The BBC’s board of directors has approved the appointment of a retired senior judge to lead an independent investigation into the circumstances around a controversial 1995 TV interview with Princess Diana, the broadcaster said Wednesday.The announcement came after Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, made renewed claims this month that BBC journalist Martin Bashir used forged statements and false claims to persuade the late royal to agree to the interview.The investigation will consider if the steps taken by the BBC and Bashir were appropriate and to what extent those actions influenced Diana’s decision to give an interview.John Dyson, a former Supreme Court judge, is “an eminent and highly respected figure who will lead a thorough process,” the BBC said.Charles Spencer alleged that in the weeks leading to the interview 25 years ago, Bashir made false and defamatory claims about senior royals in order to gain his trust and access to his sister.The claims included that Diana’s phone was bugged and that her bodyguard was plotting against her. He claimed that Bashir showed him “false bank statements” purporting to show that two senior royal aides were being paid to keep Diana under surveillance.Apology soughtCharles Spencer has demanded an inquiry and an apology. The BBC carried out an internal investigation when the complaints first surfaced and has said Bashir admitted commissioning mocked-up documents. But the corporation has said that the documents played no part in Diana’s decision to take part in the interview.The broadcaster’s director general, Tim Davie, said the BBC “is determined to get to the truth about these events.”The 1995 interview, in which Diana famously said “there were three of us in this marriage” — referring to Prince Charles’ relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles — was watched by millions of people and sent shock waves through the monarchy.Diana divorced from Charles in 1996 and died in a Paris car crash in 1997 as she was pursued by paparazzi. Charles married Camilla, now the Duchess of Cornwall, in 2005.The BBC said Bashir, 57, who is currently its religion editor, is on medical leave because he is recovering from heart surgery and complications related to contracting COVID-19 earlier this year.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, forced to go into quarantine earlier this week after exposure to the coronavirus, was able Wednesday to participate in his usual spirited debate with lawmakers during question time at parliament. Johnson was hospitalized earlier this year after testing positive.After wishing the prime minister well, and praising him for self-isolating, main opposition Labor Party leader Keir Starmer questioned Johnson about a report from the National Audit Office. It was regarding lucrative government contracts worth billions going to “go between” companies to procure personal protective equipment (PPE) without the proper oversight.  The report said the government awarded 8,600 contracts worth $24 billion between March and the end of July of this year, mostly without a competitive tender process.
 
While the government can make purchases with limited competition in emergencies, the audit office said in its report that companies with links to politicians were fast-tracked and had greater chances of getting a coronavirus contract than other applicants.  Starmer called on Johnson to guarantee that from now on such government contracts will be subject to proper process with full transparency and accountability.Johnson accused Starmer of wanting to score political points by attacking the government on moving too fast to secure the PPE and defended the government’s actions.”I’m proud of what we did to secure huge quantities of PPE during the pandemic, any government would do this,” said Johnson without directly addressing Starmer’s question.Prime Minister Johnson’s Conservative government has been accused of running a “chumocracy” by awarding lucrative contracts and well-paid jobs to people with links to ministers and the governing party — claims the government denies.
 
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Talks between Britain and the European Union over a future trade deal are going to the wire, as the end of the Brexit transition period approaches fast. Henry Ridgwell reports EU leaders meet in Brussels Thursday as the bloc faces urgent budget concerns.Camera: Henry Ridgwell    Produced by: Jason Godman 
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Georgian leaders Wednesday in Tbilisi where he expressed support for Georgia’s sovereignty and strengthening of democratic institutions. On the latest stop of his multi-nation tour visiting allies in Europe and the Middle East, Pompeo held talks with Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, followed by a session with Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani. Gahkaria called U.S.-Georgia relations his country’s “most important partnership” and said Georgia appreciates U.S. support of its territorial integrity.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with civil society leaders in Tbilisi, Georgia, Nov. 18, 2020.Russia has occupied Georgia’s two breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia since a brief 2008 war. The State Department said Pompeo’s focus included urging further progress in democratic reforms in Georgia.  At the start of his meeting with Gakharia and Zalkaliani, Pompeo cited the need for free and fair elections, as well as the opportunity for robust debate. From Georgia, Pompeo is due to travel to Israel where he will discuss with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Israel’s recent agreements normalizing relations with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. The rest of the trip includes stops in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. 
