Croatia’s first-ever presidency in the European Union will come at come at a “critical period” for the 28-nation bloc, outgoing EU leader Donald Tusk said Tuesday. The EU’s newest member could end up in charge of launching the bloc’s post-Brexit negotiations with Britain, the European Council president said after talks with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. Croatia, which joined the EU in 2013, takes over the bloc’s six-month rotating chairmanship at the beginning of January while Britain’s departure from the bloc is now set for Jan. 31. “Your task is not easy,” said Tusk. “It will be a critical period for the EU and we will be relying on your steady leadership.” Tusk expressed confidence in Croatia’s preparation for the job, adding that Croatia also needs to focus on the EU’s enlargement agenda and the volatile Western Balkans. EU aspirations in the Western Balkans have been dealt a blow after France and the Netherlands blocked the opening of membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania. “I deeply believe that you (Croatia) will do everything in your power to restore EU unity and enlargement while demonstrating positive EU engagement in the region,” Tusk said. Tusk was in Zagreb, the Croatian capital, …

A Brazilian tribe that has been fighting for 15 years to preserve land they use to gather food won a victory on Monday when public pressure made Portuguese hotel group Vila Gale cancel plans to build a 500-room luxury resort on the Bahia coast. Indigenous group Tupinambá de Olivença, numbering 4,631 people, has been fighting for the land to be designated as a reserve since 2003. Brazil’s indigenous rights agency Funai approved the request in 2009, and Brazil’s second-highest court unanimously voted in favor of the Tupinambá in 2016. But the tribe still requires final sign-off from the Ministry of Justice and the president himself for the protected status of the territory to become official. Despite multiple requests from the tribe, nothing has happened since 2016. Last week, Brazil National Human Rights Council urged the Bolsonaro government to speed up the final demarcation of the Tupinambá land, which is located in the coastal Atlantic forest in southern Bahia, known for its coconut tree-lined beaches that attract millions of tourists each year. Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has not yet made a decision on the specific case of the Tupinambá but stated on multiple occasions that he does not intend to sign …

The Iranian people have experienced days without the internet, the result of a government-backed shutdown as a response to nationwide protests over gas price increases. This isn’t the first time the Tehran government has blocked Iranians’ access to parts of the internet or to social media sites. But observers say the current shutdown, which began Saturday night, has been nearly complete, with few residents still with internet access. “It’s a coup against internet freedom,” said Amir Rashidi, an internet security and digital rights researcher at the Center for Human Rights in Iran. “Disrupting internet and blocking content are things they do. We get used to it. But this kind of thing — a total internet shutdown — they have never done that.” “Unlike previous efforts at censorship and bandwidth throttling, the internet of Iran is presently experiencing a multi-day wholesale disconnection for much of its population – arguably the largest such event ever for Iran.” says @DougMadoryhttps://t.co/8HE5oClY96 — InternetIntelligence (@InternetIntel) November 18, 2019 Communications blocked In prior disruptions, some Iranians have been able to circumvent blockages with digital tools, such as encryption and others that allow anonymous communication. But those tools are not helping this time, experts said. That may …

The Organization of American States said on Tuesday that Nicaragua was experiencing a “critical human rights situation” that had upset the country’s constitutional order, following President Daniel Ortega’s crackdown on opponents. Major demonstrations last year left some 300 people dead. Protests – including two hunger strikes by mothers of detained activists – have started up again in recent days, leading to clashes with Ortega supporters and arrests. The report by a commission of the Washington-based OAS followed United Nations criticism earlier in the day of the arrest of 16 anti-government protesters on charges it said seemed “trumped-up.” The OAS recommended a special session of its general assembly be convened immediately to review affairs in the country. “It is clear that Nicaragua is experiencing a critical human rights situation that urgently demands the attention of the Inter-American community and the world at large,” the OAS said. The Nicaraguan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has previously dismissed the creation of the OAS commission, viewing it as an attempt to interfere in its affairs. A demonstrator wearing the national flag looks at pictures of protesters who died during the protests against Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s government last …

