Turkish court convicts US pastor of terror yet frees him

October 12, 2018

ALIAGA, Turkey (AP) — A Turkish court on Friday convicted an American pastor on terror charges but released him from house arrest and allowed him to leave the country, a move that's likely to ease tensions between Turkey and the United States.

The court near the western city of Izmir sentenced Andrew Brunson to 3 years, 1 month and 15 days in prison for allegedly helping terror groups. But since the evangelical pastor had already spent nearly two years in detention, Turkish law allowed him to remain free with time served.

The earlier charge of espionage against him was dropped. Brunson, a native of North Carolina whose detention had sparked a diplomatic dispute between the two NATO allies, had rejected the espionage and terror-related charges and strongly maintained his innocence.

The 50-year-old native of North Carolina had faced up to 35 years in jail if convicted of all the charges. With tears in his eyes, he hugged his wife Norine Lyn as he awaited the decision Friday. Lawyer Ismail Cem Halavurt said Brunson was expected to leave Turkey for the U.S., but it was not clear when. His lawyer said the electronic ankle bracelet for monitoring was removed. Brunson was seen going back to his home in Izmir from the court.

President Donald J. Trump tweeted he was praying for Brunson and announced his release, saying "WILL BE HOME SOON!" Washington had repeatedly called for Brunson's release and in August had slapped sanctions on Turkey.

But a top Turkish official criticized Trump's tweet and American pressures for the pastor's release. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's communications director Fahrettin Altun repeated the president's message that Turkey would not bow to threats of sanctions and said the court's ruling proved the judiciary's independence.

Brunson, who has lived in Turkey for more than two decades, was one of thousands caught up in a widespread government crackdown that followed a failed coup against the Turkish government in July 2016.

He was accused of committing crimes on behalf of terror groups and of alleged links to outlawed Kurdish militants and a network led by a U.S.-based Turkish cleric who is accused of orchestrating the coup attempt.

"I am an innocent man. I love Jesus. I love Turkey," Brunson told the court Friday, speaking in Turkish. Earlier, the court called two witnesses following tips from witness Levent Kalkan, who at a previous hearing had accused Brunson of aiding terror groups. The new witnesses did not confirm Kalkan's accusations. Another witness for the prosecution said she did not know Brunson.

The pastor, who is originally from Black Mountain, North Carolina, led a small congregation in the Izmir Resurrection Church. He was imprisoned for nearly two years - detained in October 2016 and formally arrested in December that year - before being placed under house arrest on July 25 for health reasons.

Tony Perkins, the commissioner for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said he welcomed the court's decision Friday along with "the millions of Americans who have been praying for Pastor Brunson's release."

Washington imposed sanctions on two Turkish officials and doubled tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum imports in August. Those moves, coupled with concerns over the government's economic management, helped trigger a Turkish currency crisis.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had resisted U.S. demands for Brunson's release, insisting that Turkish courts are independent. But he had previously suggested a possible swap of Brunson for the Pennsylvania resident Fethullah Gulen - the cleric that Erdogan has accused of being behind the coup attempt.

Gulen has denied the claim. Turkey has demanded his extradition but so far U.S. officials say Turkey has not provided sufficient reason for U.S. officials to extradite the cleric, a former ally of Erdogan who had a falling out with the powerful leader.

Brunson's trial came as another major diplomatic case is developing in Turkey involving Saudi writer and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last week. Turkish officials claim the writer may have been killed inside the Saudi diplomatic mission and Turkish newspapers have released pictures of alleged Saudi agents flown in to allegedly handle the killing. Saudi officials reject the claim as "baseless."

Associated Press journalists Mehmet Guzel contributed from Aliaga and Suzan Fraser from Ankara, Turkey.

Turkey releases U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson after 2 years in captivity

OCT. 12, 2018
By Nicholas Sakelaris

Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Longtime Turkish captive Andrew Brunson was released from house arrest Friday, allowing the pastor to return to the United States after two years in captivity.

Brunson has been in Turkish custody since October 2016 when he was arrested on charges that he spied on the government and aided in a military coup attempt. Diplomatic relations between Washington, D.C., and Ankara have strained during the drawn-out ordeal.

Sources in the White House familiar with the negotiations say the Trump administration struck a deal with Turkey that included easing sanctions on the country.

At a court hearing Friday, Brunson was first sentenced to more than three years in prison but the judge then lifted all judicial controls -- including a travel ban -- based on Brunson's good behavior and time already served.

President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Turkey after Ankara refused to release Brunson in August.

On Friday, he celebrated the pastor's release on Twitter.

This followed an earlier tweet where Trump said, "Working very hard on Pastor Brunson."

Sources confirmed Trump was working on a deal with Ankara, though no details have been released.

"This administration has been actively engaged in seeking Pastor Brunson's release for months, along with NASA scientist Serkan Golge and the employees of the U.S. mission in Turkey," a senior administration official said. "A positive development in the cases of Pastor Brunson, Serkan Golge, and local employees of the U.S. mission in Turkey would do much to improve confidence and to restore the bilateral relationship."

Turkey is holding 20 Turkish-Americans and three Turks who work for the American consular mission to use as leverage for disputes with the United States. Turkey wants Islamist preacher Fethullah Gulen to be extradited from the United States. Gulen is accused of running the terrorist group behind the 2016 coup attempt.

Brunson has been under house arrest since July because of health problems. A security detail took him from the home to the courthouse in Aliaga for the trial on Friday.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2018/10/12/Turkey-releases-US-pastor-Andrew-Brunson-after-2-years-in-captivity/4421539347136/.

Afghan vote enters 2nd day after attacks, technical issues

October 21, 2018

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's parliamentary elections entered a second day on Sunday following violence and chaos that caused delays and interruptions on the first day of polling. Independent Elections Commission Chairman Abdul Badi Sayat said more than 3 million people out of 8.8 million registered voters cast their ballots on Saturday. The biggest turnout was in Kabul and the lowest in the southern Uruzgan province.

Polling on Sunday continues in 401 voting centers, including 45 in Kabul. Polls close at 4 p.m. (1130 GMT). The results of the polling will not be released before mid-November and final results will not be out until December.

The first parliamentary elections since 2010 are being held against a backdrop of near-daily attacks by the Taliban, who have seized nearly half the country and have repeatedly refused offers to negotiate with the Kabul government. The U.S.-backed government is rife with corruption, and many Afghans have said they do not expect the elections to be fair.

Officials at polling stations struggled with voter registration and a new biometric system that was aimed at stemming fraud but instead created enormous confusion because many of those trained on the system did not show up for work. The biometric machines arrived just a month before polls and there was no time to do field testing.

The U.N. mission in Afghanistan praised those who had made an effort to vote despite the technical issues, many of whom waited in long lines for hours as polling stations remained open late. "Those eligible voters who were not able to cast their vote, due to technical issues, deserve the right to vote," it said in a statement.

The Taliban had vowed to attack the election, and on the first day of polling at least 36 people were killed in nearly 200 attacks, including 27 civilians, according to Interior Minister Akhtar Mohammed Ibrahimi. He said security forces killed 31 insurgents in gun battles.

Violence, confusion surround Afghan parliamentary elections

October 20, 2018

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's first parliamentary elections in eight years suffered from violence and chaos Saturday, with a multitude of attacks killing at least 3 people, key election workers failing to show up and many polling stations staying open hours later than scheduled to handle long lines of voters.

Problems surrounding the elections — already three years overdue — threaten to compromise the credibility of polls which an independent monitoring group said were also marred by incidences of ballot stuffing and intimidation by armed men affiliated with candidates in 19 of the country's 32 provinces. Some areas have yet to vote, including Kandahar, where the provincial police chief was gunned down Thursday.

Stakes were high in these elections for Afghans who hoped to reform Parliament, challenging the dominance of warlords and the politically corrupt and replacing them with a younger, more educated generation of politicians. They were also high for the U.S., which is still seeking an exit strategy after 17 years of a war there that has cost more than $900 billion and claimed more than 2,400 U.S. service personnel.

The most serious attack on the polls was in a northern Kabul neighborhood where a suicide bomber blew himself up just as voting was about to end, killing three people and wounding another 20, many of them seriously, said Dr. Esa Hashemi, a physician at the nearby Afghan Hospital.

The police and Interior Ministry officials reported a total of 15 casualties, without providing details on the number of those killed and wounded. However, Najib Danish, a ministry spokesman, said police officers were among the dead.

Polling stations also struggled with voter registration and a new biometric system that was aimed at stemming fraud, but instead created enormous confusion because many of those trained on the system did not show up for work. Also, the biometric machines were received just a month before polls and there was no time to do field testing.

Many polling stations opened as much as five hours behind schedule. The Independent Election Commission was uncertain how many of the estimated 21,000 polling stations closed by 4 p.m. local time, the original closing time. Polling was extended until 8 p.m. local time for all those polling stations that opened late, and those that could not open before 1 p.m. local time will open Sunday.

Afghanistan's deputy chief executive Mohammad Mohaqiq expressed outrage at the chaotic start to polling and assailed election preparation by the country's election commission. "The people rushed like a flood to the polling stations, but the election commission employees were not present, and in some cases they were there but there were no electoral materials and in most cases the biometric systems was not working," he said.

