Iraq's ex-President Talabani buried in Kurdish region

October 07, 2017

BAGHDAD (AP) — Thousands of Iraqi Kurdish mourners, Iraqi officials and world dignitaries attended the funeral of Jalal Talabani, the country's first president in a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq and once a symbol of national unity.

Talabani was laid to rest Friday in Sulaimaniyah, the second-largest city in Iraq's Kurdish region, after his casket — draped in the Kurdish flag — was flown back from Berlin where he died at a hospital earlier this week.

From the airport in Suleimaniyah, a motorcade carried the casket to a nearby hill for burial. Crowds poured into the streets, following the funeral procession on foot, carrying flags and posters bearing Talabani's image and the emblem of the political party he founded more than three decades ago, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

Many threw flowers on top of the coffin. While Talabani traces his roots to a small village in Iraq's north, Sulaimaniyah is the seat of his political power. A long-time champion of Kurdish self-rule, Talabani, also established himself as a national statesman after accepting the largely symbolic office of the presidency two years after the 2003 U.S. invasion toppled Saddam.

He held the post from 2005 to 2014, but faded from Iraqi political life after suffering a debilitating stroke in 2012. During his time as president, Talabani was seen as a symbol of unity, a politician able to manage tensions between Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds that in Iraq often erupt into violence.

Talabani's death in Germany on Tuesday came as Iraq struggles to manage the fallout of a controversial referendum on Kurdish independence spearheaded by his long-time Iraqi Kurdish political rival, Masoud Barzani.

While Barzani was present at the funeral and laid a wreath of white flowers at Talabani's casket, Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was not in attendance. Interior Minister Qassim al-Araji came to Sulaimaniyah to pay his respects in al-Abadi's place.

Also in attendance were Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif; Iraq's current president and fellow Kurd, Fuad Masum; U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Douglas A. Silliman, and Jan Kubis, the top U.N. envoy in Iraq.

Baghdad, along with neighboring Turkey and Iran, has rejected the Kurdish referendum and is demanding Kurdish leadership do the same. While the vote in non-binding and will not immediately create an independent state, many saw it as a symbolic affirmation of the Iraqi Kurdish dreams for a state of their own.

Iraq's central government has banned international flights from servicing the Kurdish region's airports and Turkey and Iran, fearful of their own restive Kurdish minorities, have threatened further punitive measures.

Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan threatened a total blockade and has not ruled out the possibility of military invasion. As Talabani's coffin arrived at Sulaimaniyah airport, Iraqi state TV hailed the late president as a national leader who would not have approved of the referendum, called by Barzani.

However, Talabani had not made any official statement on the vote and his political party was split on the subject. Iraq's Kurds have been politically divided for decades. Shortly after securing an autonomous zone in the 1990s with the backing of a U.S.-enforced no-fly zone, Barzani and Talabani's rival factions — mainly their Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party — were drawn into a bitter civil war that killed thousands of civilians and fighters on both sides.

Deep distrust remains to this day, but across the political spectrum, the dream of an independent state is a central rallying point. Both the referendum vote and Talabani's death whipped up nationalist sentiment throughout the Kurdish region.

"Since the beginning of the Kurdish liberation movement until now, it was Mam Jalal who brought us to this point," said Karim Mohammed, a Sulaimaniyah resident among the crowds gathered to pay their respects, "he always looked after us."

"Mam Jalal" is Talabani's Kurdish nickname that translates to Uncle Jalal. The United Nations described Talabani as "a leading voice of moderation, dialogue, mutual understanding and respect in Iraq's contemporary politics" and a "patriot of unique wisdom and foresight."

Talabani's son and the Kurdish region's deputy prime minister, Qubad Talabani, spoke at the funeral ceremony, saying that his family received condolences from across the Kurdish region. "He was an uncle to all of you. He belonged to all of Kurdistan," Qubad said in remarks broadcast on local Kurdish television.

Associated Press writer Adnan Ahmed Qader in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, and Susannah George in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Iraqi Kurdistan receives body of late President Talabani

October 06, 2017

BAGHDAD (AP) — Thousands of mourners gathered in the Iraqi city of Sulaimaniyah to pay their respects to late Kurdish leader and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who was to be buried Friday in the town that was the seat of his political power.

Talabani, once a champion of Kurdish self-rule, is being remembered as a national statesman after accepting the largely symbolic office of the presidency two years after the 2003 U.S. invasion toppled Saddam Hussein. He held the post from 2005 to 2014 despite suffering a debilitating stroke in 2012.

His death came at a charged moment in national politics, with Iraq's Kurdistan region voting by an overwhelming majority to endorse independence in a non-binding referendum held last month. The results were rejected by Iraq's central government and neighboring Turkey and Iran, who have threatened to take punitive measures against the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq's north.

Iraq's central government closed the airspace over Kurdistan to international flights, and Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan threatened a total blockade. The Turkish leader has not ruled out the possibility of a military invasion either. Ankara and Tehran are afraid their own sizeable Kurdish minorities will follow Iraqi Kurdistan's example and agitate for self-rule.

With Talabani's coffin arriving at Sulaimaniyah airport, Iraqi state TV hailed the late president as a national leader who would not have approved of the referendum called by his Kurdish rival and President of the Kurdish region, Masoud Barzani. Barzani and Talabani fought a bitter civil war in the 1990s that left thousands dead.

Talabani's casket was received at Suleimaniyah airport draped in a Kurdish flag before being moved in a motorcade through the region's second city. Supporters mobbed the procession, some waving the green flag of Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party.

Talabani's casket was met at the airport by Iraqi leaders and foreign dignities, including Barzani and Iranian Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif. Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, mired in the fallout of the Kurdistani referendum, was conspicuously absent. Interior Minister Qassim al-Araji was there in his stead.

