UK grants asylum to ex-staffer at its Hong Kong consulate

July 03, 2020

LONDON (AP) — A former employee at the British consulate in Hong Kong has been granted political asylum in what he believes is the first successful U.K. asylum case from the former British colony. Simon Cheng, who alleges that he was detained and tortured in China last year, told The Associated Press that he hopes his successful application encourages other democracy activists from the semi-autonomous Chinese territory to seek protection in the U.K. as Beijing clamps down on the city’s protest movement.

Cheng, 29, also said that while he is relieved asylum was granted, he remains worried "they will take my family members as hostage and send more agents to crush down the pro-democracy cause and activities outside of Hong Kong.”

Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the city this week, bypassing Hong Kong’s legislature in a move that has been condemned by the U.S., the European Union and Britain, among others. Critics say the law effectively ends the “one country, two systems” framework that guaranteed the territory a high level of autonomy and civil liberties when it reverted from British to Chinese rule 23 years ago.

Cheng, who was a trade and investment officer at the British consulate tasked with attracting Chinese investment in Scotland, said he joined massive anti-government protests in the city last year to collect information for the consulate.

He went missing on Aug. 8 after being detained while returning to Hong Kong from a business trip to Shenzhen, a mainland Chinese city just across the border. Cheng has said he was hooded, beaten and deprived of sleep during 15 days of detention as agents sought information on protesters. He said he was also questioned about Britain's alleged role in supporting the demonstrations.

China has not directly addressed Cheng’s allegations, but the Foreign Ministry has dismissed protests from the British government over the affair as “so-called concerns or complaints.” The ministry has cited a statement by Shenzhen police issued in August saying Cheng’s legal rights had been protected and that he had “admitted his offense completely,” an apparent reference to a confession of soliciting prostitution.

Cheng said he confessed to the offense of soliciting prostitution in order to avoid harsher treatment. He said he applied for asylum in Britain late last year and received it Tuesday. “My case is about political persecution intrinsically,” Cheng said Thursday in London. “I hope my case could be a precedent for other Hong Kongers who are not protected by the British National Overseas lifeboat scheme. They can quote my case to apply for asylum and seek protection.”

Several other asylum cases involving people from Hong Kong are pending, he said. Nathan Law, a leading member of Hong Kong's opposition movement, posted on Facebook that he had left Hong Kong for an undisclosed location out of concern for his personal safety and that of others.

Britain announced Wednesday that amid widespread concern about the security law and Hong Kong’s future, the U.K. would extend residency rights for Hong Kongers eligible for British National Overseas passports.

The passports were introduced in the 1980s under colonial rule. British officials estimate some 2.9 million people are eligible. But those born after 1997 cannot apply, leaving out many young student activists at the core of the pro-democracy movement.

China condemned the British move, saying that holders of the BNO passports are Chinese citizens and that the U.K. had violated a commitment it had made not to grant them the right to stay in Britain. “The British side disregarded China’s solemn position and insisted on changing the policy,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Thursday. “The Chinese side strongly condemns this and reserves the right to make further responses. All resulting consequences will be borne by the British side.”

Australia has said it is considering options “to provide similar opportunities” to those offered by Britain. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters Thursday that a final decision has not been made, “but if you’re asking: are we prepared to step up and provide support, the answer is: yes.”

Zhao, asked about the comments, said Australia should “immediately stop interfering in China’s internal affairs with the so-called Hong Kong issue and avoid going further down the wrong path.” Cheng urged protesters not to give up and pledged to help their cause from abroad.

“We’re developing the alternative way, a pro-democracy cause overseas to reinforce those helpless people who have no choice or chose to stay in Hong Kong,” he said. “I do believe in the future we have less and less legal ground to fight for democracy within the system, within Hong Kong, peacefully, safely and legally.”

Activist leaves Hong Kong after new law to advocate abroad

July 03, 2020

HONG KONG (AP) — Prominent Hong Kong democracy activist Nathan Law has left the city for an undisclosed location, he revealed on his Facebook page shortly after testifying at a U.S. congressional hearing about the tough national security law China had imposed on the semi-autonomous territory.

In his post late Thursday, he said that he decided to take on the responsibility for advocating for Hong Kong internationally and had since left the city. “As a global-facing activist, the choices I have are stark: to stay silent from now on, or to keep engaging in private diplomacy so I can warn the world of the threat of Chinese authoritarian expansion,” he said. “I made the decision when I agreed to testify before the U.S. Congress.”

Law told reporters in a WhatsApp message that he would not reveal his whereabouts and situation based on “risk assessment.” His departure comes days after Hong Kong’s national security law took effect, targeting vaguely defined crimes of secessionist, subversive and terrorist acts, as well as any collusion with foreign forces in intervening in the city affairs.

“Under this legislation Beijing just passed about 24 hours ago, anyone who would dare to speak up would likely face imprisonment once Beijing targeted you,” Law told the congressional hearing on Wednesday. “So much is now lost in the city I love: the freedom to tell the truth.”

Law, 26, rose to prominence in Hong Kong as one of the student leaders of the pro-democracy Umbrella Revolution in 2014. In 2016, he became the youngest lawmaker elected to the city's legislature but was later disqualified for allegedly not taking the oath in a proper manner.

He was also part of pro-democracy group Demosisto, together with fellow activists Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow. All three resigned from the group Tuesday ahead of the national security law coming into effect. With the loss of its top members, Demosisto became dissolved.

The maximum punishment for serious offenses under legislation is life imprisonment, and suspects in certain cases may be sent to trial on the mainland if Beijing deems it has jurisdiction. Critics say the law effectively ends the “one country, two systems” framework under which the city was promised a high degree of autonomy when it reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

Hong Kong government on Tuesday night released a statement stating that popular protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times” connotes a call for Hong Kong’s independence or its separation from China, meaning those using it or displaying it on flags or signs could be in violation of the national security law.

On Wednesday, thousands took to the streets to protest the new legislation. Police arrested some 370 people, 10 of whom were detained on suspicion of violating the new law. In some cases, suspects were found to be carrying paraphernalia advocating Hong Kong’s independence, police said.

Associated Press journalist Alice Fung contributed to this report.

China, pro-Beijing activists condemn 'meddling' in Hong Kong

July 02, 2020

HONG KONG (AP) — China's government and pro-Beijing activists in Hong Kong condemned what they called foreign meddling in the territory's affairs on Thursday, as countries moved to offer Hong Kongers refuge and impose sanctions on China over a new security law.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said no amount of pressure from external forces could “shake China’s determination and will to safeguard national sovereignty and Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability.”

He urged the U.S. to abide by international law and stop interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs, and not sign a sanction bill into law. His comments came after the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday joined the Senate in approving a bill to rebuke China over its crackdown in Hong Kong by imposing sanctions on groups that undermine the city’s autonomy or restrict freedoms promised to its residents.

If the bill becomes law, “China will definitely take strong countermeasures, and all consequences will be borne by the U.S. side,” Zhao said at a daily briefing. Vice President Mike Pence in a television interview Thursday called the law a betrayal of the international agreement China signed.

“President Trump has made it clear that we’re going to be modifying our trading relationship and the trading status with regard to Hong Kong and we’re going to continue to speak out on behalf of the people of Hong Kong and on behalf of human rights of people within China," he told CNBC.

"We want to reset the trading relationship, but we want China to recognize international agreements, to recognize the human dignity of all of their people, and that includes all the people of Hong Kong.” he said.

Meanwhile, dozens of pro-Beijing activists and lawmakers protested outside the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong to demand that the U.S. stop meddling. The group said it gathered 1.6 million signatures online in support of its call.

Tam Yiu-Chung, Hong Kong’s sole delegate to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, said on public broadcaster RTHK on Thursday that the new security law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong was not harsh. If it were, no one would dare violate the law, he said.

His comments came a day after thousands of protesters marched against the security law, which took effect in Hong Kong late Tuesday. The security law outlaws secessionist, subversive and terrorist acts, as well as any collusion with foreign forces in intervening in the city’s affairs. Critics say the law effectively ends the “one country, two systems” framework under which the city was promised a high degree of autonomy when it reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

The maximum punishment for serious offenses under the legislation is life imprisonment, and suspects in certain cases may be sent to stand trial on the mainland if Beijing deems that it has jurisdiction.

The law takes aim at actions that occurred during anti-government protests last year. It says destruction of government facilities and utilities would be considered subversive, while damaging public transportation facilities and arson would constitute acts of terrorism.

About 370 people were arrested during and after Wednesday’s protests, including 10 on suspicion of violating the new security law. Some of those arrested allegedly possessed materials that advocated Hong Kong’s independence.

