RIYADMEDIA

Lawyers for Huawei’s chief financial officer have won a court battle after a judge asked Canada’s attorney general to hand over more evidence and documents relating to the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, according to a court ruling released Tuesday.Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes in the Supreme Court of British Columbia agreed with Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s legal team that there is an “air of reality” to their assertion.FILE – A logo of Huawei marks one of the company’s buildings in Dongguan, in China’s Guangdong province, March 6, 2019.But she cautioned that her ruling is limited and does not address the merit of Huawei’s allegations that Canadian authorities improperly handled identifying information about Meng’s electronic devices.Meng, 47, was arrested at the Vancouver International Airport on Dec. 1, 2018, at the request of the United States, where she is charged with bank fraud and accused of misleading the bank HSBC about Huawei Technologies’ business in Iran. She has said she is innocent and is fighting extradition.She was questioned by Canadian immigration authorities prior to her arrest, and her lawyers have asked the government to hand over more documents about her arrest.Meng’s legal team has contested her extradition in the Canadian courts on the grounds that the United States is using her extradition for economic and political gain, and that she was unlawfully detained, searched and interrogated by Canadian authorities acting on behalf of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).Judge’s rulingIn her ruling, Holmes wrote that she found the evidence tendered by the attorney general to have “notable gaps,” citing the example of why the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) “made what is described as the simple error of turning over to the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police), contrary to law, the passcodes CBSA officers had required Ms. Meng to produce.”Holmes also said the attorney general did not provide adequate evidence to “rebut inferences from other evidence that the RCMP improperly sent serial numbers and other identifiers of Ms. Meng’s devices to the FBI.”Holmes said these gaps in evidence raise questions “beyond the frivolous or speculative about the chain of events,” and led her to conclude that Meng’s application “crosses the air of reality threshold.”The order does not require the disclosure of documents — the attorney general may assert a privilege, which Meng could contest in court.Neither the Canadian federal justice ministry nor Huawei immediately responded to requests for comment.No timeline was outlined in Holmes’ ruling.Meng’s extradition hearing will begin Jan. 20, 2020, in a federal court in Vancouver.
 
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Alberto Fernandez assumed the presidency of Argentina on Tuesday, returning the country to the ranks of left-leaning nations at a moment of right-wing resurgence in the Western Hemisphere.
                   
Taking the vice presidency was Cristina Fernandez, 66, a polarizing figure who served as president from 2007 to 2015 and whose presence has raised questions about the extent of her influence in the new administration.
                   
Alberto Fernandez, a 60-year-old lawyer from the country’s center-left Peronist movement, faces the grave and immediate challenge of trying to pull Argentina from economic crisis: The country has a 35% poverty rate and is struggling to make debt payments on time.
                   
The economy is expected to shrink 3% by the end of 2019, with inflation at 55%.
                   
“I come before you to call for unity from all Argentina, to build a new social contract of brotherhood and solidarity,” Fernandez said in his inaugural address before Congress. “I come before you calling for all to put Argentina on its feet, to put the country on a path toward development and social justice.”
                   
He said that his administration’s first meeting would focus on reducing hunger, and said that Argentina wanted to pay all its creditors but lacked the capacity to do so.
                   
Outgoing leader Mauricio Macri became the first non-Peronist president to complete his term in 74 years, a landmark seen as a sign of Argentina’s maturing democracy.
                   
The new president said on Twitter that he would dedicate himself to “putting my dear Argentina back on its feet.”
                   
Alberto Fernandez served as head of Cristina Fernandez’s Cabinet for the beginning of her time in power and many wonder if the new vice president will wield outsized power in the new government. She and Alberto Fernandez have denied that.
                   
However, close allies of Cristina Fernandez have already been named to key government positions and her son is head of the governing party in the lower house of the legislature.
                   
Peronists cheered as the pair were inaugurated, saying they had high hopes for an improved quality of life.
                   
“I see a lot of people unemployed, a lot of hunger, and that is very frustrating,“ said Claudia Pouso, a 57-year-old retiree. I want everything to be turned around, more jobs for people. My daughter works in the hospital and there is nothing there. … Everything needs to change.”
                   
Outgoing Interior Minister Rogelio Frigerio praised Alberto Fernandez’s conciliatory attitude toward his political opponents, and his openness toward dialogue.
                   
“We have to give the next government the benefit of the doubt, he needs help and we will help,” Frigerio said.
                   
The incoming president has already announced plans to fight poverty with the distribution of subsidized basic foods, and he has outlined measures to lower food prices and fight malnutrition in poor families.
                   
He has also announced plans to raise retirees’ pensions and increase benefits for public employees and welfare recipients.
                   
Alberto Fernandez is expected to move Argentina away from close cooperation with the U.S. and other conservative governments that are trying to unseat Venezuela’s embattled socialist president, Nicolas Maduro.
                   
Fernandez is close to former left-leaning Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Mexico’s populist president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Meanwhile, tensions have been rising between Fernandez and far-right President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, which Argentina’s main trading partner.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he is ready to deploy soldiers to Libya following the announcement of a security agreement with the Libyan government. Ankara has been actively seeking to project its influence across the Mediterranean as a scramble intensifies for the region’s energy resources.”If Libya were to make a request, we would send a sufficient number of troops,” Erdogan said Tuesday in an address to university students in Ankara. “After the signing of the security agreement, there is no hurdle.”FILE – Khalifa Haftar, center, the military commander who dominates eastern Libya, leaves after an international conference on Libya at the Elysee Palace in Paris, May 29, 2018.The Wagner Group is a private security force run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman reported to have close ties to the Kremlin.”I wish that the matter of Haftar would not create a new Syria in our relations with Russia,” Erdogan said Monday in a television interview. Ankara and Moscow back rival sides in the Syrian civil war. The Turkish president said he plans to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Libya by phone next week.Despite backing rival sides in the Syrian conflict, Putin and Erdogan have built up a good working relationship. Bilateral ties are deepening in the fields of energy and trade, which even extends to Ankara purchasing Russian military hardware — to the alarm of Turkey’s traditional western allies.Alarm in GreeceMoscow is not the only country, however, that likely is concerned by Ankara’s deepening relationship with Libya. Athens is voicing alarm over Ankara’s Libya agreement to declare an exclusive maritime zone between the two countries.Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos slammed the agreement Tuesday, claiming it compromised Greece’s territorial waters. “Turkey’s thoughts are on how it imagines it’s imperialist fantasies,” said Pavlopoulos.FILE – President of Greece Prokopis Pavlopoulos arrives at Rundale Palace, Latvia, Sept. 13, 2018.Athens and Ankara have engaged in increasingly bitter maritime territorial disputes across the Mediterranean, fueled by recent discoveries of vast natural gas reserves. “The strategy is that Turkey should protect its legitimate rights in the Mediterranean,” said Rende, who is now an energy expert.”We [Greece and Turkey] have overlapping claims, overlapping declarations of maritime zones, and Turkey is left alone in the Mediterranean. Other countries — Greece, Israel Egypt — have formed gas partnerships forums and so on and Turkey was isolated. So it’s only natural that Turkey concludes agreements to protect its rights in the Mediterranean.”Adding to Athens’ unease is that Mediterranean waters claimed by Ankara under its Libyan agreement is the only viable route for a planned gas pipeline to distribute recently discovered Israeli and Cypriot gas through Greece to Europe.”Greek Cypriots, Egypt, Greece, and Israel cannot establish a natural gas transmission line without Turkey’s consent,” Erdogan said Monday.Ankara’s Libya deal is seen as part of a more assertive regional policy. “It’s part and parcel of a new doctrine,” said former senior Turkish diplomat and now regional analyst Aydin Selcen.”The first move was challenging the Greek Cypriot over energy searches, in the disputed exclusives economic zones of Cyprus. Then this move with Libya is the second one. It’s extremely important and significant,” said Selcen.EU sanctionsAnkara is currently deploying research ships searching for hydrocarbons in the disputed waters of the Greek Cypriot government.  “Greece will defend its borders, it’s territory,” said Pavlopoulos, “which are also the European Union’s border … with the help of the international community and the EU.”The EU is already considering sanctions against Ankara for violating Greek Cypriot territorial waters. “They [the EU] should remain neutral,” said Rende. “If they don’t, Turkey is prepared to face the consequences because what is at stake are Turkey’s national interests, and we don’t give up our national interests.”Rende insists Ankara is ready to negotiate with Athens. Turkey argues that an agreement with Athens and the Greek Cypriots would pave the way for Turkish territory to provide a route for distributing recently discovered gas reserves.”The most natural market for this prospective gas is Turkey,” said political scientist Cengiz Aktar of Athens University. “It not just to sell through Turkey. But Turkey is the most reasonable and feasible market to absorb this gas.”Analysts suggest Ankara’s robust regional foreign policy is part of a broader strategy to remake Turkey as a regional energy hub. Procuring recently discovered Mediterranean gas ultimately could provide Ankara significant leverage with Moscow and Tehran. In the next two years, major Iranian and Russian gas supply agreements to Turkey are due for renewal.”Turkey’s main strategy is to diversify its energy resource imports and their routes, to enable flexibility of supply,” said Rende.
 
