Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday dismissed a media investigation that identified those responsible for poisoning opposition leader Alexei Navalny as state security assassins. Speaking during his annual news conference, Putin called the report a “trick” and said Navalny was not important enough to be the target of such an attack. Putin added an accusation that Navalny received support from U.S. intelligence agencies. Russian Opposition Leader Navalny Trailed for Years Before Poisoning, Report Says An elite Russian intelligence chemical weapons unit tracked opposition figure Alexei Navalny for the past three years, according to investigative website BellingcatNavalny fell ill during a flight in Russia in August and was later flown to Germany for treatment.  Labs in Germany, France and Sweden said he was poisoned with Novichok, the same class of Soviet-era agent that Britain said was used on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England, in 2018. Putin spoke about a range of topics during his appearance Thursday, including the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden. Putin said he hopes the change in president in January will help resolve some difficult issues in U.S.-Russian relations. In 2017, the U.S. intelligence community assessed Putin ordered an influence campaign targeting the 2016 U.S. presidential election with a goal of helping President Donald Trump’s chances of winning.  A later investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller detailed “sweeping and systemic” Russian government interference. Putin on Thursday reiterated Russia’s denial of the U.S. accusations. 
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The French government says President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.”The president tested positive for COVID-19 today,” a statement from the presidency said Thursday. It said Macron had been tested after the “onset of the first symptoms.”The government said Macron will self-isolate for seven days, in accordance with national regulations, and will continue to work and carry out his activities remotely.The French president adds to the list of heads of state and government around the world who have contracted COVID-19, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and U.S. President Donald Trump.The World Health Organization announced Wednesday it was sending a team of researchers to China in the first week of January to investigate the origins of the novel coronavirus that led to the global pandemic that has so far killed more than 1.6 million people out of a total of 74.2 million total cases.The 10-member team will examine medical data and test samples to determine how the virus that causes COVID-19 jumped from animals to humans, and where it originated. Most researchers believe the virus, which was first detected in late 2019 in the central city of Wuhan, originated in bats.People wearing protective masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus use a pedestrian crosswalk at the Ginza shopping street Dec. 17, 2020, in Tokyo.Trump has accused the Chinese government of covering up information about the pandemic.Meanwhile, the formal approval process for a second COVID-19 vaccine in the United States begins Thursday.The Food and Drug Administration’s vaccines advisory committee will review data on a vaccine developed jointly by Massachusetts-based drugmaker Moderna and the National Institutes of Health. FDA regulators earlier this week confirmed Moderna’s claims of the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness.If the advisory panel approves the Moderna vaccine, the FDA could grant emergency use authorization as early as Friday, meaning nearly 6 million doses could be distributed across the U.S. beginning next week. The Moderna-NIH vaccine will add to the 2.9 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine shipped out this week that began the inoculation effort in the U.S., starting with frontline health care workers and nursing home residents.The White House announced Wednesday that Vice President Mike Pence will receive the vaccine on Friday. President-elect Joe Biden will be vaccinated sometime next week, according to the transition team. The 78-year-old Biden is at high risk of contracting the virus due to his age.The FDA said Wednesday that pharmacists could draw extra doses of the Pfizer vaccine if there is any extra solution leftover in the vials. The vials are supposed to hold enough of the vaccine for five doses, but pharmacists have found there was enough for an additional sixth or even seventh dose. A spokesperson said in a statement the FDA was working with Pfizer to determine “the best path forward.”At least one health care worker in the Northwest Pacific state of Alaska suffered an allergic reaction just minutes after being inoculated with the Pfizer vaccine on Tuesday, the first such case of an adverse reaction in the United States. The New York Times is reporting that a second health care worker at the same hospital in Alaska also suffered an allergic reaction within minutes of being inoculated. Two health care workers in Britain also suffered allergic reactions after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.Vaccines normally produce various side effects, such as fever, fatigue, headache or pain at the injection site, but officials say such effects are common and disappear within a day or two. The report on the Moderna-NIH vaccine submitted to the FDA revealed that four volunteers in the late-stage clinical trial developed Bell’s palsy, a condition that involves temporary paralysis or weakness in the facial muscles. Three of those participants had received the two-dose vaccine, while the other one was given a placebo.The Inter-American Development Bank pledged $1 billion Wednesday to help Central American and Caribbean nations fight the coronavirus pandemic.The IDB will devote the money to purchasing vaccines, strengthening national institutions distributing the shots, and building immunization capacity.The pledge is in addition to $1.2 billion the bank already mobilized in the region to pay for testing and treatment.Wednesday’s announcement comes as Latin America reports surges in COVID-19 cases and deaths. According to the Reuters news agency, roughly 33% of the world’s COVID-19 deaths were recorded in Latin America, though the region only accounts for 9% of the global population.
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The Court of Arbitration for Sport is set to rule Thursday whether to uphold a ban on Russian athletes competing in international events in connection with accusations of a state-sponsored doping program.The World Anti-Doping Agency issued its four-year ban last year, barring Russia from competing at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, the 2022 Winter Olympics in China, the 2022 World Cup football tournament and other events.Russia dismissed the ban, calling the action politically motivated.The Court of Arbitration for Sport is the highest court in sports, and it said Wednesday that its arbitrators met with the two sides for four days last month.At the center of the case is a WADA demand that Russia turn over data from a Moscow laboratory as part of conditions the agency set for the country to be reinstated. But WADA said Russia deleted and altered the data, prompting the agency to issue its ban.
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The Czech Republic Wednesday launched nationwide COVID-19 testing in hopes of slowing the spread of virus in the country, which, like much of Europe, has seen a surge of infections in recent weeks.The Czech Health Ministry is offering the free antigen tests at about 170 testing sites around the country. The antigen tests are cheaper and faster but somewhat less accurate than standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) laboratory tests with results taking about 15 minutes. If someone tests positive, the ministry will administer a PCR test.The Health Ministry hopes to conduct 60,000 tests per day. The ministry’s web site says people can get tested repeatedly, every five days. Thousands registered for the first day of tests Wednesday.The Czech Republic experienced Europe’s biggest per-capita spikes in cases in October and November, and nearly 10,000 deaths in the country of 10.7 million. Criticized for its slow response to the pandemic, the government recently implemented COVID-19 restrictions, closing bars, restaurants and hotels, and imposing an overnight curfew.The country reported 5,315 new cases a day on average in the past week using the standard PCR tests, while the number of hospitalized patients grew to 4,632 from 4,475 a week ago.  
