Heading into his second year as Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro has held firm to his combative culture-warrior policies while feuding with critics at home and abroad – an approach that has thrilled supporters but eroded his efforts to win allies and lift the world’s 9th-largest economy out of its doldrums.
                   
Bolsonaro’s inauguration last Jan. 1 marked a dramatic break from Brazil’s previous four elections, all won by the left. He vowed to attack the socialist ideology, stamp out corruption and unleash police against crime. As he did that, many moderates felt pushed away.
                   
In a national address just before Christmas, Bolsonaro said he “took over Brazil in a deep ethical, moral and economic crisis.”
                   
“The government has changed. Today we have a president who cherishes families, respects the will of its people, honors its military and believes in God,” he said, flanked by his wife Michelle Bolsonaro, who wore a shirt with JESUS written in large letters.
                   
And he has backed up that stand in deeds, such as stripping some human rights protection from LGBT people and cutting funding for arts projects that challenge “Christian values” as well as in words, inveighing against flamboyant carnival celebrations.
                   
Marco Feliciano, a conservative lower house lawmaker and evangelical pastor, believes Bolsonaro keeps true to values that were ignored by his predecessors.
                   
“At the start of the year, we clearly felt sectors within the government trying to separate the president from the evangelicals, but the president pushed those people away and stayed loyal to those who elected him. Evangelicals were never as honored by a president,” he said.
                   
Long a fringe lawmaker, Bolsonaro became president as an outsider following a deep economic crisis, a sweeping political corruption scandal and amid a wave of populist triumphs around the planet.
                   
But Bolsonaro’s focus on a far-right cultural agenda has generated infighting between military appointees and evangelicals in his administration and whittled away his support in Congress.
                   
While U.S. President Donald Trump, to whom Bolsonaro is often compared, has cemented authority over his Republican Party, Bolsonaro’s spats with his own party’s leaders led him to quit it in November. That leaves him effectively isolated until and if he can create his new party Alianca Pelo Brasil (Alliance for Brazil).
                   
“Bolsonaro started 2019, which was supposed to be his honeymoon year, in positive territory, but he will start his second year in the negative,” said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo. “He will be under a lot of pressure. And that puts him in fighting mood.”
                   
But he’ll need allies to pass some of his cultural agenda through congress. He will also need lawmakers to approve new reforms aimed at slashing costs in efforts to revive an economy that has seen six straight years of negative or stagnant growth.
                   
Bolsonaro’s most ambitious legislative win, an overhaul to Brazil’s pension system  that prior governments failed to achieve, came on a watered down version.
                   
Measures still pending include tax reforms and spending caps, some of which will be controversial as the parties head toward a test of strength in October’s mayoral elections. Lawmakers will be involved with the vote from June to the beginning of November.
                   
Congress already has felt comfortable blocking presidential decrees to loosen gun controls, allowing executive orders to expire without ratification, and watering down his bills like signature anti-crime legislation.
                   
Bolsonaro also has feuded with other international leaders, notably the leaders of France, Germany and the government of Norway, over their efforts to protect the Amazon rainforest, a region he sees as key to Brazil’s future. Deforestation there has accelerated in his first term.
                   
That has caused unease even among agribusiness leaders who voted for Bolsonaro, such as “soy king” Blairo Maggi, who have said the president’s handling of the environment jeopardizes Brazil’s exports.
                   
Poor economic results and his aggressive rhetoric have turned off many Bolsonaro voters, and only about 30% rate  his government good or excellent the lowest first year performance for an elected Brazilian president since the country’s 1985 return to democracy.
                   
But given the choice to simply approve or disapprove of Bolsonaro, the polls show his popularity runs higher _ roughly on a par with that of Trump in the U.S.
                   
“This is not a weak president,” said Christoper Garman, managing director for the Americas at Eurasia Group.
                   
The Brazilian government’s highest marks come in security. Justice Minister Sergio Moro, whose anti-corruption work as a judge largely contributed to the conviction of past President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s corruption conviction, polls better than Bolsonaro.
                   
Police figures compiled by website G1 show homicides fell 22% to 30,864 cases in the first nine months of the year, compared to the same period in 2018.
                   
Meanwhile, Bolsonaro has also been bothered by investigations into his family that could shake his image of incorruptibility among hard-core supporters.
                   
Prosecutors are investigating allegations that staffers working for his son Flavio, then a Rio state lawmaker, kicked their salaries back to his former driver, a long-time friend of the Bolsonaros.
                   
The 2020 local races could be telling for Bolsonaro’s re-election bid in 2022, according to Claudio Couto, a political science professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.
                   
“If Bolsonaro fails to get his own party in time he will have to build alliances with politicians of other parties so they can carry his banner. It could be a hard task for a politician that has had trouble in building bridges,” Couto said.
 