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Growing tensions between Turkey and the United States do not have to result in the end of the long-standing alliance despite some major rifts between Ankara and Washington.The most notable split has come over Turkey’s decision to proceed with the purchase of Russia’s top-of-the-line missile defense system, the S-400, seen as a threat to NATO defense systems and to the U.S. F-35 stealth fighter jet.But the commander of U.S. European Command believes both countries have enough in common to salvage the relationship.”The mil[itary]-to-mil[itary] convergence far outweighs the mil[itary]-to-mil[itary] divergence with the U.S. and Turkey and with NATO and Turkey,” General Tod Wolters told reporters during an appearance in Washington Tuesday.”I saw no cracks in the armor in Turkey’s willingness to work side by side as a NATO partner with us,” he added, referring to talks with Turkish officials during the recent NATO meeting in London. “That’s what I know from my foxhole.”U.S. Secretary for Defense Mark Esper waits for the start of a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Oct. 24, 2019.The sentiment from the top-ranking U.S. general in Europe, though, contrasts with that of U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who warned Saturday that Turkey “may be spinning out of the NATO orbit.””I think Turkey has put itself in a position where it’s disadvantaged itself,” Esper said, adding he hoped relations could be repaired.”They’ve fought with us from Korea to Afghanistan, and I think it’s in all of our interest to make sure that we pull them in closer to NATO,” he said.But the hurdles are substantial.Not only did Turkey incur the wrath of U.S. officials with the purchase of Russia’s S-400, it further raised the Pentagon’s ire with its decision to launch an incursion into northeastern Syria, targeting Kurdish forces that had partnered with the U.S. in the fight against the Islamic State terror group.And there have been few signs Turkey is willing to back down. Officials there are still bristling at the U.S. decision to cut Ankara out of the F-35 development program and ban sales of the jet to Turkey.Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, left, and Supreme Allied Commander Europe U.S. Air Force General Tod Wolters attend a NATO Defense Ministers meeting in Brussels, June 26, 2019.Turkish FILE – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talks to journalists during a news conference during a NATO Foreign Ministers meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Nov. 20, 2019.”The time for patience has long expired,” U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Lindsey Graham wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier this month.And it is not just the U.S. Some NATO allies also are cautious about the possibility of repairing ties with Turkey.”It doesn’t depend on us,” Phillipe Etienne, the French ambassador to the U.S., said during a panel discussion in Washington Monday, though he noted at least during NATO’s meeting in London, all sides were talking.”It’s clear we don’t agree on everything,” Etienne said. “But we had this discussion, which is very important.”U.S. European Command’s General Wolters on Tuesday said the foundation for an improved relationship with Turkey exists, though he encouraged Ankara to take the first steps.Dorian Jones contributed to this report.
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U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are meeting Tuesday in Washington with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, with the two nuclear powers discussing the possibility of extending their last remaining major arms control deal.The officials, meeting as Democrats unveiled impeachment charges against Trump, also plan to talk about election security and national security, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told the Fox Business Network.”It’s incumbent on any American president to try and build relationships across the world,” Gidley said.It is Lavrov’s first visit to Washington since May 2017, when Trump was first enmeshed in allegations that he cooperated with Russia to help him win the 2016 election and was accused of sharing classified information with the Russian diplomat at their White House meeting. U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller concluded after a lengthy investigation that Russia meddled in the election to help Trump win, but that there insufficient evidence to prove Trump’s campaign conspired with Moscow.FILE – President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Dec. 7, 2019.Russia has denied any interference in the election three years ago, a claim Lavrov renewed after meeting with Pompeo, before talks later in the day with Trump.”All speculations about our alleged interference in domestic processes in the United States are baseless,” Lavrov said. “There are no facts that would support that.”Pompeo said, “I made clear, (any Russian election interference) was unacceptable.”Trump is facing impeachment allegations centering on his efforts to get Ukraine to investigate one of his chief 2020 Democratic political rivals, former Vice President Joe Biden, and a debunked theory that Kyiv worked to undermine Trump’s 2016 campaign, with Trump’s request coming at a time when he was withholding $391 million in military aid Kyiv wanted to help fight pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.Pompeo said he told Lavrov that the U.S. considers the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow unilaterally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, to still be part of Ukraine.Lavrov, speaking through an interpreter, said, “We talked about strategic stability, arms control. We spoke frankly and business-like. It is useful to talk to each other, however difficult this period in our relationship is.”The top U.S. diplomat said the impeachment allegations would not impinge on the talks with Lavrov.”We didn’t pick this date to coincide with the process on Capitol Hill, but we can’t allow the zaniness that’s taking place on Capitol Hill to impact our job,” Pompeo told conservative broadcaster One America News on Monday.New START treatyRussian President Vladimir Putin has called for the quick renewal of the New START arms control treaty that does not expire until February 2021. It was negotiated under Trump’s predecessor, former President Barack Obama, obligating the two powers to halve their arsenals of strategic nuclear missile launchers.The Trump administration has not ruled out a treaty extension, but wants a new pact to include China. Beijing has increased its arsenal, but it is much smaller than that held by Washington and Moscow.Earlier this year, the U.S. withdrew from the Cold War-era Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces treaty, which curbed the number of missiles that could hit European cities, contending that Russia was violating the agreement.Other topicsPompeo, Trump and Lavrov are also expected to discuss Ukraine, Iran, North Korea and Syria. Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has increased its role in the Syrian conflict after Trump withdrew most U.S. troops from Syria.After Lavrov’s White House visit 2 1/2 years ago, The Washington Post reported that Trump shared classified information with him and Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s then-ambassador to Washington, about a threat from the Islamic State terrorist group.The U.S. ally that provided the information did not authorize Trump to divulge it, but it led to restrictions on the use of laptops in the cabins of commercial flights from the Middle East, the newspaper said.Trump later said he had the “absolute right” to share “facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety.”
 
