Colombians unhappy with President Ivan Duque’s response to nearly a week of boisterous protests over everything from job losses to shark hunting took to the streets again Wednesday in a continuing tide of unrest.The daily protests jolting the South American country proclaim a wide array of complaints but echo one refrain: an opposition to a government that many believe only looks after the most privileged citizens.“We feel defenseless to everything,” Lucy Rosales, 60, a pensioner in Bogota. “We don’t feel like we have a voice that represents us. It’s many things that they allowed to accumulate.”Several thousand people blew whistles and waving their nation’s flag as they marched through the streets of the capital around mid-afternoon, while indigenous activists blocked part of a major highway in southwest Colombia.The new demonstration came a day after Duque’s attempt to quell the discontent by holding talks with a protest steering group hit a snag: Members of the National Strike Committee refused to join broader talks the president has called with all social sectors, fearing their demands would be diluted.“The government has not been able to learn from the Chilean and Ecuadorian experiences,” said Jorge Restrepo, an economics professor, referring to recent mass demonstrations in both of those countries. “It has made very many mistakes.”A man performs hanging from a bridge during an anti-government protest in Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 27, 2019. The steering committee presented a 13-point list of demands Tuesday that asks Duque to withdraw or refrain from tax, labor and pension law changes that are either before the legislature or rumored to be in development. The labor and student leaders also want Duque to review free-trade agreements, eliminate a police unit accused in the death of an 18-year-old student protester and fully implement the nation’s historic peace accord with leftist rebels.Organizers dismissed Duque’s calls to join his “National Conversation” that would run through March — an initiative that appears to take a page from French President Emmanuel Macron, who opened a “Great National Debate” to involve citizens in drafting reforms after months of angry protests in that country.“It’s a monologue between the government and its allies,” said Diogenes Orjuela, president of the Central Workers Union, one of the main forces behind the National Strike Committee.It remains unclear to what extent the Strike Committee represents protesters in what has become a largely citizen-driven outpouring of discontent. An invitation to gather in a park or bang pots and pans quickly goes viral on WhatsApp and soon hundreds fill neighborhoods with the angry sound of clanging metal and chants like “Get out Duque!”“We’re tired,” Ana Maria Moya, a student, said. “We’re saying, ‘No more.’”Though the National Strike Committee drew an estimated 250,000 people to the streets last Thursday, far fewer protesters were heeding their call for a new strike on Wednesday. Protesters filled the storied Plaza Bolivar but life continued as normal in much of the rest of the capital.Various leaders have tried to capitalize on the momentum, but none yet has emerged as the unequivocal voice of the protesters.“There is a contest over the ownership of the protesters,” Restrepo said. “I see students get out in the streets because they need more social mobility, higher levels of income, more opportunities at least in employment. But then the ones that claim they represent those students in the streets are the unions.”Colombia is widely considered in need of labor and pension reform. Few retirees currently have access to pensions, with the lowest-income earners the least likely to get one. Labor laws make it difficult to hire new employees. Even as the nation’s economy grows at a healthy 3.3%, unemployment has risen to nearly 11%.“I would characterize the demands of the National Strike Committee as highly conservative, regressive and counter-reformist demands,” Restrepo said.Orjuela, a former schoolteacher who participated in Colombia’s last major strike, in 1977, said protest organizers would be willing to support a pension reform as long as it involves a state and not a private-run system.Even as they parse out the details, the committee’s general message decrying Duque has resonated widely, tapping into the myriad frustrations of Colombians.For some it is big-picture issues like not fully implementing peace accords, endemic corruption and persistent economic inequality. For others it is small indignities, like relatively pricey public transportation that is also slow and overcrowded.One unexpected sight in the protests has been that of giant plastic sharks hoisted by at least one protester denouncing a government decision allowing a certain amount of shark fishing.“It’s like all the groups are feeding off each other,” said Gimena Sanchez-Garzoli, a human rights advocate with the Washington Office on Latin America.Few expected that such a mixed bag of motivations could generate a prolonged protest and it remained unclear how long it might drag on. Thus far, four people have died, hundreds have been injured and tens of millions of dollars have been lost from businesses shuttering during demonstrations.The patience of some Colombians is beginning to wear thin.Julio Contreras, a deliveryman who was tear gassed while trying to get 20 kilos (44 pounds) of chicken to restaurants, said he is ready for the protests to be done.“They’re not letting us work,” he said. “The students should be in the universities and not affecting us.”
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A TikTok post by a young woman, pretending to give eyelash curling advice while actually condemning China’s crackdown on Muslims in Xinjiang, has gone viral on the Chinese-owned app that has been accused of censoring anti-Beijing content.The clip by US teen Feroza Aziz, who describes herself as “17 Just a Muslim”, had millions of views across several social media platforms by Wednesday.But Aziz said she has been blocked from posting on the hugely popular video platform TikTok for a month after uploading Sunday’s clip slamming China, a claim disputed by the app.Part three to getting longer lashes #tiktok#muslims#muslimmemes#Uyghurmuslims#freepalestinepic.twitter.com/OoFpDpYPvj— feroza.x (@x_feroza) November 25, 2019Human rights groups and outside experts say more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities have been rounded up in a network of internment camps across the fractious region of Xinjiang.China, after initially denying the camps existed, describes them as vocational schools aimed at dampening the allure of Islamist extremism and violence through education and job training.Aziz starts her video telling viewers: “The first thing you need to do is grab your lash curler.”US Warns China’s Detention of Uighurs to Counter Terrorism Will Backfire

        A senior U.S. official has rejected China’s claim that the mass internment of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in China’s Xinjiang region is part of a counter-terrorism program and says it will backfire. The United States co-hosted an event on the sidelines of the U.N. 

