France’s yellow vests staged demonstrations Saturday to mark the one-year anniversary of a protest movement for greater economic justice that once captured international headlines.  
 
Demonstrators smashed store windows and bus stops in Paris and set bonfires in some streets. Police and firemen responded with tear gas and water hoses. At least one of the demonstrations was canceled because of the violence. 
 
Demonstrations elsewhere in France were more peaceful. 
 
Protests first exploded over a hike in fuel prices. Roughly a quarter-million people — a diverse slice of French society, including teachers, farmers, retirees and students — took to the streets a year ago. Later, their demands expanded to a range of issues, from action on climate change to support for working-class families.  Protesters attend a demonstration to mark the first anniversary of the “yellow vest” movement in Nantes, France, Nov. 16, 2019.French President Emmanuel Macron responded by launching a national citizens debate earlier this year, and he offered concessions like tax cuts and a minimum wage hike.  The demonstrations have cost French businesses and the government hundreds of millions of dollars, but today, ome yellow vests say they’ve gained nothing from protesting. Farid, a government worker, says people are still struggling to make ends meet. Others say they’ve built bonds with fellow protesters. 
 
Recent efforts to revive the movement haven’t gained traction. French protests have certainly not ended — they’ve just gone back to more traditional forms. This week, for example, thousands of hospital workers marched over lack of funds and manpower. But yellow vests may join a broader labor strike next month, which some hope — or fear — may help relaunch the movement. 
…

The impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump centers on the question of whether he suspended close to 400 million dollars in U.S. military aid to Ukraine to pressure President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate one of his own political opponents. Top U.S. diplomats and other foreign policy experts said any threat to that U.S. security assistance sends the wrong signal, both to Ukraine, and to the stronger power it is fighting on its own soil, Russia. VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington.
 
…

Exceptionally high tidal waters returned to Venice on Friday, prompting the mayor to close the iconic St. Mark’s Square and call for donations to repair the Italian lagoon city just three days after it experienced its worst flooding in 50 years.
                   
The high tide peaked at 1.54 meters (5 feet) above sea level just before noon on Friday, flooding most of the historic center.
                   
Mayor Luigi Brugnaro told reporters he was forced to ask police to block off St. Mark’s Square, which was covered in knee-high water. Even as the water started to subside, workers in high boots began removing the platforms used by the public to cross the square without getting wet.
                   
The city saw the second-worst flooding on record late Tuesday when the water level reached 1.87 meters (6 feet, 1 inch) above sea level, prompting the Italian government to declare a state of emergency.
                   
On Thursday, the government also approved 20 million euros in funding to help Venice repair the most urgent damage.
                   
Venice’s mayor said the damage is estimated at hundreds of millions of euros and blamed climate change for the “dramatic situation” in the historic city. He called for the speedy completion of the city’s long-delayed Moses flood defense project.
                   
He also called for donations from Italy and abroad to help repair the damage caused by the flooding.
                   
“Venice is the pride of all of Italy,” Brugnaro said in a statement Friday. “Venice is everyone’s heritage, unique in the world. Thanks to your help, Venice will shine again.”
                   
The leader of the right-wing opposition League party, Matteo Salvini, visited Venice on Friday morning and also called for a common effort to complete the Moses project, which the Italian government now expects to be completed by 2021.
                   
“We can’t waste time, this city is crying for help,” Salvini said, adding that similar incidents must be avoided.
                   
Tuesday’s devastating floods have reignited a yearslong debate on Moses, a multibillion-euro flood defense project that has been under construction since 2003. The project has not yet been activated, after being delayed a number of times due to corruption scandals, costs overruns and environmentalist opposition over its effects on Venice’s lagoon ecosystem.
…

