DDMA Headline Animator

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Macron to give speech at special French parliament session

July 03, 2017

VERSAILLES, France (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron will lay out his political, security and diplomatic priorities at an extraordinary joint session of parliament at the chateau of Versailles. Critics who fear Macron is trying to amass too much power are staging protests over Monday's event. After his new centrist party dominated parliamentary elections and split the opposition, political rivals are comparing Macron to Napoleon, or the Roman king-of-the-gods Jupiter.

They are especially angry that he wants to strip worker protections through a decree-like procedure, allowing little parliamentary debate. Macron is also breaking with tradition in convening the Versailles parliament session before his prime minister has won his first confidence vote in parliament. Monday's event is similar to a state of the union speech, and meant to set the tone for his five-year presidency.

EU executive branch files complaint against Poland

July 29, 2017

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's executive branch has launched a complaint alleging Poland has limited judicial independence in the country in violation of EU laws. The European Commission said Saturday it sent a "letter of formal notice" to Poland to raise concerns that the independence of Polish courts will be undermined by the new "discretionary" powers the overhaul gives the country's justice minister.

The commission says it is especially concerned the justice minister now is entitled to extend the mandates of judges and to dismiss and appoint court presidents. Warsaw has one month to reply to the notice warning it is infringing on EU laws. The commission may then take further steps.

The Euroskeptic Polish government has said that reforming the justice system is an internal Polish matter.

UK Brexit chief sees EU-UK trade talks starting this fall

July 11, 2017

LONDON (AP) — U.K. and European Union negotiators should be able to move from talks about Britain's divorce terms to negotiating future relations before the end of the year, the top U.K. Brexit official said Tuesday.

Brexit Secretary David Davis said chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier hoped to "recommend going to the parallel negotiations October-November." Britain triggered a two-year countdown to its departure from the bloc in March, and Davis and Barnier met for preliminary talks last month. They are due to meet again next week.

The EU insists that major progress must be made on the U.K.'s exit terms — including a hefty divorce bill — before negotiations can start on the U.K.'s future relationship with the EU. Britain wants the two strands to run in parallel.

Davis told the House of Lords Brexit committee that Barnier hoped to signal in the fall that sufficient progress had been made. Once that happens, talks could move on to "free-trade issues, customs issues, justice and home affairs issues," he said.

Davis also struck an optimistic note on settling the status of 3 million EU citizens living in Britain, and more than 1 million U.K. nationals residing elsewhere in the bloc. The two sides have sparred over the issue, with EU lawmakers accusing Britain of planning to give Europeans in Britain "second-class status."

Davis said he wanted the issue to be settled soon, because "I view it bluntly as a moral issue." "We don't want anybody to be a bargaining chip," he said. Davis' positive tone contrasted with comments earlier in the day made by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who said the EU could "go whistle" if it tried to impose an "extortionate" exit bill on the U.K.

Estimates of the amount Britain must pay to cover pension liabilities for EU staff and other commitments have ranged up to 100 billion euros ($114 billion.) "The sums that I have seen that they propose to demand from this country seem to me to be extortionate," Johnson said.

"I think 'go whistle' is an entirely appropriate expression," he told lawmakers in the House of Commons. Davis, more diplomatically, said Britain's position on the divorce bill was "not to pay more than we need to."

Cannon salute marks centenary of WWI battle assault

July 31, 2017

YPRES, Belgium (AP) — A dawn cannon salute in western Belgium has marked the start of one of World War I's bloodiest battles 100 years ago. Around 100 people gathered Monday at the Welsh memorial in Langemark, near where the Third Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele, began.

More than half a million Allied and German troops were killed or wounded. The Allied campaign, fought by British and Commonwealth forces from July to November 1917 in mud-caked battlefields, barely moved the front line against the Germans.

Welshman Peter Carter-Jones says the ceremony, and other commemorations held over the weekend, were "very moving." He says "all this has been done for those thousands of young men who died here so we can live in freedom. That is what it is about."

