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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson heads to Brussels on Wednesday for dinner with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a last ditch attempt to avoid a tumultuous Brexit without a trade deal in three weeks’ time.With growing fears of a chaotic no-deal finale to the five-year Brexit crisis when the United Kingdom finally leaves the EU’s orbit on Dec. 31, the dinner is being cast as a chance to unlock the stalled trade talks.A British government source stressed that a deal may not be possible, as did EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. Ireland also signalled it was pessimistic about a deal.”The EU has to move,” Michael Gove, a senior minister in Johnson’s government dealing with Brexit issues, told Times Radio.While Gove refused to give odds on a deal, he said that often a one-on-one meeting between leaders could result in a breakthrough.”It is often around the table, when you have two political principals one-on-one, that you can often find a way through,” Gove told the BBC.Failure to secure a deal would snarl borders, shock financial markets and sow chaos through supply chains across Europe and beyond as the world faces the vast economic cost of the COVID-19 pandemic.The British pound was flat against the dollar at around 1.3369, after three straight days of losses. It stands around 1% off 2-1/2 year highs hit at the end of last week. Overnight implied volatility — a measure of expected price swings — rose to a new 8-1/2 month high of close to 25%.
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Human rights abusers will face asset freezes and travel bans under new legislation adopted by the European Union. The so-called Magnitsky laws would target those involved in crimes ranging from genocide to torture and arbitrary detentions. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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A shadowy Turkish ultra-nationalist group is under increasing scrutiny in Europe after French officials banned them for violent actions and inciting hate speech in November.The Grey Wolves have been operating inside Turkey for decades and have been accused of politically motivated violence mainly against left-wing leaders, ethnic Kurds and Turkey’s Alevi sectarian minority.But there are signs the group is increasing its operations abroad.In late October, French police in Decines-Charpieu near Lyon reported four people were injured in violent clashes between Turkish nationalists and Armenians protesting Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.Armenians have long said that mass killings of their ancestors in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 should be recognized as a genocide, which Turkey rejects. In November, an Armenian genocide memorial outside Lyon was defaced with yellow graffiti.French Interior Minister Gerard Darmanin later announced via Twitter  that the group had been banned in France, saying it “incites discrimination and hatred and is implicated in violent actions.”Le mouvement des « Loups gris » a été dissous en conseil des ministres, conformément aux instructions du Président de la République. Comme le détaille le décret que j’ai présenté, il incite à la discrimination et à la haine et est impliqué dans des actions violentes. A lire? A Turkish woman waves a Turkish and a German flag during a demonstration including members of the Turkish ultra-nationalist organization called the Grey Wolves in Duesseldorf, western Germany, May 8, 2016.“Today, there is no such organization, and the wolf salute is a symbol that everyone uses,” Orhan Ilhan, head of the France Turkish Federation, told VOA.However, according to Kemal Can, a columnist for Istanbul-based online news website Gazete Duvar and an author on the MHP’s history, Turkish nationalists sympathetic to the Grey Wolves remain active in Europe under different organizations.”The absence of an official organization named the Grey Wolves in Europe does not mean that there is no political movement that calls itself the Grey Wolves,” Can told VOA, referring to the Turkish Federation.EU terror designationFollowing the ban by French authorities, officials from other European countries have asked for similar actions as part of a widening campaign against extremist organizations.On November 10, four Italian members of the European Parliament from the far-right Identity and Democracy group proposed to include the Grey Wolves on the European Union terrorist list, saying the organization has links to Turkish far-right and radical Islam, and some of its members have engaged in destabilizing measures and sedition on European soil.”On November 18, the German Bundestag adopted a motion that urged the government to outlaw the group’s affiliates, prevent its online agitation and monitor its activities.Party leader Cem Ozdemir of the German Green party holds a speech at a party congress in Berlin, Germany, Nov. 25, 2017“Now is the turn of the Grey Wolves, which has links with far-right extremism and organized crime,” Cem Ozdemir, a lawmaker with the opposition Greens, told VOA. “We cannot interfere in how they organize in Turkey, but here, we have the opportunity to stop their operations against people who are living in peace together.”In its 2019 report, Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution estimated that 11,000 people are affiliated with the Idealist movement in Germany. It said the movement in Germany is mainly represented by the two umbrella organizations — the Federation of Associations of Turkish Democratic Idealists, known as Germany Turkish Federation (ADÜTDF), and Turkish-Islamic Union in Europe (ATİB).Kemal Bozay, a Düsseldorf-based professor at the IUBH University of Applied Sciences, charges that the move from the German Parliament came in response to increased right-wing polarization among the Turkish diaspora.“As the political climate in Turkey escalates more, and the AKP-MHP coalition increasingly disseminates anti-Kurdish, anti-Alevi and anti-European sentiments, these tensions in Turkey reflect in the society in Germany through the Idealist movement’s affiliates and the AKP’s affiliates,” Bozay told VOA.Ismail Kupeli, a doctoral researcher at the University of Cologne, stressed that despite mounting pressure on the Grey Wolves, the German Parliament’s motion remains symbolic, with no indication that the German government will take a similar action against the group.“It looks like a signal, a kind of solidarity with France, but it doesn’t have a real impact for now,” Kupeli told VOA.VOA Turkish Service’s Cem Dalaman in Berlin and Arzu Cakir in Paris contributed to this report. 