Hong Kong police arrested a man on a London-bound flight early Thursday on suspicion of having stabbed a police officer in the arm during Wednesday's protests. The 24-year-old man, surnamed Wong, was arrested on a Cathay Pacific flight after police received an anonymous tip-off about his travel plans, police said.

Wong had purchased a ticket on Wednesday and boarded the flight with no check-in luggage, police said. He did not respond to the crew when they called him by name, and was not in his designated seat. Police identified him after conducting a sweep of the plane.

Meanwhile, two protesters were sentenced to four weeks in jail on Thursday for vandalizing a ticketing machine at a rail station in September last year. They were among nearly 9,000 arrests by police in connection with the anti-government protests between last June and May this year.

The central government's passage of the security law for Hong Kong has triggered concern from the territory's former colonial ruler, Britain, and other countries. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that imposition of the law was a “clear and serious breach” of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the treaty that guaranteed the former British colony would enjoy a high degree of autonomy and civil liberties for at least 50 years after its handover to Chinese rule.

The Foreign Office summoned Chinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming on Wednesday to a meeting with Permanent Secretary Simon McDonald, who reiterated Britain’s concern. Britain also announced that it is extending residency rights for up to 3 million Hong Kongers eligible for British National Overseas passports, stressing that it would uphold its historic duty to its former colony. Those eligible will be able to live and work in the U.K. for five years before applying for settled status and then again for citizenship.

On Thursday, the Chinese Embassy in London said such a move would be in breach of “international law and basic norms governing international relations.” “We firmly oppose this and reserve the right to take corresponding measures,” it said in a statement, without elaborating. “We urge the British side to view objectively and fairly the national security legislation for Hong Kong, respect China’s position and concerns, refrain from interfering in Hong Kong affairs in any way.”

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Thursday his government is considering a move to provide a “safe haven” to Hong Kongers, and Taiwan opened an office to help Hong Kongers move to Taiwan for employment and other purposes.

China eyes July 20-25 launch for Mars rover

Beijing (AFP)
July 1, 2020

China's first Mars rover should launch later this month, authorities said Wednesday, as the country races to catch up with the US dominance of space.

The Tianwen-1 Mars rover is scheduled to blast off from Hainan island, off China's south coast, between July 20 - 25, according to the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

It will be China's first interplanetary mission, and takes place shortly before the next US Mars rover -- timed to launch no earlier than July 30.

Named after an ancient Chinese poem, the Tianwen-1 consists of an orbiter, rover and lander, and is expected to collect samples from the planet's surface, the launch center said.

The system will be carried into space on a Long March 5 rocket and is expected to reach Mars sometime in February 2021.

The dates have been chosen because the Earth and Mars are only aligned at an optimal position for spaceflight for a short period once every 26 months.

The US delayed the launch window of its own Perseverance probe -- its fifth Mars rover mission -- three times over the past month due to technical issues.

NASA initially said the launch must take place no later than August 15, but more recently suggested the window may be extended.

China has hugely expanded its space program in recent years to compete with the US and Russia, and has ambitions to put a man on the Moon.

In 2019, it sent the Yutu-2 rover to the far side of the lunar surface in a world first, and has also touted its cooperation with the European Space Agency.

A Chang'e 5 lunar probe is set to launch later this year, and a new space station is due for completion in 2022.

The US banned Chinese astronauts from using the International Space Station because of national security concerns.

Last week, China also launched the final satellite in its homegrown Beidou navigational system, which competes with the GPS system pioneered by the United States.

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: https://www.marsdaily.com/reports/China_eyes_July_20-25_launch_for_Mars_rover_999.html.

Divided West can do little as China tightens up on Hong Kong

July 01, 2020

LONDON (AP) — From Tokyo to Brussels, political leaders have swiftly decried Beijing’s move to impose a tough national security law on Hong Kong that cracks down on subversive activity and protest in the semi-autonomous territory.

But the rhetoric has more bark than bite. For people in Hong Kong, the question is: Will international anger and statements of concern make any difference? Individual countries have little leverage over Beijing on human rights, experts say. A joint effort could make a difference, but coordinated action seems unlikely given strained ties between the Trump administration and many of Washington’s traditional European allies.

“The U.S.A. and EU are moving in different directions in many areas. It is perhaps to China’s advantage that that should be so,” said Rod Wye, an Asia-Pacific associate fellow at the Chatham House think tank in London. In particular, Europeans do not want to be drawn into the U.S.-China trade war, he said.

“Expressions of concern are certainly not going to change the Chinese intention one little bit,” he added. A joint U.S.-European report released this week on relations with China described “a deep sense of frustration, fatigue, and futility. The stronger China gets, the less willing it has become to even engage perfunctorily with the West on the issue.”

The report — from the Asia Society, the Bertelsmann Stiftung and George Washington University — said that concern about human rights abuses in China remains deep, from the new security law in Hong Kong, which went into effect Tuesday night, to the repression of Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region in western China.

China routinely dismisses all such criticism as interference in its domestic affairs. One of the crimes in the Hong Kong security law explicitly outlaws receiving funding or support from overseas to disrupt lawmaking in Hong Kong or impose sanctions on the city.

“This issue is purely China’s internal affairs, and no foreign country has the right to interfere,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said. Many fear the law will be used to curb opposition voices and see it as Beijing’s boldest move yet to erase the legal firewall between the mainland’s Communist Party system and Hong Kong, which was promised a high degree of autonomy and civil liberties under a “one country, two systems” principle.

Britain called the law “deeply troubling” and said it “lies in direct conflict with China’s international obligations.” The U.S. warned that China’s repeated violations of its international commitments “is a pattern the world cannot ignore.” And the European Union warned that China risked “very negative consequences” to its reputation and to business confidence in the global financial hub.

Steve Tsang, who directs the China Institute at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, said that if the EU were to join forces on the issue with the “Five Eyes” alliance — the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — the group would have real economic clout. The EU is China’s largest trading partner.

But he said it was “far-fetched” for either British Prime Minister Boris Johnson or U.S. President Donald Trump to work with the EU on the issue. “It is reasonable for Beijing to calculate that both the U.K. and U.S. are paper tigers,” Tsang said. “Boris is focused on Brexit. He is happy to cooperate with anyone except for the EU.”

Chinese experts said the West isn't able to sway China because of fundamental differences in their views. The West stresses political rights, while China emphasizes economic rights, said Yu Wanli, an international relations professor at Beijing Language and Culture University.

“It is not that China is trying to withstand pressure from the West, but it is that China’s own policies have achieved results,” Yu said. “China doesn’t need to care about pressure from the West.” Stressing a legal and moral duty to its former colony, Britain has pledged to open pathways to citizenship for up to 3 million Hong Kongers eligible for British National Overseas passports. In Brussels, the European Parliament last month passed a resolution calling on the EU to consider taking Beijing to the International Court of Justice.

Reinhard Bütikofer, chair of the European Parliament’s delegation for China relations, said lawmakers are considering other measures, such as a ban on exports of “technology utilized to oppress Hong Kong citizens.” Other options include a “lifeboat” offer for Hong Kong democracy activists, and pushing for the United Nations to appoint a special envoy to the city.

“The major burden is on the incoming German presidency to rally member states in following through in what they have indicated in the past, that this would not remain without consequences,” Bütikofer said.

In the U.S., the Trump administration has said it will bar defense exports to Hong Kong, cancel policy exemptions that give Hong Kong special treatment, and impose visa restrictions on Chinese Communist Party officials “responsible for undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy.”

Zhao, the foreign ministry spokesperson, said the U.S. will never succeed in blocking Hong Kong's national security legislation through sanctions. Wye, the Chatham House associate fellow, said the impact of such measures on China is likely to be marginal.

“I don’t think Beijing has anything particular to fear because the sanctions they’re talking about are mainly withdrawing special status in particular areas of Hong Kong and treating it more like the rest of China,” he said. “So the people likely to be hurt are Hong Kong businesses and Hong Kong people rather than Chinese businesses and the Chinese government.”

China reviews heavily criticized Hong Kong security bill

June 28, 2020

BEIJING (AP) — China’s legislature on Sunday began reviewing a controversial national security bill for Hong Kong that critics worldwide say will severely compromise human rights in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

The National People’s Congress Standing Committee took up the bill at the start of a three-day session, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported. China has said it is determined to enact the law, and its passage is expected by Tuesday.

The U.S. says it will respond by ending favorable trading terms granted to the former British colony after it passed to Chinese control in 1997. The Senate on Thursday unanimously approved a bill to impose sanctions on businesses and individuals — including the police — that undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy or restrict freedoms promised to the city's residents.

The Senate bill targets police units that have cracked down on Hong Kong protesters, as well as Chinese Communist Party officials responsible for imposing the national security law. The measure also would impose sanctions on banks that do business with entities found to violate the law.

