The United Nations’ refugee agency is urging Greece to stamp out migrant abuse and investigate multiple accusations of pushbacks at the country’s sea and land borders with neighboring Turkey.The UNHCR statement issued late Thursday echoes portions of a report published hours earlier by the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT). The CPT report says Greece engaged in repeatedly pushing back migrants and encouraged similar actions by European forces deployed along its porous frontiers as part of a concerted effort to crack down on illegal migration.Forcing migrants to turn around is a serious breach of international law, violating asylum-seekers’ right to safe passage and protection.Croatia, France, Spain and Italy — all of which face similar migration challenges — also have been accused of engaging in unlawful, sometimes violent pushbacks.Earlier this week the EU Observer published emails from the EU border agency commonly known as Frontex citing an October incident in which Danish coast guard officers assisting Greek authorities refused orders to force migrants and asylum-seekers onto a small boat bound for Turkey.Frontex chief Fabrice Leggeri last month called the incident a “misunderstanding,” describing it as an “isolated incident” during questioning by European lawmakers.Details of the published emails, however, show that a Danish coast guard crew based in the Aegean Sea rejected the pushback order despite alleged recommendations by Greek authorities. They instead issued new orders for the migrants to be returned to a harbor on Greece’s southeastern Aegean island of Kos, which lies roughly 23 kilometers southwest of the Turkish port city of Bodrum.’Rescue, support, register’“UNHCR calls on Greece to continue rescuing, providing immediate support and registering new arrivals seeking protection,” said a prepared statement released by the office of Peter Kessler, the refugee agency’s senior communications officer. “UNHCR firmly reiterates its call on Greece to refrain from any practices that may involve informal returns of people to Turkey after they have reached Greek soil or territorial waters.”Kessler called out Greek authorities for allegedly underreporting land and sea arrivals from neighboring Turkey — a move believed to provide local authorities a free hand to conduct illegal pushbacks.Greece has grappled with accusations of forced migrant returns and abuse since 2015, when about a million refugees, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, arrived in Europe to escape violence at home.Inflows have since see-sawed, reaching record lows since the start of the year with a total of 14,600 sea and land entries, according to UNHCR data.Accusations rejectedGreek migration officials did not immediately comment on either the pushback accusations or calls by the EU and UNHCR to stamp out migrant abuse.The government in Athens has repeatedly denied engaging in pushbacks or abuse of migrants, calling accounts part of an “unsubstantiated fake news campaign” orchestrated by its longtime regional rival, Turkey.Earlier this year, Turkey condemned Greek security forces for using tear gas and water cannons on migrants attempting to enter the country and accused those same forces of opening fire and killing at least three migrants trying to cross the border from Turkey into the European Union.Tens of thousands of migrants have been trying to get into EU member Greece since Turkey said on Feb. 28 it would no longer keep them on its territory as part of a 2016 deal with Brussels reached in return for European aid.Athens on March 1 suspended asylum applications for a month in what it called a strategy to prevent migrants from illegally entering the EU.’Ill treatment, inhumane conditions’According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), a Senegalese asylum-seeker in March said Greek security forces fired on a group of migrants and that he saw two men fall to the ground before he fled from the area.The New York-based rights group could not verify the shooting but accused the European Union of “hiding behind a shield of Greek security force abuse instead of helping Greece protect asylum-seekers and relocate them safely throughout the EU.”In its lengthy report issued Thursday, the CPT task force deployed to Greece earlier this year found recurring cases of migrant abuse, mainly by local police and coast guard officers.