Poland marks 75th anniversary of uprising in Warsaw Ghetto

April 19, 2018

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Sirens wailed, church bells tolled and yellow paper daffodils of remembrance dotted the crowd as Polish and Jewish leaders extolled the heroism and determination of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising fighters on the 75th anniversary of their ill-fated rebellion.

Polish President Andrzej Duda and World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder said the hundreds of young Jews who took up arms in Warsaw in 1943 against the overwhelming might of the Nazi German army fought for their dignity but also to liberate Poland from the occupying Germans.

The revolt ended in death for most of the fighters, yet left behind an enduring symbol of resistance. "We bow our heads low to their heroism, their bravery, their determination and courage," Duda told the hundreds of officials, Holocaust survivors and Warsaw residents who gathered Thursday at the city's Monument to the Warsaw Ghetto Heroes.

"Most of them died ... as they fought for dignity, freedom and also for Poland, because they were Polish citizens," Duda said. Lauder said although the Nazis were defeated and crushed 73 years ago, "oppression and oppressors have not gone away and we need each other today like never before."

"Jews, Catholics, Poles, Americans. All free people should stand together now to make sure that our children and grandchildren never know the true horrors that took place right here," he said. People stopped in the street and officials stood at attention as sirens and church bells sounded at noon to mourn the Jews who died in the uprising, as well as the millions of others murdered in the Holocaust.

The daffodil tradition comes from Marek Edelman, the last surviving commander of the uprising, who on every anniversary used to lay the spring flowers at the monument to the fighters. He died in 2009.

At a separate ceremony at Warsaw's Town Hall, three Holocaust survivors — Helena Birenbaum, Krystyna Budnicka and Marian Turski — were given honorary citizenship of the city. Hundreds of people also attended a grassroots commemoration that was, in essence, a boycott of the official state observances. Many people there expressed anger at Poland's conservative government, which seems to tolerate anti-Semitism despite its official denunciations of anti-Semitism.

"I am not attending the official ceremonies this year because the government is supporting the rise of a dangerous nationalism," said Tanna Jakubowicz-Mount, a 72-year-old psychotherapist who carried photos of a grandmother and aunt who were executed by the Germans. "We cannot agree to this."

The alternative observances began with Yiddish singing and daffodils placed at the monument to a Jewish envoy in London, Szmul Zygielbojm, who committed suicide after the revolt was crushed to protest the world's indifference to the Holocaust.

Participants then paid homage to the victims at several memorial sites in the area of the former ghetto, including at Umschlagplatz, the spot where Jews were assembled before being transported to the Treblinka death camp. There, one by one, people spoke Thursday about their family members killed by Hitler's regime.

Signs of rising nationalism in Poland have also strengthened the resolve of those seeking an inclusive society. This year a record 2,000 volunteers were handing out the paper daffodils, which have become a moving symbol of a mostly Catholic society expressing its sorrow at the loss of a Jewish community that was Europe's largest before the Holocaust.

There were also scattered private observances, including by American Jews returning to the soil where their parents and grandparents lived and died. Some 40 members of the Workmen's Circle, a group from New York City that promotes social justice, honored the resistance fighters at the remains of a bunker in 18 Mila Street.

The son of an uprising survivor read personal recollections from the diary of his mother, Vladka Meed, while the group's director, Ann Toback, vowed on what she called "hallowed ground" that the uprising would continue to inspire modern resistance to oppression.

The Warsaw Ghetto uprising broke out April 19, 1943, when about 750 young Jewish fighters armed with just pistols and fuel bottles attacked a much larger and heavily armed German force that was putting an end to the ghetto's existence.

In their last testaments, the fighters said they knew they were doomed but wanted to die at a time and place of their own choosing. They held out nearly a month, longer than some German-invaded countries did.

The Germans razed the Warsaw Ghetto and killed most of the fighters, except for a few dozen who managed to escape through sewage canals to the "Aryan" side of the city, Edelman among them.

Top EU court: Poland broke law by logging in pristine forest

April 17, 2018

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The European Union's top court ruled on Tuesday that Poland violated environmental laws with its massive felling of trees in one of Europe's last pristine forests. The ruling by the European Court of Justice said that, in increasing logging in the Bialowieza Forest in 2016-17, Poland failed to fulfill its obligations under EU directives to protect natural sites of special importance.

Poland's environment minister at the time, Jan Szyszko, argued that felling the trees was necessary to fight the spread of bark beetle infestation. Heavy machines were used in the process, causing additional damage to the forest.

Poland's conservative government is involved in a number of disputes with the EU, including one over changes to the judicial system — an argument that has led Brussels to trigger a process that could lead to punitive measures against Warsaw.

In the forest dispute, the court said bark beetle infestation did not justify the scale of the logging, while Poland failed to ensure the safety of birds and other species in the forest. No fines were imposed because the machines have been removed and the excessive logging has stopped.

Environmentalists say the large-scale felling of trees in Bialowieza, which straddles Poland's eastern border with Belarus and is a UNESCO World Heritage site, destroyed rare animal habitats and plants in violation of EU regulations. They held protests at the site and brought the case before the EU court.

The chief executive of the ClientEarth environmental organization, James Thornton, said the ruling was a "huge victory for all defenders of Bialowieza Forest, hundreds of people who were heavily engaged in saving this unique, ancient woodland from unthinkable destruction."

Philippe Lamberts, co-president of the Greens group in the European Parliament, said Poland's government has "repeatedly undermined rule of law." "I hope this ruling will at last convince the Polish government that they need to change course," he said.

In January, Poland replaced its environment minister and stopped the logging. The new minister, Henryk Kowalczyk, has said Warsaw will respect the EU court's ruling and will seek better ways of protecting the forest.

The forest covers tens of thousands of hectares (hundreds of thousands of acres) in Poland and Belarus, and is home to hundreds of animal and plant species, including bison, lynx, moss and lichen. Its younger parts have been traditionally used to produce timber, a source of income for local residents.

The European court ordered Poland to pay court costs. It didn't specify the amount.

Protests erupt in Poland over plan to tighten abortion law

March 23, 2018

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Thousands of people protested in Warsaw and other cities across Poland on Friday against the conservative government's latest attempt to restrict abortion. Many also voiced broad anger at the ruling Law and Justice party, which has been accused by domestic critics and international bodies of eroding democracy and civic freedoms.

"This is against attempts at taking away our right to decide what we want," said Paulina Rudnik, a 44-year-old lawyer at the Warsaw protest. In the crowds around her, people held banners reading "Free choice" and "A woman is a human being" and chanted slogans "Yes to choice! No to horror!"

