Albania holds local elections amid political turmoil

June 30, 2019

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanians were casting ballots on Sunday to elect mayors and city councils, or parliaments, amid a tense political conflict with the opposition boycotting the municipal elections.

While the Socialist-run government is insisting on holding the election, the opposition wants to stop it taking place. The opposition, led by the center-right Democratic Party, blames a corrupt government linked to organized crime and is demanding fresh national elections.

Albania's President Ilir Meta is sympathetic to the opposition and declared that the vote is canceled, but the government under Prime Minister Edi Rama has refused to abide by that decision. Votes will be cast to pick authorities that will run 61 districts across the country for the next four years.

On late Saturday the Democratic Party's leader Lulzim Basha called on Albanians to boycott the vote and said they would hold non-violent protests. Police have said protests are not allowed the voting day.

Rama cast his ballot in Surrel, a village near Tirana where he lives. "This day confirms that no one can play with the people ... and who dares take sovereignty from the people finds no other end but a failing and a shameful one," he told journalists.

The opposition has been holding anti-government protests since mid-February when they also relinquished their seats in parliament. They say the political crisis will be resolved when Rama resigns and vote-riggers are jailed.

Small groups of opposition supporters in Tirana and a nearby town rallied in front of some polling stations, shouting "Rama go!" The ruling Socialists are the only candidates in 35 out of 61 districts, with some smaller leftist and center-right parties running against them in the rest.

Thousands of police officers guarded the polling stations Sunday. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights said it was sending 174 election observers, who will give their preliminary findings on Monday.

Audrey Glover, head of the international monitoring mission, found the situation at a Tirana polling station "not conducive to observing." Holding a free and fair election is considered key for the launch of EU membership talks for the tiny Western Balkan country, already a NATO member.

Voting ends 1700 GMT. Preliminary election results are not expected until Monday. The Central Election Commission, the institution running the election, said turnout at 11 a.m. (0900 GMT) was about 12%.

Albania's local election is a test for its democracy

June 28, 2019

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania's municipal elections don't normally provoke much interest beyond the country's border, but the holding of this weekend's vote — or failure to do so — appears decisive for the tiny Western Balkan country in its bid to start full membership negotiations with the European Union.

While the Socialist-run government is insisting on holding the election, the opposition is boycotting the vote and says it will stop it taking place. Albania's president, sympathetic to the opposition, has gone one step further by declaring that the vote is canceled, a decision that the government is refusing to abide by.

"Unfortunately we are showing our democracy is immature, weak and corrupt," said Skender Minxhozi, an independent analyst. "We are unable to reach a sustainable dialogue and compromises." After months of rowdy and sometimes violent opposition protests, where demonstrators have hurled projectiles at police officers who have responded with tear gas, the stage is set for a tense confrontation on Sunday.

The United States, the European Union, other international organizations and big Western powers have repeatedly called on the opposition to avoid violence and to engage in a dialogue to resolve the political deadlock. Though violence has been reduced recently, the standoff continues.

Leaders of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is sending 280 election observers, on Friday called on Albanian political leaders to show restraint, engage in a "constructive dialogue" and ensure that Sunday's election is peaceful. It added that "both the perpetrators and instigators of violent acts should be held legally accountable."

Holding a free and fair election has been post-communist Albania's Achilles' heel, with regular reports of shortcomings, vote rigging and violence. The move toward democracy is considered key for the launch of the EU membership talks for the nation, which is already a NATO member.

Earlier this month, the EU postponed the start of membership talks with Albania, as well as North Macedonia, despite warnings a delay could undermine reform efforts and stability in the Balkans region.

Sunday's vote is due to elect mayors, town councils and district parliaments for the next four years. Some 3.5 million people are eligible to vote — that in itself is a problem, as the population of Albania is only 2.9 million. The other names on the electoral register represent Albania's huge overseas diaspora, but no facilities are provided to allow Albanians outside the country to vote.

For the center-right Democratic Party-led opposition of Lulzim Basha, the issue is not really the local vote, however. They are trying to force the calling of early parliamentary elections, claiming widespread corruption in the government, vote-rigging and links to organized crime. They are boycotting the vote. Earlier in June, President Ilir Meta announced that he was canceling the elections, claiming they would be "undemocratic" without the participation of the center-right opposition. On Thursday he said the vote would now take place on Oct. 13.

Prime Minister Edi Rama of the ruling left-wing Socialist Party, however, continues to insist that the elections will take place as scheduled Sunday. Rama accuses the opposition of trying to disrupt efforts to launch EU membership negotiations.

The Socialists have started a lengthy procedure to oust Meta, though they don't have the two-thirds majority they need in parliament, and the final say anyway is with the Constitutional Court, which has been defunct for the past year after its judges were fired.

Minxhozi says the opposition has failed to topple Rama but has managed to hurt the country's image. "It has weakened Rama, but has not toppled him. It has damaged elections, but has not stopped them," he said, adding that "such a tense situation hurts EU negotiations and has withered democratic standards."

Basha insists "there will be no election without the opposition," though he has not explained how the election will be prevented. He has said, however, that civic groups around the country will "defend democracy." The opposition has tried to prevent preparations for the elections in the districts they govern. They tried to destroy election materials and ordered election offices moved from schools.

Currently, the opposition runs 27 districts, while the governing Socialists are in control of 34. With the opposition boycott, the Socialist candidates are uncontested in 35 races, while in the others they face some smaller leftists and center-right parties.

Minxhozi said Sunday's vote will be a "mysterious day" focused not on a political race but rather on a "logistic, security and public order problem." Some 7,000 police officers will be on duty for election security.

"June 30 is a negative test for Albania's image, our economy and the political class too," he said.

Albania president rejects ruling to hold municipal elections

June 25, 2019

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania's president on Tuesday condemned a decision by electoral authorities in favor of holding municipal elections this weekend, calling on the ruling Socialists to hold talks and not carry out an "imaginary" voting process.

President Ilir Meta said that full membership negotiations with the European Union wouldn't open if Albania held Sunday's elections without the opposition, which is boycotting them. The Electoral College ruled unanimously Monday that a small political party must take part in Sunday's vote, a move against Meta's decision earlier this month to cancel the elections. Meta said he feared the balloting would be "undemocratic" without the participation of center-right opposition parties.

