Police, protesters clash outside Barcelona-Real Madrid game

December 18, 2019

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Riot police clashed with protesters in the streets Wednesday night outside a soccer match between Barcelona and Real Madrid, as authorities sought to keep Catalonia's separatist movement from disrupting the game viewed by 650 million people worldwide.

The match in Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium began without incident and was halted only briefly when some fans threw balls onto the field bearing a message for the Spanish government to open a dialogue with the separatists.

The game, which drew nearly 100,000 spectators, ended in a scoreless draw. Thousands of police and private security guards were deployed in and around stadium. In the street clashes, riot police used batons to force the crowd back, some threw objects at officers lined up behind shields and other protesters fought among themselves. Authorities said nine people had been arrested, and Spain's national news agency Efe reported that 12 were injured.

At least four plastic trash cans were set on fire, and a smell of smoke wafted into the Camp Nou. When the game ended, fans were directed to leave on the stadium's south side to avoid the clashes outside.

The separatists sought to promote their independence bid by using the media coverage of the game between Barcelona, the Spanish league leader, and its fierce rival Real Madrid. Known as El Clásico, the game was postponed from Oct. 26 amid violent protests by the separatists.

As crowds entered Europe's largest soccer stadium Wednesday night, security guards confiscated masks of Barcelona's Argentine star Lionel Messi from supporters, apparently to ensure they could be identified on closed-circuit cameras if they broke the law.

As the game began, some fans held up blue signs saying 'Spain, Sit and Talk" and “FREEDOM.” Others chanted, in Catalan, “Freedom for the Political Prisoners.” Those messages referred to the Spanish government's refusal to discuss the wealthy northeastern region's independence, as well as the recent imprisonment of nine of the movement’s leaders convicted for their roles in a failed 2017 secession bid.

A shadowy online group called Tsunami Democratic, which was behind the protest, had posted a message on social media saying: “Hello, world! Tonight Tsunami has a message for you.” Protest organizers said over 25,000 people signed up to demonstrate near the stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia's capital, although it was hard to distinguish between protesters and fans.

There was a festive atmosphere before the game, though some protesters briefly blocked main roads to the stadium. The Barcelona team asked its fans to behave with civility and not to affect the match.

Francisco Sánchez, a 60-year-old mechanic, was outside Camp Nou hours before the match. He did not have a ticket, but was one of several protesters who distributed small blue banners with the message urging Spain to begin a dialogue.

“I hope this movement will make our leaders realize that they have to lay off the law and start taking," he said. "This can’t be solved with violence, but through words.” Miguel Ángel Giménez, a 42-year-old policeman in a Barcelona shirt and scarf, drove with a friend over 700 kilometers (430 miles) from the southern region of Murcia to attend the match.

“Our friends back home told us we were crazy to cross half of Spain to go to a game that might not be played,” he said, adding that “everything is quite calm. There is lots of security.” The U.S. Consulate in Barcelona advised people to avoid the area or use caution if near it.

Henrik Noerrelund, a 55-year-old electrician from Denmark, flew in with his wife to attend his first Barcelona match after a lifetime supporting the club. “In my parts, they used to say politics and football don´t mix, but today you have to accept it,” Noerrelund said. “It’s there, you cannot separate it, you have seen it for many years, and I don’t think they can manage to separate it and just play football.”

Separatist sentiment grew sharply in Catalonia during the global recession that hit Spain hard. The 7.5 million residents of Catalonia are about equally divided by the secession question, according to polls and election results.

Separatists have used the Camp Nou stadium as a protest platform for years. They shout “Independence!” at a set time during matches and sometimes unfurl banners. The Barcelona team has walked a fine line between supporting its fans' right to free expression and aligning itself with the greater interests of Catalonia. Many feel it does not fully support secession so as not to anger its Catalan fans who are not separatists or its millions of supporters across Spain.

With its slogan "More than a club,” it presents itself as a Catalan institution, aligned with the region’s proud cultural traditions and language, which is spoken along with Spanish in the semi-autonomous region.

Its rivalry with Real Madrid has a decades-old political undercurrent, with many Catalans seeing the capital's team as a symbol of domineering, central power and a hallmark of Spanish unity and authority.

Madrid supporters, in turn, see Barcelona as representing a traitorous region that wants to break up Spain. For many years, some Barcelona fans held up a massive banner at games that read “Catalonia is not Spain.”

Players from both teams usually get along. The Spanish national team that won the 2010 World Cup and two European Championships was packed with players from both sides. Security is always high whenever they play — just like at many soccer matches between fierce rivals — but there is no history of violence at the games.

Tsunami Democratic carried out its first major action in October when it organized a large protest after several of the secession movement's leaders were sentenced to jail for their role in a failed secession bid in 2017.

A call by Tsunami Democratic led to thousands of angry protesters gathering at Barcelona’s airpor t. A street battle broke out between the most radical protesters and police inside and outside the terminal, and about 150 flights were canceled as ground transport was halted for hours. Protests by separatists left more than 500 people injured, half of them police.

Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Associated Press writers Joseph Wilson in Barcelona and Ciaran Giles in Madrid contributed.

Russia to let in Chinese with business visas amid entry ban

February 19, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's entry ban for Chinese nationals will be partial and only affect those who travel with tourist, private, student and work visas, the country's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, clarifying the conditions of a sweeping entry ban for Chinese citizens announced the day before.

Visitors with official, business, humanitarian and transit visas will still be allowed into the country, the Ministry said. The ban goes into effect on Thursday at midnight Moscow time (2100 GMT). It was announced by the Russian government on Tuesday amid the new coronavirus outbreak centered in China that has infected more than 75,000 people worldwide.

The measure is one of many Russia has taken to keep the virus from spreading. The country so far has reported three confirmed cases of the COVID-19 disease — two Chinese citizens in Russia who were treated and released, and a Russian national infected on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Russia suspended all trains to China and North Korea, shut down its land border with China and Mongolia and extended a school vacation for Chinese students until March 1. Hundreds of Russians who returned from China this year have been hospitalized as a precaution, and medics continue to monitor more than 14,000 people in total.

However, while some of these steps at first appeared sweeping, they turned out to have loopholes and caveats that allowed Russia to maintain its political and economic ties with China. Those ties became increasingly important for Moscow after its relations with the West soured over Russian's 2014 annexation of Crimea and other disputes.

As described Wednesday, this week's partial entry ban would minimize the effect on business connections between China and Russia and on the operation of Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, a major transit hub for Chinese tourists traveling to Europe.

In the same vein, the Russian government last month halted most air traffic to China, with exceptions for four Chinese airlines and flagship Russian carrier Aeroflot. Currently, there are still regular flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

China has remained a top trading partner for Russia for the last decade, so cutting the ties completely is hardly an option, Alexander Gabuyev, chair of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said.

“This contradiction between the need to... control the spread of disease and at the same time to maintain good economic ties with China is dictating this two steps forward, one step back policy,” Gabuyev said.

Visitors coming to Russia for business or humanitarian purposes account for 10% of all Chinese travelers, according to Gabuyev. Last year, 1.5 million Chinese tourists traveled to Russia. However, Russia's tourism industry is about to suffer a significant blow with the flow of Chinese visitors effectively cut off during the entry ban. Because of all the restrictions, tour operators working with Chinese travelers could lose up to $47 million of profits in the coming months, Maya Lomidze, head of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, said Wednesday.

“The forecast is pessimistic at this point,” Lomidze said. “It would be good to have an understanding of how the situation in China will unfold and how long the entry ban for Chinese nationals will last.”

Ending Putin's support of Venezuela no easy feat for US

February 19, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — In October 2016, the head of Russia's largest oil company traveled to the birthplace of Hugo Chávez, in the empty, sweltering plains of Venezuela, to unveil a giant bronze statue of the late socialist leader that he and his longtime friend, Russian President Vladimir Putin, commissioned from a prominent Russian artist.

It was a turning point in the relationship between Russia and Venezuela, and Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin brought with him a 600-year-old choir from a Moscow monastery to celebrate. Speaking to throngs of red-shirted government supporters in fluent Spanish gleaned from his days as a Soviet military translator in Africa, Sechin praised Chávez as a “leader of multi-polarity” and a “symbol of an entire era.”

“We have no choice between victory or death," said Sechin, quoting a Venezuelan independence hero to describe the deepening ties between the two U.S. adversaries. ”We must achieve victory." Now the Trump administration wants to break up that blossoming alliance as part of its campaign to oust Chavez’s successor, Nicolás Maduro.

On Tuesday, the Treasury Department blocked U.S. companies from doing business with Rosneft Trading SA, accusing the Geneva subsidiary of the Russian state-owned oil giant of providing a critical lifeline to Maduro as he seeks to bypass U.S. sanctions.

