Five supporters of former president Evo Morales were killed Friday in violent clashes between protesters and security forces in Bolivia, according to an AFP correspondent who saw the bodies at a hospital.Authorities did not report any deaths in the riots outside Cochabamba, though it said 100 people were detained. Media reports said eight were wounded.Clashes had broken out Friday in the suburbs of Cochabamba, where thousands of coca growers were trying to reach the city center 11 miles (18 kilometers) away to join a protest against interim leader Jeanine Anez.But they were blocked by police, who stopped them from crossing a bridge.Injured demonstrators inside an ambulance in Sacaba, on the outskirts of Cochabamba, Bolivia, Nov. 15, 2019.The protesters carried “weapons, guns, Molotov cocktails, homemade bazookas and explosive devices,” Cochabamba police commander Colonel Jamie Zurita said.”They used dynamite and deadly weapons like the Mauser 765 (rifle). Neither the armed forces nor the police are equipped with such a caliber, I am worried,” he said.The crowd was dispersed after dark by riot police, who were supported by the army and a helicopter.Morales resigned and fled to Mexico after losing the support of Bolivia’s security forces following weeks of protests over his disputed Oct. 20 reelection.With the five protesters killed Friday, the death toll from the unrest rises to 15 with more than 400 wounded.
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has seen an ally forced from office and protests rattle leaders across Latin America in recent weeks, while he has enjoyed a period of relatively smooth sailing, expounding his socialist dream in nightly television addresses and attending international conferences. But opposition leader Juan Guaido is determined to disturb Maduro’s comfort, and has called on Venezuelans across the crisis-torn nation to flood the streets Saturday for protests nearly a year after he launched his campaign to push Maduro from power. We don't have a choice,'' Guaido told a rally this week, saying the circumstances were dire.The alternative for this situation today is death. We want to live.” Test of his appealGuaido’s renewed call will test his ability to draw out masses, despite shrinking crowds rallying around him in recent months in a sign of disillusionment. Geoff Ramsey, a Venezuela researcher at the Washington Office on Latin America think tank, said a lot of people will be watching closely to gauge Guaido’s ability to inspire, especially at home in Venezuela. Guaido is under increasing pressure from within his coalition to present a realistic path forward,'' Ramsey said.There’s a lot riding on this.” A woman cries in front of soldiers guarding a street during a march of supporters of former President Evo Morales in downtown La Paz, Bolivia, Nov. 15, 2019.Guaido’s call for renewed protests in Venezuela came as political turmoil embroils governments across the region, from Chile to Ecuador to Bolivia, forcing presidents into concessions and even contributing to one’s departure. Bolivia’s President Evo Morales abruptly resigned and fled into exile in Mexico. While all this happened, Maduro traveled to Azerbaijan for an international conference and even enjoyed a small bump in crude production after years of crashing levels and bad news for the oil-rich nation. Assumption of powerGuaido, 36, leaped to the center of Venezuela’s political fray when the opposition-led National Assembly appointed him as its leader. On Jan. 23, he declared that he was assuming presidential powers. He vowed to remove Maduro and hold new elections. The United States was first among a steadily growing list of more than 50 nations and international bodies to endorse Guaido. They say Maduro clings to power following a sham election in 2018. They accuse him of human rights violations and failed economic policies that have bankrupted Venezuela. That nation sits atop the world’s largest oil reserves, but production has been down for two decades. Production made a rare uptick in October, according to OPEC figures, showing the first increase in six months. Still, oil pumping is at the same level Venezuela last produced in 1944. FILE – People shout slogans against Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro during a blackout in Caracas, March 9, 2019.Most Venezuelans earn minimum wage, which equals less than $15 a month, and inflation this year is estimated to hit 200,000%. Millions live with unreliable water supplies and constant power outages, and drivers wait in mile-long lines to gas up their cars. Guaido has held numerous events in recent days, reminding residents that these conditions aren’t normal. He’s visited neighborhoods and talked with university students, urging their return to the street. The opposition published Wakeup Venezuela!'' videos on social media promoting the march. Guaido rejected claims that disillusionment will prevent Venezuelans from heeding his call come Saturday, saying he's defied doubters before. Nobody believed in Venezuela on the 23rd of January,” Guaido told The Associated Press. Today, Venezuela is even clearer about its future.'' U.S. supportJames Story, charge d' affaires for the Venezuela Affairs Unit of the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, said Friday that officials knew going in that forcing Maduro from power would not quick or easy. But he said Guaido continues to have unwavering support from the U.S., the international community and, more important, from Venezuelans. When he travels throughout the country, the people always respond,” Story said in conference call with reporters. He's going to get the same kind of response tomorrow.'' Bolivia's crisis is likely serving as a case study for both Maduro and Guaido, analysts say. Morales, a longtime socialist ally of Maduro, fled to exile in Mexico when a generalsuggested” he step down, after irregularities in the election that he claimed gave him a fourth term. However, Maduro has diligently cultivated Venezuela’s generals, who have remained loyal, even as Guaido early in the campaign pushed to flip the soldiers against Maduro and later mounted a failed military uprising. The government plans to counter Saturday’s opposition demonstration. The socialist party has called its own rival rally. Maduro beefed up security, ordering civilian militias to patrol the streets. Police clashed with students at a Caracas university following a speech by Guaido. Dozens of students offered the police white roses and urged them to abandon Maduro. The students then tried to charge the police line and threw rocks, drawing pepper spray and tear gas in return. Exiting a Caracas subway, shop owner Jose Buitrago, 53, said he’s fed up watching relatives leave Venezuela. He complained of living with a painful hernia while the broken health care system deprives him of a simple operation. “The time has come for us to go out to fight, because this can’t stand anymore,” said Buitrago, who plans to protest on Saturday and said he hoped other Venezuelans would join him. 
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The International Organization for Migration said Friday that 2019 might be the deadliest year for migrant deaths in the Americas since it began keeping records six years ago. The U.N. agency said 695 people have died this year while making the treacherous journey across the central Mediterranean Sea, the world’s deadliest migrant corridor. It said that’s one-sixth the number of deaths recorded in 2016, when fatalities reached an all-time high of nearly 4,200 on the route. But IOM spokesman Joel Millman said the Mediterranean route figure for 2019 was barely larger than the 634 migrant deaths recorded in the Americas.   
 