Meta said the Electoral College was influenced by "political pressure and blackmail." "Yesterday, the Electoral College considered the request of a political party against a decision of the Central Election Commission which didn't allow it to deregister from the now imaginary election of June 30," he said Tuesday.

"Only the Constitutional Court may judge the validity of a decree from the president of the republic," Meta said. The court has been dysfunctional for about a year after most of its judges were fired.

The Democratic Party-led opposition also doesn't recognize the ruling by election authorities. The opposition has threatened to physically prevent Sunday's vote from being held. Last week, opposition supporters damaged ballot boxes and other election documentation to prevent the vote in some opposition-held districts.

"Albanians have united like never before to defend democracy and not allow an electoral farce and the constitutional crime of the autocratic-criminal regime," Democratic leader Lulzim Basha said late Monday.

Left-wing Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama insists the elections will go ahead as scheduled. Rama also said the opposition's main goal is to disrupt the country's efforts to launch EU membership negotiations.

The opposition has been holding protests since mid-February, accusing the government of links to organized crime and vote rigging. The government rejects the accusations. Basha said the only solution is for Rama to resign and for those convicted of vote-rigging to be sentenced.

Last week, the EU postponed the start of membership talks with Albania and North Macedonia despite warnings a delay could undermine reform efforts and stability in the Balkans region.

Albania: Public officials try to block election preparation

June 18, 2019

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Public officials in some parts of Albania aren't cooperating with the independent election workers assigned to prepare for local elections at the end of the month, the Albanian Interior Ministry said Tuesday.

The apparent disruption in regional districts governed by opposition parties are part of a political crisis within the national government. Regional officials in Shkodra tried to prevent election personnel from entering their offices on Monday, while civilian supporters of the opposition stormed the Tropoja election authority office in northeastern Albania on Tuesday.

Interior Minister Sander Lleshaj warned mayors at the helm of opposition-led districts there would be consequences "if they use force" to block the election workers. The opposition runs 27 districts, the governing Socialists in 34.

"If they will do mindless acts or not in line with the law, they will be confronted with the law," Lleshaj said. President Ilir Meta tried to cancel Albania's June 30 municipal elections, saying they would be "undemocratic" without opposition participation.

Center-right opposition parties are boycotting the vote after months of demanding an early national election and accusing the government of vote-rigging and other wrongdoing. The Socialist-led government said the president exceeded his constitutional authority and is trying to oust Meta. Prime Minister Edi Rama insists the municipal elections will go ahead as scheduled.

Albania president cancels elections, citing tense climate

June 08, 2019

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania's president has canceled upcoming municipal elections, citing the need to reduce political tensions in the country. President Ilir Meta said he acted because "the actual circumstances do not provide necessary conditions for true, democratic, representative and all-inclusive elections" on June 30.

Thousands of Albanians who support the political opposition assembled for an anti-government protest on Saturday. After sundown, tear gas and flares clouded the streets of Tirana. The opposition, led by the center-right Democratic Party, accuses the left-wing government of links to organized crime and vote rigging. The government denies the allegations.

Opposition leaders are demanding an early general election. The United States and the European Union urged them to disavow violence and sit in a dialogue with government representatives to resolve the political crisis.

A Rover for Phobos and Deimos

Le Bourget, France (SPX)
Jun 21, 2019

Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. These are the target of the Japanese Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, which also involves international partners. Scheduled for launch in 2024. it will enter Mars orbit in 2025, and return samples to Earth in 2029. The spacecraft will carry a German-French rover that will land on either Phobos or Deimos and explore the surface in detail for several months.

The scientists hope to gain new insights into the formation and evolution of the solar system. At the International Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR), the Japanese space agency JAXA and the French space agency CNES agreed to further collaborate on the world's first exploration of a minor solar system body with a rover.

"The world-first exploration of the Martian moons with a rover is a major technical challenge that we are tackling within the framework of our strong and proven partnership with Japan and France," says Pascale Ehrenfreund, Chair of the DLR Executive Board. "Together, we want to push the boundaries of what is technically feasible in robotic exploration and expand our knowledge about the origin of the solar system."

On 18 June 2019, Hansjorg Dittus, DLR Executive Board Member for Space Research and Technology, Walther Pelzer, the DLR Executive Board Member responsible for the Space Administration, and Hitoshi Kuninaka, Director General of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) at JAXA, signed a cooperation agreement outlining DLR's participation in the Japanese-led MMX mission. The contributions that the Franco-German rover will make to the mission are central to this agreement.

In addition, DLR is making scientific findings about Deimos and Phobos available in preparation for the mission and is enabling tests to be conducted at DLR's Landing and Mobility Test Facility (LAMA) and in the drop tower at the Centre of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) in Bremen.

On 19 June 2019, the Franco-German cooperation agreement for the development of the rover as part of the MMX mission was signed by Pascale Ehrenfreund, Hansjorg Dittus and CNES President Jean-Yves le Gall. The German-French rover will be designed and built as a joint effort.

DLR will, in particular, be responsible for developing the rover's casing and its robotic locomotion system, together with a spectrometer and a radiometer that will both be used to determine the characteristics and composition of the surface.

The French space agency CNES is making major contributions with camera systems for spatial orientation and exploration of the surface, as well as the rover's central service module. Upon landing, the rover will then be operated jointly by CNES and DLR.

The MMX mission follows in the footsteps of the successful predecessor mission Hayabusa2, which explored the asteroid Ryugu. As part of the mission, on 3 October 2018, the Mobile Asteroid and Surface Scout (MASCOT) lander 'hopped' across the asteroid's surface and sent spectacular images of a landscape strewn with boulders, stones and almost no dust back to Earth. On that same day, JAXA, DLR and CNES signed a first memorandum of understanding for cooperation within the MMX mission.

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/A_Rover_for_Phobos_and_Deimos_999.html.

