Romanians went to the polls Sunday for a presidential election runoff expected to reelect centrist president Klaus Iohannis, who has pledged to restart a judicial reform slowed by successive Social Democrat (PSD) governments.While there have been no recent opinion polls, local bookmakers make Iohannis the short-odds favorite to beat former PSD prime minister Viorica Dancila comfortably in Sunday’s runoff.Under a succession of PSD governments, Romania rolled back anti-corruption measures and weakened the independence of the courts. Along with ex-communist peers Poland and Hungary, it has been heavily criticized by Brussels for its actions.Protector of rule of lawHowever, the 60-year-old Iohannis has been credited by Western allies and the European Union with trying to protect the rule of law, in particular by challenging attempts to limit judges’ independence.”I will vote for a president to represent us, one that is respected both at home and abroad. This is the one we need,” said retired army staff Ioan Banu, while heading to a Bucharest college to cast his ballot, after polls opened at 0500 GMT.The president’s powers are mostly limited to nominating a prime minister on the basis of who can command a majority, challenging laws in the Constitutional Court, and appointing some chief prosecutors.If elected again, Iohannis will have a chance to install anti-graft and anti-mafia prosecutors who are serious about tackling endemic corruption with the backing of Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, who became head of a liberal minority government by winning a parliamentary vote of confidence three weeks ago.Former Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila smiles after exit polls indicate her as the runner-up of the presidential race, with up to 25 percent of the votes in Bucharest, Romania, Nov. 10, 2019.Getting back to normalTeacher Andreea Mihai, 50, said that if Iohannis wins Sunday, “things should slowly return to normality. Both Orban and Iohannis will work together in the same direction.”Dancila’s PSD had increased the burden of proof in corruption cases, reorganized panels of judges and set up a special unit to investigate magistrates for potential abuses, a move widely seen as an instrument of political coercion.
Romania’s judicial reforms have been monitored by Brussels since it joined the EU in 2007; in October, Brussels said the reforms were going backward.Iohannis, a soft-spoken ethnic German and former mayor of Sibiu, became president in 2014.He helped to secure a popular approval in a referendum last May that called for the government to be banned from altering legislation by emergency decree, and advocated a ban on amnesties and pardons for graft-related crimes.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will promise to bring his Brexit deal back to parliament before Christmas when he launches his manifesto Sunday, the cornerstone of his pitch to voters to “get Brexit done.”Voters face a stark choice at the country’s Dec. 12 election: opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn’s socialist vision, including widespread nationalization and free public services, or Johnson’s drive to deliver Brexit within months and build a “dynamic market economy.”Opinion polls show Johnson’s Conservative Party commands a sizeable lead over the Labour Party, although large numbers of undecided voters means the outcome is not certain.“My early Christmas present to the nation will be to bring the Brexit bill back before the festive break, and get parliament working for the people,” Johnson will say, according to excerpts of his speech that he will make at an event in the West Midlands region of England.Contrasting with LabourContrasting with Labour’s unabashed tax-and-spend approach, Johnson’s manifesto, titled “Get Brexit Done, Unleash Britain’s Potential,” will pledge to freeze income tax, value-added sales tax and social security payments.Johnson will also announce a 3 billion pounds ($3.85 billion) National Skills Fund to retrain workers and an extra 2 billion pounds to fill pot-holes in roads. He will also pledge to maintain the regulatory cap on energy bills.Labour spokesman Andrew Gwynne said Johnson’s plans were “pathetic.”“This is a no hope manifesto, from a party that has nothing to offer the country, after spending 10 years cutting our public services,” Gwynne said.Think tanks like the Institute for Fiscal Studies have raised questions about the credibility of plans to fund investment from both the Conservatives and Labour.Tired of votingHeld after three years of negotiations to leave the European Union, the December election for the first time will show how far Brexit has torn traditional political allegiances apart and will test an electorate increasingly tired of voting.Amid a heated campaign in which the Conservatives have been criticized for disseminating misleading social media posts, Johnson, 55, will say he will “turn the page from the dither, delay and division” of recent years.Labour has said it will negotiate a better Brexit deal with the EU within six months that it will put to the people in a new referendum — one which will also offer the choice of remaining in the bloc.Corbyn has said he would remain neutral in such a vote.“We now know the country can be carbon (neutral) by 2050 and Corbyn neutral by 2020, as the leader of the opposition has decided to duck the biggest issue facing our country today,” Johnson will say.
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Ukrainian officials are warily watching the U.S. impeachment inquiry as they prepare for a crucial four-way negotiation with Russia, France and Germany next month.The meeting of the so-called Normandy Contact Group, set for Dec. 9 in Paris, is aimed at easing the conflict in the Donbas area of eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russian-backed separatists. More than 13,000 people have died in the fighting, which began in April 2014.Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has outlined four issues he wants to raise at the meeting — an exchange of prisoners, a ceasefire, a restoration of Ukraine’s control over the Ukraine-Russia border, and holding local elections in rebel-held territories. Ukraine and the separatists have already withdrawn their forces at three sites in Donbas as a precondition for the meeting.Analysts contacted by Voice of America’s Ukrainian Service say the novice leader who came to power promising to bring peace to his country will be hard-pressed to emerge with a deal that doesn’t leave the nation weaker than it is now.FILE – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Donald Trump face reporters during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sept. 25, 2019.Trump ‘doesn’t care’ about UkraineThe impeachment probe undermines Ukraine’s position because it exposes Trump’s lack of commitment to defending Ukraine, said Mark Simakovsky, a senior fellow with the Washington-based Atlantic Council. U.S. diplomat Gordon Sondland has been quoted in testimony to the inquiry saying that Trump “doesn’t care” about Ukraine.“I think the casualty of this relationship between Trump and Zelenskiy will be that there’ll always be questions about how far the United States and this president are willing to go to support Ukraine,” Simakovsky said.The analyst noted that several U.S. officials with leading roles on Ukraine policy have provided testimony that is embarrassing to the administration and are no doubt being “looked at skeptically” by the president. That will make it hard for them to “have the confidence of the White House” as they seek to implement U.S. policy.David Kramer, a former high-ranking State Department official in the George W. Bush administration, said the Republican-led defense of the president in the impeachment probe has hurt Ukraine even further.Ranking member Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., left, confers with Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, left, and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, during a break in the testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, Nov. 13, 2019, during its impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.“The Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee continue to peddle disproven conspiracy theories that paint a very negative picture of Ukraine,” he said.Kramer added that Kyiv will “be under greater pressure from France and Germany to resolve the conflict” in eastern Ukraine, and that the recent resignation of U.S. special envoy Kurt Volker has made the United States less effective in the region.“So, should [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskiy try to make the best of a bad situation with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin or hold out until all Russian forces leave Ukrainian territory? Cutting deals with Putin is likely to be a riskier proposition,” he said.Simakovsky agreed that France and Germany appear to be looking for an excuse to ease sanctions on Russia.“The challenge I think is Ukrainian people being convinced and frustrated with the lack of support from the West. If they are going to be left alone, then they need to accelerate the path toward peace because they have to make some sort of [accommodation] with Russia,” Simakovsly said.Members of the Emergencies Ministry of the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic remove mines from the area near the settlement of Petrovskoye (Petrivske) in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Nov. 19, 2019.A win for RussiaNataliya Bugayova, a Russia team lead at the Institute for the Study of War, said Russia is taking advantage of the West’s eagerness to see the war ended.“Russia is exploiting the narrative of both urgency to deliver on peace internally in Ukraine and in Europe,” she said. “Russia is also attempting to use the upcoming Normandy talks to cast itself as a mediator in the conflict where it is a belligerent.”Russia has made no meaningful concessions leading to the summit, Bugayova added.“There is no indication of Russia’s intent to give up control of its forces in Ukraine. In fact, we have seen Russia’s efforts to further integrate its proxies over the past few months,” she said.Michael Carpenter, managing director at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement and a former high-ranking Pentagon official in the Obama administration, said there is a risk that the Paris meeting will allow Russia to transfer some responsibility for the conflict to its separatist proxies.The details of any agreement reached in Paris on elections and a special status for the disputed regions will have to be worked out by a Trilateral Contact Group, which is comprised of Ukraine, Russia, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Representatives of the self-proclaimed Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics will also be involved.Carpenter said Russia has similarly manipulated an international forum on Georgia, allowing it to “normalize” its relations with that country without making any meaningful progress on the status of the disputed territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.“If the same thing happens in Ukraine, it will set the stage for an unwinnable negotiation with Russia’s proxies that lasts years or even decades,” he said.Elections a sticking pointThe proposal for local elections in eastern Ukraine will be a major sticking point in the Paris talks. Zelenskiy has said elections will be held only after Ukraine regains control over the disputed territory and its border with Russia.There is little chance that Moscow will agree to that, but Bugayova said Zelenskiy cannot afford to give in on the point.“If elections take place under Russia’s influence, whether it’s direct military pressure or the absolute information control that Russia has over the territories, that means that the proxies and somewhat intervention will be legitimized,” she said.“The biggest risk … is that if Russian proxies are legitimized, there is no going back. This is a non-reversible process that can open opportunities for Russia to regain control over Ukraine’s decision-making in the long term.”Kramer is also dubious about possibility of holding successful elections in the east.“How can one conduct an election when more than 1.5 million have been displaced, when Ukraine doesn’t control the territory, and when Russian forces continue to occupy the territory?” he asked.A former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Steven Pifer, said he is skeptical that the Paris talks will produce any settlement that leads to a restoration of Ukrainian sovereignty.“For more than five years, the Kremlin has used a simmering conflict in Donbas to put pressure on Kyiv. The big question is whether Mr. Putin is ready now to change course and seek a mutually acceptable settlement of the conflict that Russia has inflicted on Ukraine.”
 