“The ill-treatment,” CPT said in its report, “consisted primarily of slaps to the head and kicks and truncheon blows to the body [mainly during arrest or transfer to detention cells.]”The CPT report described the detention facilities as inhumane.“Migrants continue to be held in detention centers composed of large barred cells crammed with beds, with poor lighting and ventilation, dilapidated and broken toilets and washrooms, insufficient personal hygiene, inadequate food and no access to outdoor daily exercise.”HRW in March issued a report stating that Greek authorities arbitrarily detained nearly 2,000 migrants and asylum-seekers in “unacceptable conditions” at mainland detention centers, denying them the right to lodge asylum claims.“[Greek] authorities claim they are holding the new arrivals, including children, persons with disabilities, older people, and pregnant women, in quarantine due to COVID-19, but the absence of even basic health precautions is likely to help the virus spread,” the report states.Greek government spokesperson Stelios Petsas has staunchly denied the criticism, insisting that Greek officials “tell everyone that they shouldn’t attempt to get in through the window.”“There is a door,” Petsas told reporters at a March press conference. “Whoever is entitled to protection should knock on that door and be entitled to protection based on international law.”He also rejected a New York Times report of secret Greek “black sites” where detainees are denied access to lawyers and cannot file asylum claims.Since surging to power last year, Greece’s ruling conservatives have taken an increasingly strong-armed approach to illegal migration, insisting that the EU help shoulder the burden and cost of Europe’s lingering refugee population.Earlier this year, Turkey warned it would no longer uphold a 2016 agreement with the European Union to continue hosting migrants on its soil in exchange for billions in aid.UNHCR says Turkey is currently home to 3.6 million registered Syrian refugees and an estimated 370,000 refugees and asylum-seekers of other nationalities.Greece currently hosts an estimated 186,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, including more than 5,000 unaccompanied minors.Reuters contributed to this story. 
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France will always remember 2015 as a deadly year with several terrorist attacks, including one that targeted the Charlie Hebdo magazine headquarters and another at the Bataclan concert hall. But one attack was foiled that year on an Amsterdam-to-Paris train.On August 21, a gunman with an AK-47 and a bag of nearly 300 rounds of ammunition boarded the high-speed train to allegedly commit a massacre on behalf of the Islamic State terror group. The trial of those charged in the incident is underway.Jean-Charles Brisard, a counterterrorism expert who chairs the Center for the Analysis of Terrorism, said the armed man, Ayoub El Khazzani, is directly linked to Adelhamid Abaaoud, mastermind of the November 2015 Paris attacks, since the men traveled to Europe from Syria together. Brisard said El Khazzani was a member of the Islamic State and trained in its camps, where he learned how to shoot to stage an attack in Europe.Thanks to the bravery of a few passengers, including three young Americans backpacking through Europe that summer, the gunman was tackled and subdued. They are now back in France to testify at the trial against El Khazzani and his alleged accomplices.’I do not feel like a hero’Five years after saving many lives, Aleksander Skarlatos said he still does not consider himself as a hero. He instead credited his friend and co-passenger Spencer Stone, who helped subdue the assailant.“I do not feel like a hero because we were just doing what we had to to survive,” he said. “I think Spencer is probably a hero because he was the first one to get [to the attacker]. We only got involved because Spencer needed our help.”Since 2015, Europe has been hit by many terrorist attacks. The most recent ones have occurred in Vienna and in France, where a teacher was beheaded near Paris and three people were killed in a church in Nice.European police are on highest alert because of the terror threat.Counterterrorism expert Brisard said that since the attempted attack on the train, terrorist strikes have evolved. He said analysis shows jihadists may operate alone but are all connected, in France or abroad, and are inspired by an ideology and jihadist propaganda.The trial will resume Monday with the testimony of Stone. He was supposed to testify earlier but was hospitalized when he landed in Paris before the trial. No details about his condition were released.