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Air pollution has been listed as a contributing factor in the death of a nine-year-old British girl in 2013.After a two-week inquest, coroner Philip Barlow determined that Ella Kissi-Debrah of South London died of acute respiratory failure, severe asthma and exposure to air pollution.It is the first time that air pollution has been listed as a contributing cause of death in Britain, the BBC reported.Kissi-Debrah had been very sick for a long time and was more susceptible to air pollution.According to the BBC, Stephen Holgate, professor of immunopharmacology at the University of Southampton, told Southwark Coroner’s Court that Kissi-Debrah had an “exceptionally rare” heath problem that put her at “exquisite” risk.  Barlow said traffic emissions, particularly nitrogen dioxide from diesel engines, contributed to her death. According to Reuters, Britain has failed to meet EU target levels of nitrogen dioxide.Holgate also told the inquest that there had been a spike in nitrogen dioxide caused by diesel engines.Testifying at the inquest, Dr. Bill Parish, deputy director of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said there had been an “uptick” in diesel vehicles, which were considered a way to combat carbon dioxide emissions.“I understand that it was trying to decrease carbon dioxide emissions … but the effect was to increase nitrogen dioxide emissions,” he said, according to the Daily Mail. “That is what the data starts to tell us when the diesel fleet starts increasing.”In 2001, the Labor government advocated switching to diesel cars to combat climate change.“In 2001, then-Chancellor Gordon Brown introduced a new system of car tax aimed at protecting the environment. In actual reality, it fostered a popular move towards highly polluting diesel cars — a trend, which according to some experts, has been associated with thousands of premature deaths a year,” the BBC reported in 2017.According to the BBC, the number of diesel vehicles in Britain grew from 3 million in 2000 to 12 million in 2017.“There was a recognized failure to reduce the levels of nitrogen dioxide, which possibly contributed to (Kissi-Debrah’s) death, Barlow testified at the inquest, according to the BBC. “There was also a lack of information given to Ella’s mother that possibly contributed to her death.”Barlow said if Kissi-Debrah’s mother, Rosamund, had known about the levels of pollution, she might have been able to take steps to help her daughter.”Today was a landmark case, a 7-year fight has resulted in air pollution being recognized on Ella’s death certificate. Hopefully this will mean many more children’s lives being saved,” Rosamund wrote on Twitter.This was the second inquest into the child’s death. A 2014 case did not consider air pollution as a possible cause, Reuters reported.Activists were happy with the decision, calling it historic and cause for the British government to crack down on air pollution.”The coroner’s unambiguous finding is a legal first and will certainly send a signal to the U.K. government,” said Katie Nield, a lawyer at environmental law charity ClientEarth, which helped Kissi-Debrah’s legal team, Reuters reported.Britain has pledged to ban the sale of gas and diesel cars and vans by 2030. 
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The United States has designated Switzerland and Vietnam as currency manipulators for allegedly meddling in foreign exchange markets, sparking disputes with two trading partners.The countries were labeled as such Wednesday in a U.S. Treasury Department annual report aimed at stopping countries from manipulating their currencies to achieve unfair trade advantages.It is the first time the U.S. has branded another country as a currency manipulator since August 2019, when China was given the label while engaged in tense trade talks with the U.S.Washington dropped the designation in January after the two countries reached trade agreements, but Beijing’s yuan has remained on the Treasury Department’s list of currencies it is watching.China’s Yuan Drops to New Lows After Trump’s Tariff ThreatThe yuan’s drop will surely fuel tension with Washington and signal the possibility of a currency war with the USThe report said Switzerland and Vietnam were the only countries that met all three criteria for being labeled a currency manipulator, a move that leads to negotiations over the next year. If agreements are not reached, the U.S. can impose economic sanctions on the two countries.Other countries on the watchlist are India, Italy, Korea, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.The report is the last one the Trump administration will produce, leaving it to President-elect Joe Biden’s treasury secretary to decide whether to maintain the designations.But a senior Treasury official said that Biden’s nominee, Janet Yellen, had not yet been informed of the designations and that the decisions rest with the Trump administration, according to The New York Times.The report, which covers market activity from July 2019 to June 2020, was released during a coronavirus pandemic that has weakened the global economy this year and triggered volatility in foreign exchange markets.
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Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and other leaders of the country’s democratic opposition were awarded the European Parliament’s 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in a ceremony on December 16 in Brussels. Tsikhanouskaya received the prize from European Parliament President David Sassoli on behalf of the Coordination Council, a body set up by Belarus’s political opposition to facilitate a transfer of power in the country following a presidential election in August that the opposition says was rigged and the West has refused to accept. “An invisible wall of fear had been built around us,” Tsikhanouskaya told European lawmakers in her acceptance speech. “But this year, united, we believe that this wall of fear could be taken down, brick by brick. The dream of a better Belarus keeps us going. “Without a free Belarus, Europe is not truly free,” the opposition leader said. “Long live Europe, long live Belarus!” “Your fight is our fight,” Sassoli told the Belarusian opposition members during his introduction. Tsikhanouskaya has been in Brussels this week for talks with European Union leaders ahead of the ceremony to present the prestigious prize. European Parliament President David Sassoli and others applaud and congratulate Belarus’ opposition figures Veronika Tsepkalo (L) and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya during the Sakharov Prize ceremony, at the EU Parliament in Brussels, Dec. 16, 2020. 
Sassoli has said the representatives of the Belarusian opposition were being recognized for the courage, resilience, and determination that they have shown in defense of the freedom of thought and expression. The $59,180 annual human rights prize is named after the Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov and was established in 1988 to honor individuals and organizations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms. The award goes to several members of the Coordination Council, including Tsikhanouskaya, Maryya Kalesnikava, Veranika Tsapkala, Volha Kavalkova, and Syarhey Dyleuski; Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich; Tsikhanouskaya’s imprisoned husband, Syarhey Tsikhanouski; the founder of the Telegram channel NEXTA, Stsyapan Putsila; Ales Byalyatski from the human rights organization Vyasna; and political prisoner Mikalay Statkevich, who was a presidential candidate in the 2010 election. Protests against longtime ruler Alexander Lukashenko have been ongoing since the disputed presidential election on August 9. FILE – Belarusian opposition supporters attend a rally to reject the presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, Nov. 22, 2020.Lukashenko, in office since 1994, was officially declared the winner with more than 80 percent of the vote — a vote which the opposition, and many Belarusians, said was rigged and which they believe Tsikhanouskaya actually won. Police have violently cracked down on the protests, with more than 27,000 detentions, according to the United Nations. There have also been credible reports of torture and ill-treatment, and several people have died.   
