Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was hospitalized Monday evening after a fall in the presidential residence, his office said.

Bolsonaro was taken to the armed forces’ hospital in the capital of Brasilia and underwent examinations of his skull that showed no problems, said a statement from the presidency’s communications office.

The president would remain under observation for six to 12 hours, it said.

The statement gave no other details on the incident, but Brazilian media reported that Bolsonaro slipped  in the bathroom and banged his head.

Earlier this month, Bolsonaro reportedly  told advisers that he felt extreme tiredness and asked for his agenda to be reduced through the end of the year.

…

Syrian government forces pressed ahead Monday with a new military assault on the country’s last rebel stronghold that began last week, an offensive that has set off a mass exodus of civilians fleeing to safer areas near the Turkish border.

Under the cover of airstrikes and heavy shelling, Syrian troops have been pushing into the northwestern province of Idlib toward a major rebel-held town, Maaret al-Numan. The town sits on a key highway linking the capital Damascus with the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest.

The immediate goal of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces appeared to be reopening the highway, which has been closed by the rebels since 2012.

Idlib province is dominated by al-Qaida-linked militants. It’s also home to 3 million civilians, and the United Nations has warned of the growing risk of a humanitarian catastrophe along the Turkish border. The United Nations says over half of the civilians in Idlib have been internally displaced following continuing reports of airstrikes in the area.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is alarmed by the escalation of fighting and is calling for an immediate halt to hostilities, his spokesman said late Monday.

The spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said earlier that a U.N.-negotiated six-hour humanitarian pause had enabled safe passage for more than 2,500 people to flee.

Over the past three days, some 39 communities were reportedly been affected by shelling in northern Hama, southern Idlib and western Aleppo governorates, while 47 communities were reportedly hit by airstrikes, Dujarric said.

“The U.N. urges all parties to ensure the protection of civilians, and to allow sustained and unhindered access by all humanitarian parties to provide life-saving assistance to all in need,” the U.N. spokesman said.

Residents of villages and towns in southern parts of Idlib province have been fleeing with their belongings in trucks, cars and on motorcycles.

The government’s ground offensive resumed last week after the collapse of a cease-fire, in place since the end of August.

Before this latest bout of violence, the U.N. reported that some 60,000 Idlib residents had already been displaced since the government’s bombing campaign began late last month.

The pro-government Al-Watan newspaper said Syrian troops were a few kilometers (miles) away from Maaret al-Numan, adding that the town “might surrender to the army without fighting.’’

The opposition’s Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, said Maaret al-Numan and the nearby town of Sarqeb were almost empty after tens of thousands of civilians left to escape heavy aerial and ground bombardment.

“As you can see the destruction is massive. Residents were forced to flee this area,” said a member of the White Helmets in a video as he walked through Maaret al-Numan. “They had to choose between death or fleeing to the unknown further north.’’

Syrian troops have also nearly surrounded a Turkish observation post near the village of Surman in Idlib province, according to Al-Watan and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor.

Turkey is a strong backer of some rebel fighters, and has 12 observation posts in northwestern Syria as part of an agreement. The deal was brokered last year along with Russia, one of Assad’s main backers.

The Observatory, which has a network of activists in Syria, said government troops have captured approximately 35 villages and hamlets near Maaret al-Numan in the past few days.

Also Monday, a vehicle rigged with explosives blew up in a market in a northern Syrian town controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighters, killing five people and wounding others, state media and opposition activists said.

State news agency SANA said the blast occurred in the village of Suluk near the Turkish border, putting the death toll at five people and reporting that several more were injured.

A similar death toll was also given by the Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition and the Observatory, which also said 20 people were wounded.

Suluk is near the Syrian border town of Tal Abyad in Raqqa province. Turkish troops and Turkey-backed fighters captured Tal Abyad and Suluk from Kurdish-led fighters in October. Turkey’s invasion of northeastern Syria pushed back Syrian Kurdish fighters from some border areas.

Explosions in north Syria areas controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighters killed scores of people in recent weeks.

Turkey blames Syrian Kurdish fighters for these attacks, a claim that the Kurds deny.

Separately, Russia’s military said insurgents used drones to attack its Hmeimeem air base on Syria’s Mediterranean coast a day earlier. The two drones were shot down and caused no damage or injuries, said Maj.-Gen. Yuri Borenkov of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Sides in Syria.

…

The families of American newlyweds who were badly injured during a volcanic eruption in New Zealand said Tuesday the two are progressing as well as could be hoped for given the extent of their injuries.

The couple, Lauren Urey, 32, and Matt Urey, 36, from Richmond, Virginia, remain hospitalized in New Zealand. They were visiting White Island two weeks ago on their honeymoon when the volcano erupted, killing 19 people and leaving more than two dozen others with severe burns from the scalding steam.

Meanwhile, authorities on Tuesday called off the search for two bodies they believe were washed out to sea from the island soon after the eruption. Police Superintendent Andy McGregor said extensive shoreline and aerial searches had not turned up anything new.

The families of the newlyweds issued a statement through New Zealand police.

“There are no words to express how horrible this has been for everyone involved, but we are very lucky and grateful that although Lauren and Matt are severely injured, they’re still with us,” the families said.

They said that while the two were progressing as well as could be hoped for, “they both have a tremendously difficult and long road to recovery ahead of them.”

The families said in the statement they wanted to thank the healthcare professionals that helped save their loved ones, as well as police and the American consulate in New Zealand.

