Montenegro’s parliament adopted a contested law on religious rights early Friday after chaotic scenes in the assembly that resulted in the detention of all pro-Serb opposition lawmakers.The vote followed a day of nationwide protests by supporters of the Serbian Orthodox Church who say the law will strip the church of its property, including medieval monasteries and churches. The government has denied that.Trying to prevent the vote, the pro-Serb lawmakers hurled what appeared to be a tear gas canister, or a firecracker, and tried to destroy microphones in the parliament hall. Plainclothes police wearing gas masks intervened, detaining 24 people, including 18 opposition lawmakers.“We are ready to die for our church and that’s what we are demonstrating tonight,” opposition leader Andrija Mandic said shortly after midnight during the tumultuous session.Police officers carry a pro-Serb opposition lawmaker in the parliament building in Podgorica, Montenegro, Dec. 27, 2019.Law passesThe law, approved by 45 ruling coalition lawmakers, says religious communities would need to produce evidence of ownership of their property from before 1918, when Montenegro joined a Balkan kingdom and lost its independence.The Serbian Orthodox Church in Montenegro described the law as “discriminatory and unconstitutional.”The church Friday accused the Montenegrin authorities of “inciting divisions and hatred,” and leading Montenegro “into a situation that cannot bring any good to anyone.”“Thanks to this, the Orthodox Christian faithful in Montenegro are facing one of the saddest Christmases in recent history,” a church statement said. Serbian Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas Jan. 7.Montenegro’s population of around 620,000 is predominantly Orthodox Christian and the main church is the Serbian Orthodox Church. A separate Montenegrin Orthodox Church isn’t recognized by other Orthodox Christian churches.Torn over SerbiaMontenegro’s pro-Western president has accused the Serbian Orthodox Church of promoting pro-Serb policies and seeking to undermine the country’s statehood since it split from much larger Serbia in 2006.Montenegrins remain divided over whether the small Adriatic state should foster close ties with Serbia. About 30 percent of Montenegro’s population identify as Serbs and were mostly against the split from Serbia.Hundreds of pro-Serb opposition supporters Thursday staged an all-day protest against the law, blocking roads and entrances to the capital. Dozens of riot officers used metal barriers to prevent crowds, including Orthodox priests, from reaching the parliament building where lawmakers debated the bill.The Montenegrin prime minister said the country has the power to prevent more rioting.“I believe in peace in Montenegro,” Dusko Markovic said.
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To tourists they are a time-honored, charming way of seeing the sights, but animal rights activists say Montreal’s horse-drawn carriages are a cruel and unnecessary relic of yesteryear.A longstanding feud between the coachmen and their critics looks set to end however with the unique mode of transport set to disappear from the streets of Canada’s second city by year-end.“You can pet him if you want,” Nathalie Matte tells onlookers attracted to her hoofed beast with its flowing mane and tail.Coachwoman Nathalie Matte, 52, who will lose her job when Montreal’s horse-drawn carriages are taken off the roads Dec. 31, waits for passengers in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Dec. 22, 2019.In the heart of Montreal’s Old Port neighborhood, a half-dozen horses and carriages are lined up outside the Notre Dame basilica, waiting for riders.A group of tourists, tempted by offers of a languid and comfortable ride along cobblestone streets and a complimentary blanket across their lap on a cold winter’s day, snap pictures.The carriages this time of year are decorated with red ribbons and fir branches to mark the Christmas holidays.“It’s a unique way to see the city rather than just taking the bus or the subway,” said Mujtaba Ali, 29, who is visiting with family from neighboring Ontario, as he steps off a carriage.Cultural heritageHorses and landaus — four-wheel, convertible carriages named after the German city of their origin — are a part of Montreal’s cultural heritage, owner Luc Desparois said.