Koreas win UNESCO recognition of traditional wrestling

November 26, 2018

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Divided for seven decades, North and South Korea together won their first international recognition of Korean traditional wrestling on Monday. The Koreas had earlier pushed separate bids for the sport's UNESCO recognition before merging their applications amid an easing of tensions this year. Local media reports said South Korea had first proposed the joint bid after a leaders' summit at a Korean border village in April.

On Monday, the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, meeting in Port Louis, decided to inscribe traditional Korean wrestling on its list of "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" on the basis of an application by the two Koreas, UNESCO said in a release.

"The joint inscription marks a highly symbolic step on the road to inter-Korean reconciliation," UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay said. "It reminds us of the peace-building power of cultural heritage, as a bridge between peoples. This marks a victory for the longstanding and profound ties between both sides of the inter-Korean border."

South Korean President Moon Jae-in hailed the UNESCO inscription, calling it a "result of recent South-North cooperation." The South's Cultural Heritage Administration said that the two Koreas have been given a new opportunity to further promote exchanges in the field of cultural heritage. It said in a statement the joint nomination is the "fruitful outcome of a meeting" between Moon and Azoulay in October.

UNESCO said during that meeting with Moon, Azoulay proposed a series of concrete projects involving UNESCO that would facilitate inter-Korean reconciliation. It said similar discussions also took place with North Korea in recent weeks.

"The commitment of UNESCO to facilitate peace between the two parties has led to the joint inscription in a short timeframe," it said. The Koreas saw their ties improved greatly since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reached out to Moon and U.S. President Donald Trump with a vague nuclear disarmament commitment early this year.

They have since marched together during the opening ceremony of the Olympics, exchanged pop singer performances and taken steps toward easing a frontline military standoff. But it's unclear how far their reconciliation moves would go as U.S.-led diplomacy aimed at stripping North Korea of its nuclear program has reported headway since Kim's summit with Trump in June.

The Koreas were a single country before their separation in 1945. Split along the world's most heavily fortified border, the countries now have linguistic, cultural and other gaps. They use different English Romanization rules. The wrestling's English spelling is "ssirum" in North Korea and "ssireum" in South Korea. The Koreas use both spellings for their combined bid for UNESCO recognition.

North Korea has won UNESCO recognitions of two Korean cultural assets — the Korean folk tune "Airrang" and the making of Kimchi. The two are among the 19 items that South Korea has received UNESCO recognition for, according to South Korean officials.

Korean wresting is a national sport and a popular cultural practice in both Koreas. In the sport, participants with a belt around their waists and thighs use their hands, legs and other body parts to bring down their opponents. In South Korea, it gained wide popularity in the 1980s, threatening the long-running popularity of baseball and soccer.

Kremlin candidate wins in repeated vote in Russia's Far East

December 16, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — Russians living in the far eastern region of Primorsky Krai elected a Kremlin-backed candidate for governor on Sunday after a previous election was thrown out due to voting fraud. Local election officials said the acting governor of the region, Oleg Kozhemyako, won 61.4 percent of the votes after 95 percent of the ballots had been counted in the Russian region on the Sea of Japan. The election commission said second place went to Andrei Andreichenko of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party with 25.5. percent of the vote.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called Kozhemyako on Sunday evening to congratulate him on the victory. Kozhemyako was tapped by President Vladimir Putin to stand in as governor of Primorsky Krai and run in the election in place of the former acting governor, Andrei Tarasenko.

Tarasenko, who represented the ruling United Russia party during a gubernatorial election in September, appeared ready to lose that vote to a Communist challenger, Andrei Ishchenko. With 98 percent of the ballots counted, Ishchenko led with almost 50 percent of the votes. But by the time 99 percent of ballots were counted, Tarasenko had seen a miraculous comeback and allegedly won the election by over 7,500 votes.

In the face of growing outrage in Primorsky Krai over suspected voting fraud, the Russian Central Election Commission quickly moved to annul the results, claiming they were impossible to verify as both sides accused the other of improprieties.

Tarasenko was not among the four candidates who competed in Sunday's gubernatorial vote. Ishchenko, the Communist who likely won the September vote, did not run either on Sunday. His party decided to boycott the repeated vote and he failed to gather the required signatures for an independent bid for governor.

The election commission reported a 39.6 percent voter turnout for Sunday's election, up from 29.2 percent in September.

