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Guatemala on Wednesday requested that the United States allow Guatemalans in the country to remain on humanitarian grounds following the devastation caused by storm Eta last week.”The Guatemalan government reiterates the necessity that Guatemalans who are currently in the United States can remain, and will not be deported, under this temporary protection mechanism,” Foreign Minister Pedro Brolo wrote in a letter.Brolo handed U.S. Ambassador William Popp official correspondence in which President Alejandro Giammattei requested so-called temporary protected status (TPS) for its citizens, the statement said.TPS allows foreigners whose home countries experience a natural disaster, armed conflict or other extraordinary event to remain in the United States and apply for work permits. The status must be renewed periodically by the secretary of Homeland Security, who can extend it for six- to 18-month intervals.In Guatemala, the confirmed death toll from Eta stood at 46, and there were 96 people missing, according to CONRED figures.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday that his country would not cave to pressure from China over the case of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested in Canada on a U.S. warrant almost two years ago. The case has caused a diplomatic chill between Canada and China, which soon after Meng’s arrest detained two Canadian citizens, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, on espionage charges. “We don’t believe in coercive diplomacy and … we actually deeply believe that if you start giving into that kind of pressure, you’ll leave yourself worse off for the long term,” Trudeau said Wednesday in an interview during an online conference hosted by the Financial Times. “China continues to think that they can just put enough pressure on us, and we will … give in. But that’s exactly the opposite of our position,” he said. Meng has denied charges brought against her in the United States and is fighting extradition from house arrest in Vancouver. 
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Bolivia’s new president, Luis Arce, has moved swiftly to restore ties with Iran and Venezuela, receiving the credentials of ambassadors from the two countries on Wednesday, just three days after his socialist party retook the reins of power.Bolivia’s government said in a statement it wanted to “reestablish diplomatic relations damaged by the previous de facto government” led by conservative interim President Jeanine Anez.Writing on Twitter, Arce said he was restoring bilateral relations with Venezuela “to strengthen strategic ties for the good of our peoples.”He said the same was being done with Iran and that “they are always welcome in Bolivia. We will continue to strengthen common projects.”Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif attended Arce’s swearing-in ceremony in La Paz on Sunday as part of a tour of leftist Latin American nations that included Venezuela and Cuba.Venezuela and Iran were key allies for former Bolivian President Evo Morales, an Arce ally who swept into office as the country’s first indigenous president in 2006 and resigned under pressure over disputed elections last year.Former Bolivian President Evo Morales attends a rally to welcome him to Chimore, Bolivia, Nov. 11, 2020, from where he flew into exile one year ago.Morales had planned to make Iran a partner in the exploitation of its bountiful lithium reserves, while he and longtime ally President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela frequently sympathized publicly over what they called U.S. “meddling” in the region.But days after Anez took power last November, Venezuelan diplomats and Cuban doctors were expelled amid accusations by the interim government that they had fomented unrest following Morales’ departure.Now, with the return to power of Morales’ socialist MAS Party — with Arce at the helm following elections in October — Bolivia is resetting its foreign policy again.On Monday, Morales returned to Bolivia from exile in Argentina and on Wednesday was feted in a ceremony in Chimore, a town in his native Chapare province, a central coca-growing region.In a speech, Morales urged Latin American nations to maintain their sovereignty over natural resources.”The West, that is the industrialized countries, only want us Latin Americans so that we can guarantee them raw material,” he said in a broadcast speech.Arce did not attend the event and has not yet referred publicly to the return of Morales, who he has said will play no role in his government.
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Giuliana Chenal-Minuzzo, the first female athlete to deliver the Olympic oath, in 1956, and the first woman to win a Winter Games medal for Italy four years earlier, has died at the age of 88. The Italian was hailed by her country’s alpine skiing federation as “one of the greatest post-war champions.” Chenal-Minuzzo won downhill bronze in the 1952 Oslo Olympics, going on to claim a second bronze at the 1960 Squaw Valley Games, that time in the giant slalom. FILE – Italian Alpine skier Giuliana Chenal-Minuzzo reads the Olympic oath, on behalf of all the athletes taking part, at the opening ceremony of the seventh Winter Olympic Games, at Cortina, Italy, Jan.26, 1956.At the intervening 1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Games, she broke ground by delivering the Olympic oath. First pronounced by Belgian athlete Victor Boin (water polo, swimming and fencing) at the 1920 Antwerp Summer Games, the Olympic oath of modern times was similar to that taken by the Olympic athletes of ancient times – but at the modern Olympic Games, the athletes swear on the Olympic flag, not on the entrails of a sacrificed animal. The modern Olympic oath, originally written by International Olympic Committee (IOC) president and founder Pierre de Coubertin, has been modified over time to reflect the changing nature of the sporting competition. The oath taker is from the host nation and takes the oath on behalf of all athletes participating at those Olympic Games. Oaths for officials and coaches were added in 1972 and 2010 respectively. 
 
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An extremely rare, purple-pink diamond mined in Russia, which Sotheby’s described as “a true wonder of nature,” sold for $26.6 million on Wednesday, the auction house said.Sotheby’s had estimated that the flawless oval gem, “The Spirit of the Rose,” could fetch from $23 million to $38 million at the Geneva sale.The hammer price was 21 million Swiss francs. With commission, the final price was 24.4 million Swiss francs, or US $26.6 million. It was bought by a telephone bidder who chose to remain anonymous, Sotheby’s said.Jewelry expert Benoit Repellin, who led the sale, said it set a record for a diamond graded fancy vivid purple-pink sold at auction. The stone weighed 14.83 carats and was the largest pink diamond with that color grading to go on the block.The diamond was named after a ballet performed by the Ballets Russes and its legendary dancer Vaslav Nijinsky in 1911.Mined by Russian diamond producer Alrosa in July 2017, it was cut from the largest pink crystal ever found in the country, Sotheby’s said.The diamond was shown in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei.Colored stones have been greatly valued as an asset class by the super-rich in recent years, with top-quality pink diamonds especially prized.The Argyle mine in western Australia, which produced the world’s largest supply of pink diamonds, halted production last week because of depletion.”The lucky buyer could well profit from prices soaring for pink diamonds in the coming years thanks to increased rarity,” Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds, Europe’s largest online diamond jeweler, said in a statement.Naturally colored diamonds occur because they possess a particular lattice structure that refracts light to produce colored, rather than white, stones.
