French President Emmanuel Macron says he wants to reach a “quick compromise” in talks this week with worker unions as nationwide protests and strikes rage on against the government’s plans to overhaul the pension system.
                   
During a Cabinet meeting on Monday, Macron insisted that the new system must be financially sustainable, according to government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye.
                   
Talks between the prime minister and worker unions are to resume Tuesday, including on the financing of the retirement system. Macron also said that people doing physically demanding or dangerous work should be allowed to retire early.
                   
“We want to end this crisis rapidly,” Ndiaye said.
                   
The government plans to formally present the bill by the end of the month ahead of a debate in parliament, so that the law can be voted on this summer.
                   
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told France Inter radio that “a compromise has never been so close.”
                   
Yet several unions called for nationwide protests on Thursday and Saturday. The hard-left union CGT union also called for workers to disrupt the country’s oil depots and refineries later this week.
                   
The national rail company, SNCF, said train traffic was improving Monday across the country, with 8 out of 10 high-speed trains running.
                   
Yet the Paris metro was still severely disrupted, with most of lines open only for a limited amount of time and several stations closed.
                   
In his televised New Year’s address, Macron vowed to carry out the overhaul of the pension system.
                   
Macron wants to unify France’s 42 different pension schemes, some of which grant early retirement, into a single one. Plans include raising the eligibility age for full pensions from 62 to 64, the most criticized measure.
                   
Macron says the new system will be fairer and financially sustainable.
                   
Unions fear it will make people work longer for lower pensions. Recent polls show a majority of French people still support the protest movement.
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Croatia’s ruling conservatives said Monday they will analyze why their candidate lost a presidential election to a leftist challenger in order to prevent this from happening again at the upcoming parliamentary vote later this year.”The aim of the analysis and its conclusions is for us to come out stronger and not repeat at the parliamentary election whatever turned out to be a flaw or a mistake during this campaign,” said Davor Bozinovic, the interior minister and a senior member of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union, or HDZ, party. “We are not looking for culprits, but reasons why.”
The conservative party’s candidate, outgoing President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, was beaten Sunday by liberal opposition challenger and former Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic.Zoran Milanovic, the liberal opposition candidate, addresses supporters after his headquarters claimed victory in a presidential elections in Zagreb, Croatia, Jan. 5, 2020.Milanovic won 53% of votes while Grabar Kitarovic had 47%. Croatia’s state election authorities on Monday formally confirmed Milanovic’s victory.
The loss of the presidency is seen as a major blow for the ruling party, which has been a dominant political force in Croatia since the country’s 1991 independence from Yugoslavia. It also marks a rare triumph of a leftist politician vying for a top post in populist-dominated Central Europe.
Sunday’s vote was held just days after Croatia’s conservative government took over the European Union’s rotating presidency for the first time since joining the bloc in 2013. Croatia will preside over Britain’s divorce from the EU and the start of post-Brexit talks.
Croatia is deeply divided among the conservatives and the left.
The voting on Sunday also resulted in around 4.3% invalid ballots, suggesting discontent with mainstream politics, particularly on the right, analysts say.
Most of the invalid ballots are believed to belong to the right-wing supporters of singer Miroslav Skoro, who won nearly a quarter of ballots in the first round on Dec. 22. He refused to support any of the front-runners in Sunday’s runoff.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, a moderate who has sought to position the HDZ at the center-right of the political specter, said it was an “enormous number” for Croatian elections.
Plenkovic said he will cooperate with the new president “in accordance with the constitution and the law.”
“We will do all we can so that HDZ win again at the parliamentary election,” said Plenkovic.
      
