President Donald Trump promised to build a southern border wall when he campaigned four years ago, and he spoke about it again during the last presidential debate of 2020. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has this update on the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border.Camera: Spike Johnson, Christian von Preysing Produced by: Elizabeth Lee 
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North Carolina, yes. Pennsylvania, yes. Wisconsin, no. That is how the Supreme Court has answered questions in recent days about an extended timeline for receiving and counting ballots in those states. In each case, Democrats backed the extensions and Republicans opposed them. All three states have Democratic governors and legislatures controlled by the GOP. At first blush, the difference in the outcomes seems odd because the Supreme Court typically takes up issues to harmonize the rules across the country. But elections are largely governed by states, and the rules differ from one state to the next. These cases are being dealt with on an emergency basis in which the court issues orders that either block or keep in place a lower court ruling. But there is almost never an explanation of the majority’s rationale, though individual justices sometimes write opinions that partially explain the matter.  FILE – A worker prepares tabulators for the upcoming election at the Wake County Board of Elections in Raleigh, N.C., Sept. 3, 2020.There also is a difference in how the justices act based on whether they are ruling on a lawsuit that began in state or federal court. Conservative justices who hold a majority on the Supreme Court object to what they see as intrusions by federal judges who order last-minute changes to state election rules, even in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. The power to alter absentee ballot deadlines and other voting issues rests with state legislatures, not federal courts, according to the conservative justices. The court also is divided, but so far has been willing to allow state courts interpreting their own state constitutions to play more of a role than their federal counterparts.  The justices did not finally resolve the legal issues involved, but they could do so after the election. A more thorough examination could come either in a post-election challenge that could determine the presidential winner if, for example, Pennsylvania proves critical to the national outcome, or in a less tense setting that might not affect the 2020 vote but would apply in the future. Even a decision that only looked ahead to future elections would be “concerning given that state courts have often been more protective of the right to vote under state constitutions than the federal courts have under the U.S. Constitution,” University of Kentucky law professor Joshua Douglas said. Also, new Justice Amy Coney Barrett has not taken part in any of these last-minute orders but could participate going forward. Here are some state-specific explanations of what has taken place over the past 10 days. Pennsylvania Last week, before Barrett had been confirmed, the justices divided 4-4, a tie vote that allowed the three-day extension ordered by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to remain in effect. On Wednesday, the court said it would not grant a quick, pre-election review to a new Republican appeal to exclude absentee ballots received after Election Day in the battleground state.  FILE – Media members photograph and record a sorting machine at Philadelphia’s mail-in ballot sorting and counting center in preparation for the 2020 U.S. general election in Philadelphia, Oct. 26, 2020.But it remained unclear whether those ballots will ultimately be counted. The court’s order left open the possibility that the justices could take up and decide after the election whether a three-day extension to receive and count absentee ballots ordered by Pennsylvania’s high court was proper. The issue would take on enormous importance if Pennsylvania turns out to be the crucial state in next week’s election, and the votes received between November 3 and November 6 are potentially decisive. The Supreme Court ruled hours after Pennsylvania’s Department of State agreed to segregate ballots received in the mail after polls close on Tuesday and before 5 p.m. on November 6. Without keeping those ballots separate, Pennsylvania might have risked having the state’s overall vote count called into question. Three conservative justices signaled their interest in the court’s eventual review of the case. North Carolina The court on Wednesday refused to block an extra six days to receive and count absentee ballots in North Carolina. The State Board of Elections lengthened the period from three to nine days because of the coronavirus pandemic, pushing back the deadline to November 12. The board’s decision was part of a legal settlement with a union-affiliated group. The extension was approved by a state judge. Lawmakers had previously set November 6 as the deadline for mailed ballots because of the pandemic.  There is no order or recommendation in North Carolina that ballots received after November 6 be kept apart. Justice Neil Gorsuch said courts should not be second-guessing the legislature. The election board and the state judge “worked together to override a carefully tailored legislative response to COVID,” Gorsuch wrote.  Wisconsin In Wisconsin, ballots must arrive by Election Day, November 3, to be counted.  The Supreme Court on Monday refused to reinstate a lower-court order that would have added six days to the deadline, identical to the extension granted primary voters in April. A federal appeals court already had blocked the additional days. FILE – A person drops off their absentee ballot at a drop box at City Hall as early voting for the upcoming presidential election begins in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Oct. 20, 2020.This time, it was the court’s liberals who objected. “As the COVID pandemic rages, the court has failed to adequately protect the nation’s voters,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in dissent. Again, there was nothing from the court explaining its order, but Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Gorsuch all wrote separate opinions. “Different bodies of law and different precedents govern these two situations and require, in these particular circumstances, that we allow the modification of election rules in Pennsylvania but not Wisconsin,” Roberts wrote, before the court had acted in the North Carolina case. Kavanaugh’s opinion drew outsized attention because he invoked the court’s Bush v. Gore case that effectively resolved the 2000 presidential election in favor of Republican George W. Bush.  The Supreme Court has never cited Bush v. Gore in an opinion of the court. In 2000, in its unsigned majority opinion, the court wrote, “Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances.” But three lawyers who worked for Bush’s cause in 2000 — Roberts, Kavanaugh and now Barrett — sit on the court.
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Russian agents offered military aid to Catalan separatists at the height of their failed bid to break away from Spain in 2017, according to a judicial investigation in Spain.These are the extraordinary allegations at the heart of an investigation launched by a judge in Barcelona who is probing alleged links between the Catalan independence movement and a Russian misinformation campaign designed to destabilize Europe.Police arrested 21 suspects in Barcelona on Wednesday on the orders of Judge Joaquin Aguirre, including three men who were close to the former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont who fled Spain shortly after the failed declaration of independence three years ago.In one recording presented in court documents, one of those detained by police allegedly mentions an offer by Russian agents to provide Puigdemont with 10,000 troops to help in a theoretical armed conflict with Spanish forces. The offer never materialized.Fake news offensive”Russian interference as a geopolitical strategy was a fact during the fall of 2017 when (the Russians) spread fake news and disinformation,” Judge Aguirre said in a ruling, citing online items backing the Catalan separatists spread by Russian news platforms.The Spanish government had accused Russia in 2017 of meddling in the Catalan conflict, a charge that Russian officials denied at the time.
