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What does Brexit have to do with Vietnam? It seems a strange question, but there are several ways that Britain’s planned divorce from the European Union would be likely to affect the Southeast Asian nation.These effects can be put in three broad categories. First, Vietnam has finished negotiating a trade agreement with the EU, but Brussels appears too preoccupied to ratify the agreement until it has tied up Brexit once and for all. Second, if Britain is out of the EU, then some European products would become more expensive, so British consumers would look for cheaper alternatives, such as from Vietnam. And third, Britain has been looking for new trade agreements to join if it is no longer in the EU bloc, and that includes joining a major agreement already signed by Vietnam.That agreement, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, formerly known as the TPP, includes nations around the Asia Pacific and used to include the United States until President Donald Trump pulled the country out in 2017. When Britain first suggested the idea of joining the TPP, in 2018, it was met with a lot of raised eyebrows — Britain is not a Pacific power, after all. However, the idea subsequently received support from Japan, the TPP member with the biggest gross domestic product, which said it would welcome Britain with open arms. Vietnam is the TPP member with the lowest GDP per capita.It makes sense that Vietnam would want to do more trade with Britain, Frederick Burke, who is the managing partner of Baker & McKenzie, a law firm in Ho Chi Minh City, said at a company conference last month.“It’s a good market, it’s a good opportunity,” he said.Brexit would mean that some European products would no longer have preferential access to the British market, so Vietnam could step in and compete with those products. For instance some British business interests in Vietnam believe Vietnamese tennis shoes and garments would become competitive against Romanian products, Burke said.“The UK is not the same as the American economy but it’s about a third of that, and so it’s very substantial, second biggest economy in Europe,” he said. “So it’s a very good opportunity for Vietnam.”Finally, the third impact may not be quite as favorable to Vietnam. Efforts to finalize the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, or EVFTA, have dragged on for years. The same can be said of Brexit, which was approved in a British referendum in 2016 but has yet to happen. Brussels is far more preoccupied with Brexit than with the Vietnam agreement, so it appears that Hanoi will have to wait.Most recently, analysts expected the vote on the pact with Vietnam to happen this coming January — then again, Brexit has also been pushed to the same month. And if Brexit does not end up taking place in January, it does not look like the Vietnam vote will take place either.“Things could be delayed eventually with the delay of the Brexit, which has been extended to the end of January,” Alain Cany, who is the country chairman of Jardine Matheson Vietnam, a conglomerate that covers areas from restaurants to engineering, as well as a former chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, said. “So it [EVFTA ratification] might be postponed.”
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An Irish citizen, who converted to Islam, traveled to Syria to join Islamic State and ended up marrying a British militant, has been arrested on arrival at Dublin airport Sunday.Lisa Smith, 38, who served in the Irish Defense Forces before going to Syria, had been deported from Turkey with her 2-year-old daughter.”On her arrival in Dublin, Lisa Smith was met by An Garda Síochána,” Irish Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said, using the Irish name for the national police force.  “This is a sensitive case and I want to reassure people that all relevant state agencies are closely involved.”Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney told Irish national broadcaster RTE that officials had been trying to repatriate Smith since learning of her presence in a refugee camp in March. He said the primary concern was for the toddler who is an Irish citizen because of her mother’s nationality. The child is now with Smith’s relatives in Dundalk.Authorities plan to question Smith extensively before deciding on what action to take. She has denied fighting for IS or training female soldiers for the militancy.Many European countries and the United States have resisted bringing back their citizens who joined Islamic State. 
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Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told the nation Sunday night that he would resign in January, following pressure from angry citizens for the truth about the 2017 car bombing that killed an anti-corruption journalist.In a televised message, Muscat said he had informed Malta’s president that he will quit as leader of the governing Labor Party on Jan. 12 and that “in the days after I will resign as prime minister.”Hours earlier, nearly 20,000 Maltese protested outside a courthouse in the capital, Valletta, demanding that he step down in the largest such turnout of nearly daily protests in recent weeks.“As prime minister, I promised two years ago that justice would be done in the case of the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia,” Muscat said, beginning his speech, adding that “today I am here to tell you that I kept my word.”But the slain reporter’s family contended Muscat’s departure won’t satisfy those in the nation who are determined that corruption and cronyism between politicians and business figures be rooted out.“People will be out in the streets again tomorrow,” tweeted one of her sons, Matthew Caruana Galizia, who is also a journalist.Muscat contended that “justice is being done.”He noted that in addition to three people arrested soon after the bombing for carrying out the actual attack, now there is “someone accused of being the principal person behind this killing.”A photo shows a TV set broadcasting an address to the nation by Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, in Valetta, Malta, Dec. 1, 2019.Muscat was referring to prominent Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech, who on Saturday night, was arraigned on charges of alleged complicity in the killing and of allegedly organizing and financing the bombing. Fenech entered pleas of innocence.Muscat’s former chief of staff Keith Schembri was allegedly linked to the killing. Schembri was among government members targeted by Caruana Galizia’s investigative reporting. Schembri, who resigned last week, was arrested in the probe but later released. He denies wrongdoing.The prime minister said the investigation continues.The slain reporter had written extensively about suspected corruption in political and business circles on the European Union nation, an attractive financial haven for many investors.Among her targets were those in Muscat’s political inner circle, including those in his Cabinet. Caruana Galizia was the subject of lawsuits by some of her subjects, including in government. While many celebrated her as an anti-corruption champion, some on the island whose dealings she exposed scorned her work.“I reiterate my deepest regret that a person, who, with all her positive and negative qualities and contribution toward the democracy of our country, was killed in such a brutal way,” Muscat said.“The sensations of genuine sadness and anger for this murder are justified. And I will never accept that someone conveys a signal that in any way he or she is justifying this murder,” the prime minister said.Muscat used his speech to praise his tenure’s achievements, including strong economic growth and civil rights, including legalized marriage and adoption for same-sex couples.Referring to the reporter’s slaying, the prime minister said, “This case cannot define everything that our country is and what we have accomplished together.”The political opposition seized on the resentment toward the government tangible in the protests.“Muscat does not understand the anger of the people,” said Adrian Delia, leader of the opposition Nationalist Party. Nor does he understand “political responsibility,” Delia contended.FILE – People look at the makeshift memorial to assassinated anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia on the Great Siege Monument after the police blocked off access to it, in Valletta, Malta, April 22, 2018.“He did not understand that Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder took place because of the sluggishness of our institutions,” Delia said after Muscat’s speech.European Parliament lawmakers are due to visit Malta in coming days, amid concerns about the functioning of rule of law on the Mediterranean island nation.Muscat struck a defensive note, saying, “Our institutions are strong, and they function.”Labor has a comfortable majority in Parliament, indicating that a new party leader could become premier without the need for a national election. That could thwart the opposition conservative party’s hopes to rule the nation.Muscat, first elected as prime minister in 2013, is serving his second term.Fenech had requested immunity from prosecution promising to reveal information about government officials. His bid for immunity was rejected first by Muscat on his own and later by Muscat’s Cabinet.Participants in Sunday’s protest carried photos of the slain journalist as well as placards with the last words she wrote on her blog shortly before getting into her car, which was blown up near her home. “The situation is desperate,” she had written referring to what she unearthed with her digging into suspected widespread corruption in Malta’s political and business circles. On the placards, protesters added the word “still” before “desperate.”Affixed to the courthouse gates were copies of a photo of Schembri posing the alleged middleman was unclear where and when the photo was taken.The alleged go-between, Melvin Theuma recently was granted immunity from the prosecution in exchange for giving details on who was behind the bombing.Also angering Muscat’s opponents was the reinstatement on Sunday of Chris Cardona as economy minister. Cardona had suspended himself last week after being questioned by the police investigating the murder. Like Schembri, Cardona has always insisted he is extraneous to the case.
 