The 53-year-old Milanovic was Croatia’s prime minister until early 2016. During his term, Croatia approved EU membership in a referendum and brought some liberal reforms — including boosting rights of same-sex couples — in the staunchly Catholic nation.
A veteran politician, Milanovic was known for a sometimes populist style and fiery temperament. He reinvented himself for the presidential vote as a calm, mature leader who has learned from his own mistakes and is ready to respond with wisdom to any challenges.
Support for Grabar Kitarovic has ebbed following a series of gaffes in the election campaign. The 51-year-old had a career in diplomacy and in NATO before becoming Croatia’s first female president in 2015. Going into the runoff, Grabar Kitarovic tried to evoke Croatia’s unity during the 1991-95 war in a bid to attract far-right votes.
Though an EU member, Croatia still has corruption problems and economic woes — issues that haven’t been resolved since its devastating 1991-95 war to break free of the Serb-led Yugoslav federation.  
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Thousands of Orthodox Christian worshippers plunged into the icy waters of rivers and lakes across Bulgaria on Monday to retrieve crucifixes tossed by priests in Epiphany ceremonies commemorating the baptism of Jesus Christ.
By tradition, the person who retrieves the wooden cross will be freed from evil spirits and will be healthy throughout the year. After the cross is fished out, the priest sprinkles believers with water using a bunch of basil.
The religious holiday of Epiphany is also celebrated in some Western Christian churches as Three Kings Day, which marks the visit of the Magi, or three wise men, to the baby Jesus, and closes out the Christmas season.Pope Francis leaves at the end of an Epiphany Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Jan. 6, 2020.At the Vatican, Pope Francis urged the faithful to reject “the god of money” as well as consumerism, pleasure, success and self. In his Epiphany homily Monday in St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis encouraged people to focus on serving others, not themselves.
He urged the faithful to concentrate on the essentials by getting rid of what he calls “useless things and addictions” that numb hearts and confuse minds. Francis said believers should aid those suffering on life’s margins, saying Jesus is present in those people.
In Milan, city officials served a hotel lunch to 200 homeless people to mark the day.
In the sleepy mountain city of Kalofer in central Bulgaria, dozens of men dressed in traditional white embroidered shirts waded into the icy Tundzha River on Monday waving national flags and singing folk songs.
Led by the town’s mayor, inspired by bass drums and bagpipes and fortified by homemade plum brandy, they performed a slow “mazhko horo,” or men’s dance, stomping on the rocky riverbed.
Braving sub-zero temperatures, the men danced for nearly half an hour, up to their waists in the freezing water, pushing away chunks of ice floating on the river.
The town of Kalofer has applied to the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO for this traditional ritual to be inscribed as part of the “intangible cultural heritage of humanity.”
 Greek Orthodox faithful Nikolaos Solis, a pilgrim from Agrinio, Greece, retrieves a wooden crucifix as he swims in the Golden Horn during the Epiphany ceremony in Istanbul, Jan. 6, 2020.In Istanbul, more than a dozen Orthodox men jumped into the frigid waters of the Golden Horn amid heavy rains in a ceremony led by Patriarch Bartholomew I.
Nikolaos Solis from Agrinio in Greece retrieved the wooden cross, the fourth time he has done so. Another Greek man lost consciousness and had to be pulled out of the frigid water and taken to an ambulance.
The Patriarchate in Istanbul is considered the heart of the Orthodox world and dates back to the Byzantine Empire, which collapsed when the Muslim Ottomans conquered the city in 1453.
Epiphany marks the end of the 12 days of Christmas, but not all Orthodox Christian churches celebrate it on the same day.
While the Orthodox Christian churches in Greece, Bulgaria and Romania celebrate the feast on Jan. 6, Orthodox Churches in Russia, Ukraine and Serbia follow the Julian calendar, according to which Epiphany is celebrated on Jan. 19, as their Christmas falls on Jan. 7.    
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A 5.7-magnitude quake jolted Puerto Ricans out of their beds Monday morning, the strongest quake yet to hit the U.S. territory that has been shaking for the past week.There were no immediate reports of casualties.The home on the left is from Guayanilla and the one on the right from Guánica, #puertorico. Cars parked underneath were crushed. #TemblorPR M5.7 pic.twitter.com/A1jBhPd50b— John Morales (@JohnMoralesNBC6) January 6, 2020The quake struck just south of the island at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers (over 6 miles), according to the U.S. Geological Service. There was no tsunami threat, officials said.
Power outages were reported in some parts of Puerto Rico following the quake, Angel Vazquez, the emergency management director for the southern coastal city of Ponce, told The Associated Press.
“This is one of the strongest quakes to date since it started shaking on Dec. 28,” he said. “It lasted a long time.”#FuerteSismo | Les presentamos primeras imágenes de los daños que se reportan en Guayanilla tras el fuerte #sismo M5.8 de esta mañana en #PuertoRico ?? Información en desarrollo. ?: the_island_drone#Internacional#Temblorpic.twitter.com/GRlZWMqj9P— Sn (@Sn_MediaGroup) January 6, 2020No injuries or structural damage were immediately reported, although some residents reported small landslides that prompted crews to temporarily close roads along parts of Puerto Rico’s south coast.
Dr. Sindia Alvarado, who lives in the southern coastal town of Penuelas, said she was petrified.
“My entire family woke up screaming,” she said. “I thought the house was going to crack in half.”
The flurry of quakes in Puerto Rico’s southern region began the night of Dec. 28, with quakes ranging in magnitude from 4.7 to 5.1. Previous quakes of lesser magnitudes in recent days have cracked homes and led to goods falling off supermarket shelves. ​
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Moscow on Saturday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin amid growing tensions in the Middle East and elsewhere.Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Monday that the chancellor will discuss “current international questions” with Putin. Those will include Syria, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Ukraine and bilateral issues.Seibert said that “Russia is an important player on the world stage and as a permanent member of the (U.N.) Security Council it’s indispensable when it comes to solving conflicts in the world.” Germany is currently a non-permanent member of the Security Council.Germany and Russia are among the world powers that have been trying to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran after the U.S. withdrew from the agreement unilaterally in 2018.Foreign Minister Heiko Maas will accompany Merkel to Moscow, Seibert said.
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Eastern European delicacies like borscht and pierogi have earned their place on American menus, especially in large and culturally-diverse cities. But it’s taken some time for these kinds of dishes to find their way to rural places like North Dakota. But that’s changing thanks to the great grandson of some Ukrainian immigrants. Iryna Matviichuk traveled to North Dakota for this story narrated by Anna Rice.
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Iranians flooded the streets Sunday as the body of Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian general killed in a US drone strike, has been brought back Sunday to Iran for burial. Also Sunday Iran said it will no longer limit itself to the restrictions set forth in 2015 by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying it will continue to work with international nuclear agencies and will return to JCPOA limits “once all sanctions are removed from the country.”  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi tries to make sense of the chaos
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The blowback over the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general mounted Sunday as Iran announced it will no longer abide by the limits contained in the 2015 nuclear deal and Iraq’s Parliament called for the expulsion of all American troops from Iraqi soil.The twin developments could bring Iran closer to building an atomic bomb and enable the Islamic State group to stage a comeback in Iraq, making the Middle East a far more dangerous and unstable place.Iranian state television cited a statement by President Hassan Rouhani’s administration saying the country would not observe limits on fuel enrichment, on the size of its enriched uranium stockpile and on its research and development activities.“The Islamic Republic of Iran no longer faces any limitations in operations,” a state TV broadcaster said.In Iraq, meanwhile, lawmakers voted in favor of a resolution calling for an end to the foreign military presence in the country, including the estimated 5,200 U.S. troops stationed to help battle the Islamic State group. The bill is nonbinding and subject to approval by the Iraqi government but has the backing of the outgoing prime minister.The two decisions capped a day of mass mourning over Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, killed in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad on Friday. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets in the cities of Ahvaz and Mashhad to walk alongside the casket of Soleimani, who was the architect of Iran’s proxy wars across the Mideast and was blamed for the deaths of hundreds of Americans in suicide bombings and other attacks.Iran insisted that it remains open to negotiations with European partners over its nuclear program. And it did not back off from earlier promises that it wouldn’t seek a nuclear weapon.However, the announcement represents the clearest nuclear proliferation threat yet made by Iran since President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord in 2018 and reimposed sanctions. It further raises regional tensions, as Iran’s longtime foe Israel has promised never to allow Iran to produce an atomic bomb.Iran did not elaborate on what levels it would immediately reach in its program. Tehran has already broken some of the deal’s limits as part of a step-by-step pressure campaign to get sanctions relief. It has increased its production, begun enriching uranium to 5% and restarted enrichment at an underground facility.While it does not possess uranium enriched to weapons-grade levels of 90%, any push forward narrows the estimated one-year “breakout time” needed for it to have enough material to build a nuclear weapon if it chose to do so.The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations watchdog observing Iran’s program, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, Iran said that its cooperation with the IAEA “will continue as before.”Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi earlier told journalists that Soleimani’s killing would prompt Iranian officials to take a bigger step away from the nuclear deal.“In the world of politics, all developments are interconnected,” Mousavi said.In Iraq, where the airstrike has been denounced as a violation of the country’s sovereignty, Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi said that the government has two choices: End the presence of foreign troops or restrict their mission to training Iraqi forces. He called for the first option.The majority of about 180 legislators present in Parliament voted in favor of the troop-removal resolution. It was backed by most Shiite members of Parliament, who hold a majority of seats. Many Sunni and Kurdish legislators did not show up for the session, apparently because they oppose abolishing the deal.Asked shortly before the vote whether the U.S. would comply with an Iraqi government request for American troops to leave, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would not answer directly. But he said the U.S. “is prepared to help the Iraqi people get what it is they deserve and continue our mission there to take down terrorism from ISIS and others in the region.”Amid threats of vengeance from Iran, the U.S.-led military coalition in Iraq said Sunday it is putting the battle against IS militants on hold to focus on protecting its own troops and bases.A U.S. pullout could not only cripple the fight against the Islamic State but could also enable Iran to deepen its influence in Iraq, which like Iran is a majority-Shiite country.Soleimani’s killing has escalated the crisis between Tehran and Washington after months of back-and-forth attacks and threats that have put the wider Middle East on edge. Iran has promised “harsh revenge” for the U.S. attack, while Trump has vowed on Twitter that the U.S. will strike back at 52 targets “VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. ”The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia warned Americans “of the heightened risk of missile and drone attacks.” In Lebanon, the leader of the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah said Soleimani’s killing made U.S. military bases, warships and service members across the region fair game for attacks. A former Iranian Revolutionary Guard leader suggested the Israeli city of Haifa and centers like Tel Aviv could be targeted should the U.S. attack Iran.Iranian state TV estimated that millions of mourners came out in Ahvaz and Mashhad to pay their respects to Soleimani.The casket moved slowly through streets choked with mourners wearing black, beating their chests and carrying posters with Soleimani’s portrait. Demonstrators also carried red Shiite flags, which traditionally symbolize both the spilled blood of someone unjustly killed and a call for vengeance.The processions marked the first time Iran honored a single man with a multi-city ceremony. Not even Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who founded the Islamic Republic, received such a processional with his death in 1989. Soleimani on Monday will lie in state at Tehran’s famed Musalla mosque as the revolutionary leader did before him.Soleimani’s remains will go to Tehran and Qom on Monday for public mourning processions. He will be buried in his hometown of Kerman.
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Pro-government legislators seized control of Venezuela’s opposition-dominated legislature Sunday, moving to install a backer of President Nicolas Maduro as National Assembly president while government security forces blocked opposition lawmakers from entering the building.
 
