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Friday, June 26, 2015

1815 revisited: Ceremonies mark fateful Battle of Waterloo

June 18, 2015

BRUSSELS (AP) — Royalty, dignitaries and soldiers commemorated the 1815 Battle of Waterloo on Thursday, a watershed moment in European history that marked the end of the continent's domination by France and its emperor Napoleon and the beginning of the British century.

Belgium's King Philippe led a ceremony for hundreds of guests Thursday, while thousands of re-enactors gathered under the Lion's Mount monument at the Waterloo battle site. The commemorations took place exactly 200 years after more than 10,000 soldiers died in a half-day battle between French troops and an international coalition led by Britain's Duke of Wellington.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said "the enemies of yesterday have become staunch allies" and descendants of the top military leaders of that battle joined hands on the very grounds where their ancestors had fired guns and cannons at one another.

Still, two centuries later, Waterloo often remains an unmentionable topic for the French. Even if royalty and nobility from several of the 1815 belligerents attended the ceremony south of Brussels, France only sent a lower-key delegation — and Paris had already strongly objected to the minting of a commemorative Waterloo coin.

Yet one Frenchman on Thursday saw Waterloo as a decisive defeat. Pierre Moscovici, the European Union's financial affairs Commissioner, said the eurogroup meeting of finance ministers needed to keep struggling Greece on board the shared euro currency. "I don't want today's #Eurogroup to be another Waterloo," he said.

And the Le Monde newspaper, too, viewed the battle in the same light, exhorting Britain on Thursday to stay alongside France in the 28-nation EU. "We solemnly say to our friends across the Channel: beware, Brexit could be your Waterloo!"

To Britain, though, Waterloo is nothing but a glorious victory. Prince Charles came to the battlefield on Wednesday, then was joined by Prime Minister David Cameron at a Waterloo commemorative service Thursday at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Descendants of those who fought, including the 9th Duke of Wellington, also marked the occasion at a service, which featured readings of extracts offering accounts of the battle.

St. Paul's is the resting place of the first Duke of Wellington. "This anniversary means a great deal. The battle changed history. Had we not won, we probably would be speaking French now," said Squadron Sergeant Major Tony Gray, 76, of the Light Cavalry.

And at NATO facilities in Kabul, Afghanistan, British and other NATO soldiers also marked one of the most famous battles in history.

Danica Kirka contributed from London

Exit poll: Danish governing bloc, opposition neck-and-neck

June 18, 2015

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt's governing coalition and the center-right opposition were in dead heat Thursday in Denmark's parliamentary election, according to an exit poll by broadcaster TV2.

The poll results gave the opposition 88 seats, and 87 for parties supporting the center-left government. That would still leave the race open because it doesn't count the four seats from the semi-autonomous territories of Greenland and the Faeroe Islands.

The poll was based on about 6,000 interviews and had a margin of error of about 3 percentage points. Kasper Jensen of polling institute Megafon sounded a note of caution, saying the exit poll wasn't a final result.

It's "only an indication of what a representative group of people had voted," Jensen said. Thorning-Schmidt's Social Democrats and opposition leader Lars Loekke Rasmussen's Liberals depend on other parties to build a majority in the 179-seat Folketing, or Parliament. The campaigns focused on immigration and welfare spending, among other issues.

In addition to the 175 seats decided by voters in Denmark, the Faeroe Islands and Greenland get two seats each. If the vote is close, those four seats could swing a result in favor of either Thorning-Schmidt or Loekke Rasmussen. Currently, the government bloc has three of the four seats. Polling stations in the Faeroes close at 1900 GMT (3 p.m. EDT) while those in Greenland shut down three hours later.

Both Thorning-Schmidt and Loekke Rasmussen have promised to further tighten Denmark's controls on immigration. Loekke Rasmussen, a former prime minister, needs support from the populist Danish People's Party, which wants to reintroduce border controls against neighboring countries. That's a controversial among many in the European Union who feel it would challenge the idea of a borderless Europe. But Loekke Rasmussen appeared to endorse the proposal as he cast his vote in Copenhagen.

"I want an open Denmark, but I also want a Denmark that is efficiently shut for people who don't want our country," Loekke Rasmussen told reporters. Thorning-Schmidt voted not too far away, accompanied by her husband, Stephen Kinnock, who was elected to Britain's Parliament for the Labour Party in Aberavon last month. He wasn't voting.

Thorning-Schmidt, a prime minister since 2011, emphasized Denmark's economic growth in recent years. "That road we have steered Denmark onto, where we have a grip on the economy, where there is money for the welfare, if that is the way you want to take, then you must vote for the Social Democrats," she said.

Thorning-Schmidt has pledged to raise welfare spending by 39 billion kroner ($5.7 billion), while the opposition says that improvements can be achieved without expanding the public sector. Candidates were campaigning until the very end, handing out leaflets, flowers, balloons and sweets to voters on the streets and squares of the Scandinavian country of 5.6 million. According to pollsters, up to 20 percent of Danish voters had not made up their minds before the election.

Left, right are neck-and-neck as Danes vote in elections

June 18, 2015

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danes are voting in parliamentary elections that will determine whether the center-left government of Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt can continue or whether the center-right opposition will be back at the helm.

Both Thorning-Schmidt's Social Democrats and opposition leader Lars Loekke Rasmussen's Liberals depend on other parties to build a majority in the 179-seat Folketing, or Parliament. Ahead of Thursday's vote, polls show them neck and neck, with their campaigns focusing on the impact of immigration on the welfare system, among other issues. Both sides have promised to further tighten Denmark's controls on immigration.

In a voting day poll in the Politiken newspaper and on the TV2 channel, the government side would get 49.1 percent and the opposition 50.1 percent. Pollster Megafon said some 1,800 interviews were carried out Wednesday and the margin of error was 3 percentage points.

Loekke Rasmussen, a former prime minister, needs support from the populist Danish People's Party that wants border controls back to stop foreign criminals from entering the country. Some 4.1 million Danes are eligible on Thursday and can pick among 10 parties and 799 candidates, including 16 independents. The vote will elect 175 lawmakers in Denmark, two in the Faeroe Islands and two in Greenland, which are semi-autonomous Danish territories.

Haitians booted from Dominican Republic uncertain of future

June 19, 2015

FONBAYA, Haiti (AP) — Saint-Soi Souverin sat on a bench resting and thinking about his plight after being uprooted from his longtime home on the other side of the border in the Dominican Republic, far from the Haitian shelter where he is staying.

Dominican authorities deported the 35-year-old farm worker along with his wife and four children early this week, leaving Souverin to ponder what he will do in Haiti — a deeply poor country that he left at age 17 to find work in the relatively more prosperous Dominican Republic.

"I'm not taking this well," he told The Associated Press in Spanish as his small daughter fell asleep on the shelter's concrete floor Thursday. "They sent me here with two empty hands. Everything I own was left behind."

The Dominican Republic has long had uneasy relations with migrant workers like Souverin and it is becoming decidedly more unfriendly. Human rights activists worry that tens of thousands of people will face Souverin's plight in the coming weeks and months now that the Dominican government is pledging to deport non-citizens who did not submit applications to establish legal residency before Wednesday night's deadline. Most of those affected are from neighboring Haiti or of Haitian descent.

An estimated 460,000 Haitian migrants live in the Dominican Republic, which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Officials have said nearly 290,000 people had enrolled in the immigration registration program, but only about 10,000 provided the required documents.

Many people had expected authorities to immediately start deporting people after the deadline passed, but the government said it would be a slow, developing process. The repatriations are not going to be "a witch hunt," Interior Minister Ramon Fadul said. "It will be a gradual process, as it should be, without any sudden surprises."

But Dominican officials also warned that people should start carrying documents to prove they are legal residents, to avoid deportation in case authorities stop them. Advocates for the migrants have criticized the registration plan as discriminatory regardless of the pace of deportations.

Dominican military officials and immigration agents have consistently raided communities with a high concentration of Haitians and detained people based on the way they look, said Wade McMullen, managing attorney for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights in Washington.

"The Dominican Republic is shooting themselves in the foot, and it seems to be for short-term political gain," he said in a phone interview. "Over the long term, they're going to realize that there's not only going to be a significant economic impact, but that the human toll is going to be even greater."

One of those worrying about what will happen is 27-year-old Julio Mato, a moto-taxi driver who says he was born in the Dominican Republic to a Haitian mother and a Dominican father. During an interview by phone, Mato said many people he knows are fearful of being deported, and added that he doesn't understand why the Dominican Republic wants to chase off Haitians, who mainly work in low-wage jobs, often in construction and agriculture and as maids and gardeners.

"We live off the Haitians and the Haitians live off us," he said. Fadul expressed surprise at the number of people who sought to obtain legal residency, with dozens complaining they were turned away when the deadline expired at midnight Wednesday after standing in line for more than 24 hours.

"I don't know why in recent days thousands of people have come," he said, noting that the registration for legal residency began a year ago. "Who has brought them? Why didn't they come before?" The program began last June after legal challenges delayed its original launch in 2004. Non-citizens can qualify for legal residency if they can prove they have been in the Dominican Republic since before October 2011.

Souverin said he has lived in the Dominican Republic for nearly two decades and obtained an official document two years ago with help from a nonprofit organization only to have it seized at the border when he returned from a quick trip to Haiti.

He also accused school officials of seizing the papers of his Dominican-born children, forcing them to quit school, echoing a common complaint among migrants. "I don't like this one bit," he said. "Why do they treat me this way?"

