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British health officials are warning that people with a “significant history” of allergic reactions should not receive the new coronavirus vaccine that was rolled out in a mass vaccination program Tuesday, pending investigation of two adverse reactions. Britain is the first western country to begin the mass vaccinations, as Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
Camera: Henry Ridgwell   Produced by: Henry Hernandez 
 
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Scientists are watching a giant iceberg in the southern Atlantic Ocean saying it appears to be on a collision course with South Georgia Island and could devastate wildlife there, including penguins, seals and albatross.   
 
Britain’s Royal Air Force, or RAF, Tuesday released video taken by an aircraft that flew last week over the 4,200-square-kilometer iceberg — roughly the size of the U.S. state of Delaware — and known as A68a. In the video, cracks and fissures can be seen on its surface, with a number of smaller ice chunks floating nearby.   
 
The British Broadcasting Corporation, or BBC, reports the iceberg is now within 150 kilometers of the British Overseas Territory.
 
Researchers have spent weeks watching the iceberg on its potential collision course with the remote island off the coast of South America. A68a is about the same size as the island itself and has been floating in its general direction for more than three years since breaking off from the Antarctic peninsula in July of 2017.
 
Scientists with the British Antarctic Survey believe the iceberg is about 200 meters thick — relatively thin for an iceberg of its size — which would allow it to get close to the island before becoming stuck. Scientists fear it could crush marine life on the sea floor, and block penguins and seals off from their normal forage routes to feed their young. They say it could be there for as long as 10 years.
 
British officials say it could also be an obstacle to government ships conducting fishery patrols and surveillance around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.   
 
The Antarctic Survey says a collision is still uncertain, as the currents could carry the iceberg past the island.
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Players have taken a knee, unfurled slogans and demanded tougher action only to find soccer — their working environment — remains infected with racism.
The tipping point might just have come, with elite players in Paris taking the extraordinary step of refusing to continue playing.
At the end of a year of striking gestures against racial injustice and discrimination, the Champions League produced one of soccer’s most powerful shows of solidarity against racism on Tuesday when players from Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir left the field and didn’t return.
“The walk off by both Basaksehir and PSG together lays down a marker in Europe,” Piara Powar, executive director of the anti-discrimination Fare network, told The Associated Press. “Many players are fed up with half measures to tackle racism and are more prepared than ever to exercise their right to stop a match.”
The flashpoint came 14 minutes into the game when the fourth official — Sebastian Coltescu of Romania — was accused of using a racial term to identify Basaksehir assistant coach Pierre Webo before sending him off for his conduct on the sidelines. Webo is Black.
“You are racist,” Basaksehir coach Okan Buruk said to Coltescu.
An enraged Webo demanded an explanation from Coltescu, repeating at least six times: “Why you say negro?”
The exchanges were broadcast live around the world from soccer’s biggest club competition.
“Why when you mention a Black guy, you have to say ‘This Black guy?'” asked Basaksehir substitute Demba Ba, who is Black.
The Fare network helps UEFA prosecute discriminatory acts like Tuesday’s incident at the Parc des Princes.
“Our colleagues at the Romanian state anti-discrimination organization have confirmed it is racist in Romanian to refer to a player by using his race as an identifier,” Powar said. “There is no ambiguity. This incident shows the need for much better training of match officials. Unintentional racism is still racism.”
Racism at soccer games has typically come from the stands, but matches in countries such as France are being played without fans because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The high-profile incidents tend to highlight the inadequate responses, like in the Portuguese league in February.
Porto striker Moussa Marega tried to walk off the field after being the target of racist abuse from fans in a game against Guimarães and demanded to be substituted. But he faced attempts by his own teammates and opposing players to prevent him from leaving the field.
The referee then gave Marega a yellow card for refusing to continue in the game — the type of action that dissuades players from walking off.
The Romanian referee who was in charge of the game in Paris on Tuesday — Ovidiu Hategan — was in the same role for the 2013 Champions League game when Manchester City player Yaya Toure complained about the lack of action against monkey noises he heard from CSKA Moscow fans.
“If officials cannot set the standards by their own behavior,” Powar said, “they cannot be relied on to deal with racism on the pitch or in the stands.”
Referees have often been criticized for not leading players off the field, instead leaving them to take the decision themselves. England’s national team decided to continue playing a game in Montenegro last year after Callum Hudson-Odoi and Danny Rose were targeted with monkey chants.
The Champions League game in Paris will resume on Wednesday with a new refereeing team.
“The players walking off is a step in the right direction,” former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said on Britain’s BT Sport television. “But it can’t just be left to them.”
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel Tuesday called for tougher COVID-19 restrictions as the nation set daily record for deaths from the virus and infection numbers continue to rise.Speaking in the Bundestag – the lower house of the German parliament – a sometimes-emotional Merkel told lawmakers the nation was in a decisive period of fighting the pandemic, with the second wave far more demanding than the first.  Germany’s Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases reported Wednesday 590 deaths related to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours – more than 100 higher than the week-old previous record – and 20,815 new daily infections, compared with 17,270 a week earlier.Chinese-made COVID-19 Vaccine Nearly 90% Effective, UAE Says Gulf Arab state participated in late-stage clinical trial of vaccine developed by state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopharm Germany is gradually moving toward a tighter lockdown, at least for a limited period after Christmas, as new coronavirus cases remain high and continue climbing.  
This despite a partial shutdown that started in early November, in hopes of allowing a more normal Christmas holiday.While families will be allowed to gather for Christmas, Merkel is calling for all but the most essential shops to close from Christmas Eve until at least January 10, and for people to work from home and schools to remain closed during that time as well.The idea is to use the festive period to keep people at home and break the chain of infections. Merkel emphatically urged people to limit their social contacts whenever possible.  She said, “If we have too many contacts before Christmas and it ends up being the last Christmas with the grandparents, then we’d really have failed.”Merkel has consistently advocated decisive action but has often had to move more slowly because, in highly decentralized Germany, the country’s 16 state governments are responsible for imposing and lifting restrictions.Germany managed to avoid the high number of infections and grim death tolls seen in other large European nations early in the pandemic and continues to have a much lower overall fatality rate than countries such as Britain, France and Spain.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson heads to Brussels on Wednesday for dinner with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a last ditch attempt to avoid a tumultuous Brexit without a trade deal in three weeks’ time.With growing fears of a chaotic no-deal finale to the five-year Brexit crisis when the United Kingdom finally leaves the EU’s orbit on Dec. 31, the dinner is being cast as a chance to unlock the stalled trade talks.A British government source stressed that a deal may not be possible, as did EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. Ireland also signalled it was pessimistic about a deal.”The EU has to move,” Michael Gove, a senior minister in Johnson’s government dealing with Brexit issues, told Times Radio.While Gove refused to give odds on a deal, he said that often a one-on-one meeting between leaders could result in a breakthrough.”It is often around the table, when you have two political principals one-on-one, that you can often find a way through,” Gove told the BBC.Failure to secure a deal would snarl borders, shock financial markets and sow chaos through supply chains across Europe and beyond as the world faces the vast economic cost of the COVID-19 pandemic.The British pound was flat against the dollar at around 1.3369, after three straight days of losses. It stands around 1% off 2-1/2 year highs hit at the end of last week. Overnight implied volatility — a measure of expected price swings — rose to a new 8-1/2 month high of close to 25%.