Trump ready to sign Russia sanctions bill, Moscow retaliates

July 29, 2017

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will sign a package of stiff financial sanctions against Russia that passed Congress with overwhelming support, the White House said Friday. Moscow has already responded, ordering a reduction in the number of U.S. diplomats in Russia and closing the U.S. Embassy's recreation retreat.

Trump's willingness to support the measure is a remarkable acknowledgement that he has yet to sell his party on his hopes for forging a warmer relationship with Moscow. His vow to extend a hand of cooperation to Russian President Vladimir Putin has been met with resistance as skeptical lawmakers look to limit the president's leeway to go easy on Moscow over its meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

The Senate passed the bill, 98-2, two days after the House pushed the measure through by an overwhelming margin, 419-3. Both were veto-proof numbers. The White House initially wavered on whether the president would sign the measure into law. But in a statement late Friday, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump had "reviewed the final version and, based on its responsiveness to his negotiations, approves the bill and intends to sign it."

Never in doubt was a cornerstone of the legislation that bars Trump from easing or waiving the additional penalties on Russia unless Congress agrees. The provisions were included to assuage concerns among lawmakers that the president's push for better relations with Moscow might lead him to relax the penalties without first securing concessions from the Kremlin.

The legislation is aimed at punishing Moscow for interfering in the 2016 presidential election and for its military aggression in Ukraine and Syria, where the Kremlin has backed President Bashar Assad. It also imposes financial sanctions against Iran and North Korea.

Before Trump's decision to sign the bill into law, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the bill's passage was long overdue, a jab at Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress. McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, has called Putin a murderer and a thug.

"Over the last eight months what price has Russia paid for attacking our elections?" McCain asked. "Very little." Russia's Foreign Ministry on Friday said it is ordering the U.S. Embassy in Russia to reduce the number of its diplomats by Sept. 1. Russia will also close down the embassy's recreational retreat on the outskirts of Moscow as well as warehouse facilities.

Meanwhile, some European countries expressed concerns that the measures targeting Russia's energy sector would harm its businesses involved in piping Russian natural gas. Germany's foreign minister said his country wouldn't accept the U.S. sanctions against Russia being applied to European companies.

A spokesman for the European Commission said Friday that European officials will be watching the U.S. effort closely, vowing to "remain vigilant." Trump had privately expressed frustration over Congress' ability to limit or override the power of the president on national security matters, according to Trump administration officials and advisers. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal White House deliberations.

But faced with heavy bipartisan support for the bill in the House and Senate, the president had little choice but to sign the bill into law. Trump's communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, had suggested Thursday that Trump might veto the bill and "negotiate an even tougher deal against the Russians."

But Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said that would be a serious mistake and called Scaramucci's remark an "off-handed comment." If Trump rejected the bill, Corker said, Congress would overrule him. "I cannot imagine anybody is seriously thinking about vetoing this bill," said Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "It's not good for any president — and most governors don't like to veto things that are going to be overridden. It shows a diminishment of their authority. I just don't think that's a good way to start off as president."

Still, signing a bill that penalizes Russia's election interference marks a significant shift for Trump. He's repeatedly cast doubt on the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia sought to tip the election in his favor. And he's blasted as a "witch hunt" investigations into the extent of Russia's interference and whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow.

The 184-page bill seeks to hit Putin and the oligarchs close to him by targeting Russian corruption, human rights abusers, and crucial sectors of the Russian economy, including weapons sales and energy exports.

The bill underwent revisions to address concerns voiced by American oil and natural gas companies that sanctions specific to Russia's energy sector could backfire on them to Moscow's benefit. The bill raised the threshold for when U.S. firms would be prohibited from being part of energy projects that also included Russian businesses.

Lawmakers said they also made adjustments so the sanctions on Russia's energy sector didn't undercut the ability of U.S. allies in Europe to get access to oil and gas resources outside of Russia. The North Korea sanctions are intended to thwart Pyongyang's ambition for nuclear weapons by cutting off access to the cash the reclusive nation needs to follow through with its plans. The bill prohibits ships owned by North Korea or by countries that refuse to comply with U.N. resolutions against it from operating in American waters or docking at U.S. ports. Goods produced by North Korea's forced labor would be prohibited from entering the United States, according to the bill.