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Bolivia’s Senate on Saturday unanimously approved a measure calling for new presidential elections that would exclude ousted leader Evo Morales — a key step toward pacifying a nation since an October 20 vote marred by reported irregularities. The measure forbids reelection of anyone who has served the last two terms consecutively as president, effectively ruling out Morales, whose refusal to accept such term limits was a key issue in protests against him. The bill now goes to the lower house, which like the Senate is dominated by Morales’ Movement Toward Socialism party. The measure did not set a date for the vote. ResignationMorales’ claim of victory and a fourth term in the October 20 election prompted massive protests that led him to resign on November 10 at the army’s suggestion. An audit by a team from the Organization of American States found widespread irregularities in that election. After Morales left for asylum in Mexico, his own supporters took to the streets in protest. Officials say at least 32 people have died in demonstrations since the presidential election, which would be annulled by Saturday’s vote. An agreement on elections between Morales’ party and the interim government helped pacify the country. Street blockades were lifted, allowing supplies to reach marketplaces Saturday in areas that had been short of groceries and gas. Senator Oscar Ortiz said the bill calls for updating the electoral rolls and naming a completely new electoral tribunal to oversee the vote. Senators approve a bill on holding new elections in La Paz, Bolivia, Nov. 23, 2019.“We have to generate confidence in the population,” said Senator Omar Aguilar, from Morales’ party. Later Saturday, interim President Jeanine Anez rejected a bill presented by Morales’ party that would have prevented the ousted president from being tried for alleged crimes committed during the exercise of his functions to date. “With respect to approving this bill in favor of those who have committed crimes and who now seek impunity, my decision is clear and firm: I will not promulgate this law,” Anez said. The bill remains paralyzed, lawmakers said. On Friday, the interim government accused Morales of terrorism and sedition for purportedly organizing highway blockades intended to prevent food from reaching some cities. Acting Interior Minister Arturo Murillo said the complaint relates to a video in which Morales is supposedly heard in a phone call coordinating the blockades from Mexico. Murillo said Bolivia’s government is seeking a maximum penalty, which is between 15 and 20 years in prison. Morales has said the video is a “montage” by his opponents. 
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Italian coast guards on Saturday said they had rescued 143 migrants off the island of Lampedusa, although around 20 others were apparently missing, according to the survivors. 
 
“The crews of four patrols rescued 143 people who had fallen into the sea” from a 10-meter boat, the coast guard said in a statement. 
 