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Deforestation has wiped out 8% of the Amazon rainforest in just 18 years, according to a study released Tuesday. The swath of land destroyed between 2000 and 2018 is the size of Spain, according to a study by Amazon Geo-Referenced Socio-Environmental Information Network (RAISG). “The Amazon is far more threatened than it was eight years ago,” RAISG said in a statement. The organization’s last map tracking deterioration of the forest was published in 2012. FILE – An employee uses heavy machinery to stack logs at the Serra Mansa logging and sawmill company, in Moraes Almeida district, Itaituba, Para state, Brazil, in the Amazon rainforest, Sept. 12, 2019.The current map, a collaboration between 10 organizations, shows 513,016 square kilometers of the rainforest have been lost since 2000. According to the report, the latest data shows a turn for the worse. While rates of deforestation declined between 2003 and 2010, logging, farming, ranching, mining and infrastructure projects in the past decade have negatively affected the Amazon.Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has encouraged development in the Amazon rainforest and loosened enforcement of environmental laws. “In 2018 alone, 31,269 square kilometers of forest were destroyed across the Amazon region, the worst annual deforestation since 2003,” the RAISG study says. The destruction of mature tropical forests is a massive hit to biodiversity and is responsible for about 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions, according to the World Resources Institute, the research and advocacy group that oversees Global Forest Watch.  Because forests are massive sponges of carbon dioxide, reversing their loss would play an outsize role in fighting climate change.Forest Losses Increased in 2019 to Third-Largest This Century Indonesia, Columbia offer glimmers of hope in the bad news The RAISG study comes days before the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, in which 195 countries agreed to measures that would limit world production of CO2 emissions. In a controversial move, President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in 2017. 
 
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The World Health Organization is calling on governments around the world to ensure their citizens have resources and tools to help them give up tobacco smoking as it launches a yearlong campaign aimed at helping 100 million people quit.The campaign, Commit to Quit, is focusing on 22 countries including the United States, and it officially got under way Tuesday ahead of World No Tobacco Day 2021, in May.A WHO statement said the Commit to Quit campaign is aimed at creating “healthier environments that are conducive” for people who want to give up smoking.The WHO hopes to capitalize on users who have decided to quit since the novel coronavirus pandemic began by creating communities of peer quitters, according to the statement.FILE – Bystanders look a replica of human skeleton smoking cigarette during an awareness rally on occasion of the “World No-Tobacco Day,” in Chennai, India, May 31, 2019.Earlier this year, the WHO warned that tobacco users are at high risk of dying from COVID-19.About 780 million tobacco users say they want to quit, but just 30% have access to resources that can help them do so.Director of Health Promotion Dr. Ruediger Krech said global health authorities must take full advantage of the millions of people who want to quit. He urged governments to “invest in services to help them be successful,” and “divest from the tobacco industry and their interests.”The WHO is employing digital tools such as the Quit Challenge on Whatsapp to provide social support. Also, the WHO’s 24/7 digital health worker to help people quit tobacco is available in English and soon will add five other languages.The campaign is encouraging initiatives such as “strong tobacco cessation policies; increasing access to cessation services and raising awareness of tobacco industry tactics.” Tobacco is a major risk factor for noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease and diabetes. Moreover, people living with these conditions are more vulnerable to severe COVID-19.“Smoking kills 8 million people a year, but if users need more motivation to kick the habit, the pandemic provides the right incentive,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted.
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Human rights abusers will face asset freezes and travel bans under new legislation adopted by the European Union.The so-called Magnitsky laws, officially titled the EU Human Rights Global Sanctions Regime, would target those accused of crimes including genocide, torture, assassination and arbitrary detentions.The European Union officially adopts the legislation on December 10 — World Human Rights Day.Bill Browder, a financier at Hermitage Capital Management who has campaigned for similar legislation in countries around the world, said getting Europe on board is a major milestone.FILE – A woman holds a placard with a portrait of Sergei Magnitsky during an unauthorized rally in central Moscow December 15, 2012. The placard reads “Died fighting a system of thievery.”“You have 27 countries, and a number of these countries are countries that dictators and kleptocrats like to visit. They go to the south of France. They go to Sardinia. They go to Spain,” Browder told VOA.“So, there’s something there that they really covet. And so, if these laws, if the EU Magnitsky Act actually is implemented and implemented widely, I think it could have a dramatic impact on the behavior of human rights violators around the world.”The United States, Britain and Canada already have Magnitsky laws. They are named after Browder’s lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Russian jail in 2009 after uncovering a $230 million tax fraud by state officials. He had been beaten by prison guards and denied medical treatment.Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is pictured at Charite hospital in Berlin, Oct. 15, 2020.“The main question we should ask ourselves is why are these people poisoning, killing and fabricating elections? And the answer is very, very simple: money. So, the European Union should target the money and Russian oligarchs, not just old oligarchs, but also new ones like this circle of Mr. Putin,” Navalny told MEPs November 27.Russian President Vladimir Putin denies involvement in Navalny’s poisoning.In addition to those responsible for Magnitsky’s death, there are numerous obvious targets for Europe’s new Magnitsky laws, said Browder.“The killers of [Washington Post columnist] Jamal Khashoggi, the … 19 Saudis, plus [Saudi Crown Prince] Mohammed Bin Salman, should be added to this list. The Chinese officials involved in the Uighur genocide. The Chinese officials involved in the Hong Kong repression. The Lukashenko regime. The Burmese officials involved in the Rohingya genocide. Just to name a few.”Critics say it is still possible for individual EU member states to veto any measures proposed under the new law, and countries with warmer ties to the Kremlin such as Hungary and Cyprus could block any sanctions.
