Hamas: PA ordered arrest of freed Palestinian prisoners

February 1, 2018

Senior Hamas leader in the West Bank Abdul-Rahman Shadid said yesterday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) ordered the arrest of Palestinians who had been freed from Israeli jails, Felesteen.ps reported.

The PA security services and the Israeli occupation forces carried out a dual detention campaign against Palestinians in different areas in the occupied West Bank early this week.

The campaign came after a number of roadside explosives were discovered along a settler road in the occupied West Bank. The PA claimed that the explosives were aimed at it.

Shadid said: “The PA’s arrest of Palestinians is collusion with the Israeli occupation policies. It is even carrying out the occupation’s orders to hunt and get rid of the [Palestinian] resistance.”

He stressed that the PA claim that the explosions were aimed to harm it was “feeble” and this was only to “cover up its crimes against the Palestinian resistance”.

The Hamas leader stressed that “arresting the freed prisoners serves only the Israeli occupation and puts these Palestinians under suspicion so they can later be arrested by the Israeli occupation.”

Shadid called for the PA to immediately release them and all other Palestinian political prisoners, as well as to stop the security cooperation with the Israeli occupation.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180201-hamas-pa-ordered-arrest-of-freed-palestinian-prisoners/.

No electricity at 7 more Gaza medical centers

January 31, 2018

Generators at seven health centers in the besieged Gaza Strip have stopped working due to the shortage in fuel, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced today.

Ministry spokesman, Ashraf Al-Qadra, said the medical departments affected are: the Sourani Center, the Palestinian Medical Center, the Medical Foundation, the Gaza Health Administration, Abasan Al-Kabira, the Atatra and the Society of Physically Handicapped People – Gaza Strip.

The crisis management committee in the ministry confirmed that the situation in the Strip has entered an unprecedented stage due to the fuel crisis, demanding donors intervene immediately to bring it to an end.

The committee called on the energy company to work urgently to provide electricity to hospitals around the clock.

“Our health services are on the decline after a number of them stopped at the Beit Hanoun Hospital for the third day and Al-Durra children’s hospital and patients were transferred to other hospitals because of the lack of fuel. We are only a few hours away from seeing the generator at the psychiatric hospital stopping.”

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180131-no-electricity-at-7-more-gaza-medical-centres/.

Lebanon calls for Turkey's support for boosting security, infrastructure

February 1, 2018

The Lebanese Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, yesterday called on the Turkish government to support Lebanon on enhancing its security and to invest in the country’s infrastructure renovation.

“I’ve asked the Turkish government to support Lebanon in its two national priorities, including enhancing the capabilities of the army and the security forces, and developing the country’ infrastructure sector,” Hariri said on Twitter.

Hariri noted that he had asked the Ankara “to help in encouraging the country’s private sector to participate in the government’s investment plan.”

“We [Turkish government] expect the private sector to fund a third of our investment plan,” he added.

The Turkish Prime Minister, Binali Yildirim, recently announced that Turkey was willing to boost bilateral relations with Lebanon on a number of issues, a move that Hariri welcomed.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180201-lebanon-calls-for-turkeys-support-for-boosting-security-infrastructure/.

Tunisia rejects NATO's proposal to support establishment of anti-terrorism center

February 13, 2018

On Monday, the Tunisian defense ministry said it had rejected a NATO proposal that would grant Tunisia a 3 million euro grant in exchange for closer ties with the organization. The plan would have engaged a permanent role for NATO experts at an operations center in the country.

Defence Minister Abdelkarim Zbidi said his ministry, “rejected a proposal by NATO to give his country a grant of 3 million euros to receive permanent experts who would provide technical advice to the Tunisian military at an operations center in which the armies cooperate to secure borders and fight terrorism which Tunisia plans to develop.”

During a hearing at the Tunisian parliament’s security and defense committee, on Monday, Zbidi explained that “The ministry is working on a project to complete a joint center for planning, leading operations, for information analysis and to lead joint operations between the military forces.”

He added that his ministry “requested the provision of a grant to Tunisia, provided that no party from outside the Tunisian military establishment would intervene in this center, and that the location where the center is to be established be inside Tunisian territories and chosen by the Ministry of Defense.”

Zbidi also pointed out that the terrorist threat still persists in his country especially on the western borders with Algeria and eastern borders with Libya.

He added: “Some terrorist combatants are still active in the western highlands of the governorates of Kasserine, El Kef and Jendouba.”

According Zbidi, the Tunisian military units carried out about one thousand military operations in suspicious areas in different governorates of the country, which led to the elimination of 5 terrorist combatants, uncovering 28 hideouts, the destruction and neutralization of more than 100 mines, the seizure of equipment and various possessions, the killing of two military agents together with 45 others injured at different degrees.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180213-tunisia-rejects-natos-proposal-to-support-establishment-of-anti-terrorism-centre/.

Tunisia journalists protest 'erosion of press freedoms'

February 2, 2018

Tunisian journalists on Friday staged a demonstration in Tunis to protest alleged government restrictions on their activities.

Held outside the headquarters of the Tunisian Journalists Syndicate, protesters decried restrictions on their journalistic activities imposed by Tunisia’s Interior Ministry.

Organized by syndicate members, Friday’s protest was endorsed by the Tunisian Human Rights League, an NGO; the Tunisian General Labor Union, the country’s largest labor union; and a number of prominent political and judicial figures.

“The current government, especially Interior Minister Lotfi Brahem, remain silent while journalists are being subject to persecution,” syndicate head Naji Baghouri said on the demonstration’s sidelines.

He went on to call for a nationwide general strike if government ministers remained “complicit” in the persecution of journalists.

Baghouri pointed in particular to the interior minister’s recent admission — made during a Monday session of parliament — that the ministry was tapping certain journalists’ phones.

Amna Guellali, director of Human Rights Watch’s Tunis office, told Anadolu Agency: “Today’s protest comes against the backdrop of the ongoing erosion of press freedoms in Tunisia since the 2011 revolution.”

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180202-tunisia-journalists-protest-erosion-of-press-freedoms/.