Last week, a former United Nations human rights chief and eight former U.N. special envoys urged the body’s secretary-general to appoint a special envoy on Hong Kong over what they said is a pending “humanitarian tragedy.” Britain has said it would grant passports to as many as 3 million of Hong Kong's 7.8 million people.

Beijing has denounced all such moves as gross interference in its internal affairs. The law would criminalize secession, subversion of state power, terrorist activities and colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security. Critics say Hong Kong's legal statutes already account for such matters and that Beijing is determined to use the law to pursue political opponents.

The central government in Beijing also would set up a national security office in Hong Kong to collect and analyze intelligence and deal with criminal cases related to national security. Few details have been released, but it appears that Beijing will have ultimate power over government appointments, further reducing the relative independence it promised to Hong Kong in a 1984 joint declaration with Britain that is considered an international treaty.

The measures have been widely seen as the most significant erosion to date of Hong Kong’s British-style rule of law and high degree of autonomy that China promised Hong Kong would have under a “one country, two systems” principle.

China has long demanded such a law for Hong Kong, but efforts were shelved in the face of massive protests in 2003. Beijing appeared to have lost its patience in the face of widespread and often violent anti-government demonstrations in Hong Kong last year, moving to circumvent the city's own legislative council and enact the law at the national level on what critics say are weak legal grounds.

On Sunday, opponents of the bill staged a protest in Hong Kong, with police using pepper spray and arresting 53 people “on suspicion of unlawful assembly,” according to Hong Kong broadcaster RTHK.

18 dead, 189 hurt as tanker truck explodes on China highway

June 14, 2020

BEIJING (AP) — A tanker truck exploded on a highway in southeastern China on Saturday, killing 18 people and injuring at least 189 others, authorities said. The explosion caused extensive damage to nearby buildings. One photo showed firefighters hosing down a row of buildings with blown-out facades well into the night.

The truck carrying liquefied gas exploded around 4:45 p.m. on the Shenyang-Haikou Expressway south of Shanghai in Zhejiang province, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing local authorities. A second explosion followed when the truck fell onto a factory workshop, Xinhua said.

The Wenling city government information office said on its social media account that houses and workshops collapsed and 189 people were treated at six hospitals. A worker at a nearby restaurant told Xinhua that the blast shattered the windows of her home, but that her mother and brother were unharmed.

UN top court rules Qatar blockade is illegal

July 14, 2020

In a humiliating defeat for Saudi Arabia and its allies, the top UN court has ruled in a 16-1 decision in favor of Qatar over the ongoing dispute between Doha and its Gulf neighbors.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) dismissed, today, the appeal lodged by Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Bahrain against the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The aviation body had ruled two years ago that the air blockade imposed by the four countries was illegal.

The top UN court backed Qatar and unanimously “rejects the appeal” by the four blockading states against the decision by the world civil aviation body who ruled in favor of Doha over sovereign airspace, ICJ President Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said.

ICAO ruled in 2018 that it had the jurisdiction to handle a dispute brought by Qatar, which accused its neighbors of violating international conventions that regulate the free passage of its passenger planes through foreign airspace.

Saudi and its allies rejected the verdict insisting that ICAO was not the right body to judge in the dispute and that its decision to do so was “manifestly flawed and in violation of fundamental principles of due process and the right to be heard.” They had asked the ICJ to declare the aviation body’s ruling “null and void and without effect”.

Welcoming the verdict an official Qatari press release said: “Since June 2017, the Blockading States have prohibited Qatar-registered aircraft from flying to or from their airports and overflying their national airspaces, in flagrant violation of international law. In two judgments released today, the ICJ rejected all three grounds of appeal raised by the Blockading States, finding that the ICAO has jurisdiction to hear Qatar’s claims. The ICAO Council will now resume its proceedings.”

Qatar's Communication and Transport Minister added: “We welcome today’s decision by the ICJ that will see the Blockading States finally face justice for violating international aviation rules. We are confident that the ICAO will ultimately find these actions unlawful. This is the latest in a series of rulings that expose the Blockading Countries’ continued disregard for international law and due process. Step by step their arguments are being dismantled, and Qatar’s position vindicated.”

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200714-un-top-court-rules-qatar-blockade-is-illegal/.

UN approves aid to Syria's rebel area through 1 crossing

July 13, 2020

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia scored a victory for its ally Syria on Saturday by forcing the Security Council to limit humanitarian aid deliveries to the country’s mainly rebel-held northwest to just one crossing point from Turkey, a move that Western nations say will cut a lifeline for 1.3 million people.

Russia argues that aid should be delivered from within the country across conflict lines, and says only one crossing point is needed. U.N. officials and humanitarian groups argued unsuccessfully — along with the vast majority of the U.N. Security Council — that the two crossing points in operation until their mandate expired Friday were essential for getting help to millions of needy people in Syria’s northwest, especially with the first case of COVID-19 recently reported in the region.

The Security Council vote approving a single crossing from Turkey was 12-0, with Russia, China and the Dominican Republic abstaining. The vote capped a week of high-stakes rivalry pitting Russia and China against the 13 other council members. An overwhelming majority voted twice to maintain the two crossings from Turkey, but Russia and China vetoed both resolutions — the 15th and 16th veto by Russia of a Syria resolution since the conflict began in 2011 and the ninth and 10th by China.

Germany and Belgium, which had sponsored the widely supported resolutions for two crossing points, finally had to back down to the threat of another Russian veto. The resolution they put forward Saturday authorized only a single crossing point from Turkey for a year.

In January, Russia also scored a victory for Syria, using its veto threat to force the Security Council to adopt a resolution reducing the number of crossing points for aid deliveries from four to two, from Turkey to the northwest. It also cut in half the yearlong mandate that had been in place since cross-border deliveries began in 2014 to six months.

Before adopting the resolution Saturday, the council rejected two amendments proposed by Russia, including one suggesting that U.S. and European Union sanctions on Syria were impeding humanitarian aid. That contention was vehemently rejected by the Trump administration and the EU, which noted their sanctions include exemptions for humanitarian deliveries. It also rejected an amendment from China.

Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, said after the vote that from the beginning Moscow had proposed one crossing — from Bab al-Hawa to Idlib — and that Saturday’s resolution could have been adopted weeks ago. He said Russia abstained in the vote because negotiations over the resolution were marred by “clumsiness, disrespect.”

Polyansky accused Western nations on the council of “unprecedented heights” of hypocrisy, saying they were ready to jeopardize cross-border aid over the references to unilateral sanctions. He said cross-border aid to Syria’s northwest doesn’t comply with international law because the U.N. has no presence in the region, which he described as being controlled “by international terrorists and fighters” that make it impossible to control and monitor who gets aid.

German Ambassador Christoph Heusgen retorted that while Russia talks about delivery of aid across conflict lines, “in practice it doesn’t” happen. He said his side fought to maintain multiple crossing points for aid, including the Al-Yaroubiya crossing point from Iraq in the northeast that was closed in January, because that is what is needed for efficient delivery of aid to millions in need — and he asked Polyansky “this is clumsy?”

“This is what we tried to do over these past weeks, to get the optimum to the population,” Heusgen said. U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft told the council: “Today’s outcome leaves us sickened and outraged at the loss of the Bab al-Salaam and Al Yarubiyah border crossings.”

“Behind those locked gates are millions of women, children, and men who believed that the world had heard their pleas. Their health and welfare are now at great risk,” she said. Still, Craft called the authorization of access through Bab al-Hawa for 12 months “a victory” in light of Russia and China’s “willingness to use their veto to compel a dramatic reduction in humanitarian assistance.”

“This solemn victory must not end our struggle to address the mounting human needs in Syria — that fight is far from over,” Craft said. Belgium and Germany said in a joint statement that 1.3 million people, including 800 000 displaced Syrians, live in the Aleppo area, including 500,000 children who received humanitarian aid through the Bab al-Salam crossing — and now have that aid cut off.

“Today is yet another sad day. It is a sad day for this council, but mostly, it is a sad day for the Syrian people of that region.,” they said. “Both Yarubiyah and Bab al-Salam were vital crossings to deliver, in the most efficient way possible, the humanitarian help, those people deserve.”

In a later statement, they added: “One border crossing is not enough, but no border crossings would have left the fate of an entire region in question.”

Israelis angry at Netanyahu over new outbreak, economic pain

July 10, 2020

JERUSALEM (AP) — With an unprecedented new surge in coronavirus cases battering Israel’s economy, one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest confidants was dispatched to a TV studio recently to calm the nerves of a jittery nation. Instead, he dismissed expressions of some of the public's economic pain as “BS.”

The flippant comment by Cabinet minister Tzachi Hanegbi is symptomatic of what critics see as a bloated, out-of-touch government. It also has become a rallying cry for anti-Netanyahu protests spreading, like the virus, across the country.