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A report by the European Broadcasting Union finds the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated change in public service media that fundamentally affects the quality of journalism in both positive and negative ways.Head of News at EBU, Liz Corbin, says the pandemic hit the fast forward button on changes, which already were in progress.The coronavirus made people desperate for good quality information, according to the report, which was based on interviews with 20 news leaders across Europe. Audiences turned in huge numbers to public service journalism providers. And, in this viral age where the spread of fake news is perhaps the only thing keeping pace with COVID, there has been innovation and creativity.   At the beginning of the pandemic, the report finds people’s trust in public service media and in government was high. During this period, it says the government was supportive of the role the media were playing in distributing vital information. However, when newsrooms became more critical of governments’ response to COVID-19, the relationship between the two institutions began to sour. Co-author of the report, Maike Olij, says attacks by some governments and politicians against the credibility of the media have led to an erosion in public trust of newsmakers. She says threats to media freedoms and attacks targeting public service journalism have increased. The longer these insecurities and the pandemic last, the more suspicious and fearful people become, the EBU reports, adding that people now doubt all official voices, as well as public service news. The report recommends that public service media provide trustworthy, reliable information and that online journalism tailors its reporting to audience needs. It says addressing fake news and being more attentive to undercurrents in society are key in polarized times, and stresses the importance of critical journalism, even when sharing official messages. The EBU report, “Fast Forward: Public Service Journalism in the Viral Age,” is being launched on the eve of a two-day World Press Freedom Conference co-sponsored by UNESCO and the Netherlands.
 
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The wedding ceremony and reception in February 2013 was a glitzy three-day affair at a ski resort near St. Petersburg, Russia.  The happy newlyweds were Yekaterina Tikhonova, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s youngest daughter, and Kirill Shamalov, the son of one of the Russian leader’s oldest friends. Among the wedding gifts received shortly after the nuptials was a sizable stake in petrochemical giant Sibur.   According to leaked emails unearthed by Russian investigative outlet iStories, a partner of the international investigative consortium Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Putin’s new son-in-law was able to buy petrochemical shares worth nearly $400 million for just $100.  The disclosure has prompted a wave of criticism from anti-corruption campaigners, who say the sweetheart deal is another example of Kremlin nepotism and how the Putin family and their associates and friends have enriched themselves during the Russian leader’s two-decade-long time in office.  “It’s simple,” tweeted Alexei Navalny, an opposition politician and anti-corruption activist. “Putin’s daughter gets married and the newlyweds receive the present of $380m.”After marrying Tikhonova, Shamalov bought the 3.8% stake in Sibur through a web of offshore companies, according to the investigation. In 2008, Shamalov become one of Sibur’s vice presidents.In a press statement, Dmitry Konov, head of Sibur’s board of directors, said, “The conditions for the sale of the shares in the deal were no different from those for a number of other managers. There were no exclusive conditions for KN Shamalov.” (KN are the first letters of Shamalov’s first name and patronymic)  In remarks to the RBC News website Tuesday, Konov said the real cost of the stake was far higher, including salary forfeited as part of the share acquisition deal and other unspecified conditions.FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, speaks with Chairman of the Management Board of the Sibur company Dmitry Konov as they visit a plant in Tobolsk, Russia, Dec. 1, 2020. (Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via Reuters)Private emails secured through a massive data breach also suggest the newlyweds went on a spending spree — buying a luxury mansion near Putin’s country residence on the outskirts of Moscow and a villa in the French resort of Biarritz. The furnishings were expensive — one carpet cost $65,000; some Japanese books cost $7,000, and a spa, around $350,000, according to the emails.  