New ballot in Russian Far East after tainted vote tossed out

December 16, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — Russians living in the far eastern region of Primorsky Krai have voted for a new governor after previous election was tainted by fraud. The result of the region's gubernatorial election in September was annulled after a candidate representing the ruling United Russia party suddenly surged to victory in the final tallies.

Four candidates were competing Sunday. The polls are already closed and the votes were being tallied. To win, a single candidate must take at least 50 percent of the vote or face a runoff. The local election commission has reported a 39.6 percent voter turnout — up from 29.2 percent in September.

The Kremlin-backed candidate on Sunday is acting governor Oleg Kozhemyako. The Kremlin candidate in September's election, Andrei Tarasenko, is not running after his victory was annulled.

Russian rappers, other artists targeted in crackdown

December 07, 2018

MOSCOW (AP) — When the Russian "dark rave" duo Nastya Kreslina and Nikolay Kostylev stepped off the train for their gig in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, the police were waiting on the frozen platform. They were asked for their passports, Kostylev was handcuffed and they were whisked away to the local police station.

There, the police claimed they'd received an anonymous call about drug possession. But Kreslina and Kostylev, whose experimental performances as the electronic duo IC3PEAK feature provocative, morbid and often gruesome themes, say the real reason for their arrest is their art.

During their Russia-wide tour, which began last month and has spanned venues from the Volga River city of Kazan to far eastern Siberia, six of their 11 concerts have been cancelled. Club owners have been pressured not to host them and threatened with fines and closures.

"We have received no official statements, no letters, nothing," Kostylev told The Associated Press of the harassment. "These are just ratty methods of fighting against art." In recent months, Russian musicians have experienced a spike in pressure from the authorities, with a string of concert cancellations and arrests that have brought an outcry from critics who see it as the latest expression of censorship against Russian artists.

The crackdown evokes Soviet-era restrictions on the music scene, when Communist Party officials drove rock musicians deemed an ideological threat underground. More recently it follows the 2012 jailing of Pussy Riot punk band members and other heavy-handed moves by President Vladimir Putin's government to tighten control over the nation's cultural scene — reflecting uneasiness with the musicians' broad reach and challenge to official policies.

Last month, a rapper known as Husky, whose videos have garnered more than 6 million views on YouTube, was arrested after he staged an impromptu performance when his show was shut down in the southern city of Krasnodar.

The 25-year-old rapper, known for his lyrics about poverty, corruption and police brutality, was preparing to take to the stage on Nov. 21 when local prosecutors warned the venue that his act had elements of what they termed "extremism."

Husky climbed onto a car, surrounded by hundreds of fans, and chanted "I will sing my music, the most honest music!" before he was taken away by police. A court sentenced Husky to 12 days in jail on charges of hooliganism, but he was released four days later — hours before a solidarity concert in Moscow by a group of popular hip hop artists protesting his detention.

However, the official pressure on artists has continued. On Nov. 30, rapper Gone.Fludd announced two concert cancellations, citing pressure from "every police agency you can imagine," while popular hip hop artist, Allj, cancelled his show in the Arctic city of Yakutsk after receiving threats of violence.

Other artists have been affected as well — pop sensation Monetochka and punk band Friendzona were among those who had their concerts shut down by the authorities last month. In IC3PEAK's case, besides their Dec. 1 detention in Siberia, the artists have been hounded for weeks by the police and the Federal Security Service, or FSB, the main KGB successor agency. Kreslina said the authorities were using "old, tried and tested Soviet methods" to crack down on musicians accused of overstepping.

"We don't want to stop performing," she said. "But we think it's getting worse." Their music videos use occult and "slaughterhouse" imagery, often featuring them in disturbing guises drinking blood and eating raw meat. They believe their most recent one, which fused ghoulish images of the pair lying in coffins with a backdrop of the FSB security service headquarters, is what has vexed the authorities

Kreslina and Kosylev maintain, however, their work is aimed more at shaking up popular perceptions than making an overtly political statement. "We are taking people out of their comfort zone, because it helps people to think, it opens up new feelings and emotions," Kostylev said. "If people get scared of your art, you are most likely doing the right thing."

Boris Barabanov, a music columnist at Russia's top business daily, Kommersant, said the backlash will only fuel "tougher, more biting songs" and foster greater resourcefulness to get around restrictions.

Unlike in Soviet times, when Soviet rock stars were forced underground by Communist officials, "now all musicians are equal in front of the main channel for the distribution of content — the internet," Barabanov said.

