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Representatives from over a dozen nations that are signatories to a Cold War-era defense treaty for the Americas moved Tuesday to further isolate close allies of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with economic sanctions.
The 1947 Rio Treaty signatories concluded a meeting in Bogota by vowing to cooperate in pursuing sanctions and travel restrictions for Maduro government associates accused of corruption, drug trafficking, money laundering or human rights violations.
“The political, economic and social crisis in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela represents a threat for the peace and security of the continent,” Colombian Foreign Minister Claudia Blum said in the meeting’s final remarks.
While the United States and the European Union have targeted Maduro associates with economic sanctions, Latin American nations who are supporting opposition leader Juan Guaido have largely resorted to diplomatic pressure – and it will be up to each individual nation to decide how to move forward.
The promise of enhanced economic pressure against Maduro comes at a time when Venezuela’s opposition is faltering. Guaido has struggled to mobilize supporters onto the streets and dipped in popularity. Meanwhile, fissures within the opposition are coming to light amidst recent controversies involving alleged abuses of power.
David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America, said the Rio Treaty’s resolution Tuesday marks a “small victory” for the opposition but “not enough to really put them in a different place.”
“Their strategy of maximum pressure seems to be stalling,” he said.
The 19 Rio Treaty member nations have been treading cautiously in pursuing economic restrictions against Venezuela while vowing not to invoke a provision in the accord that authorizes them to pursue a military intervention. The accord instructs signatories to consider a threat against any one of them a danger to all.
Colombian President Ivan Duque contends that Maduro is offering a safe haven to rebel factions of the National Liberation Army and dissidents with the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, an assertion the Venezuelan leader denies. Duque urged that nations embark on tougher sanctions going forward.
“Here there’s no invitation for use of force,” he said.
Despite repeated remarks from Rio Treaty members indicating they will not pursue a military response, Venezuelan leaders contend the signatories are plotting to overthrow Maduro and warning citizens that an intervention could be imminent.
“The people should be prepared and alert on the streets,” Diosdado Cabello, head of Venezuela’s all-powerful National Constitutional Assembly, said Tuesday.
Argentina’s incoming cabinet has already been chosen and will be revealed on Friday, President-elect Alberto Fernandez said on Tuesday, while his team confirmed a few major picks, including the incoming foreign minister and chief of staff.
As the country and markets watch closely for the make-up of the Peronist’s core leadership team, the key economic roles are still under wraps, with talks ongoing about how those will be structured, a spokesman for the leftist leader said.
“The cabinet is defined. Everything is already chosen and we are all working. We will present it on Friday at 6 pm (2100 GMT),” Fernandez said a post on an official Twitter account.
This followed comments made on local radio station Metro 95.1.
The incoming center-left leader gave little detail away, though he downplayed the influence of his vice president-elect, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
Argentina’s creditors, energy investors and grains traders are watching Fernandez’s picks closely, worried that Latin America’s No. 3 economy could shift toward populism after four-years under market-friendly conservative Mauricio Macri.
The spokesman told Reuters that young political scientist Santiago Cafiero, heir to a historic Peronist family, will likely be Cabinet chief, and that former Buenos Aires governor Felipe Solá will take on the role of foreign minister.
Eduardo de Pedro, a “Kirchnerist” farther to the left in the Peronist political movement, will also be part of the cabinet, the spokesman said, without revealing his role.
“The aim is to make a cabinet that represents all sectors of Frente de Todos,” he said, referring to Fernandez’s coalition, which translates as “Front for All.” “The delay (naming the cabinet) is due to negotiations between the different sectors.”
Economy Roles Still Uncertain
Fernandez’s team has kept a tight lid on picks for the top economy role, though a few key people are likely to play at least some role either in the formal cabinet or as advisers.
In recent weeks so many names have been touted to head the economy that a running joke is that the candidates are so numerous they could fill a soccer stadium.
Heterodox economists Matías Kulfas and Cecilia Todesca, debt expert Guillermo Nielsen, and academic Martín Guzmán are highly likely to take on some form of economic roles.
One source with knowledge of the matter and some domestic media have also said that Miguel Angel Pesce, an economist, is in line to take the central bank presidency.
Fernandez’s spokesman said that the structure of the economic roles has not yet been defined, which could include a powerful ministry with many secretariats or several ministries.
