involved works," he said.

The Trimbos Institute, a Dutch organization that raises awareness about mental health and the use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco, is involved in the experiment and promoting measures to prevent cannabis use.

"We think it's important that people who use cannabis are well informed about the risks and options for help," spokeswoman Harriëtte Koop said in an email.

For longtime campaigner Bergman, an upside of the new policy is that smokers can now easily see who grew the cannabis they are using and let friends know whether it's any good.

"It's a relief that the weed is quite good," he said, smiling as he lit his marijuana cigarette in a small puff of thick white smoke.

There is a downside, Bergman added. He looked at a plastic beaker in a plastic bag holding the new legally grown weed and a much smaller plastic container for illegal pot.

"The new system produces much more plastic waste," he noted.


# The EU struggles to unify around a Gaza cease-fire call but work on peace moves continues
By **LORNE COOK**
December 15, 2023. 8:52 AM EST

**BRUSSELS (AP)** - As the civilian death toll in Gaza continues to mount, a number of European Union leaders sought on Friday to use growing concern about Israel's military offensive against Hamas to convince their partners to rally around a united call for a ceasefire.

"The killing of innocent civilians really needs to stop," Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said. He said the EU must unite "if we want to play a serious role in that conflict, and I think we have to because we will be wearing the consequences if things go further in a bad direction."

More than 18,700 Palestinians have now been killed, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths, since Hamas rampaged through southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Hamas killed about 1,200 people - mostly civilians - and took about 240 hostages.

The EU is the world's biggest provider of aid to the Palestinians and has been trying to use its diplomatic leverage as a 27-nation bloc to encourage peace moves. But despite being Israel's largest trading partner, the EU has mostly been ignored by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Beyond this, the members have long-been divided over Israel and the Palestinians. Austria and Germany are among Israel's most vocal supporters. Their leaders went to Israel to show solidarity after the assault. Spain and Ireland often focus on the plight of the Palestinian people.

Hamas, for its part, is on the EU's list of terrorist groups.

Since its attack, the bloc has struggled to strike a balance between condemning the Hamas attacks, supporting Israel's right to defend itself and ensuring that the rights of civilians on both sides are protected under international law.

At the United Nations on Tuesday, an increasing number of EU members voted for a resolution calling for a ceasefire - a total of 17 - and fewer abstained. Still, Austria and the Czech Republic voted against.

"We now have a clear majority of countries here in the European Union calling for a cease fire. I think that's the view of the people of Europe as well," Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said. "There's no possible justification or excuse for what's happening there."

But Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was less categorical. "In (the) U.N. we were not united as a European Union. But we will hear the worries and like we always do try to work out the compromises," she told reporters at the EU's summit in Brussels.

The EU is more united around what should happen once the fighting stops for good.

Mindful that resentment and conflict in the wider Middle East and Gulf regions have been fueled by decades of Israeli-Palestinian tensions, the bloc is exploring ways to realize a long-held EU ideal - two states living peacefully side by side.

The EU has for years tried to promote the idea of an Israeli and a Palestinian state with borders set mostly as they were in 1967 - before Israel captured and occupied the West Bank and Gaza - with some land swaps agreed between them. Both would have Jerusalem as their shared capital.

Top EU officials concede that their international peace efforts so far haven't been effective. This is the fifth war between Israel and Hamas, and the number of deaths in Gaza far exceeds the combined tally of those killed in the previous four, which is estimated to be around 4,000.

An internal discussion paper on the way ahead - a text seen by The Associated Press - insists that the EU must develop a "comprehensive approach." Officials believe a "whole of Palestine" approach that has Gaza as part of a future Palestinian state remains the most viable option.

The capability of the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank but not Gaza, is "of key importance for the viability and legitimacy" of a two-state solution. It noted that Arab states will only get involved if their efforts lead to "a genuine peace process that results in the two-state solution."

EU efforts, the document said, should focus on support for an international conference, only "not as a singular event but as part of a peace process plan." Israeli and Palestinian foreign ministers should be separately invited to EU meetings "to maintain the dialogue with both."

But in the region, talk of a two-state solution conjures up images of years of diplomatic failures, and for many in mourning it's simply too early to talk about peace.


# EU releasing 5 billion euros to Poland by year's end as new government works to restore rule of law
December 15, 2023. 6:34 AM EST

---

**BRUSSELS (AP)** - The European Union will by year's end transfer to Poland the first 5 billion euros in funding that was frozen over democratic backsliding under the previous government, the new Polish prime minister and the European Commission president said Friday.

The money is part of a larger tranche that was held up due to laws passed by the previous national conservative government that eroded the independence of judges - something that the EU deemed to be a violation of the democratic separation of powers.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the 5 billion euros ($5.5 billion) was arriving symbolically in time for Christmas. The money is aimed at helping EU nations recover from the energy crisis that followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, and reduce their dependence on Russian fossil fuels.

"This is not just a gift. This is serious money earmarked for our energy sovereignty and we will try to spend this money very quickly and wisely," he said at a news conference alongside EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of a summit of the 27 member states.

The money will start to flow due to pledges by Tusk's government to restore the rule of law but more steps have to be taken before it is all released. Tusk and his coalition partners won Poland's national election pledging to restore rule of law and democratic values.

"We know that the rule of law is very important. It is about our place in Europe. It is about our common values," Tusk said.

He added that Polish lawyers, prosecutors, judges and citizens "never agreed to Poland without the rule of law. And everyone in their capacity was trying to address this issue."

Von der Leyen expressed her satisfaction.

"I welcome your commitment to put the rule of law at the top of your government agenda and your determination to address all the concerns that have been expressed over the last years by the European Court and by the Commission," she said.


# Prince Harry claims vindication in court victory as judge finds British tabloid hacked his phone
By **BRIAN MELLEY**
December 15, 2023. 2:19 PM EST

---

**LONDON (AP)** - Prince Harry's phone was hacked by journalists and private investigators working for the Daily Mirror who invaded his privacy by snooping on him unlawfully, a judge ruled Friday, delivering an historic victory for the estranged royal who broke from family tradition to take on the British press.

Phone hacking was "widespread and habitual" at Mirror Group Newspapers, and executives at the papers covered it up, Justice Timothy Fancourt said in his 386-page ruling handed down in the High Court.

The newspapers were ordered to pay the Duke of Sussex 140,000 pounds ($180,000) for using unlawful information gathering in 15 of the 33 newspaper articles examined at trial.

Harry said the ruling was "vindicating and affirming" and should serve as a warning to other news media that used similar practices, an overt reference to two tabloid publishers that face upcoming trials in lawsuits that make nearly identical allegations.

"Today is a great day for truth, as well as accountability," Harry said in a statement read by his lawyer outside court. "I've been told that slaying dragons will get you burned. But in light of today's victory and the importance of doing what is needed for a free and honest press, it is a worthwhile price to pay. The mission continues."

Fancourt awarded the duke damages for the distress he suffered and a further sum to "reflect the particular hurt and sense of outrage" because two directors at Trinity Mirror knew about the activity and didn't stop it.

"They turned a blind eye to what was going on and positively concealed it," Fancourt said. "Had the illegal conduct been stopped, the misuse of the duke's private information would have ended much sooner."

Harry, 39, the alienated younger son of King Charles III, had sought 440,000 pounds ($560,000) as part of a crusade against the British media that bucked his family's longstanding aversion to litigation and made him the first senior member of the royal family to testify in court in over a century.

