Powerful quake strikes off Japan; no tsunami warning

May 30, 2015

TOKYO (AP) — A powerful earthquake struck near remote Japanese islands and shook most of the country Saturday evening, but it occurred well beneath the earth's surface and did not trigger a tsunami warning. Two people suffered non-life-threatening injuries, and there were no reports of major damage.

The magnitude-8.5 offshore quake struck off the Ogasawara islands at a depth of 590 kilometers (370 miles), the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a magnitude of 7.8 and a depth of 678 kilometers (421 miles).

The temblor was powerful enough to rattle most of Japan, from the southern islands of Okinawa to Hokkaido in the north. It caused buildings to sway in Tokyo — about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) north of the Ogasawara islands — and disrupted some train services in the city. About 400 houses in Saitama prefecture, just north of the capital, were without power, according to the Tokyo Electric Power Co.

At Tokyo's Roppongi Hills shopping and business complex, elevators stopped soon after the earthquake struck the area, forcing hundreds of visitors to climb down the stairs. Among them were about 200 people who came to see the Star Wars exhibit on the 52nd floor.

In Saitama, a woman in her 70s sustained a minor head injury when a ceramic plate fell from a cupboard, local police said. In Kawasaki, just south of Tokyo, a 56-year-old office worker fell down when the quake caught him by surprise and suffered a rib injury, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.

Yoshiyuki Sasamoto, a municipal official on Chichijima island, which is part of the Ogasawara island group, told NHK that he initially felt a mild tremor, but when he thought it was over "there was a violent shaking and I couldn't even stand on my feet."

At an inn on the Ogasawara island of Hahajima, furniture shook violently, although nothing fell or broke, innkeeper Michiko Orita told NHK. "It was so frightening. The entire house shook and a Buddhist altar violently swayed like I have never experienced before," she said, adding that all her guests were safe.

The meteorological agency did not issue a tsunami warning because the quake struck so far beneath the earth's surface. Deep offshore earthquakes usually do not cause tsunamis, and generally cause less damage than shallow ones.

In March 2011, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake rocked northeastern Japan, triggering a tsunami that killed more than 18,500 people and ravaged much of the northern Pacific coast. The depth of that quake was just 24 kilometers (15 miles), according to the meteorological agency.

Eastern Ukraine tense after outbreak of fighting

June 04, 2015

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — Separatist and government troops in east Ukraine stood nervously poised hundreds of meters apart Thursday in the wake of bloody battle that has threatened to demolish what remains of the brittle cease-fire there.

Underscoring anxieties in the Ukrainian capital, President Petro Poroshenko warned of a possible large-scale offensive by separatist forces following the violence on the western fringe of the rebel citadel, Donetsk.

But the mood among rebel combatants huddled in a wooded base just beyond the Donetsk suburb of Marinka, where Wednesday's fighting was centered, suggested only frustration at the lack of a clear battle plan.

"We can't just sit here in trenches. I think we should only go forward, forward and forward," one separatist fighter, who identified himself by his nom de guerre Abaza, told The Associated Press. In the dug-out where Abaza stood, flies clustered over a pool of blood where a wounded militiaman was given emergency treatment the day before.

Rebels in Donetsk now appear to be standing down following the clash. An AP reporter who visited Marinka briefly Thursday observed that it appeared to be under the control of Ukrainian government troops, who said they were performing mop-up operations.

Even the official tally of fighters killed attests to the battle for Marinka being the biggest that east Ukraine has seen since February, when an internationally brokered armistice was signed. Ukraine says five of its servicemen died in combat Wednesday, four of them in or around Marinka. Eduard Basurin, a separatist spokesman, said 14 rebel fighters and five civilians were killed by Ukrainian fire during the day, but provided no details.

Rebel fighters admit privately, however, that they likely lost dozens of men. Ukrainian military spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko claimed about 80 rebels were killed. The task of monitoring what is looking like an increasingly hollow cease-fire lies with a mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation Europe. A special report hastily compiled by the OSCE after Wednesday's fighting strongly suggests the violence was the result of a rebel initiative.

Observers saw at least multiple armored vehicles moving west through Donetsk on the eve of the battle. OSCE reported hearing around 100 outgoing artillery rounds fired at daybreak from a location within separatist-held territory. More heavy fire followed throughout the day.

Rebels are sticking to their story, however, and insist they were acting solely in defense against a Ukrainian assault. Their foray into Marinka and their temporary capture of several buildings, including the local hospital, was merely a counterattack, they said.

"We pushed them as far as we could, then we held our positions, then we retreated," said a rebel commander, who identified himself by the call-sign Dikiy. "There was a violent fight, a heavy fight, from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m."

