Socialist opposition leader to take over Spain's new govt

June 01, 2018

MADRID (AP) — Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez will become Spain's new prime minister after a no-confidence vote Friday in parliament unseated Mariano Rajoy's conservative government. He came in vowing to address the "social emergencies" of the country's citizens after years of austerity measures.

Sanchez, until now the head of Spain's largest opposition party, could be sworn in by King Felipe VI as early as Saturday and will appoint his Cabinet over the coming days. The 46-year-old takes the helm of the eurozone's fourth-largest economy at a time when the European Union has to resolve numerous problems, including Britain's impending departure from the bloc and political tensions over the tens of thousands of migrants who are still entering the continent from North Africa.

On the domestic front, Sanchez will head a minority government that will need to negotiate potentially difficult deals with other parties to get its legislation passed. To prevent a power vacuum after a no-confidence motion, Spanish law makes the motion's author — in this case, Sanchez — the country's new leader as soon as the king swears him in.

The Madrid stock exchange was up 2 percent after Sanchez won the vote and earned a standing ovation from his party's lawmakers. The end of Rajoy's more than six-year reign as prime minister was the first ouster of a serving leader by parliament in Spain's four decades of democracy.

It also was a rare success for a center-left party in Europe in recent times. Sanchez and his party are staunch supporters of the EU and the euro currency shared by 19 EU nations. In a brief speech before the vote, Rajoy told lawmakers "it has been an honor to leave Spain better than I found it."

He then shook hands with Sanchez after the result was announced. Rajoy has been in power since December 2011, successfully steering Spain out of its worst economic crisis in decades during the eurozone debt crisis and achieving some of the strongest economic growth in Europe. Last year, gross domestic product growth reached 3.1 percent.

But the reputation of Rajoy's Popular Party's was badly damaged by a court verdict last week that identified it as a beneficiary of a large kickbacks-for-contracts scheme. Sanchez saw that as his opening and managed to muster enough support from smaller parties to send him to La Moncloa palace, the seat of government in Madrid.

Sanchez, who will be Spain's seventh prime minister since the country's return to democracy in the late 1970s, arrives in power after a spectacular turnaround in his political fortunes. He was ousted by his own party in 2016 over back-to-back losses in general elections and after he tried to block Rajoy's bid to form a government.

The former economics professor and career politician regained the Socialists' leadership last year. The incoming prime minister says his priorities will be social issues — including more measures to help young people and the elderly. He told reporters Friday that he was "aware of the responsibility and the complex political moment of our country."

He vowed to build consensus among political parties to "transform and modernize" Spain and "address the social urgencies of many people who suffer precariousness and inequality." He has promised to call a new election before the end of this term in 2020.

Still, Sanchez will face a tough time catering to demands from the small parties whose votes he captured in the no-confidence motion, among them Catalan separatists. A new Catalan Cabinet is scheduled to regain the prosperous region's self-government on Saturday, ending a seven-month takeover by central authorities in Madrid over the separatists bid to secede from Spain.

In a reversal from Rajoy's aversion to Catalonia's aspirations for greater autonomy, Sanchez has promised to open a dialogue with new Catalan President Quim Torra despite having called the fervent separatist's comments "xenophobic."

In other challenges, the center-right Ciudadanos (Citizens) party — which has been leading recent opinion polls — is demanding an early election and is vowing fierce opposition to Sanchez.

Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal.

Spain: opposition leader Sanchez expected to oust Rajoy

June 01, 2018

MADRID (AP) — Socialist opposition leader Pedro Sanchez is on the brink of ending Mariano Rajoy's more than six-year reign as Spanish prime minister in what would be the first ouster of a serving leader by parliament in four decades of democracy.

Barring last-minute surprises, a no-confidence vote that would oust Rajoy and make Sanchez prime minister-designate is expected to pass by a narrow majority in parliament's 350-seat lower house. Rajoy's likely removal follows corruption convictions last week involving former members of his conservative Popular Party.

The prime minister wasn't in the Congress of Deputies on Friday morning when the debate resumed on the motion ahead of a final vote. He didn't attend Thursday afternoon either, going instead to a central Madrid restaurant with some members of his cabinet.

Spain eyes HQ of EU piracy mission amid Brexit planning

April 24, 2018

ROTA, Spain (AP) — Spain looks set to take charge of the European Union's anti-piracy operation off Somalia despite a challenge from Italy, as EU countries compete for the spoils from Britain's departure from the bloc next year.

With Brexit due in just 11 months, Spain wants to host the headquarters of the EUNAVFOR Atalanta operation at its southern port of Rota, where U.S. troops are also stationed. It would form part of a joint effort that would see France assume responsibility for a parallel civilian maritime surveillance facility based in Brest.

Italy, which narrowly lost its bid to host the EU's banking authority — another agency leaving Britain for the Netherlands next year — in a tie breaker, entered the running late and its candidacy appears dwarfed by the offer from two of Europe's historic naval powers. Still, time is running out for a decision to be made, and EU countries are concerned that a potentially embarrassing vote might be required to break the deadlock.

Launched in 2008, as Somali pirates were wreaking havoc in some of the world's busiest shipping lanes, hijacking vessels and taking hostages, the agency has been run from Northwood, just outside London. An estimated 95 percent of EU trade by volume passes through or near the Gulf of Aden.

Its mission, Spanish Defense Minister Maria Dolores Cospedal said, "requires an exclusively dedicated (operational headquarters) allowing a strategic direction and control in a geographical area of great interest for Europe."

In a show of its prowess this week aimed at convincing senior EU diplomats, military advisers and experts of Rota's suitability, Spain's armed forces put on a major naval and air show off its southern coast, in waters near Britain's territory of Gibraltar.

Warships launched jump jets, attack and transport helicopters while special forces were deployed in fast boat teams and parachuted into the Mediterranean in an exercise aimed at repelling a pirate raid and rescuing hostages.

Spain has been involved in the EU's anti-piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden since the beginning and as its biggest military contributor claims to know EUNAVFOR inside out. "We find it truly important to maintain the EU's ability to command and control operations," said Spain's defense chief, General Fernando Alejandre Martinez. "Brexit would affect all this, but we stand ready to fill the gap left by Northwood."

The HQ at Rota, he said, would be able to command any kind of EU security or defense mission. But the decision is not a foregone conclusion and the EU must make up its mind soon. Officials calculate that the headquarters move will take around 9 months, and it is hoped that Italy will withdraw its bid next month so that no potentially divisive vote becomes necessary and the transfer can be completed before Brexit at the end of March 2019.

It all appears a lot of work for very little, as the mandate for EUNAVFOR expires at the end of this year. But Spain and France are banking on it being renewed amid growing instability in Somalia. In any case, for senior EU officials, Spain's naval credentials are impeccable.

"It was from this part of Spain that actually the trans-Atlantic adventure was launched five centuries ago," said Pedro Serrano, a top EU official running the bloc's security operations and crisis response.

Spain, he said, "is contributing with a depth of history and experience that will probably help Europe be what it needs to be in confronting today's challenges."

Spain confiscates property of Bashar Al-Assad’s uncle

March 15, 2018

The French customs service, in cooperation with its Spanish counterpart, confiscated the property of the current Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s uncle, which amounted to 600 million Euros. Quoting the French newspaper Le Figaro, the Russian news agency Tass reported that around 503 facilities worth 600 million Euros, owned by Rifaat Al-Assad and his relatives in the Spanish city of Marbella, were confiscated.