Fernandez said on Tuesday that Fernandez de Kirchner, a divisive former president who clashed with creditors and the farm sector during her two-term administration, had given advice on the cabinet but denied she had installed her own people.
Elected vice president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner arrives to court in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dec. 2, 2019.
“Cristina influenced the make-up of the cabinet in the way a person whose opinion I value would but did not fill the cabinet with her own names. We are a united front. What I am looking for is that everyone is represented,” he said.
Veep
Fernandez, who will come into office on Dec. 10 after winning an October election against incumbent Macri, faces a string of challenges including reviving stalled growth and renegotiating a painful debt pile with global creditors.
The country’s economy has been mired in recession for much of the last year, with annual inflation above 50%, sky-high benchmark interest rates and the central bank forced to drain dollar reserves to prop up a tumbling peso currency.
The economic crisis hammered Macri, who lost by a landslide in an August primary election ahead of the Oct. 27 vote, which sparked a market crash as investors feared political uncertainty with the return of the Peronist left.
Argentina is in talks with creditors and the International Monetary Fund to ease the burden of the country’s sovereign debt, with restructuring talks involving a total of around $100 billion.
A man walks out from a currency exchange shop in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct. 29, 2019.
According to the outgoing government, about $28 billion worth of debt with private holders and international organizations is due to mature in 2020.
Argentine bonds, already trading at historic lows, were hit again on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced surprise tariffs on Monday targeting steel and aluminum imports from Argentina and Brazil.
In a tongue-in-cheek comment about his higher-profile running mate, Fernandez said he enjoyed U.S. series “Veep,” where former senator Selina Meyer rises to become president, but that it did not mirror the situation in Argentina.
“To clear up any doubts, I have no plans to resign or leave my position until the last day,” Fernandez said.
France is threatening a “strong European riposte” if the Trump administration follows through on a proposal to hit French cheese, Champagne, handbags and other products with tariffs of up to 100%.
The U.S. Trade Representative proposed the tariffs on $2.4 billion in goods Monday in retaliation for a French tax on global tech giants including Google, Amazon and Facebook.
“I’m not in love with those (tech) companies, but they’re our companies,” Trump said Tuesday ahead of a sure-to-be-tense meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in London.
The move is likely to increase trade tensions between the U.S. and Europe. Trump said the European Union should “shape up, otherwise things are going to get very tough.”
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said the U.S. tariff threat is “simply unacceptable. It’s not the behavior we expect from the United States toward one of its main allies.”
Le Maire said the French tech tax is aimed at “establishing tax justice.” France wants digital companies to pay their fair share of taxes in countries where they make money instead of using tax havens, and is pushing for an international agreement on the issue.
“If (the world) wants solid tax revenue in the 21stcentury, we have to be able to tax the digital economy,” he said. “This French taxation is not directed at any country, or against any company.”
He also noted that France will reimburse the tax if the U.S. agrees to the international tax plan.
Le Maire said France talked this week with the European Commission about EU-wide retaliatory measures if Washington follows through with the tariffs next month.
EU Commission spokesman Daniel Rosario said the EU will seek “immediate discussions with the U.S. on how to solve this issue amicably.”
The U.S tariffs could double the price American consumers pay for French imports and would come on top of a 25% tax on French wine imposed last month over a separate dispute over subsidies to Airbus and Boeing.
French cheese producers expressed concern that the threatened new tariffs would hit small businesses hardest. It would also further squeeze exporters hit by a Russian embargo on European foods.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative charges that France’s new digital services tax discriminates against U.S. companies.
Le Maire disputes that, saying it targets European and Chinese businesses, too. The tax imposes a 3% annual levy on French revenues of any digital company with yearly global sales worth more than 750 million euros ($830 million) and French revenue exceeding 25 million euros.
“What we want is a plan for international tax that is on the table” at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Le Maire said.
The U.S. investigated the French tax under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the same provision the Trump administration used last year to probe China’s technology policies, leading to tariffs on more than $360 billion worth of Chinese imports in the biggest trade war since the 1930s.
A top European human rights official has demanded immediate closure of a migrant camp in Bosnia where hundreds of people have refused food and water to protest a lack of protection in snowy and cold weather.
The Vucjak camp near the northwestern town of Bihac has almost no facilities. International aid organizations have said it is unfit for migrants because it is located on a former landfill and close to a mine field from the 1992-95 war.