However, she soon changes the subject, saying: “Then you’re going to put it down and use the phone you’re using right now to search what’s happening in China, how they’re getting concentration camps, throwing innocent Muslims in there, separating families from each other, kidnapping them, murdering them, raping them, forcing them to eat pork, forcing them to drink, forcing them to convert.”This is another Holocaust, yet no one is talking about it. Please be aware, please spread awareness in Xinjiang right now,” she adds, before returning to the eyelash curling tutorial.A previous account owned by Aziz, reportedly from New Jersey, was blocked by TikTok over another alleged violation, but the app denied the current profile had been frozen.”TikTok does not moderate content due to political sensitivities,” a spokesperson told AFP.”In this case, the user’s previous account and associated device were banned after she posted a video of Osama Bin Laden, which is a violation of TikTok’s ban on content that includes imagery related to terrorist organizations. Her new account and its videos, including the video in question, were not affected.”As of Wednesday morning, the post had more than 1.5 million views and 501,900 likes, and 600,000 comments.Two follow-up videos in which Aziz again addressed the Xinjiang camps had both received more than 7,000 views.The eyelash-curling clip had reached far more people on Twitter, where versions of the same video received more than 6.5 million views.Aziz told Buzzfeed: “As a Muslim girl, I’ve always been oppressed and seen my people be oppressed, and always I’ve been into human rights.”Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang decline to comment.”How could I know what’s happening on the (social media) account of one individual?” Geng said at a regular press briefing, adding that Beijing has always urged Chinese companies to comply with international rules and local laws.
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The death toll from the strongest earthquake to hit Albania in more than three decades rose to at least 27 on Wednesday, as the country observed a day of mourning.
 
Among the deaths, which included children, were at least 12 people killed in the coastal city of Durrës, at least 14 in Thumanë, and at least one in Kurbin. Officials say the death toll could increase further, with several people still unaccounted for. Hundreds of others were admitted to the hospital with injuries.
 
The government declared the state of emergency for the areas affected the most, as rescue crews continued to work to pull people from the rubble.
Albania Quake video player.
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The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was a magnitude 6.4 with an epicenter 30 kilometers northwest of the capital, Tirana. Three hours after the initial quake, a magnitude-5 aftershock struck in the Adriatic Sea.
 
Several buildings were also destroyed in Durrës and Thumanë.
 
“For the moment, when all energies are going towards search and rescue, it is impossible to have a detailed account of material damage,” said Defense Minister Olta Xhaçka, adding this was the worst earthquake to hit Albania, since 1979. Some 40 people were killed in that earthquake.Citizens rest at a makeshift camp in Durres, after an earthquake shook Albania, Nov. 26, 2019. Escaped the worst
 
Prefect of Durrës Roland Nasto told VOA there are nine sites “in the city where crews continue to work to find people,” suggesting the toll might rise.
 
“[Tomorrow] we will start the process of finding shelter for people who today are under open skies and who will spend the night in tents, some of them – due to the trauma — even refusing to be sheltered in arenas or gyms, afraid to be somewhere with a ceiling,” Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Tuesday.
 
He later visited Thumanë to assess the damage.
 
“We want our loved ones to be dug out of the rubble as soon as possible,” said a Thumanë resident, who told VOA’s Albanian Service her cousin and his wife were missing.
 
Another resident said, “We are trying to find people that are dead or alive. We are afraid to go inside the buildings for fear that they will crumble.”
 
President Ilir Meta and opposition leader Lulzim Basha also visited areas affected by the quake.
 Show of solidarity
 
Aid and support has poured into the affected areas, with people offering their homes and sending care packages from different parts of Albania. Kosovo’s outgoing government allocated $550,000 for relief efforts and Kosovo’s Security Force sent specialized teams and enlisted help from private companies.
 
Rescue teams and specialized crews were dispatched from neighboring Kosovo, Italy and Greece.
 
“Two groups of specialized crews have come from Kosovo, two from Greece, two from Italy, and we expect a specialized group of 40 from Italy,” Nasto said.
 
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, who was visiting North Macedonia Tuesday, later in the day visited Albania to offer “any assistance needed to face the catastrophic situation.”
 
The European Commission said on Twitter that its stands by Albania “at this difficult time following the earthquakes.”
 
“We have mobilized immediate support to help local authorities, and rescue teams from Italy, Greece and Romania are already on their way,” a statement on Twitter said.
 
Help also arrived from France, Turkey, Serbia, and the United States.
 
The U.S. Embassy also sent a statement of condolence.
 
“The United States stands with our friends in Albania, just as Americans and Albanians have always stood by each other during difficult times. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and stand ready to offer our support,” the Embassy said.
 
On Wednesday, Pope Francis said he was praying for Albania.
 
“I would like to send a greeting and express my closeness to the dear Albanian people, who have suffered so much these days,” the pope said. “Albania was the first country in Europe that I wanted to visit. I am close to the victims, I pray for the dead, for the wounded, for the families, may God bless them, the people that I love.”
 
The Albanian diaspora also was rallying to help, holding several fundraisers to send money to one of the poorest countries in Europe.
 
