Bombers kill 31 at Iraq campaign rally for Shiites

April 25, 2014

BAGHDAD (AP) — Suicide bombers killed 31 people Friday at a sports stadium hosting a campaign rally for thousands of supporters of a militant Shiite group before parliamentary elections, authorities said — an attack that could unleash more sectarian violence.

An al-Qaida breakaway group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, claimed responsibility for the attack at the Industrial Stadium in eastern Baghdad, which drew about 10,000 backers of the Iranian-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq group.

It said on a militant website that the bombings were to avenge what it called the killing of Sunnis and their forced removal from their homes by Shiite militias. The authenticity of the claim could not be independently verified.

The attack was a stark reminder of the sectarian violence that has plagued Iraq more than two years after U.S. troops ended an eight-year presence that often served as a buffer between the nation's Shiite majority and its Sunni Arab minority.

Last year, the death toll in the country climbed to its highest levels since the worst of the sectarian bloodshed between 2006 and 2008. The U.N. says 8,868 people were killed in 2013, and more than 1,400 people were killed in the first two months of this year alone.

The rally was organized to introduce the group's candidates for Wednesday's vote. More than 9,000 candidates are taking part and will vie for 328 seats in parliament. Parts of the Sunni-dominated Anbar province won't take part in the election due the clashes there between security forces and al-Qaida-inspired militants.

A top intelligence officer and security officials said a senior Sunni politician in the southern city of Basra, Abdul-Kareem al-Dussary, was shot and killed Friday night in what appeared to be a revenge attack for the Baghdad bombings. The officer and the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

The resurgence of sectarian violence is in part a reflection of the 3-year-old conflict in neighboring Syria, where forces loyal to President Bashar Assad are battling mostly Sunni rebels whose ranks are dominated by Islamists or militants from al-Qaida-inspired or linked groups. Assad follows the Alawite faith, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Asaib Ahl al-Haq, like Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah, has sent fighters to Syria to join Assad's side in the civil war.

The bombings at the heavily guarded stadium struck about 10 minutes apart, according to two Associated Press reporters at the rally. Intense gunfire rang out after the first explosion and continued throughout, but it is not uncommon for Iraqi security forces to fire in the air after major attacks.

Some in the crowd fled to a nearby building under construction in the complex as female parliamentary candidates screamed and prayed for safety. Others ran from the stadium or took refuge behind the large stage erected for the rally.

Adding to the panic was the appearance overhead of a low-flying small aircraft that dropped election pamphlets. The first explosion struck as men and women in colorful Arab medieval costumes were engaged in a short performance of a play depicting the 7th century martyrdom of the Shiites' most revered saint, Imam Hussein, in Karbala, Iraq.

An AP driver outside the stadium's main gate said he was thrown back by the first blast before a second shook the area. He said guards around him began firing in all directions. Another witness said he rushed out of the stadium with his friends after the first explosion.

"I saw four charred bodies and several wounded people asking for help. There were also several damaged cars. Then, other blasts took place. People were in panic," said the man, who gave his name as only Abu Sajad.

The rally was addressed by Asaib Ahl al-Haq's leader, Sheik Qais al-Khazali, a young cleric who had spent years in U.S. detention but was released after he was handed over to the Iraqi government. In his speech, he challenged the Sunni militants holding parts of two cities in Anbar province, which is predominantly Sunni.

"We are ready and prepared to defend this nation," said al-Khazali, a one-time close aide of anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. "Let it be known that Asaib will be the remedy." Security guards jumped on al-Khazali after the first explosion, and then rushed him to his armored SUV.

The group remained defiant after the attack. "This is a desperate act that will not stop us from moving on and challenging" the Sunni militants, said a senior Ahl al-Haq official, Wahab al-Taie. "They wanted to send us a message and they did, but that will not deter us."

Police and medical officials say the attack killed at least 31 people and wounded 37. They said the first two blasts were caused by bombs, but the third was the work of a suicide bomber. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren't authorized to release the information. It was not immediately possible to reconcile the officials' version with that given by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which spoke of two suicide bombers.

