HK activists start bigger protest amid standoff

September 28, 2014

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong activists kicked off a long-threatened mass civil disobedience protest Sunday to challenge Beijing over restrictions on voting reforms, escalating the battle for democracy in the former British colony after police arrested dozens of student demonstrators.

The announcement by civil leaders came after a big crowd of tens of thousands turned out around midnight Saturday to support the student protesters who stormed into a courtyard of the government complex and scuffled with police wielding pepper spray. Police arrested at least 74 people, including some in their teens.

The night passed peacefully as more than 1,000 exhausted and weary protesters — most of them students — remained on the streets outside government headquarters and erected makeshift barricades with open umbrellas to slow any advance by police. They slept wearing face masks and protective gear of Saran-wrapped arms, cheap plastic raincoats and goggles, as tired-looking riot police looked on. Some students hurried to join them Sunday morning, saying they didn't want to leave their friends in case of a police crackdown, but the crowd later dwindled to a few hundred.

Many students were not happy that their protest was taken over by Occupy Central with Love and Peace, a broader movement fighting for democratic reform. The Occupy Central movement had originally planned to paralyze the Asian financial hub's central business district on Wednesday, but organizers moved up the start of their protest and changed the location in an apparent bid to harness momentum from the student rally outside the government complex in the southern Chinese city.

"I think it's quite ridiculous for them to do such a thing ... but I decided to stay because they have the same aim for democracy," said university student Li Xi-lang Harold, 19. Democracy supporters are demanding that China's Communist leaders allow fully democratic elections in 2017.

China, which took control of the former British colony in 1997, has promised that Hong Kong's top leader can be chosen through universal suffrage. But tensions over Hong Kong's political future boiled over after China's legislature last month ruled out letting the public nominate candidates, instead insisting they be screened by a committee of Beijing loyalists similar to the one that currently picks the city's leader.

Hong Kong's young people have been among the most vocal supporters of full democracy in recent years, fueled by anger over widening inequality. They also fear that Beijing's tightening grip is eroding the city's rule of law and guaranteed civil liberties unseen on the mainland such as freedom of speech.

Organizers of Occupy Central said they want Beijing to abandon its decision and the Hong Kong government to resume political reform consultations "The courage of the students and members of the public in their spontaneous decision to stay has touched many Hong Kong people," the group said in a statement. "Yet, the government has remained unmoved. As the wheel of time has reached this point, we have decided to arise and act."

The protest at the government headquarters followed a weeklong strike by thousands of students demanding China's Communist leaders allow Hong Kong fully democratic elections in 2017. University and college students who had spent the week boycotting classes were joined Friday by a smaller group of high school students.

Organizers estimated that 50,000 people had flooded the streets around the government complex at the peak of the protest. Police did not give an estimate. At least 34 people have been injured since the protest began, including four police officers and 11 government staff and guards, authorities said. One of the officers suffered a gash after being poked by one of the umbrellas the protesters have been using to deflect pepper spray.

Police issued a news release urging the protesters to leave peacefully and avoid obstructing officers, saying that otherwise they would "soon take actions to restore public order." Many young protesters appeared conflicted that their protest was morphing into Occupy Central.

"A lot of students left as soon as Occupy made the announcement they were starting their occupation," said Vito Leung, 24, a recent university graduate. "I think they were really forcing it. This was always a separate student movement with similar goals but different directions. I don't think it should be brought together like this," said Leung, who was vowing to stay until police released Joshua Wong, the 17-year-old leader of the activist group Scholarism.

Wong was among the first of the protesters to be arrested after storming the government complex, and was carried away by four officers. A recent high school graduate, he gained prominence two years ago after he organized protests that forced Hong Kong's government to back off plans to introduce a Chinese national education curriculum that some feared was a form of brainwashing.

Hong Kong police use tear gas on protesters

September 28, 2014

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police used tear gas Sunday and warned of further measures as they tried to clear thousands of pro-democracy protesters gathered at government headquarters in a challenge to Beijing over its decision to restrict democratic reforms for the semiautonomous city.

After spending hours holding the protesters at bay, police lobbed canisters of tear gas into the crowd on Sunday evening. The searing fumes sent demonstrators fleeing down the road, but many came right back to continue their protest.