Poland has one of the strictest abortion laws in Europe, allowing abortion only if the woman's life or health is at risk, the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, or the fetus is damaged. An attempt by Polish officials to ban all abortions in 2016 sparked mass nationwide protests by women dressed in black that forced the government to abandon the plan.

The new proposed legislation would still allow abortions when the woman's life or health is at risk or the pregnancy results from a crime. But it would ban abortions of irreparably damaged fetuses or those with Down syndrome.

In Warsaw, protesters gathered at the seat of the influential Roman Catholic bishops, who are pressing the government to tighten the abortion law. Beating drums and blowing horns, they marched to parliament and then to the headquarters of the ruling right-wing party.

"I hope this protest has the same effect as the one in 2016. Forcing women to have babies is inhuman," said Karolina Chelminska, a 26-year-old graphic designer. In other protests, thousands gathered in Krakow's market, and hundreds in some other cities, including Wroclaw, where some signs read "I will not give birth to a dead baby."

The European Union's Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muiznieks, and U.N. experts are urging Poland's parliament to reject the abortion bill, saying it puts Poland in conflict with its international human rights obligations.

Most stores shut in Poland as Sunday trade ban takes effect

March 11, 2018

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A new Polish law banning almost all trade on Sundays has taken effect, with large supermarkets and most other retailers closed for the first time since liberal shopping laws were introduced in the 1990s after communism's collapse.

The change is stirring up a range of emotions in a country where many feel workers are exploited under the liberal regulations of the past years and want them to have a day of rest. But many Poles also experience consumer freedom as one of the most tangible benefits of the free market era and resent the new limit.

In Hungary, another ex-communist country, a ban on Sunday trade imposed in 2015 was so unpopular that authorities repealed it the next year. Elsewhere in Europe, however, including Germany and Austria, people have long been accustomed to the day of commercial rest and appreciate the push it gives them to escape the compulsion to shop for quality time with family and friends instead.

The law was proposed by a leading trade union, Solidarity, which says employees deserve Sundays off. It found the support of the conservative and pro-Catholic ruling party, Law and Justice, whose lawmakers passed the legislation. The influential Catholic church, to which more than 90 percent of Poles belong, has welcomed the change.

Among the Poles who see it as a good step toward returning a frazzled and overworked society to a more a more traditional lifestyle is 76-year-old Barbara Olszewska, who did some last-minute shopping Saturday evening in Warsaw.

She recalled growing up in the Polish countryside with a mother who was a full-time homemaker and a father who never worked on Sundays. "A family should be together on Sundays," Olszewska said after buying some food at a local Biedronka, a large discount supermarket chain.

Olszewska said that before she retired she served cold cuts in a grocery store, and was grateful she never had to work Sundays. The new law at first bans trade two Sundays per month, but steps it up to three Sundays in 2019 and finally all Sundays in 2020, except for seven exceptions before the Easter and Christmas holidays.

Pro-business opposition parties view the change as an attack on commercial freedom and warn that it will lead to a loss of jobs, and in particular hurt students who only have time to work on the weekends. Even the All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions opposes it, arguing that it will just push employees to work longer hours Fridays and Saturdays and that the work will be harder because there will be more customers.

Poles are among the hardest-working citizens in the European Union and some complain that Sundays are sometimes the only days they have free time to shop. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, only the Greeks put in longer working hours than Poles in the 28-member European Union. The average Polish employee worked 1,928 hours in 2016, according to OECD statistics.

Another last-minute shopper on Saturday evening, Daniel Wycech, 26, saw more drawbacks than benefits. "It's not really a problem to do more shopping a day ahead of time, but if something breaks in my kitchen or bathroom on a Sunday, there will be no way to go to the store and fix it," said Wycech, an accountant loaded down with bottled water, bananas and other groceries.

"I am angry because this law wasn't prepared properly. It would have been much better to force store employers to make two Sundays per month free for each worker," Wycech added. There are some exceptions to the ban. For instance, gas stations, cafes, ice cream parlors, pharmacies and some other businesses are allowed to keep operating Sundays. Stores at airports and train stations will also be allowed to open, as will small mom-and-pop shops, but only on the condition that only the owners themselves work.

Anyone infringing the new rules faces a fine of up to 100,000 zlotys ($29,500), while repeat offenders may face a prison sentence. Solidarity, the union that pushed for the law, appealed to people to report any violators to the National Labor Inspectorate, a state body.

Mateusz Kica, a 29-year-old tram driver in Warsaw, did his weekly shopping early Saturday to avoid the huge crowds he expected later in the day. He complained that the new law only relieves shop employees, but that workers like himself will still have to keep working weekends.

"This law isn't really just," Kica said.

Brutal answer to 1968 Polish youth revolt shown in exhibit

March 09, 2018

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A new exhibition opened Friday in Warsaw that looks at how 1968, a year of youthful rebellion across much of Europe and America, played out behind the Iron Curtain in Poland. In the West, young people protested the U.S. war in Vietnam, imperialism, sexism and racism, escalating social conflicts that eventually brought revolutionary change and emancipation to many.

But in communist Eastern Europe, yearnings for freedom and openness were crushed, not only in the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia of 1968, but also by a hard-line regime in Poland that cracked down on students protesting censorship and that persecuted Jews.

It would take Eastern Europeans 21 more years — until 1989 — to finally celebrate the crumbling of oppressive regimes that had spied on its citizens, restricted their travel to the West and kept them mired in poverty.

The Polish anti-Semitic campaign of March 1968, which turned half of the country's Jews into refugees forced to rebuild their lives in strange new lands, is the main subject of "Estranged: March '68 and its Aftermath " at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

The exhibition begins by presenting 1968 as a year of revolt, with the postwar baby-boomer generation coming of age and revolting against the constrictive social norms of their elders. German youth demanded de-Nazification, Spaniards protested the Franco regime, and black Americans were on the streets of Memphis, Tennessee, demanding their civil rights.

"In Poland they were fighting for democratic socialism, against communist dictatorship," said Dariusz Stola, the director of the POLIN museum. "So there was a global '68 — there was something similar in the generational rebellion — but the conditions made them rebel against different things."

The exhibition then turns to the complex story of the anti-Jewish persecution, with anti-Zionism first used as a propaganda tool in 1967 when Israel inflicted a crushing defeat on Arab armies in the Six-Day War.