“I am so heartbroken for my people back home, for those who have lost lives and loved ones,” New York City Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj, an Albanian American, told VOA. 
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The House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump is focused on whether the White House delayed promised U.S. military aid to Ukraine until its leader agreed to do the president a political favor. While lawmakers investigate the president’s role in the matter, VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine takes a closer look at that military aid at the center of the controversy and why it’s so critical for Ukraine 
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Top Russian officials decried the recommendations by a World Anti-Doping Agency committee to suspend Russia from international competition over tainted athlete doping probes — the latest in a drawn out saga over accusations of Russian state sponsored doping that has roiled global sport since 2014.Russian athletes, unsurprisingly, joined in expressing bitterness about the WADA recommendations. But while some argued the suggested WADA penalties were unduly harsh, others blamed a failure in Russian sport leadership for risking their chance to compete in the next two Olympic Games and perhaps beyond.The recommendations, issued by WADA’s Compliance Review Committee on Monday, alleged evidence of tampering of some 2000 athlete probes at Moscow’s RUSADA testing facility, and called for a four-year suspension of Russia from international competition, including the Olympic Games.Reacting to the pronouncement at a news conference on Tuesday, Russia Minister of Sport In this file photo dated Wednesday, July 24, 2019, Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Russia has sent a formal response to the World Anti-Doping Agency, Tuesday Oct. 8, 2019.The charges, argued Lavrov, were carried out by those who “wish to show Russia as guilty in anything and everything.”The Kremlin was more sanguine.  A spokesman merely noted that President Vladimir Putin — who has gladly cast Russia’s return to sporting glory as a symbol of the country’s rising global status under his 19-year rule — had no plans to meet with government sporting officials over the issue.WADA is expected to make a final decision regarding the committee’s recommendations on December 9. Whatever the outcome, Russia would have a right to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for a final ruling.Athletes reactYet athlete anger was also palpable  — with leading athletes lashing out at both WADA and Russia’s sporting bureaucracy for failing to lift a doping cloud that has hung over Russian athletics ever since a 2015 WADA investigation detailed widespread cheating at international events.Indeed, just days prior to this week’s WADA committee recommendations, World Athletics, the sport’s global governing body formally known as the IAAF, provisionally suspended top figures from Russia’s Track and Field for helping champion Russian high jumper Danil Lysenko avoid doping tests earlier this year.The charges prompted the immediate full suspension of efforts to reinstatement Russia’s track and field association following its 2015 suspension. Until the most recent violation, the talks reportedly had been making headway.In a letter addressed to Russia’s Minister of Sport and head of Russia’s Olympic Committee, acclaimed high jumper In this Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019 file photo, Gold medalist Mariya Lasitskene, who participates as a neutral athlete, poses during the medal ceremony for the women’s high jump at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar.While Russia has acknowledged problems with doping to a degree, it has also argued the country is being unfairly singled out — with Russian athletes being punished en masse for the sins of a few.In turn, the International Olympic Committee made allowances for Russian athletes who undergo additional drug screening to compete as neutral athletes, without state uniform or flag or anthem, at the 2016 and 2018 Olympics.In a statement released Tuesday, the IOC criticized Russia over the doping probe manipulations while suggesting bad actors at RUSADA had sabotaged what it otherwise saw as a good faith effort by Russian Olympic Officials.”The report does not indicate any wrongdoing by the sports movement in this regard, in particular the Russian Olympic Committee or its members,” noted the IOC statement.“In this context, the IOC welcomes the opportunity offered by WADA to Russian athletes to compete, “where they are able to demonstrate that they are not implicated in any way by the non-compliance.”Yet some Russians — including leading sporting legends — expressed exasperation over the Russian government’s continued inability to weed out drug offenders and make peace with WADA.“The fact that there are more honest and clean athletes in our country than lying and irresponsible ones is a fact,” wrote Yelena Isinbayaeva, the former two-time Gold medal winner.“So why is it that we still can’t seem to separate these two groups — the honest from the deceitful?”  Access of the Moscow RUSADA laboratory doping probes was one of two key condition to WADA’s so-called “roadmap to return”  to international competition.Yet from President Putin on down, Russian officials have been loathe to meet WADA’s other supposed requirement: that Russia admit it engaged in a massive doping effort with support from the government and security services to help secure medals  — most notably at the Russia-hosted Sochi 2014 Winter Games, in which Russia placed first among nations.Russian officials and, to a degree athletes, argue geopolitics have helped hype the hysteria around Russian doping  — with sport long ago joining Ukraine, Syria, election interference, and a myriad of other issues that currently infect Russian relations with the West.Given the political stakes involved, observers puzzled out possible motives behind the latest manipulation of athlete probes at the Moscow lab — with the popular sports.ru website coming to what it admitted was an uncomfortable conclusion: someone in the Russian government had chosen to gamble the Olympic dreams of young Russian athletes rather than admit past doping transgressions.“We don’t have sport in a traditional sense — in Russia, it long ago became a special-operation for winning medals,” said the editorial.“Our manipulation of the database — is, by fact, an admission. It’s proof of a government doping system.” 
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Rescuers were pulling survivors and dead bodies from piles of rubble in Albania on Tuesday after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s coastal area. The U.S. Geological survey placed the quake’s epicenter about 30 kilometers north of the capital Tirana and at a depth of about 20 kilometers. The earthquake was followed by about 100 aftershocks, including three with preliminary magnitudes of about 5. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports the death toll is rising.
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France said Tuesday it is determined to continue fighting terrorism, despite losing 13 of its soldiers during a counterinsurgency operation in Mali. The deaths of the soldiers late Monday represent France’s biggest military loss in three decades. The 13 troops were killed during a counterterrorism combat operation in Mali, when the two helicopters the troops were on slammed into each other.French President Emmanuel Macron announced his deep sadness over their deaths, and France’s National Assembly observed a minute of silence.French Defense Minister Florence Parly described the men as exceptional soldiers and heroes, who fought for liberty until the end. She said support from allies strengthened France, allowing it to continue the fight against terrorism.Forty-one French soldiers have been killed in Mali since France launched its Barkhane counterinsurgency operation against Islamist militants in the Sahel in 2014.The latest deaths draw attention to the roughly 4,500 French troops stationed across West Africa — raising questions about whether they are stretched too thin.France is supporting a so-called G-5 Sahel alliance, grouping five area countries against armed extremist groups. But experts say the militant groups are strengthening. Regional forces and U.N. peacekeepers have come under attack. Some commentators say France does not have enough military support and the G-5 Sahel alliance has yet to achieve even a symbolic victory.
 