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The Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act have just been presented in Brussels. These proposed policies aim to revise all the principles that apply to digital services within the 27 member states — from the publication of illegal content on social networks to the sale of products online.Big Tech companies will not be allowed, for example, to stop users from uninstalling preinstalled software or apps, nor will they be able to use data from business users to compete against them.To do so, the European Union governing body would allow fines of up to 10% of annual global revenue. Another part of the European plan is to make sure e-commerce platforms take more responsibility for their goods and services.European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said these new regulations are the right tools to bring “order to chaos” on the internet and to rein in the online “gatekeepers” that dominate the market.“The two proposals, they serve one purpose: to make sure that we, as users, customers, businesses, have access to a wide choice of safe products and services online, just as well as we do in the physical world,” Vestager said. “Whether from our streets or from our screens, we should be able to do our shopping in a safe manner. Whether we turn pages or we just scroll down, we should be able to choose and trust the news that we read. Of course, what is illegal offline is equally illegal online.”After the announcement, some companies criticized the move. A spokesperson for Google said the company was concerned that the measures “seem to specifically target a handful of companies.”Thierry Breton, European commissioner for internal market, denied those allegations.“We respect companies, but we say the bigger they are, the more obligations they may have to fulfill,” Breton said. “What is important to us is that everybody is welcome in Europe, but our responsibility is to decide and give directions and rules to protect what is important to us. These are not two acts where we would say that these companies are too big, and we propose a dismantle. Not here, not on this side of the ocean.”The coming new regulations announced in Brussels echoed the concerns over the world about the influence of big technology companies. In the United States, regulators have increased scrutiny on Google and Facebook, and antitrust cases are looming.  
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Ukrainian riot police used tear gas Tuesday to clear anti-lockdown protesters from the Maidan, Kyiv’s central square and backdrop for the 2014 popular uprising that toppled former President Viktor Yanukovych. Several thousand protesters, including small-business owners, rallied against a planned nationwide coronavirus lockdown slated for January 8 — a day after the widely celebrated Orthodox Christmas holiday. Police moved in to break up the demonstration as people began pitching tents on the square. The latest anti-lockdown uprising since April but the first to turn violent, Tuesday’s protests come amid signs of a worsening pandemic and widespread claims that coronavirus case numbers are being suppressed by local and regional officials. Residents in towns and villages in Ukraine’s west and north tell VOA that hospitals are short of medical staff, who are either falling sick themselves or sometimes refusing to work without personal protective gear. Hospitals in some areas have reached capacity for intensive care patients. Authorities said 40 police officers were injured in the clashes, some of them suffering chemical burns to their eyes when protesters threw tear gas canisters back at them. Ukrainian law enforcement officers stand guard during a rally of entrepreneurs and representatives of small businesses amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Independence Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec. 15, 2020.Protesters also suffered injuries, with some being hospitalized, according to the UNIAN news agency. Since April, small-business owners and entrepreneurs have led a string of anti-lockdown demonstrations opposing tough restrictions and weekslong quarantines that they say wreck livelihoods while failing to contain the spread. Ukrainian authorities have reported more than 909,000 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, and about 15,000 fatalities. The highest incidence rates have been recorded in Kyiv and the Cherkasy region of central Ukraine, according to the health ministry. On December 9, the Ukrainian government announced it would impose a new strict national lockdown from January 8 to 24. On Monday, the government also announced pre-holiday restrictions starting on December 19 that will prohibit large gatherings in schools, restaurants and entertainment centers. The pre-holiday restrictions limit the number of people allowed to attend religious services, and restaurants will have to close from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. Ukraine’s small businesses have received little or no pandemic compensation, although the government is now offering a one-time payment of Hr 8,000 ($288). Ukrainian law enforcement officers use tear gas as they block demonstrators during a rally of entrepreneurs and representatives of small businesses amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 15, 2020.Last month, Ukraine Health Minister Maksym Stepanov warned that the country faces a “very severe” winter but said there would be no weekslong nationwide lockdown as regular weekend lockdowns were stabilizing case numbers. “I can say with confidence that if we adhere to these measures, we will be able to stop the growth, at least stabilize it where it is now,” Stepanov said in an interview with Reuters. But he conceded that, in his opinion, the winter “will be very severe in terms of morbidity and the number of seriously ill.” President Zelenskiy, who contracted the coronavirus last month, says he is overseeing preparations for the purchase of vaccines and the roll-out of a mass-inoculation program. “We must be ready with a plan of action for vaccination,” he recently said. “The state must decide who will be vaccinated first, how many patients hospitals will be able to vaccinate within a month, and most importantly — we must help medical institutions with vaccines.” The World Bank approved last week a new loan for Ukraine aimed at helping to support low-income families. The $300 million loan comes as the international financial institution has projected the poverty level in Ukraine could reach 23% by the end of the year. “The new funds will help finance Ukraine’s COVID-19 social protection emergency response by introducing fast cash transfers to individuals and households who have lost their jobs or income sources because of the pandemic,” the bank said in a statement.  
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Lawmakers in Britain have proposed legislation that would fine social media companies if they do not quickly take action to remove illegal content like child pornography or terrorist materials. U.S. based Facebook and Twitter and China-owned TikTok could be fined up to 10% of turnover, according to Reuters. CNBC reported that Ofcom, a British media watchdog, would have the power to enforce the laws if they are enacted. Under the proposal, which will be introduced next year, social media companies must establish clear terms and conditions about content, CNBC reported. FILE – Britain’s Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Oliver Dowden arrives for a Cabinet meeting, at Downing Street in London, Britain, July 21, 2020.”We are entering a new age of accountability for tech to protect children and vulnerable users, to restore trust in this industry and to enshrine in law safeguards for free speech,” Britain’s Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said Tuesday. In addition to fines, some sites could be blocked from the British market if they fail to act. Dowden left open the possibility for criminal charges against companies that permit illegal content, according to Reuters. “These measures make this the toughest and most comprehensive online safety regime, and they will have a clear and immediate effect,” he told lawmakers.  But the proposals don’t stop at illegal content. According to Reuters, the proposed legislation would require companies to have clear policies against misinformation that could cause “harm,” such as information about COVID-19 vaccines. “We already have strict policies against harmful content on our platforms, but regulations are needed so that private companies aren’t making so many important decisions alone,” said Rebecca Stimson, Facebook’s head of Britain public policy. Other Big Tech companies echoed Facebook. Under the proposed laws, online journalism and user comments on news sites would be exempt to “safeguard freedom of expression,” Reuters reported. Britain’s move comes as the European Union was also set to unveil a slate of similar proposals on December 15.