The sanctions package imposes mandatory penalties on people involved in Iran's ballistic missile program and anyone who does business with them. The measure would apply terrorism sanctions to the country's Revolutionary Guards and enforce an arms embargo.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., voted against the sanctions bill.

Kenya leader 'deeply shocked' at election official's killing

August 01, 2017

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya's president said Tuesday he is "deeply shocked" by the torture and killing of an election official who was crucial to next week's presidential vote, while concerns grew that the election again will face dangerous unrest.

President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Twitter that investigations into Christopher Msando's killing should be allowed to "proceed calmly," and he warned against "careless speculation." Msando was in charge of managing information technology systems at the electoral commission. He had publicly sought to reassure voters that the results of the Aug. 8 election would not be tampered with.

Analysts have warned that further violence could accompany the hotly contested election in which Kenyatta is running again. The country's elections have turned violent in the past, notably after the 2007 vote that international observers said was flawed. More than 1,000 people died.

The main opposition group has charged that Kenyatta wants to rig the upcoming election, an accusation the presidency has denied. The National Super Alliance called Msando's death an assassination and an attempt to disrupt the vote.

The U.S. and British diplomats in Kenya have expressed grave concern about Msando's death and offered the Kenyan government assistance in investigating. Hundreds of activists on Tuesday marched peacefully to the electoral commission to protest the killing. A former government official turned whistleblower, John Githongo, said there was plenty of reason to believe Msando's death was related to the election.

The electoral commission chairman, Wafula Chebukati, has called the death a "brutal murder" and called for security for all commission staff. "Let us remember Chris by voting peacefully," Chebukati told Tuesday's gathering. The commission "shall ensure that the ground for voting on the eighth of August is level for everyone. So we can remember Chris best by participating in free, fair and credible elections."

Kenya's police chief Joseph Boinnet has said a special team from the Directorate of Criminal investigations has been set up to investigate Msando's murder.

S. Korea's president seeks talks with Kim Jong Un

July 07, 2017

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea's new liberal president said he's willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un amid heightened animosities in the wake of the North's first intercontinental ballistic missile test-launch.

During a speech Thursday ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Germany, President Moon Jae-in also proposed the two Koreas resume reunions of families separated by war, stop hostile activities along their heavily fortified border and cooperate on the 2018 Winter Olympics to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Moon's statement reiterated his push to use both dialogue and pressure to try to resolve the standoff over North Korea's weapons programs. But it's unclear that North Korea would accept any of Moon's overtures as South Korea is working with the United States and others to get the country punished for the ICBM launch Tuesday.

President Donald Trump said Thursday he's considering unspecified "pretty severe things" in response to the North's ICBM launch. A pre-emptive military strike may be among Trump's responses, but analysts say it's one of the unlikeliest options the U.S. can take because North Korean retaliations would cause massive casualties in South Korea, particularly in Seoul, which is within easy range of North Korea's artillery.

"The current situation where there is no contact between the relevant officials of the South and the North is highly dangerous," Moon said. "I am ready to meet with Chairman Kim Jong Un of North Korea at any time at any place, if the conditions are met and if it will provide an opportunity to transform the tension and confrontation on the Korean Peninsula."

Moon said he and Kim could put all issues on the negotiating table including the North's nuclear program and the signing of a peace treaty to officially end the 1950-53 Korean War. An armistice that ended the war has yet to be completed with a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula in a technical state of war.

Since taking office in May, Moon has been trying to improve ties with North Korea, but his efforts have produced little, with the North testing a series of newly developed missiles including an ICBM. "I hope that North Korea will not cross the bridge of no return," Moon said in Thursday's speech. "Whether it will come out to the forum for dialogue, or whether it will kick away this opportunity of dialogue that has been made with difficulty is only a decision that North Korea can make."