His appearance in the witness box over two days in June created a spectacle as he lobbed allegations that Mirror Group had employed journalists who eavesdropped on voicemails and hired private investigators to use deception and unlawful means to learn about him, other family members and associates.

"I believe that phone hacking was at an industrial scale across at least three of the papers at the time," Harry asserted in the High Court. "That is beyond any doubt."

But Harry had little proof of his own to back his allegations.

The Mirror's lawyer showed him examples of stories that mirrored those published previously in competing papers and even stories that had come from Buckingham Palace and, in one instance, a story from an interview the prince himself had given to mark his 18th birthday.

Harry repeatedly insisted there was no way the papers could have landed their scoops legitimately.

The judge said Harry had a tendency in his testimony "to assume that everything published was the product of voicemail interception because phone hacking was rife within Mirror Group at the time."

Fancourt said Mirror Group was "not responsible for all of the unlawful activity directed at the duke" by the press, but found it had eavesdropped on his messages as early as 2003 and when hacking was "extensive" at the newspapers from 2006 to 2011.

Mirror Group welcomed the judgment for providing the "necessary clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago," Chief Executive Jim Mullen said.

"Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologize unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation," Mullen said in statement.

Attorney Philippa Dempster, who wasn't involved in the case, said hundreds of people who had articles written about them decades ago that contained private information from questionable sources may now be inspired to bring a claim against the newspapers.

"This is a landmark victory for the privacy rights of individuals and marks another clear line in the sand for press standards," Dempster said. "It shows that the courts are willing to reach back into the past, sift through evidence and hold those who practiced the so-called 'dark arts' of the press to account."

The case is the first of three lawsuits Harry has filed against the tabloids over allegations of phone hacking or some form of unlawful information gathering. They form the front line of attack in what he says is his life's mission to reform the media.

Harry's beef with the news media runs deep and is cited throughout his memoir, "Spare." He blames paparazzi for causing the car crash that killed his mother, Princess Diana, and he said intrusions by journalists led him and his wife, Meghan, to leave royal life for the U.S. in 2020.

Harry alleged that Mirror Group used unlawful means to produce nearly 150 stories on his early life between 1996 and 2010, including his romances, injuries and alleged drug use. The reporting caused great distress, he said in sometimes emotional testimony, but was hard to prove because the newspapers destroyed records.

Of the 33 articles at the center of the trial, Mirror denied using unlawful reporting methods for 28 and made no admissions concerning the remaining five.

Fancourt previously tossed out Harry's hacking claims against the publisher of The Sun. He is allowing Harry and actor Hugh Grant, who has made similar claims, to proceed to trial on allegations that News Group Newspapers journalists used other unlawful methods to snoop on them.

Another judge recently gave Harry the go-ahead to take a similar case to trial against the publisher of the Daily Mail, rejecting the newspaper's efforts to throw out the lawsuit. Harry is joined in that litigation by Elton John, actors Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost and others.

Attorney Michael Gardner, who was not involved in the case, said the judgment will get the attention of other publishers facing trial, particularly after the judge called out higher-ups who were aware of the unlawful activity.

"Overall, the media organizations that Harry is still suing will be worried that this will give him a lift and strengthen his determination to pursue them," Gardner said. "To the extent that Harry's other cases could implicate individuals at other media groups, then clearly there will be concerns there."

Phone hacking by British newspapers dates back more than two decades to a time when unethical journalists used an unsophisticated method of phoning the numbers of royals, celebrities, politicians and sports stars and, when prompted to leave a message, punched in default passcodes to eavesdrop on voicemails.

The practice erupted into a full-blown scandal in 2011 when Rupert Murdoch's News of the World was revealed to have intercepted messages of a murdered girl, relatives of deceased British soldiers and victims of a bombing. Murdoch closed the paper.

Newspapers were later found to have used more intrusive means such as phone tapping, home bugging and obtaining flight information and medical records.

Mirror Group Newspapers said it has paid more than 100 million pounds ($128 million) in other phone hacking lawsuits over the years, but denied wrongdoing in Harry's case. It said it used legitimate reporting methods to get information on the prince.

At the start of the trial, Mirror Group apologized "unreservedly" for one instance when it admitted to hiring a private investigator for a story about Harry partying at a nightclub in February 2004. Although the article, headlined "Sex on the beach with Harry," wasn't among those at issue in the trial, Mirror Group said he should be compensated 500 pounds ($637).

Harry brought the case along with three other claimants, including two members of Britain's longest-running TV soap opera, "Coronation Street."

The judge found all had legitimate claims but he tossed out cases brought by actor Nikki Sanderson and Fiona Wightman, the former wife of comedian Paul Whitehouse, because they were filed too late. He awarded actor Michael Turner 31,000 pounds ($40,000).

The trial was a test case against Mirror Group and the verdict could influence the outcome of hacking claims made by the estate of the late singer George Michael, former Girls Aloud member Cheryl and former soccer player Ian Wright.

Harry's case is also not resolved. He could receive additional compensation over the remaining 115 articles that were not examined at trial.

The judge told the parties to work out an agreement on those or they would have to go to trial again.


# Denmark widens terror investigation that coincides with arrests of alleged Hamas members in Germany
By **JAN M. OLSEN**
December 15, 2023. 10:17 AM EST

---

**COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP)** - Denmark is holding two people in custody and four others are the target of a terrorism investigation, a prosecutor said Friday, in a case that coincided with an arrest in the Netherlands and several in Germany of alleged Hamas members.

Authorities in Germany said three people arrested there were suspected of preparing for attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe. Danish authorities said that one person was arrested in the Netherlands, but it wasn't clear if there were any ties to the Hamas investigation in Germany.

Denmark hasn't cited an alleged Hamas link in its investigation. The two people being held in Denmark were ordered to remain in pretrial detention until Jan. 9. Danish media identified them as a man in his 50s and a 19-year-old woman.

Danish intelligence agency PET on Thursday announced the arrests of three people on suspicion of plotting to carry out "an act of terror." One of them, identified by Danish media as a 29-year-old man, was released, prosecutor Anders Larsson said early Friday after a night-long custody hearing at a Copenhagen court.

Larsson also said that four other people were held in "pretrial custody in absentia," but he didn't say whether authorities knew their whereabouts or if an active search for them was underway. Without elaborating, he said there was "still someone at large."

None of the suspects can be identified because of a court order, and the custody hearing was held behind "double closed doors" - meaning no details were available about the case, which is shrouded in secrecy.

German prosecutors allege that the three men detained in Germany on Thursday were tasked with finding a previously set-up underground Hamas weapons cache in Europe. "The weapons were due to be taken to Berlin and kept in a state of readiness in view of potential terrorist attacks against Jewish institutions in Europe," they said.

On Friday, a judge ordered the three men detained in Berlin to be held in custody pending a possible indictment for being members of a foreign terrorist organization, prosecutors said. A fourth suspect in the German case was taken into custody on Thursday in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam.

German prosecutors alleged the suspects "have been longstanding members of Hamas and have participated in Hamas operations abroad." They said the suspects were closely linked to the leadership of Hamas' military wing, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

Earlier this month, the EU's home affairs commissioner, Ylva Johansson, warned that Europe faced a "huge risk of terrorist attacks" over the Christmas holiday period amid the Israel-Hamas war.

In Brussels, where she attended a European Union summit, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen mentioned the Danish, German and Dutch cases but declined to tie them together. She said the wider picture for security in Europe was worrying.

"We have seen how ships are attacked in the Red Sea off Yemen," she told a press conference in reference to a ballistic missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels that slammed into a cargo ship Friday in the Red Sea, following another attack only hours earlier that struck a separate vessel.