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson triggered anger Monday in Scotland when he called the decision to grant Scotland governing powers “a disaster,” and said he did not support granting the nation any additional powers. The reported comments come as surveys show rising support for a second independence referendum.British media report Johnson made the remarks in a virtual meeting with northern English lawmakers from his Conservative Party. He said granting Scotland self-governing powers – or devolution – introduced by former Labor Prime Minister Tony Blair, had been Blair’s “biggest mistake.” Johnson’s office did not deny the comment.Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, proponent of an independence referendum, responded Tuesday to Johnson’s comments via Twitter.“Worth bookmarking these PM comments for the next time Tories (Conservatives) say they’re not a threat to the powers of the Scottish Parliament – or, even more incredibly, that they support devolving more powers. The only way to protect & strengthen (the Scottish parliament) is with independence.”Scots rejected an independence referendum in 2014 by a vote of 55  to 45 percent. But relations have soured following the Brexit vote which Britain supported and Scotland rejected, and by what has been viewed by many Scots as the British government’s mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic.Recent public opinion surveys show a majority of Scots support independence. British Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick sought to defend Johnson’s comments, saying the disaster the prime minister referred to was the rise of nationalism in the form of Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party. 
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Germany accused Russia and China on Tuesday of preventing a United Nations Security Council committee from determining whether North Korea has breached a U.N. cap on refined petroleum imports by the isolated Asian state. The Security Council has ratcheted up sanctions on North Korea since 2006 in a bid to choke funding for Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. In 2017, it imposed an annual cap of 500,000 barrels on refined petroleum imports. China and Russia are the only countries to have notified the Security Council’s North Korea sanctions committee of refined petroleum exports to Pyongyang, but they did so in tonnes instead of barrels, and the committee has been unable to agree on a conversion rate so it can determine when the cap was reached. “Despite numerous attempts — the issue has been on the agenda for no less than three years — to find an agreement on a conversion rate, Russia and China have been stalling the process,” German U.N. Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, chairman of the sanctions committee, told reporters. “While this shouldn’t be a complicated matter to solve, it has become clear that the two delegations are politicizing this topic,” Heusgen said after raising the issue behind closed doors in a formal Security Council meeting. The Russian and Chinese missions to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment. For the past three years, the United States and dozens of allies have accused North Korea of breaching the fuel cap through illicit imports and called for an immediate halt to all deliveries. However, Russia and China repeatedly prevented the sanctions committee from issuing such a statement. 
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The U.S. Department of Defense said Tuesday an American warship “intercepted and destroyed” an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) target in a test conducted Monday northeast of Hawaii.A destroyer equipped with an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) System destroyed the mock long-range missile in flight with an SM-3 Block IIA missile, according to the Defense Department’s Missile Defense Agency.Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 10 MB480p | 13 MB540p | 18 MB720p | 37 MBOriginal | 186 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioWATCH: A missile launched from the USS John Finn intercepts and destroys an intercontinental ballistic missile target during a flight test demonstration northeast of Hawaii, Nov. 16, 2020, in this video released by the US Missile Defense Agency.“We have demonstrated that an Aegis BMD-equipped vessel equipped with the SM-3 Block IIA missile can defeat an ICBM-class target,” said Vice Admiral and MDA Director Jon Hill.The Pentagon has previously conducted tests against ICBM targets by launching interceptors from underground silos in the United States. The ship-based approach could bolster the existing U.S. missile defense system if more challenging tests in the future are successful. The success of Monday’s test is especially likely to draw interest from North Korea, whose development of ICBM’s and nuclear weapons is the primary reason the Defense Department has worked to hasten the development of missile defense systems over the past decade.Additionally, China and Russia have voiced concern that the U.S. could use its missile defense capabilities to weaken the deterrent value of their nuclear forces.Carla Babb contributed to this report.
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Azerbaijan’s Turkish-supported victory over Armenian forces in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave has provided Ankara an opportunity to expand its influence in the Caucuses at the expense of Russia.  That’s the conclusion of some observers – as Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.Camera: VOA
Producer: Rod James
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A British diplomat leaped into a river in southwestern China and rescued a drowning student over the weekend, Britain’s embassy in Beijing and Chinese state media said. Stephen Ellison, the 61-year-old British consul-general in Chongqing, jumped into the water in the municipality on Saturday after spotting the struggling female student, who had fallen in by accident, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported. A video of the incident posted on the British embassy’s Twitter account shows a woman drifting facedown in the water as onlookers scream in panic, before the diplomat takes off his shoes, plunges in and swims to her aid. We are all immensely proud of our Chongqing Consul General, Stephen Ellison, who dived into a river on Saturday to rescue a drowning student and swim her to safety. pic.twitter.com/OOgXqsK5oe— UK in China 🇬🇧 (@ukinchina) November 16, 2020 A life preserver is then tossed into the river, enabling people on the bank to drag Ellison and the student to safety. “Thanks to the rescue, the student soon resumed breathing and regained consciousness,” Xinhua said, citing the local authorities, without naming the woman. The British embassy said everyone is “immensely proud” of Ellison. Sino-British ties have been strained in recent months over China’s decision to impose a new national security law to quell pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, which London handed back to Beijing in 1997 after 156 years of British rule. China on November 5 barred non-Chinese travelers from countries including Britain from entering amid surging coronavirus cases.  
