London police are defending the decision not to pursue a full investigation of allegations made against Prince Andrew by a woman who says she was trafficked by the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Police acknowledged Thursday that they received a complaint in 2015 from a woman alleging she was the victim of trafficking for sexual exploitation.The woman, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, has said she was trafficked by Epstein and had sex three times with Prince Andrew starting in 2001, including once in London. She says she was 17 when they first had sex.Metropolitan Police Commander Alex Murray said police concluded in 2016 after looking into the matter and consulting prosecutors that the London-based force was the wrong agency to investigate.“Following the legal advice, it was clear that any investigation into human trafficking would be largely focused on activities and relationships outside the U.K.” he said.The London police, he added, would not be the “appropriate authority” to investigate.Epstein, a wealthy financier, died in prison in August in what the New York City coroner ruled as a suicide. He faced trafficking charges.The Met’s Murray said police reviewed its decision after Epstein’s death and decided not to change policy.Andrew, 59, has repeatedly denied the allegations, most recently during a televised interview broadcast nearly two weeks ago in which he lost public support by defending his friendship with Epstein and by not expressing sympathy for Epstein’s many young female victims. The prince has since stepped down from royal duties because of the scandal.A television interview with Giuffre is scheduled to be broadcast Monday in Britain. She has said Andrew must take responsibility for what he’s done.Murray also said that London police have not received a formal request for assistance from other law enforcement agencies investigating the case.U.S. officials are still looking into the case and a number of civil lawsuits against Epstein’s estate are in progress. 
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Dozens of French activists blocked an Amazon warehouse south of Paris in a Black Friday-inspired protest, amid increased opposition to the post-Thanksgiving sales phenomenon that has seen a group of French lawmakers push to ban it altogether.Protesters from climate group Amis de la terre (Friends of the Earth) spread hay and old refrigerators and microwaves on the driveway leading to the warehouse in Bretigny-sur-Orge on Thursday. They held signs in front of the gates reading “Amazon: For the climate, for jobs, stop expansion, stop over-production!”The activists were later dislodged by police.More demonstrations are expected as Black Friday looms into view. French climate groups are planning “Block Friday” demonstrations Friday.Their objections are garnering some support within France’s National Assembly. Some French lawmakers want to ban Black Friday, which has morphed into a global phenomenon even though it stems from a specifically U.S. holiday: Thanksgiving Thursday.A French legislative committee passed an amendment Monday that proposes prohibiting Black Friday since it causes “resource waste” and “overconsumption.”The amendment, which was put forward by France’s former environment minister, Delphine Batho, will be debated next month. France’s e-commerce union has condemned it.On Europe 1 radio Thursday, France’s ecological transition minister, Elisabeth Borne, criticized Black Friday for creating “traffic jams, pollution, and gas emissions.”She added that she would support Black Friday if it helped small French businesses, but said it mostly benefits large online retailers.
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When opposition leader Keiko Fujimori leaves prison, her supporters will applaud her freedom and her detractors will lament what they consider more impunity for the corrupt, but the reality is the future is far from clear for the woman who twice almost won Peru’s presidency.The Constitutional Tribunal narrowly approved a habeas corpus request to free Fujimori from detention while she is investigated for alleged corruption. But the magistrates noted the 4-3 decision does not constitute a judgment on her guilt or innocence with regards to accusations she accepted money from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.The daughter of imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori — who herself was jailed in October 2018 — could be returned to a cell.“Although the Constitutional Tribunal has freed her for a strictly procedural matter, it has not absolved her of any of the charges, and it also did not dismiss the new charges made by the Public Ministry,” political analyst Iván García Mayer said.It is unclear when Fujimori will be freed, but authorities said after Monday’s court ruling that it could happen later in the week.The 44-year-old will leave prison to a changed political landscape, facing the tough task of rebuilding her political party and career, both of which have been eroded by scandals. Her Popular Force party held a majority in congress until September, when President Martín Vizcarra dissolved the legislature in a popular move he described as necessary to uproot corruption.The conservative Popular Force will participate in January legislative elections, but Fujimori is not expected to be a candidate and some expect the party to fade in the vote.As leader of Popular Force, Fujimori managed to undermine the government of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, fueling the impeachment of the now imprisoned ex-president for lying about his ties with Odebrecht.But now Fujimori herself has been ensnared by a corruption scandal that has toppled political and businesses leaders around Latin America.In 2016, Odebrecht recognized in a plea agreement with the U.S. Justice Department that it paid some $800 million in bribes to officials throughout the region. The bribes included some $29 million in Peru for public works contracts during the administrations of President Alejandro Toledo and two of his successors. Corruption allegations have hit all of Peru’s presidents between 2001 and 2016.Prosecutors accuse Fujimori of laundering $1.2 million provided by Odebrecht for her 2011 and 2016 presidential campaigns. They opened an investigation into the campaigns after seeing a note written by Marcelo Odebrecht, head of the Brazilian mega-company, on his cellphone that said: “increase Keiko to 500 and pay a visit.”Fujimori denies the accusations against her and says prosecutors and Peru’s election body have received Popular Force’s accounting books for inspection.Her jailing capped a striking downfall for a politician who went from first lady at age 19, to powerful opposition leader, to within a hair’s breadth of the presidency.Hundreds of mostly young people protested Monday’s ruling freeing her, calling it another demonstration of impunity for the corrupt.But Fujimori’s supporters have painted “Free Keiko” signs around Lima. Her husband, Mark Villanella, had been on a more than week-long hunger strike outside the jail holding Fujimori.Fujimori’s father, a strongman who governed Peru from 1990 to 2000, remains a polarizing figure. Some Peruvians praise him for defeating Maoist Shining Path guerrillas and resurrecting a devastated economy, while others detest him for human rights violations. He is serving a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses and corruption.Keiko Fujimori assumed the role of first lady following the traumatic divorce of her father and Susana Higuchi.She graduated in business administration from Boston University in 1997 and returned to the United States in 2000 to obtain a master’s degree in business from Columbia University.She tried to follow in her father’s presidential footsteps and forge a gentler, kinder version of the movement known as “Fujimorismo.”She finished second in the 2011 election and five years later lost in a razor-thin vote, coming within less than half a percentage point of defeating Kuczynski.Now, emerging into a new Peru with a dissolved congress and widespread dislike for political elites, Fujimori faces a tough situation, analysts say.She “is in a very bad position; it will be very difficult for her to recover because the immense majority believe she really committed acts of corruption,” said analyst and sociologist Fernando Rospigliosi.“She is not going to recover in the medium term,” he said.
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NATO leaders are preparing to gather in London for a two-day meeting Tuesday to mark the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the alliance. The war in Syria  and the ongoing threat from Russia  will serve as the backdrop to the summit. But as Henry Ridgwell reports, growing tensions between members could overshadow the anniversary celebrations.
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Turkey’s foreign minister has called on NATO to support Ankara’s security concerns, accusing allies of backing Baltic countries’ security concerns but dismissing threats to Turkey from Syrian Kurdish fighters.      Mevlut Cavusoglu made the comments Thursday. He confirmed media reports that said Turkey was blocking a NATO defense proposal for the Baltic nations and Poland until the alliance supports Turkey’s concerns relating to the Kurdish fighters, which Ankara considers to be terrorists.
       