"The widespread reports today of confusion and incompetence in the administration of the elections ... suggest that bureaucratic failures and lack of political will to prioritize organizing credible parliamentary elections may do more to delegitimize the election results than threats and violent attacks by the Taliban and Daesh," said Andrew Wilder, vice-president of Asia Programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace, using the Arabic acronym name for the Islamic State group.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani marked his ballot at the start of voting. In a televised speech afterward, he congratulated Afghans on another election and praised the security forces, particularly the air force, for getting ballots to Afghanistan's remotest corners.

"I thank you from the bottom of my heart," he said, also reminding those elected that they are there to serve the people and ensure the rule of law. North of Kabul, thousands of outraged voters blocked a road after waiting more than five hours for a polling station to open, said Mohammad Azim, the governor of Qarabagh district where the demonstration took place.

Election Commission Commissioner Abdul Badi Sayat said dozens of teachers who had been trained in the new biometric system had not shown up for work at the polling stations. It wasn't clear whether that was related to a Taliban warning directed specifically at teachers and students telling them to stay away from the polls.

"The long lines at many polling stations today, despite the threats and violent attacks by the Taliban and Daesh, clearly demonstrate that the problem with Afghan elections is not the enthusiasm of Afghan voters for a democratic future," said Wilder.

The Defense Ministry said it had increased its deployment of National Security Forces to 70,000 from the original 50,000 to protect polling stations. Elections in the provinces of Kandahar and Ghazni have been delayed as well as in 11 of the country's nearly 400 districts.

The Independent Election Commission registered 8.8 million people. Wasima Badghisy, a commission member, called voters "very, very brave" and said a turnout of 5 million would be a success. At a polling station in crowded west Kabul, Khoda Baksh said he arrived nearly two hours early to cast his vote, dismissing Taliban threats of violence.

"We don't care about their threats. The Taliban are threatening us all the time," said 55-year-old Baksh, who said he wanted to see a new generation of politicians take power in Afghanistan's 249-seat Parliament. He bemoaned the current Parliament dominated by warlords and corrupt elite. "They have done zero for us."

In the run-up to the elections, two candidates were killed while polling in Kandahar was delayed for a week after a rogue guard gunned down the powerful provincial police chief, Gen. Abdul Raziq. In the capital of Kabul, security was tight, with police and military personnel stopping vehicles at dozens of checkpoints throughout the congested city.

Commission deputy spokesman Aziz Ibrahimi said results of Saturday's voting will not be released before mid-November and final results will not be out until later in December.

Raqa remains in ruins one year since recapture from IS

Wednesday 17/10/2018

RAQA - All day, dinghies cross the Euphrates River to shuttle residents into the pulverized cityscape of Syria's Raqa, where bridges, homes, and schools remain gutted by the offensive against the Islamic State group.

Exactly a year has passed since a blistering US-backed assault ousted the jihadists from their one-time Syrian stronghold, but Raqa -- along with the roads and bridges leading to it -- remains in ruins.

To enter the city, 33-year-old Abu Yazan and his family have to pile into a small boat on the southern banks of the Euphrates, which flows along the bottom edges of Raqa.

They load their motorcycle onto the small vessel, which bobs precariously north for a few minutes before dropping off passengers and their vehicles at the city's outskirts.

"It's hard -- the kids are always afraid of the constant possibility of drowning," says bearded Abu Yazan.

"We want the bridge to be repaired because it's safer than water transport."

The remains of Raqa's well-known "Old Bridge" stand nearby: a pair of massive pillars, the top of the structure shorn off.

It was smashed in an air strike by the US-led coalition, which bombed every one of Raqa's bridges to cut off the jihadists' escape routes.

The fighting ended on October 17 last year, when the city finally fell to the Syrian Democratic Forces, which then handed it over to the Raqa Civil Council (RCC) to govern.

But 60 bridges are still destroyed in and around the city, says RCC member Ahmad al-Khodr.

"The coalition has offered us eight metal bridges," he says, to link vital areas in Raqa's countryside.

Houses, belongings long gone

Rights group Amnesty International estimates around 80 percent of Raqa was devastated by fighting, including vital infrastructure like schools and hospitals.

The national hospital, the city's largest medical facility, was where IS made its final stand. It still lies ravaged.

Private homes were not spared either: 30,000 houses were fully destroyed and another 25,000 heavily damaged, says Amnesty.

Ismail al-Muidi lost his son, an SDF fighter, and his home.

"I buried him myself with these two hands," says Muidi, 48.

"I was not as affected when I lost the house, but I had hoped it would shelter me and my family," he adds.

Now homeless, he lives with his sister in the central Al-Nahda neighborhood.

"The coalition destroyed the whole building, and all our belongings went with them," he says.

Anxiety over eking out a living has put streaks of grey into Muidi's hair and beard.

"How could I rebuild this house? We need help to remove the rubble, but no one has helped us at all," he says.

Since IS was ousted, more than 150,000 people have returned to Raqa, according to United Nations estimates last month.

But the city remains haunted by one of IS's most infamous legacies: a sea of mines and unexploded ordnance that still maims and kills residents to this day.

The RCC says it does not have enough money to clear out the rubble still clogging up Raqa's streets, much less rehabilitate its water and electricity networks.

Khodr unfurls a map of the city in front of him at his office in the RCC, pointing out the most ravaged neighborhoods.

"The districts in the center of the city were more damaged -- 90 percent destroyed -- compared to a range of 40 to 60 percent destroyed in the surrounding areas," he said.

"The destruction is massive and the support isn't cutting it."

'No hope at all'

A plastic bucket in hand, Abd al-Ibrahim sits despondently on a curbside in the Al-Ferdaws neighborhood.

Fighting destroyed his home, so he now squats in another house but there has been no water there for three days.

"I come sit here, hoping somebody will drive by to give me water. But no one comes," the 70-year-old says, tearing up.

He points to a mound of rubble nearby.

"My house is like this now. We were in paradise. Look at what happened to us -- we're literally begging for water."

The coalition has helped de-mine, remove rubble, and rehabilitate schools in Raqa, but efforts have been modest and piecemeal compared to the scale of the destruction.

"You can't call this reconstruction -- it's all empty talk," says Samer Farwati, who peddles cigarettes across from his destroyed house in the Masaken al-Tobb district.

He pays $120 to rent a home since his was hit in an air strike.

Farwati says he no longer trusts officials after too many empty promises.

"If they helped us even a little bit, we could complete the construction. But there's no hope at all," he says.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: https://middle-east-online.com/en/raqa-remains-ruins-one-year-recapture.

At least 18 people die in flash flood in Jordan

Friday 26/10/2018

DEAD SEA - At least 18 people, mainly schoolchildren and teachers, were killed on Thursday in a flash flood near Jordan's Dead Sea that happened while they were on an outing, rescuers and hospital workers said.

Thirty-four people were rescued in a major operation involving police helicopters and hundreds of army troops, police chief Brigadier General Farid al Sharaa told state television. Some of those rescued were in a serious condition.

Many of those killed were children under 14. A number of families picnicking in the popular destination were also among the dead and injured, rescuers said, without giving a breakdown of numbers.

Hundreds of families and relatives converged on Shounah hospital a few kilometers from the resort area. Relatives sobbed and searched for details about the missing children, a witness said.

King Abdullah cancelled a trip to Bahrain to follow the rescue operations, state media said.

Israel sent search-and-rescue helicopters to assist, an Israeli military statement said, adding the team dispatched at Amman's request was operating on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea.

Civil defence spokesman Captain Iyad al Omar told Reuters the number of casualties was expected to rise. Rescue workers using flashlights were searching the cliffs near the shore of the Dead Sea where bodies had been found.

A witness said a bus with 37 schoolchildren and seven teachers had been on a trip to the resort area when the raging flood waters swept them into a valley.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: https://middle-east-online.com/en/least-18-people-die-flash-flood-jordan%C2%A0.

What pushed Jordan to reclaim land from Israel?

Thursday 25/10/2018

AMMAN - A decision by Jordan's King Abdullah II to reclaim territory leased to Israel for a quarter of a century was spurred by domestic pressures and the Arab nation's struggling economy, experts said.

The move announced at the weekend risks sparking a crisis between the neighboring countries which signed an historic peace treaty in 1994, they warned.

King Abdullah said his country had notified Israel that it wants to take back two border areas: Baqura in the northern province of Irbid and Ghumar in the southern province of Aqaba.

In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would like to open negotiations with Jordan to keep the current arrangement in place.

The Hashemite kingdom said it was willing to engage in talks but insisted on its right to reclaim the land.

Israel occupied Jordanian territories including Ghumar in the Six-Day War of 1967 and seized Baqura when its forces infiltrated the kingdom in 1950.

During peace talks, Jordan agreed to lease the lands to Israel for a 25-year renewable period under annexes of the treaty that lay down a one-year notice period, with the kingdom retaining sovereignty.

King Abdullah's announcement on Sunday came days before the end of this notice period.

"The king had two choices: either risking a crisis with Israel, or risking protests and a worsening of the internal situation," said Oraib Rantawi, director of the Al-Quds Center for Political Studies in Amman.

"Jordanians on the street are angry, especially over the economy, and they don't need new crises or disappointments," he said.

'Nationalist card'

Jordan, largely dependent on foreign aid and devoid of natural resources, has been plagued by economic woes, with a jobless rate of 18.5 percent and around 20 percent of the population teetering on the brink of poverty as consumer prices rise.

The king's announcement came after a series of demonstrations calling for the return of Baqura and Ghumar organised by lawmakers, political parties, trade unions and activists.

The move was greeted with joy by many Jordanians.