Two men, an Eritrean and a Libyan, said they had been unable to locate their wives following the rescue. 
 
A search for those missing continued Saturday evening with two planes from Frontex — the border and coast guard agency for the EU’s Schengen area — and the Italian navy flying over the area. 
 
Police were also searching the Lampedusa coast to see if any of the migrants had swum ashore. 
 
Those rescued were taken to Lampedusa, where they disembarked. 
 
Meanwhile, Italy, Germany, France and Malta jointly asked the European Commission to activate a migrant-relocation scheme for 213 migrants on board the Ocean Viking rescue ship, the Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry said. 
 
The ministry said “this is the first time this has happened” since the four nations in September signed a pre-agreement for the automatic distribution of rescued migrants in the Mediterranean. 
 
The Ocean Viking, chartered by SOS Mediterranee with Doctors Without Borders, has rescued 215 people in three operations in recent days. One injured man and a pregnant woman had already been taken off the boat. 
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Tens of thousands of protesters marched through Paris on Saturday to demand a national wake-up call and more government investment to prevent deadly domestic violence against women, a problem that President Emmanuel Macron calls France's shame.'' A wave of purple flags and signs snaked from the Place de l'Opera through eastern Paris amid an unprecedented public campaign to decry violence against women — and to honor the 130 women that activists say have been killed in France this year by current or former partners. That's about one every two or three days. While France has a progressive reputation and pushes for women's rights around the world, it has among the highest rates in Europe of domestic violence, in part because of poor police response to reports of abuse. Many of the women killed this year had previously sought help from police. 'Femicide'At Saturday's march — one of the biggest demonstrations this year in Paris — French film and TV stars joined abuse victims and activists calling for an end tofemicide.” Many held banners reading Sick of Rape.'' The protest came on the U.N.'s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and was aimed at pressuring the French government before it unveils new measures Monday to tackle the problem. The measures are expected to include seizing firearms from people suspected of domestic violence and prioritizing police training so they won't brush off women's complaints as a private affair. We live in a culture that finds excuses for assailants,” Alyssa Ahrabare, spokeswoman for activist group Osez le Feminisme (Try feminism), told The Associated Press. She called for better training for people in police stations and hospitals who encounter victims of domestic violence, and more shelters for abused women. Some of Saturday’s marchers want 1 billion euros in government investment, though the funding is expected to fall far short of that. French activists have stepped up efforts this year to call attention to the problem, with an unusual campaign of gluing posters around Paris and other cities every time another woman is killed. The posters honor the women and call for action. Activists also hold protests, lying down on the pavement to represent the slain women. A woman raises her fist as she and thousands of others protest against domestic violence, in Paris, Nov, 23, 2019.A 2014 EU survey of 42,000 women across all 28 member states found that 26% of French respondents said they been abused by a partner since age 15, either physically or sexually. That’s below the global average of 30%, according to UN Women. But it’s above the EU average and the sixth highest among EU countries. Half that number reported experiencing such abuse in Spain, which implemented a series of legal and educational measures in 2004 that slashed its domestic violence rates. Conversations about domestic violence have also ratcheted up in neighboring Germany, where activists are demanding that the term femicide be used to describe such killings. In France, lawyers and victims’ advocates say they’re encouraged by the new national conversation, which they say marks a departure from decades of denial. Women aren’t the only victims of domestic violence, but French officials say they make up the vast majority. ‘This has to stop’Beatrice Donnard, 54, activist with the group NousToutes (All of Us), noted that killings often occur when a couple separates, saying, It's an entire system that needs to be taken down.'' Each woman you talk to — you could ask your mother or your sister — has a story of sexual violence in one way or another. This has to stop. I think men understand that, and there are many of them here with us — welcome!” 
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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, dubbed by critics “Putin on the Nile,” is set to boost his burgeoning relationship with Russia by dispatching his son, Mahmoud, to Moscow as a military attache, independent regional media outlets are reporting.Russian officials say they welcome the prospect of Mahmoud el-Sissi being based in Moscow.  The reassignment would coincide with an open rupture between Cairo and Washington over Egyptian plans to buy advanced Russian warplanes.In Washington, a senior U.S. State Department official Thursday threatened the Cairo government with sanctions if Egypt goes ahead with a $2 billion agreement to purchase more than 20 Su-35 fighter jets, a deal the relocated Mahmoud el-Sissi would likely oversee as military attache.Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the Trump administration  was still discussing how to address its defense needs with Egypt adding that U.S. officials “have also been very transparent with them in that if they are to acquire a significant Russian platform like the Sukhoi-35 or the Su-35, that puts them at risk towards sanctions.”The United States has provided billions of dollars in economic and military aid to Egypt, a longtime ally, whose military has been operating the U.S.-supplied F-16 fighter. Moving his son to Moscow is seen by Western diplomats here as a signal to Washington by el-Sissi of his intent to go ahead with buying the Su-35s.“He’s playing hardball with Washington,” said a Western diplomat based here, who asked not to identified for this article.According to independent media, Mahmoud el-Sissi’s reassignment, planned for next year, has the added benefit for Egypt’s president of moving his son out of the spotlight in Cairo. His role as a top official in the country’s domestic and foreign intelligence agency, the General Intelligence Service, has prompted turmoil within that agency, as well as growing public criticism of his father for not curbing his son, who has also been drawing allegations of corruption.General Intelligence Service sources told Mada Masr, an Egyptian online newspaper, the reassignment to Moscow is “based on the perception within the president’s inner circle that Mahmoud el-Sissi has failed to properly handle a number of his responsibilities and that his increasingly visible influence in the upper decision-making levels of government is having a negative impact on his father’s image.”Russian President Vladimir Putin has been intensifying his engagement with Middle Eastern and North African leaders, and seeking to rebuild Russian influence in the region, clout that was lost after the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to analysts. Some analysts see the re-engagement as an effort to safeguard established strategic interests.  They cite as an example Russian intervention in Syria, where Moscow has its only Mediterranean naval base and needed to prop up the government of President Bashar al-Assad if it wanted to ensure its continuance.FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi pose for a photo prior to talks in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Oct. 23, 2019.Others say Russia’s renewed assertiveness is being overblown.