…

In his New Year’s message, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres presented a gloomy assessment of the past year and pinned his hopes for a better future in the year to come upon the world’s young people.Guterres said he looks forward to 2020 and the decade to come with a mix of dread and hope.  While welcoming in the New Year, he suggested the uncertainty and insecurity of what lies ahead is cause for reflection and concern.  He said he considered persistent inequality and rising hatred, a warring world and a warming planet as ever present threats to stability and peace.  He said climate change is not only a long-term problem but a clear and present danger.  He said the world cannot afford to see the present generation fiddling around while the planet burns.  “But there is also hope. This year, my New Year’s message is to the greatest source of that hope: the world’s young people.  From climate action to gender equality to social justice and human rights, your generation is on the frontlines and in the headlines.  I am inspired by your passion and determination. You are rightly demanding a role in shaping the future and I am with you. The United Nations stands with you — and belongs to you,” Guterres said.In September, the United Nations presented its top environmental award to a global student movement known as Fridays for Future. The movement, inspired by Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, is demanding action to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are leading to climate change.Guterres, who views global warming as a grave threat to life on Earth, champions the young activists who are agitating to forestall such a catastrophic outcome. He said the world needs young people to keep speaking out and to keep thinking big. He urged young people to keep pushing boundaries, to keep up the pressure.He ended with “I wish you peace and happiness in 2020. Thank you.” 
…

People across the world are gathering for traditional celebrations to welcome the year 2020.Revelers in New Zealand and other Pacific islands were among the first to celebrate the new year with fireworks displays.Events elsewhere in the world are being overshadowed by other concerns, including in Australia where the fireworks show in Sydney is going forward as other communities in the country cancel theirs due to fears of making a wildfire crisis worse.In Hong Kong, the usual fireworks show was canceled due to what officials said were security concerns in the city that has seen months of pro-democracy protests.Planet Fitness, in partnership with Time Square Alliance, tested the “air worthiness” of the confetti prior to Times Square’s New Year’s Eve 2020 celebration in New York City, Dec. 29, 2019 in New York.Events are scheduled to take place as the new year rolls around in major cities from Berlin to Dubai and London to New York.
…

Chancellor Angela Merkel is telling Germans in her New Year message that “everything humanly possible” must be done to tackle climate change.Merkel said that there is good reason to be confident about the 2020s in her annual televised message, the text of which was released ahead of its broadcast Tuesday. But she pointed to challenges such as the effect of digitization on people’s jobs and, above all, climate change.”The warming of our Earth is real. It is threatening. It and the crises arising from global warming were caused by humans,” she said. “So we must do everything humanly possible to deal with this challenge for humanity. That is still possible.”Merkel said that was the principle behind a recently agreed German package of measures aimed at addressing climate change, which include a carbon dioxide pricing system for the transport and heating sectors and lowering value-added tax on long-distance rail tickets.She acknowledged criticism both from people who are worried about being overburdened by the measures and from those who think they don’t go far enough, but said they provide the “necessary framework.””It’s true that, at 65, I am at an age where I personally won’t experience all the consequences of climate change that would arise if politicians didn’t act,” she said.”It is our children and grandchildren who will have to live with the consequences of what we do or don’t do today,” Merkel added. “So I am putting all my energy into Germany making its contribution — ecologically, economically, socially — to getting a grip on climate change.”That is also a priority of the European Union’s new executive Commission, headed by Ursula von der Leyen — a former German defense minister. Germany will hold the EU’s rotating presidency in the second half of 2020.”Europe must raise its voice more strongly in the world,” Merkel said, pledging to work for that during the EU presidency. She pointed to planned meetings with Chinese and African leaders.Merkel, Germany’s leader since 2005, has said that her current fourth term as chancellor will be her last.Protection against hatredUnlike last year’s, this New Year message contained no reference to infighting in the often-tense coalition government of her center-right Christian Democratic  Union and the center-left Social Democrats. It remains uncertain whether the coalition will last until the end of the parliamentary term in 2021.Merkel did, however, stress the need for authorities to protect local government officials and “all people in our country against hatred, hostility and violence, against racism and anti-Semitism.”This year saw the killing of a regional government official from Merkel’s party, Walter Luebcke, who had vocally supported Merkel’s welcoming stance toward refugees in 2015. The suspect is a far-right extremist.And in October, a man tried to force his way into a synagogue in Halle on Judaism’s holiest day, later killing two passers-by before being arrested. The suspect posted an anti-Semitic screed before the attack.
 