The protesters were trying to join a sit-in outside government headquarters calling for Beijing to grant genuine democratic reforms to the former British colony. The sit-in, however, became overshadowed by running confrontations on the surrounding streets between police and those who were blocked from entering the protest zone.

Students and activists have been camped out since late Friday on the streets outside the government complex, located just a few blocks from Hong Kong's downtown financial district. Students started the rally, but leaders of the broader Occupy Central civil disobedience movement said early Sunday that they were joining them to kick-start a long-threatened mass sit-in to demand that an election for Hong Kong's leader be held without Beijing's interference.

Police used the tear gas after the protest spiraled into an extraordinary scene of chaos, with the demonstrators jamming a busy road and clashing with officers wielding pepper spray. "It was very cruel for the police to use such harsh violence on protesters who had been completely peaceful," said one of the demonstrators, Cecily Lui, a 30-year-old clerk. "They were just sitting down on the road asking to speak with (Hong Kong leader) Leung Chun-ying to start a dialogue. Now, police have solved nothing and students are more resolved to stay."

After using the tear gas, police issued a statement urging the protesters to "leave peacefully and orderly." "Otherwise police will use a higher level of force in order to restore public order and safeguard public safety," the statement warned.

The demonstrations — which Beijing called "illegal" — were a rare scene of disorder in the Asian financial hub, and highlighted authorities' inability to rein in the public discontent over Beijing's tightening grip on the city. The protesters reject Beijing's decision last month to rule out open nominations for candidates under proposed guidelines for the first-ever elections for Hong Kong's leader, promised for 2017.

China took control of Hong Kong from Britain in 1997, agreeing to a policy of "one country, two systems" that allowed the city to maintain a high degree of control over its own affairs and keep civil liberties unseen on the mainland, while promising that the city's leader can eventually be chosen through "universal suffrage." But Beijing's insistence on using a committee to screen election candidates for patriotism to China — similar to the one that currently hand-picks Hong Kong's leaders — has stoked fears among democracy groups that Hong Kong will never get genuine democracy.

Initial momentum for the protests came from university and college students, who had organized a weeklong boycott of classes that they now say will run until officials meet their demands, which include reform of Hong Kong's legislature and withdrawing the proposal to screen the election candidates.

Organizers of the Occupy Central nonviolent civil disobedience movement, who had long threatened their own mass sit-in to paralyze the city's financial district, announced after midnight Saturday that they would instead join the student demonstration.

Thousands of people who tried to join the sit-in on Sunday breached a police cordon, spilling out onto a busy highway and causing traffic to come to a standstill. Police officers in a buffer zone manned barricades and doused the protesters with pepper spray carried in backpacks. The demonstrators, who at one point tried to rip apart metal barricades, carried umbrellas to deflect the pepper spray by the police, who were wearing helmets and respirators.

Police had told those involved in what they say is an illegal gathering to leave the scene as soon as possible, warning that otherwise they would begin to clear the area and make arrests. After police used the tear gas, the protesters chanted "Shame on C.Y. Leung," referring to the city's deeply unpopular Beijing-backed leader. To many, it seemed to mark a major shift for Hong Kong, whose residents have long felt their city stood apart from mainland China thanks to its guaranteed civil liberties and separate legal and financial systems.

Hong Kong "has changed to a new era so the people have to be awakened. It's no longer the old Hong Kong," said one protester, W.T. Chung, 46, who yelled at police officers after they used the tear gas.

Earlier, police said they had arrested 78 people since demonstrations started late Friday. Among those arrested was 17-year-old Joshua Wong, who was dragged away by police soon after he led a group of students storming the government complex. Student protesters had demanded his release, but unlike most of those arrested, who were freed soon afterward, Wong remained in custody for about two days, until being released Sunday evening.

Police on Sunday took away several pro-democracy legislators who were among the demonstrators. Leung said Hong Kong's government was "resolute in opposing the unlawful occupation" of the government offices or the financial district by Occupy Central.

"The police are determined to handle the situation appropriately in accordance with the law," he said at a news conference. The Chinese government agency that handles Hong Kong affairs condemned the protests.