The move, denounced as illegitimate by the opposition, is seen as a bid to undermine the authority of Assembly President Juan Guaidó, whose rival claim to the office of national president is recognized by nearly 60 countries including the United States.
 
“At this time, Venezuela has no parliament in place,” Guaidó told reporters after being unable to enter the Assembly. Other opposition lawmakers denounced the pro-government ploy as a “parliamentary coup.”FILE – Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido.Guaidó had been expected to be re-elected to a second one-year term as Assembly president in a scheduled vote Sunday, given the opposition’s strong majority in the chamber.
 
Instead he found himself trying unsuccessfully to clamber over a spiked fence to reach the Assembly, tearing his suit jacket and tussling with security forces.
 
He then delivered a lengthy denunciation of the government move during an impromptu news conference in the street outside the Assembly.
 
Inside the building, Maduro-controlled state television was broadcasting the swearing-in as Assembly president of Luis Parra, a former opposition politician who recently broke with Guaidó after being accused along with other opposition legislators in a corruption scandal.
 
It was not immediately clear whether the pro-Maduro lawmakers actually voted before the swearing-in ceremony. Guaido’s supporters in the legislature — at least some of whom were also held at bay by security forces — insisted that any vote was invalid anyway because there were not enough legislators present to form a quorum.
 
That view is shared by the U.S. government, which has led international support for Guaidó. Acting Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Michael Kozak, rejected the installation of Parra as illegitimate in a Sunday tweet.The desperate actions of the former Maduro regime, illegally forcibly preventing Juan Guaido and the majority of @AsambleaVE deputies from entering the building, make this morning’s “vote,” which lacks quorum and does not meet minimum constitutional standards, a farce.— Michael G. Kozak (@WHAAsstSecty) January 5, 2020 “The desperate actions of the former Maduro regime, illegally forcibly preventing Juan Guaidó and the majority of @AsambleaVE deputies from entering the building, make this morning’s “vote,” which lacks quorum and does not meet minimum constitutional standards, a farce,” he said.
 