Cavusoglu said: “We are not against NATO’s retaliation plans for the Baltic nations but (NATO) should also want for Turkey what it wants for the Baltics.”
       
He said the NATO chief was working to overcome the dispute.
       
A plan to defend the Baltic nations in case of a Russian attack needs the backing of all member states.
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Farmers across France are protesting poor economic and social conditions in the farming community. Hundreds of tractors disrupted traffic in Paris and other major cities in a demonstration organized by the National Federation of Agricultural Holders’ Unions and the union of young farmers. Farmers unloaded tires to block some roads and scattered hay bales across the Champs-Elysées, the central avenue in Paris. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports farmers demand a response from President Emmanuel Macron.
 
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Marko Kepi, an Albanian-American activist, is heading a fundraising campaign to aid victims of Wednesday’s earthquake.
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Albanian Defense Minister Olta Xhacka becomes emotional while reading names of victims of the strongest earthquake to hit Albania in more than three decades.
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Colombians unhappy with President Ivan Duque’s response to nearly a week of boisterous protests over everything from job losses to shark hunting took to the streets again Wednesday in a continuing tide of unrest.The daily protests jolting the South American country proclaim a wide array of complaints but echo one refrain: an opposition to a government that many believe only looks after the most privileged citizens.“We feel defenseless to everything,” Lucy Rosales, 60, a pensioner in Bogota. “We don’t feel like we have a voice that represents us. It’s many things that they allowed to accumulate.”Several thousand people blew whistles and waving their nation’s flag as they marched through the streets of the capital around mid-afternoon, while indigenous activists blocked part of a major highway in southwest Colombia.The new demonstration came a day after Duque’s attempt to quell the discontent by holding talks with a protest steering group hit a snag: Members of the National Strike Committee refused to join broader talks the president has called with all social sectors, fearing their demands would be diluted.“The government has not been able to learn from the Chilean and Ecuadorian experiences,” said Jorge Restrepo, an economics professor, referring to recent mass demonstrations in both of those countries. “It has made very many mistakes.”A man performs hanging from a bridge during an anti-government protest in Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 27, 2019. The steering committee presented a 13-point list of demands Tuesday that asks Duque to withdraw or refrain from tax, labor and pension law changes that are either before the legislature or rumored to be in development. The labor and student leaders also want Duque to review free-trade agreements, eliminate a police unit accused in the death of an 18-year-old student protester and fully implement the nation’s historic peace accord with leftist rebels.Organizers dismissed Duque’s calls to join his “National Conversation” that would run through March — an initiative that appears to take a page from French President Emmanuel Macron, who opened a “Great National Debate” to involve citizens in drafting reforms after months of angry protests in that country.“It’s a monologue between the government and its allies,” said Diogenes Orjuela, president of the Central Workers Union, one of the main forces behind the National Strike Committee.It remains unclear to what extent the Strike Committee represents protesters in what has become a largely citizen-driven outpouring of discontent. An invitation to gather in a park or bang pots and pans quickly goes viral on WhatsApp and soon hundreds fill neighborhoods with the angry sound of clanging metal and chants like “Get out Duque!”“We’re tired,” Ana Maria Moya, a student, said. “We’re saying, ‘No more.’”Though the National Strike Committee drew an estimated 250,000 people to the streets last Thursday, far fewer protesters were heeding their call for a new strike on Wednesday. Protesters filled the storied Plaza Bolivar but life continued as normal in much of the rest of the capital.Various leaders have tried to capitalize on the momentum, but none yet has emerged as the unequivocal voice of the protesters.“There is a contest over the ownership of the protesters,” Restrepo said. “I see students get out in the streets because they need more social mobility, higher levels of income, more opportunities at least in employment. But then the ones that claim they represent those students in the streets are the unions.”Colombia is widely considered in need of labor and pension reform. Few retirees currently have access to pensions, with the lowest-income earners the least likely to get one. Labor laws make it difficult to hire new employees. Even as the nation’s economy grows at a healthy 3.3%, unemployment has risen to nearly 11%.