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A pro-European reformer has won the presidency of Moldova — defeating her Moscow-backed opponent in a second-round vote that centered around the economy, corruption, and what course the small, one-time Soviet republic would choose in the tug and pull between Russia and the West.With all the Incumbent Moldovan President Igor Dodon speaks to media in Chisinau, Moldova, Nov. 16, 2020.Her opponent, the incumbent President Igor Dodon, earned the support of 42% of voters despite support from Moscow and a scorched earth Moldova’s presidential candidate Maia Sandu, poses for a selfie photo with her supporters as she leaves the Action and Solidarity Party office in Chisinau, Nov. 16, 2020.East vs West dimensions?The Moldovan election appeared to be the latest challenge to Russia’s continued influence over former Soviet republics it once ruled.Russian President Vladimir Putin has openly backed Dodon and had called on Moldovans to support his bid for another term. Russian political advisers arrived from Moscow to help manage the campaign.Indeed, Dodon has been a loyal Kremlin ally in return, calling for good relations, attending key Kremlin events, and sitting out calls to sanction Russia over its seizure and annexation of Crimea from neighboring Ukraine.Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting via video conference in Moscow, Nov. 5, 2020.“This certainly serves the vital interests of the Russian and the Moldovan people,” he added. In addressing the course of her future foreign policy on Monday, Sandu said she would seek a “true balance” by pursuing “pragmatic dialogue with all countries” including Europe, Russia and the United States.Sandu supporters argue the incoming president was simply sticking with a pragmatic approach to foreign policy that had served her well in the past.”Maia does come from this chain of pro-European politicians in Moldova,” says the European Council on Foreign Relations’ Nicu Popescu, who served as foreign minister under Sandu when she was prime minister for a period in 2019.“But she’s also someone who sees pro-Europeanism as not built through hostile relations with Russia,” he told VOA.“Much of the Moldovan population wants this approach,” he added. 
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Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology reported a “high intensity” explosion Monday at the Stromboli volcano, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, located off the southern coast of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea.The institute’s surveillance cameras captured the event in visual and thermal format early Monday. The explosion could be seen sending ash and steam at least 100 meters into the air and streams of lava rapidly running down the center-south side of the volcano. The institute reported the event lasted four minutes. “From the seismological standpoint,” it “was characterized by a sequence of explosive events and landsliding,” it said.The institute also reported no variation in the overall condition of the volcano.The Stromboli volcano is one of the most active on Earth, with minor explosions and random lava flows descending from the crater directly into the sea. It has been erupting almost continuously since 1932. Light from its nighttime eruptions is visible for long distances, earning it the title, “Lighthouse of the Mediterranean.”
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The European Commission, the European Union’s administrative branch, announced  Monday a deal with to purchase 405 billion doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine from German bio-tech company CureVac. The announcement comes just days after EU officials announced a similar deal with German company BioNTech and U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer for an initial 300 million doses of the vaccine candidate they jointly produced, which, they say, has proven 90 percent effective against COVID-19 in late-stage testing. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters the deal with CureVac is, of course, conditional on their vaccine proving to be safe and effective.  Von der Leyen said the fifth CureVac is fifth company the alliance has contracted with a for its COVID-19 vaccine portfolio.FILE – A sign marks the headquarters of Moderna Therapeutics, which is developing a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cambridge, Mass., May 18, 2020.She said they are already working on a deal with U.S. pharmaceutical company Moderna, for a sixth contract. On Monday, Moderna announced testing showed its vaccine candidate to also be better than 90 percent effective. Von der Leyen said the European Commission hopes to have finalize their contract with Moderna soon.  She said all the vaccines must independently tested by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) before they will be accepted. She said, “We do not know at this stage which vaccine will end up being safe and effective… And this is why we need to have a broad portfolio of vaccines based on very different technologies.” European nations continue to see a surge in COVID-19 cases, and many have implemented at least partial nationwide lockdowns until the end of the month. 
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 Security forces in Pakistan sealed off a main highway into the capital, Islamabad, for a second day Monday to contain thousands of Islamists gathered outside the city to protest the reprinting of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in France. 
 
Witnesses and organizers said around 5,000 followers of the far-right Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, or TLP, began rallying on Sunday in neighboring Rawalpindi city and vowed to march toward the French Embassy in Islamabad.   Supporters of Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan, a religious political party, chant slogans while they block a main highway during an anti-France rally over the remarks of French President Emmanuel Macron, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Nov. 16, 2020.Rally participants were chanting anti-France slogans and demanding the expulsion of the French ambassador. 
 
Pakistani authorities, however, deployed thousands of riot police and paramilitary forces, and placed shipping containers at key entry points to block participants from entering the capital. Cell phone service in and around Islamabad was also switched off to prevent rally organizers from coordinating with each other.  
