Day: December 25, 2019

Italian Education Minister Lorenzo Fioramonti told Reuters on  Wednesday that he had resigned after failing to obtain from the government billions of euros he said were needed to improve the country’s schools and universities. 

The resignation was a blow to the embattled government, whose ruling parties are at odds on issues ranging from eurozone reform to migrant rights. 

It also underscores the problems of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, Fioramonti’s party, which is trying to reorganize amid widespread internal dissatisfaction with its leader, Luigi Di Maio. This month three 5-Star senators jumped ship to join the right-wing League in opposition. 

Fioramonti told Reuters he had tendered his “irrevocable resignation” to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in a letter on Monday. 

Pledge to quit

Fioramonti said shortly after the government of 5-Star and the center-left Democratic Party was formed in September that he would quit unless education spending was raised by 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) in the 2020 budget. 

Few believed him, even as the budget continued its passage through parliament and it became clear the government had little intention of hiking taxes or cutting spending to find the funds he demanded. The budget was approved on Monday ahead of a December 31 deadline. 

“It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that a minister keeps his word,” Fioramonti told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday. 

Fioramonti said he would still support the government in parliament, where he is a lower-house deputy. 

Italy spends 3.6% of gross domestic product on primary to university education, compared with an average of 5% among 32 countries in a report by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.

Fioramonti, a former economics professor at South Africa’s Pretoria University, has been one of Italy’s most outspoken ministers during his three months in office. His proposals for new taxes on airline tickets, plastic and sugary foods to raise funds for education were attacked by critics who said Italians were already overtaxed. 

Green policies

A vocal supporter of green policies, Fioramonti made headlines when he announced Italy would next year become the first country to make it compulsory for schoolchildren to study climate change and sustainable development. 

Earlier this month, he said Italian energy giant ENI should halt oil exploration and focus on renewable energy. 

“I have sometimes felt I could have had more support from my own party over my proposals on the environment,” Fioramonti said. “5-Star was born 10 years ago with a strongly green platform, but it seems to have got lost along the way.” 

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Syrian government troops, supported by Russian warplanes, have advanced on a rebel-held town in the northwestern province of Idlib, local sources said Wednesday. 

The offensive against the town of Maaret al-Numan in the southern prot of Idlib has caused a major influx of civilians to safer areas along the Syrian-Turkish border, a war monitoring group reported. 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has researchers across the war-torn country, said that following intense fighting in the area, Syrian government forces took control of dozens of villages around the strategic town, killing dozens of people and forcing thousands of local residents to flee from their homes. 

“The town will most likely be handed over to Turkish military and Russian military police in the next few days, if not hours,” Rami Abdulrahman, director of the Syrian Observatory, told VOA, adding that rebels could not carry on the fight. 

There is an agreement between Turkey and Russia to remove all Islamist rebels from Maaret al-Numan and nearby towns in Idlib, he said.  

Center of contention

For years, Idlib has been a center of contention between Russia and Turkey, two powers that support opposite sides of Syria’s eight-year civil war. 

In September 2018, Moscow and Ankara reached an agreement that postponed a planned Syrian government offensive on Idlib and other areas near the Turkish border. 

As part of that agreement, Turkey was required to remove all extremist groups from the province, some of which are tied to the al-Qaida terrorist group. But Turkey allegedly has failed to implement its part of the deal. 

Turkey also has 12 military observation posts in the area as part of a de-escalation agreement between Turkey and Russia. 

On Tuesday, a Turkish military post reportedly was besieged by advancing Syrian troops. 

A Syrian opposition news channel, Orient News, reported that Islamist militants have been fighting government troops on several fronts, killing at least 10 soldiers on Wednesday. 

Key highway

Syrian troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have been pushing toward the town of Maaret al-Numan, which is located on a highway connecting the capital, Damascus, in the south, to the city of Aleppo in the north. The objective of Assad’s forces is to take full control of the strategic M5 highway. 

Idlib province, home to nearly 3 million people, is the last major stronghold of rebel forces fighting Syrian troops. The province is largely controlled by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaida affiliate in Syria. 