Britain’s ruling Conservatives are banking heavily on the star quality of their leader, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who’s had an uncanny ability in the past to connect with voters and to cheer them up.He’s struggled on the campaign trail for next month’s highly contentious election, however, and, surprisingly, he hasn’t prospered in several encounters with voters, prompting commentators to query whether the shine has worn off Boris or whether Britons are wearying of his knockabout style.His election earlier this year as leader by the Conservatives, who view themselves as the natural party of government, was partly driven by the idea that the ever-upbeat, mop-haired former London mayor and journalist could secure them a parliamentary majority by casting his political spell, dashing around the fractious country with an invigorating message and cheery rhetoric laden with quips and jokes and endearing gaffes.Hardline anti-European Union Conservatives also saw Johnson as the best bet to break the three-year logjam in Parliament over Britain’s planned and messy departure from the EU, and to be the one to actually “deliver Brexit.”However, the much-vaunted Johnson magic hasn’t so far been the spell-binding force of old in an election that’s the most unpredictable in years, thanks to Brexit, the fracturing of the country’s main parties, and the emergence of new ones.Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson has his picture taken with supporters prior to boarding his campaign bus, in Manchester, England, Nov. 15, 2019.Torrential rain hasn’t helped. Midweek, Johnson, dressed as though he were out for a day’s hunting on an aristocratic estate, faced angry voters in the deluged English regions of Yorkshire, Derbyshire, the east Midlands and Lincolnshire, where flood defenses failed once again failed to prevent rivers from breaching their banks and flooding homes and businesses.
Shortly after arriving in the sodden Yorkshire town of Stainforth, as a hundred soldiers were deployed to help shore up the failing flood defenses, one middle-aged woman resident stopped briefly to tell Johnson, “I’m not very happy about talking to you, so, if you don’t mind, I’ll just mope on with what I’m doing.”Pushing her wheelbarrow by bemused soldiers and the startled, mumbling Johnson, she added, “You’ve not helped us … I don’t know what you’re here today for.”A townsman shouted at him, “You’ve took your time, Boris, haven’t you?” Johnson’s sheepish response, “We’ve been on it round the clock,” didn’t assuage the man. The day before Johnson inexplicably announced the flooding wasn’t sufficiently bad to call a “national emergency.”“Campaigning as a maverick challenger and campaigning as the sitting prime minister are two very different things,” a member of his election team acknowledged privately to VOA.Autumn and winter floods have become ever more frequent in England — the consequence of climate change, according to scientists, overdevelopment and neglect of infrastructure by successive governments. Johnson can hardly be blamed that once again the flood defenses failed, ruining homes and endangering businesses. However, the government’s slow response in getting the army to help and Johnson’s late arrival in deluged regions, a day after his main rivals, Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn and the Liberal Democrats’ Jo Swinson, had visited, was less than sure-footed.Britain’s opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn poses for a photo after speaking at a campaign event in Lancaster, England, Nov. 15, 2019.It was especially surprising as Johnson’ electoral strategy is based on pulling off something that evaded his Conservative predecessor, Theresa May, at the last general election less than two years ago — winning over some of the Labour Party’s heartland working-class constituencies in the north of England and the Midlands, which voted for Brexit in the 2016 referendum. The Conservatives need to make inroads with these voters  to compensate for the likely loss of pro-EU seats in the south of England and London, where the Liberal Democrats and Labour are likely to do well.  Liberal Democrats would ditch Brexit, Labour would negotiate a new deal and hold a second referendum offering a choice between their exit deal and remaining as a full EU member.An 11th-hour bid by the Conservatives to dissuade Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party from running candidates in Labour’s heartland northern seats, where they’re likely to split the anti-EU vote, failed Thursday, complicating Johnson’s path to victory.Johnson on Thursday was accused of running scared by refusing to meet members of the public during a visit to Somerset, where he was trying to bolster the campaigns of Conservatives, also known as Tories, against strong Liberal Democrat challenges. In the market town of Taunton he was heckled as he visited a school and a scheduled stop-off at a nearby bakery was shelved.On paper, though, Johnson should be able to secure a comfortable parliamentary majority. The Conservatives have a 14% lead over Labour, the country’s main opposition party, which under Jeremy Corbyn has lurched far to the left, and which is running on an aggressive renationalization and tax-the-rich manifesto.Corbyn is also less the firebrand on the campaign trial than he was in the last election, when Labour benefited from a late surge to confound the pollsters and the Conservatives. The Labour leader’s popularity rating in the opinion polls has slumped to a historic minus 48%, 43 points lower than Johnson, who himself has a dismal approval rating of minus 5%. Only Swinson is in positive territory.Leader of Britain’s Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson reacts as she speaks at a campaign event in London, Britain, Nov. 9, 2019.Nonetheless with a big lead over Labour Johnson looks to be safe. “If current polling and anecdotal evidence from doorstep campaigning is correct, Mr Johnson ought comfortably to secure the majority he seeks on December 12,” notes Jeremy Warner, a commentator for the pro-Conservative Daily Telegraph.However, few pollsters are confident even about their own opinion polls, especially as most were wrong about about the past two elections. Brexit has turned Britain into a politically tumultuous country — old allegiances have been upended, a wide generation gap has been exposed, with younger voters shifting left and older voters shifting right. With the emergence of new political groups and the reinvigoration of the centrist and pro-EU Liberal Democrats there could be some big surprises on election night. The number of variables in play makes it especially hard to predict what will happen.The winter weather also poses a huge danger for the ruling Conservatives — as the flooding demonstrated this week. Governments traditionally have avoided calling elections in the winter — this is the first since 1974, when the sitting Labour government made moderate gains but failed to obtain an overall majority. In the last December election, in 1923, the ruling Conservatives also failed to secure a majority in the House of Commons.The problem for any government is that voters tend to be grumpier in the winter with the darkness and poor weather — a feel-good factor tends to play more favorably for the party in power, but when voters are unhappy they are more likely to punish their rulers, say pollsters.According to Rob Parsons, political editor of the right-leaning Yorkshire Post, the floods “risk washing away Tory hopes of taking the north.”  Another winter-related factor that poses a threat to the Conservatives is the National Health Service, already a key election issue with both the Conservatives and Labour vying with each other over who will spend more on Britain’s hospitals. Lengthy wait times because of winter illnesses such as flu will inevitably be blamed on the government, according to pollsters. 
…

The United States is promising not to abandon the fight to eradicate the Islamic State terror group, while pushing its coalition allies to take more responsibility for foreign fighters and rebuilding Iraq and Syria. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed visiting foreign ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS to the State Department Thursday to discuss the way forward, as VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
 
…

Russia’s security services moved money through Estonia to finance operations overseas, the Baltic country’s finance minister, who is leading a cleanup after a money laundering scandal, told Reuters.Martin Helme said that Estonian authorities are also investigating whether individuals under U.S. sanctions benefited from the movement of money through Estonia, which is undertaking reforms after 200 billion euros ($220 billion) in suspect transactions flowed through Danske Bank’s branch in the country.The Kremlin, Russia’s General Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Security Service and Investigative Committee did not reply to emailed requests for comment.”There are two sorts of money that come from Russia. One is stolen money that wants to escape Russia,” Helme said during a telephone interview with Reuters, adding that the remainder was “very closely entangled” with Russia’s security services.Helme, who heads a committee including police and prosecutors tackling money laundering and terrorism financing, said some of the money “has been used by the Russian security services to finance their operations abroad”.Danske Bank was ejected from Estonia, a former Soviet satellite, this year after admitting suspicious money flowed through its branch there between 2007 and 2015.A spokesman for Danske Bank, which has said it had Russian clients in Estonia, declined to comment because of ongoing investigations into its activities.Helme did not specify which Russian entities he was referring to or cite any evidence to support his allegations.
The head of Russia’s Federal Service for Financial Monitoring told President Vladimir Putin this week that Moscow was winning international recognition for its efforts to tackle money laundering.Estonia is investigating money that flowed through the country in recent years and is sharing information with U.S. authorities, Helme said, adding that this included whether people subject to U.S. sanctions were involved.”We are very worried about that,” he said.As in neighboring Latvia, the United States has been the driving force behind the cleanup of banks in the Baltics, many of whom offered a bridge for Russians moving money to the West.Reforms are taking place against the backdrop of Washington’s efforts to diminish Russia’s influence in countries like Estonia, which has historically fraught relations with Moscow and hosts NATO troops to deter any potential incursion.Helme said he had discussed international sanctions during an October meeting in Washington with Marshall Billingslea, the U.S. Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing.Latvian echoThe allegations by Helme echo an earlier warning by a minister in Latvia that Russian citizens, including people subject to U.S. sanctions, had put money in Latvian banks, some of which may have been used for political manipulation.Three senior Latvian officials told Reuters last year that authorities investigated the movement of funds from Russia through a Latvian bank to support an attempted coup in 2016 in Montenegro. A Kremlin spokesman denied any such activity.Helme said Russian authorities had recently visited Estonia, which is home to a large Russian-speaking population and was once governed by Moscow.”They are here to find out what we know and use that information to better conceal their operations,” he said.
The Russian General Prosecutor’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.Russia’s central bank has revoked hundreds of bank licenses in recent years as part of efforts to strengthen the sector and fight money laundering.($1 = 0.9074 euros)
 