“They’ve been around as long as Montreal has existed,” he told AFP.The Quebec city was founded by European settlers in the 1600s at the site of an indigenous village inhabited as far back as 4,000 years ago, although the landau itself was invented in the 18th century.City Hall has ordered an end to the tourist rides out of concern for the horses. In 2018, the council passed a bylaw banishing horse-drawn carriages, starting in 2020.The death of a horse in 2018 while pulling a carriage was the last straw for animal rights groups and prompted mayor Valerie Plante to speak out against the carriage industry, saying it was no longer welcome in Montreal.The decision will put some 50 coachmen and their horses out of work.Horse-drawn carriages line up in front of the Notre Dame basilica in Old Montreal, waiting for tourists in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Dec. 22, 2019.Animal welfare“It is a tradition that has long been appreciated but today I think it is time to move on,” said Jean-François Parenteau, the city’s pointman in the case.The city, he said, must “show concern for the animals.”His comments drew praise from Galahad, a Quebec association for the protection of horses that lobbied for the ban. Its founder, Chamie Angie Cadorette, said the horses faced tough working conditions.“It is not just an hour a day. It is eight hours a day, going up and down roads in traffic,” she said, accusing horse owners of neglect.“They say they are mistreated. Prove it,” said Desparois, who recently lost a legal challenge to the ban.City Hall, under pressure from activists, had long sought to ban the carriages, but until now had managed only incremental steps, such as requiring horses be taken off the road when summer temperatures soared.That did not satisfy animal rights groups.Loss of income, careerIn April, to prevent out-of-work horses from ending up at slaughterhouses, the city said it would pay the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Can$1,000 (US$760) for each horse offered a refuge or adoptive family.As of Dec. 16, only one application to join the program had been made.The offer is a “total insult” for Desparois, owner of the Lucky Luc stable, which has 15 horses and employs 15 coachmen.“You could offer me $10,000 tomorrow morning and I would not sell them to you,” he said, adding that after 34 years in the business his animals mean more to him than money could.A coachwoman puts a cover on her horse while waiting for tourists in freezing temperatures in Old Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Dec. 22, 2019.After the ban takes effect, the “king of horse-drawn carriages,” as local media has dubbed him, plans to take his horses to other nearby communities or maybe even to Ottawa.Neither option, he says, will be as profitable as rides in the Old Port, where he charges Can$53 per half-hour ride or Can$85 for an hour with an average of two to seven rides per day.Older coachmen will simply take early retirement. Others will likely leave the profession.“I won’t have a choice but to quit. I won’t have the means to move to Ottawa,” said Nathalie Matte, 52, a coachwoman who plans to return to a previous job as a groom.City Hall, meanwhile, is working on a retraining program to help coachmen transition to other tourist jobs.
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With an attentive eye, Henrique Almeida watches a technician carefully open a hundred cocoa pods, while another worker on the plantation collects samples in bags to check whether the batch conforms to the “South Bahia” geographical indication.Like famed wines from specific regions in Europe, such as France’s Champagne, the geographical indication (GI) denotes the origin and quality of the cocoa, leading to higher prices that are a boon to farmers who meet the exacting standards.”The production of fine cocoa and the creation of the geographical indication label make it possible to have a profitable business and pull our region upwards,” Almeida explained.The 63-year-old comes from a cocoa-growing family that has been farming for three generations. In 2006, he acquired the hundred-year-old Sagarana farm, 148 acres (60 hectares) on a hillside in Coaraci, in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia.Brazilian Henrique Almeida, owner of the Sagarama cocoa farm, poses for a photo in Coaraci, Bahia state, Brazil, Dec. 12, 2019.Farmers had previously been confined to the production of common cocoa, intended for the chocolate industry.But after the “witches’ broom” disease in 1989 drastically reduced the productivity of Bahia’s cocoa trees — which provide up to 86 percent of national output — Almeida, like other producers in southern Bahia, chose to improve the quality of his crop in order to be able to continue growing.”When I bought the farm, standard cocoa prices were low, and cocoa farmers were unmotivated, while the chocolate market was doing well,” he told AFP. “I started growing fine cocoa to make my own chocolate and add value to my product.”Cocoa beans are seen during the fermentation process at the Altamira farm in Itajuipe, Bahia state, Brazil, Dec. 13, 