For months, U.S. officials have been warning foreign companies that they could face retaliation if they continue to do business with Maduro. Those admonishments have been aimed primarily at Russia, which U.S. officials say handles about 70% of Venezuelan oil transactions that have been rerouted since the Trump administration a year ago made it illegal for Americans to by crude from Venezuela.

Francisco Monaldi, a Venezuelan oil expert at Rice University in Houston, said the latest actions should send a chill through companies in Spain, China and elsewhere that continue to partner with state-run oil monopoly PDVSA. It could also foretell the ending of a special license for Chevron that has so far exempted the San Ramon, California-based company from having to pull out of the country, where it's a partner in joint ventures with PDVSA that produce about a quarter of the OPEC nation's total production.

“It’s no longer the dog barking,” said Monaldi. “It's biting now.” PDVSA in a statement condemned what it called “economic assassination” by the U.S. aimed at taking control of Venezuela's oil industry. Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said the new actions would bolster Venezuela's lawsuit filed against the Trump administration at the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

Rosneft operates with PDVSA several oil fields that it acquired after U.S. drillers were forced out by Chavez's nationalization drive. But as the new, go-to supplier of the country’s pariah crude it wins two ways, according to analysts. First, Rosneft purchases Venezuela’s premium Merey 16 crude at a steep discount. It then uses the proceeds from its sale to pay down $6.5 billion lent to PDVSA since 2014 for the purchase of Russian-made weaponry and other goods.

Meanwhile, refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast that used to depend on Venezuela's heavy crude have nearly tripled their imports of unfinished Russian petroleum products in the year since sanctions have been in place, according to U.S. Energy Department data.

To avoid complications for customers in China and India, Rosneft has been hiring tankers that try to hide their cargo by turning off their mandatory tracking systems and carrying out risky ship-to-ship transfers off the coast of west Africa and other distant locations.

In the short term, he expects Maduro will have to pay more to find another intermediary to take on the added risk of moving the country's oil. That means his cash-strapped government will have even less money to import scarce food and medical supplies as well as repair the country's crumbling electricity infrastructure. And with storage facilities already at capacity, production that is already at a seven-decade low is likely to fall even further, he added.

Still, short of a U.S. naval blockade of Venezuelan ports — a military option that the Trump administration has refused to rule out but has shown no sign of pursuing — nobody expects oil sales from the nation sitting atop the world's largest petroleum reserves to dry up completely.

“They can find always find ways to sell it, but it’s much harder,” said Monaldi. Even less clear is the impact on the U.S.' goal of engaging Russia to find a solution to Venezuela's year-old political impasse.

The U.S. leads a group of now nearly 60 nations that recognize opposition leader Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's rightful leader following what it considers Maduro's fraudulent 2018 re-election. In turn, Russia has accused the Trump administration of spreading false information to engineer a coup, needling the U.S. in what has traditionally been considered Washington's backyard as the two sides wage proxy battles for influence in Syria, Ukraine and other global hot spots.

Richard Nephew, an energy researcher at Columbia University, said that in sparing Rosneft itself, and only going after one of its many units, the impact on Russia's continued political support for Maduro is likely to be more muted.

The bulk of Rosneft’s long-term supply contracts are arranged directly by the parent company in Moscow, with the Swiss-based trading unit handling spot sales, he said. The sanctions also include a three-month winding down period, which should give the company -- and ravenous oil traders -- plenty of time to redirect transactions, including with Venezuela.

In addition, Rosneft and Sechin were already partially sanctioned in 2014 in retaliation for Russia’s annexation of Crimean peninsula in Ukraine. As a result, many U.S. companies had already been steering clear of the company.

“This seems more like a warning shot designed to look bigger than it actually is,” said Nephew, who helped design U.S. sanctions policy while at the State Department under President Barack Obama. “It’s shooting someone who is Russian sounding without really punishing the Russians themselves.”

Several pro-Putin lawmakers were dismissive of the actions, saying they would appeal to the World Trade Organization to remove what they described as unilateral, unlawful U.S. actions. “I think this issue can be resolved,” Vladimir Dzhabarov, a member of Russia's upper house of parliament, told RIA Novosti news agency. "They’re smart over there (in Rosneft) and they will find a way to get around it.”

But even if Putin maintains outward support for Maduro, it's unclear if he'll double down and lend even more money to the bankrupt country. At the height of unrest in 2018, anti-government protesters tried to destroy the Chávez statue dedicated by Russia. Today, it's under heavy guard, pointing to the uneasy calm that prevails in the normally pro-government Venezuelan countryside, where power outages are an almost daily occurrence and misery widespread.

While Venezuela has stayed current on its debt to Russia, and is expected to pay off the last remaining amount in the coming weeks, it's defaulted on almost all other lenders and investors in the country's bonds. Meanwhile, its debt with Russia is backed by a lien on 49.9% of PDVSA's American subsidiary, Houston-based CITGO, control of which the Trump administration has handed to a board named by Guaidó.

“The Russians are nothing if not good chess players,” Russ Dallen, the Miami-based head of Caracas Capital Markets brokerage, wrote in a recent report. Rosneft's "choice here will be an important tell for us about the future direction of their policy.”

Goodman reported from Miami.

Russian lawmakers OK Putin's constitutional proposals

January 23, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian lawmakers on Thursday quickly gave preliminary approval to a slew of constitutional changes widely seen as an attempt by President Vladimir Putin to remain in charge after his current term ends in 2024.

Kremlin critics have described the amendments as an attempt by Putin to secure his rule over Russia for life, but still it remains unclear how exactly the changes allow him to do that. Putin also didn't explain why he hastily moved to amend the constitution now, four years before the end of his term. That drew suggestions it could herald a plan to call an early parliamentary or presidential election.

Putin's amendments give parliament the right to appoint Cabinet members, but they are focused primarily at preserving and even strengthening the powers of the presidency. The Kremlin-controlled lower house of parliament, the State Duma, rubber-stamped the amendments Thursday by a unanimous vote in the first of three required readings.

Putin, a 67-year-old former KGB officer, who has led Russia for more than 20 years — the longest since the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, likes to keep his plans secret until the last moment. When the Russian leader announced his proposals last week, many observers speculated he may use them to shift into the post of prime minister — something he did previously when he stepped down after two terms in 2008 and let his protege, Dmitry Medvedev, serve as placeholder president for four years before reclaiming the job.

Putin continued to wield power during Medvedev's presidency, but he wasn't happy with what was dubbed“the tandem rule.” It's clear he would not take the premier's position again without turning it into the top executive job. The proposed amendments leave the prime minister subordinate to the president, who can fire him at his whim.

Immediately after announcing the proposed changes last week, Putin fired Medvedev, who had held prime minister job for eight years, and named tax chief Mikhail Mishustin to succeed him. Putin's suggestion that the constitution must enshrine the role of the State Council, an advisory body of regional governors and top federal officials, led some analysts to predict that he could aim to stay at the helm as its head. But Putin's amendments say the president will have the power to form the Council.

The draft also revises the constitutional limit of two consecutive terms, limiting a president to two terms altogether. Some have suggested that Putin, who served two consecutive terms in 2000-2008 and is currently serving the second of another pair of consecutive terms, may use the constitutional changes to reset the term clock.

Most observers agree, however, that such a move would be too blunt for Putin, a law faculty graduate who prefers to have a democratic veneer on his political machinations. As wild speculation about Putin's intentions has continued to swirl, he remains poker-faced.

Asked at Wednesday's meeting with students if Russia could follow the example of Kazakhstan, where a longtime president stepped down last year but continued to call the shots by assuming another prominent position, Putin shrugged off the idea as unworkable.

“The emergence of a position above the presidency would mean a dual power, which is absolutely unacceptable for a country like Russia,” Putin said. The second reading of the constitutional bill is scheduled for Feb. 11. Lawmakers and the working group created by Putin have already come up with a variety of proposals in addition to what the draft law outlines.

Putin said the constitutional changes need to be approved by the entire nation, but it remains unclear how such a vote would be organized. Russian opposition figures have denounced the proposed changes as Putin's attempt to stay in power indefinitely.

“What he’s doing now is actually preparing the position for himself in order to step back but to keep absolute power," said Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a Russian tycoon who spent 10 years in prison for challenging Putin and now lives in London. "This turnover of power — from the public field into the shadows — is what we call a constitutional coup.”

Khodorkovsky said Putin may plan early elections in view of mounting public discontent over Russia's economic woes. “It’s highly likely that Putin will bring forward both the Duma and the presidential elections, because things are not getting better, the situation is getting worse,” Khodorkovsky told The Associated Press. "The further he delays, the harder it will be for him to do it.”

Susie Blann in London contributed to this report.

Putin's moves leave Russian opposition with few options

January 18, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin played it differently this time. Instead of openly declaring plans to extend his rule like he did in 2011, Putin proposed constitutional amendments to appear to give more power to Russia's parliament.

