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American billionaire and Democratic presidential contender Michael Bloomberg says that the next U.S. president should halt fossil fuel subsidies altogether.Bloomberg, who launched his campaign less than three weeks ago, is attending a United Nations global climate conference in Madrid that is kicking into high gear.Ministers from nearly 200 countries are arriving on Tuesday to tackle some of the tough issues that negotiations couldn’t resolve over the past week, including finalizing the rules for international carbon markets that economists say could help drive down emissions and help poor countries to cope with the effects of rising temperatures.     Opening an event on sustainable finances organized by the summit host, Spain, Bloomberg said that “the next president of the United States should end all subsidies for fossil fuel companies and fossil fuel extraction, and that includes tax breaks and other special treatment.”
“He or she should reinvest that funding into clean energy, which will also create a lot of new jobs,” he added.
The 77-year-old businessman and former New York mayor is expected to share the results of his private push to organize thousands of U.S. cities and businesses to abide by the terms of a global climate treaty that the Trump administration is working to abandon.
 “Americans are willing to continue to work even with a climate change denier in the White House,” Bloomberg told a room packed of journalists and officials.
 “The White House matters, but sometimes not too much,” he added.
The Democrat has vowed to rejoin the Paris climate agreement if he’s elected as president. He recently stepped down as the U.N.’s special envoy for climate action.
Unlike at many past climate summits, few heads of government are joining the talks in Madrid. The U.S. has sent a career diplomat, Ambassador Marcia Bernicat, as head of its delegation.
John Kerry, the former Secretary of State under the last Democrat administration, is also attending events on the sidelines of the Madrid conference, and said the absence of any representative from the White House at the talks “speaks for itself.”
 “It’s an absence of leadership,” Kerry told The Associated Press. “It’s a tragedy.”
Most other countries are sending environment ministers or other senior officials instead of prime ministers or presidents, worrying some observers.
“It shows that there has not yet been an internalization of the emergency situation that we are in, that so few heads of state are coming to Madrid and ready to roll up their sleeves and do what it takes to actually respond to the science,” said Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International.
She also accused some governments, such as Brazil and Saudi Arabia, of trying to weaken the agreements, and called on the European Union to work with vulnerable nations to counter those efforts.
Environmental campaigners are hoping the EU will present an ambitious plan this week for cutting emissions in the medium- and long-term that would send a message of hope to weary negotiators in Madrid.
The new head of the bloc’s executive Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has backed a call for the EU to stop all net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050.
Scientists say emissions worldwide need to start falling sharply from next year onward if there is to be any hope of achieving the Paris climate accord’s goal of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit).
Negotiators in Madrid had worked until 3 a.m. to prepare the ground for ministers, said said Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch minister for foreign trade and development cooperation.
“Let’s hope to see that we can … really sort of give shape and meaning to the call ‘Time for action,'” said Kaag, referring to the motto of the U.N. talks. “It’s now or never.”   
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Finland’s parliament chose Sanna Marin as the country’s new prime minister Tuesday, making the 34-year-old the world’s youngest sitting head of government.Marin is heading a five-party, center-left coalition. The four other parties in the coalition are headed by women _ three of whom are in their early 30s.The Nordic country’s Parliament, the 200-seat Eduskunta approved Marin in a 99-70 vote. The government has a comfortable majority of 117 seats.President Sauli Niinisto will formally hand Marin her mandate later Tuesday, after which she will officially become prime minister.The appointment of Marin and her new government on Tuesday allows Marin to represent Finland at the European Union summit in Brussels later this week . Finland currently holds the bloc’s rotating presidency until the end of the year.         