“We have never seen anything like that before, where the principal migration routes that link Latin America to North America are now, this year, virtually as deadly as the central Mediterranean route has been for the last six years,” he said. Venezuelan exodusMillman attributed the surprising rise to the mass movement of refugees and migrants from Venezuela. He told VOA that more than 4 million Venezuelans had fled the country over the past two years. He said such a large volume of people on the move creates conditions that will result in more fatalities.   
 
“The place we have seen it worst of all is the Caribbean, where we know 157 deaths at sea,” he said. “Last year at this time, there were 24. So we are talking about more than six times the volume of sea deaths. And I know that the majority of deaths in the Caribbean are Venezuelan migrants and refugees trying to get to the Caribbean islands.”   
 
Millman said the nationalities of 227 people who died while heading toward the United States were unknown. He noted that Latin American migrants from countries such as Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Ecuador accounted for the largest number of fatalities after Venezuela. 
 
Included in this year’s statistics were the deaths of six migrants from Cameroon. Millman said three Cameroonians drowned off the Pacific coast of Chiapas, Mexico, in the last few weeks and one man died while in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in California. 
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Protests have roiled Bolivia for about three weeks, leading to the ouster of Evo Morales as president.Increasingly, journalists are becoming targets of harassment, censorship and personal attacks by citizens from across the political spectrum, as well as the government. Some newspapers have suspended printing, and broadcast news outlets have gone dark, creating confusion and misinformation.According to the National Press Association in Bolivia, violence against journalists stems from political instability, among other reasons. However, public distrust of reporters has existed for years.The association has registered 64 attacks on journalists and 12 on media outlets this year in the cities of La Paz, El Alto, Oruro, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz.FILE – Journalists are seen during a protest in La Paz, Bolivia, Oct. 24, 2019.The newspaper Los Tiempos in Cochabamba said it decided to cancel its paper edition after its journalists were constantly threatened.”Due to threats of attacks and looting by groups related to the Socialist Movement against Los Tiempos, the print edition will not circulate tomorrow. We will keep our readers informed through our website and official social media accounts. Thank you for your understanding,” a statement said.’Victims of aggression’Since disputed presidential elections in October and the resignation of Morales — currently in exile in Mexico — Bolivia is in a restive state. Daily clashes between supporters and opponents of Morales have made work difficult for journalists.”We have deeply regretted the fact that … journalists, reporters, cameramen in Bolivia, have become victims of aggression,” stated Frank Chavez, executive director of the National Press Association.FILE – Bolivia’s President Evo Morales speaks during a press conference at the government palace in La Paz, Bolivia, April 17, 2017.State news outlets such as Bolivia TV and Radio Patria have stopped broadcasting regular programming since Nov. 9, due to the constant threats of people opposed to former President Morales.In one reported incident, hundreds of people protested outside a state-run radio station and forced 40 employees to leave the building. Station director Jose Aramayo was tied to a tree after hundreds of people forcibly removed him.International organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, are expressing concern over reports of physical attacks against journalists from protesters and government forces.”We have seen incidents by the police assaulting journalists, also of the protesters preventing journalists from entering a place, or shouting at journalists, telling them that they are liars, that they will not cover events with objectivity,” Natalie Southwick, coordinator for Central and South America at CPJ, told Voice of America.”There is a very worrying possibility of self-censorship that journalists are not going to report on certain communities or certain issues out of fear.”One reporter’s experienceMiriam Jemio has worked as a reporter in Bolivia for more than 25 years. She told VOA that recently, for the first time ever, she was attacked while doing her work.”I was on my way to an event with former President Evo Morales before his resignation and there was a group of protesters on the street. I took my camera and started recording, and when I was getting closer to the group a woman told me not to record and asked me to give her my phone.”Jemio said the protesters started pushing her, broke her selfie stick and almost stole her phone until another person told the group to stop.”They are equally aggressive on both sides. The worst thing is that they tell us from both sides that we are infiltrators and liars.”She said that every day she covers a story or tries to do an interview, she encounters people who don’t trust her work. Yet, despite these challenges, Jemio said she still thinks it’s possible — though increasingly difficult — to do her job.
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Exceptionally high tidal waters returned to Venice on Friday, prompting the mayor to close the iconic St. Mark’s Square and call for donations to repair the Italian lagoon city just three days after it experienced its worst flooding in 50 years.
                   
The high tide peaked at 1.54 meters (5 feet) above sea level just before noon on Friday, flooding most of the historic center.
                   
Mayor Luigi Brugnaro told reporters he was forced to ask police to block off St. Mark’s Square, which was covered in knee-high water. Even as the water started to subside, workers in high boots began removing the platforms used by the public to cross the square without getting wet.
                   
The city saw the second-worst flooding on record late Tuesday when the water level reached 1.87 meters (6 feet, 1 inch) above sea level, prompting the Italian government to declare a state of emergency.
                   
On Thursday, the government also approved 20 million euros in funding to help Venice repair the most urgent damage.
                   
Venice’s mayor said the damage is estimated at hundreds of millions of euros and blamed climate change for the “dramatic situation” in the historic city. He called for the speedy completion of the city’s long-delayed Moses flood defense project.
                   
He also called for donations from Italy and abroad to help repair the damage caused by the flooding.
                   
“Venice is the pride of all of Italy,” Brugnaro said in a statement Friday. “Venice is everyone’s heritage, unique in the world. Thanks to your help, Venice will shine again.”
                   
The leader of the right-wing opposition League party, Matteo Salvini, visited Venice on Friday morning and also called for a common effort to complete the Moses project, which the Italian government now expects to be completed by 2021.
                   
“We can’t waste time, this city is crying for help,” Salvini said, adding that similar incidents must be avoided.
                   