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Germany’s health minister said Tuesday he expects a coronavirus vaccine to be approved for use in the country by December 23 and for inoculations to begin before the end of the year.In a briefing to reporters in Berlin, Health Minister Jens Spahn said he has learned that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) – which approves evaluates and approves vaccines and other drugs for in the European Union – will meet on the 23rd and finalize the approval process for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. He spoke alongside Lothar Wieler, chief of the Robert Koch Institute, which seeks to investigate and prevent infectious diseases.The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has already been cleared for use by Britain, Canada, the United States and several other countries.Spahn defended awaiting the EMA’s approval of the vaccine as opposed to opting for a review by Germany’s own regulators. He said the government has always supported Europe-wide rather than national approval of a vaccine, explaining they wanted a thorough, but swift review, as well as a drug they could trust.  He said they get that through the EMA.Wieler reported the COVID-19 situation in Germany is worse than it has been at any time during the pandemic. He said it would likely worsen during the Christmas holiday, with record high numbers of infections and deaths already pushing hospitals to their limits.He called on people in Germany to reduce their contacts as much as possible, including over the holiday period when restrictions are to be eased slightly. 
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Joe Biden on winning the November U.S. presidential election.The Kremlin said Tuesday that Putin wished Biden “every success” and expressed confidence that the United States and Russia can “help to solve the many problems and challenges facing the world.”Putin added he is “ready for interaction and contact” with Biden.Numerous world leaders have called Biden to offer their congratulations and discuss cooperation with the new U.S. administration that will take office in January.Putin had said he would wait until the U.S. election results were official, which happened Monday with the Electoral College confirming Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump.
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In late October, Farhan and his two sons finished packing up their olive harvest to transport it to the city center of Afrin in northwestern Syria. But before doing so, they pondered the possibilities waiting for them.“Would we be able to sell our olives at a good rate? Would the armed groups impose additional taxes on us?” wondered Farhan, who requested his real name not be revealed for safety reasons.    Farhan, 61, is a Kurdish farmer who owns an olive farm nearly 16 kilometers (10 miles) outside of Afrin, a region controlled by Turkey-backed Syrian militias since 2018. The area is known for its high-quality, abundant olive oil.    “We used to make a good living by cultivating olives,” he told VOA via a messaging app. “But in the past two years, it’s been a real challenge to do our businesses without interference from the armed groups.”  In January 2018, Turkey and its Syrian proxies invaded the Kurdish-majority region to dislodge Kurdish fighters affiliated with the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the main element within the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).  Afrin SyriaTurkey views the YPG and SDF as extensions of the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an outlawed Kurdish rebel group that is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara and Washington.   Western governments and international rights groups have accused Turkish-backed militias of war crimes, including looting and stealing civilian properties in Afrin.   Source of revenue   Experts say Afrin’s olive farms have become a main source of revenue for the various armed groups present in the region.  “There are about 18 million olive trees in the Afrin area,” said Khorshid Alika, a Syrian economist who closely follows developments in northern Syria.   “The militias have been imposing high taxes on local Kurdish farmers,” he told VOA. “Most recently, for example, the armed groups in control of Kakhera village (in Afrin) levied 2,000 olive oil barrels as taxes on the village residents.”  Alika said each barrel of olive oil currently is worth about $30 at the local market, a figure confirmed by Farhan, the farmer.FILE – Farmers pick olives during the harvest season in the western province of Idlib, Syria, November 19, 2015.Mohammed Billo, a journalist from Afrin who now lives in northeastern Syria, says militias that control different parts of Afrin have different ways to benefit from the olive oil production.“In my village, the militias this season seized all the olives belonging to families who have fled their homes and lands following the Turkish invasion,” he said.   “In addition to imposing taxes, the militias also charge farmers at checkpoints for transporting their olive crops,” Billo told VOA.   When Farhan and his sons finally decided to take their harvest to the city, they were stopped at three checkpoints on the road.  “They were manned by different groups, which most of the time they are at odds with each other,” he said, “So this comes at our expense.”      He ended up paying the three checkpoints to have access to the city.   “When we sold the crops, the money was so little that would maybe last for three months only,” Farhan added. “I don’t know how my family will survive for the rest of the year.”  FILE – A Free Syrian Army member inspects goods that were confiscated at a checkpoint during a siege on the Kurdish city of Afrin, in the Aleppo countryside, June 30, 2013.Exporting abroad   Afrin farmers are allowed to sell their oil crops only to either the militias or representatives of Turkey’s Agricultural Credit Cooperatives, according to economist Alika.  “Turkey and its proxies buy olives from local farmers at half the real price, collect them at an oil extraction plant near Afrin, and then export them to Turkey and ultimately the outside world,” he said.  Several news outlets have reported that olive oil produced in Afrin has been seen at stores in Europe and the United States. Turkey’s foreign ministry, agriculture and forestry ministry and Agricultural Credit Cooperatives didn’t respond to VOA’s requests for comment.   ‘Black propaganda’ against Turkey   In November 2019, however, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a parliament session that allegations about stealing Afrin’s olives are “black propaganda” against Turkey.   “The olives in Syria are being reexported via us, and the income from here is being distributed to the landowners. So, there is no theft or anything else. … This olive stealing and other [allegations] are part of this black propaganda,” he said.   A year before Cavusoglu’s comment, Turkey’s minister of agriculture and forestry, Bekir Pakdemirli, told the parliament that 600 tons of olives from Syria’s Afrin had entered the country as of November 2018.   “We do not want revenues to fall into PKK hands,” he said. “We want the revenues from Afrin to come to us. This region is under our hegemony.”   Ali Kenanoglu, a lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), says Afrin’s olive oil has been discussed at the Turkish parliament several times. “When we ask about this issue, they (the ruling AK Party) defend themselves by appealing to nationalist sentiments such as, ‘So what? Instead of falling into the PKK and YPG terrorists, it became for our country’s benefit,’” he said.   “Most of the revenues from these olives are largely transferred to the (Turkish-backed) Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces and used in their financing,” Kenanoglu told VOA. “This has turned into a resource to support the FSA rebels in Syria.”  