Kirill is the son of Nikolai Shamalov, a millionaire businessman who in the 1990s co-founded with Putin the Ozero community, a lakeside gated dacha (country house) cooperative near St. Petersburg. Many members of the Ozero cooperative assumed top positions in the Russian government and businesses after Putin became Russia’s president.A year after his marriage to Tikhonova, the younger Shamalov secured a large loan from Kremlin-linked Gazprombank to buy an even larger 17% stake in Sibur, making him Russia’s youngest billionaire at the age of 32. His brother was deputy chairman at Gazprombank at the time the loan was granted. He and Tikhonova divorced in 2018.Shamalov was among the officials and close associates of the Putin family who were sanctioned by Washington for alleged “malign” activities by Russia, including meddling in U.S. elections.Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov dismissed reports Tuesday about the “wedding gift.”“We still refrain from commenting on such publications,” he told reporters. “These rumors often have nothing to do with reality.”  Peskov dubbed the reports a smear campaign and said media investigations into Putin’s family are “lies that are unable to reach their goal.”  Reports of alleged financial enrichment by the Putin family and their associates have escalated in the past few months. One recent story alleged that former Olympic gymnast Alina Kabaeva, who is reportedly Putin’s girlfriend, received a $10 million annual salary on her appointment as head of a pro-Kremlin media outlet. She had no previous media or management experience.  OCCRP said deciding to publish the email was a difficult decision.  “In the first place, the authenticity of documents received from an unknown party may be in question. To verify the Shamalov archive, the emails were first structured and indexed by OCCRP’s data analysts. Reporters from IStories then spent nearly a year verifying them,” the outlet said.The email cache included more than 10,000 messages written and exchanged from 2003 to 2020. The emails cast light, OCCRP reporters said, on how the children and grandchildren of Putin associates and friends from St. Petersburg are amassing their wealth and power.  Following his marriage to Putin’s daughter, the emails suggest Shamalov was courted by Russian businessmen, who lined up with tempting offers and requests for help. Some even offered him free shares in their companies, hoping apparently to profit from the association. He also received appeals from businessmen asking him to get his father-in-law, the Russian president, to intervene in commercial disputes.But what was accumulated was also lost. Following his divorce to Tikhonova, Shamalov reportedly gave up most of his Sibur shares. 
 
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Difficult talks continue between Britain and the European Union as both sides try to come up with a deal to govern their relationship after Brexit. Those efforts do not appear to be succeeding and in France, owners of many small businesses are worried about what that will mean for them.
The clock is ticking for negotiators and the prospect of no deal worries many small business owners in France.  Brexit and its impact on activity is the number one topic for those doing business on both sides of the English Channel.The date of Jan. 1, 2021 – the end of the transition period – has been known for years but many were hoping for a smooth switch. Three weeks ahead of the deadline, many are still unprepared with no contingency plan.That is the concern for many wine makers in central France. Karina Makhlouf works for the Cher Chamber of Commerce and advises companies on how to get ready to deal with Britain’s departure from the European Union.  Makhlouf explains that she has had many calls lately from small business owners worried about the coming Brexit. She receives many inquiries about customs procedures regarding Jan. 1 when the United Kingdom would become autonomous from the European Union with its own tariffs and cross-border commerce regulations, if no trade deal is reached.In a statement, small business owners noted huge gaps still exist on three big issues: ensuring fair cross-Channel competition after Brexit, arbitration of a future deal, and fisheries.The hot topic of these negotiations: fisheries.   Boris Johnson to Head to Brussels for Crucial Brexit Talks Gaps remain on fishing rights, fair-competition rules and the governance of future disputesFrance will oppose any pact that “sacrifices” its fishermen according to the French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune.The minister said Tuesday that France would veto any agreement it considered a bad deal.France has always taken a strong stance on the issue to defend its fishermen in its northern coastal areas of Calais, Boulogne, and Dunkerque.One of them is Stephane Pinto who told VOA he is worried about the implications a Brexit no-deal for fishermen from northern France. He says that fishing in Britain’s waters represents up to 75% of their activities and without this opportunity many fishermen would be out of jobs. A solution must be found, Pinto said.The 27 EU leaders are due to meet in person at a summit on Thursday. The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is also due to travel to Brussels this week. 