“Putin’s apparent victories in spreading Russian influence are mirages, some of which have come at a great cost,” according to Rajan Menon, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies. “Putin’s gambit in Syria had more to do with safeguarding a long-standing strategic investment that appeared imperiled than with outmaneuvering the United States,” he said in a Foreign Policy magazine commentary.Nonetheless the dispatch of Mahmoud el-Sissi to Moscow is coming at a time of heightened disagreement between Washington and Cairo. Washington has told Cairo that buying the Russian warplanes would place U.S. and NATO military cooperation at risk. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper wrote jointly to the Egyptian leader urging him to reverse the decision to buy Russian jets.Ties between el-Sissi and Putin began warming in 2014, when the Obama administration curtailed military aid to Egypt after the Egyptian army ousted the country’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi. Cairo’s generals, smarting at Washington’s criticism of the coup that brought el-Sissi to power, talked openly of forging a “strategic realignment” with the Kremlin, evoking Egypt’s Nasser-era alliance with the Soviets.Putin was quick to endorse el-Sissi as Egypt’s president, telling him during a 2014 visit to Moscow, “I wish you luck both from myself personally and from the Russian people.”Putin also gave el-Sissi a black jacket with a red star on it, which el-Sissi wore during the Russian trip. Both men have much in common, coming from modest backgrounds and having gravitated toward the most powerful institutions in their closed societies, the KGB and the Egyptian army. They each rose cautiously up the bureaucratic ladder.Last month, el-Sissi and Putin co-hosted the first Russia-Africa Summit, held at the Black Sea resort of Sochi.  It was the third meeting between the two presidents this year. In October the Egyptian air force’s tactical training center near Cairo hosted joint Russian-Egyptian military exercises dubbed Arrow of Friendship-1. The two countries have held several joint naval and airborne counterterrorism exercises since 2015.Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said during a visit to Cairo this month, “When we are in Egypt we always feel like at home.” The Russian military, he said, “is ready to assist in strengthening Egyptian military forces and defense capabilities.”Shoigu’s delegation included top officials from Russia’s trade ministry, Rosoboronexport, Russia’s arms exporter, and the deputy director of the Federal Service on Military-Technical Cooperation, prompting speculation among military analysts that Moscow and Cairo may be discussing arms deals other than the Su-35s and weapons systems co-production arrangements.  
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Three police officers were killed in a bomb blast late Friday at a police station in Colombia, after thousands gathered for renewed protests and sporadic looting erupted in the capital of Bogota.A police source told Reuters 10 officers were also injured in the explosion, in the town of Santander de Quilichao in the southwestern province of Cauca, known as a hot spot for drug trafficking and violence.The source did not attribute the bombing to a particular armed group. Police are expected to hold a news conference Saturday morning.Demonstrators gesture during a protest on the second day of a national strike, in Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 22, 2019.Massive marchThree people were killed Thursday as more than 250,000 people marched in a national strike to express growing discontent with President Ivan Duque’s government.Their grievances included rumored economic reforms that the president has denied and anger at what protesters call a lack of government action to stop corruption and the murder of human rights activists.Thousands gathered Friday afternoon in Bogota’s Bolivar Plaza for a “cacerolazo” — a traditional Latin American expression of protest in which people bang pots and pans.Anti-government protesters rally in the Bolivar square in downtown Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 22, 2019. Labor unions and student leaders called on Colombians to bang pots and pans Friday evening in another act of protest.“We are here to keep protesting against the Duque government,” said 25-year-old art student Katheryn Martinez, as she clanged a pot with a fork accompanied by her father Arturo, 55.“It’s an inefficient government that kills children and doesn’t acknowledge it,” she said, referring to a recent bombing targeted at rebels that killed eight teenagers and prompted the former defense minister to resign.The crowd, which included families and elderly people, was abruptly dispersed by tear gas, sending protesters running up the steep narrow streets of the historic district.Some protesters regrouped at nearby intersections and continued chanting, while people in other neighborhoods gathered in celebratory cacerolazos, temporarily blocking some roads.A 9 p.m. curfew is in force across Bogota, except for the neighborhoods of Bosa, Kennedy and Ciudad Bolivar, where it began at 8 p.m.Posts on social media and callers into radio stations said neighbors were organizing to protect homes from looters, while officials urged calm.Several supermarkets in the city’s south were looted Friday as protesters, many masked, burned items in the street and blocked roads. Other protesters stole a public bus.Residents hold sticks as they stand in front of their apartment block to guard their homes from possible looting after a curfew was enforced following renewed protests on the second day of a national strike, in Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 22, 2019.President promises conversationSome people were taking advantage of the protests to “sow chaos,” Duque said in a televised address Friday evening. “From next week I will start a national conversation that will strengthen the current agenda of social policies,” Duque said.He added that dialogue would “permit us to close social gaps, fight corruption more effectively and build, between all of us, peace with legality.”The three deaths Thursday in Valle del Cauca province were being investigated, Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo told journalists Friday.Deaths, arrestsHe said authorities had confirmed two deaths in Buenaventura and one in Candelaria, adding that a group of people had tried to loot the Viva Buenaventura mall.“As a result of the confrontation between vandals and security forces and in events that are the subject of investigation by the attorney general’s office, two people were killed,” he said.Though the vast majority of Thursday’s marchers participated peacefully, 98 people were arrested, while 122 civilians and 151 members of the security forces were injured, he said.Authorities launched 11 preliminary investigations into security forces’ misconduct, Trujillo added, after social media images of protesters’ rough treatment by police, including one kicked in the face.The protests have coincided with demonstrations elsewhere in Latin America, from anti-austerity marches in Chile, to protests over vote-tampering allegations in Bolivia that led President Evo Morales to resign, and inflamed tensions in Ecuador and crisis-hit Nicaragua.
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In late December, it will be one year since Moscow detained U.S. citizen Paul Whelan on espionage charges. During his 11 months in the infamous Lefortovo prison, Whelan has denied the allegations and complained of systematic mistreatment. His family in the U.S. is working to bring the former Marine home. Yulia Savchenko met with Whelan’s sister, Elizabeth, in Washington to get the latest on the case.
 