Already poor conditions in the camp have worsened further after snow fell on Monday.
Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, on Tuesday visited Vucjak where migrants had spent the night in tents braving freezing temperatures. Mijatovic says migrants must be moved to a warm and safe location.
After two weeks of public hearings on U.S. President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are moving closer to formally impeaching the president on yet-to-be determined charges.
While a vote to impeach by the full House is not expected until before Christmas, the pace of the impeachment inquiry under way since late September picks up this week with the presentation of a Democratic report on their findings and recommendations.
Committee report
The report, prepared by the House Intelligence Committee which conducted the recent hearings, will outline the Democrats’ allegations that Trump abused his office by pressing Ukraine to investigate Trump’s Democratic political rival, Joe Biden, and a debunked theory about Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The report will allege Trump used hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. military aid and a coveted White House meeting between the U.S. and Ukrainian leaders as leverage. The report will also recommend specific articles of impeachment.
The exact charges remain unknown. Under the U.S. Constitution, a president can be impeached for bribery, extortion and “other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
What Are ‘High Crimes & Misdemeanors’? video player.
Members of the intelligence committee will review a draft of the report late Monday. They are scheduled to meet behind closed doors Tuesday to adopt the report and incorporate the Republican response before forwarding it to the House Judiciary Committee, which votes on articles of impeachment. The report will then be made public.
A 110-page report prepared by Republicans on the Intelligence, Oversight, and Foreign Affairs committees accuses Democrats of carrying out “an orchestrated campaign to upend our political system.”
“House Democrats have been trying to undo the results of President Trump’s historic election since before he was sworn in,” House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said, adding that Democrats have not found “a single legitimate reason” for impeachment.
“Instead, Democrats have relied on smears, hearsay, and presumption to build their false narrative,” he said.
The Democratic Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, reacted to the Republican report by saying the impeachment probe “will not serve as a vehicle to undertake the same sham investigations into the Bidens or 2016 … or to facilitate the president’s effort to threaten, intimidate, and retaliate against the whistleblower who courageously raised the initial alarm.”
Wednesday hearing
The Judiciary Committee has scheduled a public hearing for 10 a.m. Wednesday. It will focus on the constitutional grounds for presidential impeachment. Four legal scholars will appear as witnesses. They are law professors Noah Feldman of Harvard University; Pamela Karlan of Stanford University; Michael Gerhardt of the University of North Carolina; and Jonathan Turley of George Washington University.
Last week, Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler sent a letter to Trump, inviting him and his lawyer to attend the Wednesday hearing and to ask questions of witnesses.
White House counsel Pat Cipollone said late Sunday the White House will not participate in the hearing “while it remains unclear whether the Judiciary Committee will afford the president a fair process through additional hearings.”
Moreover, Cipollone criticized Democrats for scheduling the hearing while Trump is attending a NATO summit in London.
Monday, Nadler called the White House’s decision not to attend the Wednesday hearing “unfortunate,” saying “allowing the president to participate has been a priority for the House from the outset.”
White House opportunity to participate
Nadler has also given the White House until Friday to indicate whether the administration will participate in additional impeachment hearings and what rights Trump wants to exercise at those hearings.
Cipollone said the White House will respond by the Friday deadline, but indicated the administration will not participate short of major concessions by the Democrats, including allowing witnesses invited by Republicans.
Republican leaders want testimony from Hunter Biden, the son of former vice president Joe Biden, and the unidentified intelligence community whistleblower who alerted the inspector general about Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. Democrats have dismissed the demand.
“It is too late to cure the profound procedural deficiencies that have tainted this entire inquiry,” Cipollone wrote.
VOA’s Kenneth Schwartz contributed to this report.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday accused Cuba and Venezuela of attempting to hijack democratic protests in Latin America, vowing that Washington would support countries trying to prevent unrest in the region from turning into riots.
Amid recent demonstrations in a number of countries in the region, Pompeo stepped up allegations that Cuba and Venezuela had helped stir up unrest but offered few specifics to back his comments.
Pompeo cited recent political protests in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador and said that Colombia had closed its border to Venezuela out of concern that protesters from the neighboring country would enter.
“We in the Trump administration will continue to support countries trying to prevent Cuba and Venezuela from hijacking those protests and we’ll work with legitimate (governments) to prevent protests from morphing into riots and violence that don’t reflect the democratic will of the people,” Pompeo told an audience at the University of Louisville, in Kentucky.