The families said a GoFundMe page had been set up by the couple’s close friends to help with expenses such as lost wages and ongoing medical care. The campaign had on Tuesday raised $51,000 toward a goal of $100,000.

On the GoFundMe page, organizer Aaron McKendry said on Dec. 14 that the couple had already undergone multiple surgeries and had many more to come in a process that would take months.

White Island, also known by its Maori name, Whakaari, is the tip of an undersea volcano about 50 kilometers (30 miles) off New Zealand’s North Island and was a popular tourist destination before the eruption.

Many people have questioned why tourists were still allowed on the island after New Zealand’s GeoNet seismic monitoring agency raised the volcano’s alert level on Nov. 18 from 1 to 2 on a scale where 5 represents a major eruption, noting an increase in sulfur dioxide gas, which originates from magma.

Police reported earlier that crews on a police boat had spotted a male body in the water near the island two days after the eruption, but large waves prevented them from recovering it before it sank.

Police have identified the pair believed to be washed out to sea as New Zealand tour guide Hayden Marshall-Inman, 40, and Australian teenager Winona Langford, 17.

New Zealand authorities are investigating the circumstances around the disaster.

…

A new satellite image of a factory where North Korea makes military equipment used to launch long-range missiles shows the construction of a new structure.

The release of several images from Planet Labs comes amid concern that North Korea could launch a rocket or missile as it seeks concessions in stalled nuclear negotiations with the United States.

North Korea has warned that what “Christmas gift” it gives the U.S. depends on what action Washington takes.

One of the satellite images taken on Dec. 19 shows the completion of a new structure at the March 16 Factory near Pyongyang, where North Korea is believed to be developing and manufacturing vehicles used as mobile launchers for long-range ballistic missiles.

Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia nonproliferation program at the Middlebury Institute, said in an email that the construction seemed to be an expansion of the factory, which would be “big news.”

North Korea used what appeared to be vehicles imported from China during its three flight tests of the Hwasong-14 and -15 intercontinental ballistic missiles in 2017, Lewis said. An increased capacity to produce mobile launchers would potentially help expand North Korea’s ICBM force and improve its survivability during nuclear conflict.

Lewis said, as far as he knows, North Korea only imported six of the vehicles that were used during the 2017 ICBM tests.

“I would think North Korea would want 50-100 such systems,” he said. “This would probably be some mix of ICBMs we have seen and the new system that North Korea claims is under development.”

Nuclear talks between the U.S. and North Korea have been stalled since a February summit between leaders Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un fell apart.

Earlier this month, North Korea carried out two major tests at its long-range rocket launch and missile engine testing site in the country’s northwest. Experts believe it tested a new engine for either an ICBM or a satellite launch vehicle.

The other images released by Planet Labs show that site before and after the Dec. 7 test.
 

…

Curt Flood set off the free-agent revolution 50 years ago Tuesday with a 128-word letter to baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, two paragraphs that pretty much ended the career of a World Series champion regarded as among the sport’s stars but united a union behind his cause.

St. Louis had traded the All-Star center fielder to Philadelphia just after the 1969 season. Flood broke with the sport’s culture of conformity and refused to accept the Cardinals’ right to deal him, becoming a pioneer and a pariah.

After weeks of discussions with the Major League Baseball Players Association, Flood began the union’s equivalent of Lexington and Concord, challenging the reserve clause in first shot of a labor war that would consume the sport for more than a quarter-century.

“After 12 years in the major leagues, I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes,” Flood wrote in his Dec. 24 missive. “I believe that any system which produces that result violates my basic rights as a citizen and is inconsistent with the laws of the United States and of the several states.

“It is my desire to play baseball in 1970 and I am capable of playing. I have received a contract offer from the Philadelphia club, but I believe I have the right to consider offers from other clubs before making any decisions. I, therefore, request that you make known to all the major league clubs my feelings in this matter, and advise them of my availability for the 1970 season.”

Flood, baseball union lost first round

Flood and the union lost that fight in a lawsuit that went all the way the U.S. Supreme Court, but the union’s fight went on.

“If there had not been the person who was going to step out there and take the bullets, there wouldn’t have been anything,” Flood’s widow, the actress Judy Pace, said last weekend. “So he was the man who stepped out of the foxhole to go and challenge.”

The reserve clause was struck down in 1975 by arbitrator Peter Seitz in the case of pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally, and it took eight work stoppages from 1972 through 1995 to achieve long-term labor peace.

Flood, a .293 career hitter, was long gone from the field by then. After sitting out the 1970 season, he had 40 more plate appearances in 1970 for Washington and told the Senators he was retiring via telegraph sent from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York en route to Spain. His only further employment with a major league team before his death from throat cancer in 1997 would be as an Oakland Athletics radio broadcaster for part of the 1978 season. 

“All the groundwork was laid for the people who came after me. The Supreme Court decided not to give it to me, so they gave it to two white guys,” Flood once said. “I think that’s what they were waiting for.”

Average MLB salary is $4 million

Baseball’s average major league salary has risen from just under $25,000 at the time of Flood’s letter to just over $4 million this year, an escalation testament to the power of free agency. When Gerrit Cole signed his $324 million, nine-year contract with the New York Yankees last week, the pitcher paid tribute to Flood and to Marvin Miller, the transformative union head finally elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame on Dec. 9.

“Challenging the reserve clause was essential to the blossoming sport we have today,” Cole said, later adding: “I just think it’s so important that players know the other sacrifices that players made in order to keep the integrity of the game where it is, and so I hope everybody has that conversation about Curt Flood on the bus.”

