The U.S. Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution that recognizes as genocide the mass killings of Armenians a century ago, a historic move that infuriated Turkey and dealt a blow to the already problematic ties between Ankara and Washington. Turkey condemned the measure, which passed a month after an official visit to the White House by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who enjoys a special rapport with President Donald Trump, amid mounting issues that have soured the relationship between the two NATO allies. Trump had cast his November 13 meeting with Erdogan as “wonderful” despite no concrete breakthrough on deep disagreements about issues such as Ankara’s purchase of Russian weapons systems and diverging views on Syria policy. The Democrat-led House of Representatives passed the resolution by an overwhelming majority in October. But Republican senators had blocked a vote in the Senate since the Erdogan meeting. ‘Tribute'”This is a tribute to the memory of 1.5 million victims of the first #Genocide of the 20th century and bold step in promotion of the prevention agenda. #NeverAgain,” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan tweeted. FILE – Two people walk at the Tzitzernakaberd memorial to the victims of mass killings by Ottoman Turks, in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, Oct. 30, 2019.The resolution, which is nonbinding, asserts that it is U.S. policy to commemorate as genocide the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923. The Ottoman Empire was centered in present-day Turkey. Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War I, but contests the figures and denies that the killings were systematically orchestrated and constituted genocide. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the decision a “political show,” while presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Ankara strongly condemned and rejected the measure. “History will note these resolutions as irresponsible and irrational actions by some members of the U.S. Congress against Turkey,” Fahrettin Altun, Turkey’s communications director, said on Twitter. Sticking with S-400Congressional aides said the White House did not want the legislation to move ahead while it was negotiating with Ankara on sensitive issues. However, since the visit, Erdogan repeatedly said Turkey had no intention of dropping the Russian S-400 air defense missile systems it bought, crushing any hopes for progress. For decades, measures recognizing the Armenian genocide have stalled in Congress, stymied by concerns about relations with Turkey and intense lobbying by Ankara. “I’ve invested, like, decades of my life,” said Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America. “So it was a sense of relief and a bit of a vindication that … [the United] States recognized the history of the Armenians, but also put up a firewall against foreign countries coming into our democracy and dictating to us.” Congress has been united in its opposition to Turkey’s recent policy actions. Republican senators have been incensed with Turkey’s purchase of the S-400, which the United States says poses a threat to its F-35 fighter jets and cannot be integrated into NATO defenses. Syrian incursionThey have also moved to punish Turkey for its October 9 incursion into Syria. A U.S. Senate committee backed legislation on Wednesday to impose sanctions on Turkey, pushing Trump to take a harder line on the issue. Many lawmakers blame Trump for giving a green light to Ankara for its military offensive. To become law, that legislation would have to pass the House of Representatives — which passed its own Turkish sanctions bill 403-16 in October — and be signed by 
Trump. 
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 LONDON — As Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi addressed the International Court of Justice in The Hague this week, many former supporters watched in dismay as the Nobel peace laureate denied accusations that Myanmar’s military conducted atrocities against the Rohingya Muslim population.Prosecution lawyers say the military’s actions amount to genocide, and many of Aung San Suu Kyi’s critics say she bears some responsibility for the continued persecution of the Muslim minority, three-quarters of a million of whom have fled the country.Human rights groups highlight the continuing detention of Rohingya people across Myanmar on charges of “traveling illegally” in the country.The “Rohingya are not granted freedom of movement,” said John Quinley III of the campaign group Fortify Rights. “We’ve documented recently forced labor of (the) Rohingya and restrictions on the right to nationality. We believe that the International Court of Justice should urgently put in place provisional measures, in order to end the persecution and ongoing violence against the Rohingya in Rakhine state.”Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi leaves the International Court of Justice (ICJ) after court hearings in The Hague, Netherlands, Dec. 12, 2019.Aung San Suu Kyi defended Myanmar’s military against accusations that it waged genocide against the Rohingya after The Gambia filed the case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. She said the military’s actions were a legitimate response to terrorism.”Myanmar requests the court to remove the case from its list. Steps that generate suspicion, sow doubts or create resentment between communities who have just begun to build a fragile foundation of trust could undermine reconciliation,” Aung San Suu Kyi told the court Thursday.History ‘whitewashed’Her appearance and words at The Hague have disheartened many in the West.”The fact that she whitewashed — and her team whitewashed — the genocide that took place, or did not mention the fact that there was any rape, any mass rape, any sexual and gender-based violence took place, it was quite disturbing,” said Yasmin Ullah, a Rohingya Human Rights activist based in Britain.Aung San Suu Kyi was once seen as a global beacon for human rights, standing up for democracy against a military regime that kept her prisoner for most of two decades until 2010. The 1991 Nobel peace prize winner became leader of Myanmar’s civilian government in 2016 after the army agreed to limited reforms.Locals read through newspapers leading with Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi at the International Court of Justice hearing outside a roadside shop in Yangon, Myanmar, Dec. 12, 2019.Critics, supportersFormer supporters have become vocal critics, accusing her of failing to stop the atrocities against the Rohingya.”She was one person who could have brought people together,” said Mark Farmaner of Burma Campaign UK. “She had admiration across religions, across ethnic groups in the country. And she’s chosen instead of doing that — to do the opposite. It turns out that she also has these Buddhist nationalist feelings, that she shares the prejudice against the Rohingya, and she is pursuing policies discriminating against them.”Aung San Suu Kyi retains millions of mainly Buddhist supporters in Myanmar. They insist she is doing her best to govern a multiethnic country where the military still holds the reins of power. But Myanmar’s minorities feel betrayed, Farmaner said.”Other ethnic people are looking at her at this court, defending the military, a military that has committed the same sorts of crimes against them for years, and thinking, ‘How can we ever trust this person? How can we trust this woman now?'” he told VOA.