The government implemented the registration program amid international criticism of a 2013 decision by the Dominican Supreme Court that people born in the Dominican Republic to non-citizens did not qualify for citizenship under the constitution unless they had at least one parent who was a citizen or legal resident. The ruling rendered thousands effectively stateless. Officials said they will grant citizenship to some 50,000 people in this category.

Souverin is now one of nearly 50 deported migrants staying at the shelter in Haiti, including women who are breastfeeding their babies. He said he doesn't know what he is going to do or how he will provide for his family.

"I don't have a house," Souverin said. "I lost all my resources."

Associated Press writer Evens Sanon reported this story in Fonbaya, Haiti, and Danica Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. AP writers Ezequiel Abiu Lopez in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and Pierre Richard Luxama in Fonbaya contributed to this report.

Burundi: 100 students seek refuge at US embassy in capital

June 25, 2015

BUJUMBURA, Burundi (AP) — About 100 university students in Burundi are in the U.S. embassy's parking lot seeking refuge amid the country's political turmoil, an embassy statement confirmed Thursday.

The students had been camping at a construction site adjacent to the embassy grounds after their university was closed on April 30 due to political turmoil. Police persuaded them to leave the site and some went to the embassy's parking lot, the statement said. Four people received minor injuries during the incident, the embassy said.

The students said they fear aggression after violent demonstrations against President Pierre Nkurunziza's efforts to run for a third term in elections in July. Landry Ndikuriyo, a history major at the National University of Burundi, said the police threatened the use of force to evict them from the building site causing a melee as students scampered for safety.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said some of the students were starting to leave and that all the embassy workers were safe. "There was no violent action against the embassy. This wasn't directed at the United States," Kirby told reporters. "There was never any penetration of the actual embassy compound, and none of our State Department employees were under any physical threat whatsoever."

At least 77 people have died in street protests against Nkurunziza's bid for a third term in the July 15 presidential elections, according to rights activists. Also Thursday, Burundi's second vice president said he fled the country fearing for his life after opposing the president's controversial effort to extend his time in power that sparked off violent protests in the capital in recent weeks.

Gervais Rufyikiri, who went to Belgium last week, said in an interview on Radio France International that he has not officially resigned. He is the most senior government official to publicly oppose Nkurunziza's efforts to stay in power. Dozens of opposition and civil society activists, government officials and journalists have gone into exile after opposing the president's candidacy for another term.

Critics say Nkurunziza's push for another term violates the two-term limit for presidents set by the constitution. The street protests started April 26, after the announcement of Nkurunziza's candidacy. The demonstrations triggered an attempted coup in mid-May that was quickly put down.

Moon engulfed in permanent, lopsided dust cloud

Boulder CO (SPX)
Jun 22, 2015

The moon is engulfed in a permanent but lopsided dust cloud that increases in density when annual events like the Geminids spew shooting stars, according to a new study led by University of Colorado Boulder.

The cloud is made up primarily of tiny dust grains kicked up from the moon's surface by the impact of high-speed, interplanetary dust particles, said CU-Boulder physics Professor Mihaly Horanyi. A single dust particle from a comet striking the moon's surface lofts thousands of smaller dust specks into the airless environment, and the lunar cloud is maintained by regular impacts from such particles, said Horanyi, also a research associate at CU-Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.

The cloud was discovered using data from NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, or LADEE, which launched in September 2013 and orbited the moon for about six months. A detector on board called the Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX) designed and built by CU-Boulder charted more than 140,000 impacts during the six-month mission.

"Identifying this permanent dust cloud engulfing the moon was a nice gift from this mission," said Horanyi, the principal investigator on LDEX and lead study author. "We can carry these findings over to studies of other airless planetary objects like the moons of other planets and asteroids."

A paper on the subject appears in Nature. Co-authors include Jamey Szalay, Sascha Kempf, Eberhard Grun and Zoltan Sternovsky from CU-Boulder, Juergen Schmidt from the University Oulu in Finland and Ralf Srama from the University of Stuttgart in Germany.

Horanyi said the first hints of a cloud of dust around the moon came in the late 1960s when NASA cameras aboard unmanned moon landers captured a bright glow during lunar sunsets. Several years later, Apollo astronauts orbiting the moon reported a significant glow above the lunar surface when approaching sunrise, a phenomenon which was brighter than what the sun alone should have been able to generate at that location.

Since the new findings don't square with the Apollo reports of a thicker, higher dust cloud, conditions back then may have been somewhat different, said Horanyi. The dust on the moon - which is dark and sticky and regularly dirtied the suits of moonwalking astronauts - was created over several billion years as interplanetary dust particles incessantly pounded the rocky lunar surface.

Knowledge of the dusty environments in space has practical applications, said Horanyi. Knowing where the dust is and where it is headed in the solar system, for example, could help mitigate hazards for future human exploration, including dust particles damaging spacecraft or harming astronauts.

Many of the cometary dust particles impacting the lunar surface are traveling at thousands of miles per hour in a retrograde, or counterclockwise orbit around the sun - the opposite orbital direction of the solar system's planets. This causes high-speed, near head-on collisions with the dust particles and the moon's leading surface as the Earth-moon system travel together around the sun, said Horanyi.

The Geminid meteor showers occur each December when Earth plows through a cloud of debris from an oddball object called Phaethon, which some astronomers describe as a cross between an asteroid and a comet. "When these 'beams' we see from meteors at night hit the moon at the right time and place, we see the cloud density above the moon skyrocket for a few days," said Horanyi.

Horanyi also is the principal investigator on a CU-Boulder student dust-counting instrument on board NASA's New Horizons spacecraft that will whip by Pluto on July 14 after a journey of more than nine years.

Source: Moon Daily.
Link: http://www.moondaily.com/reports/Moon_engulfed_in_permanent_lopsided_dust_cloud_999.html.

Dissolving Titan

Paris (ESA)
Jun 22, 2015

Saturn's moon Titan is home to seas and lakes filled with liquid hydrocarbons, but what makes the depressions they lie in? A new study suggests that the moon's surface dissolves in a similar process that creates sinkholes on Earth.

Apart from Earth, Titan is the only body in the Solar System known to possess surface lakes and seas, as seen by the international Cassini mission. But at roughly -180 C, the surface of Titan is very cold and liquid methane and ethane, rather than water, dominate the 'hydrological' cycle.

Indeed, methane and ethane-filled topographic depressions are distinctive features near the moon's poles. Two forms have been identified by Cassini. There are vast seas several hundred kilometers across and up to several hundred meters deep, fed by river-like dendritic channels. Then there are numerous smaller, shallower lakes, with rounded edges and steep walls, and generally found in flat areas. Many empty depressions are also observed.

The lakes are generally not associated with rivers, and are thought fill up by rainfall and liquids flooding up from underneath. Some of the lakes fill and dry out again during the 30-year seasonal cycle on Saturn and Titan.

But quite how the depressions hosting the lakes came about in the first place is poorly understood.

A team of scientists have turned to home for the answer and discovered that Titan's lakes are reminiscent of 'karstic' landforms seen on Earth. These are terrestrial landscapes that result from erosion of soluble rocks such as limestone and gypsum in groundwater and rainfall percolating through rocks. Over time, this leads to features including sinkholes and caves under humid climates, and salt-pans under more arid climates.

The rate of erosion depends on factors such as the chemistry of the rocks, the rainfall rate and the surface temperature. While all of these aspects clearly differ between Titan and Earth, the underlying process may be surprisingly similar.

A team lead by ESA's Thomas Cornet calculated how long it would take for patches of Titan's surface to dissolve to create these features. They assumed that the surface is covered in solid organic material, and that the main dissolving agent is liquid hydrocarbons, and took into account present-day models of Titan's climate.

The scientists found that it would take around 50 million years to create a 100 m-deep depression at Titan's relatively rainy high polar latitudes, consistent with the youthful age of the moon's surface.

"We compared the erosion rates of organics in liquid hydrocarbons on Titan with those of carbonate and evaporite minerals in liquid water on Earth," describes Thomas.

"We found that the dissolution process occurs on Titan some 30 times slower than on Earth due to the longer length of Titan's year and the fact it only rains during Titan summer.

"Nevertheless, we believe that dissolution is a major cause of landscape evolution on Titan, and could be the origin of its lakes."

In addition, the scientists calculated how long it would take to form lake depressions at lower latitudes, where the rainfall is reduced. The much longer timescale of 375 million years is consistent with the relative absence of depressions in these geographical locations.

"Of course, there are a few uncertainties: the composition of Titan's surface is not that well constrained, and neither are the long-term precipitation patterns, but our calculations are still consistent with the features we see today on Titan's relatively youthful billion-year-old surface," says Thomas.

"By comparing Titan's surface features with examples on Earth and applying a few simple calculations, we have found similar land-shaping processes that could be operating under very different climate and chemical regimes," says Nicolas Altobelli, ESA's Cassini-Huygens project scientist.

"This is a great comparative study between our home planet and a dynamic world more than a billion kilometers away in the outer Solar System."

Source: Saturn Daily.
Link: http://www.saturndaily.com/reports/Dissolving_Titan_999.html.

Titan's atmosphere even more Earth-like than previously thought

London, UK (SPX)
Jun 22, 2015

Scientists at UCL have observed how a widespread polar wind is driving gas from the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan. The team analysed data gathered over seven years by the international Cassini probe, and found that the interactions between Titan's atmosphere, and the solar magnetic field and radiation, create a wind of hydrocarbons and nitriles being blown away from its polar regions into space. This is very similar to the wind observed coming from the Earth's polar regions.