Initially, Polish society welcomed the victory of Israel, a state whose founders and settlers included many Jews from Poland. A Polish saying at the time, "Our Jews beat Russia's Arabs" reflected the pro-Israeli sentiment, as well as hostility toward the Soviet Union, which controlled Poland's own communist regime.

It was then that the regime began referring to Jews in Poland as a "fifth column," that is, a group that threatened the nation from within. The anti-Semitic campaign intensified in March 1968 in reaction to student protests crushed by the security forces. They used the fact that some prominent student leaders were from Jewish families to discredit the entire student movement.

The eventual result was the mass departure of 13,000 Polish Jews, among them Holocaust survivors, only 23 years after the end of World War II. The exhibition ends with quotes of contemporary hate speech, some of it targeting refugees, which could be easily mistaken for the language used in 1968.

"It's a warning that if we are not cautious enough, it can happen again," said Justyna Koszarska-Szulc, one of the curators. In a bitter irony, an exhibition long planned to mark the 50th anniversary this March finally opens after a new wave of anti-Semitism erupted in Poland in late January amid a dispute with Israel — the first large-scale manifestation of anti-Jewish prejudice in Poland since those dramatic days.

The new outbreak of anti-Semitism has left Poland's Jewish community, which had been growing in the democratic era, frightened and uncertain of what the future holds for them now. The exhibition runs until Sept. 24.

Djukanovic vows EU path after sweeping Montenegro vote

April 16, 2018

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Montenegro's ruling party leader Milo Djukanovic swept a presidential election on Sunday, preliminary results showed, and he pledged to keep the small Balkan country firmly on a European path after it joined NATO last year in defiance of Russia.

Djukanovic won 54 percent of the ballots, securing a victory in the first round and avoiding a runoff, according to results released by the independent Center for Monitoring and Research. His main opponent, Mladen Bojanic, won 33 percent.

If confirmed in the official vote count, the result will present a major boost for Djukanovic and his ruling Democratic Party of Socialists. Sunday's vote, the first since Montenegro joined the Western military alliance in December, was seen as a test for Djukanovic, who favors European integration over closer ties to traditional ally Moscow.

"We have accomplished an important victory for (Montenegro's) European future," Djukanovic told cheering supporters, adding he saw the triumph "as the confirmation of Montenegro's strong determination to continue on the European road."

Djukanovic's party earlier declared him the winner as supporters took to the streets to celebrate. Crowds drove in cars around the capital, Podgorica, honking horns and waving flags as fireworks lit the sky.

"Milo Djukanovic is the new president of Montenegro," said Milos Nikolic, of the DPS. "This is a great victory, a historic victory." Challenger Bojanic, who was backed by several opposition groups, including pro-Russian ones, vowed to continue his struggle against Djukanovic, describing him as "the man holding Montenegro and its institutions hostage."

"I will continue to fight to free Montenegro of Djukanovic and his dictatorship," Bojanic said. "I am appealing to opposition voters not to view this as a defeat but as a basis for further struggle." Djukanovic, the country's dominant politician, and his party have ruled Montenegro for nearly 30 years. President Filip Vujanovic, also of the ruling party, was not running due to term limits.

About 530,000 voters were choosing among several candidates in the Adriatic Sea nation that used to be part of Yugoslavia. For the first time in the staunchly conservative nation, a female candidate also ran for the presidency, winning 8 percent of the vote.

Djukanovic has served both as prime minister and president in several mandates since becoming the youngest head of government in Europe at the age of 29 in 1991. He was prime minister during a tense October 2016 parliamentary election when authorities said they thwarted a pro-Russian coup attempt designed to prevent the country from joining NATO.

Djukanovic led Montenegro to independence from much-larger Serbia in 2006 and was behind the NATO bid, which Moscow strongly opposed. He promised Sunday to work to overcome divisions within Montenegro, a predominantly Orthodox Christian Slavic nation where many still cherish historic links to Russia.

Bojanic, an economic expert and former lawmaker, has accused the ruling party of corruption and links to organized crime following a spike in crime-related violence. The fractured opposition parties supporting Bojanic include the pro-Russian Democratic Front, whose two main leaders are on trial for taking part in the alleged 2016 coup attempt.

Two Russian citizens also are being tried in absentia for the plot, which prosecutors said included a plan to assassinate Djukanovic. The Kremlin has denied involvement.

Macedonia faces new crisis over minority language law

March 14, 2018

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Macedonia's president refused to sign legislation late Wednesday to make Albanian the country's second official language — an action that could trigger a new political crisis in the small Balkan nation.

Amid protests inside parliament and outside the building, lawmakers approved the bill for second time after President Gjorge Ivanov had refused to ratify it in January. Under Macedonia's constitution, the president can't veto legislation approved in two separate votes. But Ivanov said in a statement that proper parliamentary procedure hadn't been followed and he refused to sign the bill into law.

"As president of the Republic of Macedonia I will not allow this. The constitution and my conscience do not permit me to sign a decree approving such a law," he wrote in a statement. "After the violent way in which it was adopted, this law can't be considered an expression of democracy."

The bill was approved by 64 votes in the 120-seat parliament, but the session was repeatedly disrupted by the conservative opposition. Former conservative Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski tried to prevent parliamentary speaker Talat Xhaferi from speaking by switching off his microphone.

His party also tried to delay the vote by tabling 35,000 amendments — which Xhaferi, an ethnic Albanian, ignored. Macedonia has been plagued by successive political crises by the past three years, fueling intense rivalry between the long-governing conservatives and the Social Democrats who formed a new coalition government last year following months of political turmoil triggered by an inconclusive general election.

Ethnic Albanians make up a quarter of Macedonia's 2.1 million people. Relations with the Slavic-speaking majority have often been tense.

Greece: Anti-austerity protesters eye post-bailout battle

April 25, 2018

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Athens and other cities Wednesday, vowing to challenge ongoing bailout-related austerity measures after the rescue program ends in a few months.

Three successive demonstrations were held in Athens in opposition to the sale of power plants, planned pension cuts, and funding cuts at state-run hospitals. Left-wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' government has promised lenders it will continue infrastructure privatization and draconian spending controls after the bailout program ends in late August, in exchange for more favorable repayment terms.

Greece's post-bailout plans are due to be discussed on a visit to Athens by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Thursday and at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers the following day in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Protest leaders say they were also making their own post-bailout plans. "We don't owe our pensions to (bailout) creditors. We worked our whole life to get our pension, and we will keep fighting till we get back what they have taken from us," pension protest organizer Dimos Koumbouris.