Russian capsule carrying 3 docks with space station

July 21, 2019

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AP) — A Russian space capsule with three astronauts aboard has docked with the International Space Station after a fast-track trip to the orbiting laboratory. The Soyuz capsule docked at 22:48 GMT Saturday, just six hours and 20 minutes after blasting off from Russia's launch complex in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

The launch took place on the 50th anniversary of the day U.S. astronauts landed on the moon. The capsule is carrying Andrew Morgan of the United States on his first spaceflight, Russian Alexander Skvortsov on his third mission to the space station and Italian Luca Parmitano.

They will join Russian Alexey Ovchinin and Americans Nick Hague and Christina Koch have been aboard since March. The crew patch for the expedition echoes the one from Apollo 11's 1969 lunar mission.

Russia launches major new telescope into space after delays

July 13, 2019

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian Proton-M rocket successfully delivered a cutting-edge space telescope into orbit Saturday after days of launch delays, Russia's space agency said. Roscosmos said the telescope, named Spektr-RG, was delivered into a parking orbit before a final burn Saturday that kicked the spacecraft out of Earth's orbit and on to its final destination: the L2 Lagrange point.

Lagrange points are unique positions in the solar system where objects can maintain their position relative to the sun and the planets that orbit it. Located 1.5 million kilometers (0.93 million miles) from Earth, L2 is particularly ideal for telescopes such as Spektr-RG.

If all goes well, the telescope will arrive at its designated position in three months, becoming the first Russian spacecraft to operate beyond Earth's orbit since the Soviet era. The telescope aims to conduct a complete x-ray survey of the sky by 2025, the first space telescope to do so.

The Russian accomplishment comes as the U.S. space agency NASA celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969. Russian space science missions have suffered greatly since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Budget cuts have forced the Russian space program to shift toward more commercial efforts.

A Russian Mars probe, called Mars 96, failed to leave Earth's orbit in 1996. A later attempt to send a probe to Mars, called Fobos-Grunt, suffered a similar fate in 2011. Work on Spektr-RG telescope began in the 1980s but was scrapped in the 1990s. Spektr-RG was revived in 2005 and redesigned to be smaller, simpler and cheaper.

In its modern form, the project is a close collaboration between Russian and German scientists, who both installed telescope equipment aboard the Russian spacecraft.

Small satellite concept finalists target Moon, Mars and beyond

Pasadena CA (JPL)
Jun 21, 2019

NASA has selected three finalists among a dozen concepts for future small satellites. The finalists include a 2022 robotic mission to study two asteroid systems, twin spacecraft to study the effects of energetic particles around Mars, and a lunar orbiter managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, to study water on the Moon. At least one of these missions is expected to move to final selection and flight.

The missions will contribute to NASA's goal of understanding our solar system's content, origin and evolution. They will also support planetary defense, and help fill in knowledge gaps as NASA moves forward with its plans for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

The selected finalists:

* Janus: Reconnaissance Missions to Binary Asteroids will study the formation and evolutionary implications for small "rubble pile" asteroids and build an accurate model of two binary asteroid bodies. A binary asteroid is a system of two asteroids orbiting their common center of mass. The principal investigator is Daniel Scheeres at the University of Colorado. Lockheed Martin will provide project management.

* Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE): This mission's objective is to characterize (on multiple scales) the acceleration processes driving escape from Mars' atmosphere, as well as how the atmosphere responds to the constant outflow of the solar wind flowing off the Sun. The principal investigator for this mission is Robert Lillis at the University of California, Berkeley. UC Berkeley will also provide project management.

* Lunar Trailblazer will directly detect and map water on the lunar surface to determine how its form, abundance and location relate to geology. The principal investigator is Bethany Ehlmann at Caltech. JPL will provide project management.

"Each of these concepts holds the promise to deliver big science in a small package," said Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate. "Their miniaturized size enables these systems to be developed at reduced overall costs while performing targeted science missions and testing brand new technologies that future missions can use."

The finalists were chosen from 12 proposals submitted in 2018 through an opportunity called the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx).

Following an extensive and competitive peer review process, these concepts were selected based on their potential science value and feasibility of development plans. They will receive funding for up to one year to further develop and mature the concept designs, concluding with a preliminary design review (PDR). NASA will evaluate the PDR results, and after that expects to select one or more of the mission concepts to proceed into implementation and flight.

Using small spacecraft - less than 400 pounds, or 180 kilograms, in mass - SIMPLEx selections will conduct stand-alone planetary science missions. Each will share their ride to space with either another NASA mission or a commercial launch opportunity.

"The SIMPLEx program provides invaluable opportunities for increasingly innovative ways to conduct planetary science research," said Lori S. Glaze, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Small_satellite_concept_finalists_target_Moon_Mars_and_beyond_999.html.

Russia sends robot into space to test out new booster rocket

August 22, 2019

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has sent a humanoid robot to the International Space Station as part of tests on a new rocket that is expected to replace the current vehicle. The Soyuz capsule, which typically carries a space crew, blasted off from the Russia-leased launch pad in Kazakhstan at 8.38 a.m. (0338 GMT) on Thursday carrying the Fedor robot. The capsule was launched by a new Soyuz 2.1a rocket which has only been used to launch unmanned vehicles. The new booster rocket is expected to replace the Soyuz-FG rocket next year.

The robot, which was in the commander's seat, holding a small Russian flag in its right hand, sent out a tweet shortly after the orbiting saying that the first part of onboard tests went as planned.

Historic 124-year-old Central Texas church burns to ground

July 30, 2019

WESTPHALIA, Texas (AP) — A historic rural Roman Catholic church that had served its surrounding Central Texas farming community for more than a century has burned to the ground. Photos posted on the Austin Catholic diocesan Facebook page show the Church of the Visitation in Westphalia fully involved in flames Monday morning, being reduced to nothing more than ashes.

The parish has served the faithful of southwestern Falls County, many of them immigrants from the northwest German region of Westphalia, since 1883. The church building dated to 1895 and was said to be the largest all-wood church in the state. Its stained-glass windows, more than 20 in all, were shipped to Westphalia from Germany.

No injuries were reported. A statement from the diocese says the cause of the fire has yet to be determined. Westphalia is a community of about 190 residents about 70 miles northeast of Austin. The Church of the Visitation has 244 members.