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A man who served as secretary of public security in Mexico from 2006 to 2012 has been indicted in New York City on drug charges alleging he accepted millions of dollars in bribes to let the Sinaloa cartel operate with impunity in Mexico.Genaro Garcia Luna, 51, a resident of Florida, was charged in Brooklyn federal court with three counts of cocaine trafficking conspiracy and a false statements charge, authorities said in a release.
Garcia Luna was arrested Monday by federal agents in Dallas. Prosecutors in Brooklyn said they will seek his removal to New York. The arrest and charges were announced Tuesday.
U.S. Attorney Richard P. Donoghue said Garcia Luna took millions of dollars in bribes from the former leader of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, “while he controlled Mexico’s federal police force and was responsible for ensuring public safety in Mexico.”
 “Today’s arrest demonstrates our resolve to bring to justice those who help cartels inflict devastating harm on the United States and Mexico, regardless of the positions they held while committing their crimes,” he said.
Garcia Luna received millions of dollars in bribes from 2001 to 2012 while he occupied high-ranking law enforcement positions in the Mexican government, authorities said.
From 2001 to 2005, Garcia Luna led Mexico’s Federal Investigation Agency, and from 2006 to 2012 served as Mexico’s secretary of public security, controlling the nation’s federal police force, authorities said.
They said the bribes paid to Garcia Luna cleared the way for the Sinaloa cartel to safely ship multi-ton quantities of cocaine and other drugs into the United States while getting sensitive law enforcement information about investigations and information about rival drug cartels.
There was no immediate comment from representatives for Garcia Luna.
Garcia Luna was once seen as a powerful ally in the American effort to thwart Mexican cartels from flooding the U.S. market with cocaine and other illegal drugs. But he had also previously come under suspicion of taking bribes.
In 2018, former cartel member Jesus Zambada testified at El Chapo’s New York trial that he personally made at least $6 million in hidden payments to Garcia Luna, on behalf of his older brother, cartel boss Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
The cash was delivered during two meetings at a restaurant in Mexico between the start of 2005 and the end of 2007, he said.  
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U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed a modified North American trade pact Tuesday, declaring it is a significant improvement over the original North American Free Trade Agreement and over the first proposal from the White House.“There is no question, of course, that this trade agreement is much better than NAFTA,”  Pelosi said at a Capitol Hill news conference announcing the deal. “It is infinitely better than what was initially proposed by the administration.”The agreement was made possible after congressional Democrats and the White House agreed on final terms, ending more than two years of talks that also included Canada and Mexico.Pelosi and many other Democrats have long lambasted the original NAFTA accord, particularly the extensive trade-related job losses in the U.S. manufacturing sector.U.S. President Donald Trump noted on Twitter Tuesday his trade pact apparently received “very good Democrat” support and that the agreement “will be the best and most important trade deal ever made by the USA.”Looking like very good Democrat support for USMCA. That would be great for our Country!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2019“Importantly,” Trump continued, “we will finally end our Country’s worst Trade Deal, NAFTA!”As Republican leaders and lawmakers pushed Pelosi on the issue for months, Pelosi held extensive talks with the Trump administration to win stronger enforcement provisions, an apparently successful effort to win Democratic support.She also painstakingly worked to get the support of labor, including an endorsement from the AFL-CIO, which is critical to getting congressional approval.”For the first time, there truly will be enforceable labor standards,” including a process allowing for inspections of factories, said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.Weeks of negotiations, closely watched by Democratic labor allies, bought lawmakers and administration officials together.The deal represents a significant victory for Trump who campaigned for the presidency on a promise to renegotiate or abolish NAFTA.When a reporter asked at the news conference why she would give Trump a political victory, Pelosi responded, “We are declaring victory for the American worker.”NAFTA killed most tariffs and other trade barriers involving the U.S., Canada and Mexico.The original NAFTA divided Democrats, but the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is more protectionist and labor-friendly, indicating it may be more palatable to the Democratic Party.An unlikely coalition of critics consisting of Trump, labor unions and many Democratic legislators considered NAFTA a job killer for the U.S. because it encouraged U.S. factories to relocate to Mexico to capitalize on the country’s low-wage workers.The proposed USMCA deal contains provisions designed to lure manufacturers back to the U.S.It also includes updated labor regulations and more stringent enforcement provisions to hold Mexican companies more accountable on labor.Officials from the U.S., Canada and Mexico met in Mexico Tuesday to discuss the new deal.It requires U.S. congressional approval before it is ratified.Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar, whose district in Texas is near the U.S.-Mexico border, said Tuesday the House is planning to vote on the deal next week.  
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In 1995, developed nations around the world came together to create a means of creating rules for international trade and settling disputes between countries without the use of damaging tariffs. The World Trade Organization, which grew out of that effort, created a consensus-based system of regulations, arbitration, and a de facto court system that gave countries a venue for settling claims against each other.As of Wednesday, though, the WTO will likely cease to function in any real sense. Its policymaking arm has been crippled for years over internal disagreements. Now, its enforcement arm, a seven-judge panel known as the Appellate Body, is about to wither away, the result of the Trump administration’s decision to block the appointment of new judges to replace those whose terms are expiring.Enforcement arm vacanciesFILE – The World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters are pictured in Geneva, Switzerland, July 26, 2018.The Appellate Body is currently down to three judges, the minimum required to rule on a dispute. It will have only one left after Tuesday, making it unable to render judgments in new matters. Theoretically, the two judges whose terms are expiring could stay on to hear cases that have already been filed. However, an American judge, Thomas Graham, has said that he will refuse to do so unless the Appellate Body’s director, Werner Zdouc, is removed from his post. The WTO earlier this year announced that it would not take that action.WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo has insisted that the demise of the Appellate Body does not mean that the organization’s existing rules no longer have force.Existing rules would still apply“Existing WTO rules still apply,” he said last week. “WTO disciplines and principles will continue to underpin world trade. And members will continue to use WTO rules to resolve trade conflicts — in regular WTO bodies, through consultations, via dispute settlement panels, and through any other means envisaged in the WTO agreements.”However, over the weekend, Azevêdo urged member countries to work to repair the appeals body, saying, “A well-functioning, impartial and binding dispute settlement system is a core pillar of the WTO system. Rules-based dispute resolution prevents trade conflicts from ending up in escalating tit-for-tat retaliation — which becomes difficult to stop once it starts — or becoming intractable political quagmires.”The reaction of member states to the demise of the WTO is notably mixed. In Europe, the body’s failure is seen as a disaster. “If you have no rules, everyone can do what they want and that would be really, really bad, not least for the smaller and developing countries,” European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said last summer.European Union considering a replacementThe EU, with the backing of Canada and Norway, is trying to create a temporary replacement panel with the same structure as the Appellate Body. China, Russia, and a number of other countries are said to be considering whether to sign on.In Washington, however, there is far less sorrow over the fading relevance of the WTO.In practical terms, the organization has been especially ineffectual when it comes to updating trade rules for the current era. A requirement of full consensus in rulemaking allows any of the 164 member countries to derail a proposal.WTO’s failure to address China issuesAs a result, the body has been struggling for years to come to agreement on multiple complex issues that weren’t contemplated when it was first established, including electronic commerce and how to deal with countries like China, that refuse to play by the established rules of laissez-faire capitalism.The organization’s failure to deal with the challenge presented by China is particularly galling to the Trump administration. Despite the size of its economy — the second largest in the world — the WTO allows China to operate under relaxed rules reserved for developing countries, something the administration has criticized as deeply unfair.But the roots of the Trump administration’s antipathy to the WTO go far deeper than concerns about its ability to create new rules. Trump has made it clear that he disdains the very idea of international regulation of U.S. trade policy.Trump’s oppositionFILE – U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on supporting the passage of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade deal during a visit to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 12, 2019.The president who famously claimed “Trade wars are good, and easy to win,” began his term by withdrawing the U.S. from the Trans Pacific Partnership trade pact, and has repeatedly railed against multilateral trade agreements of all types. He prefers to see the United States negotiate trade agreements on a country-by-country basis, which he believes maximizes the United States’ leverage.Trump is also a prolific user of tariffs, the tool that the WTO was designed to regulate. He has imposed the import taxes on goods coming into the U.S. from a variety of countries around the world — most notably China — as a means of forcing foreign governments to make concessions on their treatment of American exports.Previous administrations tangled with WTOAmerican anger at the WTO did not originate with the election of Trump. Multiple administrations including the Obama administration have tangled with the organization, particularly over some rulings from the Appellate Body that U.S. officials have said exceeded its mandate.However, the Trump administration has been the most aggressive in trying to rein in the WTO. In addition to blocking the appointment of new judges, the U.S. has cut funding for the Appellate Body, slashing its budget by 93 percent. 