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Hungary’s government submitted plans to parliament on Monday to tighten its control over theaters, triggering protests from actors and audiences who feel that artistic freedom is under threat.On a cold wet day, about 1,000 to 2,000 people demonstrated against the legislation in downtown Budapest, with banners saying “Pigs, hands off the theater!”Leading actors, theater directors and Budapest’s liberal mayor spoke at the protest against the bill which they say could undermine the independence of theaters.”I am a democrat, and this is a step towards stealing yet another field that belongs to the public: this time the theaters,” said Gabor Timar, 67, a retired bus driver.The ruling party of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban wants to pass the bill in an accelerated process this week.A public petition urging lawmakers to reject the bill had gathered almost 50,000 signatures by Monday evening. Actors read out the petition at several theaters over the weekend.In a Facebook video, some of Hungary’s leading actors and theater directors said the plans recalled the communist era, when the state controlled most aspects of national life.Actors and the audience hold up their hands at Budapest’s Trafo threater in protest against a plan by Hungary’s government to tighten its control over theaters in Budapest, Hungary, Dec. 8, 2019.According to the draft law published on parliament’s website, which the government has softened compared with an original version leaked on Friday, a new National Cultural Council will be responsible for the “unified strategic direction of various segments of culture.”Hungary’s minister for human resources, who oversees culture, would have a say in appointing theater directors at institutions jointly financed by the state and municipalities.The minister and the relevant municipality would have to sign a deal defining the joint operation of a theater, including how to appoint its director, but this agreement “has to guarantee the artistic freedom of the theater,” the bill says.FILE – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban talks to the media in Budapest, Hungary, Oct. 13, 2019.Since Orban won power in 2010, his right-wing Fidesz party has rewritten Hungary’s constitution, gained control of state media, and businessmen close to the prime minister and the party have built empires.After winning a 2018 election, his third in a row, Orban said he had won a “mandate to build a new era.”A government spokesman told Reuters on Friday that a recent sexual harassment case at a Budapest theater made the changes necessary as the government currently has no power to sack the director of the theater involved. 
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Russian and Ukrainian leaders agreed to implement a ceasefire and a prisoners’ swap by years end, following four-way talks in Paris on Monday that also included France and Germany. The four heads of state said they had made progress and that just talking was a key step forward. They are to meet again in four months.Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was confident of the ceasefire would take place this month. He outlined both steps forward and progress still to be made during a late night press conference, echoing similar remarks made by other leaders there.”It’s not a frozen situation,” Zelensky said. “And to answer your question, yes I do feel we will meet again in another four months, and be in a position to go forward and address other questions on the basis of our achievements.”This is the first meeting between Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin since the Ukrainian actor took office earlier this year. It’s the first such four-way summit since 2016 that also includes France and Germany.Putin said describing a possible thaw between Russia and Ukraine was correct.”We’ve have had progress on most issues,” Putin said. “All of this does suggest that things are going the right way.”The talks aim to pave a solution to the ongoing conflict between the two countries that has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014. Both sides have since accused the other of failing to honor a 2015 peace agreement.President Zelensky, a political newcomer, has made ending the conflict a priority.But many Ukrainians are worried he may concede too much. Ahead of the Paris meeting, thousands demonstrated in the capital Kyiv against any so-called “capitulation” to Moscow.The talks are also seen as a diplomatic test for host Emmanuel Macron. The French President wants to re-engage with Russia after several years of European Union sanctions over the Ukraine crisis. But that has gotten pushback from EU members like Poland. 
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Turkey Defense Minister Hulusi Akar warned Washington on Monday that Turkey will seek alternatives if Washington doesn’t end its embargo on the sale of the F-35 jet.The impasse over the fighter jet, deemed key to Turkey’s future defense, is rekindling memories of a similar century-old dispute.Hoping that a “reasonable and sensible” way could be found to resolve Washington’s freeze on the F-35 sales, Akar warned, “If this is not possible, everyone should know that we will naturally seek other quests.”FILE – Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar speaks to a group of reporters in Ankara, Turkey, May 21, 2019.