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Greece and Egypt, which angered Turkey by reaching an agreement on natural resources in the eastern Mediterranean, will welcome more decisive U.S. involvement in the region under President-elect Joe Biden, the Greek prime minister said Wednesday.”Both Greece and Egypt will receive positively a more decisive role of the United States in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at a news conference with visiting Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.Cairo and Athens sealed an accord for the partial demarcation of maritime boundaries in August, giving them rights over natural resources in the Mediterranean.Mitsotakis said the accord showed that countries that respect international law and neighborly relations can achieve results to the benefit of their people. He said both Greece and Egypt were willing to expand the accord.Turkey’s positionTurkey, which is at odds with Greece over overlapping claims to energy resources in the Mediterranean, says the pact infringes on its own continental shelf.The agreement also overlaps maritime zones Turkey agreed to with Libya last year, which were declared illegal by Athens.Tensions between the two NATO allies flared following the accord, after Turkey sent its Oruc Reis seismic survey vessel into disputed Mediterranean waters.Ankara pulled out the vessel in September to allow for diplomacy with Greece but then sent it back to the area.On Wednesday, Greece said Turkey’s new naval advisory, engaging an area for seismic activities from Wednesday through November 23, was provocative and urged Ankara to revoke it immediately.”We agreed to continue our solidarity, alongside all friendly countries, in order to confront anyone who threatens regional stability and security, and in a way that prevents any party from imposing its hostile positions,” el-Sissi said.
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Three months after disputed elections in Belarus, protesters and journalists continue to be arrested, beaten and harassed. On Sunday, police detained over 1,000 people at protests in cities across the Eastern European nation.The arrests were the highest number since protests calling for President Alexander Lukashenko to step down began in August.FILE – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko takes his oath of office during his inauguration ceremony at the Palace of the Independence in Minsk, Belarus, Sept. 23, 2020.Weekly rallies have been held since the presidential elections on Aug. 9 in which long-term leader Lukashenko retained power in a vote seen by international observers as not fair or transparent and in which key opposition were detained or forced to flee.”Since the end of August, the situation has worsened again, and journalists have been disappearing again,” Andrei Bastunets, chair of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ), told VOA.In that period, the association has documented at least 60 cases of journalists being arrested, including 16 who are still in custody, and several who say they were beaten. In addition, the government has revoked accreditation to international journalists, and fined or filed legal action against local and foreign media, and access to internet has been blocked.Charges against the media include unlawful disobedience or taking part in an “unsanctioned event.”The international community has called on Belarus to hold new elections and a report by the international Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which in September invoked the “Moscow Mechanism” allowing it to send in experts,  said it found evidence of “massive and systematic” rights abuses.The Belarus Foreign Ministry has dismissed international criticism and the OSCE decision to invoke the Moscow Mechanism. An official was cited in news reports as having told the OSCE in Vienna, “Authorities are simply forced to take tough steps, that are often ambiguously perceived, to maintain the social, economic and political stability in the country and ensure national security.”Journalists, including from the Associated Press and BBC, have said they were detained and beaten while covering the protests. Belarus Blocks Scores of News Sites Amid Protest, International OutcryMinsk-based journalists’ trade association calls virtual news blackout ‘indirect censorship,’ constitutional violation”In the first days of the protests, the police didn’t really look at whether you were a journalist or not. Our colleagues were treated very harshly, and many of them were taken to a temporary detention center, where they went through the same torture as civil activists and protesters,” Bastunets said.At first, he added, news outlets were still able to call the Interior Ministry press service or city officials to request that detained colleagues be freed. Bastunets says he believes that may have been thanks to statements by then Interior Minister Yuri Karayev, who said journalists should not be detained because, like police, they are performing their duties.”Afterwards, Karaev was removed from his post, though not for these words,” said Bastunets, citing several cases where journalists, clearly identified as press, had gathered to cover protests, only to be detained.“They stood aside from the protesters,” Bastunets said. “But police buses rolled in, the journalists were crammed into them. They were taken, supposedly, to check documents, but from police stations they were sent to detention centers. And lately it started to happen at every rally.”More Than 500 Protesters Detained in Belarus Demonstrators demand resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko, call for new electionsThe Belarusian response to protests has been shocking, Aleksandr Klaskovsky, head of analytical projects at the independent news agency BelaPAN, said.“Terrible things were happening, I mean the brutality of the security forces, which beat people caught in the streets,” Klaskovsky told VOA. “We learned many shocking details later.”Klaskovsky said that immediately after the Aug. 9 vote, internet access was shut off for three days. Access is also cut during protests and authorities have threatened to block or suspend several popular news websites including Tut.by, which is often described as one of Belarus’s leading news sites.As authorities worked to prevent access, Belarusians found ways to bypass the blocks.“Many Belarusians have mastered different ways of bypassing blocks,” Bastunets from the journalist association said, adding that Telegram channels, “have become the main source of information and communication.”Irina Khalip, Belarus correspondent for Novaya Gazeta, the independent Russian outlet known for its investigative reporting, agreed. “Without question, Telegram channels and independent sites” are the main source of information, she said.“Even social networks have largely taken on the function of mass information,” Khalip said, adding that through these platforms Belarusians can clarify what happened or get information on who has been arrested or released.Credentials RevokedInternational journalists have also been restricted, after the Foreign Ministry in August revoked accreditations under what it described as a “change in rules.”