OSCE mission spokesman Michael Bociurkiw urged all sides in the conflict to "exercise maximum restraint." Bociurkiw also told reporters that observers in recent days had found that some heavy weapons which had been pulled back by both sides were missing from the areas where they were being stored.

"This suggests non-compliance" with the cease-fire accord, which requires both sides to pull back large weapons in order to create a buffer zone, Bociurkiw said. An Associated Press reporter on Thursday saw two Grad missile launchers driving toward the government-controlled town of Artemivsk. Under the cease-fire accord, such weapons were to be withdrawn from that area.

The Ukrainian military freely admits that it used heavy arms in its effort to retain Marinka, but said it was left with no choice. A part of their firepower landed a direct strike on the base from which rebel infantry mounted their offensive. The converted stables set in a copse just within the limits of Donetsk were still smoldering Thursday afternoon.

Several of the fighters — many among them from Russia — complained wearily that their travel documents were among the personal possessions consumed in the blaze. Russia has strongly denied sending weapons or troops to back the rebels, despite a broad array of evidence indicating otherwise.

Asked if President Vladimir Putin could again seek the parliament's permission for using Russian troops abroad as he did early in the Ukrainian crisis, his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Putin has the right, but emphasized the need to fulfill the cease-fire agreement and avoid steps aimed at escalation of tensions.

Despite fears of a possible full-blown resumption of combat, offensives reverted Thursday to the sporadic shelling that has become a hallmark of the Ukrainian conflict, which has claimed more than 6,400 lives since April 2014.

Vyacheslav Abroskin, the police chief for the government-controlled part of the Donetsk region, said in a Facebook statement that rebels shelled the town of Avdiivka just north of the city of Donetsk. He said an unspecified number of civilians were wounded.

The violence has elicited an international chorus of concern. While Moscow pins the blame on Ukraine, the West has been united in its criticism of the rebels and, by extension, Russia. "This escalation followed the movement of a large amount of heavy weapons towards the contact line by the Russia-backed separatists," EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic. "Renewed intense fighting risks unleashing a new spiral of violence and human suffering."

The U.N. Security Council scheduled an open meeting Friday morning on the latest developments at the request of Lithuania, a strong supporter of the Ukrainian government.

Yevgeny Maloletka in Marinka, Dmitry Vlasov in Kiev, Lorne Cooke in Brussels, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, contributed to this report.

Ukraine's president warns of possibility of rebel offensive

June 04, 2015

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday warned of a possible large-scale offensive by separatist forces in the east, one day after a major battle erupted on the western edge of the main separatist rebel stronghold.

Heavy fighting on the outskirts of Donetsk on Wednesday was the most severe in months. A cease-fire called in February has been violated almost daily, but hostilities had tapered off after the agreement.

The fighting was heaviest in in the village of Marinka. Ukrainian officials said five servicemen were killed on Wednesday, four of them in or around Marinka. Late Wednesday, the minister of defense for the Donetsk rebels, Eduard Basurin, said 14 rebels and five civilians had been killed by Ukrainian fire during the day, but did not specify locations.

Ukrainian military spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko claimed Thursday that about 80 rebels were killed in the fight, along with two civilians. On Thursday, rebels shelled the town of Avdiyivka just north of Donetsk, according to a Facebook post from Vyacheslav Abroskin, the police chief for the government-controlled sector of the Donetsk region. He said an unspecified number of civilians were wounded.

The intensity of the combat the day before raised fears of full-scale fighting resuming in the war that has already killed more than 6,400 people since April 2014. In an address to the Ukrainian parliament, Poroshenko spoke of a "colossal threat of the resumption of large-scale hostilities by Russian and terrorist forces" and said there are now 9,000 Russian troops in the rebel-controlled area.

The monitoring mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation Europe said its observers saw at least a dozen tanks moving from the rebel-controlled city toward the western outskirts in the run-up to the battle.

Mission spokesman Michael Bociurkiw on Thursday urged all sides in the conflict to "exercise maximum restraint." He also told reporters that observers in recent days had found that some heavy weapons which had been pulled back by both sides were missing from the areas where they were being stored.

"This suggests non-compliance" with the cease-fire accord, which called for both sides to pull back large weapons in order to create a buffer zone, Bociurkiw said. An Associated Press reporter on Thursday saw two Grad missile launchers driving toward the government-controlled town of Artemivsk; under the cease-fire accord, such weapons were to be withdrawn from that area.

Russia has strongly denied supplying the rebels either with weapons or with recruits, despite mounting evidence suggesting otherwise.

Nataliya Vasilyeva and Jim Heintz in Moscow and Yevgeny Maloletka near Artemivsk contributed to this report.