The National League adopted a reserve clause binding a player to his team in December 1879. Since 1947, paragraph 10 (a) of every Uniform Player’s Contract stated the club could renew the existing contract “for the period of one year on the same terms.” Teams claimed the renewed contract also could be renewed under that provision.

Flood was a teammate of future major league stars Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson at McClymonds High School in West Oakland, California. He signed with Cincinnati for $4,000, appeared in just eight games for the Reds over the 1956 and ’57 seasons and was traded to St. Louis. He played for the Cardinals’ World Series champions in 1964 and ’67, becoming a three-time All-Star and winner of seven straight Gold Gloves. His salary rose to $90,000.

Trade sparked Flood’s lawsuit

On Oct. 8. 1969, St. Louis traded the 31-year-old outfielder with Tim McCarver, Joe Hoerner and Byron Browne to Philadelphia for Dick Allen, Jerry Johnson and Cookie Rojas. Flood issued a statement saying: “If I were younger, I certainly would certainly enjoy playing for Philadelphia. But under the circumstances I have decided to retire from organized baseball, effective today, and remain in St. Louis where I can devote full time to my business interests.”

Flood conferred with his lawyer, Allan Zerman, and met with Miller and union general counsel Dick Moss the following month for four hours over lunch at the Summit Hotel in New York and discussed plans for a lawsuit against Kuhn, the AL and NL, both league presidents and the 24 clubs. The union retained former Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg to represent Flood.

When the union executive board met Dec. 13 at the Sheraton Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, it voted 25-0 to give Flood the union’s support and pay his legal expenses, a group that included future Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente, Reggie Jackson, Brooks Robinson, Joe Torre and Jim Bunning.

Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Tom Haller asked Flood whether race was a factor in his decision.

“I think the change in black consciousness in recent years has made me more sensitive to injustice in every area of my life,“ Miller quoted Flood as saying in the union leader’s 1991 book, a “Whole Different Ball Game.” “But I want you to know that what I’m doing here I’m doing as a ballplayer. … I think it’s absolutely terrible that we have stood by and watched this situation go on for so many years and never pulled together to do anything about it.” 

Letter to Kuhn

Flood sent his letter to Kuhn on Dec. 24. Kuhn wrote back Dec. 30 and released both letters.

“I certainly agree with you that you, as a human being, are not a piece of property to be bought and sold. That is fundamental in our society and I think obvious,” he wrote.

“However, I cannot see its applicability to the situation at hand.”

Flood sued on Jan. 16 in federal court in Manhattan, claiming antitrust violations and involuntary servitude, among other allegations. The trial lasted from May 19 through June 10 and witnesses included Jackie Robinson and Hank Greenberg.

“Since baseball remains exempt from the antitrust laws unless and until the Supreme Court or Congress holds to the contrary, we have no basis for proceeding to the underlying question of whether baseball’s reserve system would or would not be deemed reasonable if it were in fact subject to antitrust regulation,“ U.S. District Judge Irving Ben Cooper wrote on Aug. 12.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed on April 7, 1971, in a decision by Judges Sterry Waterman, Leonard Moore and Wilfred Feinberg.

Traded to Senators

Flood was traded from the Phillies to Washington in November 1970, hit .200 with two RBIs in 13 games for the Senators in 1971 and failed to show up for an April 26 game against Minnesota. He sent team owner Bob Short a telegram that said “a year and a half is too much. Very serious personal problems mounting every day.”

His case went on, and the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 against Flood on June 19, 1972. Justice Harry Blackmun refused to overturn the prior Supreme Court decisions in 1922 and 1953 that baseball was not interstate commerce.

“If there is any inconsistency or illogic in all this, it is an inconsistency and illogic of long standing that is to be remedied by the Congress, and not by this Court,” Blackmun wrote.

Messersmith-McNally case

Seitz ruled three years later in the Messersmith-McNally case that the renewal applied for one year only. The current system of free agency after six years of Major League Service was agreed to on July 12, 1976, and the salary surge began.

Nolan Ryan broke the $1 million average salary mark after the 1979 season, Roger Clemens $5 million after 1990, Albert Belle $10 million following 1996, Alex Rodriguez $20 million after 2000 and Clayton Kershaw $30 million after 2013. In the Curt Flood Act of 1998, Congress made major league contract negotiations subject to antitrust law.

“He did draw that line in the sand,” current union head Tony Clark said of Flood. “If he hadn’t been willing to do that. I think all of our histories change in our sport and others.”

…

Pirates have attacked four ships in the harbor of Gabon’s capital, killing a Gabonese captain and kidnapping four Chinese crew members.

Gabon’s security forces, assisted by Interpol and other regional forces, are looking for the hostages and their captors.  

One vessel belonged to Satram, a maritime transport company based in Gabon.  Associated Press reports the captain worked for Satram.  

The French news agency AFP says that two of the ships were owned by Sigapeche, a Sino-Gabonese company that employed the kidnapped crew.

The fourth ship flew a Panamanian flag, according to AFP.

Attacks in Libreville’s harbor are rare, but happen frequently in the surrounding Gulf of Guinea waters.

The International Maritime Bureau says 82% of the world’s maritime kidnappings happen in the Gulf of Guinea.

…

Protesters scuffled with police at Gare de Lyon station in Paris on Monday as a nationwide strike against plans by French President Emmanuel Macron to change the country’s pension system dragged on into a 19th day.