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More than 15 million people in Europe have been infected with coronavirus, making it the worst-hit region in the world.  Authorities hope new lockdowns will get the situation under control.  More with VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo.
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Spain continues to struggle with an influx of migrants arriving at the Canary Islands in recent weeks.Nearly 17,000 migrants have arrived this year, which has overwhelmed a temporary facility at Arguineguin port on Gran Canaria, AFP reported. The facility was designed to hold 400, AP noted, adding that many migrants sleep on concrete and spend hours exposed to direct sunlight.The Associated Press reported that Spanish officials opened a secondary holding facility for about 200 to try to relieve some of the pressure. Reuters on Friday reported the government also promised to open more facilities capable of holding 7,000 migrants.Local politicians and humanitarian groups have been critical of how the Spanish government has been handling the surge in migrants, most of whom come from Morocco and Senegal.”I recognize that we need to be self-critical because at a certain point, perhaps the conditions at Arguineguin port were not the most suitable for human beings,” Defense Minister Margarita Robles told Spanish public television, TVE, according to AFP.”We have a humanitarian crisis” in the Canary Islands and “nobody must look the other way,” she said.Canary lawmaker Ana Oramas went further, telling Spain’s Parliament the situation was a “powder keg,” according to AP.“[The Canary Islands] are a volcano waiting to explode,” she said.In addition to adding facilities, the Spanish government is attempting to stem the flow of migrants through diplomatic means, AFP reported, citing recent talks with Morocco and Senegal.The Canary Islands have been a hot spot for migrants before. In 2006, 30,000 migrants reached the archipelago before stepped-up Spanish patrols slowed the pace.At the time, Spain struck a deal with African countries that were the source of these migrants, promising financial aid in return for development programs, which made it less attractive for people to leave their home countries.
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The shopping holiday known as Black Friday has been postponed for a week in France, as major retailers have accepted the government’s request for delay to help small shop owners, still closed due to the pandemic.With more than $7 billion in sales last year, Black Friday has become a major event in France and a good deal for customers ahead of Christmas. But this year is different, and once again COVID-19 takes the blame for it.  Non-essential small shops, such as those not selling food, are currently closed under health restrictions in the country. Therefore, they have been struggling and the competition from supermarkets or online retailers is considered unfair.  FILE – French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire attends a press conference, June 10, 2020.French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire called this week for a one-week delay for Black Friday to ensure the reopening of small stores “under maximum safety conditions.” Le Maire said he demanded that all key economic players, like supermarkets and online retailers, be responsible. Surprisingly to many, Auchan and Carrefour, the main supermarket chains in the country, accepted the offer. Even the giant online retailer Amazon agreed to the measure. Facing huge backlash in France for increasing its sales by between 40% and 50% while small businesses remain closed, Amazon said it would postpone its sales event for a week.  FILE – The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics center in Lauwin-Planque, northern France, March 19, 2020.Fredric Duval, CEO of Amazon France, said Amazon is paying attention to society and authorities, and in consensus with other big retailers, decided to postpone Black Friday until December 4 to enable small shop owners to open before December 1. It is for the common interests, he said. Experts are skeptical about the announcement, as Black Friday is now a worldwide reality and authorities cannot technically prevent French customers from purchasing products on November 27 on foreign websites. 
 