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed that Russia’s Su-35 fighter is being considered as an alternative to America’s latest stealth fighter jet if the embargo is not lifted.President Donald Trump froze the jet sale after Ankara procured the Russian S-400 missile system. Washington claims the S-400’s sophisticated radar compromises NATO defense systems — in particular, the stealth technology of its F-35 jet.Ankara claims Washington is manufacturing the dispute.”The U.S. criticized us. However, NATO did not say anything. On the contrary, NATO Secretary General (Jens Stoltenberg) repeatedly stated all countries have the right to buy the weapon and defense system they want,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saturday.1914 disputeThe increasingly acrimonious dispute is resurrecting memories of a century-old Turkish arms deal that also went sour. In 1914 on the eve of World War I, Britain seized two state-of-the-art dreadnought warships built by British builders for the then-Ottoman Empire.The incident still resonates in Turkey.”It continues to haunt not only the public and political mind, but the institutional mind, especially,” said international relations professor Serhat Guvenc of Istanbul’s Kadir Has University and author of “The Ottoman Quest for Dreadnoughts.” “The navy has never forgotten this experience, and today, there are many similarities in several respects with the F-35 embargo.”The two warships … were fully paid for. But (Winston) Churchill (head of the British navy in 1914) was obsessed, convinced that the Ottomans were going to join the Germans. So, there was no point in releasing the two ships which may end up on the wrong side of the conflict,” Guvenc said.”Over a century ago, it was the fear of the Ottoman’s joining the Germans,” Guvenc added. “Today, the case with the F-35, Russia is the modern-day equivalent with Germany.”FILE – National Guard members view two F-35 fighter jets that arrived at the Vermont Air National Guard base in South Burlington, Vt., Sept. 19, 2019.In 1914, after Britain’s seizure of the Ottoman warships, Germany offered two ships of its own as replacements, a move that brought the Turks to Germany’s side against Britain, France and Russia in World War I.Former Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen acknowledges the 1914 incident still resonates in Turkish military thinking.”Among commanders of today’s Turkish navy, it is still a vivid memory and still today shapes the thinking of these naval planners.”Since 1914, Ankara has never procured a British naval vessel. Selcen says the latest arms disputes with Washington differs from the past.”It’s a public diplomacy stand (by Ankara). It’s public propaganda to compare with the warships,” Selcen said, “because it was kind of an own goal by Turkish foreign policy to get kicked out of the project. It was made clear by Washington: either the S-400 or F-35, not both.”Higher stakesAnalysts point out that the loss of the F-35 jets could be more far-reaching than the loss of two warships in 1914. Ankara has invested over a billion dollars into the jet project and ultimately was to take delivery of around 100 jets to replace the Turkish air force’s aging fleet of F-16 aircraft.Washington has also expelled Turkey from the international consortium building and servicing the advanced jet.FILE – Sukhoi Su-35 jet fighters of the “Sokoly Rossii” (Falcons of Russia) aerobatic team fly in formation during a rehearsal for the airshow in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, Aug. 1, 2019.”When Turkey became a full-fledged partner in the F-35 program, the political implications would be that Turkey remains committed to the NATO alliance and staunch ally to the United States,” Guvenc said. “In Washington, the idea is that Turkey is now moving irreversibly away from the western alliance and seeking new friends in Eurasia, basically Russia and China.”Moscow is lobbying Ankara hard to deepen and broaden Russian military purchases. Turkey is reportedly close to buying a second battery of S-400 missiles, a move analysts say is likely to anger Washington further.Just as in 1914, Ankara could be facing a pivotal moment, Guvenc said.”The similarities are very striking, because when the two German warships arrived in Istanbul in place of the two commandeered dreadnoughts, the British naval mission had to leave and was replaced by the German naval mission. And the German military naval influence in Turkey continued after World War I,” he explained.”So, we may see a rupture in the Turkish military strategy and its realignment around Russia-China — a hybrid military strategy but definitely moving away from the western alliance,” Guvenc said.
 
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, are meeting for the first time in Paris for long-awaited talks on resolving the military conflict in eastern Ukraine that has left more than 13,000 people dead since 2014.After a series of bilateral meetings at the Elysee Palace on December 9, Putin and Zelenskiy sat down together with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.The leaders entered the room without smiling and making little eye contact with each other. They did not shake hands for the cameras.The four-way talks in the so-called Normandy Format is the first time the heads of Ukraine and Russia have met since 2016 and the first meeting ever between Zelenskiy, who was elected in April, and Putin.The International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled in November 2016 that the war in eastern Ukraine was “an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.”FILE – A member of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic forces walks on top of a tank during a drill outside Torez, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Sept. 14, 2015.All sides have made efforts to moderate expectations of a breakthrough in the run-up to the summit. The Kremlin wants to maintain as much influence over Kyiv as it can, using the land held by the separatists it supports in the Donbas as a lever. The Ukrainian president must balance the benefits of progress toward peace with the potentially disastrous risk of being seen as surrendering to Moscow.