Libya's Haftar visits Egypt ahead of planned attack on Derna

February 12, 2018

The Commander of the self-styled Libyan National Army, Khalifa Haftar, has been on a visit to Egypt over the last couple of days as part of as what has been referred to as “joint coordination between Egypt and the army leadership in the fight against terrorism”.

According to an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Haftar arrived in Cairo late on Wednesday and held a series of meetings with senior Egyptian officials to discuss the political and military developments in Libya, pointing out that the talks touched on the issue of coordination in the fight against terrorist groups.

“There is coordination at the highest level between the Libyan National Army and the Egyptian authorities in this regard,” he said.

In the meantime, an official source said that “the National Army is in the process of large-scale military operation in the next few days to begin the liberation of the city of Derna,” which is the main stronghold of terrorist groups in eastern Libya, and added that “preparations [for the operation] are nearing completion”.

Haftar’s eastern-based LNA, one of a number of factions that have vied for power in Libya since a 2011 uprising ended Muammar Gaddafi’s four-decade rule, is waging a military campaign against a coalition of militants and ex-rebels known as the Derna Mujahideen Shura Council (DMSC) that controls Derna.

Attention has shifted to the coastal city after Haftar announced victory in a three-year military campaign against a similar coalition in Benghazi, 350 kilometers to the west, in July last year.

In May, the city was also a target of Egyptian air strikes. Egypt said it was responding to an attack against Coptic Christians on its territory, though that attack was claimed by Daesh.

Haftar, a figure many believe is seeking national power in Libya, has enjoyed strong backing from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, as well as the United Arab Emirates.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180212-libyas-haftar-visits-egypt-ahead-of-planned-attack-on-derna/.

Tajikistan grants amnesty for over 100 Syria, Iraqi returnees

2018-02-08

DUSHANBE - Tajikistan has granted amnesty to more than 100 of its nationals following their return home from Syria and Iraq, where they had joined radical Islamist groups, the interior minister said Thursday.

Speaking at a news conference in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda said the returnees had been pardoned in line with a 2015 government pledge.

"Regarding the fate of 111 Tajik citizens who returned from Syria and Iraq voluntarily, all of them are free under Tajik law," Rahimzoda said.

Most of the returnees in question had spent time in Syria, which became a magnet for jihadists from around the globe following its descent into civil war in 2011.

Rahimzoda also told reporters that 250 citizens of Tajikistan, a majority-Muslim country, had died fighting for radical groups in Iraq and Syria, mostly the Islamic State group.

Authorities have previously said that over 1,000 Tajik citizens, including women, had joined the radical militants.

Most had traveled to Syria and Iraq through Russia, where over a million Tajiks are believed to work as labor migrants.

The Islamic State group's most high-profile Tajik recruit Gulmurod Khalimov had served as the chief of the interior ministry's special forces unit prior to his sensational defection in 2015.

Russia's defense ministry said in September last year that Khalimov, who may have been IS's "minister of war", had been killed in an airstrike.

Rahimzoda said Thursday that Tajikistan was still verifying that report.

Mountainous Tajikistan, the poorest former Soviet republic, shares a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Afghanistan, long a hotbed of Islamist militancy and the world's largest producer of opium and heroin.

Governments have warned that fighters returning to their home countries after the collapse of the Islamic State group could raise the terror threat there.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=87176.

Popular campaign in Kuwait streets to oppose normalization with Israeli occupation

February 2, 2018

On Wednesday, the National Union of Kuwaiti Students launched a popular campaign against normalization with the Israeli occupation under the title “Kuwaiti against normalization”.

On Thursday, the Union of Kuwaiti Students distributed huge announcements in the streets of Kuwait to combat all forms of normalization with the Israeli occupation.

The announcements included a warning against academic normalization with the occupation under the cover of research and knowledge cooperation between Arabs and Israel and pointed out that “just dealing with Israel as a state and not as occupation is normalization in itself.”

The Union, which is controlled by Islamists in Kuwait, announced the convening of a seminar against normalization next Tuesday (06/02/2018).

It is worth noting that the National Union of Kuwaiti Students is a student organisation which was established on December 24, 1964 to represent students of the State of Kuwait who are studying both inside and outside the country. The Union consists of branches that are annually managed by elected administrative bodies, the largest of which is the branch of the University of Kuwait.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180202-popular-campaign-in-kuwait-streets-to-oppose-normalisation-with-israeli-occupation/.

Catalan parliament postpones re-election of fugitive leader

January 30, 2018

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Catalonia's parliament speaker on Tuesday postponed a session intended to re-elect the region's fugitive ex-president, saying the planned meeting would not take place until there were guarantees Spanish authorities "won't interfere."

The decision comes after Spain's top court ruled Saturday that Carles Puigdemont, who has fled to Belgium and faces arrest if he returns, could only be re-elected if physically present in the parliament in Barcelona. The court also ordered that he must obtain permission to appear at parliament from the judge investigating him over Catalonia's independence bid.

Puigdemont is one of more than a dozen Catalan political figures facing possible rebellion and sedition charges following the previous parliament's illegal and unsuccessful declaration of independence in October, which brought Spain's worst political crisis in decades to a head.

The decision leaves the future government of the prosperous region in something of a limbo. Spain seized control of the region by firing Puigdemont and his government and dissolving parliament following the independence declaration. It says it will keep control until a new government takes office following elections held Dec. 21. The parliament was initially scheduled to have a first investiture vote by Wednesday.

Puigdemont's party has appealed to the top court to annul Saturday's ruling, arguing that their leader, as an elected lawmaker, has political immunity and is entitled to be become regional president. The court was expected to rule later Tuesday.

Earlier, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy urged the Catalan parliament to drop Puigdemont's candidacy and opt for a lawmaker not entangled in legal proceedings. Rajoy said the "most sensible" thing for the parliament speaker would be to propose a "clean candidate" who is willing to obey the law and work for the return of normality in Catalonia, a region of 7.5 million inhabitants and which represents a fifth of Spain's GDP.

"I am not going to propose a candidate other than Puigdemont," Catalan parliament speaker Roger Torrent said Tuesday. "President Puigdemont has all the right to be elected." "The Spanish government and the Constitutional court aim to violate the rights of millions of Catalans and this we will not accept," he added.