Woman set to replace Puerto Rico's governor doesn't want job

July 29, 2019

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The woman who is supposed to replace Puerto Rico's embattled governor announced Sunday that she doesn't want the job as the U.S. territory reels from political crisis. Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez said in a Twitter post that she hopes Gov. Ricardo Rosselló will appoint a secretary of state before resigning Aug. 2 as planned.

Former Secretary of State Luis Rivera Marín would have been next in line as governor, according to the U.S. territory's constitution. But he is one of more than a dozen officials who have resigned in recent weeks since someone leaked an obscenity-laced chat in which Rosselló and close advisers insulted people including women and victims of Hurricane Maria.

Rosselló on Wednesday announced that he would step down following nearly two weeks of massive protests amid anger over the chat, corruption charges against several former government officials and a 13-year recession. In the chat, the 40-year-old Democrat and son of a governor called a female politician a "whore," referred to another as a "daughter of a bitch," and made fun of an obese man with whom he posed in a photo.

Rosselló became the first governor to resign in the modern history of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory of 3.2 million American citizens. He is more than halfway through his four-year term. Marín's resignation had left Vázquez as next in line to be governor. But she said she has already told Rosselló about her wishes not to get the job, creating a chaotic scenario about who will be Puerto Rico's next leader.

If Rosselló's choice for a secretary of state is not approved by the island's House and Senate, Puerto Rico's law dictates the treasury secretary would be next in line if the justice secretary doesn't become governor. But current Treasury Secretary Francisco Parés is too young at 31 years old. The constitution dictates the person would have to be at least 35, so that would leave interim Education Secretary Eligio Hernández next in line. He replaced former education secretary Julia Keleher, who resigned in April and was arrested July 10 on federal corruption charges. She has pleaded not guilty.

"This is crazy," political expert Mario Negrón Portillo said in a phone interview on Sunday. "We have no idea what's even going to happen tomorrow. Societies cannot live with this type of uncertainty."

Vázquez's comments came less than an hour after Public Affairs Secretary Anthony Maceira resigned. "There were many challenges that we had to face together as Puerto Ricans, although sometimes we differed," he said. "The work of each one of us must continue with the welfare of our island and its people as its north."

The announcement comes a day before Puerto Ricans planned another march, this time against Vázquez, who is accused of not ordering an investigation into the alleged mismanagement of supplies for hurricane victims, among other things.

Vázquez said on Friday that there is a lot of misinformation but that she cannot speak publicly about certain cases. "The vicious attacks on my personal and professional integrity continue," she said. "The desire and agenda of some to try to undermine my credibility at this moment of transcendental importance to Puerto Rico and to destabilize the governmental order is evident."

A spokeswoman for Vázquez did not immediately return a message for comment on Sunday. Aimara Pérez, a 32-year-old drafter who participated in some of the most recent marches, said she did not want Vázquez as governor.

"We're going to keep protesting," she said. "It's not going to stop. If there is evidence of corruption, the people are going to push ahead without fear, and we're going to get rid of them all."

US government will execute inmates for first time since 2003

July 26, 2019

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department said Thursday the federal government will resume executing death-row inmates for the first time since 2003, ending an informal moratorium even as the nation sees a broad shift away from capital punishment.

Attorney General William Barr instructed the Bureau of Prisons to schedule executions starting in December for five men, all accused of murdering children. Although the death penalty remains legal in 30 states, executions on the federal level are rare.

"The Justice Department upholds the rule of law — and we owe it to the victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system," Barr said. The move is likely to stir up fresh interest in an issue that has largely lain dormant in recent years, adding a new front to the culture battles that President Donald Trump already is waging on matters such as abortion and immigration in the lead-up to the 2020 elections.

Most Democrats oppose capital punishment. Vice President Joe Biden this week shifted to call for the elimination of the federal death penalty after years of supporting it. By contrast, Trump has spoken often — and sometimes wistfully — about capital punishment and his belief that executions serve as both an effective deterrent and appropriate punishment for some crimes, including mass shootings and the killings of police officers.

"I think they should very much bring the death penalty into vogue," Trump said last year after 11 people were gunned down in a Pittsburgh synagogue. He's suggested repeatedly that the U.S. might be better off if it adopted harsh drug laws like those embraced by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, under whom thousands of drug suspects have been killed by police.

Trump was a vocal proponent of the death penalty for decades before taking office, most notably in 1989 when he took out full-page advertisements in New York City newspapers urging elected officials to "BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY" following the rape of a jogger in Central Park. "If the punishment is strong," he wrote then, "the attacks on innocent people will stop."

Five Harlem teenagers were convicted in the Central Park case but had their convictions vacated years later after another man confessed to the rape. More than a decade after their exoneration, the city agreed to pay the so-called Central Park Five $41 million, a settlement Trump blasted as "outrageous."

The death penalty remains legal in 30 states, but only a handful regularly conduct executions. Texas has executed 108 prisoners since 2010, far more than any other state. Executions on the federal level have long been rare. The government has put to death only three defendants since restoring the federal death penalty in 1988, the most recent of which occurred in 2003, when Louis Jones was executed for the 1995 kidnapping, rape and murder of a young female soldier.

In 2014, following a botched state execution in Oklahoma, President Barack Obama directed the Justice Department to conduct a broad review of capital punishment and issues surrounding lethal injection drugs.

That review has been completed, Barr said Thursday, and it has cleared the way for executions to resume. Barr approved a new procedure for lethal injections that replaces the three-drug cocktail previously used in federal execution with a single drug, pentobarbital. This is similar to the procedure used in several states, including Georgia, Missouri and Texas.

Though there hasn't been a federal execution since 2003, the Justice Department has continued to approve death penalty prosecutions and federal courts have sentenced defendants to death. Robert Dunham, the executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, said he was concerned the process for resuming executions was rushed.

"The federal government hasn't carried out any executions in 15 years and so that raises serious questions about the ability to carry out the executions properly," he said. There are 61 people on the federal death row, according to Death Row USA, a quarterly report of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Some of the highest-profile inmates on federal death row include Dylann Roof, who killed nine black church members during a Bible study session in 2015 at a South Carolina church, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who set off bombs near the Boston Marathon's finish line in 2013, killing three people and wounding more than 260.

About 6 in 10 Americans favor the death penalty, according to the General Social Survey, a major trends survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. While a majority continue to express support for the death penalty, the share has declined steadily since the 1990s, when nearly three-quarters were in favor.

