Witness: Navy SEAL called dead prisoner an 'ISIS dirtbag'

June 20, 2019

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A decorated Navy SEAL suddenly plunged a knife into the neck of a wounded young Islamic State prisoner, killing him, and later scoffed that he was "just an ISIS dirtbag," former comrades testified at a war crimes trial.

Dylan Dille and Craig Miller took the stand Wednesday at the San Diego court-martial of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, who has pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder stemming from his 2017 tour of duty in Iraq.

More former SEALs were expected to testify on Thursday in a case that has drawn the attention of President Donald Trump and revealed a rare rift in the typically tightknit elite special forces. Testifying on the second day of trial, Dille said when a radio call announced the prisoner was wounded on May 3, 2017, Gallagher replied: "Don't touch him, he's all mine."

The captive was on the hood of a Humvee fading in an out of consciousness with only a minor leg wound visible when Iraqi forces delivered him to a SEAL compound in Mosul. Dille said he was not the grizzled warrior he expected to find.

"He looked about 12 years old," Dille said. "He had a wrist watch around his bicep. He was rail thin." Gallagher, a trained medic, began treating the boy's injuries. When he applied pressure to his leg wound, the boy shot up in pain.

Miller, a then-Special Warfare Operator 1st Class who has since been promoted to chief, said he put his foot on the boy's chest to keep him down. Miller briefly stepped away and said when he returned he saw Gallagher unexpectedly plunge a knife twice into the boy's neck "right here on the right side in the jugular vein," he said tapping the spot above the collar of his dress whites.

Blood spurted out and another SEAL jumped back and grabbed his medical bag, Miller said. Defense lawyers say Gallagher treated the prisoner for a collapsed lung suffered in a blast from an air strike. He made an incision in his throat to insert a tube to clear the airway.

They claim that disgruntled sailors fabricated the murder accusations because he was a demanding platoon leader and they didn't want him promoted. Miller said he immediately reported the stabbing to an officer, but didn't pursue a more formal complaint until months after returning from deployment.

He acknowledged he never took photos of the enemy's wounds or tried to document the incident. No corpse was ever recovered, no autopsy was performed and no forensic evidence was gathered. Miller struggled with recalling details from that day. He didn't remember the platoon flying a drone over the dead body — not even after seeing video in court that showed him smiling nearby.

After the boy died, Gallagher's re-enlistment ceremony was conducted next to the corpse. Miller and other troops were in photos of the event. Later that day, Dille said Gallagher confronted him and other senior enlisted men and said he knew they were upset with what happened.

"This was just an ISIS dirtbag," Dille said Gallagher told the group. Defense lawyer Tim Parlatore questioned why Dille never confronted Gallagher or reported him to superiors until after deployment. Parlatore also accused Dille, Miller and other officers who discussed concerns about Gallagher in a chat room of coordinating a campaign to oust Gallagher.

"My truth is watertight, Mr. Parlatore," Dille said. Dille also said that he also believed Gallagher had fired at Iraqi civilians from a sniper's position several times, including an instance on June 18, 2017, when an old man was shot by the Tigris River.

Dille was also a sniper and was near Gallagher during the shootings but didn't see him pull the trigger. After hearing a gunshot coming from Gallagher's position and seeing the old man fall, Dille said he looked through his scope and saw the man bleeding through his white clothing. He said Gallagher then radioed that he thought he had missed the old man.

Defense lawyer Marc Mukasey objected to the testimony, saying descriptions of the alleged shootings were "wildly vague." Gallagher, who served eight tours of duty and earned two Bronze Stars for valor, was in the courtroom in his dress uniform with a chest full of medals. His wife, parents and brother also attended.

His family has lobbied intensely for his freedom, claiming he was being treated unfairly. Congressional Republicans took up his cause and prevailed on Trump to release Gallagher from the brig into better conditions in a military hospital. Trump also is reportedly considering a pardon for Gallagher.

A judge released Gallagher from custody last month after prosecutors violated his constitutional rights by tracking defense attorney emails in an effort to find who leaked court documents to reporters.

Melley reported from Los Angeles.

Aldo Dávila set to be Guatemala's 1st openly gay congressman

June 21, 2019

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Aldo Iván Dávila Morales is poised to take up a seat in Guatemala's congress in January, making history as the first openly gay man elected to the country's legislature. Proudly gay and living with HIV, the 41-year-old activist says the rainbow flag will not be his only cause. He intends to begin his congressional career with three main agenda points: Fighting endemic corruption, ensuring Guatemalans' right to health care and defending human rights, with a focus on the LGBTQ community.

"I'm happy, with a lot of mixed feelings," Dávila said in an interview with The Associated Press. "The worry is I'm putting myself in a snake pit. But at the same time I'm no slouch, and I'm ready and able to fight when it needs to be done."

While it hasn't been officially confirmed by electoral authorities, experts say Dávila's left-wing Winaq party won four congressional seats in Sunday's general election, and he is set to represent a Guatemala City district.

"People have to see me as just another citizen, since I was elected democratically," Dávila said. Guatemala has taken baby steps toward guaranteeing LGBTQ rights, such as adopting measures to identify hate crimes against members of the community and allowing people to change their legal names and choose how they appear in photos on official IDs, which let transgender people better express their identity.

It remains a socially conservative society, however, with the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant faiths dominant. Prejudice and fears over HIV are deeply rooted, and LGTBQ people have historically been the targets of discrimination and sometimes assault, although such treatment is slowly becoming less socially acceptable.

Neither Dávila's name nor photo was on the ballot — only the name of his party — and he didn't emphasize his sexuality during the campaign. So Gabriela Tuch, a lawyer and former human rights prosecutor focusing on the LGBTQ community, said his election can't be attributed to any significant shift in attitudes.

"It's not that society has said, 'A gay man, affirmative action, let's vote for him,'" Tuch said. "He was favored by the votes and the position he was in. Now the challenge begins." One of the congressman-elect's first battles will be opposing a bill proposed by the conservative party that would criminalize abortion and codify into law that same-sex couples are barred from marrying or adopting children. He also intends to propose a new commission that would report and investigate all kinds of discrimination.

"You cannot be a spectator when your country is falling apart," Dávila said. "You have to take a leading role." That's why Dávila was motivated to accept an offer to run for the party, founded in 2009 by Nobel Peace Prize-winner Rigoberta Menchú.

Dávila lives in Guatemala City with his partner of 19 years and their gray Schnauzer, Valentino. Dávila said both inspire his activism and political participation. He said he considers himself lucky because he has the love and support of family members who were always open and accepting of his sexuality. His mother went with him to the country's first Pride march in 2000.

Until recently Dávila was the director of Positive People, an organization supporting those living with HIV. He said that people have often come to him with complaints about discrimination, and that he himself was once dismissed from a job.

"Look, here are my diplomas and my trophies," Dávila said. "But they fired me because they found out that I'm gay, and that's how things are here." Dávila said that when he was 22 he suffered from meningitis, which ultimately led him to discover that he had HIV. Today he is in good health, but he knows some may not understand how the virus is transmitted and may be afraid.

"It's very hard, of course, that they're not even going to want to sit next to me," he said. "In this country people should no longer be dying of AIDS," Dávila continued. "It's the stigma and the discrimination that kill you, and the lack of medicine."

José Arriaza, a 24-year-old who identifies as queer, said Dávila's election gives him hope because he now sees himself being represented. Guatemalans will have to learn to accept diversity, he added. He "isn't your typical privileged white man, like a majority of the congressmen nowadays," Arriaza said. "For me he's an example to follow, because he is someone empowered with ideals that help the community."

Carlos Valenzuela, a 36-year-old openly gay business administrator, agreed. "It's fantastic because what we most want is to feel represented," Valenzuela said. "All minorities should be represented." Dávila said his path was paved by Sandra Morán, the first Guatemalan lawmaker who openly identified as lesbian.

"She is a courageous woman who inspired me," he said. But she didn't have it easy, and was even insulted on occasion by some of her colleagues over her sexual orientation. Dávila, who said he's been subjected to verbal abuse since he was young, is prepared to possibly go through the same thing.

"A worker at congress called me and congratulated me and told me to prepare myself," Dávila said. "But I will try to not respond to the attacks." "With all the homophobia there is," he added, "they could even boot me from my seat."