French TV station BFM showed footage of riot police tangling with around 30 protesters at the Gare de Lyon, one of the French
capital’s busiest stations and often used for travel to ski resorts in the Alps.

Protesters let off flares and fireworks, releasing smoke that drifted down into the station concourse.

The walkouts, which have disrupted Christmas preparations, have also affected other main Paris stations such as the Gare du
Nord, which handles the Eurostar services to London and Brussels, and the Gare de l’Est.

“I understand [the strike] but I am not OK with it as I think all French people are being held hostage and it is difficult for us to understand what the goal is,” said Damien Dremont, a commuter at the Gare de L’Est.

Two weeks of nationwide industrial action against Macron’s pension reform, which would scrap special pensions for many
public sector staff and make people work to 64 to draw a full pension, have crippled France’s transport network.

France’s oil sector workers are also expected to vote in favor of shutting down oil refineries as part of the protest.

In a bid to defuse the public anger, Macron over the weekend decided to forego a special presidential pension payout when he
eventually steps down.

…

Thousands of Iraqis protested Monday in Baghdad and other parts of the country after politicians missed an overnight deadline for naming a new prime minister.

Anti-government rallies have rocked the capital and the Shiite-majority south since October with people protesting against corruption, poor services and a lack of jobs.

President Barham Salih and parliament have missed several deadlines to appoint a new prime minister following Adel Abdul Mahdi’s resignation last month. Mahdi and his government agreed to stay on in a caretaker role until a new prime minister is approved.

Mahdi’s resignation failed to satisfy anti-government protesters who have said it is not enough for a new prime minister to take over.  They are demanding changes to the entire political system imposed after the U.S. invasion in 2003, which they say is corrupt, inept and does little to help impoverished Iraqis despite the nation’s oil wealth.

Protesters on Sunday decried a potential pick for the new prime minister, former higher education minister Qusay al-Suhail, who is opposed by critics for his ties to Iran. Demonstrators categorically reject his candidacy along with any other potential contenders who have been part of the government since 2003.

At least 460 people have died and tens of thousands of others have been wounded since the demonstrations erupted in October in Baghdad and in Shiite-majority areas in southern Iraq.

…

 With North Korea signaling bigger provocations in 2020, some analysts worry the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, could overplay his hand and make a dangerous miscalculation, especially if Kim believes he can affect U.S. President Donald Trump’s reelection chances.

North Korea has set an end-of-year deadline for the U.S. to offer more concessions in nuclear talks, and promised Washington a sinister “Christmas gift,” possibly a long-range missile test, which could upset nearly two years of diplomacy between Trump and Kim.

The moves suggest an emboldened Kim believes he can hold out for a better deal, possibly because he sees Trump as weakened by impeachment and a tough reelection campaign that is set to enter a more intense phase.

Trump, who has portrayed his outreach to Kim as a major foreign policy victory, has at times directly linked North Korea with his 2020 reelection chances, despite little if any evidence suggesting it will be a major issue for U.S. voters.

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Heading into 2020, Trump Defends Faltering North Korea Talks as a Win

Trump shrugs off missile tests, lack of progress in talks

North Korea hasn’t explicitly threatened to interfere with the election. However, its state media accuse the U.S. of deliberately prolonging the nuclear talks to preserve a Trump foreign policy win during election season. North Korean officials have also said Trump is “very fretful” and must be in “great jitters” about what Pyongyang is about to do following Kim’s end-of-year deadline.

“They truly believe they can influence the presidential election in November,” said Bong Young-shik, who teaches at Seoul’s Sogang University. “North Koreans think the world revolves around North Korea… it’s a very unfortunate miscalculation and misunderstanding.”

Trump takes credit… but for what?

North Korea’s confidence may stem in part from Trump, who at times portrays the stalled nuclear talks as having already succeeded.

After his initial summit with Kim in 2018, Trump famously declared, “There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea.” In reality, North Korea never agreed to give up its nuclear weapons and has been steadily increasing its arsenal, according to experts.

Trump has also taken credit for Kim’s self-imposed, two-year-long moratorium on long-range missile and nuclear tests. By threatening to end that suspension, Kim appears to be trying to bolster his leverage.

Earlier this month, Trump directly warned Kim against provocations during the U.S. presidential campaign.

“I’d be surprised if North Korea acted hostilely,” Trump said in early December. “He knows I have an election coming up. I don’t think he wants to interfere with that, but we’ll have to see.”

Not a big factor in 2020

Trump’s statement appeared to grant Kim leverage many believe he would not otherwise possess. Polls have long suggested domestic, not foreign policy, issues are typically the most important in U.S. presidential elections.

Only 3% of registered U.S. voters said foreign policy is the top issue facing the country, according to a May poll by RealClearPolitics. Healthcare, the economy, immigration, education, and the environment all were chosen as bigger priorities, respectively.

According to exit poll data from the 2016 presidential election, only about 13% of voters said foreign policy was the most important issue.

Ahead of that election, voters overwhelmingly said that Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump, would make better foreign policy decisions, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center.

“North Korea is extremely low on the list of key issues that are determining the next election,” John Delury, a professor at Seoul’s Yonsei University, said. “It would take a war really for North Korea to have an impact on who the next American president is,” he said.

Miscalculation?

Based on his conversations with North Koreans, Delury agrees that Pyongyang likely thinks it can sway U.S. voters by ramping up tensions during the election. That could be a dangerous miscalculation, he warned.