The government has already signed up to more across-the-board pension cuts in 2019, the main reason of Wednesday's march by retirees. State-run hospital workers were also on strike, demanding more funding for healthcare and protesting shortages in the hospitals. And workers at the Public Power Corporation, protesting the prospective sale of lignite plants, dumped sacks of lignite on the steps near parliament.

Greece has depended on international bailouts since 2010, and has had to push through stringent spending cuts and tax hikes in return for the emergency loans. Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos on Wednesday said there had been no discussion with creditors on whether austerity measures agree for 2019-20 could be amended, but he cited data reported this week showing that the government had beaten budget targets for three successive years.

"Greece's fiscal adjustment has been completed," Tzanakopoulos. "The lenders should take that into account."

Srdjan Nedeljkovic in Athens contributed. 

Thousands protest austerity reforms in Athens

April 25, 2018

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Athens to protest bailout-related reforms, including the sale of power plants, potential pension cuts and staffing funding cuts for state-run hospitals.

At least three separate successive demonstrations were being held Wednesday, passing by parliament and the ministries of finance and labor. State-run hospital workers were also on strike, demanding more funding for healthcare and protesting shortages in the hospitals. Workers at the Public Power Corporation, protesting the prospective sale of lignite plants, dumped sacks of lignite on the steps near parliament. Pensioners were also marching to protest pension cuts.

Greece has depended on international bailouts since 2010, and has had to push through stringent spending cuts and tax hikes in return for the emergency loans.

EU urge Russia, Iran, Turkey to deliver on Syria promises

April 25, 2018

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Wednesday called on Russia, Iran and Turkey to ensure a halt to fighting in Syria, as international donors gathered in Brussels to drum up aid for the conflict-ravaged country.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the three have a "special responsibility" to establish a cease-fire and to press Syrian President Bashar Assad to return to the negotiating table. "We are seeing an escalation in military activities which is exactly the contrary" to what they promised, Mogherini said.

Around 80 countries, organizations and partners backing Syria are taking part in the donor conference. The EU hopes the meeting will give impetus to stalled peace moves under U.N. auspices, on top of gathering several billion dollars in humanitarian aid for Syria and for neighbors like Lebanon and Jordan, struggling to cope with millions of refugees. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said his country will provide 1 billion euros in new funding for 2018 and subsequent years.

The EU, along with many other partners, refuses to help with serious reconstruction in Syria until meaningful peace moves to end the conflict, now into its eighth year, resume in Geneva. Russia's EU ambassador, Vladimir Chizhov, said "it's high time the international community .... takes bold decisions to help Syria and its people get their country back together."

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who faces elections in two weeks, said the plight of Syrians is simply getting worse. "The bitter truth is that despite all our combined efforts conditions have deteriorated. Lebanon continues to be a big refugee camp," he said.

Britain's State Minister for the Middle East, Alistair Burt, agreed that Syria's needs are enormous. "This is the world's greatest protection crisis. If you look at what's happened and what's been done to people — breaches of humanitarian laws, the weakening of multilateral norms that we have seen for a long time — it's all focusing on Syria," he said.

"We all know that what we do on a humanitarian basis is only the sticking plaster on the wound. You've got to address the wound itself. So we hope that the seriousness of the conflict and the damage that it's done might be used to further encourage the various parties to get going again."

Meanwhile, U.N. Syria envoy Staffan De Mistura has warned that the northern, rebel-held province of Idlib could become Syria's newest humanitarian crisis area. De Mistura said Tuesday that "Idlib is the big new challenge — 2.5 million people." He told reporters that "there are women, children, civilians, and this is looming up there."

De Mistura hopes the two-day donor conference "will be an occasion for also making sure that Idlib doesn't become the new Aleppo, the new eastern Ghouta, because the dimensions are completely different."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 177,000 people have fled combat in eastern Ghouta since February. The rest — including about 12,000 fighters — relocated to Idlib.

Britain's new prince is first Louis in more than a century

April 27, 2018

LONDON (AP) — The new prince has a name — in fact three. The infant son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has been named Louis Arthur Charles, Kensington Palace announced Friday. The palace said the baby's full title is His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge.

William and Kate's third child was born Monday, a brother to 4-year-old Prince George and Princess Charlotte, who is almost 3. Louis — pronounced LOO-ee — is fifth in line to the throne after his grandfather Prince Charles, his father and his older siblings.

The name pays tribute twice over to Prince Charles, who has Arthur as one of his middle names. The choice also honors Louis Mountbatten, Charles' great-uncle and beloved mentor, who was killed by an Irish Republican Army bomb in 1979.

The baby is Britain's first Prince Louis in more than a century. Mountbatten, a great-grandson of Queen Victoria, was His Serene Highness Prince Louis of Battenberg until 1917, when the royal family anglicized its names to avoid anti-German feeling during World War I. He became Lord Louis Mountbatten.

Britain has never had a King Louis, but France had 16 of them before the country's 1789 revolution. Bookmakers had been doing a brisk trade in bets on the new prince's name, but Louis wasn't among the favorites. The royal couple has used it before, as one of George's middle names.

Arthur, Albert and James had been considered front-runners. Twitter users with personal connections to the fresh prince's names offered peals of joy. Author J.K. Rowling's digital publishing company Pottermore noted that the Weasley family in the Harry Potter books had members named Louis, Arthur and Charles.

"Louis Arthur Charles, you were named after three iconic Weasleys," the company tweeted. England's Blackpool Zoo announced that a baby Bactrian camel born on the same day as Louis has been named in his honor.

Former One Direction star Louis Tomlinson — a noted devotee of the Adidas brand — tweeted: "Young Louis welcome to the world. I'll take you under my wing lad. The Adidas tracksuit is in the post!"

Russia: Floating nuclear plant towed to sea for fueling trip

April 28, 2018

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — A floating nuclear power plant built in Russia has embarked on its first sea voyage so its reactors can be loaded with fuel. The floating plant, the Akademik Lomonosov, was towed on Saturday out of the St. Petersburg shipyard where it was constructed.

It is to be pulled through the Baltic Sea and around the northern tip of Norway to Murmansk in northwest Russia, where the nuclear reactors are to be fueled. The Lomonosov is to be put into service in 2019 in the Arctic off the coast of Chukotka in the far east, providing power for a port town and for oil rigs.

The project has been widely criticized by environmentalists. Greenpeace has dubbed it a "floating Chernobyl."