The agency pointed out that there is also talk about hotels, restaurants and luxury acquisitions.

In April 2017, the Spanish National Judicial Council opened an investigation into the case of money laundering by Rifaat Al-Assad. The Spanish authorities froze the bank accounts of 16 people and 76 institutions associated with the name of Al-Assad’s uncle. It also opened an investigation into his property in Marbella and Puerto Banus towns.

Syrian city at the heart of Spain

Rifaat al-Assad, 80, planned to build a huge housing complex to house Syrians belonging to his sect. He has chosen lands where Spanish spruce and cork trees flourish. These lands occupy one third of Benahavis municipality, located in Malaga province in the southern Andalusia region of Spain. According to the statements of the judge of the Spanish National Court, Rifaat owns some of the most expensive lands in the city that is located on the coasts of Costa del Sol and adjacent to the luxury town of Marbella, which has become a model of extreme luxury, and aspires to build a “Syrian city” with the utmost caution and secrecy.

A decision was made by the Spanish court to seize the properties of Al-Assad, including 16 properties in Marbella and Puerto Banus. In this regard, a Spanish judge revealed that Rifaat Al-Assad had committed himself to continuing the “legal struggle” in this case as he is accused of turning his “real estate machine,” which consists of 3,300 hectares worth 60 million Euros, into a private urban area. The areas controlled by Rifaat Al-Assad have already been registered as areas of public interest, according to the European classification. In addition, the Andalusian government has incorporated these properties within the areas of special protection.

The source of Rifaat Al-Assad’s funds

On the other hand, the Spanish judge confirmed that the main source of Rifaat Al-Assad’s wealth is the money looted from the coffers of the Syrian state provided by his brother Hafez Al-Assad before sending him into exile, and which is estimated at 300 million Euros.

In a similar vein, many people in the Spanish society and those who dealt with him in the business field reported that he was not proficient in negotiating in this area and had his own strategy of non-discipline. In this regard, one of the parties which had negotiated with him in business explained that “it is possible to agree on the first day about a certain price, and he comes the next day to ask you double the amount agreed upon.” These parties also revealed that he followed a relatively austere pattern of consumption in his daily life in Marbella.

In general, a businessman who was surprised by the size of the properties of Rifaat Al-Assad, which includes at least 503 facilities located in Marbella and Puerto Banos, stated that “Rifaat Al-Assad and the businessmen Adnan Khashogg are incomparable, as Rifaat has no friends and I always see him having dinner alone in Puerto Banus, accompanied only by his bodyguard and his driver. The same source added that “the authorities must deal with all the hotel apartments he possesses as individual property.”

In addition to the “amazing real estate machine,” Rifaat Al-Assad owns the Panapola Hotel in Puerto Banus, a 4-Star hotel consisting of 101 apartments and 247 parking spaces. Besides, Al-Assad owns a residential building under the name of Gerry de Albion, in the same sports port in Marbella where he lives.

Moreover, Rifaat Al-Assad owns the parking spaces in Marbella Harbor. Recently, he has sold some of the land for construction in the Milla de Oro area of Marbella, near the Marbella Club Hotel. According to sources familiar with the deal, the sale was made at a price much lower than the prices offered in the market in this area. In addition, Rifaat Al-Assad managed to administer the Beach Club Bar at the Penapola Hotel, the Hollywood Café and other hotel companies based in Puerto Banus, but some of them are now closed due to losses.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180315-spain-confiscates-property-of-bashar-al-assads-uncle/.

Catalonia gets new leader determined to achieve independence

May 17, 2018

MADRID (AP) — Fervent Catalan secessionist Quim Torra was sworn in Thursday as the restive Spanish region's new leader, with his demands for an independent Catalonia set to prolong a standoff with Spain's national government.

Torra formally took office at a ceremony in the Catalan capital, Barcelona. He was elected by the Catalan parliament's secessionist lawmakers on Monday. In a sign of the simmering tension, Spain's national government in Madrid, which usually sends a representative to regional government ceremonies, declined to attend the swearing-in. It said Catalan authorities had tried to dictate which central government officials could be present — a condition that Madrid rejected.

The spat over Catalonia's future has brought Spain's worst political crisis in decades, though its three main political parties stand united against Catalan independence. Thursday's ceremony was heavy on symbolism, with pointed signals apparently aimed at the central Spanish authorities.

Torra had only the red-and-yellow Catalan flag behind him during the ceremony. The Spanish flag was absent. Also, in his oath he pledged only to be faithful to the people of Catalonia. He made no reference to upholding the Spanish Constitution nor loyalty to Spain's king. The Spanish government says it cannot grant Catalonia independence, among other reasons, because the Constitution says Spain is "indivisible." King Felipe VI has publicly supported the government's stance.

Torra also wore a yellow ribbon in his lapel, symbolizing support for separatist leaders being held in Spanish jails over last year's outlawed independence referendum and illegal declaration of a separate Catalan state.

Huge rally in Barcelona to demand jailed separatists go free

April 15, 2018

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Catalan separatists rallied in downtown Barcelona on Sunday to demand the release of high-profile secessionist leaders being held in pre-trial detention.

Protesters waved Catalan separatist flags behind a huge banner that read "for rights and liberties, for democracy and unity, we want them back home!" The demonstration was organized by two pro-independence grassroots groups, the National Catalan Assembly and Omnium, whose presidents are among the nine separatists in prison awaiting trial for their roles in last year's failed breakaway bid by the northeastern Spanish region.

The regional chapters of Spain's two leading labor unions, along with other civil society groups, supported the protest despite the complaints from some members who don't want secession for Catalonia. Barcelona police said 315,000 people participated in the protest.

"The majority of Catalans, regardless of their political position, agree that pre-trial jail is not justified," said regional UGT union leader Camil Ros. "What we as labor unions are asking for now is dialogue."

The secession movement in the wealthy region has plunged Spain into its deepest institutional crisis in decades. Separatist lawmakers defied court orders and held an ad-hoc referendum on independence in October. Their subsequent declaration of independence for the region led to a crackdown by Spanish authorities acting to defend the Spanish Constitution, which declares the nation "indivisible."

Pro-independence parties retained a slim majority in Catalonia's parliament after an election in December, but courts have blocked their attempts to elect as regional chief any lawmaker who is either behind bars or has fled the country.

The latest opinion poll published by the Catalan government in February said that support for independence had decreased to 40 percent from near 49 percent in October. The poll surveyed 1,200 people and had a margin of error of 2.8 percent.

Catalan ex-leader to leave German prison after posting bail

April 06, 2018

NEUMUENSTER, Germany (AP) — German prosecutors on Friday ordered the immediate release of ex-Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont after he posted 75,000 euros ($92,000) bail, which will allow him to move freely in Germany pending a decision on his extradition sought by Spain.

The Schleswig prosecutor's office said Puigdemont also provided authorities with an address in Germany where he will reside pending the decision. "No information will be provided about his current whereabouts," prosecutors said in a statement.

Lawyers for Puigdemont had arrived at the Neumuenster prison early Friday but it wasn't immediately clear how and when the 55-year-old would leave jail. Supporters said Puigdemont planned a news conference later Friday.

Puigdemont was detained by German police March 25 after crossing the border from Denmark. Spain is seeking his extradition for rebellion and misuse of public funds in organizing an unauthorized referendum last year on Catalonia's independence from Spain.