Nonetheless, Torrent said the session to hold the vote would be postponed. The Spanish government welcomed that decision. An official speaking anonymously in line with government rules said that pressure applied by the government and the country's top court "have prevented a mockery of our democracy."

Giles contribute from Madrid. Aritz Parra in Madrid contributed to this report.

Ukraine deports opposition leader Saakashvili to Poland

February 12, 2018

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili was deported from Ukraine to Poland on Monday after being detained by armed, masked men at a restaurant in Kiev and rushed to the airport, Ukrainian officials and his supporters said.

Ukraine's border guard agency had to use force to counter Saakashvili's supporters at the Kiev airport, Oleh Slobodyan, a spokesman for the agency, said on Facebook. He confirmed the deportation of the former Georgian president-turned-Ukrainian opposition leader, citing rulings by Ukrainian courts that said Saakashvili was staying in the country illegally.

Saakashvili called the move "a kidnapping." Saakashvili was stripped of Ukrainian citizenship while he was abroad last year, but he forced his way back into the country from Poland in September. Since then, he has led repeated protests against Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the official corruption that still plagues the country.

Poland's border guards said on the agency's website that Saakashvili was admitted to Polish territory Monday at the request of Ukrainian immigration authorities. He was permitted into Poland as the spouse of a European Union citizen, the Polish guards said. Saakashvili's wife is Dutch, and both the Netherlands and Poland are EU nations.

Upon his arrival in Poland, Saakashvili said his deportation showed Poroshenko's weakness. He denounced the Ukrainian president as a "sneaky speculator who wants to destroy Ukraine" in a Facebook statement.

Saakashvili, Georgia's president from 2004-13, came to Ukraine after his presidency ended as an ally of Poroshenko, who appointed him governor of the southern Odessa region. He resigned from that post in 2016 and harshly criticized Poroshenko for failing to stem corruption.

"I was very nicely met by Polish side, and Ukrainian side was absolutely outrageous, total lawlessness — it was a kidnapping, illegal one. But Poles are very good and I am very grateful," Saakashvili told Polish Radio RMF FM as he left Warsaw Airport.

Vanessa Gera and Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.

Marchers protest racism in Italy after Africans are shot

February 10, 2018

ROME (AP) — Marchers protested racism Saturday in several Italian cities and warned against a revival of neo-fascist sentiment amid the campaign for Italy's March 4 national election. In Macerata, a city in central Italy where a week ago a far-right gunman with neo-Nazi sympathies wounded six African migrants in a drive-by shooting, there were fears the march could trigger violence. Schools, shops and mass transit were shut down protectively for fear of clashes, but the march by several thousand people was peaceful.

Anti-fascist, anti-racism marchers also turned out in Milan, Turin, Rome and Palermo, Sicily, among other cities. In Piacenza, a small city in northern Italy, some anti-fascism demonstrators hurled cobblestones at police and clashed with officers as they protested the opening of a local headquarters for a far-right political group, Sky TG24 TV and the ANSA news agency reported.

Italy's election campaign has been marked by rising tensions over the country's migrant population, which in the last few years has swelled by several hundred thousand people, many of them Africans. Most of them were rescued at sea from human traffickers' boats in the Mediterranean.

Surveys indicate that many Italians blame immigrants for violent crime. Leaders of a center-right campaign alliance, including former Premier Silvio Berlusconi and anti-migrant League leader Matteo Salvini, have pledged to quickly deport huge numbers of the migrants if they win power.

Salvini hammered away Saturday at the migrants-bring-violent-crime motif. ANSA quoted him as telling a campaign rally in northern Italy that he couldn't wait for a March 4 election victory "to start expelling all the illegals one by one, to defend, above all, the women, the girls" who allegedly fear sexual assault by migrants.

In Macerata, the suspected gunman, Luca Traini, was arrested for the Feb. 3 shootings that targeted African migrants. The 28-year-old Italian was a former unsuccessful candidate for Salvini's party. He has told authorities he had been angered by the death of an 18-year-old Italian woman whose dismembered body was found in two suitcases.

Macerata prosecutors said Saturday that preliminary autopsy results indicated the woman, who had walked away from a drug rehabilitation center, had been likely murdered and not died from a drug overdose. They said four Nigerians, including a local drug dealer, are under investigation in her death.

Among Macerata's marchers on Saturday was Cecile Kyenge, a former Italian integration minister and a native of Africa. She said marching was a way to protest "the hate that is dividing our country." __

Annalisa Camilli contributed from Macerata, Italy, to this report.

Igloos warm hearts in old ski town where migrants fill hotel

February 10, 2018

SAN SIMONE DI VALLEVE, Italy (AP) — San Simone, a tiny village in the Italian Alps, once had a thriving ski trade. But financial issues kept the lifts closed this winter. The local hotel now houses about 80 African asylum-seekers who were assigned to live there when they arrived in Italy.

But restaurant owner Davide Midali saw promise in both his village and its new residents. To lure tourists back, he set out to build igloos that could be rented overnight, like ones he had seen in Sweden. That's how a handful of immigrants unaccustomed to the cold picked up the art of igloo-making.

"When some of them saw me creating these blocks of snow, they voluntarily decided to give a hand to reach a common goal," Midali said. Working with a small crew of volunteers, Midali built six igloos, each taking four or five days to complete. Omar Kanteh, a Gambian citizen who has been in Italy for nine months, is among the newcomers who embraced the construction project, as well as its friendly foreman.

"God made snow, but this time, man made igloos," Kanteh said. "It was very strange to me, so I am very excited. This is a new talent in my life." The igloos, which were set up as a mini-village, sleep 18 altogether and have been fully booked on weekends since mid-January. Curious people stop by to snap photographs or for a peek inside the snow domes. Schools in Milan and Bergamo have brought children up for fieldtrips.

For 100 euros ($123) per person, a couple can dine at Midali's restaurant, sleep in an igloo and eat an organic breakfast before embarking on a guided snowshoe excursion in the Valle Brembana mountains.

Midali thinks the project has allowed him and the migrants to understand each other a little better, maybe even to serve as an example for others in San Simone. In that way, the connection forged with tools and snow is a small counterpoint to the pre-election campaigning in Italy that has featured right-wing parties pledging to expel thousands of migrants.