Ex-Georgian president named governor of Ukraine region

May 30, 2015

MOSCOW (AP) — Former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili on Saturday was appointed governor of Ukraine's troubled Odessa region.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko posted the appointment announcement on his website and presented Saakashvili to officials in Odessa city, the region's capital. Odessa is Ukraine's largest seaport and has additional strategic importance as the major city between the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula and the Moldovan separatist region of Transdniester, which is supported by Russian forces.

Although the city has not been hit by the fighting between government forces and separatists in the east, tensions between nationalists and pro-Russians have been strong. Last May, 48 people died in violence between supporters of both sides, most of them pro-Russians who took shelter in a building that caught fire after opponents threw firebombs into it.

Saakashvili's appointment could aggravate relations with Russia that have been severely damaged by the Crimea annexation and the fighting in the east. Russian President Vladimir Putin disdains Saakashvili, who came to power in the 2003 Rose Revolution protests. The Kremlin points to those demonstrations as the beginning of the so-called "color revolutions" that it contends are engineered by the West to overthrow legitimate governments that pursue ties with Moscow.

Under Saakashvili, Georgia fought a short war with Russia in 2008, in which it lost control of two Russia-backed separatist territories. He faces accusation of abuse of power at home, and Ukraine last month rejected Georgia's request for his extradition.

There was no immediate Kremlin comment on his Odessa appointment, but Andre Purgin, a top eastern Ukraine separatist leader, called it "mockery and an absolutely unprecedented step."

Colorful dragons from around the world meet in Poland

May 31, 2015

KRAKOW, Poland (AP) — Colorful dragons made from paper, fabric and plastic came from around the world to the Polish city of Krakow for the 15th annual Dragon Festival.

The weekend festival began with an evening show Saturday on the Vistula river that involved the dragons, laser lights, boats and torches. Sunday was marked by a parade of dragons from about 30 nations down the streets of Krakow, which is also famous for its own legend of a dragon under the Royal Wawel Castle Hill.

In the tale, the king asked the clever shoemaker Dratewka to free Krakow from the ever-hungry dragon that was decimating the herds. Dratewka wrapped some sulfur and tar in a sheep's skin. When he ate it, the dragon ran to drink from the Vistula, and drank until it burst.

Polish election winner officially named president-elect

May 29, 2015

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Andrzej Duda, the conservative winner of Poland's presidential election, was officially named president-elect in a solemn state ceremony Friday.

Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz, some state officials, and Duda's parents, wife and daughter attended the ceremony to see the 43-year-old lawyer receive the official document confirming that he won the election. His five-year term starts Aug. 6.

The national anthem played and then the head of the State Electoral Commission handed Duda the documents. He and his wife, Agata, later met with a group of supporters waiting outside the Baroque Wilanow Palace with white-and-red flags to chant his name and sing the national anthem.

In a speech, Duda appealed to the government to make no major policy or constitutional system changes until he takes office. He vowed to work for national unity after the election revealed voters were almost evenly divided between him and President Bronislaw Komorowski. Some 45 percent of people eligible to vote did not.

Poland's president has limited power, most of which rests with the prime minister and the Cabinet. He is the supreme commander of the armed forces and can propose and veto legislation. In foreign policy, his role is mainly ceremonial.

Until the campaign, Duda was little known in Polish politics, though he has been a deputy justice minister and a member of the presidential office under President Lech Kaczynski. He became a European Parliament member in 2014, but resigned that post Wednesday to become president.

Macedonia to hold early elections to end political crisis

June 02, 2015

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Macedonia's feuding political leaders have agreed to hold early elections by the end of April 2016 to resolve a deep political crisis, the European Union's enlargement commissioner said Tuesday.

Johannes Hahn said the final agreement is expected to be worked out at a meeting of the leaders next week in Brussels. He spoke after talks with conservative Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, leftist opposition head Zoran Zaev and two ethnic Albanian party leaders. The last elections were held in April last year, when Gruevski won a fourth consecutive four-year term.

The crisis in Macedonia, one of the worst since it gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, stems from a massive wiretap scandal that purportedly reveals corruption at the highest levels of government. The situation was exacerbated by a shootout between police and ethnic Albanian gunmen last month that left 18 dead.

Opposition parties have boycotted parliament for nearly a year, while dozens of pro- and anti-government protesters have been camping in two different central Skopje locations for almost three weeks. "We have agreed to see a kind of transitional period, and it was agreed that by the end of April next year there should be an early election," Hahn told reporters as the four political leaders stood behind him but made no statements.

At the heart of the crisis is a cache of wiretapped conversations Zaev has been releasing gradually since January. He claims Gruevski — in power since 2006 — was behind the mass wiretapping of more than 20,000 politicians, police, journalists, judges, and others.

The conversations, which Zaev said he got from "patriots" in the domestic intelligence service, purport to reveal mismanagement of funds, spurious criminal prosecutions of opponents and even attempted cover-ups of killings.

