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Voters who went to the polls last month in the United States’ midterm elections can rest assured that their votes were registered and counted properly.

However, a new report by the U.S. intelligence community concluded Americans were subjected to ongoing influence operations and disinformation campaigns by several countries, a finding that could trigger automatic sanctions.

“The activity we did see was consistent with what we shared in the weeks leading up to the election,” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said in a statement late Friday.

“Russia, and other foreign countries, including China and Iran, conducted influence activities and messaging campaigns targeted at the United States to promote their strategic interests,” he added.

Early signs were there

In the months leading up to the November vote, intelligence and security officials, and analysts had expressed concerns that countries like Russia and even non-state actors might seek to physically compromise U.S. voting systems.

But the fears, based on evidence Russian hackers had accessed some U.S. state and local systems, such as voter databases, in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election did not play out according to the new assessment.

“At this time, the intelligence community does not have intelligence reporting that indicates any compromise of our nation’s election infrastructure that would have prevented voting, changed vote counts, or disrupted the ability to tally votes,” Coats said.

The report, required under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in September, supports the initial assessment by Homeland Security officials the day of the election and in the weeks that followed.

“There were no indications at the time of any foreign compromises of election equipment that would disrupt the ability to cast or count a vote,” Christopher Krebs, director of the DHS’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said a week after voters went to the polls.

Report could spur new sanctions

The new report now goes to the U.S. attorney general and to the Department of Homeland Security, which have 45 days to review the findings. Should they concur with the intelligence community’s assessment, Russia, China and Iran could be slapped with new sanctions.

Those measures could include blocking access to property and interests, restricting access to the U.S. financial system, prohibiting investment in companies found to be involved, and even prohibiting individuals from entering the United States.

Additionally, the president’s executive order authorizes the State Department and the Treasury Department to add additional sanctions, if deemed necessary.

But as in the aftermath of the 2016 election, when the CIA and FBI concluded with “high confidence” that Russia sought to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral process and help then-candidate Donald Trump win election, gauging the success of the 2018 meddling efforts is difficult.

“We did not make an assessment of the impact that these activities had on the outcome of the 2018 election,” Coats cautioned in his statement. “The U.S. intelligence community is charged with monitoring and assessing the intentions, capabilities and actions of foreign actors; it does not analyze U.S. political processes or U.S. public opinion.”

‘Witch hunt’

That impact will likely be debated in U.S. political circles, fueled in part by the president’s own attacks against the ongoing special counsel investigation into Russia’s activities and into possible collusion with Trump’s own campaign staff.

Trump has repeatedly dismissed the investigation as a “witch hunt.”

Still, some lawmakers see the new intelligence community assessment as reason to act.

“The Russians did not go away after the 2016 election,” Sen. Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement.

Warner, who previously criticized the president’s executive order for failing to lay out strong, clear consequences for election meddling, said it was no surprise China and Iran tried to manipulate American voters, and that the problem will only get worse.

“We’re going to see more and more adversaries trying to take advantage of the openness of our society to sow division and attempt to manipulate Americans,” he added. “Congress has to step up and enact some much-needed guardrails on social media, and companies need to work with us so that we can update our laws to better protect against attacks on our democracy.”

Executive order praised

Former officials have urged patience, praising the executive order as a good start and cautioning it will take time to see how well it works.

“I don’t know that it will be a complete solution,” said Sean Kanuck, a former intelligence officer for cyber issues, said when the order was first introduced. “I doubt it will completely change the incentive-cost-benefit analysis of the other side.”

Even after the executive order was unveiled, U.S. officials, as well as social media companies, continued to turn up evidence that Russia and others tried to meddle in the 2018 U.S. midterm election.

In October, the U.S. Justice Department unsealed an indictment against 44-year-old Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, 44, of St. Petersburg, charging her with helping to finance disinformation campaigns on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, targeting both Republican and Democratic voters.

As with previous efforts, the accounts were designed to make it appear as though they belonged to American political activists and some managed to generate tens of thousands of followers.

Later that month, Facebook said it had removed 82 accounts, pages or groups from its site and from Instagram that originated in Iran and targeted liberal U.S. voters.

But U.S. officials and experts have also warned that the heavy focus on social media and influence campaigns, and the lack of evidence of tampering with U.S. voting systems and databases, should not be seen as a victory.

Saving ‘best tricks for 2020’

They say that just as the U.S. has hardened its systems against attacks and intrusions, cyber adversaries like Russia have been watching and learning, with their eyes perhaps on a much more significant target.

“The Russians were going to save their best tricks for 2020,” said William Carter, deputy director, Technology Policy Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies, predicted in the days before the U.S. midterm elections in November.

“They’re going to let us chase our tails in 2018 and look for them where they’re not,” he added.
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Thousands of pro-independence protesters angry about Spain’s Cabinet holding a meeting in Catalonia blocked roads across the region Friday and clashed with anti-riot police in its capital.

Grassroots separatist groups and unions called the protests to show their disgust at Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s decision to lead his weekly Cabinet meeting in Barcelona.

The Catalan regional government, formed by a coalition of pro-secession parties, is also supporting peaceful protests despite an agreement with central authorities to find a way out of the political crisis that has festered since Catalonia’s failed secession attempt last year.

After their encounter on Thursday, the second since both took power earlier this year, Sanchez and Catalan President Quim Torra issued a joint statement calling for dialogue to settle the conflict over the future of the northeastern region.

That outcome was beyond the low expectations that had been placed before the talks, when disagreement over their scope and format kept officials negotiating until the very last minute. Sanchez, who inherited the Catalan crisis when he toppled his conservative predecessor in June, made mending relations with the prosperous region one of his priorities.

But despite the progress, distrust prevailed. Security in the prosperous northeastern region, normally in the hands of the Catalan police, was reinforced with hundreds of anti-riot officers sent by Spain’s national police forces for Friday’s ministers’ meeting.

“It is a provocation,” said Oriol Benet, a 24-year-old pharmacist who joined others marching near the headquarters of the National Police in Barcelona.

Spanish television broadcast live Sanchez’ walk from his hotel to the 14th-century Gothic palace in downtown Barcelona. It was an attempt to display a sense of everydayness and normalcy but instead showed the prime minister walking through empty streets heavily guarded by police.

Meters away a crowd of mostly young protesters jeered “Go away! Go away!” Police charged to keep them at bay when they moved trash containers and tried to break the double security cordon shielding the meeting’s venue. Larger clashes erupted around midday.

The regional Mossos d’Esquadra police force said that one of four protesters arrested for public order offenses carried material to manufacture Molotov cocktails.

In the northern province of Girona, a main highway was blocked with tires and barricades, and at least a dozen more roads saw disruptions according to the regional transit authorities.

Carrying a banner calling for the release of nine jailed Catalan politicians and activists who face a rebellion trial, Carme Almarza said she didn’t trust the politicians’ agreement. “Not until I see the prisoners freed,” the 52-year old social worker said.

“Any chance to talk is good,” said Carlos Castilla, watching from a distance how protesters launched smoke bombs. “It is clear the status quo doesn’t work, they agreed on that. I think the answer is more self-government and that Catalonia manages its own finances.”

Sanchez, who has been harshly criticized by the right-wing opposition for his meeting with Torra, has presented the meeting in Barcelona as “a way of showing affection to Catalonia.”