…

A band of GOP senators rebuffed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s effort to depict anti-Islamic State Kurd forces as terrorists in a contentious Oval Office meeting, as the White House allies took a far harder line against Erdogan than did President Donald Trump.
                   
Participants said Erdogan played a propaganda video for Republican senators attending Wednesday’s meeting, drawing a rebuke from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and others.
                   
Graham said Thursday that he asked Erdogan, “do you want me to get the Kurds to play a video about what your forces have done?”
                   
The lawmakers also told Erdogan that he is risking economic sanctions by going ahead with a new Russian anti-aircraft missile system.
                   
The exchange behind the scenes was far more confrontational than the reception Trump gave Erdogan in public.
…

Turkey is willing to purchase U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems but will not agree to disposing of the Russian S-400 system it has already bought, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday.Speaking to reporters on board his plane on his way back from a meeting with Donald Trump in Washington, Erdogan said the U.S. president was engaged in “sincere efforts” to resolve disputes between the NATO allies.Turkey took delivery of the Russian S-400 system this year, dismissing warnings from the United States that it poses a threat to NATO security.As a result, Washington suspended Turkish participation in the multinational F-35 fighter jet program.“We told them we can purchase the Patriots too. We regard the proposal to completely remove the S-400s (from Turkey) as meddling in our sovereign rights,” the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Erdogan as saying. “There can be no question of us leaving the S-400s and turning toward the Patriots.”FILE – First parts of a Russian S-400 missile defense system are unloaded from a Russian plane near Ankara, Turkey, July 12, 2019.Erdogan said: “I want both America and Russia to be my friend. All our efforts are geared toward that.”The dispute over the competing air defense systems is one component of the tension between the two countries. Turkey has also come under fire in Washington for its incursion into Syria last month to drive away Syrian Kurdish forces that fought with the U.S. against the Islamic State.Turkey, meanwhile, is angry at the U.S. for supporting the Kurdish forces it views as a threat and for refusing to extradite a Muslim cleric it accuses of fomenting a 2016 coup attempt against Erdogan.Erdogan also told reporters that he had returned a letter that Trump sent on Oct. 9, urging Erdogan restraint over his plans for an offensive in Syria. Trump wrote: “Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool!”Opposition parties had decried the letter as an insult to Turkey, calling on Erdogan to send it back to Trump.Erdogan said Trump did not react when he handed him back the letter. 
…

Italy’s government is set to declare a state of emergency in flood-ravaged Venice, to swiftly secure the historic city funds to repair damage from the highest tide in 50 years.
                   
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte described the flooding as “a blow to the heart of our country.”
                   
He said a cabinet meeting called for Thursday afternoon will declare a state of emergency and approve the first measures aimed at helping the city’s recovery.
                   
Conte spent Wednesday night in Venice, where world-famous monuments, homes and businesses were hit hard by the exceptional flooding. The water reached 1.87 meters above sea level Tuesday, the second-highest level ever recorded in the city.
                   
Venice’s mayor said the damage is estimated at “hundreds of millions of euros.”
…

The Dutch-led team investigating the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine has released new phone intercepts that it said includes recordings of Russian military commanders speaking with separatist fighters and a Kremlin official.The intercepts were released on November 14 as part of a new push by the Dutch team, known as the Joint Investigative Team (JIT), seeking new witnesses for the crash of MH17, which killed all 298 people on board.In June, Dutch prosecutors announced that three Russians and one Ukrainian would be put on trial in the Netherlands for their alleged involvement in the incident.In announcing the charges, prosecutors said there was evidence of a direct line of command between Russian officials and separatists who were fighting in eastern Ukraine and had announced the formation of an unrecognized government called the “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DNR).MH17 was flying between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur when it exploded and crashed in territory in eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russian fighters on July 17, 2014.The JIT has said that a sophisticated antiaircraft missile system known as a Buk was used in the attack, and that the weapon came from Russia.In a statement accompanying the release of the intercepts, the JIT said it was seeking more witnesses as prosecutors compile more evidence ahead of the trial of the four men, scheduled for March 2020.”Recent analysis of witness statements and other information revealed that Russian influence on the DPR went beyond military support and that the ties between Russian officials and DPR-leaders appear closer,” the team said.”The intensity of Russian influence is relevant to investigating further persons involved in the downing of MH17. That is why today the JIT releases this new appeal for witnesses,” the JIT said.In the intercepts, which were published on YouTube and date from July 2014, according to the JIT, several men can be heard discussing what appears to be a chain of command.In one, which the JIT said was placed at the beginning of July 2014, a man who appears to sound like a commander tells another that “men are coming with a mandate from Shoigu” — a reference to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.In another call dated March 2015, a man whom JIT identified as Leonid Zakharchenko, a military intelligence officer for the separatists, is heard discussing with another man about a third man’s potential legal problems.
The conversation repeatedly mentions the name Surkov — a reference to Vladislav Surkov, a top adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin.A spokesperson for the JIT did not immediately answer an e-mail from RFE/RL seeking further comment.Other prominent individuals that JIT said were mentioned in the intercepts include Igor Girkin, a top separatist commander in eastern Ukraine who was among the four charged by Dutch prosecutors, and Sergei Aksyonov, who became the Russian-appointed leader in Crimea after Moscow annexed the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula in March 2014. 
…