 
Protesters attempted to remove roadblocks Sunday night in their bid to enter the city, prompting police to respond with tear gas. The ensuing clashes spilled into Monday morning, injuring more than a dozen police officers.  Activists and supporters of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) gather beside empty tear gas shells fired by police during an anti-France demonstration in Islamabad, Nov. 16, 2020. An officer told VOA one of their personnel suffered “critical” injures, saying some of the demonstrators were “armed with long sticks that had daggers tied to them.” The clashes also left several protesters injured, according to hospital sources in Rawalpindi. 
 
The Pakistani capital remained under virtual lockdown even on Monday evening, with telecommunication services suspended for a second day in a row and security forces struggling to disperse the rally.  
 
Commuters between Islamabad and Rawalpindi and those traveling to the capital from other parts of Pakistan faced lengthy delays on alternate routes into the capital.  
Islamic parties in Pakistan have routinely organized scattered protests since early September against French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo for republishing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that Muslims deem as blasphemous.  
 
Last month, a history teacher was decapitated outside a school near Paris after he had shown his students caricatures of the Prophet when the class discussed free speech.FILE – Floral tributes to Samuel Paty, the French teacher who was beheaded on the streets of the Paris suburb of Conflans St Honorine, are seen at the Place de la Republique, in Lille, France, Oct. 18, 2020.While French authorities were investigating the slaying of Samuel Paty and cracking down on suspected Islamist militants, a Tunisian man fatally stabbed three people in a cathedral in Nice. 
 
French President Emmanuel Macron has defended the right of publishers in his country to depict cartoons of the Prophet, drawing strong condemnation and triggering anti-France protests in Muslim countries.  
 
Islamabad has formally lodged a complaint with France over what it called a “systematic Islamophobic campaign” in the European nation. 
 
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has accused Macron of attacking the Muslim faith and urged Islamic countries to work together to counter what he called growing repression in Europe. 
 
“European powers, Western countries must understand that you cannot use freedom of speech as a weapon to cause Muslims pain by insulting our Prophet. Unless this is understood, the cycle of violence will keep happening,” Khan cautioned in a statement earlier this month.  
 
The ongoing violent protest outside Islamabad is not the first time the hardline cleric and TLP chief, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, has organized demonstrations over blasphemy-related issues in Pakistan.  
 
Rizvi’s followers, at his call, almost paralyzed parts of Pakistan in 2018 following the acquittal by the Supreme Court of a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who had been wrongly accused of disrespecting the Prophet Muhammad.  
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A suspected Islamic State gunman who opened fire aboard a high-speed train in France in 2015 is going on trial Monday in Paris.  Ayoub El Khazzani, a Moroccan national, was heavily armed when he opened fire and shot a passenger after the train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris crossed the border into France on August 21, 2015. A Frenchman, a Briton and three Americans, two of them in the military but on leave at the time, tackled Khazzani and disarmed him.  Khazzani, 31, is charged with “attempted terrorist murder.”  He had joined the Islamic State group in Syria in May 2015. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in jail. A judicial source has said that Khazzani had confessed to investigators he planned to attack U.S. soldiers and not civilians. FILE – Then-French President ollande poses with British businessman Chris Norman, US student Anthony Sadler, US Airman First Class Spencer Stone and US National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos (R) during a ceremony at the Elysee Palace, Aug. 24, 2015.At a ceremony to award the Americans the Legion of Honor days after the attack, France’s then president, Francois Hollande said that “one need only know that Ayoub El Khazzani was in possession of 300 rounds of ammunition and firearms to understand what we narrowly avoided, a tragedy, a massacre.”  FILE – Ambulances gather in the street outside the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo’s office, in Paris, Jan. 7, 2015. Masked gunmen stormed the offices of a French satirical newspaper Wednesday, killing at least 11 people before escaping,The train attack occurred between two deadly attacks in Paris that year. The first, in early January at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket, killed 12 people and injured 11 others. In November, a group of jihadists would kill 130 people in coordinated attacks in the French capital. American actor and director Clint Eastwood turned Khazzani’s drama into a movie titled The 15:17 to Paris, the time the gunman opened fire. Eastwood and the three Americans have been summoned to testify at Khazzani’s trial.       
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and other leaders Monday for economic and security talks. The top U.S. diplomat is also taking part in a wreath-laying ceremony for terrorism victims in Paris. Counterterrorism and global threats were among topics the State Department said Pompeo would be discussing Monday in his meetings with Macron and with Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, second from right, pauses as he participates in a wreath-laying ceremony in homage to victims of terrorism at Les Invalides in Paris, Nov. 16, 2020.Pompeo is on a multi-nation tour that next takes him to Turkey to meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Greek Orthodox Christians. He is also due to visit Georgia, and then Israel, where Pompeo will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and discuss U.S.-brokered agreements for Israel to normalize relations with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.  Diplomats said Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al-Zayani is set to join a three-way meeting with Pompeo and Netanyahu. Other stops on Pompeo’s tour include the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. 