One out-of-work Israeli erupted in anger during a live television interview, berating Netanyahu and warning the country is “going to burn” if aid is not given soon. It is a dramatic turn of events for Netanyahu, who claimed credit and was widely praised for Israel's successful management of the early stages of the crisis. Now his approval ratings are plummeting, and public health experts warn that Israel is close to being unable to cope.

At the start of the pandemic, Netanyahu moved quickly to close the country's borders and impose strict measures to contain the virus. By May, Israel was among the first in the world to reopen its economy. Netanyahu boasted on TV that other countries were looking to Israel as a model.

But the exit strategy appears to have been bungled. Now facing a drastic surge in confirmed COVID-19 cases, the country has begun re-imposing restrictions, such as limits on public gatherings. Critics warn the government waited too long to respond.

“The management of the corona crisis is a humiliating national failure, it is dangerous and without precedent,” opposition leader Yair Lapid said this week. “People are furious, and they are right to be furious."

Just two months ago, Netanyahu had sounded optimistic. After three costly and inconclusive elections in just under a year, he had managed to convince his chief challenger, retired military chief Benny Gantz, to join him in an “emergency” government with a mandate to tackle the coronavirus. Despite steep criticism, they established the largest government in Israeli history, arguing that its 34 ministers, some with dubious job titles and responsibilities, were essential to provide stability in uncertain times.

By late May, as the number of infections subsided, the country triumphantly reopened for business. The new government got distracted by ambitious plans to annex parts of the West Bank in the face of international criticism.

“We want to make your lives easier, to allow you to go out and get some air, to go back to routine as much as possible, to drink a cup a coffee, and to have a beer as well. So, first of all, enjoy yourselves,” Netanyahu said at the time.

From just a handful of cases, contagion quickly spread. Authorities now report record levels of more than 1,000 new cases a day, higher than any peak in the spring. Experts charge that Israel let its guard down. Ran Balicer, a professor of public health and member of the national epidemic management team, said Israel reopened too quickly and slammed the brakes too late.

“For weeks we have been seeing the illness spread in Israel at one of the fastest rates in the world,” he wrote in the Haaretz daily. “A large proportion of experts believe that the critical time for intervention, for the ‘final braking point,’ is right before us. And the problem is that it is coming at a time when we don’t have enough effective tools to halt the spread of the illness.”

Israel, like other countries, is struggling to balance containing infections and protecting the economy. Unemployment shot up to more than 25% during the first surge and many jobs have yet to come back. Small businesses, the self-employed and particularly the dining, entertainment and tourism industries are warning that another large-scale shutdown will be a death blow.

In the face of an angry electorate, Netanyahu's support has tumbled. A Midgam Research & Consulting poll on Channel 12 TV found just 46% of respondents approved of Netanyahu's job performance, down from 74% in May.

Scrambling to respond, Netanyahu said Thursday that the government would pay monthly stipends over the coming year to help the unemployed, self-employed and business owners hurt by the corona crisis. “The government will do everything that is required to ease the economic distress,” he said.

The sight of desperate Israelis lining up at soup kitchens and near-daily protests by out-of-work people has been damaging to Netanyahu’s populist brand. Hanegbi's gaffe on TV added fuel. Asked about families struggling to put food on the table, he said: “This nonsense that people don’t have anything to eat is BS.”

He apologized and Netanyahu distanced himself. But the damage was done. Protesters demanded the government deliver on a promised relief package and attacked it for being obtuse to their suffering. “Minister Hanegbi, what he did in this situation is that he gave the people on the ground a green light,” screamed Eyal Altratz, an unemployed sound technician, in a Channel 13 TV interview. “I’m promising the prime minister: Listen carefully. Liar. If we don’t get the money in the next few days, you’re going to have a world war here.”

Though most of the anger has been focused on livelihoods, those involved in fighting the pandemic have been more concerned about public health. A top Health Ministry official credited with helping contain the initial outburst stepped down this week over differences on how the new government was handling the current spike. In her resignation letter, Sigal Sadetsky, the outgoing head of the public health services department, bemoaned how the “handling of the pandemic had lost direction.”

Unlike the initial response, she said recent actions have been clumsy, dismissive of health considerations and leading Israel to a “bad place.” Yuval Karni, a commentator for the Yediot Ahronot daily, said Netanyahu was suffering the consequences of his centralized management style in which he has taken credit for success, blamed others for failures and sidelined potential rivals and experts.

“Netanyahu is paying a political price for a decade of smugness,” he wrote. “Now Netanyahu is alone, at his most difficult time. And ours.”

Mass protests rock Russian Far East city, challenge Kremlin

July 18, 2020

KHABAROVSK, Russia (AP) — Mass rallies challenging the Kremlin rocked Russia's Far East city of Khabarovsk again on Saturday, as tens of thousands took to the streets to protest the arrest of the region’s governor on charges of involvement in multiple murders.

The massive unauthoritized crowds gathered despite local officials’ attempts to discourage people from taking to the streets, citing the coronavirus epidemic and an alleged averted terrorist threat. Local media estimated the rally in the city 3,800 miles east of Moscow drew 15,000 to 50,000 people, while city authorities put the number at 10,000. Hundreds of people have rallied in the city every day this week against the arrest of Sergei Furgal, reflecting widespread anger over the arrest of the popular governor and a simmering discontent with the Kremlin’s policies.

Furgal, the Khabarovsk region governor, was arrested on July 9 and flown to Moscow where he was put in jail for two months. Russia’s Investigative Committee says he is suspected of involvement in several murders of businessmen in 2004 and 2005.

Furgal has denied the charges, which relate to his time as a businessman importing consumer goods ranging from timber and metals. Khabarovsk residents dismissed the charges against him as unsubstantiated and denounced the Kremlin for targeting a governor they elected.

“It’s not only about this (whether Furgal arrest is legal or not). People are fed up with the way we are treated, that they can simply take away our choice," protester Mikhail Yerashchenko told The Associated Press on Saturday.

A member of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, Furgal was elected governor in 2018, defeating the Kremlin-backed incumbent. His victory was unexpected: Furgal didn't actively campaign and toed the Kremlin's line, publicly supporting his rival.

People voted for him nonetheless, delivering a humiliating blow to the main Kremlin party, United Russia, that has been losing seats in regional governments over the past two years. During his two years in office, Furgal earned a reputation of being “the people's governor." He cut his own salary, ordered the sale of an expensive yacht that the previous administration bought, met with protesters when rallies happened and significantly reduced flight fares for residents in remote areas.

“Furgal became a political symbol for the residents of the region, and all accusations — no matter how grave — are from another, non-political dimension,” political analyst Abbas Gallyamov said in a Facebook post.

Last Saturday, crowds of reportedly up to 35,000 people rallied in Khabarovsk. Protesters demanded that Furgal's trial be moved to Khabarovsk, with one saying “we have elected him and it's up to us to judge him." Some questioned the timing of the arrest, pointing to Furgal's decade-long stint as a lawmaker in the Russian parliament before running for governor, during which the murder charges never came up.

The unauthorized protests are the largest ever in Khabarovsk, a city of 590,000. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the situation “not standard" this week. Moscow has not yet appointed an acting governor 11 days after Furgal's arrest.

Police didn't interfere with Saturday's rally. Protesters held banners demanding Furgal's freedom and chanted “I, you, he and she – the entire country is for Furgal”. Smaller rallies in support of Furgal also took place Saturday in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, another big city in the Khabarovsk region, and in the city of Vladivostok in the neighboring Primorye region.

“Though I’m almost 70, I worry sincerely about my region, about Russia and our nation, about Furgal and freedom. I want us to be free," Alla Sokolova, a protester in Khabarovsk, told the AP.

Litvinova reported from Moscow.

Mass protests rock Russian Far East city again

July 18, 2020

KHABAROVSK, Russia (AP) — Mass rallies rocked the Russian Far East city of Khabarovsk again on Saturday, as tens of thousands took to the streets to protest the arrest of the region’s governor on charges of involvement in multiple murders.

Local media estimated the rally in the city 3,800 miles east of Moscow drew 15,000 to 50,000 people. Hundreds of people have rallied in the city center every day this week against the arrest of Sergei Furgal, reflecting widespread anger over the arrest of the popular governor and a simmering discontent with the Kremlin’s policies.

Furgal, the Khabarovsk region governor, was arrested on July 9 and flown to Moscow where he was put in jail for two months. Russia’s Investigative Committee says he is suspected of involvement in several murders of businessmen in 2004 and 2005.

Furgal has denied the charges, which relate to his time as a businessman with interests ranging from imports of consumer goods to timber and metals. Khabarovsk residents dismissed the charges against him as unsubstantiated and denounced the Kremlin for targeting a governor they elected.

