Sweden faces weeks of uncertainty after close election

September 10, 2018

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden was looking at weeks of uncertainty and complex coalition talks after the country's two rival blocs failed to secure a clear governing majority in elections that saw a boost for a far-right party — considered political pariahs — amid growing discontent with large-scale immigration.

The governing center-left bloc had a razor-thin edge over the center-right opposition Alliance, with roughly 40 percent each. However, both have vowed not to work with the Sweden Democrats, an anti-immigrant party with roots in a neo-Nazi movement, that won 17.6 percent in Sunday's election, up from the 13 percent it gained four years earlier.

The party, which has worked to moderate its image in past years and wants the country to leave the European Union, gained votes amid a backlash against the challenges of integrating hundreds of thousands of immigrants who arrived in the Scandinavian nation over the past years.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who brought the Social Democrats to power in 2014, said he intended to remain in the job. His party emerged with the greatest share of the vote — 28.4 percent as the count neared completion — yet looking at holding fewer parliament seats than four years ago.

"I will not exclude any alternative to the (present) government. What I can exclude is any direct or indirect cooperation with the Sweden Democrats," Interior Minister Anders Ygeman, a Social Democrat said.

"I believe that it must be the largest party in Sweden that forms a government. Historically it has been always been this way in Sweden," he said. Political horse-trading began to try to form a government which could "takes week, months," Ygeman said, according to Swedish news agency TT.

The leader of the Moderates party that came in second, Ulf Kristersson, has already called on Lofven to resign and claimed the right to form Sweden's next government. The center-right, four-party Alliance has said it would meet Monday to discuss how to move forward and demand that Lofven, head of the minority, two-party governing coalition, resign.

However, the Sweden Democrats have said they could not be ignored in coalition negotiations and vowed to use its grown influence. "This party has increased and made the biggest gains. Everything is about us," its leader Jimmie Akesson said on election night. "I am ready to talk with others."

Final election returns were expected later in the week. The preliminary results made it unlikely any party would secure a majority of 175 seats in the 349-seat Riksdag, Sweden's parliament. With the prospect of weeks or months of coalition talks before the next government is formed, Swedish tabloid Expressen headlined its front page Monday: "Chaos."

Both the left-leaning bloc led by the Social Democrats and the center-right bloc in which the Moderates is the largest of four parties have said they would refuse to consider the Sweden Democrats as a coalition partner.

Lofven told his supporters the election presented "a situation that all responsible parties must deal with," adding that "a party with roots in Nazism" would "never ever offer anything responsible, but hatred."

"We have a moral responsibility. We must gather all forces for good. We won't mourn, we will organize ourselves," he said. Sweden — home to the Nobel prizes and militarily neutral for the better part of two centuries — has been known for its comparatively open doors to migrants and refugees. Sunday's general election was the first since Sweden, which a population of 10 million, took in a record 163,000 refugees in 2015 — the highest per capita of any European country.

Turnout in the election was reported at 84.4 percent, up from 83 percent in 2014.

Jan M. Olsen reported from Copenhagen, Denmark; Frank Jordans reported from Berlin; Vanessa Gera from Warsaw.

US regrets Turkey's boycott of Europe's rights conference

September 11, 2018

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A U.S. official said Tuesday that Washington is disappointed that Turkey is staying away from Europe's largest human rights conference for a second straight year because it wasn't allowed to prevent the participation of non-governmental organizations that it finds objectionable.

The Helsinki Commission, a U.S. government agency, tweeted Monday that "Turkey is the only country boycotting ... because it insists on having the ability to veto NGOs wishing to participate." Ambassador Michael Kozak, the head of the U.S. delegation to the conference, said that Washington "regrets that Turkey chose not to attend" this year's meeting, known officially as the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting.

"Turkey's presence would have ensured that its point of view was heard," Kozak said in a statement to The Associated Press on Tuesday. The yearly two-week conference, which opened Monday in Warsaw, is devoted to democracy and human rights. It is organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which comprises 57 states from North America, Europe and Central Asia.

The conference is unique because it allows civil society groups, no matter how small, to participate on an equal footing with governments. With many of the participants from countries with authoritarian governments in the former Soviet space, it is sometimes the only chance some democracy activists have to address government representatives from their own countries.