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The opposition candidate in Moldova is the projected winner of the runoff presidential election. With almost all the vote counted by Sunday evening, pro-European Maia Sandu was leading with about 57% of the vote, compared to incumbent, pro-Russian president Igor Dodon’s 43%, according to results published on the Moldovan Central Election Commission website.   Sandu, 48, a former prime minister and a former World Bank employee, ran for Moldova’s top job with a pro-European political platform against a president who had promised to keep close ties with Moscow as a traditionally “strategic partner.” Her supporters celebrated overnight in front of opposition headquarters in the center of the capital Chisinau and were chanting “President Maia Sandu” and “a country for young people.”Incumbent Moldovan President Igor Dodon and his wife Galina smile while walking out of a voting station during the country’s presidential election runoff in Chisinau, Moldova, Nov. 15, 2020.Dodon, 45, who was the economy minister under a communist government between 2006 and 2009, said he “voted for peace, social justice and Christian values.”  “We must maintain good relations with the European Union and with Russia,” Dodan said. In the first round of voting on November 1, Sandu, the center-right politician caught the incumbent president by surprise, although she did not garner enough votes to avoid the runoff.   Moldova, a Soviet republic until 1991, with a population of a little more than 3.5 million, has long been divided between those who promote strong ties with the European Union and those who favor close relations with Moscow.  
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Belarusian police detained more than 1,000 people Sunday during protests across the country demanding the resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko and a new election following a disputed vote in August.The Vyasna human rights group said most detentions were made in Minsk, where black-clad security forces used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse thousands of demonstrators. Two people were beaten by masked security officers inside a grocery store.At least 18 journalists, including four contributors to RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, were among those detained in Minsk and other cities, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists.Belarusian riot police block the road to stop demonstrators during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Nov. 15, 2020.Russia, meanwhile, has supported Lukashenko in the ongoing standoff.Lukashenka vowed Friday not to hand over power and slammed his political opponents and demonstrators.Lukashenko said his country should integrate with Russia and Moscow-led organizations to avoid what he called “color revolutions,” a term often used to describe pro-Western political upheavals.His remarks came as the European Union again condemned violent crackdowns against Belarusian protesters and threatened to impose more sanctions on Minsk following the death of Bandarenka.Several protesters have been killed and thousands of people arrested since authorities declared Lukashenka the landslide winner of the vote.There have also been credible reports of torture during a widening security crackdown.Most of the country’s opposition have been arrested or forced to leave the country.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is self-isolating after being told he came into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Sunday.”He will carry on working from Downing Street, including on leading the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic,” a statement from his office said.Johnson “is well and does not have any symptoms of COVID-19,” it added.Johnson met with a small group of lawmakers for about a half-hour on Thursday, including one who subsequently developed coronavirus symptoms and tested positive.He was notified by the National Health Service’s Test and Trace system Sunday and told he should self-isolate because of factors including the length of the meeting.Officials said they will discuss with parliamentary authorities how Johnson can take part remotely in parliament’s business. He plans to “continue speaking to the country during his self-isolation period,” they added.The statement didn’t say how long Johnson plans to isolate, but U.K. health authorities’ guidance is that anyone contacted by Test and Trace should quarantine for 14 days.In April, Johnson was hospitalized in intensive care after contracting the coronavirus.
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Belarusian police have detained scores of protesters who were demanding the resignation of Alexander Lukashenko and a new presidential election following a disputed vote in August.Black-clad security forces used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse thousands of demonstrators in the capital, Minsk, on Sunday.The Vyasna human rights group said at least 179 protesters were detained in Minsk and other cities, including in Homel, Hrodna, and Mogilev.Demonstrators in Minsk carried the banned white-red-white flags that have become a symbol of the political opposition in Belarus and chanted slogans like, “Lukashenko! Tribunal!” and “Love live Belarus!”Mobile Internet was down and several subway stations in central Minsk were closed.FILE – Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, leader of the opposition from Belarus, speaks to the media during a press statement in Berlin, Germany, Oct. 6, 2020. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP)Opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanouskaya, who has said the vote was rigged in Lukashenko’s favor and considers herself the rightful winner, described the crackdown on protesters on November 15 with “gas, grenades and firearms” as “devastating” and called for international support for the demonstrators.”We ask our allies to stand up for the Belarusian people and human rights. We need a humanitarian corridor for the injured, support for the media, international investigation of crimes,” she wrote on Twitter.Tikhanouskaya left Belarus for Lithuania after the vote amid threats to her and her family.Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 26 years, has faced almost daily protests calling for his resignation since a presidential election on August 9 that the opposition says was rigged and which the West has refused to accept.Russia, meanwhile, has supported Lukashenko in the ongoing standoff.Lukashenka on November 13 vowed not to hand over power and slammed his political opponents and demonstrators.Lukashenko said his country should integrate with Russia and Moscow-led organizations to avoid what he called “color revolutions” — a term often used to describe pro-Western political upheavals.His remarks came as the European Union again condemned violent crackdowns against Belarusian protesters and threatened to impose more sanctions on Minsk following the death of a 31-year-old Belarusian man on November 12 who is believed to have been badly beaten by masked security forces.Several protesters have been killed and thousands of people arrested since authorities declared Lukashenka the landslide winner of the vote.There have also been credible reports of torture during a widening security crackdown.Most of the country’s opposition have been arrested or forced to leave the country.