Dávila criticized those who have pushed legislation limiting sexual diversity rights and said he does not believe Guatemalan society will change its views in the short term. "We have to do a lot of work on educating, in demanding that the state be secular and for the church to stop intervening in things that don't concern it," he said. "We need to rule with the Constitution and not the Bible."

Trudeau promises support for Ukraine in wake of Russian 'aggression'

Toronto, Canada (AFP)
July 2, 2019

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau promised Tuesday to support Ukraine in the wake of Russian "aggression," after a meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Toronto.

The two leaders met while Zelensky was in Toronto on his first visit to North America to participate in a conference on Ukrainian reforms.

"In the wake of Russian aggression and attempts to undermine Ukraine's sovereignty, including the illegal annexation of Crimea, it's all the more important for countries like Canada to stand alongside its partner," said Trudeau during a press conference with the newly-inducted Ukrainian president.

"Russia's actions are not only a threat to Ukraine but to international law," Trudeau said.

The conference, which ends Thursday, brings together representatives from 30 countries, the European Union, and international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and NATO.

Trudeau added he was "dismayed" that Russia was reinstated in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), after the country was stripped of its voting rights in the pan-European rights body in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea.

Trudeau noted that the reinstatement came despite Russia "having not liberated the Ukrainian sailors" detained in the country since November 2018, as well as three Ukrainian naval vessels, which were seized in the Kerch Strait at the same time.

Zelensky said he was "disappointed" by the Council's decision. In protest, Ukraine announced Tuesday it was withdrawing its invitation to PACE monitors to observe parliamentary elections to be held on July 21.

Trudeau and Zelensky also discussed Canadian arms sales and Canada's military training mission in Ukraine.

In March, Ottawa renewed its mission of some 200 Canadian troops deployed to Ukraine until the end of March 2022.

Since 2015, Canada has so far trained nearly 11,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

Regarding Ukrainian reforms, Trudeau said there has been "much improvement" in the last few years, which he believes will continue, particularly in the fight against corruption.

The Canadian leader said he is convinced that with the election of Zelensky, a former comedian who took office in May, there will be "even more positive steps" in Ukraine.

"We will be patient because there is a lot of work to do," Trudeau said.

Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland also announced $45 million in additional Canadian assistance to Ukraine in support of its reforms and a proposed national police force.

Since 2014, Canada -- the first Western country to recognize Ukraine's independence in December 1991 and home to a large Ukrainian diaspora -- has provided the country more than $785 million in aid.

Freeland also condemned Russia's decision to issue Russian passports to Ukrainian citizens in the Donbass region, a disputed area in eastern Ukraine that is a hotbed of pro-Russian separatism.

"Starting today, Canada will take action to ensure that these passports cannot be used to travel to Canada. We encourage our partners to do likewise," she said.

The armed conflict between Ukrainian forces and the pro-Russian separatists has claimed 13,000 lives since 2014.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Trudeau_promises_support_for_Ukraine_in_wake_of_Russian_aggression_999.html.

Ethiopia says military chief killed, regional coup failed

June 23, 2019

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia's military chief was shot to death by his bodyguard amid a failed coup attempt against a regional government north of the capital, Addis Ababa, the prime minister said Sunday.

The abortive coup Saturday in the Amhara region was led by a high-ranking military officer and others in the armed forces, said Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who addressed the nation on state TV at 2 a.m. while wearing fatigues.

The soldiers attacked a building where a meeting of regional officials was taking place, said Nigussu Tilahun, a spokesman for the prime minister. The regional governor and an adviser were killed, while the attorney general was wounded, he said.

Not long after afterward, army chief Gen. Seare Mekonnen who assassinated at his home in Addis Ababa, and a retired army general visiting him was also killed, the spokesman said. "There is a link between the two attacks," Nigussu said without elaborating.

The attack in Bahir Dar, the capital of Amhara, was led by a renegade brigadier who had recently been pardoned by the prime minister after being jailed by the previous government, authorities said. Most of the perpetrators were captured, and others were being hunted down, the spokesman said.

The brigadier remained at large, according to two officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Addis Ababa was peaceful on Sunday as soldiers stood guard in Meskel Square and set up roadblocks throughout the city. Ethiopia's internet appeared to be shut down.

The attempted coup was the latest challenge to Abiy, who was elected last year. The 42-year-old Abiy has captured the imagination of many with his political and economic reforms, including the surprise acceptance of a peace agreement with Eritrea, the opening of major state-owned sectors to private investment and the release of thousands of prisoners, including opposition figures once sentenced to death.

Last June, a grenade meant for Abiy wounded many people at a big rally. Nine police officials were arrested, state media reported. In October, rebellious soldiers protested over pay and invaded Abiy's office, but the prime minister was able to defuse the situation.

Ethiopia is a key regional ally of the U.S. in the restive Horn of Africa region. Tibor Nagy, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Africa, said the latest violence was a "shock, but it could have turned out so much worse," adding: "Thankfully Prime Minister Abiy escaped this attempt, because there are many, many more people in Ethiopia who support his reforms than those who are opposed to them."

Speaking in South Africa, Nagy said "there are vestiges of the old regime" who are opposed to Abiy. "I wish I could say that this is will be the last of these attempts, but no one can be certain," Nagy said.

In Addis Ababa, politicians and government officials went to the home of the slain army chief to offer condolences to his family.

AP journalist Andrew Meldrum in Pretoria, South Africa, contributed.

North Korea hails 'historic' Kim-Trump summit

By Sunghee Hwang
Seoul (AFP)
July 1, 2019

North Korea on Monday hailed the weekend meeting between leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in the Demilitarized Zone as "historic", as analysts said Pyongyang was looking to shape the narrative to its own agenda.

The two leaders agreed to "resume and push forward productive dialogues for making a new breakthrough in the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula", the official Korean Central News Agency said.

After a Twitter invitation by the US president on Saturday, the two men met a day later in the strip of land that has divided the peninsula for 66 years since the end of the Korean War, when the two countries and their allies fought each other to a standstill.

Kim and Trump shook hands over the concrete slabs dividing North and South before Trump walked a few paces into Pyongyang's territory -- the first US president ever to set foot on North Korean soil.

"The top leaders of the DPRK and the US exchanging historic handshakes at Panmunjom" was an "amazing event", KCNA said, describing the truce village as a "place that had been known as the symbol of division" and referring to past "inglorious relations" between the countries.

The impromptu meeting in the DMZ -- where the US president said they agreed to resume working-level talks within weeks on the North's nuclear program -- was full of symbolism.

Trump's border-crossing -- which he said was uncertain until the last moment -- was an extraordinary sequel to the scene at Kim's first summit with Moon Jae-in last year, when the young leader invited the South Korean president to walk over the Military Demarcation Line, as the border is officially known.

"It was an honor that you asked me to step over that line, and I was proud to step over the line," Trump told Kim.

Pictures from the meeting -- including a sequence of images from the two men emerging from opposite sides for a handshake and a skip across the border -- were splashed across the front page of the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper, which carried 35 images in total.

Shin Beom-chul, an analyst at the Asan Institute of Policy Studies, said the KCNA report was "typical North Korean propaganda that glorified Kim as leading the tremendous changes in geopolitics".

- 'Mysterious force' -

Analysts have been divided by Sunday's events, some saying they spurred new momentum into deadlocked nuclear talks, while others described them as "reality show theatrics".

The first Trump-Kim summit took place in a blaze of publicity in Singapore last year but produced only a vaguely worded pledge about denuclearisation.

A second meeting in Vietnam in February collapsed after the pair failed to reach an agreement over sanctions relief and what the North was willing to give in return.

Contact between the two sides has since been minimal -- with Pyongyang issuing frequent criticisms of the US position -- but the two leaders exchanged a series of letters before Trump issued his offer to meet at the DMZ.

Regional powerhouse China on Monday said renewed discussions between North Korea and the United States are of "great significance".

"It is hoped that all parties concerned will seize the opportunity, move in the same direction, actively explore effective solutions to each other's concerns and make progress on the peninsula," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters in Beijing.