Gruevski angrily rejects the accusations. He accuses Zaev of participating in a coup plot to overthrow his government. Two senior government officials at the heart of the allegations, and the country's intelligence chief, resigned last month in a bid to defuse tensions.

Renzi's party heading to victory in 5 of 7 regions

June 01, 2015

MILAN (AP) — Italian Premier Matteo Renzi's Democratic Party appears headed to victory in five of seven regions that voted for new leaders, but the real winners are the populist Northern League party and 5-Star Movement that showed strong gains.

The vote Sunday was marred by low turnout, with just half of eligible voters turning out on what was for many a long holiday weekend. The Northern League, led by Matteo Salvini, won handily in Veneto, its traditional turf, and was heading toward victory in Liguria, long a Democratic Party stronghold, with a candidate backed also by Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia. Comic Beppe Grillo's 5-Star Movement also showed gains regionally.

Despite heading to five victories, Renzi failed to show the same strength as during last year's European Parliament elections.

Croatian war vets end protest after PM promises to meet them

May 29, 2015

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — A dramatic two-day protest by over 100 Croatian war veterans ended Friday after Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic promised he would meet with them and hear their demands for more rights.

The nationalist veterans from Croatia's war for independence in the 1990s, who have been campaigning for more rights since September, started an anti-government protest in central Zagreb Thursday. Firing flares, large groups of their supporters managed to break through police cordons and join the protest on a square in front of the parliament and government headquarters.

Police said the gathering was illegal and moved to disperse the group late Thursday. The veterans — some in wheelchairs — barricaded themselves inside St. Mark's church where they received protection from Roman Catholic priests.

The tensions have triggered a political crisis which could further destabilize the center-left government that is unpopular because of deep economic problems in the European Union's newest member country.

The veterans, who have the support of Croatia's new conservative President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, called on the police to change sides and join the protesters. "What kind of government sends police against those who have fought for independence of our homeland?" asked Djuro Glogoski, one of the protest leaders.

Milanovic said he would meet the veterans on Monday and accused the opposition right-wing HDZ party of standing behind the protest, one of the largest in years in the capital. "I'm not afraid of those people and I will fight them with all democratic means," Milanovic told a hastily called media conference on Friday.

Ending their protest, the veterans said they hoped the prime minister will live up to his promise.

Croatia passes law compensating rape victims from 1990s war

May 29, 2015

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatian lawmakers on Friday passed a bill that compensates the victims of rape during the country's war for independence more than twenty years ago — a move hailed as a late but important step in healing the wounds of the 1991-95 conflict.

Parliament passed the legislation — which entitles the victims to a one-time compensation of some 13,000 euros ($14,000), a monthly allowance, as well as health care, counseling and legal aid — with 86 votes in favor and three abstentions.

Experts have estimated that several thousand women suffered some form of sexual violence during the war that broke out when Croatia declared independence from former Yugoslavia in 1991. However, only small numbers have sought justice in Croatian courts and experts are hopeful more women will now come forward.

The Croat-Serb conflict broke out when Croatia's Serbs — backed by the Yugoslav army — rebelled against the country's independence, taking control over one third of the territory, setting up a self-styled state and expelling and killing thousands of Croats. The eastern town of Vukovar, which was heavily bombed by the Yugoslav army, was worst hit.

Ana Horvatinec and her daughter were repeatedly raped by several Serb soldiers while in captivity after the fall of Vukovar in November 1991. Now 66, Horvatinec has spent the last 20 years in therapy and on medication.

She said the compensation came too late, but that it was "better late than never." "Justice is not just a word," Horvatinec said. "Sure, the law will change my life... financially, but more than everything I am a human being again."

Dubravka Jagodic, a Serb, was raped and her husband was killed in Virovitica, a town near the Hungarian border, in 1991. A Croatian fighter forced her to take her clothes off by pointing a gun to her son's head. Jagodic, now 52, said that "no money can compensate what happened to me and my children."

"I just want to see justice done," she said. Thousands of women were also raped during the 1990s wars in Bosnia and Kosovo. The two countries have included rape compensation in existing laws. Croatian experts said that addressing the issue and compensating the victims was important in dealing with the trauma.

"Admitting their suffering through such a law is definitely a step forward," said psychologist Marijana Senjak, who worked with the victims. "This was a very dark page of the wars of the 1990s."

Croatian war vets shelter inside church after police action

May 29, 2015

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Over 100 Croatian war veterans on Friday remained inside a Catholic church where they took shelter after police disrupted their anti-government protest in central Zagreb.

The nationalist veterans from Croatia's war for independence in the 1990s, who have been campaigning for more rights since September, were demanding to speak to Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic. Milanovic refused to immediately meet them and accused the opposition right-wing HDZ party of standing behind the protest, one of the largest in years in the capital. The tensions have triggered political crisis which could further destabilize the unpopular center-left government.