Instead of announcing the move as a fait accompli, he said the people should vote and decide. And then he executed a swift, unexpected reshuffle of Russia's leadership, putting a low-profile official with no political aims in charge of the government.

Putin announced what many see as a strategy for staying in power well past the end of his term in 2024. And the proposed constitutional reforms that might allow him to remain in charge as prime minister or as head of the State Council didn't elicit much public outrage.

Neither did the resignation of Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's prime minister, whom Putin quickly replaced with the little-known tax chief, Mikhail Mishustin. There was a smattering of calls for protest: One opposition supporter urged people to join his one-man picket in front of the Presidential Administration on Saturday, while another called for protesters to turn out against the “constitutional coup” at a Sunday rally in honor of two slain activists.

It was very different from what happened in 2011-2012, when efforts to engineer Putin's return to the presidency crushed Russian hopes for liberalization and sparked massive protests in Moscow. In his speech Wednesday, Putin presented his plan to amend the constitution as a way to improve democracy. By suggesting that lawmakers could name prime ministers and Cabinet members, he also curtailed the authority of the president, who currently holds that power.

Putin also said the constitution could specify a greater role for the State Council, an obscure consultative body of regional governors and federal officials, indicating that he might take a leading position there.

He also sought to prioritize the primacy of Russian laws, so that the European Court of Human Rights would no longer have the authority to issue rulings that Moscow opposed. All this would “strengthen the role of civil society, political parties and regions in making key decisions about the development of our state," Putin said Thursday in discussing the amendments with lawmakers.

New Prime Minister Mishustin was praised by government officials and commentators as an “effective manager” with expertise in finance who would be able to drive Russia's stagnating economy out of a slump.

Many Russians might see that as a positive change rather than a sophisticated political plot. According to a survey released Friday by Russia’s state-funded pollster VTsIOM, 45% of the respondents saw the shakeup as Putin’s genuine desire to change the existing power structure.

But opposition leaders like Alexei Navalny said the changes are not the kind that people are looking for. Putin is looking to “remain a lifelong, ultimate leader” and run Russia as “property” divided between himself and his backers, Navalny tweeted.

And the announced changes do nothing to address what Russians really want, said Navalny ally Lyubov Sobol. “People demand to end corruption, people demand to improve their living conditions. They demand a reform of the health care system, they're worried about pension reform. All these demands, they are not going anywhere,” Sobol told The Associated Press.

Vladimir Milov, an opposition politician, echoed that sentiment. Russians are willing to put up with worsened living conditions if they see potential for growth in the future — but Putin’s address shows he’s not interested in that, he said.

“This is the main conflict between Putin and society right now,” Milov said. “Society can’t wait for economic growth to start again, and Putin doesn’t care, he’s occupied with other things. At some point, this will backfire.”

Still, the announced constitutional reforms are unlikely to trigger a new wave of protests. “All recent protests happened when discontent that has been building up for a while spilled out, triggered by something. Amending the constitution is unlikely to be a trigger,” Milov said.

Denis Volkov, a sociologist with the independent Levada polling center, said the government shakeup is so vague it is unlikely to spur public anger. “What is happening is not clear. Is this about a presidency? About some other governing body? It is unclear what people should express their unhappiness about,” Volkov said. “It is hard to protest against something that's unclear.”

In addition, Volkov noted, back in 2011-2012 Putin’s approval ratings were much lower — more than half of the country wanted him out. “Right now there is no urge to replace the country’s leader," he said.

And the question remains whether the opposition will be able to galvanize people to protest. The Kremlin last year turned up the pressure on activists and politicians, sandbagging them with high-figure fines and exhausting them with arrests and trials.

There are several criminal cases open against Sobol and other Navalny allies. Sobol said she owes the government more than $400,000 in fines, and expects more fines to be imposed on opposition figures.

“There is a high probability that political pressure on us will continue this year,” she said. Still, Sobol vowed the opposition will continue the fight — by protesting, contesting the government’s actions in court and exposing corrupt officials.

On Thursday, Navalny said in a post online that Mishustin’s wife earned some $12 million over the past nine years, according to her tax returns, even though she never owned nor ran a business. He demanded answers from Mishustin, who headed Russia's tax service until he was named prime minister this week, and alleged there was corruption involved.

Dmitry Gudkov, a former lawmaker turned opposition politician, believes an early parliamentary election is likely, since he says the Kremlin would want the vote to be this year instead of next. “They’re in a rush and want to (pass the proposed constitutional amendments) with the sitting parliament, which they fully control,” Gudkov. “Clearly that changes our strategy.”

Russia's foreign minister slams 'aggressive' US policies

January 17, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's foreign policy chief on Friday blamed what he described as “aggressive” U.S. policies for growing global tensions, noting Washington's reluctance to extend a key nuclear arms pact.

Sergey Lavrov, who serves as acting foreign minister in the wake of Wednesday's resignation of the Russian Cabinet, said this week's meeting of top U.S. and Russian diplomats on strategic stability didn't achieve any immediate results, adding that “dialogue is continuing.”

Russia-U.S. relations have been at post-Cold War lows since Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea. Speaking at an annual news conference, Lavrov said that the U.S. has stonewalled Russia's push for extending the New Start nuclear arms treaty that expires in 2021. The agreement is the last U.S.-Russian arms control deal still in place, and Moscow has argued that its demise will remove the final barrier stemming an arms race.

“We will act strongly to avoid depriving the world of agreements that control and limit nuclear weapons,” said Lavrov, who has was appointed foreign minister in 2004. “We stand for the extension of the New Start treaty without any preconditions,” he said. “I hope that the Americans hear us, but we haven't received any coherent signals from them.”

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has pushed for China to join nuclear arms cuts, but Lavrov described the idea as unrealistic. He pointed at Beijing's refusal to discuss reductions in its nuclear arsenal, which is much smaller than those of the U.S. or Russia.

Lavrov emphasized that the U.S. push for Russia to encourage China to change its mind doesn't make sense. “We respect the Chinese position and we won't persuade China to change it,” he said. Turning to other issues, Lavrov criticized Britain, France and Germany for caving in to pressure from the U.S. over a nuclear deal with Iran.

Earlier this week, the three countries reluctantly triggered the accord's dispute mechanism to force Iran into discussions over its violations, starting the clock on a process that could result in the “snapback” of U.N. and EU sanctions on Iran.

The three nations are being pressed on one side by Trump to abandon the agreement like he did unilaterally in 2018, and on the other side by Iran to provide enough economic incentives for it to continue honoring the deal.

Lavrov noted that the European Union boasted about creating a mechanism for trade with Iran bypassing U.S. sanctions, but never put it into action. He described the move by Britain, France and Germany as a “dangerous turn,” arguing that the three nations used the moment of heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran to “blame Iran for all what happened.”

Following the U.S. drone strike that killed Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Iran announced what it said was its fifth and final step in dropping its commitments under the 2015 deal. Iran said it would no longer abide by any limitations to its enrichment activities.

Turning to Libya, Lavrov said he expects the warring parties in the North African nation to observe a lasting cease-fire after their talks in the Russian capital earlier this week. He explained that the talks in Moscow between Libya's rival leaders focused on a document spelling out conditions of a cease-fire that could serve as a basis for Sunday's Libya talks hosted by Germany.

Lavrov said he plans to attend the talks in Berlin, which will be attended by both Fayez Sarraj, the head of Libya's U.N.-recognized government in Tripoli, and his rival, Gen. Khalifa Hifter, Sarraj and Hifter attended Monday's talks in Moscow, but didn't meet directly.

“Their relations are tense, and they don't want to be in one room together, let alone talk to each other,” Lavrov said. He added even though Hifter refused to sign the cease-fire document that was signed by Sarraj, the most important outcome of the talks was that the truce was still holding.

Putin engineers shake-up that could keep him in power longer

January 16, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin engineered a surprise shake-up of Russia's leadership Wednesday, proposing changes to the constitution that could keep him in power well past the end of his term in 2024.

Hours after he made the proposals, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev resigned and Putin named the little-known head of Russia's tax service to replace him. Putin kept his longtime ally Medvedev in the Kremlin's leadership structure by appointing him to the newly created post of deputy head of the presidential Security Council. But the duties and influence of that position are unclear.

The shakeup sent shock waves through Russia's political elites who were left pondering what Putin's intentions were and speculating about future Cabinet appointments. Putin’s proposed constitutional reforms, announced in a state of the nation address, indicated he was working to carve out a new governing position for himself after his term ends, although the suggested changes don’t immediately specify what path he will take to stay in charge.

The 67-year-old former KGB operative, who has led Russia for more than 20 years, often keeps his intentions secret until the very last moment. Alexei Navalny, the most prominent Russian opposition leader, tweeted that Putin's speech clearly signaled his desire to continue calling the shots even after his presidential term ends.