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The U.N. human rights office says the government of Belarus continues to commit human rights violations with impunity against peaceful protesters three months after the country’s disputed presidential elections.Belarusian citizens remain outraged at the outcome of the August 9 presidential election that returned Alexander Lukashenko to power in an election widely seen as fraudulent. They continue to voice their grievances by taking to the streets in protest.U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said the government has responded to these peaceful demonstrations in a heavy-handed manner, with the use of unnecessary or excessive force by law enforcement officials.“Arbitrary mass detentions continue. To date, it is estimated more than 25,000 people have been detained, including more than 1,000 who took part in solidarity protests in the capital, Minsk, and throughout Belarus on the 8th of November. Many of those detained have faced administrative charges, in some cases being held for up to 15 days, but the Belarusian authorities are increasingly bringing criminal charges against people,” he said.Colville said at least 127 students taking part in demonstrations have been expelled from their courses. He said dozens of medical workers and doctors in solidarity with the opposition have been detained. He said the government reportedly has frozen the bank accounts of a charity assisting some 60 alleged victims of violence and torture.On Thursday, a 31-year-old man, Roman Bondarenko, reportedly died after he allegedly was assaulted by masked men and ill-treated by a member of the security forces. Belarusian officials have denied any role in the death.People gather to honor 31-year-old Raman Bandarenka, who died at a Minsk hospital after several hours of surgery due to serious injuries in Minsk, Belarus, Nov. 13, 2020.If the allegations are proven to be true, Colville said Bondarenko’s death takes government abuse to a whole new level.“The latest statement from the investigative committee – is an investigative body in Belarus continues to indicate that the authorities for now do not acknowledge that those who attacked Mr. Bondarenko were police officers or otherwise associated with the security apparatus,” he said.The U.N human rights office is calling on the Belarusian authorities to conduct a thorough, independent investigation into this incident and to publicly share its results. It says the perpetrator should be brought to justice if a crime was found to have been committed.President Lukashenko, meanwhile, denies that the election was fraudulent and refuses to step down. 
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Turkish President Erdogan visited breakaway Northern Cyprus on Sunday to meet its newly elected leader who backs his call for a “two-state” solution to the divided island’s five-decade conflict if U.N.-mediated talks yield no results.With Turkey’s support, former prime minister Ersin Tatar won a tight presidential vote last month that could further strain ties with the internationally-recognized Cypriot government to the south. Tatar’s predecessor had backed reunification.Turkey is alone in recognizing Northern Cyprus as an independent state. Cyprus was split after a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup.Turkey’s government said Erdogan and Tatar would discuss how to strengthen ties and also the situation in the broader Eastern Mediterranean, where Turkey has clashed this year with Cyprus, Greece and the European Union over offshore territorial rights.The EU, which has threatened to impose sanctions on Turkey next month over illegal oil and gas exploration at sea, admitted Cyprus into the bloc in 2004. Erdogan has said separate administrations were the only solution after U.N.-mediated peace talks between Cyprus and North Cyprus broke down in 2017. Ankara has proposed an informal meeting between Turkey, Greece, Turkish and Greek Cypriots and the United Nations.Before last month’s election, Northern Cyprus partially reopened the beach town of Varosha, a fenced-off resort area abandoned in no-man’s land since 1974.Turkey backed the move while the United States, Greece and Greek Cypriots criticized it. 