“The new accreditations are carefully parceled out, and, as far as I can tell, ahead of anyone else they go to the Russian media reporters. They are now more loyal, obviously, given the political situation and the fact that [Russian President] Vladimir Putin supported Alexander Lukashenko,” said Klaskovsky.”The authorities push journalists into an illegal space, and now it is better to go to the action just in a column of demonstrators than to go out with a badge and a vest stenciled ‘Press’,” Klaskovsky said, adding that it lessened the risk of jail.Khalip of Novaya Gazeta said accreditation has never been a guarantee of safety.“I never understood the point of hunting for accreditation in the sincere conviction that this piece of paper will help you in some way,” she said. “In fact, these papers have not saved anyone from arrests, beatings, or fines.” Belarus Media Arrests Are Sign of Election Crackdown, Experts SayBelarus arrests at least 20 journalists, along with opposition leader and protesters, ahead of presidential vote next month Even state-run media has publicly objected to the crackdown. In August, around 300 Belarusian state TV channel employees went on strike over what they called an official ban on reporting harsh crackdowns on protesters.They were replaced by employees sent to Belarus by the Russian-funded channel RT.No guarantee of safetyKlaskovsky, from BelaPan, likened the challenges for media in the past three months to being “on the front line.”“We can say that the authorities have started a war against the part of society that demands changes, against the non-government press,” Klaskovsky said. “For them, journalists are enemies, because the purpose of the authorities is to suppress the civil resistance, and since journalists honestly do their job, cover everything that is happening, all the facets of the current deep political crisis in Belarus, [the media] get in the middle of it.”Khalip agreed, saying said that in today’s Belarus, journalists are forced to work “in a situation of war” where nothing guarantees safety.”I always knew that among the journalists I knew there were many brave, fearless and heroic people,” Khalip said. “And now they are demonstrating all this every day, when they get into the heat of action, go to the marches, lock hands shoulder-to-shoulder with the protesters. It’s beautiful, and this is how it should be.”Klaskovsky also praised the media’s refusal to be silenced.“Journalists have brought the truth about the first terrible days after the elections to their readers and to the world community. And so, I believe, have fulfilled their historical task,” said Klaskovsky. “Today there is no question as to whether independent journalism exists in Belarus.”This story originated in VOA’s Russia service.
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The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is appealing for $22 million to help 75,000 people worst affected by Hurricane Eta which tore through Central America with devastating force, ravaging seven countries in its path.  Hurricane Eta is emerging as a major humanitarian crisis in Central America.  More than 2.5 million people from Panama to Belize are affected.  The most severe impacts are being felt in Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala.The International Red Cross Federation says Honduras is hardest hit of all with 1.7 million people or 20 percent of its population severely affected.  IFRC spokesman, Matthew Cochrane, says women, children and members of indigenous and African communities who have lost everything are among the most vulnerable.“These are areas that were already hit very hard by COVID and its economic repercussions,” said Cochrane. “And, obviously these are areas that were homes of pre-existing vulnerabilities.  Some of the countries affected are home to some of the largest economic inequalities in the world as well as high rates of crime and violence.” WATCH: Hurricane Eta’s devastation in Nicaragua Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 7 MB480p | 10 MB540p | 15 MB720p | 39 MB1080p | 63 MBOriginal | 157 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioCochrane says assessment missions to know the full extent of needs are still underway in Nicaragua and Honduras.   He tells VOA one of the biggest challenges following a disaster such as this is accessing affected areas cut off by flooding and mudslides.“We know that roads and infrastructure have been damaged and destroyed,” said Cochrane. “We know that water systems have been washed away or completely inundated.  We know that health systems have also taken a real blow…We have not yet had reports of disease outbreaks.  That is not to say there have not been localized disease outbreaks in many of the areas we have not reached.” Tropical Storm Eta Hits Florida Keys Storm has spread devastating rains from Nicaragua to Cuba Cochrane says measures must be taken to prevent an outbreak of water-borne diseases from stagnant water.   Over the next 18 months, the Red Cross says its multi-country operation will focus on rebuilding and repairing damaged shelters, improving access to clean water, hygiene and sanitation and addressing health care needs.  Other critical areas include COVID-19 prevention and providing mental health support to the many traumatized victims of this disaster.
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One week after the devastation caused by Hurricane Eta in the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, hundreds of families are struggling to get back on their feet. Donaldo Hernandez in Nicaragua has this report for VOA, narrated by Cristina Smit.   
Camera: Houston Castillo  
 
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A Canadian man charged with killing 10 people and the attempted murder of 16 in a 2018 van attack in Toronto told a court he should not be held “criminally responsible” as the five-week trial kicked off on Tuesday. Alek Minassian, 28, rented a van and drove it onto the sidewalk along Yonge Street in North York, a suburb just north of Toronto, striking passersby. He later told police detectives he was motivated by a desire to punish society for his perceived status as an “incel” — short for involuntary celibate — because he believed women would not have sex with him. Minassian has been charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder. He has not denied his role but told the court via Zoom that he was entering a plea of “not criminally responsible” on all counts. “On a warm spring afternoon … numerous pedestrians were out along Yonge Street enjoying the sun when their worlds were shattered by the actions of Mr. Minassian,” prosecutor Joe Callaghan told the court. “Mr. Minassian will be admitting that he intended to kill the 10 people who died, the murders were planned and deliberate, and that he in fact did cause the death of those people.” Callaghan added that psychological and psychiatric experts will be called to present evidence. The trial began with a reading of the agreed statement of facts — a chronological timeline of the events, including Minassian’s conversations with police detectives after he admitted his guilt. The hearings are scheduled to finish on December 18. The trial is being livestreamed in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for the public to attend, with social distancing and mask requirements in place. 