Tuesday’s devastating floods have reignited a yearslong debate on Moses, a multibillion-euro flood defense project that has been under construction since 2003. The project has not yet been activated, after being delayed a number of times due to corruption scandals, costs overruns and environmentalist opposition over its effects on Venice’s lagoon ecosystem.
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Britain’s ruling Conservatives are banking heavily on the star quality of their leader, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who’s had an uncanny ability in the past to connect with voters and to cheer them up.He’s struggled on the campaign trail for next month’s highly contentious election, however, and, surprisingly, he hasn’t prospered in several encounters with voters, prompting commentators to query whether the shine has worn off Boris or whether Britons are wearying of his knockabout style.His election earlier this year as leader by the Conservatives, who view themselves as the natural party of government, was partly driven by the idea that the ever-upbeat, mop-haired former London mayor and journalist could secure them a parliamentary majority by casting his political spell, dashing around the fractious country with an invigorating message and cheery rhetoric laden with quips and jokes and endearing gaffes.Hardline anti-European Union Conservatives also saw Johnson as the best bet to break the three-year logjam in Parliament over Britain’s planned and messy departure from the EU, and to be the one to actually “deliver Brexit.”However, the much-vaunted Johnson magic hasn’t so far been the spell-binding force of old in an election that’s the most unpredictable in years, thanks to Brexit, the fracturing of the country’s main parties, and the emergence of new ones.Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson has his picture taken with supporters prior to boarding his campaign bus, in Manchester, England, Nov. 15, 2019.Torrential rain hasn’t helped. Midweek, Johnson, dressed as though he were out for a day’s hunting on an aristocratic estate, faced angry voters in the deluged English regions of Yorkshire, Derbyshire, the east Midlands and Lincolnshire, where flood defenses failed once again failed to prevent rivers from breaching their banks and flooding homes and businesses.
Shortly after arriving in the sodden Yorkshire town of Stainforth, as a hundred soldiers were deployed to help shore up the failing flood defenses, one middle-aged woman resident stopped briefly to tell Johnson, “I’m not very happy about talking to you, so, if you don’t mind, I’ll just mope on with what I’m doing.”Pushing her wheelbarrow by bemused soldiers and the startled, mumbling Johnson, she added, “You’ve not helped us … I don’t know what you’re here today for.”A townsman shouted at him, “You’ve took your time, Boris, haven’t you?” Johnson’s sheepish response, “We’ve been on it round the clock,” didn’t assuage the man. The day before Johnson inexplicably announced the flooding wasn’t sufficiently bad to call a “national emergency.”“Campaigning as a maverick challenger and campaigning as the sitting prime minister are two very different things,” a member of his election team acknowledged privately to VOA.Autumn and winter floods have become ever more frequent in England — the consequence of climate change, according to scientists, overdevelopment and neglect of infrastructure by successive governments. Johnson can hardly be blamed that once again the flood defenses failed, ruining homes and endangering businesses. However, the government’s slow response in getting the army to help and Johnson’s late arrival in deluged regions, a day after his main rivals, Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn and the Liberal Democrats’ Jo Swinson, had visited, was less than sure-footed.Britain’s opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn poses for a photo after speaking at a campaign event in Lancaster, England, Nov. 15, 2019.It was especially surprising as Johnson’ electoral strategy is based on pulling off something that evaded his Conservative predecessor, Theresa May, at the last general election less than two years ago — winning over some of the Labour Party’s heartland working-class constituencies in the north of England and the Midlands, which voted for Brexit in the 2016 referendum. The Conservatives need to make inroads with these voters  to compensate for the likely loss of pro-EU seats in the south of England and London, where the Liberal Democrats and Labour are likely to do well.  