U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met at the White House Wednesday but did not reach resolutions on major irritants to bilateral relations including Turkey’s recent incursion into northern Syria and its purchase of Russian military hardware. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
 
…

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the White House for a second time at what is a low ebb in relations between Washington and Ankara. 
 
“We’ve been friends for a long time,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “We understand each other’s country.” 
 
Erdogan recently infuriated U.S. officials when he ignored American warnings not to invade northeastern Syria in an operation targeting Syrian Kurds. 
 
The Turkish leader also upset American defense officials and diplomats with the purchase of the S-400 missile defense system from Moscow. The purchase violated the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanction Act (CAATSA), which prohibits major purchases of Russian military hardware. 
 
That also prompted the United States to eject Turkey from its F-35 joint strike fighter program.  FILE – First parts of a Russian S-400 missile defense system are unloaded from a Russian plane near Ankara, Turkey, July 12, 2019.”We’ll be talking about the S-400,” said Trump, when asked by reporters about the defense relationship. “We’ll be talking about the F-35 fighter jet.” 
 
Trump also was asked whether Turkey could possess F-35 jets while owning the Russian missile defense system. 
 
“We’re having a second meeting in a little while,” replied Trump, indicating there might be more to say about it at a joint news conference in the afternoon. 
 
Erdogan recently discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin buying Su-57 and Su-35 fighter jets from Moscow if he is not able to get the American aircraft, according to media reports. 
 
Such a move could endanger Turkey’s membership in the U.S.-led NATO defense alliance. 
 
Earlier this week, a bipartisan group of congressmen sent Trump a letter requesting that he cancel his meeting with the Turkish president because of Erdogan’s “disastrous” actions in Syria and purchase of the S-400 system. 
 
“Given this situation, we believe that now is a particularly inappropriate time for President Erdogan to visit the United States,” the lawmakers wrote.  FILE – House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., arrives for a gathering of the House Democratic caucus as Congress returns for the fall session, at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 10, 2019.Just before Erdogan arrived at the White House, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, called it “shameful” for Trump to host Erdogan, accusing the U.S. president of “again turning a blind eye to the actions of foreign leaders who have amassed power and seek to rule as autocrats, subverting democracy in their countries and exploiting divisions and ethnic conflicts to promote their own legitimacy.” In an interview with VOA’s Kurdish service, the spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Mustafa Bali, called for the United States not to sacrifice the Kurds, Christians and other ethnic and religious groups in northern Syria for its economic interests. 
 
“President Trump should fulfill his moral obligations and prevent the ethnic cleansing and demographic engineering” carried out by Erdogan “since his forces started the occupation in Syria,” said Bali, who alleged that Turkey has been violating the cease-fire and expanding territory outside the so-called “safe zone.”    
 
Turkey considers the Kurdish forces, allies of the United States in the fight against the Islamic State group inside Syria, to be terrorists.  FILE – In this photo taken from the Turkish side of the Turkey-Syria border, in Ceylanpinar, Sanliurfa province, smoke billows from a fire in Ras al-Ayn, Syria, Oct. 20, 2019, days after the declaration of a cease-fire.In the Oval Office on Wednesday, alongside Erdogan, Trump said “the cease-fire is holding very well. We’ve been speaking to the Kurds and they seem to be very satisfied.” 
 
The discussions between Trump and Erdogan began amid the first day of public testimony in the impeachment inquiry the House is conducting against the U.S. president. 
 
“It’s a witch hunt, it’s a hoax. I’m too busy to watch it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I see they’re using lawyers that are television lawyers. They took some guys off television.” 
…

Placido Domingo is scheduled to sing two concert performances in Verdi’s “I Vespri Siciliani (The Sicilian Vespers)” next summer as part of the 100th anniversary Salzburg Festival, which features 221 performances over 44 days and includes seven staged operas.Domingo, who turns 79 in January, was dropped or has withdrawn from all his U.S. performances since reports by The Associated Press in August and September detailed accusations against him of sexual harassment or other inappropriate, sexually charged conduct.He received standing ovations in Salzburg at performances of Verdi’s “Luisa Miller” last August and is welcome back pending investigations by the LA Opera, where he resigned as general director last month, and the American Guild of Musical Artists. Helga Rabl-Stadler, president of the Salzburg Festival, said Domingo was engaged two years ago to sing the baritone role of Guido di Montforte on Aug. 16 and 19. European houses have maintained Domingo’s contracts.”We do not see any reason why we should change our opinion if there are no new facts,” Rabl-Stadler said in a telephone interview, adding the situation could change depending on what is uncovered by the investigations. “We have to follow the rules of our law.”Staged operas, concertsStaged operas announced Wednesday for next summer’s festival include Strauss’ “Elektra,” directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski; Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” directed by Romeo Castellucci and conducted by Teodor Currentzis; Mozart’s “Die Zauberfloete (The Magic Flute),” directed by Lydia Steier; Puccini’s “Tosca,” directed by Michael Sturminger and starring Anna Netrebko; Luigi Nono’s “Intolleranza 1960,” directed and choreographed by Jan Lauwer;, and Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov,” directed by Johannes Leiacker. Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale” with mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli will return after premiering May 29 at the Whitsun Festival.FILE – Actors perform during a dress rehearsal of Guiseppe Verdi’s opera “Macbeth” in Salzburg, July 28, 2011, in preparation for the 91st edition of the Salzburg Festival.The first Salzburg Festival opened Aug. 22, 1920, with a performance of Hofmannsthal’s “Jedermann” on the steps of Salzburg Cathedral. Its first opera, two years later, was “Don Giovanni.” Next summer’s festival runs from July 18 through Aug. 30.”The history of Salzburg Festival is extremely rich. It could be a burden,” said pianist Markus Hinterhauser, who became artistic director in October 2016 and has a contract running until September 2026. “But for me it’s really a very inspiring, very vitalizing thing to look at the history. But looking back needs also to make clear that we are always trying to lead the festival in a new presence.”Concerts include eight programs of Beethoven piano sonatas with Igor Levit; five performances by the Vienna Philharmonic led by Riccardo Muti, Gustavo Dudamel, Christian Thielmann, Mariss Jansons and Andris Nelsons; and two performances of the Berlin Philharmonic and new chief conductor Kirill Petrenko. The only U.S. orchestra is the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Manfred Honeck.”I’m often asked, is Salzburg here to keep the tradition or is it here to set the trends?” Rabl-Stadler said. “I think both. It’s wonderful to have Mozart in our town, but on the other hand, we have to think how can we explain the topics of works to people nowadays.”
 