"You learn to know these young men, where they are from and their background, and they also learn about our background and life here," Midali said. Praising Midali's courage and open-mindedness, Kanteh said he would like to settle in San Simone if his application for Italian asylum is approved.

"He loves me for who I am, and I also love him for who he is," he said. "It's not about me being from Africa and him from Europe. We are all from one race." Cristian Palazzi, president of the local tourism board, said the igloo undertaking project was "a small step to give life to a small community."

"I cannot guarantee whether this is enough, but for sure this has been a great idea because without it, today San Simone would be dead."

Colleen Barry in Milan, Italy contributed to this story.

New gold rush: Energy demands soar in Iceland for bitcoins

February 11, 2018

KEFLAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Iceland is expected to use more energy mining bitcoins and other virtual currencies this year than it uses to power its homes. With massive amounts of electricity needed to run the computers that create the precious bitcoins, large virtual currency mining companies have established a base in Iceland, a chilly North Atlantic island blessed with an abundance of renewable energy from geothermal and hydroelectric power plants.

The relatively sudden growth of the new industry has prompted Smari McCarthy, a lawmaker for Iceland's Pirate Party, to suggest taxing the profits of bitcoin mines. The initiative is likely to be well received by Icelanders, who are skeptical of speculative financial ventures after suffering a catastrophic banking crash in 2008.

"Under normal circumstances, companies that are creating value in Iceland pay a certain amount of tax to the government," McCarthy told The Associated Press. "These companies are not doing that and we might want to ask ourselves whether they should."

The energy demand has developed because of the soaring cost of producing virtual currencies. Computers are used to make complex calculations that verify a running ledger of all the transactions in virtual currencies around the world. In return, the miners claim a fraction of a coin not yet in circulation. In the case of bitcoin, a total of 21 million can be mined, leaving about 4.2 million left to create. As more bitcoin enter circulation, computers need to get more powerful to keep up with the calculations — and that means more energy.

The serene coastal town of Keflavik on Iceland's desolate southern peninsula has over the past months boomed as an international hub for mining bitcoins and other virtual currencies. Local fishermen, chatting over steaming cups of coffee at the harbor gas station, are puzzled by the phenomenon, which has spawned oversize construction sites on the outskirts of town.

Among the main attractions of setting up bitcoin mines here, at the edge of the Arctic Circle, is the natural cooling for the computer servers and the competitive prices for Iceland's abundance of renewable energy.

Johann Snorri Sigurbergsson, a business development manager at the energy company Hitaveita Sudurnesja, said he expected Iceland's virtual currency mining to double its energy consumption to about 100 megawatts this year. That is more than households use on the island nation of 340,000, according to Iceland's National Energy Authority.

"Four months ago, I could not have predicted this trend — but then bitcoin skyrocketed and we got a lot more emails," he said at the Svartsengi geothermal energy plant, which powers the southwestern peninsula where the mining takes place.

"Just today, I came from a meeting with a mining company seeking to buy 18 megawatts," he said. At the largest of three bitcoin "farms" currently operating within Keflavik — called "Mjolnir" after the hammer of Thor, the Norse god of thunder — high metal fences surround 50 meter-long (164 foot) warehouse buildings stacked with computer rigs.

The data centers here are specially designed to utilize the constant wind on the bare peninsula. Walls are only partial on each side, allowing a draft of cold air to cool down the equipment. "What we are doing here is like gold mining," said Helmut Rauth, who manages operations for Genesis Mining, a major bitcoin mining company. "We are mining on a large scale and getting the gold out to the people."

Genesis Mining, founded in Germany, moved to Iceland in 2014 when the price of bitcoin fluctuated from $350 to $1000. Today, one bitcoin is valued at about $8,000, according to tracking site Coindesk, after peaking at almost $19,500 in December.

The currency took a hit in January when China announced it would move to wipe out its bitcoin mining industry, following concerns of excessive electricity consumption. Rauth said bitcoin should not be singled out as environmentally taxing. Computing power always demands energy, he argues.

"How much energy is needed for credit card transactions and internet research? Cryptocurrencies have the same global impact," he said. In the capital, Reykjavik, some are more skeptical about bitcoin.

The last time Iceland was an international hub for finance, the venture ended with a giant bank crash, making the country one of the symbols of the 2008 global financial crisis. The political turmoil following the crash swept the upstart Pirate Party into Iceland's parliament, where it currently holds 10 percent of seats.

Pirate Party legislator McCarthy has questioned the value of bitcoin mining for Icelandic society, saying residents should consider regulating and taxing the emerging industry. "We are spending tens or maybe hundreds of megawatts on producing something that has no tangible existence and no real use for humans outside the realm of financial speculation," he said. "That can't be good."

Germany's Schulz abandons plan to become foreign minister

February 09, 2018

BERLIN (AP) — Martin Schulz, the leader of Germany's center-left Social Democrats, on Friday abandoned his plan to become the country's foreign minister, hoping to prevent his party from rejecting a coalition deal with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives.

The Social Democrats are putting the agreement secured Wednesday to a ballot of their more than 460,000 members. Many of them are skeptical about extending the four-year "grand coalition" of Germany's biggest parties after a disastrous election result in September.

The Social Democrats are widely viewed to have secured a good deal in the coalition negotiations — capturing the powerful finance ministry, along with the foreign and labor ministries and three others that it already held.

But Schulz's own plans were becoming a major distraction. The former European Parliament president said Wednesday that he planned to become Germany's next foreign minister — a risky move given that, after the election, he had explicitly ruled out entering Merkel's next Cabinet. He also said Andrea Nahles, the party's parliamentary leader, would take over as the Social Democrats' chairwoman.

In a statement Friday, Schulz said members' approval of Germany's new coalition government was endangered by the discussion about his future so "I will not enter the government and fervently hope that this ends the personnel debates inside the Social Democratic Party."

"We are all in politics for the good of the people of our country," Schulz added. "That also means that my personal ambitions must come behind the interests of the party." The foreign ministry is currently held by Sigmar Gabriel, who handed the Social Democrats' leadership to Schulz a year ago and has become one of Germany's most popular politicians.