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Pressure is growing on the European Union to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine after regulators in Britain, the United States and Canada gave the green light in recent days. Coronavirus cases are soaring across the continent, with extended lockdowns announced in Germany and the Netherlands. Henry Ridgwell reports.
Camera: Henry Ridgwell 
 
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An elite Russian intelligence chemical weapons unit trailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny for the past three years, right up until his near-fatal poisoning in August, according to the investigative website Bellingcat. The squad from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), according to Bellingcat, started shadowing Navalny in 2017, shortly after he announced he would stand against President Vladimir Putin in presidential elections.  Members of the unit specializing in toxins and nerve agents followed the activist on more than 30 trips, according to phone records, flight manifests and other documents unearthed by Bellingcat in a joint investigation with CNN, Russia’s The Insider news site and Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine. FILE – Cars drive past the headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB) in central Moscow, Russia, November 10, 2015.Navalny is recuperating in Berlin. Western governments say he was poisoned with the deadly Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok, the same substance British officials say was employed in an attack in England in 2018 in a bid to kill former Russian spy Sergei Skripal. The European Union has sanctioned FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov and senior Kremlin officials over the attack. FILE – Members of the emergency services in biohazard suits afix a tent over the bench where former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found March 4 in critical condition, in Salisbury, southern England, on March 8, 2018.In September, ahead of the U.S. presidential election, President Donald Trump and Vice President Joe Biden gave different reactions to the poisoning.  “It is interesting that everybody is always mentioning Russia,” Trump told reporters at a press briefing. “And I don’t mind you mentioning Russia, but I think probably China at this point is a nation that you should be talking about much more so than Russia.”  Biden, now president-elect, bluntly blamed Navalny’s poisoning on the Moscow government.  “Once again, the Kremlin has used a favorite weapon — an agent from the Novichok class of chemicals — in an effort to silence a political opponent,” he said. “It is the mark of a Russian regime that is so paranoid that it is unwilling to tolerate any criticism or dissent,” he added. Navalny fell ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow on August 20. The plane made an emergency landing in the Siberian city of Omsk, where Russian doctors said they found no trace of any toxic substance. After Navalny was transferred to a hospital in Germany following an international outcry, tests in Berlin showed the presence of the nerve agent.  Subsequent tests by French and Swedish laboratories confirmed the German result. In an interview with a German magazine in October, Navalny accused the Kremlin of being behind his poisoning.  “I don’t have any other versions of how the crime was committed,” he said. FILE – German army emergency personnel load into their ambulance the stretcher that was used to transport Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny on at Berlin’s Charite hospital, August 22, 2020.The Kremlin has denied any role in the poisoning. Putin on Friday accused European countries, which have demanded Moscow investigate the poisoning, of refusing to cooperate with Russian authorities or to send detailed information. But Putin also said Navalny’s near-fatal poisoning did not warrant the opening of any criminal investigation in Russia. Last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested Navalny may have been poisoned on the plane taking him to Germany, or once he arrived in Berlin. Bellingcat said the FSB unit shadowing the Russian activist comprised six to 10 agents, including medical doctors and toxicologists in their late 30s and 40s, and was commanded by military scientist Stanislav Makshakov. He communicated with senior figures at the FSB before and after Navalny’s trips, cellphone logs suggest. Makshakov is thought to have previously worked at a chemicals institute in the closed town of Shikhany-1. The August incident may not have been the first attempt to poison Navalny. During a trip in July to Kaliningrad, Navalny’s wife, Yulia, fell ill with symptoms consistent with low-dosage poisoning, according to toxicologists. Bellingcat said flight manifests indicate that at least three members of the FSB unit were in the city at the same time as the Navalnys. FILE – Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, speaks with the media outside a hospital, where Alexei receives medical treatment in Omsk, Russia, August 21, 2020.Bellingcat said for the August attack, three FSB officers followed Navalny to Tomsk. At least five more FSB employees supported the mission. Some went on to Omsk, when Navalny was taken to the hospital there in critical condition. Members of the chemical weapons unit communicated with each other throughout the trip, with peaks in phone activity shortly before the poisoning. Bellingcat uses open-source data for its investigations and named the poisoners involved in the nerve-agent attack on Skripal and his daughter in 2018. The British government subsequently identified the same men as being behind the assassination bid. Navalny on Monday uploaded a video comment to YouTube. He said the FSB’s attempt to kill him was an act of “state terrorism.” He said the FSB’s surveillance operation began when he announced he would stand against Putin.  “We now have the villain, the reason, murderers and the murder weapon,” he said. Navalny also described the moment he may have been poisoned. Navalny said he had a cocktail in a hotel restaurant the night before boarding his flight back to Moscow. It was “tasteless,” he said, and stopped drinking it after a couple of sips. 
 
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British Health Minister Matt Hancock said Monday that a new variant of COVID-19 has been identified in southern Britain, which could explain why infection levels in that area have increased faster than in other areas of the country. Speaking to Parliament, Hancock said the variant was identified in more than a thousand cases of the virus, mostly in the south of the country, but in a total of about 60 different areas. He said similar variants have been identified in other countries, and the British government has alerted the World Health Organization.   The health minister was quick to add there was nothing to suggest this new variant is more virulent or would be resistant to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that is being distributed in Britain. But he said it was even more reason for people to remain vigilant and follow COVID-19 guidelines to make sure the virus does not spread.  Hancock made the announcement as he introduced new COVID-19 restrictions imposed on London and the immediate surrounding area where new infections have been rising “exponentially.”  He said London was moving into the “Tier 3: Very High Alert level.” Under these restrictions, people can only see friends and family who live outside their household in outdoor public places and “in line with the rule of six,” meaning groups must be six people or fewer.  Hancock said restaurants and other hospitality businesses can be open for take-out and deliver only, and residents are advised to avoid unnecessary travel outside their immediate area.