"China's central government firmly opposes illegal acts taking place in Hong Kong," and fully supports the local government in handling the matter according to the law, the official Xinhua News Agency quoted the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council as saying.

Associated Press writers Louise Watt and Joanna Chiu contributed to this report.

China, Spain ink $4 billion in business deals

September 25, 2014

BEIJING (AP) — China and Spain signed business deals worth $4 billion on Thursday as Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy visited the Asian powerhouse to seek support for Spain's struggling economy.

Chinese premier Li Keqiang announced the deals just before holding talks with Rajoy in Beijing. The state broadcaster China Central Television said the 10 deals included trade, finance, culture, telecommunications and energy.

Li said China hopes to see further cooperation with Spain in areas such as biology, medicine and aerospace. Li said, "we hope to have more pragmatic cooperation with Spain, and look forward to expanding the number of people traveling between the two countries."

He asked the prime minister to help reduce the time for Chinese nationals to obtain visas to Spain. Rajoy said the two countries have always enjoyed "friendly and effective" trade relations. Two-way trade between China and Spain reached $24 billion last year.

Ukraine president sure that peace is on the way

September 25, 2014

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's leader said Thursday that "the most dangerous part of the war" has passed and that the conflict with pro-Russia separatists in the country's east is on the wane. Artillery fire, however, still rang out in the region's largest city.

In a news conference in Kiev outlining a six-year plan for Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko said: "I have no doubt whatsoever that my peace plan will work and that the main and most dangerous part of the war is behind."

Poroshenko's plan includes reforming all major government agencies in the country. The president said he hoped those reforms would make the country ready for membership in the European Union by 2020. But Poroshenko spent much of the news conference fielding questions about a conflict in the east of the country, where fighting between government and rebel forces has killed at least 3,500 people since mid-April. His peace proposal, which was laid out soon after he became president in June, were the foundation for agreements this month aimed at ending the fighting.

The first step was a cease-fire called three weeks ago that in the beginning was repeatedly violated. In recent days, reports of violations have decreased notably, although on Thursday the city council of Donetsk, the largest rebel stronghold in the region, said that artillery fire and other explosions could be heard throughout the city during the day.

Poroshenko also said he is working to arrange a meeting within the next few weeks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but stressed it was contingent on whether the cease-fire was implemented or not.

Poroshenko, who has been at pains to justify striking a deal with the Russia-backed rebels, spent much of the news conference defending his decision to sign a peace agreement with the insurgents and said he believed Russian policy toward Ukraine had turned a corner.

"At the beginning, Russia's objective was clear," he said. "Certain people in the Kremlin administration thought Ukraine was a giant with feet of clay. They thought they could just push us, and the entire southeast of the country would dissipate."

"I would sincerely like to believe that the relation of Russia (toward Ukraine) and their plans are changing — there has been a kind of transformation." Ukraine and Western countries claim that Russia sent troops and equipment into eastern Ukraine to back the separatist rebels, something Russia denies.

Russia was a party to peace talks that led to a cease-fire in the region on Sept. 5. In another agreement signed Saturday, all sides agreed to remove heavy artillery from the front lines, creating a buffer zone that would help enforce the cease-fire more effectively.

Buffer zone agreed on in Ukrainian peace talks

September 20, 2014

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Negotiators in Ukrainian peace talks agreed early Saturday to create a buffer zone between government troops and pro-Russian militants by halting their advances, pulling back heavy weapons and withdrawing foreign fighters in order to ensure a stable truce in eastern Ukraine.

The deal reached by representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the Moscow-backed rebels and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe marks an effort to add substance to a cease-fire agreement that was signed on Sept. 5 but has been frequently broken by clashes.

The memorandum signed after hours of talks that dragged late into the night says that the conflicting parties should stay strictly where they were Friday and make no attempts to advance. Leonid Kuchma, a former Ukrainian president who represented the Kiev government in the talks, said the memorandum will be implemented within a day.

Under the terms of the deal, reached in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, each party must pull back artillery of 100 millimeters (about 4 inches) or larger at least 15 kilometers (9 miles), setting up a buffer zone that would be 30 kilometers (19 miles) wide.

The longer-range artillery systems are to be pulled even farther back to make sure the parties can't reach one another. The deal also specifically bans flights by combat aircraft over the area of conflict and setting up new minefields.