…

The German parliament’s legal affairs committee on Wednesday ousted its chairman, a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany, amid anger over a string of provocative comments.The committee voted 37-6 Wednesday to remove chairman Stephan Brandner, center-left lawmaker Florian Post wrote on Twitter. It is the first time in the parliament’s 70-year history that a committee chairman has been voted out.
Brandner has repeatedly angered lawmakers from other parties over recent months, including with broadsides against opponents and by retweeting a reaction to the killing of two passers-by in a botched attack by a right-wing extremist on a synagogue last month that many considered objectionable.
That was followed by a tweet railing against singer Udo Lindenberg, who is critical of Alternative for Germany, and a decoration Lindenberg received, in which Brandner used the term “Judaslohn” (“blood money”).
Brandner comes from the eastern state of Thuringia, whose regional Alternative for Germany leader, Bjoern Hoecke, is the party’s best-known far-right firebrand.
The general-secretary of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Christian Democrats, Paul Ziemiak, tweeted that Brandner, “Hoecke’s Berlin outpost,” had been “unworthy” as chairman and added that “his anti-Semitism is intolerable.”
Brandner has portrayed himself as a victim of absurd accusations. On Wednesday, he accused other parties of “naked hypocrisy” and declared that “this is not a defeat for us.”
The head of Germany’s main Jewish group, Josef Schuster, said the committee had acted responsibly. Brandner, he said, “was no longer tenable in this office and, in our opinion, actually has no place in parliament.”
Alternative for Germany became the biggest opposition party after the country’s 2017 election.
It has dire relations with other parties. Lawmakers so far have voted down four candidates the party put forward to be parliament’s deputy speaker.
The party also chairs the parliament’s budget and tourism committees. They are symbolically important posts, though the occupants don’t get to change government policy.  
…

Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg left North America on a return trip across the Atlantic on Wednesday, hitching a renewable-energy ride with an Australian family aboard their 48-foot (15-meter) catamaran.Thunberg tweeted that they set sail from Virginia after the family answered her urgent appeal for a ride back to Europe, where she hopes to arrive in time for the United Nations climate meeting that was moved to Madrid in early December. They left shortly before 8 a.m. She encouraged followers to track their journey online.Their boat, named La Vagabonde, leaves little to no carbon footprint, using solar panels and hydro-generators for power. It also has a toilet, unlike the boat on which she sailed from the United Kingdom to New York in August. That one had only a bucket.“There are countless people around the world who don’t have access to a toilet,” she said about the upgrade. “It’s not that important. But it’s nice to have.”Thunberg spoke with The Associated Press Tuesday inside the tight confines of the boat’s cabin as it was docked in Hampton, near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.The boat’s owners are Riley Whitelum and Elayna Carausu, an Australian couple who travel the world with their 11-month-old baby, Lenny. The family, which has a large online following, responded to Thunberg’s call on social media for a carbon-free ride to Europe. An expert sailor, Nikki Henderson, also is coming along.The trip could take two to four weeks, in conditions that could be challenging. November is considered offseason for sailing across the Atlantic. As Thunberg spoke Tuesday, the temperature had dipped into the 30s, with sleet turning to light snow.But the 16-year-old, who refuses to fly because of the carbon price of plane travel, didn’t seem bothered.“I’m looking forward to it, just to be able to get away and recap everything and to just be disconnected,” she said.Thunberg’s nearly three-month trip through North America included her impassioned speech before the United Nations. She joined in climate strike rallies and protests from California to Colorado to North Carolina.Thunberg has become a symbol of a growing movement of young climate activists after leading weekly school strikes in Sweden that inspired similar actions in about 100 cities worldwide.She’s also drawn criticism from conservative commentators in the U.S. as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin. But she brushed off the criticism Tuesday, saying that yes, she IS too young to be doing this.“It should be the adults who take that responsibility,” Thunberg said. “But it feels like the adults and the people in power today are not.”When she looks back on her time in the U.S. and Canada, Thunberg said, the things that stick out the most include a glacier in Canada’s Jasper National Park that is destined to disappear “no matter what we do.”A visit to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, where there have been protests over a pipeline, also left an impact.“I was actually quite surprised to see how bad the indigenous people have been treated,” she said. “They are the ones who are being impacted often the most and first by the climate and ecological crisis. And they are also the ones who are at the front line trying to fight it.”She also was surprised at how much she was recognized.“There are always people who come up to me and ask for selfies and so on,” she said. “So, that really gives you an idea of how big the climate movement has reached.”
…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits the White House for talks Wednesday with U.S. President Donald Trump, with the two leaders likely to discuss Turkey’s incursion in northern Syria and its purchase of a Russian air defense system.The agenda for the day released by the White House also includes an afternoon joint news conference.The United States and other NATO allies have expressed concern about Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system, saying they do not fit with the alliances defense systems and pose a threat to the U.S. F-35 fighter jet program.  In response, the United States has suspended Turkey’s involvement with the F-35.A senior U.S. official, who spoke to reporters ahead of Erdogan’s visit, said the issue of the missile system is one that Trump “is trying to address head-on” in the talks with Turkey.”As he’s outlined publicly, there’s tremendous upside in this bilateral relationship in economic terms, a key part of which is the F-35 and Turkey’s role and potential role in the F-35 program.  But to get there, we, as allies, need to resolve this issue of the S-400,” the official said.Erdogan spokesman Fahrettin Altun said on Twitter that Turkey has been clear about its reasoning for purchasing the Russian missiles.”Turkey’s need for a missile defense system is urgent. The U.S. must recognize this to prevent the issue from becoming a thorn in our relations. Turkey’s participation in the F-35 program is crucial for our defense partnership,” Altun wrote.A senior U.S. official said another of Trump’s priorities would be the situation in Syria where the United States is chiefly concerned about a potential resurgence of the Islamic State group as well as preventing “humanitarian atrocities against religious and ethnic minorities.”Trump also planned to discuss human rights issues within Turkey as well.
…