Prince charming: Kate gives birth to boy, home by suppertime

April 23, 2018

LONDON (AP) — Third time's a charm. The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth Monday morning to a new prince who is fifth in line to the British throne — and she was home by suppertime. The duchess and husband Prince William drove to St. Mary's Hospital in London early in the morning, and Kate's 8 pound, 7 ounce (3.8 kilogram) boy was born at 11:01 a.m., with royal officials announcing the birth about two hours later.

There followed a smoothly choreographed operation perfected after the births of the couple's two other children. In late afternoon, elder siblings Prince George and Princess Charlotte were brought to meet their baby brother. Around 6 p.m., Kate emerged alongside her husband, wearing a vibrant red dress and holding the tiny royal highness wrapped in a white lace shawl.

After posing for dozens of photographers and camera crews outside the hospital's private Lindo Wing, the trio headed home, with the baby nestled securely in a car seat. Television news helicopters followed the royal Range Rover as it made the mile-long (1.6 kilometer) journey to the family's Kensington Palace residence.

William declared the couple "very delighted" with the new addition to the family. The royal palace said "the queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry and members of both families have been informed and are delighted with the news." Prime Minister Theresa May offered "warmest congratulations."

News of the royal birth came with a mix of tradition and modernity typical of Britain's media-savvy royal family. It was announced on Twitter and also proclaimed in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace with a framed notice perched on a golden easel.

Tony Appleton, a town crier from southeast England, showed up in full regalia to declare the newborn prince's birth outside the hospital. The words "It's a boy" flashed in lights around the top of London's BT Tower, which can be seen for miles around.

More ceremonial celebration will come Tuesday, including the pealing of bells at Westminster Abbey and a gun salute in London's Hyde Park. The baby is a younger brother to 4-year-old Prince George and Princess Charlotte, who turns 3 next week. Both were born at the same hospital, as were William and his younger brother, Prince Harry.

The infant's name, which has been subject to a flurry of bets, is likely to be announced in the next few days. Arthur and James are among bookmakers' favorites for the new prince, whose full title will be His Royal Highness, Prince (Name) of Cambridge.

"You'll find out soon enough," William said when asked about the baby's name. Monday is St. George's Day, England's national day, but the baby is unlikely to be given the name since his older brother already has it.

The new arrival is Queen Elizabeth II's sixth great-grandchild and bumps Prince Harry to sixth place in the line of succession. The baby is fifth in line, after grandfather Prince Charles, father Prince William and his two siblings.

Charlotte is the first royal daughter to stay ahead of a younger brother in the line of succession. Before the rules were changed in 2012, male heirs took precedence. Kensington Palace announced in September that Kate was pregnant with her third child. As in her previous pregnancies, the duchess suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe form of morning sickness.

Officials announced her previous pregnancies before the traditional 12-week mark because she was too unwell to attend public engagements. This time around, it kept her from taking George to his first day of school.

The 36-year-old duchess, formerly Kate Middleton, nevertheless kept up a busy schedule of royal duties during her pregnancy, including a visit with William to Scandinavia. She carried out her last official engagement on March 22 before going on maternity leave.

The birth was overseen by a team of doctors including consultant obstetrician Guy Thorpe-Beeston and consultant gynecologist Alan Farthing — who were also called in for the births of George and Charlotte — as well as the hospital's midwives.

Television crews, journalists and royal fans had set up camp outside the hospital for the "royal baby watch" since early April in anticipation of the arrival. The top White House spokeswoman offered personal encouragement to William and Kate on becoming the parents of three children.

"From one mother to another, I know the reality of being outnumbered can be very scary, but I know she and Prince William will continue to be amazing parents," Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, herself a mother of three, said during a White House briefing.

John Loughrey, a veteran royal-watcher who camped outside the hospital for two weeks, said the baby would be "very good for our country and of course, Her Majesty the queen." "I'm so pleased it's St. George's Day," he said before the birth was announced. "St. George himself would be very pleased if the baby's born today."

UN team, in Bangladesh, vows to work to end Rohingya crisis

April 29, 2018

KUTUPALONG, Bangladesh (AP) — A U.N. Security Council team visiting Bangladesh promised Sunday to work hard to resolve a crisis involving hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled to the country to escape military-led violence in neighboring Myanmar.

The diplomats, who visited the sprawling camps and border points where about 700,000 Rohingya have taken shelter, said their visit was an opportunity to see the situation firsthand. Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyansky, said he and his fellow team members would not look away from the crisis after their visit, though he warned that there are no simple solutions.

"It's very necessary to come and see everything at place here in Bangladesh and Myanmar. But there is no magic solution, there is no magic stick to solve all these issues," he said at a news conference at the Kutupalong refugee camp in the coastal town of Cox's Bazar.

The diplomats will conclude their three-day visit to Bangladesh on Monday, when they leave for Myanmar. The recent spasm of violence in Myanmar began when Rohingya insurgents staged a series of attacks on Aug. 25 on about 30 security outposts and other targets. In a subsequent crackdown described by U.N. and U.S. officials as "ethnic cleansing," Myanmar security forces have been accused of rape, killing, torture and the burning of Rohingya homes. Thousands are believed to have been killed.

The diplomats, comprising representatives from the five permanent Security Council members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — and 10 non-permanent member states, talked to some 120 refugees, including rape victims.

Peru's ambassador to the U.N., Gustavo Adolfo Meza Cuadra Velasqez, said he and his fellow team members were ready to "work hard" and were "very concerned" about the crisis. "I think we have witnessed the magnitude of the refugee crisis and very tragic situation of some of the families," he said.

The refugees are seeking U.N. protection to return home. The U.N. refugee agency and Bangladesh recently finalized a memorandum of understanding that said the repatriation process must be "safe, voluntary and dignified ... in line with international standards."

Karen Pierce, the UK's ambassador to the United Nations, said that the Security Council would continue to work on enabling the refugees to return to Myanmar, but that the Rohingya must be allowed to return under safe conditions.

"The problem there lies in their expulsion, treatment and the fact that they had to flee to Bangladesh," she said. Rohingya are denied citizenship in overwhelmingly Buddhist Myanmar, where they've faced persecution for decades. They're derided as "Bengalis," and many in Myanmar believe they are illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Most of them live in poverty in Myanmar's Rakhine state, next to Bangladesh.

Thousands of refugees gathered amid scorching heat at the Kutupalong camp to welcome the visiting delegation. They carried placards, some of which read "We want justice." "We are not Bengali, we are Rohingya. They have killed my family members, they tortured us, they will kill us again," said one of the refugees, 29-year-old Mohammed Tayab, standing in front of a tent where he was waiting to meet the U.N. team.