"The Jordanian people are happy with this courageous decision," said teacher Mohammed Hassan.

Suad Yussef, a housewife, said it was an "historic moment".

For Kirk H. Sowell, a Jordan-based analyst for Utica Risk Services, the decision was "the least that King Abdullah can do to play the nationalist card".

"It is definitely directed at the domestic audience" in a country with "loads of internal socio-economic problems" but "few options in pushing back at Israel," Sowell said.

Rantawi said that "going back on this decision is impossible" as it would be likely to destabilize the kingdom.

In June, a parliamentary delegation from the opposition Islamist bloc Al-Islah visited Baqura, where Jordanians need permission to enter.

The delegation was headed by Saleh al-Armuti, who said "the decision is that of the king, the people's government and the parliament and we strongly support and defend it".

"We will go further by demanding the cancellation of all agreements signed with the Zionist enemy," he said.

'Suicidal choice'

Opinion polls have repeatedly found that the peace treaty with Israel is overwhelmingly opposed by Jordanians, more than half of whom are of Palestinian origin.

The Baqura zone amounts to six square kilometers (2.3 square miles) and Ghumar covers four square kilometers -- land where Israeli farmers cultivate cereals, fruit and vegetables.

Rantawi does not rule out the possibility that Israel will "impede the implementation of the Jordanian decision".

"Jordan could face a political, economic and legal battle with Israel," he said.

"Netanyahu wants negotiations to extend the agreement, which would be a suicidal choice for Jordan."

Relations between the two countries have been tense since the killing of two Jordanians by an Israeli embassy security guard in Amman in July last year.

But Sowell said he believes Israel does not have the legal means to challenge the Jordanian decision.

"Israel has means of pushing back on Jordan, by cutting off the water, or not lobbying for Jordan in (the US) Congress as they normally do, but whether they should is a different question," he said.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: https://middle-east-online.com/en/what-pushed-jordan-reclaim-land-israel.

Khashoggi's son leaves Saudi Arabia, US praises decision

October 26, 2018

ISTANBUL (AP) — The son of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi has left Saudi Arabia after the kingdom revoked a travel ban and allowed him to come to the United States. State Department spokesman Robert Palladino says Washington welcomes the decision.

It's the latest turn in the saga of the killed Saudi writer and dissident after the kingdom on Thursday cited evidence showing that his killing was premeditated — changing its story again to try to ease international outrage over the macabre circumstances of Khashoggi's Oct. 2 death at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had discussed the case of Khashoggi's son, Salah Khashoggi, during his recent visit to the kingdom, making it "clear to Saudi leaders" that Washington wanted the son to return to the United States.

'World's largest book sale' comes to Middle East

Thursday 18/10/2018

DUBAI - A gargantuan touring book sale that touts itself as the world's largest is making its first stop in the Middle East, filling a huge hangar in Dubai with stacks of 3 million discounted books, open around the clock.

The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale, launched in Kuala Lumpur in 2009, has since regularly toured Asian cities including Jakarta, Manila, Cebu, Colombo, Bangkok and Taipei. Organizers hope to attract as many as 300,000 visitors during 11 days in Dubai.

Founder Andrew Yap said he expects the sheer number of books will lure in punters.

"In a mature market like Dubai, this will give variety to readers," he said.

Roudha Al Marri, an Emirati co-author of a guide to life in the UAE whose own book was on sale at the fair, said a city such as Dubai needed such an event to help spur reading among a "tablet generation" preoccupied with screens.

"To hold a book, smell it, to return us to more beautiful days, to throw us into mazes of stories. Every generation needs this," she said.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: https://middle-east-online.com/en/worlds-largest-book-sale-comes-middle-east.

Spanish rescuers recover dead baby, save 520 migrants at sea

October 28, 2018

MADRID (AP) — Spain's maritime rescue service says a baby has died despite efforts by rescuers to save it after a small boat carrying migrants sunk in the Mediterranean Sea. The death came as over 500 others were rescued.

The service says Sunday that the bottom of the rubber boat gave out, tossing 56 migrants into the water when its rescue craft reached it Saturday east of the Strait of Gibraltar. Rescue workers were able to save 55 men, women and children, but could not reanimate the baby.

In all, Spanish rescue workers saved 520 people trying to cross from North Africa to Spain on Saturday. In addition, one boat with 70 migrants arrived at the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Over 1,960 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe this year.

Birth of a new Ukrainian church brings fears of violence

October 21, 2018

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Tensions are escalating in Ukraine as it prepares to establish a full-fledged Orthodox church of its own. The planned religious rupture from the Russian Orthodox Church is a potent — possibly explosive — mix of politics, religious faith and national identity.

The imminent creation of the new Ukrainian church raises deep concerns about what will happen to the approximately 12,000 churches in Ukraine that are now under the Moscow Patriarchate. Since the late 1600s, the Orthodox Church in Ukraine had been a wing of the Russian Orthodox Church rather than ecclesiastically independent. Many Ukrainians chafed at that arrangement.

The Istanbul-based Orthodox patriarchate has now removed an anathema against Ukrainian church leaders, a major step toward granting full recognition to a Ukrainian church that does not answer to the Moscow Patriarchate.

Germany's governing parties punished in state election

October 29, 2018

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's governing parties lost significant support in a state election Sunday that was marked by discontent with infighting in Chancellor Angela Merkel's national government and prompted calls for her coalition to get its act together quickly.

Merkel's conservatives emerged with an extremely lackluster win from the vote for the central Hesse region's state legislature. Her center-left governing partners' dismal performance left them level with the resurgent Greens in second place, while the far-right Alternative for Germany entered the last of Germany's 16 state parliaments.

Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union was defending its 19-year hold on Hesse, previously a stronghold of the center-left Social Democrats, the chancellor's coalition partners in Berlin. Speculation has been widespread before the vote that a disastrous result for either or both parties could further destabilize the national government, prompting calls for the Social Democrats to walk out and possibly endangering Merkel's own position. On Sunday, government leaders appeared keen to try and keep the show on the road.

Andrea Nahles, the Social Democrats' leader, said that "the state of the government is unacceptable." She said her party would insist on Merkel's governing coalition agreeing on "a clear, binding timetable" for implementing projects, adding that its implementation ahead of an already-agreed midterm review next fall will show "whether we are still in the right place in this government."

The CDU's general secretary, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, said the coalition needs to identify "three concrete projects for the coming months that we implement." She didn't specify what they might be. Hesse's conservative governor, Volker Bouffier, told supporters that "the message this evening to the parties in the government in Berlin is clear: people want less argument, more objectivity, more solutions."

Merkel's CDU won 27 percent of the vote Sunday and the Social Democrats 19.8 percent. When Hesse last elected its state legislature in 2013 — on the same day that Merkel, at the height of her power, won a third term as chancellor — they won 38.3 and 30.7 percent, respectively. It was the worst result in the region for the Social Democrats since World War II.

There were big gains for the Greens, who took 19.8 percent of the vote, compared with 11.1 percent five years ago. And the anti-migration, anti-establishment Alternative for Germany won 13.1 percent. The pro-business Free Democrats won 7.5 and the Left Party 6.3 percent of the vote.

Voters have appeared generally satisfied with Bouffier's outgoing state government. It was the first coalition between the CDU and the traditionally left-leaning Greens to last a full parliamentary term, and an unexpectedly harmonious alliance.

But only the Greens, who are in opposition nationally, benefited at the polls. The result left Bouffier's outgoing CDU-Green coalition with a one-seat parliamentary majority. A CDU-Social Democrat coalition, or a combination of the Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats, would also have a one-seat majority, but neither appears very likely.

The election campaign in prosperous Hesse, which includes Germany's financial center of Frankfurt, has been largely overshadowed by the woes of a federal coalition in office only since March. The state is home to 6.2 million of Germany's 82 million people.

Two weeks ago, both Merkel's partners in the federal "grand coalition" of what have traditionally been Germany's strongest political forces — the Christian Social Union, the Bavaria-only sister to the chancellor's CDU, and the Social Democrats — were battered in a state election in neighboring Bavaria.

The Social Democrats, who were badly beaten in last year's national election, only reluctantly entered Merkel's fourth-term national government in March. Many are dismayed by what has happened since. The government has been through two major crises, first over whether to turn back small numbers of migrants at the German-Austrian border and then over what to do with the head of Germany's domestic intelligence service after he was accused of downplaying far-right violence against migrants. It has failed to convince voters that it's achieving much on other matters.

Karl-Rudolf Korte, a political science professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen, predicted on ZDF television that its leaders "will do everything to save the 'grand coalition' for the next three years."

Being able to keep Bouffier, a deputy CDU leader, as governor would stabilize Merkel in the short term, he said. Germany's chancellor of the past 13 years has indicated that she will seek another two-year term as CDU leader in December.

Georgians choose new president directly for last time

October 28, 2018

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Voters in Georgia are choosing a new president for the former Soviet republic on the Black Sea, the last time the president will be elected by direct ballot. Opinion polls ahead of Sunday's election suggested that none of the 25 candidates is likely to receive the absolute majority need for a first-round win. If no one wins 50 percent support, a runoff between the top two candidates is to be held by Dec. 1.

After the new president's six-year term in completed, future presidents are to be chosen by a delegate system, part of constitutional changes that make the prime minister the most powerful political figure in Georgia. The president functions as head of state and commander in chief but is otherwise largely ceremonial.