The Turkish delegation staged a walkout of the meeting last year after failing to block groups affiliated with cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames for a failed 2016 coup. This year, no Turkish delegation showed up at all, its seat empty.

The Turkish government alleges that groups affiliated with Gulen's movement are part of terrorist movements. It frequently accuses the West of sheltering Gulenists and not providing it with sufficient support against the network.

The OSCE's position is that allegations from a government against an organization without evidence or due process aren't enough for a ban. Nate Schenkkan, director for special research at Freedom House, a U.S.-based human rights group, said that other countries, including Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, have also in the past objected to the presence or activities of certain groups at the conference. To give governments veto power, he said, "would send a very worrisome precedent."

"They would strike off lots of names, and then it would be a closed garden and there would be no discussion," Schenkkan told the AP by phone on Tuesday.

N. Korea revives iconic mass games for 70th anniversary gala

September 08, 2018

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea is bringing back one of its most iconic art forms — mass games performed by tens of thousands of people working in precise unison — to mark its 70th anniversary this weekend.

The performance, which takes months if not years of intense preparation and training, is being called "Glorious Country" this year. It is literally the embodiment of socialist ideals — North Korea's most ubiquitous slogan, seen in posters and beaming from neon signs from atop tall buildings, is "Single-minded Unity." Pyongyang sees the performances, last held in 2013, as one of its most highly effective forms of propaganda, highlighting its social and political agenda both at home, where it will be televised repeatedly for months to come, and abroad.

To make sure it is seen around the world, North Korea has invited a large contingent of foreign media to cover it and the other events marking the 70th anniversary of its founding day on Sunday, including a major military parade.

The games are also a time-tested source of tourist dollars for North Korea. Tourists from the United States are still banned by their government from traveling to the North in response to the death of American college student Otto Warmbier, who was convicted of theft at a Pyongyang hotel and died shortly after his release in June last year. But ticket sales to tourists from China and Europe are reportedly brisk despite prices that start at 100 euros ($115) and go all the way up to 800 euros ($925) for VIP seating.

The games generally follow an epic narrative with a historical and revolutionary theme and are divided into a number of segments. Because so many people are involved — they once were given a world record for having more than 100,000 participants — the performers have been likened to pixilated humans. With the individual so totally melded into the larger whole, performing for the glorification of the leader, the games have been criticized as an insouciant homage to authoritarianism.

The games in the past have been held in Pyongyang's May Day Stadium, which according to North Korea can seat 150,000 people. Officials won't comment on details, but the performances are expected to continue, three or four times a week, until at least early October.

North Korea first staged its mass games in 2002, when Kim's father, Kim Jong Il, was the country's leader. They continued almost without interruption on an annual basis until 2014, when they were not held at all.

Kim Jong Un's touch may already be apparent in the naming of the games. Previously they were called the Arirang games after a famous Korean folk tale about separated lovers. The current games' more nationalistic name may reflect the younger Kim's ambitions for his time as the country's ruler.

Death toll rises, flights resume, power back in Japan quake

September 08, 2018

SAPPORO, Japan (AP) — Japanese rescue workers and troops searched Saturday for the missing for a third straight day in a northern hamlet buried by landslides from a powerful earthquake. Power was restored to most households and international flights resumed to the main airport serving the Hokkaido region.

The Hokkaido government said Saturday that 30 people are dead or presumed dead and nine remain missing. All but three of the victims are in the town of Atsuma, where landslides crushed and buried houses at the foot of steep forested hills that overlook rice fields.

Toyota Motor Corp. announced that it would suspend nearly all its production in Japan on Monday. Toyota makes transmissions and other parts in Hokkaido and also has suppliers on what is the northernmost of Japan's four main islands.

The magnitude 6.7 earthquake that struck about 3 a.m. on Thursday knocked out power to the entire island of 5.4 million people, swamped parts of a neighborhood in the main city of Sapporo in deep mud and triggered destructive landslides.