Liberal Democrats would ditch Brexit, Labour would negotiate a new deal and hold a second referendum offering a choice between their exit deal and remaining as a full EU member.An 11th-hour bid by the Conservatives to dissuade Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party from running candidates in Labour’s heartland northern seats, where they’re likely to split the anti-EU vote, failed Thursday, complicating Johnson’s path to victory.Johnson on Thursday was accused of running scared by refusing to meet members of the public during a visit to Somerset, where he was trying to bolster the campaigns of Conservatives, also known as Tories, against strong Liberal Democrat challenges. In the market town of Taunton he was heckled as he visited a school and a scheduled stop-off at a nearby bakery was shelved.On paper, though, Johnson should be able to secure a comfortable parliamentary majority. The Conservatives have a 14% lead over Labour, the country’s main opposition party, which under Jeremy Corbyn has lurched far to the left, and which is running on an aggressive renationalization and tax-the-rich manifesto.Corbyn is also less the firebrand on the campaign trial than he was in the last election, when Labour benefited from a late surge to confound the pollsters and the Conservatives. The Labour leader’s popularity rating in the opinion polls has slumped to a historic minus 48%, 43 points lower than Johnson, who himself has a dismal approval rating of minus 5%. Only Swinson is in positive territory.Leader of Britain’s Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson reacts as she speaks at a campaign event in London, Britain, Nov. 9, 2019.Nonetheless with a big lead over Labour Johnson looks to be safe. “If current polling and anecdotal evidence from doorstep campaigning is correct, Mr Johnson ought comfortably to secure the majority he seeks on December 12,” notes Jeremy Warner, a commentator for the pro-Conservative Daily Telegraph.However, few pollsters are confident even about their own opinion polls, especially as most were wrong about about the past two elections. Brexit has turned Britain into a politically tumultuous country — old allegiances have been upended, a wide generation gap has been exposed, with younger voters shifting left and older voters shifting right. With the emergence of new political groups and the reinvigoration of the centrist and pro-EU Liberal Democrats there could be some big surprises on election night. The number of variables in play makes it especially hard to predict what will happen.The winter weather also poses a huge danger for the ruling Conservatives — as the flooding demonstrated this week. Governments traditionally have avoided calling elections in the winter — this is the first since 1974, when the sitting Labour government made moderate gains but failed to obtain an overall majority. In the last December election, in 1923, the ruling Conservatives also failed to secure a majority in the House of Commons.The problem for any government is that voters tend to be grumpier in the winter with the darkness and poor weather — a feel-good factor tends to play more favorably for the party in power, but when voters are unhappy they are more likely to punish their rulers, say pollsters.According to Rob Parsons, political editor of the right-leaning Yorkshire Post, the floods “risk washing away Tory hopes of taking the north.”  Another winter-related factor that poses a threat to the Conservatives is the National Health Service, already a key election issue with both the Conservatives and Labour vying with each other over who will spend more on Britain’s hospitals. Lengthy wait times because of winter illnesses such as flu will inevitably be blamed on the government, according to pollsters. 
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The United States is promising not to abandon the fight to eradicate the Islamic State terror group, while pushing its coalition allies to take more responsibility for foreign fighters and rebuilding Iraq and Syria. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed visiting foreign ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS to the State Department Thursday to discuss the way forward, as VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
 
