Month: December 2019

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday called for the governments in Moscow, Damascus and Tehran to stop the violence in Syria’s rebel-held province of Idlib.

“Russia, Syria, and Iran are killing, or on their way to killing, thousands” of civilians in the northwestern province, Trump tweeted, adding: “Don’t do it!”

Heightened regime and Russian bombardment has hit jihadist-held Idlib — the country’s last major opposition bastion — since mid-December, as regime forces make steady advances on the ground despite an August ceasefire and U.N. calls for a de-escalation.

Nearly 80 civilians have been killed by airstrikes and artillery attacks over the same period, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which estimates that more than 40,000 people have been displaced in recent weeks.

Turkey called Tuesday for the attacks to “come to an end immediately,” after sending a delegation to Moscow to discuss the flare-up.

Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Ankara was pressing for a new ceasefire to replace the August agreement.

Trump on Thursday praised Turkey’s efforts, tweeting that Ankara “is working hard to stop this carnage.”

…

Turkey’s highest court on Thursday ruled in favor of Wikipedia, saying the Turkish government’s two-year ban on the online encyclopedia constitutes a violation of freedom of expression, the state-run news agency reported.
                   
Turkey blocked Wikipedia in April 2017, accusing it of being part of a “smear campaign” against the country, after the website refused to remove content that allegedly portrayed Turkey as supporting the Islamic State group and other terrorist organizations.
                   
Access to Wikipedia and all its language editions was blocked under a law that allows the government to ban websites it deems pose a national security threat.
                   
Wikipedia declined to remove content from the community-generated site, citing its opposition to censorship. It petitioned the Constitutional Court in May 2017 after talks with Turkish officials and a challenge in lower courts failed.
                   
The Anadolu Agency reported that the Constitutional Court decided the ban amounted to a violation of freedom of expression. The justices voted 10-6 in favor of Wikipedia, the agency said.
                   
There was no immediate comment from the government and it was not immediately clear when access to the website would be restored.
                   
Many Turks have found ways to circumvent the ban on Wikipedia and other blocked websites.

…

From a trade war to disagreements on Hong Kong and human rights, the ties between the United States and China were seriously tested in 2019. And despite the recent agreement on phase one of the trade pact that averts the imposition of further tariffs against each other, some analysts say Washington’s issues with Beijing are more intractable. State Department correspondent Nike Ching has the story

…

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.” 

…

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. 

…

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.

…

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. 

…

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.

…

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.

…

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.

…

In his address to the 20th Handover Ceremony in Macau last Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping seemingly committed a gaffe that appeared to reveal his intention of setting the implementation of “one country, two systems” in Macau as a good example for neighboring Hong Kong and even Taiwan.
 
But analysts say that proving the scheme works by awarding the former Portuguese colony with favorable “economic goodies” won’t impress people in Hong Kong and Taiwan, who demand greater democracy.
 
“China wants to promote the ‘one country, two systems’ scheme, which has proved to be a total failure in Hong Kong. I don’t think China can keep fooling people in Hong Kong and Taiwan, none of which will accept the scheme,” Democratic Progressive Party legislator Wu Ping-jui said in Taipei.
 
The Macau model
 
Last Friday, Xi said that Macau tells a story of the success in implementing the ‘one country, two systems,’ addressing a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the city’s return to China   
 

“The people in Macau have whole-heartedly embraced the ‘one country, two systems.’ Let’s recognize that the ‘one country, two systems’ is the best system for Hong Kong [sic] to maintain its long-term prosperity and stability,” Xi said.
 
Although Xi went on to say “after the return of Hong Kong and Macau to China, the handling of matters in those two special administrative regions is completely China’s domestic affairs,” his earlier reference to Hong Kong instead of Macau is widely seen as indirectly “scolding” rebellious Hong Kong and venting his “dissatisfaction with the situation in Hong Kong,” said Sin Chung Kai, treasurer of the Democratic Party in Hong Kong.     
 
Sin, formerly a legislator, said that Hong Kongers have long accepted the Macau model as a success for Beijing, which wants to accommodate its big spenders outside its borders in Macau while prospering the casino city’s population of 650,000 people to earn the world’s second-highest gross domestic product per person in terms of purchasing power.
 