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In an unassuming house in rolling hills east of the Hungarian capital, a small family firm is helping oil the wheels of the world’s big pharmaceutical companies on the path to a coronavirus vaccine. Biologist Noemi Lukacs, 71, retired to Szirak, her birth village, to establish English & Scientific Consulting (SciCons) and manufacture a genetic sensor so sensitive that a few grams can supply the entire global industry for a year. “We produce monoclonal antibodies,” Lukacs told Reuters in the single-story house where she was born, now partly converted into a world-class laboratory. The white powder ships worldwide from here, micrograms at a time. “These antibodies recognize double-stranded RNA [dsRNA],” she explained. DsRNA is a byproduct of viruses replicating, so its presence signals the presence of a live virus, long useful in virus-related research. More importantly, dsRNA is also a byproduct of the process used by U.S. giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech to create their experimental COVID-19 vaccine which is more than 90% effective according to initial trial results last week.And because dsRNA can be harmful to human cells, it must be filtered out from any vaccine to be used in humans. Several filtering methods exist, but the most widely used way to do quality control is to expose the vaccine to Lukacs’ antibodies. Not only will the antibodies show if there is any dsRNA in the vaccine, they will also tell researchers how much of it is present. Only once completely freed from dsRNA can the vaccine be administered. The result: a line of big pharma representatives outside her door. Hungarian biologists Alexandra Torok and Noemi Lukacs check the purity of an antibody, a genetic sensor of sorts, in Szirak, Hungary, Nov. 13, 2020.The small company is growing rapidly, yet its revenue was only 124 million forints (just over $400,000) last year, with profits at 52 million forints. That feeds five employees and even leaves some for local charity projects in Szirak. To Lukacs, that is just fine. The success of the RNA field, long frowned upon, is vindication enough. Dog in the race The former university professor followed the race to the vaccine closely and rooted especially for the contestants who look set to come first: those using modified RNA to train cells of the human body to recognize and kill the coronavirus. The RNA was her dog in the race. The modified RNA, or mRNA, methodology is a whole new group of drugs, with the COVID vaccine the first product likely to get regulatory approval and go into mass production. But more applications are expected, which has Lukacs overjoyed. “Once you get into the RNA field, it is an extremely exciting area,” she said, recalling decades of struggles when the rest of the scientific community did not share her excitement. Or most of the rest, that is. Another Hungarian woman, Katalin Kariko, working across the Atlantic, patented the method that enables the use of RNA and promises to free the world not only of the coronavirus but scores of other diseases. In the process, Kariko — now the Vice President of Germany’s BioNTech, which was first alongside U.S. giant Pfizer to break through with a vaccine earlier this month  — became an early SciCons customer. The COVID breakthrough and other RNA uses may necessitate more use of Lukacs’s antibodies as well, but they do not anticipate much of a boon. “We would be happy to sell more of it,” said Johanna Symmons, her daughter and the small company’s chief executive. “We probably will too. But it’s not like we’ll get silly rich.” Being part of the solution reaps its own rewards. “We have cooperated with most vaccine manufacturers, and certainly almost all of the ones using the mRNA method,” she said with a hint of pride. “We have been a small screw in this large machine.”    
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The leader of Armenia’s opposition Homeland party, Artur Vanetsyan, has been arrested and accused of plotting to overthrow the government and kill the country’s embattled prime minister, as the country’s main security body said it had thwarted an assassination attempt.Vanetsyan, who formerly headed Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS), was detained after his arrival for a meeting with the service’s Investigative Department on Saturday, according to his lawyer.”Vanetsyan was detained on suspicion of usurping power and preparing the assassination of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan,” attorney Lusine Sahakian wrote on Facebook.In addition, Sahakian wrote, “illegal searches” were carried out in the apartment of Vanetsyan’s parents and an office affiliated with the Homeland party.Both Sahakian and Vanetsyan’s Homeland party condemned the moves as politically motivated.NSS statementThe NSS has not confirmed Vanetsyan’s arrest, but in a statement Saturday it said that it had thwarted an assassination attempt against Pashinyan.”The National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia has revealed cases of illegal acquisition and storage of weapons, ammunition and explosives by a group of people with the aim of seizing power in the Republic of Armenia,” the statement said. “It is clarified that the attackers, who did not agree with the domestic and foreign policy of the state, intended to seize power by killing the head of government.”The Homeland party said in a statement that Vanetsyan’s arrest was part of the Armenian authorities’ efforts to quell opposition protests against a Russia-mediated cease-fire agreement that stopped fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh.Pashinyan’s agreement to the truce with Azerbaijan on Tuesday prompted a furious reaction in the Armenian capital, with protesters storming government buildings and parliament.Homeland is one of 17 Armenian opposition groups that launched the protests and demanded Pashinyan’s resignation. They accuse Pashinyan of capitulating to Azerbaijan and committing high treason.10 arrestsOn Wednesday, 10 prominent opposition figures, including Vanetsyan, were arrested and accused of “organizing illegal violent mass disorder.” The detentions were denounced by the opposition as illegal, and the opposition figures were released two days later.Vanetsyan, 40, was appointed as head of the NSS immediately after the 2018 revolution that brought Pashinyan to power. He quickly became an influential member of Pashinyan’s entourage, overseeing high-profile corruption investigations initiated by Armenia’s new leadership.Vanetsyan resigned in September 2019 after a falling out with the prime minister. He has since repeatedly accused Pashinyan of incompetence and misrule, prompting angry responses from the premier and his political allies.While the Moscow-brokered truce ended fighting that has killed more than 2,000 soldiers and civilians on each side, it has been rejected by Armenians because it allows Azerbaijan to keep large swaths of Nagorno-Karabakh.Nagorno-Karabakh is recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but its majority Armenian population has governed its own affairs since Azerbaijani troops and Azeri civilians were pushed out of the region in a war that ended in a cease-fire in 1994.The most recent fighting broke out in late September.