“It’s not only about this (whether Furgal arrest is legal or not). People are fed up with the way we are treated, that they (authorities) can simply take away our choice," Mikhail Yerashchenko, one of the protesters, told The Associated Press on Saturday.

A member of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, Furgal was elected governor in 2018, defeating the Kremlin-backed incumbent. His victory came unexpected: Furgal didn't actively campaign and toed the Kremlin's line, publicly supporting his rival.

People voted for him nonetheless, delivering a humiliating blow to the main Kremlin party, United Russia, that has been losing seats in regional administrations over the past two years. During his two years in office, Furgal earned a reputation of “the people's governor." He cut his own salary, ordered the sale of an expensive yacht the previous administration bought, met with protesters when rallies happened and significantly reduced flight fares for residents in remote areas.

“Furgal became a political symbol for the residents of the region, and all accusations — no matter how grave — are from another, non-political dimension,” political analyst Abbas Gallyamov said in a Facebook post earlier this week.

Last Saturday, crowds of reportedly up to 35,000 people rallied in the city center. Protesters demanded that Furgal's trial be moved to Khabarovsk, with one of them saying “we have elected him, and it's up to us to judge him." Some questioned the timing of the arrest, pointing to Furgal's decade-long stint as a lawmaker in the Russian parliament before running for governor, during which the murder charges never came up.

The protests, unauthorized by authorities, are the largest ever to have taken place in Khabarovsk, a city of 590,000. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the situation “not standard" this week. Moscow has not yet appointed an acting governor 11 days after Furgal's arrest.

Massive crowds on Saturday gathered despite local officials's attempts to discourage people from taking to streets, citing the coronavirus epidemic and an averted terrorist threat. Police didn't interfere with the rally. Protesters held banners saying “Freedom to Sergei Furgal, governor of the Khabarovsk region” and chanted “I, you, he and she – the entire country is for Furgal”.

Smaller rallies in support of Furgal also took place Saturday in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, another big city in the Khabarovsk region, and in the city of Vladivostok in the neighboring Primorye region. “Though I’m almost 70, I worry sincerely about my region, about Russia and our nation, about Furgal and freedom. I want us to be free," Alla Sokolova, a protester in Khabarovsk, told the AP.

Russian police raid opposition leader Navalny's office, home

July 17, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — Moscow police on Friday raided the offices of Foundation for Fighting Corruption, an organization founded by Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, reportedly in connection to a slander case opened against him.

Last month, Russia's Investigative Committee launched a probe into Navalny on the charges of defamation, after the politician slammed people featured in a video promoting the constitutional reform extending President Vladimir Putin's rule as “corrupt stooges,” “people without consciousness" and “traitors.”

The Investigative Committee maintained that Navalny's comments “denigrate (the) honor and dignity” of a World War II veteran featured in the video. The search of the politician's foundation on Friday took place when Navalny was being interrogated at the Investigative Committee in connection with the case. During the interrogation, investigators barred him from leaving Moscow, Navalny said in a Tweet.

“All this has been invented so that I couldn't travel to the regions,” campaigning against candidates from the ruling United Russia party ahead of the regional elections in September, the politician wrote.

He added that after the interrogation investigators took him to two more raids — of the apartment Navalny rents in Moscow and another apartment where he is registered as a resident. The constitutional reform allowing Putin to stay in power until 2036 was approved earlier this month by 78% of voters in a week-long nationwide ballot. Kremlin critics condemned the reform as undemocratic and pointed to numerous reports of violations and suspected incidents of voter fraud during the plebiscite.

Navalny actively criticized the reform, but didn't advocate for voting against it, saying the results of the ballot would be rigged anyway. He urged his supporters to rather focus on regional elections in September and fight against candidates put forward by United Russia in 31 Russian regions.

“It is a real fight in which a real victory is possible,” Navalny said.

Russian constitution change ends hopes for same-sex marriage

July 13, 2020

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — At the Lagutenko wedding in 2017, the couple exchanged vows, rings and kisses in front of friends and relatives, then took a traditional drive in a limousine, stopping at landmarks for photos.

But because they were both women, the wedding wasn’t legal in Russia. If Irina and Anastasia Lagutenko had any hopes they could someday officially be married in their homeland, the possibility vanished on July 1 when voters approved a package of constitutional amendments, one of them stipulating that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

Unlike many LGBT people in Russia who keep low profiles because of pervasive enmity against nontraditional sexuality, they live openly as a same-sex couple with a 21-month-old boy, named Dorian, who was born to Irina.

They lack, and probably never will receive, those rights accorded to heterosexual couples. They won't be allowed to refuse to testify against their partner in court, they won't automatically inherit from each other, and they can't see each other in hospitals that only allow visits by family members. Anastasia is not a legal guardian for Dorian and can’t become one.

“I want to have the same legal rights for the child,” Anastasia told The Associated Press as Dorian played in her lap in their apartment. “I planned this child. We went all the way of the pregnancy and the childbirth together, and now, I am 100%, 200% involved in the process of upbringing, and I consider him mine," she said.

Although Russia decriminalized homosexuality decades ago, animosity against gays remains high. In 2012, the Moscow city government ordered that gay pride parades be banned for the next 100 years. The following year, the parliament unanimously passed a law forbidding “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relationships” among minors.

Attacks on the gay community persist. Last summer, the murder of Yelena Grigoryeva, an LGBT activist in St. Petersburg, made national headlines. Dozens of other activists received death threats from an obscure anti-gay group that claimed responsibility for the killing of Grigoryeva, who was stabbed repeatedly and showed signs of strangulation.

In 2017, reports of extrajudicial arrests, torture and killings of gay men in the republic of Chechnya drew international condemnation. Last year, Andrei Vaganov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, a couple raising two adopted children, had to flee Russia after a doctor reported them to police and authorities opened a criminal case. Adoption by same-sex couples is banned in Russia, but Vaganov had applied as a single father.

Max Olenichev, a lawyer with the Coming Out gay rights group, said there are instances of tolerance by some courts. He said he has worked on seven custody cases in which judges refused to take away custody, saying that sexual orientation doesn’t play a role in a child’s upbringing.

But he is concerned that the constitutional changes will encourage anti-gay views. Previously, “the state had to create equal opportunities for all people that live in Russia, both for LGBT people and non-LGBT people. When these amendments come into effect, then in fact the state will only support conservative values and promote them. LGBT people will be left behind,” he said.

“Our society really looks up to what the government does, so any kinds of public actions promoting homophobia, transphobia, biphobia, many people may perceive as a call for action. And we believe that there will be more hate speech and hate crimes, and that LGBT people will suffer more violence,” Olenichev said.

Pyotr Tolstoy, a parliament member who supported the changes to the constitution, says Russia is “a stronghold of traditionalism,” reflecting the widespread view that the country is under siege from decadent foreign influences.

The amendments will allow Russia “not to repeat the mistakes that exist in the West," he told the AP. “These mistakes, in my opinion, are fundamental, when certain people — the LGBT community or certain race groups — are being given additional, special rights. More rights than the majority."

President Vladimir Putin has rejected criticism of the constitutional amendments and the gay propaganda law. He said that in some countries, “criminal law provisions still exist under which people of nontraditional sexual orientation can be persecuted criminally, as it was in the Soviet Union. We don’t have anything similar to that.” Putin’s remarks came after passage of the amendments package, which also allows him to seek two more terms in office.

Tolstoy, who is a deputy speaker in the lower house of parliament and heads the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, rejects the idea that the provision outlawing same-sex marriages in the constitution promotes intolerance.

“In our country, people are tolerant to all communities, as long they don’t demand any special rights,” he said. For Irina and Anastasia Lagutenko, it is not about any kind of special rights. Anastasia says she just wants basic rights given to every parent — the “reassurance” that she is “a lawful parent, like parents in a traditional family.”

"When you have a legal right for a child, you feel safe,” she said. “I want people who think that families like ours don’t exist to see us — (to see) that our family is complete, we have an excellent child, and to accept this fact.” Irina said. “We don’t have a fear of living in the open and we won’t hide, because we are the same people and we have the same rights.”

Dutch government to take Russia to European court over MH17

July 10, 2020

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch government is taking Russia to the European Court of Human Rights for its alleged role in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine six years ago, the foreign minister announced Friday.

The move is intended to support individual cases being brought to the European court by relatives of some of the 298 people who were killed when a Buk surface-to-air missile fired from territory controlled by pro-Moscow Ukrainian rebels blew the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight out of the sky on July 17, 2014.

“Achieving justice for 298 victims of the downing of Flight MH17 is and will remain the government’s highest priority,” Foreign Minister Stef Blok said. “By taking this step today ... we are moving closer to this goal.”