The inmates who will be executed are: Danny Lee, who was convicted of killing a family of three, including an 8-year-old; Lezmond Mitchell, who beheaded a 63-year-old woman and her 9-year-old granddaughter; Wesley Ira Purkey, who raped and murdered a 16-year-old girl and killed an 80-year-old woman; Alfred Bourgeois, who tortured, molested and then beat his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter to death; and Dustin Lee Honken, who killed five people, including two children.

The federal government would join eight states that have executed inmates or are planning to do so this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Texas is far and away the leading state when it comes to using the death penalty, with 563 executions since capital punishment resumed in the U.S. in 1977 after a 10-year pause.

In the past 20 years, the Supreme Court has banned the execution of people who are intellectually disabled or were under 18 when they killed someone. But even as the number of people who are sentenced to death and are executed has declined steadily for two decades, the justices have resisted any wholesale reconsideration of the constitutionality of capital punishment.

The five-justice conservative majority, which includes Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, Trump's two high court picks, has complained about delaying tactics employed by lawyers for death row inmates.

Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Mark Sherman, Elana Schor and Hannah Fingerhut contributed to this report.

Puerto Rico's governor to quit Aug. 2 in face of protests

July 25, 2019

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló announced late Wednesday that he will resign Aug. 2, conceding power after nearly two weeks of furious protests and political upheaval touched off by a leak of crude and insulting chat messages between him and his top advisers.

A crowd of thousands outside the governor's mansion in Old San Juan erupted into cheers and singing after Rosselló's announcement on Facebook just before midnight. "My only priority has been the transformation of our island and the well-being of our people," a shaken-looking Rosselló said in an address that listed his accomplishments before making clear he was resigning. Addressing the protests, Rosselló said, "The demands have been overwhelming and I've received them with highest degree of humility."

The 40-year-old son of a former governor, Rosselló became the first chief executive to resign in the modern history of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory of more than 3 million American citizens without full representation in Congress or the right to vote for president.

Justice Secretary Wanda Vázquez will assume the post less than halfway through Rosselló's four-year term, becoming Puerto Rico's second female governor. "It's historic, but we have to be cautious. What will happen beyond this? There are concerns, but there is also hope," designer Jalil Serrano said. Gesturing to the young crowd outside the mansion, he said, "This belongs to them."

Daniel López, a businessman also in the protest, wiped tears from his eyes as people leaped into the air, beat drums, waved flags, hugged and cried, "We did it!" "This is for the future of my family," López said. "It's big, what's happened."

Rosselló's announcement came after a bizarre, hours-long standoff unfolded in colonial Old San Juan, as the governor pledged to deliver a message to the people of Puerto Rico, then passed hour after hour in unexplained silence while thousands of protesters chanted demands for his resignation.

An announcement was first expected at 5 p.m., then finally came less than a half-hour before midnight. "Despite expecting to service the term that the people democratically elected me to, today I feel that continuing in this position represents a threat to the success we have achieved," Rosselló said.

Puerto Rico Rep. Gabriel Rodríguez, a member of Rosselló's pro-statehood party, told The Associated Press that legislators had initially agreed to set aside the impeachment process and give the governor until 5 p.m. to announce that he was going to resign. The president of Puerto Rico's House of Representatives issued the embattled governor an ultimatum: Either take the best decision for a U.S. territory demanding his resignation or face an impeachment process.

At one point, dozens of officers in full riot gear marched out of the governor's mansion toward protesters. "We want peace, and they want war!" the crowd yelled as many became increasingly frustrated.

Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans have been outraged by the online chats between Rosselló and his advisers, and have protested for nearly two weeks demanding his resignation. The chat participants discussed the awarding of government contracts in ways that some observers called potentially illegal. They also insulted women and mocked constituents, including victims of Hurricane Maria. Rosselló called a female politician a "whore," referred to another as a "daughter of a bitch," and made fun of an obese man with whom he posed in a photo.

On Tuesday, officials announced that a Puerto Rico judge had issued search warrants for the cellphones of government officials involved in the chat as part of an investigation. One of the search warrants said officials used the chat to transmit official and confidential information to private citizens in potential violation of ethics laws.

More than a dozen government officials have resigned since the chat was leaked earlier this month, including Rosselló confidant and chief of staff Ricardo Llerandi, former Secretary of State Luis Rivera Marín and former chief financial officer Christian Sobrino, who also held five other positions.

The obscenity-laced online messages involving the governor and 11 other men infuriated Puerto Ricans already frustrated with corruption, mismanagement, economic crisis and the sluggish recovery from Hurricane Maria nearly two years ago.

In reaction, tens of thousands took to the streets to demand Rosselló's resignation in Puerto Rico's biggest demonstrations since the protests that put an end to U.S. Navy training on the island of Vieques more than 15 years ago.

Under Puerto Rico's constitution, the secretary of state would normally assume the governorship, but since Secretary of State Luis Rivera Marín became one of more than a dozen officials to resign in the uproar over the leak, leadership of the island falls to Vázquez.

Over the weekend, Rosselló posted a video on Facebook in which he announced he would not seek re-election in 2020 or continue as head of his pro-statehood political party, but his refusal to resign further angered Puerto Ricans and led to a colossal demonstration Monday on one of the capital's main highways.

Pressure on Rosselló to step down included calls from Puerto Rico music stars Ricky Martin, Bad Bunny and Residente and a string of U.S. politicians, including members of Congress from both parties and several Democratic presidential candidates.

The upheaval comes as the island tries to restructure part of $70 billion in debt and cope with a 13-year recession that has led to an exodus of nearly half a million people to the U.S. mainland in the past decade. Many Puerto Ricans are resentful over the resulting pension cuts, school closings and other austerity measures.

The economic crisis is in part a result of previous administrations — including that of Rosselló's father, Pedro — that overspent, overestimated revenue and borrowed millions as the island sank deeper into debt. In 2017, Puerto Rico filed for the equivalent of bankruptcy. Congress approved a financial package, and a federal board is overseeing the island's finances.