In what appeared to be an ironic repost to the court allegations, the Russian Embassy in Madrid tweeted: “It is necessary to add two zeros to the number of soldiers and the most shocking thing about this conspiracy: the troops should be transported by Mosca and Chato, airplanes assembled in Catalonia during the (Spanish) Civil War and hidden in a safe place in the Catalan Sierra until they receive the order to act through encrypted publications.”A woman holds a sign during a protest against police raids and the arrest of Catalan separatists, in Barcelona, Spain, Oct. 28, 2020.TimingThough the investigation relates to events three years ago which threatened to tear apart one of Europe’s largest economies, it has ramifications in today’s polarized political environment.Spain’s minority left-wing coalition government depends on the Catalan separatist party Esquerra Republicana, ERC, for support as talks are under way to pass a budget for 2021.  Spain has had no full year spending plan for the past four years and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic this budget is crucial to finance the country’s recovery.“It is evident that the Spanish government has no appetite to find a solution to the conflict in Catalonia,” said Raul Murcia, a spokesman for ERC, told VOA.Regional elections are planned in Catalonia in February when separatist parties are likely to win a majority but not more than 50% of the vote, according to recent polls.The Catalan separatist movement has always proclaimed non-violent beliefs, even though last year there were violent clashes with police after nine leaders were jailed for up to 13 years for their roles in the 2017 breakaway bid.Wider investigationThe investigation also targets the alleged misuse of public funds for the separatist movement in Spain as well as the allegedly active role of Russian-backed disinformation campaigns to discredit Madrid.Those arrested face allegations of embezzlement and money laundering.Investigations revealed that money intended for Barcelona’s provincial government and a regional entity for promoting sports teams had been diverted illegally, the Spanish government said in a statement after the arrests.
Josep Lluis Alay, a close collaborator of Puigdemont, was one of those detained. Others included David Madi and Oriol Vendrell, two former politicians for Catalonia’s major separatist parties.A demonstrator is detained by police officers during a protest against police raids and the arrest of Catalan separatists, in Barcelona, Spain, Oct. 28, 2020.In the wake of the early morning raids, Puigdemont tweeted that Alay and the others “must be immediately released. Acting against political dissidents is a huge violation of fundamental rights”.After the breakaway attempt failed, Puigdemont fled Spain hidden in the boot of a car to France then flew to Brussels, where he has campaigned to raise support for his cause internationally. Puigdemont is currently a European Parliament member.Another suspect, Oriol Soler, is a publisher who is considered one of the top strategists of the separatist movement.Assange connectionHe is being investigated for allegedly meeting Russian contacts and the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange when he was seeking refuge at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to promote the separatist cause and discredit Spain internationally.In a court document which was made public, it said the alleged meeting between Soler and Assange in September 2017 “falls within the strategy of misinformation and destabilization in which the Kremlin has also participated as part of its general narrative that the European Union is on the brink of collapse, the principal message of the news outlets controlled by the Kremlin.”Benet Salellas, Soler’s defense attorney, said that his client is innocent and “denounces that the justice system is being utilized to fight against the Catalan independence movement”.The arrests sparked several small protests across Catalonia.The issue of independence has consistently divided the region’s 7.5 million inhabitants.In a recent poll earlier this month for the Catalan regional government, 46.3% of Catalans opposed breaking away from Spain, while 45.5% backed independence. 
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Hackers have stolen $2.3 million from the Wisconsin Republican Party’s account that was being used to help reelect President Donald Trump in the key battleground state, the party’s chairman told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The party noticed the suspicious activity on Oct. 22 and contacted the FBI on Friday, said Republican Party Chairman Andrew Hitt.
Hitt said the FBI is investigating. FBI spokesman Leonard Peace did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
The attack was discovered less than two weeks before Election Day, as both Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden made their final push to win Wisconsin and its 10 electoral votes. Trump won the state by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016 and planned his third visit in seven days on Friday. Biden also planned to campaign in Wisconsin on Friday. Polls have consistently shown a tight race in the state, usually with Biden ahead by single digits and within the margin of error.
Hitt said he was not aware of any other state GOP being targeted for a similar hack, but state parties were warned at the Republican National Convention this summer to be on the lookout for cyber attacks.
“We have been in contact with the state party and are assisting them through this process,” said Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Ahrens. “The RNC never left Wisconsin after 2016, and we are confident that our ground game and the millions we are spending on TV and digital will deliver us another win there in 2020.”
The hack exposed new tensions in the final days of the race between the Trump campaign and the state party, which overspent and failed to properly account for its expenditures in 2018, leading to a shakeup in top party leadership.
Campaign officials in Wisconsin learned about the hack from media reports and were furious that state officials had not briefed them on how it might impact operations, according to a Trump campaign official who requested anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss internal conversations.
There have been more than 800 attempted phishing attacks for financial gain targeting the Wisconsin Democratic Party this campaign cycle, but none has been successful, said party spokeswoman Courtney Beyer.
Hitt said the hackers manipulated invoices from four vendors who were being paid for direct mail for Trump’s reelection efforts as well as for pro-Trump material such as hats to be handed out to supporters. Invoices and other documents were altered so when the party paid them for the services rendered, the money went to the hackers instead of the vendors, Hitt said.
The hack was discovered after someone noticed that an invoice was generated that should not have been, he said.
Hitt said it appears the attack began as a phishing attempt and no data appears to have been stolen, said party spokesman Alec Zimmerman.
The money was stolen from the state party’s federal account, which currently contains about $1.1 million, but that number fluctuates daily because of quick moving resources late in the campaign, Zimmerman said.
Campaign finance reports filed this week in Wisconsin show Democrats have raised far more money than Republicans. The state Democratic Party raised nearly $59 million over the past two years compared with just $23.7 million for Republicans.
Early voting is in full swing in Wisconsin, with more than 1.6 million ballots returned as of Thursday morning. That is nearly 55% of the total vote cast in 2016.
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Попередня оціночна місія Євросоюзу стосовно готовності Києва до підписання угоди про «промисловий безвіз» розпочала роботу в Україні, повідомила пресслужба Міністерства розвитку економіки, торгівлі та сільського господарства України.