U.S. relations with communist-ruled Havana have deteriorated since President Donald Trump took office in January 2017. His administration has steadily rolled back parts of the historic opening under Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama.
The tension has focused especially on Havana’s support for Venezuela’s socialist President Nicolas Maduro, who has overseen an economic collapse and stands accused by the United States of corruption and human rights violations.
The United States and more than 50 other countries have recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate president. Guaido invoked the constitution to assume a rival presidency in January, arguing Maduro’s 2018 re-election was a sham.
But Maduro retains the support of the military, runs the government’s day-to-day operations and is backed by Russia, China and Cuba.
In his speech on Monday, Pompeo said Maduro was “hanging on” and would continue to work to suppress the Venezuelan people, but that he was confident the Venezuelan president’s leadership would end.
“The end will come for Maduro as well. We just don’t know what day,” Pompeo said.
No other ballet dancer has crossed over into mainstream popular culture quite like Misty Copeland.
That was Copeland at the recent American Music Awards, dancing a passionate duet with partner Craig Hall as Taylor Swift sat at the piano singing her hit “Lover.”
She’s also working on a new silent film with her production company, focusing on homelessness in California. And a Hollywood biopic is in the early stages.
Now Copeland, who leaped to fame in 2015 as the first black female principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre, is the latest celebrity to host an online MasterClass, alongside Anna Wintour, Aaron Sorkin, Annie Leibovitz, Ron Howard, Natalie Portman and others.
Copeland sat down with The Associated Press recently to talk about the new series and to look back at her career, including the time spent with one of her favorite mentors: the late rock star Prince, whom she credits with teaching her to embrace her uniqueness rather than worry about blending in. The interview has been condensed for length.
AP: Your class is primarily about ballet technique. But what else do you hope to teach?
Copeland: A lot of people don’t typically look at ballet dancers as athletes, and we are. And so those components, you know, your mental health, your confidence, understanding and being able to use your life experiences to be an artist. All of those … elements are just as important as the technique that we learn since we were children. You know, dancers aren’t just up there twirling around. It looks so effortless, because we work at it for so long to make it look that way. But on top of it, you have to be an incredible actress. You have to have an understanding of adapting in the moment … you have to be very self-aware, present, vulnerable, all these things. And so it was just as important for me to speak about my life, my background, the obstacles that I’ve had.
FILE – Ballet dancer Misty Copeland, a cast member in “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” poses at the premiere of the film at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Oct. 29, 2018.
AP: Not many people can dance ballet. What’s universal about it?
Copeland: At the end of the day, we’re all human beings. It’s always been really important for me to be extremely open … I’ve learned more about myself and grown, and I think other people can benefit. It’s so important, I think, especially for young kids to have an understanding that they’re not alone in that celebrities and principal dancers receive the same type of judgment or criticism.
AP: Some people think that once you danced the lead in “Swan Lake” in 2015 and then became a principal, everything was happily ever after.
Copeland: (laughs) Once I became a principal dancer, a lot of people looked at it like, ‘Oh, OK, that’s done. Like we’ve moved, we’ve grown, there’s no more racism in ballet or in the world.’ We’re SO far from that … and it’s been a tough journey. When the spotlight’s on you and there’s just so much pressure for you to perform at the top every single time you’re out there. So I went through a very difficult time experiencing the criticism that I got (around) “Swan Lake.”
AP: You tell a story about being dissed online at one point for not being able to perform the 32 fouette turns in a performance of “Swan Lake,” and doing a different step instead.
Copeland: Yes, someone filmed it in the theater and then posted it on YouTube. I’ve experienced a lot of ridiculous hate online. But this was another level … I’ve looked back at that clip of that show, and I remember just being devastated. But looking back, I don’t see anything wrong with it, you know? That (32 turns) was not even the original choreography. I love to perform, because it’s telling a story through movements. So whatever it is you’re doing, you want the audience to feel it, not just come to the theater … and wait for 32 fouettes that last, like, 30 seconds.
AP: In the class, you have a chapter on Prince, one of your most valued mentors.