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A group of nine Nicaraguan mothers whose hunger strike became emblematic of protests roiling the Central American country were taken Friday to a hospital in stable condition, according to a doctor treating the group and a Reuters witness.The nine mothers, along with three activists opposed to Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, spent nine days locked in a church in the city of Masaya to demand the freedom of their children, whom they consider to be political prisoners.On Friday, the group of protesters and a Catholic priest serving the church were taken to a hospital in the capital by a representative of the Vatican for treatment.“Everyone is in stable health. Some are dehydrated from prolonged fasting and two are under observation for their chronic conditions,” Maria Eugenia Espinoza, a doctor who serves as director of Vivian Pellas Hospital, told reporters.Father Edwin Roman, the priest who joined the mothers, has complained on social media that after the group began their protest, the police cut off electricity and water in the church and prevented locals from assisting them.Nicaragua’s churches have become political battlegrounds in recent weeks amid protests that have been raging for more than a year and a half.Both the Organization of American States and the United Nations raised alarms this week about human rights in Central America’s largest country, as protests have intensified.On Monday, Nicaraguan police arrested 16 anti-government protesters, accusing them of planning to carry out terrorist attacks. Some of their families say they were arrested after bringing water to the mothers in Masaya.
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Colombian President Ivan Duque ordered a curfew in the nation’s capital Friday amid continuing unrest following a massive march Thursday that brought tens of thousands to the streets in a strong message of rejection of his conservative government.The president announced on Twitter that he has requested that Bogota’s mayor enforce a curfew beginning at 9 p.m. across the city of 7 million after police pushed back crowds of protesters banging pots and pans in the storied Plaza Bolivar.“They kicked us out with tear gas,” said Rogelio Martinez, 38, a construction worker. “They didn’t want the people to show their discontent.”Anti-government protesters rally in the Bolivar square in Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 22, 2019. Labor unions and student leaders called on Colombians to bang pots and pans Friday evening in another act of protest .Major protest, tide of discontentThe curfew comes one day after an estimated 250,000 people took to the streets in one of the nation’s biggest marches in recent history. While the protest started out peaceful, it ended with scattered clashes between protesters and police. Three people were killed in what authorities described as violent looting incidents overnight.Clashes continued in part of Bogota and in the southwestern city of Cali on Friday as volunteers wiped graffiti off historic buildings and swept up shattered glass.The upheaval comes as Latin America is experiencing a tide of discontent, with massive demonstrations in countries that include Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador where citizens frustrated with their political leaders are taking to the streets.The protests defy easy categorization and it remains unclear if Colombia’s will persist.Workers clear glass from a bus station damaged by anti-government demonstrators, in Bogota, Colombia, Nov. 22, 2019. Protesters attacked the station Thursday during a strike to protest everything from economic inequality to violence against social leaders.Hundreds injuredDefense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said that as of Friday morning, 98 people had been detained and 151 police and military officers injured, as well as 122 civilians, most of whom suffered minor injuries and tear gas inhalation.The minister said two individuals were killed in the port city of Buenaventura after police were attacked while responding to looting at a mall. A third died in Candelaria after police said a group looting a supermarket shot at officers.The names and cause of death of those killed were not released.Duque called a special meeting with his ministers Friday but did not immediately respond to protesters’ demand for meeting. In an address after the protest, the president said he had heard the day’s outcry and supported talks with all sectors.“Duque recognizes there is plenty to do,” his defense minister said.Protesters demand dialogueProtest organizers urged Duque to establish a dialogue with indigenous, student and labor groups to discuss potential reforms and criticized him for not directly addressing demonstrator complaints in a late-night address.“If they don’t decide to govern in favor of the majority, the discontent will continue accumulating,” student leader Jose Cardenas said.Recent polling indicates Duque has a 26% approval rating 15 months into his administration as the nation grapples with implementing a complicated peace process with leftist rebels, ongoing violence between illegal armed groups and long-simmering tensions over issues like corruption and inequality.“Colombia is facing a set of complex problems that are as difficult as any in its recent history,” said Cynthia Arnson, director of the Latin America program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. “I think any political leader faced with this array of problems would have a difficult time.” 
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Bolivia’s attorney general said on Friday that his office has opened a probe into former President Evo Morales for alleged sedition and terrorism, related to accusations from the interim government that he has been stirring unrest since resigning.The interior minister earlier filed a criminal complaint against the former socialist leader, based on evidence Morales described as fake.Interim President Jeanine Anez, a former senator and opponent of Morales, has faced a wave of demonstrations by his supporters since taking office in a power vacuum last week.Morales and his vice president stepped down under pressure from security forces and anti-government protesters on Nov. 10, amid reports of irregularities in an Oct. 20 election.Morales fled to Mexico, which has granted him asylum, and says he was toppled in a coup. At least 29 have been killed in clashes with security forces since he resigned.Attorney General Juan Lanchipa said the foreign ministry would ask Mexico to allow Morales to provide his statement as a suspect in the investigation, which is based on a video Interior Minister Arturo Murillo distributed to media this week.In the video, a Bolivian man is shown talking to someone on a speakerphone who appears to be directing plans for road blockades.Murillo said the voice on the speakerphone was that of Morales. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the video.Murillo told journalists outside the prosecutors’ office in La Paz on Friday: “The evidence is clear. We’ve presented it.”Morales could not immediately be reached for comment. He said on Twitter that authorities should be investigating the deaths of protesters instead of going after him on the basis of what he called made-up evidence.Blocking roads is a common form of protest in Bolivia and much of South America. Intense blockades by Morales supporters have cut off fuel and food to some cities.Authorities have transported some 1,400 tons of food by plane in less than a week due to blockades, the government said on Friday.Legislation for new electionsThe criminal probe into Morales did not appear to slow efforts by lawmakers in his Movement to Socialism (MAS) party from working with their opponents in Congress to pass legislation to pave the way for new elections.MAS congressman Henry Cabrera, the vice president of the house of deputies, said parliament planned to pass a bill by Saturday afternoon, after a deal was reached among all parties on Friday.”We’re definitely going to approve it,” Cabrera told Reuters. “We’re not going to obstruct anything.” But on the streets Morales’ supporters have