The cabinet is expected to rename the Barcelona airport in honor of Josep Tarradellas, who headed the Catalan government in exile during Gen. Francisco Franco’s dictatorship, and raise the country’s monthly minimum wage from 736 to 900 euros ($1,019).

Sanchez, whose minority government controls only a quarter of the national parliament, hopes that the plan’s social spending will make it difficult for Catalan separatist parties to reject his 2019 budget in a vote scheduled for January.

 
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Pope Francis has called on the church’s predator priests who have sexually abused children to turn themselves in.

Speaking Friday in his annual address to the Roman Catholic Church’s governing Curia at the Vatican, Francis said, “To those who abuse minors I would say this: convert and hand yourself over to human justice and prepare for divine justice.”

The Catholic church has been rocked in recent years by a worldwide sexual child abuse scandal that it has seemingly covered up for decades.

“It is undeniable that some in the past, out of irresponsibility, disbelief, lack of training, inexperience, or spiritual and human short-sightedness, treated many cases without the seriousness and promptness that was due,” Francis said.  “This must never happen again.”

Francis, the leader of the world’s more than one billion Roman Catholics, said predator priests “perform abominable acts yet continue to exercise their ministry as if nothing had happened.  They have no fear of God or his judgement, but only of being found out and unmasked.”

He added,  “Often behind their boundless amiability, impeccable activity and angelic faces, they shamelessly conceal a vicious wolf ready to devour innocent souls.”

Bishops, leaders of religious organizations and experts are set to participate in a conference at the Vatican in February about the sexual abuse crisis.

Some victims are hopeful the conference will finally establish a clear policy that makes bishops accountable for the mishandling of sexual abuse cases.
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Britain’s second busiest airport reopened on a limited basis Friday.

Gatwick Airport shut down late Wednesday after drone sightings forced officials to cancel flights, disrupting the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of holiday travelers.

Chris Woodroofe, Gatwick’s chief operating officer, advised passengers to “check with their airline on each of those flights that they’re intending to get, to establish whether it’s one of the flights that’s being operated or one of the flights that’s being canceled, before they come to the airport.”

Threat of collision

Sussex Police Chief Steve Barry said the number of drone sightings at Gatwick has been “unprecedented,” but police have “a number of options” to help to deal with the disruptions.

Woodroofe told the BBC’s Today Program that the situation at Gatwick has highlighted that airports are ill-prepared to deal with drones.

Sussex Police Superintendent Justin Burtenshaw said earlier this week, “Each time we believe we get close to the operator, the drone disappears. When we look to reopen the airfield, the drone reappears.” He said the newer-generation drones are bigger and have more range, making it harder for police to locate the person controlling the device.

Police said while they have no doubt the intrusion was a deliberate attempt to disrupt operations, there were “absolutely no indications to suggest this is terror-related.”​

Thousands affected

The shutdown at Gatwick, located about 45 kilometers south of London, affected flights at London’s main airport, Heathrow, as well as other hubs across Europe. Authorities diverted all incoming flights to alternate destinations, while all outgoing flights were grounded.

More than 43 million passengers a year travel through Gatwick.

Authorities haven’t released details about the drones being used except to characterize them as meeting “industrial specifications.”

The motive for the drone use isn’t clear. Police say there is no indication it is “terror related.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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A major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 struck off Russia’s far east on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said, although Russian news agencies carried no immediate reports of damage from the sparsely populated area.

The quake off Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula, which was initially measured at 7.8 before being revised downwards, struck 82 km (55 miles) west of Nikolskoye at a depth of 9 km, it said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said hazardous tsunami waves from the earthquake were possible within 300 kilometers of the epicentre along the coasts of Russia.

 
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U.S. President Donald Trump has urged Serbia and Kosovo to secure a “historic” deal that would bring “long-sought” peace to the Balkan region — a sign that Washington is willing to take a more active role in mediating between the two wartime foes.

The office of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday published a letter he received from Trump, in which the U.S. president says, “I encourage you to seize this moment and to exercise the political leadership in making decisions needed to balance the interests of both countries.”

“It would be extremely regrettable to miss this unique opportunity for peace, security, and economic growth,” Trump said.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci received a similar letter from Trump.

Kosovo broke away from Serbia after a 1998-99 war and NATO intervention that stopped a bloody Serbian crackdown against Kosovo Albanian separatists. In 2008, Kosovo unilaterally declared independence which is recognized by the U.S. and most of the West, but not by Serbia and its allies Russia and China.

Belgrade has warned of an armed intervention after Kosovo made moves toward creating an army earlier this month.

Serbia and Kosovo have been conducting EU-mediated talks aimed at normalizing relations, but with little headway. Trump’s letter appears to be an attempt by Washington to take a role in the mediation after showing little interest in tensions in the Balkans since he assumed the presidency.

Trump said in the letter that the U.S. stands ready to assist and that he is looking forward to hosting the two presidents in the White House “to celebrate what would be an historic accord.”

“An agreement between Serbia and Kosovo is within reach,” Trump said.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for a surprise White House decision to pull 2,000 U.S. troops out of Syria, calling their presence there illegitimate and an impediment to peace in the region.

Addressing a record 1,700 journalists at his 14th annual end-of-year marathon press conference Thursday, Putin said he agreed with President Donald Trump’s assessment that Islamic State had largely been defeated on the ground in Syria.

“Donald is right, I agree with him [about that],” he said, stating that radical militants still holding small parts of northern Syria had suffered at least a “serious blow” over the past year.

“I don’t think the [U.S. forces] are needed there,” Putin said. “And let’s not forget that the presence of [U.S.] troops there is illegitimate. The U.S. is there without backing from the United Nations or an invitation from the Syrian government. Russia is there at the invitation of the Syrian government. But if the U.S. has decided to withdraw, that’s good.”

The U.S. has justified its military presence in Syria to combat the Islamic State as part of its global war on terrorism.

Putin then expressed skepticism about whether the U.S. withdrawal from Syria will actually happen.

“We don’t yet see any signs yet of the withdrawal of U.S. troops,” he said. “And how long has the U.S. been in Afghanistan? 17 years? And almost every year they say they’re pulling out their troops.”

On Wednesday, Russian state media outlets reported that Russia’s Foreign Ministry called a prospective U.S. withdrawal auspicious for a political settlement of the seven-year-old crisis.

The ministry also said an initiative to form a Syrian constitutional committee had better prospects for success without a U.S. presence in the region.

Fueling Trump’s critics

The Kremlin’s reception of Wednesday’s White House announcement provided rhetorical ammunition to U.S. critics of Trump’s decision, which even a few of Trump’s congressional allies called chaotic and misguided.

“Withdrawal of this small American force in Syria would be a huge Obama-like mistake,” tweeted Senate Armed Services Committee member Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

“I found someone who is supportive of the decision to retreat from #Syria,” tweeted Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio in a post that linked to a Russian embassy statement of support for Trump’s decision.

“[Trump] is sliding another big gift under Vladimir Putin’s Christmas tree,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas.

Analysts say up to 30,000 IS militants remain active in Iraq and Syria, and that Trump’s decision appears to have been made without the support or knowledge of top Pentagon officials.
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The European Commission says it has started to implement plans for a no-deal Brexit — in preparation for Britain crashing out of the European Union without a withdrawal deal — which would dislocate manufacturers’ supply chains, disrupt air-travel, and gridlock busy seaports on both sides of the English Channel.