Tayab, who was using crutches, said he was shot by Myanmar troops in his right leg. He said he lost a brother, an uncle and a nephew after Myanmar soldiers shot them dead. "I am here to talk to them, we want justice from them," he said of the diplomats. "I will tell them my stories. They should listen to us."

Australians commemorate 103rd anniversary of WWI battle

April 25, 2018

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australians gathered with descendants of former allies and enemies around the country, on a Turkish coast and in a French town Wednesday in dawn services to commemorate the moment when Australian and New Zealand Army Corps troops waded ashore at the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey 103 years ago in their first major battle of World War I.

Because extremists have targeted annual ANZAC Day ceremonies in the past, concrete barriers were placed around the service in downtown Sydney to protect those who gathered at Martin Place. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, his French counterpart, Edouard Philippe, and the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, marked ANZAC Day in France with a service that also commemorates the 100th anniversary of Australian troops taking the town of Villers-Bretonneux from the Germans in a daring counterattack in the early hours of the third ANZAC Day. Villers-Bretonneux is now home to the main Australian Memorial of the Western Front.

Phillipe said half the 313,000 Australians who fought in France and Belgium were wounded or died, forging "a brotherhood of spilled blood" with Australia's allies. "You sometimes have to die far from home to honor and defend your country," Phillipe told the gathering in French. "This is the very hard, sometimes bitter reality well known to the French."

Turnbull said: "The Australians had come from the other side of the world to defend the freedom of France. We meet here 100 years later on land long healed to remember them." Prince Charles said the spirit of Australians killed in Gallipoli and the Western Front "will forever be part of the Australian identity."

At Villers-Bretonneux, Turnbull and Philippe on Tuesday unveiled a memorial plaque at the new Sir John Monash Centre museum, which is named after the Australian general responsible for taking the town.

Turnbull and his wife, Lucy, also visited the grave of her great-uncle Roger Hughes, who was killed by a German shell in 1916 five days after arriving on the Western Front as a 26-year-old military doctor.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton represented the Australian government at a service at ANZAC Cove at Gallipoli, where the Australian and New Zealand troops landed under British command in an ill-fated attempt to take the Ottoman Empire out of the war.

"It is the greatest honor for all of us to gather here at North Beach as dawn breaks more than a century after this campaign was fought," Dutton said at a ceremony that brought together Turkish, New Zealand and Australian troops. "It is humbling to stand among our New Zealand and Turkish friends and reflect on the service and sacrifice of the tens of thousands of people on both sides of the campaign who lost their lives."

More than 44,000 Allied soldiers were killed at Gallipoli. Turkish casualties were estimated at 250,000. At the Australian War Memorial in the capital, Canberra, an estimated crowd of 38,000 — 10 percent of the city's population — gathered in the cool autumn darkness for the dawn service, which began with a lone soldier playing a didgeridoo, in recognition of the contribution of indigenous soldiers.

"The attendance at this year's dawn service shows the enduring connection so many people have to Anzac Day," Memorial Director Brendan Nelson said in a statement.

Armenian ruling party won't nominate own candidate for PM

April 28, 2018

VANADZOR, Armenia (AP) — Armenia's ruling party said Saturday it will not put forward a candidate for prime minister to keep from exacerbating the political crisis sparked by the naming of the country's termed-out president as premier this month.

Armenian lawmakers are scheduled to meet Tuesday to vote on a replacement for Serzh Sargsyan, who resigned Monday amid massive street demonstrations over his selection as prime minister. But so far, the only candidate put forward is opposition lawmaker Nikola Pashinian, who spearheaded the anti-government protests that prompted Sargsyan to step down.

Sargsyan's Republican party holds a majority in parliament. Party spokesman Eduard Sharmazanov said the decision not to nominate a Republican candidate was made "to avoid confrontation and destabilization of the country."

Republican lawmakers instead plan to consider all other candidates, then vote as a bloc, Sharmazanov said. Although the party won't nominate a candidate, individual members apparently could enter the race. Former Prime Minister Karen Karapetian, who was appointed as acting premier after Sargsyan stepped down, is a party member.

Pashinian told an evening rally in Vanadzor, Armenia's third-largest city, that having Karapetian remain in the position would be unacceptable. "Citizens, the people, must explain to Karen Karapetian that he may not be prime minister of Armenia because the country no longer exists where a Republican can be prime premier or president," he said. "This is another Armenia."

Sargsyan was president for 10 years before stepping down this month because of term limits. He was then appointed prime minister, a position whose powers were bolstered under a change in government structure. Opponents viewed the move as effectively allowing him to be leader for life.

It also galvanized long-standing resentment over the former Soviet republic's widespread poverty and corruption. Huge demonstrations in Yerevan, the capital, brought downtown traffic to a standstill and filled the sprawling Republic Square that faces main government buildings.

"Pashinian gave us hope for the future, that our children won't leave the country but will find their place in a new Armenia," said Alina Mkrtchyan, 37, at the Vanadzor rally.

Talks between Armenian opposition, acting PM called off

April 27, 2018

GYUMRI, Armenia (AP) — The lawmaker behind the protests that forced Armenia's longtime leader to resign took his campaign to the country's second-largest city Friday, aiming to marshal nationwide support ahead of a crucial vote in parliament.

More than 10,000 people gathered in Gyumri for an evening rally with opposition leader Nikol Pashinian held hours after his planned talks with Armenia's acting prime minister were called off. Pashinian, a newspaper editor and member of the Armenian National Assembly, and Acting Prime Minister Karen Karapetian were to have met at noon to discuss the political crisis that has gripped the landlocked former Soviet nation. Karapetian's office announced Friday morning that it canceled the talks because Pashinian was "dictating the agenda."

In Gyumri, Pashinian remained firm in his demand that he be named head of government when the parliament meets Tuesday. "There is one road: choose me as the premier of Armenia, as the candidate of you, of the people," he said at the rally. "Our de-facto victory should be settled de-jure on May 1 in the walls of parliament."

Pashinian's protest movement holds just a fraction of seats in parliament, while Karapetian's party has a majority. Karapetian was Armenia's prime minister until his ally, President Serzh Sargsyan, had to step down because of term limits and parliament voted him in as prime minister.

Sargsyan stepped down Monday after six days in his new post following more than a week of anti-government protests triggered by what the ex-president's critics saw as a brazen move to extend his rule.