 
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U.S. President Donald Trump took aim at Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg Thursday, suggesting she has problems controlling anger.”So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem,” Trump tweeted, and added she should “then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill.”Twitter screenshotCriticism of a minor by a sitting U.S. president is unusual, and it came one day after Thunberg was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2019. Trump was a candidate for the Person of the Year designation.Trump’s comments apparently did not go unnoticed by Thunberg.The 16-year-old responded to his tweet by changing her Twitter bio to say: “A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend.”Screenshot of Greta Thunberg’s Twitter profile page.The backlash to Trump’s criticism of Thunberg was swift on social media, with many Twitter users accusing him of bullying. Others, however, came to Trump’s defense.Thunberg is the youngest person to win the prestigious Time magazine designation after quickly evolving into one of the world’s most prominent climate change activists.Editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal made the announcement Wednesday during an appearance on NBC’s Today show.”She became the biggest voice on the biggest issue facing the planet this year, coming from essentially nowhere to lead a worldwide movement,” Felsenthal said.Thunberg’s Friday protests alone outside the Swedish parliament building during school hours at age 15 helped trigger a global movement to fight climate change.FILE – Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, then 15, holds a placard reading “School strike for the climate” during a rally for action against climate change, outside the Swedish parliament in Stockholm, Sweden, Nov. 30, 2018.The movement, which became known as “Fridays for Future,” prompted millions of people in about 150 countries “to act on behalf of the planet,” Felsenthal said.Felsenthal noted that Thunberg “represents a broader generational shift in culture,” with more youth advocating for change worldwide, including during demonstrations in places such as Hong Kong, Chile, Sudan and Lebanon.Thunberg’s straightforward speaking style captured the attention of world leaders, resulting in invitations to speak at several high-profile events, including at the United Nations and before the United States Congress.During her appearance before U.S. lawmakers, Thunberg, who has Asperger syndrome, refused to read prepared remarks. She, instead, submitted the U.N.’s 2018 global warming report to them and declared, “I don’t want you to listen to me. I want you to listen to the scientists, and I want you to unite behind the science.”One of her most memorable moments came at the U.N. Climate Change Summit in September, when she berated U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other world leaders, declaring they had stolen her “dreams of childhood” with their “empty words.””We are in the beginning of a mass extinction,” she said, “and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”Those words resonated worldwide, energizing climate change activists and prompting scornful reactions from others.Thunberg’s dedication to fighting climate change also earned her a nomination for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. 
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The European Union says it is taking measures to protect its trade interests in the ongoing row with the United States over the shutdown of the World Trade Organization’s appellate body.
EU trade chief Phil Hogan said Thursday that the 28-nation bloc “cannot afford being defenseless if there is no possibility to get a satisfactory solution within the WTO.”
Since Wednesday the WTO’s appellate body, whose decisions affect billions of dollars in trade, lost its ability to rule on new dispute cases. Without having to worry about possible penalties, countries could use tariffs or be tempted to implement protectionist measures.Hogan said that with the proposal to change some EU trade rules will enable it to act even when the WTO cannot give a final ruling.Anticipating the end of the appellate body, the EU and Canada agreed this summer on a new trade dispute resolution system as a temporary backstop. The EU wants to expand it, but it’s unclear how many countries might join.  
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Central banks in the United States and Europe say they’ve done their part to help the economy for now. The European Central Bank on Thursday decided to leave it stimulus programs unchanged as its new president highlighted signs that the economy has steadied after a period of weaker growth.ECB head Christine Lagarde said that recent economic indicators are “weak overall” but “point to some stabilizing in the slowdown of of economic growth.”
The decision to keep interest rates low followed a similar move this week by the U.S. Federal Reserve, where officials indicated they expect no change through 2020.
The ECB enacted a stimulus package as recently as September, when it cut a key rate and launched a bond-buying program that pumps newly created money into the economy. Lagarde said that package, decided before she took over from Mario Draghi on Nov.1, would continue to support the economy with easier borrowing terms for companies.
Doubts have grown among some economists about how much good more central bank stimulus can do to support developed economies.
Interest is meanwhile focused on Lagarde, who presided over her first meeting as head of the institution that sets monetary policy for the 19 euro countries that use the euro and their 342 million people. She is well known from her previous jobs as head of the International Monetary Fund and as French finance minister but investors will want to see how she communicates and explains the complexities of monetary policy to markets and voters.
Other themes that were getting attention were Lagarde’s plans for a review of the bank’s monetary policy framework and how it defines price stability, the goal it is supposed to seek under the European Union treaty. There’s also been discussion of whether the ECB should do more to support financing of projects aimed at fighting environmental pollution and climate change.
Analysts are looking also for signs on how she will manage dissent on the ECB’s 25-member governing council. A minority criticized the measures enacted under predecessor Mario Draghi on Sept. 12.
Those included a cut in the deposit rate to minus 0.5% from minus 0.4%. The rate is charged on excess cash left at the central bank overnight by commercial banks, so the negative rate is in effect a penalty that aims to push banks to lend the money to companies. The bank also started 20 billion euros ($22 billion) in monthly purchases of government and corporate bonds.  
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Voters in Britain are casting ballots Thursday in an early general election that may bring a long-awaited resolution to the departure from the European Union they approved in a 2016 referendum.Prime Minister Boris Johnson focused his campaigning efforts on a slogan to “Get Brexit Done.” He says a parliamentary majority for his Conservative Party would allow him to push through a previously rejected divorce deal with the EU and carry out Brexit by January 31.His challenger, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, said if he wins Britain will hold a new referendum to ask if people still want to leave the European Union, or would rather stay in the 28-member bloc.Johnson took office in July after his predecessor, Theresa May, failed in her repeated attempts to get parliament to approve the deal she reached with the EU. May also tried during her tenure to strengthen her Brexit negotiating position by calling an early election, but the move backfired with the Conservatives losing seats.Opinion polls ahead of Thursday’s voting suggested Johnson’s party was favored to win, but that the race appeared to tighten in the final days of campaigning.Official results are expected early Friday. 