"Individually, these incidents are serious and worrying, but together they paint a picture of something bigger. That we are facing a more serious and complex threat picture," she said. "It is very, very serious."


# Hungary's Orbán says he won't hesitate to slam the brakes on Ukraine's EU membership
By **JUSTIN SPIKE**
December 15, 2023. 1:42 PM EST

---

**BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP)** - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Friday his country will have plenty of opportunities in the future to interrupt Ukraine's process of joining the European Union, a day after the right-wing leader's stunning turnaround allowed an EU summit to move forward on bringing the war-torn country into the bloc.

Orbán had spent weeks vigorously declaring that his country would not consent to the EU beginning talks with Ukraine on its eventual membership, arguing such a decision would be catastrophic and that Kyiv was unprepared to begin the process.

But in a dramatic reversal in Brussels on Thursday, Orbán left the room where the leaders of the EU's 27 member nations were debating the measure and allowed a unanimous vote of 26 to approve the start of accession talks for Kyiv.

In an interview Friday with Hungarian state radio, Orbán said that EU leaders told him he would "lose nothing" by dropping his veto since he'd have chances in the future to block Ukraine's accession if he chose to - something he vowed to do if it appeared Hungary's interests were at risk.

"Their decisive argument was that Hungary loses nothing, given that the final word on Ukraine's membership has to be given by the national parliaments, 27 parliaments, including the Hungarian one," Orbán said.

"I made it clear that we will not hesitate for a moment if the financial and economic consequences of this bad decision will be paid by the Hungarians. Those who made this decision should be the ones who pay," he said. "If necessary, we will slam the brakes."

The decision by EU leaders to move forward on Ukraine's membership - a process that could take many years - was met with jubilation in Kyiv, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcoming the agreement as "a victory for Ukraine. A victory for all of Europe."

But the results of Thursday's summit were mixed as Orbán blocked a 50-billion-euro ($54-billion) package of financial aid that Ukraine desperately needs to stay afloat, a major blow to Zelenskyy after he failed this week to persuade U.S. lawmakers to approve an additional $61 billion for his war effort.

Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, said EU leaders would reconvene in January in an effort to break the deadlock.

It was not the first time Orbán had derailed EU plans to provide funding to Ukraine. The nationalist leader is widely considered to be Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally in the EU, and has been accused by his critics of promoting Moscow's interests over those of his EU and NATO allies.

Orbán has advocated for an immediate end to the fighting and pushed for peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv, though he has not detailed what such a step would entail for Ukraine's territorial integrity.

On Friday, Orbán accused his EU partners of seeking to prolong the war, and said providing more money for Kyiv was "an immediate violation of (Hungary's) interests."

"The situation in Ukraine is bad, so no more money should be sent to the war," he said. "The war should be stopped and there should be a cease-fire and peace talks. Instead, now they want to give money to keep the war going."


# Hague court rejects bid to ban transfer to Israel of F-35 fighter jet parts from Dutch warehouse
December 15, 2023. 9:48 AM EST

---

**THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP)** - A Dutch court on Friday rejected a request by a group of human rights and humanitarian organizations to order a halt to the transfer to Israel of parts for F-35 fighter jets.

The organizations went to court Dec. 4 arguing that delivery of parts for the aircraft makes the Netherlands complicit in possible war crimes being committed by Israel in its war with Hamas. The parts are stored in a warehouse in the Dutch town of Woensdrecht.

In a written statement, the Hague District Court said the judge who heard the civil case concluded that the government of the Netherlands "weighed the relevant interests" before agreeing to the delivery of parts.

Lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld told the court that the Dutch government decided to continue transferring F-35 parts to Israel even after the deadly Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas triggered the Israel-Hamas war.

"The warning that the fighter jets can contribute to serious breaches of the laws of war does not, for the (Dutch) state, outweigh its economic interests and diplomatic reputation," Zegveld said.

Government lawyer Reimer Veldhuis told the judge hearing the civil case that a ban on transfers from the Netherlands would effectively be meaningless as "the United States would deliver these parts to Israel from another place."

Zegveld said she would appeal the decision.

She said "human rights are put behind or after or lower than political foreign policy interests. That is amazing given what's happening in Gaza."


# Declared missing as a child, British teenager lives off-grid for 6 years, then pops up in France
By **JILL LAWLESS** and **JOHN LEICESTER**
December 15, 2023. 2:50 PM EST

---

**LE PECQ, France (AP)** - The vehicle's headlights silhouetted the exhausted teenager walking alone in the rain in deepest rural France, with a skateboard tucked under his arm.

"I said to myself, 'That's strange. It's 3 am in the morning, it's raining, he's all by himself on the road between two villages," delivery driver Fabien Accidini recounted.

From there, the story gets stranger still. The youngster, it turned out, was Alex Batty, a 17-year-old from Britain who had been missing since 2017.

British and French authorities confirmed on Friday that the teenager found by Accidini this week was the boy who vanished at age 11, when his mother and grandfather took him on what was meant to be a two-week family holiday in Spain.

Instead, it turned out to be a six-year odyssey through Morocco, Spain and southwest France, living an off-the-grid life.

Until this week. Batty suddenly popped back up on the radar on Wednesday. That's when Accidini found him alone on the remote French road and delivered him to the safe keeping of French police.

The youngster told French investigators that he, his mother and her father had moved from house to house, carrying their own solar panels, growing their own food, living with other families, meditating and contemplating reincarnation and other esoteric subjects.

"It was a nomadic life," said police officer Lea Chambonnière. "The only constants, the only things they carried with them, were the solar panels and their vegetable plants."

The teenager decided to put an end to his roaming, parting ways with his mother after she told him she wanted them to move again - to Finland, said French prosecutor Antoine Leroy. He and Chambonnière, a commander in the gendarmerie, spoke at a news conference in the southwestern French city of Toulouse.

"When his mother indicated that she intended to leave for Finland with him, this young man understood that this journey had to stop," the prosecutor said.

He said he couldn't employ the term 'sect' to describe how the mother, grandfather and Batty lived. "The term he uses himself is 'spiritual community,'" he said.

"He was never locked up," he added. "But he was always obliged to live in these conditions."

Until he decided to go his own way. Batty walked for four nights - resting during the days - and fed himself with "different things that he found in fields or gardens" before the delivery driver picked him up, the prosecutor said. Batty told police he'd been aiming for Toulouse, hoping authorities there would return him to the United Kingdom to be reunited with his grandmother, who had custody of him before he vanished as a child.

The prosecutor said they'll be reunited in the U.K. this weekend.

"I cannot begin to express my relief and happiness that Alex has been found safe and well," the grandmother, Susan Caruana, said in a statement released by British police.

She said they spoke by video call and "it was so good to hear his voice and see his face again. I can't wait to see him."

The mother, Melanie Batty, has probably left for Finland, the prosecutor said. The grandfather, David Batty, is thought to have died about six months ago, he said. Both are sought by British police in connection with the youngster's disappearance.

After failing to return to the U.K. from the 2017 trip to Spain, the trio spent about two years in Morocco before traveling back via Spain to southwestern France, where they appear to have spent the last two years roaming in the region of the Pyrenees mountains.

But Batty "does not know exactly where he was, which is very surprising," the prosecutor said. "We will dig a bit."

The delivery driver who found him spotted the teen alone in the rain and dark with a flashlight, a rucksack and his skateboard. He stopped "and asked if he was OK, what he was doing there, if he needed help and if he wanted me to drop him in a village," Accidini told French broadcaster BFMTV.