The North's ICBM launch, its most successful missile test to date, has stoked security worries in Washington, Seoul and Tokyo as it showed the country could eventually perfect a reliable nuclear missile capable of reaching anywhere in the United States. Analysts say the missile tested Tuesday could reach Alaska if launched at a normal trajectory.

After the launch, Kim said he would never put his weapons programs up for negotiation unless the United States abandons its hostile policy toward his country. Kim's statement suggested he will order more missile and nuclear tests until North Korea develops a functioning ICBM that can place the entire U.S. within its striking distance.

In a show of force against North Korea, South Korea and the United States staged "deep strike" precision missile firing drills on Wednesday. In North Korea's capital, thousands of people rallied Thursday in Kim Il Sung square to celebrate the launch.

N. Korea launches possibly most successful missile test yet

July 04, 2017

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea conducted what may be its most successful missile test yet on Tuesday, firing an intermediate-range weapon that could be powerful enough to reach Alaska. It's Pyongyang's latest step in a push for nuclear weapons capable of hitting any part of the United States.

While some details are still unclear, the launch seems designed to send a political warning to Washington and its chief Asian allies, Seoul and Tokyo, even as it allows North Korean scientists a chance to perfect their still-incomplete nuclear missile program. It came on the eve of the U.S. Independence Day holiday, days after the first face-to-face meeting of the leaders of South Korea and the United States, and ahead of a global summit of the world's richest economies.

Officials say the missile fired from North Phyongan province, in the North's western region, flew for about 40 minutes, which would be longer than any other similar tests previously reported, and covered about 930 kilometers (580 miles). South Korean analysts say it's likely that it was a retest of one of two intermediate-range missiles launched earlier this year.

Once U.S. missile scientist, David Wright, estimated that the missile, if the reported time and distance are correct, could have a possible maximum range of 6,700 kilometers (4,160 miles), which could put Alaska in its range if fired at a normal trajectory.

North Korea has a reliable arsenal of shorter-range missiles, but is still trying to perfect its longer-range missiles. Some analysts believe North Korea has the technology to arm its short-range missiles with nuclear warheads, but it's unclear if it has mastered the technology needed to build an atomic bomb that can fit on a long-range missile. It has yet to test an ICBM, though it has previously conducted long-range satellite launches that critics say are covers meant to test missile technology.

President Donald Trump responded on Twitter: "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

"This guy" presumably refers to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. China is North Korea's economic lifeline and only major ally, and the Trump administration is pushing Beijing to do more to push the North toward disarmament.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga suggested the altitude of this missile might have been higher than earlier tests. He did not give further details, including the distance of the flight and where the missile landed.

Just last week South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump met for the first time and vowed to oppose North Korea's development of atomic weapons. Japan's government said the missile was believed to have landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan, but no damage to ships or aircraft in the area was reported.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sharply criticized North Korea for the launch. "The latest launch clearly showed that the threat is growing," Abe said. Abe, who talked by phone with Trump on Monday, said the two leaders plan to seek cooperation from world leaders when they attend a G20 summit in Germany.

Lee Illwoo, a Seoul-based military commentator, said the missile traveled for a far longer period of time than if it would have been fired at a normal angle. A North Korean scud-type missile, with a range of 800-900 kilometers, would land in its target site within 10 minutes if fired at a standard angle of 45 degrees. Lee said it's likely that North Korea fired either Hwasong-12 missile or a solid-fuel Pukguksong-2, both of which were tested in May.

On May 14, North Korea launched the Hwasong-12 missile, which its state media later said flew as high as 2,111 kilometers (1,310 miles) and landed in a targeted area in the ocean about 787 kilometers (490 miles) from the launch site. On May 21, North Korea also tested the Pukguksong-2, which traveled about 500 kilometers (310 miles).

China's U.N. ambassador, Liu Jieyi, warned Monday that further escalation of already high tensions with North Korea risks getting out of control, "and the consequences would be disastrous." The Korean Peninsula has been divided between the American-backed South and the authoritarian North since before the 1950-53 Korean War. Almost 30,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea.