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Environmentalists and climate change activists worldwide are hailing Time magazine’s decision to make Greta Thunberg its 2019 Person of the Year. The teenage activist has attracted the world’s attention with her eloquent calls on political and industrial leaders to make courageous decisions on climate change. Her actions have inspired young people worldwide to fight for the protection of the planet. But as VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports, there are critics who say Thunberg’s mission and her celebrity status are all wrong
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The leaders of Russia and Ukraine met for the first time in three years in an attempt to end the conflict in eastern Ukriane. In the wake of that meeting earlier this week in Paris, attention now shifts to renewed peace efforts to stem the violence between Ukrainian government forces and Moscow-backed separatists.Yet in interviews and comments online, analysts warn that while important gestures were made, Russia and Ukraine remain far apart on key aspects of the five-year conflict, which has killed at least 13,000 people, and shows no signs of abating.One well-accepted view holds that the mere fact that Monday’s Paris talks took place was reason enough for French President Emanuel Macron to smile.”The fact that we sat side by side today … is an achievement,” Macron told reporters.    The French leader, with backing from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, has been the driving force behind renewed European efforts to persuade Ukraine and Russia to return to the negotiating table.”Macron showed that Paris is ready to play a bigger role in European politics,” Alexey Pushkov, a Kremlin ally and former member of Russia’s Federation Council, wrote in a tweet that praised the meeting.Left unmentioned? Macron is also seen by Kremlin allies as a rare and recent European voice pushing for renewed detente with Moscow.Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin attend a joint news conference after a summit in Paris, Dec. 9, 2019.Zelenskiy vs. PutinThe highest stakes going into the talks, however, belonged to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.Analysts wondered how Zelenskiy, a 41-year-old comedy actor elected to the presidency in a stunning landslide victory earlier this year, would fare against a far more seasoned opponent in Russian President Vladimir Putin.Indeed, in advance of the summit, crowds gathered in Kyiv warning Zelenskiy against appeasing the Kremlin. Protesters held signs saying, “No Capitulation” and “No Red Lines.”The Ukrainian leader seemed to receive the message.”I felt the whole of the Ukrainian nation with me,” Zelenskiy said during a press conference following the talks. “I’m here representing all Ukrainians.”Analysts said Zelenskiy held his own, with neither Russia nor Ukraine gaining the edge in negotiations, which bore signs of a thaw in relations, yet no overt breakthroughs.”Everyone believed that Putin would be able to prevail over Zelenskiy, that Zelenskiy is no competitor to him,” Konstantin Skorkin, a Ukraine specialist at the Carnegie Moscow Center, told VOA.”But the reality showed that they could talk to each other and their previous telephone communications led to some progress in the peace effort,” Skorkin said.”I think it would be appropriate to be diplomatic as we’ve just started talking. Let’s say for now it’s a draw,” Zelenskiy said to journalists.Putin, more sanguine, allowed that a spate of recent diplomatic initiatives signaled a “warming” in relations.”All this gives us the grounds to suppose that the process is developing in the right direction,” the Russian president said.For all the diplomatic pleasantries, neither leader appeared to acknowledge the other in public.Results not talkFor now, the Paris talks yielded the promise of a cease-fire, despite what Russia and Ukraine acknowledge were several previous failed attempts to stop the fighting.The warring parties will take “immediate measures to stabilize the situation in the conflict area,” according to a signed communique.Equally pressing? An agreement for a mass prisoner swap with the rebels before year’s end.Beyond a gesture of goodwill to unite families ahead of New Year’s, the measure builds on a widely heralded prisoner exchange negotiated between Putin and Zelenskiy in September.  Putin also hinted at a deal to transit discounted Russian gas to, and through, Ukraine to Europe.French President Emmanuel Macron, second left, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy gather for talks at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, France, Dec. 9, 2019.There was wide agreement, however, that the Paris talks brought little progress to the core issue of the war: the future of the Donbass region in east Ukraine, and the status of two unrecognized “independent republics” in Donetsk and Luhansk.Prisoner exchanges and other compromises are on the “outline of the conflict, issues that go around the heart,” wrote Tatiana Stanovaya of Reality of Russian Politics in a Facebook post assessing the Paris negotiations.”Question the status Donbass. Everything quickly dies,” Stanovaya wrote.”Both sides are confident that they are right and they are not going to retreat. It doesn’t matter who’s right or wrong,” Shorkin, of the Carnegie Moscow Center, told VOA.”Each side is sticking to their position. No one is willing to back down,” he said.Zelenskiy said Kyiv still wants to reestablish full control over Luhansk and Donetsk, the two self-proclaimed independent republics.Putin also is insisting Ukraine adhere to promises under the so-called Minsk Agreements negotiated under Zelenskiy’s predecessor, Petro Poroshenko.The Minsk accords, negotiated in 2015 and 2016 with European backing, allow for increased autonomy in the separatists regions, as well as direct talks with the rebels as a precursor to Russia handing over control of the Ukraine-Russian border to Kyiv.East vs. WestMany in Kyiv argue the Minsk accords give Moscow undue influence over their ambitions to join the European Union and, perhaps, one day NATO.In Russia, the battle over Ukraine is widely seen as part of the Kremlin’s insistence that Ukraine serve as a buffer state against the alliance’s expansion east toward Russia’s border.  Analysts argue the Minsk agreements also portray Russia  as a mediator in the conflict, masking its role as the separatists’ key backer, providing money, soldiers and weapons, facts well documented by independent journalists on the ground.  “Everyone perfectly realizes who these leaders in Luhansk and Donetsk are,” Moscow-based political analyst Yuliy Nesnevich told VOA.”What is the point to come to an agreement with them when it’s clear who really stands behind them? When it’s clear who is the puppet master?” Nesnevich said.  Going forward, the diplomatic calendar is clear.The so-called Normandy Format quartet of nations reconvenes in four months in Berlin.Its mission is to assess the Paris agreements and revisit what are seemingly incompatible positions between Moscow and Kyiv.  Whatever progress the parties make may determine the Donbass’ last chance at seeing something resembling peace, analysts said.Withdrawal from negotiations has “no broad support,” Carnegie’s Skorkin said. But the alternative is far messier, he said.
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European Union leaders on Thursday will push to agree to make their bloc climate neutral by 2050, luring reluctant eastern member states with promises of extra money for their heavily-polluting economies.The bloc’s 27 national leaders will meet in Brussels from 1400 GMT, a day after the bloc’s executive proposed a Green Deal to mobilize 100 billion euros worth of investment to help the bloc’s economies move away from fossil fuels.With floods, fires and droughts wrecking millions of lives around the world, the EU’s new executive cast the plan as the bloc’s “man on the moon moment,” kindling hopes among campaigners that other big emitters may follow suit.But coal-reliant Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic were not on board, saying a draft decision must spell out in more detail the scale and scope of financing available, and pushing to include nuclear in the EU’s fresh push to cut emissions.”There will certainly be an amount of arm-wrestling,” said a senior EU diplomat from a country more enthusiastic about the 2050 goal. “There will have to be new money … but some member states will be less than enthusiastic about the target of raising 100 billion euros.”Underlining divisions in the bloc on climate, EU national diplomats in Brussels on Wednesday blocked a set of new rules governing which financial products can be called “green” and “sustainable.””It’s going to be very difficult,” said a second senior EU diplomat, from a country more reluctant to do more to fight climate change, about chances for agreement at the summit.The climate discussion feeds into another difficult one the leaders will have, namely on their next long-term budget.No agreement is expected on that after a proposal by the bloc’s current president Finland to cap joint spending at 1.087 trillion euros for 2021-27 was rejected by both the frugal camp and those seeking heavier outlay. The leaders might agree, however, to hold a summit next February to seal a deal.”We’re getting near the time when we have to sit in the sauna and sweat it out,” said another senior EU diplomat.Russia Brexit and Euro ZoneOver dinner on Thursday, the leaders are also expected to support extending for six months from February the bloc’s economic sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and support for rebels in the east of the country.The summit will be notable for the absence of British prime minister Boris Johnson, staying at home for a national election he is fighting on a promise to get Brexit done.After partial results come in through the night, the 27 other leaders will meet again on Friday to discuss Brexit.Should Johnson’s Conservatives win a parliamentary majority, the 27 will reaffirm their support for a divorce deal that would take Britain out of the bloc at the end of January.They will state their aim for “as close as possible” future ties with Britain and embark on preparations for trade talks “based on a balance of rights and obligations” to “ensure a level playing field,” according to their latest draft decision.Eyes will be on two more leaders at the Brussels talks: Finland’s new Prime Minister Sanna Marin — the world’s youngest at 34 — and Malta’s Joseph Muscat, who will be stepping down amid a crisis over the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
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With the leaders of Russia and Ukraine having met in Paris for their first talks in nearly three years aimed at ending the conflict in east Ukraine, attention now turns to what’s next in the quest to stop the simmering five-year war between Ukrainian government forces and Moscow-backed separatists. From Moscow, Charles Maynes reports the talks resulted in little progress on the core issue that sparked the conflict.