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There senior officials in Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s government stepped down Tuesday in connection with a probe into the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.Press reports have linked Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, Economy Minister Chris Cardona and Muscat’s chief of staff Keith Schembri to the Caruana Galizia investigation.All three deny any wrongdoing. Their resignations follow the arrest last week of Maltese hotelier and power company director Yorgen Fenech in relation with the case.In her blog, Caruana Galizia wrote boldly about corruption and investigated the affairs of Maltese politicians and business figures, as well as those doing business with the European Union member.Eight months before she was killed by a car bomb in October 2017, Caruana Galizia alleged in her blog that a company called 17 Black Ltd., listed in the Panama Papers, was connected to Maltese politicians. The company belonged to Fenech, the businessman.Economy Minister Cardona said Tuesday he was stepping down pending the investigation and the ongoing proceedings related to Caruana Galizia’s case. He was summoned by police for questioning last Saturday.
Cardona said he had “absolutely no connection with the case,” but added that after police asked for further clarifications, he felt “duty-bound to take this step in the national interest.”Mizzi, the tourism minister, said he was resigning “in the national interest.” He reiterated that he had no business connection with Fenech, and no connection with 17 Black.Prime Minister Muscat himself announced the resignation of his chief of staff Schembri.Asked of the reasons behind Schembri’s decision, Muscat told reporters it was premature to speculate on “whether he is being questioned or what he is being questioned about.” He added, however, that the timing of the resignation was “unfortunate.”Schembri served as Muscat’s chief of staff since 2013.Muscat on Friday described the investigation as “the biggest our country has seen,” but contended that no politicians were tied to the journalist’s murder.Three people were arrested in December 2017 on suspicion of detonating the bomb that killed 53-year-old Caruana Galizia as she drove near her home. The trial has not yet begun, and the mastermind has yet to be identified. 
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Colombian unions and student groups will hold another protest on Wednesday in honor of a teenage demonstrator who died after being injured by a tear gas canister, as President Ivan Duque announced changes to his unpopular tax reform proposal.Other demonstrations are expected to continue on Tuesday, the sixth straight day of protests following a 250,000-person march last week organized by the National Strike Committee.The largely peaceful protests have attracted thousands of marchers to reject economic reforms, police violence and corruption.The committee said in a statement early on Tuesday it would demand “a permanent negotiation” with Duque, but talks lasted only about two hours, with committee leaders demanding Duque meet only with them, sans business leaders or other sectors.The committee has demanded the tax reform, which includes a cut in duties on businesses, be rejected.
Shortly after the meeting, Duque told journalists the proposal will be modified to return value added tax to the poorest 20% of Colombians and lower contributions to healthcare by minimum wage pensioners – half of the retired population – from 12% to 4% over three years. There will also be three days each year without VAT.The proposals will cost some 3.2 trillion pesos ($931 million), the government said.Duque denies supporting rumored economic plans that have galvanized many protesters – including a cut to the minimum wage for young people. Demonstrators have also highlighted what they say is a lack of government action to stop the murder of hundreds of human rights activists and asked Duque to fully implement a 2016 peace deal with leftist rebels.Asked as he left the meeting what the government could do to end protests, Confederation of Colombian Workers president Luis Miguel Morantes told Reuters “it is a negotiation, there will be things that go to a certain point, there will be a fair balance, there will be other things we have to wait for, like changes in laws, it’s very relative.”The committee wanted an “exclusive” dialogue, but the government would like them to form part of national discussions, said official Diego Molano.”They must understand that there are other sectors which also want to debate the issues of employment, who have proposals for young people,” Molano told journalists.The death on Monday of protester Dilan Cruz, 18, is likely to fuel further criticism of the crowd dispersion tactics of the ESMAD riot police, which include tear gas and stun grenades.Cruz, who was injured on Saturday, has become a symbol for many young protesters. On Tuesday mourners were gathering at makeshift shrines outside the hospital where he was treated and the place where he was hit.
The strike committee said it would ask Duque to shut down the ESMAD and “purify” the police.The committee will increase the intensity of the strike on Wednesday “in homage to the symbol of the national strike Dylan Cruz,” the statement said, using a different spelling of Cruz’s first name than that used by his sister and the government.($1 = 3,433.94 Colombian pesos) 
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Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Tuesday asked lawmakers to allow troops back on the streets to defend key public infrastructure, even as a human rights group reported “grave” abuses by security forces over five weeks of sometimes violent riots.The continuing protests in Chile over inequality and a shortfall in some social services have left at least 26 dead and thousands injured. They have also hobbled the capital’s public transport system, once the envy of Latin America, and caused billions in losses for private business.Chilean President Sebastian Pinera arrives to La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, Chile, Nov. 4, 2019.Riots have erupted in countries across Latin America, including Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia in recent weeks as regional unrest has spiraled into violence and demands for broad-based reforms.Pinera sent a bill to Congress Tuesday morning to allow the military to protect transmission lines, electric plants, airports, hospitals and other public infrastructure in order to assure “basic services.”He said the move would “free up the police force … to protect the security of our citizens.”Pinera’s announcement came shortly after international rights group Human Rights Watch said in a report that police had brutally beat protesters, shot teargas cartridges directly at them, and ran over some with official vehicles or motorcycles.”There are hundreds of worrying reports of excessive force on the streets and abuse of detainees,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco, director of Human Rights Watch’s Americas division, after meeting with Pinera on Tuesday.The group stopped short of alleging the abuses had been systematic, but its conclusions were in line with a report last week by Amnesty International on the seriousness of many violations. More than 200 Chileans have suffered severe eye injuries alone in clashes with police using rubber bullets.Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have recommended an immediate overhaul of police protocols and accountability measures to address the mounting allegations of abuse.Police and military officials have said any cases of alleged abuse are under investigation by civilian courts.New clashesRoadblocks snarled traffic around the Chilean capital Santiago on Tuesday around midday, as protesters set up burning barricades on major streets and highways around the city.Police used water cannons to disperse protesters in front of the La Moneda presidential palace shortly after Pinera’s speech there. Many took to the city’s main boulevard afterward, bringing traffic to a standstill.”This never ends,” Rosa Olarce, a pharmacy worker, told Reuters as she waited for a bus. “We’ll see what comes of it.”Pinera in his speech Tuesday morning ticked off a list of reforms, from boosting the minimum wage to slashing the prices of medicines and public transportation, aimed at quelling the protests.The country’s normally fractious political parties have also agreed to work together on a new constitution.However, protests continue, in smaller numbers but with intense violence at their fringes, driven by mistrust that politicians will keep their promises to bring significant change, and enduring fury over the police handling of demonstrators.
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With U.S.-Turkish relations at their lowest ebb in decades, the future of a critical American air base in Turkey is increasingly in the spotlight.  The vast Incirlik Air Base, located in southern Turkey close to Syria, has been a longstanding symbol of U.S.-Turkish cooperation. At the height of the Cold War, it underscored America’s commitment to its NATO partner against the Soviet Union.”We have to underline the Incirlik is one of the most important bases in the Middle East with the placement of tactical nuclear weapons at the base,” said professor Mesut Casin, a Turkish presidential foreign policy adviser. “This shows Turkey continues to support the value of the NATO organization.”It’s widely reported that the United States retains around 50 nuclear free-fall bombs at the facility. During the Cold War, the weapons were relied on to deter vast Soviet ground forces massed on the Turkish border.However, with Ankara and Washington at loggerheads over a myriad of issues, including Turkey’s deepening ties with Russia and the removal of Turkey from a U.S. jet fighter program, the future of Incirlik is increasingly murky.
The Countering Turkish Aggression Act, a bipartisan bill under consideration in the U.S. Senate, would require the Trump administration to consider alternative bases for “personnel and assets” deployed at Incirlik. The bill comes in response to Ankara’s offensive into Syria against a Kurdish militia, which is an ally in Washington’s war against Islamic State.FILE – A service vehicle with a sign reading ‘Welcome to Incirlik’ is pictured at Incirlik Air Base, near Adana, Turkey, Jan. 21, 2016.House Armed Services Committee member Representative Kendra Horn tweeted last month that she is “deeply concerned that strategic nuclear weapons remain on an air base within Turkish borders.” Horn later removed the tweet.”They (Congress) are talking about removing the nuclear arsenal from Incirlik,” said former Turkish ambassador Mithat Rende. “If they (nuclear weapons) are removed, that would be a sign of a huge lack of confidence (by Washington in Ankara).””There would be a trust problem, and relations might unravel if you withdraw the nuclear arsenal from Turkey,” he added. “And you would expect an overreaction from the Turkish side if the U.S. pulls out its nuclear arsenal.””Turkey-U.S. relations cannot continue in this climate of threats,” warns Casin. “Turkey has a long history of being the United States’ best ally in the region. Who is the winner of this present situation, Russia and China.”Analysts warn Moscow will be eager to take advantage of any U.S. reduction in Incirlik.”If the Americans take their nuclear weapons, then I can tell you if they do, then the Turks will take Russian missiles there,” said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University. “Then the Russians will have much more free hand to gain Turkey. So the architect of a lost Turkey will be American policy, and the winner will be (Russian President Vladimir) Putin.”
 