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The wedding ceremony and reception in February 2013 was a glitzy three-day affair at a ski resort near St. Petersburg, Russia.  The happy newlyweds were Yekaterina Tikhonova, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s youngest daughter, and Kirill Shamalov, the son of one of the Russian leader’s oldest friends. Among the wedding gifts received shortly after the nuptials was a sizable stake in petrochemical giant Sibur.   According to leaked emails unearthed by Russian investigative outlet iStories, a partner of the international investigative consortium Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Putin’s new son-in-law was able to buy petrochemical shares worth nearly $400 million for just $100.  The disclosure has prompted a wave of criticism from anti-corruption campaigners, who say the sweetheart deal is another example of Kremlin nepotism and how the Putin family and their associates and friends have enriched themselves during the Russian leader’s two-decade-long time in office.  “It’s simple,” tweeted Alexei Navalny, an opposition politician and anti-corruption activist. “Putin’s daughter gets married and the newlyweds receive the present of $380m.”After marrying Tikhonova, Shamalov bought the 3.8% stake in Sibur through a web of offshore companies, according to the investigation. In 2008, Shamalov become one of Sibur’s vice presidents.In a press statement, Dmitry Konov, head of Sibur’s board of directors, said, “The conditions for the sale of the shares in the deal were no different from those for a number of other managers. There were no exclusive conditions for KN Shamalov.” (KN are the first letters of Shamalov’s first name and patronymic)  In remarks to the RBC News website Tuesday, Konov said the real cost of the stake was far higher, including salary forfeited as part of the share acquisition deal and other unspecified conditions.FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, speaks with Chairman of the Management Board of the Sibur company Dmitry Konov as they visit a plant in Tobolsk, Russia, Dec. 1, 2020. (Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via Reuters)Private emails secured through a massive data breach also suggest the newlyweds went on a spending spree — buying a luxury mansion near Putin’s country residence on the outskirts of Moscow and a villa in the French resort of Biarritz. The furnishings were expensive — one carpet cost $65,000; some Japanese books cost $7,000, and a spa, around $350,000, according to the emails.  Kirill is the son of Nikolai Shamalov, a millionaire businessman who in the 1990s co-founded with Putin the Ozero community, a lakeside gated dacha (country house) cooperative near St. Petersburg. Many members of the Ozero cooperative assumed top positions in the Russian government and businesses after Putin became Russia’s president.A year after his marriage to Tikhonova, the younger Shamalov secured a large loan from Kremlin-linked Gazprombank to buy an even larger 17% stake in Sibur, making him Russia’s youngest billionaire at the age of 32. His brother was deputy chairman at Gazprombank at the time the loan was granted. He and Tikhonova divorced in 2018.Shamalov was among the officials and close associates of the Putin family who were sanctioned by Washington for alleged “malign” activities by Russia, including meddling in U.S. elections.Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov dismissed reports Tuesday about the “wedding gift.”“We still refrain from commenting on such publications,” he told reporters. “These rumors often have nothing to do with reality.”  Peskov dubbed the reports a smear campaign and said media investigations into Putin’s family are “lies that are unable to reach their goal.”  Reports of alleged financial enrichment by the Putin family and their associates have escalated in the past few months. One recent story alleged that former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, who is reportedly Putin’s girlfriend, received a $10 million annual salary on her appointment as head of a pro-Kremlin media outlet. She had no previous media or management experience.  OCCRP said deciding to publish the email was a difficult decision.  “In the first place, the authenticity of documents received from an unknown party may be in question. To verify the Shamalov archive, the emails were first structured and indexed by OCCRP’s data analysts. Reporters from IStories then spent nearly a year verifying them,” the outlet said.The email cache included more than 10,000 messages written and exchanged from 2003 to 2020. The emails cast light, OCCRP reporters said, on how the children and grandchildren of Putin associates and friends from St. Petersburg are amassing their wealth and power.  But what was accumulated was also lost. Following his divorce to Tikhonova, Shamalov reportedly gave up most of his Sibur shares. 
 
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Researchers at Britain’s Oxford University and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca published a study Tuesday showing their COVID-19 vaccine candidate to be “safe and effective” at fighting the virus.The peer-reviewed study was published Tuesday in the British medical journal The Lancet. The data showed the drug had an overall efficacy rate of 70.4%, higher than the 50% minimum set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, Andrew Pollard speaks during a virtual press conference inside 10 Downing Street in London on Nov. 23, 2020.In an interview with reporters, Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said the difference in efficacy rates among the vaccines currently being reviewed will make little difference in the long term. He said what is important is getting vaccines to people and that they are protected.Pollard said the best way to do that is to have multiple vaccines available.“I think we have to not worry about these individual percentages. The important thing is who’s vaccinated, not people who are unvaccinated and waiting for a particular product. Personally, I’d be happy with any of these in my arm.”Pollard said that is why accessibility is a priority for Oxford/AstraZeneca. Unlike the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, their vaccine does not need to be kept at sub-freezing temperatures.He said even as regulators scrutinize the data concerning the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, it is already in production.“Manufacturing is happening in all corners of the world, and to make sure that if we do have products which can be used, that they can then be distributed where they’re needed using fridge temperatures to get them to the most vulnerable people in our societies.”