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After two decades of disengagement from international entanglements, a newly confident Uzbekistan is seeking a larger role in its Central Asian neighborhood, prompting the United States and Russia to compete for its favor in ways that echo their long-past Cold War rivalry.
 
Moscow hopes to cement Uzbekistan into its regional bloc, the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Doing so would preserve Russia’s primacy in Central Asia.
 
Washington, for its part, aims to keep Uzbekistan out of that bloc while pursuing counterterrorism measures and economic cooperation and promoting Western values.
 
The long-term impact of the battle for influence remains uncertain, however, since it is another rising superpower — China — that has increased its economic presence most rapidly in Uzbekistan and the region.FILE – Officials pose for a picture during the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) Council meeting, in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, Aug. 9, 2019.Tashkent is in talks with Russia on EEU membership but insists no decision has been made yet. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s foreign policy adviser, Senator Sodiq Safayev, argues that Uzbekistan needs to consider EEU membership but insists that Tashkent does not approach economic issues through the prism of ideology or exclusionary blocs.
 
“We want to be economically pragmatic in our foreign policy,” he told VOA in an exclusive interview, and “choose partners based on our needs and interests.”
 
Safayev adds it is not governments but businesses, which are driven by considerations of supply and demand, that dictate trade and investment decisions. Thus, “economic actors and factors drive our policy too. We look at our top partners and then aim to strengthen ties with them,” Safayev says.
 
He lists the key economic players affecting his country as Russia, China, Kazakhstan, South Korea, the European Union, and increasingly Turkey.
 