Initially, Batty was suspicious, giving a false name, Zac, but he was also "very, very tired," Accidini said. So he climbed aboard and they got chatting while Accidini finished his deliveries.

"Once he felt reassured, he gave me his real name and told me that he had been kidnapped by his mother five years ago," Accidini said. The teen added "that he'd been in France for the past two years in a spiritual community that was a bit strange with his mother who is also a bit strange, a bit loopy."

"He'd had enough. He said, 'I am 17. I need a future.' He didn't see a future for him there."

Batty used Accidini's mobile phone to send a message to his grandmother. Accidini showed it to BFM.

It read: "Hello grandma it is me Alex i am in France Toulouse i really hope that you receive this message i love you i want to come home."


# Migrant dies and another is in critical condition after boat partially deflates in English Channel
By **PAN PYLAS**
December 15, 2023. 8:06 AM EST

---

**LONDON (AP)** - A boat carrying more than 60 migrants encountered difficulty Friday as it attempted to make the dangerous crossing across the English Channel from France, and authorities said one person died and another was hospitalized in critical condition after a rescue operation.

French maritime authorities said in a statement that the boat carrying the migrants had partially deflated and that the individual who died was unconscious when rescue ships arrived. They said another person was in critical condition and flown by helicopter to a hospital in the French port of Calais.

Rescue vessels picked up 66 people in all, including the person who died, after the boat in distress was spotted around five miles (8 kilometers) off the coast of Grand-Fort-Philippe at around 12:30 a.m. local time. The U.K. coastguard said it sent a helicopter to assist the French authorities coordinating the operation.

The French coast around Calais has long been a jumping-off point for people fleeing conflict and poverty around the world seeking to reach Britain, often via dangerous and sometimes deadly sea journeys across one of the world's busiest shipping channels.

More than 29,000 migrants have arrived in the U.K. this year after crossing the Channel, the second highest annual total to date since records began in 2018.

Though sharply down from last year's 46,000, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to "stop the boats" and is currently trying to win approval from lawmakers for a controversial plan to send some asylum-seekers to Rwanda.

Following confirmation of the latest death in the Channel, Britain's interior minister, James Cleverly, said the government "must and will do more."

"The incident in the Channel last night is a horrific reminder of the people-smugglers' brutality," he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

A bill that Cleverly is steering through Parliament seeks to overcome a ruling by the U.K. Supreme Court that the plan to send migrants who arrive from across the English Channel to Rwanda - where they would stay permanently - is illegal.

The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill faces criticism both from centrists in the governing Conservative Party who think it skirts with breaking international law, and from lawmakers on the party's right, who say it doesn't go far enough to ensure migrants who arrive in the U.K. without permission can be deported.

The main opposition Labour Party which is far ahead in opinion polls ahead of a general election next year, has promised to ditch the plan that it has derided as a "gimmick." The party says the British government's priority should be breaking up the smuggling gangs that facilitate migrant boat crossings and promoting greater cooperation across Europe.

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the U.K. based Refugee Council, said these "appalling deaths" were all to common and added urgency to the need to "put in place safe routes so people don't have to take dangerous journeys across the world's busiest shipping lane."

"Instead, the government is pushing ahead with its unworkable and unprincipled Rwanda plan as well as shutting down existing safe ways to get to the U.K.," he said.


# The Vatican's 'trial of the century,' a Pandora's box of unintended revelations, explained
By **NICOLE WINFIELD**
December 15, 2023. 12:10 AM EST

---

**VATICAN CITY (AP)** - Verdicts are expected Saturday for a cardinal and nine other defendants in the most complicated financial trial in the Vatican's modern history: a case featuring a Hollywood-worthy cast of characters, unseemly revelations about the Holy See and questions about Pope Francis ' own role in the deals.

The trial had initially been seen as a showcase for Francis' reforms and his willingness to crack down on alleged financial misdeeds in the Vatican, which long had a reputation as an offshore tax haven.

But after 2 1/2 years of hearings, no real smoking gun emerged to support the prosecution's hypothesis of a grand conspiracy to defraud the pope of millions of euros (dollars) in charitable donations.

Even if some convictions are handed down, the overall impression is that the "trial of the century" turned into something of a Pandora's box of unintended revelations about Vatican vendettas, incompetence and even ransom payments that ultimately cost the Holy See reputational harm.

## WHAT WAS THE TRIAL ABOUT?
After a two-year investigation that featured unprecedented police raids in the Apostolic Palace, Vatican prosecutors in 2021 issued a 487-page indictment accusing 10 people of numerous financial crimes, including fraud, embezzlement, extortion, corruption, money laundering and abuse of office.

The main focus involved the Holy See's 350 million euro investment in a luxury London property. Prosecutors allege brokers and Vatican monsignors fleeced the Holy See of tens of millions of euros in fees and commissions, and then extorted the Holy See for 15 million euros ($16.5 million) to cede control of the property.

The original London investigation spawned two tangents that involved the star defendant, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, once one of Francis' top advisers and a onetime papal contender.

Chief prosecutor Alessandro Diddi is seeking prison sentences from three to 13 years for each of the 10 defendants, as well as the confiscation of some 415 million euros ($460 million) in damages and restitution.

## HOW DOES THE CARDINAL FIT IN?
Becciu wasn't originally under investigation in the London deal since he had been transferred from the Vatican secretariat of state to the saint-making office before the key London transactions occurred.

But he became enmeshed after prosecutors began looking into other deals, including 125,000 euros in Vatican money that he sent to a diocesan charity in his native Sardinia.

Prosecutors alleged embezzlement, since the charity was run by his brother. Becciu argued that the local bishop requested the money for a bakery to employ at-risk youths, and that the money remained in the diocesan coffers.

Becciu is also accused of paying a Sardinian woman, Cecilia Marogna, for her intelligence services. Prosecutors traced some 575,000 euros in transfers from the Vatican to her Slovenian front company.

Becciu said he thought the money was going to be used to pay a British security firm to negotiate the release of a Colombian nun who had been taken hostage by Islamic militants in Mali in 2017. Marogna, who is also on trial, denied wrongdoing.

## THE MYSTERIOUS MONSIGNOR PERLASCA
No figure in the trial was as intriguing as Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, who ran the office that managed the Vatican's sovereign wealth fund, with estimated assets of 600 million euros (around $630 million).

It was Perlasca who signed the contracts in late 2018 giving operative control of the London property to London broker Gianluigi Torzi, another defendant who is accused of then extorting the Vatican for 15 million euros to get the property back.

Because of his intimate involvement in the deal, Perlasca was initially a prime suspect. But after his first round of questioning, he fired his lawyer, changed his story and began cooperating with prosecutors.

Perlasca escaped indictment and was even allowed to be listed as an injured party, enabling him to possibly recover damages.

Only during the course of the trial did it emerge that Perlasca had been manipulated into changing his story to turn on Becciu, his former boss.

## THE MYSTERIOUS WOMEN WHO COACHED HIM
In a trial that had plenty of surreal twists, perhaps none was as jaw-dropping as when a controversial figure from the Vatican's past emerged as having had a starring role in coaching Perlasca to change his testimony.

Public relations specialist Francesca Chaouqui had previously served on a papal commission tasked with investigating the Vatican's murky finances. She is known in Vatican circles for her role in the "Vatileaks" scandal of 2015-2016, when she was convicted by the same tribunal of conspiring to leak confidential Vatican documents to journalists and received a 10-month suspended sentence.