"Anything that is forbidden only encourages the imagination," he said, adding that bands will start changing their names and holding secret concerts to dodge police. Indeed, less than an hour after their release from custody in Novosibirsk, Kreslina and Kostylev were playing to a 300-strong crowd at an abandoned loft on the outskirts of the city.

In the wake of so many obstacles, they now know how to organize secret, backup concerts. Details are sent out on an encrypted messaging app and people bring their own lights and sound systems. "People go crazy, it's a big adventure for them — people love what is forbidden" Kreslina said.

"It's a perfect way to say f--- you to the government," Kostylev added. It remains unclear if the recent crackdown has been directed by the federal authorities or driven by overzealous local officials.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot, who along with fellow band member Maria Alekhina spent nearly two years in prison for "insulting religious feelings" with their provocative 2012 performance in Moscow's top Russian Orthodox cathedral, said the latest backlash has been fueled by Kremlin fears.

"The artists whom they banned have a stronger, livelier, angrier electorate that is more convinced and reliable than that of Vladimir Putin's," Tolokonnikova said. "They're starting to feel the competition in the Kremlin and at the FSB headquarters."

Barabanov, the music columnist, has a different view. "I don't think that the authorities want to ban a specific genre of music and I don't think that this is a pre-planned campaign" by the Kremlin, he said. "More likely this is a matter of stupidity among officials in the regions."

In a claim that appeared to back that assertion, Margarita Simonyan, head of the state-funded RT television network who has strong ties to top Kremlin officials, maintained that Husky's release came after government intervention.

And last week, the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service proposed creating grants to support local rappers, while Kremlin adviser and former culture minister Mikhail Shvydkoi defended rap as an art "that should not be ignored."

Dmitry Kiselyov, the host of a top news show on Russia's state TV, also came to the rappers' defense, saying they represent a tremendously popular subculture that "should not be harassed." Trifon Bebutov, the former digital editor of Esquire Russia, saw all that as a sign that "the Kremlin is trying to find a way to cooperate and start a dialogue with popular artists."

The musicians' popularity with young Russians and potential to proliferate ideas that are uncomfortable for the government worries the Kremlin, he added. "It seems that the government is really scared of an audience they don't have the ability to control, that they are worried could be incited to action, to protest," Bebutov said.

In a testament to that wide following, tickets sold out in just three hours for last month's solidarity concert organized by three of Russia's leading hip hop artists to protest Husky's arrest. Between them, the rappers have a millions-strong audience, as well as the hearts and minds of internet-savvy, young Russians who don't consume state media like the older generation.

The message they heard was clear. "This concert isn't just about Husky," 33-year-old rapper Oxxxymiron told the crowd. "It's about the artists who have faced this in the past and, I'm afraid, for those artists who might face this in the future. This is about the freedom of society."

Putin derides Ukraine's martial law as political trick

November 28, 2018

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's president donned combat fatigues to implement martial law in much of the country on Wednesday, a move Russia denounced as a cynical political trick as both sides ratcheted up tensions after a weekend standoff in the Black Sea.

Each side blamed the other for the bellicose turn of events, with Ukraine saying Russia is preparing for a full-scale invasion and Moscow calling it a political stunt by an unpopular president facing tough elections.

In Sunday's confrontation, three Ukrainian naval vessels were heading from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov when they were blocked by the Russian coast guard near the Kerch Strait between Russia's mainland and the Crimean Peninsula it annexed from Ukraine. After many tense hours of maneuvering, the Russians opened fire and seized the Ukrainian vessels and crew.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko responded by ordering martial law in much of the country, a move that went into effect with parliamentary approval. Poroshenko toured a military training center Wednesday in the Chernihiv region bordering Russia, one of the areas where martial law was imposed. Speaking to reporters as smoke billowed from a nearby shooting range, the camouflage-clad president pledged "not to allow the enemy to attack Ukraine" and announced a hike in salaries for servicemen.

Poroshenko initially sought to impose martial law for two months, a move that would have meant presidential elections scheduled for March would have to be scrapped due to election rules. Facing criticism in parliament, he halved the martial law time frame to a month, which would allow the election to go ahead as planned.

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin bluntly accused his Ukrainian counterpart of provoking the naval incident in order to shore up his sagging popularity and sideline competitors ahead of the March election.

"The Black Sea incident certainly was a provocation organized by the sitting government, including the incumbent president ahead of the presidential vote in March," Putin said, alleging that Poroshenko wanted to "exacerbate the situation and create obstacles for his rivals."