The state court in Schleswig ruled Thursday that Puigdemont can't be extradited for rebellion because the equivalent German law presumes the use or threat of force sufficient to bend the will of authorities. He can still be extradited on misuse of funds charges.

The German court's decision is a setback for the Spanish judiciary's efforts to crack down on the separatist movement. It is also an embarrassing blow for Spain's conservative government, which has insisted the dispute over Catalan separatism is a legal issue, not a political one, and has refused to be drawn into negotiations with Puigdemont and his supporters since October's banned referendum.

Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said the government would respect the German ruling and awaited further details of it before deciding on appropriate action. She also took a swipe at the Catalan pro-independence parties, which the government accuses of flouting the Constitution and disobeying court orders, by adding that Spain is "a state that is shows its character by respecting the decisions of the courts in whatever direction that decision is made."

German court orders Catalan ex-leader's release on bail

April 06, 2018

BERLIN (AP) — A German court ruled Thursday that former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont can be released on bail pending a decision on his extradition to Spain, finding that the most serious accusation against him isn't punishable under German law.

The state court in the northern town of Schleswig said it set conditions including a 75,000-euro ($92,000) payment for the 55-year-old to leave prison. It wasn't immediately clear when he would be released, though it appeared unlikely before Friday morning.

"We will see each other tomorrow. Thank you all!" a message posted on his Twitter feed read. Puigdemont was detained on a European arrest warrant shortly after entering Germany on March 25. He was trying to drive from Finland to Belgium, where has been living since fleeing to escape arrest in Spain. He has been held at a prison in Neumuenster.

Spanish authorities accuse Puigdemont of rebellion and misuse of public funds in organizing an unauthorized referendum last year on Catalonia's independence from Spain. German prosecutors argued earlier this week that the main charge of rebellion is equivalent to Germany's criminal offense of treason. German law calls for prison sentences for anyone who "undertakes, by force or through threat of force" to undermine the republic's existence or change its constitutional order.

However, the court disagreed Thursday, saying Puigdemont can't be extradited for rebellion. It found that the accusations against Puigdemont don't satisfy the precedents set by previous German rulings, which call for a use or threat of force sufficient to bend the will of authorities.

"Rebellion is the most serious, having the heaviest punishment. It means that if he is extradited for other things, that he can never be prosecuted for rebellion in Spain," Puigdemont's Belgian defense lawyer, Paul Bekaert, said.

"Again a signal has been sent to Spain's justice system that they are going the wrong way," he told Belgium's VRT network. Judges will consider Puigdemont's extradition on the less serious charge of misusing public funds, meaning that he only could face trial for that if he were returned to Spain. They said that there was no indication he could be "exposed to the danger of political persecution."

The court said that because Puigdemont can't extradited for rebellion he posed less of a flight risk and could be released on bail. If Puigdemont makes the bail payment and leaves prison, he can't leave Germany without prosecutors' approval, must inform prosecutors of every change of residence and report to police once a week, court spokeswoman Frauke Holmer said.

In response to the German court's ruling, a Spanish official said the government in Madid respects judicial decisions "always, when it likes them and when it doesn't." The official, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity, said "Spanish justice will adopt the appropriate measures in the face of these new circumstances."

In Brussels, three fugitive allies of Puigdemont were held briefly Thursday before being conditionally released by Belgian judicial authorities to await a decision on whether they should be extradited to Spain.

Isabel Mateos, a retiree attending a protest in the Catalan town of Figueres to call for the release of jailed separatists, reacted with joy to the news. "Truth to be told, we didn't expect it," she said. "We are totally happy and we'll celebrate it."

Earlier Thursday, the Spanish National Court charged the former head of Catalonia's regional police and other regional security officials with sedition over their role in events leading to the banned referendum on independence.

Judge Carmen Lamela said in an indictment that Mossos d'Esquadra chief Josep Lluis Trapero was part of an organized plan to seek Catalonia's secession, which courts have forbidden because the constitution says Spain is "indivisible."

Trapero was hailed in Catalonia as a local hero for the handling of deadly extremist attacks in and near Barcelona last summer. But he then came under severe pressure when Spanish national authorities asked his regional police force to help prevent the Oct. 1 referendum, which triggered Spain's worst political crisis in decades.

Trapero was demoted when the Spanish government assumed direct rule of the region. Two other members of the regional police and an official with the regional interior department were also indicted Thursday.

Catalonia has been without a president or regional government since a regional election in December which produced a slim majority of pro-independence lawmakers in the Catalan parliament. Efforts to form a government have been hampered by internal discord within the separatist bloc and the legal challenges faced by presidential candidates.

Aritz Parra in Madrid, Raf Casert in Brussels and Renata Brito in Figueres, Spain contributed to this report.

Catalonia ex-leader to remain jailed during extradition case

March 26, 2018

NEUMUENSTER, Germany (AP) — Spain's showdown with Catalonia's separatist leaders moved Monday to German courts as the region's former president, Carles Puigdemont, embarked on what could be a weeks-long effort to avoid extradition from Germany.

A court in the northern town of Neumuenster ruled that Puigdemont, who was arrested Sunday in Germany, has to remain in custody for the length of the extradition proceedings. The court said the formal requirements to detain Puigdemont had been met by a European arrest warrant issued by Spain.

In denying him bail, the court said Puigdemont posed a flight risk, concluding that he had "a strong incentive" to try to travel to Belgium where his chances of avoiding extradition might be greater. Schleswig Holstein state prosecutor Georg Guentge said the former Catalan leader appeared "calm and composed" during Monday's hearing, at times making legal arguments on his own behalf.

Guentge said Puigdemont can challenge the legal basis for Spain's extradition request during the formal proceedings, which will now take place before the upper court in nearby Schleswig. Guentge said it isn't clear whether a decision on the extradition request will happen this week and in the meantime Puigdemont will remain at the prison in Neumuenster.

With tensions flaring back home, Spain's government said Puigdemont's arrest at a highway rest area south of the German-Danish border during an attempt to drive from Finland to Belgium shows that "nobody can infinitely mock justice."

Tens of thousands protested late Sunday in Barcelona and other Catalan towns, and some demonstrators clashed with riot police. Spanish authorities accuse Puigdemont, 55, of rebellion and misuse of public funds in organizing an unauthorized referendum last year on independence for Catalonia.

German officials have stressed that the case is a matter for the judicial system, but declined to say whether the German government could ultimately overrule a court decision. European rules call for a final decision on extradition within 60 days of the suspect's arrest, though a 30-day extension is possible, Justice Ministry spokeswoman Stephanie Krueger said.

Spain was plunged into its worst political crisis in four decades when Puigdemont's government flouted a court ban and held an ad-hoc referendum on independence for the northeastern region in October.

The Catalan parliament's subsequent declaration of independence received no international recognition and provoked a takeover of the regional government by Spanish authorities. Spain originally asked for Puigdemont's extradition from Belgium after he fled there in October, but later withdrew the request until Spanish Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena concluded his investigation last week.

In the meantime, Puigdemont was free to make trips to Denmark, Switzerland and Finland, in an effort to gain international support for the secessionist movement. The international arrest warrant for Puigdemont was reactivated on Friday, while he was visiting Finland. Spain has also issued five warrants for other separatists who fled the country.