“I would characterize the demands of the National Strike Committee as highly conservative, regressive and counter-reformist demands,” Restrepo said.Orjuela, a former schoolteacher who participated in Colombia’s last major strike, in 1977, said protest organizers would be willing to support a pension reform as long as it involves a state and not a private-run system.Even as they parse out the details, the committee’s general message decrying Duque has resonated widely, tapping into the myriad frustrations of Colombians.For some it is big-picture issues like not fully implementing peace accords, endemic corruption and persistent economic inequality. For others it is small indignities, like relatively pricey public transportation that is also slow and overcrowded.One unexpected sight in the protests has been that of giant plastic sharks hoisted by at least one protester denouncing a government decision allowing a certain amount of shark fishing.“It’s like all the groups are feeding off each other,” said Gimena Sanchez-Garzoli, a human rights advocate with the Washington Office on Latin America.Few expected that such a mixed bag of motivations could generate a prolonged protest and it remained unclear how long it might drag on. Thus far, four people have died, hundreds have been injured and tens of millions of dollars have been lost from businesses shuttering during demonstrations.The patience of some Colombians is beginning to wear thin.Julio Contreras, a deliveryman who was tear gassed while trying to get 20 kilos (44 pounds) of chicken to restaurants, said he is ready for the protests to be done.“They’re not letting us work,” he said. “The students should be in the universities and not affecting us.”
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A TikTok post by a young woman, pretending to give eyelash curling advice while actually condemning China’s crackdown on Muslims in Xinjiang, has gone viral on the Chinese-owned app that has been accused of censoring anti-Beijing content.The clip by US teen Feroza Aziz, who describes herself as “17 Just a Muslim”, had millions of views across several social media platforms by Wednesday.But Aziz said she has been blocked from posting on the hugely popular video platform TikTok for a month after uploading Sunday’s clip slamming China, a claim disputed by the app.Part three to getting longer lashes #tiktok#muslims#muslimmemes#Uyghurmuslims#freepalestinepic.twitter.com/OoFpDpYPvj— feroza.x (@x_feroza) November 25, 2019Human rights groups and outside experts say more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities have been rounded up in a network of internment camps across the fractious region of Xinjiang.China, after initially denying the camps existed, describes them as vocational schools aimed at dampening the allure of Islamist extremism and violence through education and job training.Aziz starts her video telling viewers: “The first thing you need to do is grab your lash curler.”US Warns China’s Detention of Uighurs to Counter Terrorism Will Backfire

        A senior U.S. official has rejected China’s claim that the mass internment of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in China’s Xinjiang region is part of a counter-terrorism program and says it will backfire. The United States co-hosted an event on the sidelines of the U.N. 

However, she soon changes the subject, saying: “Then you’re going to put it down and use the phone you’re using right now to search what’s happening in China, how they’re getting concentration camps, throwing innocent Muslims in there, separating families from each other, kidnapping them, murdering them, raping them, forcing them to eat pork, forcing them to drink, forcing them to convert.”This is another Holocaust, yet no one is talking about it. Please be aware, please spread awareness in Xinjiang right now,” she adds, before returning to the eyelash curling tutorial.A previous account owned by Aziz, reportedly from New Jersey, was blocked by TikTok over another alleged violation, but the app denied the current profile had been frozen.”TikTok does not moderate content due to political sensitivities,” a spokesperson told AFP.”In this case, the user’s previous account and associated device were banned after she posted a video of Osama Bin Laden, which is a violation of TikTok’s ban on content that includes imagery related to terrorist organizations. Her new account and its videos, including the video in question, were not affected.”As of Wednesday morning, the post had more than 1.5 million views and 501,900 likes, and 600,000 comments.Two follow-up videos in which Aziz again addressed the Xinjiang camps had both received more than 7,000 views.The eyelash-curling clip had reached far more people on Twitter, where versions of the same video received more than 6.5 million views.Aziz told Buzzfeed: “As a Muslim girl, I’ve always been oppressed and seen my people be oppressed, and always I’ve been into human rights.”Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang decline to comment.”How could I know what’s happening on the (social media) account of one individual?” Geng said at a regular press briefing, adding that Beijing has always urged Chinese companies to comply with international rules and local laws.
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The death toll from the strongest earthquake to hit Albania in more than three decades rose to at least 27 on Wednesday, as the country observed a day of mourning.
 