Followers of Asaib Ahl al-Haq attacked U.S. troops before their withdrawal in 2011 and claimed responsibility for the 2007 kidnapping in Baghdad of a British contractor along with his four guards. The group is backed by Iran and openly admits sending fighters to Syria to bolster Assad's forces.

The top of the Baghdad stadium's terraces was adorned by images of Asaib Ahl al-Haq fighters killed in Syria. "They fight Iraq's enemies there on the land of Syria," al-Khazali said, alluding to fighters in Syria.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and other Sunni militants frequently use car bombs and suicide attacks to target public areas and government buildings in their bid to undermine confidence in the Shiite-led government and target Shiite groups.

Associated Press writer Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.

Security concerns force Iraq to shut notorious Abu Ghraib prison

2014-04-15

BAGHDAD - Iraq has closed Abu Ghraib prison, made infamous by Saddam Hussein's regime and US forces, due to security concerns following a mass breakout last year, the justice ministry said Tuesday.

The country is suffering a protracted surge in violence that has claimed more than 2,550 lives so far this year, and the area west of Baghdad where the prison is located is particularly insecure.

"The ministry of justice announced the complete closure of Baghdad Central Prison, previously (known as) 'Abu Ghraib,' and the removal of the inmates in cooperation with the ministries of defense and justice," it said in an online statement.

The statement quoted Justice Minister Hassan al-Shammari as saying that 2,400 inmates arrested or sentenced for terrorism-related offences have been transferred to other facilities in central and northern Iraq.

"The ministry took this decision as part of precautionary measures related to the security of prisons," Shammari said, adding that Abu Ghraib prison is "in a hot area."

It was not immediately clear whether the closure was temporary or final.

The prison is located between Baghdad and the city of Fallujah, which has been held by anti-government fighters since early January.

The prison served as a notorious torture center under now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein, with an estimated 4,000 detainees perishing there.

Abu Ghraib later became a byword for abuses carried out by US forces following the 2003 invasion when photographs surfaced the following year showing Iraqi detainees being humiliated by American guards, igniting worldwide outrage.

In July 2013, militants assaulted Abu Ghraib prison and another in Taji, north of Baghdad.

Officials said hundreds of inmates escaped and over 50 prisoners and members of the security forces were killed in the assaults, which were claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a powerful jihadist group.

Iraq has been hit by a year-long surge in violence, driven principally by widespread anger among the Sunni Arab minority, who say they are mistreated by the Shiite-led government and security forces, as well as by the civil war in neighboring Syria.

Violence in Iraq has killed more than 340 people since the beginning of the month, according to figures based on security and medical sources.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=65408.

Militants close dam as Iraq violence kills 15

Baghdad (AFP)
April 14, 2014

Militants have closed all gates of a Euphrates River dam they control in Iraq, blocking a major water source, a minister said on Monday, while violence killed 15 people.

The latest unrest comes amid a protracted surge in nationwide bloodshed that has claimed more than 2,550 lives so far this year and sparked fears of Iraq slipping back into the all-out sectarian killings of 2006 and 2007.

The unrest has been driven principally by widespread anger among the Sunni Arab minority over claims of mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government and security forces, as well as by the civil war in neighboring Syria.

Militants have "completely closed the gates of the Fallujah dam since yesterday (Sunday) morning," Water Resources Minister Muhanad al-Saadi said in a statement.

The move blocks a major source of water for central and southern Iraq.

The militants, who seized the dam several weeks ago, had previously cut the flow of water through the dam near the city of Fallujah, just a short drive west of Baghdad, but reopened it when water accumulated and caused the area to flood.

In a sign of both the reach of anti-government fighters and the weakness of security forces, all of Fallujah and shifting parts of Anbar provincial capital Ramadi, to its west, have been out of government control since early January.

The US embassy issued a statement Monday condemning "ongoing terrorist acts" by powerful jihadist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and the dam closure in particular.

"Targeting dams and other vital infrastructure victimizes innocent Iraqi citizens. In the past week, hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis have suffered from water shortages as a result of ISIL's actions," the embassy said.

It added that the US has provided Iraq with "essential military equipment," and "will continue to accelerate such deliveries in order to ensure Iraqi security forces are equipped with modern and effective weaponry appropriate to the serious threat that ISIL poses."