“The only goal of Putin and his regime is to stay in charge for life, having the entire country as his personal asset and seizing its riches for himself and his friends,” Navalny said. Independent analyst Masha Lipman told The Associated Press: “The goal is for the system to remain stable and for Putin to retain his grip on power and to remain what he has been throughout these 20 years — the most important politician in the country, the ultimate decision-maker, the uncontested unchallenged leader of no alternative.”

The Kremlin said Tax Service chief Mikhail Mishustin was nominated to replace Medvedev, who has been prime minister for nearly eight years. Approval by the Duma on Thursday is virtually certain. Mishustin has no political experience, indicating he will dutifully carry out the Kremlin's wishes as head of the Cabinet.

He is credited with modernizing Russia's tax system. Analyst Gleb Pavlovsky, a former Putin adviser, told the Interfax news agency that Mishustin is “a splendid bureaucrat, in the best sense of the word.”

The move is the third time in the Putin era that major leadership changes have come suddenly from the top. Putin came to power in the first one, when he became acting president after Boris Yeltsin's surprise resignation on New Year's Eve 1999.

In 2007, as his second term neared its end, he anointed Medvedev to succeed him. Medvedev then said Putin should be prime minister — moves that critics decried as an imposed job-swap without input from the electorate. Medvedev was president in 2008-12, but Putin, as premier, appeared to be effectively in charge.

Under Medvedev, the constitution was amended to lengthen the president's term from four years to six, although it limits the leader to two consecutive terms. In televised comments Wednesday, Medvedev said he needed to resign in light of Putin's proposed changes in government.

Putin suggested amending the constitution again to allow lawmakers to name prime ministers and Cabinet members. The president currently holds the authority to make those appointments. “It will increase the role of parliament and parliamentary parties, powers and independence of the prime minister and all Cabinet members,” Putin told an audience of top officials and lawmakers.

At the same time, Putin argued that Russia would not remain stable if it were governed under a parliamentary system. The president should retain the right to dismiss the prime minister and Cabinet ministers, to name top defense and security officials, and to be in charge of the Russian military and law enforcement agencies, he said.

Putin emphasized that the constitutional changes must be put to a nationwide vote. Putin has been in power longer than any other Russian or Soviet leader since Josef Stalin, who led from 1924 until his death in 1953. Under the current law, Putin must step down in 2024 after his term ends.

Observers speculated that Putin might try to stay in charge by shifting into the prime minister's seat again after increasing the powers of parliament and the Cabinet and trimming presidential authority.

Political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin said Putin's speech made it clear he was pondering the move to premiership. “Putin is advancing the idea of keeping his authority as a more powerful and influential prime minister while the presidency will become more decorative,” Oreshkin said.

In his address, Putin said the constitution must also specify the authority of the State Council consisting of regional governors and top federal officials. Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Moscow Center said it appears as if Putin might try to continue pulling the strings as head of the council and could even shift into a new position before his term ends.

Other possible options include a merger with neighboring Belarus that would create a new position of the head of a new unified state — a prospect that has been rejected by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Political analyst Kirill Rogov said that Putin intends to stay in charge while redistributing powers between various branches of government. “Such a model resembling the Chinese one would allow Putin to stay at the helm indefinitely while encouraging rivalry between potential successors,” Rogov observed.

In 2017, Chinese leader Xi Jinping had term limits abolished, which would effectively keep him in power for life. Putin appears to favor more intricate ways of staying in charge than abolishing term limits.

Although Putin continued calling the shots during Medvedev's presidency, he wasn't totally happy with all of his ally's actions. He was particularly critical of Medvedev's decision to give the green light to the Western air campaign in Libya in 2011 that led to the ouster and killing of long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Medvedev's decision to step down and let Putin return to the presidency also sparked massive protests in Moscow in 2011-2012 in a major challenge to the Kremlin. Some of Putin's associates suspected Medvedev's aides of encouraging the protests.

In his speech, Putin emphasized the need to amend the constitution to give it a clear priority over international law. “The requirements of international law and treaties and decisions of international organs can only be valid on the territory of Russia as long as they don't restrict human rights and freedoms and don't contradict the constitution,” he said.

He also said that the constitution must be tweaked to say that top government officials aren't allowed to have foreign citizenship or residence permits. Also in the speech, Putin vowed to encourage Russia's population growth by offering additional subsidies to families that have children.

He said that Russia would remain open for cooperation with all countries while maintaining a strong defense capability to fend off potential threats. “For the first time in history, we aren't trying to catch up with anyone,” Putin said. “On the contrary, other leading nations are yet to develop the weapons that Russia already has.”

Associated Press writers Jim Heintz and Kostya Manenkov in Moscow contributed.

Putin, Ukraine's leader talk about natural gas, prisoners

December 31, 2019

MOSCOW (AP) — The presidents of Russia and Ukraine have spoken by telephone to express satisfaction with a newly signed contract on natural gas transit and the recent exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia-backed rebels in Ukraine's east.

A Kremlin statement says the Tuesday call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy took place on Ukraine's initiative. Sunday's swap of a total of 200 prisoners has raised hopes of an end to the five-year-long war in eastern Ukraine that has killed 14,000 people.

The new contract allowing Russian gas to Europe to be shipped through pipelines that cross Ukraine will ease European fears of an interruption in Russian gas supplies over the winter. Russia ships about 40% of its European gas deliveries by that route and the old contract was to expire Tuesday.

Zelenskiy's office said the leaders also discussed establishing a list to look into freeing Ukrainians and Russians being held by each other's countries. The Kremlin did not mention that issue.

Putin weighs future options as he marks 20 years in power

December 30, 2019

MOSCOW (AP) — As Russian President Vladimir Putin marks two decades in power, he boasts about his achievements but remains coy about his political future — a reticence that fuels wild speculation about his intentions.

Putin points to the revival of Russia's global clout, industrial modernization, booming agricultural exports and a resurgent military as key results of his tenure that began on Dec. 31, 1999. On that day, Russia's first President Boris Yeltsin abruptly stepped down and named the former KGB officer his successor, paving the way for his election three months later.

Critics accuse Putin of rolling back post-Soviet freedoms to establish tight control over the political scene, marginalize the opposition and stifle critical media. They hold him responsible for tensions with the West after Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea, which bolstered his approval ratings but triggered U.S. and European sanctions.

“Putin stopped the normal development of Russia as a normal market economy and a normal political democracy" and turned the country into a “global spoiler,” said Andrei Kolesnikov, a researcher with the Carnegie Moscow Center.

Kremlin watchers are trying to predict what will happen after Putin's current six-year term ends in 2024. They agree on one thing: Putin, Russia's longest-serving leader since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, will likely stay at the helm.

A fitness fan, the 67-year old Putin appears in good shape to stay on. He regularly practices judo, skis and plays ice hockey in a demonstration of his vigor. He remains widely popular, although the propaganda effect of Crimea's annexation has worn off amid stagnant living standards, a rise in the retirement age and other domestic challenges.

Putin can easily use the rubber-stamp parliament to scrap term limits, but most observers expect him to take a less straightforward approach. A law faculty graduate, the Russian leader prefers more delicate methods that have a democratic veneer.

Earlier this month, Putin hinted at possible constitutional amendments to re-distribute powers among the president, the Cabinet and parliament. He didn't specify what changes could be made, but the announcement may signal his intention to trim presidential powers and continue ruling the country as prime minister.

There are other opportunities. Kazakhstan's longtime leader Nursultan Nazarbayev offered an example this year when he abruptly resigned and had his protege elected president in a snap vote. The 79-year-old Nazarbayev retained his grip on power by securing a prominent position as head of the nation's security council.

There is another, more dramatic option. Many in neighboring Belarus fear that the Kremlin could push for a full merger of the two ex-Soviet allies to allow Putin to become the head of a new unified state.

When asked recently if he was considering it, Putin dodged the question. Each of those potential options carries major risks. Putin moved into the prime minister's seat from 2008-2012 after eight years as president to observe a constitutional limit of two consecutive terms, allowing Dmitry Medvedev to take the top seat.

Putin continued calling the shots under Medvedev, who obediently stepped down after one term. Putin benefited from his placeholder's move to extend the presidential term to six years, but still wasn't quite happy with the “tandem rule.”

Putin was particularly critical of Medvedev's decision to let the United Nations give the go-ahead to a 2011 Western air campaign in Libya that helped oust longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi and plunged the country into chaos.

And at home, the announcement of Putin's return to the presidency sparked massive protests in Moscow in 2011-2012 and caused a rift among elites. Putin's aides suspected some of Medvedev's lieutenants of prodding their boss to stay for a second term and encouraging the protests.

Putin's statement this month about a possible change to the constitution to limit the president to just two terms altogether was widely interpreted as a signal that he was contemplating creating a new governing position for himself while trimming the authority of his successor.