With just 100 days to go before Britain’s scheduled departure on March 29, the Conservative government of Theresa May is also accelerating arrangements for a chaotic “no-deal Brexit,” ordering all ministries to shelve non-essential business and to divert staff to focus on contingency planning.

Both the British government and Brussels are trying to offset the impact of a possible no-deal Brexit on business, as well as on their citizens, but acknowledge there will be severe disruption.  

The acceleration of “no-deal” planning in London and Brussels follows last week’s testy meeting between Theresa May and the leaders of the other 27 EU countries, in which May was firmly rebuffed in her bid to reopen negotiations on a withdrawal agreement.

The leaders held out little hope of offering any legal assurances that would help May sell the 585-page deal to unenthusiastic British lawmakers.  

Analysts said there is little evidence May will be able to squeeze anything out of the bloc that would substantially alter the political dynamic in London, where a majority of the House of Commons is opposed to May’s Brexit deal.

Long negotiated agreement

May’s deal, which was negotiated after almost two years of ill-tempered haggling between British and EU negotiators, tries to square the circle between Britons who want to remain in the EU, or closely tied to it, and Brexiters.

The proposed deal would see Britain locked in a customs union with the European Union for several years while it negotiates a more permanent, but vaguely defined, free trade settlement with its largest trading partner.  

In the temporary customs union, Britain would be unable to influence EU laws, regulations and product standards it would have to observe. It would not be able to implement free trade deals with non-EU countries.

The transition was reached to avoid customs checks on the border separating Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, but British lawmakers fear Britain could be trapped indefinitely in the transition.

Britain’s main business groups Wednesday warned there is not sufficient time to plan for the repercussions of the country leaving without any withdrawal agreement and says hundreds of thousands of companies have not yet even started preparing for the consequences. 

“Businesses have been watching in horror as politicians have focused on factional disputes rather than practical steps that business needs,” said Britain’s Chambers of Commerce in a statement along with four other major employer groups.

Big disruptions 

The European Commission’s measures announced Wednesday are designed to limit disruption in several sectors, including finance, transport and data protection. “These measures will not — and cannot — mitigate the overall impact of a no-deal’ scenario,” it said in a statement.

“This is an exercise in damage limitation,” said European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis during a news conference. 

Unveiling 14 measures, he said a contingency plan had to be done “given the continued uncertainty in the UK.” The 14 measures aim to ensure some continuity for a temporary period, but the Commission has ruled out negotiating any bilateral agreements to replace the temporary measures.

They include allowing British-owned airlines to operate flights in and out of EU countries, but not between them, and recognizing for up to two years British financial-service regulations so British banks, investment houses and insurers can continue to sell their products in EU countries. And British haulers will be allowed to transport freight by road into the EU for a nine-month period without having to apply for special third-country permits. 

But there is no overall plan for what happens to an estimated 1.5 million Britons living and working in Europe. The commission is urging member states to adopt a “generous” approach to their residency rights, but only “provided that this approach is reciprocated” by London in how it handles three million EU citizens living in Britain. 

Britain’s decision to accelerate contingency planning was made during an ill-tempered three-hour Cabinet meeting Tuesday, in which ministers clashed over what to do if May fails next month, as still seems likely, to secure House of Commons approval for her exit deal.

The Cabinet is split between a faction that wants May to call a second Brexit referendum, another that wants Britain to negotiate another deal with Brussels, and a third group that says Britain shouldn’t worry about going it alone and breaking cleanly from the bloc.

Some Conservative lawmakers have warned they will quit the party if May moves towards a no-deal Brexit. Some lawmakers suspect the government is raising the stakes by planning for a no-deal Brexit in order to pressure the House of Commons to approve her withdrawal agreement. 
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The Trump administration is slapping more sanctions on Russian officials and entities for election interference and what the Treasury Department calls other “malign activities.”

They include the alleged assassination attempt by poison of a former Russian spy and his daughter in Britain.

“The United States will continue to work with international allies and partners to take their collective action to deter and defend against sustained malign activity by Russia, its proxies, and intelligence agencies,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday.

Among those sanctioned are 15 military intelligence agents and four government entities, including the Internet Research Agency.

A new report this week prepared for the U.S. Senate says the IRA used every major social media platform to try to influence voters to cast ballots for Donald Trump in 2016, and send misinformation to voters unlikely to back Trump to discourage them from voting.

Those sanctioned Wednesday are also accused of hacking the World Anti-Doping Agency, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and other nonpolitical agencies.

Two Russian intelligence officers are also sanctioned for allegedly using a chemical agent to poison former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, last March in Salisbury, England.

Both were hospitalized and survived.

U.S. citizens are barred from doing business with sanctioned individuals or entitles, and any assets they have in the United States are frozen.

Treasury said the Trump administration has so far sanctioned 272 Russians and entities for “a broad range of malign activities.”
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More than 750 million people, or 15 percent of the world’s population, would move permanently to other countries if given the opportunity, and the same percentage are not deterred by talk in a number of political circles about curbing immigration.

These are the findings of a recent Gallup poll, which looked at the desire by people around the world to migrate. Gallup found that the desire to go to another country permanently climbed between 2015 and 2017. This marked an increase of one percent from the period spanning 2013 to 2016. Gallup conducted interviews with close to half a million people in 152 countries for the survey.

Factors and motivation

The reasons that motivate people to want a life away from their home countries remain the same, said Gallup’s global managing partner, Jon Clifton.

“The two biggest things that we see that cause people to want to leave is some sort of crisis within the country. So for example, one of the top 10 countries in the world where people want to leave is Syria; nearly 50 percent of Syrians want to leave the country permanently because they’ve been subjected to war.” 

Clifton said he believed the real percentage in Syria was even higher, but not recorded in the survey, because Gallup was not able to conduct face-to-face interviewing in some areas due to the ongoing conflict. 

“The other reason is economics,” he said. “We see that in a lot of poor countries people want to leave for economic opportunities.”

According to Gallup, Latin America is showing growing trends toward migration, driven to a large extent by lack of economic opportunities and concerns about safety. As an example, he cited oil-rich Venezuela, which has sunk into crisis under President Nicolas Maduro. United Nations’ figures estimate an exodus of around 2 million Venezuelans this year. 

“Everyone is very familiar with what’s been happening in Venezuela. When we ask people if they would like to move permanently, the number is moving in a staggering direction. … So Latin America is a region where people are more likely to leave than they were before. So the trend is going in a certain way that is not helpful to leaders in the region.”

Gallup famine and disaster also continue to drive people from their homes in some parts of the world. The desire to leave for another country increased in a number of areas known for sending migrants. Gallup listed sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, in addition to Latin America. Parts of Africa have had to deal with an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.

Desired destinations

The survey finds that the countries where potential migrants wish to settle is more or less the same, and share the same characteristics of economic prosperity and rule of law. 

“For the past 13 years that we’ve been doing this, we found that the No. 1 destination for migrants has always been the United States. Despite what policies and what leaders might be saying, people still see that this is one of the best economic opportunities for them in the world,” Clifton said.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants to build a wall along the southern border with Mexico to stop migrants. The issue has been a sticking point in budget negotiations on funding the U.S. federal government.

Clifton said the U.S. is a draw for many potential migrants because they have family members in the country. The Gallup poll said one in five migrants, or 158 million people worldwide, say the U.S. is their desired future home; however, the survey said one in six Americans would like to go to another country — the highest number to date.