"I'm not afraid of those people and I will fight them with all democratic means," Milanovic told a hastily called media conference on Friday. The veterans, who have the support of Croatia's new conservative President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, called on the police to change sides and join the protesters. Large groups of their supporters managed to break through police cordons and join the protest in front of the parliament and government headquarters.

"What kind of government sends police against those who have fought for independence of our homeland?" asked Djuro Glogoski, one of the protest leaders. Police said the gathering was illegal, and moved to disperse the group late Thursday.

The veterans — some in wheelchairs — went inside St. Mark's church where they received protection from Roman Catholic priests. Hundreds of riot police surrounded the square on Friday trying to block hundreds of veterans' supporters from joining the protest.

Venezuelans mass for year's largest anti-government protests

May 30, 2015

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Thousands donned white and took to the streets in cities across the country Saturday in the biggest show of frustration with Venezuela's socialist administration since a wave of bloody anti-government protests a year ago.

The day of marches was called less than a week ago by imprisoned opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. In a video leaked from his prison cell, Lopez urged demonstrations to demand a firm date for this year's legislative elections and freedom for jailed opposition politicians like himself who human rights groups consider political prisoners.

A Harvard-educated former mayor, Lopez has been jailed for 15 months in connection with his leadership of the spring of 2014 protests that resulted in dozens of deaths on both sides of Venezuela's yawning political divide.

The opposition coalition did not endorse Saturday's rallies, underscoring longstanding fissures among critics of the country's 16-year socialist government. Before his imprisonment last year, Lopez clashed with other high-profile politicians, including moderate opposition leader Henrique Capriles, about the wisdom of organizing nationwide protests.

Capriles, who came close to beating President Nicolas Maduro in the 2013 presidential election, led a march through the inland town that is home to a prison where former opposition mayor Daniel Ceballos was transferred from a military jail last week.

In Caracas, a sea of sweltering protesters shut down a main thoroughfare in wealthy eastern Caracas for hours, slurping up sweetened crushed ice, shading themselves with umbrellas and waving flags among the mango trees and half-finished buildings.

Ceballos' wife, Patricia, who won a landslide election victory to replace her husband as mayor of the restive western city of San Cristobal was a crowd favorite. "They'll never divide us. Don't ask, don't beg; demand freedom," she shouted, prompting the blocks of protesters to chant back "liberty!"

Other opposition leaders stood under a banner reading "Venezuela United for Change" and shaved their heads in solidarity Ceballos, whose hair was reportedly cut off when he was transferred. Maria Fernanda Zerpa, a student wearing a tie-dye T-shirt and peace sign necklace, had shaved her head, too. She came out to support Lopez, who opinion polls peg as Venezuela's most popular politician, but she doesn't trust the rest of the opposition coalition and has little interest in the coming elections.

"The elections are like whatever, because we know the people who run them have been bought by the government. And Capriles is a scaredy-cat who didn't fight Maduro for the presidency," she said. Protesters were most eager to talk about the country's pervasive problems of shortages, inflation and violent crime, the same issues that fueled last year's demonstrations and have worsened in the months since.

Lopez has hardly been seen since his arrest, and the short video calling the day of protest electrified his supporters in a way other calls to take to the streets in the past months have not. Venezuela blocked two conservative former Latin American presidents from visiting Lopez or Ceballos this week. State ombudsman Tarek Saab said the former Bolivian and Colombian presidents were wrongly attempting to give Venezuela condescending "human rights classes."

On Friday, Maduro warned that top Caracas police officials would be imprisoned if they allowed violence to break out during Saturday's march. "There are two Venezuelas: the bloodthirsty, coup-mongering ultra-right wing minority, and the majority that loves their country," he said.

For Franz Yustiz, who brought his grandchildren to the Caracas protest, a coup sounded like just the thing. "They need to send in the in marines quick, come what will," said Yustiz, who works as a bodyguard, a profession that has exploded as violent crime soars here. "I'm so fed up. I want my grandchildren to know true democracy."

Former RI governor set to announce 2016 campaign next week

May 29, 2015

PROVIDENCE R.I. (AP) — Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, once a Republican, then an independent, then a Democrat, plans to announce his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination next week.

Chafee will do so Wednesday during a speech at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia, spokeswoman Debbie Rich said. Chafee surprised many when he formed an exploratory committee in April. He has never won elected office as a Democrat and had only discussed his plans with a few family members and supporters. But after that, he said he was likely to announce his candidacy in June.