…

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo leaves this week for Ukraine — the country at the center of President Donald Trump’s impeachment.Pompeo will be in Kyiv on Friday, the first stop of a five-nation European and Central Asian tour that will also take him to Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Cyprus.Pompeo will be the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Ukraine and hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.The two senior State Department officials who briefed reporters Monday on Pompeo’s trip dodged all questions surrounding the impeachment, sparked by Trump’s July 25 telephone call with Zelenskiy when Trump asked the Ukrainian leader for a “favor” and to investigate 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s job with a Ukrainian gas company.Trump is also accused of holding up military aid to Ukraine until Zelenskiy publicly committed to the probe.FILE – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks in Kyiv, Dec. 4, 2019.No evidence against the Bidens has surfaced, and Trump’s belief that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election on behalf of Democrats is based on a debunked conspiracy theory spread by Russia.One of the officials called Pompeo’s visit to Ukraine this week “much more than symbolic.””The secretary’s visit to Ukraine highlights our unshakable commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the official said. “Crimea is part of Ukraine, and the United States will never recognize Russia’s attempt to annex it. This important visit also reinforces our support to Ukraine as it counters Russian aggression and disinformation, and advances reform efforts to stamp out corruption.”The official said the United States has given Ukraine about $3 billion since 2014 earmarked for law reforms and battling corruption.Ambassador William Taylor The two officials also avoided answering why Ambassador William Taylor will be leaving Kyiv before Pompeo’s arrival Friday.Taylor was appointed acting ambassador to replace Marie Yovanovitch, who was abruptly fired in May allegedly because of her objections to Trump’s push for an investigation into the Bidens.FILE – Top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine William Taylor testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 13, 2019.Taylor’s appointment was supposed to have lasted until mid-January. It is unclear why he is leaving early.Both Taylor and Yovanovitch appeared as witnesses in the Democratic-led House impeachment hearings.Another witness — U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland — said Pompeo was “in the loop” about Trump’s pressure on Ukraine for an investigation. Democrats also say Pompeo tolerated the so-called shadow foreign policy carried out in Ukraine by Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.Pompeo has only said the State Department will “continue to comply with all the legal requirements” in the impeachment process.The House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump in mid-December on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. It is still unclear when he will be put on trial in the Senate.Other stopsDuring his European trip, Pompeo will meet with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for talks on normalizing relations between the U.S. and Belarus. Lukashenko has long been considered an authoritarian ruler, but the State Department said Belarus is continuing to make progress in human rights and democratization.Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are two nations the State Department said have also made improvements in human rights, and are close economic and security partners with the U.S.Pompeo’s final stop will be in Cyprus, where the U.S. backs United Nations efforts to reunify the island split between a Greek Cypriot south and Turkish Cypriot north since 1974.
 
…

Erik Prince, a major Republican donor and founder of controversial security firm Blackwater, has been referred to the U.S. Treasury Department for possible sanctions violations tied to his recent trip to Venezuela for a meeting with a top aide of President Nicolas Maduro, two senior U.S. officials said.There’s no indication that Prince, whose sister is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, will be sanctioned for the meeting last month in Caracas with Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez.Vice President of Venezuela Delcy Rodriguez addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 27, 2019.But the fact the visit was flagged underscores the concern of officials in the Trump administration over what appeared to be an unauthorized diplomatic outreach to Maduro. This, as support for opposition leader Juan Guaido inside Venezuela — if not Washington — appears to be waning.The U.S. officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Little has been revealed about Prince’s surprise trip to Caracas last month. But the mere presence in Venezuela of a businessman with longstanding ties to the U.S. national security establishment prompted questions about whether he was there to open a secret back channel to Maduro on behalf of the Trump administration, something the State Department has strenuously denied. It also marks something of a reversal for Prince, who earlier in 2019 was thought to have been pitching a plan to form a mercenary army to topple Maduro.A person familiar with Prince’s visit said he had been asked to travel to Venezuela by an unidentified European businessman with longstanding ties to the oil-rich nation. The person said Prince did not discuss any business nor receive anything of value during his trip — actions that would’ve violated U.S. financial sanctions on Maduro’s socialist government.The purpose of the trip was to meet key players in the crisis-wracked nation, not to serve as an emissary for the Trump administration, according to the person, who isn’t authorized to discuss the visit and spoke on condition of anonymity.The person said Prince, a former Navy SEAL, continues to support the Trump administration’s goal of removing Maduro but believes State Department efforts to reach that goal have failed and new alternatives — which the person did not specify — need to be tried.Before traveling, Prince notified the National Security Council and Treasury Department about his plans and received no objections, the person said.In a statement, Prince’s attorney didn’t provide any details about the trip or whom his client may have alerted in the U.S. government.“Before traveling to Venezuela as a private citizen, Erik Prince received clear legal guidance, which he scrupulously followed,” Matthew Schwartz said in the statement. “There is nothing unlawful about simply visiting Venezuela and participating in non-business discussions, which is all that Mr. Prince did. We would be better served by focusing on measures that might actually restore peace and prosperity to Venezuela rather than worrying about who paid a visit to whom.”Neither the National Security Council nor the Treasury Department responded to a request for comment.Rodriguez is a key aide to Maduro and also one of more than 100 Venezuelan government insiders who have been slapped with sanctions by the U.S. In addition, the Trump administration this year has imposed sweeping sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry and a ban on U.S. companies and individuals from doing business with the Maduro administration.While in Caracas, Prince also met members of the opposition, although the person familiar with his trip declined to say whom.FILE – Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who many nations have recognized as the country’s rightful interim ruler, gestures as he speaks during an extraordinary session of Venezuela’s National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Dec. 17, 2019.An aide to Juan Guaido said no such meeting with anyone in the opposition took place. But the aide was unable to provide the same assurances for a small faction of minority parties that recently split from Guaido and initiated negotiations with Maduro that the U.S. considers a time-wasting sideshow.A year after the U.S. recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s interim president, arguing that Maduro’s re-election was fraudulent, the 36-year-old lawmaker is under increasing pressure from friends and foes alike to articulate a fresh vision for unseating the socialist leader, who has grown more confident as the economy stabilizes under a flood of black-market U.S. dollars.Another person familiar with the visit said Prince, in his late November dinner at Rodriguez’s home, urged the release of six executives of Houston-based Citgo held for more than two years on what are widely seen as trumped-up corruption charges. Two weeks later, the six men — five of them dual U.S.-Venezuelan citizens — were granted house arrest. The person also spoke on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivities surrounding the trip.Elliott Abrams, the U.S. special envoy to Venezuela, said Dec. 20 that Prince was not a messenger for the U.S. government, nor was the U.S. engaging in any secret talks with Maduro.“I have yet to find an American official who says he or she was briefed by Mr. Prince, and I have asked,” Abrams told a press briefing. “So, I don’t know if he briefed an American official, and if so, who it was.”Prince has been accused of acting as a back channel on behalf of Trump before. In 2017, he met with an official close to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Seychelles, islands off the coast of east Africa. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his Russia investigation said the meeting was set up ahead of time with the knowledge of former White House aide Stephen Bannon.Prince soared to notoriety after Blackwater employees in 2007 shot and killed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad’s Nisour Square during the Iraq war. After the scandal the company’s name was changed and Prince sold his shares to a private equity fund. Today he heads a private equity fund focused on investments in emerging markets.
…