«29 жовтня під час онлайн-зустрічі торгового представника Тараса Качки з членами представництва ЄС в Україні, Генерального директорату Єврокомісії з питань внутрішнього ринку, промисловості, підприємництва та МСП досягнуто домовленостей про початок роботи попередньої оціночної місії ЄС стосовно готовності інфраструктури якості України до укладення Угоди про оцінку відповідності та прийнятність промислових товарів (угода АСАА, «промисловий безвіз»)», – йдеться в повідомленні.

У Мінекономіки зазначили, що угоди АСАА відкриває нові можливості для українського бізнесу та залучення нових інвестицій в розвиток економіки України.

«Сторони відзначили прогрес у діалозі між Україною і ЄС щодо підготовки до укладання Угоди АСАА та домовилися активізувати спільну роботу під час проведення попередньої оціночної місії експертами ЄС системи технічного регулювання, оцінки відповідності, акредитації, стандартизації та метрології України», – йдеться в повідомленні.

Читайте також: Україна хоче оновити Угоду про асоціацію з ЄС та націлилась на «промисловий безвіз»

Угода про асоціацію України та ЄС передбачає перспективу укладення Угоди про оцінку відповідності та прийнятності промислової продукції (ACAA). Раніше в уряді заявляли, що потенційно ACAA може охопити до п’ятої частини українського експорту до ЄС, передусім продукцію машинобудування, полегшивши торгівлю і піднявши імідж української продукції на глобальних ринках.
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A former Trump administration official who penned a scathing anti-Trump op-ed and book under the pen name “Anonymous” revealed himself Wednesday as a former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security.
The official, Miles Taylor, came forward six days before Election Day to criticize  President Donald Trump as “a man without character.” He said he hoped other former administration officials will “find their conscience when they wake up tomorrow” and speak up, too.
Taylor has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s in recent months and had repeatedly denied he was the author of the column and subsequent book — even to colleagues at CNN, where he has a contributor contract. He left the Trump administration in June 2019 and endorsed Democrat Joe Biden for president this summer.
Trump and White House officials moved quickly to describe Taylor as someone with little standing and clout.
“This guy is a low-level lowlife that I don’t know. I have no idea who he is, other than I got to see him a little while ago on television,” Trump told a campaign rally crowd in Arizona. As he belittled Taylor as a “sleazebag” and called for his prosecution, the crowd broke into cheers of “drain that swamp.”
But as DHS chief of staff, Taylor was in many White House meetings with the president on his border policy and other major Homeland Security issues. During Taylor’s time as chief of staff, Trump threatened to shut down the border and his administration developed the policy to force asylum seekers to wait across the U.S.-Mexico border.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows called Taylor’s revelation “a monumental embarrassment,” tweeting, “I’ve seen more exciting reveals in Scooby-Doo episodes.”
During a CNN appearance with Chris Cuomo Wednesday night, Taylor said he didn’t unmask himself earlier because the story would have disappeared within 48 hours.
“No one would pay attention and they wouldn’t care,” he said. “Right now, Americans are reviewing the president’s resume, his record and his character and it is mission critical that people like me, but others, come out now when the voters are listening and tell them who this man really is.”
Taylor’s anonymous essay was published in September 2018 by The New York Times, infuriating the president and setting off a frantic White House leak investigation to try to unmask the author.
In the essay, the person, who identified themselves only as a senior administration official, said they were part of a secret “resistance” force out to counter Trump’s “misguided impulses” and undermine parts of his agenda.
The author wrote, “Many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office.”
The Times identified the author as a “senior official” in the administration and received some criticism online Wednesday for inflating Taylor’s credentials. The newspaper, which said it had granted Taylor anonymity because his job would be jeopardized if his identity was revealed, on Wednesday confirmed Taylor was the author because he has waived his right to confidentiality, and had no other comment.
The allegations incensed the president, bolstering his allegations about a “deep state” operating within his government and conspiring against him. The president, who had long complained about leaks in the White House, also ordered aides to unmask the writer, citing “national security” concerns to justify a possible Justice Department investigation.