Poland’s opposition parties elected their candidate as speaker of the Senate on Tuesday, a small victory that allows them to check the power of the populist right-wing ruling party.Senator Tomasz Grodzki was chosen speaker in a 51-48 vote with one abstention during the first sitting of the new parliament that was elected in October. Grodzki hailed the move as a victory for democracy. Until Tuesday’s vote, it was not certain that the opposition parties would manage to take control of the Senate.For the past four years, the ruling Law and Justice party has put through laws giving it much greater power over the judicial system. The European Union has often expressed its concerns that the party was eroding judicial independence, warning that rule of law in the young democracy was on the line.In many cases, with control of both houses of parliament, the party would rush laws through without allowing opposition lawmakers any say.Now, the Senate will be able to slow down and influence, though not block, the passage of laws. Perhaps more importantly, the Senate has the power to appoint the heads of some key state bodies and the opposition — if it maintains its majority — will be able to block the nominations of some ruling party loyalists.Law and Justice has tried to win over some opposition members in Senate, but has so far failed.Earlier Tuesday, the lower house of parliament, also named its speaker — Elzbieta Witek of Law and Justice.Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, right, outlines his vision of a tolerant Poland based on Roman Catholic values in a speech applauded by the populist ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, left, at the gala inauguration of a new four-year term.President Andrzej Duda opened the first day of parliament’s four-year term with a speech that paid homage to Poland’s tradition of being a land of tolerance and a place where many ethnic and religious groups lived for centuries in relative harmony. He also paid tribute to Roman Catholicism and strong family traditions that he credited with preserving the social fabric over a difficult history.The parliamentary election on Oct. 13 gave a second term Law and Justice party, which won nearly 44% of the votes, the highest percentage of any party since Poland returned to democracy 30 years ago.But the election also created some complications for the party and its 70-year-old leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, as it continues its plans to reshape the nation.Aside from the loss of the Senate, the ruling party must now contend with the fact that a far-right party, Confederation, got almost 7% of the vote, winning 11 seats in the assembly.Law and Justice had sought to prevent any party arising in parliament to its right. That strategy had led Kaczynski and other leaders to try to appeal to the far right, and they even marched with them on Independence Day in 2018.In another change, a left-wing alliance won 49 seats, after a hiatus of four years, after getting nearly 13% of the vote.
…

Venice was hit by the second highest tide recorded in the lagoon city on Tuesday, which flooded its historic basilica and left many of its squares and alleyways deep underwater.Mayor Luigi Brugnaro said he would declare a state of disaster and warned of severe damage.City officials said the tide peaked at 187 cm (6.14 ft) at 10.50 p.m. (2150 GMT), just short of the record 194 cm set in 1966.”The situation is dramatic,” Brugnaro said on Twitter. “We ask the government to help us. The cost will be high. This is the result of climate change.”Saint Mark’s Square was submerged by more than one meter (3.3 ft) of water, while the adjacent Saint Mark’s Basilica was flooded for the sixth time in 1,200 years.Four of those inundations have now come in the last 20 years, most recently in October 2018. There was no immediate word on any damage inside the Church. In 2018, the administrator said the basilica had aged 20 years in a single day.People walk on a catwalk in the flooded St. Mark’s Square during a period of seasonal high water in Venice, Italy, Nov. 12, 2019.Video on social media showed deep waters flowing like a river along one of Venice’s main thoroughfares, while another showed large waves hammering boats moored alongside the Doge’s Palace and surging over the stone sidewalks.”A high tide of 187 cm is going to leave an indelible wound,” Brugnaro said.Much of Italy has been pummelled by torrential rains in recent days, with wide spreading flooding, especially in the southern heel and toe of the country.In Matera, this year’s European Capital of Culture, rain water cascaded through the streets and inundated the city’s famous cave-dwelling district.Further bad weather is forecast for the coming days. 
…