An MIT graduate with a doctorate in genetics, Rosselló spent much of his time as governor fighting austerity measures and seeking federal funds after Maria devastated the island in September 2017, causing thousands of deaths and more than $100 billion in damage.

Nearly two years later, some 30,000 homes still have tarp roofs, power outages remain common, and Puerto Rico has received less than a third of the roughly $40 billion pledged by the U.S. government. Rosselló complained earlier this year of unfair treatment and a hostile attitude from some U.S. officials.

The public's confidence has also been rocked by a recent string of corruption arrests involving such figures as the island's former education secretary and the one-time chief of health services.

Associated Press writers Mariela Santos in San Juan and Michael Weissenstein in Havana contributed to this report.

Insitu nets $390.4M for Blackjack, ScanEagle drones for U.S. military, allies

by Allen Cone
Washington (UPI)
Jul 1, 2019

Insitu was awarded a $390.4 million contract to supply Blackjack drones for the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy, as well as Blackjacks and smaller ScanEagle unmanned air vehicles, for three foreign allies.

The contract, announced Friday by the Department of Defense, covers 63 RQ-21A Blackjack attrition air vehicles for the U.S. military branches, plus six RQ-21A unmanned aircraft systems and 17 Blackjack air vehicles for Canada, Poland and Oman under foreign military sales. The contract also includes 93 ScanEagle unmanned aircraft systems "in various configurations,"

The deal will include training, testing and engineering, operations support, maintenance and other services, Pentagon said.

Eight-three percent of the work will be performed at Insitu's plant in Bingen, Wash., with 5 percent at various locations into the continental United States and 12 percent outside. Work is expected to be completed in June 2022.

Naval fiscal 2019 operation and maintenance, fiscal 2019 building partnership capacity, and FMS funds in the amount of $9.9 million will be obligated at time of award, $9.5 million of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

Neither drone model requires a runway, and can operate from land and sea.

The RQ-21A Blackjack is a military version of Insitu's Integrator drone.

A single RQ-21A unmanned aircraft system includes five air vehicles, including two ground control stations and other equipment.

Each drone's six payload spaces can carry up to 39 pounds with an endurance of 16-plus hours per day.

The Blackhack is considered a category 3 drone with maximum gross takeoff weight of less than 1,320 pounds, normal operating altitude of less than 18,000 feat above mean sea level and less than 250 knots per hour. It weighs 81 pounds and the length is 8.2 feet, according to the company.

The Insitu ScanEagle drone, which has been deployed with the U.S. Marine Corps since 2004 and the U.S. Navy since 2005, is a smaller long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle.

As a category 2, it can operate up to 19,500 feet and loiter over a battlefield for extended missions of 24-plus hours. Its normal operating altitude is less than 3,500 feet at an airspeed less than 250 knots per hour.

At a length of 3.9 feet and 39.7 pounds, its payload is a high resolution, day/night camera and thermal imager.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Insitu_nets_3904M_for_Blackjack_ScanEagle_drones_for_US_military_allies_999.html.

Washington appoints new ambassador to Turkey after 2 years

June 28, 2019

The US Senate has nominated a new Ambassador to Turkey, the embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara announced today. “We have exciting news!” Tweeted the embassy. “Last night, the US Senate confirmed Ambassador David Satterfield to be the next US Ambassador to Turkey. We look forward to welcoming him in the near future. Stay tuned!”

Satterfield, a senior diplomat across two decades, has served in a variety of posts in the Middle East and was picked for his extensive experience in the region, as well as the fact that besides English he speaks four other languages: Arabic, French, Italian and Hebrew.

He has been Coordinator for Iraq and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State from 2006 to 2009; Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for Libya in 2014; and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs since 2017. In addition to those posts, Satterfield has also held top positions at US missions in Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Lebanon.

The post of Ambassador to Turkey has been vacant for almost two years since the previous Ambassador, John Bass, left his position due to a visa crisis between Washington and Ankara. He now serves as US envoy to Afghanistan.

The new appointment comes at a time when US-Turkish relations have been tense and in decline, with a clash of national interests over regional and foreign policy issues. The US has recently been threatening Turkey with sanctions due primarily to the latter’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defense system, which Washington claims will compromise the security of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and is technologically incompatible with its F-35 fighter jets.

Another issue has been Turkey’s drilling for natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean off the coast of Cyprus. A new pipeline is to be built after a $9 billion agreement was struck between southern Cyprus, Greece and Israel in early June.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190628-washington-appoints-new-ambassador-to-turkey-after-2-years/.

U.S. Marines test vehicle-mounted laser for shooting down drones

by Ed Adamczyk
Washington DC (UPI)
Jun 20, 2019

The U.S. Marines announced Wednesday that they are testing a portable, ground-based laser prototype for shooting down drones.

The Compact Laser Weapons System, or CLaWS, is the first ground-based directed energy weapon approved by the Defense Department. It will be evaluated for several months, with the aim of upgrading it to be included in fixed-site and other mobile situations.

Boeing Co. first announced the weapon in 2015. It is a portable device capable of using an invisible laser to take down targets several hundred meters away. It was designed to focus energy on a small enough spot to heat and destroy targets, including moving ones -- such as drones.

"Think of it like a welding torch being put on target but from many hundreds of meters away," Boeing engineer Isaac Neil said at the time of the introduction.

In 2018, Boeing expressed an interest in mounting the CLaWS on tactical vehicles, including the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle under development to replace the Humvee. The CLaWS comes in 2-, 5- and 10-kW variants and can be carried by two or more Marine personnel.

"One of the related aspects of the CLWS is that it's a counterintelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tool," said Jim Leary, Boeing director of weapons global sales. "You can shoot down enemy drones that might be observing friendly troops. That's the beauty of this laser."

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_Marines_test_vehicle-mounted_laser_for_shooting_down_drones_999.html.

Zimbabwe comedian is latest in torture of government critics

August 23, 2019

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — A wave of abductions, torture and arrests in Zimbabwe are targeting opposition activists and other government critics, the latest being a popular comedian dragged from her home by armed and masked men.

Barely two years after euphoric scenes engulfed Zimbabwe following the forced resignation of former repressive ruler Robert Mugabe, frustration and fear have returned. Comedian Samantha Kureya was this week dragged from her bed, stripped naked and tortured by masked men with assault rifles for skits perceived as anti-government. She spoke to The Associated Press from her hospital bed.