continued to push for Anez to resign.On Friday, she made a public plea for demonstrators to end an ongoing blockade at a natural gas plant that supplies La Paz.Eight people died in clashes after the military forcibly cleared access to the plant briefly on Tuesday. Protesters carrying the coffins with some of the dead were dispersed with tear gas on Thursday as they neared the presidential palace.”I ask for reflection from brothers who are carrying out this unnecessary blockade,” Anez said on Friday. “We’re all Bolivians.”Anez reiterated she will only stay in power long enough for new elections. But her critics say her cabinet has overstepped the bounds of a caretaker government by making changes to foreign policy, opening Morales’ former living quarters for journalists to tour, and threatening to punish his allies.In the past week, authorities have alleged that several of Morales’ allies have taken part in criminal activity, including the former culture minister, his former presidency minister, the former vice president’s brother, and the vice president of MAS.A lawyer affiliated with opponents of Morales, Jorge Valda, said he planned to also ask authorities to issue an arrest warrant for Morales’ daughter, Evaliz Morales, for alleged sedition and corruption. She could not be reached for comment.
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Protests continue in Bolivia as human rights organizations raise concerns over reports of the use excessive force by security forces.The popular upheaval began following the disputed election of Oct. 20 which, according to official results, long-time President Evo Morales won with a margin large enough to avoid a run-off. The Organization of American States (OAS) cited a pause in returns as suspicious, and claimed the results as fraudulent.Soon after, protesters took to the streets calling for new elections. Morales, initially defiant, resigned under pressure from the military after agreeing to hold new elections.Accompanied by Bolivia’s Foreign Minister Karen Longaric, interim President Jeanine Anez waves to journalists during a protocol greeting of ambassadors in Bolivia, Nov. 22, 2019.Morales fled to Mexico soon after, and the leaders of his Movement for Socialism (MAS) party in Congress resigned as well. This flurry of departures left opposition Deputy Vice President Jeanine Anez next in line for the Presidency.Anez took the mantle quickly. Soon after her swearing in, she appointed a full Cabinet, notable for its conservative outlook and exclusion of indigenous people.Morales’ left-leaning government has been in power since 2005, and its coalition draws significantly on Bolivia’s indigenous population.In conjunction with the new Cabinet, Anez issued Decree 4078, giving the armed forces amnesty from criminal prosecution for actions taken for the security of the state, drawing concern from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.Human rights groups say Anez’s administration is also looking to chill dissent in other forms. The new minister of government, Arturo Murillo, threatened jail for any person who commits sedition, a broad legal term meant to silence criticism.The targets of the new government extend all the way to the top. According to a release from Human Rights Watch, Murillo threatened to “hunt down” former minister Juan Ramon Quintana.Anez’s incoming Communications Minister Roxana Lizarraga is extending similar threats to journalists.Lizaragga claimed the government is willing to charge journalists, including foreign ones, with similar charges of sedition. In Bolivia, sedition carries up to three years in jail, and foreign journalists would be subject to deportation if convicted.The implications of the decree and government focus on restoring stability’ are already being seen.A soldier guarding the Senkata fuel plant reads from a mobile device, in El Alto, Bolivia, Nov. 22, 2019.The OAS reports that more than 30 protesters have already been killed, with hundreds more injured. Most of the recent deaths and injuries are of Morales’ supporters, who took to the streets after Morales fled to Mexico for asylum.The last deaths came after security forces opened fire on protesters who were blocking access to a fuel depot. Eight were killed, and many more were injured.Protesters have been attempting to deprive the capital, El Alto, of food and fuel.Police on Thursday then dispersed a protest carrying coffins to symbolize the dead with tear gas.These events have led to calls from Amnesty International for full investigations of the deaths. María José Veramendi Villa, South America researcher for Amnesty International, views these developments as “risky signals” for the human rights situation in the country.These threats against human rights and freedom of expression, however, are not new, according to Veramendi.Before his resignation, rights groups say Morales “threatened to fence’ cities where there were demonstrations” about the disputed elections. Morales’ former defense minister, Javier Zavaleta, also “justified the use of dynamite by groups of miners” against the protesters.The U.S. State Department is monitoring the situation, and a spokesperson called on the Bolivian Government to “ensure … the rights of peaceful protesters,” which includes “accountability for any violations” of their rights.Former Bolivian President Evo Morales waves upon arrival to Mexico City, , Nov. 12, 2019. Mexico granted asylum to Morales, who resigned on Nov. 10 under mounting pressure from the military and the public.Interim President Jeanine Anez submitted a bill to the Bolivian Congress to set a date and logistics for a new set of elections. Leaders in the Movement Towards Socialism Party are also supporting new elections, and party leaders told reporters they will not be presenting Evo Morales as a candidate.Morales may complicate the situation. In previous days he has stated an intent to serve out his term, and implied that the Bolivian Congress can annul his resignation.Morales, however, does remain popular among broad swaths of the population. Experts say economic revival lifted many out of extreme poverty, and he has overseen significant development in indigenous majority areas.If he refuses to step aside, there could be far more unrest to come.
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Cuba has publicly laid out the rules governing the extensive, longstanding surveillance and undercover investigation of the island’s 11 million people.A new decree approved by President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Oct. 8 and made public this week says prosecutors can approve eavesdropping and surveillance of any form of communication, without consulting a judge as required in many other Latin American countries. The law also creates official legal roles for informants, undercover investigators and sting operations.The decree is intended to “raise the effectiveness of the prevention of and fight against crime,” according to the declaration in Cuba’s register of new laws and regulations.Cuba has been updating its laws to conform with a new constitution approved in February, which requires legal approval for surveillance.The country’s powerful intelligence and security agencies have for decades maintained widespread surveillance of Cuban society through eavesdropping of all types and networks of informants and undercover agents, but their role has never been so publicly codified.The decree describes a variety of roles: agents of the Interior Ministry authorized to carry out undercover investigations; cooperating witnesses who provide information in exchange for lenient treatment, and sting operations in which illegal goods are allowed to move under police surveillance.The law allows interception of telephone calls, direct recording of voices, shadowing and video recording of suspects and covert access to computer systems.Unlike Cuba, many countries including Mexico, Argentina, Guatemala, Chile and Bolivia require a judge to approve surveillance operations.
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Prince Andrew is scaling back travel and facing an uncertain future as he steps away from the royal role he has embraced for his entire adult life.
                   