If Putin chooses to become prime minister with new broad powers, it may raise other threats. By empowering a parliamentary majority to name the prime minister, Putin would become more vulnerable because he will depend on the ruling party's performance. While Putin's approval ratings have remained high, the popularity of the main Kremlin-directed party, the United Russia, has plummeted and the president has kept it at a distance.

A merger with Belarus to create a new leadership position has even greater risks. The prospect may excite some Russians who dream about revival of imperial glory, but it is certain to trigger strong resistance in Belarus and further antagonize the West.

Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in office for more than a quarter-century, has vowed to uphold Belarus' post-Soviet independence. While the Kremlin has pressured him by raising energy prices and cutting subsidies, Lukashenko has remained adamant and even warned recently that Russia's attempt to take over his country could trigger a war with NATO.

“The interest of Lukashenko is to be the dictator of his own nation state, not the person who will be dependent on the will of Putin,” Kolesnikov said. Whatever path Putin chooses, he's widely expected to keep his intentions secret until the last moment.

“This uncertainty has its advantages — you can play groups of interests against each other, you can hold them in this situation of uncertainty," said Moscow-based political analyst Yekaterina Shulman. “But it can’t go on for too long because it provokes infighting within the elites.”

She noted that the Kremlin may call the parliamentary elections that are currently set for 2021 at an earlier date before approval ratings plummet. “It’s important to have a loyal majority in the parliament," Shulman said. “How to achieve this is a tricky question.”

Shulman argued that the Kazakhstan-style scenario appears the most likely. She said staying at the helm but sharing authority with his successor would allow Putin to temper an inevitable succession battle among his lieutenants.

“The difficulty in the successor model is that the whole amount of power vested in the current president is untransferable indeed to any other person," Shulman said. “But if this power is redistributed, at least part of it, then it’s easier for the decision-makers to agree on the figure of the potential successor.”

Konstantin Manenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

Russian officers again detain opposition leader Navalny

December 26, 2019

MOSCOW (AP) — Security officers in Moscow have again detained Alexei Navalny, the most prominent foe of President Vladimir Putin and the governing United Russia party. Navalny has been jailed repeatedly in recent years for organizing or participating in unsanctioned protests. His Foundation for Fighting Corruption organization has produced reports alleging corruption by top figures including Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Navalny was detained when officers forced their way into his organization's office Thursday, according to his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh. Lyubov Sobol, an attorney with Navalny's foundation said the officers were from the federal court bailiffs' service and that they claimed to be searching for evidence connected to a case against the foundation's director, Ivan Zhdanov.

A criminal case was opened against Zhdanov in August for failing to follow an order to remove a video version of a report claiming corruption by Medvedev.

Putin says Russia is leading world in hypersonic weapons

December 24, 2019

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia has got a strong edge in designing new weapons and that it has become the only country in the world to deploy hypersonic weapons. Speaking at a meeting with top military brass, Putin said that for the first time in history Russia is now leading the world in developing an entire new class of weapons unlike in the past when it was catching up with the United States.

The Russian leader noted that during Cold War times, the Soviet Union was behind the United States in designing the atomic bomb and building strategic bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles. “Now we have a situation that is unique in modern history when they are trying to catch up to us,” he said. “Not a single country has hypersonic weapons, let alone hypersonic weapons of intercontinental range.”

The Pentagon and the U.S. military services have been working on the development of hypersonic weapons in recent years, and Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in August that he believes “it's probably a matter of a couple of years” before the U.S. has one. He has called it a priority as the military works to develop new long-range fire capabilities.

The U.S. also has repeatedly warned Congress about hypersonic missiles being developed by Russia and China that will be harder to track and defeat. U.S. officials have talked about putting a layer of sensors in space to more quickly detect enemy missiles, particularly the more advanced hypersonic threats. The administration also plans to study the idea of basing interceptors in space, so the U.S. can strike incoming enemy missiles during the first minutes of flight when the booster engines are still burning.

Putin said that the first unit equipped with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle is set to go on duty this month, while the air-launched Kinzhal hypersonic missiles already have entered service. The Russian leader first mentioned the Avangard and the Kinzhal among other prospective weapons systems in his state-of-the-nation address in March 2018.

Putin said then that the Avangard has an intercontinental range and can fly in the atmosphere at a speed 20 times the speed of sound. He noted that the weapon's ability to change both its course and its altitude en route to a target makes it immune to interception by the the enemy.

“It's a weapon of the future, capable of penetrating both existing and prospective missile defense systems,” Putin said Tuesday. The Kinzhal, which is carried by MiG-31 fighter jets, entered service with the Russian air force last year. Putin has said that the missile flies 10 times faster than the speed of sound, has a range of more than 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) and can carry a nuclear or a conventional warhead. The military said it's capable of hitting both land targets and navy ships.

The United States and other countries also have worked on designing hypersonic weapons, but they haven't entered service yet. The Kremlin has made military modernization its top priority amid tensions with the West that followed the 2014 Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea.

Putin on Tuesday described a buildup of NATO's forces near Russia's western borders and the U.S. withdrawal earlier this year from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty among top security threats.

He argued that Russia must have the best weapons in the world. “It's not a chess game where it's OK to play to a draw,” he said. “Our technology must be better. We can achieve that in key areas and we will.”

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported Tuesday that the military this year has received 143 warplanes and helicopters, 624 armored vehicles, a submarine and eight surface warships. He said that the modernization of Russia's arsenals will continue at the same rapid pace next year, with 22 intercontinental ballistic missiles, 106 new aircraft, 565 armored vehicles, three submarines and 14 surface ships to enter duty.

Putin noted that the work to develop other prospective weapons, including the Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile, the Poseidon nuclear-powered underwater drone and the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile was going according to plan.

The Burevestnik has stoked particular controversy. The U.S. and the Soviet Union worked on nuclear-powered rocket engines during the Cold War, but they eventually spiked those projects considering them to be too hazardous.

The Burevestnik reportedly suffered an explosion in August during tests at a Russian navy range on the White Sea, killing five nuclear engineers and two servicemen and resulting in a brief spike in radioactivity that fueled radiation fears in a nearby city. Russian officials never named the weapon involved in the incident, but the U.S. said it was the Burevestnik.

Russia's most advanced fighter jet crashes, pilot survives

December 24, 2019

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian officials say a top-of-the-line fighter jet has crashed on a training mission but that its pilot bailed out safely. Russia's United Aircraft Corporation said in a statement Tuesday that the Su-57 fighter came down during a training flight near Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the country's far east. It said the plane's pilot safely ejected and there was no damage on the ground.

The cause of the crash wasn't immediately known. The Su-57, which made its maiden flight in 2010, is Russia's most advanced fighter plane. It has stealth capability and carries sophisticated equipment and weapons. The twin-engine aircraft has been designed by the Sukhoi company to compete with the U.S. F-22 Raptor stealth fighter.

The crash marks the first loss of a Su-57, 10 of which have been built at Sukhoi's plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur for pre-production tests and combat evaluation. Some of them have been flown in combat during Russia's military campaign in Syria.

The Russian air force has placed an order for 76 such aircraft to be delivered by 2028.

Is Russia eyeing Belarus takeover? Integration talks deepen

December 20, 2019

MOSCOW (AP) — The presidents of Belarus and Russia met Friday to discuss deeper economic ties between the two close allies amid mounting concerns in the Belarusian capital of Minsk that Moscow ultimately wants to subdue its neighbor.

The meeting in the Russian city of St. Petersburg was the second encounter this month between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his long-time Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko. Greeting Lukashenko at the start of Friday's talks, Putin said some progress on resolving outstanding issues has been made. But Russian Economics Minister Maxim Oreshkin said after the talks the two sides had failed to resolve key differences over oil and gas.

The negotiations have triggered opposition protests in Belarus, where many fear that closer ties with Russia could weaken Belarus' independence. Such concerns were fueled by Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and its support for a separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

Over 1,000 demonstrators rallied in the Belarusian capital Minsk on Friday, holding placards that read “First Crimea, then Belarus” and “Stop Annexation!” Putin, who marks two decades in power later this month, has remained coy about his political future after his current presidential term ends in 2024. He dodged a question Thursday if he could potentially extend his rule by shifting into a new governing position to become the head of a union between Russia and Belarus.

The idea alarms some residents of Belarus. “We will not allow Putin to become the president of a new Russia-Belarus state in 2024. We will never come back to the empire,” said Pavel Severinets, the organizer of Friday's protest in Minsk.

Police allowed the unsanctioned protest to proceed unimpeded, even though Belarusian authorities routinely crack down on opposition rallies. “Lukashenko doesn't want to become a Russian provincial governor,” said 20-year-old student Pyotr Rudkevich, one of the protesters on Friday.

Russia and Belarus signed a union agreement in 1997 that envisaged close political, economic and military ties, but stopped short of forming a single nation. Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for more than a quarter-century with little tolerance for dissent, relies on cheap Russian energy and loans to shore up his country's Soviet-style economy.