Instead, the author pressed forward, penning a follow-up book published last November called “A Warning” that continued to paint a disturbing picture of the president, describing him as volatile, incompetent and unfit to be commander in chief.
To a certain extent, he’s since been overshadowed by other former government officials, both during the impeachment hearings and after, who went public condemning Trump’s behavior with their names attached.
Taylor’s behavior also leaves questions for CNN. He was asked directly by the network’s Anderson Cooper in August whether he was “Anonymous” and answered: “I wear a mask for two things, Anderson, Halloween and pandemics. So, no.”
Josh Campbell, a national security correspondent for CNN, tweeted that he had also asked Taylor if he was “Anonymous” and was told no.
Taylor said Wednesday that he owed Cooper a beer and a mea culpa. He said he wrote in his book that he would deny being “Anonymous” if asked, because he wanted to keep the focus on his arguments, instead of who was writing them.
“You know what the problem is with having lied is: Now you’re a liar, and people will be slow to believe you,” Cuomo said.
But he continued with a half-hour interview where Taylor denounced Trump. CNN said Taylor would remain a network contributor.
Taylor said he believed Trump would double down on damaging policies, particularly the separation of families at the southern border, if he won a second term.
“They want to turn this country into fortress America rather than a shining city on the hill,” he said.
He said he considered resigning from the Trump administration a year before he did and wishes now that he had.
Former GOP consultant Reed Galen, one of the founders of the anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project, tweeted that Taylor “isn’t a hero.” He added: “He sat in those rooms, in those councils of power and allowed the banality of evil to work. … Heroism isn’t silence until it’s convenient and personally advantageous to stand up.”
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The war of words between France and Turkey over cartoons portraying Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, triggered by the recent beheading of a French teacher, continues to escalate. But behind the diplomatic storm over freedom of expression versus religious sensitivity is a bitter rivalry for influence in Africa.To rousing applause from parliamentary deputies of his party, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Wednesday accused Western countries of seeking to re-launch the Crusades. Erdogan’s latest salvo is over French President Emmanuel Macron’s defense of the publication of cartoons of Islam’s prophet Muhammad.Erdogan said it is an issue of honor for Turkey to stand against the attacks against the Prophet who honored Mecca, Medina, Africa, Asia, Europe, in the whole world, and at all times.Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his ruling party lawmakers at the parliament, in Ankara, Turkey, Oct. 28, 2020.The Turkish president has sought to present himself as a global defender of Muslim rights. But the current dispute over the cartoons is part of a growing rivalry between France and Turkey, says analyst Sinan Ulgen of the Edam research institution in Istanbul.”There is a different positioning regionally with France having established a strategic alliance with the United Arab Emirates ostensibly to fight against the influence of political Islam in the Middle East and Northern Africa,” Ulgen said. “And where Turkey is seen on the contrary as belonging to the other camp, namely of supporting political Islam through its relationship with the different entities and the Muslim Brotherhood.”West Is in Danger of Losing Turkey, US WarnsTop State Department official says when it comes to tensions with Ankara, the US, allies watch for ‘actions from Moscow to cleave us apart’ France and Turkey back rival sides in the Libyan civil war, while Erdogan is a strong critic of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah, el-Sissi, a key French ally. Turkey is now challenging France’s powerful influence in predominantly Muslim West African countries that were once French colonies, says Emre Caliskan of Britain’s University of Oxford.”Turkey, as a newcomer, an emerging power, their interests, and presence is threatening French interests and a vice versa,” said Caliskan. “Turkey is trying to secure the region around Libya. We saw Erdogan’s visit to Niger and Turkey recently engaging with Mali.Earlier this year, Turkey signed a defense agreement with Niger. The Turkish military already has a presence in Libya. For now, analysts say Ankara’s priority is to build a strategic presence in the region. But Turkish companies are also eyeing African markets currently dominated by French firms, which analysts say can only add to the deepening rivalry between Turkey and France.
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Котирування нафти марки Brent, які напередодні опустилися нижче від позначки 40 доларів за барель, продовжують падіння і 29 жовтня.