Rain slows in Albania but agricultural land still underwater

December 03, 2017

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian authorities say that despite less rainfall and lower river levels, thousands of homes and scores of schools have been damaged, and agricultural land is still submerged.

The government said Sunday that 600 families were evacuated Saturday in two southwestern districts. More than 3,000 homes, 56 schools and 16,000 hectares (40,000 acres) of agricultural land have been flooded. Many roads and 28 bridges have been damaged.

Authorities have started calculating the damage to consider financial compensation. At least one person has died in the last several days of heavy rainfall that has flooded many parts of Albania. Ports and the only international airport were temporarily closed for part of the weekend.

Schools were closed Friday and the Education Ministry will make a decision soon about Monday's classes.

5 Jordanians go missing in Saudi Arabia

December 3, 2017

Five Jordanian nationals have gone missing in Saudi Arabia, according to a Jordanian foreign ministry source.

The five were on a hunting trip in the northwestern Tabuk region when they disappeared, the source told Anadolu Agency, requesting anonymity because he was unauthorized to speak to media.

He, however, denied reports that the five had been found dead.

There was no comment from Saudi authorities on the report.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171203-5-jordanians-go-missing-in-saudi-arabia/.

Tunisia: Government 'trying to control' independent bodies

November 29, 2017

Independent bodies which deal with the fight against corruption, journalists’ rights and human rights in Tunisia have today united to condemn the government’s attempts to “marginalize” them by “emptying them of their content and reviewing their regulatory laws in order to control them”.

In a joint press conference, member of the Independent High Authority for Audiovisual Communication, Hisham Snoussi, said: “It has become clear to us that the executive authority decided to circumvent the Constitution and to empty the authorities of their content by introducing laws that contradict rights and freedoms. There is a real decline in the authorities’ role.”

Speaking to the Anadolu Agency, Snoussi added: “All the authorities feel that the retreat implies the government’s power and contempt for the Constitution, especially when President Beji Caid Essebsi expressed his intention to amend the Constitution, criticizing the authorities’ role.”

On 6 September, Essebsi said in an interview with a local government newspaper that “constitutional authorities exercise absolute powers without supervision, under the right of independence, and they threaten the state’s unity and existence.”

National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists Director, Naji Baghouri, said: “All authorities have concerns about marginalizing and emptying them of their content and authority, by reviewing their regulatory laws.”

He added that “the authorities play an important role in the process of democratic transition.”

The Tunisian National Instance for the Fight Against Corruption, the Independent High Authority for Audiovisual Communication, the Information Access Authority, along with the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists and the Tunisian Human Rights League have all condemned the government’s actions.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171129-tunisia-government-trying-to-control-independent-bodies/.

African Union chooses Algeria as counterterrorism coordinator

December 1, 2017

The African Union has chosen Algeria as the coordinator of its counterterrorism strategy. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his country were named by the chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki, in an official announcement made in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on Thursday.

Faki said that Algeria was chosen because of its “pioneering experience” in this area and its effective policy to combat extremism. “All African countries could follow Algeria’s experience in the fight against terrorism,” he added.

The AU official congratulated Algeria and President Bouteflika for their efforts in coordinating the bloc’s efforts towards preventing and combating terrorism.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171201-african-union-chooses-algeria-as-counterterrorism-coordinator/.

Algeria refuses to join Saudi-led Muslim Military Alliance

November 30, 2017

Algeria has joined Iran, Syria and Iraq and refused to join the Saudi-led Muslim Military Alliance, The Algeria Daily reported on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia leads two alliances including one against Houthi rebels in Yemen in addition to the Muslim Military Alliance.

While Saudi Arabia and its allies brand Lebanese Hezbollah and Houthi rebels in Yemen as terrorist organizations, Algeria does not agree with this position and maintains relations with Saudi Arabia at the same time with its rival, Iran.

The newspaper reported retired Algerian Colonel, Abdul Hamid Al-Sharif as saying that the alliance is an alliance of aggression that represents the conflicts of interests raging in the region which Algeria refuses to be part of.

Meanwhile, security expert, Ahmad Azimi said in a statement that the Muslim Military Alliance does not mean anything to Algeria because the member states are under Western influence.

“If the goal of the alliance is to liberate and defend Arab countries then we welcome it, but if it aims to attack Muslim countries then Algeria cannot be part of its”.

Saudi Arabia announced on December 14, 2015 the formation of the Anti- Terrorism Muslim Military Alliance with the participation of 41 countries, including Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia and Egypt.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171130-algeria-refuses-to-join-saudi-led-muslim-military-alliance/.

Two-day Gulf summit ends within hours amid Qatar crisis

December 05, 2017

KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Kuwait's emir on Tuesday quickly called an end to a planned two-day meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council within hours of its start amid the ongoing diplomatic dispute surrounding Qatar.

The sudden end of the meeting in Kuwait City raised new questions about the future of the GCC, a six-member Gulf Arab regional bloc formed in part to be a counterbalance to Shiite power Iran. Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah's decision came after the United Arab Emirates earlier in the day announced a new partnership with Saudi Arabia separate from the GCC.

The Emirati Foreign Ministry said the new "joint cooperation committee" was approved by the UAE's ruler and president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nayhan. The ministry said the new committee "is assigned to cooperate and coordinate between the UAE and Saudi Arabia in all military, political, economic, trade and cultural fields, as well as others, in the interest of the two countries."

The UAE and Saudi Arabia have cultivated close ties in recent years. Emirati troops are deeply involved in the Saudi-led war in Yemen. Abu Dhabi's powerful crown prince, Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nayhan, also is believed to be close to Saudi Arabia's young Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The Emirati announcement did not say whether any other Gulf Arab countries would be invited to join the new group, but the development puts pressure the GCC, whose members — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Emirates — are all U.S. allies.

The United States and its European allies have told the council's members that the region remains stronger with them working together as a whole, while the countries themselves still appear divided over their future.