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Greece has sent two letters to the United Nations explaining its objections to a maritime boundary deal between Turkey and Libya and asking for the matter to be taken up by the U.N. Security Council, the government spokesman said Tuesday.The country’s foreign minister also convened a meeting in Athens to brief political party leaders on developments. The deal, endorsed by Turkey’s parliament last week, has fueled regional tension, particularly over drilling rights for gas and oil exploration.The agreement would give Turkey and Libya access to an economic zone across the Mediterranean despite the objections of Greece, Egypt and Cyprus, which lie between the two geographically. All three countries have blasted the deal as being contrary to international law, and Greece expelled the Libyan ambassador last week over the issue.Government spokesman Stelios Petsas said Greece sent one letter to the U.N. Secretary General and one to the head of the U.N. Security Council Monday night detailing Greece’s position. He said the letters noted the agreement “was done in bad faith and violates the law of the sea, as the sea zones of Turkey and Libya are not neighboring, nor is there a joint maritime border between the two countries.”The letters also note the deal “does not take into account the Greek islands” and their right to a continental shelf and exclusive economic zone. The agreement has also not been ratified by Libya’s parliament, Petsas said, rendering it “void and unable to affect Greek sovereign rights.”Neighbors Greece and Turkey, although NATO allies, have tense relations and are divided by a series of decades-old disputes, including territorial issues in the Aegean Sea, and have come to the brink of war three times since the 1970s, including once over drilling rights in the Aegean. 
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American billionaire and Democratic presidential contender Michael Bloomberg says that the next U.S. president should halt fossil fuel subsidies altogether.Bloomberg, who launched his campaign less than three weeks ago, is attending a United Nations global climate conference in Madrid that is kicking into high gear.Ministers from nearly 200 countries are arriving on Tuesday to tackle some of the tough issues that negotiations couldn’t resolve over the past week, including finalizing the rules for international carbon markets that economists say could help drive down emissions and help poor countries to cope with the effects of rising temperatures.     Opening an event on sustainable finances organized by the summit host, Spain, Bloomberg said that “the next president of the United States should end all subsidies for fossil fuel companies and fossil fuel extraction, and that includes tax breaks and other special treatment.”
“He or she should reinvest that funding into clean energy, which will also create a lot of new jobs,” he added.
The 77-year-old businessman and former New York mayor is expected to share the results of his private push to organize thousands of U.S. cities and businesses to abide by the terms of a global climate treaty that the Trump administration is working to abandon.
 “Americans are willing to continue to work even with a climate change denier in the White House,” Bloomberg told a room packed of journalists and officials.
 “The White House matters, but sometimes not too much,” he added.
The Democrat has vowed to rejoin the Paris climate agreement if he’s elected as president. He recently stepped down as the U.N.’s special envoy for climate action.
Unlike at many past climate summits, few heads of government are joining the talks in Madrid. The U.S. has sent a career diplomat, Ambassador Marcia Bernicat, as head of its delegation.
John Kerry, the former Secretary of State under the last Democrat administration, is also attending events on the sidelines of the Madrid conference, and said the absence of any representative from the White House at the talks “speaks for itself.”
 “It’s an absence of leadership,” Kerry told The Associated Press. “It’s a tragedy.”
Most other countries are sending environment ministers or other senior officials instead of prime ministers or presidents, worrying some observers.
“It shows that there has not yet been an internalization of the emergency situation that we are in, that so few heads of state are coming to Madrid and ready to roll up their sleeves and do what it takes to actually respond to the science,” said Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International.
She also accused some governments, such as Brazil and Saudi Arabia, of trying to weaken the agreements, and called on the European Union to work with vulnerable nations to counter those efforts.
Environmental campaigners are hoping the EU will present an ambitious plan this week for cutting emissions in the medium- and long-term that would send a message of hope to weary negotiators in Madrid.
The new head of the bloc’s executive Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has backed a call for the EU to stop all net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050.
Scientists say emissions worldwide need to start falling sharply from next year onward if there is to be any hope of achieving the Paris climate accord’s goal of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit).
Negotiators in Madrid had worked until 3 a.m. to prepare the ground for ministers, said said Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch minister for foreign trade and development cooperation.
“Let’s hope to see that we can … really sort of give shape and meaning to the call ‘Time for action,'” said Kaag, referring to the motto of the U.N. talks. “It’s now or never.”   
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Police in the Czech Republic said Tuesday an attacker shot dead six people and wounded two others at a hospital in the eastern part of the country.The shootings happened around 7 a.m. local time in a waiting room at the hospital in the city of Ostrava.Police announced hours later the suspect in the attack, identified as a 42-year-old man, was dead after shooting himself in the head inside a car before officers reached him.There was no immediate word on a possible motive.
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Russian and Ukrainian presidents are meeting in Paris in an effort to end five-and-a-half years of fighting in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed rebels. The first face-to-face meeting between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy is mediated by France and Germany and was preceded by a prisoner swap and the withdrawal of Ukraine’s military from key areas on the front line. But, as VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports, many Ukrainians back home are protesting what they see as Zelenskiy’s weakness.
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Chile’s military has launched a search and rescue mission for an air force plane carrying 38 people that disappeared Monday during a flight to a base in Antarctica.The C-130 Hercules aircraft took off from the southern city of Punta Arenas, located more than 3,000 kilometers south of the capital Santiago. The 17 crewmen and 21 passengers were heading to the Antarctic outpost to check on a floating fuel supply line and other equipment.  The air force says it lost contact with the plane nearly an hour-and-a-half later.
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A conservation group trying to protect the world’s most endangered marine mammal said Monday that hundreds of fishermen massed in dozens of boats to fish illegally in Mexico’s Gulf of California.Activists with the Sea Shepherd group said they witnessed about 80 small fishing boats pulling nets full of endangered totoaba fish from the water near the port of San Felipe on Sunday.Those same nets catch vaquita porpoises. Perhaps as few as 10 of the small, elusive porpoises remain in the Gulf of California, which is the only place they live.While totoaba are more numerous, they are also protected. But their swim bladders are considered a delicacy in China and command high prices.The Mexican government prohibits net fishing in the gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez, but budget cuts have meant authorities have stopped compensation payments for fishermen for not fishing.Sea Shepherd operates in the area to remove the gillnets that trap vaquitas, but the group said the mass fishing seen Sunday was a new tactic, in which a number of boats would surround and enclose totoabas to ensure they couldn’t escape the nets.The mass turnout overwhelmed the relatively few Mexican navy personnel present, the group said. In the past, fishermen have attacked Sea Shepherd boats as well as naval vessels.
 