“A provocation at this stage will have a conventional, security, or even military response, and they’ll be surprised because they thought they were able to play U.S. domestic politics, when in fact they’re not,” Delury said. “Everyone knows the election is not about North Korea.”

In 2017, Trump exchanged nicknames and threats of nuclear war with Kim. At one point, Trump threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea. Reports suggested the Trump administration was considering a preemptive military attack on North Korea — a so-called “bloody nose” strike — in what some described as an attempt to deter North Korea from further provocations.

According to a recently released book, Trump told author Doug Wead that he was serious about his North Korea threat. 

“You only say this if you are ready to act on it. It was unbelievably close,” Trump was quoted as saying in the book.

Trump shrugs off deadline

So far, Trump has not addressed North Korea’s deadline. In fact, Trump has rarely mentioned North Korea over the past several months, even as it ramped up threats and conducted a series of short-range missile tests.

“He wants to be able to say he made a deal. I think that’s the big thing he’s after,” said Gwenda Blair, a Trump family biographer who has followed Trump’s real estate and other deals for decades.

Blair said Trump is not likely to welcome any reminder that his North Korea policy has not resulted in Kim giving up his nuclear weapons.

“He wants to hang on to that [win] as a bullet point,” she said, adding, “he can’t engage with anything that might threaten that.”

It’s not clear how Trump would respond to a major North Korea provocation, such as a long-range missile or nuclear test.

Senior U.S. military officials have said they are closely watching North Korea as the deadline approaches.

Mark Milley, the chairman of the U.S Joint Chiefs of Staff, last week acknowledged the North Korean threats, stressing the U.S. is “prepared for whatever.”

…

China Monday hit back at the US for criticizing its blocking of a U.N. Security Council resolution over civilian aid, accusing Washington of “politicizing humanitarian issues.”

On Saturday U.S.  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described as “shameful” Russia and China blocking the U.N. resolution, which would have extended for a year cross-border humanitarian aid to four million Syrians.

“To Russia and China, who have chosen to make a political statement by opposing this resolution, you have blood on your hands,” Pompeo said in a statement.

China reacted angrily Monday, saying it voted on the basis of “right and wrong.”

“We firmly reject the unjustifiable accusations made by the U.S. side on China’s voting position,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing in Beijing.

Geng said the U.S. was “politicizing humanitarian issues” and “pursuing a typical double standard.”

Humanitarian aid currently flows into Syria through U.N.-designated checkpoints in Turkey and Iraq without the formal permission of the regime in Damascus, but that authority is due to expire on January 10.

Germany, Belgium and Kuwait presented a resolution extending that authority for a year, winning the support of 13 council members but drawing the vetoes of Russia and China.

A competing Russian resolution would have granted a six-month extension while reducing the number of UN crossing points, but it failed to get the minimum nine votes.

Russia — an ally and major supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — has used its veto 14 times on Syrian issues since civil war broke out there in 2011.

The resolution failed as tens of thousands of civilians have been fleeing the northwestern Idlib region amid heavy bombardments by Assad’s Russian-backed government, in the last bastion of the jihadist opposition.

…

Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets Sunday ahead of a midnight deadline to name an interim prime minister.

Anti-government rallies have rocked Baghdad and the Shi’ite-majority South since October, protesting against corruption, poor services, and a lack of jobs. Protesters have called for an end to the political system imposed after the U.S. invasion in 2003.

Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s resigned Friday. President Barham Salih and parliament have since missed several deadlines to appoint a new prime minister. Mahdi and his government had agreed to stay on in a caretaker role until a new prime minister is approved.

But Mahdi’s resignation failed to satisfy anti-government protesters who have said it is not enough for a new prime minister to take over — they are demanding changes to the entire political system, which they call corrupt, inept, and say it does little to help impoverished Iraqis despite the nation’s oil wealth.

Protesters on Sunday decried the likely pick for the new interim prime minister, former higher education minister Qusay al-Suhail, who is opposed by critics for his ties to Iran. Demonstrators categorically reject his candidacy along with any other potential contenders who have been part of the government since 2003.

At least 460 people have died and tens of thousands of others have been wounded since the demonstrations erupted in October in Baghdad and in Shi’ite-majority areas in southern Iraq.

…

Chanting “freedom,” Fozia stands among the sea of student protesters in New Delhi loudly demanding that the government scrap a new law that introduces religion as a criterion for citizenship for persecuted minorities from three neighboring countries.

“India will accept people from all faiths except Muslim. This is creating inequality,” says the undergraduate student of Jamia Millia Islamia University that has spearheaded the protests against the new law. Wearing a black veil and giving only her first name, she refers to the country’s constitution that guarantees equality. “It is damaging the country’s basic structure,” she says.

WATCH: Anjana Pasricha’s video report

Women at Center Stage in Protests Against India’s Citizenship Law video player.

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India’s new citizenship law that excludes Muslims from six religious groups who will get expedited citizenship if they fled religious persecution in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, has unleashed public anger across several Indian cities and many university campuses for being discriminatory.   

But this protest at Jamia Millia, where many Muslims study, is unusual — on the front lines are hundreds of Muslim women from conservative homes who have traditionally stayed away from public places. As housewives and mothers join students to sing songs and hold placards on the street outside the university campus, some keep their faces covered or refuse to reveal their names. Muslims have almost never led protests in India but fears that the new law will relegate them to second-class citizens has brought many into the streets.    