Country vocal group Lady Antebellum know how to move people to tears with their songs and their newest record feels as vulnerable and honest as a therapy session. The trio of Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood are known for their heartfelt harmonies and emotional resonance on songs like the Grammy-winning “Need You Now,” but on their new album, “Ocean,” they looked inward at their own relationships. “It’s been inspiring to watch that honesty come out,” said Haywood. “It’s been exciting for this season for us to be very self-aware and be vulnerable, be courageous and not be afraid and not have any fear to say those things.” Kelley co-wrote “Be Patient with My Love” after feeling like he was letting his emotions get in the way of his relationships, saying things he didn’t mean to his wife, and not taking care of his spiritual health. “That was kind of my first time I’ve really been really honest with myself on a song,” Kelley said. “My wife, when I played it for her, she was really proud of that. It’s nothing new to us. There’s a lot of that, say something you didn’t mean, wake up the next day, …

The world’s first printed Christmas card has gone on show at the Charles Dickens Museum in London, just over a month before the Royal Mail deadline for posting Christmas cards in Britain. The card was printed in 1843, the year the Victorian author published “A Christmas Carol,” the story of Ebenezer Scrooge whose miserable attitude is transformed after being visited by the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. Designed by Henry Cole and illustrated by John Callcott Horsley, the hand-colored card shows a family gathered around a table enjoying a glass of wine with a message: A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to You. It was sent from a son to his parents. Of the 1,000 originally printed, 21 survived and one has been loaned to the museum by a book dealer in San Francisco. Cole’s original proof is also on loan. It was given as a gift in 1865 and has a penciled note to the recipient in the bottom right-hand corner. Dickens and Cole worked at the same time, unknown to each other, shaping what would become popular traditions. “This was a really important year for the development of the modern Christmas. The …

Kelly Clarkson already has a stacked resume — singer, songwriter, talk-show host, “Voice” coach, children’s book author and mother of four. Now she’s adding travel to the mix. Clarkson has been named godmother of Norwegian Cruise Line’s newest ship, Norwegian Encore, and the pop star said she signed on to the project because it aligned with the things that are most important to her life: families spending time together, humanitarian work and live music. “That’s kind of where I’m at in my career. It’s not just about singing. It’s not just about the talk show. It’s not just about being the godmother of the ship, Vegas residency or any of that stuff. It’s about all of it tying together and making sense organically together,” Clarkson said. “That’s when I start to say ‘yes’ to things at this point in my career because I don’t need to say ‘yes’ necessarily because I’m super-blessed. I say ‘yes’ when it fits and it makes sense with the whole package.” Clarkson, 37, will perform at the ship’s christening ceremony Thursday in Miami. She jokes about being a godmother for the first time and is excited to finally take a vacation that suits all her …

British rock band The Who became the first act to receive a paving stone on the Music Walk of Fame in London on Tuesday, in the unveiling of a new cultural attraction that echoes the starry sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard. Following the presentation of the Walk’s founding stone, The Who’s two surviving members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend posed by their own plaque, depicting a music record, laid out in London’s buzzing Camden district. The Music Walk of Fame will honor artists and others working in the industry in a series of unveilings between the Roundhouse and the Koko performance venues in the north London district that is popular with musicians. “Camden has always been vital to London’s thriving music scene and is, as we all know, a world-renowned hub for the arts,” The Who said in a statement. “As Londoners, it’s very surreal to be immortalized in stone on Camden High Street, and it’s quite something to know that people can pop by and see us anytime, albeit virtually.” Up to 20 stones will be laid out each year, organizers have said, and inductees, chosen by a panel, will be honored in several categories: icon, innovator, inspiration, industry, unsung …