Violence in various areas of Iraq left 15 people dead on Monday.

Shelling and shoulder-fired rockets killed two people and wounded seven in Fallujah, while clashes in Ramadi left five militants dead.

Bombings in three areas close to Baghdad killed five people, among them two Sahwa anti-Al-Qaeda militiamen, and wounded nine.

And north of the capital, a firebomb thrown at a checkpoint killed a policeman in the city of Tikrit, while gunmen killed a Kurdish security forces member and a civilian in Kirkuk.

Iraq's security forces will face a major test on April 30, when Iraqis go to the polls for the first parliamentary election since American forces quit the country at the end of 2011.

While they were able to keep violence to a minimum during provincial polls last year, the security forces have failed to halt a subsequent year-long surge in unrest.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Militants_close_dam_as_Iraq_violence_kills_15_999.html.

Iraq's homeless suffer from neglect, exploitation

April 3, 2014
Omar al-Jaffal

In 2010 at the age of 16, Wissam left his home in Babil province to find work in Basra. At times, he had to beg to survive. Wissam's parents searched for him for nearly four years, but to no avail, and then on Feb. 27, they saw him on television.

The police had picked up Wissam and transferred him to a homeless shelter in Baghdad. There he met Sabrine Kazem, a young journalist covering social issues for Alhurra Iraq TV. It was her story for a news bulletin that led Wissam's family to find their son.

Speaking to Al-Monitor, Kazem said, "The shelter is full of tales of homeless persons who are neglected by their families. Some of them have passed the legal age [until which time they are required to stay at the shelter]. I wanted to highlight this category of people that no one pays attention to." Kazem also said, "All of the young men in the shelter have pale faces. They are uncomfortable and do not receive high-quality rehabilitation so they can return to normal city life."

Wissam had repeatedly told the police and the homeless shelter that he had family in Babil province awaiting his return. His appeals, however, went unheeded. No one tried to reunite him with his family or to even inform them of his whereabouts.

Kazem said she was surprised when her office received a telephone call from Wissam's family, requesting that they be put in contact with him. He had appeared frightened and weak in the shelter.

Although the news report helped reconnect Wissam with his family, after four years in the homeless shelter, they have not been reunited. The legal procedures involved would cost the boy's family a good deal of money, which it does not have.

Baghdad has a number of homeless communities with people ranging between 10 and 20 years of age. In Liberation Square, in the center of the city, a group of homeless beg while others pickpocket passersby or steal from the shops in nearby areas. Most of them do not have homes or families to protect them. Some sleep in the streets, while others have joined begging networks that provide them with shelter.

One homeless young man in the Karada district of central Baghdad told Al-Monitor, "[There is] coordination between some of the beggars' networks and the police, which prevents us from being arrested." Nonetheless, there are other dangers. A security source informed Al-Monitor, "Armed groups exploit the homeless in some provinces of Iraq." He added, "A number of those [who got involved with armed groups] have been arrested, and they are now in juvenile prison."

There are only two homeless shelters in Iraq — one for males and one for females. While there are no official figures available on the number of homeless, various unofficial statistics estimate that they exceed 500,000.

Kazem's story sparked reactions in the street and on Iraqi social networking sites, raising questions about the steps that the government should take to return people to their families or to integrate them into society after having been neglected. Kazem noted, "The shelters' dealings with the media are fraught with concerns," and further explained, "They are afraid of journalists entering the shelters, for fear of exposing themselves to criticism."

Wathiq Sadiq, a social researcher, told Al-Monitor, "If homeless shelters don't rely on actual programs, within the framework of the adequate economic and social conditions, then their results will not be as efficient as required." He observed, "These shelters, despite the many changes that occurred in Iraq post-2003, are still unable to truly perform their tasks. This is because they are subject to the general reality [in the country], which is largely characterized by confusion."

Sadiq also explained, "There is currently no clear governmental program to guarantee the elimination, or even reduction, of negative social phenomena, including homelessness." He stressed, "Homelessness is one of the most common channels [leading to] behavioral and social deviation. … The government, represented by state institutions, is the primary one responsible for imposing the agreed-upon social order and thus ensuring socially acceptable standards of conduct.”