Diverse economic ties are important because double-landlocked Uzbekistan lacks direct access to ports. Geography alone means the country needs all the economic partnerships it can muster.
 
Indeed, Safayev insists Tashkent does not need to choose sides: “We don’t see conflict or collision with the United States or European Union even if we enter [the EEU].” After all, its “current members all have economic relations and business cooperation with the West.”  
 
Washington consistently stresses that its goal is not to compete with Russia and China in Central Asia but to be a unique partner offering unique opportunities, such as market access and best-in-class financial services.FILE – President Donald Trump (R) speaks during a meeting with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, May 16, 2018. Wilbur Ross, the U.S. commerce secretary, says that “pursuing membership in the EEU could complicate and extend the [World Trade Organization] accession process beyond the timeline set by Uzbekistan’s leaders.” Still, Ross said at a recent Uzbek-American business forum in Washington, the U.S. is committed to being a strategic partner in Uzbekistan’s growth and development through trade and investment.
 
Since Uzbekistan hopes to attract American investment, Ross’ warning is a signal to Tashkent that the near-term gain of EEU membership might interfere with the longer-term goal of winning a larger share of Western foreign direct investment.
 
Safayev counters that Tashkent does not foresee such complications because all current EEU members are also WTO members which have navigated between the two.
 
In any event, U.S. trade with Uzbekistan is at a low base: According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Uzbekistan is currently America’s 142nd largest goods trading partner with just $315 million in two-way trade in 2018. Uzbekistan was America’s 119th largest market for goods and its 159th largest supplier of goods in 2018.
 
Republican Congressman Trent Kelly, co-chair of the Uzbekistan Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, says that is a base upon which to build.
 
“I don’t think [Uzbekistan] needs to be anybody’s puppet … I’m not worried about Russian influence. I’ll let them worry about us … We’re not trying to take over Uzbekistan … We want the Uzbek people to take control of Uzbekistan,” Kelly told VOA.FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, inaugurate the construction of a nuclear power plant, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Oct. 19, 2018.Washington promotes its own regional integration mechanism — a grouping of the United States and five Central Asian countries known as the C5+1. Alice Wells, assistant secretary of State for South and Central Asian affairs, describes the group as effective and relevant and says Washington pushes for regional connectivity but rejects exclusionary blocs.
 
“A bloc sounds very formal — and like some are excluded,” Wells told VOA. “I think Central Asian countries, like all countries, have many different identities.”
 
The Trump administration views C5+1 as viable mainly because Uzbekistan has at last become more active in its region. Wells argues that it took the opening of Uzbekistan through the “good-neighbor policy” introduced by Mirziyoyev when he took office in 2016, for Central Asians to start a regional dialogue about their future.
 
Mirziyoyev gave economic integration “a great punch,” Wells says. “And so, we’ve seen tremendous progress since President Mirziyoyev brought this very fresh attitude.”
 
However, there are huge obstacles to overcome, despite assurances from Mirziyoyev and his fellow presidents, that they are all in sync. The countries have widely differing economic situations and resource endowments, and they continue to struggle over border and water issues as well as security challenges.  
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A passenger bus plunged off a bridge onto a frozen river in Siberia on Sunday, killing 19 of the more than 40 people on board, authorities said.A tire on the bus burst as it was crossing the bridge over the Kuenga river in eastern Siberia’s Zabaikalsky region.The vehicle, which was traveling from Sretensk to Chita and carried 40 passengers, skidded off the road and onto the ice.”Nineteen people died and 21 received various injuries,” the office of the governor of the Zabaikalsky region said in a statement.Two preschool-aged children were reportedly among the dead.National television broadcast footage of the mangled wreckage of the bus, which lay upside down on the snow-covered ice surrounded by ambulances and fire engines.Nineteen people including a 12-year-old girl were hospitalized.More than 70 people and two helicopters with medics were involved in the rescue operation, officials said.Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told his deputy Tatyana Golikova to do everything to help the families of the victims, the government said.”The head of government expressed condolences to the families of those who died,” the government said in a statement.The Investigative Committee, which probes serious incidents, said it had opened a criminal inquiry into a possible violation of traffic safety rules.The head of the powerful Investigative Committee, which reports directly to President Vladimir Putin, demanded a “detailed investigation” into the deadly accident.Officials said the driver — who died in the crash — had years of experience.Local authorities launched a crowd-funding campaign to help the victims and their families.Road accidents are common in Russia, often due to alcohol, the poor state of roads and failure to observe traffic rules.However, the number of road deaths has gone down in recent years, to around 20,000 per year.  
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President Donald Trump is heading to London this week to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Leaders Meeting. Forged at the start of the Cold War, NATO is celebrating its 70th anniversary and the summit is designed to affirm the strength of the alliance. But European leaders are bracing for Trump ahead of the meeting as they continue to question Washington’s commitment to NATO. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this report from London. 
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Albania’s prime minister is asking the international community for financial aid and expert assistance following last week’s earthquake.Edi Rama said at a Cabinet meeting Sunday, “Simply, this is humanly impossible to do this [reconstruction] alone.”He said the budget is being reshaped to deal with the earthquake’s aftermath, but Albania still needs international support.  Rama said he has written to U.S. President Donald Trump to ask for help.U.S. and European Union civil engineers are working with local experts in Albania to assess the damage.  Rescuers from France and Switzerland operate at a collapsed building after the 6.4-magnitude earthquake in Durres, western Albania, Nov. 29, 2019.The mayor of Durres, one of the hardest hit towns, resigned Sunday after public outcry about remarks she made that she was “pleased” that only 50 people had died in the earthquake.  Valbona Sako said she was “hurt by the overwhelming negative reaction to a statement I made under stress that exceeds my strength.”The search and rescue operation for earthquake survivors in Albania ended Saturday, the prime minister said.The small town of Thumane, experienced the highest death toll from Tuesday’s quake with 26 people killed, six of whom belonged to one family, and all but one under age 30. They were buried Friday.In the port city of Durres — 30 kilometers west of the capital, Tirana — the quake killed 24.  One person also died in Kurbin.In all, 51 people died, including seven children. Nine-hundred were injured.  More than 5,000 people are without shelter; and 1,200 buildings were destroyed in the 6.4-magnitude quake and the aftershocks that followed.  
 