Ukraine has insisted that its vessels were operating in line with international maritime rules, while Russia claimed they had failed to get permission to pass through a Russia-controlled area. A 2003 treaty between the two countries designated the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov as shared territorial waters, but Russia claimed the strait in its entirety after annexing Crimea in 2014 and has sought to assert greater control over the passage.

On Wednesday, Ukraine released what it said was the exact location where its ships were fired on by Russia, saying they were in international waters west of the Kerch Strait. Putin, meanwhile, insisted the Ukrainian vessels were in Russia's territorial waters and refused to communicate with the Russian coast guard or accept a Russian pilot to guide them through the narrow strait.

"What were the border guards supposed to do?" the Russian leader said Wednesday. "They fulfilled their duty to protect the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation. If they had done something differently, they should have been put on trial for that."

Kurt Volker, the U.S. special envoy on Ukraine, told reporters in Berlin that Washington sees no reason to doubt the information from Kiev that its vessels were operating in line with international maritime rules. "There's no conceivable justification that we can think of for the use of force in this scenario," he said.

Ukraine, which insists its seamen are prisoners of war, has asked the International Red Cross to arrange a visit to see them. It said six of the sailors were wounded by Russian fire, while Russia said three Ukrainian crewmen were slightly injured.

A court in Crimea's regional capital, Simferopol, has ordered all 24 Ukrainian crewmen to be held in custody for two months on charges of violating the Russian border pending trial. They face up to six years in prison if convicted.

The incident marked the first overt collision between Russian and Ukrainian militaries since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. It has fueled fears of a wider conflict and has drawn strong criticism of Russia by the U.S. and its allies.

U.S. President Donald Trump, in an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday, said he might cancel a sit-down with Putin during the G20 summit in Argentina over the Russian action. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday that the meeting is on and that Russia has not received "any other information from our U.S. counterparts."

Amid the tensions, the Russian military announced Wednesday that it would beef up its forces in Crimea with another batch of the long-range S-400 air defense missile systems to Crimea. The showdown came amid the long-simmering conflict between the two countries, in which Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and supported separatists in Ukraine's east with clandestine dispatches of troops and weapons. That fighting has killed at least 10,000 people since 2014 but eased somewhat with a 2015 truce.

Vasilyeva reported from Moscow. Associated Press writers Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and David Rising in Berlin contributed to this report.

Georgia's 1st woman president is inaugurated amid protests

December 16, 2018

VELISTSIKHE, Georgia (AP) — The first woman president of Georgia has been sworn into office amid continued protests from opposition figures who allege her election was tainted. President Salome Zurabishvili said during her inauguration speech on Sunday that she would work "to promote our country's integration process into NATO and the EU."

Opposition activists clashed with police after authorities blocked access to the inauguration's venue in the city of Telavi. Zurabishvili, a French-born former foreign minister, won a November 28 runoff against opposition candidate Grigol Vashadze. The government favored her in the race.

The opposition alleges gross electoral violations occurred during the presidential election that make the outcome illegitimate. Observers for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have said the government was overly involved in the election campaign.

Visitors evacuated, animals moved after fire at British zoo

December 15, 2018

LONDON (AP) — A fire broke out Saturday in an enclosure at one of Britain's largest zoos, forcing keepers to evacuate visitors and move animals away from the flames. Witnesses said the blaze broke out about 11:30 a.m. in the Monsoon Forest habitat area, with winds fanning flames in the building's inflatable roof. The zoo, which is near Chester, south of the English city of Liverpool, did not give a cause for the fire.

The zoo said it worked with emergency services to bring the situation under control. "Critically endangered Sumatran orangutans and other mammals are all accounted for," the zoo said on Twitter. "We are working hard to account for all other species."

The zoo describes the Monsoon Forest exhibit as the largest indoor zoo exhibit ever built in Britain, offering a chance to explore a sub-tropical world filled with creatures ranging from small insects to crocodiles. It also contains exotic plants and palm trees in a climate that mimics Southeast Asia and has raised walkways and underwater viewing areas.

The enclosure, which opened in 2015, was part of a 40 million pound development at the zoo. "We were very worried for the people and animals that would have been in the building," said David Clough, who lives across the road from the structure. "Orangutans and gibbons are our nearest neighbors there, but there are many other animals, including free-flying birds."

The zoo, which opened in 1931, has some 15,000 animals, CEO Mark Pilgrim said on its website. It cares for some 500 different species, about half of which are endangered, and supports and conducts 70 conservation projects at home and abroad.