Desires versus reality

Gallup’s Clifton notes that the Balkans exhibit high rates of migration desires, which point to increasing dissatisfaction with the situation in their respective countries. He adds that the trend is especially concerning since it’s affecting the youngest and most educated segment of the population.  

“When you have educated people that would like to live in another country and people lacking education that want to move to your country, we see that it’s a real issue in terms of brain drain or lack of brain gain. We see this as a seriously concerning issue for leaders,” Clifton said.

The Gallup survey said in Albania, for example, 60 percent of people surveyed expressed a desire to migrate, marking the highest rates in any European country. Clifton cited dissatisfaction over incomes as well as purchasing power. Other parts of Europe have experienced a migrant crisis in recent years with thousands of refugees and migrants dying while trying to reach the continent, said Gallup.

Separately, Gallup noted that in all regions of Asia, “the percentage of adults who would like to move to another country permanently has remained flat.” 
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French “yellow vest” protesters occupied highway toll booths, setting a number on fire and causing transport chaos in parts of the country just days before the Christmas holidays getaway.

France’s biggest toll road operator, Vinci Autoroutes, said there were demonstrations at about 40 sites along its network and that some highway intersections had been damaged, notably in tourist towns such as Avignon, Orange, Perpignan and Agde.

Protesters set fire overnight to the Bandol toll station, forcing the closure of the A50 highway between Marseille and Toulon, said Vinci, whose network is mainly in southern and western France. The Manosque station was also torched.

Some 20 people were arrested on Tuesday following the blazes, while four others remain in custody following fires on Saturday.

“Motorists should take utmost care as they approach toll gates and motorway access ramps due to the presence of numerous pedestrians,” Vinci said in a statement.

Several people have died in roadside accidents at yellow vest roadblocks in recent weeks, mostly at the many roundabouts blocked by groups of demonstrators.

The “yellow vests” protesters — named after the fluorescent jackets French motorists must have in their cars — have blocked roads and roundabouts across France since mid-November. The demonstrations began as a protest against fuel tax increases, but have morphed into a wider backlash against the liberal economic policies of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Protesters took to the streets of Paris and other cities on Saturday in a fifth weekend of demonstrations, though they were noticeably smaller than in previous weeks after Macron announced tax and salary concessions.

Costly damage

Protesters angry about high fuel costs and new speed limits have also damaged or torched hundreds of traffic radars.

Radars-auto.com estimated that by the middle of last week some 1,600 – about half of all French traffic radars — had been damaged. More than 250 have been entirely destroyed, it said.

The French state will also lose several tens of millions of euros in revenues, it said, adding that in 2017 the radars had yielded on average 84 million euros ($96 million) per month.

The interior ministry declined comment on the number of radars damaged, but said that minor damage cost on average 500 euros per radar to repair, with major damage costing up to 200,000 euros.

Fines for damaging radars can run as high as 75,000 euros. “Even wrapping a radar in plastic or a yellow vest … without destroying it is an offense,” a ministry official said. Vinci estimates the damages since the start of the protests will cost it “several tens of millions” of euros, not including lost revenue, as the protesters have allowed thousands of motorists onto the highways for free.

It dropped a plan to send invoices to motorists who drove through toll booths without paying and whose license plates were captured on cameras following government criticism.

($1 = 0.8792 euros)
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U.S. President Donald Trump has sent a letter to Kosovo counterpart Hashim Thaci urging him to do everything to reach a longstanding deal with Serbia two decades after their war ended, according to Thaci’s official website.

Serbia and its former province of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, committed in 2013 to a European Union-sponsored dialogue meant to resolve all unsolved issues but little progress has been made.

“Failure to capitalize on this unique opportunity would be a tragic setback, as another chance for a comprehensive peace is unlikely to occur again soon,” says the text of the letter posted Tuesday on Thaci’s website.

“The United States has invested heavily in the success of Kosovo as an independent, sovereign state,” it said.

In Washington, the White House had no comment. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy in Kosovo’s capital Pristina.

Serbian-Kosovar tensions rose anew last week when Kosovo’s parliament voted to approve the creation of a 5,000-strong standing army — only a week after Serbia’s premier suggested such a move could provoke military intervention by Belgrade.

In June this year, Thaci said he would seek a solution with Serbia by “correcting borders,” but politicians and analysts in Kosovo said that means land swaps.

But his plan rang alarm bells among Balkan neighbors and some Western governments who saw it as a move to take three Serbian municipalities inhabited mainly by ethnic Albanians, who make up more than 90 percent of Kosovo’s population.

If there would be a land swap, then Serbia would get part of northern Kosovo populated mainly by minority Serbs who refuse to recognize the authority of the Pristina government.

Britain and Germany have said they do not favor border changes, but the United States said if these were agreed by Serbia and Kosovo, it would respect such a deal.

The United Nations Security Council publicly discussed the issues between the two countries and recent tensions on Monday at a meeting attended by the presidents of Serbia and Kosovo.

The letter posted by Thaci’s website said Trump would welcome hosting the Kosovo and Serbian presidents at the White House as part of such an “historic accord.”

Kosovo is recognized by more than 110 countries, including the United States, but not by Serbia, Russia or China.

Washington remains the biggest supporter of Kosovo both politically and financially.

It was under U.S. command that NATO bombed Serbian forces in 1999 to halt killings and expulsions of Kosovo Albanians during a counter-insurgency operation.
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Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel offered to resign on Tuesday after socialists and greens tabled a motion of no confidence in his minority government.

Michel relaunched his government a week ago as a minority administration after the Flemish N-VA, the biggest party in his coalition, quit in protest at his support of the U.N. migration pact.

Some European politicians say the accord could increase immigration as the bloc has turned increasingly restrictive on accepting refugees and migrants alike.

Michel’s slimmed down three-party coalition consisted of his French-speaking liberal MR and two Flemish parties.

With parliamentary elections due in May, Michel could be asked by King Philippe to stay on in a caretaker capacity but with limited power. The king may also speak to other political leaders in a bid to resolve the issue.
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The size and scope of Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election was far more extensive and thorough than previously understood, according to two newly released reports.

The reports that emerged this week support conclusions by the U.S. intelligence community — and published in an unclassified January 2017 report — that the goal of all of Russia’s meddling in the months leading up to the 2016 elections was to get their preferred candidate elected president of the United States.

“What is clear is that all of the messaging clearly sought to benefit the Republican Party and specifically Donald Trump,” according to the report by Oxford University’s Computational Propaganda Project and network analysis firm Graphika.

Russia on Tuesday rejected the allegations in the two reports. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the accusations baseless.

The findings, as first reported by The Washington Post, said Russians working for a group called the Internet Research Agency (IRA) began experimenting with social media to influence local elections in 2009 and expanded its operations to U.S. elections in 2013 using Twitter.

​It gradually added other popular social media sites to its campaign, including YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, using race and social issues such as gun rights, immigration and police brutality, to sow division and discontent.

“Conservative and right-wing voters were actively encouraged to get behind Trump’s campaign,” according to the report by Oxford and Graphika. “Other voters were encouraged to boycott the election, abstain from voting for Clinton, or to spread cynicism about participating in the election in general.”

Russia’s IRA activity also sought out African-American voters in particular with advertising on Facebook and Instagram and with video content on YouTube.