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Kosovo declared Peter Handke persona non grata Wednesday in the latest protest against his induction as a Nobel literature laureate, barring the Austrian writer from a place he has visited numerous times. 
 
The Swedish Academy’s pick for the 2019 prize, which Handke received Tuesday, offended many in the Balkans who see him as an apologist for Serb war crimes during the conflicts that fractured the former Yugoslavia. 
 
One Nobel committee member resigned over the choice, while the ceremony was boycotted by representatives of the embassies of Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Turkey. 
 
“Today I have decided to declare Peter Handke as not welcome in Kosovo. He is a non grata person from today. Denying crimes and supporting criminals is a terrible crime,” Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Behgjet Pacolli wrote on Facebook. Milosevic funeralHandke has drawn especially acute criticism for speaking at the funeral of late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, who died in 2006 while on trial for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. 
 
Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority fought Belgrade for independence in a 1998-99 war that claimed 13,000 lives. 
 
Handke was a frequent guest in the tiny Serb enclave of Velika Hoca, one of several small ethnic Serb communities that are scattered around the former Serbian province. Handke visited Velika Hoca at least five times, most recently in 2014, and donated nearly 100,000 euros to the village of 500 people. He was also formally barred Wednesday from Bosnia’s capital, Sarajevo, where the regional government said his appearance would “provoke the anger and humiliation” of war victims. Srebrenica massacreHandke’s elevation to Nobel laureate has been painful for many Bosnian Muslims. He is accused of questioning the Srebrenica massacre, in which Bosnian Serbs slaughtered 8,000 Muslim men and boys in 1995. 
 
In 1997, Handke was accused of minimizing Serb war crimes in his book “A Journey to the Rivers: Justice for Serbia.” 
 
But he is still welcome to visit the Serb-run region that spans nearly half of Bosnia’s territory — a legacy of the war that left the country carved up along ethnic lines. 
 
On Tuesday, Handke told a TV channel in Bosnia’s Serb-run region that he would like to visit “in the spring.” 
 
Among his Serb fans, Handke is celebrated for taking note of their suffering during the conflicts and challenging the narrative that Serbs were the sole aggressors in the wars. 
 
In Belgrade, one MP proposed creating a human rights prize in Handke’s name on Wednesday. 
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Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has been named Time  magazine’s  Person of the Year for 2019.Editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal made the announcement Wednesday during an appearance on NBC’s Today   show.”She became the biggest voice on the biggest issue facing the planet this year, coming from essentially nowhere to lead a worldwide movement,” Felsenthal said.Time cover features Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg named the magazine’s Person of the Year for 2019 in this undated handout.Thunberg is the youngest person to win the award after quickly evolving into one of the world’s most prominent climate change activists.Her Friday protests alone outside the Swedish parliament during school hours at age 15 helped trigger a global movement to fight climate change.The movement, which became known as “Fridays for Future,” prompted millions of people in about 150 countries “to act on behalf of the planet,” Felsenthal said.Felsenthal noted that Thunberg, now 16, “represents a broader generational shift in culture,” with more youth advocating for change worldwide, including during demonstrations in countries such as Hong Kong, Chile, Sudan and Lebanon.Thunberg’s straightforward speaking style captured the attention of world leaders, resulting in invitations to speak at several high-profile events, including at the United Nations and before the United States Congress.During her appearance before  U.S. lawmakers, Thunberg, who has Asperger syndrome, refused to read prepared remarks. She, instead, submitted the  U.N.’s 2018 global warming report to them and declared, “I don’t want you to listen to me. I want you to listen to the scientists, and I want you to unite behind the science.”One of her most memorable moments came at the  U.N. Climate Change Summit in September, when she berated  U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and other world leaders, declaring they had stolen her “dreams of childhood” with their “empty words.””We are in the beginning of a mass extinction,” she said, “and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”Those words resonated worldwide, energizing climate change activists and sparking a series of prompting scornful reactions from others.Thunberg’s dedication to fighting climate change also earned her a nomination for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. 
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French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the minimum retirement age will remain 62, but workers will have to work until 64 to get a full pension. 
In a sweeping speech Wednesday, he said the implementation of the pension changes will be delayed. The new pension system will only apply to people born after 1975. 
The measures will start being implemented for new workers entering the labor market in 2022, which is the final year of President Emmanuel Macron’s current term.
The government says a minimum pension of 1,000 euros (about $1,100) per month will be put in place for those who have worked all their life.
The government’s announcements come on the seventh straight day of a crippling transport strike and after hundreds of thousands of angry protesters have marched through French cities. 
The government is hoping that the plan might calm tensions as hundreds of thousands of angry protesters have marched through French cities. 
On Wednesday in the Paris region, authorities measured around 460 kilometers (285 miles) of traffic jams, and all but two of the city’s metro lines closed. Commuters also used means other than cars to get to work, such as shared bikes and scooters.
Many French commuters still express support for the strikes despite the chaos, owing to fears their pensions will shrink under Macron’s plan.
Unions fear that a new system, which replaces a national pension system with special privileges for some in the transport sector, will force people to work longer for smaller pension allocations. The government says it won’t raise the age of retirement up from 62. 