One country v.s. two systems
 
But the flaw in the Macau model is the widening the wealth gap in the city and its lackluster success in implementing the political scheme, whose principle of one country has completely overshadowed the emphasis on two systems either in Macau or Hong Kong, Sin said.  
 
“In reality, the disparity in Macau is serious… I don’t think the Macau people are very happy about the development although they don’t have much resistance because they’ve already been used to the influence of Beijing,” Sin said.
 
According to Ho Lat Seng, Macau’s chief executive, Xi has given his full support to the casino city’s development in Hengqin, an island west of Macau and south of Zhuhai, as part of Beijing’s massive plan to develop the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area into a world-class urban cluster that could rival global cities also situated on bays, such as San Francisco, New York or Tokyo.
 
Economic goodies?
 
But during his three-day visit in Macau, the Chinese leader didn’t announce new policies or “economic goodies,” aimed at diversifying Macau’s gaming-dependent economy and developing it into a financial center to replace Hong Kong as the media had previously speculated.
 
Nevertheless, any such attempt of using Macau to dwarf Hong Kong will only prove to be futile as the former British colony has long established itself as a fully internationalized city with advanced financial expertise and a talent pool, according to Sin.
 
“Well, if I say Macau is a financial money-laundry hub, I think people will agree. But if you say Macau is a financial hub, I think people will laugh,” he said.
 
Sin said the fact that Beijing continues to misjudge Hong Kongers by focusing on economic incentives and ignoring their demands for free speech, the rule of law and democratic values is why Beijing will have a hard time winning the hearts and minds of Hong Kongers or putting an end to its months-long political turmoil.
 
He said it also highlights clashing values between Hong Kongers and their fellow countrymen on the mainland.    
 
Clashing values
 
“They [mainlanders] talk about development; they talk about how great the country is… They talk about G2 etc… But people in Hong Kong won’t be proud of these things. So, it is a clash of value systems,” he said.
 
In other words, Macau can never replace Hong Kong, a noted Chinese writer Ngan Shun Kau argued in a column on the Stand News, a Chinese-language news website.
 
On the contrary, Hong Kong would completely replace Macau, had the proposal to set up casinos on Lantau Island — the largest island in Hong Kong located at mouth of the Pearl River — been implemented two decades ago. Hong Kong would be a more popular destination for mainland tourists and gamblers, he said.
 
Macau’s casino money is, in particular, of little attraction to Taiwan, which is already a high-tech powerhouse and a beacon of democracy in Asia, DPP’s Wu said.
 
“China has to find a place to showcase [the success] of the ‘one country, two systems’ or provide an excuse to the scheme’s failure in Hong Kong or the Communist Party’s rule of China,” Wu said.
 
“It’s a very stubborn political organization, which is trying to use the [Macau] model to build narratives for the world and its domestic audience. These are typical characteristics of an authoritarian regime,” he added.   

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Saudi Arabia and Kuwait signed an agreement Tuesday to resume pumping at two major oilfields in a shared neutral zone shut for five years due to a bilateral disagreement, officials said.

Kuwait’s oil minister Khaled al-Fadhel said on Twitter that the memorandum of understanding signed with Saudi Arabia included “the resumption of production in the divided zone.”

The state-run KUNA news agency reported that the two countries also signed an agreement on the demarcation of land and maritime borders in the neutral zone.

KUNA did not give details on the contents of the deal which likely revolves around amending previous border agreements between the two Arab nations.

The two fields were pumping some 500,000 barrels per day before production was halted, first at Khafji in October 2014 and then at Wafra seven months later, over a dispute between the neighbours.

Riyadh said at the time that the decision was due to environmental issues.

The oil produced in the neutral zone in the border area is shared equally between the two nations.

Khafji, an offshore field, was jointly operated by Kuwait Gulf Oil Co. and Saudi Aramco Gulf Operations, while the onshore Wafra field was operated by KGOC and Saudi Arabian Chevron.