“Most of the interest-based targeting focused on African-American communities and interests,” the second report by the cybersecurity firm New Knowledge showed. 

“Messaging to African-Americans sought to divert their political energy away from established political institutions by preying on anger with structural inequalities faced by African-Americans, including police violence, poverty and disproportionate levels of incarceration,” the Oxford University-Graphika report added. “These campaigns pushed a message that the best way to advance the cause of the African-American community was to boycott the election and focus on other issues instead.”

Other groups such as liberals, women, Muslims, Latinos and veterans were also targeted with similar messages either appealing to their politics or trying to discourage them from voting.

This newly released data demonstrates how aggressively Russia sought to divide Americans by race, religion and ideology, and how the IRA actively worked to erode trust in our democratic institutions,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, a Republican, said in a statement Monday. “Most troublingly, it shows that these activities have not stopped.”

“This should stand as a wake-up call,” added Senate Intelligence Committee vice chair, Democrat Mark Warner, who has been critical of social media companies and the way they have handled Russia’s online influence campaigns.

“It is time to get serious in addressing this challenge,” Warner said. “That is going to require some much-needed and long-overdue guardrails when it comes to social media.”

The Oxford-Graphika report said it is clear the response by social media companies has been lacking. 

“We clearly observe a belated and uncoordinated response from the platforms that provided the data,” the report said. “In some cases, activity on one platform was detected and suspended months before similar action was taken against related activity on another platform.”

In a statement Monday, Facebook said it continues to “fully cooperate with officials investigating the IRA’s activity on Facebook and Instagram around the 2016 election.”

“We’ve made progress in helping prevent interference on our platforms during elections, strengthened our policies against voter suppression ahead of the 2018 midterms, and funded independent research on the impact of social media on democracy,” the statement said, adding the company believes Congress and intelligence officials “are best placed to use the information we and others provide.”

“Our singular focus is to improve the health of the public conversation on our platform,” Twitter said in a statement of its own. “We’ve made significant strides since 2016 to counter manipulation of our service, including our release of additional data in October related to previously disclosed activities to enable further independent academic research and investigation.”

Google reactions

The reports, though, indicate the measures that have been taken may not be enough, as Russia and others continue to make use of social media platforms.

The Oxford-Graphika report said Russia’s use of social media did not peak until after the election, with the IRA buying the most ad volume on Facebook in April 2017, shortly after the U.S. airstrikes against chemical weapon sites in Syria.

And U.S. intelligence and military officials have told VOA that Russia continued to target segments of U.S. society, including ongoing efforts to influence U.S. military personnel and their families in the run-up to the 2018 midterm elections. 

The United States has already leveled criminal charges against IRA for interfering in the 2016 campaign.

Current and former intelligence officials also warn that it would be a mistake to focus only on Russia’s use of social media, pointing to last week’s guilty plea by Russian spy Maria Butina, who admitted to using the National Rifle Association to get close to key conservative politicians.

“It illustrates … the astute understanding the Russians have of our political ecosystem,” James Clapper, former director of National Intelligence, told VOA.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election and whether the president has tried to obstruct justice by trying to undermine the probe.

Trump denies there was any collusion and calls the Mueller probe a “witch hunt.”
…

Ukraine has elected the head of a newly unified Orthodox Church, following a split from the Russian Orthodox Church, announced Saturday. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has hailed the move as an important safeguard against future Russian aggression. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has condemned Ukraine’s church split from the Russian Orthodox church in October and calls it uncanonical. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
…

A few thousand demonstrators gathered in freezing temperatures outside Hungary’s state broadcaster Monday night in a fifth day of protests against the right-wing government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban. 

Lawmakers from all opposition parties took to a temporary podium to declare they would continue protests until they are allowed to read out their demands on state television. 

The protests were sparked by a new labor law that in essence enables the return of a six-day work week, if an employee agrees, with overtime payments potentially unpaid for up to three years.

Demands expand

But the demands of protesters have expanded to include cleaning up state corruption, creating an independent judiciary and ensuring neutral state media. 

“We will continue with protests all the while our demands are not read out over state media. We are not going anywhere,” Timea Szabo, a Parliament member for the small, centrist Dialogue party, told the crowd. 

“The law has not been trampled on in such a way here for 30 years,” she said, apparently referring to the roughing up of some legislators by security guards at the MTVA building early Monday. 

Protesters chant slogans

Demonstrators repeatedly chanted slogans like “We won’t leave” and “They are lying day and night!”

Legislators charged that police took orders from private security guards in forcing them out of the MTVA building, rather than protect their right to enter a public building.

Agnes Vadai of the Democratic Coalition, a center-left party, told The Associated Press that she had been manhandled by security guards, 

 “This is nonsense,” she said of the lack of help from police officers. “It’s their obligation to protect all Hungarian citizens, regardless of their position.”

 defendsThe group of 10 lawmakers had entered the building insisting on the right to read their five demands live on air, including the revocation of the labor law.

Government defends law

The government has defended the law, saying it will ease the shortage of workers, most especially in the booming auto and manufacturing sectors, and enable employees to earn more money as they wish.  

Orban’s allies have denounced the protests as the work of liberal groups financed by Hungarian-American financier George Soros. The Open Society Foundations, an organization founded by Soros, again denied that Monday. 

“The Hungarian people are protesting against their government because they have legitimate grievances. Nobody believes Viktor Orban’s false assertion that George Soros is behind these protests,” the group said in a statement. 

 
…

The Czech Republic’s cybersecurity watchdog is warning against the use of products by Chinese electronics giant Huawei and another Chinese telecommunications company, ZTE.

The National Cyber and Information Security Agency said Monday their software and hardware pose “a security threat.”

Huawei is the biggest global supplier of network gear for phone and internet companies.

It has become the target of U.S. security concerns because of its ties to the Chinese government. The U.S. has pressured other countries to limit use of its technology, warning they could be opening themselves up to surveillance and theft of information.

A Czech spy agency recently warned against the activities of Chinese spies on Czech territory.
…

Three years after she was acquitted over her role in Turkey’s Gezi Park protests, Mucella Yapici was called in last month by police to face more questions about the unrest that had posed a direct challenge to the authority of President Tayyip Erdogan.

Yapici is one of dozens who were involved in demonstrations that brought millions onto Turkey’s streets in 2013 to protest against the government and who are now caught up in a renewed investigation, raising concerns among Turkey’s Western allies.

Opposition figures say the renewed crackdown is designed to polarize public opinion and rally support for Erdogan’s AK Party ahead of local elections in March, when it could face tight races in some of Turkey’s largest cities.

“It is a political maneuver,” Yapici said of her questioning two weeks ago. “We were tried in Turkish courts and acquitted. And the state did not appeal,” she told Reuters, adding that authorities had produced no new evidence.

The moves by prosecutors and police have been accompanied by renewed and sharp criticism of the Gezi protesters by Erdogan.

Such attacks have been a hallmark of his election triumphs since he first won power 16 years ago. But they also risk alienating allies such as the European Union and United States at a time when Turkey is trying to resolve diplomatic disputes that helped fuel a currency crisis this year.

Yapici, a 67-year-old architect whose activist group Taksim Solidarity was at the heart of the Gezi protests, was one of 26 defendants acquitted in April 2015 of charges carrying jail terms of up to 13 years.

She said the investigations were an attempt to rewrite social memory of the protests.