The fact the GCC meeting in Kuwait was to take place at all is a bit of a surprise, given the unusually sharp criticism among the typically clubby members of the GCC pointed at Doha. The dispute began in June, following what Qatar described as a hack of its state-run news agency and the circulation of incendiary comments attributed to its ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Soon after, GCC members Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates closed off their airspace and seaports to Qatar, as well as the small peninsular nation's sole land border with Saudi Arabia.

The boycott initially riled Doha, though it soon replaced food products with those flown in from Turkey and Iran. However, Qatar's foreign reserves have dropped by some $10 billion — a fifth of their value — since the dispute began. Those reserves are crucial in supporting the nation's riyal, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar, as well as funding the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup that Doha will host.

The boycotting nations allege Qatar funds extremist groups and has too-cozy ties to Iran. Qatar has long denied funding extremists but it restored full diplomatic ties with Iran during the crisis. Doha shares a massive offshore natural gas field with Tehran that gives its citizens the highest per-capita income in the world.

A similar dispute involving Qatar erupted in 2014. But this time positions have hardened against Qatar, whose support for Islamist opposition groups has angered the Arab nations now boycotting it. The UAE in particular views Islamists as a threat to hereditary rule in its federation of seven sheikhdoms. Egypt, angered by Qatar's support for the Muslim Brotherhood and the nation's deposed President Mohammed Morsi, is also boycotting Doha.

The U.S., which has some 10,000 troops stationed at Qatar's sprawling al-Udeid Air Base as part of its campaign against the Islamic State group and the war in Afghanistan, also has sought to end the crisis. Its military has halted some regional exercises to put pressure on the GCC to resolve the crisis. However, President Donald Trump in the meantime made comments seemingly supporting the Arab nations' efforts at isolating Qatar, complicating those efforts.

A Trump-prompted call in September between Qatar's Sheikh Tamim and the Saudi crown prince that offered a chance at negotiations also broke down in mutual recriminations. Kuwait's 88-year-old emir, Sheikh Sabah, has tried to mediate the dispute, so far without success.

Tuesday's meeting in Kuwait City was to be a summit of the region's rulers. However, only Qatar and Kuwait were represented by their ruling emirs, sparking anger online by Kuwaitis that the nations boycotting Qatar had slighted their leader.

Despite the troubles, Sheikh Sabah tried to stay positive. "I would like to congratulate all the people of the GCC nations for our success in holding this summit, proving how committed we are to this establishment and continuity," he said.

After a closed-door meeting lasting around 15 minutes, Sheikh Sabah announced the end of the summit to applause.

Associated Press writers Hussain al-Qatari and Malak Harb contributed to this report.

Saudi Prince Released After $1 Billion Deal, Official Says

By Alaa Shahine
November 29, 2017

Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, one of the most senior Saudi royals detained in the kingdom’s corruption crackdown, has been released after reaching a settlement deal believed to exceed the equivalent of $1 billion, an official involved in the anti-graft campaign said.

Prince Miteb, who headed the powerful National Guard until earlier this month, was released Tuesday, the official said on condition of anonymity in discussing matters under the supervision of the public prosecutor. At least three other suspects have also finalized settlement deals, the official said. It wasn’t immediately possible to reach Prince Miteb, son of the late King Abdullah, for comment.

The public prosecutor has decided to release several individuals and will proceed with the prosecution of at least five others, the official said. The prosecutor has complete authority over the investigation, including whether to accept or reject any settlement proposal and whether to take any suspect to court, the official said.

Prince Miteb’s release, less than a month since his arrest, shows the speed at which Saudi Arabia wants to settle the corruption probe that involved the sudden arrests of royals and billionaires such as Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The crackdown has shaken the kingdom and reverberated across the world as analysts, bankers and diplomats assess its impact on power in the world’s biggest oil exporter.

$100 Billion Settlement

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s predominant leader known as MBS, said the majority of those being detained had agreed to pay back some of the money they had gained illegally in exchange for their freedom. The prince said authorities could recover as much as $100 billion in settlements.

Some suspects started making payments to settle cases in exchange for freedom, people with knowledge of the matter said last week. Businessmen and officials signed agreements with authorities to transfer a portion of their assets to avoid trial and have started to transfer funds from personal accounts to government-controlled accounts, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private.

“Most princes arrested will certainly try to buy their way out, and we will see more of them doing just that to avoid jail time," said Raihan Ismail, an associate lecturer at the Centre for Arab & Islamic Studies at the Australian National University in Canberra. “This process lacks accountability and integrity. I doubt that detailed charges will ever be released, especially if settlements are reached.”

Five-Star Prison

The crackdown has turned the palatial Ritz Carlton in Riyadh, which hosted U.S. President Donald Trump in May, into a five-star detention center for about 200 of Saudi Arabia’s richest and most influential people.

The country’s Attorney General Sheikh Saud Al Mojeb said suspects had been granted legal access. His office, however, has yet to release details of the charges or allow access to the suspects and their lawyers, making it difficult to independently asses the cases.

King Salman fired Prince Miteb shortly before midnight Nov. 4 and announced the formation of an anti-corruption commission headed by the crown prince. Prince Miteb’s arrest fueled speculation that the crackdown was more about tightening the crown prince’s grip on power, a claim he dismissed as “ludicrous” in an interview with the New York Times’ columnist Thomas Friedman this month.

The opacity of the system doesn’t take away “from the political capital that MBS probably earned from this from the Saudi public” by declaring war on corruption, Hani Sabra, founder of New York-based Alef Advisory wrote in a report. “We continue to believe that MBS’s risky domestic gambits are likely to succeed.”

— With assistance by David Tweed

Source: Bloomberg.
Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-28/saudi-prince-released-after-1-billion-settlement-official-says.