 
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The U.S. Justice Department’s inspector general is due to testify Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his report that found no evidence of political bias in the FBI’s launching of its investigation into Russian election interference.Michael Horowitz issued the report Monday with findings that amounted to a rejection of President Donald Trump’s repeated claim that the FBI probe was a political witch hunt to undo his presidency.Trump nonetheless asserted that the report confirmed an “attempted overthrow” of the government far worse than he had ever thought possible.The president on Tuesday criticized FBI Director Christopher Wray for saying in an interview with ABC News that the investigation “was opened with appropriate predication and authorization.” Wray also noted Horowitz found the FBI made numerous mistakes during its inquiry.”I don’t know what report the current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray was reading, but I’m sure it wasn’t the one given to me,” Trump tweeted.  “With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken despite having some of the greatest men & women working there!”I don’t know what report current Director of the FBI Christopher Wray was reading, but it sure wasn’t the one given to me. With that kind of attitude, he will never be able to fix the FBI, which is badly broken despite having some of the greatest men & women working there!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) FILE – U.S. Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz testifies on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Sept. 18, 2019.The long-anticipated report contradicted some of Trump’s and his Republican allies’ most damning assertions about the investigation, such as the charge that senior FBI officials were motivated by political bias against Trump. The FBI investigation, dubbed Crossfire Hurricane, was subsequently taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller.Horowitz sharply criticized the FBI for a series of “significant errors” in obtaining authorization from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to surveil Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser suspected of ties to Russian intelligence.In one crucial omission, the FBI failed to disclose from the court and the Justice Department that Page had been approved as an “operational contact” for the CIA and had told the spy agency about his contacts with Russian intelligence officers, according to the report. However, the report said that the disclosure would not have prompted the court to reject the application.Regardless, the investigation was launched months before the Page surveillance began and was based on well-founded suspicion about links between Trump campaign operatives and Russia, according to the report.The other Trump campaign associates investigated by the FBI were campaign chairman Paul Manafort, national security adviser Mike Flynn and foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos.”We … concluded that … the FBI had an authorized purpose when it opened Crossfire Hurricane to obtain information about, or protect against, a national security threat or federal crime, even though the investigation also had the potential to impact constitutionally protected activity,” Horowitz wrote in the more than 400–page report.Barr has ordered a separate internal probe into its origins, after rejecting the IG’s finding that there was sufficient basis for opening the investigation.Wray ordered a series of more than 40 corrective steps in response to the inspector general report.”The FBI has some work to do, and we are committed to building on the lessons we learn today to make sure that we can do better tomorrow,” an FBI spokesperson said in a statement.The FBI launched its investigation in July 2016 after receiving a tip that the Russian government was considering helping the Trump campaign by releasing damaging information about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the form of thousands of emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee.
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The number of journalists imprisoned globally remains near a record high, according to an annual survey released Wednesday by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which identifies China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt as the world’s largest jailers of reporters.”For the fourth consecutive year, hundreds of journalists are imprisoned globally as authoritarians like Xi Jinping, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Mohammad bin Salman, and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi show no signs of letting up on the critical media,” says A Turkish police officer walks past a picture of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi prior to a ceremony, near the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, marking the one-year anniversary of his death, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019.The growing number of arrests and documented abuse, say CPJ researchers, reflect a brutal crackdown on dissent under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom U.S. and UN officials blame for the October 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Istanbul.The crown prince told CBS News’s “60 Minutes” in September accepted responsibility for Kashoggi’s murder, but denied that it was done on his order. Most of the 26 reporters currently imprisoned in Egypt, CPJ reports, are prosecuted en masse, brought before a judge in groups, typically to face charges of terrorism and “fake news” reports.Egyptian government officials, much like their counterparts in Turkey, China, Russian, and Iran, typically insist they target only reporters who aim to destabilize their respective countries.CPJ’s 2019 census also says Iran saw an uptick of journalist incarcerations in 2019, as did Russia, which now has seven reporters in state custody.”Of 38 journalists jailed in sub-Saharan Africa, the bulk remain in Eritrea, where most have not been heard from for nearly two decades,” the report says, adding that Cameroon has the second worst record of African nations, while evidence of free-speech safeguards are backsliding in Ethiopia and Nigeria.Three journalists are jailed in the Americas, with incarcerations in Venezuela, Honduras, and Cuba.”The highest number of journalists imprisoned in any year since CPJ began keeping track is 273 in 2016,” the report states. “After China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the worst jailers are Eritrea, Vietnam, and Iran.”CPJ’s annual census does not account for disappeared journalists or those held by non-state actors. The survey accounts only for journalists in government custody as of 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 1, 2019.