2019.Higher value cocoaHe then established a production method that was longer and more precise than that for common cocoa. After picking and opening the pods and sorting out the quality seeds, he would put them in wooden tubs to ferment for seven to eight days, stirring them every 24 hours to allow the chocolate aroma to develop.He would then leave the beans to dry in the sun for several days, covering them in case of strong heat or rain.It has paid off: on average, GI-labeled cocoa costs between 40 to 160 percent more than common cocoa.Fine cocoa currently makes up almost half of Almeida’s production, and 40 percent of the high-quality beans comply with the specifications for the “South Bahia” GI.This label is the result of a decade of work by Almeida and other fine cocoa producers, as well as cooperatives and researchers, after they created the South Bahia Cocoa Association (ACSB) to define the production rules.The National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) registered the GI in 2018.Quality rulesIt is the second GI given to Brazilian cocoa, after the Linhares region in the state of Espirito Santo, which was registered in 2012, and before the Tome-Acu, which was registered at the beginning of 2019.Brazilian farm workers Jose Carlos, 37, and Daniel Ferreira, 34, cut cocoa fuits and evaluate their quality as Nivaldo Novaes dos Santos, right, 27, collects them at Altamira farm in Itajuipe, Bahia state, Brazil, Dec. 13, 2019.The South Bahia registration established stricter qualitative criteria.”We didn’t want a simple certification proving the historical-cultural heritage of cocoa in the region,” said biologist Adriana Reis, a co-founder of the ACSB.”We wanted to use it to defend the quality of this product and protect the environment and social rights, which would also let us differentiate ourselves.”In particular, for a batch of cocoa to be a GI candidate, at least 65 percent of the beans must be fully fermented, with a moisture content of less than eight percent and less than three percent of internal defects, such as mold, insects or sprouts.Dry cocoa beans are tested at the Sagarama farm in Coaraci, Bahia state, Brazil, Dec. 12, 2019.In order to verify compliance with the rules, farmers send samples to the Center for Cocoa Innovation (CIC), an independent laboratory founded in 2017.If the results come back positive, the ASCB technicians will run a visual test onsite and send a second sample from the same batch to the lab.The association also monitors the agro-forestry production system, in order to protect the Atlantic forest in which the cocoa trees grow and to ensure compliance with labor codes.Since April 2018, 25 farmers have already certified 40 tons of cocoa with the GI, 15 percent of the 300 total tons of cocoa produced in southern Bahia.And the amount should increase, especially since chocolate made from GI-stamped cocoa will also be able to carry the label.”In order to get more farmers interested in the GI, buyers need to pay more for this cocoa,” said Reis. “This year, we created a QR code to improve product traceability, which is increasingly demanded by consumers.”
 
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Around 100 migrants were rescued off the coast of Spain on Thursday, adding to around another 200 plucked off makeshift boats on Christmas Day, Spain’s maritime rescue service said.More than half of them were found off the Costa Blanca on Spain’s southeastern coast, with 10 people rescued just before dawn, among them eight men, a woman and a child.Later in the morning, rescuers saved 16 men off a boat near Torrevieja, while another 12 men were rescued from a dinghy off Xabia, some 45 kilometres (27 miles) up the coast from Benidorm.And on Spain’s southern coast, 17 men were found in waters off Cabo de Gata near Almeria while another man was found floating on what rescuers described as “an inflatable toy boat” in the Motril area, with his friend feared drowned.Another 39 people reached the shore at Punta Jandia on the southwestern tip of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, the spokesman said.There was no immediate information on the nationalities of those rescued.Some 200 others were rescued on Christmas Day in a number of separate operations off the coast of Spain and Morocco.About 120 of them were picked up around the Zaffarin islands off Morocco and the tiny islet of Alboran, Spain’s coastguard said.Several other dinghies were found off the southeastern coast of Spain, off Gibraltar and near the Canary Islands.So far this year, at least 1,250 men, women and children have died attempting to reach Europe via the Mediterranean, the UN’s International Organization for Migration said in a statement correct to Dec. 20.