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The United Nations is appealing for $45.5 million to provide life-saving assistance for 260,000 of the most vulnerable people affected by Super Typhoon Goni in the Philippines.The storm, the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone this year, swept across large swathes of southern Luzon with terrifying force 10 days ago. Torrential rains and violent winds blew away roof tops, damaging and destroying homes and infrastructure. The lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people have been shattered.The roof and pews of the St. Francis of Assisi church in Malinao town are damaged from powerful winds of Typhoon Goni in Albay province, central Philippines, Nov. 3, 2020.The United Nations says 1.9 million people in eight of the Philippines’ 17 regions have been affected by the typhoon, leaving an estimated 845,000 people in need of humanitarian assistance. The U.N. plans to aid 260,000 of the most vulnerable; among them women, children, the disabled and elderly — people who essentially have lost everything and have no means of support.Given the extent of devastation, the number of casualties has been relatively low. The government reports at least 25 people have been killed, 399 injured and seven are missing. U.N. resident humanitarian coordinator in the Philippines Gustavo Gonzalez says the government’s preemptive action saved many lives.“The government of the Philippines has made significant efforts and they deserve recognition by the huge preemptive evacuation of people,” Gonzalez said. “We are talking about 480,000 people that were evacuated before the arrival of the typhoon. They were moved to some evacuation centers.”Unfortunately, Gonzales said people in the centers now are faced with other risks posed by COVID-19. Local authorities, he notes, are particularly concerned this disaster is taking place at the same time the pandemic is spreading throughout the country.“People in evacuation centers, of course, cannot follow social distancing measures,” Gonzalez said. “The lack of appropriate water access and sanitation represent also a health risk for an area that is also well known by previous cholera outbreaks.”The World Health Organization reports 400,000 cases of coronavirus, including 7,661 deaths in the Philippines. Gonzales notes Typhoon Goni destroyed the only COVID-19 laboratory in the heavily affected Bicol Region, putting an end to all testing.The appeal will fund essential relief, including food, shelter, hygiene, water and sanitation, psychosocial support and protection. The money also will be used to restore livelihoods and critical services to promote the rapid recovery of the most affected communities.
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After the recent terror attacks in France and Austria, European leaders held a summit Tuesday in France to coordinate the response against terrorism, and they are pushing for a “common coordinated and rapid” European response to counterterror attacks.The question of how to respond to Islamist attacks like the recent ones in Nice and Vienna brought together Tuesday French President Emmanuel Macron and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz at the Elysee Palace in Paris where they were joined by videoconference with the leaders of Germany, the Netherlands, and top EU officials.President Macron urged a “common coordinated and rapid” European response to counterterror attacks.Macron detailed the need to develop common databases between EU states, improve cooperation between law enforcement, share intel and enact tougher legislation on the continent. Any threat at EU external borders or inside even one member state is a threat to the entire EU, said the French president.European leaders also stressed the need for what they said should be a “determined fight against terrorist propaganda and hate speech on the internet.” Macron mentioned Netherlands and Austria as good examples of how this fight should be carried out.He said the Internet is a space of freedom, and social networks are, too, but this freedom exists only if there is security and if it does not serve as a refuge for those who flout European values or seek to indoctrinate with deadly ideologies. Macron said terrorist propaganda must be removed within an hour once it is flagged.To counter jihadist terrorism, EU leaders also are calling for measures to ensure that the teachings of imams on the continent do not include hate speech.Charles Michel is the president of the European Council.Michel said religious freedom is key in Europe, but there also is a need to guarantee that imams preach the right values of tolerance and peace.This meeting took place on the eve of the anniversary of the November 2015 attacks that killed more than 100 people in Paris. 
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In the land that gave the world the first modern novel, Don Quixote, the language of its creator, Miguel de Cervantes, is under threat. This is the contention of bilingual campaigners and conservative politicians who believe a new education law will erode a constitutional guarantee to teach Spanish, also known as Castilian, in schools. Spain is a linguistically diverse country where the Catalan, Galician and Basque languages have equal status that is protected by law. Spain’s left-wing coalition government has introduced a reform, which says Castilian Spanish does not have to be the principal language in classrooms throughout the country. It means in regions like Catalonia, the Basque Country or Galicia, educational authorities must still teach Spanish but it does not have to be the first language and instead can be taught as a secondary subject. The law has sparked a passionate political dispute in a country where language wars have been raging since Spain returned to democracy in the late 1970s. Longtime leader General Francisco Franco banned regional languages for four decades. After he died in 1975 and democracy was stored, regions won the power to decide which languages were taught in the classroom. Catalonia, which for almost 40 years has been run by nationalist regional governments, embarked on a policy of linguistic immersion with Catalan as the main language in public schools. Spanish is taught for only two hours per week. Elsewhere, in the Basque Country, Galicia and the Balearic Islands, which include Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca, regional languages have also been offered in schools. Heritage at stake Campaigners who defend the right to learn in Spanish accuse the left-wing coalition government of abolishing the last remaining guarantees to education in what has been Spain’s dominant language for centuries.  