The Kremlin has recently raised the pressure on Belarus, increasing energy prices and cutting subsidies. Russian officials say Minsk should accept closer economic integration if it wants to benefit from lower Russian energy prices.

In an apparent bid to win concessions, Lukashenko on Friday emphasized Belarus's role as Russia's military ally and security partner, an argument he has used repeatedly in the past to get more subsidies from Moscow.

“We have created a single defense space and our security agencies gave worked in close contact,” Lukashenko told Putin at the start of their talks. But the Russian president has signaled that such tactics won't work this time. He argues that Belarus can't get Russia's domestic prices for its oil and gas unless it agrees to closely coordinate its economic and financial policies and create interstate structures.

“It's a huge work, and it can be done only if there is a political will shared by both sides,” Putin said at his annual news conference on Thursday.

Yuras Karmanau in Minsk, Belarus contributed to this report.

Russia rejects Israeli tourist's appeal of hashish sentence

December 20, 2019

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian court has turned down an Israeli tourist's appeal of her prison sentence for carrying a large amount of hashish. Naama Issachar was arrested in April at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, where she was transferring flights while traveling from India to Israel.

Russian authorities said more than 9 grams of hashish were found in her luggage. Issachar was later sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison. On Thursday, she told the court she wasn't provided with a translator or a lawyer after being detained. But the court let her sentence stand.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to pardon Issachar.

Russia shows its latest weapon to US inspectors

November 26, 2019

MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian military says it has shown its latest hypersonic weapon to U.S. inspectors. The Defense Ministry said Tuesday that it demonstrated the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle to a team of U.S. inspectors this week as part of transparency measures under the New Start nuclear arms treaty with the U.S. It said the new weapon will be put on combat duty in December.

Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled the Avangard in 2018 along with other prospective weapons, noting that its ability to make sharp maneuvers on its way to a target will render missile defense useless.

The military said the Avangard is capable of flying 27 times faster than the speed of sound. Putin said its creation represented a technological breakthrough comparable to the 1957 Soviet launch of the first satellite.

Increased activity on New Zealand volcano stymies recovery

December 11, 2019

WHAKATANE, New Zealand (AP) — Experts said geothermal activity on a New Zealand volcanic island increased significantly on Wednesday, dealing a blow to relatives waiting for crews to recover the bodies that remain there following a deadly eruption two days earlier.

Volcanic tremors rose in the morning, accompanied by an increase in the amount of steam and mud being released at White Island, the GeoNet seismic monitoring agency said. “We interpret these signals as evidence of continued high gas pressures within the volcano," the agency said. “The situation remains highly uncertain as to future activity. Eruptions in the next 24 hours are still likely to occur.”

Six deaths were confirmed after Monday's eruption. Five people died at the time of the blast or soon after, while a sixth person died Tuesday night at an Auckland hospital. Another eight people are believed to have died, with their bodies remaining on the ash-covered island for now. And 30 people remain hospitalized, including 25 in critical condition. Many of the injured suffered severe burns.

Bruce Bird, an acting assistant police commissioner, said they were monitoring the situation hour by hour. “Safety for our staff is a huge priority for us,” Bird said. “And we've got to get this right.”

Bird said they had deployed a drone over the island to measure gas levels after strong winds had thwarted those attempts on Tuesday. But helicopter pilot Mark Law said the delay was hard to understand and that if he was making the decision, he would leave immediately.

“It would take 20 minutes to get out there. We know where they are," he said, referring to the bodies. “Then we could bring them home.” Survivors from the Monday eruption ran into the sea to escape the scalding steam and ash and emerged covered in burns, said those who first helped them.

The tragedy will have an ongoing effect on the town of Whakatane, which road signs tout as the gateway to White Island. As well as being an important tourist draw for the 20,000 people who live here, the volcano has an almost mystical significance, its regular puffing a feature of the landscape.

Whether the island will ever host tourists again remains uncertain after the horrific tragedy that unfolded when the volcano exploded a little after 2 p.m. Monday. Geoff Hopkins was in a boat offshore after visiting the island with his daughter, the tour a 50th birthday present for him. He told the New Zealand Herald the eruption at first looked beautiful but quickly turned menacing.

As injured people were transported onto their boat screaming in pain, Hopkins and his daughter Lillani poured fresh water onto them, cut them out of their clothes and tried to keep them calm. He told the Herald they were horrifically burned on their exposed skin and faces, even under their clothes.

In all, police believe there were 47 visitors on the island at the time. They say 24 were Australian, nine were American and five were New Zealanders. Others were from Germany, Britain, China and Malaysia. Many were passengers aboard the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Ovation of the Seas.

The first confirmed death was of a local man, Hayden Marshall-Inman, a guide who had shown tourists around the island. Former Whakatane Mayor Tony Bonne said Marshall-Inman was a keen fisherman and well-liked. He was so kind, Bonne said, that he would often leave extra money at the grocery store for those he knew were struggling to pay.

Many people were left questioning why tourists were still allowed to visit the island after seismic monitoring experts raised the volcano's alert level last month. “These questions must be asked, and they must be answered,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in Parliament.

New Zealand's Deputy Police Commissioner John Tims said Tuesday that police were opening a criminal investigation into the deaths that would accompany an investigation by health and safety regulators.

But hours later, police put out a statement saying that while they were investigating the deaths on behalf of the coroner, “To correct an earlier statement, it is too early to confirm whether there will also be a criminal investigation.”

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said 11 Australians are unaccounted for and 13 were hospitalized. Three Australians were suspected to be among the initial five confirmed dead, he told reporters in Sydney. “I fear there is worse news to come,” Morrison said.

Relatives of a newlywed American couple say the husband and wife were severely burned. Barbara Barham told The Washington Post that her daughter Lauren Urey, 32, and son-in-law Matthew Urey, 36, from Richmond, Virginia, were on a honeymoon trip.

White Island, also known by the indigenous Maori name Whakaari, is the tip of an undersea volcano about 50 kilometers (30 kilometers) off New Zealand's main North Island. New Zealand's GeoNet seismic monitoring agency had raised the volcano's alert level on Nov. 18 from 1 to 2 on a scale where 5 represents a major eruption, noting an increase in sulfur dioxide gas, which originates from magma. It also said volcanic tremors had increased from weak to moderate strength. It raised the alert level to 4 for a time after Monday's eruption but lowered it to 3 as the activity subsided.

At least 10 people were killed on the island in 1914 when it was being mined for sulfur. Part of a crater wall collapsed, and a landslide destroyed the miners' village and the mine itself. The island became a private scenic reserve in 1953. Daily tours allow more than 10,000 people to visit every year.

“Tourism has been a growing market, and White Island has been an anchor for that,” Bonne said. “It's something unique that pulls people from all around the world." He said it was sad to think that might all now come to a stop.

Associated Press writer Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, contributed to this report.

Next EU chief defends NATO after Macron criticism

November 08, 2019

BERLIN (AP) — The president-elect of the European Union's executive Commission is defending NATO after French President Macron claimed that a lack of U.S. leadership is causing the military alliance's "brain death."

Ursula von der Leyen didn't explicitly address Macron's criticism in a speech Friday but said that, even though there has been "bumpiness" recently, "NATO has proven itself superbly as a protective shield of freedom."

Macron said the European members of NATO "should reassess the reality" of what the alliance is in light of the U.S. commitment. Von der Leyen, who will succeed Jean-Claude Juncker in one of the EU's top jobs in the coming weeks, said that "NATO was and is always what its member states make of it — it is up to 29 countries to participate and change something."

Iran uses violence, politics to try to push US out of Iraq

January 23, 2020

BEIRUT (AP) — Iran has long sought the withdrawal of American forces from neighboring Iraq, but the U.S. killing of an Iranian general and an Iraqi militia commander in Baghdad has added new impetus to the effort, stoking anti-American feelings that Tehran hopes to exploit to help realize the goal.

The Jan. 3 killing has led Iraq's parliament to call for the ouster of U.S. troops, but there are many lingering questions over whether Iran will be able to capitalize on the sentiment. An early test will be a “million-man” demonstration against the American presence, called for by influential Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and scheduled for Friday.

It is not clear whether the protesters will try to recreate a New Year's Eve attack on the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad by Iran-supported militias in the wake of U.S. airstrikes that killed 25 militiamen along the border with Syria. Iran might simply try to use the march to telegraph its intention to keep up the pressure on U.S. troops in Iraq.

But experts say Iran can be counted on to try to seize what it sees as an opportunity to push its agenda in Iraq, despite an ongoing mass uprising that is targeting government corruption as well as Iranian influence in the country.

“Iran is unconstrained by considerations of Iraqi sovereignty, domestic public opinion, or legality when compared to the Western democracies,” said David Des Roches, an expert with The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. “This is Iran's strategic advantage; they should be expected to press it.”

A withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq would be a victory for Iran, and Tehran has long pursued a two-pronged strategy of supporting anti-U.S. militias that carry out attacks, as well as exerting political pressure on Iraqi lawmakers sympathetic to its cause.

Despite usually trying to keep attacks at a level below what might provoke an American response, Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets at a military base in Kirkuk in December, killing a U.S. contractor and wounding several U.S. and Iraqi troops. The U.S. responded first with deadly airstrikes on Iran-affiliated militia bases in western Iraq and Syria, then followed with the Jan. 3 drone attack that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Iran's most powerful military officer, along with Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis as they left Baghdad's airport.

The severity of the U.S. response surprised Iran and others, and it had the unanticipated result of bolstering Tehran's political approach by prompting the Iraqi parliament to pass the nonbinding resolution pushed by pro-Iran political factions calling for the expulsion of all foreign troops from the country. In response, President Donald Trump has threatened sanctions on Iraq.

"What they want to do is get rid of U.S. troops in what they see as a legitimate political manner," said Dina Esfandiary, a London-based expert with The Century Foundation think tank. "If Iraqis themselves are voting out U.S. troops, it looks a lot better for Iran than if Iran is a puppet master in Iraq trying to get rid of them — and on top of that it would be a more lasting decision."

The legitimacy of the resolution is a matter of dispute. Not only was the session boycotted by Kurdish lawmakers and many Sunnis, but there also are questions of whether Prime Minister Abdel Abdul-Mahdi has the ability to carry it out. Abdul-Mahdi resigned in November amid mass anti-government protests but remains in a caretaker role.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo bluntly rejected the call for the troops' removal, instead saying Washington would "continue the conversation with the Iraqis about what the right structure is." Abdul-Mahdi strongly supported the resolution, but since then has said it will be up to the next government to deal with the issue, and there are indications he has been working behind the scenes to help keep foreign troops in the country.

After closed-door meetings with German diplomats last week, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the prime minister had assured them that he had "great interest" in keeping the Bundeswehr military contingent and others part of the anti-Islamic State coalition in Iraq.

The U.S., meantime, said it had resumed joint operations with Iraqi forces, albeit on a more limited basis than before. Trump met Iraqi President Barham Saleh on Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland, and said Washington and Baghdad have had “a very good relationship” and that the two countries had a “host of very difficult things to discuss.” Saleh said they have shared common interests including the fight against extremism, regional stability and an independent Iraq.

Asked about the plan for U.S. troops in Iraq, Trump said, “We'll see what happens.” In a sign that bodes well for NATO's continuing mission in the country, Iraq's deputy foreign minister went to Brussels last week for talks with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on the alliance's presence in Iraq.

The mixed message of publicly calling for the troops to go but privately wanting them to stay is an indication of Iran's strong influence, particularly among its fellow Shiite Muslims, Des Roches said.

"For any Iraqi politician in Baghdad — particularly a Shia politician — to defy Iran openly is to risk political as well as physical death," he said. "So we shouldn't be surprised if the public and the private lines espoused by Iraqi politicians differ."

American forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011 but returned in 2014 at the invitation of the government to help battle the Islamic State after the extremist group seized vast areas in the north and west of the country. A U.S.-led coalition provided crucial air support as Iraqi forces, including Iran-backed militias, regrouped and drove IS out in a costly three-year campaign. There are currently some 5,200 American troops in the country.

Even before the drone strike, there were growing calls in nationwide protests across sectarian lines, which started in October centered in Baghdad's Tahrir Square, for the end of all foreign influence in the country. The demonstrations also targeted government corruption and poor public services.

The rejection of Iranian influence over Iraqi state affairs has been a core component of the movement, and pro-Iranian militias have targeted those demonstrations along with Iraqi security forces, killing hundreds and injuring thousands. Protesters fear that with the focus on the push for the U.S. troop withdrawal in response to the attack that killed Soleimani, they may be even easier targets for those forces and that their message will be lost.

"I think Iraq has had enough of having to deal with the Americans and the Iranians alike," Esfandiary said. "But the assassination of al-Muhandis, almost more so than Solemani, was such a glaring oversight of sovereignty and of all agreements they had signed on to with the U.S. in terms of the U.S. presence in Iraq, that it has kind of taken some of the attention away from Iran, to Tehran's delight."

Friday's march called for by al-Sadr is expected to redirect the focus onto the U.S. troops. The cleric, who also leads the Sairoon bloc in parliament, derives much of his political capital through grassroots mobilization.

The Tahrir Square protesters initially rejected that call, saying they want the escalating conflict between Iran and the U.S. off of Iraqi soil. Since then, al-Sadr has reached out to them directly, saying the demonstrations against the government and against the American troops are “two lights from a single lamp," and it is not yet clear whether that might convince them to participate in the march.

Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Davos, Switzerland, and Samya Kullab in Baghdad contributed to this story.

China may postpone annual congress because of virus

February 17, 2020

BEIJING (AP) — China said Monday it may postpone its annual congress in March, its biggest political meeting of the year, as the military dispatched hundreds more medical workers and extra supplies to the city hit hardest by a 2-month-old virus outbreak.

Japanese officials, meanwhile, confirmed 99 more people were infected by the new virus aboard the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess, bringing the total to 454. The standing committee for the National People’s Congress said it believes it is necessary to postpone the gathering to give top priority to people’s lives, safety and health, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

It noted that one-third of the 3,000 delegates are provincial and municipal-level cadres with important leadership roles working on the front line of the battle against the epidemic. The standing committee said it would meet on Feb. 24 to further deliberate on a postponement. The meeting is due to start on March 5.

Health authorities reported 2,048 new cases of the virus and 105 more deaths. Another 10,844 people have recovered from COVID-19, a disease caused by the new coronavirus, and have been discharged from hospitals, according to Monday's figures. The death toll is 1,770.

With fears of the virus spreading further, Chinese and residents of nearby countries and territories have begun hoarding supplies of everything from masks and other personal protective gear to instant noodles, cooking oil and toilet paper.

In Hong Kong, local media reported that police had arrested two men and were seeking three others who allegedly stole a load of 60 packs of toilet paper at knifepoint early early Monday morning. Supplies of the commodity have become extremely scarce, with often only low-quality imports still available. Police were expected to discuss the matter later.

Another 1,200 doctors and nurses from China's military began arriving in Wuhan on Monday, the latest contingent sent to help shore up the city's overwhelmed health care system with more than 32,000 additional personnel. The city has rapidly built two prefabricated hospitals and converted gymnasiums and other spaces into wards for those showing milder symptoms, but residents still say they are being wait-listed for beds and even ambulance rides.

Wuhan has accounted for the vast majority of mainland China's 70,548 cases. Some 60 million people in that area and other parts of China are under lockdown in a bid to prevent the virus from spreading further.

At a daily news briefing, National Health Commission official Guo Yanhong said attempts to contain the virus appeared to be bearing fruit, with the number of new cases reported daily outside of Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, falling for 13 days straight, and growing numbers of recovered people.

“These are all extremely good signs that show our prevention work is very effective," Guo said, citing early detection and treatment alongside quarantines and travel restrictions as largely responsible for the result.

Japan's Health Ministry has been carrying out tests on passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess, which is docked in Yokohama, a port city near Tokyo. Officials said they Monday they had confirmed 99 more cases on the ship, bringing the total to 454. The 14-day quarantine for those on the ship was due to end Wednesday.

Outside China, the ship has the largest number of cases of COVID-19. The Health Ministry said it has now tested 1,723 people on the ship, which had about 3,700 passengers and crew aboard. Two chartered planes flew 340 Americans who were aboard the Diamond Princess out of Japan late Sunday. About 380 Americans had been on the ship.

The State Department announced later that 14 of the evacuees were confirmed to have the virus in tests given before they boarded their planes. They were taken to the U.S. because they did not have symptoms, and were being isolated from other passengers, it said.

Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and Italy were planning similar flights for their citizens. New cases in other countries are raising more concern about containment of the virus. Though only a few hundred cases have been confirmed outside mainland China, some recent cases lacked obvious connections to China.

Taiwan on Sunday reported its first death from COVID-19, the fifth fatality outside of mainland China. Taiwan's Central News Agency, citing health minister Chen Shih-chung, said the man who died was in his 60s and had not traveled overseas recently and had no known contact with virus patients.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe convened an experts meeting to discuss containment measures in his country, where more than a dozen cases have emerged in the past few days without any obvious link to China.

“The situation surrounding this virus is changing by the minute,” Abe said. Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato said the country was “entering into a phase that is different from before,” requiring new steps to stop the spread of the virus.

Japan has 518 confirmed cases, including the 454 from the cruise ship, and one death from the virus.

China's virus crackdown leaves millions working at home

February 14, 2020

BEIJING (AP) — In the middle of a phone call with a customer, an important visitor knocks on Michael Xiong's door: his 3-year-old son. Xiong, a salesman in Chibi, a city near the center of a virus outbreak, is one of millions of people in China who are obeying government orders to work from home as part of the most sweeping anti-disease measures ever imposed.