Incumbent Giorgi Margvelashvili is not running. The three top contenders are all former foreign ministers — Salome Zurabishvili, Grigol Vashadze and David Bakradze — who served during the presidency of now-exiled Mikheil Saakashvili.

Zurabishvili was sacked in 2005 amid disagreements with parliament. She is running as an independent but is backed by the powerful Georgian Dream party, which is funded by controversial billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, a Saakashvili foe. Georgian Dream holds an overwhelming majority in the parliament.

Zurabishvili, however, has been heavily criticized for her contention that Georgia started the 2008 war with Russia. Some Georgians look with suspicion at her foreign background: born in France, she did not visit Georgia until she was in her 30s and she once served as a French diplomat.

Zurabishvili counters that this background is a strong qualification for Georgian president as the country seeks closer ties with the European Union. Georgia also is a strong U.S. ally and has ambitions to join NATO.

Vashadze, who is backed by a coalition that includes the United National Movement that was founded by Saakashvili, says Saakashvili, who was stripped of his citizenship in 2015 and was sentenced in absentia for abuse of power, should be allowed to return to Georgia.

The third top candidate, Bakradze, is from the European Georgia Party, which split off from the UNM. He says Zurabishvili is "unacceptable due to her position and statements, which directly harm Georgia's security and national interests."

Some 3.5 million people are registered to vote in the election, which is being monitored by local and international groups.

Police take lions, others away from private zoo in Albania

October 28, 2018

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian authorities have forced their way into a private zoo and removed 12 animals due to fears they were malnourished. Police and conservation officials on Sunday forced their way past a locked main gate into the Safari Zoo Park in Mbrostar, 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of the capital, Tirana. The zoo had been closed by owners after criticism emerged about the treatment of its animals.

Veterinarians from Four Paws, an international animal welfare charity, sedated 12 animals there — three lions, a bear, a waterbuck, four deer, a fox, a zebra and a turtle — to transport them to Tirana's public zoo.

Albania's environment and tourism ministry said it took the animals because their living quarters were too cramped and some were sick. Zoo owners have denied that the animals were sick or malnourished.

Look what we found: Tiny female lion cub in French garage

October 26, 2018

PARIS (AP) — France's customs agency says it's made an extremely surprising discovery in a garage in Marseille: a lion cub. Marseille's customs brigade found a small female lioness inside a cage Wednesday that weighed just "a few kilograms (pounds)." Experts say she's 1 to 2 months old and has not been weened.

The agency said a man who was placed in detention said he acquired the cub from some people in "a building" in the southern French city who said they didn't know how to look after a wild cat and gave the animal up.

The custom agency says the feline was immediately handed over to France's animal protection group for specialized care. In January 2007, two lion cubs were discovered by Montpellier customs before being given to the Marseille Zoo.

Polish ruling populists take most seats in regional councils

October 25, 2018

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's ruling populist party, Law and Justice won 254 of the 552 seats in regional councils in local elections last weekend, with 194 going to the key opposition coalition, the state electoral commission said Thursday.

The official results indicate that Law and Justice, which won the national elections in 2015, remains the most popular party despite conflicts with the European Union and accusations of eroding the democratic system of checks and balances. Its approval has been boosted by generous welfare spending, its emphasis on Poland's traditional values and a booming economy.

However, the pro-EU opposition coalition, a block led by Civic Platform, which ruled for eight years until 2015, won much greater support in the cities. The bloc, which also includes the smaller Modern party, won several mayoral posts, including in Warsaw, in Sunday's first round of voting. It holds leads in several races to be decided in the Nov. 4 runoffs.

Having won 46 percent of seats nationwide, the ruling party has control of six of 16 regional councils, mostly in the southeast, but will have to seek coalition partners in three others. So far, no political force has announced its readiness to cooperate with Law and Justice.

The main opposition bloc won 35 percent of the seats and opened coalition talks with the agricultural Polish People's Party, which got 13 percent. Jointly, they could control many regional councils when they take office in November.

Exit poll: Polish populists lead local votes, support down

October 22, 2018

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The governing populist party, which has repeatedly clashed with European Union institutions, was the top vote winner in local elections Sunday, according to an exit poll, but it was headed to lower support than it got in Poland's 2015 parliamentary elections.

The Ispos survey said that in lower level elections for provincial assemblies, the ruling conservative Law and Justice party received the highest backing, with 32.3 percent. In the 2015 national elections it had almost 38 percent support.

Party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said it was a "good result that bodes well for the future. It's a good sign." But he stressed that the exit poll result might differ from the official returns expected Tuesday or Wednesday.

In many ways it was a disappointing showing for the party, which has at times received more than 40 percent support in opinion polls and had hoped to increase its hold on power. Instead, it may have difficulty finding coalition partners, an obstacle to exercising real power.

Commentators noted the party was supported in villages and small towns, where its policy of social benefits has had the most effect, while big cities backed the pro-EU opposition party. "Disappointing result for Law and Justice despite total control on state media and unprecedented resources invested by the government," political analyst Marcin Zaborowski said.

Its drop in support comes despite generous government handouts and a booming economy and it suggests some Poles do not like the constant tensions with the EU, which has condemned an overhaul of the justice system by Law and Justice, calling it a systematic threat to the rule of law and inconsistent with democratic European values.

Opposition supporters said they hope this is a sign the tide is turning. Some commentators also suggested that this indicates the ruling party will not be able to win majority support in Poland and will have to find a way to coexist with the opposition.

A pro-EU opposition candidate won Warsaw's mayoral race outright in the first round, according to the exit poll. Rafal Trzaskowski, a former European lawmaker and member of the Civic Platform party, garnered 54.1 percent support, which would mean he would become Warsaw mayor without having to take part in a Nov. 4 runoff. Civic Platform also won races in some other cities like Poznan, Lodz and Lublin, giving the party a boost for more elections next year.

"We are very happy," said party leader Grzegorz Schetyna. "We can be a real hope to the Poles in next elections." Trzaskowski, whose party governed Poland for eight years before Law and Justice came to power in 2015, ran against the ruling party's candidate, Deputy Justice Minister Patryk Jaki. Jaki had attracted attention by heading a special commission for reversing housing decisions by the city's Town Hall under Civic Platform.

In Gdansk, one of the sons of democracy icon Lech Walesa, Jaroslaw Walesa, had a disappointing result, only taking third place, and leaving two others to face off in the runoff Nov. 4. Lech Walesa, the founder of the Solidarity movement that helped topple the communist regime in the 1980s, voted wearing a T-shirt with the word "Konstytucja" — or constitution — a popular sign of opposition to the ruling party.

Sunday's elections were the first nationwide test of support for Law and Justice since it gained control of the national government. Its policies have produced street protests and repeated clashes with EU leaders.

Nationwide turnout was 51.3 percent, higher than in 2014, according to the exit poll, which questioned voters as they were leaving polling stations in 1,160 locations across Poland. The election was for offices ranging from city mayors to village councilors. Law and Justice party was hoping to strengthen its firm grip on power, which has been buoyed by handing out social benefits and questioning how much authority the EU should have over member nations.

Campaigning targeted Poland's largest cities — such as Warsaw, Poznan, Krakow, Wroclaw and Gdansk — which are traditionally pro-EU, and where the opposition is in control of local governments. In Warsaw, in a rare sight, voters had to stand in lines at many voting stations to get their ballots. They said voter mobilization was very high in the race between the EU-skeptic and pro-EU main political forces.

"I have never seen so many people voting, this is a good thing. The question is will this be enough for (pro-EU Civic) Platform to keep power" in Warsaw, Aneta Benedyk said as she stood in line in southern Warsaw.

Poland's local elections kick off a string of crucial votes that include the European Parliament vote in May, the national parliament vote in the fall of 2019 and Poland's presidential election in the spring of 2020.

Schools closed on quake-hit Greek island; damage surveyed

October 26, 2018

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Schools were closed and officials surveyed damage on the Greek island of Zakynthos Friday after a powerful earthquake that was felt as far as Libya jolted western Greece. The magnitude-6.5 undersea quake overnight caused many island residents to spend the night in their cars and triggered a tsunami warning that ended several hours later. No serious damage or injuries were reported, although the main harbor for the island of Zakynthos in the Ionian Sea was damaged, and the sidewalk near moored boats cracked and warped.

More than 15 aftershocks occurred before dawn. "It was a powerful and shallow earthquake that was felt throughout western Greece, up to Athens, the Western Balkans, even in Italy and Libya," said seismologist Gerasimos Papadopoulos of the Geodynamic Institute in Athens.

Power was lost in the island capital and main town, also called Zakynthos, for several hours and outages were also reported elsewhere. "We're checking out the villages on the island, where there are several older buildings," civil protection agency press spokesman Spyros Georgiou told The Associated Press. "The lack of electricity is a problem, but technicians are trying to restore power."

The fire service said rockfalls were reported in another part of the island, and part of a church wall collapsed on the mainland town of Pyrgos, in the southern Peloponnese area. A couple of people were treated for minor injuries.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the undersea quake was magnitude 6.8 and its epicenter was 33 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of Mouzaki in the southern part of the island. It had a depth of 14 kilometers and struck just before 2 a.m. local time (2300 GMT Thursday).

Greece's main earthquake monitoring center, the Geodynamic Institute, measured the magnitude at 6.5, and said it had a depth of 5 kilometers. Measurements of quake strength can vary due to the equipment each institution uses and other factors.