One U.S. citizen and four Mexican nationals were arrested near the Canadian border in Maine in what border officials called a “human smuggling attempt.”The five men were arraigned in Bangor on Thursday, according to court documents. Two of the men were charged with bringing immigrants into the U.S. illegally and harboring them, the Bangor Daily News reported.The other three told agents that they had traveled illegally from Mexico to Canada to gain entry to the United States, according to court documents. One of them was charged with entry after removal and the other two were charged with improper entry by an alien.Border Patrol agents saw a vehicle with two people in it on Dec. 23 in an area near Limestone that is often used as an illegal crossing between Canada and the U.S., according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The agents stopped the vehicle after they saw it leave the area with five people.Investigators determined that four of the occupants were in the U.S. illegally, three of whom crossed the border illegally near LimestoneLogan Perkins, an attorney for one of the men, said her client crossed the border simply to provide for his family in Mexico. Attorneys for the other four didn’t immediately return messages. 
…

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has devised technology to restrict the use of anti-aircraft missiles after they leave American hands, a researcher said, a move that experts say could persuade the United States that it would be safe to disseminate powerful weapons more frequently.The new technology is intended for use with shoulder-fired missiles called Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems (MANPADS), Dutch researcher Jos Wetzels told a cybersecurity conference in Leipzig, Germany on Saturday. Wetzels said the system was laid out in a batch of CIA documents published by WikiLeaks in 2017 but that the files were mislabeled and attracted little public attention until now.Wetzels said the CIA had come up with a “smart arms control solution” that would restrict the use of missiles “to a particular time and a particular place.” The technique, referred to as “geofencing,” blocks the use of a device outside a specific geographic area.Weapons that are disabled when they leave the battlefield could be an attractive feature. Supplied to U.S. allies, the highly portable missiles can help win wars, but they have often been lost, sold, or passed to extremists.For example, Stinger MANPADS supplied by the United States are credited with helping mujahedeen rebels drive Soviet forces out of Afghanistan in a conflict that spanned the 1980s and 1990s. But U.S. officials have since spent billions of dollars to clear the missiles from the country — and from other conflict zones around the worldWetzels said it was unclear whether the CIA’s design ever left the drawing board or where it was meant to have been deployed, but he noted that the apparent period of development in the documents’ metadata — 2014 to 2015 — roughly coincided with media reports about the deployment of MANPADS to rebels in Syria. Geofencing might have been seen as a way of ensuring the missiles were used on the Syrian battlefield and nowhere else, he said.The CIA declined to comment.Outside experts who reviewed Wetzels’ analysis said they found it plausible.N.R. Jenzen-Jones, who directs the British-based ARES intelligence consultancy, said geofencing has long been discussed as a safeguard to allow powerful weapons “into the hands of friendly forces operating in high-risk environments.”Wetzels said geofencing was no panacea, running through a list of security vulnerabilities that could be used by insurgents to bypass the restrictions.”It’s not a watertight solution,” he said.
…