Syrian forces and their Russian allies launched a major offensive last week into the southern part of Idlib. The offensive came after weeks of aerial bombardment that displaced tens of thousands of people. 

The military escalation has caused dozens of civilian casualties and displaced 80,000 Syrians, the U.N. said this week. 

But local groups, including the Syrian Observatory, estimated that more than 100,000 civilians in Idlib already had been displaced. 

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As American families of all political stripes gather for the holidays, U.S. President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is offering ready-made arguments supporters can deploy at the family dinner table.

On Christmas Eve, the campaign unveiled a website to help Trump supporters win arguments with any liberal family members who criticize the president or his job performance.

Psychologists typically advise avoiding politics to reduce stress over the holidays. By contrast, the president’s campaign suggests supporters should welcome debate on Trump and his policies.

Arranged by topics and accompanied by descriptive narrative and video clips, the arguments tout what the campaign sees as the president’s achievements on economic and domestic matters, as well as trade and international affairs.

Similar resources also are being offered to Democrats and liberals.

A contributing author to The Atlantic magazine recently offered liberals tips for debating with conservatives, urging them to steer clear of personal attacks and focus on facts, asserting, “Truth won’t stop being truth. Trump won’t stop being Trump.”

Researchers say political debate has a direct effect on family celebrations.

According to a recent study released last year by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, during periods of heightened political discord, Americans tend to avoid or cut short family holiday meals to prevent uncomfortable political confrontations with relatives.

For many, avoiding politics at the holiday table is sound advice. But adhering to it may be easier said than done.

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Republican U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski said she was “disturbed” by the Senate leader’s approach to working with White House counsel on the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, saying there should be distance between the two. 

The comments by the Alaska lawmaker came after Mitch McConnell, majority leader of the Republican-led Senate, said during a Fox News interview this month that he was working in “total coordination” with the White House on the upcoming trial. 

“To me it means that we have to take that step back from being hand in glove with the defense,” Murkowski said in comments aired late on Tuesday during an interview with Alaska-based NBC news affiliate KTUU-TV. “I heard what leader McConnell had said. I happened to think that has further confused the process.” 

Murkowski says she remains undecided about how she will vote in the impeachment proceedings. 

Trump was impeached last week by the Democratic-led House of Representatives on two charges over his pressuring Ukraine to announce an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden, a top contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, and Biden’s son Hunter. The president has been charged with abuse of power and obstructing Congress’ investigation. Trump has said he did nothing wrong. 

Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate, where 51 votes are needed to pass a set of rules for the Trump trial. A two-thirds majority vote of the Senate would be needed for a conviction. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not yet transmitted the articles of impeachment to the Senate, a bid to pressure Senate Republicans to reach an accord with the Democrats in the chamber on trial rules. McConnell said the Senate could not take any action until it receives the articles. 

Sticking point

Whether to call witnesses has been one of the main sticking points between the Democrats and the Republicans in drafting rules for the impeachment proceedings. McConnell on Monday said that Republicans had not ruled out hearing witnesses in the trial. 

However, McConnell made clear he would not accede to a Democratic request for the Senate to agree ahead of time to take testimony during the trial. 

There is little chance Trump will be convicted and removed from office, but the impeachment proceedings could resonate at the ballot box in November. 

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Mexico says Bolivian security forces have increased their presence around the Mexican ambassador’s La Paz residence, where a group of former Cabinet ministers and others loyal to ousted president Evo Morales have sought refuge.

Troops gathered in larger numbers around the residence on Tuesday, the Mexican Foreign Ministry said. Maximiliano Reyes, Mexico’s undersecretary for Latin America, described the Bolivian patrols around the diplomatic property as a “siege.”

Relations between the two countries have been strained since Mexico granted asylum to Morales after he resigned Nov. 10 following national upheaval over his claim of victory in an election marred by vote-rigging. Morales has since relocated to Argentina and says he plans to stay involved in politics in neighboring Bolivia, while some former top aides remain holed up in the Mexican ambassador’s residence.