Trump's historic gesture came over a week after Xi Jinping made the first visit to Pyongyang by a Chinese president in 14 years -- a trip which analysts had said Xi may use as leverage in his own trade talks with Trump that concluded with a truce at the G20.

As well as the working-level talks, Trump also floated the idea of sanctions relief -- repeatedly demanded by Pyongyang -- and said he invited the North Korean leader to the White House.

Such a trip would have to come "at the right time", he added.

KCNA was less specific, saying Kim and Trump discussed "issues of mutual concern and interest which become a stumbling block".

Trump regularly calls Kim a "friend" and KCNA cited the North Korean leader as lauding their "good personal relations", saying they would "produce good results unpredictable by others and work as a mysterious force overcoming manifold difficulties and obstacles".

Vipin Narang of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said the North was portraying Kim as "being courted by Trump"...

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/North_Korea_hails_historic_Kim-Trump_summit_999.html.

Taiwan braces for pro-China fake news deluge as elections loom

By Amber Wang
Taipei (AFP)
June 27, 2019

With a presidential election looming Taiwan is bracing for a deluge of fake news and disinformation -- much of it emanating from China and aimed at making sure Beijing's preferred party wins the day, analysts say.

Torrential rain did little to put off tens of thousands of people rallying in Taipei last Sunday against what they have dubbed the "red media".

The term is used to describe both legitimate news outlets and more opaque online sources that flood the democratic island with either pro-China coverage or outright disinformation.

"I don't want to see 'red forces' invading Taiwan to control the media and manipulate what people think, to fool the public," Alan Chang, a 30-year-old businessman attending the rally, told AFP.

Taiwan goes to the polls in January and the contest is set to be dominated by relations with China.

The island has been a self-ruled de facto nation in charge of its own affairs and borders for the last 70 years.

But Beijing maintains Taiwan is part of its territory and has never given up its threat to retake it, by force if necessary.

It has stopped communication with the government of President Tsai Ing-wen, who is seeking a second term, because she refuses to acknowledge the island is part of "one China", while ramping up military drills and poaching Taiwan's dwindling diplomatic allies.

Tsai's main challenger is the Kuomintang which favors much warmer ties with the Chinese mainland and is the party Beijing wants to see back in power.

- Fake rescue -

"The stakes for the 2020 elections are high, as they will determine Taiwan's future direction," J Michael Cole, a Taipei-based expert at the University of Nottingham's Taiwan Studies Programme, told AFP, adding fake news was already at "alarming levels".

"So (Beijing) will intensify its influence operations -- including fake news -- to increase the odds that someone other than Tsai is elected," he added.

One particularly egregious example that sparked criticism of the government was a widely shared, but patently false, report that China rescued Taiwanese tourists stranded in a Japanese airport during a typhoon.

Last week Tsai's office also asked police to investigate false claims on social media that her government had given US$32 million to finance huge anti-government rallies in Hong Kong.

Hu Yuan-hui, head of the Fact Checking Centre in Taipei, said the viral nature of disinformation is aided by many Taiwanese people using Chinese social media and messaging services.

"They (fake reports) tend to highlight the contrast between Taiwan and China to try to portray a chaotic Taiwan versus a strong China," he told AFP.

Last November, Tsai's party was hammered in local elections, largely due to a backlash over domestic reforms and a divisive push for gay marriage equality.

But analysts said there was also a surge in fake news items ahead of those polls.

- Media literacy -

A study by Wang Tai-li, a journalism professor at National Taiwan University, found 54 percent of people surveyed were unable to distinguish the fabricated report about Chinese evacuating people during the typhoon, which went viral ahead of the November vote.

"Disinformation campaigns were proven effective last year and they will be replicated in larger scale during the upcoming presidential election," Wang predicted.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said the false typhoon evacuation story originated on the Chinese mainland and was picked up by Taiwan's social and traditional media, in a "carefully coordinated and extremely effective disinformation campaign".

"Beijing has been targeting Taiwan with disinformation campaigns for decades... However, it is only recently that social networks have enabled these activities to have a viral impact," RSF said.

US officials have also said Taiwan is "on the frontlines" of China's disinformation campaigns.

"There is no question, at least in our minds, that China will try to meddle, they've done it in every previous election," Randall Schriver, US assistant defense secretary for Asian and Pacific security affairs, said last week.

Source: Sino Daily.
Link: http://www.sinodaily.com/reports/Taiwan_braces_for_pro-China_fake_news_deluge_as_elections_loom_999.html.

China locks down Xinjiang a decade after deadly ethnic riots

July 06, 2019

ISTANBUL (AP) — A decade after deadly riots tore through his hometown, Kamilane Abudushalamu still vividly recalls the violence that left him an exile. On July 5, 2009, Abudushalamu was hiding with his father on the 10th floor of an office tower in Urumqi, the capital of China's Xinjiang region that is home to the Turkic Uighur ethnic minority. By a park, he spotted a bus on fire. Then he heard a crack as a motorcycle nearby exploded.

Hours later, when he and his father stepped out to sprint home, he saw crowds of Uighurs stabbing Han Chinese in front of a middle school. The bodies of half a dozen people lay scattered on the streets — just a fraction of the estimated 200 killed that night.

Abudushalamu and tens of thousands of other Uighurs now live in Turkey, cut off from friends and family back home. Analysts say the Urumqi riots set in motion the harsh security measures now in place across Xinjiang, where about 1 million Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Muslims are estimated to be held in heavily guarded internment camps. Former detainees have told The Associated Press that within, they are subject to indoctrination and psychological torture.

Abudushalamu was just 9 years old when the riots took place. At the time, he knew he was witnessing something terrible, but he never imagined where the following years would lead. "I thought Han and Uighur people could be at peace," he said. "The camps? I never thought that would happen."

DECADES OF RESENTMENT

The riots started as a peaceful protest.

Weeks before, Han workers killed at least two Uighur migrants in a brawl at a toy factory in Shaoguan, an industrial city in China's coastal Guangdong province. The Han workers were angry about the alleged rapes of Han women by Uighur men, though a government investigation later concluded there was no evidence such an assault had taken place.

Images and videos of the brawl quickly circulated among Uighurs back in Xinjiang, including gory scenes of what appeared to be a Han Chinese man dragging a dead Uighur by his hair.

The videos enraged many Uighurs long upset with the Han-dominated government that took control of their region following the Communist revolution in 1949.

The litany of complaints was long: heavy restrictions on religious education, discrimination against college-educated Uighurs looking for jobs, subsidies and benefits for Han migrants to settle on lands once owned by Uighurs.

Among the most odious were threats from state officials of fines or even jail time if parents didn't send their young, unmarried daughters to work in factories in inner China. "Hashar," a program that forced farmers to pave roads, dig ditches, and clear land for crops for the government for no pay fueled further resentment.

The killed Uighur workers had been on a state employment program, sent more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) from home. For many, their deaths crystallized everything that was wrong about Beijing's heavy-handed interventionist policies — and the belittling racism they felt they were subjected to by the Han Chinese.

The images spurred Urumqi students to organize a protest on July 5 demanding a government investigation. Demonstrators were stopped by police in the late afternoon, and tensions mounted until officers opened fire, Uighur witnesses say.

Two students present at the protests told AP that they were shot at. One recalled that as he turned and ran, bullets whizzed by his head and others around him dropped to the ground.

Furious Uighurs attacked Han civilians on the streets. An estimated 200 people were killed — stabbed, beaten or burned alive in the melees that followed. Uighurs smashed storefronts, overturned cars and buses and set some ablaze.

THE CRACKDOWN DESCENDS

Abudushalamu hid with his family for days as mobs of Uighurs and Han killed each other in cycles of bloody revenge.

When they stepped outside a few days later, the streets were eerily empty, Abudushalamu said. Then the police arrived and started shooting.

"Two maybe SWAT team (members) came after me and shot at me," said Abudushalamu, now 19. "The bullet went through right behind my right ear. I'm lucky I'm still alive."

In the days after the violence on July 5, 2009, Beijing had sent in thousands of troops to restore order. For weeks, they fired tear gas, raided businesses and swept through Uighur neighborhoods to arrest hundreds, many of whom were punished with decades in prison. The entire region of 20 million people was cut off from the internet for months in an attempt to curtail use of social media.