Among the deaths, which included children, were at least 12 people killed in the coastal city of Durrës, at least 14 in Thumanë, and at least one in Kurbin. Officials say the death toll could increase further, with several people still unaccounted for. Hundreds of others were admitted to the hospital with injuries.
 
The government declared the state of emergency for the areas affected the most, as rescue crews continued to work to pull people from the rubble.
Albania Quake video player.
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The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was a magnitude 6.4 with an epicenter 30 kilometers northwest of the capital, Tirana. Three hours after the initial quake, a magnitude-5 aftershock struck in the Adriatic Sea.
 
Several buildings were also destroyed in Durrës and Thumanë.
 
“For the moment, when all energies are going towards search and rescue, it is impossible to have a detailed account of material damage,” said Defense Minister Olta Xhaçka, adding this was the worst earthquake to hit Albania, since 1979. Some 40 people were killed in that earthquake.Citizens rest at a makeshift camp in Durres, after an earthquake shook Albania, Nov. 26, 2019. Escaped the worst
 
Prefect of Durrës Roland Nasto told VOA there are nine sites “in the city where crews continue to work to find people,” suggesting the toll might rise.
 
“[Tomorrow] we will start the process of finding shelter for people who today are under open skies and who will spend the night in tents, some of them – due to the trauma — even refusing to be sheltered in arenas or gyms, afraid to be somewhere with a ceiling,” Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Tuesday.
 
He later visited Thumanë to assess the damage.
 
“We want our loved ones to be dug out of the rubble as soon as possible,” said a Thumanë resident, who told VOA’s Albanian Service her cousin and his wife were missing.
 
Another resident said, “We are trying to find people that are dead or alive. We are afraid to go inside the buildings for fear that they will crumble.”
 
President Ilir Meta and opposition leader Lulzim Basha also visited areas affected by the quake.
 Show of solidarity
 
Aid and support has poured into the affected areas, with people offering their homes and sending care packages from different parts of Albania. Kosovo’s outgoing government allocated $550,000 for relief efforts and Kosovo’s Security Force sent specialized teams and enlisted help from private companies.
 
Rescue teams and specialized crews were dispatched from neighboring Kosovo, Italy and Greece.
 
“Two groups of specialized crews have come from Kosovo, two from Greece, two from Italy, and we expect a specialized group of 40 from Italy,” Nasto said.
 
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, who was visiting North Macedonia Tuesday, later in the day visited Albania to offer “any assistance needed to face the catastrophic situation.”
 
The European Commission said on Twitter that its stands by Albania “at this difficult time following the earthquakes.”
 
“We have mobilized immediate support to help local authorities, and rescue teams from Italy, Greece and Romania are already on their way,” a statement on Twitter said.
 
Help also arrived from France, Turkey, Serbia, and the United States.
 
The U.S. Embassy also sent a statement of condolence.
 
“The United States stands with our friends in Albania, just as Americans and Albanians have always stood by each other during difficult times. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and stand ready to offer our support,” the Embassy said.
 
On Wednesday, Pope Francis said he was praying for Albania.
 
“I would like to send a greeting and express my closeness to the dear Albanian people, who have suffered so much these days,” the pope said. “Albania was the first country in Europe that I wanted to visit. I am close to the victims, I pray for the dead, for the wounded, for the families, may God bless them, the people that I love.”
 
The Albanian diaspora also was rallying to help, holding several fundraisers to send money to one of the poorest countries in Europe.
 