Станом 13:55 котирування коливаються близько 38,1 долара за барель, втрати цього виду сировини становлять майже 4% за день.

Котирування падають на тлі рішення влади кількох європейських країн посилити обмеження через зростання захворюваності. Головна економіка Європи, Німеччина, хоче закрити всі бари, ресторани і громадські місця для відпочинку до кінця листопада. Влада Франції також готує жорсткіші обмеження, які можуть передбачати повний локдаун.

Іспанія та Італія вже посилили карантин через погіршення ситуації з COVID-19. Іспанська влада схвалила запровадження комендантської години від 23:00 до 6:00. В Італії до 24 листопада закриваються спортзали, громадські басейни, кінотеатри та театри. Також після 18:00 припиняється робота всіх точок громадського харчування, включно з барами, ресторанами і кав’ярнями.
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«Укрзалізниця» до кінця першого кварталу 2021 року не планує підвищувати тарифи на пасажирські перевезення, заявив директор філії «Пасажирська компанія» УЗ Олександр Перцовський на брифінгу в Києві.

«Жодних підвищень цього року не планується, аж до першого кварталу наступного року. Ми наразі в дискусії і розглядаємо варіант, що з другої половини наступного року, з другого кварталу можлива певна індексація цін на пасажирські перевезення», – сказав Перцовський.

Він додав, що фінального рішення щодо тарифів на наступний рік ще немає.