Titan is a remarkable object in the Solar System. Like Earth and Venus, and unlike any other moon, it has a rocky surface and a thick atmosphere. It is the only object in the Solar System aside from the Earth to have rivers, rainfall and seas. It is bigger than the planet Mercury.

Thanks to these unique features, Titan has been studied more than any moon other than Earth's, including numerous fly-bys by the Cassini probe, as well as the Huygens lander which touched down in 2004. On board Cassini is an instrument partly designed at UCL, the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS), which was used in this study.

"Titan's atmosphere is made up mainly of nitrogen and methane, with 50% higher pressure at its surface than on Earth," said Andrew Coates (UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory), who led the study. "Data from CAPS proved a few years ago that the top of Titan's atmosphere is losing about seven tonnes of hydrocarbons and nitriles every day, but didn't explain why this was happening. Our new study provides evidence for why this is happening."

Hydrocarbons are a category of molecules that includes methane, as well as other familiar substances including petrol, natural gas and bitumen. Nitriles are molecules with nitrogen and carbon tightly bound together.

The new research, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, explains that this atmospheric loss is driven by a polar wind powered by an interaction between sunlight, the solar magnetic field and the molecules present in the upper atmosphere.

"Although Titan is ten times further from the Sun than Earth is, its upper atmosphere is still bathed in light," says Coates. "When the light hits molecules in Titan's ionosphere, it ejects negatively charged electrons out of the hydrocarbon and nitrile molecules, leaving a positively charged particle behind. These electrons, known as photoelectrons, have a very specific energy of 24.1 electronvolts, which means they can be traced by the CAPS instrument, and easily distinguished from other electrons, as they propagate through the surrounding magnetic field."

Unike Earth, Titan has no magnetic field of its own, but is surrounded by Saturn's rapidly rotating magnetic field, which drapes forming a comet-like tail around the moon. In 23 fly-bys which passed through Titan's ionosphere or its magnetic tail, CAPS detected measurable quantities of these photoelectrons up to 6.8 Titan radii away from the moon, because they can easily travel along the magnetic field lines.

The team found that these negatively-charged photoelectrons, spread throughout Titan's ionosphere and the tail, set up an electrical field. The electrical field, in turn, is strong enough to pull the positively charged hydrocarbon and nitrile particles from the atmosphere throughout the sunlit portion of the atmosphere, setting up the widespread 'polar wind' that scientists have observed there.

This phenomenon has only been observed on Earth before, in the polar regions where Earth's magnetic field is open. As Titan lacks its own magnetic field the same thing can occur over wider regions, not just near the poles. A similarly widespread 'polar wind' is strongly suspected to exist both on Mars and Venus - the two planets in the Solar System which are most Earth-like. It gives further evidence of how Titan, despite its location in orbit around a gas giant in the outer Solar System, is one of the most Earth-like objects ever studied.

Source: Saturn Daily.
Link: http://www.saturndaily.com/reports/Titans_atmosphere_even_more_Earth_like_than_previously_thought_999.html.

Putin's ally suggests Russian leader could hold early vote

June 18, 2015

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Vladimir Putin's long-time ally suggested Thursday that the Russian president could order an early vote to win a mandate for much-needed economic reforms, comments that sent shock waves through Russia's business and political elite.

Russia's economy, hit by Western sanctions and its own dependence on oil prices, has entered a recession, dropping 2.2 percent in the first quarter of the year. Prominent economists have warned that unless Russia makes drastic reforms, it is doomed for stagnation.

Alexei Kudrin, Russia's finance minister from 2000-11 and the man who invited Putin in for a job in Russia's presidential administration in the late 1990s, suggested at an investment conference Thursday in St. Petersburg that Putin could hold an early election in order to "win the mandate" for economic reforms.

Speaking to The Associated Press, Kudrin said he hadn't discussed the idea with Putin, whose current term expires in 2018. Still, he insisted the move was necessary, because of a "dire need of serious measures to restore the economy."

"If you're not ready to conduct (structural reforms) before the re-election, which anyone hardly does, then you need to do it after the election and do the election early," Kudrin explained. Kudrin, one of the few believed to still have Putin's ear, said Putin may not be prepared to undertake the painful reforms just now.

"He is a pragmatic man with an acute feeling of the political situation and it is possible that he will delay the reforms," he said. Putin, who has ruled Russia since 2000, began his third term in 2012 amid massive anti-government protests and low approval ratings. Those ratings then skyrocketed last spring after Russia annexed Crimea.

Sergei Neverov, a senior lawmaker at the ruling United Russia party, accused Kudrin on Thursday of trying to "destabilize the society" with his provocative statements. Russia's economy is in recession and its manufacturing and investment are declining as the country reels from lower commodity prices, the backbone of its economy.

But the recession is only partly a product of Western sanctions, Kudrin said, adding it was largely because Russia has not addressed its oil dependency, has not reformed its court system and did not improve its investment climate. The current government policy, according to Kudrin, addresses only short-term goals and is not looking further than three years ahead.

In an interview Thursday with The AP, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich sought to contest claims that the Kremlin has given up on economic reforms. "We're committed to big structural reforms, we've improving the investment climate," Dvorkovich said, quoting Russia's recent progress in moving up in ratings that rank where doing business is easiest.

The Russian parliament, meanwhile, is expected to give the green light next week to a bill that would allow the 2016 parliamentary election to be moved from December to September — a move that critics have interpreted as an attempt to weaken the opposition.

In an opinion piece in the RBK newspaper, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russian tycoon who spent ten years in prison after running afoul of Putin's government, this week warned of a clash between the interests of Russian elites, who are advocating isolationist policies and militarization, and those of ordinary Russians, who want better schools and health care.

In Kudrin's opinion, there is no such clash, but he says many of the elite are reluctant to voice any dissent — silence that he says is dragging down the Russian economy. "The elites are silent and don't talk about certain things openly because of our domestic political peculiarities," Kudrin said. "This is bad. This slows down the review of our goals and slows down the reforms."

Myanmar's parliament blocks changes to constitution

June 25, 2015

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar's parliament voted against several constitutional amendments Thursday, ensuring that the military's veto power remains intact and that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi cannot become president in an election this year.

The legislature ended a 3-day debate on proposed changes to the 2008 constitution, which bars Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, from seeking the presidency and gives the military an effective veto over constitutional amendments.

Changes to both those clauses were rejected in the vote, which was viewed as a final chance to lift obstacles blocking Myanmar's most famous politician from a shot at the presidency in the immediate future. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy is expected to see heavy gains against the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party in an election likely to take place by November. No date has been set.

"I am not surprised with the result," Suu Kyi told reporters after the vote. "This makes it very clear that the constitution can never be changed if the military representatives are opposed." She said she didn't see the vote as a loss, since the result had been anticipated, so her supporters should not lose hope.

Suu Kyi and her party had said that the current constitution needed to be amended to meet democratic norms and that the amendments were essential for a free and fair election. "The people should not be disappointed with the decision. It is clearer now how to proceed," she told reporters after the vote, looking defiant and energetic. "The public will clearly understand who wants change and it will help the public to clearly decide who they should vote for in the election."

The NLD swept the last free general election in 1990 but the then-ruling military junta ignored the results and kept Suu Kyi under house arrest and detention for a total of 15 years. The nation's transition from a half-century of brutal military rule to a nominally civilian government in 2011 was marked by early, fast-moving successes. Suu Kyi's 2010 release and her 2012 election to parliament were a catalyst for the West to end years of diplomatic isolation of Myanmar, also called Burma, and roll back sanctions.

But four years after President Thein Sein took office, the military has refused to loosen its grip on parliament or amend the junta-era constitution, which ensures the military's continuing influence in government. It gives the military a mandatory 25 percent of parliamentary seats, handing it veto power over any change in the constitution, which requires greater than 75 percent approval, followed by a nationwide referendum.

Thursday's vote rejected a proposal to trim the share of ballots required to amend the constitution from over 75 percent to 70 percent, a change that would essentially have removed the veto power. The U.S. State Department said Thursday the lack of civilian control over the military and the military's veto power contradicted democratic principles. The U.S. would continue to encourage the government "to allow the people of Burma to elect freely the leaders of their choice," said Michael Quinlan, a spokesman for the department's East Asia bureau.

Two prominent voices in Congress on U.S. policy toward Myanmar said the legitimacy of the November elections was in doubt. "Today's move by the Burmese military in the parliament only solidifies concerns that the country's upcoming elections cannot be free, fair, or credible," Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley and Republican Rep. Steve Chabot said in a statement.

Many viewed the proposed amendment, which could have paved the way for more constitutional change, as key to Suu Kyi's chances for gaining eligibility for the presidency. The opposition leader turned 70 last Friday, raising concerns that time is running out in her political career.

The parliament also rejected amending a clause that bars anyone whose spouse or children are loyal to foreign countries from becoming president or vice president. Suu Kyi's late husband and her two sons are British citizens. The proposed amendment would not have stricken the clause entirely, just dropped the reference to foreign spouses as an obstacle to candidacy.

During this week's debate, lawmakers in military uniforms said it was necessary to keep the clauses intact. "If the person who will become the country's head of state and his or her family members owe allegiance to foreign countries, the country will indirectly fall under foreign subjugation," Brig. Gen. Tin Soe, one of 166 military appointees in parliament, told fellow lawmakers on Wednesday.