“They are trying to blacken the clear celebration of democracy that was Gezi in the minds of children, youths and society,” Yapici said.

She has not been charged again, but last month more than a dozen people were detained as part of an investigation into the Gezi protests and prosecutors have issued warrants for a prominent journalist and an actor, both living abroad.

“Five years later the prosecutor has suddenly remembered the Gezi resistance and started a new witch hunt,” the Berlin-based journalist, Can Dundar, said after details of his arrest warrant emerged on Dec. 5.

A senior Turkish official said the Gezi incidents were solely a matter for the courts.

“Of course the government does not make any requests in this respect,” he told Reuters. “Ultimately courts and prosecutors take various steps in cases based on the evidence which they obtain.”

“It is not a matter of the incidents specially being put onto the agenda five years later,” he added. “Ultimately the judiciary will take up these dossiers and reach the necessary verdicts.”

‘Pay the price’

According to government estimates, 3.6 million people took part in the Gezi protests, which began with a small demonstration against the redevelopment of a park near Istanbul’s Taksim Square. It evolved into a demonstration of wide-ranging discontent with the government.

Over the summer of 2013 the chant “everywhere is Taksim, everywhere is resistance” resounded in daily protests across Turkey, with many banging pots and pans at their windows every evening. Nine people, eight young protesters and a police officer, were killed in the unrest, and 5,000 injured.

Three years later, following a failed coup against Erdogan, authorities launched a sweeping roundup in which 77,000 people have so far been jailed pending trial. A two-year state of emergency was lifted in July, but arrests linked to the coup attempt have continued alongside the revived Gezi investigations.

Prosecutors have prepared an indictment targeting 120 people over their participation in a Gezi-related protest in Ankara and an investigation into 600 others is continuing, state media says. Pro-government journalists say the probe will widen.

Erdogan blames the protests on billionaire philanthropist George Soros and Osman Kavala, a well-known Turkish civil society leader. Kavala has been in jail for a year awaiting trial on charges of seeking to overthrow the government.

“They are still in solidarity, the operatives of the project to make our country surrender,” Erdogan said last month in a speech denouncing the two men. Kavala was directed by “the famous Hungarian Jew, Soros … who assigns people to divide nations”, he said.

Two weeks ago the Soros-funded Open Society Foundation announced it was closing down in Turkey because it could no longer work there.

Responding to last month’s arrest of 13 academics and civil society representatives linked to Kavala, EU commissioner Johannes Hahn said Brussels was troubled by the arrest of journalists, human rights defenders and civil society activists.

“Criminal and judicial proceedings must be based on the presumption of innocence,” he said after talks in Ankara with Turkey’s foreign minister.

‘Hatred and revenge’

The leader of the main opposition CHP party, which is challenging Erdogan’s AK Party for control of Istanbul and Ankara in the March elections, has said there are no grounds for the latest protest-related arrests.

“If you throw innocent people in jail and then go and see where you can create evidence, there is no justice there. There is a feeling of hatred and revenge,” Kemal Kilicdaroglu said.

Kilicdaroglu’s party say the Gezi arrests are an attempt to divert attention from a slowing economy, high inflation and rising unemployment – significant weak points in Erdogan’s election plans after years of stellar economic growth.

By focusing on perceived security threats, Erdogan could rally support. A survey for the Center for American Progress this year found that around half the public approved of the government’s response to the failed coup in 2016, including 80 percent of AK Party voters.

The challenge, however, will be significant.

Although he strengthened his presidential powers after elections in June, support for Erdogan’s AK Party fell to 43 percent, meaning he needed an alliance with nationalists for a parliamentary majority.

A survey by pollster Metropoll last month showed his personal approval had fallen below 40 percent, having been around 50 percent ahead of the June elections.

Aykut Erdogdu, a CHP lawmaker for Istanbul, said trust in Erdogan was declining due to economic hardship.

As things stand “they know they will lose the local elections. Hence it is necessary to polarize the people,” Erdogdu wrote on Twitter. “They are setting up their election stall using Gezi.”
…

A bomb blast early Monday damaged a building in Athens housing the headquarters of Greece’s private radio and television network Skai, but there were no casualties, police said.

Anti-terrorist police opened an investigation into the attack that focused on Greek extremist groups.

Attacks targeting broadcasting groups, public companies or embassies have been frequent in Greece in recent years, and have been blamed on anarchist or far-left groups.

The coalition government led by leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras condemned the blast as “an attack on democracy” while his administration decried an act of “terrorism.”

In a statement, Tsipras slammed what he termed “an attack on democracy by cowardly and dark forces,” vowing that “they will not realize their goal of terrorizing and disorientating.”

He further offered his “sincere support to journalists and all those who work at the station” targeted.

The homemade device went off at around 2:30am (0030 GMT), 45 minutes after an anonymous telephone warning to another TV network.

Police cordoned off the neighborhood in the Athens suburb of Neo Phaliro and evacuated the building, which contains the offices of Skai, a group owned by the Alafouzos shipping family, as well as those of Kathimerini, a center-right daily critical of the government.

Police said the bomb was placed in a narrow street near a fence around the building and smashed windows on the facade.

Skai said in a statement the blast caused “major damage.”

“The terrorist attack will not discourage us,” it said, accusing the government of failing to do enough to protect the media despite “recurrent threats against the station.”

Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos rejected the accusation.

The minister for civil protection, Olga Gerovassili, visited the site with police.

“Democracy is not threatened,” she said, while warning against those who “leave the way open to terrorism or fascism.”

There were no claims of responsibility by late afternoon but some analysts said the bombing bore the hallmarks of an attack by the far left Popular Fighters Group (OLA).

It has previously claimed to be behind at least five other similar blasts, none causing fatalities, since its formation in 2013.

The group last claimed a bombing outside the Athens Court of Appeal in December 2017, which caused extensive material damage.

Last month, police defused a bomb outside the Athens home of a controversial prosecutor following two anonymous telephoned warnings to the media.

 
…

A fifth person died Sunday from gunshot wounds in last week’s Christmas market terror attack in Strasbourg.

The French prosecutor’s office said the victim was a Polish national.

His brother identified him in a Facebook message as Barto Pedro Orent-Niedzielski, a 36-year-old native of Katowice.

Four others died and 11 were wounded when a gunman identified as Cherif Chekatt opened fire last Tuesday in the world-famous Christmas market in central Strasbourg.

Witnesses tipped off police Friday that a suspect matching Chekatt’s description was spotted in the Strasbourg neighborhood where he grew up.

When police confronted him, he turned and opened fire. Officers shot back, killing Chekatt.

He had an extensive criminal record and was on a terror watch list.

Chekatt’s father told investigators his son was a follower of Islamic State and the terror group claimed him as one of its “soldiers.”

But French Interior Minister Christophe said he doubts Chekatt belonged to the terror group, calling its claim opportunistic.
…

The decision to transform Kosovo’s security force into an army is ”irreversible,” the country’s president said Sunday while offering assurance that a new national military does not threaten ethnic Serbs living in the former Serbian province.

President Hashim Thaci gave a briefing on the army plan before he left for New York, where the United Nations Security Council is expected in coming days to discuss the small Balkan nation’s decision.

Kosovo’s parliament overwhelmingly approved the army’s formation Friday. Neighboring Serbia has warned that an army in a place it considers Serbian territory could result in an armed intervention.