За його словами, компанія також із 1 листопада на майже 15% знизить вартість квитків на місця у вагонах першого класу швидкісних поїздів класу «Інтерсіті», щоб, як він висловився «не перевозити повітря».

«Укрзалізниця» є національним перевізником вантажів та пасажирів. Метою діяльності компанії, як мовиться на її сайті, «є задоволення потреб у безпечних та якісних залізничних перевезеннях, забезпечення ефективного функціонування й розвитку залізничного транспорту, створення умов для підвищення конкурентоспроможності галузі тощо».

 
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Котирування нафти різко впали на світових ринках 28 жовтня після того, як кілька провідних європейських країн заявили про посилення обмежень у зв’язку з поширенням коронавірусної інфекції.

Вартість грудневого ф’ючерсу на сорт Brent на Лондонській біржі ICE 28 жовтня опустилася на 4,4%. Зранку 29 жовтня ціна залишається нижче від 40 доларів за барель (станом на 7:25 за Києвом – 39,66 долара). Нафта впала нижче від цієї психологічно важливої позначки вперше з 5 жовтня 2020 року.

Котирування падають на тлі рішення влади кількох європейських країн посилити обмеження через зростання захворюваності. Головна економіка Європи, Німеччина, хоче закрити всі бари, ресторани і громадські місця для відпочинку до кінця листопада. Влада Франції також готує жорсткіші обмеження, які можуть передбачати повний локдаун.

Іспанія та Італія вже посилили карантин через погіршення ситуації з COVID-19. Іспанська влада схвалила запровадження комендантської години від 23:00 до 6:00. В Італії до 24 листопада закриваються спортзали, громадські басейни, кінотеатри та театри. Також після 18:00 припиняється робота всіх точок громадського харчування, включно з барами, ресторанами і кав’ярнями.
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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is self-quarantining at home after coming into contact with a dinner guest who tested positive for COVID-19.A spokesperson for Ramaphosa said he learned Tuesday that he had come in contact with the infected person while attending a fundraiser dinner with 35 other people for South African schools in Johannesburg last weekend.Ramaphosa’s spokesperson said in a statement that he is not showing any symptoms and continues to work.The statement also said Ramaphosa wished the guest, who is getting medical attention, a speedy recovery.The president’s self-quarantining comes as South Africa’s coronavirus cases have risen in recent weeks.So far, South Africa has confirmed more than 719,000 COVID-19 cases and 19,111 deaths.
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In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a cycling club faces an uphill struggle: getting the financial support to compete, including in pan-African races. Anasthasie Tudieshe reports from Kinshasa.
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August’s poisoning of Alexei Navalny may have been Vladimir Putin’s most audacious act of revenge towards an opposition figure. Plugged In with Greta Van Susteren examines the Russian leader’s pattern of silencing opposition to his regime via poisoning and targeting killings with Putin critic and chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov and Matthew Rojansky, director of the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute. Airdate October 28, 2020.
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Days before the November 3 election, the campaigns of President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden are making their last pitch to voters, sending high-profile surrogates including former President Barack Obama and the Trump family children. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has the story.
Produced by: Bakhtiyar Zamanov 
 
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The United States is warning Turkey against taking any additional steps to operationalize its Russian-made S-400 air defense system, warning there will be consequences even if that risks pushing Ankara closer to an alliance with Moscow.Relations between Washington and Ankara, which have soured in recent years, hit a new low last week when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed his military had FILE – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks in a televised address in Ankara, Sept. 21, 2020.Erdogan, however, has brushed aside the warnings, telling reporters last week that the U.S. stance “absolutely does not concern us.”Despite the apparent impasse, the U.S. has not given up on finding a way to bring Ankara back into the fold.Cooper, recently back from a visit to Greece and Bulgaria, said the U.S. has encouraged both countries, as well as other NATO allies, to do what they can to “make sure that Turkey remains in the West.”’Significant roles’ for Turkey”It’s to the alliance’s detriment to not have Turkey inside the alliance,” Cooper said. “There are significant roles that they still maintain with us … in the greater security of Europe and in the region.”Whether such efforts can overcome what U.S. officials like Cooper describe as “disruptive actions coming from Moscow to cleave us apart” remains to be seen.If they fail, U.S. officials caution that Ankara, like the U.S. and NATO, could suffer.”The only beneficiary of Turkey leaving the West or being cleaved away from Europe would be Moscow,” Cooper said. “There would be a diminishing return, even for Turkey.”
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