"I am living in fear," she said, complaining of "severe pain" in her legs and on her back. Kureya said the men claiming to be police officers dragged her from bed half naked and bundled her into a waiting car on Wednesday night. They beat her using short whips, forced her to roll in a stream of sewage and drink from it, she said.

"I was wearing my underwear and a T-shirt when they took me, they didn't even give me a chance to dress properly," she said. Her abductors forced her to strip naked during the torture and warned her against mocking the government before abandoning her to seek clothing and help from strangers, said Kureya.

She had received threats on social media before the abduction, she said. Her latest skit mocked security agents for beating up demonstrators that included elderly women. Political tensions are rising in Zimbabwe as the economy deteriorates with inflation at over 175% and growing dissatisfaction with President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took over from Mugabe less than two years ago with promises of a "new dawn" and a "flowering of democracy."

Human rights groups say at least six activists were abducted and tortured by suspected security agents ahead of an opposition demonstration last week. Police later used violence to disperse demonstrators in Harare on August 16.

One of the activists abducted and tortured ahead of last week's demonstration, Tatenda Mombeyarara had visible wounds on his legs, hands, buttocks and back. His kidneys were damaged and doctors put metal plates and pins on his fractured left leg and hand, he said, showing AP a scan while lying on a hospital bed. He said he was beaten with sjamboks (short whips), gun butts and a wheel spanner and also submerged in a pool of dirty water at a quarry dumpsite.

"They told me 'you think you are a hero, all that will end today. You are going to die and your American sponsors will not save you'," said Mombeyarara, who has been in hospital for the past nine days. "I am still traumatized. The pain was unbearable. I thought I was going to die."

An opposition member of parliament said unknown people fired shots at his house Wednesday night, while a top official was arrested Thursday and accused of failing to stop supporters from demonstrating against the government. Since January, more than 20 activists have been charged with plotting to unseat Mnangagwa.

Police spokesman Paul Nyathi said the recent abductions and attacks "are being investigated" but denied that security agents were involved. "We cannot blame security agents (for the abduction) because investigations are still underway," he said.

Government spokesman Nick Mangwana blamed the attacks on "a force" he associated with Mugabe "to impair President Mnangagwa's image as a sincere reformer." The U.S embassy in Zimbabwe and the European Union Delegation to Zimbabwe said in a joint statement earlier this week that reports of worsening human rights abuses were of "great concern."

Kureya, the comedian, said she would continue poking fun at the government despite her abductors threatening to "put a bullet" in her mother's head if she continues with her work. "That is how I survive," she said. "I don't have any other job, plus we all can't just keep quiet when things are as bad as they are in this country."

Sri Lanka attacks boost feared ex-official's bid for power

August 23, 2019

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — He is a feared former defense official accused of condoning rape, torture and shadowy disappearances of critics, but to many Sri Lankans, the opposition's presidential candidate is the best choice to protect the South Asian island nation after attacks that killed over 250 people this year.

The younger brother and powerful right hand of a former strongman, Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa is seen as a hero by supporters for bringing a bloody end to a decadeslong civil war in 2009 and has cast himself as Sri Lanka's protector.

"I will accept responsibility for your safety, and the safety of your children and your loved ones," Gotabaya said as he launched his campaign this month. "I will never allow extremist terrorism in this country."

His message, met with thundering applause from supporters, resonates as the government faces blistering criticism for a high-level intelligence lapse that President Maithripala Sirisena has acknowledged allowed a group of radicalized Sri Lankans to carry out suicide bombings on Easter Sunday.

Gotabaya "is the most ideal leader the country needs at this time of crisis, and with this attack, his leadership has become more important," said Sujeewa Manage, a government employee. Despite allegations of bloodshed and war crimes that still haunt the country, Gotabaya's hardened reputation and vow to ensure national security became a selling point after the attacks on three luxury hotels and three churches that left 263 dead and 500 wounded.

Having enjoyed 10 years of peace, the brazenness of the April 21 attacks jolted Sri Lanka, conjuring the days of bombs going off in the capital of Colombo when rebels fought for an independent state for the country's ethnic Tamil minority.

The Sri Lankan government came under fire for not acting on near-specific intelligence information from Indian security forces on plans to attack churches. Officials have acknowledged that some Sri Lankan intelligence units were aware of possible attacks weeks before the bombings.

Gotabaya, who has been plotting a return to power since his brother and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa lost reelection in 2015, is seizing a key moment as voters grasp for a return to safety and a bitter divide roils the ruling coalition government.

Incumbent President Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe last October and appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa as his constitutional No. 2. The Supreme Court ruled against the move and reinstated Wickremesinghe.

Sirisena's party is now divided, with the Rajapaksa brothers absorbing a big chunk of its supporters in a new party. Wickremesinghe and Sirisena are both expected to seek the presidency, but the political upheaval and the attacks will hurt the incumbent's chances in an election to be held between Nov. 8 and Dec. 8.

Meanwhile, Gotabaya says the ruling government has made national security weaker and he can fill the void. "After the attacks, Gotabaya Rajapaksa's name came high on this list of possible strong leaders," political analyst Jehan Perera said.

The former defense secretary is a hero to many of the nation's majority Sinhalese Buddhists, but his candidacy is a fearsome prospect to others. Gotabaya was suspected of ordering kidnappings through so-called white van squads that whisked away rebel suspects, journalists and other government critics. Some victims were tortured and then released, while others disappeared.

Victims who say the military and police forces under Gotabaya's watch repeatedly tortured and raped political opponents have sued the former defense official, who's also a U.S. citizen, in federal court in Los Angeles. They brought their case under a statute that allows U.S. lawsuits over acts of torture and killings committed in foreign countries.

The daughter of a top journalist killed in 2009 also has sued Gotabaya in Los Angeles and is seeking damages. Gotabaya has denied the allegations and says he's started the process of renouncing his American citizenship because Sri Lankan law doesn't permit dual citizens to hold office.

Gotabaya also has been implicated in the killing of rebels and civilians who tried to surrender with white flags under a prearranged deal in the final days of the 26-year civil war. Some 45,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the last months of the war alone, according to a U.N. report.