Tuesday's launch is the first by the North since a June 8 test of a new type of cruise missile that Pyongyang says is capable of striking U.S. and South Korean warships "at will." Since taking office on May 10, Moon has tried to improve strained ties with North Korea, but the North has continued its missile tests. Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons and powerful missiles to cope with what it calls rising U.S. military threats.

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Japan leader Abe vows Arctic, Russia cooperation in Finland

July 10, 2017

HELSINKI (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday pledged to increase cooperation with Finland in Arctic issues and on furthering Russian relations, after talks with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.

Abe noted that Finland is currently chairing the Arctic Council and said his country would increase its role in the agency by "positively contributing more than in the past to (its) activities." "We will be enhancing our cooperation in the area of the environment regarding the Arctic regions," Abe said in prepared statements by the two leaders.

Niinisto said that the two countries signed several agreements, including on developing environmental cooperation. Abe congratulated Finland on this year's 100th anniversary of independence from Russia, with which it shares a 1,300 kilometer (800 mile) border, noting that Russia is "an important neighbor for both of our nations."

"We reaffirmed our close collaboration in our relationship with Russia," he said. Neither leader gave any details of the content of their talks. Before arriving in Finland, Abe met with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven in Stockholm, where the two leaders demanded that North Korea halt missile tests, and pledged increased cooperation in the U.N. Security Council. They also agreed to combat terrorism together.

Chinese president meeting Merkel, visiting pandas in Berlin

July 05, 2017

BERLIN (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel — and to check in on two giant pandas his country just sent to a Berlin zoo on loan. Xi's visit Wednesday comes ahead of both leaders' participation in the Group of 20 summit that begins Friday in Hamburg.

The leaders planned to talk over issues like trade and climate change and have lunch before heading to the zoo to see pandas Meng Meng and Jiao Qing, who arrived June 24. China on Tuesday also announced that it would allow liver cancer experts from Germany, the U.S. and other countries to join a medical team treating imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo — another issue that was likely to come up between Merkel and Xi.

Israel installs new security cameras at Jerusalem holy site

July 23, 2017

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel installed new security cameras Sunday at the entrance to a sensitive Jerusalem holy site, as officials began indicating it was considering "alternatives" to the metal detectors at the contested shrine that set off a weekend of violence and raised tensions in the region.

Israel set up the new security measures last week after Arab gunmen opened fire from the shrine, killing two Israeli policemen. It said they were a necessary measure to prevent more attacks and were deployed routinely at holy sites around the world. But Muslims alleged Israel was trying to expand its control at the Muslim-administered site and have launched mass prayer protests.

Three Palestinians were killed in street clashes Friday in some of the worst street violence in years, and later a Palestinian stabbed to death three members of an Israeli family. Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, who heads the Israeli defense body for Palestinian civilian affairs, said Israel was open to alternatives to lower the tensions.

"The only thing we want is to ensure no one can enter with weapons again and carry out another attack," he said. "We're willing to examine alternatives to the metal detectors as long as the solution of alternative ensures the prevention of the next attack."

However, the Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, told the Voice of Palestine he demands a complete return to procedures that were in place before the initial attack at the shrine, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount.

In a statement Sunday, the Islamic institutions in Jerusalem, of which he is a part, said they "affirm the categorical rejection of the electronic gates and all the measures of occupation." Disputes over the shrine, revered by Muslims and Jews, have set off major rounds of Israeli-Palestinian confrontations in the past.

On Friday, several thousand Palestinians clashed with Israeli security forces in the West Bank and in Jerusalem after noon prayers — the centerpiece of the Muslim religious week. Three Palestinians were killed and several dozen wounded.