The day’s events left severe doubts about the future of the Assembly, which many had considered the last remaining legitimately elected government body in Venezuela. The nation may now be confronted with not only two rival claims to the presidency but also to the National Assembly leadership.
 
Guaidó’s international backing rests on the fact that, as Assembly president, he is Venezuela’s highest-ranking official to have been democratically elected.
 
However, Maduro has used increasingly authoritarian means to cling to power in the face of widespread opposition to his rule and a catastrophic economic collapse. Millions of refugees have fled the country due to the unavailability of basic commodities, creating a crisis for neighboring countries. Maduro’s ability to remain in power owes much to the support of the armed forces, which have remained loyal despite efforts to recruit them to the opposition cause. The nation’s courts are also largely supportive of Maduro, complicating any effort to have the Assembly takeover declared illegal. 
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The French general who is overseeing the reconstruction of the fire-devastated Notre Dame Cathedral says the Paris landmark is not saved yet.Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin told French broadcaster CNews on Sunday that “the cathedral is still in a state of peril” after last year’s fire, which destroyed its roof and collapsed its spire as the cathedral was undergoing renovations.”Notre Dame is not saved because … there is an extremely important step ahead, which is to remove the scaffolding that had been built around the spire” before the fire, he said.The rector of Notre Dame, Monsignor Patrick Chauvet, told the AP last month that the cathedral is still so fragile there’s a “50% chance” the structure might not be saved, because the scaffolding may fall onto its fragile vaults.A former chief of staff of France’s armed forces, Georgelin was named by French President Emmanuel Macron to lead the reconstruction effort for Notre Dame.He said the actual condition of the cathedral’s vaults is not fully known, which means he could not guarantee that “it won’t fall apart.”Still, Georgelin says “reassuring” observations have been made on the 12th-century cathedral since the April 15 inferno, he said.”So we feel quite confident,” he added.The scaffolding on Notre Dame should be removed by mid-2020 and the restoration work should start next year, he said. 
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Spain’s Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez failed on Sunday in a first attempt to get parliament’s backing to form a government, leaving him two days to secure support to end an eight-month political gridlock.Sanchez has been acting prime minister since a first inconclusive election in April and November did not produce a conclusive result. He needed an absolute majority of at least 176 votes in his favor in the 350-seat house to be confirmed as prime minister but failed to get it.He obtained 166 votes in favor and 165 against, with 18 abstentions, while one lawmaker did not attend.On Tuesday, Sanchez will only need a simple majority – more “yes” than “no” votes. He is likely to get that after securing a commitment from the 13 lawmakers of Catalonia’s largest separatist party, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), to abstain.Earlier this week, Socialist Party leader Sanchez and Pablo Iglesias, head of the far-left party Unidas Podemos, restated their intention to form the first coalition government in Spain’s recent history.The two parties together have 155 seats, short of a majority, so Sanchez is reliant on the votes of small regional parties.In a sign of how close the race could be on Tuesday, a member from the small regional party Coalicion Canaria, Ana Oramas, voted against Sanchez instead of abstaining as her party had agreed on Friday.During Sunday morning’s debate, Sanchez stressed that a Socialist-Podemos coalition would take a progressive approach.Sanchez and Iglesias have said they will push for tax hikes on high-income earners and companies and also intend to roll back a labor reform passed by a previous conservative government.The morning was marked by tension during the speech of Mertxe Aizpurua of pro-independence Basque party EH Bildu.Aizpurua called the conservative and right wing parties People’s Party, Vox and Ciudadanos “Francoists”, a reference to late dictator Francisco Franco, and criticized the Constitution and King Felipe.
She was met with boos and shouts of “murderers”. 
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Austria’s Foreign Ministry is facing a “serious cyberattack,” it said late Saturday, warning another country could be responsible. 
 
“Due to the gravity and nature of the attack, it cannot be excluded that it is a targeted attack by a state actor,” the ministry said in a statement shortly before 11 p.m. (2200 GMT), adding that the attack was ongoing. 
 
“In the past, other European countries have been the target of similar attacks,” the statement continued. 
 
Immediate measures had been taken and a “coordination committee” set up, it said without elaborating. 
 
The attack came as Austria’s Greens on Saturday gave the go-ahead to a coalition with the country’s conservatives at a party congress in Salzburg, removing the last obstacle to the unprecedented alliance. 
 
The German government’s IT network in 2018 was hit by a cyberattack. 
 
Last year, the EU adopted powers to punish those outside the bloc who launch cyberattacks that cripple hospitals and banks, sway elections, or steal company secrets or funds. 
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Bulgarian veterinary authorities say they will cull 24,000 additional pigs amid signs of an outbreak of African swine fever at a pig farm in the northeast part of the country. 
 
The report Friday represented a continuation of an outbreak that was first detected at six breeding farms in the summer and led to the culling of more than 130,000 pigs in August. 
 
The latest outbreak was detected at a farm in the village of Nikola Kozlevo in the region of Shumen, food safety officials said. 
 
Health officials said there were 42 registered outbreaks of African swine fever in the country in 2019. 
 
The disease does not affect humans but is highly contagious among pigs. 
 
In August, industry officials expressed concerns that the virus could hit the nation’s entire pig herd of 500,000 and cause more than $1.1 billion in damage. 
 
The European Commission has set aside about $10 million to help fight the disease. Bulgarian lawmakers have approved legislation for 2020 intended to regulate conditions for raising domestic pigs and enhance biosecurity measures. 
 
This article contains material from Reuters and The Sofia Globe. 
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Oil executives say they have reached agreement to restart Russian crude oil supplies to Belarus following a cutoff over transit fees that occurred Wednesday. 
 
Belarus agreed to abandon a supplier’s premium on the oil that it imports from its much larger neighbor, Belarus state energy firm Belneftekhim said in a statement Saturday. 
 