"It should offer the population a chance to feel secure," said Igor Plotnitskyi, the leader of rebels in the Luhansk region. The rebels are located near the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine and the port city of Mariupol on the Sea Azov coast, but their positions elsewhere are not clear. Ukrainian government forces are at the airport in Donetsk but the location of their lines outside of that city is also unclear.

The memorandum also envisages the withdrawal of "all foreign armed units and weapons, as well as militants and mercenaries" — a diplomatic reference to Russians fighting alongside the rebels. Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of fueling the insurgency in eastern Ukraine with weapons and soldiers. Moscow has denied that, saying that Russians who joined the mutiny did so as private citizens.

Pressed to comment about the agreement on the withdrawal of foreign fighters, Russian Ambassador to Ukraine, Mikhail Zurabov, who represented Moscow in the talks, said that "those whom we call mercenaries are present on both sides." ''This issue needs to be solved, and we will deal with it," he said, adding that the OSCE would control the pullout.

Heidi Tagliavini, the OSCE's envoy in the talks, said that the group's monitors will be deployed to the buffer zone to monitor the cease-fire. The cease-fire that was declared Sept. 5 has been repeatedly violated. On Saturday, Ukrainian national security council spokesman Volodymyr Polyoviy said about 20 rebels had been killed in clashes with Ukrainian forces over the past day, along with one Ukrainian serviceman.

In Donetsk, the largest rebel-held city, strong explosions broke out on Saturday morning at a munitions factory. A local official, Ivan Pirkhodko, said on Ukrainian television that the explosions were triggered by an artillery shell striking the plant, but it was not clear which side fired it.

The agreement reached Saturday could be a significant step forward if it is adhered to, but negotiators have not yet addressed the most difficult issue — the future status of the rebel regions. The insurgency in the mostly Russian-speaking Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine flared up after the ouster of Ukraine's former pro-Russian president in February and Russia's annexation of Crimea the following month.

In April, the rebels seized government buildings in the two provinces and declared them independent. They fought government troops to a standstill in five months of fighting that have killed more than 3,000 people and devastated the regions that formed Ukraine's industrial heartland.

The Ukrainian crisis has pushed Russia-West relations to their lowest point since the Cold War. Faced with several rounds of Western sanctions that badly hurt the Russian economy, Russia's President Vladimir Putin has pushed for a peace deal that would ease Western pressure while protecting Moscow's interests in Ukraine.

As part of a compromise to end the hostilities, the Ukrainian parliament this week passed a law giving a broad autonomy to the areas controlled by the rebels, including the power to hold local elections and form their own police force.

Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of rebels in Donetsk, said after the talks that Ukraine and the rebels have conflicting interpretations of the law and the talks should continue. In Donetsk, the largest rebel-held city in east Ukraine, the separatists held a city-wide cleanup day Friday, sending prisoners out to help remove the debris that has piled up after months of shelling.

Throughout the cease-fire, periods of peace have been interrupted by intermittent gunfire. The same was true Friday, when the Donetsk city council said in a statement that one person was killed by shelling during the night. Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the National Security and Defense Council, told journalists in Kiev that two servicemen were killed in the past day during the fighting.

The streets were quiet Friday as the rebels called for a cleanup. In one school that was shelled in late August, four Ukrainian prisoners guarded by armed rebels were sweeping up debris.

Mstyslav Chernov in Donetsk, Ukraine, Laura Mills in Kiev, Ukraine and Vladimir Isachenkov and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.

Donetsk cleans up from shelling in eastern Ukraine

September 19, 2014

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Peace talks to regulate the ongoing crisis in east Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have battled Ukrainian troops since April, started late Friday in the capital of Belarus.

Representatives of Ukraine, Russia, and the Moscow-backed rebels arrived in Minsk for the talks that many hope could bring a permanent political solution to the region, as civilian casualties continue to rise, despite a cease-fire imposed in the region on Sept. 5.

Leonid Kuchma, the former Ukrainian president who is Kiev's envoy to the region, told journalists that the main purpose of the talks would be to ensure that the cease-fire is more thoroughly enforced.