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he is ready to deploy soldiers to Libya following the announcement of a security agreement with the Libyan government. Ankara has been actively seeking to project its influence across the Mediterranean as a scramble intensifies for the region’s energy resources.”If Libya were to make a request, we would send a sufficient number of troops,” Erdogan said Tuesday in an address to university students in Ankara. “After the signing of the security agreement, there is no hurdle.”FILE – Khalifa Haftar, center, the military commander who dominates eastern Libya, leaves after an international conference on Libya at the Elysee Palace in Paris, May 29, 2018.The Wagner Group is a private security force run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman reported to have close ties to the Kremlin.”I wish that the matter of Haftar would not create a new Syria in our relations with Russia,” Erdogan said Monday in a television interview. Ankara and Moscow back rival sides in the Syrian civil war. The Turkish president said he plans to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Libya by phone next week.Despite backing rival sides in the Syrian conflict, Putin and Erdogan have built up a good working relationship. Bilateral ties are deepening in the fields of energy and trade, which even extends to Ankara purchasing Russian military hardware — to the alarm of Turkey’s traditional western allies.Alarm in GreeceMoscow is not the only country, however, that likely is concerned by Ankara’s deepening relationship with Libya. Athens is voicing alarm over Ankara’s Libya agreement to declare an exclusive maritime zone between the two countries.Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos slammed the agreement Tuesday, claiming it compromised Greece’s territorial waters. “Turkey’s thoughts are on how it imagines it’s imperialist fantasies,” said Pavlopoulos.FILE – President of Greece Prokopis Pavlopoulos arrives at Rundale Palace, Latvia, Sept. 13, 2018.Athens and Ankara have engaged in increasingly bitter maritime territorial disputes across the Mediterranean, fueled by recent discoveries of vast natural gas reserves. “The strategy is that Turkey should protect its legitimate rights in the Mediterranean,” said Rende, who is now an energy expert.”We [Greece and Turkey] have overlapping claims, overlapping declarations of maritime zones, and Turkey is left alone in the Mediterranean. Other countries — Greece, Israel Egypt — have formed gas partnerships forums and so on and Turkey was isolated. So it’s only natural that Turkey concludes agreements to protect its rights in the Mediterranean.”Adding to Athens’ unease is that Mediterranean waters claimed by Ankara under its Libyan agreement is the only viable route for a planned gas pipeline to distribute recently discovered Israeli and Cypriot gas through Greece to Europe.”Greek Cypriots, Egypt, Greece, and Israel cannot establish a natural gas transmission line without Turkey’s consent,” Erdogan said Monday.Ankara’s Libya deal is seen as part of a more assertive regional policy. “It’s part and parcel of a new doctrine,” said former senior Turkish diplomat and now regional analyst Aydin Selcen.”The first move was challenging the Greek Cypriot over energy searches, in the disputed exclusives economic zones of Cyprus. Then this move with Libya is the second one. It’s extremely important and significant,” said Selcen.EU sanctionsAnkara is currently deploying research ships searching for hydrocarbons in the disputed waters of the Greek Cypriot government.  “Greece will defend its borders, it’s territory,” said Pavlopoulos, “which are also the European Union’s border … with the help of the international community and the EU.”The EU is already considering sanctions against Ankara for violating Greek Cypriot territorial waters. “They [the EU] should remain neutral,” said Rende. “If they don’t, Turkey is prepared to face the consequences because what is at stake are Turkey’s national interests, and we don’t give up our national interests.”Rende insists Ankara is ready to negotiate with Athens. Turkey argues that an agreement with Athens and the Greek Cypriots would pave the way for Turkish territory to provide a route for distributing recently discovered gas reserves.”The most natural market for this prospective gas is Turkey,” said political scientist Cengiz Aktar of Athens University. “It not just to sell through Turkey. But Turkey is the most reasonable and feasible market to absorb this gas.”Analysts suggest Ankara’s robust regional foreign policy is part of a broader strategy to remake Turkey as a regional energy hub. Procuring recently discovered Mediterranean gas ultimately could provide Ankara significant leverage with Moscow and Tehran. In the next two years, major Iranian and Russian gas supply agreements to Turkey are due for renewal.”Turkey’s main strategy is to diversify its energy resource imports and their routes, to enable flexibility of supply,” said Rende.
 
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Growing tensions between Turkey and the United States do not have to result in the end of the long-standing alliance despite some major rifts between Ankara and Washington.The most notable split has come over Turkey’s decision to proceed with the purchase of Russia’s top-of-the-line missile defense system, the S-400, seen as a threat to NATO defense systems and to the U.S. F-35 stealth fighter jet.But the commander of U.S. European Command believes both countries have enough in common to salvage the relationship.”The mil[itary]-to-mil[itary] convergence far outweighs the mil[itary]-to-mil[itary] divergence with the U.S. and Turkey and with NATO and Turkey,” General Tod Wolters told reporters during an appearance in Washington Tuesday.”I saw no cracks in the armor in Turkey’s willingness to work side by side as a NATO partner with us,” he added, referring to talks with Turkish officials during the recent NATO meeting in London. “That’s what I know from my foxhole.”U.S. Secretary for Defense Mark Esper waits for the start of a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 24, 2019.The sentiment from the top-ranking U.S. general in Europe, though, contrasts with that of U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who warned Saturday that Turkey “may be spinning out of the NATO orbit.””I think Turkey has put itself in a position where it’s disadvantaged itself,” Esper said, adding he hoped relations could be repaired.”They’ve fought with us from Korea to Afghanistan, and I think it’s in all of our interest to make sure that we pull them in closer to NATO,” he said.But the hurdles are substantial.Not only did Turkey incur the wrath of U.S. officials with the purchase of Russia’s S-400, it further raised the Pentagon’s ire with its decision to launch an incursion into northeastern Syria, targeting Kurdish forces that had partnered with the U.S. in the fight against the Islamic State terror group.And there have been few signs Turkey is willing to back down. Officials there are still bristling at the U.S. decision to cut Ankara out of the F-35 development program and ban sales of the jet to Turkey.Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, left, and Supreme Allied Commander Europe U.S. Air Force General Tod Wolters attend a NATO Defense Ministers meeting in Brussels, June 26, 2019.Turkish FILE – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talks to journalists during a news conference during a NATO Foreign Ministers meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Nov. 20, 2019.”The time for patience has long expired,” U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Lindsey Graham wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier this month.And it is not just the U.S. Some NATO allies also are cautious about the possibility of repairing ties with Turkey.”It doesn’t depend on us,” Phillipe Etienne, the French ambassador to the U.S., said during a panel discussion in Washington Monday, though he noted at least during NATO’s meeting in London, all sides were talking.”It’s clear we don’t agree on everything,” Etienne said. “But we had this discussion, which is very important.”U.S. European Command’s General Wolters on Tuesday said the foundation for an improved relationship with Turkey exists, though he encouraged Ankara to take the first steps.Dorian Jones contributed to this report.