Backhoes were removing some of the solidified mud to clear a road in Kiyota ward on the eastern edge of Sapporo. In parts of Kiyota, the earth gave way as it liquefied, tilting homes and leaving manhole covers standing one meter (three feet) in the air. In parking lots, cars were still stuck in mud that reached part way up their wheels.

The return of electricity came as a huge relief for residents. About half of Hokkaido got power back Friday, and all but 20,000 households had power Saturday morning. "It was a relief that it was back yesterday evening, but it feels it took time," said 66-year-old Sapporo resident Tatsuo Kimura, adding that the blackout was a reminder "of how important electric power is in our life."

Tourists from South Korea and China were able to head home from New Chitose Airport, outside of Sapporo. About 1,600 people spent the previous night at the airport, according to Japanese media reports.

Hokkaido has become a popular destination for tourists from other parts of Asia.

Associated Press business writer Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report.

In 1st key speech, new UN human rights chief airs concerns

September 10, 2018

GENEVA (AP) — The new U.N. human rights chief warned Monday about abuses worldwide, citing among others the Trump administration's "unconscionable" separations of migrant families and urging the European Union to create a dedicated search and rescue operation for migrants in the Mediterranean sea.

Michelle Bachelet (bah-cheh-LET') made her first address to the Human Rights Council as it opened a three-week session on Monday. The former Chilean president, once a political detainee herself, became U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights this month.

Bachelet denounced a lack of "redress" for migrant families who were separated by U.S. authorities after being detained in a now-discontinued practice of separating children from their families. She encouraged the European Union to ensure access to asylum and rights protections, and faulted the government of member country Italy in particular for "political posturing" with its policy of denying entry to NGO rescue ships.

According to her prepared remarks, Bachelet said "attacks and persecution appear to be continuing" against the Rohingya minority in Myanmar's Rakhine state. Bachelet echoed calls by U.N. investigators last month for the creation of an independent "mechanism" to collect and analyze information about rights abuses in Myanmar for possible future use in national or international courts. She urged the council to pass a resolution referring the issue to the U.N. General Assembly, which could create such a mechanism.

As for Syria, Bachelet expressed concern about "ongoing military operations" in rebel-held Idlib province, saying the suffering of Syrian people has been "interminable and terrible" and appealing for justice for victims of human rights violations during the 7-1/2-year civil war.

Russia launches biggest ever war games involving China

September 11, 2018

CHITA, Russia (AP) — Hundreds of thousands Russian troops swept across Siberia on Tuesday in the nation's largest ever war games also joined by China — a powerful show of burgeoning military ties between Moscow and Beijing amid their tensions with the U.S.

Moscow said the weeklong Vostok (East) 2018 maneuvers will span vast expanses of Siberia and the Far East, the Arctic and the Pacific Oceans and involve nearly 300,000 Russian troops — nearly one-third of the country's 1-million-strong military. They will feature more than 1,000 aircraft, about 36,000 tanks and other military vehicles and 80 warships.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has described the drills as even bigger than the country's largest Cold War-era exercise called Zapad 1981 that put NATO allies on edge. A retired Russian general said that the giant war games come as a warning to the U.S. against ramping up pressure on Russia.

"The maneuvers are aimed at deterring the aggressive intentions of the U.S. and NATO," Ret. Gen. Leonid Ivashov said. He was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that the drills are "also a response to the U.S. sanctions."

China is sending about 3,200 troops, 900 combat vehicles and 30 aircraft to join the drills at a Siberian firing range, a significant deployment that reflects its shift toward a full-fledged military alliance with Russia. Mongolia also has sent a military contingent.

Asked if the U.S. is worried about a possible military alliance between Russia and China, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told Pentagon reporters Tuesday that, "I think that nations act out of their interests. I see little in the long term that aligns Russia and China."

As the maneuvers kicked off, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Russia on Tuesday to attend an economic forum in Vladivostok. President Vladimir Putin treated Xi to pancakes with caviar and shots of vodka in a show of their warm rapport.

Moscow and Beijing have forged what they described as a "strategic partnership," expressing their shared opposition to the "unipolar" world, the term they use to describe perceived U.S. global domination. However, the military drills they had until now were far smaller in scale, reflecting China's caution about alliances.