Authorities examining a European arrest warrant must determine whether the offense a suspect is accused of committing is equivalent to a criminal offense in the country where he was arrested. Germany's criminal code — unlike Belgium's — includes an offense that appears to be comparable to rebellion, the main accusation against Puigdemont. It calls for prison sentences for anyone who "undertakes, by force or through threat of force" to undermine the republic's existence or change its constitutional order.

Puigdemont and other Catalan separatists argue that their movement has been entirely peaceful. Separatists condemned Sunday's street violence in Catalonia that led to 100 people, including 23 police agents, being treated for minor injuries.

German Interior Ministry spokesman Johannes Dimroth said Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office was informed Friday about the arrest warrant and the office's liaison officer in Madrid was informed that Puigdemont might enter the country.

Schleswig-Holstein's state interior minister, Hans-Joachim Grote, told NDR television that four other people who were in the car with Puigdemont were taken to a police station and then released. He didn't identify them.

Dimroth said that, in "abstract terms," Puigdemont could seek asylum in Germany because anyone can file such a request, but added that he couldn't comment on the likelihood asylum would be granted or say whether Puigdemont had made any such request.

Puigdemont's Belgian lawyer, Paul Bekaert, argued on VRT television that there was "flagrant abuse by Spain of the European arrest warrant for political purpose, which is totally illegal." However, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in Berlin that "Spain is a democratic state of law."

"The German government remains convinced that this Catalonia conflict must be resolved within the Spanish legal and constitutional order," he said, noting Berlin's support for the "clear position" of the Spanish government in recent months.

Moulson reported from Berlin. Associated Press writer Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.

Conservative, leftist head to contentious runoff in Colombia

May 28, 2018

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The conservative protege of a powerful former president and a leftist former guerrilla who has galvanized voters with an anti-establishment message are headed for what promises to be a polarizing presidential runoff after gaining the most votes in Sunday's election.

With almost all quick-count results in, former senator Ivan Duque was leading with 39 percent of the ballots cast, short of the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a June runoff. One-time rebel and ex-Bogota mayor Gustavo Petro trailed in second place with 25 percent, edging out former Medellin Mayor Sergio Fajardo, who garnered nearly 24 percent.

Duque and Petro represent opposite ends of Colombia's political spectrum and have presented dramatically different visions for the future of the Andean nation as it moves forward with a historic peace process with leftist rebels.

Duque is the handpicked candidate of Alvaro Uribe, the ex-president and chief critic of the nation's 2016 peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. He is promising to amend important aspects of the accord like ensuring that drug trafficking is not an amnestied crime and blocking guerrilla leaders from political office.

Petro supports the accord and has galvanized youth voters angered by deeply entrenched corruption and income inequality. He is vowing to end Colombia's dependence on oil exports and raise taxes on vast swaths of unproductive land in hopes of boosting agricultural production. Critics have warned his rise could push Colombia dangerously toward the left and rattle markets.

"The result was a sharp blow to traditional politics," said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue. "With a Duque/Petro runoff, Colombians will face a starker choice than in many years."

The election has sparked fears on both the left and right, with Duque's critics cautioning that his presidency would be tantamount to a constitutionally barred third term for Uribe. Though hugely popular among Colombians for improving security and weakening illegal armed groups, Uribe also presided over grave human rights violations by the military.

Meanwhile, Petro and his populist "Humane Colombia" platform have drawn comparisons from critics to the late Venezuelan socialist leader Hugo Chavez, who Petro once admired. He brought Chavez to Colombia in 1994 shortly after the Venezuelan paratrooper was released from jail, where he was sent for staging a military coup.

Petro describes himself as a "strong adversary" of the neighboring country's current president, Nicolas Maduro, but his early ties to Chavez have dogged him throughout the campaign. His campaign likened the comparisons to fear-mongering tactics by a traditional political class no longer able to court votes based on their hardline stance against leftist rebels.

In a speech before hundreds of supporters Sunday night, Petro said fears that he would turn Colombia into an authoritarian state where wealth is redistributed are unfounded. He said his proposals instead amount to a "democratization" of opportunities so that more Colombians can benefit from education and join the middle class.

"The nearly 5 million votes we received today are the votes of the youth, of excluded sectors far and wide across Colombia who have decided to burst in and say, 'We are present,'" he said. Supporters waved flags emblazoned with the Soviet Union's hammer and sickle and the logo of the disbanded M-19 rebel group that Petro belonged to in his youth.

Edilia Pinzon, 55, was among those cheering on Petro. "We are making history," said Pinzon, a street merchant. "The others who have reached power haven't fulfilled their promises, especially to those of us with few means."

More than 19 million voters cast ballots in the election, the highest turnout in two decades. The results were especially harsh for Fajardo, who fell less than 2 points behind Petro and failed to advance to the next round. During weeks of negotiations he tried unsuccessfully to form an alliance with like-minded centrist Humberto de la Calle, whose 2 percent vote haul would've been enough to push Fajardo past Petro.

Fajardo conceded defeat but showed no sign of who he'll support in a runoff where his 4.5 million supporters are likely to be decisive. Petro and Duque differ on almost every critical issue facing Colombia: Duque favors forcibly eradicating coca crops that have skyrocketed to record levels, whereas Petro favors substitution. Historically tight relations between the U.S. and Colombia would likely remain unchanged under a Duque presidency, whereas Petro has called U.S. assistance to Colombia "help that has served for nothing."

In regards to the peace deal, Duque has said he'll introduce a constitutional reform mandating that drug trafficking cannot be an amnestied crime. Under the accord, guerrillas involved in drug trafficking and violent crimes during the conflict who fully confess can avoid jail time. Many Colombians consider those terms far too generous.

The FARC long funded itself by leveling a "war tax" on cocaine moving through territory it dominated, and 50 members of its leadership structure were indicted in 2006 in the U.S. on charges of running the world's largest drug cartel.

In April, Colombian authorities arrested a former top rebel peace negotiator on a U.S. drug warrant on charges that he conspired with three others to smuggle several tons of cocaine into the U.S. with a wholesale value of $15 million.

In a victory speech to supporters little changed from his regular campaign stump, Duque stressed law and order issues that are red meat to his conservative base. He said he didn't want to "tear up" Colombia's peace agreement but rather make modifications that would ensure victims of the conflict achieve "peace with justice."

"I want to be the president who unites our country and not govern with a rearview mirror," he said. Analysts said that mostly urban voters turned off by Colombia's polarizing politics will play kingmaker in the second round.

Political analyst Ivan Valencia, himself a former rebel, said Duque will face a steeper challenge winning over supporters of Fajardo and other centrist candidates because he's more hostile to the peace process, while Petro from the campaign's outset has tried to portray himself — so far with mixes success — as a moderate.

"Whichever candidate is able to move more to the center is the one who will win the election," said Valencia. De la Calle, the government's chief negotiator with the FARC, without specifically endorsing Petro, made an impassioned plea not to backtrack on implementation of the peace accord when a future free of armed conflict is within reach.

"The war brought us together during eight years," he said. "And now peace is dividing us."

Associated Press writer Cesar Garcia contributed to this report from Bogota.

Bolivia UN envoy says to Israel: 'You kill children and women'

May 17, 2018

The Bolivian representative to the United Nations Security Council, Sacha Llorenti, said to Israel “you kill children and women” after reading out the names of the 61 Palestinian victims who were killed by the Israeli soldiers in Gaza earlier this week.