4 Catalan separatists kept in jail as campaigning begins

December 05, 2017

MADRID (AP) — Political parties in Catalonia, including candidates either in jail or out of the country to avoid arrest, started campaigning at midnight Monday for the early regional elections called by Spain's government seeking to quash the Catalan independence movement.

The highly polarized Catalan parliament elections set for Dec. 21 is shaping up as a close fight between Catalans who support secession and those who favor remaining in Spain. Voters are choosing regional lawmakers and top government officials to replace the pro-independence officials removed by the national government in late October.

Hours before pro-secession parties held evening rallies to launch their campaigns, a Supreme Court judge in Madrid ruled that four prominent members of the region's independence movement must remain jailed without bail. They include former regional Vice President Oriol Junqueras, who heads the slate of the left-republican ERC party. Junqueras was unseated in late October along with former President Carles Puigdemont and the rest of Puigdemont's Cabinet after regional lawmakers passed a declaration of independence that Spanish authorities deemed illegal.

Six other Catalan politicians who had been jailed with Junqueras since early November were released late Monday after the posting of 100,000-euro ($118,000) bail set earlier for them by a Supreme Court judge.

Meanwhile, Puigdemont and four of his separatist allies learned Monday that a decision on Spain's request for their extraditions from Belgium will be made Dec. 14. That is one week before the elections, in which Puigdemont is leading his pro-independence party's ticket as its presidential candidate.

However, a final decision may not come until well after the election because of appeals. The five Catalan officials fled to Belgium and are refusing to return to Spain to face possible charges of rebellion, sedition and embezzlement over the push for independence. The charges carry maximum penalties of decades in prison.

Puigdemont's Belgian defense lawyer, Paul Bekaert, insisted there are no grounds for extradition because the Spanish charges were not punishable in Belgium. "We also highlighted the danger for the impediment of their human rights in Spain," Bekaert said.

Hours after the judge postponed deciding his fate, Puigdemont addressed a political rally in Catalonia via video conference at the official midnight kickoff of the campaign. Puigdemont told the other candidates running for his Together for Catalonia list that the vote should be "the second part" of the referendum that his government held on secession Oct. 1 despite it being banned by Spain's highest court.

"The results of Oct. 1 are still valid," Puigdemont told Catalan public television TV3. "There are many of us who don't give the Spanish government the authority to dissolve a legitimate legislature."

The Spanish government has said the early election is an attempt to find a democratic way out of the nation's worst crisis in nearly four decades. Polls predict a close race between the pro- and anti-independence camps.

A government-run poll published Monday indicated that pro-independence parties would lose their slim majority in Catalonia's parliament. It had ERC, Together for Catalonia and the far-left anti-establishment CUP party winning 66 or 67 of the parliament's 135 seats.

The poll forecast a boost for the anti-independence Citizens party, which could dispute the victory with the pro-secession ERC. "The secession movement is a black hole that has swallowed everything up in recent years," Ines Arrimadas, Citizens' leading candidate, told TV3. "We have it in our hands to end the independence movement and start a new era for Catalonia."

The CIS survey said the poll had a margin of error of two percentage points. The poll of 3,000 people was conducted by telephone Nov. 23-27. Before campaigning officially started, Catalan pro-independence groups held protests in front of town halls to oppose the Supreme Court's decision to keep some of the independence movement's leaders in custody.

Pilar Gonzalez, 76, said while walking her dog in Barcelona that the jailed Catalan political leaders were "political prisoners." But 53-year-old contractor Jose Luis Aguirre said the attempt to unilaterally break away from Spain "is an act that cannot be allowed."

In the hope of being freed, Junqueras and the other jailed politicians pledged last week to give up on efforts to seek unilateral independence for the wealthy northeastern region. But Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena said Monday that it remains to be seen if Junqueras' pledge was "truthful and real."

ERC spokeswoman Marta Rovira described the jailing as "a covert attempt" by Spain's central authorities in Madrid to get ERC out of the picture before this month's voting. "This is a very clear attempt to win these elections without political adversaries," she said.

Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido was unmoved by the arguments of Junqueras' supporters. "Those who commit criminal acts must place themselves at the mercy of legal rulings," Zoido said. The Supreme Court judge also upheld custody orders without bail for the former regional interior minister, Joaquim Forn, and the leaders of Assemblea Nacional Catalan and Omnium Cultural, two grassroots groups that have been the main drivers of the separatist bid.

Puigdemont and the other separatist leaders claim a mandate for independence from the Oct. 1 referendum, which was boycotted by parties against secession. The vote drew 43 percent of the electorate, failed to meet international standards, and was marred by police raids.

Spain's constitution says that the nation is "indivisible" and that matters of national sovereignty pertain to its national parliament in Madrid, where Catalan secessionists are represented.

Associated Press writer Aritz Parra reported this story in Madrid and AP writer Raf Casert reported from Brussels. AP writer Joseph Wilson in Barcelona contributed to this report.

Supporters free ex-Georgian president detained in Ukraine

December 05, 2017

MOSCOW (AP) — Hundreds of protesters chanting "Kiev, rise up!" blocked Ukrainian police as they tried to arrest former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili on Tuesday. He later escaped with help from supporters and led them on a march toward parliament, where they planned to call for President Petro Poroshenko to resign.

The detention of Saakashvili, now an anti-corruption crusader in his adopted home and arguably the country's most popular opposition politician, has raised fears that Ukraine could be facing its most acute political crisis since the 2014 revolution. Ukrainian prosecutors accuse him of colluding with Ukrainian businessmen who have ties to Russian intelligence as part of an effort to topple the president.

Saakashvili poses a threat to Poroshenko, who appointed him as governor of Ukraine's Odessa region before the two had a falling-out. Saakashvili resigned in 2016, complaining that his efforts to root out corruption were being obstructed by officials.