Normality had returned, but Xinjiang was never quite the same. Ethnic divisions hardened. Han Chinese avoided Uighur neighborhoods, and vice versa. Many Han Chinese steered clear of the whole of the region's south, home to most of Xinjiang's Uighurs, because they believed it was too dangerous.

Experts say that July 5 and the subsequent crackdown was a "turning point."

"From that moment on, China took a very hard-line position toward the control of religion and the control of minority ethnic groups in the region," said Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International's regional director for East and Southeast Asia. "It increased dramatically its security operation. That really is what led to the situation today."

UNITED "LIKE POMEGRANATE SEEDS"

In the following years, a series of violent terror attacks rocked Xinjiang and elsewhere. Dozens of civilians were hacked to death at a busy train station in China's south. A Uighur drove a car into crowds at Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Forty-three died when men threw bombs from two sports utility vehicles plowing through a busy market street in Urumqi.

When newly appointed Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Xinjiang in 2014, bombs tore through an Urumqi train station, killing three and injuring 79. In a Xinjiang work conference shortly afterward, Xi called on the state to integrate different ethnicities and remold religion to ward off extremism.

"The more separatists attempt to sabotage our ethnic unity, the more we should try to reinforce it," state media quoted Xi as saying. China's ethnicities, Xi said, could and should be united like "the seeds of a pomegranate."

Already tight limits on religion, culture, education and dress tightened even further, with restrictions on long beards and headscarves and the detentions of prominent Uighur academics and literary figures who were widely considered moderate advocates of traditional Uighur culture.

After a new party secretary was appointed to take control of Xinjiang in 2016, thousands began to vanish into a vast network of prison-like camps. Beijing calls them "vocational training centers" designed to ward off terrorism and root out extremist thoughts, but former detainees describe them as indoctrination centers which arbitrarily confine their inmates and subject them to torture and food deprivation.

That same year, Abudushalamu's father had taken him to Turkey to study at a boarding school and then returned to China. The following June, he stopped responding to messages, and Abudushalamu never heard from his father again.

Abudushalamu finally discovered his father's fate last year when an acquaintance in Turkey told him he saw his father in an internment camp. He says he has now heard of more than 50 family members that have been detained in Xinjiang. Researchers estimate the camps now hold 1 million or more Uighurs and other members of Xinjiang's ethnic minorities.

Abudushalamu says there is no reason for authorities to "train" his father, a successful businessman who speaks nine languages.

"It's delusional," he said. "Why does he still need to be 'educated?'"

Associated Press journalists Kiko Rosario in Bangkok and Yanan Wang in Beijing contributed to this report.

China spotlights military drill amid Hong Kong protests

By Poornima Weerasekara
Beijing (AFP)
July 3, 2019

An army-linked newspaper in China has run photos of a week-old military drill in Hong Kong, a move analysts described as a warning to Beijing's critics as the city grapples with a wave of anti-government protests.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has maintained a garrison in Hong Kong since the former British colony was returned to Beijing in 1997, but its troops generally keep a low profile and are rarely seen in uniform in public.

The unit's routine military exercises have not attracted much attention in the past.

But a PLA-affiliated newspaper posted photos of the week-old military drill on Tuesday -- a day after pro-democracy protesters ransacked Hong Kong's legislature and left anti-Beijing messages on its walls in an unprecedented show of anger.

Huge rallies have shaken the semi-autonomous territory since last month, sparked by opposition to a bill that would allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland.

The PLA Daily said on its verified account on the Twitter-like Weibo platform that the joint exercise last Wednesday -- which involved ground forces, the navy and the air force -- were aimed at "reviewing and raising the units' combat abilities in emergency dispatches".

The photos showed Chinese soldiers pointing automatic rifles on a boat, a PLA helicopter, and warships.

"The intention of this exercise is obvious. It is to warn the Hong Kong independence elements and to deter foreign interference in Hong Kong affairs," said Ni Lexiong of the Shanghai National Defence Strategy Institute.

"If things develop to a more extreme level, and if the Hong Kong government isn't able to cope with the situation, the central government may use troops."

- 'Blatant challenge' -

Zhu Yonghua, a naval commander involved in the exercise, told the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily that the drills will help improve the Chinese military's ability to "help the Hong Kong government protect the lives and property of its citizens".

Beijing on Tuesday called for a criminal investigation into the storming of the Hong Kong legislature, which it described as a "blatant challenge" to the "one country, two systems" policy that has given the city its semi-autonomous status for 22 years.

China has also lashed out against "foreign interference" in Hong Kong.

"The announcement of the PLA exercise by China's state media is a not-so-subtle message to Hong Kong and the world that China would ultimately be willing to resort to force in order to secure its interests in Hong Kong," said Adam Ni, a researcher on Chinese foreign and security policy at Macquarie University in Australia.

The Chinese military received official ownership of a piece of prime Hong Kong waterfront land Saturday, which will allow its warships to berth in the city's famed Victoria Harbour in future.

Source: Sino Daily.
Link: http://www.sinodaily.com/reports/China_spotlights_military_drill_amid_Hong_Kong_protests_999.html.

Hong Kong braces for more protests on handover anniversary

June 30, 2019

HONG KONG (AP) — More than 50,000 people rallied in support of the Hong Kong police on Sunday as the semi-autonomous territory braced for another day of protests on the anniversary of the former British colony's return to China.

The crowd filled a park in front of the legislature and chanted "Thank you" to the police, who have been criticized for using tear gas and rubber bullets during clashes with demonstrators that left dozens injured on June 12. Some carried Chinese flags. Police estimated the turnout at 53,000.

A protest march has been called for Monday, the third in three weeks, this one on the 22nd anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to China on July 1, 1997. Activists have also said they will try to disrupt an annual flag-raising ceremony attended by senior Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials in the morning.

Police have erected tall barriers and shut off access to Golden Bauhinia Square, where the flag-raising will be held, to prevent protesters from massing there overnight. The anniversary always draws protests, but this year's is expected to be larger than usual because of widespread opposition to a government proposal to allow suspects to be extradited to mainland China to face charges. More than a million people took to the streets in two previous marches in June, organizers estimate.

The proposal has awakened broader fears that China is eroding the freedoms and rights that Hong Kong is guaranteed for 50 years after the handover under a "one country, two systems" framework. The government has already postponed debate on the extradition bill indefinitely, leaving it to die, but protest leaders want the legislation formally withdrawn and the resignation of Hong Kong's leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam. They also are demanding an independent inquiry into police actions on June 12.

Hundreds of people gathered Sunday at the Education University of Hong Kong to hold a moment of silence and lay flowers for a 21-year-old student who fell to her death the previous day in an apparent suicide. Hong Kong media reports said she wrote a message on a wall stating the protesters' demands and asking others to persist.

"It's reminding us we need to keep going on the process of fighting with the, I wouldn't say fighting with the government, but we need to keep going on fighting not to have the extradition law," said student Gabriel Lau.

Israel's left-wing party Meretz elects new leader

June 28, 2019

One of Israel's left-wing parties Meretz has elected a new leader ahead of the country's upcoming general election on 17 September.

Nitzan Horowitz – a journalist with Israeli daily Haaretz and two-time Knesset Member (MK) – was elected as party chair in Meretz’s primaries yesterday. His victory sees him oust previous chairwoman Tamar Zandberg, who led the party in Israel’s last election on 9 April.

Giving a victory speech in Tel Aviv, Horowitz said that "Meretz has a clear, straight path, of love for humans, and belief in equality and freedom". "This is the path I have walked my whole life and continue to walk," he explained, adding that "this way of life is under attack and Meretz will fight for freedom for all, from darkness, racism and coercion".

Commentators expect Horowitz’s victory over Zandberg to impact Meretz’s potential alliances ahead of the September election; whereas Zandberg was said to be weighing an alliance with the newly-reformed Joint List, Horowitz is thought to prefer an alliance with other left-wing Jewish-Israeli parties, such as the Israeli Labor Party or the as-yet-unnamed party announced this week by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

Horowitz, however, stressed that Meretz "is prepared for talks and cooperation based on our values," which includes "alliances with new groups and the heads of Arab and Druze society".