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As Britain’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign began Tuesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told parliament that “the start of the fight back against our common enemy, coronavirus,” had begun, adding there is still “much work to be done.”A 90-year-old retired British shop clerk received the first shot in the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program in the unprecedented global immunization effort intended to offer a route out of a pandemic that currently has killed 1.5 million people.Hancock said the vaccine has been initially rolled out in 70 hospitals equipped to handle the complicated logistics that involve storage in sub-freezing temperatures. He said one of the biggest challenges will be getting the vaccine into homes that care for the elderly, a top clinical priority, and into primary care networks, so the general populace has access to it.In Photos: 1st COVID Vaccines Given in BritainVaccination campaign, dubbed ‘V-Day’ by Health Secretary Mark Hancock, began nearly a week after government’s medical regulatory agency granted emergency approvalHancock said that while “help is on its way and the end is in sight,” he also noted there are signs of the virus continuing to spread in parts of the country, including Essex, London and Kent. He said citizens were going to have to continue following restrictions to keep safe and the virus from spreading.  Britain is the first Western country to start a mass vaccination program after regulators last week authorized the use of a COVID-19 shot developed by U.S. Drug maker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech.Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Nears Approval for Emergency Use in USFDA publishes documents online confirming vaccine’s effectivenessThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced Tuesday the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine meets the standard for emergency use authorization. A group of FDA advisors is scheduled to meet Thursday to consider the authorization, and decision is expected within days of that meeting.  European Union regulators may also approve the vaccine in the coming days or weeks, fueling a global immunization effort.
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Britain has vaccinated its first citizen against the COVID-19 virus.Ninety-year-old nursing home resident Margaret Keenan received the first of two doses of a vaccine jointly developed by U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech.  The vaccination campaign, dubbed “V-Day” by Health Secretary Mark Hancock, began nearly a week after the government’s medical regulatory agency granted emergency approval for the vaccine, making Britain the first western nation ready to begin mass inoculations.The approval came weeks after Pfizer announced the vaccine had been shown to be more than 90% effective after its final clinical trial.Keenan, who will turn 91 next week, is among the thousands of nursing home residents and their caregivers, along with staffers with Britain’s National Health Service, that have been prioritized by officials to receive the first shots.Margaret Keenan, 90, is applauded by staff as she returns to her ward after becoming the first patient in the UK to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, at University Hospital, Coventry, England, Dec. 8, 2020.The South Korean government announced Tuesday that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is one of a handful it has secured for its 44 million people.  The Health Ministry says it has pre-ordered 64 million doses of vaccines under development by Pfizer, British-based pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, and U.S.-based drug makers Johnson & Johnson and Moderna, for 34 million South Koreans.Seoul says another 10 million people will receive vaccines developed by Pfizer, AstraZeneca and French pharmaceutical company Sanofi and secured through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, or COVAX, the joint project between the World Health Organization, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, an organization founded by Bill and Melinda Gates to vaccinate children in the world’s poorest countries.Feds Passed Up Chance to Lock in More Pfizer Vaccine Doses Pfizer’s vaccine is expected to be endorsed as soon as this week, with delivery of 100 million doses — enough for 50 million Americans — expected in coming monthsCanada announced Monday it would receive its first doses of the same vaccine by the end of December.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that up to 249,000 doses of the vaccine would arrive this month, and 3 million are slated to be delivered early next year. Canada has a population of more than 37 million people.But as many countries prepare to inoculate their populations, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned against mandatory vaccinations.While WHO officials are urging governments to persuade their citizens to get vaccinated, public health experts warn that a mandate may not be the right approach.”I think all of us who work in public health would rather avoid that as a means for getting people vaccinated,” WHO’s emergencies director Michael Ryan told a virtual press conference Monday.  The world has more than 67.6 million total COVID-19 cases, including more than 1.5 million deaths. The United States leads the world in both categories, with 14.9 million total cases and more than 283,700 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.  
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