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In a bitter farewell to his home of 21 years, Garo Dadevusyan wrenched off its metal roof and prepared to set the stone house on fire. Thick smoke poured from houses that his neighbors had already torched before fleeing this ethnic Armenian village about to come under Azerbaijani control.The village is to be turned over to Azerbaijan on Sunday as part of territorial concessions in an agreement to end six weeks of intense fighting with Armenian forces. The move gripped its 600 people with fear and anger so deep that they destroyed the homes they once loved.The settlement — called Karvachar in Armenian — is legally part of Azerbaijan, but it has been under the control of ethnic Armenians since the 1994 end of a war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. That war left not only Nagorno-Karabakh itself but also substantial surrounding territory in Armenian hands.After years in which sporadic clashes broke out between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces, full-scale fighting began in late September this year. Azerbaijan made relentless military advances, culminating in the seizure of the city of Shusha, a strategically key city and one of strong emotional significance as a longtime center of Azeri culture.Two days after Azerbaijan announced it had taken Shusha, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a Russia-brokered cease-fire under which territory that Armenia occupies outside the formal borders of Nagorno-Karabakh will be gradually ceded.Muslim Azeris and Christian Armenians once lived together in these regions, however uneasily. Although the cease-fire ends the fighting, it aggravates ethnic animosity.Garo Dadevusyan, right, wrenches off its metal roof and prepares to set the stone house on fire in Kalbajar before leaving the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia, Nov. 14, 2020. The village is to be turned over to Azerbaijan Nov. 15.”In the end, we will blow it up or set it on fire, in order not to leave anything to Muslims,” Dadevusyan said of his house.He spoke while taking a rest from salvaging what he could from the home, including metal roof panels, and piling it onto an old flatbed truck.The truck’s final destination was unclear.”We are homeless now, do not know where to go and where to live. Do not know where to live. It is very hard,” Dadevusyan’s wife, Lusine, said, choked by tears as the couple gave the interior of the house a last look.Dadevusyan’s dismay extended to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Armenia and Russia keep close relations and Russia has a sizable military base in Armenia, so many Armenians had hoped for support from Moscow. Instead, Russia facilitated the cease-fire and territorial concessions and is sending in nearly 2,000 peacekeepers to enforce it.”Why has Putin abandoned us?” Dadevusyan asked.Cars and trucks stuck in a huge traffic jam climb along the road from Kalbajar to a mountain pass leaving the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia, Nov. 14, 2020.On Saturday, kilometers-long columns of cars and trucks carrying fleeing residents jammed the road to Armenia.Scores of local people flocked to Dadivank, an Armenian Apostolic Church monastery dating to the ninth century, as priests removed sacred items to be taken away. Many of the visitors took photos of themselves at the site nestled in the mountains near Karvachar, suggesting they did not expect to see it again.People look at bells, removed from the Dadivank, an Armenian Apostolic Church monastery dating to the ninth century, as ethnic Armenians leave the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia, Nov. 14, 2020.A small group of Russian peacekeepers watched from across the road, some sitting on their armored vehicles.The monastery’s abbot, the Reverend Hovhannes Ter-Hovhannisyan, walked over to greet them.”It’s very important to us that the Russian peacekeepers came today in order to preserve peace, because not all the questions of our future have been resolved,” he said. “But I am sure that justice will triumph.”Hundreds of thousands of Azeris were displaced by the war that ended in 1994. It is unclear when any civilians might try to settle in Karvachar — which will now be known by its Azeri name, Kalbajar — or elsewhere.Any returns could be wrenching. Settlers will confront the burned, empty shells of houses — or worse. Agdam, which is to be turned over next week, once was a city of about 40,000, but now is an empty sprawl of buildings that were destroyed in the first war or later ruined by pillagers grabbing building materials.Returning also is potentially dangerous because of the remnants of war. The Azerbaijani general prosecutor’s office said one man was killed and another injured Saturday when they triggered a mine left over from the fighting in Fizuli, an area now under Azerbaijani control.For the Dadevusyans, their sudden relocation is overwhelming beyond words.”When you spent 21 years here and now need to leave it … ,” Garo Dadevusyan said, trailing off, as smoke from nearby burning houses choked the air. Soon, he knew, his house would be one of them.
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