He's a distinct longshot. By his own admission, he's not been actively raising money or building the organization needed for a credible bid for the nomination, although he's traveled to the early-voting states of New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Chafee has criticized Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton for her Senate vote to authorize the 2003 Iraq invasion and says the next president shouldn't be someone who supported the war. Then a Republican, Chafee was the lone GOP senator to vote against the invasion.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is challenging Clinton for the 2016 nomination and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is expected to join the contest Saturday. Chafee, 62, was appointed to the Senate as a Republican when his father, Sen. John Chafee, died in office, and he won election to the seat the following year. While in Washington, he became known for bucking his party. In addition to opposing the Iraq invasion, he refused to vote to re-elect President George W. Bush in 2004, writing in George H.W. Bush instead.

Chafee lost the seat in 2006 to a Democrat. He left the Republican Party and became an independent in 2007. In 2010, he was elected to the governor's office. He became a Democrat in 2013 but a few months later decided not to run for a second term. He had poor approval ratings and the 2014 race was expected to be fierce.

Chafee's plans to announce his run Wednesday were first reported by Politico.

Kicking the plastic: Senegal among latest to ban flimsy bags

May 29, 2015

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — At a market in Senegal's capital, the sandy paths are strewn with them. They blow around like feathers in Dakar's coastal breezes, piling up alongside buildings on city streets and clogging canals.

Thin plastic shopping bags, and pieces of them, litter this seaside capital and the nearby waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The number of discarded bags is staggering — a total of 5 million in Senegal, according to Environment Minister Abdoulaye Balde.

Now, the government is set to impose a ban, joining a global shift against the bags. Street vendors wonder how they will do business without them. Dauda Ndiaye sells hundreds of plastic bags a day to other vendors, who sell fish, meat and other goods in the Ouakam neighborhood. For 500 francs (about $1), a customer can buy a packet of 100.

Banning the bags will "be a huge problem because all the vendors here use plastic to sell nuts, glass, meat, fruit and vegetables," said Ndiaye, a 23-year-old father of three. "If they are going to ban plastic, I won't be able to feed my family."

Another merchant, Ami Ndiaye, says she must keep using plastic to protect the charcoal she sells wrapped in small paper rolls which are then neatly piled into plastic. "The problem isn't the plastic, it's the people," she said. "People must put it in the garbage and not on the streets so animals don't eat it and it doesn't pile up."

But Pascaline Ouedraego fully supports the measures, saying she worries about chemicals from the sacks getting into the food she buys. She moved to Senegal four years ago from Burkina Faso, which adopted a ban.

"The problem is no one understands what else to use, so it's been difficult," she said of Burkina Faso. "Little by little people can learn" to use safer alternative products, like paper and reusable bags.

In April, Senegal's National Assembly unanimously prohibited the production, importation, possession and use of the black bags that are so thin they can barely hold several cans of soda without falling apart and are usually discarded after one use. Implementation was planned for six months later.

In 2013, Mauritania imposed a ban, saying an estimated 70 percent of cattle and sheep in the capital were dying from ingesting plastic bags, according to the Washington-based Earth Policy Institute. Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and Malawi are also among countries that have adopted or announced bans, according to the institute. Botswana and South Africa require a certain thickness of plastic bags, so they can be reused, and added levies saw a reduction in use, the institute added.

Rwanda banned the use of non-biodegradable plastic at a certain thickness in 2008 and carries out strict enforcement, including taking plastic off of luggage and seizing bags that don't meet specifications from visitors flying into the country.

In France this week, the National Assembly approved a bill that would ban plastic bags in all supermarkets and stores on January 1, 2016. And in April, The European Parliament approved rules to clamp down on the use of flimsy plastic bags, removing the last major hurdle to pass the legislation. It would require member states to reduce the use by some 80 percent by 2025.

The U.S. is seeing most bans imposed on local levels, by cities and counties. Senegal's government hasn't announced details on how it will enact the bans, but said alternative solutions to the flimsy bags will have to be found. The discarded bags are an eyesore, shredded and hanging in trees and beautiful flowering branches. And they are a danger to fish, sheep and other animals that may ingest the bags and their toxins.

Modou Fall, who has dedicated himself to getting Senegalese to stop littering and quit using plastic bags, is optimistic about the ban, though he notes that garbage bins are needed around the city so people can properly dispose of trash.

Clad in more than 7,000 thin plastic sacks and a dome cap made from 100 plastic cups stapled together, the tall 42-year-old is a familiar, although bizarre, sight in Dakar. Wearing the plastic items that he gathered from the streets and cleaned, he looks like a creature that emerged from a swamp, the litter clinging to him.

He walks 15 kilometers (9 miles) every day, urging people over a microphone and speaker to stop littering and to switch to paper bags that he sells. He pushes a cart with two Senegalese flags protruding from it and speakers playing military music.