In the final years of his brother's regime, Gotabaya has been accused of promoting hard-line Buddhist groups that carried out anti-Muslim hate campaigns and attacks on their businesses. He has denied the allegations.

He also faces a corruption case accusing him of misappropriating $191,000 in state funds for the construction of a memorial for his parents. There are other police investigations into allegations of corruption and other misdeeds involving his close relatives.

Dharmasiri Lankapeli, a trade union and media rights activist, said national security is just a political slogan used by Gotabaya and his team to capture power. "People knew and understood what happened in the country when he was the defense ministry secretary and how hard it was for the people," Lankapeli said. "If he comes to power, the democratic space for dissent and for alternative opinion that the people enjoyed during the past four years will be threatened."

Under the ruling government, more than a dozen soldiers, including intelligence officials, have been arrested on suspicion of several killings and attacks of political opponents and journalists during the Rajapaksa era. Some have been indicted.

"If he (Gotabaya) comes to power, the investigations on alleged misdeeds that occurred during Rajapaksa period will be swept under the carpet," Lankapeli said. But Ajith Kumara, a rickshaw driver in Colombo, said Sri Lanka needs a strong leader like Gotabaya.

"He will be tough, but the country needs such a person to discipline and develop the country," Kumara said. "If he was there, the attack would not have happened." To win, Gotabaya needs to convince more than 50% of Sri Lanka's 15.9 million voters.

"If Gotabaya is to generate votes he must know that people vote for a candidate out of the love for him, not because they fear him," columnist Ravi Nagahawatte wrote in the Daily Mirror newspaper.

Russian doctor has trace of radiation after explosion

August 23, 2019

MOSCOW (AP) — More than 100 Russian medical workers who helped treat victims of a recent mysterious explosion at a military testing range have undergone checks and one man has been found with a trace of radiation, officials said Friday.

The Aug. 8 incident at the Russian navy's range in Nyonoksa on the White Sea killed two servicemen and five nuclear engineers and injured six others. It was followed by a brief rise in radiation levels in nearby Severodvinsk, but the authorities insisted it didn't pose any danger.

The Arkhangelsk regional administration said Friday that 110 medical workers have undergone checks that one man was found with a low amount of radioactive cesium-137 in his muscle tissue. It said the man's health isn't in danger and argued that he could have got the radioactive isotope with food.

The statement followed Russian media reports claiming that dozens of medical workers were exposed to radiation. The reports claimed that medical teams at the Arkhangelsk city hospital hadn't been warned that they would treat people exposed to radiation and lacked elementary protective gear. They said that Russia's security agency forced the medical workers to sign non-disclosure papers.

The workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity fearing official reprisals, said many doctors and nurses felt angry about authorities putting their lives at risk by concealing vital information. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov shrugged off the reports, questioning the veracity of anonymous sources. He also alleged that certain forces that he didn't name could be interested in making false allegations about radioactive threats.

President Vladimir Putin has hailed the victims, saying they were doing "very important work for the nation's security," but kept mum on what type of weapon they were testing. Some, including U.S. President Donald Trump, said the explosion occurred during tests of Russia's prospective Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile that was code-named "Skyfall" by NATO.

Russian officials' changing and contradictory accounts of the incident drew comparisons to Soviet attempts to cover up the 1986 explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the world's worst nuclear disaster.

The Russian Defense Ministry at first denied any radiation leak in the incident even as authorities in nearby Severodvinsk reported a spike in radiation and advised people to stay indoors and close windows. Terrified residents rushed to buy iodine, which can help reduce risks from exposure to radiation.

Peskov argued that a Chernobyl-style cover-up is undoable now due to fast and multi-sourced information. "The situations like the one in Chernobyl are impossible," he said. Sergei Ivanov, Putin's adviser on environmental issues, angrily rejected comparisons with Chernobyl as "sheer nonsense."

Russia's state weather and environmental monitoring agency said the peak radiation reading in Severodvinsk on Aug. 8 briefly reached 1.78 microsieverts per hour in just one neighborhood — about 16 times the average. Peak readings in other parts of Severodvinsk varied between 0.45 and 1.33 microsieverts for a couple of hours before returning to normal.

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization said earlier this week that several Russian radiation monitoring stations went silent shortly after the explosion. Observers saw that as part of an effort to conceal the radiation data, which could help determine the technology that was being tested at the time of the explosion.

NORSAR, a Norwegian agency monitoring the nuclear test ban, said Friday its analysis found that there were two separate explosions in the Arkhangelsk region, the second blast coming about two hours after the first one. It reaffirmed that it hasn't registered any radiation increase.

The Arkhangelsk regional governor, Igor Orlov, rejected the report about the second explosion as "disinformation," according to the Interfax news agency.

Russian opposition leader Navalny released from jail

August 23, 2019

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was released on Friday after spending a month in jail for calling for an unsanctioned protest. Navalny, along with several opposition activists, has led a protest movement earlier this summer against Russian election authorities' decision to bar nearly two dozen independent candidates from running for the Moscow city legislature in the Sept. 8 election. One of these rallies was the largest anti-government protest that Moscow had seen in eight years.

Speaking to reporters outside the detention facility in Moscow, Navalny vowed to keep fighting against Russian President Vladimir Putin's government despite the increasing pressure. "I have no doubts that despite these acts of intimidation and terrorizing that are happening now, like arrests of innocent people, this wave (of protests) will grow," he said, adding that the government's heavy-handed tactics shows that popular support for the Kremlin is waning. "They feel it, and they're scared of it."

Authorities have clamped down on the demonstrations, refusing to give permission for them, briefly detaining 1,400 people and arresting dozens of protest leaders, including Navalny. Some of the independent city council candidates were sentenced to several back-to-back short stints in jail. One of them, Ilya Yashin, was sentenced to another 10-day detention earlier this week, which brings the total number of his consecutive arrests to four.

Kremlin officials have dismissed the protests as insignificant, and Putin has warned the protesters that they must abide by the law or face the consequences. Fifteen people are now in jail on charges of rioting for the rally in July that was largely peaceful. These charges have been largely seen as the Kremlin's political vendetta against the dissenters.