The chief of Bosnia’s border police warned Tuesday that his guards cannot contain the migratory pressure along the country’s eastern border with Serbia and that the situation could easily escalate and put in danger the overall stability of the politically fragile nation.Zoran Galic told The Associated Press in an interview that securing the nation’s entire 1,600-kilometer (995-mile) border along a popular migration route into Europe was like the “work of Sisyphus.” That was a reference to the Greek mythical hero who was condemned for eternity to push a rock up a mountain only to watch it roll all the way down every time he reaches the top.“We are in a constant struggle to deter migrants, but they never quit,” he said.Describing the scale of the problem, he said:  “We encounter women who are eight months pregnant, juvenile children, and we are doing our best to treat them morally, with respect for all international (human rights) conventions.”Since the start of the year, more than 13,000 migrants have arrived in Bosnia, according to Bosnian government statistics. The impoverished country is unable to provide them with appropriate accommodation and many are left without access to hot meals, showers or proper medical care, to the growing consternation of local communities.In this photo taken Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019, Bosnian border police officers guard migrants after making the illegal crossing from Serbia by the Drina river, the natural border between Bosnia and Serbia, near eastern Bosnian town of Zvornik, Bosnia…Galic said his border police forces is short 1,000 officers and the modern technology required to secure the borders. He said the country only has one officer per every 30 kilometers (19 miles) of border.Bosnia is located along the so-called Balkan route that migrants from the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa take in hopes of reaching western Europe. The route became more popular nearly three years ago after other countries in the region sealed off their borders.Most migrants arrive in Bosnia from Serbia after moving relatively unimpeded across the poorly guarded border between the two countries. From there they walk northwest to Bosnia’s border with the European Union-member Croatia.  The Bosnian border with both Serbia and Croatia is mostly porous, with rivers, mountains and vast tracts of forest.But Croatia has been taking increasingly efficient steps to prevent cross-border movement, so a growing number of desperate migrants remain stuck in Bosnia, one of the poorest and most volatile countries in Europe.Migrants caught by Bosnian border police officers, after making the illegal crossing from Serbia, described to the AP being smuggled across the Drina River by human traffickers.“I am paying crossing river 3,000 euro. Who take the money? It is smuggler, men smuggler,” said a migrant who identified himself only as Waqar, and said he was a 17-year-old Pakistani.Over the past few months, the high influx of migrants has unleashed acrimony among Bosnia’s squabbling nationalist leaders who represent the often-competing interests of the country’s Bosniak, Croat and Serb ethnic communities.Most notably, Bosnian Serb hard-line leader Milorad Dodik, who is a member of Bosnia’s multi-ethnic joint presidency, has blocked efforts to deploy the army to stem the influx of migrants from Serbia.Dodik is also blocking the deployment of the EU’s border protection agency teams along Bosnia’s border with Croatia, using the crisis to promote his Serbian-first attitude, including by refusing to accommodate any migrants in the country’s highly autonomous Serb-run half.Many Bosnians have sympathy for the asylum seekers, with memories of when many of them sought refuge elsewhere.During the war in Bosnia of 1992-95 — the deadliest of the ethnic wars sparked by the breakup of Yugoslavia — more than 100,000 people died, and more than half the population was forced to flee.
…

The Voice of America’s Russian serviced produced this documentary about the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It looks at Berlin then and today through the eyes of those who were there, including an American soldier, a dissident, a politician, a historian and others.
…

Turkey’s October military intervention into Syria is increasingly straining relations with its regional allies and neighbors, but the country is pushing back against mounting criticism of its Syrian incursion.In a recent editorial headlined “A threat against the Turkey-Qatar alliance,” the Daily Sabah, which has close ties to the Turkish government, condemned coverage of Turkey’s Syrian military operation by Qatari-owned news broadcaster Al-Jazeera English. The editorial called for the firing of journalists, warning of long-term consequences to Turkish-Qatar relations.”Although the two countries see eye to eye on many issues, any sustainable partnership must be firmly rooted in mutual interests. Without reciprocity, any relationship is at risk of falling apart,” read last week’s editorial.The Turkish military operation is on pause after agreements were brokered by Washington and Moscow with Ankara.With Turkish relations strained with Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt, Qatar is one of Ankara’s few remaining regional allies.”Turkish-Qatar relations are built on good foundations,” said Mithat Rende, the former Turkish ambassador to Qatar. “But this [Sabah editorial] is probably a warning from the [Turkish] presidency, ‘You should behave. You should show respect.'”  FILE – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, welcomes Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani before their talks in Istanbul, Nov. 26, 2018.Ankara is strongly backing Qatar in an ongoing regional embargo led by Saudi Arabia against the emirate. Last year, Turkey deployed troops to Qatar, a move widely seen to prevent any Saudi military action.Rende says Ankara’s anger with Qatar is more deep-seated than Al-Jazeera broadcasting.”The present Qatari criticism is also probably because of the Arab League heavily criticizing the Turkish intervention, which was a very big disappointment for Ankara,” said Rende. “The Arab League, when they get together, the No. 1 sentiment is Arab nationalism. They do this with border issues and territory issues.”Turkey is a former imperial power in the region, whose Ottoman empire ruled much of the Arab world. That bitter historical legacy, analysts say, continues to color Arab perception of Turkish actions, particularly military ones in the region.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed criticism by the Arab League.The “Arab League is holding meetings against Turkey,” Erdogan said. “One has to ask the members of the Arab League why they do not support the refugees in Turkey, who are mostly Arabs.”FILE – In this June 14, 2015 file photo taken from the Turkish side of the border between Turkey and Syria, in Akcakale, Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey, thousands of Syrian refugees walk in order to cross into Turkey.Turkey currently hosts over 3.5 million Syrian refugees. Along with securing Turkey’s border, Erdogan is seeking to create a so-called “safe zone” large enough and secure enough to return up to 2 million Syrians currently living in Turkey to Syria.
 