Chaouqui openly nurtured a grudge against Becciu because she blamed him for supporting her Vatileaks prosecution. She apparently saw the investigation into the London property as a chance to settle scores.

And so it emerged in late 2022, when Perlasca was being questioned on the stand, that Chaouqui had engaged in an elaborate plot with a Perlasca family friend to persuade the prelate to turn on Becciu.

"I knew that sooner or later the moment would come and I would send you this message," Chaouqui wrote Perlasca in a text message that was entered into evidence. "Because the Lord doesn't allow the good to be humiliated without repair. I pardon you Perlasca, but remember, you owe me a favor."

Diddi, the prosecutor, hasn't said what, if any, charges are pending for anyone involved in the Perlasca testimony saga.

## THE POPE'S OWN ROLE
Francis made clear early on that he strongly supported prosecutors in their investigation. But the trial produced evidence that his involvement went far beyond mere encouragement.

Defense lawyers discovered that the pope had secretly issued four decrees during the investigation to benefit prosecutors, allowing them to conduct intercepts and detain suspects without a judge's warrant.

Lawyers cried foul, arguing such interference by an absolute monarch in a legal system where the pope exercises supreme legislative, executive and judicial power violated their clients' fundamental rights and robbed them of a fair trial.

Diddi argued the decrees served as a "guarantee" for the suspects.

In addition, witnesses testified that Francis was very much aware of key aspects of the deals in question, and in some cases explicitly authorized them:

- The former head of the financial intelligence agency who is on trial said Francis explicitly asked him to help the secretariat of state negotiate the exit deal with Torzi;

- Becciu testified Francis had approved spending up to 1 million euros to negotiate the nun's freedom;

- Becciu's onetime secretary, who is on trial, said Francis was so pleased with the outcome of the Torzi negotiation that he paid for a celebratory group dinner at a fancy Roman fish restaurant.

In a religious hierarchy where obedience to superiors is a foundational element of a vocation, defense lawyers argued their underling clients merely obeyed orders from the pope on down. That included negotiating the exit strategy with Torzi, who was previously unknown to the Vatican but was brought into the deal by a friend of Francis.

"Torzi was introduced by Giuseppe Milanese, who was a friend of the pope's, so why wouldn't we trust him?" said Massimo Bassi, a lawyer for another of the defendants.

Milanese wasn't charged. Torzi denied wrongdoing.


# Ukraine's a step closer to joining the EU. Here's what it means, and why it matters
By **ANGELA CHARLTON**
December 14, 2023. 9:43 PM EST

---

**BRUSSELS (AP)** - Ukraine got a green light Thursday to start sped-up talks on joining the European Union. That's a big boost for war-ravaged Ukraine and a loud message to Vladimir Putin - but it could be years before the country actually becomes a member of the EU.

Here's a look at what Thursday's decision means, and why joining the EU is especially important, and especially hard, for Ukraine.

## WHAT IS THE EU AND HOW DO YOU JOIN?
The European Union was born after World War II as a trading bloc with a bold ambition: to prevent another war between Germany and France. The six founding members were Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Since then, the EU has steadily expanded to contain 27 democratic nations, many from the former communist bloc in Eastern Europe, inspired by the idea that economic and political integration among nations is the best way to promote prosperity and peace.

This notably led to the creation of the shared euro currency in 1999, the continent's open borders, and trailblazing rules to reduce carbon emissions and regulate tech giants.

To join the EU, candidate countries must go through a lengthy process to align their laws and standards with those of the bloc and show that their institutions and economies meet democratic norms. Launching accession talks requires approval by consensus from the current member nations.

## WHY JOINING IS IMPORTANT TO UKRAINE
Ukraine is one of several countries that have long wanted to join the EU, seeing it as a path to wealth and stability. While the EU is not a military alliance like NATO, membership in the bloc is seen by some as a rampart against Russian influence.

Ukraine officially applied for EU accession less than a week after Russia invaded in February 2022. Its capital, Kyiv, faced the threat of capture, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government faced the threat of collapse.

The start of membership talks less than two years later is only one step in a long journey. But it sends a strong signal of solidarity with Ukraine just as U.S. support for Ukraine's military is faltering and a Ukrainian counteroffensive is stalled - and as Putin appears increasingly emboldened.

And it offers a ray of hope for Ukraine even as EU members failed Thursday to agree on a more immediate boost in the form of 50 billion euros ($55 billion) in aid to keep the Ukrainian economy afloat.

## WHY UKRAINE'S MEMBERSHIP JOURNEY IS ROCKY
EU officials had said talks couldn't officially begin until Ukraine addresses multiple issues including corruption, lobbying concerns and restrictions that might prevent national minorities from studying and reading in their own language. While EU officials say Ukraine has made progress on these issues in recent months, it still has a long way to go.

Every EU country has gradually agreed to support Ukraine's bid - except Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Putin's greatest ally within the EU. Orban maintains that Ukraine isn't ready to even start talking about EU membership. In a surprise move, Orban stepped aside Thursday and abstained from the vote to allow Ukraine's membership talks to begin.

It is just a beginning, and many steps remain.

Debt crises, waves of migration and Brexit had all contributed to the bloc's skittishness toward expanding its ranks in recent years. So, too, did the growth of Euro-skeptic political forces in many member countries.

But the urgency created by Russia's invasion and Ukraine's request for expedited consideration upended the EU's go-slow approach to adding new members and reversed years of "enlargement fatigue."

Thursday's decision also has an impact on other would-be members, who feel the EU is showing favoritism.

## WHO ARE THE OTHER CANDIDATES?
Turkey applied for membership in 1987, received candidate status in 1999, and had to wait until 2005 to start talks for actual entry. Only one of more than 30 negotiating "chapters" has been completed in the years since, and the whole process is at a standstill as a result of various disputes.

Several countries in the Balkans, meanwhile, have become discouraged by the bloc's failure to live up to its lofty membership promises.

North Macedonia submitted its entry bid in 2004. Even after subsequently changing its name to settle a longstanding dispute with EU member Greece, the country is still waiting for membership talks to begin because Bulgaria threw up a hurdle related to ethnicity and language.

Bosnia remains plagued by ethnic divisions that make reform an almost impossible challenge. The commission said last month that it should only start membership talks after more progress is made. It expressed concern about the justice system and other rights failures in the Bosnian Serb part of the country.

Serbia and Kosovo refuse to normalize their relations and stand last in the EU's line.


# Rights expert blasts Italy's handling of gender-based violence and discrimination against women
December 14, 2023. 1:42 PM EST

---

**ROME (AP)** - Violence and discrimination against women in Italy is a "prevailing and urgent concern," a European expert on human rights said Thursday in a scathing report that comes amid a national outcry over a gruesome murder of a young woman allegedly by her ex-boyfriend.

Dunja Mijatovic, commissioner for human rights at the Council of Europe, faulted Italy across multiple areas, lamenting that Italian courts and police sometimes revictimize the victims of gender-based violence and that women have increasingly less access to abortion services. She also noted Italy's last-place in the EU ranking for gender equality in the workplace.

The report followed a visit by Mijatovic to Italy in June and focused also on the country's handling of migrants and press freedom. But the section of her report on women comes amid a national reckoning on gender-based violence following the latest case that has grabbed headlines for a month.

Giulia Cecchettin, a 22-year-old who was about to graduate with a bioengineering degree, was found dead, her throat slit, in a ditch in a remote area of the Alpine foothills on Nov. 18. She had disappeared along with her ex-boyfriend a week earlier after meeting him for a burger.