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Britain has vaccinated its first citizen against the COVID-19 virus.Ninety-year-old nursing home resident Margaret Keenan received the first of two doses of a vaccine jointly developed by U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech.  The vaccination campaign, dubbed “V-Day” by Health Secretary Mark Hancock, began nearly a week after the government’s medical regulatory agency granted emergency approval for the vaccine, making Britain the first western nation ready to begin mass inoculations.The approval came weeks after Pfizer announced the vaccine had been shown to be more than 90% effective after its final clinical trial.Keenan, who will turn 91 next week, is among the thousands of nursing home residents and their caregivers, along with staffers with Britain’s National Health Service, that have been prioritized by officials to receive the first shots.Britain Makes Final Preparations for First Round of COVID-19 VaccinationsInitial batch of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine arrived in Britain Sunday, ahead of Tuesday’s first round of inoculations for health care workers and the elderly Britain received 800,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine Sunday, the first of a total of 40 million it purchased from Pfizer.  Great Britain has a population of more than 66 million people. Delivery of the vaccine is complicated by the fact that it must be stored in super-cold refrigerators at temperatures below 70 degrees Celsius.Britain has recorded more than 61,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic, one of the world’s hardest-hit countries and the worst affected country in Europe.The start of the coronavirus vaccination campaign in Britain comes as many other nations inch closer and closer to beginning their own inoculation efforts.The South Korean government announced Tuesday that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is one of a handful it has secured for its 44 million people.  The Health Ministry says it has pre-ordered 64 million doses of vaccines under development by Pfizer, British-based pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, and U.S.-based drug makers Johnson & Johnson and Moderna, for 34 million South Koreans.Seoul says another 10 million people will receive vaccines developed by Pfizer, AstraZeneca and French pharmaceutical company Sanofi and secured through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, or COVAX, the joint project between the World Health Organization, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, an organization founded by Bill and Melinda Gates to vaccinate children in the world’s poorest countries.Feds Passed Up Chance to Lock in More Pfizer Vaccine Doses Pfizer’s vaccine is expected to be endorsed as soon as this week, with delivery of 100 million doses — enough for 50 million Americans — expected in coming monthsCanada announced Monday it would receive its first doses of the same vaccine by the end of December.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that up to 249,000 doses of the vaccine would arrive this month, and 3 million are slated to be delivered early next year. Canada has a population of more than 37 million people.But as many countries prepare to inoculate their populations, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned against mandatory vaccinations.While WHO officials are urging governments to persuade their citizens to get vaccinated, public health experts warn that a mandate may not be the right approach.”I think all of us who work in public health would rather avoid that as a means for getting people vaccinated,” WHO’s emergencies director Michael Ryan told a virtual press conference Monday.  The world has more than 67.6 million total COVID-19 cases, including more than 1.5 million deaths. The United States leads the world in both categories, with 14.9 million total cases and more than 283,700 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.  
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Washington has agreed to prolong a set of temporary migration protections that allow immigrants from six countries to live in the United States, officials said Monday. The so-called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for some citizens of El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan, Honduras and Nepal was extended by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) until at least October 2021. TPS allows some 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 in six- to 18-month intervals by the secretary of Homeland Security. TPS has been in the crosshairs of Republican President Donald Trump’s administration in recent months as it seeks to scale back humanitarian protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants who were scheduled to be expelled from the United States in early March after a wind-down period. The extension is part of an agreement between the administration and plaintiffs in related lawsuits not to terminate the protections as the lawsuits filter through the U.S. court system. Democratic President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to protect enrollees from being returned to unsafe countries. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. FILE – Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez answers questions from the Associated Press, August 13, 2019, as he leaves a meeting of the Organization of American States, in Washington.Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said the extension would cover about 44,000 of the storm-ravaged Central American country’s citizens living in the United States. He said he discussed the extension on a visit to Washington last week. “In the United States, during the meeting with the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (Chad Wolf), they told us that the TPS that was going to end in January will be extended,” Hernandez said on national television. Hondurans living in the United States have had access to TPS since the accord was brokered after Hurricane Mitch wreaked havoc on the impoverished Central American country in 1998. Guatemala has also requested extended TPS protection for its citizens.  
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Former members of Spain’s armed forces have published an open letter accusing the country’s Socialist-led minority government of threatening national unity.  The letter signed by 271 officers, including two former lieutenant generals and an admiral, coincided Sunday with the country’s Constitution Day, which marked the 42nd anniversary of a 1978 referendum and was seen as an important step in Spain’s transition to democracy following the end of the longtime rule of Gen. Francisco Franco, who died in 1975. The letter’s publication came just days after dozens of retired air force officers were discovered to have discussed fomenting a coup. In a private chat forum on WhatsApp, they bemoaned the death of Franco, who they dubbed “the irreplaceable one.” The plotters agreed the only remedy for Spain would be “to shoot 26 million” people, but they decided eventually it was not viable. Defense Minister Margarita Robles asked prosecutors to launch a criminal investigation into the WhatsApp group. FILE – Former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, center, is seen at a ceremony in Burgos, Spain, November 20, 1938.Officers who signed Sunday’s letter distanced themselves from the social media conspirators but echoed many of their complaints about the political direction being taken by Spain. They warned of the “deterioration of our democracy.”  They upbraided the government led by Pedro Sánchez for making concessions to jailed Catalan separatists, saying that the “unity of Spain is in danger.” They accused the government of “granting favors” to unnamed “terrorists,” showing “a lack of respect for the victims.”  The signatories, led by Lt. Gen. Emilio Pérez Alamán, emphasized their fealty to the monarchy and noted that despite being retired, the oath they took while on active duty to defend the territorial integrity of Spain remains alive for them. Spanish politicians have been downplaying the dissent from retired military officers. Before Sunday’s letter, and in reference to the WhatsApp group, Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias dismissed their discussions as nostalgia for Franco’s dictatorship.  “What these already retired gentlemen of a certain age say doesn’t represent a threat of any kind,” he told Spanish TV. He added that the officers are failing to understand that they are “making more Spaniards feel republican.” FILE – A man holds a depiction of the late Spanish dictator Gen. Francisco Franco as people gather outside Mingorrubio’s cemetery, on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain, October 24, 2019.Iglesias is the leader of the leftist Podemos Party, a member of the Socialist-led government that has had to rely on the support of Basque and Catalan separatist lawmakers. Many officers and those on Spain’s far right have been increasingly infuriated by the Sánchez government. They were angered by ministers’ decision last year to remove Franco’s body from the Valley of the Fallen, a Catholic basilica and monumental memorial built by the late dictator, to a nondescript cemetery. During a brief reburial ceremony, Franco’s grandson draped his grandfather’s coffin in the nationalist flag, despite being barred from doing so by the government. In September, the government announced plans to ban organizations that glorify the dictator’s legacy, saying the prohibition is necessary to help the country come to terms with its past and the Spanish civil war of the 1930s, that was triggered by a military coup. Sunday’s letter is the third from military quarters criticizing the government. Two previous letters — the first signed by 39 retired air force officers, and the second by 73 former members of the army — were addressed to King Felipe and to the European Parliament, respectively. Two years ago, 1,000 retired members of Spain’s armed forces signed a document expressing their support for Franco and the 1936 coup he led. FILE – Santiago Abascal, leader of Spain’s far-right party Vox, walks to give his speech as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez looks on during a no-confidence motion against the government at parliament in Madrid, Spain, October 22, 2020.Spain’s chief of the defense staff, Gen. Miguel Villarroya Vilalta, said last week that the WhatsApp group of conspirators and the frequent complaints of retired officers are “damaging the image of the armed forces.”  “The opinions of these individuals cannot be construed as representative of the community that they were once a part of but should be viewed as the opinions of private citizens who have the right to express their views, but not to award themselves representation rights that they do not possess,” he said in a press statement issued last week.  “As military personnel,” he added, “we take an oath promising to defend the constitution, which guides all our actions. One of the consequences of that commitment is the political neutrality of our armed forces.” Legal experts say that the request by Spain’s defense minister for prosecutors to open an investigation into the WhatsApp group is unlikely to get far, as the remarks were part of private conversations, albeit online. If the officers were still on active duty, they could have been discharged for inappropriate conduct. Lt. Col. José Ignacio Domínguez, one of the participants in the WhatsApp chat group, told a radio network last week that “there began to be talk (in the chat group) about the possibility of a military uprising supported by the king.” But the group members finally concluded it was not feasible. 