Female students at the university, many with hijabs covering their hair, have been at the forefront with their male counterparts since the protests erupted last week. Fozia for example ignores the chill in New Delhi’s winter air and arrives every morning at 7 am to organize the rally and ensure that arrangements are made to distribute water and food to those who camp here for several hours.

Many of them are furious not just with the new citizenship law but also with the government’s efforts to quell the protests. At Jamia, at least 200 students were injured when police lobbed tear gas after entering the campus last weekend to break up the student demonstrations.

Among the protesters is 55-year-old Rabia, who gives only one name and says her son was among those who sustained injuries when police entered the university library where students were working.   

“Those of us who wear these clothes seldom come out of our homes,” she says pointing to her black veil on which she has pinned a huge poster, “Save the Constitution.” But her son’s experience has been a tipping point for her. “The situation has gotten now out of hand that is why we are out. Till they don’t scrap the bill, I will be out protesting,” she says.

Police say they used maximum restraint and their action was meant to curb violence.

But many who witnessed first hand what happened to their fellow students were traumatized and are now determined to make their voices heard. Zakeera Roohi, an undergraduate student, says it is the “brutality” of the police that has made her lend solidarity to those present here as much as her anger at the new law.

The government has called the law a compassionate measure for minorities such as Hindu and Christian refugees who have no place to go. But many non-Muslims, both from Jamia and other colleges, who have joined the protests, fear it damages India’s tradition of a pluralistic society.

“I am a Hindu but this bill is affecting me because my fellow citizens and my fellow students are being affected by this,” according to Sumedha Poddar. “In my entire one, one and a half year in Jamia, I have been with my Muslim friends. I have shared my lunch with them, I went to their home in Eid and I have celebrated their festivals.”

Poddar was present on the campus when police stormed inside.  She locked herself in a room to save herself.

Another undergraduate student, who refuses to give her name, has not told her parents that she is joining the protest but hopes that the hundreds of Muslim women present here will break stereotypes about the community. “I told my parents I am with a friend and got out,” she says.

The chants being raised here are not just opposing the citizenship law, but also plans by the government to roll out a citizens’ register that will require all Indians to submit proof of their nationality. The government’s assurances that Indian Muslims do not risk losing their citizenship has failed to calm fears that their exclusion from the new law makes them vulnerable. And many are anguished.   

“Why, why do we have to prove your citizenship first of all? Our forefathers have fought for this nation,” says Roohi. “Then why do we have to prove our loyalty to the country?”

Out on this street for a second week, these young women are vowing not to back down from fighting a law that they see as an assault on India’s secular constitution.  “Because we are Indian. We have basic rights. They are being trampled upon,” says Fozia.

It remains to be seen whether these protests — the most widespread witnessed in recent years — will continue or slowly fizzle out. But they underline a loss of confidence among Muslims in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and growing fears that he is pressing ahead with a Hindu nationalist agenda.

…

Among the protesters rallying in India against a controversial new citizenship law that critics call anti-Muslim are thousands of female students and conservative Muslim women who seldom appear in public places.  The law has excluded Muslims from six religious groups who will get expedited citizenship if they fled persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. At a university in the Indian capital which has been at the forefront of protests, Anjana Pasricha talks to women to find out why they have emerged on the streets.

…

Boeing Co’s Starliner astronaut spacecraft landed in the New Mexico desert on Sunday, the company said, after faulty software forced officials to cut short an unmanned mission aimed at taking it to the International Space Station.

The landing at 7:58 a.m. ET (1258 GMT) in the White Sands desert capped a turbulent 48 hours for Boeing’s botched milestone test of an astronaut capsule that is designed to help NASA regain its human spaceflight capabilities.

“We hit the bull’s-eye,” a Boeing spokesman said on a livestream of the landing.

The landing will yield the mission’s most valuable test data after failing to meet its core objective of docking to the space station.

After Starliner’s touchdown, teams of engineers in trucks raced to inspect the vehicle, whose six airbags cushioned its impact on the desert surface as planned, a live video feed showed.

The spacecraft was in an apparently stable condition after landing, according to images posted by officials from the U.S. space agency NASA.

The CST-100 Starliner’s debut launch to orbit was a milestone test for Boeing. The company is vying with SpaceX, the privately held rocket company of billionaire high-tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, to revive NASA’s human spaceflight capabilities.  SpaceX carried out a successful unmanned flight of its Crew Dragon capsule to the space station in March.

The Starliner capsule was successfully launched from Florida on Friday, but an automated timer error prevented it from attaining the right orbit to meet and dock with the space station. That failure came as Boeing sought an engineering and public relations victory in a year that has seen corporate crisis over
the grounding of its 737 MAX jetliner following two fatal crashes of the aircraft. The company’s shares dropped 1.6% on Friday.

Parachute challenge

Ahead of Sunday’s landing, Starliner’s three main parachutes deployed just over one mile (1,600 metres) from the Earth’s surface after enduring intense heat from the violent reentry through the atmosphere, plummeting at 25 times the speed of sound.

The parachute deployment, one of the most challenging procedures under the program to develop a commercial manned space capsule, earned Boeing a fresh win after a previous mishap where one parachute failed to deploy during a November test of Starliner’s abort thrusters.

That test tossed the capsule miles into the sky to demonstrate its ability to land a crew safely back on the ground in the event of a launch failure.

For the current mission, Boeing and NASA officials said they still do not understand why software caused the craft to miss the orbit required.