In Donetsk, the largest rebel-held city in east Ukraine, the separatists held a city-wide cleanup day Friday, sending prisoners out to help remove the debris that has piled up after months of shelling.

Throughout the cease-fire, periods of peace have been interrupted by intermittent gunfire. The same was true Friday, when the Donetsk city council said in a statement that one person was killed by shelling during the night. Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the National Security and Defense Council, told journalists in Kiev that two servicemen were killed in the past day during the fighting.

The streets were quiet Friday as the rebels called for a cleanup. In one school that was shelled in late August, four Ukrainian prisoners guarded by armed rebels were sweeping up debris.

East Ukraine casualties rise as rebels reject deal

September 17, 2014

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Shelling in rebel-held parts of east Ukraine killed at least 12 civilians on Wednesday, as a top leader of pro-Russian rebels rejected Ukrainian legislation meant to end the unrest by granting self-rule to large swaths of the east.

The city council of Donetsk, the largest rebel stronghold, said that shelling killed two people in the city Wednesday and wounded three others. In a separate statement published online, the press center for Kiev's military campaign in the east said that at least 10 civilians in the town of Nyzhnya Krynka, 20 kilometers east of Donetsk, had been killed by shelling.

Since a cease-fire imposed on Sept. 5, the fighting in Donetsk has been primarily limited to the north of the city, where many residential neighborhoods have been caught in the crossfire of battles centered on the government-controlled airport.

On Wednesday, an AP reporter in that area of Donetsk saw the remains of what appeared to be a Grad rocket in a burned-out building. There was one body visible at the scene. The cease-fire has been much violated from the start and civilian casualties have continued to rise, adding to the estimated 3,000 people killed since fighting started in April.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian parliament took a step to resolve the crisis by passing laws that would grant greater autonomy to rebel-held parts of the east, as well as amnesty for many of the separatists, a major concession to both Moscow and the rebels.

But in an interview with The Associated Press in Donetsk on Wednesday, rebel leader Andrei Purgin said that the separatist leadership was not willing to allow Donetsk and Luhansk to remain part of Ukraine.

"We perceive this as a document in which we can find certain points to start a dialogue," Purgin said. "But there is a red line we cannot cross: we do not accept any political unions... with Ukraine. No federative, no unitary structure."

The laws passed by Ukrainian parliament call for three years of self-rule in parts of eastern Ukraine and for local elections in December. They grant concessions that were not previously offered by the Ukrainian side, such as local oversight of court and prosecutor appointments and local control of police.

But Purgin insisted that the rebel leadership would settle only on full independence from Ukraine. "We are unable to join the Russian Federation directly, so we will build our own country," he said. Purgin's comments, echoed by other leaders on Wednesday, could undermine peace talks that are under way in the Belarusian capital of Minsk between Ukraine, Russia, and the Russia-backed rebels.

The comments are also in striking contrast to the Russian foreign ministry's positive reaction to the legislation, which it called a "step in the right direction." The legislation "creates the foundation for launching a substantive constitutional process in Ukraine, including the start of a dialogue intended to help national reconciliation and accord in the country," the ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

Ukraine and the West have repeatedly accused Russia of fueling the separatists with personnel, arms, and expertise. Moscow denies those claims.

Laura Mills in Kiev, Ukraine, and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

New Polish premier wants more US military presence

October 01, 2014

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's new prime minister says she will seek a greater U.S. military presence in Poland because the conflict in neighboring Ukraine has made Poland's security and the U.S.-Polish relationship even more important.

Speaking Wednesday at her inauguration, Ewa Kopacz promised to take a "pragmatic" approach to Ukraine but said she would not agree to a change in Europe's borders by force, as happened in Crimea. Kopacz took over from Donald Tusk, democratic Poland's longest-serving prime minister, who is soon to hold a key European Union job.

Poland has been a strong supporter of Ukraine's pro-Western reforms and has been one of Europe's most outspoken voices condemning the Russian aggression there. However, Kopacz's comments indicated that her government would be less outspoken than Tusk's on Russia.

"We support the pro-European direction in Ukraine's development, but we cannot step in for the Ukrainians, who have the responsibility to change their own country," she said. Kopacz said her government will make "every effort to obtain a greater U.S. military presence in Poland."