Arab concerns over Ankara’s military presence in Syria are likely to heighten with Erdogan indicating a long-term military presence.”We won’t quit before the last terrorist leaves the region,” Erdogan told a group of journalists Nov. 8. “This is one dimension of the issue. Secondly, we will not quit before other countries leave. We are in favor of Syria’s unity and solidarity. We never want it disintegrated.”Such comments will also likely cause unease in Tehran. Iran insists that only foreign powers invited by the Damascus government should be present in Syria.”The imperative now is to end the [Turkish] incursion into Syria,” tweeted Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.Erdogan reacted angrily to the Iranian comments.”Some of the statements about the operation have caused serious sadness to me,” Erdogan said last month. “Not [Iranian President Hassan] Rouhani himself, but some of his close friends have issued oppositional statements. Mr. Rouhani should have prevented these statements.”Erdogan also pointed out that in the past Ankara helped Iran cope with sanctions imposed by the international community over its nuclear energy program.Analysts suggest that Erdogan’s comment is a thinly veiled warning to Tehran, given that Iran is again facing powerful trade sanctions.But with Ankara giving little sign of any early Syrian withdrawal, and even threatening new military operations, regional diplomatic pressure is only likely to grow.”The issue is how Moscow, Tehran, and [Syrian President Bashar al-] Assad try to persuade the further accession of Turkish troops inside Syria,” said International relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University. “At the end of the day, this is Syrian territory. Turkey no doubt has undertaken a rightful operation for security reasons, but the limits of the security concern will be defined by Assad, Tehran and Moscow.”Erdogan insists he is ready to face down regional pressure and criticism to achieve his ultimate goals in Syria.
 
…

Danish police have begun carrying out border checks at Denmark’s crossings with Sweden after a series of shootings and explosions around Copenhagen that Danish authorities say were carried out by people from Sweden.
 
Police spokesman Jens Jespersen told The Associated Press on Tuesday that at checks on the Oresund Bridge between Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmo, officers have “a particular focus on cross-border crime involving explosives, weapons and drugs.” He also says authorities are stopping cars to have “a peak at who is inside.”
 
The controls are also being carried out at ferry ports.
 
They follow 13 explosions in Copenhagen since February. A June shooting in the city killed two Swedish citizens. Also, a shooting Saturday in Malmo killed a 15-year-old boy and critically wounded another teenager.
…

Eighteen Turkish students and a lecturer went on trial on Tuesday for taking part in a banned LGBTI Pride event at an Ankara university.The defendants face up to three years in prison if convicted of “unlawful assembly and protest” and “refusing to disperse” in a trial deemed “farcical” by rights groups.One of the 18 students also faces up to two years for insulting a police officer with hand gestures.Homosexuality has been legal throughout modern Turkey’s history, but LGBTI individuals face regular harassment and abuse.The pride event at the prestigious Middle East Technical University has taken place every May since 2011.But university bosses banned this year’s event and police used pepper spray, plastic bullets and tear gas to break it up.Officials from several European embassies, including Denmark, and an opposition lawmaker attended the packed hearing.Lawyers and rights groups urged the court to immediately acquit the defendants.”The ban of the Pride march lacks legal grounds, and these brave students and others who defied it had their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly violated,” Sara Hall of Amnesty International said in a statement.Police did not allow supporters to read a statement outside the courthouse.‘Cannot ban pride’
Defendant Melike Irem Balkan told the court there were “no legal grounds” for banning the event, noting that it has taken place “peacefully” in previous years.Another defendant, Ozgur Mehmet Gur, was defiant, telling the court: “Every step we take is a Pride march. Our existence is a Pride march. You cannot ban the Pride march.”Academic Mehmet Mutlu said he attended the event only “to protect my students from the officers’ violent behavior” and that his detention was “wrong”.The defendants were arrested on the day, but have been free pending trial.The trial was later adjourned to March 12.The Ankara governor’s office banned all LGBTI events in November 2017, saying they could “provoke reactions” in society, but the ruling was overturned by a court in the capital in April.LGBTI events have faced mixed fortunes under the Islamic-rooted government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Istanbul’s Pride march in 2014 was one of the biggest LGBTI events ever seen in the majority Muslim region, but authorities in the city have banned it ever since, and used tear gas to break up the latest event in June.ILGA-Europe, an umbrella organization for LGBTI groups, called for “a thorough and impartial investigation into the excessive use of force” against the Pride marchers.It places Turkey in the bottom three European countries, alongside Armenia and Azerbaijan, for equality laws and policies. 
…

France, Germany, Britain and the European Union say they are “extremely concerned” about Iran’s renewed uranium enrichment activities and what they call “regrettable acceleration of Iran’s disengagement” from commitments it made under the 2015 agreement regarding the country’s nuclear program.In a joint statement released Monday, the foreign ministers urged Iran to reverse all of the measures it has taken that go against those imposed in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which limited Iran’s nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief.Iran has restarted enrichment at its Fordow facility, exceeded limits on enrichment levels and the amount of enriched material it is allowed to stockpile, while also announcing work on developing more advanced centrifuges.  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the steps are reversible if the other signatories to the agreement help Iran work around U.S. sanctions.In their statement, France, Germany Britain and the EU said their side has “fully upheld” their commitments under the agreement, including lifting the sanctions they had imposed over fears Iran was working to develop nuclear weapons.  Iran says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.”It is not critical that Iran upholds its JCPOA commitments and works with all JCPOA participants to de-escalate tensions,” the statement said.The deal originally also included China, Russia and the United States.  U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement last year.Also Monday, the U.N.’s nuclear monitor said uranium particles have been detected at an undeclared nuclear site in Iran.In a confidential report obtained by news agencies, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that manmade uranium particles had been discovered, without revealing the location of the undeclared site.The report also confirmed that Iran is enriching uranium at its underground Fordow facility — a site where, under the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, it had agreed not to carry out any enrichment or enrichment-related research.Over the weekend, Iran began pouring concrete for a second nuclear reactor at its Bushehr power plant, which is monitored by the IAEA.Iran has said it intends to enrich uranium to 4.5%, slightly above the 3.67% limit allowed under 2015 deal. Enriching to 4.5% is far below the level needed to make a nuclear weapon.
…