The representative said during an emergency meeting on Tuesday that Gaza has turned into a large prison adding that transferring the US Embassy to Jerusalem has inflamed emotions.

“As a member of the Security Council and in the presence of my dear brother, the ambassador to Palestine; I wish to ask for his forgiveness, and say how sorry I am to the 6 million Palestinian refugees who have lost their homes and today live in camps” he added.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180517-bolivia-un-envoy-says-to-israel-you-kill-children-and-women/.

Romania: Thousands stage anti-corruption, government protest

May 12, 2018

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Thousands of people have gathered in Romania's capital to protest a contentious judicial overhaul they say will make it harder to prosecute senior officials for graft. Romanians of all ages assembled in Bucharest's Victory Square on Saturday for the protest held under a motto of "We want Europe, not a dictatorship!"

They blew whistles, waved flags and yelled "Resign!" Police ringed part of the square. Anti-corruption demonstrations have been held regularly in Romania since the current left-wing government came to power in 2016 and starting pursuing legal changes that critics fear will weaken the fight against corruption.

Gabriel Vasilache, a 35-year-old manager attending Saturday's demonstration, said: "This government is dragging us away from Europe," adding: "We are here for our future and our children's future."

Macedonian court sentences former PM Gruevski to 2 years

May 23, 2018

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — A Macedonian criminal court sentenced former conservative prime minister Nikola Gruevski to two years in prison Wednesday for unlawfully influencing officials at the interior ministry over the purchase of a luxury bulletproof car.

The court ruled that Gruevski, who served as prime minister during 2006-2016, influenced the officials in the 2012 purchase of his Mercedes at an estimated cost of 600,000 euros (around $700,000.) The 47-year-old Gruevski denied any wrongdoing. He was not present in court when the verdict was read and will remain free pending appeal.

He was convicted using evidence from audio material collected during a massive wiretapping scandal that erupted in 2015 and contributed to the demise of his government. The judge ruled that allowing the audio to be used as evidence was in the public interest.

Four other cases in which Gruevski faces criminal charges of corruption, election irregularities, ordering violence and abuse of office are pending. During his trial last week, Gruevski described the prosecutions as a sham and "political torture."

Macedonia's wiretapping scandal broke in 2015 when it emerged that phone conversations of about 20,000 people, including judges, police, politicians, journalists and foreign diplomats, had been illegally recorded. The political crisis triggered early elections the following year.

On Tuesday, a former senior interior ministry official, Gjoko Popovski, was convicted of abuse of office and sentenced to nine years over a procurement deal for police patrol cars. The court ruled that Popovski failed to select the cheapest offer in the purchase of 300 vehicles in 2008, overcharging state coffers by more than 450,000 euros ($530,000.)

Macedonian PM says Greece agrees to discuss proposed name

May 19, 2018

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said Saturday he is ready to go ahead with a new name for his country in order to solve a decades-long name dispute with Greece and pave the way for full integration of the small Balkan country into the European Union and NATO.

But Greek political leaders briefed by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras rejected the Macedonian proposal outright and the Greek government itself, in a response to Zaev's remarks, was evasive about the particular name proposal.

Zaev said that "Republic of Ilindenska Macedonia" is the compromise name acceptable to both sides. The adjective "Ilindenska," meaning, literally, "the day of the prophet Elijah" refers to a 1903 uprising against Turkish occupiers.

"With this possible solution, we preserve the dignity, we confirm and strengthen our Macedonian identity," Zaev said, but added that final say on the new name will be put to a referendum. Zaev reiterated that Macedonia has no territorial claims to its southern neighbor and confirmed the inviolability of the borders. "Macedonia is ready to confirm this in all necessary ways," Zaev said.

Macedonia was a part of the former Yugoslavia and declared independence in 1991. Greece claims the country's name implies territorial designs on its northern province of Macedonia. He also said that with the new name proposal "we make a complete distinction with the Macedonia region in Greece".

In Athens, premier Tsipras briefed Greece's president and opposition leaders. All the opposition leaders said the name "Ilinden Macedonia" was unacceptable because, as Communist Party leader Dimitris Koutsoumbas said, it is "neither a geographical nor a temporal" designation, as agreed in nearly two decades of talks mediated by the United Nations. Some opposition leaders called the proposal a provocation on Macedonia's part.

A statement released by the Greek government reflected its ambivalence about the name. "We welcome the acceptance by (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) that a solution to the nomenclature cannot exist without the adoption of ... a name for all uses," the statement said, meaning that Macedonians could not simply call their country "Macedonia" domestically, while having another name for international use.

"However, we encourage our neighbors to continue working together to find a commonly accepted name with a geographical or temporal designation, just as the package of proposals tabled by the UN Special Envoy, Matthew Nimetz, also provides," the Greek statement added.

Zaev did not have an easy time with his country's opposition leaders, either. The leader of the main conservative opposition VMRO-DPMNE party Hristijan Mickoski said after meeting with Zaev that his party is against the name change. He reiterated that his party will not support a change of the constitution and of Macedonia's constitutional name "Republic of Macedonia".

Zaev has urged Macedonians to support the proposed name.

Nellas reported from Athens, Greece

New Italian govt vows to create jobs, deport migrants

June 03, 2018

ROME (AP) — Italy's new populist leaders commemorated the founding of the Italian republic by attending a pomp-filled military parade Saturday — and then promised to get to work creating jobs and expelling migrants.

"The free ride is over," League leader Matteo Salvini, Italy's new interior minister, warned migrants at a rally in northern Italy. "It's time to pack your bags." The pledge of mass deportations to come was a reminder that Italy has a staunchly anti-immigrant, right-wing party in its governing coalition — and that the European Union will face a whole new partner governing its fourth-largest economy.

Earlier, Salvini joined Premier Giuseppe Conte and the rest of the newly sworn-in Cabinet to view the Republic Day parade. Italy's aeronautic acrobatic squad flew low and loud over downtown Rome trailing smoke in the red, white and green of the Italian flag.

The national pride on display is a feature of every Republic Day, but it took on a particular significance this year after Italy on Friday ended three months of political and financial turmoil and swore in a government whose populist and euroskeptic leanings have alarmed Europe.

Conte, a law professor plucked from relative obscurity to head an unlikely governing alliance of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and League, said the celebrations Saturday transcended all the tensions of recent days.

"It's the celebration for all of us, of our republic," he said. Conte's Cabinet was sworn in after a last-minute deal averted the threat of a new election that could have turned into a referendum on whether Italy stayed with the shared European euro currency. The political stability relieved financial markets on Friday but Italy's European neighbors continued to express concerns about the euroskeptic bent and the heavy spending agenda of Italy's new government.

"Italy is destroying itself — and dragging down Europe with it," read the headline of Germany's Der Spiegel magazine, the cover of which featured a forkful of spaghetti with one dangling strand tied up as a noose.

While Spiegel is known for such provocations, another Spiegel article last week drew an official protest from Italy's ambassador to Germany. On Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel phoned Conte and invited him to visit soon. Merkel's office said both leaders emphasized the importance of continued close bilateral cooperation.

Conte has so far left policy specifics to the drivers of his improbable rise, his two deputies: Salvini and 5-Star leader Luigi Di Maio. Di Maio, the new economic development minister, reported for work after the parade to his ministry, which would have otherwise been closed for the holiday.