Filippo Turetta, 21, was later arrested in Germany, and is being held in an Italian jail pending an investigation to bring charges. Turetta's lawyer has said he admitted to the crime under prosecutors' questioning.

Cecchetin was among 102 women murdered through mid-November this year in Italy, more than half by current or former intimate partners, according to the Interior Ministry.

While Italy has made some progress and passed notable legislation to punish perpetrators of violence against women, courts interpret sex crimes differently and there are uneven, regional disparities in access and funding to shelters and other services for victims of domestic violence, the report said.

"There is an urgent need to combat sexism and prejudice against women among law enforcement, prosecution and judicial authorities, which contribute toward the low prosecution and conviction rates in cases of violence against women and impunity for perpetrators," the report said.

It called for better training of personnel to improve treatment of victims and prevent them from being revictimized.

In it's official response, the Italian government said the report was incomplete and in some cases incorrect, stressing that new prevention initiatives and funding are under way. It also noted provisions of its five-year strategic plan to address gender equality.

Italy ranks 13th in the European Union's Gender Equality Index, under the EU average and the worst score for any major European economy. The index ranks EU countries on certain benchmarks in economic, political, education and health-based criteria. In the criteria of gender equality in the workplace, Italy ranks last altogether.

Motherhood in general and the COVID-19 pandemic in particular have exacerbated the gender gap in the workplace, with 38% of women changing their employment status for family reasons, compared to 12% of men, the report said.

The gender pay gap is also widening, particularly in the private sector where women earn up to 20% and in some cases 24% less than their male counterparts, the report said.

Mijatovic blamed a deeply rooted culture of "entrenched stereotypes" about women, their negative portrayal in media and "sexist hate speech" in public debate as part of the problem. In its response, the Italian government strongly protested the assertion, noting above all the number of women in public office, starting with Premier Giorgia Meloni, Italy's first female head of government.

On sexual and reproductive health, the commissioner lamented that women in Italy have uneven access to abortion, which has been legal since 1978. She cited bureaucratic obstacles, regional disparities and widespread conscientious objection by doctors who refuse to terminate pregnancies.


# Finland to close again entire border with Russia as reopening of 2 crossing points lures migrants
By **JARI TANNER**
December 14, 2023. 12:53 PM EST

---

**HELSINKI (AP)** - Finland's government has decided to seal again, effective Friday, the Nordic country's entire eastern frontier due to a continuing influx of migrants at the two crossing points on the border with Russia that were reopened on a temporary basis early Thursday.

Interior Minister Mari Rantanen told reporters that a decision by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's Cabinet earlier this week to temporarily reopen the southeastern Vaalimaa and Niirala crossing points today was meant as a trial to see whether the migrant "phenomenon" still exists at the border.

The Finnish Border Guard reported that dozens of migrants without proper documentation or visas had arrived at the two checkpoints by late Thursday. The number of migrants was predicted to increase rapidly at Vaalimaa and Niirala checkpoints, prompting the Finnish government's to react quickly and close them as of 8 p.m. Friday until Jan. 14, Rantanen said.

At the end of November, Orpo's government opted to close the entire 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border for at least two weeks over concerns that Moscow was using migrants to destabilize Finland in an alleged act of "hybrid warfare."

Finnish authorities say that nearly 1,000 migrants without proper visas or valid documentation had arrived at the border since August until end-November, with more than 900 of them in November alone. The numbers are much higher than usual.

Finland accuses Russia of deliberately ushering migrants - most of whom are seeking asylum in Finland - to the border zone, which is normally heavily controlled by Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB, on the Russian side. The Kremlin has denied that Russia is encouraging migrants to enter Finland and has said that it regrets the Finnish border closures.

There are eight crossing points for passenger and vehicle traffic on the Finland-Russia land border, and one rail checkpoint for cargo trains. As of Friday evening, only the rail checkpoint will remain open between the two countries.

Earlier December, Finnish authorities said the vast majority of the migrants who arrived in November hailed from three countries: Syria, Somalia and Yemen.

Finland, a nation of 5.6 million people, makes up a significant part of NATO's northeastern flank and acts as the European Union's external border in the north.


# Storm drenches Florida and causes floods in South Carolina as it moves up East Coast
December 17, 2023. 7:27 PM EST

---

**GEORGETOWN, S.C. (AP)** - An intense late-year storm barreled up the East Coast on Sunday with heavy rains and strong winds that shattered rainfall records, forced water rescues from flooded streets and washed out holiday celebrations.

Authorities rescued dozens of motorists stranded by floodwaters in South Carolina's waterfront community of Georgetown, Georgetown County spokesperson Jackie Broach said. More than 9 inches (22.9 centimeters) of rain fell in the area situated between Charleston and Myrtle Beach since late Saturday.

"It's not just the areas that we normally see flooding, that are flood-prone," Broach said. "It's areas that we're not really expecting to have flooding issues... It's like a tropical storm, it just happens to be in December."

The tide in Charleston Harbor hit its fourth highest level on record and was "well above the highest tide for a non-tropical system," according to the National Weather Service.

Rising sea levels driven by human-caused climate change mean even relatively weak weather systems can now produce storm surges previously associated with hurricanes, said Meteorologist Jeff Masters, co-founder of the Weather Underground. In South Carolina that's worsened by natural subsidence along the coast.

By 2050, Charleston is expected to see another 14 inches (35.6 centimeters) of sea level rise, Masters said.

"In Charleston, this is the sixth time this year already that they've had a major coastal flood. Most of those would not have been major flooding 100 years ago, because the sea level has risen that much," he said.

The storm was forecast to gain strength as it tracked along the Georgia and Carolina coasts, producing heavy rain and gusty winds before sweeping into New England by Monday morning, the weather service said. Wind gusts of 35 mph to 45 mph (56 kph to 72 kph) could bring down trees, especially on saturated ground.

There were numerous road closures in Charleston and across South Carolina's Lowcountry, while stranded cars littered streets.

There were no reports of injuries or deaths in Georgetown County, Broach said. Gusty winds were strong enough to topple some signs and trees. Outdoor holiday decorations were tossed about, she said.

Water rescues also took place on Kiawah and Seabrook islands, according to media outlets.

Charleston International Airport had more than 3 inches (8 centimeters) of rain in 24 hours - almost five times the prior record set in 1975, according to the National Weather Service.

Farther up the coast, minor to moderate coastal flooding was expected Sunday, according to the National Weather Service office in Wilmington, North Carolina.

There were more than 31,000 power outages in South Carolina, according to PowerOutage.us, along with over 14,000 in North Carolina and more than 11,000 in Florida.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul warned of a possible 2 to 4 inches (5.1 to 10.2 centimeters) of rain, powerful winds and potential flooding in parts of the state. Flood watches were in effect in many locations in New York City, and high wind warnings were activated around the city and Long Island.

"We will get through this storm, but preparation is the key," New York Mayor Eric Adams said. City officials told residents to expect several hours of rain and possible delays during Monday morning's commute.

Colder air behind the storm will trigger lake-effect snow across the Great Lakes toward the Appalachians and upstate New York into Tuesday, the weather service said.

The storm dumped up to 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) of rain across Florida, inundating streets and forcing the cancellation of boat parades and other holiday celebrations.

The National Weather Service issued flood warnings and minor flooding advisories for a wide swath of the state, from the southwest Gulf Coast to Jacksonville. Major airports remained open, however, at the start of the busy holiday travel season.

