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U.S.-led coalition says Islamic State Syria convoy split in two

BEIRUT (Reuters) - An Islamic State evacuation convoy trying to reach IS territory in east Syria has split in two, with some buses remaining in the open desert after others turned back into government-held areas, a U.S.-led coalition fighting the group said on Sunday. The Syrian government and Lebanon s Hezbollah group offered the convoy of about 300 lightly armed fighters and about 300 family members safe passage a week ago in return for Islamic State surrendering an enclave on the Syria-Lebanon border. However, the coalition has blocked the convoy from entering Islamic State territory in east Syria, near the border with Iraq, by cratering roads and destroying bridges, saying it opposes the evacuation deal as being not a lasting solution . One group remains in the open desert to the north west of Al-Bukamal and the other group has headed west towards Palmyra, the coalition said in an emailed statement. On Saturday Hezbollah said all but six of the buses had safely crossed out of Syrian government territory and were no longer the responsibility of it or the Syrian government. It warned the United States that the buses in the desert included elderly people, pregnant women and casualties, and accused it of stopping humanitarian aid reaching the convoy. The coalition said it had contacted Russia to deliver a message to the Syrian government that it would still not let the convoy pass, and that it had offered suggestions on how to save the civilians in it from suffering. Food and water have been provided to the convoy, it said, without giving further details. The coalition has said it will not target the convoy directly while it contains civilians, but said in its statement it had struck about 85 IS fighters near the convoy. It had also struck about 40 IS vehicles near the convoy including a tank, an artillery system, armed vehicles and transport vehicles seeking to help move the fighters in the convoy into its territory, it said.

worldnews

September 3, 2017

Iran re-imposes death sentence on spiritual figure that supreme court quashed

DUBAI (Reuters) - An Iranian court has re-imposed the death penalty on the founder of a spiritual movement after the first sentence was struck down by the supreme court, the judiciary said on Sunday. Mohammad Ali Taheri, founder of Erfan Halgheh which calls itself Interuniversalism in English, was arrested in 2011 and given five years in prison for insulting Islamic sanctities . He was sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court in 2015 for corruption on earth but the Supreme Court later quashed the sentence. (Taheri s) case was sent back to court and tried with the presence of a lawyer and various advisors and the judge has again reached, Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei was quoted as saying by the news agency ISNA. The sentence can be appealed, he added. Amnesty International says Taheri is a prisoner of conscience and has condemned Iran s use of capital punishment for vaguely worded or overly broad offences, or acts that should not be criminalized at all . Tehran dismisses such criticism as part of an effort from the West to heap political pressure on the Islamic Republic.

worldnews

September 3, 2017

Italy's 5-Star says euro referendum is 'last resort'

CERNOBBIO, Italy (Reuters) - A referendum on Italy s membership of the euro currency would be held only as a last resort if Rome does not win any fiscal concessions from the European Union, a senior lawmaker from the anti-establishment Five-Star Movement said on Sunday. Luigi Di Maio s comments reflect a striking change of tone by some senior officials in the party in recent months as they have retreated from 5-Star s original pledge. Seeking to reassure an audience of bankers and business leaders, Di Maio - widely tipped to be 5-Star s candidate for prime minister at a general election due by next year - played down the referendum proposal, calling it a negotiating tool with the EU. Austerity policies have not worked, on monetary policy we deserve the credit for triggering a debate... this is why we raised the issue of a referendum on the euro, as a bargaining tool, as a last resort and a way out in case Mediterranean countries are not listened to, he said. Two years ago the party gathered the signatures from the public needed to pave the way for a referendum that it said was vital to restore Italy s fiscal and monetary sovereignty. But now, running neck-and-neck with the ruling Democratic Party (PD) in opinion polls and with the election in sight - scheduled to be held by May 2018 - it is hitting the brakes on the idea. This underlines the crucial challenge facing the party as it seeks to please some core supporters, while trying to shed its populist image and convince foreign capitals and financial markets that it can be trusted in office. Reuters had access to the comments, which were made behind closed doors. Highlighting the sensitivity of the issue, Di Maio declined to answer journalists questions about the referendum before making his speech inside the Ambrosetti conference in Cernobbio, on the shores of Lake Como, about 40 km (25 miles) from Milan. The party wants several changes to the euro zone s economic rules to help its more sluggish economies, like Italy. These include stripping public investment from budget deficits under the EU s Stability Pact and creating a European bad bank to deal with euro zone lenders bad loans. We are not against the European Union, we want to remain in the EU and discuss some of the rules that are suffocating and damaging our economy, said Di Maio, who serves as deputy speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. An opinion poll in La Stampa daily on Sunday had 24 percent of respondents saying Di Maio most deserved to run the country in the next five years, against 17 percent for former PD Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and 12 percent for center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi. Di Maio s presence at the Ambrosetti meeting, an annual gathering of Italy s elite business leaders, prompted some 5-Star supporters, including a respected magistrate they had recommended as the next head of state, to accuse the movement of schmoozing with the enemy. Last year, he turned down an invitation from organizers at the last minute. But with 5-Star expected to announce its candidate for prime minister later this month, he has been rubbing shoulders with the Italian establishment at a string of events. A couple of days ago he graced the red carpet at the Venice film festival, and later on Sunday he will attend the Italian Grand Prix Formula One race in Monza. Five-Star, as a force that is putting itself forward to run the country, must talk to everybody, explaining its own vision for the government and the country. This is why I accepted the invitation, he told reporters in Cernobbio.