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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ office announced that a special envoy would be sent to Bolivia to support a “peaceful resolution” to its current crisis after military leaders called on the Bolivian president to resign over election irregularities. Former U.N. special envoy to Colombia Jean Arnault will act as the U.N. envoy to Bolivia to engage with “all Bolivian actors,” and attempt to support peaceful elections in the country.Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres, announced that “the secretary-general remains deeply concerned about developments in Bolivia. He reiterates his appeal to all Bolivians to refrain from violence and exercise utmost restraint.”FILE – Jean Arnault, then the the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative for Colombia, speaks in Funza, Colombia, Sept. 22, 2017.Former President Evo Morales served as president of the South American nation for 14 years. He was the country’s first indigenous president in modern history and leader of the ruling Movement Toward Socialism Party (MAS).  After Morales’ government failed to remove constitutional restrictions on serving a fourth term, MAS appealed to Bolivia’s courts to allow the president to run again. The Organization of American States (OAS) declared there were election irregularities in the October presidential election to protect Morales from having a runoff vote. Opposition leaders called for boycotts and protests in reaction to the news. Morales also faced growing pressure from the OAS, the European Union, the United States and a handful of Latin American countries to hold new elections. After Morales announced Saturday that he would hold new presidential elections, the Bolivian military joined opposition leaders and protesters in calling for his removal. Morales resigned Sunday at the suggestion of his country’s military chief. Interim leaderSenator Jeanine Añez was the second vice president of the Senate and declared the highest-ranking official remaining in the line of succession when Morales’ MAS allies resigned en masse after the president’s resignation. Añez has promised to hold new elections within 90 days, as required by the Bolivian Constitution. The United States, Brazil, Colombia, Britain and Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido have recognized Añez as interim president.The governments of Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, Uruguay and the Maduro government in Venezuela have denounced Morales’ resignation and Añez’s inauguration as a coup.Russia, an important ally of Morales, said on Thursday it was ready to work with Añez. Despite its readiness to work with the interim president, Russia noted she had come to power without having a full quorum in the legislature.Morales also has called recent events a coup, tweeting “the coup that causes deaths of my Bolivian brothers is a political and economic conspiracy that comes from the U.S.”A supporter of former Bolivian President Evo Morales reacts during a protest, in La Paz, Bolivia, Nov. 14, 2019.Many are concerned about the interim president’s comments on Bolivia’s indigenous community. In 2013, then-Senator Añez tweeted that an indigenous ritual of the Aymara people was “satanic.” Morales is an Aymaran, and the Andean Earth Mother Pachamama featured prominently in his speeches and policies. Añez announced she would be bringing the Bible back to Bolivia’s government palace in a speech, while holding a massive Bible. Under Morales, a new Constitution was approved by a 2009 referendum that removed Catholicism as Bolivia’s state religion.Asylum in MexicoMorales and some of his allies have been granted asylum in Mexico for their safety. Morales claimed in an interview with Spanish daily El Pais published on Wednesday that he was still legally president because his resignation had not yet been accepted by the legislature. MAS members control the majority of the legislature and do not recognize Añez as interim president. Añez said on Thursday that Morales would not be able to take part in upcoming elections because he is barred from running for a fourth consecutive term.The secretary-general’s office announced it would support all efforts for a “peaceful resolution to the crisis, including through transparent, inclusive and credible elections.”
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Russia’s security services moved money through Estonia to finance operations overseas, the Baltic country’s finance minister, who is leading a cleanup after a money laundering scandal, told Reuters.Martin Helme said that Estonian authorities are also investigating whether individuals under U.S. sanctions benefited from the movement of money through Estonia, which is undertaking reforms after 200 billion euros ($220 billion) in suspect transactions flowed through Danske Bank’s branch in the country.The Kremlin, Russia’s General Prosecutor’s Office and the Federal Security Service and Investigative Committee did not reply to emailed requests for comment.”There are two sorts of money that come from Russia. One is stolen money that wants to escape Russia,” Helme said during a telephone interview with Reuters, adding that the remainder was “very closely entangled” with Russia’s security services.Helme, who heads a committee including police and prosecutors tackling money laundering and terrorism financing, said some of the money “has been used by the Russian security services to finance their operations abroad”.Danske Bank was ejected from Estonia, a former Soviet satellite, this year after admitting suspicious money flowed through its branch there between 2007 and 2015.A spokesman for Danske Bank, which has said it had Russian clients in Estonia, declined to comment because of ongoing investigations into its activities.Helme did not specify which Russian entities he was referring to or cite any evidence to support his allegations.
The head of Russia’s Federal Service for Financial Monitoring told President Vladimir Putin this week that Moscow was winning international recognition for its efforts to tackle money laundering.Estonia is investigating money that flowed through the country in recent years and is sharing information with U.S. authorities, Helme said, adding that this included whether people subject to U.S. sanctions were involved.”We are very worried about that,” he said.As in neighboring Latvia, the United States has been the driving force behind the cleanup of banks in the Baltics, many of whom offered a bridge for Russians moving money to the West.Reforms are taking place against the backdrop of Washington’s efforts to diminish Russia’s influence in countries like Estonia, which has historically fraught relations with Moscow and hosts NATO troops to deter any potential incursion.Helme said he had discussed international sanctions during an October meeting in Washington with Marshall Billingslea, the U.S. Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing.Latvian echoThe allegations by Helme echo an earlier warning by a minister in Latvia that Russian citizens, including people subject to U.S. sanctions, had put money in Latvian banks, some of which may have been used for political manipulation.Three senior Latvian officials told Reuters last year that authorities investigated the movement of funds from Russia through a Latvian bank to support an attempted coup in 2016 in Montenegro. A Kremlin spokesman denied any such activity.Helme said Russian authorities had recently visited Estonia, which is home to a large Russian-speaking population and was once governed by Moscow.”They are here to find out what we know and use that information to better conceal their operations,” he said.
The Russian General Prosecutor’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.Russia’s central bank has revoked hundreds of bank licenses in recent years as part of efforts to strengthen the sector and fight money laundering.($1 = 0.9074 euros)
 