When the SBU, Ukraine's Security Service, went to detain Saakashvili at his home in Kiev on Tuesday, he climbed onto the roof and reportedly threatened to jump off. SBU officers went after him, detained him and led him to a waiting van.

Several hundred supporters surrounded the van, refusing to let it drive off. Footage from the scene showed protesters picking up cobblestones and construction rubble to build barricades. One protester climbed atop the van and waved the Ukrainian flag.

After Saakashvili escaped, he told his supporters that he would "lay down his life for the freedom of Ukraine" and called on them to follow him to the Supreme Rada, or parliament. He also called on Ukrainians to rally on Maidan, Kiev's main square, the epicenter of protests in 2013 and 2014, to demand Poroshenko's resignation.

Footage showed Saakashvili with the yellow-and-blue Ukrainian flag around his neck marching in central Kiev, surrounded by crowds. "I will leave here only with the Ukrainian people, only as a winner," the former Georgian president told supporters outside the Supreme Rada late Tuesday afternoon. "Call your family and neighbors, let them all come here, let's all stand together."

Serhiy Knyazev, chief of the Ukrainian police, in a statement posted on Facebook warned the protesters against "breaking the law" and "provocations." Saakashvili was Georgia's president for nearly a decade before he was prevented from running again by term limits. He left the country in 2013.

Poroshenko revoked Saakashvili's Ukrainian citizenship in July. Saakashvili forced his way across Ukraine's border with Poland earlier this year, with help from protesters. Saakashvili's standoff with Poroshenko ignited long-simmering popular discontent with the slow pace of reforms the latter has promised.

The Security Service said in a statement that Saakashvili is facing a criminal investigation for "assisting members of criminal organizations or hiding their criminal activities." Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuri Lutsenko said on TV that prosecutors have evidence that Saakashvili's representative received $500,000 from Ukrainian businessmen with ties to Russia to finance protests.

Saakashvili has spearheaded several protests in Kiev, but they typically drew fewer than 4,000 people. At one of the rallies, Saakashvili called on Poroshenko to resign. "All the rallies were financed by foreign oligarchs that aimed to seize power by illegal means," Lutsenko said. The prosecutors plan to ask the court to place Saakashvili under house arrest, he said.

Analysts in Kiev, however, don't see the Saakashvili case sparking protests big enough to challenge Poroshenko. "Saakashvili has a small but a noticeable number of hyperactive supporters ready for action," Kiev-based analyst Volodymyr Fesenko told The Associated Press. "They can make a lot of noise but most Ukrainians are wary of negative and unpredictable consequences of a new Maidan."

Yuras Karmanau contributed to this report from Minsk, Belarus.

Saakashvili calls for protest camp in Ukraine's capital

December 03, 2017

MOSCOW (AP) — Anti-corruption campaigner Mikheil Saakashvili is urging Ukrainians to set up a protest camp in Kiev's main square if parliament fails to adopt a law on presidential impeachment within a week.

He made the call at a Sunday rally that news reports say attracted 2,500 people. Saakashvili was a key figure in the 2003 Rose Revolution protests in Georgia that ousted the country's president. He then served as president for nearly a decade.

He left Georgia in 2013 and later was appointed governor of Ukraine's Odessa region. But he quit that office in 2016, complaining that his anti-corruption efforts suffered official obstruction. His citizenship was revoked this year while he was out of the country, but he returned in September when supporters broke through a police line at the Polish border.

Polish PM sends tweet seen as a sign she might be replaced

December 05, 2017

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's Prime Minister Beata Szydlo sent a tweet early Tuesday that seems to read like a farewell, amid rumors in Warsaw that she might be replaced by Finance Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Szydlo sent the tweet after midnight following talks in her conservative ruling Law and Justice party on reshuffling the government. There have been rumors for weeks that party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski could become the next prime minister though recent Polish reports suggest the most likely new leader will be Morawiecki, a deputy prime minister who is also the minister for development and finance.

Kaczynski is widely seen as the real power behind the government, guiding its decisions from his party headquarters and from his seat in parliament where he serves as one of 460 members of the lower house, or Sejm. This is not expected to change even if Szydlo is replaced.

Szydlo wrote: "Regardless of everything the most important thing is Poland. One that takes care of family and values (and is) safe. That grew from the foundation of Christian values, tolerant and open. Modern and ambitious. That is my country. An example for Europe and the world. That's who we Poles are."

The rumors that Szydlo is likely to be replaced have been reported for weeks in pro-government media outlets, as well as those critical of the government, including the Polish edition of Newsweek. The daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources, that that Kaczynski has presented to party lawmakers his plan for Morawiecki to take the helm of the Cabinet next week.

Morawiecki, 49, has won praise for overseeing an economy that has boomed in the two years since the Law and Justice party took power and he is widely considered one of the government's most skilled and competent members.

Critics, however, say the boom is largely thanks to the fiscal discipline of the previous centrist government and growth across Europe that is improving conditions in many places. Morawiecki is a former international banker who ran Spanish bank Santander's operations in Poland before Law and Justice won power. It seems an unlikely background for someone who has played a key role in a nationalistic party that opposes foreign influence in the country and global capitalism.

Under Morawiecki, Poland has taken steps to "re-Polonize" the banking industry, for example by re-taking control of one of the country's largest banks, Pekao SA, formerly controlled by Italy's UniCredit.

Law and Justice also launched a hugely popular welfare program that pays monthly cash bonuses to families with at least two children.

Snowfall leads to 2 deaths, canceled flights in Germany

December 03, 2017

BERLIN (AP) — Heavy snow in Germany is being blamed for two deaths, several accidents and dozens of canceled airline flights. The German news agency dpa reported that an 86-year-old woman died in Uelzen in Lower Saxony on Sunday when a car veered on a slippery road and crashed into another vehicle traveling in the opposite direction.