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Turkey will send troops to Libya at the request of Tripoli as soon as next month, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday, putting the North African country’s conflict at the center of wider regional frictions.Libya’s internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli has been struggling to fend off General Khalifa Haftar’s forces, which have been supported by Russia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Jordan.An official in Tripoli confirmed a formal request had been made for Turkish military support in the air, on the ground and at sea.The official, who asked not to be named, spoke after the GNA’s interior minister, Fathi Bashagha, suggested in comments to reporters in Tunis that no such request had yet been made.Haftar’s forces, which are based in eastern Libya, could not be reached for comment.Haftar’s fighters have failed to reach the center of Tripoli but have made small gains in recent weeks in some southern suburbs of the capital with the help of Russian and Sudanese fighters, as well as drones shipped by the UAE, diplomats say.A military vehicle carrying an unmanned aerial vehicle travels past Tiananmen Square during the military parade marking the 70th founding anniversary of People’s Republic of China in Beijing, Oct. 1, 2019.The Chinese-made drones have given Haftar “local air superiority” as they can carry over eight times the weight of explosives than the drones given to the GNA by Turkey and can also cover the whole of Libya, a U.N. report said in November.Last month, Ankara signed two separate accords with the GNA, led by Fayez al-Serraj, one on security and military cooperation and another on maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean. The maritime deal ends Turkey’s isolation in the East Mediterranean as it ramps up offshore energy exploration that has alarmed Greece and some other neighbors. The military deal would preserve its lone ally in the region, Tripoli.”Since there is an invitation (from Libya) right now, we will accept it,” Erdogan told members of his AK Party in a speech. “We will put the bill on sending troops to Libya on the agenda as soon as parliament opens.”The legislation would pass around Jan. 8-9, he said, opening the door to deployment.Tension with RussiaFor weeks Ankara has flagged the possibility of a military mission in Libya, which would further stretch its armed forces less than three months after it launched an incursion into northeastern Syria against a Kurdish militia.Turkey has already sent military supplies to the GNA despite a United Nations arms embargo, according to a U.N. report seen by Reuters last month. Erdogan visited Tunisia on Wednesday to discuss cooperation for a possible ceasefire in neighboring Libya and said on Thursday that Turkey and Tunisia had agreed to support the GNA.Tunisia’s presidency said on Thursday the country would never join any alliance or coalition and it would maintain sovereignty over all its territory, in an apparent response to Erdogan’s comments.Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during his annual end-of-year news conference in Moscow, Russia December 19, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia NovozheninaMoscow has voiced concerns over any Turkish deployment in support of the GNA. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Thursday and they agreed the crisis must be resolved peacefully, the Kremlin said.Erdogan, however, has said Turkey will not stay silent over mercenaries from the Kremlin-linked Wagner group supporting Haftar.”Russia is there with 2,000 Wagner (fighters),” Erdogan said on Thursday, also referring to some 5,000 fighters from Sudan in Libya. “Is the official government inviting them? No.””They are all helping a war baron (Haftar), whereas we are accepting an invitation from the legitimate government of the country. That is our difference,” he said.FILE – Libyan militia commander General Khalifa Haftar, top center, listens to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, bottom center, during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Aug. 14, 2017.Haftar’s Libyan National Army has been trying since April to take Tripoli from the GNA, which was set up in 2016 following a U.N.-brokered deal. The UAE, Egypt and Jordan have for years provided military support for Haftar’s forces, U.N. reports have said. None of the countries has confirmed this.Russian mercenaries have put more pressure on the GNA and “accelerated this quid pro quo between Tripoli and Ankara,” said Sinan Ulgen, a former Turkish diplomat and chairman of the think-tank Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies.”So the troop deployment must happen right away, but the risk is that Turkey is being sucked into a military game where the only path is more engagement and escalation,” he said. Turkish and Russian officials held talks in Moscow this week to seek a compromise on the issues of both Libya and Syria, where Russia backs President Bashar al-Assad.In the Mediterranean, Turkey is at loggerheads with Greece, Cyprus, Egypt and Israel over rights to resources off the coast of the divided island of Cyprus. Athens says Ankara’s maritime deal with Tripoli violates international law.