“I am so heartbroken for my people back home, for those who have lost lives and loved ones,” New York City Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj, an Albanian American, told VOA. 
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The House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump is focused on whether the White House delayed promised U.S. military aid to Ukraine until its leader agreed to do the president a political favor. While lawmakers investigate the president’s role in the matter, VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine takes a closer look at that military aid at the center of the controversy and why it’s so critical for Ukraine 
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Top Russian officials decried the recommendations by a World Anti-Doping Agency committee to suspend Russia from international competition over tainted athlete doping probes — the latest in a drawn out saga over accusations of Russian state sponsored doping that has roiled global sport since 2014.Russian athletes, unsurprisingly, joined in expressing bitterness about the WADA recommendations. But while some argued the suggested WADA penalties were unduly harsh, others blamed a failure in Russian sport leadership for risking their chance to compete in the next two Olympic Games and perhaps beyond.The recommendations, issued by WADA’s Compliance Review Committee on Monday, alleged evidence of tampering of some 2000 athlete probes at Moscow’s RUSADA testing facility, and called for a four-year suspension of Russia from international competition, including the Olympic Games.Reacting to the pronouncement at a news conference on Tuesday, Russia Minister of Sport In this file photo dated Wednesday, July 24, 2019, Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Russia has sent a formal response to the World Anti-Doping Agency, Tuesday Oct. 8, 2019.The charges, argued Lavrov, were carried out by those who “wish to show Russia as guilty in anything and everything.”The Kremlin was more sanguine.  A spokesman merely noted that President Vladimir Putin — who has gladly cast Russia’s return to sporting glory as a symbol of the country’s rising global status under his 19-year rule — had no plans to meet with government sporting officials over the issue.WADA is expected to make a final decision regarding the committee’s recommendations on December 9. Whatever the outcome, Russia would have a right to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for a final ruling.Athletes reactYet athlete anger was also palpable  — with leading athletes lashing out at both WADA and Russia’s sporting bureaucracy for failing to lift a doping cloud that has hung over Russian athletics ever since a 2015 WADA investigation detailed widespread cheating at international events.Indeed, just days prior to this week’s WADA committee recommendations, World Athletics, the sport’s global governing body formally known as the IAAF, provisionally suspended top figures from Russia’s Track and Field for helping champion Russian high jumper Danil Lysenko avoid doping tests earlier this year.The charges prompted the immediate full suspension of efforts to reinstatement Russia’s track and field association following its 2015 suspension. Until the most recent violation, the talks reportedly had been making headway.In a letter addressed to Russia’s Minister of Sport and head of Russia’s Olympic Committee, acclaimed high jumper In this Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019 file photo, Gold medalist Mariya Lasitskene, who participates as a neutral athlete, poses during the medal ceremony for the women’s high jump at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar.While Russia has acknowledged problems with doping to a degree, it has also argued the country is being unfairly singled out — with Russian athletes being punished en masse for the sins of a few.In turn, the International Olympic Committee made allowances for Russian athletes who undergo additional drug screening to compete as neutral athletes, without state uniform or flag or anthem, at the 2016 and 2018 Olympics.In a statement released Tuesday, the IOC criticized Russia over the doping probe manipulations while suggesting bad actors at RUSADA had sabotaged what it otherwise saw as a good faith effort by Russian Olympic Officials.”The report does not indicate any wrongdoing by the sports movement in this regard, in particular the Russian Olympic Committee or its members,” noted the IOC statement.“In this context, the IOC welcomes the opportunity offered by WADA to Russian athletes to compete, “where they are able to demonstrate that they are not implicated in any way by the non-compliance.”Yet some Russians — including leading sporting legends — expressed exasperation over the Russian government’s continued inability to weed out drug offenders and make peace with WADA.“The fact that there are more honest and clean athletes in our country than lying and irresponsible ones is a fact,” wrote Yelena Isinbayaeva, the former two-time Gold medal winner.“So why is it that we still can’t seem to separate these two groups — the honest from the deceitful?”  Access of the Moscow RUSADA laboratory doping probes was one of two key condition to WADA’s so-called “roadmap to return”  to international competition.Yet from President Putin on down, Russian officials have been loathe to meet WADA’s other supposed requirement: that Russia admit it engaged in a massive doping effort with support from the government and security services to help secure medals  — most notably at the Russia-hosted Sochi 2014 Winter Games, in which Russia placed first among nations.Russian officials and, to a degree athletes, argue geopolitics have helped hype the hysteria around Russian doping  — with sport long ago joining Ukraine, Syria, election interference, and a myriad of other issues that currently infect Russian relations with the West.Given the political stakes involved, observers puzzled out possible motives behind the latest manipulation of athlete probes at the Moscow lab — with the popular sports.ru website coming to what it admitted was an uncomfortable conclusion: someone in the Russian government had chosen to gamble the Olympic dreams of young Russian athletes rather than admit past doping transgressions.“We don’t have sport in a traditional sense — in Russia, it long ago became a special-operation for winning medals,” said the editorial.“Our manipulation of the database — is, by fact, an admission. It’s proof of a government doping system.” 
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Rescuers were pulling survivors and dead bodies from piles of rubble in Albania on Tuesday after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s coastal area. The U.S. Geological survey placed the quake’s epicenter about 30 kilometers north of the capital Tirana and at a depth of about 20 kilometers. The earthquake was followed by about 100 aftershocks, including three with preliminary magnitudes of about 5. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports the death toll is rising.
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France said Tuesday it is determined to continue fighting terrorism, despite losing 13 of its soldiers during a counterinsurgency operation in Mali. The deaths of the soldiers late Monday represent France’s biggest military loss in three decades. The 13 troops were killed during a counterterrorism combat operation in Mali, when the two helicopters the troops were on slammed into each other.French President Emmanuel Macron announced his deep sadness over their deaths, and France’s National Assembly observed a minute of silence.French Defense Minister Florence Parly described the men as exceptional soldiers and heroes, who fought for liberty until the end. She said support from allies strengthened France, allowing it to continue the fight against terrorism.Forty-one French soldiers have been killed in Mali since France launched its Barkhane counterinsurgency operation against Islamist militants in the Sahel in 2014.The latest deaths draw attention to the roughly 4,500 French troops stationed across West Africa — raising questions about whether they are stretched too thin.France is supporting a so-called G-5 Sahel alliance, grouping five area countries against armed extremist groups. But experts say the militant groups are strengthening. Regional forces and U.N. peacekeepers have come under attack. Some commentators say France does not have enough military support and the G-5 Sahel alliance has yet to achieve even a symbolic victory.
 