The reform was agreed among the ruling Socialists, their junior partners in the coalition, the far-left Unidas Podemos and the Catalan separatists Catalan Republican Left, ERC. Ana Losada, president of the Assembly for Bilingual Schools in Catalonia, believes the reform will give authorities a chance to rid Spanish from the classrooms. “Here in Catalonia, they have imposed Catalan and relegated Spanish to a secondary subject. We have fought through the courts to defend our rights under the constitution for our children to be taught in Spanish and we have won,” she told VOA. “This law change will take away that right to defend our language.” Losada recounted the case of 30 parents at the Guinovart School in Castelldefels near Barcelona who took legal action to force authorities to teach in Spanish in 25% of teaching time. She said the Spanish constitutional court defended their right to learn in their mother tongue, despite suffering abuse from those who oppose their actions. The issue of language has proved hugely divisive in Spain. Some Spanish speakers believe Spanish is an integral part of the national culture. Equally, Catalans, Basques and Galicians claim they want to defend their own heritage, symbolized in their languages. Political battle Carlos Carrizosa, leader of the center-right Ciudadanos party in Catalonia, believes the reform was a concession by the minority government so Catalan separatists would support the 2021 budget in a vote due after Christmas. FILE – Carlos Carrizosa of Ciudadanos party speaks at the Parliament of Catalonia after Spain’s Supreme Court jailed nine separatist leaders, triggering violent protests in the region, in Barcelona, Spain, October 17, 2019.The support of the ERC, which has 13 lawmakers, would be crucial to approve the government’s spending plan to help Spain recover from the economic damage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ciudadanos, a party with only 10 MPs, may also be vital for the Socialists to win a majority to pass the budget but they are going to make this education law a bargaining chip in return for their votes. “My party has said today that we will not support the budget if they go ahead with this reform. Until now children have been guaranteed Spanish in schools in Catalonia – even if we have had to take court action to ensure this. This law will change this,” he told VOA in an interview. Proponents of the reform, which will come into action when schools return in September 2021, denied the charge that they show no respect for the language of Cervantes. Equality “The charge that we are trying to rid of Spanish could not be further from the truth. This law will ensure that any pupil must leave school speaking Spanish and any other language, be it Catalan, Basque or Galician equally well,” Juan Mena, education spokesman for En Comú, a far-left party allied to Unidas Podemos, told  VOA. “The mention of Spanish no longer being the principal language is only because previous education laws said Spanish must be the principal language even in regions where other languages are spoken.” Spanish is spoken by 534 million people, making it the fourth most important in the world after English, Mandarin and Hindi. “It is a victory for us because we have managed to safeguard Catalan as the principal language in education without impairing Spanish,” said Raul Murcia, a spokesman for ERC. Gregorio Luri, a respected educationalist, believes the amendment may be challenged by the Spanish constitutional court. 
 
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European Union regulators have filed antitrust charges against Amazon, accusing the e-commerce giant of using data to gain an unfair advantage over merchants using its platform.
The EU’s executive commission, the bloc’s top antitrust enforcer, said Tuesday that the charges have been sent to the company.
The commission said it takes issue with Amazon’s systematic use of non-public business data to avoid “the normal risks of competition and to leverage its dominance” for e-commerce services in France and Germany, the company’s two biggest markets in the EU.
The EU started looking into Amazon in 2018 and has been focusing on its dual role as a marketplace and retailer.
In addition to selling its own products, the U.S. company allows third-party retailers to sell their own goods through its site. Last year, more than half of the items sold on Amazon worldwide were from these outside merchants.
Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, the EU commissioner in charge of competition, said it’s not a problem that Amazon is a successful business but “our concern is very specific business conduct which appears to distort genuine competition.”
Amazon faces a possible fine of up to 10% of its annual worldwide revenue, which could amount to billions of dollars. The company rejected the accusations.
“We disagree with the preliminary assertions of the European Commission and will continue to make every effort to ensure it has an accurate understanding of the facts,” the company said in a statement.
The company can, under EU rules, reply to the charges in writing and present its case in an oral hearing.
Vestager also opened a second investigation into Amazon over whether it favors its own products and those from third-party merchants that use its logistics and delivery services.
It’s the EU’s latest effort to curb the power of big technology companies, following a series of multi-billion-dollar antitrust fines against Google in previous years.
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Peruvian legislators are set to swear-in a new leader Tuesday, a day after voting overwhelmingly to oust the country’s popular president, Martin Vizcarra.  During a national address Monday evening, Vizcarra said he would not put up a legal battle to keep his job after lawmakers took action to remove him from office, citing his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. A large number of legislators said they voted against Vizcarra on behalf of loved ones who died.  Vizcarra also said during his address that his conscious is at peace and that he has fulfilled his duty, adding he hopes to find out what the background motives were that resulted in lawmakers voting to remove him from office. Large crowds gathered Monday in Peru’s capital, Lima, chanting slogans denouncing the action by the Congress. The legislators initially sought to impeach Vizcarra on an allegation he received more than $630,000 in kickbacks for construction projects while serving as governor in southern Peru from 2011-2014.  So far, the corruption allegations under investigation have not been verified. 
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Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa suspended clinical trials of a Chinese firm’s coronavirus vaccine after an unspecified “adverse incident” involving a volunteer recipient late last month. Anvisa would only say such incidents could involve a death or serious disability resulting in hospitalization.  Anvisa’s action with the CoronaVac vaccine occurred the same day a rival, U.S. pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, announced its vaccine has shown 90 percent effectiveness. Word of Pfizer’s vaccine success sent global financial markets soaring. Both the Pfizer and the Chinese Sinovac vaccine are in Phase III trials, the last stage of testing before regulators give it clearance for public use. Brazil has the highest coronavirus tally in Latin America, with more than 5,664,000 confirmed cases and 162,397 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University and Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center. 