Spain’s state attorney called Monday for an imprisoned Catalan politician to be allowed to be sworn in as a member of the European Union parliament, a step that could ease the way for a center-left governing alliance to take office in the country.The European Union’s top court ruled this month that Oriol Junqueras, who served as Catalonia’s vice president until 2017, had the right to parliamentary immunity when he was elected to the bloc’s parliament in May, when he was already on trial.In response to the ruling, the Spanish state attorney’s office on Monday said that Junqueras should be allowed to leave prison to take his seat. But it said that a request should be made immediately for the European Parliament to drop the separatist politician’s immunity, so that he would serve the 13-year prison term for his role in a secession bid two years ago.The Supreme Court is expected to make a decision in coming days.FILE – Spain’s Socialist leader and acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez attends a rally to mark the kick off his campaign ahead of the general election in Seville, Spain, Oct. 31, 2019.Junqueras remains the leader of the Catalan ERC party, whose 13 lawmakers’ abstention from the 350-seat Congress of Deputies would allow the Socialists of caretaker Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the anti-austerity United We Can (Unidas Podemos) to form a minority coalition government after months of political impasse in Spain.The state attorney’s move could lead ERC to abstain from the confidence vote, expected as soon as next week. ERC has said it will make its final decision in a party meeting next week.Governing agreementIn a further sign of an impending end to the political deadlock, Sanchez and United We Can leader Pablo Iglesias were set to announce later on Monday their governing agreement, a 50-page document outlining more taxes for high-earning individuals and companies, plans to water down a labor reform passed in 2012 at the height of the financial crisis, as well as increases to spending on social policies.FILE – Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias speaks during a plenary session at Parliament in Madrid, Spain, Sept. 11, 2019.They also plan to roll back a national security law passed by a previous conservative government and increase the minimum wage, which stands at 1,050 euros (1,176 dollars), according to Spanish daily El Pais, which obtained a copy of the document.Spanish laws allow minority governments to be formed as long as they receive more votes in favor than against in the parliament’s lower house. But even with the support of a small Basque nationalist party, Sanchez and Iglesias need ERC’s abstention. They have been widely criticized by other parties for relying on the help of an imprisoned separatist.The 50-year-old Junqueras was convicted of sedition and misuse of public funds in October for his role in promoting the illegal 2017 secession bid of the prosperous northeastern region of Catalonia, which includes the city of Barcelona.He was under trial already when he decided to run in the European elections in May. Spain’s Supreme Court denied Junqueras permission to get out of jail at the time to take his position.’Against the interests of Spain’Pablo Casado, leader of the conservative Popular Party that for decades took turns in power with the Socialists, said that Sanchez was being opaque in the negotiations and that, as an interim prime minister over the past few months, the Socialist leader had governed “against the interests of Spain.””You can’t negotiate the government of Spain with those who want to break it apart,” Casado told reporters.The Popular Party, the fast-rising far-right Vox party and the center-right Citizens (Ciudadanos), which suffered a big defeat in the Nov. 10 repeated general election, together hold 150 seats in the lower chamber.
 
…

Bolivia’s interim president says her government is expelling the Mexican ambassador over an alleged attempt by members of Bolivia’s former government to leave refuge in the Mexican Embassy and flee the country.Interim President Jeanine Anez said Ambassador Maria Teresa Mercado had been given 72 hours to leave the country.A group of nine former officials in the government of deposed Bolivian President Evo Morales sought refuge in the Mexican embassy after Morales’ stepped down under pressure last month.The acting Bolivian government has initiated criminal charges against the officials for sedition, terrorism and electoral fraud and has refused to allow them safe passage out of the country.The Bolivian government has accused Spanish diplomats of trying to help the nine officials leave the Mexican embassy on Friday and says the Spaniards arrived at the embassy accompanied by a group of hooded men. Spain has denied the charges but the six Spanish diplomats departed Bolivia on Sunday after the Bolivian government asked them to leave.”A serious violation has been committed against Bolivian sovereignty and democracy, which must be respected,” Anez said.The Mexican government said Mercado had always followed the principles of Mexican foreign policy and international law.”We consider this to be a political decision,” the government said in a written statement. 
…

U.S. top diplomat Mike Pompeo will travel in January to Ukraine, the country at the heart of the ongoing impeachment process against President Donald Trump, the State Department said Monday.Pompeo, who will also visit Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Cyprus, will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.The trip will make Pompeo the most senior U.S. official to visit Ukraine since the scandal over a controversial phone call between Trump and Zelenskiy erupted earlier this year.Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress Dec. 18 and faces trial in the Senate.Pompeo, a staunch Trump defender, was personally implicated by several witnesses during the impeachment inquiry.Trump is accused of having withheld nearly $400 million in assistance to Ukraine and a White House meeting with Zelenskiy to push Kyiv to investigate his political rival Joe Biden.Despite testimony from 17 officials that Trump leveraged his office for political gain, the president has maintained his innocence throughout the impeachment inquiry — denouncing it as an “attempted coup” and an “assault on America.”The statement does not mention corruption in Ukraine, although the White House has insisted this was the main reason Trump asked Zelenskiy to investigate Biden and his son Hunter, who was then serving on the board of directors of a Ukrainian gas company.Ortagus only suggested that this issue could be discussed by referring to talks on “the investment climate, and the government’s reform agenda.”The visit comes after Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists battling the government’s forces exchanged 200 prisoners on Sunday, a further sign of the fragile detente that has begun since Zelenskiy was elected in April.Pompeo’s trip aims to “reaffirm U.S. support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Ortagus said. 
…

France and Egypt called Monday for the “greatest restraint” by Libyan and international authorities to avoid escalating the conflict in Libya, a statement from President Emmanuel Macron’s office said.Macron held talks late Sunday with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi when both agreed that warring Libyan powers need to negotiate a political solution under U.N. auspices.The statement comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed readiness this month to send troops to Libya if requested by the country’s Government of National Accord (GNA).The GNA is backed by the U.N., but the addition of Turkish troops could further inflame tensions in a country torn by the devastating campaign of strongman Khalifa Haftar and his self-styled Libyan National Army.More than 140,000 Libyans have fled their homes since April when Haftar’s forces launched an assault on Tripoli.U.N.-sponsored talks on the conflict are set for January in Berlin to try to end the fighting, sparked by the NATO-backed uprising that toppled dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.Neighboring countries like Egypt have been on high alert since then, not least against the potential for rival regional powers to exploit the turmoil.Macron and Sissi also criticized a recent deal between Turkey and Libya over maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean, calling it “against the rules of maritime law”.Critics say the deal, part of a security and military cooperation accord with the GNA, would greatly extend Ankara’s territorial claims. 
…

Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists in the country’s east have completed an exchange of about 200 prisoners. Ukrainian officials say Ukraine received 76 captives while the separatists say they took 124 of theirs. The swap carried out on Sunday was brokered earlier this month at a summit of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France in Paris.  VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports. 
…

The Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City is celebrating its second baby giraffe of the year, already as tall as a full-grown human.The female giraffe was unveiled last week after a mandatory quarantine period following her Oct. 23 birth. She will be named via a public vote to generate empathy with the little cow, zoo director Juan Carlos Sanchez Olmos said Sunday.The 96-year-old zoo on the grounds of the capital’s central park has a knack for breeding creatures in captivity: This year it welcomed 170 baby animals, including six Mexican gray wolves, which are in danger of extinction.”A new birth of a character as unique, as charismatic as a giraffe becomes emblematic – a flag for conservation, for the prestige of the zoo,” said Sanchez Olmos while four grown giraffes happily munched branches and leaves behind him.Giraffes are considered “vulnerable” because the species faces significant habitat loss in the 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, where they reside.Unlike the wolves, which will be released into the Sierra de San Pedro Martir National Park in Baja California, the giraffes are expected to spend their lives under observation in a dusty patch of the Chapultepec Zoo.A team of professionals – including nutritionists, veterinarians and biologists like Sanchez Olmos_ takes care of more than 1,000 animals in the zoo, which sits under the flight path of jetliners that roar overhead.As Sanchez Olmos detailed the zoo’s mission to not just educate and amuse, but also conserve species, caretaker Alejandro Gonzalez offered long branches from a pomegranate tree to four hungry giraffes. The tallest of the pack eagerly yanked the branches from Gonzalez’s hands.”What did I tell you?” the caretaker said, looking the tall giraffe square in the eyes. “Take it easy, please.”If Gonzalez had his way, the new addition to the herd of giraffes would be called Sarita. At least, that’s what he calls her.The long-necked creatures are a favorite fixture at the zoo. The public voted in April to name the first baby giraffe of the year Jirafifita, which translates as Uppity Little Giraffe – a play on the president’s favorite word for dismissing critics.”Fifi” is slang for uppity or posh. Populist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador frequently uses the word to describe opposition politicians and others who question his decisions.
…

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with President Donald Trump on Sunday to thank him for information that Putin said helped Russia foil terrorist attacks over the New Year’s holiday, the Kremlin said.Putin thanked Trump “for information transmitted through the special services that helped prevent the completion of terrorist acts in Russia,” the Kremlin said in a brief statement posted on its website.Based on the U.S. information, the Russian security forces detained two Russians suspected of preparing to carry out terrorist acts in St. Petersburg during the upcoming holiday, state news agency Tass reported, citing the Federal Security Service.The security service said it obtained the information from its “American partners.” It said it seized material from the suspects that confirms they were preparing terrorist acts, with no further details.There was no immediate comment from the White House.
…

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Sunday condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for blaming Poland for the outbreak of World War II, saying Moscow was lying to deflect attention from recent failures.Poland’s foreign ministry had already summoned the Russian ambassador in protest on Friday, recalling that the war began with a Soviet-German alliance and that Poland lost around six million citizens in the conflict.”President Putin has lied about Poland on numerous occasions, and he has always done it deliberately,” Morawiecki said in a statement.”This usually happens when Russian authorities feel international pressure related to their activities…. In recent weeks Russia has suffered several significant defeats,” he added.As examples, Morawiecki mentioned that the European Union had prolonged sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Crimea, Russian athletes were suspended for four years for doping, and Russia “failed in its attempt to take complete control over Belarus.”FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during his annual end-of-year news conference in Moscow, Russia Dec. 19, 2019.”I consider President Putin’s words as an attempt to cover up these problems. The Russian leader is well aware that his accusations have nothing to do with reality — and that in Poland there are no monuments of Hitler or Stalin,” Morawiecki said.”Such monuments stood here only when they were erected by the aggressors and perpetrators — the Third Reich and Soviet Russia.”Ahead of the German invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to carve up eastern Europe between them in a secret clause of the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.The Soviets attacked Poland on Sept. 17, 1939, and occupied part of its territory before Hitler launched a surprise attack against the USSR in 1941.Earlier this month, Putin blamed the Western powers and Poland for World War II, pointing to various treaties signed with Nazi Germany before the conflict began in 1939.He later also accused Poland of anti-Semitism, claiming a pre-war Polish ambassador promised to put up a statue of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in Warsaw for his pledge to send Jews to Africa.The row comes as bilateral tensions are running high, with NATO and EU member Poland fearing what has been described as Russian military adventurism and imperialist tendencies. 
…