Willson Santamaría, Bolivia’s deputy minister of public security, said the Morales loyalists would not be allowed to leave the country.

“We have taken the necessary steps so that the security forces immediately track and detect any help, any complicity in helping the fugitives flee the country,” he said.

Those who sought refuge in the Mexican ambassador’s residence include Juan Ramón Quintana, the former chief of staff for Morales, and five other former ministers, according to a Mexican federal official. The official was not authorized to comment publicly about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Several are accused by the interim government of President Jeanine Áñez of electoral fraud or other crimes.

Mexico has complained that Bolivian security and intelligence officials have surrounded both the Mexican ambassador’s residence and the embassy, recording the movement of people in and out of the facilities and even impeding the “free transit” of the ambassador.

Erick Foronda, Bolivia’s presidential secretary, denied that authorities are interfering with the movements of Mexico’s diplomats. The police presence at the diplomatic facilities was increased for security reasons following reports of planned demonstrations in the area, he said.

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Australian firefighters used cooler conditions Christmas Day to try and contain bushfires ahead of hot, dry weather later in the week, as leaders and communities thanked them for sacrificing time with their families over the holidays.

In the state of New South Wales (NSW), which saw entire towns devastated by fires over the weekend, state premier Gladys Berejiklian and the head of the NSW rural fire service, Shane Fitzsimmons, attended a breakfast organized by volunteers in the small town of Colo, 90km (55 miles) northwest of Sydney.

“Community volunteers provided food, company, conversation, wrapped presents & hampers to share for crews heading into the field,” Fitzsimmons tweeted. “It was just lovely & spirits were high.”

Christmas Day offered cooler conditions in many parts of the country as firefighters, many of them volunteers, spent the day trying to contain blazes.

Intense heat is forecast to return again by the weekend, especially in Australia’s south, where temperatures are expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

The last few months have seen more than 900 homes lost across the dry continent, according to authorities, even though the southern hemisphere summer has not yet reached its midpoint.

The fires have destroyed more than 3.7 million hectares (9.1 million acres) across five states and at least six people have died in NSW and two in South Australia during the bushfire emergency.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison used a Christmas message to thank volunteers for their willingness to spend the day away from their families.

“As we look forward to next year and as we celebrate this Christmas I want to thank all of those who serve our nation,” Morrison said in a video shared on social media Wednesday morning.

Morrison has faced sustained political pressure as the bushfires have raged, following his decision to take a family holiday to Hawaii last week and his conservative Liberal-National coalition government’s climate policies.

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Sudan this month marks one year since protests over prices turned into a monthslong demonstration that led the military to oust former president Omar al-Bashir after three decades in power. The coup was followed by a deadly crackdown on protesters before a deal was made on a transitional government. But, as Naba Mohiedeen reports from Khartoum, protesters are still demanding justice for those killed.
 

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U.S. President Donald Trump was assured of a place in history this month when the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach him over his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden. Trump is expected to be acquitted in an impeachment trial early next year in the Republican-controlled Senate, but the political fallout from the impeachment drama will be a factor in the 2020 presidential election. VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.
 

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Typhoon Phanfone pummeled the central Philippines on Christmas Day, bringing a wet and miserable holiday season to millions in the mainly Catholic nation.

Thousands were stranded at shuttered ports or evacuation centers at the height of the festive season Wednesday, and residents cowered in rain-soaked homes as Phanfone leapt from one small island to another for the second day. 

The typhoon toppled houses and trees and blacked out cities in the Philippines’ most storm-prone region, but no deaths were reported.

Though weaker, Phanfone was tracking a similar path as Super Typhoon Haiyan, the country’s deadliest cyclone on record, which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing in 2013.

Thousands stranded

More than 10,000 people spent the night in schools, gyms and government buildings hastily converted into evacuation centers as the typhoon made landfall Tuesday, civil defense officials said.

“It was frightening. The glass windows shattered and we took cover by the stairs,” Ailyn Metran told AFP after she and her 4-year-old child spent the night at the local state weather service office where her husband works.