“Turkey is not on the defensive anymore,” he added.” The more the Americans make pressure, the more Turkey will work closely with Russia — this is a historical change in Turkish foreign policy.”Russian President Vladimir Putin has carefully cultivated a relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as relations with Ankara’s traditional western allies deteriorate.FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake hands after their joint news conference following their talks in the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Oct. 22, 2019.While Incirlik has been pivotal to U.S. strategic operations, including a significant withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan and Iraq, Ankara’s imposing restrictions on the base’s use in Syrian operations is, analysts say, a point of tension.  Last month’s American operation to kill Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria saw U.S. forces use a base in Iraq instead of the much closer Incirlik, requiring a round trip of many hours.Other allies, too, have expressed frustration about Turkish operational demands. In 2017, Germany removed its forces from Incirlik because of a diplomatic spat with Ankara, relocating to Jordan.American armed forces appear to be already taking steps to diversify their dependence on Incirlik. The U.S. has spent over $150 million in the last two years improving Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, while American bases are reportedly being considered to be established in Turkey’s neighbors, Greece and Cyprus.Observers claim, given Incirlik’s size and location, no base in the region can replace it. But Washington could be calculating that a combination of bases across the region could provide a patchwork alternative to Incirlik.Such efforts are likely to continue, given a continued current downward spiral in U.S.-Turkish relations. However, analysts warn, abandoning Incirlik will not be without consequences.”So American has to choose between losing Turkey or not losing Turkey. At the moment, they are more intending to lose Turkey,” said Bagci. 
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Dresden museum officials say thieves got away with less than initially thought in their robbery of the Green Vault’s collection of 18th century jewels.
Green Vault Director Dirk Syndram told reporters Tuesday the thieves who broke into the museum early Monday seem to have only snatched what they could reach through holes punched with an ax into three display cabinets.
He said the thieves, who haven’t been caught, did take a large diamond broach, a diamond epaulette, and other treasures. Syndram didn’t give a complete list of what was gone and has only said the losses were culturally “priceless.”
Of some 100 dazzling pieces, he said many were left behind, including diamond-encrusted shoe buckles and buttons, the queen’s pearl necklaces, and a diamond-studded sword.  
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Cuba’s foreign minister on Tuesday accused the United States of violating the Vienna Convention and the deal re-establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.Soon after, the United States announced a new sanction on Cuba meant to cut off the island’s supply of petroleum from Venezuela.In two tweets, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said unspecified “illegal actions” by the U.S. Embassy in Havana violated both the international codes of conduct for diplomats and the agreement to reopen embassies in Washington and Havana in 2015.“Illegal actions by #US embassy in #Cuba are interference in the internal affairs of the country and are intended to attack our constitutional order,” Rodríguez tweeted. “They violate the Vienna Convention, the agreement for the re-establishment of relations and Cuban and US laws.”The U.S. Treasury said it was designating the Cuban company Corporacion Panamericana S.A. as a violator of American sanctions on Venezuela. Such designations make it difficult for companies like Panamericana to do business even outside the United States due to third parties’ fears of repercussions for dealing with a sanctioned entity.The Treasury Department said that after the U.S. sanctioned the state-owned oil importer Cubametales, Cuba moved employees and contracts over to Panamericana, which was not yet sanctioned.In one example that occurred over the summer, Cuba shifted its dealings with a North African oil provider from Cubametales to Corporacion Panamericana, the Treasury Department said.A Cubametales official who also worked in a similar position at Corporacion Panamericana negotiated a deal to buy gasoline from a European company, the Treasury statement said.The announcement comes amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Cuba over Washington’s steadily increasing pressure on the communist government.The U.S. has prohibited cruise travel to Cuba, U.S. flights to cities outside Havana and support for Venezuela oil shipments to the island. The Trump administration says it hopes to cripple the Cuban government’s ability to support Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
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Almost three years into the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump, Germans and Americans continue to have notably different perspectives on the relationship between their two countries, with Americans much more optimistic than their European counterparts, a study said Tuesday.The Pew Research Center and the Koerber-Stiftung foundation said in the joint report that three-quarters of Americans surveyed characterized the relationship with Germany as good, while nearly two-thirds of Germans polled saw relations as bad. Only 2% of Germans said the relationship with the U.S. is very good, compared with 13% of Americans.Despite this disconnect, views have become more positive in Germany over the past year: The share of Germans who said the relationship between the United States and Germany is good rose from 24% in 2018 to 34% this year.The United States had been the Germans’ most important trans-Atlantic partner from the end of World War II through the Cold War. But after the fall of the Berlin Wall three decades ago and German reunification in 1990, Germany began focusing more on its partners in the European Union.The relationship between Germany and the U.S. also took a hit after Trump became president in 2017 and is mirrored in the strained relations of Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.Tempers flared this week after Economy Minister Peter Altmaier on a talk show defended the government’s decision not to ban Huawei from competing for contracts to build the country’s 5G mobile networks, instead agreeing that companies must meet strict standards — which still could end up excluding the Chinese firm.Altmaier noted Germany hadn’t boycotted the U.S. after it was revealed the National Security Agency had listened in on Merkel’s phone, and said that Washington also demands that American companies “pass on certain information needed to fight terrorism.”U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell, a Trump appointee, responded that “the recent claims by senior German officials that the United States is equivalent to the Chinese Communist Party are an insult to the thousands of American troops who help ensure Germany’s security.”Despite the tensions under Trump, however, Americans’ view of the bilateral relationship is at its highest point in three years of surveys, rising from 68% in 2017 to 75% this year.Germans were more likely to see the U.S. as an important partner than Americans were to consider Germany as one.Among the Germans polled, 42% said the United States is the most important foreign partner, second only to France, which was deemed most important by 60%.In comparison, only 13% of Americans said Germany is the United States’ most important partner abroad, ranking it fifth after the United Kingdom (36%), China (23%), Canada (20%) and Israel (15%).Nonetheless, U.S. poll respondents ranked improving cooperation with Germany more highly than German respondents did, with about 69%, compared to half of Germans. German respondents placed more importance on greater cooperation with France and Japan: 77% and 69%, respectively.An overwhelming percentage of Americans polled, 85%, said they viewed the U.S. military presence in Germany as very important to American national security, while only 52% of German respondents did. The U.S. currently operates several military bases in Germany, with approximately 35,000 active duty American troops, a legacy of World War II and the continued NATO presence in Europe.The Pew Center interviewed 1,004 people in the U.S. from Sept. 17-22. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points.In Germany, the survey of 1,000 people was conducted from Sept. 9-28 by the Kantar agency for Koerber-Stiftung. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points.
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Ukraine’s president says he has discussed a new contract for natural gas supplies from Russia during a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he discussed the gas deal with Putin during Monday’s phone call. Zelenskiy said Tuesday that the deal is a priority for Ukraine and important for Europe’s energy security.Talks on a replacing a contract expiring this year have dragged, raising fears of disruptions of Russian gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine.Price and debt disputes led to disruptions of Russian gas deliveries to European customers during the winters of 2006 and 2009.Relations between Russia and Ukraine have remained badly strained since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Moscow’s support for a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine.
 