Source: al-Monitor.
Link: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/04/iraq-homeless-struggle-neglect-exploitation.html.

Informal patrols on Turkey's border with Syria

November 13, 2014

CAYKARA, Turkey (AP) — Their collars pulled up against the evening cold, a group of men and women peer through binoculars, scanning the fields along a barbed wire fence. A few kilometers (miles) away across the Turkish border, black smoke rises from the besieged Kurdish Syrian town of Kobani, the dull thud of mortars carrying across on the breeze.

They are some of the hundreds of volunteers, predominantly Turkish Kurds, who have traveled from villages, towns and cities across southeastern Turkey and even from Istanbul, to keep watch on the border. They are on the lookout for potential fighters of the extremist Islamic State group attempting to cross into Kobani, besieged since mid-September by IS and defended by Kurdish Syrian fighters known as the People's Protection Units.

"To be honest, we don't trust (the Turkish border guards), because we have seen many occasions that the Turkish government has loosened its borders for ISIS fighters, weapons and logistical support to cross," said Ibrahim Binici, a Kurdish lawmaker for the left-wing HDP party, which put out a call in September for the volunteers.

It's a claim Turkey vehemently rejects. But the deep distrust of Turkish authorities in the border area reflects Turkey's complicated attitude toward the Islamic extremists who captured swaths of Iraq and Syria, and its strained relations with its own Kurdish population.

The country's reluctance to join a U.S.-led international coalition action against IS in Syria and Iraq, mainly through airstrikes, has frustrated Turkey's American and European allies. Ankara, however, insists the priority should be the unseating of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose 2011 crackdown on protesters sparked an uprising that soon spun into a vicious civil war.

Turkey's position on IS is "ambivalent at best, uncertain at worse," said Serhat Guvenc, international relations professor at Istanbul's Kadir Has University. One reason, Guvenc explained, is that Turkey suspects IS "is here to stay" — that the group will eventually become part of the Sunni establishment in Syria and Iraq, which also borders Turkey. Ankara therefore fears it will inevitably have to deal with the group.

Another is the Kurdish issue. Separatists, mainly led by the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, have fought a 30-year guerrilla war in Turkey's southeast which has left tens of thousands dead. An uneasy ceasefire has been in place for only about two years. The PKK is on the terrorist list of Turkey, the European Union and the U.S., and Ankara is deeply suspicious of the People's Protection Units, which it views as an extension of the PKK.

When the IS onslaught in Kobani began, Turkish Kurds were furious that their government was not doing more against IS or allowing them to cross into Syria to help fellow Kurds defend the town from extremists beheading prisoners and carrying out mass executions. Riots in predominantly Kurdish towns and cities ensued, leaving more than a dozen people dead.

But Kurdish resistance in Kobani has been a major public relations success for the Kurds, who have managed — along with the coalition airstrikes — to prevent IS from taking the town. "Empowerment of the Kurds in the region is kind of upsetting the Turkish positions ... because they're getting credit as the only group in the region that could put up a fight and win against ISIS," said Guvenc.

However, he noted, credit was due to Ankara for recently allowing 150 Peshmerga troops — Kurdish fighters from northern Iraq — to cross through Turkey to bolster the People's Protection Units with artillery in Kobani.

Binici, the Kurdish member of parliament, said the border observers' main aim was to prevent "the mass passage of IS fighters, since you cannot control individuals. ... We believe that we managed to stop that."

About 10,000 people responded to the initial call for volunteers and were deployed in 10 villages. Now, about 2,000-3,000 people remain in three villages, numbers falling due to winter weather and what activists said was targeting by Turkish authorities with tear gas and rubber bullets.

"We've had police intervening and we had many injuries" from the tear gas," said Ipek Gunes, a volunteer from the city of Mardin. In the villages still hosting volunteers, tents stand among mud and concrete brick houses and meals are provided in outdoor communal kitchens, with everyone taking turns to cook stews in vats over wood fires.