By launching the case against Russia, the Dutch authorities can share evidence with the Strasbourg-based European court so it can be considered in individual relatives' cases. “As a government, we have information, evidence, that leads us to the conclusion of the involvement of the Russian Federation,” Blok told The Associated Press. “Of course, the relatives themselves do not have all this information so we can help them by starting this procedure.”

Moscow has repeatedly denied involvement in the downing of the Boeing 777. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia sees Friday's announcement "in connection with the disaster of the Malaysian Boeing as another blow to Russian-Dutch relations.”

Throughout the case, the Netherlands has acted “exclusively within the framework of anti-Russian logic, to which both technical and criminal investigations were subordinated,” Zakharova said. However, an international team of prosecutors investigating the case has, however, charged three Russians and a Ukrainian with involvement in bringing down the plane and the murder of all on board. The men are on trial in a Dutch court, although none have been extradited to the Netherlands to face justice.

Blok said much of the evidence the government will submit to the human rights court also is part of that criminal case. Prosecutors say they have evidence the missile that blew MH17 out of the sky was trucked into Ukraine from a Russian military base and the mobile launcher was later returned to Russia.

The Russian foreign ministry didn't immediately react. Konstantin Kosachev, head of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of Russia's parliament, called the Dutch move “a strange initiative from every aspect” in remarks carried by the Interfax news agency.

"The investigation isn’t over yet, there have been no court verdicts on the national level yet and, finally, what does the European Court for Human Rights have to do with it?” Kosachev said. Friday's move is the latest legal maneuver by the Dutch government, which has long vowed to secure justice for victims and their loved ones. Separately, the government is pursuing Russia for state responsibility in the downing.

“The government attaches importance to continuing the meetings with Russia on the matter of state responsibility,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “The purpose of these meetings is to find a solution that does justice to the enormous suffering and damage caused by the downing of Flight MH17.”

Blok said the twin legal tracks are headed toward the same goal. “From the onset, we have made clear that the downing of an airplane, civilian airplane, and 298 innocent casualties is such a severe breach of international law that we will pursue any venue to find the truth and bring justice to the relatives,” he said.

Russia and West in showdown over aid to Syria's rebel area

July 10, 2020

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia and the West are in a showdown over continuing the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria’s mainly rebel-held northwest after the current U.N. mandate expires on Friday. Germany and Belgium on Thursday called for a vote on a draft resolution that would maintain the two border crossings from Turkey to the northwest for six months — a position supported by the U.N. secretary-general, U.N. humanitarian chief, and many aid organizations. The result is scheduled to be announced early Friday afternoon.

Without waiting for the announcement, Russia announced late Thursday that it had circulated a new resolution which would authorize just one crossing from Turkey for a year. It put the draft in a form that can be put to a vote.

A series of tweets from Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky announcing the new Russian resolution and urging Western support strongly indicated that Moscow will veto the German-Belgium draft.

Russia, Syria’s closest ally, has argued that aid should be delivered from within Syria across conflict lines. But the U.N. and humanitarian groups say aid for 2.8 million needy people in the northwest can’t get in that way.

The German-Belgium resolution being voted on would extend the mandate for the two border crossings from Turkey to the northwest — Bab al-Salam and Bab al-Hawa — for six months. The Russian-drafted resolution would only authorize cross-border deliveries through the Bab al-Hawa crossing, for a year.

Germany’s U.N. ambassador, Christoph Heusgen, said Wednesday that while the Bab Al-Hawa crossing is used to deliver aid to Idlib province, the Bab al-Salam crossing reaches the region north of Aleppo, where an additional 300,000 Syrians displaced by the last offensive are now sheltering.

“Both areas are separated by conflict lines,” he said. Russia’s Polyansky tweeted Thursday evening that Bab Al-Hawa “accounts for more than 85% of total volume of operations.” “We categorically reject claims that Russia wants to stop humanitarian deliveries to the Syrian population in need,” he tweeted. “Our draft is the best proof that these allegations are groundless.”

In a third tweet, Polyansky said Western nations should “seize this opportunity” and support the Russian draft which adapts “to the situation on the ground.” “If they block our compromise proposal they will be responsible for the consequences,” the Russian envoy warned.

U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft has accused Russia and China of “breathtaking callousness and dishonesty” and distorting the realities on the ground. Their actions in both resolutions underscore “a harrowing truth — that Russia and China have decided that millions of Syrian lives are an insignificant cost of their partnership with the murderous Assad regime,” she said in a statement.

Thursday’s rival resolutions capped a week of high-stakes rivalry over cross-border aid. The initial German-Belgium resolution authorizing two crossings for one year won support from 13 of the 15 council members on Tuesday but was vetoed by Russia and China.

A Russian draft resolution authorizing one crossing for six months failed to get the minimum nine “yes” votes on Wednesday. And a similar Russian amendment to the latest German-Belgium resolution was dramatically rejected earlier Thursday, getting only two “yes” votes from Russia and China.

In January, Russia scored a victory for Syria, using its veto threat to force the Security Council to adopt a resolution reducing the number of crossing points for aid deliveries from four to just two, from Turkey to the northwest. It also cut in half the yearlong mandate that had been in place since cross-border deliveries began in 2014 to six months, as Russia insisted.

The defeated German-Belgium resolution had dropped a call for the reopening of an Iraqi crossing to the northeast to deliver medical supplies for the COVID-19 pandemic. In May, Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said: “Do not waste your time on efforts to reopen the closed cross-border points.”

Russian space official, ex-journalist, charged with treason

July 07, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — A former journalist who worked as an adviser to the director of Russia's state space corporation was arrested and jailed Tuesday on charges of passing military secrets to a Western nation, accusations that many of his colleagues dismissed as absurd.

Ivan Safronov, who had written about military and security issues for a decade before becoming an adviser to Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin, was detained outside his apartment in Moscow by agents of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the main KGB successor agency.

He pleaded innocent to the charges during a court hearing where a judge considered - and ultimately granted - the FSB’s request to authorize his arrest. The judge ordered Safronov jailed for two months as the investigation continues

Safronov's detention sent shock waves across Russian media, with many journalists questioning the treason charges and his former newspaper openly rejecting them as “absurd.” The FSB said that Safronov is accused of relaying sensitive data to a spy agency of an unspecified NATO member. It said in a statement that the information he provided referred to “military-technical cooperation, defense and security of the Russian Federation.”

The agency released video footage of plainclothes agents stopping Safronov outside his apartment building, searching him and putting him inside a minivan in handcuffs. Safronov could face up to 20 years in prison, if convicted.

Roscosmos said that Safronov didn't have access to state secrets, and claimed that the charges didn't relate to Safronov's work for the corporation, which he joined in May. Prior to that, Safronov worked as a correspondent for the top business daily Kommersant for nearly a decade until 2019, and after that worked for a year for another business daily, Vedomosti.

He covered military issues, arms trade and government affairs. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Safronov's detention wasn't related to his activities as a journalist. Grilled about the case during a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Peskov described Safronov, who once covered the Kremlin, as a “talented journalist.”

Kommersant put out a statement in support of Safronov, hailing him as one of the country's top journalists and a “true patriot” who was deeply concerned about the state of the military and space industries that he covered. The newspaper described the accusations against him as “absurd.”

The paper noted that rights activists, journalists, scientists and corporate officials who faced treason accusations found it difficult to defend themselves because of secrecy surrounding their cases and lack of public access.

“As a result, the public has to rely on the narrative offered by special services, whose work has increasingly raised questions,” Kommersant said. “Journalists asking those questions find themselves under blow.”

About 20 journalists, including those who worked with Safronov for years, were detained outside FSB headquarters in Moscow when they picketed to protest his arrest. Some were handed court summons for violating a ban on street gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, an offense punishable by an administrative fine.

Many former colleagues of Safronov alleged that the authorities may have wanted to take revenge for his reporting that exposed Russian military incidents and opaque arms trade deals. Last year, the FSB reportedly opened an inquiry following publication of an article by Safronov that claimed that Russia had signed a contract with Egypt for the delivery of sophisticated Su-35 fighter jets. Kommersant later removed the report from its website, and no charges were filed.

Safronov left the paper following another article, claiming that the speaker of the Russian parliament's upper house was about to step down, provoked official anger. Safronov's father also worked for Kommersant after retiring from the armed forces and covered military issues. In 2007, he died after falling from a window of his apartment building in Moscow.

Investigators concluded that he killed himself, but some Russian media questioned the official version, pointing to his intent to publish a sensitive report about secret arms deliveries to Iran and Syria.