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France and a group of Brazilian states plan to announce a partnership to preserve the Amazon rainforest, the group’s leader said on Monday, bypassing Brazil’s federal government after a spat between the presidents of the two countries.Amapa state Governor Waldez Goes, who heads the consortium of the nine states that comprise Brazil’s vast Amazon region, told Reuters that the partnership would be announced at the U.N. climate summit in Madrid this week and would include other initiatives aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions.Fires in Brazil’s section of the rainforest, which accounts for 60% of the overall Amazon and is seen as a bulwark against climate change, surged in August to their highest point since 2010. The widespread blazes provoked an international outcry that Brazil was not doing enough to protect its forest.French President Emmanuel Macron called for urgent actions to be taken on the fires, rapidly becoming embroiled in a war of words with Brazil’s right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro.FILE – French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference after the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assem.bly at the French mission to the UN in New York, Sept. 24, 2019Macron accused Bolsonaro of lying to world leaders about Brazil’s commitment to preserving the environment. Bolsonaro at one point insulted Macron’s wife and said he would only accept $20 million in aid offered by the G7 group of wealthy nations if Macron withdrew his “insults.”Macron said he thought Brazilian women must be ashamed of Bolsonaro, and suggested he was not up to the job of president.Goes said the nine Brazilian states would announce a mechanism on Tuesday to allow foreign countries to contribute directly to state-level projects to preserve the Amazon.He said that they had approached several European countries about funding such efforts.The non-binding partnership with France could lay the groundwork for the country to provide eventual financial support to the states’ environmental projects, he said. It was not clear whether talks will advance far enough at the summit for France to announce an amount that it would contribute, Goes added.A spokesman for the French delegation at the conference declined to immediately comment.FILE – Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro looks on during the ceremony of the 300 days of government at the Planalto Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Nov. 5, 2019.Environmentalists blame Bolsonaro for Amazon deforestation hitting an 11-year high as he has prioritised economic development of the rainforest over conservation.”The Brazilian President has in his official agenda the exploitation of the Amazon,” said Nara Bare, a Brazilian indigenous representative at a protest outside the two-week climate summit in Madrid, which is due to conclude on Friday.Bolsonaro has said the media has sensationalized the Amazon fires and demonized him. 
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Hungary’s government submitted plans to parliament on Monday to tighten its control over theaters, triggering protests from actors and audiences who feel that artistic freedom is under threat.On a cold wet day, about 1,000 to 2,000 people demonstrated against the legislation in downtown Budapest, with banners saying “Pigs, hands off the theater!”Leading actors, theater directors and Budapest’s liberal mayor spoke at the protest against the bill which they say could undermine the independence of theaters.”I am a democrat, and this is a step towards stealing yet another field that belongs to the public: this time the theaters,” said Gabor Timar, 67, a retired bus driver.The ruling party of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban wants to pass the bill in an accelerated process this week.A public petition urging lawmakers to reject the bill had gathered almost 50,000 signatures by Monday evening. Actors read out the petition at several theaters over the weekend.In a Facebook video, some of Hungary’s leading actors and theater directors said the plans recalled the communist era, when the state controlled most aspects of national life.Actors and the audience hold up their hands at Budapest’s Trafo threater in protest against a plan by Hungary’s government to tighten its control over theaters in Budapest, Hungary, Dec. 8, 2019.According to the draft law published on parliament’s website, which the government has softened compared with an original version leaked on Friday, a new National Cultural Council will be responsible for the “unified strategic direction of various segments of culture.”Hungary’s minister for human resources, who oversees culture, would have a say in appointing theater directors at institutions jointly financed by the state and municipalities.The minister and the relevant municipality would have to sign a deal defining the joint operation of a theater, including how to appoint its director, but this agreement “has to guarantee the artistic freedom of the theater,” the bill says.FILE – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban talks to the media in Budapest, Hungary, Oct. 13, 2019.Since Orban won power in 2010, his right-wing Fidesz party has rewritten Hungary’s constitution, gained control of state media, and businessmen close to the prime minister and the party have built empires.After winning a 2018 election, his third in a row, Orban said he had won a “mandate to build a new era.”A government spokesman told Reuters on Friday that a recent sexual harassment case at a Budapest theater made the changes necessary as the government currently has no power to sack the director of the theater involved. 
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Russian and Ukrainian leaders agreed to implement a ceasefire and a prisoners’ swap by years end, following four-way talks in Paris on Monday that also included France and Germany. The four heads of state said they had made progress and that just talking was a key step forward. They are to meet again in four months.Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was confident of the ceasefire would take place this month. He outlined both steps forward and progress still to be made during a late night press conference, echoing similar remarks made by other leaders there.”It’s not a frozen situation,” Zelensky said. “And to answer your question, yes I do feel we will meet again in another four months, and be in a position to go forward and address other questions on the basis of our achievements.”This is the first meeting between Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin since the Ukrainian actor took office earlier this year. It’s the first such four-way summit since 2016 that also includes France and Germany.Putin said describing a possible thaw between Russia and Ukraine was correct.”We’ve have had progress on most issues,” Putin said. “All of this does suggest that things are going the right way.”The talks aim to pave a solution to the ongoing conflict between the two countries that has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014. Both sides have since accused the other of failing to honor a 2015 peace agreement.President Zelensky, a political newcomer, has made ending the conflict a priority.But many Ukrainians are worried he may concede too much. Ahead of the Paris meeting, thousands demonstrated in the capital Kyiv against any so-called “capitulation” to Moscow.The talks are also seen as a diplomatic test for host Emmanuel Macron. The French President wants to re-engage with Russia after several years of European Union sanctions over the Ukraine crisis. But that has gotten pushback from EU members like Poland. 
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U.S. President Donald Trump will join Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday for talks with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the White House announced.The three will “discuss the state of the bilateral relationship,” a senior Trump administration official said Monday.
 