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U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are meeting Tuesday in Washington with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, with the two nuclear powers discussing the possibility of extending their last remaining major arms control deal.The officials, meeting as Democrats unveiled impeachment charges against Trump, also plan to talk about election security and national security, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told the Fox Business Network.”It’s incumbent on any American president to try and build relationships across the world,” Gidley said.It is Lavrov’s first visit to Washington since May 2017, when Trump was first enmeshed in allegations that he cooperated with Russia to help him win the 2016 election and was accused of sharing classified information with the Russian diplomat at their White House meeting. U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller concluded after a lengthy investigation that Russia meddled in the election to help Trump win, but that there insufficient evidence to prove Trump’s campaign conspired with Moscow.FILE – President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Dec. 7, 2019.Russia has denied any interference in the election three years ago, a claim Lavrov renewed after meeting with Pompeo, before talks later in the day with Trump.”All speculations about our alleged interference in domestic processes in the United States are baseless,” Lavrov said. “There are no facts that would support that.”Pompeo said, “I made clear, (any Russian election interference) was unacceptable.”Trump is facing impeachment allegations centering on his efforts to get Ukraine to investigate one of his chief 2020 Democratic political rivals, former Vice President Joe Biden, and a debunked theory that Kyiv worked to undermine Trump’s 2016 campaign, with Trump’s request coming at a time when he was withholding $391 million in military aid Kyiv wanted to help fight pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.Pompeo said he told Lavrov that the U.S. considers the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow unilaterally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, to still be part of Ukraine.Lavrov, speaking through an interpreter, said, “We talked about strategic stability, arms control. We spoke frankly and business-like. It is useful to talk to each other, however difficult this period in our relationship is.”The top U.S. diplomat said the impeachment allegations would not impinge on the talks with Lavrov.”We didn’t pick this date to coincide with the process on Capitol Hill, but we can’t allow the zaniness that’s taking place on Capitol Hill to impact our job,” Pompeo told conservative broadcaster One America News on Monday.New START treatyRussian President Vladimir Putin has called for the quick renewal of the New START arms control treaty that does not expire until February 2021. It was negotiated under Trump’s predecessor, former President Barack Obama, obligating the two powers to halve their arsenals of strategic nuclear missile launchers.The Trump administration has not ruled out a treaty extension, but wants a new pact to include China. Beijing has increased its arsenal, but it is much smaller than that held by Washington and Moscow.Earlier this year, the U.S. withdrew from the Cold War-era Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces treaty, which curbed the number of missiles that could hit European cities, contending that Russia was violating the agreement.Other topicsPompeo, Trump and Lavrov are also expected to discuss Ukraine, Iran, North Korea and Syria. Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has increased its role in the Syrian conflict after Trump withdrew most U.S. troops from Syria.After Lavrov’s White House visit 2 1/2 years ago, The Washington Post reported that Trump shared classified information with him and Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s then-ambassador to Washington, about a threat from the Islamic State terrorist group.The U.S. ally that provided the information did not authorize Trump to divulge it, but it led to restrictions on the use of laptops in the cabins of commercial flights from the Middle East, the newspaper said.Trump later said he had the “absolute right” to share “facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety.”
 
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In 1995, developed nations around the world came together to create a means of creating rules for international trade and settling disputes between countries without the use of damaging tariffs. The World Trade Organization, which grew out of that effort, created a consensus-based system of regulations, arbitration, and a de facto court system that gave countries a venue for settling claims against each other.As of Wednesday, though, the WTO will likely cease to function in any real sense. Its policymaking arm has been crippled for years over internal disagreements. Now, its enforcement arm, a seven-judge panel known as the Appellate Body, is about to wither away, the result of the Trump administration’s decision to block the appointment of new judges to replace those whose terms are expiring.Enforcement arm vacanciesFILE – The World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters are pictured in Geneva, Switzerland, July 26, 2018.The Appellate Body is currently down to three judges, the minimum required to rule on a dispute. It will have only one left after Tuesday, making it unable to render judgments in new matters. Theoretically, the two judges whose terms are expiring could stay on to hear cases that have already been filed. However, an American judge, Thomas Graham, has said that he will refuse to do so unless the Appellate Body’s director, Werner Zdouc, is removed from his post. The WTO earlier this year announced that it would not take that action.WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo has insisted that the demise of the Appellate Body does not mean that the organization’s existing rules no longer have force.Existing rules would still apply“Existing WTO rules still apply,” he said last week. “WTO disciplines and principles will continue to underpin world trade. And members will continue to use WTO rules to resolve trade conflicts — in regular WTO bodies, through consultations, via dispute settlement panels, and through any other means envisaged in the WTO agreements.”However, over the weekend, Azevêdo urged member countries to work to repair the appeals body, saying, “A well-functioning, impartial and binding dispute settlement system is a core pillar of the WTO system. Rules-based dispute resolution prevents trade conflicts from ending up in escalating tit-for-tat retaliation — which becomes difficult to stop once it starts — or becoming intractable political quagmires.”The reaction of member states to the demise of the WTO is notably mixed. In Europe, the body’s failure is seen as a disaster. “If you have no rules, everyone can do what they want and that would be really, really bad, not least for the smaller and developing countries,” European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said last summer.European Union considering a replacementThe EU, with the backing of Canada and Norway, is trying to create a temporary replacement panel with the same structure as the Appellate Body. China, Russia, and a number of other countries are said to be considering whether to sign on.In Washington, however, there is far less sorrow over the fading relevance of the WTO.In practical terms, the organization has been especially ineffectual when it comes to updating trade rules for the current era. A requirement of full consensus in rulemaking allows any of the 164 member countries to derail a proposal.WTO’s failure to address China issuesAs a result, the body has been struggling for years to come to agreement on multiple complex issues that weren’t contemplated when it was first established, including electronic commerce and how to deal with countries like China, that refuse to play by the established rules of laissez-faire capitalism.The organization’s failure to deal with the challenge presented by China is particularly galling to the Trump administration. Despite the size of its economy — the second largest in the world — the WTO allows China to operate under relaxed rules reserved for developing countries, something the administration has criticized as deeply unfair.But the roots of the Trump administration’s antipathy to the WTO go far deeper than concerns about its ability to create new rules. Trump has made it clear that he disdains the very idea of international regulation of U.S. trade policy.Trump’s oppositionFILE – U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on supporting the passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade deal during a visit to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 12, 2019.The president who famously claimed “Trade wars are good, and easy to win,” began his term by withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact, and has repeatedly railed against multilateral trade agreements of all types. He prefers to see the United States negotiate trade agreements on a country-by-country basis, which he believes maximizes the United States’ leverage.Trump is also a prolific user of tariffs, the tool that the WTO was designed to regulate. He has imposed the import taxes on goods coming into the U.S. from a variety of countries around the world — most notably China — as a means of forcing foreign governments to make concessions on their treatment of American exports.Previous administrations tangled with WTOAmerican anger at the WTO did not originate with the election of Trump. Multiple administrations including the Obama administration have tangled with the organization, particularly over some rulings from the Appellate Body that U.S. officials have said exceeded its mandate.However, the Trump administration has been the most aggressive in trying to rein in the WTO. In addition to blocking the appointment of new judges, the U.S. has cut funding for the Appellate Body, slashing its budget by 93 percent. 