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There senior officials in Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s government stepped down Tuesday in connection with a probe into the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.Press reports have linked Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi, Economy Minister Chris Cardona and Muscat’s chief of staff Keith Schembri to the Caruana Galizia investigation.All three deny any wrongdoing. Their resignations follow the arrest last week of Maltese hotelier and power company director Yorgen Fenech in relation with the case.In her blog, Caruana Galizia wrote boldly about corruption and investigated the affairs of Maltese politicians and business figures, as well as those doing business with the European Union member.Eight months before she was killed by a car bomb in October 2017, Caruana Galizia alleged in her blog that a company called 17 Black Ltd., listed in the Panama Papers, was connected to Maltese politicians. The company belonged to Fenech, the businessman.Economy Minister Cardona said Tuesday he was stepping down pending the investigation and the ongoing proceedings related to Caruana Galizia’s case. He was summoned by police for questioning last Saturday.
Cardona said he had “absolutely no connection with the case,” but added that after police asked for further clarifications, he felt “duty-bound to take this step in the national interest.”Mizzi, the tourism minister, said he was resigning “in the national interest.” He reiterated that he had no business connection with Fenech, and no connection with 17 Black.Prime Minister Muscat himself announced the resignation of his chief of staff Schembri.Asked of the reasons behind Schembri’s decision, Muscat told reporters it was premature to speculate on “whether he is being questioned or what he is being questioned about.” He added, however, that the timing of the resignation was “unfortunate.”Schembri served as Muscat’s chief of staff since 2013.Muscat on Friday described the investigation as “the biggest our country has seen,” but contended that no politicians were tied to the journalist’s murder.Three people were arrested in December 2017 on suspicion of detonating the bomb that killed 53-year-old Caruana Galizia as she drove near her home. The trial has not yet begun, and the mastermind has yet to be identified. 
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Colombian unions and student groups will hold another protest on Wednesday in honor of a teenage demonstrator who died after being injured by a tear gas canister, as President Ivan Duque announced changes to his unpopular tax reform proposal.Other demonstrations are expected to continue on Tuesday, the sixth straight day of protests following a 250,000-person march last week organized by the National Strike Committee.The largely peaceful protests have attracted thousands of marchers to reject economic reforms, police violence and corruption.The committee said in a statement early on Tuesday it would demand “a permanent negotiation” with Duque, but talks lasted only about two hours, with committee leaders demanding Duque meet only with them, sans business leaders or other sectors.The committee has demanded the tax reform, which includes a cut in duties on businesses, be rejected.
Shortly after the meeting, Duque told journalists the proposal will be modified to return value added tax to the poorest 20% of Colombians and lower contributions to healthcare by minimum wage pensioners – half of the retired population – from 12% to 4% over three years. There will also be three days each year without VAT.The proposals will cost some 3.2 trillion pesos ($931 million), the government said.Duque denies supporting rumored economic plans that have galvanized many protesters – including a cut to the minimum wage for young people. Demonstrators have also highlighted what they say is a lack of government action to stop the murder of hundreds of human rights activists and asked Duque to fully implement a 2016 peace deal with leftist rebels.Asked as he left the meeting what the government could do to end protests, Confederation of Colombian Workers president Luis Miguel Morantes told Reuters “it is a negotiation, there will be things that go to a certain point, there will be a fair balance, there will be other things we have to wait for, like changes in laws, it’s very relative.”The committee wanted an “exclusive” dialogue, but the government would like them to form part of national discussions, said official Diego Molano.”They must understand that there are other sectors which also want to debate the issues of employment, who have proposals for young people,” Molano told journalists.The death on Monday of protester Dilan Cruz, 18, is likely to fuel further criticism of the crowd dispersion tactics of the ESMAD riot police, which include tear gas and stun grenades.Cruz, who was injured on Saturday, has become a symbol for many young protesters. On Tuesday mourners were gathering at makeshift shrines outside the hospital where he was treated and the place where he was hit.
The strike committee said it would ask Duque to shut down the ESMAD and “purify” the police.The committee will increase the intensity of the strike on Wednesday “in homage to the symbol of the national strike Dylan Cruz,” the statement said, using a different spelling of Cruz’s first name than that used by his sister and the government.($1 = 3,433.94 Colombian pesos) 