The meeting, which was originally announced to involve only Pompeo and Lavrov, was widely speculated to be attended by Trump, as well.
 
White House National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said such a visit by Trump would reciprocate a courtesy extended by President Vladimir Putin to Pompeo during his last visit to Moscow.”When Pompeo has gone to Russia, Putin’s seen him. And one of the things that we’ve said with the Chinese and the Russians is, we want reciprocity,” O’Brien said on the “Face the Nation” television program.FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, pose for a photo before their talks in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, southern Russia, May 14, 2019.The trio is expected to meet for a half-day of talks that include a working lunch and a news conference. U.S. officials say the three will discuss arms control, as well as the situations in Ukraine and Syria, among other issues.Strained ties
 
The meeting comes as bilateral ties between the United States and Russia are strained over allegations of election meddling, as well as the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.
 
The talks appear to have been initiated after Putin said last week that Moscow was eager to extend the New START nuclear arms control treaty by the end of this year “without any preconditions.”At the recent NATO summit in London, Trump said that he was aware of Moscow’s desire to “do a deal” on arms control, and said that China could also be brought into the process.
 
Pompeo and Lavrov met several times this year, including in Russia and in New York at the United Nations. Lavrov has not been in Washington since he met Trump at the White House in May 2017, a meeting that led to accusations that Trump divulged classified information during the talks.Impeachment inquiryThe talks come at a time when Washington is embroiled over the ongoing impeachment inquiry against Trump, which has focused on allegations that he withheld aid to Ukraine in order to pressure Kyiv into launching an investigation into Trump’s potential Democratic rival in the 2020 U.S. presidential elections.Russia has also been drawn into the conversation, with some Democrats arguing that the scope of the impeachment trial should include allegations of obstruction of justice by Trump for his dealings with special counsel Robert Mueller, who investigated Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
 
Mueller’s report concluded that Russia did interfere to try to tilt the vote in favor of Trump. Moscow has denied any interference.While Mueller’s report concluded that Trump did not collude with Russia, it also did not fully exonerate the president on possible crimes of obstruction of justice.
 
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Britain’s political leaders are making a final push for votes ahead of Thursday’s general election, which has been dominated by the issue of Britain’s exit from the European Union.A new report from analyst group The UK in a Changing Europe at Kings College London concludes that both the ruling Conservative party and opposition Labour party manifestos are vague or misleading on Brexit — and warns the agonizing over Britain’s future relationship with the EU is only likely to get worse.The Conservatives plan to leave the European Union on Jan. 31, 2020, under the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated with Brussels, if they win a majority on Dec. 12. Party leader Boris Johnson toured a fish market in the port of Grimsby on Monday, pledging to boost the industry after Brexit.“I think it’s an opportunity here to look at one of the ways in which this country will take back control of a massive industry once we get Brexit done in January,” Johnson said.Far from “massive,” commercial fishing makes up just 0.1 percent of the British economy — but control of fishing rights holds symbolic value for many pro-Brexit voters, who want to prevent European boats from accessing British waters.However, three-quarters of British-caught fish is exported, most of it to the European Union — and any trade barriers could hurt the industry.
Britain Set for Key Election, But Brexit Agony Will Likely Continue video player.
Embed” />Copy LinkThe Conservatives election mantra is “Get Brexit done.” But Britain has yet to negotiate its future relationship with the EU and that will likely take years. Such Brexit trade-offs have been largely ignored, says Jill Rutter of The UK in a Changing Europe program.“One of the things the Conservatives have said is ‘we can get a good trade deal done with the EU by December 2020. We’re not going to ask for another extension,’” said Rutter. “That looks pretty unrealistic to most people. And it’s very unclear exactly where the Conservatives are heading on that relationship.”The opposition Labour party has tried to focus on other issues, like the health service, and has sometimes struggled to communicate its stance on Brexit, something that could cost them at the ballot box. The party promises to renegotiate a better Brexit deal then hold another referendum.“So they talk about not full alignment with the Single Market rules, but close alignment,” noted Rutter. “I think the EU might want to ask what that’s about, because remember they really didn’t like it when (former Prime Minister) Theresa May said ‘I want to pick and mix which rules I go with.’”For their part, the Liberal Democrats say they would cancel Brexit altogether.  They could be kingmakers if no one party wins a majority Thursday.
 
Polls suggest Boris Johnson’s Conservatives will gain a majority. But there could be a surprise. Some 3.85 million people have newly registered to vote in the last few weeks, with roughly two-thirds of those aged under 35 — a demographic that tends not to vote Conservative.Jason Palmer, a Student Union officer at Bristol University in the west of England, says many young people are engaging in the election debate.“I think a lot of this comes from the discontent that’s previously been experienced in terms of young people feeling as though their voices don’t matter in politics,” Palmers said. “Or that they didn’t have a say, for example, in the 2016 Brexit referendum.”The prime minister’s own constituency of Uxbridge could be the biggest surprise. The area voted to remain in the European Union in 2016 — and the Labour candidate for the seat, Ali Milani, believes he can win there.“We only need a 5 percent swing to take this seat, to unseat a prime minister which would be the first time in British democracy’s history that that’s ever happened,” Milani said.Another factor could be another great British obsession: the weather. A cold snap is forecast, which could persuade some voters to stay home.Will Britain vote for a change of direction? Or will the election push Britain deeper into political quagmire? The result is due in the early hours of Friday. 
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For seven nerve-wracking months, they slept through the day in cramped quarters on cold floors, while spending their nights in prayer, keeping fit with dumbbells made from water jugs and peering through the diplomatic compound’s curtains for fear of surveillance.But on Monday, 16 national guardsmen who shocked Venezuela and the world alike by revolting against President Nicolas Maduro were safely out of the country, having successfully fled the Panamanian embassy in Caracas that had been their makeshift home since April.The Associated Press spoke exclusively to the group’s leaders, who provided the first detailed account of what led them to plot with Maduro’s opponents in an uprising that laid bare fraying support for the socialist leader within the armed forces.Due to security concerns, lieutenant colonels Illich Sanchez and Rafael Soto wouldn’t reveal exactly when or how they left Venezuela. They only said they journeyed in small groups as part of a clandestine “military operation” that counted with the support of dozens of low-ranking troops and their commanders.“We left Venezuela but our fight to restore Venezuela’s democracy will continue,” said Sanchez in a phone interview from an undisclosed location.In this Nov. 8, 2019 photo, Venezuelan guardsmen play a game of dominoes inside Panama’s Embassy, in Caracas, Venezuela.The previously untold story of how Sanchez and Soto managed to dupe their superiors and plot a revolt against Maduro underscore how discontent — and fear — is running high inside Venezuela’s barracks even as the embattled leader clings to power amid punishing U.S. sanctions imposed after presidential election widely seen as fraudulent.                  The two standout officers seemed ideally suited for the high-risk mission, having risen through the ranks to a trusted position with direct control of troops and regular contact with Maduro’s top aides.Sanchez, 41, commanded a garrison of some 500 guardsmen responsible for protecting downtown government buildings including the presidential palace and supreme court. Soto, 43, for a time was assigned to the feared SEBIN intelligence policy, leading a team of some 150 agents charged with spying on government opponents.In their telling, the two longtime friends grew disillusioned watching the devastation of Venezuela’s economy and started secretly plotting to remove Maduro. Eventually they teamed up with Maduro’s opponents led by National Assembly President Juan Guaido, who is recognized as Venezuela’s rightful leader by the U.S. and some 60 countries.On April 30, they stunned Venezuelans by appearing before dawn with tanks and heavily armed troops on a bridge in eastern Caracas alongside Guaido and activist Leopoldo Lopez, who they helped spring from what they considered an illegal house arrest.“When I gathered my troops at 2 a.m. and told them we were going to liberate Venezuela they broke down in tears,” said Sanchez, who as part of his official duties providing security to congress had to speak with opposition lawmakers on a regular basis. “Nobody saw it coming, but they were all immediately committed.”Adds Soto: “Everything was perfectly lined up for a peaceful transition.”But they say they were defrauded by Maduro aides, including Supreme Court President Maikel Moreno and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, who they claim never fulfilled a promise made to the opposition to abandon their support of Maduro. Both Moreno and Padrino have repeatedly reasserted their loyalty to Maduro.In this Nov. 8, 2019 photo, Venezuelan soldiers, who took part in a failed April rebellion against Nicolas Maduro, stand in a prayer circle inside Panama’s Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela.In the confusing aftermath of the failed rebellion, they scurried for protection on the back of motorcycles, stripping off their olive green fatigues and knocking, unsuccessfully at first, on several embassy doors.Amid the chaos, Lopez phoned then Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, who immediately embraced their cause and arranged their safe entry into the embassy.He recalled how two months before the U.S. invasion of Panama, in 1989, then-dictator Gen. Manuel Noriega crushed a similar revolt and then ordered the execution of more than 10 ringleaders.“We couldn’t leave them alone,” Varela said in an interview. “The Sebin was 10 feet from the door. They were going to kill them all.”The embassy, in an upscale high-rise occupied by state-run companies and well-connected government contractors, would become their makeshift home for the next seven months. Both men said the “humanitarian support” provided by the embassy’s staff and the Panamanian people ensured their safety.While confined, the 16 guardsmen worked hard to maintain their military discipline. To keep out of their host’s way, they adopted an inverted sleep schedule, dozing during the day on thin mattresses strewn across the floor of a small room. Then at night, after the diplomats went home, they’d come alive to cook together on a small stove top, keep fit with dumbbells improvised from 20-liter water bottles and read religious texts in a prayer circle.
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News reports say House Democrats and the White House are close to agreeing on changes to a trade deal that the United States, Canada and Mexico signed last year but have not ratified.The United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement, known as the USMCA, would replace the existing North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, which President Donald Trump has derided as the “worst trade deal” ever signed by the U.S. He made renegotiating NAFTA a campaign promise during the 2016 presidential race.NAFTA took effect in the 1990s during U.S. President Bill Clinton’s administration.FILE – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during his daily morning press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico, Nov. 21, 2019.The Mexican Senate accepted changes to the USMCA after intense negotiations with the United States. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is urging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to move forward on the deal.”It’s time, it’s the moment,” Lopez Obrador said at a press conference.Reports say Pelosi is studying the terms of the agreement. The changes to the deal are aimed at winning the support of House Democrats. Those close to the discussions say a ratification vote could take place in the House of Representatives on Dec. 18.FILE – Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., meets with reporters during her weekly news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 5, 2019.Both the House and the Senate must sign off on the deal.Some congressional Republicans have criticized Pelosi, saying she is holding up the deal, which they say is having an impact on Trump’s negotiations with China.”We would get a better agreement with China if we had USMCA done,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in his weekly press conference last Thursday. China and the U.S. have placed billions of dollars worth of tariffs on each other’s goods in the trade war.NAFTA’s critics say it encouraged factories and jobs to relocate to Mexico. NAFTA eliminated most tariffs among the three nations, making it one of the largest free trade agreements in the world.Ratification neededThe revised agreement must be ratified by legislators in the three countries for it to go into force. House Democrats called on Mexico to adhere to higher labor standards.Mexican senators have approved the USMCA. If it cannot be ratified by all three countries, they will remain in NAFTA unless they break away from it.Lopez Obrador expressed concern for implementing the trade deal sooner rather than later. He said time was running short to avoid the matter becoming an issue in the U.S. presidential race.
 