Schulz's decision came after Gabriel complained to the Funke newspaper group about "disrespectful" behavior in the party. Gabriel said Germans appear to think he has been successful "and it's clear I regret that the new Social Democrat leadership didn't care about this public appreciation of my work."

There was no immediate word on who might become foreign minister instead of Schulz, who also didn't detail any plans for his own future. Schulz was Merkel's defeated challenger in September. After leading his party to its worst post-World War II election result, he vowed to take the Social Democrats into opposition. He reversed course, however, after Merkel's coalition talks with two smaller parties collapsed in November.

The head of the Social Democrats' youth wing, who is campaigning against the new coalition, said party members should give up fighting about who does what job and concentrate on debating whether the party enters the government.

Asked if he was relieved, Kevin Kuehnert replied: "I will be relieved when the ballot is done in three weeks and we have achieved a rejection of the 'grand coalition.'"

Danish prince visits ailing father after leaving Olympics

February 10, 2018

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik has returned from the Winter Olympics in South Korea to visit his ailing father at a Copenhagen hospital. The royal household said Saturday that Frederik, the heir to Denmark's throne, was joined by his mother, Queen Margrethe, and his wife during the visit late Friday.

The queen's French-born husband, 83-year-old Prince Henrik, was hospitalized with a lung infection on Jan. 28. Last year, the palace announced Henrik was suffering from dementia. The palace said Friday that Frederik, an International Olympic Committee member, left the Winter Games in Pyeongchang because his father's condition had "seriously worsened."

Kim's sister ends Olympic visit, leaving South to mull offer

February 11, 2018

GANGNEUNG, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister headed home Sunday night after a whirlwind three days in South Korea, where she sat among world dignitaries at the Olympics and tossed a diplomatic offer to the South aimed at ending seven decades of hostility.

Kim Yo Jong and the rest of the North Korean delegation departed for Pyongyang on her brother's private jet, a day after they delivered his hopes for a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in during a lunch at Seoul's presidential palace. It was a sharp, but possibly fleeting, contrast with many months of rising tensions connected to the North's continued development of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.

They capped their final day in South Korea by joining Moon at a Seoul concert given by a visiting North Korean art troupe led by the head of the immensely popular Moranbong band, whose young female members are hand-picked by Kim Jong Un.

Accepting North Korea's demand to transport more than 100 members of the art troupe by sea, South Korea treated the Mangyongbong-92 ferry as an exemption to the maritime sanctions it imposed on the North, a controversial move amid concerns that the North is trying to use the Olympics to poke holes in international sanctions.

South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon hosted the North Koreans for lunch Sunday before Moon's chief of staff, Im Jong-seok, hosted them for dinner ahead of the concert. Kim Yo Jong, 30, is an increasingly prominent figure in her brother's government and the first member of the North's ruling family to visit the South since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The North Korean delegation also included the country's 90-year-old head of state, Kim Yong Nam.

In dispatching the highest level of government officials the North has ever sent to the South, Kim Jong Un revealed a sense of urgency to break out of deep diplomatic isolation in the face of toughening sanctions over his nuclear program, analysts say.

"Honestly, I didn't know I would come here so suddenly. I thought things would be strange and very different, but I found a lot of things being similar," Kim said while proposing a toast at Sunday's dinner, according to Moon's office. "Here's to hoping that we could see the pleasant people (of the South) again in Pyeongchang and bring closer the future where we are one again."

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Sunday rejected any suggestion that even a temporary warming of relations between the North and South could drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington. It's too early to say, Mattis said, "if using the Olympics in a way to reduce tension - if that's going to have any traction once the Olympics are over. We can't say right now."

South Korea accommodated both the North Korean government officials and members of the art troupe at the Walkerhill hotel in Seoul. The riverside facility is named after late U.S. Army commander Walton Walker, who's considered a war hero in the South for his battles against the North during the Korean War. It was built in the 1960s under the government of late anti-communist dictator Park Chung-hee as a luxury facility for U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.

The North Koreans went through a busy schedule in South Korea as the world watched their every move. They were whisked back and forth between Seoul and the Olympic towns of Pyeongchang and Gangneung. They shared the VIP box with world leaders at the opening ceremony and joined Moon in cheering for the first-ever inter-Korean Olympic team as it debuted in the women's ice hockey tournament. Saturday's game ended in a crushing 8-0 loss to Switzerland.

The most important part of the visit, however, came during one of the quieter moments. Invited by Moon for lunch at Seoul's presidential palace, Kim Yo Jong verbally delivered her brother's hope for a summit with Moon in Pyongyang, a meeting that she said would help significantly improve ties after an extended period of animosity.

"We hope that President (Moon) could leave a legacy that would last over generations by leading the way in opening a new era of unification," she said, according to Moon's office. Though Moon has used the Olympics to resurrect meaningful communication with North Korea after a diplomatic stalemate over its nuclear program, he didn't immediately jump on the North Korean offer for a summit.

He said the Koreas should create an environment so that a summit could take place. He also called for the need of a quick resumption of dialogue between North Korea and the United States. After arriving in Seoul on Friday, the North Koreans attended a chilly opening ceremony at Pyeongchang's Olympic Stadium, taking their place among world dignitaries, including U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who seemed to go out of their way to not acknowledge the North Koreans despite sitting just few feet (meters) away.

Analysts say Kim Jong Un's decision to send his sister to the South reflected an eagerness to break out of diplomatic isolation by improving ties with the South, which the country could eventually use as a bridge to approach the United States. The U.S.-led international community has been tightening the screws on North Korea with sanctions designed to punish its economy and rein in its efforts to expand its nuclear weapons and missile program, which now includes developmental long-range missiles targeting the U.S. mainland.

By also sending a youthful, photogenic individual who would surely draw international attention at the Olympics, Kim might have also been trying to construct a fresher image of the country, particularly in face of U.S. efforts to use the Olympics as an occasion to highlight the North's brutal human rights record.

Always flanked by thick groups of bodyguards, Kim Yo Jong commanded attention wherever she went, walking among throngs of journalists with a quiet poise and occasionally shooting an enigmatic smile at cameras.