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Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Tuesday asked lawmakers to allow troops back on the streets to defend key public infrastructure, even as a human rights group reported “grave” abuses by security forces over five weeks of sometimes violent riots.The continuing protests in Chile over inequality and a shortfall in some social services have left at least 26 dead and thousands injured. They have also hobbled the capital’s public transport system, once the envy of Latin America, and caused billions in losses for private business.Chilean President Sebastian Pinera arrives to La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, Chile, Nov. 4, 2019.Riots have erupted in countries across Latin America, including Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia in recent weeks as regional unrest has spiraled into violence and demands for broad-based reforms.Pinera sent a bill to Congress Tuesday morning to allow the military to protect transmission lines, electric plants, airports, hospitals and other public infrastructure in order to assure “basic services.”He said the move would “free up the police force … to protect the security of our citizens.”Pinera’s announcement came shortly after international rights group Human Rights Watch said in a report that police had brutally beat protesters, shot teargas cartridges directly at them, and ran over some with official vehicles or motorcycles.”There are hundreds of worrying reports of excessive force on the streets and abuse of detainees,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco, director of Human Rights Watch’s Americas division, after meeting with Pinera on Tuesday.The group stopped short of alleging the abuses had been systematic, but its conclusions were in line with a report last week by Amnesty International on the seriousness of many violations. More than 200 Chileans have suffered severe eye injuries alone in clashes with police using rubber bullets.Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have recommended an immediate overhaul of police protocols and accountability measures to address the mounting allegations of abuse.Police and military officials have said any cases of alleged abuse are under investigation by civilian courts.New clashesRoadblocks snarled traffic around the Chilean capital Santiago on Tuesday around midday, as protesters set up burning barricades on major streets and highways around the city.Police used water cannons to disperse protesters in front of the La Moneda presidential palace shortly after Pinera’s speech there. Many took to the city’s main boulevard afterward, bringing traffic to a standstill.”This never ends,” Rosa Olarce, a pharmacy worker, told Reuters as she waited for a bus. “We’ll see what comes of it.”Pinera in his speech Tuesday morning ticked off a list of reforms, from boosting the minimum wage to slashing the prices of medicines and public transportation, aimed at quelling the protests.The country’s normally fractious political parties have also agreed to work together on a new constitution.However, protests continue, in smaller numbers but with intense violence at their fringes, driven by mistrust that politicians will keep their promises to bring significant change, and enduring fury over the police handling of demonstrators.
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With U.S.-Turkish relations at their lowest ebb in decades, the future of a critical American air base in Turkey is increasingly in the spotlight.  The vast Incirlik Air Base, located in southern Turkey close to Syria, has been a longstanding symbol of U.S.-Turkish cooperation. At the height of the Cold War, it underscored America’s commitment to its NATO partner against the Soviet Union.”We have to underline the Incirlik is one of the most important bases in the Middle East with the placement of tactical nuclear weapons at the base,” said professor Mesut Casin, a Turkish presidential foreign policy adviser. “This shows Turkey continues to support the value of the NATO organization.”It’s widely reported that the United States retains around 50 nuclear free-fall bombs at the facility. During the Cold War, the weapons were relied on to deter vast Soviet ground forces massed on the Turkish border.However, with Ankara and Washington at loggerheads over a myriad of issues, including Turkey’s deepening ties with Russia and the removal of Turkey from a U.S. jet fighter program, the future of Incirlik is increasingly murky.
The Countering Turkish Aggression Act, a bipartisan bill under consideration in the U.S. Senate, would require the Trump administration to consider alternative bases for “personnel and assets” deployed at Incirlik. The bill comes in response to Ankara’s offensive into Syria against a Kurdish militia, which is an ally in Washington’s war against Islamic State.FILE – A service vehicle with a sign reading ‘Welcome to Incirlik’ is pictured at Incirlik Air Base, near Adana, Turkey, Jan. 21, 2016.House Armed Services Committee member Representative Kendra Horn tweeted last month that she is “deeply concerned that strategic nuclear weapons remain on an air base within Turkish borders.” Horn later removed the tweet.”They (Congress) are talking about removing the nuclear arsenal from Incirlik,” said former Turkish ambassador Mithat Rende. “If they (nuclear weapons) are removed, that would be a sign of a huge lack of confidence (by Washington in Ankara).””There would be a trust problem, and relations might unravel if you withdraw the nuclear arsenal from Turkey,” he added. “And you would expect an overreaction from the Turkish side if the U.S. pulls out its nuclear arsenal.””Turkey-U.S. relations cannot continue in this climate of threats,” warns Casin. “Turkey has a long history of being the United States’ best ally in the region. Who is the winner of this present situation, Russia and China.”Analysts warn Moscow will be eager to take advantage of any U.S. reduction in Incirlik.”If the Americans take their nuclear weapons, then I can tell you if they do, then the Turks will take Russian missiles there,” said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University. “Then the Russians will have much more free hand to gain Turkey. So the architect of a lost Turkey will be American policy, and the winner will be (Russian President Vladimir) Putin.”
 