Fall buys bulk paper sacks from a factory and sells about 1,000 per day, including to a pharmacy and other stores. "Plastic sticks around for hundreds of years, beyond anyone's lifetime," he said. "We must think of future generations."

Burundi elections to be postponed after weeks of unrest

June 04, 2015

BUJUMBURA, Burundi (AP) — Presidential and parliamentary elections have been postponed in Burundi, an official said Thursday, following weeks of unrest in the capital over President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for a third term in office.

Regional bloc, the East African Community, on Sunday asked the Burundian government to postpone elections for at least 45 days and use that time to ensure there is a conducive environment to hold the polls. More than 90,000 Burundians have fled the country fearing violence. Burundi has had a long history of political upheaval that has been characterized by political assassinations and coups.

Officials are waiting for the electoral commission to propose new election dates, said Willy Nyamitwe, presidential adviser for media and information. He said the latest date the presidential poll can be held is July 26 — a month before the scheduled expiration of Nkurunziza's term.

Before the postponement, parliamentary elections had been scheduled for Friday, and presidential polls for June 26. The capital Bujumbura has been rocked by weeks of protests following the April 25 announcement of Nkurunziza's bid for a third term in office, which many viewed as unconstitutional. At least 20 people have died in street battles with police. The protests gave rise to an attempted coup in mid-May which was soon crushed.

In New York, the U.N. Security Council welcomed the government's commitment to postpone elections and called on all Burundian parties to reach agreement on a new electoral timetable. It also called for the reinstatement of private media and protection of civil and human rights including the right to peaceful assembly so opposition politicians can campaign freely.

A press statement issued Thursday after a closed briefing by Said Djinnit, the U.N. special envoy for the Great Lakes Region, called for those responsible for the violence to be held accountable and urged the disarmament of all armed youth groups allied to political parties.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged "the swift implementation of measures to help create the conditions for the holding of peaceful, inclusive and credible elections," his spokesman said. The U.N. chief expressed concern about the potential for violence in Burundi to escalate further and called for "calm and restraint." Ban also called for the resumption of political talks facilitated by Djinnit, the spokesman said.

Some African leaders have been in power for decades after altering their countries' constitutions to extend their tenures. Burkina Faso's president of 27 years, Blaise Compaore, stepped down in October amid mounting opposition to his bid to seek yet another term in office.

Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Tom Odula in Nairobi, Kenya, contributed to this report

What would happen if Western powers boycotted World Cup?

May 30, 2015

NEW YORK (AP) — What would happen if Sepp Blatter hosts a World Cup and most of Europe, several South American powers and the United States don't show up?

Blatter was voted to a fifth term as FIFA president on Friday, but the governing bodies of soccer's wealthiest region, the world's biggest economy and several nations in soccer-crazed South America opposed him following a string of scandals.

As the 79-year-old was celebrating defeating Jordan's Prince Ali bin al-Hussein 133-73 for another four-year term, his opposition was figuring out how to pressure him for change. The Union of European Football Associations could threaten what's become known as soccer's nuclear option: prominent nations breaking away and holding their own tournament, call it a Clean Cup. At FIFA's World Cup qualifying draw on July 25 in St. Petersburg, Russia, there could be scores of empty seats in the Constantine Palace.

"Blatter's supporters are Vladimir Putin, the invader; the Qatari government and their supposed slave employees to build the facilities; and about 80 or 90 tiny countries that he has given each one a vote and a ton of money to," said Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based consulting firm SportsCorp.

"He needs to be careful not to overplay his hand," Ganis said. "He was given an opportunity to do what he said, which is reform FIFA. If he uses that opportunity to extract retribution against those who are opposed to him, he's setting up a confrontation that if it goes all the way to the end, he can't win. He's never demonstrated that level of ignorance, so I don't expect that he will do so."

With a one-nation, one-vote system, Blatter has support of a majority of FIFA's 209 nations. But most of the world's best clubs, the strongest economies and the most lucrative television audiences are in countries that want Blatter out

FIFA's $5.72 billion in revenue from 2011-14 included $4.83 billion from last year's World Cup in Brazil — of which $2.43 billion was generated by television rights sales, $1.58 billion from marketing agreements and $527 million in tickets.

The majority of FIFA's money came from deals in Europe and the United States, where governments — other than Russia — are pressing for reform. Visa has threatened to "reassess our sponsorship" if changes are not made. The Coca-Cola Co. expressed concern, saying the controversy "tarnished the mission and ideals" of the World Cup.

"They do have tremendous leverage, but it remains to be seen whether they have legal grounds to abrogate their deals," said former CBS Sports President Neal Pilson, who runs a media consulting firm. UEFA President Michel Platini, the former French national team star, did not applaud Blatter after the election. He said before the vote UEFA would be "open to all options" if Blatter gained re-election, and UEFA will meet in Berlin ahead of the Champions League final on June 6.