The Koreas previously held summits in 2000 and 2007, both hosted in Pyongyang by Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un's late father. The previous meetings came after rounds of international talks aimed at eliminating the North's nuclear program, which eventually failed.

Moon has always expressed a desire to reach out to North Korea. Reviving inter-Korean dialogue is critical for the policies of Moon, who insists that Seoul should be in control in international efforts to deal with the North Korean nuclear issue.

"The fate of our nation must be determined by our own selves — we must not allow the repeat of unfortunate past history where our fate was determined with no regard to our opinions," Moon said in a speech to South Korean lawmakers in November.

But analysts say it may be more difficult for the South to arrange a summit with the North coming off a year in which Pyongyang test-fired dozens of missiles, including three ICBMs, and conducted its most powerful nuclear test to date.

South Korea may also need to persuade traditional allies the United States and Japan, which have raised concerns that the North is attempting to use its outreach as a release valve for international pressure.

Israel downs Iranian drone and strikes Syria, F-16 crashes

February 10, 2018

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military shot down an Iranian drone it said infiltrated the country early Saturday before launching a "large-scale attack" on at least a dozen Iranian and Syrian targets inside Syria. Responding anti-aircraft fire led to the downing of an Israeli fighter jet.

Israel said the drone infiltration was a "severe and irregular violation of Israeli sovereignty" and warned of further action against unprecedented Iranian aggression. The military said its planes faced massive anti-aircraft fire from Syria that forced two pilots to abandon an F-16 jet that crashed in northern Israel. One pilot was seriously wounded and the other lightly. Syrian officials reported large explosions in the center of the country and the Syrian counter fire set off warning sirens throughout northern Israel.

The Israeli strikes marked its most significant engagement since the fighting in neighboring Syria began in 2011 and said Iran would be held responsible for its outcome. "This is a serious Iranian attack on Israeli territory. Iran is dragging the region into an adventure in which it doesn't know how it will end," Israel's chief military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis, said in a special statement. "Whoever is responsible for this incident is the one who will pay the price."

Gen. Hossein Salami, acting commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, did not acknowledge Israel's claim it shot down the drone. "We do not confirm any such news from Israel," he said. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasem called the Israeli claim "ridiculous."

But the joint operations room for the Syrian military and its allies denied the drone violated Israeli airspace, saying it was on a regular mission gathering intelligence on Islamic State militants. Syria's Defense Ministry said in statements on its website that its air defenses responded successfully to the Israeli operation and hit more than one plane. "The Israeli enemy has once again attacked some of our military bases in the southern area and our air defenses responded and foiled the aggression," it said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman were convening the top brass at military headquarters in Tel Aviv to discuss further response. Israel has mostly stayed out of the prolonged fighting in Syria, wary of being drawn into a war in which nearly all the parties are hostile toward it. It has recently been warning of the increased Iranian presence along its border, but military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said Saturday's incident marked the most "blatant and severe violation of Israeli sovereignty" yet.

He said Israel has no interest in further escalation but that it would "extract a heavy price" for such aggression. Conricus said Iran was "playing with fire" by infiltrating Israeli airspace, and said the unmanned aircraft Israel shot down was "on a military mission sent and operated by Iranian military forces." He said Israel recovered the dispatched drone, which was clearly Iranian.

In response, Conricus said Israeli jets destroyed the Iranian site in central Syria that launched it. Upon their return, the jets came under heavy Syrian anti-aircraft fire and the pilots of one of the F-16s had to escape and the plane crashed. It's unclear whether the plane was actually struck or if the pilots abandoned their mission for a different reason.

If the plane was in fact shot down by enemy fire, it could mark the first such instance for Israel since 1982 during the first Lebanon war. Regardless, Damascus residents celebrated the news. Wassim Elias, 39, a government employee, called it retribution for the many Israeli raids on Syrian soil before. "This earned the Syrian army and every Syrian citizen prestige. This is what we have always demanded," he said.

Firas Hamdan, 42, a public servant, said such Syrian responses will ensure no more Israeli attacks in Syria. "Such attacks should be confronted and the response should be tougher to give the Israelis a lesson."

In subsequent attacks, Israel struck four additional Iranian positions and eight Syrian sites in Syria. The military said significant damage was caused. Conricus said the Israeli jets faced between 15 to 20 anti-aircraft missiles fired by SA-5 and SA-17 batteries. All the Israeli jets in those sorties returned home safely.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war in Syria, said Israel targeted the edges of a military air base, called T-4, in the Homs desert near Palmyra, where Iranian and Hezbollah forces are based alongside Syrian troops. The Observatory said the raids resulted in casualties, but didn't specify. It also said Israeli raids targeted areas in southwestern Damascus, bordering the southern provinces. This was followed by raids on Syrian government posts along the Damascus-Beirut road, close to the border between Syria and Lebanon.

Syrian state TV said air defenses hit more than one Israeli plane and that a girl was injured when Israeli missiles fell near a school in a neighborhood in Damascus' countryside. A Syrian lawmaker, Feras Shehabi, said the response marked a "major shift in the balance of power in favor of Syria and the axis of resistance." He said "Israelis must realize they have no longer superiority in the skies or on the ground."

Retired Lt. Col. Reuven Ben-Shalom, a former Air Force pilot, said the fierce Israeli response was meant not only to counter the immediate threat but also to send "very clear messages" to show Iran how deep Israel's knowledge was of its activity in Syria.

"The fact that a drone like this is identified, tracked and intercepted so smoothly by the Israeli air force demonstrates our capabilities, demonstrates our resolve not to allow the breach of Israeli sovereignty," he said. "I think it's good that our enemies learn and understand these capabilities."

Israel has long complained about the involvement of archenemy Iran, and Iranian proxy Hezbollah, in the Syria war. The Shiite allies have sent forces to back Syrian President Bashar Assad, who appears headed toward victory after years of fighting. Israel has said it will not accept a permanent military presence by Iran and its Shiite allies in Syria, especially near the Israeli border.

Israel has been warning of late of the increased Iranian involvement along its border in Syria and Lebanon. It fears Iran could use Syrian territory to stage attacks or create a land corridor from Iran to Lebanon that could allow it to transfer weapons more easily to Hezbollah.