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the head of the European Commission plan to meet in person to see whether a last-minute trade deal can be reached, officials said Monday.Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after a lengthy phone call that “significant differences” remained on three key issues.They said they were planning to discuss the differences “in a physical meeting in Brussels in the coming days.”The two leaders spoke for the second time in 48 hours as their trade teams remained locked in stalled negotiations in Brussels.EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, left, speaks with France’s Permanent Representative to the EU Philippe Leglise-Costa during a meeting of ambassadors of European Union governments in Brussels, Dec. 7, 2020.Early Monday, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier had no news of a breakthrough when be briefed ambassadors of the 27 member states on the chances of a deal with London before the Dec. 31 deadline.One official from an EU nation said “the difficulties persist” over the legal oversight of any trade deal and standards of fair play that the U.K. needs to meet to be able to export in the EU. A lot of work also remains on fisheries, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were ongoing.Penny Mordaunt, a junior minister for Brexit planning, told lawmakers in the House of Commons that the “level playing field” — competition rules that Britain must agree on to gain access to the EU market — was the most difficult unresolved issue.Britain’s pound currency fell more than 1% against the dollar to less than $1.33 amid the uncertainty.Johnson’s spokesman, Jamie Davies, declined to offer odds on a deal being struck.”I’m not going to put a percentage on it,” he said. “We are prepared to negotiate for as long as we have time available if we think an agreement is still possible.”At his early morning meeting with EU ambassadors, Barnier faced some anxious member states that feared too much might have been yielded already to London. If talks continue after Monday, they will be closing in on a two-day EU summit starting Thursday, where German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron will be major players.Germany wants a deal partly because its massive car industry has always found a welcome export market in Britain. France — seen by Britain as the “bad cop” in trade negotiations — has taken the lead in demanding that U.K. companies closely align themselves with EU rules and environmental and social standards if they still want to export to the lucrative market of 450 million people.The politically charged issue of fisheries also continues to play an outsized role. The EU has demanded widespread access to U.K. fishing grounds that historically have been open to foreign trawlers. Britain insists it must control its own waters, doling out quotas annually.In a further complication, Johnson’s government plans Monday to revive legislation that breaches the legally binding Brexit withdrawal agreement it struck with the EU last year.The U.K. government acknowledges that the Internal Market Bill breaks international law, and the legislation has been condemned by the EU, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and scores of British lawmakers, including many from Johnson’s Conservative Party.Britain says the bill, which gives the government power to override parts of the withdrawal agreement relating to trade with Northern Ireland, is needed as an “insurance policy” to protect the flow of goods within the U.K. in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The EU sees it as an act of bad faith that could imperil Northern Ireland’s peace settlement.On Wednesday the U.K. plans to introduce a Taxation Bill that contains more measures along the same lines and would further irritate the EU.But the British government offered the bloc an olive branch on the issue, saying it would remove the lawbreaking clauses if a joint U.K.-EU committee on Northern Ireland found solutions in the coming days. It said talks in the committee, which continued Monday, had been constructive.
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The United States said Monday that the legislative elections held in Venezuela on Sunday in which President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist political alliance is set to gain control of the National Assembly were a sham. “The United States, along with numerous other democracies around the world, condemns this charade, which failed to meet any minimum standard of credibility,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. The National Assembly is the last of the country’s branches of government where the U.S.-backed opposition held sway. FILE – Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro votes at a polling station during the parliamentary election in Caracas, Venezuela, Dec. 6, 2020.”Maduro brazenly rigged these elections in his favor through the illegal seizure of political parties’ names and ballot logos, manipulation of the process by his loyalist electoral council, violence and intimidation, and other undemocratic tactics,” the statement said. The United States is one of 50 countries that does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s leader, instead supporting National Assembly President Juan Guaido, who claimed victory in January 2019 presidential elections but has not assumed office. The European Union refused to send independent election monitors Sunday, claiming the conditions for a democratic process did not exist. Pro-Maduro candidates received 67% of votes cast, according to Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, with voter participation at just more than 30%. The opposition accused Maduro of rigging the election and called on their supporters to boycott the vote.  “The majority of Venezuela turned its back on the fraud that began months ago,”  Guaido said. The boycott did not dampen Maduro’s mood. “We have recovered the National Assembly with the majority vote of the Venezuelan people,” The Associated Press quoted the Venezuelan leader as saying in a televised address. “It’s a great victory without a doubt for democracy.” 
 
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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday to boost economic and military ties with France. The dealings present a dilemma for the French government in light of Egypt’s poor human rights record.  In January 2019, el-Sissi and Macron met in Cairo, where the French president said that Egypt was not headed in “the right direction” on human rights.  Ahead of Monday’s meeting, several NGOs issued a statement pressing Macron to take a strong stand on the issue. Their statement said that France had – in the groups’ words – “long indulged President el-Sissi’s brutal repression of any form of dissent.” Katia Roux, in charge of advocacy with Amnesty International France, says there has been an unprecedented repression against civil society in Egypt since el-Sissi became president in 2014. Roux says the international community is not doing enough to ensure Egypt respects human rights.In a joint press conference at the French presidential palace, Macron rebuked the critics and vowed to continue the sale of weapons to Egypt.Macron said he opposes any condition on matters of defense and economic cooperation because of what he describes as disagreements over human rights. Macron says it is more effective to have a policy of demanding dialogue than a boycott which – he says – would only reduce the effectiveness of a partner in the fight against terrorism and for the region’s stability.  The French president’s office said topping the agenda in el-Sissi’s meeting with Macron was Libya and Syria.To counter Turkey’s push to expand its influence in the region, France and Egypt stress the need for the Eastern Mediterranean to remain “as a space for cooperation which respects all sovereignties,” the French presidency said in a statement. Egypt has become a strategic partner for France in the Middle East amid growing tensions with Turkey.  The Egyptian government is a major weapons client for French fighter jets and warships. However, no major contracts were expected to be signed during this visit.