The opposition wants a transfer of power that would ensure that Sargsyan's allies would not be part of the new government so he could not pull the strings behind the scenes. Pashinian reacted to the breakdown Friday's talks by telling reporters that his protest movement has "the key mandate — that of the Armenian people. The parliament has to accept people's will."

Despite winning two landslide presidential victories before becoming prime minister, Sargsyan was unpopular because of the perceived nepotism and corruption of his inner circle. The protests over his stepping into the prime minister's seat after the government was rearranged to reduce the power of the presidency represent the deep frustration with his rule.

Several hundred people rallied in the center of the capital, Yerevan, on Friday morning to show their support for the opposition. "We're not going to go and we'll continue to protest until this government goes," school teacher Armen Zarubyan, 42, said. "Authorities couldn't care less for people's opinion, but we have already showed our strength."

Yerevan-based political analyst Agaron Adibekyan told The Associated Press that Karapetian's refusal to negotiate shows that the current regime is confident of its ability to stay in power. "Authorities decided to drag their feet so the opposition will get tired and the protests die down," he said. "It's the opposition that needs these talks. Authorities are controlling the country and have a majority in the parliament."

Nataliya Vasilyeva and Jim Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.

Armenia to Elect New Prime Minister on May 1

Thursday, 26 April, 2018

Armenia will elect a new prime minister next week to succeed Serzh Sarkisian, who quit on Monday after days of opposition protests.

Opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan, who led the rallies, appears to be the favorite to win the vote, which will take place at an extraordinary parliament session on May 1.

The demonstrations, driven by public anger over perceived political cronyism and corruption, looked to have peaked on Monday when Sarkisian stepped down.

But demonstrators have made clear they view the whole system tainted by his drive to shift power to the premier from the president. They want a sweeping political reconfiguration before ending their protests, which continued on Thursday.

"Protests will grow throughout Armenia until authorities can hear us," Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan, a former journalist turned lawmaker who has been instrumental in organizing the protests, has said he is ready to become prime minister. Tens of thousands rallied in the capital Yerevan on Wednesday in support for his bid for the premiership.

If elected, he wants to reform the electoral system to ensure it is fair before holding new parliamentary elections.

Sarkisian’s party still holds a majority in the parliament, however.

“We will have a people’s prime minister and after the election a people’s government and parliament,” said Anna Agababyan, a 38-year-old teacher who was protesting in Yerevan on Thursday, holding a small national flag.

Although the demonstrations have been peaceful, the upheaval has threatened to destabilize Armenia, an ally of Russia, in a volatile region riven by its decades-long, low-level conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan.

Moscow has two military bases in the ex-Soviet republic, and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Armenian President Armen Sarkissian by phone on Wednesday.

They agreed that political forces must show restraint and solve the crisis through dialogue, the Kremlin said.

Pashinyan said on Wednesday he had received assurances from Russian officials that Moscow would not intervene in the crisis, and Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian was in Moscow on Thursday for talks.

Armen Sarkissian, the president, on Thursday hailed what he called “a new page” in Armenia’s history and called on lawmakers to help forge a new country while respecting the existing constitution.

Pashinyan and his allies have been busy trying to build support for him with the ruling Republican Party and other parties and Pashinyan is expected to hold talks with Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the second-biggest party in parliament, later on Thursday.

Source: Asharq al-Awsat.
Link: https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1250061/armenia-elect-new-prime-minister-may-1.

Thousands protest in Armenia as political talks called off

April 25, 2018

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Several thousand protesters took to the streets of the Armenian capital on Wednesday morning after talks between the opposition and the acting prime minister were called off. Protest leader Nikol Pashinian had been expected to sit down for talks with acting Prime Minister Karen Karapetian to discuss political transition after Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan abruptly stepped down on Monday amid massive anti-government protests.

Karapetian is an ally of Sargsyan, who ruled Armenia for 10 years. The opposition insists that he step down soon to make way for a new premier appointed by a new parliament. The talks on Wednesday were supposed to discuss that transition.

Karapetian said in a statement on Wednesday that the talks with Pashinian were canceled after the opposition made unspecified "unilateral demands." Pashinian called on his supporters to take to the streets in protest.

About 5,000 people marched in the center of the capital, Yerevan, blocking traffic and chanting "Join us!" "Authorities won't step down, they are just dragging their feet," said 24-year-old protester Garik Migranyan. "But we will make them do that. We are the power."

Police troops supported government buildings and the headquarters of the ruling Republican Party. An armored vehicle was spotted nearby. "We will not allow authorities to steal our victory," Pashinian told supporters Wednesday. "There will be more of us here with every day until we take power."

Pashinian said he and his allies would boycott the snap parliamentary election if a member of the ruling Republican Party remains prime minister. Pashinian earlier said "a people's candidate" should replace Karapetian and said he would be willing to become premier if people support him.

Former Prime Minister and President Sargsyan said in a statement he is concerned about the tensions in the country and would launch talks with pro-government and ruling parties in search of compromise.

Nataliya Vasilyeva contributed to this report from Moscow.

Armenia's political transition unclear after PM's ouster

April 24, 2018

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — The abrupt resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan after two weeks of protests against his rule has caught the opposition off guard: The protesters had focused on driving out what they consider a corrupt elite, and seem to lack the structure or the political platform to replace it.

Waving the Armenian tricolor and chanting their leader's name, some 10,000 opposition supporters marched on Tuesday with protest leader Nikol Pashinian to a hilltop memorial complex in Yerevan, the capital of this Caucasus Mountains country, to mark the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians a century ago by Ottoman Turks.

Armenians across the country are commemorating the massacre that began 103 years ago. Armenians and many historians consider it to be genocide, but Turkey, successor of the Ottoman Empire, vehemently denies the claim.

The protests, which lasted ten days, culminated on Monday when Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, who has ruled Armenia since 2008, announced his resignation, saying that he was "wrong" to reject the opposition's demands for him to step down.

The opposition insists that Sargsyan's resignation is just the first step in the political transition they were pushing for. They want acting Prime Minister Karen Karapetian, an ally of Sargsyan, to also step down after he and the opposition agree on the date of a snap election.

With a red rose in his hand, protest leader Pashinian led the procession to the memorial complex on Tuesday afternoon. His supporters were jubilant and anxious for the political transition. "We need a change of government," said 43-year-old businessman Gregor Adamyan. "We're tired of pressure and corruption of one clan."

But the opposition appears far from ready to form a united political force. The coalition of the three parties leading the protest currently holds just 7 percent of the parliamentary seats and has not taken any stand on relations with Russia, Armenia's key ally and economic donor, or any other major political issue.