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Chile braced for another day of intense protests on Thursday, with demonstrators gathering around the country to mark one year since a young indigenous man was shot dead by police in circumstances that are still under investigation.According to fliers circulating on social media, 18 protests are planned for urban centers around Chile in the late afternoon, with more planned outside Chilean embassies abroad.The father of Camilo Catrillanca, a Mapuche man from the southern Araucania region which has long been in conflict with the state, appealed to people to demonstrate “calmly.””We don’t want to mourn the death of any young person, whether Mapuche or from elsewhere, because for us it would be to relive the pain again,” he told local radio station Cooperativa.Camilo Catrillanca, the grandson of an indigenous leader, was shot in the head in November 2018 in a police operation in a rural community near the town of Ercilla, 480 miles (772 km) south of Santiago.The incident — and subsequent accusations of cover-up — triggered huge protests throughout Chile. Four police offers are due to go on trial on charges of homicide and obstruction of justice later this month.Thursday’s planned protests follow on from four weeks of intense unrest that started over a hike in public transport fares but have broadened to encompass grievances over low wages, the high cost of living and social inequality.President Sebastian Pinera announced a state of emergency as violent riots took hold, then a costly new social plan. He reshuffled his government and appealed for Chileans to subscribe to national accords around justice, equality and peace.Yet still, the protests continue, so far leaving 24 people dead, more than 7,000 arrested, 2,800 police and civilians injured and millions of dollars of damage done to property in looting and arson attacks, according to the government and rights group.The police have come under fire for their handling of the demonstrations, with medical experts saying that more than 200 protesters have suffered eye injuries or been blinded by tear gas canisters and rubber bullets. This week, the police chief said he would fit firearms officers with surveillance cameras and deploy more human rights experts.Ana Piquer, the executive director of Amnesty International Chile, said Pinera should respond to the many complaints of police excesses.”We don’t want to see any more victims of police violence anywhere in Chile, killed or seriously injured simply for raising their voice on social demands,” she said.Kattya Barrera, 19, a resident of Santiago’s low-income La Florida neighborhood preparing to join Thursday’s protests, said she believed nothing had changed since Catrillanca’s death.”When someone goes out to demonstrate, they take out their eyes,” she said. “Today isn’t just about Catrillanca, it’s for everyone.”
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A band of GOP senators rebuffed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s effort to depict anti-Islamic State Kurd forces as terrorists in a contentious Oval Office meeting, as the White House allies took a far harder line against Erdogan than did President Donald Trump.
                   