The village of Mouzaki is near the popular tourist resort of Laganas. The quake rattled the whole of western Greece and was strongly felt in the capital, 280 kilometers (174 miles) to the northeast of Zakynthos.

Greece lies in one of the world's most earthquake-prone regions, with thousands of quakes recorded every year. But few cause injuries or significant damage. In 1999, a magnitude 5.9 quake on the outskirts of Athens killed 143 people.

Zakynthos has had severe earthquakes in the past, and as a result has a very strict building safety code.

Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed.

Cry me a river: Low water levels causing chaos in Germany

October 27, 2018

BERLIN (AP) — A new island in Lake Constance. A river in Berlin flowing backward. Dead fish on the banks of lakes and ponds. Barges barely loaded so they don't run aground. A hot, dry summer has left German rivers and lakes at record low water levels, causing chaos for the inland shipping industry, environmental damage and billions of euros (dollars) in losses — a scenario that experts warn could portend the future as global temperatures rise.

The drought-like conditions have hit nearly 90 percent of the country this year. In Magdeburg, the Elbe River has been so low that no ships carrying goods south to Leipzig or on to the Czech Republic have been able to pass through since the end of June, said Hartmut Rhein of the city's waterways and shipping department.

The river's down to a depth of about 50 centimeters (less than 20 inches) there, when at least double that level is needed for normal shipping traffic, he said. "At the moment the only possibility is to completely unload ships and transfer their cargoes to other means of transportation," he said.

The situation is similar across Germany. The mighty Rhine has hit its lowest water levels ever at several points, and other major rivers like the Danube, the Weser and the Main are all far below normal.

On the waterways that are still navigable, the lower water levels have actually led to increased shipping traffic, as companies pack less weight onto boats so they don't ride so low in the water. That means they must send more vessels out to carry the same amount of freight.

"All the ships on the Rhine are going around the clock to transport goods that would normally be on fewer ships," said Rolf Nagelschmidt of Cologne's waterways and shipping office. "At the moment, everything that can float is being loaded up."

That has sent freight prices skyrocketing, and some costs are already being felt by consumers, with higher prices at gas pumps and for home heating oil. Chemical giant BASF has been forced to cut production due to a lack of transportation. On Friday the company lowered its yearly profit forecast after a slowdown in the third quarter partly from the extra costs incurred due to the low levels of the Rhine, which flows past its headquarters in Ludwigshafen.

Germany's Economy Ministry said Friday it had taken the unusual step of authorizing temporary access to Germany's strategic fuel reserves in areas where supplies have not been able to get through due to the shallow waters.

With such widespread drought, Germany's agricultural industry is also struggling. There have been shortages of feed for livestock and the country's grain harvest is forecast to drop to 36 million tons this year compared to an average of 47.9 million tons over the last five years, according to the Center for Disaster Management at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

"If you look at the overall economic effects, we're talking certainly in the double-digit billions," said the center's Michael Kunz. Northern and eastern Germany saw their warmest summer ever recorded in 2018, and central Germany had its lowest rainfall ever, according to the German Weather Service, or DWD.

"Climate change means not only an increase in average temperatures, but also in the increase of extreme events," said DWD Vice President Paul Becker. "This year's summer has been exceptional with its intensive drought and prolonged heat, but we expect an increase in such extreme periods in the future."

From April through August, a high-pressure zone sat over northern Europe and a low-pressure zone blanketed the south. That created a "blocking situation" that produced the unusual weather, said Freja Vamborg, a senior climate scientist with Copernicus Climate Change Service, a European Union information service.

"During that whole time, most of northern Europe was warm and dry and the Mediterranean was wet," she said. Most of Germany has been right in the middle of the dry zone. While there has been some relief from the drought in the British Isles and Scandinavia, the drought is still plaguing Germany.

Sandbanks have appeared on the Rhine River that have not been seen before in modern history. On the Austrian part of Lake Constance, which is shared by Germany, Austria and Switzerland, a 10,000 square meter (108,000 square foot) silt island has appeared.

Unexploded World War II munitions are also popping up, most recently with a 1,000-kilogram (2,200-pound) American bomb being found on the exposed bottom of the Rhine near Neuwied this week. Experts say some 3,000 bombs were dropped in the area as the allies sought to destroy a railway bridge, but only a few actually hit their target.

In Berlin, the Spree River, which normally flows into the Havel River in the western part of the city, has been taking water in from the Havel instead, said Derk Ehlert, with the city's environment department.

"It's flowing backward, so to speak," he said. A family of beavers living in the German capital's central Tiergarten park has attracted a lot of attention for taking matters into their own paws. They built a new dam about six weeks ago to keep the area wet — but that just dried other areas up.

"They wanted their old water level back," Ehlert said. Other wildlife has been less able than the beavers to cope. Hundreds of tons of fish and countless freshwater mussels have been dying as waters have receded, said Magnus Wessel, head of nature conservation policy for the environmental group BUND.

Causes for the die-offs include greater concentrations of pesticides and other toxins due to the lower volume of water, boat traffic riding closer to the riverbeds, the increased number of boats on the rivers and less oxygen in the water, Wessel said.

And, of course, the obvious. "If you live underwater and you don't have water above you, you're dead," he said.

Frank Jordans in Berlin and Daniel Niemann in Cologne contributed to this story.

German economy minister visits Turkey to expand trade ties

October 25, 2018

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Germany's economy minister started a two-day visit to Turkey on Thursday, bringing with him a 30-person business delegation in a bid to boost trade ties between the two countries.

Germany is a top trading partner for Turkey. The visit comes as the NATO allies are trying to mend ties after clashing over numerous issues in recent years, including Turkey's jailing of German journalists. Last year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused German officials of acting like Nazis after Turkish politicians were barred from holding election campaign rallies in Germany.

The visit by German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier also comes months after Turkey faced financial turmoil with a slump of the Turkish currency.  "Germany has an interest in a stable and dynamic economic relationship with Turkey," Altmaier said ahead of the trip.

Altmaier and Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Peskan will convene for the first time the Joint Economic and Trade Commission, which seeks to improve trade, industry, tourism and infrastructure projects between the two countries.

Altmaier on Friday is opening the second session of the German-Turkish Energy Forum with Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez.

10,000 protest in German city against anti-migrant group

October 21, 2018

BERLIN (AP) — German police say about 10,000 people have taken part in a protest against the anti-migrant group PEGIDA in the eastern city of Dresden. Mainstream parties, labor unions and civil society groups staged a march with the slogan "heart not hatred."

PEGIDA, whose name stands for Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West, celebrated its fourth birthday Sunday. German news agency dpa reported that the group held a separate rally in Dresden, attended by about 5,000 people.

Royals Harry and Meghan dedicate forest reserves in Tonga

October 26, 2018

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga (AP) — The Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Friday dedicated two forest reserves in Tonga as they continued their trip of the South Pacific. Prince Harry said Tonga is leading by example and "understands deeply" the impact of environmental changes because the islands of the archipelago are directly affected.

Harry and wife Meghan visited Tupou College to make the dedication. The high school was founded in 1866 and is believed to be the oldest in the region. It's home to the last remaining forest on Tonga's main island, Tongatapu. The other reserve is on the island of Eua.

"Planting trees and conserving forests helps us in so many ways," Harry said. "It is a simple but effective way to restore and repair our environment, clean the air and protect habitat." The couple dedicated the two reserves to the Queen's Commonwealth Canopy environmental initiative, which was started in 2015 and has been signed on to by 42 of the Commonwealth's 53 countries.

Earlier in the day, the royal couple visited an exhibition celebrating Tongan handicrafts, including traditional mats and tapa cloth. They also met with political leaders. Tonga, home to just 106,000 people, is also known as the friendly islands. It was a British protectorate before gaining independence in 1970 and remains a part of the Commonwealth group of nations.

On Friday afternoon, the couple left Tonga bound for Australia, where they began their 16-day tour of four nations. They are returning to Australia to catch the final days of the Invictus Games, which Harry founded in 2014. The games give sick and injured military personnel and veterans the opportunity to compete in sports such as wheelchair basketball.

After Australia, the couple will finish their trip with a four-day visit to New Zealand.

Perry reported from Wellington, New Zealand.

Sri Lanka's president suspends parliament, deepening crisis

October 27, 2018

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka's president suspended parliament on Saturday even as the prime minister he fired the previous day claimed he has majority support, adding to a growing political crisis in the island nation.

Chaminda Gamage, a spokesman for the parliamentary speaker, confirmed that President Maithripala Sirisena had suspended parliament until Nov. 16. The suspension came while ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was holding a news conference in which he asserted that he could prove his majority support in parliament.

Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe and his Cabinet on Friday and replaced him with former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa, creating what some observers said could be a constitutional crisis in the South Asian island nation.

Wickremesingh said parliament should be allowed to resolve the political crisis. "As far as the prime ministership is concerned, the person who has the majority support in parliament has to be the prime minister, and I have that majority of support," he said. "When a motion of no confidence was moved (in the past), we defeated it showing that the house has the confidence in me."

"It is not necessary for us to create a crisis. It is not necessary for the people of the country to suffer," Wickremesingh said. Tensions have been building up between Sirisena and Wickremesinghe for some time, as the president did not approve of some of the economic reforms being introduced by the prime minister. Sirisena was also critical of police investigations into military personnel accused in the abductions and disappearances of civilians and journalists during Sri Lanka's long civil war, which ended a decade ago.