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Russia faces a four-year ban from global sporting events, including next year’s Tokyo Olympics, because of a continued failure to cooperate with anti-doping investigators.The ban recommendation made Tuesday by the compliance panel of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), came after investigators found evidence of a further drug cover-up by Russian officials, who are alleged to have deleted and tampered with positive drugs tests from a database at a Moscow laboratory earlier this year.The executive committee of the anti-doping agency will decide at a meeting in Paris scheduled for December 9 whether to approve the sanction, including stripping Russia of sporting events already awarded to the country “unless it is legally or practically impossible to do so.” Russian government officials would also be barred from attending events for the next four years and the country’s flag wouldn’t be flown at World sporting tournaments for the ban’s period.Russia was banned from sending a team to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea but individual athletes from the country were allowed by the International Olympic Committee to compete, if they passed strenuous doping tests. The new ban recommendation is the latest twist in a saga of state-sponsored doping stretching back to before the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and which is said to rival in its magnitude the extensive and notorious East German drug program of the Cold War years.Flag bearers from various nations attend the closing ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Feb. 25, 2018.The expert panel’s advice would include banning Russia’s team from competing in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but Russia would still be able to host four games from the 2020 European Championship in St Petersburg because it is a regional football tournament and not a World competition.US Anti-Doping Agency head Travis Tygart welcomed the sanctions recommendation saying it “recognized the egregious conduct of Russia toward clean athletes and now let’s all hope the Wada executive committee uses the same resolve to ensure clean athletes are not again sold down the river and actually supports this unfortunate but necessary outcome.”Rusada was initially declared non-compliant in November 2015 after a report by sports lawyer and academic Richard McLaren found widespread evidence of state-sponsored doping in Russian track and field athletics. A subsequent report in 2016 commissioned by WADA accused Russia of operating a state-sponsored doping program for four years across the “vast majority” of summer and winter Olympic sports. Last year the country sport bodies were declared compliant after the release of data from its main Moscow anti-doping laboratory but data handed over in January proved to be “inauthentic” according to investigators.The compliance panel says a forensic review found serious inconsistencies, saying investigators had uncovered “an extremely serious case of non-compliance with the requirement to provide an authentic copy of the Moscow data, with several aggravating features.”More than 2000 samples supplied by the Moscow laboratory had been tampered with, the compliance panel says. The huge scale of Russian doping first came to light in 2015 when Grigory Rodchenkov, who for a decade was Russia’s anti-doping lab chief, fled to the U.S..McLaren’s report confirmed the allegations made by Rodchenkov, concluding that more than a thousand Russian athletes had been doping up  between 2012 and 2015 and that Russian officials, the country’s sports ministry and Russia’s FSB security agency had conspired in a “cover-up that operated on an unprecedented scale.”Russian officials say a four-year ban would be devastating and unfair, pointing to an acknowledgement by the compliance panel that aside from the alleged Moscow laboratory tampering Russian officials are being cooperative. Russian sport official Yuri Ganus told local media it would be a “tragedy,” if Russian athletes faced a suspension.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday ahead of the ban recommendation: “Our sports authorities have been in close contact with WADA and will continue cooperating with the body and international sports community.” He added: “No decisions have been made so far. You know that the Russian Federation provided all necessary information. Let’s wait for results and analyses of reports provided by the Russian side.”In October Russian President Vladimir Putin said at an international forum that Russia was keen to overcome the doping controversies. “We want our athletes to be fully represented in international events where they can demonstrate their talent without any restrictions. We want them to become role models for amateur sports lovers and professionals, first of all for our young generation,” he said.
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A strong earthquake struck the area of Albania’s capital early Tuesday, killing at least six people and injuring hundreds.The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was a magnitude 6.4 with an epicenter 30 kilometers northwest of the capital, Tirana.Rescue crews worked to find and free people from damaged and destroyed buildings.A Defense Ministry spokeswoman said the bodies of three people were found in the rubble of an apartment building in the city of Durres.Crews found the bodies of two other people in the remains of a collapsed building in the village of Thumane, while another person died after jumping out of a building in Kurbin.
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Turkish riot police used force to break up a march by thousands of women calling for what they call an “end to impunity” for men guilty of violence against women.Police stopped more than 2,000 from marching up Istikal Street in Istanbul’s main shopping district.Police fired pepper spray at the protesters with some witnesses reporting the use of tear gas and plastic bullets. No casualties or arrests were reported.March organizers say they are tired at what they believe are the relatively light sentences handed out to husbands and boyfriends who murder or abuse women.Women at the front of Monday’s march spread out a banner reading “We cannot tolerate the loss of one more woman.”A Turkish women’s rights group says nearly 380 women have been killed so far this year.A Turkish court recently sentenced a man to life in prison for slashing his ex-wife’s throat in front of their 10 year-old daughter in August.The murder was caught on video and sickened nearly everyone who saw it.