The Israeli Cabinet recently held a meeting on the Golan Heights near the border with Syria to highlight new threats, which are attributed to Iran's growing confidence given Assad's apparent victory in Syria thanks to their help.

Israel has shot down several drones that previously tried to infiltrate its territory from Syria. The targeting of Iranian sites in response, however, marks an escalation in the Israeli retaliation. The military confirmed that the initial target in Syria — the unmanned aircraft's launch components — was successfully destroyed.

El Deeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Zeina Karam in Beirut, Albert Aji in Damascus and Amir Vahdat in Tehran contributed to this report.

Medvedeva dominates, but Canada leads team competition

February 11, 2018

GANGNEUNG, South Korea (AP) — Not even a record performance by Russian figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva could put much of a crimp in Team Canada's pursuit of Olympic gold. Medvedeva's mesmerizing short program Sunday almost made everything else seem ordinary. Her 81.06 score broke her previous world mark as she virtually floated along the ice, nailing every element with a combination of technical skill and artistry that only she has perfected in recent years.

The 18-year-old two-time world champion smiled broadly as a group of her countrymen chanted "well done" in the stands. Her marks actually seemed a bit low for such an overwhelming routine. "I wasn't nervous. I was focused, maybe too much," Medvedeva said. "I have to relax a little bit, maybe."

Imagine what she might do then. Still, the team gold doesn't appear in reach for the Russians — officially competing as the "Olympic Athletes from Russia." The team has 39 points heading into Monday's free skates in the other three disciplines. Canada's deep and powerful team has 45 points, and will be favored in free dance after two-time Olympic medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir laid down a superb short dance.

Canada also won the pairs free skate Sunday with Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, while Kaetlyn Osmond was third in the women's short. "That was kind of what we were looking to do in the team competition, to nail a solid, season-best performance, but to have room to do it better next time," Duhamel said. "If this was absolutely perfect it would be hard to know what to strive for next week (in the individual event).

"But I think we had a great short and a great long where we have room for improvement in both programs." While Canada, which has stressed the importance of taking home the team gold for nearly four years after finishing second to host Russia in Sochi, the United States has been hopeful of replicating its third-place finish in 2014. That became more difficult Sunday when Italy surged within a single point, 36-35.

The difference between the two nations could come in the men's event, where the United States appears stronger with Adam Rippon against Matteo Rizzo. "I think we have some really strong performances to come," said Rippon, who replaced two-time U.S. champion Nathan Chen in the free skate. "For me, I just love being out here on the Olympic ice."

Mirai Nagasu will step in for Bradie Tennell in the women's event. Tennell was fifth in the short program, which cost the Americans some points because Italy's Carolina Kostner, the 2014 women's bronze winner, came in second.

Kostner's graceful performance was highlighted by a series of exquisite spins. Her artistry can be spellbinding — sort of how figure skating used to be before the current focus on technical elements. She would be considered a favorite to finish ahead of Nagasu in the free skate, although Nagasu has a weapon none of the other skaters carries: a triple axel.

"What is going to happen is just going to add to the love I feel for the sport and the love I want to share with the audience," said Kostner, 30 and in her fourth games. Her teammates, Valentina Marchei and Ondrej Hotarek, were sensational in the pairs free skate to place second, two spots in front of American champs Alexa Scimeca-Knierim and Chris Knierim. That really tightened up the bronze race.

Marchei was so thrilled at the end of their routine she let out a scream heard over the cheering crowd. When their 138.44 was posted, Marchei screamed again in delight. Even with those Viva Italia moments, though, the day belonged to Canada. And, of course, to Medvedeva, who will step aside Monday for European champion Alina Zagitova — her training partner who snapped Medvedeva's two-year winning streak at Euros.

"It's not like I imagined, much calmer," Medvedeva said of the Olympic environment, adding she won't celebrate her record too much because "there's a lot of work to come."

US Soccer reboots, elects Carlos Cordeiro president

February 11, 2018

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Carlos Cordeiro insists he's the right choice to lead the U.S. Soccer Federation, which must chart a new course after its men's national team failed to qualify for this year's World Cup.

The 61-year-old business executive won the governing body's presidential election Saturday. He succeeds Sunil Gulati, who led the organization since 2006. Cordeiro was Gulati's right-hand man the past two years. Now, he's charged, among other things, with running the U.S. end of a bid with Mexico and Canada for the right to host the 2026 World Cup.

Other priorities include the hiring of a general manager for the men's team, a position Cordeiro said must be filled before launching a coaching search. He reiterated the ultimate goal is to help soccer realize its vast potential in the United States.

"I think we have an opportunity to really transform it into a No. 1 sport. I think the demographics favor that," Cordeiro said. "There's a reason why the millennials identify with soccer, so I think that's very much in our favor. We have to do a number of things ourselves to make it happen, and make it happen more rapidly."

Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs partner, was elected on the third ballot with 68.6 percent of the vote. The field initially featured eight candidates. Cordeiro pulled away from Kathy Carter, who is on leave as president of Major League Soccer's marketing arm.

Carter had the backing of MLS Commissioner Don Garber and narrowly trailed Cordeiro on the first ballot. MLS, as well as the National Women's Soccer League and United Soccer League, shifted their support to Cordeiro after the second ballot.

The other candidates were: former men's national team players Paul Caligiuri, Kyle Martino and Eric Wynalda, lawyers Steve Gans and Michael Winograd and former U.S. women's goalkeeper Hope Solo. All the challengers to Cordeiro and Carter — both with close ties to Gulati — campaigned for change within the organization. All eight were given five minutes to address delegates before voting began.

"The two establishment candidates, Carlos Cordeiro and Kathy Carter, haven't just been part of the system, they have created and shaped into what it is today,'" Solo said. "A vote for either one of them is a vote for the status quo."

Cordeiro, however, said he was the only candidate with the experience and plan to "hit the ground running on day one and deliver the change we need." "We have made progress, but we need to make more. Today, the status quo is unacceptable," he said. "U.S. Soccer needs to change, transformational change. This vote comes down to one simple question: Who can actually deliver that change?"