Late on Friday evening, a 20-year-old Palestinian identified as Omar al-Abed jumped over the fence of the Halamish settlement and entered a home, surprising a family that was celebrating the birth of a new grandchild during their traditional Sabbath dinner. He stabbed to death Yosef Salomon, 70, and his adult children, 46-year-old Chaya and 35-year-old Elad. A neighbor, an off-duty soldier, heard the screams, rushed to the home and opened fire, wounding the attacker. TV footage showed the floor tiles drenched in blood, and officials called it a "slaughter."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the attack as "an act of terror, carried out by a beast who was incited with unfathomable hatred." Al-Abed said in a pre-attack Facebook post that he expected to be killed in the attack and his father said he was motivated by the violence at the Jerusalem shrine.

The army said soldiers searched the house and measured it in preparation for demolition. Anticipating this, local residents said the family emptied its home of valuables Saturday. Later, clashes erupted as residents burned tires and hurled rocks at Israeli troops who had searched the home. The military says about 50 people attacked troops who fired back with rubber bullets and tear gas. Low-level clashes took place throughout the day

Israel fortified its troops in the West Bank and placed forces on high alert after the attack. The Israeli military said it carried out a wave of overnight arrests of 29 people, including nine members of the Islamic Hamas militant group.

Gaza's Hamas rulers praised the attack, but stopped short of taking responsibility for it.

Associated Press writer Mohammed Daraghmeh contributed to this report from Ramallah, West Bank.

Albania soccer federation fights fan's extradition to Serbia

July 29, 2017

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania's soccer federation is calling on Albanian authorities to stop the extradition to Serbia of a man who has claimed to have flown a drone carrying a nationalist banner over a stadium in Serbia, a display that prompted fan violence.

Ismail Morinaj was arrested in Croatia in June based on an arrest warrant from Serbia. A court in Dubrovnik agreed this week to extradite the 35-year-old Albanian to Belgrade. An Albanian Football Federation statement issued Saturday called on Albania's government "to intervene within the legal context to stop extradition of Ismail Morinaj to Serbia."

The federation assured Morinaj's family it would keep fighting to prevent his extradition, saying it "is fully committed to exploiting all its institutional and diplomatic roads," the statement said. Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama has negotiated with Croatian authorities in the last two days "for the final solution of the process," according to another statement from the federation.

Justice Minister Gazmend Bardhi also has formally asked Croatian authorities not to approve the Serbian request, arguing that "Albanian citizen Ismail Morina is endangered to suffer from politically motivated persecution or discrimination."

A group of Albanian fans, Tifozet kuq e zi, (or Red and black fans, in English) has called for an evening rally in Albania's capital, Tirana, to pressure the government to get involved. Morinaj, who is from the northeastern Kukes area but lives in Italy, has been a regular at the Albanian national team's away matches.

His brother Xhevair complained to television station Report TV about the government's lack of attention, saying Ismail's life would be in danger in Serbia. "We call on the Albanian state to intervene and stop extradition to Serbia. We, as a family, would do something very radical which would surprise everyone," he said without elaborating.

Violence interrupted an October 2014 European qualifying match between the Serbian and Albanian teams when a drone with an Albanian banner appeared over the pitch. The 0-0 game was suspended after Serbian fans injured some of the Albanian players who had tried rushing a Serbian player who pulled down the banner.

European soccer's governing body ultimately awarded Albania the match victory, helping win the tiny western Balkan country a spot in the Euro 2016 finals, its first major tournament.

3 defendants die during escape attempt at Moscow courthouse

August 01, 2017

MOSCOW (AP) — Five defendants at a Moscow courthouse attacked their guards in a bungled escape attempt, leading to a shootout that killed three people and wounded five others, officials said Tuesday. Russia's Investigative Committee said the attempted getaway started while the five handcuffed men were being escorted by two guards in an elevator at the Moscow Regional Court.

One tried to strangle a guard before the defendants seized the guards' weapons and the group managed to escape, the investigative committee said. Three of the defendants were killed and two wounded in a shootout with the court's guards. Three guards were injured and taken to hospital, the committee said.

The prosecutor's office for the Moscow region said it was looking into the incident to see if the guards had violated the procedure for escorting defendants. Authorities said the incident took place before a hearing for a gang of nine who are suspected of killing more than a dozen motorists.