Seismologist Rexhep Koci told VOA that while there is the likelihood for more aftershocks, but they would be weaker.Neighboring countries provide assistance
 
EU Ambassador to Albania Luigi Soreca said Friday that the European Union and its member states are standing with Albania and working nonstop to provide assistance “in this very difficult moment.”
 
“It is a week of deep sorrow and tragedy for Albania,” Soreca said in a statement. “Our heartfelt condolences go once again to the Albanian people and especially to the families, friends and communities of those who have lost their lives.”More than 200 military troops from Albania, Kosovo, Italy, Greece, Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, France, Turkey, Switzerland, Romania, North Macedonia, the EU and the United States, participated in the search and rescue operation.People spontaneously came from Kosovo, operating mobile kitchens, gathering donations and opening their homes. About 500 homeless Albanians are staying in a camp set up by Kosovo’s government in the city of Prizren. On Friday alone, individuals and businesses from Kosovo delivered 100 tons of much needed necessities.Remembering victimsTirana residents turned out in the city center to honor the victims, placing candles in a makeshift memorial near the statue of Albanian national hero Gjergj Kastrioti, known as Skanderbeg.
 
The state of emergency declared Wednesday for Durres and Thumane was extended to the heavily damaged town of Lac. Prime Minister Rama said he made the decision after opposition leader Lulzim Basha suggested it. Rama appeared to put on hold the acrimony often on display between the two political rivals.“In this case, our concerns and ideas converge,” Rama said, inviting the opposition to participate in the Committee for Earthquake Relief.
 
For Rama, the tragedy hit close to home as his office confirmed that among the dead was his son Gregor’s fiance, Kristi Reci, whose entire family — both parents and her brother — died in Durres.Physician Shkelqime Ladi said doctors are on hand to help with immediate needs.
 