 
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Britain is on the eve of launching a COVID-19 vaccination campaign.   Staffers with the nation’s National Health Service, nursing home residents and their caregivers on Tuesday will begin to receive the first of two doses of a vaccine jointly developed by U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech.  The initiative will start nearly a week after the government’s medical regulatory agency granted emergency approval for the vaccine, making Britain the first western nation ready to begin mass inoculations.  The approval came weeks after Pfizer announced the vaccine had been shown to be over 90% effective after its final, widespread clinical trial. The entrance to the Pfizer UK headquarters is seen in Tadworth, Britain, Dec. 2, 2020.Britain received 800,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine Sunday, the first of a total of 40 million it has purchased. Delivery of the vaccine is complicated by the fact that it must be stored in super-cold refrigerators at temperatures below 70 degrees Celsius.   British news outlets reported Sunday that 94-year-old Queen Elizabeth II and her 99-year-old husband, Prince Philip, will announce when they are to receive the vaccine, hoping to reassure the British public of its safety.  FILE – A research scientist works inside a laboratory of India’s Serum Institute, the world’s largest maker of vaccines, which is working on vaccines against COVID-19 in Pune, India, May 18, 2020.In a separate development, the Serum Institute of India has applied for emergency use of a COVID-19 vaccine under development by British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca in collaboration with the University of Oxford.  Serum, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, is leaning heavily towards the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine because it can be stored at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, as opposed to the super-cold requirements of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.   And Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced Sunday the country has received a shipment of a coronavirus vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac biotechnology company.  The vaccine is still undergoing testing in Indonesia, where the government is making final preparations for an initiative to inoculate as many as 270 million people.   United Statesthe United States, health regulators will meet Thursday to consider whether to authorize emergency use of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, followed by a second meeting a week later to discuss another vaccine under development by U.S.-based biotechnology company Moderna. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told Fox News Sunday that if a panel of experts at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves the Pfizer vaccine, “within hours [health workers] can be vaccinating” patients.  FILE – Medical personnel check on a COVID-19 patient at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Los Angeles, Nov. 19, 2020.U.S. authorities have decided that medical and emergency workers as well as employees and residents of nursing homes are at the highest risk of contracting the infection and will be first in line to be inoculated. Azar said that 30 million to 40 million doses of the vaccine will be available by the end of the year, with millions more doses to be manufactured in the first half of 2021.  President-elect Joe Biden has said his transition team has seen “no detailed plan” for distribution of the vaccines. But Azar said, “With all due respect, that’s just nonsense. This is being micromanaged” by the outgoing Trump administration.  FILE – A volunteer is injected with a vaccine as he participates in a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination study at the Research Centers of America, in Hollywood, Florida, Sept. 24, 2020.In one national poll, about four in 10 people say they will refuse to get the shot, either because they are wary of vaccinations in general or the coronavirus inoculation specifically.  Some Americans Worry About Safety of Coronavirus VaccineA significant number of Americans express concern over accelerated timeline in developing COVID inoculationsBut Azar said that “positive experiences” of people being inoculated “will drive more people” to get the necessary two shots a month apart to become vaccinated.  Biden said last week that when he is inaugurated January 20, he will ask that Americans wear a mask for 100 days to try to curb the spread of the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease.  The world has more than 67.1 million total COVID-19 cases, including more than 1.5 million deaths.  The United States leads the world in both categories, with 14.7 million total cases and 282,312 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.  
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Brexit hung in the balance on Monday as Britain and the European Union made a last-ditch attempt to bridge significant differences to strike a trade deal that would avoid a disorderly exit in just 24 days. As fears rose of a chaotic no-trade deal Brexit on Dec. 31 when the United Kingdom finally leaves the EU’s orbit, talks will resume in Brussels before Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen review the situation in the evening. Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on Sunday the odds of a deal were just 50-50 while investment bank JPMorgan said odds of a no-trade deal exit had risen to one third from 20 percent. “Decisive hours for the future of EU-UK relations,” said Sebastian Fischer, an EU spokesman for Germany, the current holder of the EU presidency. Failure to secure a deal would snarl borders, spook financial markets and disrupt the delicate supply chains that stretch across Europe and beyond just as the world tries to cope with the vast economic cost of the COVID-19 pandemic. Deal or no deal? For weeks, the two sides have been haggling – as yet without a result – over fishing rights in British waters, ensuring fair competition for companies and ways to solve future disputes. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier told national envoys to Brussels on Monday morning that there was no agreement yet in UK trade talks, a senior diplomat told Reuters. Updating the EU envoys, Barnier said the three most contentious issues in the negotiations have not yet been resolved, according to the diplomat, who was taking part in the closed-door briefing. “I still think it is more likely than not that we will find a way of getting a deal done but I won’t be shocked if it falls apart,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney was quoted as saying by the Irish Times. “If we don’t get a deal in the next few days, then obviously there are serious problems around ratification and timelines.” In a move that could further undermine the talks, the British government will press ahead with draft laws this week that would breach London’s earlier divorce treaty with the bloc. Junior Foreign Office Minister James Cleverly said on Monday the clauses that breach the treaty would be re-inserted. 