Police said an 83-year-old man with dementia froze to death in Koelleda in eastern Germany. Officers found his body in the snow on the side of a road near the nursing home where he was living and think he might have gotten lost.

In Frankfurt, more than 80 flights had to be canceled Sunday because of the weather. Several high-speed ICE trains were ordered to slow down in central and southern Germany because of the snow.

Study: Europe's Muslim population to grow, migration or not

November 30, 2017

BERLIN (AP) — Europe's Muslim population will continue to grow over the next several decades even if all immigration to the continent should stop, according to a study published Thursday. The Pew Research Center report modeled three scenarios for estimating the number of Muslims who would be living in Europe by 2050. All three used a mid-2016 estimate of 25.8 million as a baseline, but assumed different future migration rates.

Under the "zero migration" scenario, an estimated 30 million Muslims would make up 7.4 percent of Europe's population by 2050 compared to the 4.9 percent they comprised last year, the report projected. The researchers said that is mostly because Muslims are on average 13 years younger than other Europeans and also have a higher birthrate, the Pew researchers said.

The study estimates 58.8 million Muslims would account for 11.2 percent of the population in a "medium migration" scenario that has migration maintaining a "regular speed" — defined by the Pew researchers as migration motivated by economic, educational and family reasons — but not for seeking asylum as a refugee.

In the "high migration" scenario, the study projects that the record flow of migrants who came to Europe between 2015 and 2016 would continue indefinitely, resulting in 75 million Muslims in Europe, a 14 percent increase, by the middle of the century.

Even with the most immigration, Muslims would "still be considerably smaller than the populations of both Christians and people with no religion in Europe," the researchers concluded. Muslim immigrants have been a politically sensitive topic in Europe following the influx of newcomers in 2015 and 2016. Some countries have seen backlashes that have included populist parties campaigning on anti-Islam messages.

The study was based on census and survey data, population registers, immigration data and other sources. The 30 countries it covered include the 28 European Union members, plus Norway and Switzerland.

Not all countries would be affected evenly by future immigration, according to the Pew report. In the high migration scenario, Germany and Sweden would have the biggest increases because both countries took in the most asylum-seekers during the height of the refugee crisis two years ago.

While Muslims made up 6 percent of Germany's population last year, their proportion would go up to 20 percent by 2050. Sweden's Muslims, who were at 8 percent in 2016, would account for 31 percent of the population in that same scenario.

Meanwhile, some countries that had comparatively few Muslim residents in 2016 would continue to have few by 2050 in all three scenarios.

UK extradition hearing to start for tycoon sought by India

December 03, 2017

LONDON (AP) — Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya is set to face an extradition hearing in London that should determine whether he is sent back to India to face money laundering allegations related to the collapse of several of his businesses.

The Westminster Magistrates Court hearing, which begins Monday and is due to last about eight days, will be widely followed in India, where Mallya is known for his flashy lifestyle and lavish parties attended by fashion models and Bollywood stars.

Mallya, who denies the allegations, was once hailed as India's version of British entrepreneur Richard Branson for his investments in a liquor company, an airline, a Formula One team and an Indian Premier League cricket club.

In November, he called the allegations "baseless and fabricated." Asked by reporters outside the courthouse why he didn't return to India to answer the charges, he snapped back: "That's none of your business."

The 61-year-old was also a politician for six years before resigning from the upper house of India's parliament last year, a day before an ethics committee was set to recommend his expulsion. Mallya launched Kingfisher Airlines in 2005 and the carrier set new standards for quality and service, forcing competing airlines to improve. But it ran into trouble as it expanded. The Indian government suspended the airline's license in 2012 after it failed to pay pilots and engineers for months.

That triggered the collapse of several more of Mallya's businesses. He left India last year after a group of banks demanded he pay back more than $1 billion in loans extended to his airline. He has been living in Britain since March 2016 and has refused to return to India to face trial in the Kingfisher Airlines case. India canceled his passport and began an extradition process.

In May, India's Supreme Court ruled Mallya had disobeyed its order barring him from transferring $40 million to his children. Gurcharan Das, a New Delhi author and former chief executive of Procter & Gamble India, said Mallya was an excellent salesman who built a great brand that included one of the nation's favorite beers and a high-performing airline.

He said that Mallya, like many others, tried to expand too quickly, buying a no-frills airline that wasn't a good fit with his company. He said Mallya's political connections have made him a national symbol of the perils of crony capitalism.

"I see it as a bit of a tragedy. He is somebody who had quite outstanding talents," Das said. "What hurt him was his flamboyant lifestyle. He didn't bother to hide it. He flaunted it. That, too, in the public imagination has made him a villain."

He said Mallya kept up to a dozen homes with full staff as well as buying private jets and yachts, all in a poor country where most rich people tend to hide their wealth. But Das said Mallya's biggest mistake was to leave India.

"He should have just toughed it out here," Das said. "There are a number of other businessmen who owe far more money to the banks than he does. He just got scared and skipped out." Mallya has argued that Britain has long been a second home for him.

India's government this month rejected Mallya's argument that he wouldn't be safe in an Indian jail if he was sent back, and was planning to tell that to the London court, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

Nick Perry reported from New Delhi.

Japan sets Emperor Akihito's abdication date for April 30, 2019

By Daniel Uria
Nov. 30, 2017

Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Japan's Imperial House Council set a date for when Emperor Akihito will step down and open a path for his son to succeed him.

The panel, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, announced Friday Akihito, 83, will abdicate on April 30, 2019, and his 57-year-old son Crown Prince Naruhito will succeed him on May 1.

The Japanese Cabinet approved a bill granting Akihito to power abdicate in May of this year, after he curtailed public appearances due to his declining health.

The Imperial House Council, which consists of politicians, the judiciary and Imperial family members, initially considered setting the abdication date for December 2018, but delayed it to April to avoid scheduling issues with important year-end and New Year Imperial events.