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Dec. 6 in Rome that Moscow expects “additional agreements that will help eliminate this conflict.”He added that Moscow was seeking “to really ensure the security of the people of the Donbas, to guarantee their rights as set forth in the Minsk agreements, and to stop this conflict.”The Minsk agreements on creating a road map to resolve the conflict were reached in the Belarusian capital in 2014 and 2015. The accords call for a cease-fire, the withdrawal of heavy weaponry, the restoration of Kyiv’s control over all Ukraine’s borders, a law on special status for the territory controlled by the Moscow-backed separatists, and the holding of elections on that territory.However, their implementation has been largely stymied.The path to the Dec. 9 summit was smoothed in part by a large exchange of prisoners in September and by Moscow’s return to Kyiv in November of three Ukrainian naval vessels Russia had seized in the Black Sea in late 2018.FILE – A Ukrainian serviceman secures an area in a Kyiv-controlled part of Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Oct. 14, 2019.In addition, the two countries agreed in October to withdraw from three flash points along the front line, two in the Luhansk region and one in Donetsk.Zelenskiy, for his part, said earlier this month that the mere fact the talks had restarted was his “first victory” in efforts to end the war.He has said previously that he will push three main ideas in Paris: a further exchange of prisoners, implementing a cease-fire agreement, and the disbanding of “illegal armed formations” in Ukraine.Zelenskiy visited front-line troops Dec. 6, telling the soldiers “it is a lot easier to hold talks while feeling your strength and your support behind me.”The Kremlin has said that Putin plans a one-on-one meeting with Zelenskiy. Kyiv, however, has said only that such an encounter is under consideration.Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Dec. 6 posted online a statement advising Zelenskiy not to meet directly with Putin.”Do not trust Putin,” he recommended. “Never and in nothing.” He warned his successor that Putin will use “KGB-style manipulations, flattery, and play on the president’s emotions and flaws.”In Kyiv on Dec. 8, thousands of people demonstrated under Ukrainian flags on Independence Square to warn Zelenskiy to avoid crossing any “red lines” in the negotiations.Activists attend a “Night Watch” rally in front of the Office of Ukraine’s President, in Kyiv, Dec. 8, 2019, demanding “no capitulation” ahead of Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Paris Monday.They cited the need to maintain territorial integrity and avoid federalization, to keep up Ukraine’s pro-European course, to steer clear of actions to legitimize the occupation of Ukrainian territory, to insist on the return of Russian-occupied Crimea, and to keep open the possibility of lawsuits filed internationally over Russia’s actions in Ukraine.The Paris meeting comes amid strikes and sometimes-violent social protests in the French capital and other cities that have snarled the country’s transportation network. At least 800,000 people marched Dec. 5 in Paris, and police used tear gas several times.The Kremlin said Dec. 6 that Putin was not concerned about the situation and that France could “successfully” host the summit.In addition, Ukraine has been at the center of impeachment hearings in the U.S. House of Representatives against U.S. President Donald Trump, in an unfolding political drama that has raised questions about long-standing U.S. support for Kyiv at a time when officials, diplomats, and analysts say it needs it most.European Commission spokesman Peter Stano told Ukrinform Dec 6 that although the European Union was not a party to the Normandy Format, “we strongly support this format and the implementation of the Minsk agreements.”The conflict in eastern Ukraine broke out in early 2014, shortly after Russia illegally annexed the Ukrainian Black Sea region of Crimea. 
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The International Federation of Journalists said Monday that far fewer journalists are being killed this year compared to last but warned that part of the reason is that media workers may go in fewer numbers to the most dangerous areas.The IFJ said that 49 journalists have been killed so far this year, down from 95 overall last year. The group says that even if it is good that journalists show more caution, it also means that the public is less informed about some of the worst war and human rights claims.IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said that “the loss of lives among journalists and media workers in several conflict zones in recent years due to lack of security has deterred many colleagues from covering these events from the field” and said that as a result it makes “people less informed about matters of public interest.” 
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov heads to Washington for hastily scheduled meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and, possibly, President Donald Trump, on Tuesday.While a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said the mission’s purpose would be to discuss “important issues” in U.S.-Russian relations, White House officials are signaling arms control will top the agenda, along with discussions aimed at bridging differences between Washington and Moscow over Syria and Ukraine.   The idea for the talks appears to have been jumpstarted by Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, when the Russian leader said Moscow was eager to extend the New START nuclear arms control treaty by the end of this year “without any preconditions.”“Russia is not interested in starting an arms race and deploying missiles where they are not present now,” said Putin in an addressing the nuclear treaty — which expires in 2021 — during a meeting with officials in Moscow.  Washington seems to have gotten the message.President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (not pictured) during the NATO summit at The Grove, in Watford, England. Dec. 4, 2019.At the recent NATO summit in London, President Donald Trump noted his awareness of Moscow’s desire to “do a deal” on arms control without providing details. Mr. Trump also suggested that U.S. and Russia negotiations eventually include China, a rising nuclear power not party to Cold War nuclear agreements.  “We’ll also certainly bring in … China. We may bring them in later, or we may bring them in now,” said the President.Indeed, White House officials said Lavrov’s visit could include a meeting with the President — to reciprocate a courtesy extended by President Putin to Secretary Pompeo during his last visit to Moscow, says White House National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien.”When [Secretary Mike] Pompeo has gone to Russia, [Vladimir] Putin’s seen him. And one of the things that we’ve said with the- with the Chinese and the Russians is- and others, is we want reciprocity,” said O’Brien in comments to CBS News’ “Face the Nation” television program. “And so Putin’s met with … Pompeo. I think as a matter of reciprocity, that’s something we’re looking at. But we’re also looking at some other things. And we’ll see if we can get there,” O’Brien added.For now, the State Department is confirming a “working lunch” between the two top diplomats, as well as press conference to follow.Eye of impeachment stormMr. Lavrov goes to a Washington rifled by bitter partisan infighting over the ongoing impeachment inquiry against President Trump — set to pick up again this week as Democrats draft proposed articles of impeachment.FILE – President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the InterContinental Barclay New York hotel during the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 25, 2019, in New York.Impeachment hearings have thus far focused on Ukraine, where President Trump is accused of holding up hundreds of millions of dollars in congressionally approved aid to Kyiv in order to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy into launching an investigation into Trump’s potential Democratic rival in the 2020 U.S. presidential elections.Yet Democratic lawmakers and former White House staffers argue Republicans’ defense of the President parrots conspiracy theories pushed by Russian intelligence services: that Ukraine, not Russia, was behind a foreign interference campaign in the 2016 presidential elections.   Meanwhile, some congressional Democrats have also argued that the scope of the impeachment trial should include allegations of obstruction of justice by President Trump as detailed in a two-year Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference by special prosecutor Robert Mueller.The result of that investigation —  the so-called Mueller Report — was released earlier this year and did not find evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the elections.
 Yet the report also left it to Congress to determine whether President Trump had obstructed justice during the course of an investigation that saw several members of his campaign staff sentenced to jail.  The report also agreed with U.S. security agencies that Russia unequivocally sought to influence the outcome of the 2016 race  — charges both the Kremlin and President Trump deny.Further muddying the picture is the release of a highly anticipated report by the inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, reexamining aspects of Mueller’s Russia investigation. The report is expected to address the thus far unsubstantiated claims by Trump that the FBI illegally targeted his campaign in the Russia probe.
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The World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) executive committee has sent a “robust” rebuke of Russia’s sports authorities, banning the country’s athletes and officials from the Olympics and world championships in a range of sports for four years.The committee made the move “unanimously” on Monday after WADA concluded that Moscow had tampered with laboratory data by planting fake evidence and deleting files linked to positive doping tests that could have helped identify drug cheats.”For too long, Russian doping has detracted from clean sport. The blatant breach by the Russian authorities of RUSADA’s reinstatement conditions … demanded a robust response. That is exactly what has been delivered today,” WADA President Sir Craig Reedie said in a statement.”Russia was afforded every opportunity to get its house in order and rejoin the global anti-doping community for the good of its athletes and of the integrity of sport, but it chose instead to continue in its stance of deception and denial,” he added.”As a result, the WADA [executive committee] has responded in the strongest possible terms, while protecting the rights of Russian athletes that can prove that they were not involved and did not benefit from these fraudulent acts.”The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) has 21 days to officially appeal the ruling with the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.Several Russian lawmakers immediately decried the move and said it should be appealed.Aleksandr Ivlev, head of RUSADA’s supervisory board, said the body would meet in the next 10 days to decide on further steps that may be taken.It is expected that WADA’s official notice will be sent to RUSADA alleging noncompliance with the World Anti-Doping Code for failing to provide an “authentic” copy of Moscow anti-doping laboratory data.WADA’s decision was based on the recommendations of the agency’s Compliance Review Committee (CRC), which had alleged that this data was manipulated before being handed over to investigators, as required under conditions for reinstating RUSADA’s compliance with the code in September 2018.As a signatory of the World Anti-Doping Code, the International Olympic Committee is bound to honor the decision.Falsified dataDoping allegations have plagued the country since the revelation of large-scale, state-sponsored doping aimed at improving its medal performance at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi.In September 2018, WADA lifted the suspension of the Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA that had been in place for three years on condition that Russia hand over doping data and samples from 2012 to 2015.But the CRC on November 25 accused Russia of falsifying some of the data provided by a Moscow laboratory in January, and proposed imposing a four-year ban on RUSADA and excluding the country from major sporting competitions.Sofya Velikaya, a 2016 fencing gold medalist and executive committee member of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), has said she will leave her post ahead of the decision.”I informed the summit participants about the situation in which we find ourselves based on the recommendations of ROC’s sports committee members, and foremost, its chairman,” Velikaya said, as cited by ROC press-service head Stanislav Pozdnyakov.However, RUSADA chief Yury Ganus has called the proposed punishments “justified.”
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