"Starting today, we get to work to create work," Di Maio said in a Facebook video giving Italians a tour of the empty ministry. Di Maio is also the minister for labor, a combination he said made sense since the two ministries must work together.

Offering the new government cautious support was Italy's small, far-right neo-fascist CasaPound party, which held its own Republic Day commemoration on Saturday. Banners featured images of a crossed-out EU flag and "#exIT" written underneath, a reference to calls for Italy to leave the 28-nation bloc.

The 5-Star-League agenda has no such plans, but Conte made clear he was irked by comments this week by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who said Italy had to stop blaming the EU for its problems and must take responsibility to address the poverty in southern Italy.

"That means more work, less corruption. Seriousness," Juncker said in comments his spokeswoman later said he regretted. In an unscripted blast from the parade route, Conte insisted Italy wasn't alone in facing cases of corruption and declared that "we all have to work for legality."

Conte's government faces mandatory confidence votes next week in parliament, where the two governing parties have a slim majority. Republic Day commemorates the day, June 2, 1946, when Italians voted in a referendum to abolish the monarchy in favor of a republic, Italy's first.

The political upheaval that has created western Europe's first populist government this week has been dubbed the start of Italy's Third Republic.

Associated Press writers Frank Jordans and Karin Laub in Berlin contributed to this report.

Populists take power in Italy, with euro-skeptic agenda

June 02, 2018

ROME (AP) — Populists took power in Italy for the first time Friday with the swearing-in of a new government fusing in a coalition a political movement that delights in pillorying the establishment and a party whose anti-migrant, euro-skeptic politics have seen it soar in popularity.

At an oath-taking ceremony in the presidential palace atop Quirinal Hill, the new premier, political novice Giuseppe Conte, and his 18 Cabinet ministers pledged their loyalty to the Italian republic and to the nation's post-war constitution in front of President Sergio Mattarella.

Only five days earlier, the leader of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, Luigi Di Maio, was inciting followers to press for Mattarella's impeachment. The president had invoked his constitutional powers to reject the populists' initial choice for economy minister because he is an advocate of a backup plan to exit from euro-currency membership.

Mattarella's act scuttled Conte's first try to assemble a coalition uniting the forces of Di Maio's 5-Stars and his populist rival Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing League, which is based in the affluent north.

The president approved Conte and a rejiggered Cabinet list Thursday after Paolo Savona was moved from the economy slot to that of the ministry of European affairs. On Friday, a beaming Di Maio stood before Mattarella and recited the loyalty oath — he'll serve as minister of labor and economic development.

The initial failure of Conte to form a government had alarmed financial markets, which feared a quick return to the polls that risked being tantamount to a plebiscite on Italy's keeping the euro currency.

But the markets were reassured by the formation of a new government, which came three months after elections resulted in a political stalemate with no single party or alliance winning control of Parliament.

On Friday, the 5-Stars' clinched their quest for national power, after five years in Parliament as the largest opposition party. Co-founded by comic Beppe Grillo, who rails against an entrenched political "caste," the Movement bills itself as a web-based democratic force, not a traditional political party.

Grillo tweeted euphorically: "If you can dream it, you can do it." Conte was a professor of law at the University of Florence, who had offered ahead of the March election to serve as a 5-Star minister. He became a compromise choice for premier when rivals Di Maio and Salvini refused to let the other hold the top post.

Emphasizing their "anti-establishment" claim, 5-Star ministers, who hold seven of the Cabinet posts, took a single taxi van to the Quirinal Palace. In a Facebook post, Di Maio gushed: "There are a lot of us, and we're ready to launch a government of change to improve the quality of life for all Italians."

Next week the government faces mandatory confidence votes in each chamber of Parliament, where the coalition members hold narrow, but viable majorities. Salvini said he would set straight to work on a campaign pledge to expel many of several hundred thousand asylum-seekers who were rescued at sea from human traffickers over the last few years but are ineligible for asylum.

Public resentment over what was perceived as fellow EU nations' failure to help ease the financial and logistical burden on Italy in caring for the flood of migrants helped boost the League's popularity.

"The immigration question is still burning," Salvini said. The last-minute compromise appointment of Giovanni Tria as economy minister was aimed at calming EU leaders' jitters. He is close to the center-right forces loyal to Silvio Berlusconi, the former premier and billionaire media mogul.

Another Cabinet pick seen as reassuring to those concerned the populists could set Italy drifting from its strong ties with the EU is Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi. A former minister, he teaches European Union law at LUISS, a Rome university championed by a powerful Italian industrialists lobby.

Conte himself acknowledged that the populists are a whole new breed that is leaving some wondering what they will be like. "We're not Martians, and we'll prove it," said the premier, who in a play on his law professor profession promises to be the "defense lawyer" of the Italian people in an "Italians first" government.

Still, the "rest of Europe is looking at Italy with apprehension," wrote Massimo Franco, a political commentator for the newspaper Corriere della Sera. "It fears that it is a laboratory for what can happen in other countries" and hopes that Italy's populist "experiment doesn't turn out to be a disaster."

If the populists make reality of central campaign promises that could swell Italy's already staggering high debt, the EU and financial markets might grow uneasy again. Salvini wants to undo or at least drastically revamp pension reform that raised retirement ages. Di Maio wants to give the jobless and low-income citizens a minimum monthly income of 780 euros (about $930), an electoral pledge that helped secure the Movement's triumph in the unemployment-plagued south.

Some promises have already been broken. Di Maio had vowed never to join in a governing coalition, a form of "establishment" politics that the 5-Star Movement abhors. And Salvini and Di Maio have railed for years about the recent succession of premiers who didn't run for election in Parliament. Their pick for premier, Conte, is now the latest.

The new government delighted leaders of an increasingly bolder far-right in European politics. French leader Marine Le Pen hailed the new government as "a victory of democracy over intimidation and threats from the European Union." Nigel Farage, a British force behind the successful Brexit movement, advised Italy's populists to "stay strong or the bully boys will be after you." He was referring to EU officials who recently evoked dire scenarios for Italians if the populists gained power.

Salvini has branded as "racist" advice from European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for Italians to work harder and be less corrupt instead of blaming their woes on the EU. For decades, the League's forerunner, the Northern League, had branded Italian southerners as lazy, uncouth citizens draining too much development aid from the central government, whose coffers depended on taxpayers in the productive north.

Associated Press writer Nicole Winfield contributed to this report.

Financial turmoil engulfs Italy amid political uncertainty

May 29, 2018

MILAN (AP) — The specter of a financial crisis came back to haunt Italy on Tuesday, as its markets plunged on fears that it is heading toward another election that could shape up to be a referendum on whether to stay in the common currency.

Carlo Cottarelli, a former IMF official, was tapped as premier of a non-political government of technocrats after an attempt by two populist parties to form a government foundered. The president, who in Italy appoints the premier and ministers, had opposed the populists' choice of a euroskeptic economics minister.

Cottarelli was expected to submit his list of ministers to President Sergio Mattarella on Tuesday, but left the president's office without comment after about an hour, unexpectedly delaying the formation of a government. A spokesman for Mattarella said the two would meet again Wednesday morning, and that Cottarelli needed more time to work on the Cabinet.

The Cottarelli government, which would see Italy through a period of uncertainty, seems doomed even before it's created. The populist parties, which got the most votes in the inconclusive March election, have promised to vote against it in a confidence vote. That would force Italy to new elections in the late summer or early fall.