Akihito's younger son, Prince Akishino, was replaced on the panel by the emperor's brother, Prince Hitachi, because he will become first in line to the throne after his father's abdication.

Japan's constitution defines the emperor as "the symbol of the state" and the position holds no political power.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2017/11/30/Japan-sets-Emperor-Akihitos-abdication-date-for-April-30-2019/3261512101215/.

China to deploy 'Night Tigers' to Syria in support of Assad's forces

29 November, 2017

China will deploy troops to Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad's forces, as the East Asian country becomes increasingly concerned about the presence of Islamic militants in its far western region of Xinjiang.

The Chinese Ministry of Defense intends to send two units known as the "Tigers of Siberia" and the "Night Tigers" from the Special Operations Forces to aid regime troops against militant factions, New Khaleej reported, citing informed sources.

Some 5,000 ethnic Uighurs from China's violence-prone region of Xinjiang are fighting in various militant groups in Syria, the Syrian ambassador to China said earlier this year.

Chinese state media has blamed violence in Xinjiang on extremists who were trained in Syria.

Hundreds of people have been killed in Xinjiang in the past few years, most in unrest between Uighurs and ethnic majority Han Chinese. The government blames the unrest on Islamist militants who want a separate state called East Turkestan.

Uighurs themselves complain of discrimination and say their traditional and religious way of life is being eroded by Chinese domestic policy and an influx of settlers from elsewhere in China.

China has said that "East Turkestan terrorist forces" had posed several threats against the government.

Assad has previously praised "crucial cooperation" between Syria and Chinese intelligence against Uighur militants, adding ties with China were "on the rise".

Chinese military personnel have been on the ground in Syria since at least last year, training Syrian forces to use China-made weapons.

China has also joined Russia in blocking resolutions critical of the regime at the United Nations Security Council, as one of the five vetoing powers on the panel.

Source: The New Arab.
Link: https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/11/29/china-to-deploy-night-tigers-to-syria.

Police question Israeli leader's ally on corruption charges

December 03, 2017

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police on Sunday questioned a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption charges dating to his pre-parliament days as he was pushing for pro-Netanyahu legislation widely seen as stifling police investigations.

Coalition whip David Bitan was grilled in relation to accusations that he promoted the interests of criminals in return for debt relief while he was a municipal politician years ago. Bitan is the driving force behind a legislation push seen as aiding the beleaguered Netanyahu, who faces multiple corruption accusations. Bitan's so-called "recommendations bill" would end the police's current practice of recommending to the state prosecution office whether to indict suspects upon completing their investigations.

It also aims to stem leaks from the investigations themselves, stating that no police recommendations be made public and penalizing those found leaking to the media. Netanyahu's Likud party was set to bring the bill for a parliamentary vote on Monday, but appears to be short on numbers and will likely delay it. Their hope is to move the bill forward quickly so that it will also apply to investigations currently taking place regarding Netanyahu.

Netanyahu has been questioned in two cases and police say they suspect him of being involved in bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Police have already grilled him six times regarding gifts he received from Hollywood and business figures, and in another probe about secret talks with the publisher of a major Israeli newspaper in which Netanyahu allegedly requested positive coverage in exchange for reining in a free pro-Netanyahu daily. One of his closest former aides has become a state's witness against him.

Netanyahu has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and calls the accusations a witch hunt orchestrated by a hostile media. Another investigation has engulfed his close associates and dominated news in Israel. The probe relates to a possible conflict of interest involving a $2 billion purchase of German submarines.

Netanyahu's personal attorney, who is also his cousin, represented the German firm involved and is suspected of trading his influence over the prime minister in return for a hefty cut of the deal. A former Cabinet minister and top former navy and security officials have been questioned by police. Netanyahu has yet to be named a suspect in that probe.

Bitan's questioning comes a day after tens of thousands of Israelis poured into the streets of Tel Aviv Saturday night for an anti-corruption rally calling on Netanyahu to resign. It was one of the largest demonstrations yet against Netanyahu's lengthy rule.

"I think the time has come to change the government. The government is corrupt. We're sick of the corrupt," said protester Avi Elmozlinu. Organizers are hoping that the grassroots movement picks up steam and becomes a regular Saturday night ritual that eventually forces Netanyahu from power.

IOC: Russians can compete at Olympics, but without flag

December 06, 2017

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Russian athletes will be allowed to stand on the medal podium at the Winter Olympics — just not with their anthem playing or their nation's flag rising above them. The International Olympic Committee barred Russia and its sports leaders from the upcoming games in South Korea after its lead investigator concluded members of the Russian government concocted a doping scheme at the 2014 Sochi Games that "caused unprecedented damage to Olympism and to sports."

Not welcome in Pyeongchang next year will be any sign of the Russian Olympic Committee or any member of its sports ministry, which was responsible for what investigators concluded was a top-to-bottom scheme of "manipulation and cheating" to ensure Russians could dope at the Olympics on their home turf and not get caught.

The IOC punishment did leave room for many Russians to compete under the name "Olympic Athlete from Russia" or OAR. They would have to pass drug tests to prove they were clean and also did not benefit from the Sochi scheme.

If they win, the Olympic flag would be raised and the Olympic anthem played to honor their victories. That is, if Russian President Vladimir Putin allows them to go to the Feb. 9-25 games. He previously has said it would be humiliating for Russia to compete without its national symbols.

"An Olympic boycott has never achieved anything," IOC President Thomas Bach said at a news conference. "Secondly, I don't see any reason for a boycott by the Russian athletes because we allow the clean athletes there to participate."

Alexander Zhukov, the Russian Olympic Committee president who also was suspended from his IOC membership, told TV reporters in Lausanne that one key was preserving the name "Russia" in the team name. "They'll be called Russian athletes and not some kind of neutrals ... that's very important," Zhukov said.

