Saudi Arabia says it will reopen Yemen airports, seaports

November 13, 2017

CAIRO (AP) — Saudi Arabia said Monday that the Saudi-led coalition fighting Shiite rebels in Yemen will begin reopening airports and seaports in the Arab world's poorest country, days after closing them over a rebel ballistic missile attack on Riyadh.

The announcement from the Saudi mission at the United Nations came after the coalition fighting Yemen's rebels, known as Houthis, and their allies faced widespread international criticism over the closure, with the U.N. and over 20 aid groups saying it could bring millions of people closer to "starvation and death."

"The first step in this process will be taken within 24 hours and involves reopening all the ports in areas controlled by" Yemen's internationally recognized government, which the coalition backs, the mission's statement said.

Those ports are in Aden, Mocha and Mukalla. For ports in rebel-held or disputed territories, like Hodeida, the mission said it had asked the U.N. to send a team of experts to discuss ways to make sure weapons can't be smuggled in.

The Saudi-led coalition hopes that will prevent "the smuggling of weapons, ammunitions, missile parts and cash that are regularly being supplied by Iran and Iranian accomplices to the Houthi rebels," the statement said.

Saudi Arabia announced it shut down all ports after a Nov. 4 ballistic missile attack on Riyadh near its international airport by the Houthis. Saudi Arabia and the United States have accused Iran of supplying the ballistic missile used in that attack, saying the missiles bore "Iranian markings." The Houthis have denied that.

For its part, Iran long has denied offering any arms to Yemen, though it has backed the Houthis and highlighted the high civilian casualties from the Saudi-led coalition's campaign of airstrikes.

Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

Huge rally in Barcelona demands jailed separatists' release

November 11, 2017

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people backing Catalonia's bid to secede from Spain packed the streets in downtown Barcelona Saturday to demand the release of jailed separatist leaders.

The rally's grassroots organizers called for 10 prominent members of the secessionist movement in the northeastern Spanish region to be freed from prison. Eight former members of Catalonia's dissolved Cabinet and two activists are in jail while Spanish authorities investigate their alleged roles in promoting an illegal declaration of independence last month in violation of Spain's Constitution.

A separate court in Madrid granted bail on Thursday to another six Catalan lawmakers also being investigated over the secession push. "We want to tell the world that we want freedom for our prisoners and freedom for Catalonia," Agusti Alcoberro, the vice president of grassroots group National Catalan Assembly, told the crowd in Barcelona, the region's capital.

Barcelona's police said 750,000 people attended the rally. Many of the protesters carried pro-independence "estelada" flags, with its white star and blue triangle superimposed over the traditional red-and-yellow Catalan colors. Many also held signs saying in Catalan "Freedom Political Prisoners" and wore yellow ribbons as a symbol of their demands.

"They (Spanish authorities) are violating many rights of freedom against our people and we come here to say that we are against that and to demand the release of our prisoners who are in prison unjustly," said 30-year-old engineer Joan Carles Roses.

Family members of the jailed separatists read messages from their loved ones to the crowd at the conclusion of the march. Also on Saturday, the pro-independence Republic Left party announced that its jailed leader Oriol Junqueras will be its top candidate for the upcoming regional elections on Dec. 21. The Catalan party is including other jailed leaders in its list for the regional parliament. Polls show that Republic Left is favored to win the upcoming ballot, although it won't secure an outright majority.

The Catalan conflict is the worst constitutional crisis to threaten Spain in nearly four decades. A day after Catalonia's Parliament voted in favor of a declaration of independence on Oct. 27, Spain's government activated extraordinary powers given to it by the Senate to fire the region's government, dissolve its parliament and call local elections.

While those separatist leaders now in jail obeyed a summons to appear in court in Madrid, deposed Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and four of his former ministers fled to Belgium, where they now await an extradition hearing to return them to Spain.

Addressing the rally in Barcelona via a video message shown on a large screen, Puigdemont said: "We need you all to be very active. We want to hear your voice, both those of us in Brussels and those in prison."

Puigdemont and his fellow separatists claim that a referendum on secession held on Oct. 1 gave them a mandate for independence, even though it had been prohibited by the nation's highest court, failed to meet international standards and was boycotted by anti-independence parties. Less than half of the electorate turned out to vote, and the referendum was also disrupted by brutal police raids.