 
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The Trump administration on Monday imposed sanctions on its NATO ally Turkey over its purchase of a Russian air defense system, setting the stage for further confrontation between the two nations as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office. The move comes at a delicate time in relations between Washington and Ankara, which have been at odds for more than a year over Turkey’s acquisition from Russia of the S-400 missile defense system, along with Turkish actions in Syria, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan and in the eastern Mediterranean.  The U.S. had previously kicked Turkey out of its F-35 stealth fighter development and training program over the purchase, but had taken no further steps despite persistent warnings from American officials who have long complained about the purchase of the S-400, which they say is incompatible with NATO equipment and a potential threat to allied security. “The United States made clear to Turkey at the highest levels and on numerous occasions that its purchase of the S-400 system would endanger the security of U.S. military technology and personnel and provide substantial funds to Russia’s defense sector, as well as Russian access to the Turkish armed forces and defense industry,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. “Turkey nevertheless decided to move ahead with the procurement and testing of the S-400, despite the availability of alternative, NATO-interoperable systems to meet its defense requirements,” he said in a statement. “I urge Turkey to resolve the S-400 problem immediately in coordination with the United States,” he said. “Turkey is a valued Ally and an important regional security partner for the United States, and we seek to continue our decades-long history of productive defense-sector cooperation by removing the obstacle of Turkey’s S-400 possession as soon as possible.” The sanctions target Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries, the country’s military procurement agency, its chief Ismail Demir and three other senior officials. The penalties block any assets the four officials may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar their entry into the U.S. They also include a ban on most export licenses, loans and credits to the agency.  The administration had held off on imposing punitive sanctions outside of the fighter program for months, in part to give Turkish officials time to reconsider deploying it and, some suspect, due to President Donald Trump’s personal relationship with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. However, in past months Turkey has moved ahead with testing of the system drawing criticism from Congress and others who have demanded the sanctions be imposed under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA, which mandates penalties for transactions deemed harmful to U.S. interests. Coming just a month and-a-half before Biden assumes office, the sanctions pose a potential dilemma for the incoming administration, although the president-elect’s team has signaled it is opposed to Turkey’s use of the S-400 and the disunity within NATO it may cause.  Last month, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Turkey was prepared to discuss with the U.S. its “anxiety” over the interoperability of the S-400s and the F-35s. The U.S. reacted cooly to the suggestion and Pompeo shortly thereafter pointedly did not meet with any Turkish government officials on a visit to Istanbul.  Turkey tested the missile defense system in October for the first time, drawing a condemnation from the Pentagon. Ankara says it was forced to buy the Russian system because the U.S. refused to sell it American-made Patriot missiles. The Turkish government has also pointed to what it considers a double standard, as NATO member Greece uses Russian-made missiles. 
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German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged Germans Monday to abide by strict new lockdown measures to be implemented Wednesday, saying the situation regarding the coronavirus was “bitterly serious.”Steinmeier addressed the nation a day after Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the new measures beginning set to run through January 10, to stop the sharp rise of COVID-19 cases in the country. Merkel and the Germany’s 16 regional governors agreed Sunday to close non-essential businesses and limit private gatherings to no more than five people.In his address, Steinmeier said the restrictions were the severest in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, but the situation was such that, “We cannot avoid drastic measures.”The president said the country had come a long way and urged Germans to work together to overcome the crisis, saying, “We must succeed. And we will succeed.”Germany has been recording steadily higher confirmed cases and deaths in recent weeks. The Robert Koch Institute – the country’s central disease control center – reported 16,362 new cases Monday, and 188 new deaths, bringing the overall death toll to 21,975. Last week, the daily death numbers rose to almost 600 cases in one day.Hospitals across the country had repeatedly warned in recent weeks that they were reaching their limits in caring for COVID-19 patients, and that staffing on intensive care units was becoming a problem.On Monday, 4,552 COVID-19 patients were being treated in intensive care units, 52 percent of them on respirators.Starting Wednesday, schools nationwide will be closed or switch to home schooling; most non-food stores will be shuttered, as will businesses such as hair salons that have so far been allowed to remain open.Restaurant takeout will still be permitted, but no eating or drinking can take place on site.With the exception of Christmas, the number of people allowed to meet indoors will remain restricted to five, not including children under 14.The sale of fireworks traditionally used to celebrate New Year’s will also be banned, as will public outdoor gatherings on New Year’s Eve.
 
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Italy’s Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, lit up the sky overnight Sunday into the predawn hours Monday with bursts of hot lava, some going as high as 100 meters into the air. Etna is on the Mediterranean island of Sicily. Scientists with Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, report there were two eruptive fissures on the southeastern crater of the mountain. Geologists report the mountain has been active on and off for the past two months. The Reuters news agency reported that ash from the eruption covered parts of nearby small Catanian villages between Pedara and Tremestieri Etneo. On Monday morning, cars, streets and balconies were covered in black ash as workers and locals worked to clear it up. Volcanic ash from Mount Etna, which erupted during the night, covers a village road near Catania, Italy, Dec. 14, 2020 in this still image taken from video.The 3,330-meter-high Mount Etna is the second-most active volcano in the world, after Hawaii’s Kilauea. It can burst into spectacular action several times a year, spewing lava and ash high over Sicily.