Pashinian, a 42-year-old former journalist who was elected into parliament in 2012 on an anti-corruption platform, garnered less than a quarter of the vote at last year's mayoral election in Yerevan. Pashinian has been mildly critical of Russia's presence in Armenia, but otherwise his political views are obscure.

"The opposition lacks a clear program of reforms, constructive agenda or clear demands," said Alexander Iskanderian, director of the Caucasus Institute in Yerevan. "It's not that people took to the streets to support the opposition which has no clear structure or organization — they (did so to) protest against the corrupt government which became totally shameless."

Pashinian has so far not offered any plan or vision for Armenia other than calling for the snap parliamentary election and making sure that none of Sargsyan's allies remains in office, preventing the former prime minister from pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

The opposition will continue to rally until "a full transfer of power" happens and a "people's candidate" is elected prime minister, Pashinian said. The protest leader, dressed in a camouflage T-shirt and a baseball cap, also told a news conference Tuesday evening that he expects the snap parliamentary election to be held in one or two months.

"We will ask people on the square about the prime minister and they will vote with their own voices," Pashinian said, adding that Armenia's electoral system needs to be cleansed to ensure a free election. He didn't elaborate on the nature of the reform.

The Armenian opposition will be naive to crack open the champagne unless Sargsyan's allies, Karapetian in particular, are out, analysts warned. "We have not seen a change of a political elite yet," said Ruben Megrabyan of the Armenian Center for Global Studies. "Karen Karapetian represents the same corrupt ruling class, so the opposition's victory was symbolic."

Several hours before the opposition supporters marched to the memorial of the 1915 massacre, Karapetian and other officials also honored the memory of those killed. Karapetian said in an address to the nation that Tuesday's march to the genocide memorial shows that "we are together and we are united in spite of the difficulties and unresolved issues at home."

Since the Soviet Union's collapse, Armenia, a landlocked country sandwiched between Georgia, Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan, has relied on Russia for energy supplies and loans. Strained ties with Turkey and Azerbaijan have crippled the country's development, making energy imports, among other things, costly.

Ties with Russia did not appear to be at the forefront for most protesters, and many of those marching in Yerevan on Tuesday spoke favorably of Russia. Ruben Ter-Martirosyan, a 37-year-old unemployed man, wants to see a more balanced relationship between the two former Soviet nations.

"Armenia needs to be a bridge between Russia and Europe, not a vassal of the Kremlin," he said. Uncharacteristically for Russian authorities who in the past decried anti-government rallies and so-called "color revolutions" in neighboring post-Soviet states as examples of hostile Western interference, Moscow this week has displayed a wait-and-see attitude.

Russia has refrained from applauding or condemning the government's ouster, in an apparent effort to better position itself for building ties with the new authorities. Earlier on Tuesday, a deputy Russian foreign minister met with the Armenian ambassador in Moscow. The ministry said Russia is following developments in Armenia closely and wishes the country a smooth and peaceful political transition. Separately, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the political transition is "our Armenian friends' business" and said the Kremlin is "pleased that the situation is not moving toward a destabilization."

Moscow keeps an important military base in Armenia and needs Yerevan as an unwavering ally in the post-Soviet space, so the caution is only to be expected. "Moscow is being neutral and leaves room for maneuver in order to be able to bargain with the eventual winner later on," political analyst Megrabyan said.

Avet Demourian in Yerevan, Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow and Zeynep Bilginsoy in Istanbul contributed to this report.

Armenia's leader quits amid protests, saying 'I was wrong'

April 23, 2018

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Serzh Sargsyan, who ruled Armenia for 10 years, resigned Monday as prime minister after thousands of people poured into the streets to protest his political maneuvering to cling to power in this former Soviet republic.

The stunning development touched off jubilation in the capital of Yerevan, with car horns blaring and people dancing, hugging and waving the tricolor Armenian flag. The opposition called for a meeting with the acting prime minister to discuss a "peaceful transfer of power."

Sargsyan, 63, was president of the Caucasus mountains nation from 2008 until term limits forced him out in March. But parliament, which is controlled by his party, voted to reduce the powers of the presidency and give them to the prime minister, ultimately installing Sargsyan in that post last week.

The move echoed a maneuver a decade ago by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Armenia's closest ally. Leaders of other former Soviet republics, from Belarus to Central Asia, have similarly extended their terms.

The parliament's action had triggered massive anti-government protests in Yerevan since April 13, with demonstrators blocking government buildings and facing off with police. A rally on Sunday attracted about 50,000 people, and about 200 soldiers joined the protesters on Monday.

Protest leader Nikol Pashinian met Sunday with Sargsyan, who walked out of the session after Pashinian refused to talk about anything but the prime minister's resignation. Pashinian was later arrested but abruptly released on Monday.

In his surprise resignation announcement posted on his website, Sargsyan said he should not have resisted the opposition's demands. "Nikol Pashinian was right. I was wrong," Sargsyan said. "The movement on the streets is against my rule. I'm complying with their demands."

The government quickly named former Prime Minister Karen Karapetian as acting prime minister. A Sargsyan ally, he also was mayor of Yerevan and worked in Russia for five years as a top executive of the state-controlled gas giant Gazprom.

Pashinian told an evening rally of tens of thousands of people at Republic Square in Yerevan that opposition activists want to meet with Karapetian on Wednesday to discuss a "peaceful transfer of power."

The opposition will push for an early parliamentary election to prevent Sargsyan from running Armenia from behind the scenes, Pashinian said. Alexander Iskanderian, director of the Caucasus Institute in Yerevan, said the protests pushed Sargsyan into a corner:

"The protests in the past couple of days have swelled to a point that you either had to use violence or find another way out," Iskanderian told The Associated Press. Russian officials and state television have been cautious in commenting on the political crisis in Armenia. In the past, Moscow has decried anti-government rallies and so-called "color revolutions" in neighboring post-Soviet nations as examples of hostile Western interference.

In what appeared to be the first official Russian reaction, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova lauded Sargsyan's decision as a move to unify the nation. "The people who have the strength to keep respect toward each other despite crucial differences and stay united even in the most difficult moments of its history is a great people," Zakharova wrote on her Facebook account. "Armenia, Russia is always with you!"

When Sargsyan switched to the prime minister's job, his ally Armen Sarkisian, a former prime minister and ambassador to Britain, was elected president. Sarkisian was seen as an unofficial Sargsyan appointee.

Associated Press writer Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.