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Mexico said Thursday that it will file a complaint against the interim government of Bolivia at the International Court of Justice at The Hague.Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s foreign relations secretary, said the buildup of Bolivian agents around the Mexican Ambassador’s residence violates international treaties regarding the rights and protections for diplomatic personnel and installations.Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard speaks during a news conference at National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico Dec. 26, 2019.Bolivian agents surrounding the residence appear to threaten Mexico’s right to give asylum to nine former officials of ousted president Evo Morales, Ebrard said.He said Bolivian authorities had refused to allow any of the nine to leave the country.Since Nov. 15, a group of ex-Cabinet ministers and others loyal to former Morales have sought refuge at the Mexican ambassador’s La Paz residence.Troops gathered in larger numbers around the residence beginning Tuesday, the Mexican Foreign Ministry said. It also said drones were flying over its ambassador’s residence and that it had summoned the top Bolivian diplomat in Mexico to “explain the actions of Bolivian officials.”Relations between the two countries have been strained since Mexico granted asylum to Morales after he resigned Nov. 10 following a national upheaval over his claim of victory in an election marred by vote-rigging.Morales has since relocated to Argentina and says he plans to stay involved in politics in neighboring Bolivia, while some former top aides remain holed up in the Mexican ambassador’s residence.Willson Santamaria, Bolivia’s deputy minister of public security, said the Morales loyalists would not be allowed to leave the country.“We have taken the necessary steps so that the security forces immediately track and detect any help, any complicity in helping the fugitives flee the country,” he said.Those who sought refuge in the Mexican ambassador’s residence include Juan Ramon Quintana, the former chief of staff for Morales, and five other former Cabinet ministers, according to a Mexican federal official. The official was not authorized to comment publicly about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.At least four are accused by the interim government of President Jeanine Anez of electoral fraud or other crimes.Mexico has complained that Bolivian security forces are recording the movement of people in and out of Mexico’s diplomatic facilities and even impeding the “free transit” of the ambassador.Erick Foronda, Bolivia’s presidential secretary, denied authorities are interfering with Mexico’s diplomats.
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Turkey’s highest court on Thursday ruled in favor of Wikipedia, saying the Turkish government’s two-year ban on the online encyclopedia constitutes a violation of freedom of expression, the state-run news agency reported.
                   
Turkey blocked Wikipedia in April 2017, accusing it of being part of a “smear campaign” against the country, after the website refused to remove content that allegedly portrayed Turkey as supporting the Islamic State group and other terrorist organizations.
                   
Access to Wikipedia and all its language editions was blocked under a law that allows the government to ban websites it deems pose a national security threat.
                   
Wikipedia declined to remove content from the community-generated site, citing its opposition to censorship. It petitioned the Constitutional Court in May 2017 after talks with Turkish officials and a challenge in lower courts failed.
                   
The Anadolu Agency reported that the Constitutional Court decided the ban amounted to a violation of freedom of expression. The justices voted 10-6 in favor of Wikipedia, the agency said.
                   
There was no immediate comment from the government and it was not immediately clear when access to the website would be restored.
                   
Many Turks have found ways to circumvent the ban on Wikipedia and other blocked websites.
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China, Iran, and Russia will hold joint naval drills, amid tensions between Tehran and Washington.The military exercises will take place in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman from December 27 to 30, officials in Beijing and Tehran announced.China will send the Xining, a guided-missile destroyer, to the drills, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian told reporters on December 26. He did not give details on how many personnel or ships would take part overall.In Tehran, senior armed-forces spokesman Aboldazl Shekarchi said the drills would “stabilize security” in the region. He said the drill’s purpose was to bolster “international commerce security in the region” and “fighting terrorism and piracy.”The drills are coming at a time of tensions between the United States and Iran.Washington has proposed a U.S.-led naval mission in the Persian Gulf, following a string of attacks in gulf waters that the United States and its allies blamed on Iran. Tehran denies the accusations.Friction has increased since President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran in May 2018 and reimposed crippling economic sanctions on the Islamic republic. 
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The past year has seen a series of protests from Hong Kong to Chile and from Sudan to Iran. In more than a dozen countries, citizens have taken to the streets to air grievances and many have gotten results. VOA U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer looks at a year of discontent.
