WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 — The Trump administration is pushing hard for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to accept the new edition of a U.S.-brokered peace deal, which may lead to major territorial losses for Ukraine, according to U.S. online media outlet Axios.

Citing two Ukrainian officials, Axios said Monday that U.S. presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner discussed the plan with Zelensky in a two-hour call on Saturday, requiring a clear “yes” from the Ukrainian leader.

Asked in a Politico interview released Tuesday whether he had set a timeline for Zelensky to decide on the deal, Trump said Monday: “Well, he’s gonna have to get on the ball and start, uh, accepting things … ’cause he’s losing.”

The Financial Times reported Tuesday that Trump was hoping for a deal agreed “by Christmas,” and Zelensky told the U.S. mediators that he needed time to consult with European allies.

Witkoff and Kushner concluded three-day talks with Ukraine’s top negotiators on Saturday in Miami, the U.S. state of Florida, after a roughly five-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the deal in Moscow earlier last week.

During negotiations, Russia demanded that Ukraine cede the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, including lands under Kiev’s control.

“It felt like the U.S. was trying to sell us in different ways the Russian desire to take the whole of Donbas and that the Americans wanted Zelensky to accept all of it in the phone call,” a Ukrainian official told Axios.

Trump said at an event Sunday that he was “a little bit disappointed” to hear Zelensky had not read the proposal, hours after Zelensky depicted the peace talks with the U.S. as “constructive” but “not easy.”

Zelensky met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to discuss Ukraine peace in London on Monday.

According to a British government release after the meeting, the leaders underscored the need for a “just and lasting peace in Ukraine.” (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)

HANGZHOU, Dec. 10 — An academic seminar on human rights cooperation between China and Africa took place on Wednesday in the city of Jinhua, east China’s Zhejiang Province, marking World Human Rights Day.

Held at Zhejiang Normal University, the event convened nearly 100 experts and scholars from diverse fields to explore topics ranging from the four major global initiatives proposed by China and global human rights governance to China-Africa practical cooperation.

“Protection of human rights is the common aspiration of people from all countries and the core cornerstone of building a community with a shared future for humanity,” said Zhang Jianzhen, vice president of Zhejiang Normal University.

During the seminar, the China-Africa Human Rights Research Think-Tank Cooperation Network was officially launched, while the China-Africa Human Rights Research Center was inaugurated at the university’s Institute of African Studies.

Shen Yongxiang, vice president of the China Society for Human Rights Studies, hailed the launch as being “of great significance,” and added that “high-quality research results that are forward-looking, constructive and operational would be expected to spread the voice of China and Africa working together to promote human rights and common development.” (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)

BERLIN, Dec. 10 — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday that parts of the newly published U.S. national security strategy are “unacceptable” from a European perspective, stressing that Germany and Europe must be more independent from the United States in terms of security policy.

Merz made the remarks during a press conference in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He said he was “not surprised” by the document and acknowledged some aspects as comprehensible, given that U.S. Vice President JD Vance has accused Europe of straying from “fundamental values” shared with the United States at the Munich Security Conference in February.

However, Merz also voiced his disagreement with part of the U.S. strategy. “I see no necessity for the Americans now wanting to save democracy in Europe,” Merz said.

“If it were to be saved, we would manage that on our own.” He noted that the “America First” principle is particularly evident in the strategy. While expressing acceptance of “America first,” Merz stressed that “‘America alone’ cannot be in your (the U.S.) interest.

You need partners in the world.” Several U.S. and European news outlets have pointed out that in the 30-page U.S. National Security Strategy, barely two and a half pages are devoted to Europe.

The Financial Times reported that the document “highlights the ideological gulf that has opened up between Washington and its traditional allies.” (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 10 — The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday called for urgent action to safeguard 5 million children displaced by conflict in Sudan, where famine has been declared in parts of Darfur and Kordofan regions.

UNICEF estimates that 10 million people have been displaced in Sudan — half of them children, marking the highest level of child displacement in the world.

The agency said children trapped in besieged and hard-to-reach areas, including in Darfur and Kordofan, are especially vulnerable as access to food, safe water and medical supplies has been largely cut off.

Newly displaced children arrive exhausted, dehydrated and in urgent need of protection, nutrition and medical support.

“Children in Sudan are living through unrelenting violence, hunger and fear,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, who is visiting the country.

“Women and girls are bearing the brunt of the crisis, including horrific levels of sexual violence. They need protection, services, and global solidarity.”

Russell said that during a stop in Kassala, she met women and adolescent girls receiving psychosocial support and skills training at a UNICEF-supported center.

Many fled violence and found care and safety at the center. But similar services are extremely limited in Darfur and Kordofan due to ongoing insecurity.

In North Darfur, fighting in and around El Fasher has forced more than 106,000 people to flee since late October, overwhelming reception sites and turning areas like Tawila into vast informal settlements.

Despite ongoing support efforts, insecurity continues to impede UNICEF’s humanitarian response. Famine conditions have been confirmed in parts of Darfur and Kordofan and risk spreading further.

Families attempting to escape conflict zones face dangerous routes and many arrive in safer areas distressed. Children in front-line areas are often left without psychosocial care, support for survivors of gender-based violence, and other basic services.

UNICEF said recent efforts include identifying and registering unaccompanied and separated children, leading to more than 200 reunifications in North Darfur; providing gender-based violence support such as psychosocial care, referrals and cash assistance; and offering psychological support to thousands of children and caregivers in high-risk locations.

The agency has also restored access to safe water for hundreds of thousands of people and is using mobile clinics and partner facilities to provide health and nutrition services, and respond to disease outbreaks, including cholera.

The United Nations continues to call for an immediate end to the violence and urges all parties to uphold international humanitarian law and to ensure the safety and dignity of every child and civilian. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)

BEIJING, Dec. 10 — China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes Britain’s practice of political manipulation under the guise of cyber security, and has lodged stern representations in Beijing and London, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Wednesday.

Guo made the remarks at a daily news briefing when commenting on the report that the British government on Tuesday announced sanctions against two Chinese companies, claiming that the relevant companies had launched cyber-attacks against Britain and its allies and that their actions were related to the Chinese government. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 — “Weak” people are leading a “decaying” group of nations in Europe, U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview published by Politico on Tuesday.

“I think they’re weak … But I also think that they want to be so politically correct,” Trump said in the interview with Politico at the White House on Monday.

“I think they don’t know what to do,” the president claimed. “Europe doesn’t know what to do.” Without a change in border policy, some European states “will not be viable countries any longer,” said Trump, describing cities like London and Paris as creaking under the burden of migration from the Middle East and Africa.

The president said he put little stock in the role of European leaders in seeking to end the Ukraine crisis. “They talk, but they don’t produce, and the war just keeps going on and on.”

Russia was obviously in a stronger position than Ukraine, Trump told the media outlet, while renewing his call for Ukraine to hold new elections.

In the National Security Strategy released last Thursday, the Trump administration vowed to “cultivate resistance” to the European status quo on immigration and other politically volatile issues.

“Allies do not threaten to interfere in the democratic life or the domestic political choices of these allies,” European Council President Antonio Costa responded to the U.S. national security document on Monday. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)