No foreign power has recognized Catalonia's claim to independence. The European Union has warned that an independent Catalonia would be cast out of the 28-nation bloc. The most recent regional elections and opinion polls show that Catalonia's 7.5 million residents are roughly split over remaining a part of Spain or going their own way. Most pro-independence supporters feel that the Catalan language and culture would have a better chance of flourishing in a separate state and that their economic prospects would be improved.

The business sector has so far not been convinced, with over 2,000 companies transferring their headquarters out of the northeastern region in recent weeks for fears of being pushed out of the common EU market.

The Spanish Constitution says the nation is "indivisible" and that questions of national sovereignty should be addressed by the national Parliament in Madrid.

AP television producer Hernan Munoz contributed to this report.

Ousted Caracas mayor reaches Spain after fleeing Venezuela

November 18, 2017

MADRID (AP) — The ousted mayor of Caracas pledged to spread his protest against Venezuela's socialist government across the world as he arrived in Spain on Saturday, a day after escaping from house arrest and slipping past security forces into Colombia.

After embracing his wife and two daughters with a Venezuela flag draped over his shoulder, Antonio Ledezma said he was going to continue to fight Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from exile. "I am going to dedicate myself to traveling the world, to spread the hope of all Venezuelans to escape this regime, this dictatorship," Ledezma said. "Venezuela isn't on the verge of an abyss, it has fallen into the abyss."

Maduro, for his part, called Ledezma a "vampire flying around the world." Ledezma, 62, was removed as mayor of Caracas and detained in 2015 on charges of plotting to oust Maduro. He was one of the leaders of anti-government in protests that rocked Venezuela in 2014 that also led to the jailing of other prominent opponents, including his former cellmate Leopoldo Lopez, who remains under house arrest.

Ledezma's flight from Bogota landed early Saturday in Madrid where besides his family, he was greeted by the former president of Colombia, Andres Pastrana, and the former Venezuelan ambassador, Fernando Gerbasi.

Ledezma said he "felt freedom" upon touching Spanish soil and hopes to meet with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy before starting his global tour. He did not say what countries he plans to visit. "Venezuela is completely collapsing. We can't wait any longer," he said. "We don't have any resources left, only our morale."

Ledezma told The Associated Press on Friday that his decision to flee was driven by threats intended to force the opposition to resume negotiations with Maduro's government. After slipping past intelligence police officers stationed 24 hours a day outside his residence, he passed through several police checkpoints in a long journey by car to Colombia. Colombian immigration authorities said Ledezma entered the country legally across the Simon Bolivar Bridge.

Ledezma, who thanked both Spanish and Colombian authorities for what he described as their warm welcomes, was elated after his escape. "I've lived out a James Bond movie," Ledemza said. "I made this route of more than 24 hours, passing 29 control points, checkpoints, crossing paths, accepting all the risks, and in every moment I always thought about the value of freedom."

Slovenia's president wins second term in runoff election

November 12, 2017

BLED, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenia's President Borut Pahor was re-elected to a second term Sunday after winning a runoff election against a former comedian who currently serves as the mayor of a northern town.

Pahor, 54, a veteran politician known as the "King of Instagram" for his frequent use of social media, won 53 percent of the vote to challenger Marjan Sarec's 47 percent, results from Slovenian election authorities showed after a completed preliminary count.

Pahor thanked voters and vowed to further boost their faith in democracy. He congratulated his opponent for his performance. "I will be a president of all," Pahor said. "I'll bring people together and build on what brings us closer."

Pahor is only the second Slovenian president to win a second term in office since the country gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. The country of 2 million people in Central Europe is the birthplace of U.S. first lady Melania Trump and known for its Alpine mountains and lakes.

A former model like the U.S. first lady, the telegenic, blue-eyed politician has held a number of public posts and was Slovenia's prime minister before he first was elected president in 2012. Sarec was a well-known satirical comedian before entering politics in 2010 to run for mayor in Kamnik. He conceded defeat and congratulated Pahor on Sunday night, but said his success as a relative political newcomer showed Slovenian citizens wanted change.

"I'm proud to have had a possibility to run against the premiere league," Sarec said at his headquarters in Kamnik. "My result is good. It speaks for itself." Analysts had warned that Sarec's ability to make it into the runoff showed Slovenians' discontent with established politicians. Critics accused Pahor of avoiding taking stands on important issues.