The deal should allow for continuous operation of Belarusian refineries in January, they said. 
 
“Documents are being drawn up today together with a Russian company to pump the first batch of oil, purchased at a price without premium,” Belneftekhim’s statement said. 
 
The halt in Russian oil supplies left oil bound for Europe unaffected but could have carried a wallop for Belarus, which depends on Russia for more than 80% of its energy. 
 
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Belarusian Prime Minister Syarhey Rumas reportedly spoke by telephone earlier Saturday to try to break the impasse. Key transit route
 
Belarus is heavily dependent on Russia for fuel and cash, and it’s a key transit route for Russian energy supplies to Europe. 
 
Russia and Belarus reached a two-month deal on natural gas prices hours before a December 31 deadline, avoiding a gas shutoff at the start of the year. 
 
Minsk has been locked in a disagreement with Moscow over oil transit prices for some time against a backdrop of increasing pressure by President Vladimir Putin on Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenko to deepen integration between the two countries. 
 
Belarusians have protested in recent weeks against closer ties to Russia and perceived secrecy around talks following up on a 1999 agreement on a unified state. The Associated Press contributed to this report. 
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Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has canceled a visit to Montenegro amid a dispute over a new Montenegrin religious-rights law. 
 
“I decided not to go, and that was agreed with [Serbian Patriarch] Irinej,” Vucic said Saturday at a news conference in Belgrade. “We respect their independence.” 
 
Vucic had been planning to visit Serbian churches in Montenegro on Orthodox Christmas, which is celebrated January 7. Montenegrin officials had said the visit would add fuel to the existing tensions in the small Balkan state. 
 
Last month, Montenegro’s parliament passed a law under which religious communities must prove property ownership from before 1918, the year when predominantly Orthodox Christian Montenegro joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. FILE – Police guard the parliament building in Podgorica, Montenegro, Dec. 26, 2019, during a protest against a then-proposed law regarding religious communities and property.Serbs say the new law will lead to the impounding of Serbian Orthodox Church property in Montenegro. Montenegrin officials have repeatedly denied the claim. 
 
In 2006, Montenegro split from much larger Serbia following a referendum. About one-third of the small Balkan country’s 620,000 citizens declared themselves Serbs and want close ties with Belgrade. 
 
On Saturday, Vucic also accused Montenegrin and unspecified Western officials of launching “a hysteric campaign of lies” when he announced the visit. 
 
He said he canceled it because of possible “clashes” that would “hurt the Serbian people in Montenegro.” Daily protests
 
Led by Orthodox priests and fueled by Serbian state media, daily protests have been staged in Montenegro by thousands of Serbs demanding that the law be annulled. 
 
Serbian ultranationalists have also held protests against Montenegro’s pro-Western government in the Serbian capital, Belgrade. 
 
Thousands of soccer hooligans tried to burn the Montenegrin flag, threw flares and chanted “Set it on fire” during a protest Thursday in front of the Montenegrin Embassy in Belgrade. FILE – The Montenegrin flag at the Montenegrin Embassy is targeted with fireworks by Serbian ultranationalists during a protest against a religious-rights law adopted by Montenegro’s parliament last month, in Belgrade, Serbia, Jan. 2, 2020.Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic called the embassy attack an “uncivilized” act and said it was “stunning” Serbian police did not protect the embassy during the incident, as well as at other recent protests. 
 
Vucic said the embassy was protected and accused Markovic of “telling notorious falsehoods,” though he did not appear to comment on the flag burning itself. 
 
U.S. Ambassador to Montenegro Judy Rising Reinke expressed shock over the attack. 
 
“Shocked at the image of the desecrated #Montenegro flag at the country’s Belgrade Embassy,” she said Friday on Twitter. “Attack on a diplomatic mission is absolutely unacceptable. Difference of opinions must be resolved through dialogue, not violence or acts of vandalism.” Vucic responds
 
In his comments to the press Saturday in Belgrade, Vucic took aim at the U.S. ambassador’s remarks. 
 
“U.S. Ambassador to Montenegro [Judy Rising Reinke] was vocal yesterday, saying she was horrified by the scenes she witnessed in. Right, but [Rising Reinke] is not horrified by what’s happening in Montenegro? She is not horrified when people are getting arrested just for carrying the Serbian flag?” Vucic said. “There are 30% of them there. She is not horrified that the Serbian language is not permitted there? She is not horrified that [the Montenegrin government] is stealing [the Serbian Orthodox] Church property? She is not horrified by any of that.” 
 
The embassy attack in Belgrade followed a basketball game between Serbia’s Red Star and Germany’s Bayern Munich. 
 
Many of those taking part were members of the Serbian soccer fan group known as “delije.” 
 
Members of delije, Serbian for “tough boys,” are known for their close ties with Serbia’s ruling nationalist party and the secret police. 
 