“Turkey is not on the defensive anymore,” he added.” The more the Americans make pressure, the more Turkey will work closely with Russia — this is a historical change in Turkish foreign policy.”Russian President Vladimir Putin has carefully cultivated a relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as relations with Ankara’s traditional western allies deteriorate.FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake hands after their joint news conference following their talks in the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Oct. 22, 2019.While Incirlik has been pivotal to U.S. strategic operations, including a significant withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan and Iraq, Ankara’s imposing restrictions on the base’s use in Syrian operations is, analysts say, a point of tension.  Last month’s American operation to kill Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria saw U.S. forces use a base in Iraq instead of the much closer Incirlik, requiring a round trip of many hours.Other allies, too, have expressed frustration about Turkish operational demands. In 2017, Germany removed its forces from Incirlik because of a diplomatic spat with Ankara, relocating to Jordan.American armed forces appear to be already taking steps to diversify their dependence on Incirlik. The U.S. has spent over $150 million in the last two years improving Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, while American bases are reportedly being considered to be established in Turkey’s neighbors, Greece and Cyprus.Observers claim, given Incirlik’s size and location, no base in the region can replace it. But Washington could be calculating that a combination of bases across the region could provide a patchwork alternative to Incirlik.Such efforts are likely to continue, given a continued current downward spiral in U.S.-Turkish relations. However, analysts warn, abandoning Incirlik will not be without consequences.”So American has to choose between losing Turkey or not losing Turkey. At the moment, they are more intending to lose Turkey,” said Bagci. 
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Dresden museum officials say thieves got away with less than initially thought in their robbery of the Green Vault’s collection of 18th century jewels.
Green Vault Director Dirk Syndram told reporters Tuesday the thieves who broke into the museum early Monday seem to have only snatched what they could reach through holes punched with an ax into three display cabinets.
He said the thieves, who haven’t been caught, did take a large diamond broach, a diamond epaulette, and other treasures. Syndram didn’t give a complete list of what was gone and has only said the losses were culturally “priceless.”
Of some 100 dazzling pieces, he said many were left behind, including diamond-encrusted shoe buckles and buttons, the queen’s pearl necklaces, and a diamond-studded sword.  
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Cuba’s foreign minister on Tuesday accused the United States of violating the Vienna Convention and the deal re-establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.Soon after, the United States announced a new sanction on Cuba meant to cut off the island’s supply of petroleum from Venezuela.In two tweets, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said unspecified “illegal actions” by the U.S. Embassy in Havana violated both the international codes of conduct for diplomats and the agreement to reopen embassies in Washington and Havana in 2015.“Illegal actions by #US embassy in #Cuba are interference in the internal affairs of the country and are intended to attack our constitutional order,” Rodríguez tweeted. “They violate the Vienna Convention, the agreement for the re-establishment of relations and Cuban and US laws.”The U.S. Treasury said it was designating the Cuban company Corporacion Panamericana S.A. as a violator of American sanctions on Venezuela. Such designations make it difficult for companies like Panamericana to do business even outside the United States due to third parties’ fears of repercussions for dealing with a sanctioned entity.The Treasury Department said that after the U.S. sanctioned the state-owned oil importer Cubametales, Cuba moved employees and contracts over to Panamericana, which was not yet sanctioned.In one example that occurred over the summer, Cuba shifted its dealings with a North African oil provider from Cubametales to Corporacion Panamericana, the Treasury Department said.A Cubametales official who also worked in a similar position at Corporacion Panamericana negotiated a deal to buy gasoline from a European company, the Treasury statement said.The announcement comes amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Cuba over Washington’s steadily increasing pressure on the communist government.The U.S. has prohibited cruise travel to Cuba, U.S. flights to cities outside Havana and support for Venezuela oil shipments to the island. The Trump administration says it hopes to cripple the Cuban government’s ability to support Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
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Almost three years into the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump, Germans and Americans continue to have notably different perspectives on the relationship between their two countries, with Americans much more optimistic than their European counterparts, a study said Tuesday.The Pew Research Center and the Koerber-Stiftung foundation said in the joint report that three-quarters of Americans surveyed characterized the relationship with Germany as good, while nearly two-thirds of Germans polled saw relations as bad. Only 2% of Germans said the relationship with the U.S. is very good, compared with 13% of Americans.Despite this disconnect, views have become more positive in Germany over the past year: The share of Germans who said the relationship between the United States and Germany is good rose from 24% in 2018 to 34% this year.The United States had been the Germans’ most important trans-Atlantic partner from the end of World War II through the Cold War. But after the fall of the Berlin Wall three decades ago and German reunification in 1990, Germany began focusing more on its partners in the European Union.The relationship between Germany and the U.S. also took a hit after Trump became president in 2017 and is mirrored in the strained relations of Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.Tempers flared this week after Economy Minister Peter Altmaier on a talk show defended the government’s decision not to ban Huawei from competing for contracts to build the country’s 5G mobile networks, instead agreeing that companies must meet strict standards — which still could end up excluding the Chinese firm.Altmaier noted Germany hadn’t boycotted the U.S. after it was revealed the National Security Agency had listened in on Merkel’s phone, and said that Washington also demands that American companies “pass on certain information needed to fight terrorism.”U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell, a Trump appointee, responded that “the recent claims by senior German officials that the United States is equivalent to the Chinese Communist Party are an insult to the thousands of American troops who help ensure Germany’s security.”Despite the tensions under Trump, however, Americans’ view of the bilateral relationship is at its highest point in three years of surveys, rising from 68% in 2017 to 75% this year.Germans were more likely to see the U.S. as an important partner than Americans were to consider Germany as one.Among the Germans polled, 42% said the United States is the most important foreign partner, second only to France, which was deemed most important by 60%.In comparison, only 13% of Americans said Germany is the United States’ most important partner abroad, ranking it fifth after the United Kingdom (36%), China (23%), Canada (20%) and Israel (15%).Nonetheless, U.S. poll respondents ranked improving cooperation with Germany more highly than German respondents did, with about 69%, compared to half of Germans. German respondents placed more importance on greater cooperation with France and Japan: 77% and 69%, respectively.An overwhelming percentage of Americans polled, 85%, said they viewed the U.S. military presence in Germany as very important to American national security, while only 52% of German respondents did. The U.S. currently operates several military bases in Germany, with approximately 35,000 active duty American troops, a legacy of World War II and the continued NATO presence in Europe.The Pew Center interviewed 1,004 people in the U.S. from Sept. 17-22. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points.In Germany, the survey of 1,000 people was conducted from Sept. 9-28 by the Kantar agency for Koerber-Stiftung. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points.
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