Participants said Erdogan played a propaganda video for Republican senators attending Wednesday’s meeting, drawing a rebuke from Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and others.
                   
Graham said Thursday that he asked Erdogan, “do you want me to get the Kurds to play a video about what your forces have done?”
                   
The lawmakers also told Erdogan that he is risking economic sanctions by going ahead with a new Russian anti-aircraft missile system.
                   
The exchange behind the scenes was far more confrontational than the reception Trump gave Erdogan in public.
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Bolivian interim President Jeanine Anez said on Thursday former President Evo Morales will not be able to take part in upcoming elections because he is barred from running for a fourth consecutive term.Addressing a news conference, Anez added that Morales’ vice president, Alvaro Garcia, would also not be allowed to run for president.Both resigned after a damning audit on vote irregularities was released and a “suggestion” by the military to do so to end unrest after the disputed Oct. 20 election. Morales later went into exile in Mexico.Anez did not announce a new date for elections but under the constitution must call for them within 90 days of her taking office on Tuesday.
 
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Turkey is willing to purchase U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems but will not agree to disposing of the Russian S-400 system it has already bought, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday.Speaking to reporters on board his plane on his way back from a meeting with Donald Trump in Washington, Erdogan said the U.S. president was engaged in “sincere efforts” to resolve disputes between the NATO allies.Turkey took delivery of the Russian S-400 system this year, dismissing warnings from the United States that it poses a threat to NATO security.As a result, Washington suspended Turkish participation in the multinational F-35 fighter jet program.“We told them we can purchase the Patriots too. We regard the proposal to completely remove the S-400s (from Turkey) as meddling in our sovereign rights,” the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Erdogan as saying. “There can be no question of us leaving the S-400s and turning toward the Patriots.”FILE – First parts of a Russian S-400 missile defense system are unloaded from a Russian plane near Ankara, Turkey, July 12, 2019.Erdogan said: “I want both America and Russia to be my friend. All our efforts are geared toward that.”The dispute over the competing air defense systems is one component of the tension between the two countries. Turkey has also come under fire in Washington for its incursion into Syria last month to drive away Syrian Kurdish forces that fought with the U.S. against the Islamic State.Turkey, meanwhile, is angry at the U.S. for supporting the Kurdish forces it views as a threat and for refusing to extradite a Muslim cleric it accuses of fomenting a 2016 coup attempt against Erdogan.Erdogan also told reporters that he had returned a letter that Trump sent on Oct. 9, urging Erdogan restraint over his plans for an offensive in Syria. Trump wrote: “Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool!”Opposition parties had decried the letter as an insult to Turkey, calling on Erdogan to send it back to Trump.Erdogan said Trump did not react when he handed him back the letter. 
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Italy’s government is set to declare a state of emergency in flood-ravaged Venice, to swiftly secure the historic city funds to repair damage from the highest tide in 50 years.
                   