Brig. Gen Tin San Naing said Tuesday that the military's veto power helped ensure stability as the country moves away from military rule. "Myanmar is in a democratic transition period," he said. "It has not reached its maturity in democratic practices to ensure peace and security in the country."

Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.

Armenian protesters block road for 3rd day over energy hikes

June 24, 2015

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Thousands of demonstrators protesting a hike in electricity prices entered a third straight day of standoffs with police in Armenia's capital Wednesday, with no visible progress toward resolving the worst unrest the country has seen in years.

President Serge Sarkisian has offered to meet with representatives of the protesters in the impoverished former Soviet nation, but they have refused, demanding instead that he announce on television that the price hikes will be scrapped.

Sarkisian, who hasn't yet commented publicly on the protests, headed to Brussels late Wednesday to attend a conference. The unrest is raising concerns about political stability in Armenia, which has relied on close ties with Russia and joined a Moscow-dominated economic alliance.

Russia has a military base in Armenia, and Russian companies control some of the most prized economic assets, including the power grid. The protest was triggered when an Armenian government panel agreed to raise electricity rates sharply at the request of the power company.

Some politicians in Russia have suggested that the West or Western non-governmental organizations had a hand in fomenting the unrest, comparing the protests to those in Ukraine in 2013 that led to the overthrow of the Russia-friendly president.

The Kremlin, however, took a conciliatory tone, voicing hope that the standoff will be settled peacefully. The demonstrators in Yerevan have denied any links either to foreign organizations or to opposition parties in Armenia. The protesters, most of whom are young, have used social media to organize their actions, which began Friday with three days of sit-in protests.

"No one is controlling us from either West or East," said Yeghia Nersesian, a 36-year-old photographer and activist who is one of the organizers of the protest. "We will look after ourselves. Our reputation is what matters."

Seeking to win broader public support for their action, activists handed out leaflets urging people to "join the struggle from home" by making noise with their utensils from their balconies. They also called on Yerevan residents to switch off the lights in their apartments for an hour as a sign of protest.

On Monday, about 5,000 demonstrators marched toward the presidential residence, but were blocked by police, who early Tuesday used water cannons to forcefully disperse the peaceful demonstration. Nearly 240 protesters were detained, and 15 people were injured.

The demonstration resumed with new force Tuesday evening when thousands launched a new attempt to march on Sarkisian's residence. They were again stopped by police, who this time refrained from any use of force.

Police have released all those detained and dropped charges against them. Hundreds of protesters remained sitting on the road Wednesday, ignoring police appeals to disperse. Many others sought shelter from the sun under trees and umbrellas as the temperature soared to about 40 C (104 F).

Some restaurants, bars and stores provided protesters with free food and drinks. The two sides also were separated by a barricade of large trash containers that the protesters had placed across the road.

When the evening came and the sizzling heat abated a bit, the number of protesters grew to 10,000. People from the suburbs and nearby cities joined the crowds. The atmosphere was relaxed and even festive with people shouting chants, singing national songs and dancing.

Fully renewable energy system is economically viable in Finland in 2050

Lappeenranta, Finland (SPX)
Jun 16, 2015

A fully renewable energy system, including all energy consuming sectors, is not only a possible but a viable solution for Finland, according to a new research. Researchers from Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) have investigated renewable energy system options for Finland in 2050. Results indicate that a fully renewable energy system is possible, and represents a competitive solution for Finland with careful planning.

In order to achieve the national greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2050, all sectors of the energy system need to be nearly emission free by 2050. Renewable energy system modelling shows that a fully renewable energy system featuring high shares of wind and solar energy includes smart interaction between the electricity, heating/cooling and mobility sectors.

Power-to-Gas technology, i.e. converting electricity into gases such as hydrogen or synthetic natural gas, and energy storage solutions, such as batteries, heat storage and synthetic natural gas storage, also have a central role as enabling technologies.

The research includes for the first time the cost and quantified dimensioning of the future energy system for Finland, which means the capacities for each of the production, consumption and storage technologies were defined. The study proposes an economically and technically feasible architecture as first vision for a feasible future energy system for Finland that could be later developed to a roadmap.

This system includes installed capacity of solar power of up to 35 gigawatts and 44 gigawatts of wind power, an amount well above those seen in previous analyses, but supported by an established potential for wind and solar photovoltaics in Finland.

This could create more than 166 TWh of electricity annually, approximately double the current level of final electricity consumption. The excess electricity would then be used to create synthetic fuels that can be consumed when needed for variety of purposes.

In addition, electricity would directly replace fossil fuels in the provision of many energy services, such as heating and transport. These results include stationary battery storage capacities of up to 20 GWh, three million electric vehicles with respective storage capacities and power-to-gas capacities of up to 30 GW.

In the study total annual costs for 100% renewable energy systems are approximately 25 billion euros, slightly less than scenarios with lower shares of renewable energy and a business as usual scenario (26 billion euros). The same trend was found for scenarios with lower shares and higher prices of forest biomass, albeit at higher overall annual cost. By comparison, the current energy system has an annual cost of approximately 18 billion euros and is set to rise to 21 billion euros by 2020 using the same method of calculation.

"The main message is the option of a fully renewable energy system must be seen as a valid option for the future, rather than a radical alternative. Finland certainly has an abundance of renewable resources, such as solar, wind, bioenergy and already exploited hydropower, which can be sustainably utilized," says Christian Breyer, LUT's Professor for Solar Economy.

Modelling the components of future energy systems and calculating future costs are important because the Finnish energy system is at a crossroads. The current power generation system is aging, there are responsibilities to mitigate climate change and worries about fluctuating energy prices.

At the same time, Finland has goals regarding national energy security as well as the need to retain a competitive industrial sector and meet the needs of a future society. Bioenergy alone cannot solve the energy supply problem.

The current study has concluded that flexibility will be a key, defining feature of future energy systems. By unlocking the full potential of all the flexibility available, more efficient and cost effective solutions can be found.

"Energy technologies will be a big part of these solutions, but let's not underestimate the impact that we can have on our own future. We have the opportunity to be more flexible energy consumers, and many individuals will become more active energy producers at the same time. We can become prosumers," states researcher Michael Child.

The researchers are part of LUT's Solar Economy Group. The research has been carried out in the NEO-CARBON ENERGY project. The results will be presented at the World Conference "Futures Studies Tackling Wicked Problems" in Turku on June 11th.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Fully_renewable_energy_system_is_economically_viable_in_Finland_in_2050_999.html.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Ottoman-era banknote found

29 May 2015 Friday

Mehmet Tezcakin, a Turkish expert on banknotes and coins, found an Ottoman-era 50-kurus (piaster) banknote in a lot sent by a collector living in Germany for valuation.

An adviser to an international London-based auction company Spink, Tezcakin said the banknote was dated 1876 with a picture as a watermark.

"I cannot tell the excitement I felt at that moment as all the numismatists in the world are after this banknote," said Tezcakin.

"That a banknote with a picture watermark was printed has been known for over a hundred years, but it had never before been seen," said Tezcakin.  Few of such watermarked banknotes with pictures were minted.

He said when the banknote was held up to the light, a man is seen, whose eyebrows and nose resemble Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II inside a crescent on the banknote.

"During the Ottoman era, no picture could be found on banknotes for religious reasons," he added.

Tezcakin said he made this historic find public with the permission of the collector who asked not to be named.

"This invaluable unique piece will be put up for sale abroad soon and, in particular, American, Arab and Israeli collectors will show interest in the banknote," said Tezcakin.

He called for bringing the banknote, which he said was the most precious banknote of Turkish finance history, back to Turkey.

Tezcakin said he currently had 7,500 out of 12,000 Ottoman era banknotes.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/159916/ottoman-era-banknote-found.

Istanbul gets ready to mark 1453 conquest

28 May 2015 Thursday

‘Rise and revival’ are the themes which will mark Istanbul’s upcoming celebration of the 562nd anniversary of its conquest by the Ottomans.

The city has moved its annual celebration for the first time from the traditional Balat district to the seaside Yenikapi area; events will be held on Saturday, rather than the actual anniversary date of Friday, to encourage more participation.

On May 29, 1453, Ottoman Fatih Sultan Mehmed  conquered Istanbul, then called Constantinople, from where the Byzantines had ruled the Eastern Roman Empire for more than a 1,000 years.

The conquest transformed the city, once the heart of the Byzantine realm, into the capital of the new Ottoman Empire.

A 450-strong team has been working hard to finish the final preparations at the Yenikapi venue, which is being furnished with advanced technology.

“We will hold unique and comprehensive celebrations, which will be followed by all Istanbulites, all citizens in Turkey and foreigners on TV,” Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas told reporters on Wednesday. "We want to have an atmosphere where our citizens share the enthusiasm comfortably and peacefully."

According to the municipality’s program, the event will start at 5.30 p.m. local time with attendance of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

State officials — political, military and administrative — and political parties have also been invited to the event, said Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin. "I hope it will be a celebration worthy of its meaning," he said.

The event comes one week before the country's 25th general election to be held on June 7.

During the event, a 3D film about the conquest will be screened on a giant TV.

An Ottoman janissary band, which will consist of 562 people for this anniversary, will play conquest songs.

Turkey’s national aerobatic team – the Turkish Stars – is scheduled to perform a special show in the sky.

Speeches to be delivered during the event will be translated into English, Arabic, Spanish, French, Russian and sign language.

One-and-a-half million people are expected to attend, where they will enter through 120 gates amid tight security.

On that day, the coastline and historic walls of Istanbul, which were built by the Byzantines to protect the city, will be illuminated. Firework and laser shows are scheduled to color the area. Pyrotechnics will also be used during the celebrations.