Europe supplies 13 of the 32 teams for the World Cup (plus Russia as the host in 2018), and UEFA holds eight of the 25 voting seats on FIFA's executive committee. Blatter said after his victory that FIFA "must have a better representation of the confederations and the number of members" on the executive committee. "We need more respect for the Oceanian confederation," he added.

"The Solomon Islands are going to have a spot? But Germany, nah, not so much?" Ganis said. "Sepp Blatter can get 140 votes from the Trinidad and Tobagos of the world, these island nations whose FIFA representative is one of the wealthiest persons on the island in part because he's the FIFA representative. And he'll be able to hold onto power as long as he wants in part because of the voting process."

FIFA could be headed toward an internal fight, much as college sports in the United States went through last year when the NCAA — the body that oversees competition — agreed to give its five biggest conferences greater autonomy.

"FIFA World Cup" is trademarked, but if UEFA boycotts the tournament or breaks away from FIFA, and it is backed by the United States and South America's top powers, the World Cup would be about as interesting as the African Cup of Nations or the Asian Cup.

Blatter downplayed the possibility. "They need FIFA, and FIFA needs UEFA," he said Saturday. But would television networks and sponsors pay all that money for an audience to watch 97th-ranked Malawi play No. 99 Qatar?

What if UEFA told European clubs — which have the best players from around the world — to ignore FIFA's regulations and refuse to release players to national teams for World Cup qualifiers? "This isn't over by any means," England Football Association chairman Greg Dyke said.

Sepp Blatter wins re-election as FIFA president

May 29, 2015

ZURICH (AP) — Sepp Blatter was re-elected as FIFA president for a fifth term on Friday, chosen to lead world soccer despite separate U.S. and Swiss criminal investigations into corruption.

The 209 FIFA member federations gave the 79-year-old Blatter another four-year term after Prince Ali bin al-Hussein of Jordan conceded defeat after losing 133-73 in the first round. Prince Ali's promise of a clean break from FIFA's tarnished recent history was rejected despite the worst scandal in the organization's 111-year history.

The election went ahead Friday after U.S. and Swiss federal investigations struck at the heart of Blatter's "football family" this week. Two FIFA vice presidents and a recently elected FIFA executive committee member were still in custody Friday as the votes were counted.

Still, soccer leaders worldwide stayed loyal to their embattled president of 17 years, even though Prince Ali pushed the election to a second round by getting a surprising 73 votes. Before the second round started, Prince Ali stood and before the congress and conceded.

Blatter has blamed others for bringing shame and humiliation on the sport. In a pre-election address to voters on Friday, Blatter said it was "impossible" for him and FIFA to "keep an eye" on everyone and be responsible for everything that happened in world soccer.

Blatter won despite calls for his resignation from UEFA president Michel Platini and others. Platini said Thursday that UEFA could pull out of FIFA and withdraw from the World Cup if Blatter was re-elected.

FIFA's big-money sponsors have also called for change within FIFA. Visa warned Thursday that it could pull out of its contract, which is worth at least $25 million a year through 2022. The defeated 39-year-old prince was a FIFA vice president for the past four years with a close-up view of Blatter's previous scandal-hit mandate.

Blatter was re-elected unopposed in 2011 after promising to fight corruption and support key investigations of the 2018 and 2022 World Cup bidding contests and a bribery scandal which removed his Qatari opponent from the presidential ballot.

Those probes were conducted in-house by FIFA's own judicial bodies. The latest investigations promise deeper trouble for FIFA with federal law enforcement agencies delving into soccer's affairs. Raids on FIFA's favorite luxury downtown Zurich hotel and its own headquarters were launched early Wednesday by Swiss police.

Senior FIFA officials were among seven men arrested at the request of American federal prosecutors investigating bribery, money-laundering and wire fraud. The 2018 and 2022 World Cups — awarded to Russia and Qatar, respectively — are the focus of a separate Swiss federal probe of suspected financial wrongdoing.

Last November, Blatter and FIFA filed a criminal complaint with the Swiss attorney general's office against non-Swiss nationals.

Indian president on 3-day state visit of Sweden

May 31, 2015

HELSINKI (AP) — Indian President Pranab Mukherjee has met with Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia at the start of a three-day state visit.

The president was welcomed at the airport on Sunday afternoon by Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel, before being officially welcomed by the royal couple and a ride in a horse-drawn cortege through the streets of the Swedish capital, Stockholm.

Later, Mukherjee will meet Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, Stockholm city officials and lawmakers. He will visit the Nobel Institute and attend a banquet at the Royal Palace.

In a prepared statement before the visit, Wallstrom said India and Sweden enjoy "good cooperation" and that the two countries would discuss climate change, energy and the environment during the three days.