 The Trump administration also made lowering the trade deficit with Mexico part of a renegotiation strategy.
 
Separately, the United States had a last-minute request to the agreement over the weekend, relating to how steel is identified. The U.S. has proposed that 70% of steel for automobile production come from the North American region. Cars produced in Mexico also use components made in Brazil, Japan and Germany.If Congress is not able to pass Trump’s renegotiated trade deal, he said that he would take the United States out of NAFTA.
 
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Turkey Defense Minister Hulusi Akar warned Washington on Monday that Turkey will seek alternatives if Washington doesn’t end its embargo on the sale of the F-35 jet.The impasse over the fighter jet, deemed key to Turkey’s future defense, is rekindling memories of a similar century-old dispute.Hoping that a “reasonable and sensible” way could be found to resolve Washington’s freeze on the F-35 sales, Akar warned, “If this is not possible, everyone should know that we will naturally seek other quests.”FILE – Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar speaks to a group of reporters in Ankara, Turkey, May 21, 2019.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed that Russia’s Su-35 fighter is being considered as an alternative to America’s latest stealth fighter jet if the embargo is not lifted.President Donald Trump froze the jet sale after Ankara procured the Russian S-400 missile system. Washington claims the S-400’s sophisticated radar compromises NATO defense systems — in particular, the stealth technology of its F-35 jet.Ankara claims Washington is manufacturing the dispute.”The U.S. criticized us. However, NATO did not say anything. On the contrary, NATO Secretary General (Jens Stoltenberg) repeatedly stated all countries have the right to buy the weapon and defense system they want,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saturday.1914 disputeThe increasingly acrimonious dispute is resurrecting memories of a century-old Turkish arms deal that also went sour. In 1914 on the eve of World War I, Britain seized two state-of-the-art dreadnought warships built by British builders for the then-Ottoman Empire.The incident still resonates in Turkey.”It continues to haunt not only the public and political mind, but the institutional mind, especially,” said international relations professor Serhat Guvenc of Istanbul’s Kadir Has University and author of “The Ottoman Quest for Dreadnoughts.” “The navy has never forgotten this experience, and today, there are many similarities in several respects with the F-35 embargo.”The two warships … were fully paid for. But (Winston) Churchill (head of the British navy in 1914) was obsessed, convinced that the Ottomans were going to join the Germans. So, there was no point in releasing the two ships which may end up on the wrong side of the conflict,” Guvenc said.”Over a century ago, it was the fear of the Ottoman’s joining the Germans,” Guvenc added. “Today, the case with the F-35, Russia is the modern-day equivalent with Germany.”FILE – National Guard members view two F-35 fighter jets that arrived at the Vermont Air National Guard base in South Burlington, Vt., Sept. 19, 2019.In 1914, after Britain’s seizure of the Ottoman warships, Germany offered two ships of its own as replacements, a move that brought the Turks to Germany’s side against Britain, France and Russia in World War I.Former Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen acknowledges the 1914 incident still resonates in Turkish military thinking.”Among commanders of today’s Turkish navy, it is still a vivid memory and still today shapes the thinking of these naval planners.”Since 1914, Ankara has never procured a British naval vessel. Selcen says the latest arms disputes with Washington differs from the past.”It’s a public diplomacy stand (by Ankara). It’s public propaganda to compare with the warships,” Selcen said, “because it was kind of an own goal by Turkish foreign policy to get kicked out of the project. It was made clear by Washington: either the S-400 or F-35, not both.”Higher stakesAnalysts point out that the loss of the F-35 jets could be more far-reaching than the loss of two warships in 1914. Ankara has invested over a billion dollars into the jet project and ultimately was to take delivery of around 100 jets to replace the Turkish air force’s aging fleet of F-16 aircraft.Washington has also expelled Turkey from the international consortium building and servicing the advanced jet.FILE – Sukhoi Su-35 jet fighters of the “Sokoly Rossii” (Falcons of Russia) aerobatic team fly in formation during a rehearsal for the airshow in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, Aug. 1, 2019.”When Turkey became a full-fledged partner in the F-35 program, the political implications would be that Turkey remains committed to the NATO alliance and staunch ally to the United States,” Guvenc said. “In Washington, the idea is that Turkey is now moving irreversibly away from the western alliance and seeking new friends in Eurasia, basically Russia and China.”Moscow is lobbying Ankara hard to deepen and broaden Russian military purchases. Turkey is reportedly close to buying a second battery of S-400 missiles, a move analysts say is likely to anger Washington further.Just as in 1914, Ankara could be facing a pivotal moment, Guvenc said.”The similarities are very striking, because when the two German warships arrived in Istanbul in place of the two commandeered dreadnoughts, the British naval mission had to leave and was replaced by the German naval mission. And the German military naval influence in Turkey continued after World War I,” he explained.”So, we may see a rupture in the Turkish military strategy and its realignment around Russia-China — a hybrid military strategy but definitely moving away from the western alliance,” Guvenc said.
 