The United States would raise tariffs on Chinese imports if no  deal is reached with Beijing to end a trade war, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, threatening an escalation of the spat that has damaged economic growth worldwide. Speaking at a cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump said he had a good relationship with China, noting that China was “moving along.” However, he said China would have to make a deal “I like.” “If we don’t make a deal with China, I’ll just raise the tariffs even higher,” he told a room filled with senior U.S. officials. The United States and China have been locked in successive waves of tit-for-tat tariffs that have roiled financial markets and threatened to drag growth in the global economy to its lowest rate since the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Hopes were high that a partial trade deal could be signed at a summit in Santiago, Chile that was scheduled for mid-November. The summit was canceled amid unrest in Chile and a path forward for a deal remains unclear. Sticking points include how and when to reduce tariffs and how much U.S. agricultural products China would commit to buy. White House economic adviser …

Israel’s ruling right-wing government on Tuesday moved swiftly to embrace Washington’s backing for Israeli settlements, even as Palestinians and Arab leaders said it was a threat to the international rule of law. Monday’s announcement by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo abandoned the position that settlements in Israeli-occupied territory were “inconsistent with international law,” reversing a stand taken under President Jimmy Carter in 1978. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lost no time in making political capital as he struggles to remain in power following two inconclusive Israeli elections and possible criminal prosecution over corruption charges, which he denies. “I admit that I am very moved,” Netanyahu said as he visited the Etzion bloc of settlements in the West Bank. “The Trump administration has corrected a historic injustice,” Netanyahu said. “This is a very great day for the State of Israel and an achievement that will stand for generations.” In a video posted later on social media, Netanyahu said that the policy shift could pave the way for annexing the Jordan Valley in the West Bank which, during a September election campaign, the leader had pledged to annex. However, some Israeli analysts said the announcement had little practical effect — with settlement …

Two American prison guards were indicted Tuesday in connection with the death of financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. A federal grand jury in New York accused the guards of failing to check on Epstein every half hour, as regulations required for prisoners deemed to be suicide risks. Toval Noel and Michael Thomas were charged with six counts of falsifying prison logs and records to mask their dereliction of duty. FILE – Jeffrey Epstein In a press release, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey S. Berman said the guards “repeatedly signed false certifications attesting to having conducted multiple counts of inmates that they did not do.” The indictment alleged that instead of checking on Epstein, the two instead “sat at their desk, browsed the internet and moved around the common area.” The indictment also alleges Noel and Thomas may have slept at their desk. The multimillionaire Epstein was found dead in his cell in August as he awaited trial on charges of sexually abusing teenage girls and sex trafficking. He faced up to 45 years in prison if found guilty. New York City’s medical examiner ruled Epstein’s death a suicide. Epstein had been put on …

Poland’s prime minister set out plans on Tuesday to strengthen the state’s role in the economy and deepen an overhaul of the justice system that has put Warsaw on a collision course with its European Union partners. Mateusz Morawiecki said the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party would continue increasing welfare spending and the share of Polish capital in domestic companies, underlining its break with the free-market reforms of liberal governments before it. “Neoliberals have fueled a sense of confusion in our value system. Many people were led to believe that the state is a ball and chain,” he said in a policy speech to parliament after an Oct. 13 election that gave PiS four more years in power. “Extremes are not good. We are building a normal state.” Morawiecki spoke repeatedly of a return to “normality,” referring both to PiS’s economic policies and its conservative vision of the traditional family which has won over voters but has been criticized by opponents for encouraging homophobia. He promised new welfare programs to help families with at least three children and the elderly. In separate comments, PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said: “Our society… must be based on the Polish family, the family …

A California woman who was shot in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history has died. Kim Gervais, 57, was paralyzed in the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas, the San Bernardino County coroner’s office said Tuesday. An autopsy will be performed, and if her death is linked to injuries sustained in the attack, she will become the 59th victim of the shooting. Gervais, who had a bullet lodged in her spine, had been recovering at a nursing home in Redlands, California. She died Friday at a hospital, the coroner said. Officials in Clark County, Nevada, tweeted a statement honoring Gervais. “Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of Kim Gervais,” the post said. “Kim was wounded and paralyzed on #1October. For the past two years, she had battled the physical and psychological toll of the Las #Vegas Shooting.” More than 850 people were injured when Stephen Paddock randomly fired on an open-air country music festival from his room at the Mandalay Bay resort. He later killed himself. Gervais attended the festival with two friends. One died on the scene while the other escaped unharmed.   …