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Italian Education Minister Lorenzo Fioramonti told Reuters on  Wednesday that he had resigned after failing to obtain from the government billions of euros he said were needed to improve the country’s schools and universities. The resignation was a blow to the embattled government, whose ruling parties are at odds on issues ranging from eurozone reform to migrant rights. It also underscores the problems of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, Fioramonti’s party, which is trying to reorganize amid widespread internal dissatisfaction with its leader, Luigi Di Maio. This month three 5-Star senators jumped ship to join the right-wing League in opposition. Fioramonti told Reuters he had tendered his “irrevocable resignation” to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in a letter on Monday. Pledge to quitFioramonti said shortly after the government of 5-Star and the center-left Democratic Party was formed in September that he would quit unless education spending was raised by 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) in the 2020 budget. Few believed him, even as the budget continued its passage through parliament and it became clear the government had little intention of hiking taxes or cutting spending to find the funds he demanded. The budget was approved on Monday ahead of a December 31 deadline. “It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that a minister keeps his word,” Fioramonti told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. Fioramonti said he would still support the government in parliament, where he is a lower-house deputy. Italy spends 3.6% of gross domestic product on primary to university education, compared with an average of 5% among 32 countries in a report by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.Fioramonti, a former economics professor at South Africa’s Pretoria University, has been one of Italy’s most outspoken ministers during his three months in office. His proposals for new taxes on airline tickets, plastic and sugary foods to raise funds for education were attacked by critics who said Italians were already overtaxed. Green policiesA vocal supporter of green policies, Fioramonti made headlines when he announced Italy would next year become the first country to make it compulsory for schoolchildren to study climate change and sustainable development. Earlier this month, he said Italian energy giant ENI should halt oil exploration and focus on renewable energy. “I have sometimes felt I could have had more support from my own party over my proposals on the environment,” Fioramonti said. “5-Star was born 10 years ago with a strongly green platform, but it seems to have got lost along the way.” 
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Mexico says Bolivian security forces have increased their presence around the Mexican ambassador’s La Paz residence, where a group of former Cabinet ministers and others loyal to ousted president Evo Morales have sought refuge.Troops gathered in larger numbers around the residence on Tuesday, the Mexican Foreign Ministry said. Maximiliano Reyes, Mexico’s undersecretary for Latin America, described the Bolivian patrols around the diplomatic property as a “siege.”Relations between the two countries have been strained since Mexico granted asylum to Morales after he resigned Nov. 10 following national upheaval over his claim of victory in an election marred by vote-rigging. Morales has since relocated to Argentina and says he plans to stay involved in politics in neighboring Bolivia, while some former top aides remain holed up in the Mexican ambassador’s residence.Willson Santamaría, Bolivia’s deputy minister of public security, said the Morales loyalists would not be allowed to leave the country.“We have taken the necessary steps so that the security forces immediately track and detect any help, any complicity in helping the fugitives flee the country,” he said.Those who sought refuge in the Mexican ambassador’s residence include Juan Ramón Quintana, the former chief of staff for Morales, and five other former ministers, according to a Mexican federal official. The official was not authorized to comment publicly about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.Several are accused by the interim government of President Jeanine Áñez of electoral fraud or other crimes.Mexico has complained that Bolivian security and intelligence officials have surrounded both the Mexican ambassador’s residence and the embassy, recording the movement of people in and out of the facilities and even impeding the “free transit” of the ambassador.Erick Foronda, Bolivia’s presidential secretary, denied that authorities are interfering with the movements of Mexico’s diplomats. The police presence at the diplomatic facilities was increased for security reasons following reports of planned demonstrations in the area, he said.
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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has signed into law an anti-crime bill that toughens measures to stem a rampant deadly crime wave, although he vetoed some parts of the bill, the government said Wednesday.The anti-crime package, approved by Brazil’s Senate this month, toughens laws to tackle corruption, organized crime and violent crime practiced by criminal gangs. It also simplifies sentencing in some cases.The package was a major promise by Bolsonaro, a former army captain who surged to power last year on a campaign vowing to end years of corruption and spiraling violent crime. “The final text that has been sanctioned by the president brings progress to the anti-crime legislation in the country,” Justice Minister Sergio Moro said in a statement early Wednesday.Moro, a former judge who made his name jailing scores of Brazil’s business and political elite in the “Operation Car Wash” investigation during the past five years, said Bolsonaro adopted several vetoes suggested by the Ministry of Justice.Among the vetoes by the right-wing president was a provision to triple the sentence when a crime is committed or displayed in social networks.The bill eliminates the restriction on the collection of genetic material only in cases of willful crime committed against life, sexual freedom or sexual crime.Bolsonaro, who ran on a law-and-order platform, won support from Brazilians tired of the warring drug gangs that have come to terrorize large swaths of the country.