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John le Carre, the spy-turned-novelist whose elegant and intricate narratives defined the Cold War espionage thriller and brought acclaim to a genre critics had once ignored, has died. He was 89.Le Carre died Saturday in Cornwall, southwest England, Saturday after a short illness, his literary agency, Curtis Brown, said Sunday. The death was not related to COVID-19.In such classics as “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold,” “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy” and “The Honorable Schoolboy,” Le Carre combined terse but lyrical prose with the kind of complexity expected in literary fiction. His books grappled with betrayal, moral compromise and the psychological toll of a secret life. In the quiet, watchful spymaster George Smiley, he created one of 20th-century fiction’s iconic characters — a decent man at the heart of a web of deceit.For le Carre, the world of espionage was a “metaphor for the human condition.”Born David Cornwell, le Carre worked for Britain’s intelligence service before turning his experience into fiction in works including “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy” and “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.””I’m not part of the literary bureaucracy if you like that categorizes everybody: Romantic, Thriller, Serious,” le Carre told The Associated Press in 2008. “I just go with what I want to write about and the characters. I don’t announce this to myself as a thriller or an entertainment.”I think all that is pretty silly stuff. It’s easier for booksellers and critics, but I don’t buy that categorization. I mean, what’s ‘A Tale of Two Cities?’ — a thriller?”His other works included “Smiley’s People,” “The Russia House” and, in 2017, the likely Smiley farewell, “A Legacy of Spies.” Many novels were adapted for film and television, notably the 1965 productions of “Smiley’s People’ and “Tinker, Tailor” featuring Alec Guinness as Smiley.Le Carre was drawn to espionage by an upbringing that was superficially conventional but secretly tumultuous.Born David John Moore Cornwell in Poole, southwest England, on Oct. 19, 1931, he appeared to have a standard upper-middle-class education: the private Sherborne School, a year studying German literature at the University of Bern, compulsory military service in Austria — where his tasks involved interrogating Eastern Bloc defectors — and a degree in modern languages at Oxford University.It was an illusion: his father, Ronnie Cornwell, was a con man who was an associate of gangsters and spent time in jail for insurance fraud. His mother left the family when David was 5; he didn’t meet her again until he was 21.It was a childhood of uncertainty and extremes: one minute limousines and champagne, the next eviction from the family’s latest accommodation. It bred insecurity, an acute awareness of the gap between surface and reality — and a familiarity with secrecy that would serve him well in his future profession.  “These were very early experiences, actually, of clandestine survival,” le Carre said in 1996. “The whole world was enemy territory.”  After university, which was interrupted by his father’s bankruptcy, he taught at the prestigious boarding school Eton before joining the foreign service.  Officially a diplomat, he was in fact an operative with the domestic intelligence service MI5 — he’d started as a student at Oxford — and then its overseas counterpart MI6, serving in Germany, then on the Cold War front line, under the cover of second secretary at the British Embassy.  His first three novels were written while he was a spy, and his employers required him to publish under a pseudonym. He remained “le Carre” for his entire career. He said he chose the name — square in French — simply because he liked the vaguely mysterious, European sound of it.  “Call for the Dead” appeared in 1961 and “A Murder of Quality” in 1962. Then in 1963 came “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold,” a tale of an agent forced to carry out one last, risky operation in divided Berlin. It raised one of the author’s recurring themes — the blurring of moral lines that is part and parcel of espionage, and the difficulty of distinguishing good guys from bad. Le Carre said it was written at one of the darkest points of the Cold War, just after the building of the Berlin Wall, at a time when he and his colleagues feared nuclear war might be imminent.  “So I wrote a book in great heat which said, ‘a plague on both your houses,'” le Carre told the BBC in 2000.It was immediately hailed as a classic and allowed him to quit the intelligence service to become a full-time writer.  His depictions of life in the clubby, grubby, ethically tarnished world of “The Circus” — the books’ code-name for MI6 — were the antithesis of Ian Fleming’s suave action-hero James Bond and won le Carre a critical respect that eluded Fleming.  Smiley appeared in le Carre’s first two novels and in the trilogy of “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy,” “The Honorable Schoolboy,” and “Smiley’s People.”  Le Carre said the character was based on John Bingham — an MI5 agent who wrote spy thrillers and encouraged le Carre’s literary career — and the ecclesiastical historian Vivian Green, the chaplain of his school and later his Oxford college, “who became effectively my confessor and godfather.” The more than 20 novels touched on the sordid realities of spycraft but le Carre always maintained there was a kind of nobility in the profession. He said in his day spies had seen themselves “almost as people with a priestly calling to tell the truth.””We didn’t shape it or mold it. We were there, we thought, to speak truth to power.”  
“The Perfect Spy,” his most autobiographical book, looks at the formation of a spy in the character of Magnus Pym, a boy whose criminal father and unsettled upbringing bear a strong resemblance to le Carre’s own. His writing continued unabated after the Cold War ended and the front lines of the espionage wars shifted. Le Carre said in 1990 that the fall of the Berlin Wall had come as a relief.  “For me, it was absolutely wonderful,” he said. “I was sick of writing about the Cold War. The cheap joke was to say, ‘Poor old le Carre, he’s run out of material; they’ve taken his wall away.’ The spy story has only to pack up its bags and go where the action is.”  That turned out to be everywhere. “The Tailor of Panama” was set in Central America. “The Constant Gardener,” which was turned into a film starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz, was about the pharmaceutical industry’s machinations in Africa.  “A Most Wanted Man,” published in 2008, looked at extraordinary rendition and the war on terror. “Our Kind of Traitor,” released in 2010, took in Russian crime syndicates and the murky machinations of the financial sector.  In 1954, le Carre married Alison Sharp, with whom he had three sons before they divorced in 1971. In 1972 he married Valerie Eustace, with whom he had a son, the novelist Nick Harkaway.  Although he had a home in London, le Carre spent much of his time near Land’s End, England’s southwestern most tip, in a clifftop house overlooking the sea. He was, he said, a humanist but not an optimist.  “Humanity — that’s what we rely on. If only we could see it expressed in our institutional forms, we would have hope then,” he told the AP. “I think the humanity will always be there. I think it will always be defeated.”
 
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U.S. National Security Council officials met Saturday at the White House to discuss reports that a “sophisticated hacking group,” believed to be working for Russia, has infiltrated the country’s Department of the Treasury and other government agencies and stolen information related to internet and telecommunications policymaking.According to Reuters, three of the people familiar with the investigation said Russia is believed to be behind the attack.Two of the people said the breaches are related to a disclosed hack on FireEye, a U.S. cybersecurity company with government contracts.”The United States government is aware of these reports, and we are taking all necessary steps to identify and remedy any possible issues related to this situation,” National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot said.The Reuters news agency, which first reported the breach, said U.S. intelligence officials are concerned that hackers used similar means to break into other government agencies besides Treasury.Later Sunday, the Commerce Department confirmed one of its agencies was breached.  “We have asked the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI to investigate, and we cannot comment further at this time,” a statement from the department said.The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, part of the Homeland Security Department, was led until recently by Christopher Krebs, who was fired by President Donald Trump. Krebs has not been replaced.  He was dismissed after he said the November national election was “the most secure in American history,” angering Trump who has claimed, without evidence, that voting and vote-count irregularities led to President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over him.Several federal agencies are investigating, and the extent of the intrusion is not known. 