“We are focusing more on the psychological aspect of the affected. Their psychological state is aggravated,” she told VOA in Lac.Armand Mero reported from Tirana, Ilirian Agolli reported from Durres, Pellumb Sulo reported from Lac.  
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Britain’s politicians are bracing for a two-day visit to London by U.S. President Donald Trump and wondering how the trip may affect the most volatile and toxic British election in decades, one likely to shape the country for generations.Trump arrives in London Monday for a two-day trip to attend what’s shaping up to be a fiery NATO summit, hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.With 10 days to go before Britons vote in their third general election in less than four years, the ruling Conservatives are enjoying healthy opinion poll leads, which suggests they have a chance to pull off a 68-seat majority in the House of Commons. However, Johnson’s aides are fearful of risking anything that could upset their momentum and reverse the trend.They worry the norm-shattering Trump may fire off controversial remarks concerning the election, Brexit and a future transatlantic free-trade deal with Britain, one the country would need desperately to compensate for a break with Europe. Johnson’s aides are playing for safety first — a caution that’s seen Johnson reduce his TV interviews and debate appearances in the final days of the election campaign.In an era of political upsets and scrambled politics the Conservatives don’t want to tempt fate, and last week Johnson’s key political adviser, Dominic Cummings, warned the party faithful that the general election is much closer than polls suggest, issuing what he dubbed a “bat signal” to anti-EU voters that Brexit is at risk and they need to turn out and vote Conservative.”Trust me, as someone who has worked on lots of campaigns, things are much tighter than they seem and there is a very real possibility of a hung Parliament,” he said.Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson appears on BBC TV’s The Andrew Marr Show in London, Britain, Dec, 1, 2019. (Jeff Overs/BBC/Handout via Reuters)According to Tony Newton-Dunn, the political editor of the Sun newspaper, a British tabloid with good connections to both Downing Street and Trump advisers, the prime minister’s aides have been lobbying for Johnson to avoid any bilateral sit-down with Trump. The aim is to “swerve all controversial one-on-one moments by hosting all 29 NATO state leaders for a reception alongside the queen at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday night.”The White House has confirmed there’s no plan for Trump to meet with Johnson, although he will have meetings with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines, which could turn fiery following the French leader’s recent call for Europe to rethink transatlantic relations and its defense structure. Trump will also have meetings with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte.Johnson is scheduled to conclude the summit with a press conference with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. “Loose tongues can sink ships,” a Conservative insider told VOA. “We don’t want to give a gift to Jeremy Corbyn,” he added, referring to the leader of Britain’s main opposition Labour Party, which is trailing the Conservatives in the polls by about 11%.A U.S. official told reporters in Washington that Trump “likes Prime Minister Boris Johnson personally, but he’s absolutely cognizant of not wading into other countries’ elections.” On the eve of the British election, though, Trump wasn’t circumspect, saying Corbyn “would be so bad” for Britain and describing his”friend” Boris Johnson as “the exact right guy for the times.”When asked last week whether he would welcome a Trump endorsement, Johnson responded, “What we don’t do traditionally, as loving allies and friends, is get involved in each other’s election campaigns.”NHS on future trade dealBritain’s opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn gestures during a general election campaign event in York, Britain, Dec. 1, 2019.Corbyn has made post-Brexit transatlantic relations a key issue in his campaign, warning voters that the U.S. will demand Britain’s National Health Service be “on the table” in talks on a future trade deal. Johnson and Trump have denied the claim.In June, the U.S. ambassador to Britain, Woody Johnson, told the BBC that the NHS would be on the table in future trade talks between a post-Brexit Britain and Washington. A few days later during a London press conference, Trump confirmed he expected that would be the case saying in response to a question “everything is on the table.” He later walked back his remark.Last week Corbyn released documents showing that in talks between British and American trade representatives the pricing of U.S.-supplied drugs surfaced, with American officials wanting to lengthen the duration of drug patents currently observed in Britain. They also objected to the overall prices Britain’s NHS pays for U.S. pharmaceuticals.”Longer patents can only mean one thing: more expensive drugs. Lives will be put at risk as a result of this,” Corbyn said. He highlighted recent Trump complaints about the “unreasonably low prices” countries pay for American drugs.Conservatives dubbed Corbyn’s claim a “stunt.””The NHS will not be on the table in any future trade deal and the price that the NHS pays for drugs will not be on the table,” said the Conservatives’ Liz Truss, the current international trade secretary.Analysts say American health care firms want to expand in Britain but that there’s no evidence to date that a trade deal would depend on some kind of dismantling of Britain’s state-owned health-care system.Political vision of Nigel FarageAt the other end of the political spectrum, Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, a Trump ally and friend, is also hoping Trump’s visit will benefit him and give a lift to his flagging electoral prospects. His aides say he hopes Trump might be drawn into again criticizing Johnson’s EU exit deal, as he did earlier this month on a London radio show hosted by Farage.FILE – Leader of the Brexit Party Nigel Farage talks with a supporter during a general election campaign event in Seaham, Britain, Nov. 24, 2019.During the program, which was on the eve of the official election campaign, Trump agreed with Farage, who wants a clean break from the EU, that Johnson’s withdrawal agreement would make a trade agreement with the U.S. impossible.”We want to do trade with the U.K. and they want to do trade with us. And to be honest with you, this deal, under certain aspects of the deal, you can’t do it,” Trump said.According to a recent YouGov opinion poll only 18% of Britons hold a positive opinion of Trump,  so a fulsome endorsement of Johnson on his part wouldn’t be helpful from the point of view of British Conservatives.However, even foreign leaders who’ve been popular in Britain have discovered that remarks on domestic British politics can all too easily backfire, as former U.S. President Barack Obama found when he urged Britons to back staying in the EU in the 2016 Brexit referendum.”The problem is it is impossible to predict what Trump is going to say,” said a Conservative strategist, who asked not to be identified. “There’s some anxiety about what he might say — or be tempted to say by reporters and opposition politicians out to provoke him — during the trip,” he added.Trump is scheduled to hold a press conference Wednesday before returning to Washington. 
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Environment ministers and experts from nearly 200 countries meet in Madrid Monday for annual United Nations climate talks. Presided by Chile and hosted by Spain, the so-called Cop 25 follows a raft of alarming studies — and real-life evidence — of climate change’s potentially catastrophic fallout. From the Spanish capital, Lisa Bryant reports for VOA this might be the last year the U.S. is part of the talks.
 