With a roughly 900-kilometer border with Syria and 330-kilometer border with Iraq, Turkey's attraction as an entry point for fighters is obvious. Ankara insists it has cracked down. Checks have increased at ports and airports, a government official said, with 2,000 people interrogated, 1,400 deported and more than 7,000 people denied entry into Turkey since October 2013.

The official, who was not authorized to comment on the issue and therefore demanded anonymity, said allegations of cooperation between border guards and IS fighters were "deliberate disinformation." The army had strengthened border security with fences, thermal cameras and patrols, the official said — but added that authorities "can't check every meter" of the border. The official also noted that hundreds of wounded fighters from the People's Protection Units had been treated in Turkish hospitals.

The foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment. The credibility of reports that Turkish guards are ignoring IS fighters crossing the border — or even helping them — is hotly contested. Fighters of the People's Protection Units also cross the border, often using smuggling routes.

"What we are witnessing is part reality, partly constructed reality. There is a big PR war going on, on both sides," said Guvenc. "It seems that the Kurds are more successful at this level of struggle."

Mohammed Rasool contributed from Caykara.

Ukraine: Security deteriorating in rebel-held east

November 13, 2014

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine warned Thursday that the security situation is steadily worsening in the country's rebel-held east as separatist fighters move closer to government forces. One official said he feared an attack soon by Russian forces.

A cease-fire agreed upon in September between the pro-Russian rebels and Ukraine's government in Kiev has been violated daily, especially around areas coveted by both sides like the airport in the eastern city of Donetsk.

National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said the Russian army is massing troops, including air defense units, near the border. Ukraine for months has accused Russia of directly supplying the separatist forces.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich denied the Ukrainian charge. "There have been and are no military movements across the border or, all the more, any presence of our troops in the southeast of Ukraine," he said Thursday in Moscow.

Ukraine's warnings of possible renewed hostilities follow multiple recent observations of large military convoys on the move around the country's eastern separatist-controlled areas. Trucks transporting troops, ammunition, fuel and large-caliber artillery systems have been seen traveling primarily in the direction of Donetsk, the main rebel-held city.

Ukraine and NATO have said they believe the equipment has been delivered from Russia, although they have yet to provide conclusive evidence for that. Monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe watching two Russian-Ukrainian border crossings have noted an increase in military-clad people traveling across the border in the past week.

"The (observer teams saw) 665 men and women in military-style dress crossing the border in both directions. This is the highest number observed so far," the OSCE said in a report Wednesday. Its observer team saw a van Tuesday marked "Cargo 200" — the Russian military code for soldiers killed in action — crossing from Russia into Ukraine and returning later that same day.

Lysenko, the Ukrainian spokesman, said hostilities have surged in Luhansk, one of two regions bordering Russia where separatists have been waging battle for six months. Government positions in the area have come under repeated rebel rocket and artillery attacks in the last day, he said.

The Interfax-Ukraine news agency cited Zoryan Shkiryak, an adviser to Ukraine's Interior Minister, as saying Thursday that he anticipated an imminent attack by Russian forces. "We can indubitably confirm that the probability of another incursion remains quite high and we should be ready for this," Shkiryak was quoted as saying.

Speculation about a planned separatist assault has been swirling in Ukrainian media following a news report citing unnamed rebel commanders as saying an offensive would begin Sunday. Ukrainian authorities say residential areas are being increasingly targeted by rebel attacks. Two residents in Zolote, a village in the Luhansk region, were hospitalized with shrapnel wounds Wednesday, Lysenko said.

Officials in Kiev are particularly worried about Debaltseve, an eastern town on the main road linking Donetsk and Luhansk that is almost entirely surrounded by separatists. It has come under sustained shelling in the past few weeks.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who has pinned hopes for enforcing the truce on the OSCE monitors, handed over 10 armored vehicles to the group Thursday. In addition to battling the rebels, Ukraine is struggling to spur its flagging economy and fight galloping inflation. The central bank said inflation has reached 19.8 percent this year and the national currency, the hryvnia, has lost 59 percent of its value against the dollar over the same period.

Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this report.

Serb far right leader defies UN court

November 13, 2014

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian far-right leader Vojislav Seselj will defy a U.N. war crimes court if judges request that he return to The Hague, he said Thursday, a day after returning home on provisional release.