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ordered a Christmas lockdown amid an alarming rise in coronavirus cases in the country.Under new emergency measures, which will last from December 16 until January 10, all schools and non-essential shops across Germany are to close and bars and restaurants will remain shut.In a bid to deter outside gatherings during the period, the sale of fireworks is banned and so, too, drinking alcohol in public. The only concession for Christmas is that up to 10 people will be allowed to meet indoors — currently a maximum of five people from two different households is allowed to gather in homes.Religious events in churches, synagogues and mosques may take place, if strict hygiene rules are observed, but communal singing is banned.“I would have wished for lighter measures. But due to Christmas shopping, the number of social contacts has risen considerably,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin after a meeting of federal and state leaders. “There is an urgent need to take action,” she added.People stand around a mulled wine to-go stand at a Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz square, amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Berlin, Germany, Dec.10, 2020.Infection rates have hit record levels in Germany in the past few days and the country now has the 12th highest number of cases in the world.More than 20,000 new cases were reported by authorities Sunday, bringing the country’s total to 1,320,716, and 21,787 Germans have died from COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. The country’s intensive care unit capacity is at a critical level, and doctors say that only five- to 10 percent of intensive care beds are available in some parts of the country.Germany’s Finance Ministry announced it was planning further support for businesses and workers impacted by the lockdown, saying, “Companies, the self-employed and freelancers who are affected by closures from December 16 will receive financial support.”Germany isn’t alone in struggling to suppress transmissions and in some European countries, criticism is mounting of governments for failing to prevent a second pandemic wave. In Italy, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who was praised for his decisiveness in battling the first coronavirus wave earlier this year, is being accused of pursuing an “amateurish” approach this time round.A nurse tends to a patient inside a COVID-19 intensive care unit of the Tor Vergata Polyclinic Hospital in Rome, Italy, Dec. 13, 2020.According to an official tally, Italy is nearing 64,000 deaths from COVID, overtaking Britain, which for weeks has held the lead position in European fatalities. The World Health Organization says Italy is now registering 1,036 deaths per million residents, the second highest after Peru.Conte held back from ordering a second national lockdown as the second wave started in September — despite appeals from some regional governors. In March, he imposed a tough 10-week lockdown, which tamed the first wave.The Italian leader has now ratcheted up restrictions for the Christmas period, but some epidemiologists say the move has been too late. Italian microbiologist Andrea Crisanti said, “Italy’s first wave was bad luck but the second wave unforgivable A sign of poor management and amateurish preparation.”Since September, Italy has recorded more than 28,000 COVID deaths.Matteo Villa, an analyst at the Institute for International Political Studies, Italy’s oldest research institution, specializing in political and international affairs, said the government dithered and failed to prepare the health system in between waves. “If you can act sooner, even a bit lighter in the measures, they work better than acting harshly a bit later or too late,” he said.Conte’s poll ratings are now sliding, and his coalition government is being buffeted by desertions and squabbles over the disbursement of recovery funds from the European Union. Matteo Renzi, a former prime minister, has threatened to collapse the coalition government, which also features the populist Five Star movement as well as the Democratic Party, Italy’s main center-left party, by withholding the backing of his centrist Italia Viva party.Earlier this month, many European governments looked poised to ease coronavirus restrictions for the Christmas period, despite warnings from medical scientists.Gabriele Vinzi, 3, and his brother Samuele Vinzi, 4, react along with their parents as they receive a call via Zoom by a man dressed as Santa Claus, amid theCOVID-19 pandemic, in Rome, Italy, Dec. 8, 2020.They came under mounting public pressure to salvage something of the holiday spirit and they grappled with how far they should go in easing lockdowns or lifting curfews, fearing that having a merry Christmas will likely mean suffering a miserable new year. Now most are heading in the opposite direction with tighter restrictions.Last week, the French prime minister announced he would still lift the country’s lockdown on Tuesday as planned but retain some strict restrictions and impose some new ones for Christmas because of worrying health data. Jean Castex had hoped to lift many more rules but said the virus is not letting him. A new 8 p.m. curfew is being imposed.“We are not yet at the end of the second wave, and we won’t be at the goal we set of 5,000 new cases per day,” he said, adding, “We know that the gatherings over the holidays present a risk.”We need to keep our guard up, stay vigilant,” Castex said.  
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Security forces in Belarus have detained dozens of people as opposition demonstrators staged scattered marches and rallies in Minsk and other cities to pressure strongman leader Alexander  Lukashenko to make political concessions. Human rights group Vyasna said that nearly 180 people were detained during the protests on December 13, with most of the arrests reported in Minsk. According to local news outlet Nasha Niva, more than 120 marches took places across the country, with numbers at each rally ranging from dozens to several hundred. Some protesters marched in outlying residential areas of Minsk, waving white-and-red flags, a symbol of the opposition, and chanting “Long live Belarus.” The demonstrations came as opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya was scheduled to appear at events in Germany, as part of her efforts to rally international support for Belarus’s beleaguered opposition. The country has been roiled by unprecedented political opposition since early August when Lukashenko was declared victor of a presidential election that opposition leaders said was flawed. Activists have defied often violent police tactics and organized weeks of demonstrations and rallies. Still, the only hints of concession that Lukashenko has shown are suggestions he has made about drafting a new constitution. In contrast to past weekend demonstration, Minsk authorities did not shutter the subway system on December 13, and no major Internet disruptions were reported. Many of Belarus’s opposition leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country, including Tsikhanouskaya, who says she won the August election. Tsikhanouskaya, who now lives in exile in neighboring Lithuania, hailed protesters who had gathered “despite repressions, violence and cold. “They resist Lukashenko’s regime because the people of Belarus want to live in a democratic and free country,” she said in a post to Twitter. The United States, the European Union, and several other countries have refused to acknowledge Lukashenko as the winner of the vote. The European Union imposed sanctions on Lukashenko and his allies citing election rigging and a violent police crackdown.  
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had set Sunday as the deadline for reaching an accord. But they agreed there was too much at stake in reaching a deal to end talks. “Despite the exhaustion after almost a year of negotiations and despite the fact that deadlines have been missed over and over, we both think it is responsible at this point in time to go the extra mile,” von der Leyen said. Negotiations continued at the EU headquarters in Brussels. At stake is Britain’s quest for zero-tariff and zero-quota access to the EU’s single market. Stumbling blocks include fishing rights and penalties Britain would face for violating the EU’s fair competition rules. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said early Sunday on Sky News TV, “We want to be treated like any other independent self-respecting democracy. If the EU can accept that at a political level, then there’s every reason to be confident but there is still, I think, a long way to go.” FILE – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Brussels, Belgium, Dec. 9, 2020.A British source at the talks said Johnson “will leave no stone unturned in this process, but he is absolutely clear: any agreement must be fair and respect the fundamental position that the UK will be a sovereign nation in three weeks’ time.” A no-deal Brexit would be economically disruptive in Britain, across Europe and beyond.        
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