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A Russian court has sentenced a man convicted of spying for the United States to 13 years in prison, Russia’s Federal Security Service said in a statement Friday.
 
On November 17, the Bryansk western regional court declared Yuriy Yeshchenko “guilty of high treason,” the statement said, adding that he would serve the jail term “under severe conditions” in a high-security facility.
 
According to the FSB, Yeshchenko had tried to pass military secrets to the CIA about Russia’s Northern Fleet and pleaded guilty to espionage charges, saying he regretted what he had done.  
 
He was performing maintenance of radio-electronic systems used by the Northern Fleet’s ships, the FSB said, where he copied documents from 2015 to 2017 and made contact with the CIA in 2019.
 
The FSB arrested Yeshchenko in the Bryansk region in July 2019, when he attempted to transmit the state secrets to the CIA, the Russian spy agency’s statement said.
 
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Britain has announced a $21.8 billion increase in defense spending over the next four years, its largest military investment since the end of the Cold War. The government said it was needed to counter the multitude of threats the country faces, Henry Ridgwell reports. 
Camera: Henry Ridgwell
 
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The U.S. Department of the Treasury slapped sanctions on two companies operating out of Russia on Thursday for their alleged involvement in the exploitation of forced labor from North Korea.  According to a statement by the Treasury Department, sanctions will be imposed on Mokran LLC, a Russian construction company, and Korea Cholsan General Trading Corp., a North Korean company operating in Russia.  The move follows a 2017 U.N. Security Council resolution that required all countries to send home North Korean workers by December 22, 2019, as a means of curbing the generation of foreign currency to support North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.  According to the U.N. resolution, sanctions must be imposed on those that engage in, facilitate or are responsible for the exportation of forced labor from North Korea to generate revenue for the government of North Korea or the Workers’ Party of Korea.  FILE – U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.”North Korea has a long history of exploiting its citizens by sending them to distant countries to work in grueling conditions in order to financially support Pyongyang and its weapons programs,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. “Those countries still hosting North Korean workers must send these workers home.” Today’s sanctions will force all property and interests in property of Mokran LLC and the Korea Cholsan General Trading Corp. that are in the United States or in the possession or control of any U.S. citizens to be blocked and reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control.  According to Reuters, the United States has estimated that Pyongyang was earning more than $500 million a year from its 100,000 residents working abroad, the majority of whom were stationed in China and Russia.  
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Saying the world is now more perilous and competitive than at any time since the Cold War, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposed Thursday adding nearly $22 billion in new defense spending over the next four years.
Speaking remotely to Parliament while isolating for COVID-19 exposure, Johnson said based on the current international situation and his foreign policy goals, he has decided “the era of cutting our defense budget must end, and it ends now.”
The prime minister said he was making the proposal in the middle of a pandemic, with multiple demands on the economy, because “the defense of the realm and the safety of the British people must come first.”
Johnson told lawmakers the four-year financial package for the Ministry of Defense will pivot Britain’s military toward potential future threats with funding for space and cyber-defense projects, such as an artificial intelligence agency.
He said the spending plan will create jobs, with plans to build at least 13 new ships, “restore Britain’s position as the foremost naval power in Europe” and boost British shipbuilding across the nation.
Main opposition Labor party leader Keir Starmer, both praised the announcement as long overdue, and questioned how Johnson intended to pay for it.
Fearing a change in the British government’s spending priorities, former British prime minister Gordon Brown urged the government not to break its promises on international aid to some of the world’s poorest countries.
More details likely will emerge next week when Treasury chief Rishi Sunak unveils details regarding the country’s spending plans for the coming year.
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The head of Germany’s disease control agency said Thursday that while the coronavirus infection rate in the country remains serious, there are signs a partial lockdown is working.Germany implemented restrictive measures in early November to curb a nationwide surge in cases, closing bars, restaurants and other leisure venues but keeping schools and shops open.Speaking to reporters in Berlin, Robert Koch Institute chief Lothar Wieler said the number of new infections has since plateaued, with 22,609 reported on Thursday – roughly the same number as a week ago. He said the fact they are not rising is good news but cautioned that it was too early to say if this is a trend.Wieler said the overall number of cases is still too high, and there is a risk that hospitals may become overwhelmed. Wieler, however, also expressed optimism the numbers will start to go down now that they have stabilized.Wieler also said the news this week that at least two potential vaccines are showing better than 90 percent effectiveness was “extremely encouraging.” He said, “I know if the vaccines have an efficacy of more than 90% then they would be great weapons. That’s great.”Wieler said it was unclear how long the restrictions would remain in place. When they were implemented, Chancellor Angela Merkel said the plan was for them to run through November, in hopes the nation would be able to lift some of them in time for the Christmas holiday in December.The Robert Koch Institute reports Germany now has seen a total of 855,916 cases and 13,370 deaths from the infection. The coronavirus causes the COVID-19 disease. 
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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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