Seselj, accused of recruiting notorious paramilitary forces during the bloody Balkan wars, returned home on Wednesday after the tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands, released him for medical treatment in Serbia on condition that he doesn't interfere with victims or witnesses and that he goes back if summoned.

But he told a news conference that "I will not go voluntarily." "Why would I?" he added. "I will not hide, but they will have to arrest me." Serbian doctors who visited the 60-year-old say he is suffering from colon cancer that has spread to his liver. The notorious Serbian firebrand, who once said he would like to gouge out the eyes of rival Croats with a rusty spoon, had been in custody in The Hague since surrendering in 2003.

He was charged along with other Serbian leaders of the 1990s' as part of a criminal plot to drive out non-Serbs using massive destruction and terror. Seselj's has pleaded not guilty to all charges, but prosecutors have demanded a 28-year sentence. Judges have delayed passing the verdict several times because of different legal obstacles.

Seselj said his political campaign will focus on "stopping any attempts to include Serbia into EU or NATO." The Balkan country's current government is led by Seselj's former top associates, who now support Serbia's EU membership. If Seselj's is summoned by the Hague court, the Serbian authorities must hand him over.

"It will be a historic paradox, that I should be arrested by the most direct accomplices in the war crimes that I had allegedly committed," Seselj said.

Romanian PM takes on mayor in presidential runoff

November 13, 2014

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania's presidential runoff sees Prime Minister Victor Ponta facing off against Klaus Iohannis, the ethnic German mayor of the Transylvanian city of Sibiu. Ponta, a former prosecutor, led Iohannis by 10 points in the first-round voting on Nov. 2, and polls indicate Ponta is likely to win, despite corruption probes and convictions of some of Ponta's senior aides.

Here is a brief rundown of the people and issues involved in Sunday's vote. WHO ARE THEY? "Pugnacious" Ponta, 42, became Europe's youngest prime minister in May 2012 just before he turned 40. An amateur rally driver, Ponta married Daciana Sarbu in 2007. She's a European Parliament lawmaker and the daughter of a bigwig in the powerful Social Democratic Party. Ponta's career has mostly been plain sailing since then, even though he's been accused of plagiarizing his doctoral thesis and of being an undercover spy by outgoing President Traian Basescu — allegations he denies. Since taking office Ponta has overseen economic growth and political stability. He says Romania will remain a U.S. ally and rejects claims he'll cozy up to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Critics say that as president Ponta could grant an amnesty to political allies imprisoned for corruption, and that his party would have far too much power.

"Civilized" Iohannis In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, the ethnic German mayor proudly displayed a letter that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had sent him wishing him success in the runoff. Iohannis said he would be best suited to continue Romania's battle against corruption and its goal of improving the independence of its justice system. "Ponta is a candidate of the system, a candidate who is manipulated by local (political) barons," the mayor told the AP. "People want something else. People want change." The 55-year-old physics teacher has run Sibiu, a town of 155,000 in Transylvania, since 2000. He's seen as a gentleman in the rough and tumble of Romanian politics, but some supporters have criticized his hesitation to ruthlessly exploit Ponta's weaknesses.

WHAT ARE THE ISSUES? Ponta has played the nationalist card by advertising himself as a proud Romanian Orthodox believer. The influential church promised an internal inquiry after some priests were filmed telling believers to vote for Ponta. Corruption should be an issue in one of the European Union's poorest nations, but Romanians appear to be overlooking those allegations, attracted by Ponta's hard-charging style.

The race has featured plenty of mud-slinging, with Ponta aides accusing Iohannis of wanting to separate Transylvania from the rest of Romania. Ponta supporters dumped dozens of hens — some dead — inside Iohannis' party headquarters, calling him a coward.

WHAT ABOUT THE EXPAT VOTERS? Ponta says about 3 million Romanians live abroad. Neither he nor his center-left party are popular with expats. Less than 200,000 voted in the first round Nov. 2, and there were angry protests in London, Paris, Munich and Vienna as thousands said they couldn't vote. Romanian law does not allow for postal or online voting.

Associated Press writer David Rising in Berlin contributed to this report.