US, Russia share a complex and bloody history in Afghanistan

July 02, 2020

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Moscow and Washington are intertwined in a complex and bloody history in Afghanistan, with both suffering thousands of dead and wounded in conflicts lasting for years. Now both superpowers are linked again over Afghanistan, with intelligence reports indicating Russia secretly offered bounties to the Taliban to kill American troops there.

But analysts suggest that despite these apparent differences, the two adversaries actually have much in common, especially when it comes to what a postwar Afghanistan should look like: Both want a stable country that does not serve as a base for extremists to export terrorism.

“The Russian endgame is an Afghanistan which will neither support jihadi movements in the former U.S.S.R. nor host American bases that might one day be used against Russia,” says Anatol Lieven, a Georgetown University professor in the Middle Eastern state of Qatar and a senior fellow at the New American Foundation.

Even the Pentagon said this week in a report to the U.S. Congress that Russia backed Washington’s deal with the Taliban as the best path forward, while at the same time the Kremlin has sought to cultivate interest with the group, limit the West's military presence and encourage operations against Islamic State militants.

Lieven, who studied the Soviet Union's invasion of the country in 1979 and its subsequent occupation, defeat and withdrawal a decade later, said Moscow would “prefer to see a mixed government in Afghanistan, with Taliban power limited.”

He says Moscow has not forgotten its experience in Afghanistan, where at least 15,000 Soviet troops were killed in fighting that began as an effort to prop up a communist ally and soon became a grinding campaign against the U.S.-backed mujahedeen insurgency.

But in today’s Afghanistan, the threat facing Russia is the Islamic State affiliate and its allies known as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a terrorist organization that has taken aim at Russia's Muslim regions and was born of brewing discontent in Muslim-dominated Central Asia.

Even as Russia and the U.S. vie for influence in Afghanistan, they are aligned in their opposition to IS. Lieven says Moscow regards the Taliban as the lesser evil and, like Washington, sees it as an ally in the fight against both IS and the IMU.

Remnants of the mujahedeen groups in Afghanistan are now warlords-turned-political leaders in the Kabul government and also are in the ranks of the Taliban. The chief Taliban negotiator in peace talks with the United States, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, fought in the 1980s on the side of the U.S.-backed mujahedeen, as did Mullah Mohammed Omar, the founder of the Taliban.

“A humiliating defeat of the U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan by the Taliban would provide some in Moscow with a feel-good sense of revenge for the U.S. support to mujahedeen groups in the 1980s that led to the humiliating defeat and withdrawal of Soviet forces,” says Andrew Wilder, vice president of the Asia Program at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Wilder said Moscow's vision of a postwar Afghanistan is much the same as Washington's. “They would prefer an end state not that different from what the U.S. desires – a political settlement that leads to the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces but leaves behind a relatively stable and ethnically inclusive government that can ensure Afghanistan doesn’t again become a safe haven for transnational terrorist groups,” he said.

He said Afghanistan's neighbors, including the strategically sensitive nations of Central Asia bordering Russia, would be “the biggest losers” if a withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces led to a collapse of the country and a return to the anarchy of the 1990s.

As for the reports of bounties being paid to the insurgents, analysts also say that cash from abroad has flowed into Afghanistan for years. Loyalties are fluid in the country and money has been used to buy influence, curry favor or manipulate government officials since the collapse of the Taliban in 2001.

As far back as 2013, suitcases of cash given to the Afghan government by the CIA was being blamed for runaway corruption. Washington's own watchdog, the Special Inspector general for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has alleged that billions of dollars have been pocketed by government officials, warlords, drug lords and insurgents.

The money was pumped into Afghanistan by the U.S., Iran, Pakistan, Russia and India. In Kabul's Sherpur neighborhood, the multistory marble mansions owned by warlords, drug lords and Kabul's political elite were built by corruption, according to Afghans who stage anti-graft protests. Last month, a group of lawyers and economists asked the International Monetary Fund not to lend money to Afghanistan because it would be pocketed by officials.

Insurgents also benefit from the exploding drug trade and have taken payments from countries seeking to buy influence, analysts say. “U.S. military officials have often suggested that Russia is funneling arms to the Taliban, but the evidence hasn’t been nearly as strong as it is for Pakistani and, more recently, Iranian support for the Taliban,” said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the Wilson Center.

“While Moscow has sought to scale up its engagement with the Taliban in recent years, much of this has been meant to promote support for peace and reconciliation. And this is part of a broader Russian objective to increase its influence in Afghanistan,” he said.

But for Brian G. Williams, author of “Counter Jihad. The America Military Experience in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria,” and a former employee of the CIA’s Counter Terrorism Center, Russia's endgame in Afghanistan is to hand Washington a humiliating defeat.

“The generals in the FSB (Federal Security Service) and GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate) would again be toasting should American Chinooks be forced to chaotically evacuate U.S. personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.” he said,

Williams said President Vladimir Putin "has always seen America as its primary competitor for power in post-Soviet Eurasia.”

Russian opposition denounces vote extending Putin's rule

July 02, 2020

MOSCOW (AP) — A vote that cleared the way for President Vladimir Putin to rule Russia until 2036 was denounced Thursday by his political opponents as a “Pyrrhic victory” that will only further erode his support and legitimacy.

Putin himself thanked voters for their “support and trust,” and repeated a message that was often a hallmark of his presidential campaigns. “We need internal stability and time for the reinforcing of the country, of all of its institutions,” the 67-year-old Putin said in a televised statement.

According to election officials, nearly 78% of voters approved the constitutional amendments in seven days of balloting that concluded Wednesday. Turnout across the vast country was put at almost 68%.

The amendment that allows Putin to run for two more six-year terms after his current one expires in 2024 were part of a package of constitutional changes that also outlaw same-sex marriage, mention “a belief in God as a core value” and emphasize the primacy of Russian law over international norms. Voters could not decide on the individual amendments but only on the entire group.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the results were “a triumphant referendum on trust in President Putin.” Putin's critics argued the results were rigged and didn't reflect the dwindling enthusiasm for the once-popular president.

“A record in falsifying votes has been set in Russia,” opposition politician Alexei Navalny said in a Facebook post. “The announced result has nothing whatsoever to do with the people's opinion.” Putin's approval rating was at 59% in May, according to the Levada Center, Russia’s top independent pollster. The lowest in two decades, the numbers have been steadily going down in the past five years amid growing frustration over declining living standards.

Critics pointed to widespread reports of pressure on voters and other irregularities, as well as a lack of transparency and independent control of the balloting that they said tarnished its validity. “Putin is weaker because it took so much effort, and unlawful effort at that, to get this vote,” said Masha Lipman, an independent political analyst.

For the first time in Russia, polls were kept open for an entire week, with ballot boxes unattended at night. Independent monitoring was hindered by bureaucratic hurdles and coronavirus-related restrictions. Voting also took place outside polling stations — in some instances on street benches, tree stumps and in the trunks of cars — as well as online in some places, including Moscow.

Abbas Gallyamov, a political analyst and former Kremlin speechwriter, said in a Facebook post that the victory cost the government “a serious dent in its legitimacy.” Opposition politicians argued it was hardly a win for the Kremlin.

“Did Putin impress us with the scale of the people’s love (for him)? No, he just made a fool of himself,” said Dmitry Gudkov, a former lawmaker and now an opposition leader, in a Facebook post. “Did he get the mandate from the people to reign forever? No, he just angered many by pressuring them to vote and started a rumor mill that will tell many people about this Pyrrhic victory.”

Golos, Russia’s top independent election monitoring group, deemed the results “falsified.” Gudkov pointed to independent exit polls that reported over 54% of more than 5,000 respondents in Moscow and 63% of nearly 3,000 respondents in St. Petersburg voted against the amendments.

A nationwide poll by Levada over the weekend showed that 68% of those who had cast their ballot by Saturday voted “yes,” and 54% of those who hadn’t would approve the amendments. The clause about resetting term limits for Putin, however, was only supported by 51% of the respondents.

Yulia Galyamina, one of the founders of the “No!” campaign, said in a Facebook post that people across Russia, even those who don't support any opposition group, voted against the amendments. "People said their ‘no’. And the authorities had to resort to unprecedented falsification, undermining the legitimacy of the president,” she said.

In his blog, Navalny said Putin has “showed his inadequacy” in the 20 years he has ruled Russia. “Everything (he does) is built on promises and lies. Around half of the people in the country understand that,” Navalny wrote. “So every day, you should do something to advocate against this regime.”

He urged his supporters to focus on regional elections in September and fight against candidates from the ruling United Russia party in 31 Russian regions. Ending the dominance of United Russia in regional parliaments and administrations will undermine “the formal mechanism” of Putin’s rule, Navalny said.