Copeland: When Prince first reached out to me, I just didn’t really understand. I was completely being trusted to go onstage with him, not even knowing what I was going to do. And it empowered me in a way that was shocking. … He used to say to me, ‘Throw on these golden crazy boots.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m a ballerina!’ He’s like, ‘No, you’re a rock star! You’re never going to be this ideal image of what a ballerina is. And that’s amazing. Use your power, your uniqueness, and … if it’s coming from an honest place, people are going to love it.’ I feel like I grew in leaps and bounds from that time we spent together.
AP: When you started dancing principal roles, there were suddenly very diverse crowds coming to ABT performances. Do you think that will last beyond the “Misty effect”?
Copeland: It’s for a bigger purpose. It’s not like, oh, just come see Misty and then when she retires that goes away. For me, it’s (about) bringing in people that have not felt welcomed or accepted in these spaces. And I know once they’re in the door, they’ll fall in love with it. It’s introducing the next generation, showing them that ballet is still alive.
AP: You’re only 37, but ballet is for the young. What do you see yourself doing 10 years from now?
Copeland: Oh my God. There’s no way I could tell you, even (what I’ll be doing) a year from now. Whenever I look back, I’m like, what? How did I end up doing all these amazing things? How is this happening to this little peanut who was sleeping on the floor of a motel at 13? Now I’m traveling the world and dancing on the most unbelievable iconic stages, and just living this unbelievable dream.
The woman who says she was a trafficking victim made to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17 is asking the British public to support her quest for justice.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre tells BBC Panorama in an interview to be broadcast Monday evening that people “should not accept this as being OK.”
Giuffre’s first UK television interview on the topic describes how she says she was trafficked by notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and made to have sex with Andrew three times, including once in London.
“This is not some sordid sex story. This is a story of being trafficked, this is a story of abuse and this is a story of your guys’ royalty,” Giuffre tells the program.
Andrew, 59, has categorically denied having sex with Giuffre and apologized for his association with Epstein, who died in prison in August in what New York City officials said was a suicide.
He has stepped down from royal duties “for the foreseeable future” because of his friendship with Epstein and the allegations of sexual wrongdoing with an underage girl.
He tried to contain the damage by giving a televised interview on the topic, but it backfired in part because he did not express concern for Epstein’s victims.
In the TV interview, Giuffre says she danced with Andrew at a London nightclub before having sex with him.
“It was horrible and this guy was sweating all over me,” she said. “His sweat was like it was raining basically everywhere, I was just like grossed out from it, but I knew I had to keep him happy because that’s what Jeffrey and Ghislaine (Maxwell) would have expected from me.”
She said that Maxwell told her she would have to do for Andrew what she had done for Epstein, meaning she would have to have sex with the prince.
“That just made me sick,” Giuffre said.
In his recent interview, Andrew said he had never met Giuffre. He said he had a medical condition that prevented him from sweating.
Epstein was a wealthy financier with many powerful friends. He was in prison on sex trafficking charges when he died.
The scandal is one of the worst to grip the royal household in recent decades.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed legislation requiring all smartphones, computers and smart TV sets sold in the country to come pre-installed with Russian software.
The law, which will come into force on July 1 next year, has been met with resistance by some electronics retailers, who say the legislation was adopted without consulting them.
The law has been presented as a way to help Russian IT firms compete with foreign companies and spare consumers from having to download software upon purchasing a new device.
The country’s mobile phone market is dominated by foreign companies including Apple, Samsung and Huawei. The legislation signed by Putin said the government would come up with a list of Russian applications that would need to be installed on the different devices.
Russia has introduced tougher internet laws in recent years, requiring search engines to delete some search results, messaging services to share encryption keys with security services and social networks to store user data on servers in the country.
In its biggest military funeral in decades, France is honoring 13 soldiers killed when their helicopters collided over Mali while on a mission fighting extremists affiliated with the Islamic State group.
A few thousand people, veterans, uniformed military units and ordinary residents, lined the Alexander II Bridge and the esplanade leading toward the gold-domed Invalides monument in Paris on Monday to pay their respects, as 13 hearses drove slowly past.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita will preside over the funeral ceremony at the Invalides, a former military hospital that houses Napoleon’s tomb.
The 13 coffins, draped in the French tricolor, arrived in France over the weekend.
Tuesday’s crash was France’s highest military death toll since 1983. The French military says it was the result of complex coordination during a combat operation and has dismissed a claim of responsibility by an IS-linked group. The flight recorders were recovered and an investigation has begun.