Rajapaksa ruled Sri Lanka as president for nine years beginning in 2005, accumulating immense power and popularity among the country's majority ethnic Sinhalese after overseeing the military's brutal defeat of ethnic Tamil rebels in May 2009, ending the 25-year civil war. Some supporters hailed him as a king and savior.

But he also was criticized for failing to allow an investigation into allegations of war crimes by the military. Under his government, dozens of journalists were killed, abducted and tortured and some fled the country fearing for their lives. He lost a bid for re-election in 2015 amid mounting allegations of corruption and nepotism.

His return to power as prime minister could signal that Sri Lanka is sliding back to an era of violence against political opponents, critics and journalists, observers said.

Georgians to vote in last direct election for president

October 27, 2018

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Sunday's election will be the last time residents of the former Soviet republic of Georgia get to cast a ballot for president — that's if any of the 25 candidates running gets an absolute majority.

Opinion polls suggest that none of the candidates will exceed the 50 percent needed for a first-round victory and that the country on the Black Sea will have to choose between Sunday's two top candidates in a November presidential runoff.

Under constitutional changes that began in 2010, Georgia is transitioning to being a parliamentary country. After the upcoming president's six-year term ends, future heads of state will be chosen by delegates. The presidency's powers already have been substantially reduced, with the prime minister becoming the country's most powerful politician.

Cameroon's Biya easily wins 7th term; low Anglophone turnout

October 23, 2018

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — Africa's oldest president, Cameroon's Paul Biya, easily won a seventh term on Monday after a Constitutional Council that he appointed rejected all legal challenges to the election. The United States noted irregularities that "may not have affected the outcome but created an impression that the election was not credible or genuinely free and fair."

Now analysts say the country threatened by separatists faces further turmoil if Biya, who will be 92 when the new term ends, doesn't start preparing Cameroon for life without him after decades in power.

Major cities saw heavy troop deployment ahead of the election announcement as the government banned rallies by the opposition, which had alleged fraud. Biya received more than 71 percent of the vote, far ahead of Maurice Kamto's 14 percent.

The Oct. 7 election saw few voters in English-speaking regions after nearly a quarter-million people fled unrest by Anglophone separatists. The turnout in the Southwest was 15 percent and in the Northwest 5 percent while Biya won in both regions with more than 77 percent of the vote. Overall election turnout was 53 percent.

Fighting between the separatists' ragtag bands and security forces accused by rights groups of abuses has killed hundreds and posed a serious challenge for Cameroon, a close U.S. security ally against extremism and a new member of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

The U.S. statement did not give details on the "irregularities." But the fraud allegations and low turnout mean a weaker mandate for the 85-year-old Biya, who has led since 1982. The government did away with presidential term limits several years ago, part of a trend in Central Africa that has dismayed many.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres took note of the official announcement of results and called for all disputes to be handled "through established legal channels," U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said. He added that Guterres said dialogue is the best path to unity.

"What I can tell you is that Cameroon will never be the same again," human rights lawyer Felix Nkongho Agbor Balla told The Associated Press. While legal options for challenging election results have been exhausted, Cameroonians are more aware of their rights after watching the Constitutional Council's hearings, he said.

The fractured opposition brought well over a dozen legal challenges but all were rejected by the council, a collection of high-ranking magistrates and members of Biya's administration. The election occurred largely without Western election monitors.

The council called the election free and fair despite security challenges. A close Biya aide, Dion Ngute, said he wasn't surprised by the win because the president is "very persevering ... who tells Cameroonians what can be done and what is not possible to be done."

Opposition candidate Joshua Osih, who has compared the inability of English-speaking voters to reach the polls to South Africa's former system of apartheid, accused Biya of using the machinery of the state to ensure another term.

Monday's troop deployment was "intended to punish the majority of Cameroonians who are disgruntled with Biya's long stay in power and want him out," Osih said. Troops were seen at the homes of opposition candidates Kanto and Cabral Libii, who had urged Cameroonians to defend their rights if they feel cheated.

The minister of territorial administration, Paul Atanga Nji, said the troops were not meant to intimidate people but rather protect them from "politicians who are pushing naive youth to the streets." Dissatisfaction has been high in the English-speaking Southwest and Northwest, where analyst Hans De Marie Heungoup with the International Crisis Group said only a few counties' polling stations opened. Biya didn't campaign there.

"Normally the head of state should be worried to be elected when two of the 10 regions of the country almost have not participated," Heungoup told the AP. "But in the reality of Cameroon, the president doesn't care."

The Anglophone unrest began after lawyers and teachers in the English-speaking regions peacefully protested what they called creeping marginalization by Cameroon's French-speaking majority. English-speakers make up about 20 percent of the population.

After the government cracked down, armed separatists emerged and declared an independent state of Ambazonia. Civilians caught in the fighting have pleaded for peace. Now everything depends on how Biya interprets his new mandate, Simon Munzu, a former U.N diplomat and coordinator of next month's Anglophone General Conference, told the AP. The conference organized by religious leaders focuses on a possible national dialogue.

If the president sees this as a chance to address Anglophone grievances "we should be optimistic," Munzu said. But if Biya, influenced by hardliners, sees the vote as approval of the status quo, "it will be a disaster. It will mean he adopts a high-handed attitude, not wanting to talk to anybody ... preferring to pursue the military approach."

Biya, whom observers describe as a distant figure even to ambassadors and some of his ministers, will be invited to the Anglophone conference, Munzu said. Munzu and Heungoup warned that Cameroon faces disaster if Biya suddenly leaves power without preparing for a transition even within the ruling party, with its own tensions along generational and ethnic lines.

"I can only hope he is thinking about the interests of the nation," Munzu said. Cameroonians are hungry for a proper democracy, he added, noting the country's colonial past and legacy of autocratic rule: "They didn't think it would last this long."

Associated Press writer Edwin Kindzeka Moki reported this story in Yaounde and AP writer Cara Anna reported from Johannesburg.

Koreas, UN finish removing firearms from border village

October 25, 2018

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The rival Koreas and the U.S.-led U.N. Command finished removing firearms and troops from a jointly controlled area at a border village on Thursday, as part of agreements to reduce decades-long animosity on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea separately announced that its troops found what it believes are Korean War remains in another front-line area where they have been clearing land mines with North Korean soldiers. The rival Koreas plan their first-ever joint searches for war dead there after their demining work is done.

Disarming the Joint Security Area at the border village of Panmunjom and the joint searches are among a package of deals the Koreas' defense ministers struck on the sidelines of their leaders' summit last month. Other steps include creating buffer zones along their land and sea boundaries and a no-fly zone above the border, as well as removing some of their front-line guard posts.

On Thursday, the Koreas and the U.N. Command completed a removal of weapons, ammunition and soldiers manning guard posts at Panmunjom's Joint Security Area, Seoul's Defense Ministry said in a statement. The three sides earlier finished removing mines from the village.

The three sides will jointly verify their disarmament work on Friday and Saturday. Under the September deals, the two Koreas are to let 35 "unarmed personnel" from each side guard the Joint Security Area and let tourists freely move around there.

The area symbolizes the Koreas' seven decades of division. It's where an armistice was signed at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Rival soldiers have faced each other only meters (feet) apart in the zone, which has been the scene of numerous incidents of bloodshed and violence. It is also a venue for talks and a popular tourist destination.

Soldiers and visitors were previously allowed to move freely inside the area, but the 1976 ax-killing of two American troops by North Korea at Panmunjom led to the creation of ankle-high concrete slabs that mark the border there.

The Koreas are split along the 248-kilometer (155-mile) -long, 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) -wide border called the Demilitarized Zone that was originally created as a buffer. But unlike its name, the DMZ is now the world's most heavily fortified border. An estimated 2 million mines are peppered inside and near the DMZ, which is also guarded by barbed wire fences, tank traps and combat troops on both sides.

Officially, the entire DMZ area, including Panmunjom, is jointly overseen by North Korea and the U.N. Command. About 28,500 U.S. troops are deployed in South Korea to deter possible aggression from North Korea.

The Defense Ministry said earlier Thursday that its troops found what they believe are two sets of human remains at another DMZ spot. It was the first such discovery since South Korea began the joint demining work with North Korea on Oct. 1 at a place where one of the heaviest Korean War battles took place.

According to the ministry, a bayonet, bullets and a South Korean army identification tag with the name "Pak Je Kwon" were found along with the remains. Military records show Pak was a sergeant first class who died in a battle in 1953 in the final weeks of the Korean War.

Pak has two surviving sisters and authorities will take their DNA samples to find out if parts of the bones belong to him. During a media visit to the site, South Korean soldiers wrapped a piece of bone in white paper and put it into a wooden box. They later wrapped the box with a national flag, placed it on a small table and offered a shot of liquor before they paid a silent tribute.

"Sgt. 1st Class Pak Je Kwon has come back to us. It's been 65 years since he died in battle. Now, we can offer up a shot of soju (Korean liquor)" to him, South Korean President Moon Jae-in tweeted. The area, known as Arrowhead Hill, is where South Korean and U.S.-led U.N. troops repelled a series of Chinese attacks to secure a strategically important hilltop position. South Korea said the remains of an estimated 300 South Korean, French and U.S. soldiers are believed to be in the area. The remains of a large number of Chinese and North Korean soldiers are also likely there.