“It is a real fight in which a real victory is possible,” he added. Lipman agreed that discontent exists in Russia, but it is unlikely to lead to unrest or any kind of drastic action right now. “The mood is there. But from the mood and from grumbling and complaining, there’s a long way to action,” she said, adding that Putin is unlikely to lose his power any time soon.

“Putin is weaker, but still the strongest, by far the most powerful man in the country,” Lipman said. “He is still in charge.” That attitude was reflected in a statement Tuesday by Ramzan Kadyrov, the powerful leader of the southern republic of Chechnya, who suggested that Putin should be president for life.

“Who can replace him today?" Kadyrov said. "There is no political leader on that scale globally.”

Anna Frants contributed.

EU summit breaks up after all-night talks, to resume later

July 20, 2020

BRUSSELS (AP) — Weary and bleary European Union leaders temporarily broke up their summit at dawn on the fourth day of acrimonious haggling over an unprecedented 1.85 trillion-euro ($2.1 trillion) EU budget and coronavirus recovery fund to tackle the crisis. They committed to pick up the fight again later Monday.

In a two-day summit scheduled to have ended Saturday, deep ideological differences between 27 leaders forced the talks into Sunday and then through the night until the sun came up again over the EU capital. Grumpy, some leaders lashed out at each other when a common middle ground was still out of reach.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, defending the cause of a group of five wealthy northern nations seeking to limit costs and strict reform guarantees, came under criticism from Italy and Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban asked why the Dutchman had such “hate" toward him.

Rutte took it in stride. “We are not here because we are going to be visitors at each other’s birthday party later. We are here because we do business for our own country. We are all pros," he said. The leaders were teetering on the brink of collapse though, Rutte said, before things somewhat turned around before dawn Monday.

“It looks more hopeful than when I thought during the night: ‘It's over,'" he said. On Sunday night, after three days of fruitless talks, EU Council president Charles Michel implored leaders to overcome their fundamental divisions and agree on the budget and recovery fund.

“Are the 27 EU leaders capable of building European unity and trust or, because of a deep rift, will we present ourselves as a weak Europe, undermined by distrust," he asked the leaders at the end of another day of divisive negotiations. The text of the behind-closed-doors speech was obtained by The Associated Press.

“I wish that we succeed in getting a deal and that the European media can headline tomorrow that the EU succeeded in a Mission Impossible," Michel said. But early on the fourth day of talks — the summit was meant to last only two — the leaders still had not reached a compromise. As dawn broke Monday, they were still haggling over the size and terms of the recovery fund. Debate centered on whether needy nations should get between 375 billion euros to 390 billion euros in grants, officials said.

Even with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron negotiating as the closest of partners, the traditionally powerful Franco-German alliance could not get the bloc's 27 quarreling nations in line.

At their dinner table Sunday night, the leaders could mull a proposal from the five wealthy northern nations — the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Sweden and Denmark — that suggested a coronavirus recovery fund with 350 million euros of grants and the same amount again in loans. The five EU nations nicknamed “the frugals” — had long opposed any grants at all.

“We are ready to take the leap from loans to subsidies. If there are reforms, they need to be strictly defined. And, two, they need to be able to be enforced,” Rutte said. The pandemic has sent the EU into a tailspin, killing around 135,000 of its citizens and plunging its economy into an estimated contraction of 8.3% this year.

The bloc’s executive has proposed a 750 billion-euro coronavirus fund, partly based on common borrowing, to be sent as loans and grants to the countries hit hardest by the pandemic. That comes on top of the seven-year 1 trillion-euro EU budget that leaders have been haggling over for months even before the pandemic hit.

All nations agree they need to band together but the five richer countries in the north, led by the Netherlands, want strict controls on spending, while struggling southern nations like Spain and Italy say those conditions should be kept to a minimum.

Rutte has long been known as a European bridge builder, but this weekend his tough negotiating stance was being blamed for holding up a deal. He and his allies have been pushing for labor market and pension reforms to be linked to EU handouts and a “brake” enabling EU nations to monitor and, if necessary, halt projects that are being paid for by the recovery fund.

“He can’t ask us to do specific reforms,” Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said, complaining it may look like a hero in his home nation, but nowhere else. Rutte also wants a link to be made between the handout of EU funds and the rule of law — a connection aimed at Poland and Hungary, countries with right-wing populist governments that many in the EU think are sliding away from democratic rule.

That drew Orban into anger. “I don’t know what is the personal reason for the Dutch prime minister to hate me or Hungary, but he’s attacking so harshly and making very clear that because Hungary, in his opinion, does not respect the rule of law, (it) must be punished financially,” Orban said.

Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands. Associated Press writer Geir Moulson contributed from Berlin.

Governments around world eye tougher steps to fight virus

July 20, 2020

(AP) Signs of governments reassessing their coronavirus response were scattered around the world Sunday, with the mayor of Los Angeles saying the city was reopened too quickly, Ohio's governor warning his state is “going the wrong way,” Hong Kong issuing tougher new rules on wearing face masks and Spain closing overcrowded beaches.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Los Angeles was “on the brink” of new widespread stay-at-home orders as Los Angeles County continued to see the state’s largest increase in confirmed coronavirus cases. California reported on Saturday its fourth-highest daily total of newly confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 9,000.

Appearing on CNN Sunday, Garcetti was asked about a Los Angeles Times editorial that criticized the rapid reopening of California, which was followed by a spike in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

“I do agree those things happened too quickly,” Garcetti said, adding that the decisions were made at the state and county levels, not by city officials. But he also said people in general had become less vigilant about taking precautions to avoid transmission.

“It’s not just what’s open and closed,” he said. “It’s also about what we do individually.” Infections have been soaring in U.S. states including California, Florida, Texas and Arizona, with many blaming a haphazard, partisan approach to lifting lockdowns as well as the resistance of some Americans to wearing masks.

In Florida, where health officials reported nearly 12,500 new infections and nearly 90 additional deaths on Sunday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio called for consistent, nonpartisan messaging. “We’ve seen a lot of these things turned into sort of a partisan fight or a political statement,” he told South Florida television station, CBS4, on Sunday.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, like Rubio a Republican, said he would not rule out a statewide mandate on wearing masks, as infections in his state grew. He has already issued such orders in 19 counties accounting for nearly 60% of the state’s population.

“We’re going the wrong way. We’re at a crucial time,” DeWine said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Globally, the World Health Organization said that 259,848 new infections were reported Saturday, its highest one-day tally yet. India, which has now confirmed more than 1 million infections, on Sunday reported a 24-hour record of 38,902 new cases.

Pope Francis said “the pandemic is showing no sign of stopping” and urged compassion for those whose suffering during the outbreak has been worsened by conflicts. In Europe, where infections are far below their peak but local outbreaks are causing concern, leaders of the 27-nation European Union haggled for a third day in Brussels over a proposed 1.85 trillion-euro ($2.1 trillion) EU budget and coronavirus recovery fund.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there is “a lot of good will, but there are also a lot of positions” in the talks, which have have laid bare divisions about how the countries hit hardest by the pandemic, such as Italy and Spain, should be helped. She said the talks, which were initially scheduled to end on Saturday, could still end without a deal.

Confirmed global virus deaths have risen to more than 603,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The United States tops the list with over 140,000, followed by more than 78,000 in Brazil. Europe as a continent has seen about 200,000 deaths.

The number of confirmed infections worldwide has passed 14.3 million, with 3.7 million in the United States and more than 2 million in Brazil. Experts believe the pandemic's true toll around the world is much higher because of testing shortages and data collection issues.

Even where the situation has been largely brought under control, new outbreaks are prompting the return of restrictions. Following a recent surge in cases, Hong Kong made the wearing of masks mandatory in all public places and told non-essential civil servants to work from home. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said the situation in the Asian financial hub is “really critical” and that she sees “no sign” that it’s under control.

Police in Barcelona have limited access to some of the city’s beloved beaches because sunbathers were ignoring social distancing regulations amid a resurgence of coronavirus infections. Slaughterhouses also have featured in outbreaks in the U.S., Germany and elsewhere. Authorities in northwestern Germany's Vechta county said 66 workers at a chicken slaughterhouse tested positive, though most appeared to have been infected in their free time. An earlier outbreak at a slaughterhouse in western Germany infected over 1,400 and prompted a partial lockdown.

Cases in the Australian state of Victoria rose again Sunday, prompting a move to make masks mandatory in metropolitan Melbourne and the nearby district of Mitchell for people who leave their homes for exercise or to purchase essential goods.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said those who fail to wear a mask will be fined 200 Australian dollars ($140). “There’s no vaccine to this wildly infectious virus and it’s a simple thing, but it’s about changing habits, it’s about becoming a simple part of your routine,” Andrews said.

Moulson contributed from Berlin and Calvan from Tallahassee, Fla. Associated Press writers around the world contributed to this report.