Russia media dubbed the accused "the Grand Theft Auto gang" after the violent video game. The men on trial are accused of terrorizing Moscow motorists for months in 2014. Prosecutors said the gang members were placing spikes on roads, forcing the motorists out of their vehicles and shooting them dead.

The nine men, all from Central Asia, are charged with 17 murders and two attempted murders.

Putin hails meeting, thinks Trump accepted election denials

July 09, 2017

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed his first face-to-face meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, saying Saturday he thinks Trump accepted his assurances that Russia didn't meddle in the U.S. presidential election and that their conversation could be a model for improving ties between the two countries.

Speaking to reporters after the two-day Group of 20 summit in Germany ended, Putin said he and Trump had a long discussion about the allegations of Russian interference in last year's election that have dogged Trump's presidency.

The Russian leader said he reiterated his "well-known" position that "there are no grounds" for the allegations. "He asked many questions on the subject, I tried to answer them all," Putin said. "It seems to me that he has taken note of that and agreed, but it's better to ask him about his attitude."

Putin said his answers were detailed and covered his discussions on the election meddling issue with representatives of the previous administration, including former President Barack Obama. But he would not reveal details of his exchange with Trump, saying the conversation was confidential.

"He asked questions, I replied. It seemed to me that he was satisfied with the answers," Putin said. Trump's top envoy to the United Nations quickly disputed the Russian president's assessment of Trump's takeaway from their one-on-one meeting.

"President Trump still knows that they meddled. President Putin knows that they meddled, but he is never going to admit to it. And that's all that happened," Ambassador Nikki Haley told CNN on Saturday.

Trump has avoided firmly blaming Moscow for campaign hacking in the past, and the day before he met with Putin, he was similarly elusive. He argued variably that it could have been Russia, probably was Russia and indeed was Russia, while insisting it could have been other countries, too, and adding: "I won't be specific."

In his post-summit remarks, Putin said that a working group on cybersecurity he and Trump agreed to create during their meeting should help prevent such election controversies in the future. "What is important is that we agreed that there should be no uncertainty in that sphere," he said. "We agreed with the U.S. president to create a working group and work jointly on how to ensure cyberspace security, how to ensure the fulfillment of international legal norms in that sphere and prevent meddling in internal affairs of Russia and the U.S. We believe that if we work that way, and I have no reason to doubt it, there will be no such allegations."

Putin also praised Trump as a strong negotiator who quickly grasps various issues. "As for relations on personal level, I believe we have established them," Putin said. "Trump's T.V. persona differs sharply from the real man. He is a very straightforward person, grasps precisely what his interlocutor says, quickly analyzes and responds to questions or new elements of the discussion."

The Russian leader said his talks with Trump offered a model for rebuilding Russia-U.S. ties, which have plummeted to post-Cold War lows over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and other disputes.

"I think that if we develop our relations in the same way, there is every reason to believe that we would be able to at least partially restore the level of interaction that we need," Putin said. He particularly hailed the U.S.-Russian deal on a cease-fire in southwestern Syria announced Friday as a step toward ending the hostilities.

Jim Heintz contributed to this story from Moscow.

G-20 shut Trump out on climate, strike deal on trade

July 09, 2017

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — World powers lined up against U.S. President Donald Trump on climate change, reaffirming their support for international efforts to fight global warming. The Group of 20 summit that ended Saturday in Hamburg also revealed tensions on trade, as the U.S. administration and international partners forged a deal that endorsed open markets but acknowledged countries had a right to put up barriers to block unfair practices

The summit's final statement made clear that the other countries and the European Union unanimously supported the Paris climate agreement rejected by Trump. They called the deal to reduce greenhouse gases "irreversible" and vowed to implement it "swiftly" and without exception.

The other countries, from European powers such as Germany to emerging ones such as China and energy producers such as Saudi Arabia, merely "took note" of the U.S. position, which was boxed off in a separate paragraph that the summit host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, made clear applied only to the United States.