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The European Union will impose tariffs on up to $4 billion of U.S. imports in retaliation for U.S. subsidies for Boeing but said on Monday it was hopeful of an improvement in trade ties under U.S. President-elect Joe Biden. The move, given the green light by the World Trade Organization last month, is the latest in a 16-year U.S.-EU dispute over civil aviation subsidies. U.S. tariffs on $7.5 billion of EU products after a parallel WTO case against Airbus have been in place for over a year. “We have made clear at every stage that we want to settle this long-running issue,” EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told a news conference after an online meeting of EU trade ministers on Monday. “Regrettably, despite our best efforts (and) due to lack of progress on the U.S. side, we can confirm that the European Union will later today exercise our rights and impose countermeasures awarded to us by the WTO in respect to Boeing.”FILE – European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis speaks during a media conference at EU headquarters in Brussels, November 21, 2018.From Tuesday, the EU will impose tariffs of 15% on U.S. exports of planes and parts and of 25% on a variety of products, including tobacco, nuts, fruit juice, fish, spirits, bags, tractors and casino and gym equipment. The bloc says its main objective is to persuade the United States to negotiate a solution, arguing the chief beneficiaries of the dispute are competitors such as China’s COMAC. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer last month had said any move by Brussels to impose tariffs would force a U.S. response, but a brief statement issued late Monday contained no such threat, and his office said the two sides were in negotiations to resolve the longstanding dispute. “The United States is disappointed by the action taken by the EU today,” he said. “The EU has long proclaimed its commitment to following WTO rules, but today’s announcement shows they do so only when convenient to them.” The United States argues that the alleged subsidy — a Washington state tax break — was repealed seven months ago, removing any legal basis for the EU measures. Although headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Boeing used to be a Seattle, Washington-based company and retains major production facilities in Washington state. In the past, the Trump administration has said it could choose to hike its 15% tariffs on Airbus planes, raise tariffs on products such as EU cheese, olives and whiskey, or switch to other products. It argues there is no legal basis for EU measures because underlying subsidies to Boeing have been repealed. Brussels says only the WTO can determine whether members have complied with its rulings. Boeing called the EU decision “disappointing and surprising,” and urged Airbus and Brussels to work to resolve the trade dispute. ‘Great expectations’ for Biden German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told the news conference that many EU countries saw Biden’s election victory as a chance for an improvement in ties. FILE – German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier arrives for a news conference to present the government’s economic spring projection, amid the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic in Berlin, Germany, April 29, 2020.”We will try to get a new start in trade policy between the United States and all member states,” said Altmaier, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency. He said Europe’s goal was to find common ground with the future Biden administration and then reduce overall tariffs as much as possible. “There are great expectations and the hope that the American presidential elections will lead to a return to multilateral engagement in international trade,” Altmaier said. The European Union and most EU states have congratulated Biden on his election victory. Trump, with whom Europe has had strained relations, is pursuing legal challenges to the outcome while making unfounded claims of fraud. Dombrovskis said the Commission, which coordinates trade policy for the 27 EU nations, had made some informal contacts with Biden’s team and that there was a full list of things to do, from coordinating on the reform of global trade rules to incorporating climate change goals into trade. The EU tariffs come about a week before regulators are expected to clear the Boeing 737 MAX for service after a safety grounding of more than 19 months. Industry sources say the tariffs could hobble deliveries to key buyers such as Ireland’s Ryanair, whose chief executive has called on Boeing to absorb the extra import duties. A coalition of the U.S. and European drinks industry said the tariffs would damage a sector already devastated by COVID-19 related closures. Dombrovskis repeated an EU offer that the bloc was ready to suspend its measures at any time if the United States did the same, “whether under the current or the next administration.”  
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The Vatican on Tuesday will release its report into the rise and fall of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the once-influential American cardinal who was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019 after a Vatican investigation confirmed decades of rumors that he was a sexual predator. The McCarrick scandal is different from other cases of clergy abuse, primarily because there is evidence that Vatican and U.S. church leaders knew of his penchant for bedding seminarians but turned a blind eye as McCarrick rose to the top of the U.S. church as an adept fundraiser who advised three popes.  When McCarrick’s crimes were revealed, the scandal sparked such a crisis of confidence in the church’s U.S. and Vatican hierarchies that Francis approved new procedures to investigate bishops accused of abuse in a bid to end decades of impunity for Catholic leaders. But beyond that, the McCarrick case has forced the Vatican to acknowledge that adults can be victims of sexual abuse, too. The Vatican has long tried to paint any sexual relations between priests and adult men or women as consensual, focusing its prevention policies on protecting minors.  But as a bishop, McCarrick held all the power in his relationships with his seminarians: to refuse his sexual advances or report his misconduct could have spelled an end to their priestly vocations and careers in the church. The Vatican’s new policies, enacted as a response to the McCarrick scandal, spell out that adults could have been forced “to perform or submit to sexual acts” through abuses of authority by church leaders.FILE – Pope Francis reaches out to hug Cardinal Archbishop emeritus Theodore McCarrick after the Midday Prayer of the Divine with more than 300 U.S. Bishops at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C., September 23, 2015.What’s it about?  The archdiocese of New York announced on June 20, 2018, that it had determined that an allegation that McCarrick sexually molested a minor was “credible and substantiated.” The allegation was lodged by a former altar boy who said McCarrick fondled him when he was a teenager during preparations for Christmas Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in 1971 and 1972. The allegation was the first against McCarrick involving a minor, and as such triggered the investigation.  On the same day, McCarrick’s former dioceses of Newark and Metuchen, New Jersey, revealed they had settled two of three allegations of sexual misconduct by McCarrick involving adults in 2005 and 2007. Subsequently, James Grein came forward detailing the abuse he suffered at the hands of McCarrick, a family friend, starting when he was 11. Other former seminarians have since described the harassment and abuse they endured while “Uncle Ted,” as McCarrick liked to call himself, was their bishop in New Jersey, forced to sleep in his bed during weekend trips to his beach house.  McCarrick, 90, was defrocked last year after the Vatican determined he sexually abused adults and children, including during confession. McCarrick’s response McCarrick has said he was innocent of the fondling accusation but accepted the pope’s sanctions.  “While I have absolutely no recollection of this reported abuse, and believe in my innocence, I am sorry for the pain the person who brought the charges has gone through, as well as for the scandal such charges cause our people,” he said in a statement June 20, 2018, after the initial fondling allegations were substantiated.  In a 2008 email McCarrick sent to the Vatican, he denied ever having sexual relations with anyone but said he had shown an “unfortunate lack of judgment” for having shared his bed with seminarians.FILE – Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano reads during the episcopal ordination of Auxiliary Bishops James Massa and Witold Mroziewski, in Brooklyn, New York, July 20, 2015.Archbishop’s bombshellThe McCarrick scandal took on greater dimensions on Aug. 26, 2018, when the former Vatican ambassador to the U.S., Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, published an 11-page expose accusing two dozen U.S. and Vatican churchmen by name of knowing about McCarrick’s misconduct since at least 2000 and hiding it. Vigano cited the case of one former seminarian who in 1994 wrote a lengthy letter to his bishop detailing McCarrick’s sexual abuse of him and others — a document that would have been turned over to the Vatican at the very least in 2004 when the man was defrocked.  Vigano demanded Francis resign, saying he had told the pope in 2013 during one of their first meetings that McCarrick has “corrupted generations of seminarians and priests, and Pope Benedict ordered him to withdraw to a life of prayer and penance.” Vigano claimed that Francis rehabilitated McCarrick from Benedict’s sanctions and turned him into a trusted adviser. FILE – Pope Francis wears a face mask as he attends an inter-religious prayer service for peace in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, a church on top of Rome’s Capitoline Hill, in Rome, October 20, 2020.Vatican’s response Francis initially refused to comment, but later authorized a Vatican investigation into its archives to determine who knew what and when about McCarrick, the result of which is being released Tuesday.  In 2019, Francis told Mexican broadcaster Televisa that he didn’t know anything about McCarrick’s past and didn’t remember if Vigano had raised the issue with him when they met in 2013. In addition, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, head of the Congregation for Bishops, confirmed McCarrick had been subject to disciplinary measures for uncorroborated “rumors” of misconduct but said the Vatican’s decision for him to live a discreet life of prayer stopped short of binding canonical sanctions because the rumors lacked proof. Ouellet accused Vigano of mounting a “blasphemous” political hit job against Francis. Further revelations A former McCarrick aide, Monsignor Anthony Figueriredo, in May 2019 released excerpts of correspondence that show McCarrick was placed under written Vatican restrictions in 2008 for sleeping with seminarians but regularly flouted them with the apparent knowledge of Vatican officials under Benedict and Francis.  In December 2019, the Washington Post reported that McCarrick gave more than $600,000 in donations from a personal fund he controlled to powerful clerics in the U.S. and Vatican, including those who had a say in whether to investigate him. The payments underscored the common tradition among well-funded bishops and religious superiors to curry favor in the Vatican with checks.  McCarrick also helped funnel millions of dollars to three popes via the U.S. Papal Foundation, which he helped co-found to raise money from wealthy American Catholics for specific works of papal charity. 
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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday became the latest world leader to test positive for COVID-19.Zelenskiy tweeted the announcement, saying “There are no lucky people for whom #COVID19 does not pose a threat. Despite all the quarantine measures, I received a positive test. I feel good & take a lot of vitamins. Promise to isolate myself but keep working. I will overcome COVID19 as most people do. It’s gonna be fine!”Shortly thereafter, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, announced on his Facebook page that he too had coronavirus. Yermak said he feels “normal” and will continue working from self-isolation. He also urged everyone not to be careless with COVID-19 rules, saying “Wear masks, wash your hands. Keep your distance, while staying calm.”The number of daily new COVID-19 cases in Ukraine continues to grow. The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reports the country registered 9,647 new cases and 142 new deaths Monday, bringing the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 474,245. At least 8,695 have died from the disease in Ukraine.
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Police in Belarus arrested at least 500 people on Sunday as thousands of protesters took to the streets again to demand new elections and the resignation of President Alexander Lukashenko.
 
At least nine journalists were detained, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists.
 
The human rights group Viasna was quoted to have put the number of those arrested in the capital, Minsk, and elsewhere, between 548 and 830. They included well-known model and former Miss Belarus winner Olga Khizhinkova, and Olympic decathlete Andrei Kravchenko.
 
A heavy security force had been deployed since early Sunday in the capital as protesters held umbrellas and waved red-and-white flags that have become the symbol of the opposition. Police also deployed water cannon in various locations around the city.
 
Since Lukashenko claimed victory in a disputed August 9 election, with the country’s election commission saying he garnered 80% of the vote, protesters have regularly taken to the streets demanding his resignation and the release of political prisoners.
 
Lukashenko’s main opposition candidate, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, was forced to take asylum in Lithuania after fleeing Belarus for her safety in the wake of the government crackdown.
 
Despite widespread claims at home and abroad the vote was heavily rigged, Lukashenko has refused to relinquish power. He has been in office for 26 years.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday congratulated the new U.S. president-elect and his running mate on their projected election victory and said the U.S. and its European partners must stand together to deal with the challenges of our time.
At a news conference in Berlin, Merkel said Biden has decades of experience in both domestic and foreign policy and knows Germany and Europe well. She said she had fond memories of good encounters and discussions with the former vice president.  
The German chancellor also warmly congratulated Harris as future vice president, noting she will be the first woman to serve in that position. Merkel said Harris, as the child of two immigrants, is an inspiration for many people and example of what is possible in America, and added, “I am looking forward to meeting her.”
Merkel said the U.S., Germany and the rest of the European Union must stand “side by side” to face the big challenges of our time, including the COVID-19 pandemic, global warming and terrorism. She said they must work for “an open world economy and free trade, because this is the basis of our prosperity on either side of the Atlantic.”
Merkel also said she recognized Germans and Europeans have to take on more responsibility in their partnership with the United States.  “America is and remains our most important ally. But it expects us, and rightly so, to make stronger efforts to take care of our security and to stand up for our convictions in the world,” she said.   
Germany currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
Relations between Merkel and President Donald Trump had been strained over issues such as funding for NATO and relations with Russia.