The latest blow came Friday afternoon when the board of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra announced that it was cutting ties to Andrew, who had been its patron.
                   
The 59-year-old prince has suffered numerous setbacks in the six days since the broadcast of a disastrous TV interview from Buckingham Palace during which he defended his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein died in a New York prison in August in what the New York City medical examiner ruled was a suicide.
                   
The Times newspaper said in an editorial Friday that the debacle demonstrates the need for “urgent reform” of the royal household. The paper urged Andrew’s older brother and heir to the throne, Prince Charles, to take steps to streamline and make the royal family “more modest.”
                   
The disgraced prince scuttled plans for a trip to Bahrain that had been planned to support his Pitch(at)Palace project, according to the British news media, even though he is struggling to keep that enterprise going despite cutting ties to dozens of other charities.
                   
He did go horseback riding with his mother, 93-year-old Queen Elizabeth II, near Windsor Castle on Friday afternoon despite harsh November weather. The monarch has not commented publicly on her son’s troubles.
                   
There was a visceral public backlash to the TV interview _ particularly because Andrew did not express sympathy for Epstein’s young female victims that led politicians to debate the future of the monarchy in a televised debate ahead of the Dec. 12 national election. Shortly after the interview, Andrew announced that he was halting his royal duties “for the foreseeable future.”
                   
Up until now, Andrew, the queen’s third child, had been able to skate away from troublesome questions about his private life and his extravagant lifestyle. His association with Epstein had been known for more than eight years, but it only took him down after he went on TV to discuss it.
                   
Andrew is trying to find a way to keep alive at least one of his projects without relying on the prestige and real estate of the royal family.
                   
Buckingham Palace officials said Andrew would try to maintain Pitch(at)Palace as a non-royal charity that eventually would not be centered at any of the royal palaces. The prince founded the project in 2014 to link up young entrepreneurs with established business people. In the past, idea and product pitches for the program have taken place at St. James’ Palace.
                   
According to its website, Pitch(at)Palace has helped 931 start-up businesses and created nearly 6,000 new jobs. It boasts a 97% survival rate for new companies started by its alumni.
                   
Andrew was expected to remove himself from the many other charities with which he’s been involved over the years, a diverse group that sheds light on his interests and reflects the varied demands made on a senior royal.
                   
Among them have been the Army Officers’ Golfing Society, which promotes golf in the British Army, and the Maimonides Interfaith Foundation, which is devoted to the use of art and dialogue to improve relations between Jews, Muslims and Christians.
                   
The prince also was involved with a group fighting malaria and a charity helping deaf children throughout the Commonwealth, which includes Britain and many of its former colonies.
                   
The Falklands War veteran also was expected to drop his ceremonial role with many military units. In addition, he has resigned as patron of The Outward Bound Trust, an educational charity that helps young people have adventures in the wild with which he had been involved with for decades, and was to step down as chancellor of Huddersfield University, university officials said.
                   
Despite these many embarrassments and the dramatic drop in his work responsibilities, Andrew was not expected to face money pressures, although the details of his financial picture have not been made public.
                   
He has long received financial backing from the queen’s private accounts and there was no indication that this would change. He was likely, however, to close or severely downsize his well-staffed personal office at Buckingham Palace.
                   
When he served as Britain’s international trade envoy, Andrew relied extensively on public funding and was criticized for his deluxe travel style when going overseas on official business. He left that role in 2011, in part because questions were already being asked about his relationship with Epstein, who had already been convicted of sex offenses.
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At least six bodies of Europe-bound migrants were found on Libya’s Mediterranean coast on Friday, while another 90 were intercepted by Libya’s coast guard, the U.N. migration agency said.
                   
Libya has emerged as a major transit point for African and Arab migrants fleeing war and poverty to Europe. Most migrants make the perilous journey in ill-equipped and unsafe rubber boats.
                   
The U.N.’s International Organization for Migration tweeted that the bodies washed up on the shores of the Libyan port of al-Khums.
                   
In recent years, the EU has partnered with Libya’s coast guard and other local groups to stem the dangerous sea crossings. Rights groups, however, say those policies leave migrants at the mercy of armed groups or confined in squalid detention centers rife with abuses.
                   
Separately, Libya’s eastern parliament Thursday accused the Italian government of violating the country’s sovereignty by flying a drone near the frontlines of the ongoing war between the Tripoli-based U.N.-backed government and the east-based, self-styled Libyan National Army.
                   
“The Libyan parliament demands that the Italian authorities provide an official explanation to this act of aggression on Libya’s sovereignty,” read the statement issued by the LNA-allied parliament.
                   
In a Wednesday press conference Ahmed al-Mosmari, the LNA spokesman said their forces had shot down an Italian drone near the city of Tarhouna, a town about 40 miles (60 kilometers) south of Tripoli.
                   
In response, the office of Italy’s Joint Chief of Staffs issued a statement Wednesday affirming that an Italian drone crashed in Libyan territory while it was on a mission to support efforts aimed at stemming migrant sea crossings. The statement added that the plane was following a flight plan that had been communicated in advance to Libyan authorities.
                   
Since 2015, Libya has been divided between two governments, in the east and the west. In April, the LNA launched an offensive to capture Tripoli from the U.N.-backed government. While the LNA enjoys the support of France, Russia and Key Arab countries, the Tripoli-based government is backed by Italy, Turkey and Qatar.
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The lower house of Russia’s parliament, the State Duma, Thursday overwhelmingly passed legislation that would allow the government to label journalists, bloggers, and social media users as foreign agents.
 
The bill, which still needs approval from the Federation Council, the upper chamber, and President Vladimir Putin’s signature to become law, expands on existing “foreign agent” measures already targeting select foreign media and Russian NGOs.The laws have been criticized by human rights groups as highly restrictive but lauded by Kremlin loyalists as essential to protect Russian sovereignty.
 