"Our way and values ??are the reason for our existence as a party. We have a historic responsibility to create a strong left. If need be, we will be a combative opposition that they [a right-wing government] will not forget," he added.

Horowitz also took aim at the Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) alliance, dismissing the centrist party as little more than a "soap bubble".

Despite becoming Israel's second-biggest party following a strong performance in April's election, Blue and White – particularly its leader Benny Gantz – has been most noticeable by its absence since fresh elections were called last month.

This has led to speculation of discord between Gantz and co-leader Yair Lapid, as well as accusations that the party is "sleeping" when it could – or should – be working to weaken increasingly-embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Meretz could, however, find itself needing to collaborate with Blue and White if the center-left camp has any hope of reaching the 61 Knesset seats needed to form a majority government and challenge Netanyahu's hegemony.

In the most recent polls, Blue and White was predicted to win 32 seats, once again the same number as Netanyahu's Likud party. The Joint List was predicted to win 12 seats, Meretz six and Labor five, while Ehud Barak's new party could win as many as six seats.

This would garner the 61 seats needed to form a center-left government, while the right-wing bloc would only win 52 seats. This calculation leaves out former Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party – which is predicted to improve on its April performance to win seven seats – after Lieberman claimed he would sit neither in a Netanyahu nor Gantz-led government.

Whether the Joint List will agree to join a Gantz-led government is also unclear, after the former army Chief of Staff claimed to be looking for only "Jewish and Zionist" coalition partners ahead of April's election. Though Arab-Israeli parties have held working arrangements with governments in the past, none have ever officially joined a ruling coalition.

This apparent deadlock has sparked calls from Likud officials – rumored to be at Netanyahu's behest – to cancel the election. Though such a move has no constitutional precedent in Israel, Netanyahu's increasingly-desperate attempts to hold on to power and avoid impending corruption charges could see him rip up the rule book once again.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190628-israels-left-wing-party-meretz-elects-new-leader/.

Swedish bid hopes Latvia link key to 2026 Olympics host vote

June 23, 2019

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The head of Sweden's 2026 Winter Olympics bid believes having Latvia on the hosting ticket can sway Monday's vote for the perceived underdog against Milan-Cortina. The Stockholm-Are plan to stage ice sliding sports across the Baltic Sea at a venue in Latvia avoids building a white elephant venue in Sweden — a key demand of IOC reforms to cut Olympic hosting costs.

Using the sliding track at Sigulda "adds enormous value" to the two-nation bid, Stockholm-Are chief executive Richard Brisius told The Associated Press on Sunday. "It will be very important for delivering the new transformative games that we want to do," Brisius said.

The International Olympic Committee wants the 2026 Winter Games to help end skepticism about the cost of bidding and hosting the games, after potential bids in Canada, Switzerland and Austria dropped out due to local opposition.

Brisius argued the Latvian element in Sweden's bid is the best example of living up to the IOC's promise to be flexible with candidates aiming to be cost-efficient. "Are the IOC members ready for that? We are offering that," the Stockholm-Are official said in a challenge to around 85 IOC voters.

"If we can do this, and we show that this is the way to do it, it will open up for more bid cities in the future," Brisius said. "I would not say we are the underdog — I think we are the future." One member of Sweden's delegation who is more than happy with the underdog label is retired high jumper Stefan Holm, who has been an IOC member since 2013.

The 43-year-old Holm, who won Olympic gold in 2004, even drew comparisons with Sweden's victory over Italy in the qualifying playoff for the 2018 World Cup. "Sweden is always the best when we're the underdog," Holm said after a bilateral meeting at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. "In the team sports we could beat Italy in football and we're always the underdog against Italy, the same against Canada in ice hockey or whatever.

"So I think we're in a good place." Sweden has never hosted the Winter Games. It made numerous bids between 1984 and 2004, while it was also briefly in the race for 2022. "We are a stable country politically speaking, economically speaking," said Holm, who has been an IOC member since 2013. "We have never held the games before and we really, really want it. We are a sports loving people especially when it comes to winter sport so hopefully it's our turn this time."

IOC members are famously discreet about their voting intentions ahead of a hosting vote, and more than one-third of this electorate is voting for the first time. A total of 35 members have joined since the last contested vote in July 2015 when Beijing edged Almaty to get the 2022 Winter Games.

"I meet people who are very keen to find out what is best for the (Olympic) movement," Brisius said of the newer recruits. Two of those 35 are Italian — bobsled federation president Ivo Ferriani and Italian Olympic committee head Giovanni Malago — and so cannot vote Monday.

Malago is confident that the support for the Italian bid, from the government and the general population, will see it edge out Sweden. That support is a contrast to recent Italian bids — three years ago, Italy was forced to end Rome's bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics because of staunch opposition from the city's mayor. And in 2012, then-premier Mario Monti scrapped the city's candidacy for the 2020 Olympics because of financial concerns.

"We have never received a critic. From any parties," Malago said of the current bid. "The government and the opposition support this bid. I think it is a unique case not only in Italy but also in the world."

The IOC president traditionally does not vote, though in an expected close race the winner is likely to be the candidate most favored by Thomas Bach's office.

Fire kills 14 Russian sailors aboard deep-sea submersible

July 02, 2019

MOSCOW (AP) — Fire broke out on one of the Russian navy's deep-sea research submersibles, and toxic fumes from the blaze killed 14 sailors aboard, Russia's Defense Ministry said Tuesday, although it released few details about the disaster or the vessel involved.

The Defense Ministry did not say how many sailors were aboard the vessel during Monday's fire, whether there were any survivors or if it was submerged at the time. But Russian media reported it was the country's most secret submersible, a nuclear-powered vessel designed for sensitive missions at great depths.

President Vladimir Putin, who came under criticism for his handling of the Kursk nuclear submarine disaster in 2000 that killed 118 sailors, canceled a scheduled appearance and immediately summoned Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for a briefing on the blaze, which was under investigation.

"Fourteen submariners have died of poisoning by fumes from the fire," Shoigu told Putin during a televised meeting. "The fire was extinguished thanks to the crew's resolute action." Putin ordered Shoigu to fly to the Arctic port of Severomorsk, the main base for Russia's Northern Fleet where the vessel was brought, to oversee the investigation and report back to him personally.

"It's a huge loss for the navy," Putin said. "I offer my sincere condolences to the families of the victims." He added that the vessel had a special mission and an elite crew. "It's isn't a regular vessel. It's a research vessel with a highly professional crew," Putin said, adding that seven of the dead had the rank of captain and two were awarded the nation's highest medal, the Hero of Russia.

The fire occurred while the submersible was measuring sea depths in Russia's territorial waters, the ministry said, adding that the vessel also is used for studying the seabed. Russia's RBC online news outlet and the Novaya Gazeta newspaper identified it as the nuclear-powered AS-12 Losharik.

The vessel is the most advanced Russian submersible, under a heavy veil of secrecy, and it is believed to have entered service in 2010. It is named after a Soviet-era animated cartoon horse that is made up of small spheres.

The name is apparently derives from the unique design of its interior hull, which is made of titanium spheres capable of withstanding high pressure at great depths. In 2012, the Losharik was involved in research intended to prove Russia's claim on the vast Arctic seabed. It collected samples from the depth of 2,500 meters (8,202 feet), according to official statements at the time. Regular submarines can typically dive to depths of up to 600 meters (2,000 feet).

Some observers speculated the Losharik was even capable of going as deep as 6,000 meters (19,685 feet), but the claims couldn't be independently confirmed. Analysts suggested that one of its possible missions could be disrupting communication cables on the seabed.

The Losharik is carried under the hull of a mother submarine, the nuclear-powered Orenburg, and reportedly has a crew of 25, all of them officers. Russian news reports said that while the Losharik officially belongs to the Northern Fleet, it answers directly to the Defense Ministry's Department for Deep-Sea Research, reflecting the high sensitivity of its missions.

The vessel has been surrounded by tight secrecy, but in 2015, it was accidentally caught on camera by a photographer from a motoring magazine doing a photo session on the White Sea coast. Igor Britanov, who commanded the Soviet K-219 nuclear submarine that suffered an explosion in one of its missile tubes in 1986 that killed four of its crew, was quoted as saying by Severpost news outlet that Monday's blaze could have been caused by a short circuit or a flammable liquid getting into an air filter — the two most common causes of submarine fires.