After breakfast, Xiong leaves the 3-year-old and his 10-month-old brother with their grandparents. The salesman for IQAir, a Swiss maker of household air purifiers that are popular in China’s smog-choked cities, goes into a bedroom to talk to customers and try to find new ones by phone and email.

His son “comes to knock on the door when I am in a meeting, asking for hugs,” Xiong said. “I put myself on mute, open the door and tell him I will be with him later, and he is fine with that.” Most access to Wuhan, a city of 11 million people where Xiong usually works, was cut off Jan. 23 and some other cities have imposed travel restrictions. Controls imposed on business to try to stem the spread of infection extend nationwide, affecting tens of thousands of companies and hundreds of millions of employees.

The government extended the Lunar New Year holiday to keep factories and offices closed. Cinemas, temples and other tourist sites were shut down to prevent crowds from forming. Group tours were canceled and businesspeople told to put off travel.

China's vast manufacturing industries cannot function without workers in factories. But as some businesses reopen, Beijing has told anyone who still can work from home to stay there. That is forcing employees, from solo entrepreneurs to automaker Volkswagen AG’s 3,500-member headquarters staff in Beijing, to stay in touch with customers and business partners and keep companies functioning by phone and email.

Millions of Chinese entrepreneurs operate house-cleaning, small trading and other businesses out of their homes. Many have suffered the same impact as bigger businesses from restrictions on movement and orders to families to stay indoors.

Maggie Zhang, co-founder of SheTalks, a company in Beijing that organizes events for women, is working out of her parents’ apartment in the northwestern city of Zhangye in Gansu province. She went for the Lunar New Year and said she might stay through March.

Zhang temporarily stopped organizing talks and other public events and is gathering material for her company’s social media account to attract users. In the morning, “I will do some interviews over the phone or online with women working at the front in fighting the epidemic and sometimes foreign businesswomen working in China,” said Zhang. “When I am working, my parents always try to keep quiet and not disturb me.”

Zhang said she uses the sunny living room to write and moves to a bedroom to do interviews or talk to colleagues. She works out on an elliptical machine during those calls “because my mind works faster when I exercise.”

Numbers of new virus cases reported daily have declined, but economists warn against assuming the disease and its impact on the world’s second-largest economy might soon be under control. Quarantines in the central province of Hubei, which surrounds Wuhan, and some neighboring areas still are in place. Many large companies have told employees to stay home.

“A return to normal isn’t yet in sight,” said Roger Diwan of IHS Markit in a report. Many employees already were equipped to work from home due to China’s almost universal adoption of smartphones, the internet and messaging and video call services, including the popular WeChat operated by Tencent Holdings Ltd.

China is “probably one of the best countries to do this,” said Michael Mayer, who is in charge of marketing for the Volkswagen auto brand in China. A 27-year veteran of VW, he came to China from India three years ago.

“This would be hard to do in Europe. People here are much more open to using digital tools,” said Mayer. “As sad as it sounds, this is the best place for us to try this experiment.” After breakfast with his three teenagers, Mayer moves into a back room of their Beijing apartment to talk with coworkers by phone and video call while his children study in their bedrooms. They meet again for lunch.

"Now everybody’s at home,” said Mayer. “Not too bad. Actually quite interesting and quite pleasant.” Volkswagen plans to reopen its Beijing offices on Monday but is waiting for updates from health authorities, said Mayer.

Xiong of IQAir expressed frustration at not being able to make his sales pitch to potential clients face to face but said the quarantine gives him more time with his son. Xiong and his wife are among millions of parents who also looking after children who are cooped up at home because schools have been closed indefinitely. Xiong said he helps his son with lessons sent over WeChat by the kindergarten.

“Usually, when I get home from work, it is almost time for his bath and bed,” said Xiong. “Now that we spend time together every day, I think I know my child more and he relies on me more. Our connection is stronger, and so is the whole family.”

Many have barely set foot outdoors for almost three weeks. Cities including Hangzhou, an industrial metropolis of 10 million people southwest of Shanghai that is home to e-commerce giant Alibaba, are allowing only one household member out each day to buy food.

Apartment complexes in Beijing and other cities have been ordered to check visitors for fever. Many allow only residents to enter. Zhang said she has left her parents’ complex only once to go shopping. She was nearly barred by security guards from returning.

“There are almost no people or cars on the street,” she said. Ray Cheng, a Macau-born entrepreneur in the southern city of Guangzhou, said he starts the day by making a plan for his 7-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son — “what they need to do, then lunch, then what to do” — and then gets on the phone with his employees and customers.

“When I work, I arrange for them to do something they like. They are very focused and won’t bother me,” Cheng told a reporter. “Right now they are watching ‘Lion King’ so I can talk to you.” IQAir’s China sales manager, Mike Bearden, said he usually spends 50% of his time on the road but has been at home in Beijing for three weeks talking by phone with potential customers. He said sales might get a boost from the virus because families and hospitals are thinking more about clean air.

“It’s probably the longest stretch I’ve stayed in Beijing in the last 10 years,” said Bearden, a Canadian-American who grew up in Seattle. “My exercise is basically pacing my apartment while having phone conversations.”

Associated Press researcher Yu Bing contributed to this report.

Australian court rules indigenous people can't be deported

February 11, 2020

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s highest court ruled Tuesday the government can’t deport Aboriginal people as part of its policy of ridding the country of foreign criminals. The High Court ruled in a 4-3 decision that indigenous Australians cannot be deported even if they do not hold Australian citizenship.

The court had heard the case of two men who were born overseas but identified as being from indigenous tribes: Brendan Thoms and Daniel Love. Thoms, 31, was released after 501 days in immigration detention within hours of the court ruling that his indigenous status entitled him to live in Australia, his lawyer Claire Gibbs said.

“Brendan has had 500 sleepless nights worrying he could be deported at any time, and that is now thankfully at an end," Gibbs said in a statement. “He is very happy to have been released and to now be reunited with his family at long last,” she added.

Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge said the Home Affairs Department would review other cases that might be affected by the precedent. “ The High Court delivered a significant judgment today which has implications for our migration programs,” Tudge said in a statement.

The court had “created a new category of persons” that was neither an Australian citizen nor a non-citizen, he added. The government attempted to deport the men on character grounds in 2018 after they served prison sentences for violent crimes. The government has been criticized for deporting some criminals who have lived in Australia since where were children but had never become citizens.

The court found that Thoms, 31, who was born in New Zealand to an indigenous Australian mother, was an Aboriginal Australian. Thoms had lived in Australia since he was 6, is accepted as a member of the Gunggari tribe and is recognized as a native title holder of their traditional land.

But a majority of judges was not convinced that Love, 40, was indigenous and was accepted as a member of the Kamilaroi tribe. He was born in Papua New Guinea to an indigenous Australian father and has lived in Australia since he was 5.

His lawyers say he will provide more evidence of his Aboriginality and another trial could be held to decide the issue. Both Love and Thoms were placed in immigration detention and threatened with deportation on their release from prison after serving sentences for unrelated crimes.

Love has had his visa restored since his lawyers initiated court action in 2018 and lives on the Gold Coast. Thoms had been in immigration detention in Brisbane for 16 months since he completed a six-month prison sentence.

The court found Aboriginal Australian have a special cultural, historic and spiritual connection to Australia which is inconsistent with them being considered “aliens” in the meaning of the Australian constitution.

Gibbs said the government had used its constitutional powers to deal with aliens "inconsistently, unfairly and, now we've proven, unlawfully." “This case isn’t about citizenship. It’s about who belongs here, who’s an Australian national and who’s a part of the Australian community,” Gibbs told reporters outside court.

"The High Court has found that Aboriginal Australians are protected from deportation. They can no longer be removed from the country that they know and that they have a very close connection with,” she added.

The Home Affairs Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Gibbs said both Love and Thoms would sue the government for wrongful detention. “Both of my clients have suffered severe embarrassment about being Aboriginal men in immigration detention and they’ve been subject to a lot of ridicule,” Gibbs said. “So it’s been a very, very tough time for them both.”

Mary Crock, professor of public law at Sydney University, described the decision as “radical.” She noted the case arose from Australia's increasingly tough policies of deporting non-citizens who break the law, some to countries where they don't speak the language or have any real connections.

“I see it as a very positive development,” Crock told Australian Broadcasting Corp. of the ruling. "The case only went to the High Court because Australia uniquely has been trying so hard to deport so many different people. I can't think of another country that has gone as far as we have towards locking up and then trying to deport people who literally have no other country that they deeply belong to,” she added.

Indigenous Australians make up 3% of the population and are the most disadvantaged minority group in a range of measures. Indigenous Australians die younger than other Australians and are overrepresented in prisons.