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Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused the U.N. secretary general of turning a blind eye to what Moscow says is U.S. delays in issuing visas for Russian officials seeking to travel to the U.N. headquarters in New York.Moscow says Washington has deliberately delayed issuing visas to Russian officials traveling to the U.N. headquarters, a move Russia has said could further damage strained relations.Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement that some Defense Ministry officials who were due to travel to the U.N. secretariat had to wait “months” for visa clearance.”It is noticeable, that all that is happening with the sheer connivance from the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who effectively ignores United States’ breaches into the U.N. Charter,” she said.Russia summoned a senior U.S. diplomat in September to protest over what it said was Washington’s unacceptable refusal to issue visas to members of a Russian delegation traveling to the U.N. General Assembly.
 
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Helicopters on Wednesday dropped water on the outskirts of the Chilean port city of Valparaiso to extinguish a fire that destroyed about 150 homes. 
Dozens of people living in the city’s Rocuant and San Roque hills sifted through the ruins of their homes after the fire, fanned by strong winds, swept through their neighborhoods on Tuesday. Residents had been evacuated and there were no reports of casualties. 
 Some 150 homes were destroyed, according to a preliminary count announced by Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel said. He said authorities believe arson caused the blaze and urged people to report any suspicious activity. 
“We’re not certain, but everything indicates that yesterday’s fire was intentional, and began in an area quite close to the homes,” said Ezio Passadore, emergency manager for Valparaiso. 
The fire was doused in urban areas but remains “active” in the woods, said Ricardo Toro, head of Chile’s national emergency office. 
Many homes in the low-income neighborhoods where the fire occurred don’t have running water and get their supply from tankers a couple of times a week.
Wildfires have affected parts of Valparaiso several times in the last month as Chile contends with its worst drought on record.  
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Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Wednesday that one of his allies had been forcibly conscripted and sent to serve at a remote Arctic base in a move his supporters said amounted to kidnapping.Ruslan Shaveddinov, a project manager at Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation, went missing on Monday after authorities broke into his Moscow flat and his phone’s SIM card was disabled.On Tuesday, he resurfaced at a secret air defence base on the remote Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, Navalny said.”He has been unlawfully deprived of freedom,” President Vladimir Putin’s top opponent said in a blog post, calling the 23-year-old a “political prisoner.”The Russian military insisted that Shaveddinov had been dodging the draft for a long time.Russian men are eligible for conscription between the ages of 18 and 27 and serve one year’s military service. However, many find ways to avoid this in a highly corrupt, flawed system.Navalny said Shaveddinov has a medical condition that disqualifies him for military service but he was forcibly drafted and sent to the Arctic base without basic training.Vyacheslav Gimadi, a lawyer for Navalny’s foundation, said Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and commander-in-chief Putin were directly responsible for what he claimed was an act of “kidnapping.”Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh, who is Shaveddinov’s partner, said the project manager had recently acted as a contact person for opposition lawmakers in Moscow city parliament.”Perhaps this is the reason this has happened,” Yarmysh told AFP.She said Shaveddinov had managed to call her from Novaya Zemlya using other people’s phones.Navalny said Shaveddinov was not allowed to communicate with the outside world or use a phone, unlike other servicemen.The military also assigned a man to follow Shaveddinov all the time, he added.”The armed forces themselves don’t know what the hell they should do with him,” Navalny said.Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters he did not know whether Shaveddinov had been dodging the draft, but said “If he had and was drafted in this manner then everything was done in strict accordance with the law.”Authorities have been steadily ramping up pressure on Navalny and his allies in recent years.The 43-year-old helped organize major protests against the government this summer when tens of thousands took to the streets of Moscow to demand fair elections.
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Ukrainian officials opened a criminal probe Wednesday after a passenger train from Russia arrived in Crimea via a new Russian-built bridge, arguing that the train illegally carried people across the Ukrainian border.
                   
Earlier this week Russian President Vladimir Putin inaugurated the railway bridge to Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. He said 14 million passengers and about 13 million tons of cargo are expected to move across the bridge next year. The train arrived in Sevastopol from St. Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city.
                   
Russia annexed Crimea on the grounds that residents of the peninsula voted to join up with Russia. The annexation elicited widespread international censure including U.S. and European Union sanctions on Russia. Ukraine has blocked shipment of supplies via its territory to Crimea.
                   
 The Ukrainian government has repeatedly said the new bridge was built in violation of international laws. In October 2018, prosecutors opened a criminal case against the companies involved in its construction.