The Korean War left millions dead or missing, and Seoul officials believe the remains of about 10,000 South Korean soldiers alone are still inside the DMZ. September's agreements received strong criticism from conservatives in South Korea that Moon's government made too many concessions that will eventually weaken the country's military strength at a time when North Korea's nuclear threat remains unchanged. Moon, a liberal who wants greater ties with North Korea, has facilitated a series of high-profile U.S.-North Korean talks, including a June summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump, to address the standoff over Kim's nuclear program.

Associated Press video journalist Yong Jun Chang at Arrowhead Hill in Cheorwon, South Korea, contributed to this report.

Abe's Beijing visit underscores warming China-Japan ties

October 26, 2018

BEIJING (AP) — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a second meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang on Friday during the first formal visit to Beijing by a Japanese leader in nearly seven years that heralds warming ties following years of acrimony.

Speaking to reporters afterward, Li said 500 business agreements worth $18 billion had been signed between Chinese and Japanese companies during the visit, displaying the "bright future" for cooperation between the sides.

Abe, who has been accompanied by a 500-strong business delegation, expressed hopes for closer ties and a shift in relations from an age of "competition to cooperation," an apparent reference to rifts that until recently have muted Japanese business interests in China.

Abe is due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping later Friday, possibly cementing the steady recovery in relations that hit a low in 2012 amid a dispute over East China Sea islands. Ties have also been dogged by enduring Chinese resentment over Japan's invasion and occupation during World War II and a political, military and economic rivalry for influence in Asia and beyond.

However, for now at least, the sides appear to have drawn closer by economic necessity brought about partly by President Donald Trump's punitive tariffs on imports. Asia's two largest economies are seeking to deepen trade, investment and cooperation on infrastructure and other projects in third countries.

China is Japan's largest trading partner and economic ties have remained strong despite political differences. Abe is scheduled to return to Japan on Saturday. The last such visit was in late 2011.

Japan reporter freed from captivity in Syria returns home

October 25, 2018

TOKYO (AP) — A Japanese journalist returned to Tokyo on Thursday after being freed from more than three years of captivity in Syria. Jumpei Yasuda was released on Tuesday and taken to neighboring Turkey.

Yasuda, wearing a black T-shirt, was escorted from his plane at Tokyo's airport by Japanese officials and ushered into a black van. He left without talking to a large group of reporters who had waited for his arrival.

On an earlier flight from the southern Turkish town of Antakya to Istanbul, Yasuda said he was happy to be going home after living in "hell" for more than three years, but was worried about how he will catch up with a changed world.

"I'm so happy to be free," he told Japan's NHK television on a flight from Antakya in southern Turkey to Istanbul. "But I'm a bit worried about what will happen to me or what I should do from now on."

Yasuda, 44, who was kidnapped in 2015 by al-Qaida's branch in Syria, said he felt as if he'd fallen behind the rest of the world and was uncertain how to catch up. He described his 40 months in captivity as "hell" both physically and mentally. He said he was kept in a tiny cell and tortured. There was a time when he was not allowed to bathe for eight months, he said.

"Day after day, I thought 'Oh I can't go home again,' and the thought took over my head and gradually made it difficult for me to control myself," he said. Yasuda was kidnapped by a group known at the time as Nusra Front. A war monitoring group said he was most recently held by a Syrian commander with the Turkistan Islamic Party, which mostly comprises Chinese jihadis in Syria.

Yasuda said he believes he was moved several times during his captivity but stayed in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, where he sometimes heard distant firebombing. "I was living in endless fear that I may never get out of it or could even be killed," Yasuda told another Japanese broadcaster, TBS. He said he gradually became pessimistic about his fate because his captors kept breaking their promises to release him.

His release Tuesday came suddenly when his captors drove him to the border with Turkey and dropped him off and handed him over to Turkish authorities, he said. Japanese officials say Qatar and Turkey helped in the efforts for Yasuda's release, though their exact roles were not clear.

Yasuda, a respected journalist who began his career at a local newspaper, started reporting on the Middle East in the early 2000s and went to Afghanistan and Iraq. He was taken hostage in Iraq in 2004 with three other Japanese, but was freed after Islamic clerics negotiated his release.

He worked as a cook in Iraq for nearly a year as part of his research for a 2010 book about laborers in war zones. He also wrote articles about his 2004 captivity. But this time, his captors took away all his reporting equipment including his camera, depriving him of any tangible records.

"I was robbed of all my luggage, and that made me so angry," Yasuda said. "I couldn't do any of my work for 40 months." His last work in Syria involved reporting on his friend Kenji Goto, a Japanese journalist who was taken hostage and killed by the Islamic State group.

Syria has been one of the most dangerous places for journalists since the conflict there began in March 2011, with dozens killed or kidnapped. Several journalists are still missing in Syria and their fates are unknown.

Russian rocket puts satellite into orbit, 1st since failure

October 25, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian Soyuz rocket put a military satellite in orbit on Thursday, its first successful launch since a similar rocket failed earlier this month to deliver a crew to the International Space Station.

The Russian military said a Soyuz-2 booster rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk launch facility in northwestern Russia. A Soyuz-FG rocket carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos' Alexei Ovchinin failed two minutes into the flight on Oct. 11, sending their emergency capsule into a sharp fall back to Earth. The crew landed safely, but the Russian space agency Roscosmos had suspended all Soyuz launches until Thursday, pending a probe.

The official panel is yet to produce its formal verdict, but investigators have reportedly linked the failure to an element jettisoning one of the rocket's four side boosters from the main stage that apparently had been damaged during final assembly at the Russia-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Russian space officials plan to conduct two other unmanned Soyuz launches before launching a crew to the space station. No date for the crew launch has been set yet, but it's expected in early December.

The current space station crew — NASA's Serena Aunon-Chancellor, Russian Sergei Prokopyev and German Alexander Gerst — was scheduled to return to Earth in December after a six-month mission. A Soyuz capsule attached to the station that they use to ride back to Earth is designed for 200 days in space, meaning that their stay in orbit could only be extended briefly.

Flight controllers could operate the station without anyone on board in case the Russian investigation drags into next year, but NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has said earlier this month that he expects Roscosmos to launch the next crew in December.

The Russian Soyuz spacecraft is currently the only vehicle for ferrying crews to the space station following the retirement of the U.S. space shuttle fleet. Russia stands to lose that monopoly with the arrival of SpaceX's Dragon and Boeing's Starliner crew capsules.

The crew launch failure dealt another blow to the Russian space program, which has been dogged by a string of failed satellite launches in recent years. The Oct. 11 accident marked the first aborted manned launch for the Russian space program since 1983, when two Soviet cosmonauts jettisoned and landed safely after a launch pad explosion.

Europe, Japan send spacecraft on 7-year journey to Mercury

October 20, 2018

TOKYO (AP) — European and Japanese space agencies said an Ariane 5 rocket successfully lifted a spacecraft carrying two probes into orbit Saturday for a joint mission to Mercury, the closest planet to the sun.

The European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the unmanned BepiColombo spacecraft successfully separated and was sent into orbit from French Guiana as planned to begin a seven-year journey to Mercury.

They said the spacecraft, named after Italian scientist Giuseppe "Bepi" Colombo, was in the right orbit and has sent the first signal after the liftoff. ESA says the 1.3 billion-euro ($1.5 billion) mission is one of the most challenging in its history. Mercury's extreme temperatures, the intense gravity pull of the sun and blistering solar radiation make for hellish conditions.

The BepiColombo spacecraft will have to follow an elliptical path that involves a fly-by of Earth, two of Venus and six of Mercury itself so it can slow down before arriving at its destination in December 2025.

When it arrives, BepiColombo will release two probes — Bepi and Mio — that will independently investigate the surface and magnetic field of Mercury. The probes are designed to cope with temperatures varying from 430 degrees Celsius (806 F) on the side facing the sun, and -180 degrees Celsius (-292 F) in Mercury's shadow.

The ESA-developed Bepi will operate in Mercury's inner orbit, and JAXA's Mio will be in the outer orbit to gather data that would reveal the internal structure of the planet, its surface and geological evolution.

Scientists hope to build on the insights gained by NASA's Messenger probe, which ended its mission in 2015 after a four-year orbit of Mercury. The only other spacecraft to visit Mercury was NASA's Mariner 10 that flew past the planet in the mid-1970s.

Mercury, which is only slightly larger than Earth's moon, has a massive iron core about which little is known. Researchers are also hoping to learn more about the formation of the solar system from the data gathered by the BepiColombo mission.

"Beyond completing the challenging journey, this mission will return a huge bounty of science," said Jan Wörner, ESA Director General, in a statement. JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa, who earlier managed the project, said, "We have high expectations that the ensuing detailed observations of Mercury will help us better understand the environment of the planet, and ultimately, the origin of the Solar System including that of Earth."

It is the second recent cooperation between the Europeans and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. JAXA's Hayabusa2 probe dropped a German-French rover on the asteroid Ryugu earlier this month.

Jordans reported from Berlin.

Flash floods kill 6 in southern Russia; 1 person missing

October 26, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — At least six people died as flash floods hit southern Russia, paralyzing road and train traffic across the Black Sea region and forcing hundreds to evacuate their homes, rescue officials said Friday.

The region, which hosted many events for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, saw a huge amount of rain on a single day — Wednesday — that equaled the region's average rainfall for two months. The deluge caused rivers to overflow and roar down the mountainous area.

Weather forecasters predicted torrential rain Friday evening in Sochi, the Winter Olympics city on the Black Sea where Russian President Vladimir Putin often welcomes foreign dignitaries. Russia's Investigative Committee said Friday that six people died in several locations near the town of Tuapse when torrential rains and flash floods hit. An elderly woman also went missing after she was swept away by rushing water in Tuapse.