The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the anti-euro League have been emboldened by the president's dismissal of their government in favor of an unelected group of technocrats. They say it shows the establishment ignores the popular vote.

That could raise the stakes for the next election by making it more clearly about whether Italy should reconsider its membership in the euro. "Italy will be wrapped in a long drawn-out period of wrangling that will feature intense anti-establishment and euroskeptic tones," said political analyst Wolfango Piccoli. He said that while he doubted either populist party would embrace a clear euro-exit platform, they would be more combative toward Brussels.

The Milan stock index closed down more than 2.7 percent, burning 17 billion euros in capitalization, and Italian bonds suffered a plunge reminiscent of the worst days of the financial crisis of 2011. The government's borrowing rate for two-year money more than doubled, to 2 percent, indicating a surge in investor concern. The 10-year yield rose to near 3 percent, according to FactSet.

"We should now call this a crisis," said Kit Juckes, an analyst at Societe Generale. Ratings agency Moody's warned that it would cut Italy's rating — now just two notches above junk level — if the next government doesn't present a budget that puts Italy on a trajectory to reduce its debt, now at 132 percent of GDP, the second highest rate in the eurozone after Greece.

If Cottarelli does not pass a vote of confidence, as is nearly certain, his government would not get a chance to set out such a budget. In an annual speech on the state of the Italian economy, Bank of Italy governor Ignazio Visco tried to sound a warning against the tide of populism, saying that "Italy's destiny is that of Europe."

"We are part of a very large and deeply integrated economic area, whose development determines that of Italy and at the same time depends on it," he said. "It is important Italy has an authoritative voice in forums where the future of the European Union is decided," Visco said, referring to upcoming EU decisions regarding the governance of the bloc, multi-year budgets and the revision of financial rules.

Visco warned that investors would flee the system if they see their wealth eroded because of an economic crisis, noting that "foreign investors will follow suit even more quickly. The financial crisis that would ensue would put us back significantly. It would taint Italy's reputation forever."

Addressing populists who have raised fears that outside forces are calling the shots in Italy, he said, "we are not constrained by European rules, but by economic logic."

Newcomer struggles to give Italy 1st populist government

May 25, 2018

ROME (AP) — The law professor tapped to try to form Italy's first populist government spent a second day in talks Friday, a possible indication the political novice was finding tough going in assembling a Cabinet that could keep rival forces together in a coalition.

Giuseppe Conte returned on Friday evening to the presidential palace, some 48 hours after President Sergio Mattarella gave him the mandate in hopes of breaking a political impasse that resulted from inconclusive elections on March 4.

Neither Conte, who left by a palace back door, nor the presidential office immediately issued a statement. But Italian media quoted palace sources as saying Conte came to confer with Mattarella in "informal talks."

A virtual stranger to politics, Conte was the compromise choice of the two populist rivals who, unable to form a government without the help of the other, joined forces to forge a coalition that could get to work giving Italians tax relief and guaranteed income to poor citizens, even if those measures could balloon Italy's debt to unsustainable levels.

Those rivals are Matteo Salvini, who leads the right-wing, northern-based League, and Luigi Di Maio, head of the 5-Star Movement, whose pledge to guarantee a basic income to the unemployed helped it triumph in the economically lagging south in the elections for parliament.

Salvini, Di Maio and Conte huddled earlier in the day in Rome. "We're working to give a government of change to this country," Conte tweeted, but otherwise was tight-lipped about how his efforts were going.

Nervousness about what could be a government hostile to European Union insistence on fiscally sound measures has rattled the bond markets. On Friday, the benchmark spread of points between 10-year Italian bonds and German bonds climbed past 200 points.

One thorny question has been the choice of economy minister. Salvini has been pushing for a former minister, Paolo Savona, who has likened Italy's being a member of the common euro currency to being enclosed in a "German cage," a reference to Berlin's stress on austerity measures for debt-ridden countries like Italy.

Mattarella, whose role as head of state includes approving a new government's Cabinet picks, is staunchly pro-euro. Di Maio glossed over any difficulties in agreeing on a Cabinet team, telling reporters that the three were perfectly in synch.

Outgoing Premier Paolo Gentiloni assembled staff Friday to thank them, as his hours in power as the head of a Democratic Party-led government neared their end. The Democrats were trashed in the March elections.

Before wishing all "good luck," Gentiloni had some words of caution to a nation on the brink of a populist-led government. Referring to the Democrats' five years in power, when the Italian economy began growing again but apparently too slowly to convince voters, Gentiloni said that "alas, to go off track, only a few months, or even just a few weeks" is all it takes to reverse recovery.

Shortly before Conte went to confer with the president, Salvini flew to Milan, apparently for family reasons, but another sign that no new government was about to be born. Salvini, thwarted in his aim to become premier, is keen on becoming interior minister to push his League's hard line against migrants.

Earlier on Friday, Conte met with Italy's central bank chief. On Thursday, Conte had met with some of the individual investors who lost their savings after several small banks failed. While the outgoing government has covered a very small part of the losses, Conte says he intends to make awarding damages a priority.

Europe looks for deeds, not words from Italy's new populists

May 24, 2018

ROME (AP) — Italy's premier-designate Giuseppe Conte spent his first day on the job Thursday finalizing his proposed cabinet list as European officials vowed to judge deeds, not words from a decidedly euroskeptic and populist Italy in their ranks.

Conte, a law professor and political unknown, received a mandate from President Sergio Mattarella on Wednesday to try to form a government after the 5-Star Movement and anti-immigrant League pitched him as their candidate for premier after two months of political deadlock.

Speculation swirled Thursday over his proposed cabinet list, which he must present to Mattarella before the government can be sworn in and put to confidence votes in parliament. League leader Matteo Salvini doubled down in insisting on his pick for economy minister, Paolo Savona, saying Italians should cheer that someone will finally represent their interests in Brussels.

"It seems that in the past he had some doubts about the use or effectiveness of the euro," Salvini said in a Facebook Live post. But Salvini said he would be proud to work alongside someone with Savona's experience: The 81-year-old was industry minister in the 1990s and has held a series of positions in government, industry and banking.

Conte, meanwhile, spent Thursday in scheduled consultations with a steady stream of political leaders, with both left and right expressing concern about the 5-Star-League government program he has vowed to implement.

Beatrice Lorenzin, former health minister and head of a small leftist party, urged the incoming health minister to make decisions based on science and evidence — a reference to the 5-Star pledge to undo the expanded obligatory vaccination program that was a hallmark of Lorenzin's tenure and passed during a deadly measles outbreak.

In Brussels, meanwhile, finance ministers gathering for a Eurogroup meeting expressed relief at Conte's pledge to respect Italy's European commitments. "We all took positive note of the first declarations of the president of the Italian council (of ministers) who committed to respect the European rules," said French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire. "It is a positive signal and we want to work constructively with Italy and we will judge it on its actions."

As recently as last week, Le Maire had warned that the eurozone's financial stability could be threatened if a populist government blows Italy's deficit commitments. The 5-Star-League government program calls for a host of budget-busting measures, with little detail on financing, including a basic income for needy Italians and a two-tier flat tax that is expected to add to Italy's debt load, already Europe's heaviest after Greece.