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Representatives of nearly 200 countries begin annual climate talks in Madrid Monday, shadowed by alarming evidence of a deepening climate crisis and the looming exit of the United States from a global pact to fight it.A pair of grim United Nations reports published in recent days underscore the scope and real-life impact of insufficient climate action — underscored by global protests Friday in the latest show of people power.“Climate change is becoming real in ways people hadn’t imagined earlier,” said Simon Buckle, climate change head at the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). “Maybe they were thinking the impacts would be a long way in the future. They’re not; they’re here.”Presided over by Chile, which bowed out of hosting the meeting after social unrest at home, this latest meeting — known by its acronym COP 25 — aims to finalize rules for implementing the 2015 Paris climate pact.Environmentalists hope it will also set the stage for countries to beef up their greenhouse gas-cutting commitments at next year’s conference in the Scottish city of Glasgow.WATCH: 195 Nations Meet in Madrid for Climate Talks
195 Nations Meet in Madrid for Climate Talks video player.
FILE – Bundled up against cool temperatures, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks to several thousand people at a climate strike rally, Oct. 11, 2019, in Denver. The rally was staged in Denver’s Civic Center Park.Hitting homePeople have also taken to the streets in record numbers this past year, demanding climate action. Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion are becoming household names, while clean energy use is growing rapidly on the back of plummeting costs.“We’re seeing increased attention to this crisis,” Waskow, of WRI, said. “People are seeing ways in which hurricanes, floods and droughts are really affecting them. They’re waking up to that and need to see change.”Environmentalists point to other positive signals. Last month, the European Investment Bank announced it would no longer finance fossil fuel projects by the end of 2021. Meanwhile, new EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a “Green Deal” plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions regionally by 2050.To be effective, governments must craft climate policies that focus on broader social well-being, Buckle, of OECD, said.“We’ve got to stop thinking that this is an environmental problem,” he said. “This is a fundamental problem for our whole way of development.”So far this year, dozens of countries have promised more ambitious commitments to cutting greenhouse gases. But together, they account for only a small share of global emissions.“We really need the big players to do their part,” Waskow said. “This is really where the rubber is going to meet the road.”
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Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar’s Fine Gael party failed to win any of the four by-elections held to fill parliamentary vacancies Saturday, a blow ahead of a general election he plans to hold in the next six months.The governing center-right party had held one of the seats left empty after four lawmakers successfully ran for European elections in May. Its main rival Fianna Fail captured two of the seats, a gain of one, while left-wing Sinn Fein and the Green Party added a lawmaker each in the 158-seat Irish parliament.The Fine Gael-led minority government has ruled through a cooperation deal with Fianna Fail that they extended last year as the uncertainty created by Britain’s protracted exit from the European Union kept either side from calling an election.Both have identified the second quarter of 2020 as their preferred date to go to the polls again and, with the two dominant parties of Irish politics closely matched in most opinion polls, whoever edges it will likely lead another minority government.A boost for rivalsWhile a gain was good news for center-right Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein’s win in one of two Dublin contests was also a welcome boost for Ireland’s third-largest party whose political ascent suffered a major setback at local elections in May. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail both refuse to govern with Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), meaning the resurgent Greens could decide whether Varadkar or Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin heads up the next minority administration if little divides their parties.The Green Party’s first-ever by-election win followed a strong showing at European and local polls in May, part of a growing trend for environmental parties around many parts of Europe with climate change becoming a top concern.Not a fatal day“All round it’s probably not a good day for the government but not fatal, governments do tend to lose these by-elections but it does call into question the wisdom of having four by-elections possibly just a few months before a general election, because the momentum is with other parties now,” said Theresa Reidy, a politics lecturer at University College Cork.“In a general election, though, we will still be looking at Leo Varadkar versus Micheal Martin for who will be Taoiseach (prime minister).”
 