Footage on state television showed people being evacuated from villages in inflatable boats and emergency crews repairing a section of a collapsed bridge. The floods have damaged roads and railroad bridges, paralyzing traffic. More than 20 trains running along the Black Sea coast have been delayed after a section of a railroad bridge collapsed, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at nearby stations. Emergency officials offered temporary accommodations and food to the passengers.

Russian Railways said Friday that they have repaired one of the tracks, allowing a train to travel between two major Black Sea coastal towns for the first time since Wednesday. Power cuts have affected nearly 2,000 residents, and water supply has been cut through the region, even in Sochi, where flooding was not anywhere near as disastrous as in Tuapse.

New blow to GRU: More Russian military spies exposed

October 26, 2018

PARIS (AP) — It seems like open season on the GRU. The Russian military agency had its inner workings exposed again Friday as determined journalists and Kremlin critics remain focused on uncovering its secrets. A new report details the alleged misbehavior and bizarre bureaucratic decisions that allowed a Russian journalist to identify people he says are GRU officers.

Journalist Sergei Kanev said he wants to call attention to problems within an organization he thinks has moved from traditional spying into unchecked violence and foreign interference. But his story portrays the agency as more sloppy than scary: one finding was that suspected GRU agents appeared to blow their own covers.

None of the few dozen agents he wrote about is suspected of grave wrongdoing. However, governments in multiple countries have implicated GRU agents in the March nerve agent attack on a Russian ex-spy in Britain, hacking the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, involvement in downing a Malaysian plane and disrupting anti-doping efforts.

Russian authorities deny the accusations, calling them part of a global smear campaign. Kanev said he identified three agents after they filed police reports for stolen goods, by cross-checking names with databases showing addresses or other information on GRU employees. Another was identified after being arrested over a cafe shootout.

The report also says the Russian Defense Ministry sought to conceal the identities of dozens of children of alleged GRU officers living in a Moscow housing complex by adding 100 years to their ages in administrative registries. GRU agents jokingly called it the "old folks' home," Kanev said.

However, pension authorities raised alarm upon discovering the freak concentration of very elderly residents, suspecting some kind of pension fraud. Kanev, who lives in self-imposed exile in Europe, told The Associated Press he uncovered the identities by using databases purchased on the black market from Moscow police, traffic police or security agents. He said he cross-checked them with open sources and discussions with security sources. Other Russian journalists have described using similar methods.

Kanev's reporting was funded and published by Kremlin opponent Mikhail Khodorkovsky's Dossier Project, and also released by Russian independent broadcaster Dozhd TV. The details of the report couldn't be immediately verified. But it fits in a pattern of embarrassing exposures that has caused some to question the GRU's professionalism - and highlighted corruption that has allowed leaks to occur.

Last month, British intelligence released surveillance images of GRU agents accused of the March attack in Salisbury. Investigative group Bellingcat and Russian site The Insider quickly exposed the agents' real names. The Associated Press and others revealed details about their backgrounds. And Dutch authorities recently identified four alleged GRU agents who tried to hack the Wi-Fi of the world's chemical weapons watchdog from a hotel parking lot.

All this makes it look like GRU officers "can't tie their own shoelaces," said Michael Kofman, an expert on Russian military affairs at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington. In an interview with the AP, Kanev said he also identified 16 GRU officers who once lived in the same Moscow dormitory as Anatoly Chepiga, one of the Russian officers suspected of poisoning turncoat GRU agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury. Kanev did not publish their names.

Kanev said that he could identify so many officers was a sign that "Russia is eroding." The agency, which is still widely known as the GRU despite a recent name change, did not respond Friday to requests for comment.

Keir Giles, the director of the Conflict Studies Research Center in Cambridge, England, warned that unmasking Russian spies who aren't accused of serious wrongdoing exposed Kanev and his backer, oligarch-turned-dissident Khodorkovsky, "to charges that instead of reforming Russia, they just want to harm it."

Giles said the revelations highlight a sense among Russian intelligence agencies that they are "above the law" and could reinforce their view that "mass connectivity, unhindered communications, and widespread access to information" is a threat to national security.

Meanwhile, the drip-drip of revelations will continue to dent the image of the GRU, but not deter it from unsavory actions, experts said. Kofman said it's not unheard of for one agent after another to get burned publicly, and noted that agents like Chepiga and his colleagues could be replaced.

"They will likely write this off as a consequence of carrying out a lot of operations," he said.

Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow contributed.

Putin says Russia will target nations hosting US missiles

October 24, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday that if the United States deploys intermediate-range missiles in Europe, Russia will have to target the nations that would host them. The stern statement follows U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement over the weekend that he intends to opt out of a 1987 nuclear arms control pact over alleged Russian violations.

Putin said he hoped the United States wouldn't follow up by positioning intermediate-range missiles in Europe. Such a move would be a repeat of a Cold War showdown in the 1980s, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union both deployed intermediate-range missiles on the continent, the Russian leader said.

"If they are deployed in Europe, we will naturally have to respond in kind," Putin said at a news conference after talks with visiting Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. "The European nations that would agree to that should understand that they would expose their territory to the threat of a possible retaliatory strike. These are obvious things."

He continued: "I don't understand why we should put Europe in such a grave danger." "I see no reason for that," Putin said. "I would like to repeat that it's not our choice. We don't want it." NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that the Western military alliance's members blame Russia for developing a new missile in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, but he doesn't expect them to beef up nuclear arsenals in Europe in response.

"I don't foresee that allies will deploy more nuclear weapons in Europe as a response to the new Russian missile," Stoltenberg told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Putin rejected Trump's claim that Russia has breached the INF treaty, alleging it was the United States that violated the pact.

He charged that U.S. missile defense facilities in Romania hold intermediate-range cruise missiles with just a quick tweak in computer software. The Russian leader added that he hoped to discuss the issue with Trump in Paris when they both attend Nov. 11 events marking 100 years since Armistice Day.

"We are ready to work together with our American partners without any hysteria," he said. "The important thing is what decisions will come next." The INF treaty signed in 1987 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev prohibited the U.S. and Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying ground-launched nuclear cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (300 to 3,400 miles.)

The pact was lauded as a major safeguard for global security since they eliminated shorter-range missiles that take only a few minutes to reach their targets. Trump said he planned to pull the U.S. out of the treaty due to the alleged Russia violations and also because China, which wasn't part of the pact, has intermediate-range missile capability.

Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, spent two days in Moscow this week to discuss the move with Putin and his top lieutenants. Bolton said Washington hasn't served a formal withdrawal notice, but he voiced strong skepticism the treaty could be salvaged.

Kremlin calls treaty exit without new deal offer 'dangerous'

October 23, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin said Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump took "a dangerous position" by deciding to abandon an existing nuclear weapons treaty with Russia without offering anything to replace it.

As Trump's national security adviser prepared to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Putin's spokesman acknowledged the 1987 arms control deal had "weak spots." But Dmitry Peskov warned Washington against withdrawing from the agreement without proposing improvements or a substitute treaty.

"Right now, we don't have any prospects whatsoever for a new deal," Peskov said. "It's important to figure out if it's possible or not." Trump on Monday restated his threat to pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty because of alleged Russia violations. He said the United States would start developing the type of ground-launched nuclear cruise and ballistic missiles the treaty banned until "people come to their senses" and then "we'll all stop."

In Moscow, Peskov said that sacrificing the landmark pact for a hypothetical better deal was "a dangerous position." The treaty was signed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, prohibiting the U.S. and Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying ground-launched nuclear cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (300 to 3,400 miles.)

China was not a party to the original agreement, and Trump said Monday it should be included in the treaty. U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton is scheduled to meet with Putin in Moscow on Tuesday. Bolton struck a conciliatory note in his talks with senior Russian officials earlier in the day.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu lauded Bolton for making a two-day visit and said that "even small steps will benefit our relations and help restore trust" between the two countries. He also said that Russia and the U.S. should build up their cooperation in Syria that helped to prevent major incidents in the sky or on the ground.

Bolton told Shoigu he was in Moscow to work on Trump's commitment to improve security cooperation with Russia. "We certainly share your view that the U.S.-Russian discussions with respect to Syria have been useful, productive and professional, and we hope we can extend those conversations through a number of other ways that you mentioned, and even more," he said.

In televised comments, neither Bolton nor Shoigu mentioned Trump's announcement on the INF treaty. In an interview with Russian radio station Ekho Moskvy on Monday, Bolton made it clear the Trump administration had its mind made up about leaving the treaty.

"If Russia says it's not violating the INF treaty, what are they going to do to change their behavior to comply?" he said. When signed in 1987, the treaty was lauded as a major safeguard for global security since with no shorter-range missiles in use, the nuclear superpowers would in theory have more time for decision-making if faced with a nuclear attack.

The European Union warned Trump of a potential impact on European security if he decided to go ahead and leave the INF treaty. An EU statement on Monday described the pact as an essential cornerstone of Europe's security structure, adding, "the world doesn't need a new arms race that would benefit no one and on the contrary, would bring even more instability."

Separately, Bolton told Ekho Moskvy that he raised the issue of Russian meddling in the U.S. elections in talks with Security Council chairman Nikolai Patrushev on Monday. He said that he did not believe the meddling had any effect in the U.S. 2016 election, though the accusations created "enormous distrust of Russia."