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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s socialist party was poised to gain control of the National Assembly, the country’s last major independent institution, in legislative elections boycotted by the main opposition coalition. Official results had not yet been released by late Sunday night, but analysts say they are a near-foregone conclusion with the vote largely shunned by rival candidates and declared a sham by the U.S., European Union and several other nations. Maduro, who already has the loyalty of the courts, the military, prosecutors and other institutions, is expected to load the formerly opposition-controlled National Assembly with his supporters after the vote. “The truth cannot be hidden,” Juan Guaidó, whose opposition coalition is boycotting the vote, said in a videotaped message, noting the apparent low voter turnout. “The majority of Venezuela turned its back on the fraud that began months ago.” Despite Venezuela’s political turmoil, voting took place Sunday with no apparent problems in Caracas. A light flow of voters walked up to ballot boxes at Andres Bello School in downtown Caracas. They checked their names on a wall outside, and inside showed identification cards before registering their votes on touchscreen machines, which printed a paper ballot they dropped into a box. “I came to vote, and in less than half a second I have voted, quickly,” Caracas resident Rafael Espinoza said. “I’ll tell anyone who wants to do so that they can come down and vote in fractions of a second.” The Supreme Court this year appointed a new elections commission, including three members who have been sanctioned by the U.S. and Canada, without participation of the opposition-led Congress, as the law requires. The court also removed the leadership of three opposition parties, appointing new leaders the opposition accuses of conspiring to support Maduro. Maduro has campaigned for his party’s candidates — including his son and wife — promising to finally silence the right-wing opposition, which he accuses of inciting violent protests and inviting U.S. sanctions. “There are those who plot coups, those who ask for military intervention,” Maduro said on Saturday night in a broadcast on state television, dismissing criticism of the election. “We say: Votes yes — war no, bullets no.” The election comes amid uncertainty over the impending change of U.S. administration. Like outgoing President Donald Trump, President-elect Joe Biden has called Maduro a “dictator,” though it’s unclear what approach he’ll take toward Venezuela’s crisis. Guaidó’s opposition movement is holding its own referendum over several days immediately after the election. It will ask Venezuelans whether they want to end Maduro’s rule and hold new presidential elections. Polls indicate that neither Maduro nor Guaidó are popular among Venezuelans as the nation’s economic and political crisis deepens despite having the world’s largest oil reserves. Karol Teran, a nurse and single mother in Caracas, said she didn’t vote because it would have no impact. The election is controlled, she said. “I don’t feel like wasting my time, giving these people the opportunity, so I simply don’t vote,” she said. She was still considering whether to participate in the opposition’s referendum. More than 5 million people have fled the country in recent years, the world’s largest migration after that of war-torn Syria. The International Monetary Fund projects a 25% decline this year in Venezuela’s GDP, while hyperinflation diminishes the value of its currency, the bolivar, now worth less than a millionth of a dollar on the free market. Maduro, the hand-picked successor to the late President Hugo Chávez, won a second term in 2018. But his political adversaries and scores of nations, including the U.S., reject his legitimacy, alleging the vote was rigged and his most popular challengers were banned. Guaidó, 37, vowed to oust 58-year-old Maduro early last year — basing his claim to the interim presidency on his leadership of the National Assembly, whose term legally ends in early January under the constitution. The Trump administration and other countries have said they will continue to support Guaidó. Washington has hit Maduro and his political allies with sanctions, and the U.S. Justice Department has indicted Maduro as a “narcoterrorist,” offering a $15 million reward for his arrest. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that Sunday’s election was fraudulent. International bodies like the European Union have refused to send observers to Sunday’s election. Maduro’s government invited sympathetic international observers, former Presidents Evo Morales of Bolivia and Rafael Correa of Ecuador. 
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Thousands of people protested and blocked traffic in central London on Sunday over Indian agricultural reforms that have triggered mass demonstrations in India, and police made 13 arrests over breaches of COVID regulations.A crowd of demonstrators converged on the Indian embassy, located on a major artery in the center of the British capital, and groups marched around the Trafalgar Square area.Tens of thousands of farmers have protested in India against three laws the government says are meant to overhaul antiquated procurement procedures and give growers more options to sell their produce.Farmers fear the legislation, passed in September, will eventually dismantle India’s regulated markets and stop the government from buying wheat and rice at guaranteed prices, leaving them at the mercy of private buyers.Britain is home to a large Indian diaspora, and many Britons who trace their family roots to India are strongly engaged with news from the country.There was little social distancing in evidence at the London protests and few participants were wearing face masks, a Reuters photographer at the scene said.The Metropolitan Police said it had arrested 13 people for breaching restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19, and that four of those people were later released after being issued fines.Police also confiscated fireworks from teenagers who were seen setting them off toward a crowd. There were no reports of injuries, and traffic was flowing freely after the crowds dispersed.”The capital remains in the midst of a pandemic. It is vital that we all play our part in the fight against COVID-19,” said police Commander Paul Brogden in a statement.
 
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Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban claimed victory in Sunday’s national election seen as pivotal for the country’s future in the European mainstream, although one exit poll showed his ruling Liberals (PNL) losing by a narrow margin.A reform-minded fiscal conservative, Orban is expected to be nominated by President Klaus Iohannis to form a coalition government, even if final results show him slightly behind his rivals, the leftist PSD.Orban quickly claimed victory, with one exit poll conducted by INSOMAR giving him a narrow lead of 32% versus the PSD’s 28%. Another exit poll by Curs-Avantgarde put the PSD at 30.5% and the PNL at 29.1%. Both showed the centrist USR-Plus, Orban’s likely coalition partner, at roughly 16%.”The PNL thinks it is the winner of this election,” Orban told supporters in a quick speech. “We will seek to represent an array of interests.”A government led by Orban would be welcomed in Brussels, frustrated by years of efforts by a succession of leftist Romanian governments to suppress the independence of the courts, a charge they had denied. Critics had compared what’s happened in Romania to judiciary overhauls in Poland and Hungary that the European Commission says subvert the rule of law.In power for a year, Orban had been constrained in any reform efforts by a parliament controlled by the PSD, which has seen three prime ministers toppled since the last legislative election in 2016 amid infighting over jobs.The party’s last government collapsed in late 2019, following the imprisonment of former leader Liviu Dragnea on corruption charges.Pandemic fearsCampaigning on a promise to bring Romania closer to the European mainstream, Orban has pledged to restore investor sentiment badly shaken by the PSD’s fiscal populism and revive efforts to repair neglected infrastructure and public services.The PSD had seen a last-minute rise in polls, after it accused Orban of botching Romania’s approach to the coronavirus pandemic.With a 6% annual contraction in the third quarter, Romania had one of the worst economic outcomes in the EU.The party’s core rural electorate was angry over social distancing restrictions that curbed the ability of small-plot farmers to sell their produce in nearby cities.”I thank Romanians who punished this mockery that was (Orban’s) handling of the pandemic,” PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu said.Turnout was the lowest since Romania shed communism in a bloody revolt in 1989, with decades of voter apathy over failed reforms compounded by fears over coronavirus contagion in polling stations.There were few new rules introduced for election day, but Romania has had one of the highest death rates in the EU. Schools and restaurants remain closed and an evening curfew was imposed in November.Orban said he expected coalition talks to proceed quickly. But he faces a daunting task to contain public finances to avert the budget deficit ballooning into double digits, something that economists say could trigger ratings agencies to bring Romania below investment grade.The Romanian leu has traded near record lows against the euro over the past year amid political turmoil and rating concerns.Exit polls did not include votes from the Romanian diaspora. Partial official results were expected on Monday morning.