Cordeiro immediately takes over for Gulati, who decided against seeking a fourth four-year term after the U.S. was unable to make the 32-team World Cup field in Russia. Gulati will retain a role as a member of the USSF board and the FIFA executive council, and as chairman of the North American bid to host the 2026 World Cup.

Carter's support among delegates attending USSF's annual general meeting slipped each round — from 34.6 percent to 33.3 on the second ballot, to 10.6 on the third, when the field had shrunk to five. Cordeiro's percentage increased each round of the body's first contested election in nearly two decades, rising from 36.3 to 41.8 on the second ballot.

To win election, Cordeiro needed a majority of the weighted vote. Under U.S. law, 20 percent of the vote is from the athletes' council while the professional, adult and youth councils have 25.8 percent each.

The remaining 2.6 percent represents other constituents, such as board members, life members and fan representatives. Caligiuri withdrew after receiving less than 1 percent on the first ballot. Winograd and Gans bowed out after the second ballot, leaving Wynalda (10.8), Martino (10.2) and Solo (1.5) in the race with Cordeiro and Carter. Martino drew 10.6 percent on the final ballot, while Wynalda and Solo received 8.9 and 1.4, respectively.

"I said winning this election is going to be about building a coalition," Cordeiro said. "It's not about any one council. It was the youth, the adult, the athletes and the professionals. No one council has enough votes to get you across the line. You need really a coalition of support. I think my numbers speak to that."

Combined Korean hockey team makes historic Olympic debut

February 10, 2018

GANGNEUNG, South Korea (AP) — The Korean women's hockey team, the first in Olympic history to combine players from North and South, took the ice Saturday night for their debut game in front of a raucous, sellout crowd on another historic night mixing sports and politics on an international stage.

The debut against Switzerland came just 24 hours after an extraordinary opening ceremony a few miles away was marked by signs of unity between the two rivals. Like the ceremony, the game included dignitaries from North and South in close proximity.

The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Kim Yo Jong, was watching with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, according to Moon's office. They were joined by North Korea's nominal head of state, Kim Yong Nam.

The two North Koreans are on a landmark visit to the South amid a flurry of abrupt reconciliation steps, and both attended the opening ceremony before having a luncheon with Moon at Moon's presidential palace earlier Saturday. The North Koreans have invited Moon to visit Pyongyang in what would be the third inter-Korean summit talks since their 1945 division.

Fans roared every time a Korean got the puck on her stick and Han Soojin nearly put the team on the board with a shot from the left circle that hit the crossbar early in the first period. North Korean Jong Su Hyon had one of Korea's three shots in the first.

Still, the Koreans were playing the world's sixth-ranked team and trailed the Swiss 4-0 early in the second period, with Alina Muller scoring four times. Coach Sarah Murray played three North Korean forwards as required in the deal creating the team; she had to scratch three of her South Korean players for the game.

Dozens of North Korean cheering group members dressed in red were at the Kwandong Hockey Center to root for the Korean team. Earlier, hundreds of spectators lined the streets outside, chanting and waving small "unification flags" amid gusting, chilly winds. One man held up a sign that read, "The peace of all mankind."

"We have to be unified (with North Korea). Politicians must let the Korean people meet and get together continuously," said Park Sung-uk, a 48-year-old office worker who attended the game with his family. "I just want the unified team to do well in these Olympics."

Fielding the joint hockey team was one of the key agreements the Koreas have struck after several rounds of talks at the border on how to cooperate during the Olympics, which run through Feb. 25. Athletes from North and South paraded together during the ceremony in the same white parkas, marching under a single "unification flag" depicting an undivided peninsula to the tune of their shared traditional folk song "Arirang" instead of their respective anthems. It was their first joint march since 2007.

The Korean hockey team is not expected to win a medal; both Koreas are ranked out of the world's top 20. But its debut against Switzerland, which won bronze in the 2014 Olympics, had historic significance and symbolized fledgling unity between the rivals split along the world's most heavily fortified border.

The North initially had no athletes coming to the Olympics, but the International Olympic Committee allowed 22 as special entries. Twelve female hockey players joined the 23-person South Korean team. The players have been the subject of intense scrutiny and the team was thrown together only two weeks ago, with limited time to practice. Two players, one South Korean and the other North Korean, appeared on the opening ceremony and climbed stairs together with the Olympic torch that they handed to Olympic champion figure skater Yuna Kim.

There was early criticism in South Korea that the new players would throw off team chemistry and cost South players time on the ice after working together for months to shine on the sport's biggest stage. The team's Canadian coach, Sarah Murray, initially expressed frustration over a team assembled so close to the Olympics, but she has recently said she is happy with her new players on a team she says now feels like family.

"They are awesome. I really enjoy having them here," Murray told reporters after Friday's training session. "We are excited for the tournament to get started." The Koreas often use sports to find a breakthrough in their strained relations. The ongoing rapprochement mood flared after Kim Jong Un said in his New Year's Day address that he was willing to send an Olympic delegation. Moon, a dove who wants to resolve the nuclear standoff diplomatically and peacefully, quickly responded to Kim's outreach by offering talks.

Many experts say Kim's overture is intended to use improved ties with Seoul as a way to weaken U.S.-led international sanctions toughened after its series of big weapons tests last year that include its sixth and largest nuclear test explosion and three intercontinental ballistic missile launches. Warming ties between the Koreas could complicate Seoul's ties with Washington, which wants to maximize its pressures on Pyongyang.

At last minute, Russia scrubs cargo launch to space station

February 11, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has scrubbed the planned launch of an unmanned cargo spacecraft that was to have delivered tons of supplies to the International Space Station. Preparations for the launch of the Progress ship from the Baikonur complex in Kazakhstan appeared to be proceeding smoothly Sunday until less than a minute before the liftoff.

Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said the launch was halted after an automated command, but said the reason for the command was under investigation. It said the launch is rescheduled for Tuesday. The Russian spacecraft carry fuel, food and other supplies to the ISS. This one was to have attempted a new fast route to the station, docking just 3.5 hours after launch after just two Earth orbits.

There are six astronauts currently aboard the ISS — two Russians, three Americans and one from Japan.