Election authorities said less than 42 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in Sunday's election. Slovenia's official STA news agency says that's the lowest turnout for a presidential race since Slovenia split from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

Key topics facing Slovenia include the economy, a border dispute with Croatia and the future of the European Union, which Slovenia joined in 2004. Slovenia's presidency carries no executive powers, but the office-holder proposes a prime minister and his or her opinion on important issues holds weight. Pahor and Sarec, while both centrists, clashed on issues such as the privatization of Slovenia's biggest bank and the composition of the country's anti-corruption body.

After voting Sunday, Pahor complained that he has been falsely viewed as a populist — which he says he is not — while Sarec was trying to assume the role of a "statesman." Pahor suggested that the "change of roles" cost him public support.

In his victory speech, Pahor, who has sought to portray himself as a unifier president, also said that he will strive to help solve problems and bridge any divisions that might exist in the Slovenian society.

Ali Zerdin contributed from Ljubljana, Slovenia and Dusan Stojanovic contributed from Belgrade, Serbia.

Polish far-right march goes global, drawing people from afar

November 10, 2017

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Fascists and other far-right extremists are set to assemble Saturday in Warsaw for a march that has become one of the largest gatherings in Europe and perhaps beyond for increasingly emboldened white supremacists.

The march held on Poland's Nov. 11 Independence Day holiday has drawn tens of thousands of participants in recent years. Extremists from Sweden, Hungary, Slovakia and elsewhere now join Polish nationalists in a public display of xenophobic and white supremacist views since the event began on a much smaller scale in 2009.

The slogan for this year's event is "We Want God," words from an old religious Polish song that President Donald Trump quoted in July while visiting Warsaw. Trump praised Poland for what he described as the country's defense of Western civilization.

Rafal Pankowski, head of the anti-extremist association Never Again, says that despite the reference to God, the march shouldn't be viewed as inspired by religious beliefs. Far-right "neo-pagans" plan to take part along with Roman Catholic groups.

"We know that Donald Trump is not the most religious man, and I think that most of the organizers are not very religious, either," Pankowski, a sociologist, said. "But they use Christianity as a kind of identity marker, which is mostly about being anti-Islam now."

The Warsaw march has grown so large it might be the world's biggest assembly of far-right extremists, he said. The organizers include the National-Radical Camp, the National Movement and the All Polish Youth, radical groups that trace their roots to anti-Semitic groups active before World War II.

In a sign of the rally's international reach, American white supremacist Richard Spencer was scheduled to speak at a conference in Warsaw on Friday — until the Polish government said Spencer wasn't welcome in the country. The far-right conference still is being held.

The emergence of Central Europe as a crucible for neo-fascism carries a number of paradoxes. The region, once stuck behind the Iron Curtain, has seen impressive economic growth since Poland, Hungary and other countries threw off communism, embraced capitalism and joined the European Union and NATO.

Few of the Muslim refugees and migrants who have arrived in Europe since 2015 have sought to settle in that part of the continent, preferring Germany and other richer countries in the West. Nonetheless, anti-migrant views run high.

Political scientist Miroslav Mares, an expert on extremism at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic, said Central Europeans hear about attacks by Islamic extremists in France, Germany and England and fear that "beyond the borders is a state of chaos and war" that could envelop them.

While extremist movements often thrive during hard times, the quality of life is better than ever now in a region that has known wars, occupation and oppression. "Central Europe is living the happiest time in its history," said Grigorij Meseznikov, president of the Institute for Public Affairs, a think tank in Slovakia. "Never was life in this region as prosperous as it is today."

But like others in the era of globalization, many people feel frustrated that the improving economy hasn't benefited them. There are complaints that wages remain much lower than in the West while inequality has grown since the end of communism.

"If you look at Slovakia, the situation 25 years ago was much worse. There was high inflation and unemployment higher than 20 percent, yet we didn't have a fascist party in the parliament," Meseznikov said. "Today, we really have a functioning economy, low inflation, declining unemployment; we are in the EU and NATO. ... And nevertheless there are fascists in the parliament."

Mares thinks a lot of the disappointment stems from a tendency by Czechs and their neighbors to compare their financial situations to those of Germans and others in the West, rather than looking east to much poorer Belarus and Ukraine and feeling encouraged by how far they have come.