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte described the flooding as “a blow to the heart of our country.”
                   
He said a cabinet meeting called for Thursday afternoon will declare a state of emergency and approve the first measures aimed at helping the city’s recovery.
                   
Conte spent Wednesday night in Venice, where world-famous monuments, homes and businesses were hit hard by the exceptional flooding. The water reached 1.87 meters above sea level Tuesday, the second-highest level ever recorded in the city.
                   
Venice’s mayor said the damage is estimated at “hundreds of millions of euros.”
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Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel is making his first trip to the town of Caimanera, the closest point in Cuba to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay.Diaz-Canel arrived in the town of about 10,000 people Thursday morning for a series of meetings with local officials.He began with a visit to a newly renovated 3D movie hall.Diaz-Canel assumed power in April 2018 and has made several dozen similar trips around Cuba to check on public services and infrastructure, accompanied by Cuba’s state-run media. Some international media were invited to cover the trip in an unusual widening of access to Diaz-Canel, who has had virtually no interactions with the foreign press since becoming president. 
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The Dutch-led team investigating the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine has released new phone intercepts that it said includes recordings of Russian military commanders speaking with separatist fighters and a Kremlin official.The intercepts were released on November 14 as part of a new push by the Dutch team, known as the Joint Investigative Team (JIT), seeking new witnesses for the crash of MH17, which killed all 298 people on board.In June, Dutch prosecutors announced that three Russians and one Ukrainian would be put on trial in the Netherlands for their alleged involvement in the incident.In announcing the charges, prosecutors said there was evidence of a direct line of command between Russian officials and separatists who were fighting in eastern Ukraine and had announced the formation of an unrecognized government called the “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DNR).MH17 was flying between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur when it exploded and crashed in territory in eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russian fighters on July 17, 2014.The JIT has said that a sophisticated antiaircraft missile system known as a Buk was used in the attack, and that the weapon came from Russia.In a statement accompanying the release of the intercepts, the JIT said it was seeking more witnesses as prosecutors compile more evidence ahead of the trial of the four men, scheduled for March 2020.”Recent analysis of witness statements and other information revealed that Russian influence on the DPR went beyond military support and that the ties between Russian officials and DPR-leaders appear closer,” the team said.”The intensity of Russian influence is relevant to investigating further persons involved in the downing of MH17. That is why today the JIT releases this new appeal for witnesses,” the JIT said.In the intercepts, which were published on YouTube and date from July 2014, according to the JIT, several men can be heard discussing what appears to be a chain of command.In one, which the JIT said was placed at the beginning of July 2014, a man who appears to sound like a commander tells another that “men are coming with a mandate from Shoigu” — a reference to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.In another call dated March 2015, a man whom JIT identified as Leonid Zakharchenko, a military intelligence officer for the separatists, is heard discussing with another man about a third man’s potential legal problems.
The conversation repeatedly mentions the name Surkov — a reference to Vladislav Surkov, a top adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin.A spokesperson for the JIT did not immediately answer an e-mail from RFE/RL seeking further comment.Other prominent individuals that JIT said were mentioned in the intercepts include Igor Girkin, a top separatist commander in eastern Ukraine who was among the four charged by Dutch prosecutors, and Sergei Aksyonov, who became the Russian-appointed leader in Crimea after Moscow annexed the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula in March 2014. 
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Fresh protests erupted Wednesday in Bolivia just hours after opposition Sen. Jeanine Áñez was sworn in as interim president. The United States recognized Áñez as Bolivia’s temporary president. The country’s longtime leader, Evo Morales, said he was removed by a coup and that he would continue to fight. He spoke from Mexico where he was granted asylum. The leftist leader resigned  Sunday after weeks of protests over a disputed presidential election result. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports Morales still has supporters in his country, especially among indigenous Bolivians.
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U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met at the White House Wednesday but did not reach resolutions on major irritants to bilateral relations including Turkey’s recent incursion into northern Syria and its purchase of Russian military hardware. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
 
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