Kuwait had blamed Saudi Arabia for unilaterally halting output at Khafji, noting it was entitled to five years’ notice under a joint agreement signed in 1965.

The two countries have been negotiating to resolve the row and resume production since June 2015.

The talks involved Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah visiting Riyadh and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visiting Kuwait City.

Tuesday’s agreement comes as oil prices are under pressure due to abundant reserves and weak global economic growth.

Continued soft pricing has prompted OPEC and its allies to make deeper production cuts starting next month.

OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia pumps just under 10 million barrels per day (bpd), while Kuwait produces around 2.7 million bpd.

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Russia has released five Japanese fishing boats and their 24 crewmen after detaining them for a week for allegedly violating fishing agreements near a group of disputed islands.  

The five ships and their crews were accused of exceeding their catch quota for octopus when they were detained on December 17.  The boats were released after a Russian court ordered the crews to pay a fine of $100,000.  

The ships were seized near a group of islands in Japan’s northern region of Hokkaido.  Known in Russia as the Southern Kuriles, the islands were seized by forces of the former Soviet Union in the final days of World War Two.  Japan continues to claim the island chain, which it calls the Northern Territories.  

The ongoing dispute over the islands has kept Moscow and Tokyo from reaching a formal peace treaty ending World War II.  

…

A Russian court on Tuesday extended until late March the pre-trial detention of a US man already held in jail for a year despite Western requests for his release.

Paul Whelan, who also has Irish, Canadian and British citizenship, was arrested on December 28 last year for allegedly receiving state secrets.

On Christmas eve the Moscow City Court extended his detention by another three months, to March 29, a court spokesman told AFP.

He risks up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Whelan, 49, has denounced the case against him and said he is being held “hostage” for a possible prisoner exchange.

On Monday, U.S. charge d’affaires Bart Gorman and diplomats from Canada, Ireland, and Britain visited Whelan in Moscow’s high-security Lefortovo prison, bringing him food and Christmas greetings from family and supporters.

“It’s two days before Christmas. A holiday Paul Whelan will spend alone in Lefortovo,” the U.S. Embassy quoted Gorman as saying.

“In the past 12 months, Paul has not heard his parents’ voices. Bring Paul some Christmas cheer and let him call home.”

Whelan, a former U.S. marine, maintains he has been framed and that he took a USB drive from an acquaintance thinking it contained holiday photos.

His lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov has said the acquaintance that handed over the drive is the only witness against Whelan while the rest of his longtime acquaintances in Russia gave witness statements in his defense.

During a previous court hearing in October, Whelan insisted that he was not a spy.

“Russia thought they caught James Bond on a spy mission, in reality they abducted Mr. Bean on holiday,” he has said.

Whelan and his supporters claim that the American has been mistreated in jail.

Moscow has rubbished the claims, saying foreign diplomats have regular access to Whelan and calling the complaints a “provocative line of defense”.

“Whelan’s complaints concerning the conditions of detention and actions of investigators have never once been confirmed,” the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.

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Officials in Somalia say al-Shabab extremists killed three soldiers during an attack on a military base in the southwest on Monday.
                   
The assault on the Gofgadud base in the Bay region by the al-Qaida-affiliated extremist group marks the latest setback for Somalia’s army, which is expected to take over responsibility for the country’s security from an African Union force next year.
                   
Col. Ahmed Yusuf, a Somali military officer, told The Associated Press that Somali troops made a brief tactical withdrawal amid heavy artillery shelling before regaining control of the base. He said six al-Shabab fighters were killed in the army’s counter-attack that forced the extremists to withdraw.
                   
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, asserting that it killed or wounded more than 30 soldiers.
                   
Years of conflict and al-Shabab attacks, along with famine, shattered Somalia, which is home to more than 12 million people.
                   
The Horn of Africa nation has been trying to rebuild since establishing its first functioning transitional government in 2012. Al-Shabab was pushed out of the capital, Mogadishu, and other major cities several years ago but still carries out suicide attacks across Somalia.
                   
With a federal government established, pressure is growing on Somalia’s military to assume full responsibility for the country’s security.

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