A metal window frame flew off and landed on a car parked outside the building, she said.

With just two hours’ sleep, the family returned to their home in the central city of Tacloban early Wednesday to find their two dogs safe, but the floor was covered in mud and a felled tree rested atop a nearby house.

The weather office said the typhoon strengthened slightly overnight Tuesday and was gusting at 195 kilometers (121 miles) an hour, velocities that can knock down small trees and destroy houses made of light materials.

More islands in storm’s path

More islands along the storm’s projected path are expected to be hit with destructive winds and intense rainfall before it blows out into the South China Sea early Thursday, the weather office added.

More than 25,000 people trying to get home for the traditional Christmas Eve midnight dinner with their families remained stranded at ports on Christmas Day with ferry services still shut down, the coast guard said.

Scores of flights to the region also remained canceled, though the populous capital Manila, on the northern edge has so far been spared.

The Philippines is the first major landmass facing the Pacific cyclone belt.

As such, the archipelago gets hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, killing scores of people and wiping out harvests, homes and other infrastructure and keeping millions perennially poor.

A July 2019 study by the Manila-based Asian Development Bank said the most frequent storms lop 1 percent off the Philippine economic output, with the stronger ones cutting output by nearly 3 percent.

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President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attended a music-filled Christmas Eve service at a Southern Baptist Convention-affiliated church before celebrating the holiday with dinner in the ballroom of his private club.

The pastor of Family Church in West Palm Beach, Florida, Jimmy Scroggins, and his family greeted the Trumps as they arrived moments into a “Candlelight Christmas Celebration.” The Trumps received applause and cheers while taking reserved seats in the church’s third pew. Brief sermons and readings by clergy were interlaced with traditional Christmas songs, as theatrical smoke billowed and fake snow descended from the rafters.

Attending Family Church was a change of pace for the Trumps, who had attended holiday services in the past at Bethesda-by-the-Sea, the Episcopal Church in Palm Beach at which they were married in 2005.

The Trumps then returned to his private club, where they were greeted by applause as they entered for Christmas Eve dinner. Trump, less than a week after being impeached by the House, did not respond when asked by a reporter if he prayed for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at church, but he said, “We’re going to have a great year.”

Trump was seen briefly speaking attorney Alan Dershowitz, a prominent Trump defender on cable news, who was dining in the ballroom. The Harvard Law School professor emeritus has been the subject of discussions about joining the president’s impeachment legal team.

Trump earlier called military service members stationed across the world to share greetings ahead of the Christmas holiday.

Speaking Tuesday by video conference from his private club in Florida, where he is on a more than two-week vacation, Trump said, “I want to wish you an amazing Christmas.” The group included Marines in Afghanistan, an Army unit in Kuwait, a Navy ship in the Gulf of Aden, an Air Force base in Missouri and a Coast Guard station in Alaska.

Trump praised the armed forces for their efforts this year to eliminate the last of the Islamic State group’s territorial caliphate and for killing IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He also touted economic successes at home and a pay raise for troops kicking in in the new year.

“You make it possible for us to do what we have to do,” Trump said, thanking them for their service.

Trump briefly fielded questions from troops, including an invitation to attend the homecoming of the USS Forrest Sherman when the destroyer returns next year to its home port of Norfolk, Virginia.

Trump was asked what he’d bought Mrs. Trump for Christmas. A “beautiful card,” he said, and admitted that he was “still working on a Christmas present.”

“You made me think. I’m going to have to start working on that real fast,” he said.

On Tuesday evening, the first lady answered calls from children across the country as part of North American Aerospace Defense Command’s Operation NORAD Tracks Santa program. Press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Mrs. Trump spoke with several children and heard items on their Christmas lists.

Grisham said Mrs. Trump “reminded the kids to put milk and cookies out for Santa, and wished each child and their families a very merry Christmas.”

The president has been largely out of the spotlight since delivering a speech to conservative students in nearby West Palm Beach on Saturday, spending his days golfing on his private course and greeting the well-heeled members of his clubs.

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