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A Lebanese-born business tycoon says he is donating Hitler’s top hat and other Nazi memorabilia he won at an auction to an Israeli Jewish group to keep the stuff out of the hands of neo-Nazis.Abdallah Chatila, who made his fortune in diamonds and Swiss real estate, paid $660,000 for the items last week.He says he bought the the hat and memorabilia intending to destroy it, but decided it was better to hand it over to the Keren Hayeson-United Israel Appeal.Along with the Nazi dictator’s hat, the items include a silver plated edition of “Mein Kampf,” and a typewriter used by Hitler’s secretary.Although Chatila says some Lebanese are criticizing him for helping the so-called enemy, his act was totally non-political. He said he “wished to buy these objects so that they could not be used for the purpose of neo-Nazi propaganda.”The European Jewish Association, which had originally protested the auction, is now applauding Chatila.”Such a consequence, such an act of selfless generosity to do something that you feel strongly about is the equivalent of finding a precious diamond in an Everest of coal,” Rabbi Menachem Margolin wrote in a letter to Chatila.It is unclear what the Jewish group plans to do with the objects.
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Turkey and the United States are seemingly closer to a collision course as Turkish media report Ankara testing a Russian anti-aircraft weapon system, despite threats of Washington sanctions.Turkish F-16 jets flew low Monday across the Turkish capital, in a two-day exercise reportedly to test the radar system newly acquired Russian S-400 missile system.Ankara’s purchase of the S-400s is a significant point of tension with Washington, which claims the system poses a threat to NATO’s defenses.”There is room for Turkey to come back to the table. They know that to make this work, they need to either destroy or return or somehow get rid of the S-400,” a senior State Department official told reporters at a briefing Wednesday.The official added that sanctions could follow if Ankara went ahead and activated the system.Ankara’s purchase of the S-400 system violated U.S. Congress’s Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).FILE – Military vehicles and equipment, parts of the S-400 air defense systems, are seen on the tarmac, after they were unloaded from a Russian transport aircraft, at Murted military airport in Ankara, July 12, 2019.Despite September’s delivery of the S-400s, Washington appeared to step back, indicating that sanctions would only be imposed if Ankara activated the system.Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar reiterated Ankara’s stance, however, that the S-400 poses no threat to NATO systems.”That’s what we have been saying since the beginning [of the dispute with the [U.S.]. [S-400s] will definitely be a ‘stand-alone’ system. We are not going to integrate this with the NATO systems in any way. It will operate independently,” Akar said Monday.There is mounting frustration in Ankara with Washington over its stance, given President Barack Obama’s failure to sell U.S. Patriot missiles to Turkey.”Russia has missiles, so do Iraq, Iran, Syria. So why doesn’t the U.S. doesn’t give us the patriot missile,” said Professor Mesut Casin, a Turkish presidential foreign policy adviser.”Then we buy Russian S-400, and then you say you are the bad guy, you don’t obey the regulations, NATO principles, you buy Russian missiles.”Congress called ‘anti-Turkish’Monday’s testing of the S-400 radar system is widely seen as a challenge to Washington. Analysts claim it will likely add to calls in Congress to impose CAATSA sanctions and other measures against Turkey.Sweeping new economic and political sanctions against Turkey are currently in Congress awaiting ratification.”Congress is somehow has become so anti-Turkish. We have only a few friends remaining in the Congress,” said former Turkish ambassador Mithat Rende. “It so difficult to understand how they become so anti-Turkish so emotional.””CAATSA sanctions are waiting, and they are fundamentally important for the Turkish economy,” warned Asli Aydintasbas, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.The Turkish economy is still recovering from a currency crash two years ago, triggered by previous U.S. sanctions.Trump, ErdoganAnkara will likely be looking to President Donald Trump to blunt any new efforts to impose sanctions against Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seen to have built a good relationship with Trump.Earlier this month, Trump hosted Erdogan in the White House for what he called a “wonderful meeting.”FILE – President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the East Room of the White House, Nov. 13, 2019.”Turkish relations is so reduced to these two guys [Erdogan and Trump],” said Aydintasbas. “The entire relationship is built on this relationship and will rely on Trump to restrict Congress’s authority and make those bills go away.”However, Ankara’s test Monday of S-400 components will make it unlikely Washington will end a freeze on the sale of the F-35 jet.Trump blocked the Turkish sale, over concerns the fighter jet’s stealth technology could be compromised by the Russian missile’s advanced radar system.The F-35 sale is set to replace Turkey’s aging fleet of F-16s. Ankara is warning it could turn to Russia’s SU 35 as an alternative.”All should be aware that Turkey will have to look for alternatives if F-35s [fighter jets] cannot be acquired for any reason,” Akar said.Role of RussiaRussian President Vladimir Putin is courting Erdogan in a move widely seen as attempting to undermine NATO.The two presidents are closely cooperating in Syria despite backing rival sides in the Syrian civil war. Bilateral trading ties are also deepening primarily around energy.Analysts point out a large-scale purchase of Russian jets will likely have far-reaching consequences beyond Ankara’s S-400 procurement.Training of Turkish pilots for the SU 35 would be in Moscow, as opposed to decades of U.S. training, while Turkey could find itself excluded from joint air exercises with its NATO partners.Ankara, too, is warning Washington of severe consequences if it has to turn to Moscow to meet its defense requirements.”Turkey will buy Russian aircraft if the F-35 freeze is not lifted,” said Casin. “If this happens, Turkey will not buy any more U.S. combat aircraft. This will be the end of the Turkish-U.S. relationship. I think like this; I am very serious.”Putin is due to meet Erdogan in Turkey in January, an opportunity the Russian president is expected to use to try and confirm the SU 35 sale.
 