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EU antitrust regulators are investigating Google’s collection of data, the European Commission told Reuters Saturday, suggesting the world’s most popular internet search engine remains in its sights despite record fines in recent years.Competition enforcers on both sides of the Atlantic are now looking into how dominant tech companies use and monetize data.The EU executive said it was seeking information on how and why Alphabet unit Google is collecting data, confirming a Reuters story Friday.“The Commission has sent out questionnaires as part of a preliminary investigation into Google’s practices relating to Google’s collection and use of data. The preliminary investigation is ongoing,” the EU regulator told Reuters in an email.A document seen by Reuters shows the EU’s focus is on data related to local search services, online advertising, online ad targeting services, login services, web browsers and others.European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has handed down fines totaling more than 8 billion euros to Google in the last two years and ordered it to change its business practices.Google has said it uses data to better its services and that users can manage, delete and transfer their data at any time.
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Apple says it will reevaluate how it identifies “disputed borders” after receiving criticism for displaying Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula as part of Russia on maps and weather apps for Russian users. 
 
Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller told Reuters on Friday that the U.S. technology giant was “taking a deeper look at how we handle disputed borders.” 
 
Muller said Apple made the change for Russian users because of a new law that went into effect inside Russia and that it had not made any changes to its maps outside the country. Review of law
 
“We review international law as well as relevant U.S. and other domestic laws before making a determination in labeling on our maps and make changes if required by law,” she told Reuters. 
 
Muller added that Apple “may make changes in the future as a result” of its reevaluation of the policy, without being specific. 
 
Russian and Ukrainian embassies in the United States did not immediately return requests for comment. 
 
When using the apps from the United States, Ukraine, and in parts of Europe, no international borders are shown around the peninsula. 
 
After the reports surfaced of the appearance of Crimea as part of Russia, the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington told RFE/RL that it had sent a letter to Apple explaining the situation in Crimea and demanding that it correct the peninsula’s designation. 
 
It also said on Twitter that “let’s all remind Apple that #CrimeaIsUkraine and it is under Russian occupation — not its sovereignty.” 
 
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystayko tweeted, “Apple, please, please, stick to high-tech and entertainment. Global politics is not your strong side.” Applause from Russia
 
Vasily Piskarev, who chairs the Russian State Duma’s Committee on Security and Corruption Control, welcomed Apple’s move, saying, “They have brought [their services] in line with Russian law.” 
 
“The error with displaying Crimean cities on the weather app has been eliminated,” Piskarev told reporters. 
 
Competitor Google Maps has designated Crimea differently over the years depending on the user’s location, listing it as Russian for Russian users and Ukrainian for most others. 
 
“We make every effort to objectively depict the disputed regions, and where we have local versions of Google Maps, we follow local legislation when displaying names and borders,” a Google spokesperson told Tech Crunch magazine. Troops entered in 2014
 
Russia took control of Crimea in March 2014 after sending in troops, seizing key facilities and staging a referendum dismissed as illegal by at least 100 countries. 
 
Moscow also backs separatists in a war against government forces that has killed more than 13,000 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014. 
 
The international community does not recognize Moscow’s annexation of Crimea, and the United States and European Union have slapped sanctions on Russia over its actions against Ukraine. 
 Reuters and the Crimea Desk of RFE/RL’s Ukrainian service contributed to this report. 
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Maltese prosecutors on Saturday charged a prominent local businessman as being an accomplice to the murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in a 2017 car bombing on Malta. 
 
Yorgen Fenech, a Maltese hotelier and director of the Maltese power company, was also charged in the evening courtroom hearing with being an accomplice to causing the explosion that killed the 53-year-old reporter as she drove near her home. 
 
Magistrate Audrey Demicoli asked Fenech to enter pleas. He replied that he was pleading innocent, and he was remanded in custody. MaltaThe reporter’s family has alleged that Fenech has ties to close associates of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, including his recently resigned chief of staff. 
 
It wasn’t immediately clear if Muscat might resign amid increasing calls by citizens on the island, including Caruana Galizia’s family, for him to step down. Muscat, in power since 2013, has said he will speak after the investigative case is complete. 
 
“What we now expect is the prime minister to leave office and to leave Parliament,” Corinne Vella, one of the slain reporter’s sisters, told The Malta Independent after the arraignment of Fenech. Investigations urgedVella also called for Muscat as well as his former chief of staff, Keith Schembri. to be “properly investigated” for their “possible involvement in Daphne’s assassination.” 
 
Schembri quit his government post a few days earlier. He had been taken into custody for questioning but was later released. 
 
Two of Muscat’s ministers also were questioned and have resigned. They, along with Schembri, have said they are innocent of wrongdoing. 
 
Caruana Galizia wrote shortly before her death that corruption was everywhere in political and business circles in the tiny EU nation. 
An alleged go-between in the bombing has received immunity from prosecution for alerting authorities to Fenech’s purported involvement. 
 