Some experts pointed out that the U.S. helped spawn closer Russia-China military ties by labeling them strategic competitors. "They feel they need to embrace to deal with the increasingly high pressure and containment from the U.S.," said Yue Gang, a military expert and retired Chinese army colonel.

He noted that China feels that the Washington's hostile attitude and actions, such as deploying the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea, relieve it of any need to take U.S. views into consideration when deepening strategic trust with Moscow.

"The war games have laid a foundation for China and Russia to enhance cooperation on international arena and will lift the combat proficiency of both sides," he said. The Chinese media touted the Chinese involvement in the maneuvers as the country's largest-ever dispatch of forces abroad for war games.

Some noted that the People's Liberation Army, which hasn't fought a war since the attempted invasion of Vietnam in 1979, is keen to learn from Russia's experience in the Syrian campaign, where it tested its latest weapons and tactics.

From China's perspective, the emerging military alliance with Russia sends a strong signal to the U.S. and its ally Japan as Beijing moves to defend its interests in the South China Sea, which China claims virtually in its entirety, as well as Taiwan and the Senkaku and Diaoyu islands controlled by Japan but claimed by Beijing.

Hong Kong-based commentator Song Zhongping said China is anxious to acquire more experience in large-scale operations that might become a factor in a conflict with the U.S. and others over territorial claims in Asia.

"Russia has very strong real combat abilities and the participation of the PLA in such a large-scale military exercise that is specially tailored for an anti-invasion war indicates China's intention to learn more valuable combat practices and lift its ability for joint combat," Song said.

For Russia, the increasingly robust alliance with China is particularly important amid the growing tensions with the U.S. and its allies and a looming threat of more biting U.S. sanctions. "The scale and the scenario of those drills are in line with the current military-political situation," said Ivashov, the retired Russian general. "They demonstrate the seriousness of our intentions."

The U.S. and its NATO allies are closely eyeing the exercises for what they reveal about military cooperation between Russia and China and their mounting military might. "We're obviously aware of it, we're watching it closely," said Army Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman. "We're aware of Russia's right to sovereignty and to exercise in order to ensure their readiness."

NATO Spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said that the training "fits into a pattern we have seen over some time: a more assertive Russia, significantly increasing its defense budget and its military presence."

She also noted that "China has growing military capabilities and is playing an increasingly significant global role," adding that "it's important for NATO to engage with China."

Vladimir Isachenkov reported from Moscow. Christopher Bodeen in Beijing, Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and Lorne Cook in Brussels, contributed to this report.

Russian rights group says over 1,000 detained at protests

September 10, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — More than 1,000 people were detained at anti-government protests across the country in what the Kremlin on Monday called a legitimate response to unauthorized rallies. The OVD-Info group, which tracks police detentions and posts the names of the detainees on its website, said that 1,018 people were detained during Sunday's demonstrations against a government plan to increase the ages at which Russians collect their state pension.

Nearly half of those detained were rounded up in St. Petersburg, according to the OVD-Info. Russia's second-largest city arguably saw the most robust response with riot police charging at protesters with batons. Minors and elderly people were among those arrested.

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the police acted in accordance with the law in response to unauthorized protests. He added that "hooligans and provocateurs" mixed up with protesters and assailed police.

In Moscow, authorities charged two men with assailing police. On Monday, several activists tried to launch another protest in a tree-lined boulevard in central Moscow but they were quickly rounded up by police.

Sunday's rallies, which had been called by opposition leader Alexei Navalny, were held in dozens of towns and cities across Russia. Navalny, the anti-corruption activist who is Putin's most visible foe, had called for protests against the government's pension proposal before he was sentenced to 30 days in jail for organizing an unsanctioned January protest over a different issue.

The government's plan calls for the eligibility age for retirement pensions to be raised by five years, to 65 for men and 60 for women. It has irked both older Russians, who fear they won't live long enough to collect significant benefits, and younger generations worried that keeping people in the workforce longer will limit their own employment opportunities.

The government's proposal has dented Putin's popularity. The president responded by offering some concessions, but argued that the age hike is necessary because rising life expectancy in Russia could exhaust pension resources if the eligibility age remains the same.