Ethiopian Airlines and Kenyan Airlines are threatening to halt service to Juba International Airport because too many customers’ bags are being stolen. After a Friday council of ministers meeting, South Sudan government spokesperson Michael Makuei said the two airlines told the government they intend to stop routes through the South Sudanese capital because of the rampant theft of customer’s luggage at the Juba airport. The airlines did not specify when they might cut off service. Kuach Pech, 31, said he lost a carton of books when he flew on Ethiopian Airlines from Entebbe to Juba last year. He said he reported the case to the Ethiopian Airlines staff in Juba, but his luggage was never recovered. Pech said people often lose their belongings at Juba International Airport because of what he calls “disorganization” at the arrival terminal. FILE – Ground crew personnel surround an Ethiopian Airlines Dreamliner, Sept. 20, 2012. “Sometimes you really don’t know whether these are part of the airport authorities or they are just hawkers around. Like sometimes they come and try to take your luggage from you forcefully and you really have to stand your ground and tell them I am doing it myself,” Pech told …

Amnesty International says Iranian security forces have killed at least 106 people in nationwide anti-government protests since Friday, four times the death toll of Iran’s last mass protests two years ago. In a Tuesday interview with VOA Persian, the London-based rights group’s Iran researcher Raha Bahreini said Amnesty determined that security forces killed 106 protesters based on eyewitness accounts, social media videos and reports of exiled Iranian human rights activists. She said Amnesty International soon would provide a breakdown of the number of protesters killed in various Iranian cities. VOA Persian has independently confirmed the killings of at least seven protesters in shootings by Iranian security forces on Saturday. Iranian state media have said several people have been killed including at least one security force member in the demonstrations that began Friday and spread to dozens of cities. But the Iranian government has not published any official death toll. People protest against a gasoline price hike on a highway in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 16, 2019. The demonstrations erupted in response to the government abruptly raising the subsidized price of gasoline by 50% early Friday. Many Iranians see the increase as putting a further burden on their wallets at a time …

DARPA, the main research and development arm of the U.S. Department of Defense, is funding researchers to develop wearable devices that would have military applications such as using the mind to control unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs, commonly known as drones. Instead of using brain implants to achieve this, DARPA is looking for non-invasive to minutely invasive ways of interfacing with the machine. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee got a close-up look at one team’s work at Rice University.   …

Google’s head of philanthropy says the company is having “a lot of conversations” internally amid worries about the tech giant’s bottomless appetite for consumer data and how it uses its algorithms.                     Vice President Jacqueline Fuller wouldn’t comment on specific data privacy controversies dogging Google lately, but says she shares other concerns many have about Big Tech. Cyberbullying. Hate speech amplified online. The impact of artificial intelligence on everything, from jobs to warfare.                     “As a consumer myself, as part of the general public, as a mother, it’s very important to understand what am I seeing, what are my children seeing,” she said in an interview with The Associated Press in Paris, where she announced new grant winners Tuesday for projects aimed at teaching digital skills to poor, immigrant, rural or elderly users.                     The philanthropic arm she runs, Google.org, is like the company’s conscience, spending $100 million a year on non-profit groups that use technology to try to counteract problems the tech world is accused of creating, abetting or exacerbating.                    “Across the world we want to make sure we’re a responsible citizen,” she said. But can Google’s do-good arm make up for everything else? …

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Ghana is regarded as a West African hub of invention, with growing numbers of young people looking at local solutions to local problems.  In December, Ghana is hosting two conferences on innovation and technology. Alhassan Baba Muniru, co-founder of the Recycle Up company, wants to clean up the natural environment in Ghana. But he also wants to educate, empower and support young people to pursue conservation – and to make money while doing it. At the December Innovation Africa summit in Accra, he plans to advocate for more support for young inventors, especially those looking to do green business. “Even while we are in school we are already entrepreneurial so, for me, I can be able to do a formal job but the freedom of being able to bring my own ideas into action and really take charge of doing something practical and something which also makes society better – it’s much more fulfilling,” said Muniru. Part of Recycle Up’s work includes collecting plastic from schools to sell to people like Nelson Boateng, whose company mixes it with sand to create bricks.   Muniru and Boateng walk through the factory in the outskirts of Accra, where plastic from across the …