The frustrations, combined with a souring mood toward established elites, have helped far-right parties in recent elections in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. In Poland and Hungary, right-wing governments promote tough anti-migrant policies and historical whitewashing to glorify their nations.

Meseznikov also sees Russia's encouragement of anti-European Union and anti-American views that spread on social networks as part of a "toxic mixture" behind the growth of the far-right. It could be years before the tide ebbs and reverses, according to Pankowski, the Polish expert.

Sociological data show that the generation of Poles that only has known democracy is more prone to xenophobic and far-right nationalism than their parents' generation, with younger Poles paradoxically "turning their backs on democratic values," he said.

"I think many of them will keep those far-right views inside them for decades to come," Pankowski said. "It's not an issue that will disappear."

Sicilian town had long, bloody past before "Godfather" fame

November 17, 2017

CORLEONE, Sicily (AP) — Corleone is a Sicilian medieval hill town whose bloody past began generations before "The Godfather" novels and films borrowed its name for a fictional Mafia don. It is the birthplace of several convicted real-life Mafia bosses, among them Salvatore "Toto" Riina, the reputed "boss of bosses," who died Friday at 87 in a prison ward of a northern Italian hospital.

Corleone has witnessed recent signs of rebellion against an entrenched Mafia culture where religious pageants pay tribute to reigning mob bosses, with processions stopping outside the dons' homes. A town square is named after two top anti-Mafia magistrates slain by Cosa Nostra bombings in 1992. Inaugurated in 2000, an anti-Mafia museum, together with the International Center for Anti-Mafia documentation, also educates visitors about the fallen heroes in the war against the Sicilian crime syndicate.

When native son Riina was arrested in 1993 in Palermo, schoolchildren ran into Corleone's streets in joy, rallying behind a banner that read "Finally" — their jubilation a reflection of a new and burgeoning resistance to the Mafia by a younger generation of Sicilians.

But the Mafia's grip on the town isn't easily removed. Corleone's City Hall is currently run by authorities sent from Rome's Interior Ministry after the municipal government was dissolved by government decree due to Mafia infiltration. Local public contracts have long been a traditional source of income for Cosa Nostra.

Whether the end of the Riina era will spell change for Corleone was unclear for its citizenry. Whoever his successor as the top Mafia boss may be, "I know for sure there is still a (Mafia) mentality here that we need to dismantle," said Mario Alfieri a Corleone pharmacist.

An employee of the anti-Mafia museum, Lorena Pecorella, noted that Riina died in prison, "where it was right for him to die." She said the town's negative heritage as a synonym for the Mafia will be difficult to eradicate.

"We know the negative heritage he is leaving us young people," she said. Old-timers in the town can recall when in the 1950s and 1960s, parents warned children to come home straight from school because Mafia rivalry was exploding into a killing nearly every day. Riina's predecessor as a top boss, Luciano Liggio, emerged from a string of bloody murders, including one series triggered by the killing of a Mafia don who was a prominent town physician.

Sinn Fein's divisive leader to step down after over 30 years

November 19, 2017

LONDON (AP) — Gerry Adams, the divisive politician known around the world as the face of the Irish republican movement as it shifted from violence to peace, announced Saturday that he was stepping down as leader of Sinn Fein next year after heading the party for over 30 years.

The 69-year-old veteran politician — who has been president of Northern Ireland's second-largest party since 1983 — told the party's annual conference in Dublin he would not run in the next Irish parliamentary elections.

"Leadership means knowing when it is time for change and that time is now," he said, adding the move was part of an ongoing process of leadership transition within the party. A divisive figure, some have denounced Adams as a terrorist while others hail him as a peacemaker.

He was a key figure in Ireland's republican movement, which seeks to take Northern Ireland out of the U.K. and unite it with the Republic of Ireland. The dominant faction of the movement's armed wing, the Provisional IRA, killed nearly 1,800 people during a failed 1970-1997 campaign to force Northern Ireland out of the U.K. It renounced violence and surrendered its weapons in 2005.

Although many identify Adams as a member of the IRA since 1966 and a commander for decades, Adams has long insisted he was never a member. Adams was key in the peace process that saw the signing of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and the formation of the power-sharing government in Northern Ireland.

Many believe Sinn Fein's popularity among voters is hampered by the presence of leaders from Ireland's era of Troubles. The party is expected to elect a successor next year. Current deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald was seen as a favorite to succeed Adams.