If it was a victory to have the word "Russia" in the team name and invite some Russian athletes to compete, it came at a cost. The IOC also suspended the Russian Olympic Committee until at least the start of the closing ceremony in South Korea.

In an embarrassment for Russia's hosting of the 2018 World Cup, the IOC also banned Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko from the Olympics for life. Mutko heads the organizing committee of soccer's next World Cup. As sports minister in 2014, he was deeply implicated in the Sochi doping plot by two IOC commissions and a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation.

"The IOC executive board has made its positon to the responsibility of Mr. Mutko very clear," said Bach, who would not comment if it was appropriate for soccer's governing body FIFA to continue working with an official who is also president of Russia's soccer federation.

At the State Kremlin Palace on Dec. 1, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said at a joint news conference with Mutko that the IOC's decision would not affect the World Cup. That message was repeated Tuesday by FIFA in a statement which noted that its ethics and disciplinary committees could still open cases against Mutko and Russian soccer players implicated in doping cover-ups.

The IOC also imposed a fine of $15 million on the Russian Olympic Committee to pay for its two investigations into the case and toward future anti-doping work. The sanctions could be challenged at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Any Russian athlete hoping to earn invitations to Pyeongchang will have to come through a stricter-than-usual testing regime and not have a doping violation on their record. Invitations will be decided by an IOC panel chaired by former France Sports Minister Valerie Fourneyron.

The IOC also will bar Russian officials who were team leaders at Sochi, and coaches or medial staff who have been linked to doping athletes. The CEO of the Sochi Olympics, Dmitry Chernyshenko, also had his place on an Olympic panel overseeing the 2022 Beijing Winter Games withdrawn by the IOC.

Russia has repeatedly refused to accept that a state-sponsored doping program existed. Such denials helped ensure bans on its track federation and anti-doping agency have not been lifted. Instead, Russia blames Grigory Rodchenkov, the former director of Moscow and Sochi testing laboratories, as a rogue employee. It wants the scientist extradited from the United States, where he is a protected witness.

The executive board reached its decision Tuesday after a scheduled 4½-hour debate when it heard from a Russian delegation that included world figure skating champion Evgenia Medvedeva. The delegation was led by Zhukov, who was later suspended.

Two IOC commission leaders — appointed after WADA investigator Richard McLaren upheld Rodchenkov's doping claims in July 2016 — also reported to the Olympic board. The report by IOC-appointed investigator Samuel Schmid, the former president of Switzerland who was asked to verify an "institutional conspiracy," included a 50-page sworn affidavit from Rodchenkov, who was also a key witness for McLaren and an IOC disciplinary commission.

The chairman of that disciplinary panel, Swiss lawyer Denis Oswald, reported about prosecuting Russian athletes implicated in cheating at Sochi. By Monday, 25 Russians had been disqualified from the Sochi Games and banned from the Olympics for life, and 11 medals were stripped. One Russian was cleared.

Russia no longer leads the Sochi medals table. Even before the IOC reallocates the stripped medals, the United States has the most total medals and Norway has the most golds. The banned Russian athletes have said they will appeal the Oswald judgments at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Any sanctions imposed by the IOC can also be challenged at CAS, and later at Switzerland's supreme court, which can intervene if the legal process has been abused.

1st panda born in France gets name from China, first lady

December 04, 2017

BEAUVAL, France (AP) — France's first baby panda has a name four months after his birth: Chinese dignitaries and French first lady Brigitte Macron chose Yuan Meng, which fittingly means "the realization of a wish" or "accomplishment of a dream."

A naming ceremony held Monday at the Beauval Zoo south of Paris was an important diplomatic moment, but the young male panda had other priorities. Yuan Meng growled and jumped when zoo director Rodolphe Delord reached over his glass-walled enclosure to offer a pet.

The first lady, who was standing next to Delord, recoiled slightly, but with a smile. Yuan Meng's parents are on loan to Beauval from China, and the cub will be sent to a Chinese panda reserve when he is weaned.

Tradition holds that China retains the right to name panda cubs born in captivity. Brigitte Macron — considered the panda's "godmother" — officially announced the name. Over 100 reporters attended the ceremony.

"Yuan Meng and his parents represent the bond between the countries which have a lot to share," Macron said, who was making her first official remarks since President Emmanuel Macron took office. The pandas "are the illustration of an always productive dialogue between our two people, who for centuries have looked at each other, listened to each other and understood each other," the first lady said.

Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Zhang Yesui read a message from China's first lady, Peng Liyuan. "The birth of the baby panda is a symbol of the bright prospects of the Franco-Chinese relationship. I express the sincere hope that little Yuan Meng grows up in the best conditions, that he brings happiness to the French people, especially to the French children," the message said.

There are about 1,800 pandas living in the wild in China and about 400 in captivity worldwide. Baptiste Mulot, chief veterinarian at the Beauval Zoo, said Yuan Meng has learned to move on all fours and "he's starting to behave really like a child, so he tries to escape from where he's supposed to be."

The cub was pink and hairless when he was born, weighing just 142 grams (5 ounces.) He spent much of his first month in an incubator. Now, he weighs 8 kilograms (almost 18 pounds) and his fur has the black and white coloring for which patches are known.

Yuan Meng's mother, 9-year-old Huan Huan, was artificially inseminated with sperm from partner Yuan Zi this spring. Both are at Beauval on a 10-year loan from China, and their offspring officially belong to the Chinese government.

Indifferent to the excitement at the zoo on Monday, they slept during their child's naming ceremony. Yuan Zi will probably never meet his son, since the zoo tries to respect the habits of animals in the wild.

China for decades gifted friendly nations with its unofficial national mascot in what was known as "panda diplomacy." More recently the country has loaned pandas to zoos on commercial terms.