The deaths draw new attention to a worrying front in the global fight against extremism, one in which France and local countries have pleaded for more support. In a surge of violence this month, attackers often linked to IS have killed scores of troops in West Africa’s arid Sahel region.
Corruption, poor economies, political autonomy and personal freedom are among the many issues driving demonstrators’ demands for reform around the world.
Global Protests in 2019
Algeria. In February, after President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced his intent to run for a fifth term, an estimated 3 million protesters in Algiers demanded a complete overhaul of Bouteflika’s regime. Bouteflika resigned in April. Elections are scheduled for December.
Bolivia. After elections in October, Bolivians in La Paz protested claims of election fraud against President Evo Morales. In November, Morales announced his resignation and fled to Mexico. His supporters have demanded his return. At least 31 people have been killed.
Demonstrators clash with riot police during a protest demanding greater social reform from Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, Nov. 12, 2019.
Chile. Protests began in October in the capital, Santiago, over proposed hikes in subway fares. Protests soon spread around the country, with Chileans demanding income equality, better health care and more money for education. At least 22 people have been killed.
Colombia. Protests began in November over a list of issues, including lack of a national economic plan, corruption and the killing of human rights activists. Protests have drawn more than 250,000 people. At least three people have been killed.
Czech Republic. In November, more than 200,000 people in Prague demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Andrej Babis over allegations of fraud.
Ecuador. Protests and riots erupted in October over President Lenin Moreno’s austerity measures that proposed ending fuel subsidies and cutting the benefits and salaries of civil servants. The protests ended after indigenous groups and the Ecuadorian government reached a deal.
Egypt. Rare protests were held in Cairo, Alexandria and several other cities Sept. 20 and 27, accusing top officials of using public funds for personal fortunes. More than 4,000 people — including 11 journalists and more than 100 children and foreigners — were arrested.
FILE – Yellow Vests protesters march on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris. France’s yellow vest protesters remain a force to be reckoned with five months after their movement started.
France. In November, thousands protested, demanding changes in stagnant wages, rising prices and income inequality. More than 145 people were arrested.
Haiti. In February, protesters in Port-au-Prince demanded the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse. They also demanded a transitional government and the prosecution of corrupt officials. At least 40 people have been killed since September.
Hong Kong. Protests began in March opposing a proposed bill that would have allowed Hong Kong citizens to be extradited to mainland China. The protests quickly turned into wider calls for democracy. Approximately 2 million people participated in a rally June 16. Two people have died since March.
Indonesia. In September, students in major cities protested the weakening of the Corruption Eradication Commission. At least two were killed. Protesters also demanded the government overturn new laws that penalized people for insulting the president, and banned extramarital sex, and gay and lesbian relations.
People walk past buildings that were burned during recent protests, in Shahriar, Iran, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of the capital, Tehran, Nov. 20, 2019.
Iran. In November, protests erupted across Iran after the government announced a 50% increase in gasoline prices. More than 140 protesters have been killed in 22 cities. More than 1,000 have been arrested in a nationwide crackdown.
Iraq. Since October, anti-corruption protests have been held in Baghdad and the south of the country. By the government’s own count, more than 350 people have died and nearly 1,000 have been injured.
Lebanon. Since October, protesters throughout the country have demanded an end to corruption, calling for a new government made up entirely of “technocrats,” or non-politicians. Protesters also demanded more jobs and improved services such as electricity, water and health care.
Russia. Since summer, approved and unapproved protests have occurred in Moscow, sparked by the city council elections from which opposition candidates were barred. More than 1,500 protesters have been arrested, some sentenced to long prison terms. Demonstrators now demand the release of jailed protesters.
Spain. Pro-independence demonstrators in the Catalonia region flooded the streets in October after nine separatist leaders were given long prison sentences for holding an illegal referendum in 2017.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Saturday that Israeli troops had shot and killed a teenager near the West Bank city of Hebron.
The ministry identified the youth as Badawi Masalmeh, 18, adding that Israeli soldiers had taken his body.
The Israeli military said its forces had spotted three people hurling firebombs at Israeli vehicles on a nearby route and had fired at them. The two others were arrested.
Tension has simmered in the West Bank in recent years, where 700,000 Israelis live in settlements across the territory that Israel captured during the 1967 Mideast war.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration said the settlements don’t violate international law, reversing decades of policy and angering the Palestinians who claim the territory as part of a future state.