She indicated her team would continue Tusk's policies of strengthening Poland's position in the 28-nation EU and seeking to build a strong joint policy. Her government is to serve one year until a national election next fall.

Kopacz said she would urge the EU to develop a common energy policy to protect individual countries against Russia's monopoly gas practices. Poland and other Central European countries are highly dependent on Russian gas and fear that Moscow could cut supplies in the winter, as it has done before, to exert pressure.

Kopacz also supported Poland's eventual adoption of the euro currency, but didn't commit herself to a date. She faces a confidence vote in parliament later Wednesday but her center-right Civic Platform party and its junior partner, the Polish People's Party, enjoy a majority in the lower house.

Greece's govt to call confidence vote

October 01, 2014

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's troubled coalition government said Wednesday it would call a vote of confidence in parliament next week, hours after the country's leftwing opposition demanded early elections citing ongoing austerity measures.

Government spokeswoman Sofia Voultepsi the government would request the vote Monday, at the end of parliament's summer recess, but gave no further details. The vote is likely to be held late Wednesday.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' conservative-led coalition could be forced to call an early election before March as it requires opposition support in parliament to elect a new president. The conservatives are currently trailing in opinion polls behind the opposition anti-bailout Syriza party, which is demanding that Greece renegotiate the terms of its 240 billion euro ($302.5 billion) bailout agreements with the Eurozone and the International Monetary Fund.

The bailout money prevented Greece from filing for bankruptcy when it lost market access in 2010, but austerity measures demanded in return for the loans have led to a dramatic rise in poverty and unemployment.

"The only road for the country's salvation is the people's vote and a strong mandate for the country's recovery, and a tough renegotiation at a European level. There's no other solution," Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras said.

Samaras formed a three-party coalition government in 2012, but is currently only allied with his former rival, the Pasok Socialist party. Together they have 154 seats in the 300-member parliament. In recent weeks, several prominent Pasok officials have openly spoken in favor of siding with Syriza in a post-election coalition.

Inspectors from the European Union and IMF are currently in Athens for their latest review of the bailout program and on Wednesday continued meetings for a second day with cabinet officials.

Palestinian-born candidate runs for Berlin mayor

October 02, 2014

BERLIN (AP) — Berlin's mayor broke ground 13 years ago by winning election after coming out as gay. Now a top candidate to succeed him wants to make history of his own: Palestinian-born Raed Saleh is seeking to become Berlin's first immigrant mayor.

Saleh, who was born in the West Bank and came to Berlin at age 5, offers a story of social advancement he hopes will win over voters and set an example for others. The son of a Palestinian "guest worker" who brought his family to then-West Berlin in the early 1980s, the 37-year-old Saleh started out working at Burger King and later co-founded a company that offers printing services.

"At the moment, a lot of young people have the feeling that they don't have a share" in society, he told The Associated Press. Berlin is home to a large immigrant community, including many people with Turkish roots, some of them poorly integrated.

Saleh joined the center-left Social Democrats of the current mayor, Klaus Wowereit, at 18 and rose steadily up the local party hierarchy. When Wowereit announced in August that he was stepping down, Saleh — now the party's regional caucus leader — became a natural candidate to succeed him.

Members of the Social Democrats are choosing between Saleh and two other contenders to be their party's pick in a postal ballot that closes Oct. 17. The mayor will be elected by the Berlin state parliament in December. Since a Social Democrat-led coalition has a majority in the legislature, the party ballot's winner is all but guaranteed to get the job.

Saleh says his election could help give "courage and hope" to millions of people, showing that everyone is equal regardless of where they were born. "This would of course be a great signal, and we would make history together here in Berlin," he said.

Saleh pledges to focus on education and to take personal control of attracting business to the city. Berlin has developed a reputation as a hub for high-tech startups, but is industrially weak and has not developed a strong financial center. Wowereit dubbed the city "poor but sexy." Its 10.8-percent unemployment rate is still the second-highest of any German state, well above the national average of 6.5 percent.

"Berlin is growing, Berlin is developing very positively, but many people have no share in this growth — for many, everything that is happening is passing them by," Saleh said. "I would like us to share prosperity around better."