Members of delije were behind attacks against Western embassies in Belgrade in 2008, when the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade was set on fire as police stood close by. The group was protesting against Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia. 
 The Associated Press contributed to this report. 
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Mexico’s former top security official pleaded not guilty Friday to charges he accepted a fortune in drug-money bribes from kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s notorious Sinaloa cartel to let it operate with impunity.Genaro Garcia Luna, 51, was indicted in New York on three counts of cocaine trafficking conspiracy and a false statements charge.During his brief appearance in a Brooklyn courtroom, Garcia Luna shook his head “no” as prosecutors outlined the charges against him.A judge ordered him detained after Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Reid argued that he would pose an “unacceptable risk of flight” if released. Garcia Luna’s lawyer, Cesar de Castro, said he would ask the court later for his client to be granted bail.Former drug war point manGarcia Luna was viewed as the point man in then-President Felipe Calderon’s 2006-2012 war on drugs. As public safety secretary, he was one of the most feared members of Calderon’s government, but for years was dogged by allegations about his ties to drug traffickers.Calderon’s government was criticized for not going after the Sinaloa cartel with the same energy as the cartel’s rivals. Calderon always rebuffed that criticism.Briefcases of cashU.S. prosecutors said in a court filing this month that Garcia Luna had accepted “tens of millions of dollars” in bribes — often briefcases full of cash — to protect the cartel.“Because of the defendant’s corrupt assistance, the Sinaloa Cartel conducted its criminal activity in Mexico without significant interference from Mexican law enforcement and imported multiton quantities of cocaine and other drugs into the United States,” prosecutors wrote.They added that Garcia Luna “prioritized his personal greed over his sworn duties as a public servant and assured the continued success and safety of one of the world’s most notorious trafficking organizations.”De Castro declined to comment on the charges.During Guzman’s 2018 New York trial, jurors heard former cartel member Jesus Zambada testify that he personally made at least $6 million in hidden payments to Garcia Luna, on behalf of his older brother, cartel boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.It’s alleged that during the time Garcia Luna protected the Sinaloa Cartel in exchange for bribes, the cartel, at the direction of Chapo Guzman, Mayo Zambada and other leaders, sent multiton drug loads to New York and other American cities, including the federal district covering Brooklyn and Queens, according to court documents.Garcia Luna lived in Miami, Florida, before his arrest last month in Texas. From 2001 to 2005, he led Mexico’s Federal Investigation Agency and from 2006 to 2012 served as Mexico’s secretary of public security before relocating to the U.S., authorities said.
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The United States and its allies have suspended training of Iraqi forces because of the increased threat they face after a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad on Friday killed a top Iranian general, the German military said in a letter seen by Reuters. 
 
In the letter to German lawmakers, a senior German officer said U.S. Lieutenant General Pat White had decided to further increase the level of protection for the forces deployed in Iraq under Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), which he commands. 
 
“Thus, the training for the Iraqi security and armed forces throughout Iraq is temporarily suspended,” German Lieutenant General Erich Pfeffer wrote to members of the Bundestag defense and foreign relations committees in the letter, dated January 3. 
 
“The directive is binding for all partner nations involved in OIR at the training sites in Iraq,” he added. 
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Mexico’s former top security official pleaded not guilty Friday to charges he accepted a fortune in drug-money bribes from kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s notorious Sinaloa cartel to let it operate with impunity.Genaro Garcia Luna, 51, was indicted in New York on three counts of cocaine trafficking conspiracy and a false statements charge.During his brief appearance in a Brooklyn courtroom, Garcia Luna shook his head “no” as prosecutors outlined the charges against him.A judge ordered him detained after Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Reid argued that he would pose an “unacceptable risk of flight” if released. Garcia Luna’s lawyer, Cesar de Castro, said he would ask the court later for his client to be granted bail.Former drug war point manGarcia Luna was viewed as the point man in then-President Felipe Calderon’s 2006-2012 war on drugs. As public safety secretary, he was one of the most feared members of Calderon’s government, but for years was dogged by allegations about his ties to drug traffickers.Calderon’s government was criticized for not going after the Sinaloa cartel with the same energy as the cartel’s rivals. Calderon always rebuffed that criticism.Briefcases of cashU.S. prosecutors said in a court filing this month that Garcia Luna had accepted “tens of millions of dollars” in bribes — often briefcases full of cash — to protect the cartel.“Because of the defendant’s corrupt assistance, the Sinaloa Cartel conducted its criminal activity in Mexico without significant interference from Mexican law enforcement and imported multiton quantities of cocaine and other drugs into the United States,” prosecutors wrote.They added that Garcia Luna “prioritized his personal greed over his sworn duties as a public servant and assured the continued success and safety of one of the world’s most notorious trafficking organizations.”De Castro declined to comment on the charges.During Guzman’s 2018 New York trial, jurors heard former cartel member Jesus Zambada testify that he personally made at least $6 million in hidden payments to Garcia Luna, on behalf of his older brother, cartel boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.It’s alleged that during the time Garcia Luna protected the Sinaloa Cartel in exchange for bribes, the cartel, at the direction of Chapo Guzman, Mayo Zambada and other leaders, sent multiton drug loads to New York and other American cities, including the federal district covering Brooklyn and Queens, according to court documents.Garcia Luna lived in Miami, Florida, before his arrest last month in Texas. From 2001 to 2005, he led Mexico’s Federal Investigation Agency and from 2006 to 2012 served as Mexico’s secretary of public security before relocating to the U.S., authorities said.
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Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday called for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to be released from prison in London, urging an end to what he described as his “torture” in detention.Assange, 48, is in a British jail for skipping bail when he sought asylum in Ecuador’s embassy in London, where he spent nearly seven years to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of rape that were dropped in November.Assange is also battling U.S. attempts to extradite him over Wikileaks’ publication of vast caches of leaked military documents and diplomatic cables. He faces a lengthy prison term if extradited to the United States.A U.N. human rights investigator last year said Assange has suffered psychological torture from a defamation campaign and should not be extradited to the United States where he would face a “politicized show trial.”Lopez Obrador, a leftist who has close ties with Britain’s opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, expressed his solidarity with Assange and said he hoped the former hacker and activist is “forgiven and released” from prison.”I don’t know if he has recognized that he acted against rules and norms of a political system, but at the time these cables demonstrated how the world system functions in its authoritarian nature,” Lopez Obrador said in response to a question about Assange at a regular government news briefing.”Hopefully consideration will be given to this, and he’s released and won’t continue to be tortured.”Assange’s presence in London, holed up in Ecuador’s embassy and then in jail, has been a diplomatic irritation for Britain, affecting domestic politics and relations with several countries.Corbyn, who was a guest of honor at Lopez Obrador’s inauguration in December 2018, said Assange should not be extradited to the United States “for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan.”British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose Conservative Party trounced Labour in last month’s elections, has vowed to strike new trade deals with countries outside Europe after Britain’s departure from the European Union.
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Sales of new electric cars in Norway hit a record high last year, sector experts said Friday, reaching 42.4 percent of all nearly-registered cars in 2019, mostly thanks to strong demand for Tesla’s Model 3.Norway, a major oil producer that has pioneered electric mobility, offers a very advantageous tax regime for clean vehicles, making them highly competitive in cost terms against petrol and diesel vehicles.New e-car models arriving on the market should help push their share higher still this year, said OFV, a body which monitors Norway’s car market.In 2019, 60,316 all-electric new cars were sold in Norway out of a total of 142,381, a rise of 30.8 percent from the previous year when the market share of e-cars was 31.2 percent.The Norwegian car importer association said it expects e-cars to take a market share for new cars of 55 to 60 percent in 2020.New models including the Volkswagen ID.3, the Ford Mustang Mach-e, the Polestar 2 and the Peugeot e-208 are expected to boost e-car sales.”Today, in 2020 and in the years to come, a much larger range of cars is coming, with increased autonomy, greater size and in affordable price segments,” said OFV boss Oyvind Solberg Thorsen.U.S. firm Tesla was the biggest single seller of e-cars in Norway last year, with its latest Model 3 alone selling 15,700 units.Bigger goalsNorway’s Electric Vehicle Association called the numbers “very positive” but told AFP it had hoped for e-cars to account for 50 percent of new car sales last year.The association’s secretary-general, Christina Bu, called on the government to maintain tax breaks for electric cars, which have become the topic of much debate in the Scandinavian country.Norway, where electricity is almost exclusively generated by hydropower, has a 2025 target for all new cars to be zero-emission models.Hybrid cars, which run on both thermal and electric energy, accounted for 25.9 percent of the new car market in Norway last year, while petrol and diesel cars accounted for around 16 percent each.
 