 
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Thousands of people protested in central London on Sunday over Indian agricultural reforms that have triggered mass demonstrations in India.A crowd of demonstrators converged on the Indian embassy, located on Aldwych, a major artery in the center of the British capital, and groups marched around the Trafalgar Square area, a Reuters photographer at the scene said.Tens of thousands of farmers have protested in India against three laws the government says are meant to overhaul antiquated procurement procedures and give growers more options to sell their produce.Farmers fear the legislation, passed in September, will eventually dismantle India’s regulated markets and stop the government from buying wheat and rice at guaranteed prices, leaving them at the mercy of private buyers.Britain is home to a large Indian diaspora and many Britons who trace their family roots to India are strongly engaged with news from the country.There was little social distancing in evidence at the London protests and few participants were wearing face masks.The Metropolitan Police warned that people taking part in a gathering that did not respect COVID-19 restrictions risked being fined, and called on people to leave the area. 
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A town in northern Syria has increasingly been under attack from rebel groups backed by Turkey amid fears of a new Turkish offensive into the region.   On Sunday, Syrian rebel fighters supported by the Turkish military carried out artillery attacks on the town of Ain Issa and several nearby villages, local news media reported.    Ain Issa is currently controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a major U.S. partner in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) terror group. The town is located on the strategic M4 Highway that connects northeast Syria to the western part of the war-torn country.     “In the past two weeks, these attacks on Ain Issa have increased significantly,” said Hosheng Hesen, a reporter with the Syria-based North Press Agency.   “In addition to the town, a camp for internally displaced people has also been targeted several times by the armed groups,” he told VOA.   According to North Press Agency, the ongoing shelling has left at least nine civilians wounded, including two children.   Turkey views the SDF as an extension of the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an outlawed group designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara and Washington.   In October 2019, Turkey launched a major offensive against SDF fighters in Syria, dislodging them from Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ayn, two towns located north and east of Ain Issa respectively.   With a continued Turkish military buildup near the Syrian border, observers say Turkish forces could begin a new large-scale operation to capture Ain Issa and its surrounding areas from Kurdish forces. “At this point, everything is possible,” Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said.   The Syrian Observatory reported that the area has been witnessing “almost daily bombardment” in recent weeks.   In October, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on several occasions talked about the possibility of a new Turkish offensive into northeast Syria.     
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Venezuela’s congressional election on Sunday will almost certainly give President Nicolás Maduro control over the country’s last major independent institution, but will do little to improve his image at home and abroad. Maduro, who already has the loyalty of the courts, the military, prosecutors and other institutions, seeks to load the National Assembly with members of his United Socialist Party of Venezuela, and critics say he’s guaranteed that by rigging the system to smother the last remnants of democracy in Venezuela. An opposition coalition led by U.S.-backed politician Juan Guaidó is boycotting the vote. The European Union, the U.S. and several other nations, have already declared the vote a sham. “How’s Maduro’s fraud going?” Guaidó tweeted, showing pictures of an empty polling place. “Failed.” “I came to vote, and in less than half a second I have voted, quickly,” Caracas resident Rafael Espinoza said. “I’ll tell anyone who wants to do so that they can come down and vote in fractions of a second.” The Supreme Court this year appointed a new elections commission, including three members who have been sanctioned by the U.S. and Canada, without participation of the opposition-led Congress, as the law requires. The court also removed the leadership of three opposition parties, appointing new leaders the opposition accuses of conspiring to support Maduro. Maduro has campaigned for his party’s candidates — including his son and wife — promising to finally silence the right-wing opposition, which he accuses of inciting violent protests and inviting U.S. sanctions. “There are those who plot coups, those who ask for military intervention,” Maduro said on Saturday night in a broadcast on state television, dismissing criticism of the election. “We say: Votes yes — war no, bullets no.” Guaidó’s opposition movement is holding a referendum over several days after the election. It will ask Venezuelans whether they want to end Maduro’s rule and hold new presidential elections. It’s unclear whether either vote will draw masses of people as polls indicate that neither Maduro nor Guaidó are popular among Venezuelans at a time the nation’s economic and political crisis is deepening despite having the world’s largest oil reserves. More than 5 million people have fled the country in recent years, the world’s largest migration after that of war-torn Syria. The International Monetary Fund projects a 25% decline this year in Venezuela’s GDP, while hyperinflation diminishes the value of its currency, the bolivar, now worth less than a millionth of a dollar on the free market. Maduro, the hand-picked successor to the late President Hugo Chávez, won a second term in 2018. But his political adversaries and several nations, including the U.S., reject his legitimacy, alleging the vote was rigged and his most popular challengers were banned. Guaidó, 37, vowed to oust 58-year-old Maduro early last year — basing his claim to the interim presidency on his leadership of the National Assembly, whose term legally ends in early January under the constitution. The Trump administration led scores of nations in support of Guaidó and they have said they will continue to support him in the absence of what they consider fair elections. Washington has hit Maduro and his political allies with sanctions, and the U.S. Justice Department has indicted Maduro as a “narcoterrorist,” offering a $15 million reward for his arrest. On Saturday, the White House National Security Council said the election scheduled for Sunday was fraudulent. “This election only serves to keep Maduro in power and does nothing to build a better future for the people of Venezuela,” the council tweeted. “The U.S. will continue its unwavering demands for freedom, basic human rights, the rule of law, and truly fair elections in Venezuela.” International bodies like the European Union have refused to send observers to Sunday’s election, saying the conditions for a democratic process don’t exist. Karol Teran, a nurse and single mother on her way to work in Caracas, said she decided not to vote because it would have no impact. The election is controlled, she said. “I don’t feel like wasting my time, giving these people the opportunity, so I simply don’t vote,” she said. “We’re tired of all this. I’m tired of all of this. It’s not easy.”  
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