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Greece has sent two letters to the United Nations explaining its objections to a maritime boundary deal between Turkey and Libya and asking for the matter to be taken up by the U.N. Security Council, the government spokesman said Tuesday.The country’s foreign minister also convened a meeting in Athens to brief political party leaders on developments. The deal, endorsed by Turkey’s parliament last week, has fueled regional tension, particularly over drilling rights for gas and oil exploration.The agreement would give Turkey and Libya access to an economic zone across the Mediterranean despite the objections of Greece, Egypt and Cyprus, which lie between the two geographically. All three countries have blasted the deal as being contrary to international law, and Greece expelled the Libyan ambassador last week over the issue.Government spokesman Stelios Petsas said Greece sent one letter to the U.N. Secretary General and one to the head of the U.N. Security Council Monday night detailing Greece’s position. He said the letters noted the agreement “was done in bad faith and violates the law of the sea, as the sea zones of Turkey and Libya are not neighboring, nor is there a joint maritime border between the two countries.”The letters also note the deal “does not take into account the Greek islands” and their right to a continental shelf and exclusive economic zone. The agreement has also not been ratified by Libya’s parliament, Petsas said, rendering it “void and unable to affect Greek sovereign rights.”Neighbors Greece and Turkey, although NATO allies, have tense relations and are divided by a series of decades-old disputes, including territorial issues in the Aegean Sea, and have come to the brink of war three times since the 1970s, including once over drilling rights in the Aegean. 
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American billionaire and Democratic presidential contender Michael Bloomberg says that the next U.S. president should halt fossil fuel subsidies altogether.Bloomberg, who launched his campaign less than three weeks ago, is attending a United Nations global climate conference in Madrid that is kicking into high gear.Ministers from nearly 200 countries are arriving on Tuesday to tackle some of the tough issues that negotiations couldn’t resolve over the past week, including finalizing the rules for international carbon markets that economists say could help drive down emissions and help poor countries to cope with the effects of rising temperatures.     Opening an event on sustainable finances organized by the summit host, Spain, Bloomberg said that “the next president of the United States should end all subsidies for fossil fuel companies and fossil fuel extraction, and that includes tax breaks and other special treatment.”
“He or she should reinvest that funding into clean energy, which will also create a lot of new jobs,” he added.
The 77-year-old businessman and former New York mayor is expected to share the results of his private push to organize thousands of U.S. cities and businesses to abide by the terms of a global climate treaty that the Trump administration is working to abandon.
 “Americans are willing to continue to work even with a climate change denier in the White House,” Bloomberg told a room packed of journalists and officials.
 “The White House matters, but sometimes not too much,” he added.
The Democrat has vowed to rejoin the Paris climate agreement if he’s elected as president. He recently stepped down as the U.N.’s special envoy for climate action.
Unlike at many past climate summits, few heads of government are joining the talks in Madrid. The U.S. has sent a career diplomat, Ambassador Marcia Bernicat, as head of its delegation.
John Kerry, the former Secretary of State under the last Democrat administration, is also attending events on the sidelines of the Madrid conference, and said the absence of any representative from the White House at the talks “speaks for itself.”
 “It’s an absence of leadership,” Kerry told The Associated Press. “It’s a tragedy.”
Most other countries are sending environment ministers or other senior officials instead of prime ministers or presidents, worrying some observers.
“It shows that there has not yet been an internalization of the emergency situation that we are in, that so few heads of state are coming to Madrid and ready to roll up their sleeves and do what it takes to actually respond to the science,” said Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International.
She also accused some governments, such as Brazil and Saudi Arabia, of trying to weaken the agreements, and called on the European Union to work with vulnerable nations to counter those efforts.
Environmental campaigners are hoping the EU will present an ambitious plan this week for cutting emissions in the medium- and long-term that would send a message of hope to weary negotiators in Madrid.
The new head of the bloc’s executive Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has backed a call for the EU to stop all net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050.
Scientists say emissions worldwide need to start falling sharply from next year onward if there is to be any hope of achieving the Paris climate accord’s goal of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit).
Negotiators in Madrid had worked until 3 a.m. to prepare the ground for ministers, said said Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch minister for foreign trade and development cooperation.
“Let’s hope to see that we can … really sort of give shape and meaning to the call ‘Time for action,'” said Kaag, referring to the motto of the U.N. talks. “It’s now or never.”   
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Police in the Czech Republic said Tuesday an attacker shot dead six people and wounded two others at a hospital in the eastern part of the country.The shootings happened around 7 a.m. local time in a waiting room at the hospital in the city of Ostrava.Police announced hours later the suspect in the attack, identified as a 42-year-old man, was dead after shooting himself in the head inside a car before officers reached him.There was no immediate word on a possible motive.
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Russian and Ukrainian presidents are meeting in Paris in an effort to end five-and-a-half years of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed rebels. The first face-to-face meeting between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy is mediated by France and Germany and was preceded by a prisoner swap and the withdrawal of Ukraine’s military from key areas on the front line. But, as VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports, many Ukrainians back home are protesting what they see as Zelenskiy’s weakness.
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Hungary’s government submitted plans to parliament on Monday to tighten its control over theaters, triggering protests from actors and audiences who feel that artistic freedom is under threat.On a cold wet day, about 1,000 to 2,000 people demonstrated against the legislation in downtown Budapest, with banners saying “Pigs, hands off the theater!”Leading actors, theater directors and Budapest’s liberal mayor spoke at the protest against the bill which they say could undermine the independence of theaters.”I am a democrat, and this is a step towards stealing yet another field that belongs to the public: this time the theaters,” said Gabor Timar, 67, a retired bus driver.The ruling party of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban wants to pass the bill in an accelerated process this week.A public petition urging lawmakers to reject the bill had gathered almost 50,000 signatures by Monday evening. Actors read out the petition at several theaters over the weekend.In a Facebook video, some of Hungary’s leading actors and theater directors said the plans recalled the communist era, when the state controlled most aspects of national life.Actors and the audience hold up their hands at Budapest’s Trafo threater in protest against a plan by Hungary’s government to tighten its control over theaters in Budapest, Hungary, Dec. 8, 2019.According to the draft law published on parliament’s website, which the government has softened compared with an original version leaked on Friday, a new National Cultural Council will be responsible for the “unified strategic direction of various segments of culture.”Hungary’s minister for human resources, who oversees culture, would have a say in appointing theater directors at institutions jointly financed by the state and municipalities.The minister and the relevant municipality would have to sign a deal defining the joint operation of a theater, including how to appoint its director, but this agreement “has to guarantee the artistic freedom of the theater,” the bill says.FILE – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban talks to the media in Budapest, Hungary, Oct. 13, 2019.Since Orban won power in 2010, his right-wing Fidesz party has rewritten Hungary’s constitution, gained control of state media, and businessmen close to the prime minister and the party have built empires.After winning a 2018 election, his third in a row, Orban said he had won a “mandate to build a new era.”A government spokesman told Reuters on Friday that a recent sexual harassment case at a Budapest theater made the changes necessary as the government currently has no power to sack the director of the theater involved. 
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