Saleh also promises to ensure law and order and has taken an outspoken stance against anti-Semitic slogans chanted during protests against the Gaza war. "You can criticize if you have a different political view," he said, "but nothing justifies hatred of Jews."

Wowereit's decision to step down midterm gives the new mayor nearly two years before the next state election to shore up his party's support. That has slid amid disillusionment with the long-popular Wowereit, whose personal reputation suffered from persistent delays in opening Berlin's new airport.

Saleh's chances are hard to gauge in a battle with local party chairman Jan Stoess and city development minister Michael Mueller, the best-known of three candidates who are hardly household names. Ethnic minorities are poorly represented in leadership positions in Germany, though a co-leader of the opposition Greens and the federal government official responsible for immigrant issues have Turkish roots.

Saleh said in a letter to party members that he has heard questions about whether Berlin is ready for a mayor with immigrant roots. "I think that is asking the question the wrong way," he wrote. "It should be: Are we ready? Are you ready?"

25th anniversary of East German exodus to the West

September 30, 2014

PRAGUE (AP) — A former foreign minister of West Germany has arrived in Prague to meet former refugees from the East and commemorate events that led to communism's collapse in Eastern Europe and the reunification of Germany.

Hans-Dietrich Genscher struck a deal with East German authorities to allow thousands of East German citizens who sought refuge at the West German embassy in Prague to go West. Genscher told them the news from the embassy's balcony on Sept. 30, 1989.

Genscher greeted some of the refugees Tuesday at the embassy's garden, which thousands packed in 1989. One of them, 46-year-old Franka John, says it was "highly emotional" to come back after her life changed for the better.

Later that year, communist regimes in the region began falling in a wave of mostly peaceful revolutions.

France ups military deployment against IS group

October 01, 2014

PARIS (AP) — France is deploying an anti-aircraft frigate and more fighter jets in the Persian Gulf region to boost its ability to carry out airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq.

The Defense Ministry said Wednesday that three Rafale jets will shortly join six others already based at a French air base outside Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. It said French military liaison officers will also join allied command structures in the region.

Acting on a request from Iraqi authorities, France has conducted two sets of airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq since Sept. 19 — the first foreign country to join the United States in conducting such strikes in Iraq.

France is not participating in U.S.-led airstrikes in neighboring Syria, where the group is also active.

British warplanes destroy IS targets in Iraq

October 01, 2014

LIMASSOL, Cyprus (AP) — British Royal Air Force warplanes flying out of a UK air base on Cyprus have destroyed four Islamic State group targets in Iraq over the last two days, the base commander said Wednesday.

RAF Akrotiri station commander, Group Captain Chaz Kennett said that two Tornado GR4 aircraft used bombs and precision missiles to destroy a "heavy weapon position" and an armed pick-up truck. They were supporting Kurdish troops under attack Tuesday from the extremist group in northwest Iraq.

In the second strike early Wednesday, a pair of Tornado planes fired four missiles to destroy two Islamic State group vehicles, including an armed pick-up truck. They were assisting Iraqi government troops west of the capital Baghdad.

British warplanes have been conducting combat missions over Iraq since Saturday, hours after Britain joined the U.S.-led coalition of nations that are launching airstrikes against the extremists. "The threat from ISIL affects us all and defeating this threat requires an intelligent, patient approach from the coalition of countries who stand together against ISIL," said Kennett, using an alternative abbreviation of the Islamic State group.

Six of the long-serving Tornado warplanes are currently stationed at RAF Akrotiri. Among the weapons systems they carry are Paveway bombs and Brimstone ground attack missiles. Meanwhile, Cyprus has permitted France to use one of its own air bases in support of missions in the region.

Cyprus government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides told the Associated Press that the air base near the southwestern coastal town of Paphos can be used for "humanitarian and transport missions," but not as a staging post for air strikes.

Oslo latest city to drop out of 2022 Olympic race

October 01, 2014

The Olympics that no one seems to want is down to just two candidates.

Oslo became the latest city to drop its bid for the 2022 Winter Games after the Norwegian government rejected financial backing for the project on Wednesday amid concerns the games were too costly — a decision the IOC said was based on "half-truths and factual inaccuracies."