The Russian navy also uses simpler Priz-class and Bester-class deep water vehicles, which have a hull built of titanium and are capable of operating at a depth of 1,000 meters (3,281 feet). The small vehicles have a crew of two and are primarily intended for rescuing submariners in case of incidents. Such vessels are transported to the area of operation by a carrier vessel and can operate autonomously for up to 120 hours.

The blaze marks the most serious Russian naval disaster since 2008, when 20 crewmembers died aboard the nuclear-powered Nerpa submarine in the Pacific Fleet after a firefighting system was accidentally initiated while it was undergoing sea trials.

The accident involving the Kursk was the worst naval disaster in post-Soviet Russia. It occurred on Aug. 12, 2000, when the nuclear submarine exploded and sank during maneuvers in the Barents Sea, killing all 118 crewmembers. Putin, who was in his first year of his presidency, came under heavy criticism at the time when he failed to immediately interrupt his vacation to take charge of the disaster.

Putin uses G-20 to strengthen alliances, soothe tensions

June 28, 2019

OSAKA, Japan (AP) — Russia's President Vladimir Putin used a series of talks with global leaders at the Group of 20 summit on Friday to strengthen old alliances and try to soothe tensions with rivals.

Putin used his meetings with the leaders of China and India to find common ground on issues such as opposing protectionism, while his long-delayed talks with the American and British leaders likelier touched on thornier issues.

Putin's meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, their first full-fledged talks since their 2018 summit in Helsinki, Finland, was watched closely for the impact it may have on troubled U.S.-Russia ties.

The Russian leader laughed when a reporter shouted about warning Putin "not to meddle" in the 2020 U.S. election and Trump waggishly said: "Don't meddle in the election." Putin has denied meddling in the 2016 U.S. vote despite the abundant evidence to the contrary uncovered by U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller.

The Russian president has charged that Russia-U.S. relations are now hostage to the U.S. political infighting, making any quick progress unlikely. New rounds of anti-Russia sanctions followed the Helsinki meeting, and Trump later announced the withdrawal from a key arms control pact signed in 1987 with the then Soviet Union. Putin followed suit. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is set to terminate this summer, raising fears of a new arms race.

Putin has denounced the U.S. policies, but avoided personal criticism of Trump in an apparent hope of negotiating a rapprochement. He extensively praised Trump in an interview with the Financial Times published just before the summit, saying that the U.S. president's policies, such as building a wall on the border with Mexico, reflected his keen understanding of the issues that are important to voters.

"Ordinary U.S. citizens who feel concerned look at it and say: 'He's a great guy; he's at least trying to propose a solution,'" Putin said. Details of the Putin-Trump talks weren't immediately known. The White House said the leaders discussed bilateral relations, arms control, as well as the situations in Iran, Syria, Venezuela, and Ukraine. The Kremlin has kept mum about the meeting.

In another closely-watched encounter, Putin met with outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May for the first time since 2016. The long break reflected a bitter strain in ties, which plummeted over the March 4, 2018, nerve agent attack on double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the city of Salisbury. They spent weeks in critical condition, but recovered.

Britain has accused Russia of poisoning them with the nerve agent Novichok, accusations Moscow has denied. In a tough note before the meeting, May said that Britain will push for the two Russian military intelligence officers accused of involvement in the attack to be brought to justice.

In the Financial Times interview, Putin again insisted that Russia had nothing to do with the poisoning and argued that bilateral ties are far more important than "the fuss about spies not worth five copecks."

The two leaders remained silent as they shook hands at the start of their meeting Friday. According to Downing Street, May told Putin "there cannot be a normalization of our bilateral relationship until Russia stops the irresponsible and destabilizing activity."

While Putin's meetings with Trump and May drew the most attention, the Russian president also worked quietly to cement existing alliances. He sat down for talks with leaders of Brazil, China, India and South Africa, which together with Russia make up the BRICS group.

Later in the day, Putin also met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to emphasize their shared opposition to protectionism and unilateral sanctions. Putin emphasized that the three countries agree on the need to rely on international law, respect national sovereignty and refrain from interference in internal affairs of other nations.

He added that they have held meetings of foreign ministers and top security officials to coordinate action against terrorism, drug trafficking and other challenges. Putin noted that Russia, China and India firmly oppose protectionism, unilateral actions and unlawful sanctions.

2,000 demonstrate in Moscow against police falsifications

June 23, 2019

MOSCOW (AP) — About 2,000 people rallied in Moscow to protest the falsifying of cases by Russian police and the detention of political activists. The demonstration on Sunday, which authorities had sanctioned to take place, was the latest in a series of protests sparked by the arrest this month of a prominent investigative reporter on drug-dealing charges.

The charges were dropped days later after a public outcry and allegations that police planted drugs to implicate the journalist. Anger over Ivan Golunov's treatment has spread to protests of cases involving other journalists, including the arrest on terrorism charges last week of the religious affairs editor at independent weekly newspaper Chernovik, Abdulmumin Gadzhiev.

Demonstrator Ruslan Titov said Sunday: "The case of Ivan Golunov isn't the only one in its kind."

Iran says downed US drone recovered in its territorial waters

By Sebastian Smith with Marc Jourdier in Tehran
Washington (AFP)
June 20, 2019

Iran said Thursday it had recovered parts of a US spy drone in its territorial waters, after downing the aircraft in a missile strike slammed by President Donald Trump as a "big mistake."

Under pressure to respond to the high-stakes incident in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, where a series of tanker attacks have sent tensions soaring with Iran, Trump initially struck a combative tone.

"Iran made a very big mistake!" he tweeted in response to news Iran had shot down the Global Hawk surveillance aircraft -- which the Pentagon says was above international waters at the time.

"This country will not stand for it, that I can tell you," he said later at the White House.

But as the overnight incident whipped up fears of open conflict between the United States and its declared foe Iran -- sending crude oil prices up more than six percent -- Trump moved swiftly to dial back tensions.

"I find it hard to believe it was intentional, if you want to know the truth," Trump said. "I think that it could have been somebody who was loose and stupid that did it."

The president's mixed message left the world unsure what Washington's next move would be.

"You will find out," Trump said, when asked about possible retaliation.

In Tehran, however, the message came loud and clear.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced late Thursday that parts of the drone had been recovered in Iranian territorial waters, as Tehran moved to bring the incident before the United Nations.

"We don't seek war, but will zealously defend our skies, land & waters," Zarif said.

- Drone violating or victim? -

The Pentagon denounced the "unprovoked attack," claiming the navy drone was 34 kilometers (21 miles) from Iran when destroyed by a surface-to-air missile.

But the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it brought the drone down as it was "violating Iranian air space" over the waters of Hormozgan province.

Zarif provided coordinates to back the claim.

"At 00:14 US drone took off from UAE in stealth mode & violated Iranian airspace," Zarif tweeted. "It was targeted at 04:05 at the coordinates (25?59'43"N 57?02'25"E) near Kouh-e Mobarak."

"We've retrieved sections of the US military drone in OUR territorial waters where it was shot down."

But the Pentagon published a map showing the flight path of the drone, which indicated it traveled outside of Iranian waters and included a photograph showing it was at the coordinates (25?57'42"N 56?50'22"E) when it was downed.

In a letter to the UN Security Council and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Iran protested against a "dangerous and provocative act by the U.S. military forces against the territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

The drone downing came as Iran was already accused by Washington of carrying out attacks on oil tankers in the congested Hormuz area.

Tehran denies involvement but has frequently threatened to block the sea lanes used to ship much of the world's oil exports.

The commander of the US Naval Forces Central Command, Sean Kido, said a mine allegedly used in one of the attacks matched Iranian weaponry and that incriminating fingerprints had also been collected.

- Options 'running out?' -

Trump has repeatedly said he does not favor war with Iran unless it is to stop the country getting a nuclear weapon -- something Iranian leaders insist they are not pursuing.

But Trump critics say his policy of "maximum pressure" -- including crippling economic sanctions, abandonment of an international deal to regulate Iran's nuclear activities, and deployment of extra troops to the region -- make war ever more likely.