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The heads of the Catholic and Anglican churches sent a special message Wednesday to the people of South Sudan expressing hopes for peace, prosperity and implementation of a peace deal as Christians around the world celebrate the Christmas holiday.In a joint letter, Pope Francis and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby sent prayers for “a renewed commitment to the path of reconciliation and fraternity” among South Sudan’s political leaders.FILE – Pope Francis meets the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby at the end of a two-day spiritual retreat with South Sudan leaders at the Vatican, April 11, 2019.Earlier this month, President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar agreed to form a transitional unity government by a February deadline after they failed to meet two earlier target dates for implementing a 2018 peace deal.Pope Francis is also to give his traditional Christmas address from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.In the United States, President Donald Trump is spending the holiday at his Florida resort where on Tuesday he spoke to members of the U.S. military stationed at various places around the world and attended a Christmas Eve dinner along with his wife, Melania.The U.S. first lady also answered calls from children as part of the annual program run by the North American Aerospace Defense Command’s Operation that tracks Santa Claus on his trip around the globe.While the holiday is rooted in Christianity, many people in the United States and other parts of the world celebrate in a non-religious fashion, gathering with family and friends to share a meal and exchange gifts. The Christmas season is a key time for many retailers to earn a large portion of their annual revenue.
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Pope Francis assured the faithful on Christmas Eve that God loves everyone — “even the worst of us” — as he celebrated the joyous birth of Christ after a less-than-joyful year of scandals and opposition.With a choir singing the classic Christmas hymn “The First Noel,” Francis walked down the center aisle of St. Peter’s Basilica late Tuesday and unveiled a statue of the newborn Jesus lying in a nativity scene at the foot of the altar.Francis said the birth of Jesus, which Christians commemorate on Christmas Day, was a reminder of God’s unconditional love for everyone, “even the worst of us.”“God does not love you because you think and act the right way,” he said. “You may have mistaken ideas, you may have made a complete mess of things, but the Lord continues to love you.”At the same time though, he called for the faithful to allow themselves to be transformed by Jesus’ “crazy love” and to stop trying to change others.“May we not wait for our neighbors to be good before we do good to them, for the church to be perfect before we love her, for others to respect us before we serve them. Let us begin with ourselves,” he said.Pope Francis leads a Christmas Eve mass in St Peter’s Basilica to mark the nativity of Jesus Christ, Dec. 24, 2019, at the Vatican.Reform-minded papacyFrancis has frequently emphasized his call for “personal conversion” in his reform-minded papacy, believing that true reform cannot be imposed from on high, but discerned from within. He has similarly denounced the “holier-than-thou” attitude of doctrinal and legal purists, who have chafed at his progressive openings to gays, divorcees and people on the margins.Those critics have seized on the sexual abuse and financial scandals that have buffeted the papacy of the 83-year-old Jesuit pope.The scandals are likely to follow Francis into 2020, with developments in a corruption investigation involving hundreds of millions of dollars in donations to the Holy See and the release of a report on what the Vatican knew about ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked for sexually abusing adults and minors.Francis’ late-night Mass kicks off a busy few days for the pope, including a Christmas Day speech, noontime prayers, a New Year’s Eve vigil and a Jan. 1 Mass.
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A Russian court on Tuesday extended the pre-trial detention of an American being held on espionage charges.Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who holds US, British, Canadian and Irish citizenship, has been jailed in Russia since he was arrested at a Moscow hotel on December 28 last year.The Moscow court extended his detention until March 29, 2020 but did not clarify why it was doing so.Just before the ruling, Whelan tried to read a statement but was stopped by security guards. Instead, it pressed the two pieces of paper to the wall of his glass cage that contained the statement he wanted to read. It proclaimed his innocence and asked U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders to “please act” on his behalf.An American diplomat visited Whelan in prison Monday and called on Russian authorities to allow the prisoner to speak to his family.”It’s two days before Christmas,” Bart Gorman, the U.S. Charge d’Affaires, said. “A holiday Paul Whelan will spend alone in Lefortovo [Prison]. In the past 12 months, Paul has not heard his parents’ voices. Bring Paul some Christmas cheer and let him call home.”The U.S. Embassy in Moscow and the State Department have been increasingly critical of Moscow, demanding it provide evidence against him and accusing Russia of hindering consular access to him. 
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