Oslo's exit leaves Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan, as the only two contenders. Oslo is the fourth city to pull out of a race that has been thrown into turmoil in the wake of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, where the overall price tag was put at $51 billion, scaring off politicians and taxpayers and leaving the International Olympic Committee with a major image crisis.

Oslo's fate was sealed after the ruling Conservative party failed to support financial guarantees for the bid. Lawmaker Trond Helleland said it was a split vote and the party could not propose that the government go ahead with the candidacy.

The junior partner in the minority coalition voted against the bid four months ago, and polls have shown that more than 50 percent of Norwegians are opposed. Prime Minister Erna Solberg said there was not enough support to spend 35 billion kroner ($5.4 billion) on the Olympics.

"It's important to get broad support for such an expensive project and there is not enough to carry through such an expensive project," she told Norwegian NRK television. "Without enthusiasm, it's not natural to carry this through."

Stockholm; Krakow, Poland; and Lviv, Ukraine, withdrew their bids in recent months. Before that, potentially strong bids from St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Munich, Germany, were dropped after being rejected by voters in referendums.

The IOC will select the 2022 host city on July 31, 2015, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Beijing, which staged the 2008 Olympics, is seeking to become the first city to host both summer and winter games. Almaty, a city in Central Asia which hosted the 2011 Winter Asian Games, bid for the 2014 Olympics but failed to make the final short list.

In a strongly-worded statement, IOC executive director Christophe Dubi described Norway's decision as a "missed opportunity" for the city and country. He said Norway would miss out on $880 million in sponsorship and television revenues that the IOC will provide to the 2022 host city.

Dubi said the Norwegian bid team asked for a meeting with the IOC earlier this year for an explanation of all the requirements and costs. "Unfortunately, Oslo sent neither a senior member of the bid team nor a government official to this meeting," Dubi said. "For this reason senior politicians in Norway appear not to have been properly briefed on the process and were left to take their decisions on the basis of half-truths and factual inaccuracies."

Oslo had seemed like the ideal candidate. Norway loves winter sports and has won the most medals in the Winter Olympics. Oslo hosted the 1952 Winter Olympics, and Norway held the widely acclaimed 1994 Games in Lillehammer.

But concerns over the cost of the games and public antipathy toward the IOC proved insurmountable. "For a country of such means, full of so many successful athletes and so many fanatical winter sports fans, it is a pity that Oslo will miss out on this great opportunity to invest in its future and show the world what it has to offer," Dubi said.

Norwegian IOC member Gerhard Heiberg said opposition to the bid and the IOC mounted after an incident in Sochi, when the committee reprimanded four Norwegian female cross-country skiers for wearing black armbands in memory of an athlete's brother who had died on the eve of the games.

"It began with the armband case," Heiberg told NRK. Cities have been put off by the cost associated with the Sochi Games. While most of that money went to long-term regeneration and infrastructure projects, not the cost of running the games, cities remain wary of the expense.

The IOC has acknowledged that it has failed to properly explain the difference between operating and capital budgets. "We lost good cities because of the bad perception of the IOC, the bad perception of how the concept could be done," former IOC executive director Gilbert Felli said recently.

Cutting the cost of the games is one of the priorities of IOC President Thomas Bach, who is proposing a series of reforms — called "Olympic Agenda 2020" — to be voted on in December in Monaco. Among other things, Bach wants to add flexibility to the bidding process, allowing cities to propose their own concepts rather than adapting to a strict IOC blueprint.

Associated Press writers Matti Huuhtanen in Helsinki and Simon Haydon in London contributed to this report.

Former NATO chief opens strategic consultancy

October 01, 2014

HELSINKI (AP) — Ex-NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen is opening a consultancy in Denmark to give strategic advice to governments, organizations and corporations.

The 61-year-old former Danish prime minister, whose five-year term as the alliance's secretary general ended Sept. 30, says the Rasmussen Global agency aims to facilitate "deep strategic thinking." Announcing the launch of his consultancy on its website on Wednesday, he said that after "five hectic years" at the alliance he wanted to help clients "navigate in an increasingly complex world ... (where) the balance of power is changing."

During his NATO tenure, the alliance continued to wage the longest and most expensive military operation in its 65-year history in Afghanistan. Fogh Rasmussen is succeeded by former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.