A key Republican ally of Trump, Senator Lindsey Graham, said the president's "options are running out."

Asked if he believed the countries were nearing conflict, he replied: "I think anybody would believe that we're one step closer."

"They shot down an American asset well within international waters trying to assess the situation. What are you supposed to do?"

One of Trump's biggest opponents, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, warned that "there's no appetite for wanting to go to war in our country."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayahu blasted "Iranian aggression" and said "Israel stands by the United States."

But Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has close relations with Iran's leadership, said US military retaliation "would be a disaster for the region."

- Diplomatic, military brinkmanship -

Trump's arrival in the White House, alongside veteran Mideast hawks like national security adviser John Bolton, has seen sharp deterioration in relations with Tehran.

Trump began last May by abandoning -- and effectively wrecking -- the 2015 international agreement on bringing Iran in from the diplomatic cold in exchange for verified controls on its nuclear industry.

That has prompted Iran to threaten it will stop observing restrictions agreed to under the deal on enrichment of uranium.

The threat has been seen as an effort to pressure European governments that want to save the nuclear deal to push back against Washington. The US State Department called that "extortion."

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_says_downed_US_drone_recovered_in_its_territorial_waters_999.html.

Georgia's ruling party announces electoral changes

June 24, 2019

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — The leader of Georgia's ruling party said Monday that the ex-Soviet nation will hold the next parliamentary election based entirely on a proportionate system, fulfilling a key demand of anti-government protesters.

The statement from Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the Georgian Dream party, followed four days of protests in the capital. Thousands of demonstrators have rallied in front of parliament, demanding changes in the electoral law and the ouster of the interior minister whom they blame for a violent dispersal of a rally Thursday.

Throngs of demonstrators tried to storm parliament that day, angered by a Russian lawmaker taking the speaker's seat during an international meeting of lawmakers. The protest reflected simmering anger against Russia, which routed Georgia in a 2008 war and maintains a military presence in Georgia's two breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The protesters consider Ivanishvili, Georgia's richest man who made his fortune in Russia, a conduit of Moscow's influence and see the ruling party as overly friendly to Russian interests. Unfazed by Ivanishvili's announcement, a motorcade of protesters drove across the capital Monday to the Interior Ministry headquarters to push for the minister's resignation.

Thousands of protesters gathered in front of the parliament building in the evening for the fifth consecutive night of demonstrations, calling for the interior minister to step down and pressing other demands.

The protests have marked the largest outpouring of anger against Georgian Dream since it took power in 2012. Officials said at least 240 people were injured when riot police used tear gas and water cannons and fired rubber bullets to disperse the protesters. More than 300 demonstrators have been arrested.

Demonstrators have returned to parliament for daily rallies, demanding the release of those detained, the ouster of the nation's interior minister and changes in the electoral law to have legislators chosen fully proportionally rather than the current mix of party-list and single-mandate representatives. The opposition believes that single-mandate races favor the ruling party.

Ivanishvili, in his first public appearance since the crisis erupted, said Georgian Dream has agreed to change the election law earlier than planned and to hold next year's parliamentary election based on a fully proportional system. He also announced that the ruling party offered to drop the threshold of 5% of the vote for parties to get represented.

"We are seeing today that the society wants changes," Ivanishvili said. "Our initiative opens the way for large-scale political changes." Later Monday, some demonstrators said they were unsatisfied by Ivanishvili's offer to change the electoral code.

Dropping the 5% barrier means "representatives of small parties that receive material aid from Russia can go to parliament. The devil is in the details, and it is very dangerous," protester Irakli Sikharulidze said.

Moscow has responded to anti-Russian protests by ordering a ban on Russian flights to Georgia starting July 8. Russia's transportation ministry also banned Georgian airlines from flying to Russia, citing their debts and safety issues.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Monday the flight ban reflected concerns about the safety of Russian travelers amid what he described as "Russophobic hysteria" in Georgia. He told reporters that the ban could be lifted after the tensions abate.

The flight ban deals a serious economic blow to the Caucasus nation, which has annually hosted more than 1 million Russian tourists, attracted by its scenic mountains, lush sea coast and the renowned wine culture.

It echoes bans that Russia imposed in 2006 on flights and imports of Georgian wine and mineral water as tensions rose between the countries. Air connections were restored in 2010 and Russia lifted the wine import ban in 2013.

On Monday, the Russian consumer regulator Rospotrebnadzor hinted at a possible new ban, saying that it has registered a steady decline in the quality of imported Georgian wine. In the past, Russia often cited sanitary reasons for food imports bans widely seen as politically driven.

Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

Georgians keep protesting despite speaker's resignation

June 21, 2019

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — The speaker of Georgia's parliament stepped down Friday in the wake of violent clashes that left at least 240 people injured, but the move failed to assuage protesters, who returned to the streets demanding that the interior minister also step down over a brutal police response.

A night of clashes Thursday was sparked by a Russian lawmaker who took the speaker's seat as a group of international lawmakers met at the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi. It angered the opposition, which sees the current Georgian government as overly friendly to Russian interests.

The protests mark the largest outpouring of anger against the ruling Georgian Dream since it took power in 2012. Officials said at least 240 people were injured when riot police fired rubber bullets and tear gas and unleashed water cannon on protesters outside Georgia's parliament building during the clashes that lasted into early Friday. More than 100 people are still in the hospital, and two people lost eyes because of the rubber bullets, according to Giorgi Kordzakhiya, director of Tbilisi's New Hospital.

Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze blamed opposition leaders for the violence, saying they hijacked a "genuine" public outpouring but then "violated the law and the Constitution." Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze, who was out of the country on an official visit, handed in his resignation but several thousand protesters returned to the parliament building Friday, demanding the interior minister also resign. Many wore eyepatches in solidarity with those who lost their eyes.

President Salome Zurabishvili also cut short a foreign trip to return to the capital. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday ordered that the country's airlines stop transporting Russian citizens to Georgia beginning July 8, citing national security concerns. The reason for delaying the implementation wasn't immediately clear. He also ordered officials to assist in bringing Russians home from Georgia.

The move carries echoes of Russia's full ban on transport links with Georgia in 2006 amid rising tensions between Moscow and Tbilisi. Air connections were restored in 2010, two years after a short war between Russia and Georgia.

Anti-Russian sentiments run deep in Georgia, which made a botched attempt to regain control over breakaway province of South Ossetia during the presidency of Mikheil Saakashvili, sparking the 2008 war that routed the Georgian military in five days of fighting. Moscow then recognized the independence of South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian province of Abkhazia and set up military bases there.

Georgian Dream, which is led and funded by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia, has controlled parliament and dominated the nation's political scene since in 2012. "We will do everything to oust this government that serves Russia," said 32-year-old lawyer Demetre Saladze, who was among the protesters Friday.

Engineer Vakhtang Kiriya, 28, vowed that the protesters will make the government answer for the brutal police crackdown. "We will fight until Ivanishvili and his team flee Georgia," he said. "They should get ready to board their jets."

Sergei Gavrilov, the Russian lawmaker who sparked the conflict by taking the Georgian speaker's seat, on Friday blamed the clashes on "radical groups" who he said were trying to stage a "coup." Speaking on Russian state TV, he rejected reports that he was fighting on the side of separatists in Abkhazia, saying he had only been there on "humanitarian missions."

Russia and Georgia broke off diplomatic relations after the 2008 war, but steps have been made in recent years to restore ties, including Georgia scrapping visitor visas for Russians and Russia lifting a ban on Georgian wine and fruit imports. Still, animosity toward Russia remains strong due to the Kremlin's support of the two separatist regions.

Other Russian officials blamed Georgian politicians for trying to undermine the slow thaw in relations. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that thousands of Russian tourists vacationing were in Georgia, as a reason of Moscow's concern about what he described as an anti-Russian "provocation."

Nataliya Vasilyeva, Vladimir Isachenkov and Jim Heintz in Moscow and Sophiko Megrelidze in Tbilisi contributed to this report.

Georgia's president to fly home to deal with clashes

June 21, 2019

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia's president has cut short a foreign visit to return to the capital Tbilisi after dozens of people were injured in clashes between protesters and police. Salome Zurabishvili, who took office as Georgia's first female president in December, said in televised remarks in Minsk, Belarus, on Friday that she is returning to Tbilisi to handle the crisis.