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The Danish government has repatriated an 11-month-old boy after his mother, who was linked to the Islamic State terrorist group, was killed in the Syria conflict.The child arrived in Copenhagen on Nov.  21 from Irbil in northern Iraq after a nearly nine-month effort by relatives and the Danish government, authorities say.They also say the child, identified as Bay T, was being held at the Al-Hol refugee camp in northern Syria since March of this year, when his mother died.Baby T’s grandfather, who could not be named, told VOA Somali that the child was now being treated at a hospital for vomiting and diarrhea.”The boy has gone through a lot; he is a child without a mother, without a father, he needs a lot of assistance, and he is in a difficult condition.””He is the son of my late daughter,” said the grandfather during a telephone interview.FILE – An Islamic State flag flies over a building in Syria’s Jarablus as seen from the Turkish town of Karkamis, Turkey, Aug. 1, 2015.The boy’s mother left Denmark in October 2015 to join Islamic State. While in Syria, she met the father of her child, who also joined the terror group. The mother was killed in an airstrike, according to her father. Kurdish fighters rescued the child and brought him to the Al-Hol camp.It is not clear what happened to the boy’s father, who had also joined Islamic State. According to the boy’s grandfather, the family was given conflicting accounts of the child’s father. At one time, the grandfather was told that the father was injured and had lost a leg and a hand. At another time, they also heard that he was killed.The child’s parents were not Danish citizens, according to the relatives. The child’s mother traveled to Denmark in 2002 from Somalia, and went to Syria when she was 19. She was in the process of becoming a naturalized citizen when she traveled to Syria in 2015. It is not known which country the child’s father traveled from before heading to Syria.”The Danish government has immensely helped us trace and bring him over,” said the grandfather.”We traveled to Irbil on Tuesday last week along with my daughter, we brought him back on Thursday,” he said. “I’m in debt to the Danish government, which helped us with everything they could.”In neighboring Germany, a 30-year old mother of three was returned from Syria over the weekend. The mother was only identified as Laura H., from Hesse state, who traveled to Syria in 2016 along with her husband, a U.S. citizen of Somali origin, according to the French news agency. The man was reportedly killed in Syria.Laura H. may not have been the first adult IS member returned to Germany, according to authorities. The families of Somali women and men who went to Syria and have a social media network told VOA Somali that a woman of Somali origin was one of two female IS members returned to Germany in mid-November.A family friend says the Somali woman is in the custody of authorities in Hesse state.VOA Somali service’s Investigative Dossier program has obtained a list of 23 women and 34 children who are now being held at al-Hol camp in Syria. Their families want the Somali government to take them in.
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Britain’s Royal Family is facing its biggest crisis since the 1990s, a decade that was marked by divorce and the death of Princess Diana, according to many royal observers. Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth, has announced that he is stepping back from public duties following a sharp backlash against a recent television interview. The prince was asked about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, a U.S. financier and convicted sex offender who killed himself in a New York jail in August. Meanwhile, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, have also stepped back from public life after struggling with press intrusion. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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 LONDON — Britain’s royal family is facing its biggest crisis since the 1990s, a decade that was marked by divorce and the death of Princess Diana, according to many royal observers.Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth and eighth in line to the throne, announced last week that he is stepping back from public duties, following a sharp backlash against his remarks in a recent BBC television interview.The prince was asked about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, a U.S. financier and convicted sex offender who killed himself in jail in August. Andrew was questioned on why he had stayed at Epstein’s house after his conviction.”I felt that doing it over the telephone was the chicken’s way of doing it, I had to go and see him and talk to him,” Prince Andrew said in the interview.FILE – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew attend at Royal Ascot Day Five at Ascot Racecourse in Britain, June 22, 2019.One of Epstein’s alleged trafficking victims claims she was forced to have sex with the prince, once when she was 17. Andrew has repeatedly denied the accusations and said he is willing to give evidence to U.S. investigators.The prince’s lack of compassion for Epstein’s victims was shocking, says royal analyst Richard Fitzwilliams.”What it showed was someone completely out of touch with his audience, and in my opinion with reality,” Fitzwilliams said. “He had to step back from his royal duties. He had basically become toxic.”Andrew has caused royal embarrassment in the past.”His marriage to Sarah Ferguson — she proved a disaster as a member of the royal family and has been responsible for numerous embarrassments,” Fitzwilliams said.Prince Harry and Meghan MarkleFrom a prince seen as abusing royal privilege, to another struggling with the scrutiny it brings. Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, have spoken of their dismay at press intrusion and are taking legal action against several newspapers for alleged phone hacking.In a statement issued last month, Harry said my wife has become “one of the latest victims of a British tabloid press that wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences — a ruthless campaign that has escalated over the past year, throughout her pregnancy and while raising our newborn son.”FILE – Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, hold their baby son in St. George’s Hall at Windsor Castle, in Berkshire, Britain, May 8, 2019.Analyst Fitzwilliams says Harry is particularly hurt given that his mother, Princess Diana, died in a car crash as she was being pursued by photographers.”They simply have to accept that there is going to be a certain amount of cooperation with the press and global interest in everything they do because of who they are,” he said.There was more unwelcome scrutiny when the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen’s husband, was involved in a car accident in January.And the royals were drawn into the Brexit crisis in September when the Supreme Court ruled that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had misled the Queen when he asked her to suspend parliament.’Dreadful year’Royal historian Hugo Vickers says all the controversy is putting a strain on the monarch.”I do feel sorry for the queen because she’s nearly 94-years-old, her husband is nearly 99, and it’s rather awful that she’s having to face all these things at this particular time,” Vickers said.Analyst Fitzwilliams says the royal household urgently needs new advisers.”This has been a dreadful year for the monarchy, the worst since the 1990s. But there’s absolutely no reason to believe that that will go on into next year, if the royals get a grip with their advisers and their press officers, and also, if Harry and Meghan can be persuaded that there is a course that will make them happy as members of the royal family,” Fitzwilliams said.The Queen will try to draw a line under a difficult year when she gives her televised Christmas Day speech in a month’s time, an event closely watched by many in Britain.In the same speech in 1992, she famously said that it had been an “annus horribilis”  a Latin phrase meaning a “horrible year.” That year, Prince Andrew separated from his wife Sarah Ferguson, Princess Anne divorced her husband Mark Phillips, and a fire destroyed part of Windsor Castle.It’s likely that 2019 will be remembered as an equally tough year.
 
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