The Panorama 1453 History Museum, near the city's historic walls and which depicts the conquest with a 360-degree panoramic painting, will also present commemorative coins to every visitor on the anniversary day.

The 562nd visitor will get a painting depicting the conquest.

With the conquest of Istanbul, a new era started politically and administratively in Turkey and the wider world. Sultan Mehmed II became a commander that the Prophet Mohammed mentioned decades ago.

“One day, Constantinople will be conquered. How wonderful and blessed are the commander of its conquest and his soldiers!” he had said.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/general/159845/istanbul-gets-ready-to-mark-1453-conquest.

Ex-inmates regret destruction of notorious Syrian prison

June 01, 2015

BEIRUT (AP) — For decades, the mere mention of Tadmur Prison was enough to send chills down a Syrian's spine.

The notorious facility in the desert of central Syria was where thousands of dissidents were reported to have been beaten, humiliated and systematically tortured for opposing the Assad family's rule. This weekend, it was demolished by the Islamic State group, which took over the site near the ancient town of Palmyra last month, bringing mixed emotions from many Syrians who wanted it to remain standing so future generations would know its horrors.

"They destroyed our memories, our catastrophe and the walls that we leaned on and told our stories to," said Ali Aboudehn, a Lebanese who spent four harrowing years in Tadmur. "They destroyed the land that absorbed our blood because of torture."

The sprawling prison — once one of Syria's darkest secrets — is located a few miles east of Palmyra, a desert oasis famous for its Roman-era colonnades, temples and artifacts. There were fears that the Islamic State militants might destroy the 2,000-year-old heritage site.

Instead, over the weekend, they focused their destructive efforts on Tadmur Prison. The extremists released photos that showed men carrying plastic containers apparently filled with explosives. A video showed parts of the prison in rubble.

Osama al-Khatib, a Syrian opposition activist who fled Palmyra for Turkey three weeks ago, said the militants destroyed only the part of the prison that held members of the military, including army defectors. He said the facility where political prisoners were held is still intact. His report could not be independently verified.

Located about 250 kilometers northeast of Damascus, Tadmur Prison is part of a walled-off military complex that includes military and civilian units as well as an air base. Former prisoners say it could hold up to 7,000 inmates, although the number fell in recent years. By the time IS swept into Palmyra last month, the inmates had been moved elsewhere and the prison was empty.

Under President Bashar Assad's father and predecessor, Hafez Assad, the prison held mostly members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, pro-Saddam Hussein Baathists and loyalists of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

The bloodiest incident in Tadmur's history came in June 1980, a day after members of the Muslim Brotherhood staged a failed assassination attempt against Hafez Assad. In retaliation, troops belonging to Assad's brother Rifaat reportedly entered the prison and shot up to 1,000 prisoners who belonged to the Brotherhood.

Al-Khatib, who was not born at the time, said his parents told him about the incident, recalling that they heard shooting for much of that night. Afterward, the government took bulldozers from Palmyra to dig mass graves in the nearby Oweimer Mountain just north of the town, he said.

"People would pass by the prison, but no one dared look inside," al-Khatib said. Aboudehn recalls the first day he entered Tadmur in 1988, nearly a year after he was detained in Damascus for allegedly having contacts with Israel, Syria's archenemy.

He had to walk blindfolded and handcuffed between two rows of men who kicked, pushed and beat him with clubs and metal rods. His nose was broken and he bled profusely. Aboudehn showed the torture marks on both his legs, as well as his permanently dislocated right arm.

He recalls the warden telling a gathering of detainees shortly after they arrived: "You have come to your end, there is no mercy here. God is prohibited from entering the jail. We are God. We decide if you live or die."

Aboudehn said he was regularly beaten and humiliated during the four years and eight months he spent there. The jailers never referred to him with his real name, calling him "No. 13" instead. He was held in a cell with about 150 inmates who all shared one bathroom. For food, each prisoner received three loaves of Arabic bread, an olive and a teaspoon of marmalade a day, as well as one egg that was shared among five inmates.

Prisoners were completely cut off from the outside world, Aboudehn said, recalling that the first time he knew the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union collapsed was in 1993, well after those events happened.

Aboudehn broke down when he recalled looking through a keyhole and seeing a soldier urinating in the food that he and those in his cell were about to eat. He refused to eat but didn't have the courage to tell the others what he had seen for fear of being killed by his jailers. Instead, he told his fellow inmates that he wasn't feeling well.

"I decided I will not say anything then, but one day I will go out and tell what the regime used to do with us," said Aboudehn, bursting into tears. "May God curse this regime and those people who despised humanity!"

When he was moved to Sadnaya Prison, a facility near Damascus where dissidents also were known to have suffered mistreatment, he said it was like "a five-star hotel" in comparison. Aboudehn, who heads the Committee of Lebanese in Syrian Prisons, regretted the destruction of Tadmur by the Islamic State militants.

"They demolished a historic symbol that should have stayed, because in every room there were people who were killed," he said. A 2001 report by Amnesty International titled "Syria: Torture, Despair and Dehumanization in Tadmur Military Prison" catalogued routine abuses against prisoners, including the use of iron bars, whips and cables.

"Tadmur Prison appears to have been designed to inflict the maximum suffering, humiliation and fear on prisoners and to keep them under the strictest control by breaking their spirit," it said. Blowing up the facility may have been part of attempts by the extremists to gain popularity among those who suffered at the hands of the Syrian government. But residents and former prisoners called it a huge mistake.

Yassin Al Haj Saleh, who spent 16 years in Syrian prisons and wrote a book about his experiences, said he was saddened by the news, "as if they have destroyed my home." "I dreamt that I would visit it someday. ... I had imagined that visiting the prisons where I spent time would serve as closure," he wrote on his Facebook page.

"The destruction of a prison that was the symbol of our slavery is the destruction of our freedom as well. Of course, it's a huge service to the Assad regime of slavery," he added. Al-Khatib said he and his friends used to dream of entering the prison one day and documenting what happened inside.

"Now that Daesh destroyed the crime scene, it is more difficult to know what happened," he said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State. "I am totally against destroying it, although it represents a dark page of Palmyra and Syria's history. It should have stayed as a witness to this dark period."

Syrian opposition figure Radwan Ziadeh wrote on his Facebook page that Tadmur Prison "should have been kept as a museum for future generations as evidence of degradation of human beings during the Assad rule."

"Daesh turned it into rubble today."

Morocco builds 100-Km wall on Algeria border

29 May 2015 Friday

The Moroccan government is in the process of building a 100-kilometer fence along the Morocco-Algeria border as a result of the complicated relationship between the two countries, which have closed land borders since 1994, when Morocco made visas a requirement for Algerian travelers.

Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane said on Tuesday that the fence finally came to be following “differences” between Morocco and Algeria.

Morocco has repeatedly accused Algeria of being the source of the illegal hashish, contraband gasoline, and psychotropic substances found in the country.

In addition, Morocco criticizes Algeria’s regulation of irregular emigration and its tolerance for Syrian and other Sub-Saharan emigrants to enter the country.

The Moroccan government is also working on adding another 14 kilometers to the fence.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/159913/morocco-builds-100-km-wall-on-algeria-border.

Kyrgyzstan bans Islamic sermons!

29 May 2015 Friday

North of the holiday resort region of Issyk-Kul region, any speech making reference to Islam has been forbidden.

Local media reports that this law introduced by the local Biskek government. The report mentioned that "any form of religious preaching or sermons by visitors in the touristic region of Issyk Kul is against the law. Any religious sermons and religious education are to be performed by Islamic vocational preachers".

Bishkek government officials also said that local towns and villages have been given orders to prohibit the visit of any preachers or anyone who will give sermons to prevent the danger of a religious nature.

It it has been common in Kyrgyzstan and other independent nations of Central Asia for people from the Tablig Jamaat and Hizbut-Tahrir representatives to be active in the preaching of Islam.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/159917/kyrgyzstan-bans-islamic-sermons.

Qatar to open embassy in Baghdad

29 May 2015 Friday

Qatar will open an embassy in Baghdad, Iraq's foreign minister said on Friday, in the latest sign of improving relations between Gulf Arab countries and Iraq.

Tensions between the Muslim-ruled states of the Gulf and Iraq have eased since Prime Minister Haider Abadi took office last year.

A rapprochement could help strengthen a regional alliance against ISIL militants who have seized vast areas in both Iraq and neighboring Syria.

"We have agreed to open the Qatari embassy in Baghdad to begin resuming diplomatic work," Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari told a news conference.

Saudi Arabia also signalled its intention to reopen an embassy in Baghdad earlier this year and has invited Abadi to visit the kingdom.

Some Gulf states have viewed Iraq as being too close to their main regional rival, power Iran.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/159914/qatar-to-open-embassy-in-baghdad.

Hong Kong lawmakers reject Beijing-backed election plan

June 18, 2015

HONG KONG (AP) — The Hong Kong government's controversial Beijing-backed election reforms were defeated in the legislature Thursday but the crucial vote came to a confusing anticlimax as pro-establishment lawmakers accidentally failed to vote for it.

After a lengthy debate, 28 lawmakers voted against the proposals, which sparked huge street protests in the southern Chinese city last year. Eight others voted in favor. However, in a bizarre scene moments before the vote took place, most of the pro-establishment lawmakers walked out of the legislature chamber and ended up not casting their votes.