Two political supporters of U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry secured a potentially lucrative oil and gas exploration deal from the Ukrainian government soon after Perry proposed one of the men as an adviser to the country’s new president. Perry’s efforts to influence Ukraine’s energy policy came earlier this year, just as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s new government was seeking military aid from the United States to defend against Russian aggression and allies of President Donald Trump were ramping up efforts to get the Ukrainians to investigate his Democratic rival Joe Biden. Ukraine awarded the contract to Perry’s supporters little more than a month after the U.S. energy secretary attended Zelenskiy’s May inauguration. In a meeting during that trip, Perry handed the new president a list of people he recommended as energy advisers. One of the four names was his longtime political backer Michael Bleyzer. A week later, Bleyzer and his partner Alex Cranberg submitted a bid to drill for oil and gas at a sprawling government-controlled site called Varvynska. They offered millions of dollars less to the Ukrainian government than their only competitor for the drilling rights, according to internal Ukrainian government documents obtained by The Associated Press. But their newly …

The United States and NATO are pledging unity in tackling challenges, including fighting terrorism, cyber threats and boosting energy security, seven decades after the establishment of the transatlantic partnership. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo departs for Brussels Tuesday to attend a NATO foreign ministerial and meet with key NATO allies.   “Emerging security challenges and threats such as terrorism and energy security” will top the agenda when Pompeo holds talks with allies ahead of the December summit of NATO Leaders in London, according to the State Department.   “We are now living in a totally new time where we have terrorism. We have a shifting balance of power globally and we have cyber and many other things,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told VOA’s Serbian service last week in an interview.    All NATO allies are part of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, focused on the Islamic State terror group that is also known as IS or Daesh.   The talks come days after Stoltenberg and more than 30 members of the U.S.-led coalition gathered in Washington to reaffirm what leaders say is a full commitment to ensure the enduring defeat of IS.   The coalition also repeated a …

Pakistan’s former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who is serving a seven-year jail term for corruption and money laundering, left for London Tuesday to receive medical treatment there. Sharif boarded an air-ambulance arranged by his family from his native city of Lahore. His younger brother, Shehbaz Sharif, the head of the main opposition Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party, also accompanied the ailing politician. The 69-year-old Sharif was released on bail last month on medical grounds.  But his personal doctors and legal aides had maintained from the outset his deteriorating health and multiple medical complications required him to seek treatment of his choice outside Pakistan.   However, Sharif could not undertake the journey until last Saturday when a high court responded to his request and ordered the government to remove his name from a so-called “exit control list” that prevents suspects or convicts from leaving Pakistan. FILE – Supporters of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chant slogans outside the Lahore High court, in Lahore, Pakistan, Nov. 16, 2019. The judicial verdict gave Sharif four weeks to receive treatment abroad, with the court saying the duration can be extended further if required. But it placed certain conditions to bind Sharif to return …

The federal government wants a judge to reject Nevada’s request for a court order to remove weapons-grade plutonium from a site north of Las Vegas, arguing that officials have already promised that no more will be shipped to the state.                     In documents filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Reno, the federal government brands as “conjectural” or “hypothetical” state claims that residents are harmed by radiation from the one-half metric ton of plutonium secretly trucked a year ago from South Carolina to Nevada.                     The decision cannot be undone, the material is already in the state and the federal government has sovereign immunity, meaning the state can’t force the federal government to act, the motion contends.                     The Department of Energy “routinely and safely transports nuclear materials into and out of Nevada and stores classified amounts of plutonium in Nevada,” it added.                     State Attorney General Aaron Ford is pressing for the court order, saying the state was not informed of the shipments until they had already been made and can’t trust the federal agency to abide by after-the-fact promises.                     “While we appreciate the Department of Energy’s new position that it will not …