Three men have been in jail as the alleged bombers, but no trial date for them has been set. 
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The search and rescue operation for earthquake survivors in Albania has ended, Prime Minister Edi Rama said Saturday.The small town of Thumane, experienced the highest death toll from Tuesday’s quake with 26 people killed, six of whom belonged to one family, and all but one under age 30. They were buried Friday.In the port city of Durres – 30 kilometers west of the capital, Tirana — the quake killed 24.  One person also died in Kurbin.In all, 51 people died, including seven children. Nine-hundred were injured.  More than 5,000 people are without shelter; and 1,200 buildings were destroyed in the 6.4-magnitude quake and the aftershocks that followed.  
 Relatives surround some of the coffins during the funeral of six members of the Cara family, killed during an earthquake that shook Albania, in Thumane, Albania, Nov. 29, 2019.Seismologist Rexhep Koci told VOA that while there is the likelihood for more aftershocks, but they would be weaker.Neighboring countries provide assistanceThe European Union sent crews to help with search and rescue immediately following the quake and now the Albanian government has asked for experts to help assess the damage.
 Volunteers distribute food at a makeshift camp in Durres, after an earthquake shook Albania, November 29, 2019.EU Ambassador to Albania Luigi Soreca said Friday that the European Union and its member states are standing with Albania and working nonstop to provide assistance “in this very difficult moment.”
 
“It is a week of deep sorrow and tragedy for Albania,” Soreca said in a statement. “Our heartfelt condolences go once again to the Albanian people and especially to the families, friends and communities of those who have lost their lives.”More than 200 military troops from Albania, Kosovo, Italy, Greece, Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia, France, Turkey, Switzerland, Romania, North Macedonia, the EU and the United States, participated in the search and rescue operation.People spontaneously came from Kosovo, operating mobile kitchens, gathering donations and opening their homes. About 500 homeless Albanians are staying in a camp set up by Kosovo’s government in the city of Prizren. On Friday alone, individuals and businesses from Kosovo delivered 100 tons of much needed necessities.Remembering victimsTirana residents turned out in the city center to honor the victims, placing candles in a makeshift memorial near the statue of Albanian national hero Gjergj Kastrioti, known as Skanderbeg.
Vigil for quake victims in Tirana, Nov 29 video player.
Embed” />Copy LinkVigil for quake victims in TiranaThe state of emergency declared Wednesday for Durres and Thumane was extended to the heavily damaged town of Lac. Prime Minister Rama said he made the decision after opposition leader Lulzim Basha suggested it. Rama appeared to put on hold the acrimony often on display between the two political rivals.“In this case, our concerns and ideas converge,” Rama said, inviting the opposition to participate in the Committee for Earthquake Relief.
 
For Rama, the tragedy hit close to home as his office confirmed that among the dead was his son Gregor’s fiance, Kristi Reci, whose entire family — both parents and her brother — died in Durres.A rescue dog is seen on a collapsed building in Durres, after an earthquake shook Albania, November 29, 2019.Physician Shkelqime Ladi said doctors are on hand to help with immediate needs.
 
“We are focusing more on the psychological aspect of the affected. Their psychological state is aggravated,” she told VOA in Lac.
 
The earthquake struck two days before Albania’s 107th independence day. There was no celebration, but a show of solidarity gave solemnity to the day.
 
Albanian President Ilir Meta and Prime Minister Rama, who have been fighting bitterly over political matters, appeared together in Vlora Thursday.Independence Day coincided this year with the U.S. Thanksgiving Day, and many Albanian Americans rallied to collect donations, holding several fundraisers to help one of the poorest countries in Europe.
 
“I am so heartbroken for my people back home, for those who have lost lives and loved ones,” New York City Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj, an Albanian American, told VOA.
 
Marko Kepi, of the Albanian American organization Albanian Roots, organized a fundraiser that raised close to $1 million in less than a day.
 
“This fundraiser is simply to help those who have lost their homes and to help those families who lost their loved ones, do whatever we can so they can have some sort of peace of mind, that they are not alone, they have support and they are not going to be left out in the street,” he said.Armand Mero reported from Tirana, Ilirian Agolli reported from Durres, Pellumb Sulo reported from Lac.  
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Climate activists protested at open-pit coal mines in eastern Germany, pouring onto the premises to urge the government to immediately halt the use of coal to produce electricity.The news agency dpa reported that police estimated more than 2,000 people took part Saturday at sites near Cottbus and Leipzig and that some of the demonstrators scuffled with police. Three officers were reported slightly injured at the Janschwaelde mine near Cottbus. The mine operators, Leag und Mibrag, filed police reports asking for an investigation and possible charges.Burning coal releases carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas blamed by scientists for global warming. The German government plans to end the use of coal by 2038 and spend 40 billion euros ($44 billion) on assistance for the affected mining regions.
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