“Whatever happens at the Security Council, despite the concerns of a certain individual or a country, the formation of the Kosovo army is an irreversible act,” Thaci said.

Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of independence. Its government insists the army would violate a U.N. resolution that ended Serbia’s crackdown on Kosovar separatists in 1998-1999.

Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic reiterated Sunday that Belgrade will insist at the U.N. Security Council session the army was formed in violation of the resolution.

“It is important that the position of Serbia will be heard,” Dacic said.

Serbia’s government has warned it might use its own military to respond, with Prime Minister Ana Brnabic saying that’s “one of the options on the table.” An armed intervention by Serbia could bring a confrontation with the NATO-led peacekeepers stationed in Kosovo since 1999.

The U.N. Security Council held closed consultations late Friday on the format of a meeting on the dispute. Russia, Serbia’s close ally, wants the council to meet publicly, and European nations have sought a closed session.  

NATO’s chief has called Kosovo’s action “ill-timed.” The United States has expressed support for “Kosovo’s sovereign right” as an independent nation that unilaterally broke away from Serbia.

Thaci said the army would be professional and multi-ethnic, with five percent of the troops coming from the ethnic Serb minority. He advised Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to take a cue from Serbs in Kosovo “who feel calm and who take part in the army.”
…

Several thousand protesters have marched peacefully through Budapest for a fourth day to oppose laws introduced by the Hungarian government that critics say will restrict workers’ rights.

The protesters chanted anti-government slogans and braved sub-zero temperatures while gathered Sunday in front of parliament, where speakers denounced changes to the labor code that lawmakers approved Wednesday.

The demonstrations have attracted participants from across Hungary’s spectrum. They include members of Jobbik, which started out as a radical right movement and has worked to reframe itself as a “peoples”‘ party.
…

The man described as the father of the 29-year-old suspect in this week’s deadly Christmas market attack in Strasbourg says his son subscribed to the beliefs of the Islamic State group.

The interview with Abdelkrim Chekatt by the state-run France 2 television channel was shown Saturday night, two days after the son was killed in a confrontation with three police officers in his childhood neighborhood in Strasbourg following a massive manhunt. Four people died in the Tuesday night attack. A dozen others were wounded.

The Christmas market in the eastern city of Strasbourg, seat of the European Parliament, is the largest in France. It reopened Friday after being closed during the search for the suspect.

Mother expresses shock, sorrow

Chekatt said he had seen his son, Cherif Chekatt, three days before the attack but couldn’t contact him while he was on the run. 

He acknowledged that his son backed the IS group.

“He’d say, for example, that Daesh, fights for the just cause and all that,” the red-bearded father said, using the common term in France and elsewhere for the Islamic State group.

The interview, initially outdoors with the father, continued briefly inside with Cheriff Chekatt’s mother, Rouadja Rouag, who expressed shock and sorrow for the deaths. France 2 said the couple had been divorced for a long time.

Tried to dissuade son

Abdelkrim Chekatt, a French-Algerian, said he’d tried in the past to dissuade his son from backing the Islamic State, saying, “You don’t see the atrocities they commit.” The son would reply that “it’s not them,” the father said.

Shortly after Chekatt’s death, the Islamic State group’s Amaq news agency claimed he was a “soldier” of the group. French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner rejected the claim as “totally opportunistic.”

The father and mother and two siblings of the suspected killer were among seven people held for questioning. French media reported that the family members were released. The three others, still in custody, are unrelated but close to Chekatt.

The young Chekatt had been on a French intelligence watch list for radicalism and was convicted 27 times for criminal offenses, the first time at age 13, mainly in France but also in Germany and Switzerland. Investigators are trying to determine whether he had accomplices or logistical support.

Father went to police

The father said he went to police of his own accord and on a suspicion the night of the son’s rampage with a handgun and a knife.

He said he told police that “if ever you locate Cherif, tell me. I’ll go to him and try to reason with him to give up.”

He also said that if his son had told him about a project to kill “I would have denounced him, and he wouldn’t have killed or been killed.”
…

Alarmed by the growing popularity of rap among Russian youth, President Vladimir Putin wants cultural leaders to devise a means of controlling, rather than banning, the popular music.

Putin says “if it is impossible to stop, then we must lead it and direct it.’’

But Putin said at a St. Petersburg meeting with cultural advisers Saturday that attempts to ban artists from performing will only bolster their popularity.

Putin noted that “rap is based on three pillars: sex, drugs and protest.’’ But he is particularly concerned with drug themes prevalent in rap, saying “this is a path to the degradation of the nation.’’

He said “drug propaganda” is worse than cursing.

Putin’s comments come amid a crackdown on contemporary music that evoked Soviet-era censorship of the arts.

Crackdown on rappers

Last month, a rapper known as Husky, whose videos have more than 6 million views on YouTube, was arrested after he staged an impromptu performance when his show was shut down in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar.

The 25-year-old rapper, known for his lyrics about poverty, corruption and police brutality, was preparing to take to the stage Nov. 21 when local prosecutors warned the venue that his act had elements of what they termed “extremism.’’

Husky climbed onto a car, surrounded by hundreds of fans, and chanted “I will sing my music, the most honest music!’’ before he was taken away by police.

On Nov. 30, rapper Gone.Fludd announced two concert cancellations, citing pressure from “every police agency you can imagine,’’ while the popular hip hop artist Allj canceled his show in the Arctic city of Yakutsk after receiving threats of violence.

Other artists have been affected as well: Pop sensation Monetochka and punk band Friendzona were among those whose concerts were shut down by the authorities last month.
…

French protesters for the fifth straight weekend rallied against the high cost of living, although demonstrations were more subdued nationwide Saturday, partly because of concessions made by the President Emmanuel Macron earlier this week, as well as a combination of cold weather and rain. 

Several thousand people turned out in Paris. Scuffles erupted between protesters and police, who fired tear gas and used water cannons on demonstrators as they scurried down side streets near the famed Champs-Elysees boulevard.  

About 8,000 police and 14 armored vehicles were deployed to prevent a repeat of previous protests that turned violent, with protesters looting stores and setting up burning barricades in the streets.  

Police said more than 115 people had been taken into custody by Saturday afternoon.  

A week ago, French officials said more than 100,000 people had joined protests around the country. This week, police counted just over 33,000 protesters nationwide. 

In Paris, police had reopened the Champs-Elysees to traffic by early evening. 

The protests, triggered by fuel tax hikes, have morphed into a movement about France’s high living costs, and has ballooned into the biggest crisis of Macron’s presidency. 

The weeks of protests have exposed intense resentment among noncity residents who feel that Macron, a former investment banker, is out of touch with struggling middle-class and blue-collar workers.  

Macron has since abandoned the fuel tax hikes and hopes a package of tax and minimum-wage measures will help ease tensions in the country after the recent violent clashes. 

Protesters, however, have made new demands to address other economic issues hurting workers, retirees and students.   

Government officials are concerned that repeated outbreaks of violence will weaken the economy and raise doubts about the government’s survival. 

Officials are also concerned about far-right, anarchist and anti-capitalist groups like Black Bloc that have mimicked the “yellow vest” movement.   

The “yellow vest” movement was named after the safety jackets French motorists are required to keep in their vehicles, which the protesters wear at demonstrations. 
…

Ukrainian Orthodox priests are holding a historic synod in Kyiv’s Saint Sophia’s Cathedral to establish a new national church, one that does not have ties to Russia.