"Today is not the day to go swimming or boating!" Sheriff Carmine Marceno of Lee County, on Florida's southwestern coast, said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Coastal advisories were issued for much of Florida as strong winds churned waters in the Gulf and along the north Atlantic coast.

The storm could be good news for residents in southwest Florida who have been facing water restrictions and drought conditions heading into what normally is the region's dry season.

The weather service also warned of 2 to 4 inches (5.1 to 10.2 centimeters) of rain in parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, with the heaviest expected late Sunday night, and possible urban and small stream flooding and at least minor flooding to some rivers through Monday.

Forecasters also warned of strong winds in coastal areas, gale-force winds offshore, and moderate coastal flooding along Delaware Bay and widespread minor coastal flooding elsewhere.

The weather service said there is a slight risk of excessive rainfall over parts of New England through Monday morning, with the potential for flash flooding. Northern New England is expected to get the heaviest rain Monday through Tuesday morning.


# How much gerrymandering is too much? In New York, the answer could make or break Dems' House hopes
By **ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE**
December 17, 2023. 10:37 AM EST

---

**ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)** - New York's highest court last week gave Democrats a chance to redraw the state's congressional districts, a major victory as the party tries to win control of the U.S. House next year.

Now the question is how far the state's Democrat-dominated Legislature will try to push the boundaries in crucial battleground districts to give their party an advantage, and how far the courts will let them.

The process will be closely watched for any sign of partisan gerrymandering - drawing lines that give one party an unfair advantage - which is forbidden by state law. And Republicans are expected to challenge the results in court as they try to retain their slim House majority.

But experts say it's unclear where the state's highest court will land on determining what's too partisan.

"There's no hard and fast definition or bright line to define partisan gerrymandering," said New York Law School professor Jeffrey Wice, who focuses on redistricting. "There really is no bright line to know when a plan becomes too much of a partisan gerrymander. That's often based on a panel of experts and the decision of judges."

Part of the uncertainty in New York comes from a decision by the state's highest court last year, when it threw out congressional maps drawn by Democrats that were criticized for oddly shaped lines that crammed the state's Republican voters into a few super districts.

In that ruling, the court focused more on questions over the procedural steps Democrats took to draw the lines and spent only a few paragraphs on whether the districts violated the state's gerrymandering prohibition.

It instead upheld lower court rulings that found "clear evidence and beyond a reasonable doubt that the congressional map was unconstitutionally drawn with political bias" and that "the 2022 congressional map was drawn to discourage competition and favor democrats," based on testimony and analysis of previous maps.

The court then appointed a special master to draw a new set of congressional lines for the last election, which along with strong GOP turnout and dissatisfaction with Democratic policies, led to Republicans flipping seats in the New York City suburbs and winning control of the House.

After the election, Democrats sued to toss the court-drawn maps, arguing that the state's bipartisan redistricting commission should get another chance to draft congressional lines. The court agreed in a decision last week.

The new maps will be first left to the commission, before the Legislature has a chance to approve or alter the lines.

Richard Briffault, a Columbia Law School professor with an extensive background on redistricting and government, said he thinks Democrats might err on the side of caution to avoid another long legal fight before the election.

"My guess is they're going to be more careful," Briffault said. "They certainly would be wise to be more careful and not be too aggressive because they will surely be sued."

Democrats had already targeted the state as a battleground for the House next year. The party has set its sights on six seats it wants to flip in New York, with those potential pickups reversing or even exceeding the expected loss of at least three districts in North Carolina after a Republican gerrymander there.

At the same time, redistricting litigation is ongoing in several other states, including Florida, Georgia and Louisiana, where Democrats are hoping to make gains. Democrats also are expected to gain a seat in Alabama, where districts were revised after federal judges ruled that the original map enacted by Republican state officials had illegally diluted the voting power of Black residents.

"The parties are fighting these battles district by district in courtrooms across the country that are aimed at giving Democrats a better chance at the starting gate," said Wice. "Each court victory counts in a major way."

The New York redistricting commission has been tasked with submitting a map to the state Legislature by Feb 28. But Republicans are already crying foul.

"For all their rhetoric about defending democracy, we see what occurred here in New York," said John Faso, a former congressman who is advising other Republicans on redistricting. "The Democrats don't want to win districts at the polls. They want to win them in the backrooms of Albany."


# Florida Republican Party suspends chairman and demands his resignation amid rape investigation
By **BRENDAN FARRINGTON**
December 17, 2023. 4:02 PM EST

---

**TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP)** - The Republican Party of Florida suspended Chairman Christian Ziegler and demanded his resignation during an emergency meeting Sunday, adding to calls by Gov. Ron DeSantis and other top officials for him to step down as police investigate a rape accusation against him.

Ziegler is accused of raping a woman with whom he and his wife, Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler, had a prior consensual sexual relationship, according to police records.

"Christian Ziegler has engaged in conduct that renders him unfit for the office," the party's motion to censure Ziegler said, according to a document posted on the social media platform X by Lee County GOP Chairman Michael Thomason.

Ziegler tried to defend himself during the closed-door meeting, but the party board quickly took the action against him, Thompson said.

"Ziegler on soap box trying to defend himself, not working," Thompson posted before confirming the votes.

The party's executive committee will hold another vote in the future on whether to remove Ziegler.

The Sarasota Police Department is investigating the woman's accusation that Ziegler raped her at her apartment in October. Police documents say the Zieglers and the woman had planned a sexual threesome that day, but Bridget Ziegler was unable to make it. The accuser says Christian Ziegler arrived anyway and assaulted her.

Christian Ziegler has not been charged with a crime and says he is innocent, contending the encounter was consensual.

The accusation also has caused turmoil for Bridget Ziegler, an elected member of the Sarasota School Board, though she is not accused of any crime. On Tuesday the board voted to ask her to resign. She refused.

The couple have been outspoken opponents of LGBTQ+ rights, and their relationship with another woman has sparked criticism and accusations of hypocrisy.

In addition to DeSantis, Republican Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz and Florida's Republican House and Senate leaders have all called for Christian Ziegler's resignation.


# An order blocking enforcement of Ohio's abortion ban stands after the high court dismissed an appeal
December 16, 2023. 1:19 PM EST

---

**COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)** - The Ohio Supreme Court has dismissed the state's challenge to a judge's order that has blocked enforcement of Ohio's near-ban on abortions for the past 14 months.

The ruling moves action in the case back to Hamilton County Common Pleas, where abortion clinics asked Judge Christian Jenkins this week to throw out the law following voters' decision to approve enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution.

The high court on Friday said the appeal was " dismissed due to a change in the law."

The justices in March agreed to review a county judge's order that blocked enforcement of the abortion restriction and to consider whether clinics had legal standing to challenge the law. They ultimately denied Republican Attorney General Dave Yost's request that they launch their own review of the constitutional right to abortion, leaving such arguments for a lower court.

The clinics asked Jenkins on Thursday to block the abortion ban permanently on the heels of the amendment Ohio voters approved last month that ensures access to abortion and other reproductive health care.

A law signed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine in April 2019 prohibited most abortions after the first detectable "fetal heartbeat." Cardiac activity can be detected as early as six weeks into pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.

The ban, initially blocked through a federal legal challenge, briefly went into effect when the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision was overturned last year. It was then placed back on hold in county court, as part of a subsequent lawsuit challenging it as unconstitutional under the state constitution.

Yost's office referred to a statement from Dec. 7 that "the state is prepared to acknowledge the will of the people on the issue, but also to carefully review each part of the law for an orderly resolution of the case."