Rome riot police to prevent attacks on refugees

November 13, 2014

ROME (AP) — Riot police moved in Thursday to prevent residents of a neighborhood on Rome's outskirts from attacking refugees living at a holding center in the latest incident of anti-immigrant tensions rocking Italy.

The working-class neighborhood of Tor Sapienza has seen several days and nights of violence against refugees by residents who blame foreigners for crimes. The residents say they're not racist, but are fed up with what they say are years of neglect by government authorities who have allowed gypsies, migrants and asylum-seekers to settle in Rome's peripheries without providing adequate services.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees condemned the violence, saying refugees and unaccompanied minors fleeing war and conflict deserve protection, respect and help integrating, not "unacceptable" acts of violence and intolerance.

In a statement, the UNHCR condemned "extremists" who are capitalizing on residents' fears to fuel conflict. Officials at the "Smile" center said unaccompanied minors living at the center — most aged 16 and 17 from Egypt and Bangladesh — were being moved to another center in Rome for their own security after another small clash broke out Thursday.

"We are scared. We are trying to find a compromise with the residents," said Francesco Amato, an official who works at the center. Italian commentators say at least some of the perpetrators are believed to be members of far-right groups — there have been chants of "Il Duce" in a reference to Italy's fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

The clashes come as Italy copes with record number of migrants arriving on its shores after fleeing conflicts in Syria and Africa. Earlier this month Italy partially handed over its sea rescue operation to the European Union after coming under pressure domestically to end the costly operation.

Caterina Villa in Rome also contributed to this report.

Comet photos awaken wonder at space exploration

November 13, 2014

It took a set of retro-looking images to reawaken the world's sense of wonder about space exploration.

The black-and-white pictures of a rocky surface sent back from a comet hundreds of millions of miles away are the product of an astonishing feat of science and some sophisticated imaging technology. But for millions gazing at them with excited awe, the response that the dusty gray rocks and pitch-dark shadows provoke is almost primal.

It's space as we imagined it in earliest childhood — deep and dark, harsh and alien — and with the Philae lander, humanity has made a fragile foothold on it. That feeling is perfectly captured in one image, an interplanetary selfie, in which one of the lander's three feet is visible in the corner of the shot.

To be sure, the science is impressive. These crisp images have come from 311 million miles (500 million kilometers) away. The washing machine-sized lander has a close-up camera on its underside and is also mounted with seven high-definition micro-cameras, each weighing just 3.5 ounces (100 grams), designed to endure temperatures as low as minus 238 Fahrenheit (minus 150 Celsius), and arranged to capture 360-degree panoramas of the comet's surface. (Some of the pictures released by the European Space Agency have been composites of several images.)

But our reaction is about more than scientific appreciation. The stark and elegant pictures cut through the usual space-exploration imagery of rockets and gadgets and flashing lights and take us back to the early black-and-white sci-fi movies many of us remember seeing. A shot taken as the lander descended makes the comet's surface look like gray plasticine, and evokes George Melies' 1902 "A Trip to the Moon," with its famous sequence of a rocket zooming into the eye of the man in the moon.

The flow of images is made more precious by the sense that it may not last. Scientists said Thursday that Philae appeared to have landed in the shadow of a cliff and may not be getting enough sunlight to recharge its solar panels.

Space agency: Comet lander ends up in cliff shadow

November 13, 2014

BERLIN (AP) — Europe's comet lander Philae has come to rest in the shadow of a cliff, posing a potential problem for its solar panels, scientists said Thursday as they published the first image ever taken from the surface of a comet.

The photo shows a rocky terrain, with one of the lander's three feet in the corner of the frame. It is part of a slew of data that Philae is transmitting back to Earth, indicating that its instruments are working properly, said Jean-Pierre Bibring, the lander's lead scientist at the European Space Agency.

Before deciding whether to try to adjust the lander, scientists will spend the next day or two collecting as much data as possible while its primary battery still has energy. The lander's solar panels were designed to provide an extra hour of battery life each day after that, but this may not be possible now.

"We see that we get less solar power than we planned for," said Koen Geurts of the lander team. "This, of course, has an impact on our energy budget and our capabilities to conduct science for an extended period of time," he said. "Unfortunately this is not a situation that we were hoping for."