The clergy gathering Saturday follows a landmark decision by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodoxy, to remove the Ukrainian Orthodox church from under the Moscow Patriarchate, which has overseen the Ukrainian branch for hundreds of years.   

The decision infuriated the Russian church, prompting it to cut all ties with Constantinople.

Relations between Ukraine and Russia have been strained since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, following a pro-Western uprising in Kiev.  

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is expected to attend Saturday’s meeting between representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.  The Moscow-loyal branch of the church says it will not attend the synod and denies being a tool of the Kremlin.

Before the meeting, Russian Patriarch Kirill asked Pope Francis, the United Nations and religious and world leaders to protect the faithful and the clergy from “persecution.”
…

Former top U.S. intelligence officials are warning the guilty plea by a former Russian graduate student and self-proclaimed gun-rights advocate should serve as a wake-up call about the Kremlin’s brazen desire and ability to interfere with the American political system.

Maria Butina, a 30-year-old native of Siberia, entered the plea Thursday in Washington, admitting she worked with a top Russian official, and two other Americans, to infiltrate U.S. conservative groups and the Republican Party for Russia’s benefit.

Her efforts, according to court documents, which included attending events hosted by the National Rifle Association gun-rights group and hosting so-called “friendship dinners,” were directed by Alexander Torshin, a deputy governor of Russia’s central bank with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

At one gathering in 2015, she even managed to ask President Donald Trump, a candidate at the time, about U.S.-Russian relations, prompting him to say he thought he would “get along very nicely” with President Putin.

“It certainly is yet more validation of the Intelligence Community Assessment,” former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told VOA via email, referring to the unclassified January 2017 report by the country’s top three intelligence agencies that concluded that Putin and the Russian government aspired to sway the election in Trump’s favor

Significance of plea

Clapper, who has been publicly critical of Trump since leaving office, said the Butina plea is most significant because it shows “the lengths to which the Russians went to meddle in the 2016 election.”

“It illustrates, as well, the astute understanding the Russians have of our political ecosystem; the fact that they singled out the NRA speaks to the death grip the NRA has on many of our politicians,” he added.

Other former intelligence officials said the details in Butina’s guilty plea put a spotlight on the Kremlin’s obsession with undermining the U.S. from within.

“The big picture takeaway is that Russia comes at the U.S. target with every option it can muster — full-fledged spies operating under some kind of cover, a corps of “Illegals” like the 10 expelled from the U.S. in 2010, and someone like Butina who is best seen as espionage ‘lite,’” said John McLaughlin, a former acting director of the CIA.

“In combination, these three techniques increase dramatically the possibility that Moscow will gain something — or someone — of intelligence value,” he warned.

​Plea agreement downplayed

A Kremlin spokesman Friday called the charges against Butina “absolutely groundless and invalid.”

And Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov downplayed the significance of the plea agreement.

“As far as I understand the whole idea of this plea agreement — this practice is typical for the U.S. — is to bargain for a chance to go free as soon as possible and to get back home,” he told reporters.

Plea deal unusual

Former U.S. officials admit a plea deal in a case like this is unusual and note that if she makes good on her promise to cooperate truthfully with prosecutors, it could help unravel and expose others who were part of Butina’s network, leading perhaps to more indictments and embarrassment for some organizations.

“It basically pulls the curtain back on the Kremlin’s broader objectives, to gain influence with the Republican Party and the right in America,” said Max Bergman, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and director of the Moscow Project, and who served in the State Department under President Barack Obama.

One of those coming under scrutiny is Paul Erickson, a U.S. political activist with extensive ties to the Republican Party who was romantically linked with Butina.

Erickson matches the description of “Person 1” in the statement offense provided by prosecutors. “Person 1” helped advise Butina on which politicians to target, according to the document.

Erickson’s lawyer, William Hurd, said in an email to the Reuters news agency, “Paul Erickson is a good American. He has done nothing to harm our country and never would.”

White House officials had no comment Friday on the Butina guilty plea.

Trump himself, while not having commented on Butina specifically, has repeatedly denied allegations he or his presidential campaign coordinated with Russia, calling the special counsel investigation by Robert Mueller a “witch hunt” and stating “NO COLLISION” on Twitter.

Russian efforts to meddle

U.S. intelligence agencies, including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, also have not commented on the significance or impact of the Butina guilty plea, though many officials have warned Russia’s efforts to meddle in U.S. domestic politics have not stopped.

“We continue to see a pervasive message campaign by Russia to try to weaken and divide the United States,” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told reporters from the White House briefing room in the run-up to the U.S. midterm elections this past November.

And in October, U.S. prosecutors unsealed charges against Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, described as the chief accountant for Russia’s multimillion-dollar information warfare operation to influence both the 2016 and 2018 elections.

While many of Khusyaynova’s social media efforts focused on conservative U.S. voters, some also targeted liberal voters and aimed to stir up anger, and even hatred, for Trump.

Officials and experts said as a result, it would be a mistake to assume there are no others like Butina out there who, rather than targeting Republicans and conservative groups, are looking to infiltrate liberal parties and organizations.

“The Russians don’t have a partisan agenda,” said the Moscow Project’s Bergman, pointing to a 2015 gala to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Russian-owned television outlet RT, during which Russia’s Putin sat at a table with former Trump adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and U.S. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein.

“Their agenda is for discord,” Bergman said.
…

A strong police presence deployed in Paris on Saturday for planned demonstrations by the “yellow vest” protesters, with authorities repeating calls for calm after protests in previous weekends turned violent.

Security forces in riot gear were positioned around central train stations and along the famed Champs-Elysees boulevard, where shops were closed and their windows boarded up in anticipation of the protests. Authorities have said about 8,000 police and 14 armored vehicles were being deployed in the French capital.

Paris police say 21 people have been detained by midmorning in the French capital before the protests.

Last weekend, groups of demonstrators smashed and looted stores, clashing with police and setting up burning barricades in the streets.

The “yellow vest” movement, which takes its name from the fluorescent safety vests French motorists must have in their vehicles, emerged in mid-November as a protest against fuel tax increases. It soon morphed into an expression of rage about the high cost of living in France and a sense that President Emanuel Macron’s government is detached from the everyday struggles of workers.

There was a strong police presence Saturday outside the central Saint Lazare train station, where police in riot gear checked bags. More than 20 police vans and a water cannon truck idled nearby.

‘Being bled dry’

Hundreds of people began converging on the Champs-Elysees in the morning.

“We’re here to represent all our friends and members of our family who can’t come to protest, or because they’re scared,” said Pierre Lamy, a 27-year-old industrial worker wearing a yellow vest and with a French flag draped over his shoulders as he walked to the protest with three friends.

He said the protests had long stopped being about the fuel tax and had turned into a movement for economic justice.

“Everything’s coming up now,” Lamy said. “We’re being bled dry.”

Macron calls for calm

Macron on Friday called for calm during the demonstrations, and the French government reiterated the call online for demonstrators to remain peaceful.

“Protesting is a right. So let’s know how to exercise it,” the government tweeted from its official account, with a 34-second video, which begins with images of historic French protests and recent footage of “yellow vests” rallying peacefully before turning to violence.

“Protesting is not smashing. Protesting is not smashing our heritage. Protesting is not smashing our businesses. … Protesting is not smashing our republic,” the video says.
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