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House Democrats have reached a tentative agreement with labor leaders and the White House over a rewrite of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal that has been a top priority for President Donald Trump. That’s according to a Democratic aide not authorized to discuss the talks and granted anonymity.Details still need to be finalized and the U.S. Trade Representative will need to submit the implementing legislation to Congress. No vote has been scheduled.
The new, long-sought trade agreement with Mexico and Canada would give both Trump and his top adversary, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a major accomplishment despite the turmoil of his likely impeachment.
An announcement could come as early as Monday. Pelosi, D-Calif., still has to officially sign off on the accord, aides said. The aides requested anonymity because the agreement is not official.
The new trade pact would replace the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, which eliminated most tariffs and other trade barriers involving the United States, Mexico and Canada. Critics, including Trump, labor unions and many Democratic lawmakers, branded NAFTA a job killer for America because it encouraged factories to move south of the border, capitalize on low-wage Mexican workers and ship products back to the U.S. duty free.
Weeks of back-and-forth, closely monitored by Democratic labor allies such as the AFL-CIO, have brought the two sides together. Pelosi is a longtime free trade advocate and supported the original NAFTA in 1994. Trump has accused Pelosi of being incapable of passing the agreement because she is too wrapped up in impeachment.
Democrats from swing districts have agitated for finishing the accord, in part to demonstrate some accomplishments for their majority.
By ratifying the agreement, Congress could lift uncertainty over the future of U.S. commerce with its No. 2 (Canada) and No. 3 (Mexico) trading partners last year and perhaps give the U.S. economy a modest boost. U.S. farmers are especially eager to make sure their exports to Canada and Mexico continue uninterrupted.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer last year negotiated the replacement agreement with Canada and Mexico. But the new USMCA accord required congressional approval and input from top Democrats like Pelosi and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal of Massachusetts, who have been engaged in lengthy, detailed negotiations over enforcement provisions and other technical details.
The pact contains provisions designed to nudge manufacturing back to the United States. For example, it requires that 40% to 45% of cars eventually be made in countries that pay autoworkers at least $16 an hour — that is, in the United States and Canada and not in Mexico.
The trade pact picked up some momentum after Mexico in April passed a labor-law overhaul required by USMCA. The reforms are meant to make it easier for Mexican workers to form independent unions and bargain for better pay and working conditions, narrowing the gap with the United States.
Mexico ratified USMCA in June and has budgeted more money later this year to provide the resources needed for enforcing the agreement.  
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, are meeting for the first time in Paris for long-awaited talks on resolving the military conflict in eastern Ukraine that has left more than 13,000 people dead since 2014.After a series of bilateral meetings at the Elysee Palace on December 9, Putin and Zelenskiy sat down together with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.The leaders entered the room without smiling and making little eye contact with each other. They did not shake hands for the cameras.The four-way talks in the so-called Normandy Format is the first time the heads of Ukraine and Russia have met since 2016 and the first meeting ever between Zelenskiy, who was elected in April, and Putin.The International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled in November 2016 that the war in eastern Ukraine was “an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.”FILE – A member of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic forces walks on top of a tank during a drill outside Torez, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Sept. 14, 2015.All sides have made efforts to moderate expectations of a breakthrough in the run-up to the summit. The Kremlin wants to maintain as much influence over Kyiv as it can, using the land held by the separatists it supports in the Donbas as a lever. The Ukrainian president must balance the benefits of progress toward peace with the potentially disastrous risk of being seen as surrendering to Moscow.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Dec. 6 in Rome that Moscow expects “additional agreements that will help eliminate this conflict.”He added that Moscow was seeking “to really ensure the security of the people of the Donbas, to guarantee their rights as set forth in the Minsk agreements, and to stop this conflict.”The Minsk agreements on creating a road map to resolve the conflict were reached in the Belarusian capital in 2014 and 2015. The accords call for a cease-fire, the withdrawal of heavy weaponry, the restoration of Kyiv’s control over all Ukraine’s borders, a law on special status for the territory controlled by the Moscow-backed separatists, and the holding of elections on that territory.However, their implementation has been largely stymied.The path to the Dec. 9 summit was smoothed in part by a large exchange of prisoners in September and by Moscow’s return to Kyiv in November of three Ukrainian naval vessels Russia had seized in the Black Sea in late 2018.FILE – A Ukrainian serviceman secures an area in a Kyiv-controlled part of Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Oct. 14, 2019.In addition, the two countries agreed in October to withdraw from three flash points along the front line, two in the Luhansk region and one in Donetsk.Zelenskiy, for his part, said earlier this month that the mere fact the talks had restarted was his “first victory” in efforts to end the war.He has said previously that he will push three main ideas in Paris: a further exchange of prisoners, implementing a cease-fire agreement, and the disbanding of “illegal armed formations” in Ukraine.Zelenskiy visited front-line troops Dec. 6, telling the soldiers “it is a lot easier to hold talks while feeling your strength and your support behind me.”The Kremlin has said that Putin plans a one-on-one meeting with Zelenskiy. Kyiv, however, has said only that such an encounter is under consideration.Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Dec. 6 posted online a statement advising Zelenskiy not to meet directly with Putin.”Do not trust Putin,” he recommended. “Never and in nothing.” He warned his successor that Putin will use “KGB-style manipulations, flattery, and play on the president’s emotions and flaws.”In Kyiv on Dec. 8, thousands of people demonstrated under Ukrainian flags on Independence Square to warn Zelenskiy to avoid crossing any “red lines” in the negotiations.Activists attend a “Night Watch” rally in front of the Office of Ukraine’s President, in Kyiv, Dec. 8, 2019, demanding “no capitulation” ahead of Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Paris Monday.They cited the need to maintain territorial integrity and avoid federalization, to keep up Ukraine’s pro-European course, to steer clear of actions to legitimize the occupation of Ukrainian territory, to insist on the return of Russian-occupied Crimea, and to keep open the possibility of lawsuits filed internationally over Russia’s actions in Ukraine.The Paris meeting comes amid strikes and sometimes-violent social protests in the French capital and other cities that have snarled the country’s transportation network. At least 800,000 people marched Dec. 5 in Paris, and police used tear gas several times.The Kremlin said Dec. 6 that Putin was not concerned about the situation and that France could “successfully” host the summit.In addition, Ukraine has been at the center of impeachment hearings in the U.S. House of Representatives against U.S. President Donald Trump, in an unfolding political drama that has raised questions about long-standing U.S. support for Kyiv at a time when officials, diplomats, and analysts say it needs it most.European Commission spokesman Peter Stano told Ukrinform Dec 6 that although the European Union was not a party to the Normandy Format, “we strongly support this format and the implementation of the Minsk agreements.”The conflict in eastern Ukraine broke out in early 2014, shortly after Russia illegally annexed the Ukrainian Black Sea region of Crimea. 
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