Lawmaker Jeffrey Lam later blamed a "communication gap," explaining that they were waiting for a fellow lawmaker who was ill to return to the chamber. They left even after their request for a 15-minute break was rejected by the legislature president.

The government needed at least 47 of the 70 lawmakers to vote in favor of the proposals. "If you look at their farcical behavior, you can't help but feel very sorry for Hong Kong that we are in the hands of such people," pro-democracy lawmaker Emily Lau said after the vote.

The government had proposed changes to the way the southern Chinese financial hub's top leader is chosen. Its reform package offered direct elections for the first time starting in 2017 but required all candidates to be screened by a 1,200-member panel of Beijing-friendly elites like the one that currently handpicks the leader.

Pro-democracy leaders criticized it as a "fake democracy," saying Beijing is breaking its promise to eventually grant genuine universal suffrage to the city, a special administrative region of China. Hong Kong is a former British colony that retains its own legal and financial system and civil liberties such as freedom of speech not seen on the mainland.

The bill's defeat comes at the end of Hong Kong's most tumultuous year since Beijing took control in 1997 after a century and a half of British colonial rule. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets last year to protest the central government's election screening requirement.

For 11 weeks, activists camped out on major thoroughfares in three neighborhoods to demand greater electoral freedom but eventually left the streets after exhaustion set in and Hong Kong's unpopular leader, Leung Chun-ying, refused to offer any concessions.

New NATO force trains in Poland to assure eastern flank

June 17, 2015

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Warships. Tanks. Helicopters. Rapid reaction forces.

Thousands of NATO troops are on the move this month in Poland and the Baltic states, practicing sea landings, air lifts and assaults. The massive maneuvers on NATO's eastern flank that began in early June include the first-ever training by the new, rapid reaction "spearhead" force, and are NATO's biggest defense boost since the Cold War.

Polish and Baltic state leaders have made it clear that they want to host large numbers of U.S. and NATO forces as a deterrent in the face of a resurgent Russia, and are welcoming the thousands of allied troops to their land and sea test ranges. Polish and Romanian leaders are even seeking more of a permanent allied military presence ahead of next year's NATO summit in Warsaw.

"We must know how to defend ourselves. It is our goal to assure a stable order," Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna said. "In the face of new, real threats, the biggest enhancement since the Cold War of the alliance's collective defense is taking place," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the Polish PAP news agency.

He added that the spearhead exercise means to show that NATO is "ready and capable of facing every challenge and every threat." East European countries that took pains to shed Moscow's dominance almost three decades ago have been jittery ever since Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula last year and began backing separatists in the deadly conflict in eastern Ukraine. They have urged NATO to show force as a deterrent.

In response, all kinds of NATO troops are testing their readiness this month to react and cooperate in the face of a potential crisis in the Allied Shield exercise in Poland, the Baltic states and in Romania. Those nations had significantly downscaled their armies and defense spending since the Cold War, but now they want to be sure that NATO will defend them in time of need — especially Poland, with its memories of failed defense alliances at the start of World War II.

Over 2,000 of the troops taking part in the Noble Jump maneuvers in southwestern Poland are from the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force that President Barack Obama and NATO leaders agreed upon at a NATO summit last fall.

Multi-national drills are also being held at Poland's northwestern range in Drawsko Pomorskie, along with greatly scaled-up annual BALTOPS exercises on the Baltic Sea. BALTOPS this year includes a spectacular amphibious landing of 700 allied troops on a beach in Ustka in northern Poland. Its maneuvers involve some 60 ships from 17 NATO and partner nations and about 5,000 troops. But for the first time they are taking place without Russia, whose Kaliningrad military port is on the Baltic.

On Wednesday at BALTOPS, a Polish army amphibian sank while returning to its ship following the drill. Both crew members were rescued unscathed. A multi-nation corps in Poland's Baltic port of Szczecin was doubling its staff to 400 this year to host the spearhead's command.

Underscoring the maneuvers' significance, the Noble Jump exercises are being visited Wednesday and Thursday by Stoltenberg and NATO's commander for Europe, Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, as well as Polish Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak and defense ministers from some other NATO nations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is not taking all this military activity lying down. On Tuesday, he announced a substantial re-armament program for Russia that, among other things, will add to its nuclear arsenal this year "over 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of penetrating even the most technologically advanced missile defense systems."

Stoltenberg reacted by saying that Russia is "undermining the treaties we have had jointly in place for several years, which are important for arms control." Speaking ahead of the spearhead exercises in Zagan, in the southeast, he said that NATO members "don't seek confrontation. We seek and strive for a more cooperative relationship but the precondition for that is that Russia is respecting the borders of its neighbors."

Russia's long-standing nuclear rhetoric, investment in nuclear forces and in military exercises "requires that NATO is responding," Stoltenberg said. Poland and Romania have been in talks to have U.S. army heavy equipment permanently stationed on their territory to speed up deployment in an emergency — since it's faster to ferry troops than tanks and howitzers. Romanian Defense Minister Mircea Dusa said two other East European countries were also in these negotiations but did not name them.

The U.S. decision on placing heavy equipment is expected within weeks, Poland's Siemoniak said. Poland's President-elect Andrzej Duda, who takes office in August, says security guarantees for Europe are not sufficient enough. He plans to further encourage NATO and U.S. military commitment to the region on Moscow's doorstep.

"A realistic thinking does not base itself on wishful thinking that peace will come on its own, but it is secured by mutual, hard security guarantees," said Duda's foreign policy adviser, Krzysztof Szczerski.

The Polish public is divided about the NATO maneuvers. "I feel safer that they are training here, that they are ready to defend us," said Agnieszka Sokol, a 31-year-old housewife from Warsaw. "I don't think that that will anger Russia. But even if (it does), NATO is much larger, much better armed compared to Russia. So I don't think we have anything to fear."

Not everyone is that confident. "I don't feel safe at all. I'm worried, seeing what Putin does. One move from him and we can have a war. It is really hard to say whether NATO would help in times of need," said Grazyna Sokolowska, a 57-year-old shop assistant in Warsaw.

Alison Mutler in Bucharest, Romania, contributed to this report.

Poland names 4 new ministers amid eavesdropping scandal

June 15, 2015

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's prime minister on Monday named four new ministers to replace Cabinet members who resigned last week over a 2014 eavesdropping scandal.

The new health minister is heart and lung transplant surgeon Marian Zembala; energy expert Andrzej Czerwinski is the new treasury minister; Adam Korol, world and Olympic rowing champion, is the new sports minister; and the new security minister, Marek Biernacki, has served as interior minister and justice minister.

The first three haven't served in politics before. The appointments suggest that Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz wants a fresh start for the government and the ruling Civic Platform party, which was given a warning when former party member Bronislaw Komorowski lost his presidential re-election bid last month.

Kopacz said her Cabinet will work around the clock to regain the trust of Poles. A general election is scheduled for the fall, probably in October. Earlier Monday, Kopacz met with Komorowski to secure his approval for the new ministers. They will be formally appointed Tuesday morning, just hours before the weekly government session.

Komorowski said last week he wanted to hear from Kopacz whether her coalition government led by her Civic Platform party was stable and could stay in office until the elections. A few ministers in the government come from the small Polish People's Party.

The resignations of ministers followed the illegal publication of secret files from an investigation into the taping of ministers, but were also seen as government cleansing over Komorowski's electoral loss that exposed dissatisfaction with Civic Platform policies.

Moldovans choose between Europe, Russia in local elections

June 14, 2015

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldovans voted in local elections Sunday which are seen as a test of whether the country is committed to European integration or will move closer to Russia's orbit.

The elections in the former Soviet republic come two days after pro-European Prime Minister Chiril Gaburici resigned amid questions about the authenticity of his high school diploma and university degree.

In the mayoral race in the capital, Chisinau, early results with about a fifth of the votes counted showed Zinaida Greceanai, the candidate of the pro-Russian Socialists, leading with 41 percent while Dorin Chirtoaca, the pro-European mayor since 2007, had 34 percent.

Turnout was just under 49 percent, less than the number of people who voted in the 2011 local elections. Early returns were announced late Sunday, with near-final results expected Monday. About 2.8 million voters were eligible to choose mayors and local councils. A runoff is slated for June 28 in cases where no candidate secures more than 50 percent of the vote.

Gaburici, a businessman who headed a minority government, had criticized a probe into the disappearance of $1.5 billion from three Moldovan banks before the November parliamentary elections. Analysts say anger over the missing money may be reflected in the local elections, giving a boost to pro-Moscow parties against their pro-European rivals.

Moldova signed an association agreement with the European Union in 2014, angering Russia which then placed an embargo on imports of some fruits and vegetables from Moldova.

Associated Press writer Alison Mutler in Bucharest, Romania, contributed to this report.

Hungary considers border fence to keep out migrants

June 17, 2015

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The Hungarian government is considering building a 4-meter-high (13-foot-high) fence along the border with Serbia to stop the flow of migrants reaching the country, the foreign minister said Wednesday.

The government has asked Interior Minister Sandor Pinter to present preparations for the plan by next Wednesday. "The Hungarian government is committed to defending Hungary and defending the Hungarian people from the immigration pressure," Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said. "Hungary cannot allow itself to wait any longer. Naturally, we hope there will be a joint European solution."

Szijjarto said the fence along the 175-kilometer (109-mile) southern border with Serbia wouldn't contravene any of Hungary's international legal obligations. He said that the governments of Hungary and Serbia would hold a summit on July 1, when "we will inform our Serb friends ... in detail of the Hungarian measures."