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Russia condemned U.S. airstrikes that killed a powerful Iranian commander in neighboring Iraq on Friday local time as a “reckless step” that risked “regional peace and stability” in the Middle East.  The United States killed General Qassem Soleimani, head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, in a drone strike as he and an entourage left Baghdad’s main airport by car.   Pentagon officials said U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the strike to prevent imminent attacks against American forces in the region.  Yet with Iran’s leadership already vowing a military response, Russia openly questioned the White House’s understanding of the violent forces it had unleashed.”Such actions do not create … find solutions to complex problems in the Middle East. On the contrary, it will lead to a new round of escalation of tensions in the region,” said Russia’s Foreign Ministry in a statement posted to its website.   In a separate statement, the ministry noted that Soleimani had “faithfully served and defended the national interests of Iran” and expressed condolences to the Iranian people over the commander’s death.The Kremlin’s press service later announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed the attack with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron by phone, with both sides agreeing “this action might seriously escalate tensions in the region.” FILE – A handout picture obtained from the Syrian Kurdish North Press Agency on October 24, 2019 shows Russian military police troops standing next to their armored vehicles in the northeastern Syrian city of Kobane on Oct. 23, 2019.The reaction reflected Russia and Iran’s increasingly close relations — ties forged by a four-year military alliance in Syria, where both Moscow and Tehran have come to the aid of their mutual ally, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.  Several media reports say Soleimani — widely considered the military architect of Iran’s actions in the Middle East — met with President Vladimir Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow in 2016 to personally discuss the Syrian offensive. Both the Iranian and Russian governments denied the meeting ever took place.      Soleimani is on a U.N. travel sanctions list and has been sanctioned by the U.S. since 2005 as a supporter of terrorism.  Observers in Moscow saw little chance of Russia coming to Iran’s aide in the event of a wider military conflict.”There’s nothing Russia can do,” says Alexey Malashenko, a longtime Middle East watcher and head of the Institute of Dialogue and Civilization said in an interview with VOA in Moscow.   “It’s a situation involving Iran, the U.S., and Iraq.” FILE – President Trump holds a proclamation declaring his intention to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement at the White House, May 8, 2018.Nuclear deals Yet the U.S. strike on Soleimani again puts Iran near the top of a long list of issues causing friction between Moscow and Washington.  The Kremlin already had clashed with the Trump administration over its decision to rip up the Iran nuclear deal —- a denuclearization swap for sanctions relief agreement brokered with Iran by the U.S. Obama administration along with Britain, Russia, Germany, France, and China back in 2015.Russia has found common ground with European powers in denouncing the Trump administration’s decision to abandon the agreement in favor of what the White House touts as a “maximum pressure” campaign that will yield a better deal limiting Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.Indeed, Moscow had been working with France and Germany to find ways to maneuver around U.S. sanctions and thereby keep Iran in compliance  — an effort foreign policy experts now concede is all but doomed because of the U.S. attack.  “The last hopes for resolving the problem of the Iran nuclear program have been bombed to shreds,” wrote Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Russia’s upper chamber, the Federation Council, in a post to Facebook.  “Iran can now push forward its nuclear program, even if it wasn’t planning to,” added Kosachev.  “In that way, this is bigger than just the murder of one important figure.”
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Turkey’s parliament has approved a bill that allows troop deployment in Libya to support the internationally recognized government in Tripoli.Turkish lawmakers passed the bill on Thursday with a 315-184 vote.Most opposition parties voted against the bill.The Libyan government, headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj, asked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for support as it fends off an offensive by General Khalifa Haftar’s forces to the east of the country, which are backed by Russia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan. As VOA’S Zlatica Hoke reports.
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A motion sanctioning the deployment of armed forces to Libya easily passed the Turkish Parliament on Thursday, but the specter of Turkish forces entering the Libyan civil war is triggering alarm and condemnation.Passing with a 325-184 vote, the motion gives Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a one-year mandate to send armed forces in support of Libya’s internationally recognized Government of National Accord.
 