Sunday’s landing marked the first time a U.S. orbital space capsule designed for humans landed on land.
All past U.S. capsules, including SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, splashed down in the ocean. Russia’s Soyuz capsules and China’s past crew capsules made land landings.

…

Holiday travelers across France scrambled for alternatives Sunday as an 18-day-old transport strike over pension reform saw train services slashed yet again.

President Emmanuel Macron issued an appeal on Saturday for a truce over the holidays, three days after talks between the government and unions failed to ease the standoff and labor leaders called for further mobilization.

Workers at the SNCF and RATP rail and public transport companies have downed tools to protest at the government’s plan to meld France’s 42 pension schemes into a single points-based one, which would see some public employees lose certain privileges.

Weeks of travel misery worsened on Sunday, when tens of thousands planned to meet up with family and friends for the Christmas break.

Only half of high-speed TGVs and a quarter of inter-city trains were running, and the SNCF urged travellers to cancel or delay planned trips.

In the Paris area, commuter trains were down to a trickle, and only two out of 16 metro lines were running on the last shopping Sunday before Christmas.

Ten metro lines will open Monday but at reduced frequencies except for the two driverless lines, RATP said, while key commuter trains will run during rush hour but at reduced frequencies.

SNCF said two in five TGV trains will operate and international traffic will also be affected.

Public support dropping

Macron, on a visit to Ivory Coast, urged striking workers to embrace a “spirit of responsibility” and for “collective good sense to triumph.”

“I believe there are moments in the life of a nation when it is also good to call a truce to respect families and the lives of families,” he said in Abidjan.

The Elysee Palace also announced Saturday that Macron would renounce the pension he would be entitled to as former president, and he will not take up a lucrative seat on the Constitutional Council as tradition dictates.

In so doing, the former banker, who turned 42 on Saturday, will forgo a total of 19,720 euros ($21,850) a month.

A poll by the IFOP agency published Sunday showed public backing for the action dropping by three percentage points, though 51 percent still expressed support or sympathy for the strikers.

‘It’s unbearable’

Jean Garrigues, a historian with the University of Orleans, told AFP this was likely to change over the holidays — cherished family time for the French.

“The transport blockage has mostly affected the Parisian region, and we can see that in the coming period, it will also affect people in the rural areas. This will alienate many people from the labor movement,” he said.

On Saturday, frustrated traveler Jeffrey Nwutu Ebube was trying to find a way home to Toulouse in the south from the northern port town of Le Havre — some 850 kilometers (530 miles) away.

“I’m upset, this strike is unbearable… The government must do something,” he told AFP.

The government insists a pension overhaul is necessary to create a fairer, more transparent system.

It would do away with schemes that offer early retirement and other advantages to mainly public-sector workers, such as train drivers who can retire as early as 52.

While some unions support a single system, almost all reject a new proposed “pivot age” of 64 — beyond the legal retirement age of 62 — for retiring with a full pension.

Heavy toll on business

Unions are hoping for a repeat of 1995 when the government backed down on pension reform after three weeks of metro and rail stoppages just before Christmas.

The protest is taking a heavy toll on businesses, especially retailers, hotels and restaurants during one of the busiest periods of the year.

Industry associations have reported turnover declines of 30 to 60 percent from a year earlier.

Stormy weather contributed to travelers’ woes Sunday, dropping trees on railway lines in the south of France, blocking several routes, as violent winds left 110,000 households in the southwest without electricity.

…

Berlin police gave the all-clear on Saturday after earlier evacuating a Christmas market that was the scene of a fatal attack three years ago to investigate a possible suspicious object, which they did not find.

Tunisian Anis Amri ploughed a truck into the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz in 2016, killing 12 people. Amri, who had Islamist militant ties, was later shot dead by Italian police after he fled Germany.

“Our police measures around #Breitscheidplatz are finished. A dangerous object has not been found,” Berlin police tweeted. “In the evening, our colleagues had found two people who behaved suspiciously at the #Breitscheidplatz and checked them.”

Daily newspaper Bild quoted a police spokesman as saying that the two men were stopped after leaving the square at a  conspicuously fast pace and that, on taking their names, officers believed one was the subject of an arrest warrant.

The police cleared the square as a precaution. However, they subsequently realized the man’s name was similar to someone facing an arrest warrant, but not an exact match, Bild reported.

…

Travelers across France scrambled Saturday to begin their Christmas getaways as a strike over a pension overhaul showed no signs of letting up. 

Trains were canceled, roads were packed and nerves were tested, but hopes of a holiday truce were dashed after talks between the government and union leaders this week failed to ease the standoff.  Train operator SNCF warned that the traffic would be “severely disrupted” over the festive period. 
 
SNCF said its aim to allow 850,000 ticket holders to travel this weekend was being upheld — but only half of its usual services were running. 
 
“I’m upset. This strike is unbearable. … The government must do something,” said Jeffrey Nwutu Ebube, who was in the northern port town of Le Havre trying to find a way back home to the southern city of Toulouse, 850 kilometers (530 miles) away. 
 
Late Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron called on the strikers to embrace a “spirit of responsibility” and for “collective good sense to triumph.” 
 
“I believe there are moments in the life of a nation when it is also good to call a truce to respect families and the lives of families,” he said, speaking in Abdijan, the commercial capital of Ivory Coast, where he was on a visit. 

Options are few

Many stranded travelers have turned to car rental agencies or sharing platforms since the strike began on December 5, but the last-minute surge in demand meant vehicles were hard to come by.  