For their part, Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic called on the EU to help his country guard its borders from the migrant surge. "I'm asking all EU states to make an additional effort to protect Serbia's borders from where the migrants are coming, because they come from the EU countries — Greece and Bulgaria," Stefanovic said.

Hungary's foreign minister also said that, in line with a bill presented last week by lawmakers from the governing Fidesz party, the government was taking legal preliminary steps to designate all EU member and candidate countries as safe countries.

This step would allow Hungary, for example, from having to receive asylum seekers coming from Serbia or Greece, countries not considered by the EU to have the infrastructure necessary to guarantee their safety.

Szijjarto named the Greek-Turkish and the Bulgarian-Turkish borders as locations where similar fences have been built with the purpose of stopping migrants. Since the second half of 2014, the number of migrants and asylum seekers entering Hungary, mostly across the southern border with Serbia, has risen markedly.

So far this year, more than 53,000 people have requested asylum in Hungary, up from under 43,000 in 2014 and 2,150 in 2012. More than 70 percent of asylum seekers over the past three months are from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, though the vast majority move further west to destinations like Germany and Sweden shortly after filing their asylum requests.

Syrians, Iraqis protest after fight in camp on Greek island

June 15, 2015

MYTILENE, Greece (AP) — Hundreds of Syrian and Iraqi refugees, including women and children, protested Monday on the eastern Greek island of Lesvos, demanding better living conditions, the faster processing of their registration and to be housed separately from Afghan arrivals after a fight broke out in one of the island's camps.

Lesvos has been bearing the brunt of a huge influx of migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa crossing from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands. More than 50,000 migrants have arrived in Greece already this year, compared to 6,500 in the first five months of last year.

The United Nations' refugee agency says half of all arrivals in Greece are to Lesvos, where they either sail to shore or are picked up at sea. On Monday, the Greek coast guard said it had picked up 901 people between Friday and Monday in 27 separate incidents at sea off the islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Agathonisi, Farmakonisi, Pserimos and Kos.

The refugees in Lesvos said the fight broke out in a rudimentary camp used to house the refugees and migrants and that police who intervened beat both groups indiscriminately. At least three people were injured and treated at a local hospital, a doctor there said.

About 300 people marched to the island's main port of Mytilene to protest, saying the living conditions in the camp were intolerable, with no electricity or access to decent sanitation or water. "It's not a camp. It's a disaster. It's a zoo," said Sameer, an Iraqi who arrived on a small boat with dozens of others from the Turkish coast three days earlier. "There is fighting every day. We can't protect our people, our women."

Sameer, who would give only his first name for fear of jeopardizing his registration process, said none of those protesting knew how long it would take to get their papers. Migrants arriving in Greece from countries at war or in conflict are given refugee status and renewable papers that allow them temporary residence. But the sheer numbers arriving daily has led to a backlog, with some spending days either sleeping on the streets or in camps waiting to be processed.

"We don't want to fight with anyone. We just want our papers," said Faadi, a Syrian from Damascus who also would only give his first name for fear his family would face persecution. "We are all exhausted. We can't wash. We can't shave."

Authorities later moved the protesting Syrians and Iraqis to a larger camp on the island.

Haitians scramble for legal residency in Dominican Republic

June 16, 2015

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Haitians and other non-citizens stood in long lines across the Dominican Republic on Monday in last-minute bids to secure legal residency, hurrying to beat a looming paperwork deadline along with the threat of possible quick deportation.

Lines snaked outside Interior Ministry offices as foreign residents, who are overwhelmingly from neighboring Haiti, sought to submit papers before a 7 p.m. Wednesday deadline. Many said they have had to spend all day and return multiple times after being told they lacked sufficient documentation to complete the applications.

"You still have to bring more papers. It's always hard, but we'll see," bricklayer Aime Morette said as he waited with more than 140 other people to submit his application. Morette, a 28-year-old who has a wife and two children, said he has lived more than half his life in the Dominican Republic, but that doesn't automatically qualify him for legal residency under an initiative begun last year aimed at regulating the migration of workers who have long flowed across the border from Haiti.

Under the program, the government said it would consider granting legal residency to non-citizens who could establish their identity and prove they arrived before October 2011. Officials estimated up to 500,000 people were in this category, and relatively few have been able to provide sufficient documentation. Interior Minister Ramon Fadul said about 250,000 people have at least started the application process but only 10,000 had met all the requirements for legal residency. So far, only about 300 have actually received permits.

Fadul has said anyone who does not register could be deported. While officials have said there will be no mass round-ups, authorities have prepared 12 buses and opened processing centers along the border with Haiti to expedite repatriations.

Part of the problem has been that employers in the Dominican Republic are not providing workers with documentation to prove they have been in the country long enough to qualify. Another hurdle has been the Haitian government, which despite pledges to improve the process has been slow to provide birth certificates and other forms of identification to its citizens and has charged more than many people can afford to pay.

Molaire Cadon, a 66-year-old who came across the border as a 13-year-old to work in Dominican sugar cane fields, said he has been waiting for months and gone multiple times to the Haitian Embassy in Santo Domingo trying to get his birth certificate. "They always tell me it will come but they give me nothing," he said.

The Dominican government launched the program after international criticism of a 2013 ruling by its Supreme Court that people born in the country to non-citizens all the way back to 1929 did not qualify for citizenship, effectively stripping tens of thousands of people of their nationality.

The government has announced that it plans to restore nationality for more than 50,000 people who were born in the country and enrolled in a civil registry.

South African court puts restrictions on Sudan's president

June 15, 2015

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A South African judge on Sunday ordered authorities to prevent Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who was in South Africa for an African Union summit, from leaving the country because of an international order for his arrest.

Sudanese officials, however, said al-Bashir had been assured by the South African government that he would be welcome during his visit. Al-Bashir appeared for a group photo with other African leaders at the summit in Johannesburg on Sunday, wearing a blue three-piece suit, a tie and a smile as cameras flashed. The conference was scheduled to end Monday.

Rabie Abdel-Attie, a senior member of al-Bashir's National Congress Party, said in Khartoum that al-Bashir will stay at the meeting "until it ends." South African Judge Hans Fabricius instructed authorities to prevent al-Bashir from leaving the country because he is wanted by the International Criminal Court.

He said border officials should enforce his decision pending a hearing on whether al-Bashir should be arrested, according to Caroline James, a lawyer with the Southern Africa Litigation Centre rights group. A court is expected to rule on Monday if al-Bashir should be handed over to the International Criminal Court to face charges of alleged genocide and human rights abuses.

Kamal Ismail, the Sudanese state minister for foreign affairs, told reporters in Khartoum that al-Bashir had received assurances from the South African government prior to his visit that he would be welcome and was expected to return to Sudan on schedule.

He said the court order seeking to prevent al-Bashir from leaving South Africa "has nothing to do with the reality on the ground there," adding that "until now things are normal and there is no threat to the life of the president of the republic."

The African National Congress, South Africa's ruling party, said the South African government granted immunity "for all (summit) participants as part of the international norms for countries hosting such gathering of the AU or even the United Nations."

The party urged the government to challenge the court order, saying African and Eastern European countries "continue to unjustifiably bear the brunt of the decisions of the ICC." Even before Sunday's events, the African Union had asked the ICC to stop proceedings against sitting presidents and said it will not compel any member states to arrest a leader on behalf of the court.

Al-Bashir has traveled abroad before and local authorities had not detained him at the behest of the International Criminal Court, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands. ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has said South Africa is under a legal obligation to arrest al-Bashir and surrender him to the court. Her office has been in touch with South African authorities on the Sudanese president's reported visit.

If al-Bashir is not arrested, the matter will be reported to the court's assembly of states and the United Nations Security Council, which first referred the case of Sudan's Darfur region to the International Criminal Court in 2005, she said.

The U.S. State Department called on the "Government of South Africa to support the international community's efforts to provide justice for the victims of these heinous crimes," in a statement issued Sunday night.

The charges against al-Bashir, who took power in a 1989 coup, stem from reported atrocities in the conflict in Darfur, in which 300,000 people were killed and 2 million displaced in a government campaign, according to United Nations figures.

He has visited Malawi, Kenya, Chad and Congo in the last few years, all of which are International Criminal Court member states. The court doesn't have any powers to compel countries to arrest him and can only tell them they have a legal obligation to do it.

In March, the International Criminal Court halted proceedings against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta after the prosecution said it did not have enough evidence against him. Kenyatta, who is attending the summit, was charged in 2011 as an "indirect co-perpetrator" in postelection violence that left more than 1,000 people dead in 2007 and 2008. He always maintained his innocence.

Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto is on trial for crimes against humanity in the election-related violence.

Associated Press writer Mohamed Osman contributed to this report from Khartoum, Sudan.

Zoo animals escape amid flooding in former Soviet republic

June 15, 2015

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Severe flooding in the Georgian capital left at least 12 people dead Sunday and triggered a big-game hunt across the city for lions, tigers, a hippopotamus and other dangerous animals that escaped from Tbilisi's ravaged zoo.

Residents were warned to stay indoors as police conducted the hunt, but fear deepened as night fell on the city of 1.1 million with some of the animals still on the loose. "The daytime wasn't bad," said resident Khariton Gabashvili, "but tonight everyone has to be very careful because all the beasts haven't been captured. They haven't been fed, and in their hungry state they might attack people."

Heavy rain turned a normally pleasant city stream into a fierce torrent that destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes in the former Soviet republic. Officials said 12 people were known to have died and about two dozen others were missing.