The abortion providers asked the lower court that initially blocked the ban to permanently strike it down. They cited Yost's own legal analysis, circulated before the vote, that stated that passage of the amendment would invalidate the state's six-week ban, stating, "Ohio would no longer have the ability to limit abortions at any time before a fetus is viable."


# A Black woman was criminally charged after a miscarriage. It shows the perils of pregnancy post-Roe
By **JULIE CARR SMYTH**
December 16, 2023. 1:01 PM EST

---

**COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)** - Ohio was in the throes of a bitter debate over abortion rights this fall when Brittany Watts, 21 weeks and 5 days pregnant, began passing thick blood clots.

The 33-year-old Watts, who had not shared the news of her pregnancy even with her family, made her first prenatal visit to a doctor's office behind Mercy Health-St. Joseph's Hospital in Warren, a working-class city about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of Cleveland.

The doctor said that, while a fetal heartbeat was still present, Watts' water had broken prematurely and the fetus she was carrying would not survive. He advised heading to the hospital to have her labor induced, so she could have what amounted to an abortion to deliver the nonviable fetus. Otherwise, she would face "significant risk" of death, according to records of her case.

That was a Tuesday in September. What followed was a harrowing three days entailing: multiple trips to the hospital; Watts miscarrying into, and then flushing and plunging, a toilet at her home; a police investigation of those actions; and Watts, who is Black, being charged with abuse of a corpse. That's a fifth-degree felony punishable by up to a year in prison and a $2,500 fine.

Her case was sent last month to a grand jury. It has touched off a national firestorm over the treatment of pregnant women, and especially Black women, in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump elevated Watts' plight in a post to X, formerly Twitter, and supporters have donated more than $100,000 through GoFundMe for her legal defense, medical bills and trauma counseling.

Whether abortion-seekers should face criminal charges is a matter of debate within the anti-abortion community, but, post-Dobbs, pregnant women like Watts, who was not even trying to get an abortion, have increasingly found themselves charged with "crimes against their own pregnancies," said Grace Howard, assistant justice studies professor at San José State University.

"Roe was a clear legal roadblock to charging felonies for unintentionally harming pregnancies, when women were legally allowed to end their pregnancies through abortion," she said. "Now that Roe is gone, that roadblock is entirely gone."

Michele Goodwin, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, and author of "Policing The Womb," said those efforts have long overwhelmingly targeted Black and brown women.

Even before Roe was overturned, studies show that Black women who visited hospitals for prenatal care were 10 times more likely than white women to have child protective services and law enforcement called on them, even when their cases were similar, she said.

"Post-Dobbs, what we see is kind of a wild, wild West," said Goodwin. "You see this kind of muscle-flexing by district attorneys and prosecutors wanting to show that they are going to be vigilant, they're going to take down women who violate the ethos coming out of the state's legislature." She called Black women "canaries in the coal mine" for the "hyper-vigilant type of policing" women of all races might expect from the nation's network of health-care providers, law enforcers and courts now that abortion isn't federally protected.

In Texas, for example, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton mounted an aggressive and successful defense against a white Texas mother, Kate Cox, who sued for permission to skirt the state's restrictive abortion law because her fetus had a fatal condition.

At the time of Watts' miscarriage, abortion was legal in Ohio through 21 weeks, six days of pregnancy. Her lawyer, Traci Timko, said Watts left the hospital on the Wednesday when, coincidentally, her pregnancy arrived at that date - after sitting for eight hours awaiting care.

It turned out the delay was because hospital officials were deliberating over the legalities, Timko said. "It was the fear of, is this going to constitute an abortion and are we able to do that," she said.

At the time, vigorous campaigning was taking place across Ohio over Issue 1, a proposed amendment to enshrine a right to abortion in Ohio's constitution. Some of the ads were harshly attacking abortions later in pregnancy, with opponents arguing the issue would allow the return of so-called "partial-birth abortions" and pregnancy terminations "until birth."

The hospital did not return calls seeking confirmation and comment, but B. Jessie Hill, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland, said Mercy Health-St. Joseph's was in a bind.

"These are the razor's edge decisions that health care providers are being forced to make," she said. "And all the incentives are pushing hospitals to be conservative, because on the other side of this is criminal liability. That's the impact of Dobbs."

Watts had been admitted to the Catholic hospital twice that week with vaginal bleeding, but she left without being treated. A nurse told the 911 dispatcher that Watts returned no longer pregnant on that Friday. She said Watts told her, "the baby's in her backyard in a bucket," and that she didn't want to have a child.

Timko said Watts insists she doesn't recall saying the pregnancy was unwanted; it was unintended, but she had always wanted to give her mother a grandchild. Her lawyer believes Watts may have meant that she didn't want to fish what she knew was a dead fetus from the bucket of blood, tissue and feces that she'd scooped from her overflowing toilet.

"This 33-year-old girl with no criminal record is demonized for something that goes on every day," she told Warren Municipal Court Judge Terry Ivanchak during Watts' recent preliminary hearing.

Warren Assistant Prosecutor Lewis Guarnieri told Ivanchak that Watts left home for a hair appointment after miscarrying, leaving the toilet clogged. Police would later find the fetus wedged in the pipes.

"The issue isn't how the child died, when the child died," Guarnieri told the judge, according to TV station WKBN. "It's the fact the baby was put into a toilet, was large enough to clog up the toilet, left in that toilet, and she went on (with) her day."

In court, Timko bristled at Guarnieri's suggestion.

"You cannot be broadcasting any clearer that you just don't get it," she said in an interview, suggesting Watts was scared, anxious and traumatized by the experience. "She's trying to protect Mama. She doesn't want to get her hair done. She wants to stop bleeding like crazy and start grieving her fetus, what she's just been through."

As chief counsel to the county's child assault protection unit, Assistant Trumbull County Prosecutor Diane Barber is the lead prosecutor on Watts' case.

Barber said she couldn't speak specifically about the case other than to note that the county was compelled to move forward with it once it was bound over from municipal court. She said she doesn't expect a grand jury finding this month.

"About 20% of the cases get no-billed, (as in) they do not get indicted and the case does not proceed," she said.

The size and stage of development of Watts' fetus - precisely the point when abortion crossed from legal to illegal in most cases - became an issue during her preliminary hearing.

A county forensic investigator reported feeling "what appeared to be a small foot with toes" inside Watts' toilet. Police seized the toilet and broke it apart to retrieve the intact fetus as evidence.

Testimony and an autopsy confirmed that the fetus died in utero before passing through the birth canal. In regard to abuse, the examination identified "no recent injuries."

Ivanchak acknowledged the case's complexities.

"There are better scholars than I am to determine the exact legal status of this fetus, corpse, body, birthing tissue, whatever it is," he said from the bench. "Matter of fact, I'm assuming that's what ... Issue 1's all about: at what point something becomes viable."

Timko, a former prosecutor, said Ohio's abuse-of-corpse statute is vague. It prohibits treating "a human corpse" in a way that would "outrage" reasonable family or community sensibilities.

"From a legal perspective, there's no definition of 'corpse,'" she said. "Can you be a corpse if you never took a breath?"

Howard said clarity on what about Watts' behavior constituted a crime is essential.

"For rights of people with the capacity for pregnancy, this is huge," she said. "Her miscarriage was entirely ordinary. So I just want to know what (the prosecutor) thinks she should have done. If we are going to require people to collect and bring used menstrual products to hospitals so that they can make sure it is indeed a miscarriage, it's as ridiculous and invasive as it is cruel."