“We tried other ways, BlaBlaCar, et cetera, but everything is full, everything is taken,” said Jerome Pelletier, a manager in the textile industry. 
 
Macron wants to forge the country’s 42 separate pension regimes into a single points-based system that the government says will be fairer and more transparent. 
 
It would do away with schemes that offer early retirement and other advantages to mainly public sector workers, not least train drivers who can retire as early as 52. 
 
While some unions support a single system, almost all reject a new “pivot age” of 64 — beyond the legal retirement age of 62 — which workers would have to reach to get a full pension. 

1995 strike
 
They are hoping for a repeat of 1995, when the government backed down on pension reform after three weeks of metro and rail stoppages just before Christmas. 
 
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said Thursday that talks had made progress and called on unions to lift the strike “so that millions of French can join their families for the end of this year.” 
 
Although the moderate UNSA union agreed, the hardline CGT and Force Ouvrier unions said they would not let up. 
 
This weekend, the last for Christmas shopping, the RATP Paris train operator said metro services would be “heavily reduced” on Sunday with only two driverless metro lines working. 
 
The protest is also taking a heavy toll on businesses, especially retail during one of the busiest periods of the year, with industry associations reporting turnover declines of 30 to 60 percent from a year earlier. 

…

The United States will continue to pursue diplomatic negotiations with North Korea while pressing Pyongyang to improve its human rights practice, a State Department official said this week. 
 
Robert Destro, U.S. assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor affairs, told VOA in an interview Thursday that Washington has to “engage” with “a human rights violator like North Korea” to “get them to change their behavior.”   

Destro’s remarks came amid escalating threats from North Korea to give the U.S. an ominous “Christmas gift” and walk away from nuclear talks. 
 
Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that he was redesignating North Korea as a Country of Particular Concern for systematic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom. The same day, President Donald Trump signed legislation tightening sanctions on Pyongyang. 
 
Destro also commented on human rights practices in Iran, China and Venezuela. The following are excerpts from the interview. 
 
VOA: Earlier this morning, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just redesignated Iran as a Country of Particular Concern. One year ago, Iran, along with others, like China and North Korea, were designated as CPC. Are those countries being redesignated again this year under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998? 
 
DESTRO: I can’t speak to the other countries, you know. I can only speak for the countries that have been through the designation process. So I’m — the secretary announced Iran, so that’s all I can talk to you about today. 
 
VOA: On North Korea: Yesterday, the United Nations General Assembly, in an annual resolution, condemned “the long-standing and ongoing systematic, widespread and gross violations of human rights” in and by North Korea. Could you please comment? 
 
DESTRO: Well, we remain deeply concerned about what’s going on in North Korea. I think the credible evidence that’s coming out of North Korea speaks for itself. I think that the U.S. has been very eloquent and I don’t think we have much to add to that. It’s a very good statement. 
 
VOA: Is there any discussion in this building that putting North Korea’s human rights abuses on the spot is hurting the diplomatic effort? 
 
DESTRO: I’m not sure how to answer a question like that. I think that it’s — in any case where you have a human rights violator like North Korea and you’re trying to get them to change their behavior, you have to engage with them. I mean, this is just human behavior. You’re either going to have a good relationship or a bad relationship or something in between. So my view is that there’s nothing inconsistent with the president trying to engage with the North Koreans and to try and get them to change their behavior. That’s the whole point of the negotiations. 
 
VOA: On Tibet, a recent proposed congressional bill — the Tibetan Policy and Support Act — would impose sanctions on any Chinese official who interferes in the selection of the successor to His Holiness Dalai Lama. It would also press for a U.S. consulate in Lhasa. China has pushed back, saying the United States “blatantly interferes in China’s internal affairs and sends a wrong signal to the Tibetan independent forces.” What is your take on this issue? How do you respond to China’s criticism? 
 
DESTRO: As an official of the State Department, it’s not my role to comment on pending congressional legislation. Congress is its own independent branch, you know. They will take whatever action they need to take, and then we will take whatever actions are appropriate once they’ve acted. 
 
VOA: On Venezuela, what is the U.S. assessment of the reported harassment by the government against the National Assembly members? 
 
DESTRO: Well, the United States is committed to democracy in Venezuela. By removing the immunity of members of Congress, you know, you don’t foster democracy. And so we’re very concerned about any attempts by the government to suppress its own democratically elected representatives. That’s just not appropriate. 
 
VOA: Do you have a general view on the current human rights situation in Venezuela? 
 
DESTRO: Well, we applaud the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Madam (Michelle) Bachelet’s most recent report. We think it is a good follow-up to the report that they had before. And I think we all need to study it very carefully and to take heed of the kinds of recommendations that it makes. 
 
VOA: Thank you very much for talking to Voice of America. 
 
DESTRO: Thank you. 

…

President Donald Trump on Saturday said the United States and China would “very shortly” sign their so-called Phase One trade pact.

“We just achieved a breakthrough on the trade deal and we will be signing it very shortly,” Trump said at a Turning Point USA event in Florida.

The Phase One deal was announced this month as part of a bid to end the monthslong tit-for-tat trade war between the world’s two largest economies, which has roiled markets and hit global growth.

Under the deal, the United States would agree to reduce some tariffs in exchange for a big jump in Chinese purchases of American farm products.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said last week that the pact would be signed in early January, adding that the deal had already been translated and was just undergoing a technical “scrub.” 

…