Nearly 70 people were treated in hospitals for injuries in the night of clashes on Thursday after riot police fired rubber bullets and tear gas and unleashed water cannons on protesters outside Georgia's parliament building.

The unrest was sparked by the appearance of Russian lawmaker Sergei Gavrilov, a Communist Party member, in the building as part of an assembly of legislators from Orthodox Christian countries.

Ex-soldier David Hurley becomes Australian governor-general

July 01, 2019

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Former soldier David Hurley was sworn in as Australia's governor-general on Monday, a day before Parliament resumes for the first time since the May election. Hurley represents the Queen Elizabeth II, who is Australia's constitution head of state.

Hurley was most recently the British monarch's representative in New South Wales when he spent five years as state governor based in Sydney. He will officiate on Tuesday when Parliament resumes for the first time since Prime Minister Scott Morrison's conservative government was elected to a third three-year term on May 18.

Hurley replaced Peter Cosgrove who held the position since 2014. Both are former chiefs of the Australian Defense Force.

G-20 leaders clash over values, face calls to protect growth

June 28, 2019

OSAKA, Japan (AP) — World leaders attending a Group of 20 summit in Japan that began Friday are clashing over the values that have served for decades as the foundation of their cooperation as they face calls to fend off threats to economic growth.

"A free and open economy is the basis for peace and prosperity," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told his counterparts in opening the two-day G-20 meeting, which comes as leaders grapple with profound tensions over trade, globalization and the collapsing nuclear deal with Iran.

While groups like the G-20 endeavor to forge consensus on broad policy approaches and geopolitical issues, they also are divided on an array of issues. Defying Chinese warnings not to bring up the issue of recent protests in Hong Kong, Abe told Chinese President Xi Jinping it was important for "a free and open Hong Kong to prosper under 'one country, two systems' policy," Japanese officials said, referring to the arrangement for the former British colony's autonomy when China took control in 1997.

They said Abe reminded Xi of the importance of guaranteeing freedom, human rights, the "rule of law" and other universal values in raising concern over proposed Hong Kong legislation that would allow some criminal suspects to be extradited for trial in mainland China. The bill, now shelved, prompted protests by hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong residents and minor demonstrations elsewhere in Asia, including Osaka.

Xi is not the only leader facing a pushback from his Western counterparts. European Union Council President Donald Tusk blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin for saying in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper that liberalism was "obsolete" and conflicts with the "overwhelming majority" in many countries.

"We are here as Europeans also to firmly and unequivocally defend and promote liberal democracy," Tusk told reporters. "What I find really obsolete are: authoritarianism, personality cults, the rule of oligarchs. Even if sometimes they may seem effective."

Tusk told reporters that such comments suggest a belief that "freedoms are obsolete, that the rule of law is obsolete and that human rights are obsolete." Putin praised President Donald Trump for his efforts to try to stop the flow of migrants and drugs from Mexico and said that liberalism "presupposes that nothing needs to be done. That migrants can kill, plunder and rape with impunity because their rights as migrants have to be protected."

Trump has at times found himself at odds with other leaders in such international events, particularly on issues such as Iran, climate change and trade. The schisms can vary. At a meeting on the G-20 sidelines, Putin, Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed on the need to rely on international law, respect national sovereignty and refrain from interference in the internal affairs of other nations, Putin said.

Such statements are a swipe at Trump's "America First" approach in rejecting multilateral initiatives, but also draw a line against criticism of authoritarian governments like China's and Russia's. A planned meeting between Trump and Xi on Saturday as the G-20 meetings conclude has raised hopes for a detente in the tariffs war between the world's two largest economies.

The two sides have levied billions of dollars' worth of tariffs on each other's products in a festering dispute over technology and China's chronic trade surplus. In a meeting with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Trump said he had not promised to hold back on imposing new tariffs on China.

"I think it'll be productive," Trump said of his meeting with Xi. "We'll see what happens tomorrow. It'll be a very exciting day I'm sure," he said. "It's going to come out hopefully well for both countries."

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross accompanied Trump to Osaka, suggesting potential for some movement after 11 rounds of talks with China stalled in May. But while prospects for detente in the trade war are in the spotlight, many participants prefer a broader approach to tackling global crises.

"I am deeply concerned over the current global economic situation. The world is paying attention to the direction we, the G-20 leaders, are moving toward," Abe said. "We need to send a strong message, which is to support and strengthen a free, fair and indiscriminating trade system."

A breakthrough is not assured. On Thursday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing reiterated that China is determined to defend itself against further U.S. moves to penalize it in the trade dispute. China has often sought to gain support for defending global trade agreements against Trump's "America First" stance in gatherings like the G-20.

Abe has sought to make the Osaka summit a landmark for progress on environmental issues, including climate change, on cooperation in developing new rules for the "digital economy," such as devising fair ways to tax companies like Google and Facebook, and on strengthening precautions against abuse of technologies such as cybercurrencies to fund terrorism and other types of internet-related crimes.

On the rising tensions between Iran and the U.S., U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the world can't afford the conflict and it is "essential to deescalate the situation" and avoid confrontation. Iran is poised to soon surpass a key uranium stockpile threshold, threatening the nuclear accord it reached with world powers in 2015.

Iran's moves come after Trump announced in May 2018 that he was pulling the U.S. out of the deal and reimposing economic sanctions on Tehran. In a letter to the leaders in Osaka, Guterres urged them to take action on equitable and stable reforms to strengthen the global financial safety net and increase the global economy's resilience.

While there are good plans and vision, what's needed are "accelerated actions, not more deliberations," he said. Fast and equal economic growth should be achieved so that people who live in "the 'rust belts' of the world are not left behind," he said.

The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, in a meeting on the G-20 sidelines, called for joint efforts to stabilize international trade and oppose protectionism. Putin, whose country faces an array of U.S. and EU sanctions, said at the meeting that "international trade has suffered from protectionism, politically motivated restrictions and barriers." He also emphasized the need for BRICS nations to take coordinated action to help block sources of funding for terrorist groups.

AP journalists Kaori Hitomi and Vladimir Isachenkov contributed to this story.

China's Qu Dongyu elected as new FAO general director

June 23, 2019

ROME (AP) — Qu Dongyu, China's deputy agricultural minister, was elected Sunday as the new director general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the first person from a Communist country to hold the influential FAO post.

The agency's 194 member countries convened at the FAO headquarters in Rome to choose a successor to José Graziano da Silva of Brazil for the 4-year term. Qu, 55, a biologist by training, won 108 votes, followed by France's Catherine Geslain-Laneelle with 71 votes and Georgia's Davit Kirvalidze with 12, according to official results. The United States had backed Kirvalidze.

The FAO, which has over 11,500 employees around the globe, works closely with other U.N. agencies to achieve the goal of a hunger-free world by 2030. Today, more than 800 million people are facing hunger and many experts doubt that the 2030 goal will be reached.

Prior to the vote, Qu said he aims to focus on hunger and poverty eradication, tropical agriculture, drought land farming, digital rural development and better land design through transformation of agricultural production. An expert on agriculture and rural areas, he has worked in the field for more than 30 years.

"This is a special day," he said in his speech accepting the post. "This is our day." Qu said he was "grateful to his motherland," but then added he would be faithful to the FAO's missions. Ahead of his election, he rejected claims that he would be beholden to instructions from Beijing, pledging that China would follow "FAO regulations and rules." He also defended his credentials, saying he is "a scientist" educated in Europe, America and China.

Before joining China's agriculture ministry, Qu worked at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, where he focused on conducting research and innovation, raising rural income, reducing poverty through science and technology and building a quality assessment system for produce.

From 2008 to 2015, he worked in the government of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, where he applied new approaches to agricultural publications and rural tourism and provided startup micro-lending to young and female farmers.

Since being appointed vice-minister in 2015, Qu has spearheaded measures such as reforms for rural areas; using information technologies to help agriculture; instituting exchange mechanisms on urban agriculture and promoting brands and specialty industries.

Qu has also been in charge of China's agri-business cooperation with Asian, African and Latin American countries and China's main trading partners of produce.