Around 100 Belarusians protested in downtown Minsk Sunday against the prospect of deeper relations with Russia, the fifth such demonstration in the past month.The protesters held a noontime march from October Square to Independence Square and formed a human chain near the main post office.Uniformed police were deployed but did not intervene against the demonstrators.A previous demonstration in December saw multiple arrests.The gathering, in subfreezing temperatures, appeared to attract slightly fewer participants than the previous demonstrations, one of which attracted upward of 1,000 people.The unsanctioned rallies were prompted by a fresh round of talks early this month between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that coincided with the 20th anniversary of a 1999 union treaty that was supposed to create a unified state.The talks hit a snag that Lukashenko explained by saying he was merely seeking “equal terms” in mutual relations.Minsk is heavily reliant on Moscow for cheap oil and billions in annual subsidies to prop up its Soviet-era economy.Moscow has pressured Minsk to accelerate military and economic integration.There have been signs that Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and its subsequent backing of armed separatists in eastern Ukraine spooked Lukashenko and spurred his government to scale back its dependence on Russia. 
…

The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a telephone conversation initiated by the Russian side, has thanked U.S. President Donald Trump “for information transmitted via the special services that helped prevent the commission of terrorist acts in Russia.”There was no immediate confirmation from the U.S. side.The call also reportedly included discussion of “a set of issues of mutual interest,” according to the official Kremlin website.Both leaders, Putin’s office said, agreed “to continue bilateral cooperation in the fight against terrorism.”No other details were provided. 
…

French coastguards rescued 31 migrants trying to cross the English Channel overnight after the engine of one small boat cut out and the other dinghy began to take in water, local authorities in France said on Sunday.Border and coast guards in Britain and France have recently intercepted several attempted crossings, including on Dec. 26 when 49 suspected migrants were escorted to British shores after a rescue and search operation.
In the early hours of Sunday, French coast guards picked up 11 migrants, including two young children, in one boat off the coast near the port city of Calais.
Another 20, including a pregnant woman, were later rescued by the same patrol boat further along the French coast near Dunkirk, the local authorities said in a statement.
Some of the people rescued suffered from hypothermia, they added.
   
…

The French government and a key trade union on Sunday exchanged bitter accusations over who was to blame for France’s over three-week transport strike against pension reforms, as the stalemate showed little sign of relenting.Deputy Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari accused the hardline CGT union of a “systematic opposition to any reform” while the union’s chief Philippe Martinez charged the government with strewing “chaos” in the conflict.People stand in the hall of the Gare du Nord railway station, in Paris, Dec. 22, 2019.The strike — now longer than the notorious 22-day strike of winter 1995 — has now lasted 25 days and is on course to surpass the longest transport strike in France which lasted for 28 days in 1986 and early 1987.Aside from two driverless lines, the Paris metro was again almost completely shut down on Sunday while only a fraction of high-speed TGV trains were running.The government and unions are only due to hold their next talks on January 7, two days ahead of a new day of mass demonstrations against the reform which is championed by President Emmanuel Macron.In an interview with the Journal de Dimanche newspaper, Djebbari angrily accused the CGT of “attitudes of intimidation, harassment and even aggression” against railway workers who had opted not to down tools.He accused the CGT of showing a “systematic opposition to any reform, of blocking and sometimes intimidation”.”The CGT wants to make its mark through media stunts. But the French are not going to be duped by the extreme-left politicisation of this movement,” he added.’Like Thatcher’ But in an interview with the same newspaper, Martinez accused the government of trying to ensure the conflict deteriorated further.”Emmanuel Macron presents himself as a man of a new world but he is imitating Margaret Thatcher,” he said, referring to the late British prime minister who sought to break the power of the unions in 1980s standoffs.”There is real anger. Of course, not being paid for 24 days is tough. But the conflict is the result of two-and-a-half years of suffering,” Martinez added.FILE – French President Emmanuel Macron speaks at a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, July 12, 2018.He said he was awaiting concessions from Macron in a New Year’s address Tuesday evening as well as recognition that “most people are not happy and that he [the president] was wrong”.The French president, elected in 2017 on pledges to reform France, has remained virtually silent on the standoff, save for a call for a Christmas truce that went unheeded and a vow not to take a presidential pension.This will intensify attention on December 31 address, with all eyes on whether Macron offers steps to defuse the conflict or indicates he is ready for a long, grinding standoff.The unions are demanding that the government drops a plan to merge 42 existing pension schemes into a single, points-based system.The overhaul would see workers in certain sectors — including the railways — lose early retirement benefits. The government says the pension overhaul is needed to create a fairer system.But workers object to the inclusion of a so-called pivot age of 64 until which people would have to work to earn a full pension — two years beyond the official retirement age.   
…

Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have started an all-for-all prisoner swap, after which all remaining prisoners of the five-year conflict should return home, the office of Ukraine’s president said on Sunday.The agreement was concluded by Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Paris in December.The swap is taking place at a check point near the industrial town of Horlivka in the Donetsk region.Russia’s RIA news agency, citing a local official from the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, said Kiev would hand over 87 separatists, while Donetsk would return 55 pro-central government fighters.Kiev’s forces have been battling separatists in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine since 2014 in a conflict that has claimed more than 13,000 lives. Sporadic fighting continues despite a ceasefire agreement.There have been several prisoner exchanges between Kiev and the rebels. In the last swap, conducted in December 2017, Ukraine handed over about 300 captives to pro-Russian separatists and took back around 70.Relations between Ukraine and Russia collapsed following Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, and its subsequent support for separatists in the eastern Donbass region.President Zelenskiy won a landslide election victory in April promising to end the conflict.Widely criticized domestically for his plan to grant special status to Donbass to help end the five-year conflict, Zelenskiy’s latest actions have given rise to cautious optimism.In September, after a carefully negotiated rapprochement, Russia and Ukraine swapped dozens of prisoners. The move brought Western praise and hopes that relations between Moscow and Kiev could thaw.The released Ukrainians included sailors detained by Russia during a clash in waters off Crimea last year, and filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, jailed in Russia.The meeting of Ukrainian, Russian, German and French leaders earlier this month in Paris renewed optimism for a resolution to the conflict, and confirmed the relevance of an early peace agreement signed in Belarusian capital Minsk in 2015.Relations between the two countries are also unlikely to be aggravated by a dispute in the gas sector, where Kiev and Moscow are arguing about a new transit contract to replace the current agreement which expires at the end of the year.Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of using natural gas supplies to put pressure on the neighboring state, but last week the parties managed to agree on the main points of a new deal.
…

Austria’s Greens, who are in coalition talks with conservatives led by Sebastian Kurz, on Saturday summoned a meeting of their party’s top decision-making body next week to sign off on a deal, indicating an agreement is close. The Greens’ Federal Congress, comprising various groups within the party, including its national, local and European lawmakers, must sign off on any coalition deal, and it requires a week’s notice to meet. The meeting has been called for January 4 and invitations were sent shortly before midnight, a Greens spokeswoman said. Although a deal has not yet been struck between the Greens and Kurz’s People’s Party (OVP), which won the last parliamentary election on September 29, calling the meeting indicates the Greens believe an agreement will be reached before then. Kurz said on Friday as talks resumed after a short Christmas break that he aimed to have a government sworn in by “early to mid-January.” In contrast to the Greens, Kurz can sign off on the deal himself on behalf of his party. Given the difficulty in keeping the deal confidential once it is put to the more than 250 members of the Federal Congress, the details are likely to be announced before it meets. Media reports said presentation was likely to happen on January 2 or January 3. Few details have emerged so far, but Greens leader Werner Kogler has said he wants an investment package in environmental measures, and Kurz has said his priorities include continuing his hard line on illegal immigration and keeping a balanced budget. There have also been reports the deal includes large investments in expanding Austria’s rail network. A deal would bring Kurz back to power as chancellor after his coalition with the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) collapsed in May over a video sting that felled FPO leader Heinz-Christian Strache. A provisional government of civil servants is in place for the time being until a coalition is formed. 
…

Chile’s human rights watchdog is calling for an investigation into the electrocution of a man during anti-government protests. 
 
The death during clashes between police and protesters on Friday raised the number of those killed during protests that started in October to at least 27. 
 
The man who died was 40 years old and was electrocuted after falling into a pit with cables during chaotic street scenes, according to police and local media. 
 
The exact circumstances of the man’s death should be clarified as soon as possible, Chile’s National Institute of Human Rights said. 
 
The death happened during a protest in Plaza Italia, a focal point of unrest in  Santiago. The demonstrations started over an increase in subway fares and eventually encompassed grievances about pensions, education, health care and other issues. 
 
Demonstrations are frequently held on Fridays, and a movie theater burned in the latest clashes. 
 
Demonstrators made way for firetrucks arriving to fight the blaze at the Alameda Cultural Center, which also has been a staging ground for volunteer medics who treat injured demonstrators. 
 
Firefighters said the building was badly damaged and the cause would be investigated. 
…

Thousands of protesters opposed to the French government’s plan to revamp the retirement system marched through Paris on Saturday, the 24th day of crippling strikes.In an unusual gesture, unions organizing the march asked yellow vest protesters to join them. The march coincided with the 59th consecutive Saturday of marches by the yellow vest movement that seeks social and economic justice.Brief scuffles marred the union march as individuals, some wearing masks, burned construction materials along the route. The march went from the Gare du Nord train station to Chatelet in central Paris.“Whatever the color of the vest, we must stick together,” the leader of the hard-left CGT union Philippe Martinez said on BFMTV, referring to the several hundred yellow vests who joined the march.President Emmanuel Macron wants to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 and rid the complex system of 42 special categories, notably railway and bus and Metro employees, with their own rules.The strikes have disrupted transport across France and beyond, hobbling Paris Metros and trains across the country as well as businesses. The strikes have been especially felt over the holiday season.On Saturday, the SNCF train authority said only six of 10 high-speed trains were running. The Eurostar from Paris to London had four of five trains running. Paris Metro service was improving, with partial service on several lines that had been shut down from the start. Only two lines, both automatic, ran without problem.Prime Minister Edouard Philippe plans to continue talks with unions after a holiday break. The unions plan a major day of action on Jan. 9.
…