Emerging from Mattarella's office Wednesday, Conte vowed to implement the program, saying Italians were waiting for a "government of change" and that he couldn't wait to get to work to deliver it. But he also sought to reassure allies and markets that Italy would respect its European and international obligations, particularly as the EU begins budget negotiations.

"Deeds count more than words," responded Margaritis Schinas, spokesman of the European Commission, when asked at the daily briefing about Conte's assurances.

Court rules Italy's Berlusconi can run for office again

May 12, 2018

ROME (AP) — A court in Italy has ruled that former three-time Premier Silvio Berlusconi is eligible to seek public office again, nearly five years after a tax fraud conviction sidelined him as a candidate and amid political gridlock that could result in a second national election this year.

Milan daily newspaper Corriere della Sera reported Saturday that Milan's Surveillance Tribunal made the decision after reviewing a request from lawyers for the 81-year-old Berlusconi, a media mogul who founded a center-right political party a quarter-century ago.

Berlusconi gave "effective and constant proof of good conduct" after carrying out his punishment, Italian news agency ANSA quoted the tribunal judges as concluding. The development means Berlusconi could seek a political rebound by pursuing a fourth term as premier when the nation next returns to the ballot box, which could happen in a matter of months.

Italy's president has warned that if squabbling political leaders fail to form a viable coalition government following an inconclusive parliamentary election in March, he would install a caretaker head of government and seek another vote.

The ban on his seeking or holding public office was due to expire in 2019. But Corriere della Sera said the tribunal ruled Friday that Berlusconi already had been "rehabilitated." "Silvio Berlusconi can finally return to the playing field," Mara Carfagna, a leader of the ex-premier's Forza Italia party. "The 'rehabilitation' by the Milan Surveillance Court puts an end to a judicial persecution and a cavalry that didn't chip away at the strength of great leadership, that, in a profoundly changed political scenario, is today still fundamental and central."

Milan Prosecutor General Roberto Alfonso said prosecutors have 15 days to decide if they will appeal the tribunal's decision. In October 2012, Berlusconi was found guilty of committing tax fraud as part of his vast business dealings. Italy's highest criminal court upheld his conviction the next year.

Because a 2012 law stipulated that anyone sentenced to more than two years in prison is ineligible to hold or run for public office for six years, Berlusconi had to relinquish his Senate seat. He had been sentenced to four years, but three were shaved off under an amnesty aimed at reducing crowding in Italy's prisons. The clock on the ban started running with the appeals court decision in 2013.

Berlusconi then had the option to serve out the remaining time doing public service. He did so, helping residents at a facility for Alzheimer's patients. Berlusconi bitterly complained he was treated unfairly, since the 2012 law took effect after the tax fraud. The European Court of Human Rights is expected to rule this year on his appeal of the law's application to him.

Thus sidelined, Berlusconi was forced to sit out this year's parliamentary election. The March 4 election resulted in a legislature sharply divided into three factions, one of them a center-right alliance made up of Berlusconi's Forza Italia and the anti-migrant League party.

But with Berlusconi ineligible to seek a fourth stint as premier, right-leaning voters made the League the center-right's biggest vote getter. For days now, League leader Matteo Salvini has been trying to hash out a deal with a rival populist, Luigi Di Maio, whose 5-Star Movement emerged as Parliament's largest party.

Di Maio, arriving in Milan for his latest bargaining session with Salvini, told reporters who asked if Berlusconi's "rehabilitation" would affect the dealing to form a government, "absolutely no." During the campaign, Berlusconi disparaged the euroskeptic 5-Stars as "more dangerous than communists," and he has refused to back a government coalition with them.

Forza Italia votes would give a Salvini-Di Maio coalition an edge in the required confidence votes in Parliament for any new government. Salvini hailed Berlusconi's regaining his right to run as "good news for him — I'm really happy about it — and above all, good for democracy."

President Sergio Mattarella said Monday that if Italy's bickering political leaders can't form a government soon, he would appoint a non-political premier to govern until the end of the year at the latest. That scenario would bring another election years ahead of the 2023 due date.

Some Irish Catholics worried, dismayed after abortion vote

May 27, 2018

DUBLIN (AP) — Irish Catholics attending Sunday Mass were disappointed with the result of a referendum in which voters opted to legalize abortion and think it reflects the weakening of the Church — a situation that was unthinkable in Ireland a generation ago.

There was no mention of the referendum during the sermon at St. Mary's Pro Cathedral, but it was weighing heavily on the minds of some worshipers as they left the Mass in central Dublin. Ireland voted by a roughly two-to-one margin Friday to end a constitutional ban on abortion, and parliament is expected to approve a more liberal set of laws governing the termination of pregnancies.

Some worshipers said the overwhelming victory of abortion rights activists seeking the repeal of the Eighth Amendment of the constitution reflects a weakening of the Catholic Church's historic influence and fills them with dread for Ireland's future.

"I think the 'yes' vote was an anti-Church vote," said Annemarie McCarrick, referring to the "yes" vote in favor of ending the constitutional ban. The 52-year-old lecturer said on the cathedral steps that a series of sex abuse scandals had undermined the influence of the Church in Ireland. She said the Church had in recent weeks taken a "quiet" stand against repeal, but hadn't been able to sway people.

"I am religious but the Church has definitely lost influence here because of the scandals," she said. "The people will not take direction from the Church anymore. It's hard for the Church to have credibility."

Recent census figures show a small decline in the number of Catholics in Ireland, but it remains by far the dominant religion. Frank Gaynor, a 75-year-old retiree, said after the Mass that he never imagined the vote in favor of abortion rights would be so lopsided.

He said he was troubled by the way the "yes" campaign used the case of Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old dentist who died of sepsis during a prolonged miscarriage after being denied an abortion in Galway in 2012, to drum up support for repeal.

"I was disappointed to see the tragic death of Savita being shamelessly used as an excuse for introducing abortion into a country," he said. "That was a sepsis issue that was mishandled. Not an Eighth Amendment issue."

He felt alienated by the campaign: "It's extraordinary the way the campaign focused so much on 'me, me, me,' the rights of the mother, and very little mention of the unborn child. That was sidelined."

With the vote decided, attention is turning to Ireland's parliament, which will make new laws to govern abortions. The referendum vote ended a harsh anti-abortion regime enacted in 1983 that required doctors to regard the rights of a fetus, from the moment of conception, as equal to the rights of the mother.

In practice, it meant Irish women had to travel abroad for terminations. The nationwide rejection of the amendment represented a growing tolerance on social issues in the traditionally Roman Catholic country.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar hailed the vote as bringing a new era to Ireland. He said it will be remembered as "the day Ireland stepped out from under the last of our shadows and into the light. The day we came of age as a country. The day we took our place among the nations of the world."

His government will propose that abortions be permissible in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. It isn't yet clear what strategy abortion opponents will use in parliament in light of the unexpectedly large vote in favor of repeal. Some opposition figures have indicated they won't block legislation because they must respect the public will.

The decisive outcome of the landmark referendum was cast as a historic victory for women's rights. Exit polls indicated that the repeal was endorsed in urban and rural areas alike, with strong support from both men and women.

Backing for repeal was highest among young voters, including many who returned from jobs or universities in continental Europe to vote, but was also high among every age group except those 65 or older.

Since 1983, the Eighth Amendment had forced women seeking to terminate pregnancies to go abroad for abortions, bear children conceived through rape or incest, or take risky illegal measures at home.