She said the U.S. position was "regrettable" but that the summit had achieved "good results in some areas," and cited a hard-won agreement on trade that included Trump and the United States but did not erase the differences over the issue. She said the talks had been at times "difficult."

Trump's chief economic adviser played down tensions between the U.S. and other nations as the president headed home from his first G-20 summit. Gary Cohn told reporters aboard Air Force One that while communiques "are never easy," he thought this one "came together pretty reasonably. He said having "a diversity of opinions in a group of 20" was not unexpected.

"To get 20 of your friends to agree to have dinner tonight is pretty hard," Cohn said. Cohn added that while the U.S. obviously has chosen to get out of the Paris agreement, "we do go out of our way to say in there that that doesn't mean we don't support the environment and we're still working for the environment."

On trade, the talks preserved the G-20's condemnation of protectionism, a statement that has been a hallmark of the group's efforts to combat the global financial crisis and the aftereffects of the Great Recession.

The group added new elements, however: an acknowledgment that trade must be "reciprocal and mutually advantageous" and that countries could use "legitimate trade defense instruments" if they are being taken advantage of.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said there was "incredible consensus" on the issue and that the U.S. pushed to include the phrasing about "reciprocal" trade. The wording echoes concerns voiced by Trump, who has said trade must be fair as well as open and must benefit American companies and workers. He has focused on trade relationships where other countries run large surpluses with the U.S., meaning they sell more to U.S. consumers than they buy from American companies.

That's in contrast to the approach favored by Merkel and the EU, who stress multilateral trade frameworks such as the World Trade Organization. More broadly, concerns about trade and its impact on workers figured large in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and in Britain's referendum vote to leave the European Union, a free-trade bloc.

Yet pro-trade officials from the European Union pointed out that the language in the G-20 statement contains no departure from the current global system of regulation, which already allows countries to take defensive measures within the rules of the WTO. Those can include import taxes that offset unfair practices such as government subsidies or below-cost pricing.

Despite the trade agreement, the summit was marked by clashing visions, especially where Washington and the European Union were concerned. The EU demonstrated its willingness to move ahead with free trade despite Trump by announcing a trade agreement with Japan on the eve of the summit.

On climate, summit deputies worked until shortly before the ending news conferences to hash out a three-part fudge that everyone could sign. That meant a first section with a broad pledge to fight climate change in general; a separate paragraph carved out that acknowledged the U.S. did not support the Paris deal; and a third paragraph in which the other 19 members reaffirmed their support for the deal.

Advocates for efforts against global warming expressed relief that the other countries had remained unanimous in support of the Paris accords. "The U.S. has obviously been clear about where it stands with the Paris Agreement, but it is heartening that 19 other countries reaffirmed their commitment to the agreement," said Thoriq Ibrahim, minister of energy and environment for the Maldives and Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, a group of countries vulnerable to the effects of global warming.

The results of the summit aren't absolutely decisive, on either the trade or the climate issue. The no-protection pledge was often violated, increasingly in harder-to-detect ways such as tax breaks for home industries rather than obvious import taxes.

Meanwhile, failure to agree on climate doesn't stop countries from moving ahead in meeting the Paris agreement's goals, or exceed them if they want to. Additionally, U.S. states and private companies can pursue lower emissions on their own.

G-20 agreements are statements of intent and rely on governments themselves to follow through. Still, they set the tone for global policymaking and enable peer pressure when they're not followed. Other deals at the summit included an agreement to press internet providers to detect and remove extremist content as a way of fighting terrorist incitement and recruiting.

John Kirton, co-director of the G-20 Research Group at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs, called the summit a "very solid success." He pointed to broad agreement on the agenda, much of it focusing on less controversial issues such as women's empowerment and promoting digitalization.

Over the long term, the G-20 implements 72 percent of its promises, and has implemented 80 percent of them since last year's summit in Hangzhou, China, according to Kirton. The meetings competed for attention with rioting by anti-capitalist demonstrators outside the heavily secured Hamburg Messe convention center. Rioters set up street barricades, looted supermarkets and attacked police with slingshots and firebombs.

The G-20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, France, Britain, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.