There were no immediate reports that any of the dead were killed by the animals, which ran off after the floodwaters destroyed their enclosures. Among the beasts that escaped were bears, wolves and monkeys.

A hippopotamus — an extremely aggressive animal with the ability to run faster than humans in short bursts — was spotted lumbering through a flooded square not far from the zoo and was shot with a tranquilizer dart. Other animals were hunted down and killed.

The carcasses of at least a lion, a boar and a tiger were seen, and zoo authorities said six wolves were also dead. Authorities said the animals may have fled to just about any corner of Tbilisi, including the forests on the steep hills in the city's heart.

"I feel frenzied. The youngsters can't go out and walk around. I sat on the balcony with them and played games, so they could breathe some fresh air," said 25-year-old Khatuna Bolkvadze, a mother of two who lives near the zoo.

Zoo spokeswoman Mzia Sharashidze said a count of the escaped animals was not immediately possible because so many of the zoo's enclosures were under water. But she said five lions were unaccounted for and many monkeys had escaped.

Three zoo workers were found dead on its grounds, including a woman who less than a month ago lost an arm in a tiger attack. Her husband was also reported dead. The floodwaters gouged huge chunks out of roads and swamped numerous homes. Helicopters circled the city, and volunteers and rescue workers labored to help residents despite the danger from the escaped animals.

"On this small street there are five dead, three houses completely washed out and everyone is affected," said Lamara Zumburidze, a resident of the hardest-hit section of the city. "I don't know where to sit, where to lie, what to do."

Some officials accused authorities of using unnecessary force against the wild beasts. Zoo director Zurab Gurielidze said one of the park's most beloved attractions, a young white lion named Shumba, had been found shot in the head.

"Our Shumba is no more," he lamented, according to the news agency Interfax. "It's simply possible that someone exceeded his authority." The head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as telling a Sunday Mass that Georgia's former Communist rulers bear responsibility for the disaster.

"When Communists came to us in this country, they ordered that all crosses and bells of the churches be melted down and the money used to build the zoo," he said. "The sin will not go without punishment. I am very sorry that Georgians fell so that a zoo was built at the expense of destroyed churches."

Sophiko Megrelidze in Tbilisi and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.

UN: Global refugee numbers reach alarming levels

June 18, 2015

BERLIN (AP) — Syria overtook Afghanistan to become the world's biggest source of refugees last year, while the number of people forced from their homes by conflicts worldwide rose to a record 59.5 million, the United Nations' refugee agency said Thursday.

Pointing to crises in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Burundi and elsewhere, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said he doesn't expect any improvement in 2015. "There is a multiplication of new crises," he said. "The Iraq-Syria crisis gained the dimension of a mega one ... and at the same time the old crises have no solutions."

The report comes at a time when Europe is grappling with how to deal with a flood of new migrants crossing the Mediterranean to escape the fighting in Syria, Libya and elsewhere. UNHCR estimated that a total of 59.5 million people worldwide had been displaced by conflict by the end of last year — including 38.2 million displaced within their own countries. That was up from 51.2 million in 2013 — the previous highest since the U.N. began collecting numbers in the early 1950s. Syria alone accounted for 11.6 million of those people, the biggest single figure.

The agency counted nearly 3.9 million Syrian refugees in 107 countries last year, the fourth year of the country's civil war. That made it the leading source of refugees — pushing Afghanistan, which had held that status for more than 30 years, down to second place with 2.6 million refugees.

Syria's northern neighbor, Turkey, became the world's biggest refugee host with 1.59 million refugees. Pakistan, which had held that position for more than a decade, was second with 1.51 million. Over the course of last year, only 126,800 refugees returned to their home countries — the lowest number since 1983. The countries to which most people returned were Congo, Mali and Afghanistan.

Guterres said he was alarmed by "a staggering acceleration" in the number of people being forced from their homes over recent years.

Muslims worldwide to mark the start of Ramadan on Thursday

June 18, 2015

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Muslims around the world will mark the start of Ramadan on Thursday, a month of intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts.

Muslims follow a lunar calendar and a moon-sighting methodology that can lead to different countries declaring the start of Ramadan a day or two apart. However, this year religious authorities in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia and most other parts of the world announced based on their sightings of the moon that daily fasting would begin Thursday.

Authorities in Pakistan have yet to announce the sighting of the moon. During Ramadan, observant Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset for the entire month. A single sip of water or a puff of a cigarette is considered enough to invalidate the fast.

The fast is intended to bring the faithful closer to God and to remind them of the suffering of those less fortunate. Muslims often give to charities during the month, and mosques and aid organizations organize free meals for the public every night.

Fasting also is seen as a way to physically and spiritually detoxify through exercising self-restraint. Sexual intercourse between spouses also is off-limits during the day, while Muslims also are encouraged to be mindful of their behavior and to avoid gossiping, cursing and quarreling.

This year, Ramadan falls during the summer, which means long and hot days of fasting. Mainstream scholars advise Muslims in northern European countries with 16 hours or more of daylight to follow the cycle of fasting of the nearest Muslim majority nation to them to avoid impossibly long hours without food or water.

Chairwoman Pia Jardi at the Finnish Muslim Union in Helsinki said Muslims there will be fasting for 21 hours and have just three hours — or even less — for eating, drinking and prayer before the sun rises again.

"The good thing is that you'll eat with moderation and that you'll stick very much into the true, simple spirit of Ramadan," Jardi said. "Long fasting time means you rarely want to eat heavily." In a statement, President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle extended their "warmest greetings to all those observing the month of fasting in the United States and around the world."

The world's 1.6 billion Muslims traditionally break their fast like the Prophet Muhammad did around 1,400 years ago, with a sip of water and some dates at sunset. Then family and friends gather for a large feast. Part of the evening is often spent at the mosque in prayers called "taraweeh."

Children, the elderly, the sick, women who are pregnant or menstruating and people traveling are not obligated to fast. Non-Muslims or adult Muslims not observing the fast who eat in public during the day in Ramadan can be fined or even jailed in some Middle Eastern countries, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, home to large Western expatriate populations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, along with the Muslim declaration of faith, daily prayer, charity and performing the hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. Muslims celebrate the end of Ramadan with a three-day holiday called Eid al-Fitr.

Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writer Jari Tanner in Helsinki, Finland, contributed to this report.

Record year for renewable power; heat, transport stay fossil

June 18, 2015

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The growth of renewable energy outpaced that of fossil fuels in the electricity sector last year, with a record 135 gigawatts of capacity added from wind, solar, hydropower and other natural sources, a new study shows.

That's more than the generating capacity of all nuclear reactors in the United States and slightly less than Germany's installed capacity from all power sources. The annual report released early Thursday in Europe by Paris-based REN21, a nonprofit group that promotes renewable energy, underscored how China, the world's top consumer of coal, has become a global leader in clean energy, too.

It also highlighted that while renewables now account for 28 percent of the world's electricity-generating capacity, they still account for only a tiny share of how we heat and cool buildings and fuel our means of transportation.

"The share of renewables in the power sector will continue to grow. We see that already, especially in emerging economies," said Christine Lins, executive secretary of REN21. "But we need attention to the heating-cooling sector and transport."

Renewable energy's share in all forms of energy consumption — currently about 10 percent — will have to increase dramatically to fulfill the vision that President Barack Obama and other leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy economies endorsed last week. To fight climate change, they called for deep cuts in heat-trapping carbon emissions and all but eliminating them by the end of the century.

Meanwhile, global energy production must surge to meet the demands of developing economies and a growing world population. The fossil fuel industry and many energy experts say that can't happen without fossil fuels, even in the electricity sector, where coal remains the top fuel.

"Renewables will grow but that doesn't mean coal is going away," said Benjamin Sporton, head of the World Coal Association. Sporton said India is commissioning 20GW of coal-fired power generation every year. "And they have a further 118GW under construction or approved," he added.

Supporters of renewable energy say the world is already "decoupling" carbon emissions from economic growth, pointing to preliminary data from the International Energy Agency showing that carbon emissions from the energy sector didn't rise last year even though the global economy grew by 3 percent.

However, earlier this week the IEA said that, among other measures, investments in renewables need to increase from $270 billion last year to $400 billion in 2030 to support a transition to a low-carbon economy.

Paolo Frankl, the head of IEA's Renewable Energy Division, said REN21's figures matched research by his own agency, confirming a clear upward trend in renewables. The REN21 report said renewables accounted for almost 60 percent of the global power capacity added in 2014. Wind power made the biggest jump among the renewables in 2014, with 51GW of new capacity, almost half of it in China.

"This shows that countries are turning towards clean energy to meet their energy needs, rather than fossil fuels that are driving climate change," said Jake Schmidt of the Natural Resource Defense Council, a U.S. environmental advocacy group.

Solar power also expanded, but from a low level; it accounts for only 1 percent of global electricity production. Geothermal power added just 700MW of capacity, half of it in Kenya. Other renewable sources, such as ocean energy from tidal forces, are not yet having any significant impact.

In heating and cooling of buildings and industry, which accounts for about half of global energy consumption, there was little change from the year before, with renewables representing about 8 percent, mostly biomass.

In the transport sector, dominated by oil-based fuels, the impact of renewables remained small despite growth in biofuels. In road transport their share was only 3.5 percent in 2014, up from 2 percent in 2007, Lins said. As fuel for jets, renewables are still in the experimental stage.

The report said at least 164 countries have set targets for renewable energy and about 145 had policies in place to support it. The authors called for governments to increase support for renewable energy, particularly in the heating and cooling sector.