The lander scored a historic first Wednesday, touching down on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko after a decade-long, 6.4 billion-kilometer (4 billion-mile) journey through space aboard its mother ship, Rosetta. The comet is streaking through space at 41,000 mph (66,000 kph) some 311 million miles (500 million kilometers) from Earth.

The landing was beset by a series of problems that began when thrusters meant to push Philae onto the comet failed. Then two harpoons, which should have anchored the lander to the surface, weren't deployed.

This caused the lander to bounce off the comet and drift through the void for two hours before touching down again. After a second smaller bounce, scientists believe it came to rest in a shallow crater on the comet's 4 kilometer-wide body, or nucleus.

"We are just in the shadow of a cliff," Bibring said, adding that photos indicate the cliff could be just a few yards (meters) away. "We are in a shadow permanently, and that is part of the problem." Bibring and his colleagues stressed that the data they'll be able to collect with the primary batteries alone will have made the landing worthwhile.

"A lot of science is getting covered now," he said, noting that scientists would soon get their hands on a tomography of the comet and data showing whether the matter it is made of is magnetized. But because the lander is just resting on the comet with nothing but low gravity holding it down, Philae will have to hold off on one of the most important experiments — drilling into the comet to extract some of the material buried beneath the surface.

Scientists want to analyze this material because it has remained almost unchanged for 4.5 billion years, making them cosmic time capsules. "Drilling without being anchored and without knowing how you are on the surface is dangerous. We might just tip over the lander," said Stephan Ulamec, head of the lander operation. Gravity on the comet is 1/100,000th that of Earth, meaning the washing machine-sized lander weighs just 1 gram (0.04 ounces) there.

Ground controllers will likely wait until the first big batch of data has been collected before attempting to adjust the lander so that its solar panels can catch the sun and charge its batteries. Communication with the lander is slow, with signals taking more than 28 minutes to travel between Earth and the Rosetta orbiter flying above the comet.

Even if Philae uses up all of its energy, it will remain on the comet in a mode of hibernation for the coming months. In theory it could wake up again if the comet passes the sun in such a way that the solar panels catch more light, said Ulamec.

Meanwhile the orbiter, Rosetta, will also use its 11 instruments to analyze the comet over the coming months. Scientists hope the 1.3 billion euro ($1.6 billion) project will help them better understand comets and other celestial objects, as well as possibly answer questions about the origins of life on Earth.

Police hunt for tiger loose near Disneyland Paris

November 13, 2014

PARIS (AP) — French authorities hunted Thursday for a young tiger on the loose near Disneyland Paris, one of Europe's top tourist destinations, and urged residents in three nearby towns to stay indoors.

The town of Montevrain sent out a news alert on its Facebook page Thursday saying a young tiger was spotted in the brush behind tennis courts and a soccer field about 9 kilometers (5 1/2 miles) from Disneyland Paris.

An examination of a muddy footprint showed that the tiger weighs about 70 kilograms (154 pounds) and is about 1 ½ years old, said Clement Joly, a Montevrain spokesman. Police and rescue squads roped off a security perimeter and urged people living in Montevrain, Chessy and Chalifert to remain indoors or stay inside their cars if they had to travel. School children in Montevrain were accompanied home after Thursday's classes.

Around 60 police, fire and other security forces were out tracking the tiger, using a helicopter with a thermal detector to spot heat, a specially trained dog and a wolf-catcher, authorities in Montevrain and Seine-et-Marne said.

Specialists who work with the Forestry Department were equipped with tranquilizing guns, said Cedric Tartaud, an aide to Montevrain's mayor. The search for the tiger was to continue through the night with more helicopter flights.

Where the tiger came from is still a mystery. The Parc des Felins, a wild cat animal park 29 kilometers (18 miles) from Montevrain, said all of its animals were accounted for. EuroDisney, the operator of Disneyland Paris, said it has no tigers in its theme park.

Disneyland Paris calls itself Europe's No. 1 tourist destination with 14.2 million visits in 2013. Officials at the theme park said no special precautions were taken Thursday inside the park due to the tiger.