The GNA is currently besieged by Libyan General Khalif Haftar’s military forces, who now control eastern Libya.  
 
Turkish forces becoming involved in the Libya civil war is causing international concern. Following Parliament’s vote, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Erdogan by telephone.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a symposium in Ankara, Turkey, Jan. 2, 2020.”President Trump pointed out that foreign interference is complicating the situation in Libya,” said Hogan Gidley, principal White House deputy press secretary.”Egypt condemns in the strongest terms this step that violates United Nations resolutions,” said an Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement. “The Arab Republic of Egypt also warns of repercussions of any Turkish military intervention in Libya and confirms that this intervention will negatively affect stability in the Mediterranean Sea region.”
 
Cairo is backing Haftar’s military forces, and previously warned it was ready to deploy its own forces if Ankara went ahead with sending soldiers.’Not intervening in Libya’Ankara dismissed concerns over any Libyan military deployment.”Turkey’s agreement with the Libyan government is the best guarantee for security and stability in the Mediterranean. We will, of course, protect our rights and interests in the Mediterranean,” tweeted Fahrettin Altun, Turkey’s director of communications.”Some countries are trying to put their narrow interests above international peace and security in the Mediterranean. Any agreement struck with a group other than the legitimate government in Tripoli will drag the country further into chaos,” Altun added.During debate over the motion, the Turkish government tried to allay international and domestic concerns.
 
“We’re not intervening in Libya. We are just meeting a request for help from the internationally recognized government there,” Emrullah Isler, Erdogan’s envoy to the fractured nation, told parliamentary deputies ahead of Thursday’s vote.’Disastrous call’All of the parliamentary opposition parties opposed the motion.Unal Cevikoz, a lawmaker of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, speaks in Ankara, Turkey, Jan. 2, 2020.”This motion does not speak of ‘national security,’ it speaks only of ‘national interest,’ ” Unal Cevikoz of the main opposition CHP Party said during the feisty debate. “It is a disastrous call by the presidential palace to send our citizens to the deserts of Libya.”Opposition deputies also raised concerns over the broad nature of the motion with little information on the type of Libyan military deployment.Ahead of the vote, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar suggested any military action would be confined to training and providing munitions and weapons. Last year, Ankara sent several armed drones in support of the GNA.   But while Haftar’s forces, backed by Russian mercenaries, are tightening their control around Tripoli, reports by local Turkish media suggest the GNA may be looking to Ankara to deploy a force of as many as 2,000 combat soldiers.Strategic interestsAccording to observers, Erdogan expedited passage of the motion because of the imminent threat faced by the GNA. Erdogan argues that the GNA’s survival is key to Turkey’s strategic interests.Last November, he signed two agreements with the Libyan government. One was a security agreement in which Ankara pledged military support. The second gave Turkey control of a large swath of the eastern Mediterranean between the two countries.  
 
The region is the center of an increasingly bitter rivalry among regional countries for the search of hydrocarbons. Ankara is alarmed at growing cooperation involving rivals Greece, Israel, Egypt and the Greek Cypriots in the search for and exploitation of the region’s energy.”No plan in the region that excludes Turkey has any chance of success,” Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said Wednesday.  Gas pipeline
 
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement in Athens committing his country, Greece and the Greek Cypriot government to building a multibillion-dollar gas pipeline.  
 
The pipeline seeks to exclude Turkey from lucrative transit fees in distributing vast gas reserves discovered off the Israeli coast to Europe. But the route of the planned pipeline passes through the Mediterranean Sea under Turkish control in its agreement with the GNA.Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pose for a photo before signing a deal to build a gas pipeline, in Athens, Greece, Jan. 2, 2020.”These agreements with the GNA are of so much strategic importance for Turkey,” said energy expert and former Turkish Ambassador Mithat Rende. “The strategy of Turkey is to protect its legitimate rights in the eastern Mediterranean. The strategy is to have an equitable solution to the matter, because we have overlapping claims. Turkey made it clear after signing these agreements. Turkey is ready to speak with Greece and other authorities.”Turkey’s strategy of coercing its regional rivals to negotiate is widely seen as increasingly dependent on the survival of the GNA. However, Ankara may yet hold off deploying soldiers to Libya.”Passing the motion in Parliament has a strong political message,” Oktay said. “If they [Haftar’s forces] stop their attacks or withdraw, we may see this as appropriate. But if they keep continuing their attacks, the motion gives us a one-year mandate, so we may deploy our soldiers whenever necessary.”Given that Libya is nearly 2,000 kilometers from Turkey, analysts warn any major military deployment into a combat zone carries considerable risk.
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The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday on Cuba’s defense minister, accusing him of human rights violations and supporting socialist Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.Washington blacklisted Leopoldo Cintra Frias, minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba (MINFAR), and his children, Deborah Cintra Gonzalez and Leopoldo Cintra Gonzalez, in its latest action targeting Havana for its support of Maduro.Pompeo said MINFAR had been involved in the torture of Venezuelans and subjected them to “cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment for their anti-Maduro stances” alongside Maduro’s military and intelligence officers.The designation bars Cintra, a career military officer who joined Fidel Castro’s rebel army in 1957, and his children from entering the United States.The Cuban Embassy in Washington could not immediately be reached for comment.”As Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba, Cintra Frias bears responsibility for Cuba’s actions to prop up the former Maduro regime in Venezuela,” Pompeo said.”Dismantling Venezuela’s democracy by terrifying Venezuelans into submission is the goal of MINFAR and the Cuban regime,” Pompeo added.The United States and more than 50 other countries have recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate president. Guaido invoked the constitution to assume a rival presidency last year, arguing Maduro’s 2018 re-election was a sham.But Maduro retains the support of the military, runs the government’s day-to-day operations and is backed by Russia, China and Cuba.
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