Under the new expanded version, restrictions would now apply to journalists and individuals working for media organizations designated as foreign agents by Russia’s Justice Ministry.The new measure would require those who work for suspect media outlets to label any published materials as “made by a foreign agent” and personally submit to regular audits and inspections of their work and finances.Employees and contractors with Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and several affiliated partner projects — such as Current Time TV — would appear to be prime targets of the new bill.The U.S. government-funded outlets are currently the only media on the Justice Ministry foreign agent media blacklist created in 2017.The blacklist of foreign agents, seen here in a screenshot from the Russian Justice Ministry’s website, shows Voice of America (1), Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe (7) and Current Time (5) among others.Yet, given the vague wording of the measure, the foreign agent label could also be applied to individuals who distribute suspect media content — a move that could have significant implications for Russia’s blogosphere and social media, both of which are largely considered open platforms for political debate.  How Russian authorities would enforce the foreign agent restrictions against individuals is not yet clear.
 Political overtones
 
The bill’s co-author, the chairman of the State Duma’s Commission on the Investigation of Foreign Interference in Russia’s Internal Affairs, Vasily Piskarev, vigorously defended law as a necessity — citing his commission’s findings that accused several foreign and domestic media outlets of interfering in Russia’s regional fall elections.
 
That vote was tarnished by the banning of nearly all opposition candidates from participating in the election — prompting a wave of street protests in Moscow through the summer.  While foreign and independent media covered the events, Russian state broadcasters largely ignored voters’ frustrations.
 
“Russian viewers and readers have the right to know of the foreign roots of these media outlets and where they get their money from,” Piskarev said in comments following Thursday’s vote.“After inclusion on the register, these citizens and media entities can continue their creative activities and continue to publish, provided they fulfill certain conditions,” he added.
 
Piskarev also insisted Russia was merely introducing measures to mirror those faced by Russian journalists elsewhere — an apparent reference to what Russia says is the harassment of its RT America and the network’s journalists working in the United States.
 
RT America was forced to register as a foreign agent with the U.S. Justice Department in 2017, a move that prompted similar measures against American government-funded media.FILE – Vehicles of Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT are seen near the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, June 15, 2018. The potential info-chill to come
 
Rights groups warn the new foreign agents law would cast a much wider chill over Russians’ access to free speech over the airwaves and online.
 
“The new ‘foreign agent’ legislation quite simply is intended to silence critical voices and further limit Russian citizens’ right to access information,” said Hugh Williamson, Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia director, in a statement on the organization’s website.
 
Russia’s daily Kommersant newspaper, a Kremlin-favored publication known for providing light critiques of state policy, noted the vagueness of the law in the face of the Internet sharing culture would mean that nearly “half the country” would risk running afoul of its provisions — including Russians who work in companies with foreign funding or scientists who receive international grants.
 
Russian foreign agents laws were first introduced in 2012 in an effort to end foreign funding of Russian NGOs, a move that civil society advocates said had echoes of Soviet days when they were likened to potential traitors and spies.Indeed, Putin argued at the time that foreign-funded NGOs were less interested in developing civil society and more intent on fomenting revolution for their Western donors.FILE – A man passes by the office of “Memorial” rights group in Moscow, Russia. The building has the words “Foreign Agent (Loves) USA” spray-painted on its facade.Given the choice to identify themselves as foreign agents or face mounting penalties and court ordered fines, many organizations chose to shutter their doors.  The law’s political overtones have again been apparent of late as authorities have used it as a blunt instrument against perceived enemies at home.The Justice Ministry last month said it was adding the Anti-Corruption Foundation, an NGO led by opposition leader and Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, to the foreign agent registry.The move came after the organization — which has long tortured the Kremlin with a series of anti-corruption investigations into government malfeasance — supported a series of pro-democracy protests over the summer that led to the arrest of over 2,000 demonstrators.
 
Russia’s officials justified the decision by saying the organization — which exists on crowdfunded donations from Russian citizens — had received two small wire transfers from abroad.   
 
Then, in early November, Russia’s Supreme Court used the law to rule for the dissolution of For Human Rights, an organization with roots in the Soviet dissident movement that was defending the rights of Russians arrested in police sweeps tied to the summer’s unrest.
 
Speaking on the respected Echo of Moscow radio station, the organization’s founder, 78-year-old Lev Ponomarev, criticized the proposed additions to the foreign agent laws.“It is, likely, the latest nail in the coffin for the human rights movement in Russia — since all human rights organizations are financed by foreign foundations,” he said. 
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A Turkish court on Thursday upheld its conviction of 12 former employees of the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper despite a higher court ruling, a lawyer for the newspaper said.The court acquitted a 13th defendant, journalist Kadri Gursel, due to a ruling by the Constitutional Court, Turkey’s highest, said the lawyer, Tora Pekin.In a case that drew global outrage over press freedom under President Tayyip Erdogan, 14 employees of Cumhuriyet – one of the few remaining voices critical of the government – were sentenced in April 2018 to various jail terms on terrorism charges.They were accused of supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party and the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front militant groups, as well as the network of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara says  organized a 2016 failed coup. Gulen denies any involvement.The Cumhuriyet staff have been in and out of jail for the duration of their trials. The 14th defendant, Cumhuriyet accountant Emre Iper, was released last month and his case is still under court review.The Court of Cassation, Turkey’s high court of appeals, had ruled in September for the 13 defendants to be acquitted, with the exception of journalist and politician Ahmet Sik. The court said Sik should be tried for a different crime.The case of the 12 defendants will now be re-evaluated by the Court of Cassation, Pekin said.”With the Court of Cassation ruling (in September), we thought this endless arbitrariness and injustice were ending. But we understood in court today that it wasn’t so,” said Pekin.Since the failed coup, authorities have jailed 77,000 people pending trial, while 150,000, including civil servants, judges, military personnel and others have been sacked or suspended from their jobs. Some 150 media outlets have also been closed.A global press watchdog said on Tuesday more than 120 journalists were still being held in Turkey’s jails, a global record.Turkey’s Western allies have voiced concern over the scale of the crackdown. Rights groups accuse Erdogan of using the coup as a pretext to quash dissent.
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