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In a scaled-back service, Queen Elizabeth II led tributes Sunday to those from the U.K. and the Commonwealth who perished in wartime, as most veterans paid their respects at home as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The 94-year-old monarch looked on from a balcony at a government building above the Cenotaph on Whitehall in central London on the 100th year anniversary of the memorial’s installation following the conclusion of World War I. The Cenotaph was officially unveiled on Nov. 11, 1920, two years to the day after the signing of the armistice that brought an end to hostilities. Following a two-minute silence at 11 a.m., Prince Charles laid a wreath on the queen’s behalf during the Remembrance Sunday commemoration. Others, including Charles’ oldest son, Prince William and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, also laid wreaths in honor of those who have perished in wartime. Leaders from across the political spectrum, including former prime ministers, were also present. The public was unable to attend this year, with the event taking place during a second national lockdown in England, and instead was encouraged to take part in the two-minute silence at home.  In other years, the commemoration is packed with thousands of veterans and military personnel. In Sunday’s service, there were less than 30 veterans in attendance, and everyone present observed social distancing rules though mask wearing wasn’t mandatory in the outdoor setting. Though the service was very different this year, people took time to honor the war dead. Small services were permitted. World War II veteran Seymour “Bill” Taylor, who turns 96 next month, usually attends the service but paid his respects outside his home in Colchester, around 65 miles (105 kilometers) northeast of London, with the support of his neighbors. “It’s something that’s really special and it means an awful lot,” he said. “I shall remember it as a good day.” Charles’ other son, Prince Harry, wasn’t present but spoke about what serving his country in Afghanistan meant to him. “Being able to wear my uniform, being able to stand up in service of one’s country, these are amongst the greatest honors there are in life,” Harry said in a podcast. “To me, the uniform is a symbol of something much bigger, it’s symbolic of our commitment to protecting our country, as well as protecting our values.” Gen. Nick Carter, chief of the defense staff, said remembrance services still hold relevance today even though there is no one alive who served in World War I and the number of veterans from World War II are dwindling. “We have to remember that history might not repeat itself, but it has a rhythm and if you look back at the last century, before both world wars, I think it was unarguable that there was escalation which led to the miscalculation which ultimately led to war at a scale we would hopefully never see again,” he said in an interview with Sky News. “We need to be conscious of those risks and that’s why remembrance matters,” he added. 
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Georgian police fired water cannon and tear gas against hundreds of protesters outside the Central Election Commission (CEC) on Sunday to support a call by opposition parties for a rerun of Oct. 31 parliamentary elections that they say were rigged.Small groups of protesters started throwing stones at the police. The demonstrators had moved to the CEC building from the capital’s main Rustaveli Avenue, where thousands of people held a peaceful rally.Police said that protesters tried to storm the CEC building.”As the protesters used violent methods and did not obey the instructions of the police, the Interior Ministry used proportional force within its powers,” the ministry said in a statement.The opposition is demanding the resignation of the CEC chief, Tamar Zhvania, and the calling of fresh elections.According to official results, the ruling Georgian Dream party won 48.23% of the vote, with the largest opposition party, the United National Movement (UNM), taking 27.18%.After the result gave the ruling party the right to form a government, eight opposition parties, including the UNM, said they would boycott parliament.The opposition accuses the ruling party and its supporters of vote buying, making threats against voters and observers and of violations during the counting process. Georgian Dream leaders have denied the accusations.Protesters moved to the CEC building after the 8 p.m. deadline to dismiss the electoral commission head and to start talks on a fresh vote passed without a response from the government.The economy of the South Caucasus country has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak. The government said on Saturday it would impose an overnight curfew from Monday between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. in the largest cities because of a sharp rise in cases since early September. Georgia has reported nearly 58,000 cases since the pandemic began and almost 500 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. 
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Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said on Sunday he was resigning for health reasons, the second surprise departure of a top economic policymaker in two days after the central bank chief was ousted.The upheaval follows a 30% slide in the lira to record lows this year amid the coronavirus pandemic as investors worried about falling foreign exchange reserves and the central bank’s ability to tackle double-digit inflation.Albayrak’s resignation, announced in an Instagram statement confirmed by an official, came a day after his father-in-law, President Tayyip Erdogan, replaced the central bank governor with a former minister whose policies are seen to be at odds with Albayrak.”I have decided that I cannot continue as a minister, which I have been carrying out for nearly five years, due to health problems,” the statement said. Albayrak became finance minister two years ago after serving as energy minister.A Finance Ministry official confirmed the authenticity of the statement.Albayrak, 42, was appointed energy minister in 2015 and shifted to finance after Erdogan was reelected with sweeping new executive powers in 2018.During his tenure at finance, Turkey’s economy was hit by two bad slumps, double-digit inflation and high unemployment. The lira has lost around 45% against the U.S. dollar since his appointment and is the worst performer in emerging markets this year.Erdogan, who appointed former finance minister Naci Agbal as the new central bank governor Saturday, would need to approve the resignation.The departure of Turkey’s top two economic policymakers boosted the lira, which rose 2% to 8.3600 against the U.S. dollar at 1904 GMT, and set the stage for a sharp rate rise, analysts said.Agbal “might do a better job in getting approval for a rate hike” given his experience with the government and ruling party, said Selva Demiralp, director of the Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.”Absent a rate hike, I am afraid the financial crisis will only get worse with the depreciation in the lira that increases the external debt, triggering bankruptcies.”Analysts at Goldman Sachs and TD Bank expect a monetary tightening of at least 600 basis points from a 10.25% policy rate now.Mehmet Mus, the deputy parliamentary group chairman for the ruling AK Party, said Albayrak had taken important steps to strengthen the economy and that he hoped Erdogan would not accept the resignation.”We personally witnessed his diligent work. If our president sees fit, I hope he continues at his post,” Mus said on Twitter. 
 
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