worldnews

September 3, 2017

India appoints new defence minister, rejigs cabinet to refocus on economy

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed Nirmala Sitharaman as defence minister on Sunday as part of a cabinet reshuffle, as he seeks to get economic growth back on track and modernise the armed forces before national elections in 2019. Sitharaman, 58, who was promoted from being a junior trade minister, becomes the first female defence minister since Indira Gandhi was in charge of the department when she was prime minister 35 years ago. She will take over from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who held both portfolios but said last week he wanted to concentrate on the economy. Growth in Asia s third-largest economy slowed to its weakest pace in three years in the last quarter and government promises to boost manufacturing and create tens of thousands of jobs for one of the world s youngest workforces have failed to take off. Sitharaman has been running the trade ministry where she built up a reputation as a tough negotiator. At defence she will be charged with carrying out a military modernisation programme estimated to cost $150 billion to fully equip India s armed forces. Modi also named a new minister for the railways to restore confidence in the world s fourth-biggest rail network after a string of accidents, as well as a new leader to head a planned clean up of the river Ganges that has failed to make headway. Piyush Goyal, who has been credited with turning around the coal mining sector, will run the railways while remaining coal minister. Nitin Gadkari who heads the highways and shipping ministry will also look after the ministry of water resources and the Ganges rejuvenation department, the government said in a statement. Four of the nine new ministers appointed by Modi are retired bureaucrats, including K J Alphons, known as Delhi s demolition man for launching a crackdown on illegal structures in the capital despite facing intense political pressure. They also include a former police commissioner and a diplomat, reflecting Modi s faith in bureaucrats to deliver on his goals rather than politicians who are often untested in governance. Modi also promoted Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the minister of minority affairs and one of a handful of Muslim leaders in his party, to the cabinet. Naqvi has been trying to deflect criticism that the government is either failing to or unwilling to protect Muslims involved in the meat trade after a number of attacks by hardline Hindu vigilantes who are pushing harder for protection of the cow, an animal they consider sacred. I congratulate all those who have taken oath today. Their experience and wisdom will add immense value to the council of ministers, Modi said before leaving for China to attend a summit of the BRICS group of countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Critics, however, said the cabinet changes would make little difference since Modi and his office were directly running the government with little real power given to the ministers. What s the fuss about a cabinet reshuffle in a one-man cabinet? Prime minister s office reshuffle would have mattered more, said Yogendra Yadav who runs an independent political group.

worldnews

September 3, 2017

Pope visits Colombia to boost peace process after 50 years of war

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis travels to Colombia this week to encourage a fledgling peace process that ended half a century of war between a succession of governments and the guerrilla group FARC but has left the country deeply divided. Francis, making his 20th foreign trip as pontiff and his fifth to his native Latin America, will spend five days in the country, visiting the capital Bogota and the cities of Villavicencio, Medellin and Cartagena. The Argentine pope had delayed accepting a government and Church invitation to visit Colombia, where about 80 percent of the population is Catholic, until a viable peace process was under way. He had wanted to go for a long time. Now the moment has come, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said. Leftist FARC, by far Colombia s biggest rebel group, introduced its new political party last week, a major step in its transition into a civilian organization after more than 50 years of war that killed 220,000 people. Under its 2016 peace deal with the government, most FARC fighters were granted amnesty and allowed to participate in politics. Whether the rebels will secure support from Colombians, many of who revile them, remains to be seen. The peace accord, which was brokered by Cuba and Norway, was initially rejected by a less than 1 percent margin in a referendum before being modified and enacted. Like the rest of the country, Colombia s Roman Catholic bishops were divided on their support of the deal, with some saying it was too lenient to the guerrillas. The pope is expected to urge them to put aside their differences during his trip on Sept. 6-10 and help the country move forward. The greatest task of the Church in Colombia now is to help stem the polarization around the peace process between the government and the guerrillas, said Archbishop Octavio Ruiz, a Vatican official and Colombian. This is a time for us to accept the grandeur of forgiveness, to leave behind us this dark period of war and blood. Hosffman Ospino, a Colombian who is professor of pastoral theology and religious education at Boston College s School of Theology and Ministry, said the country was ready to begin a new phase. The bishops of Colombia need to play a new role in the peace process so as to help create a political conscience, he told Reuters. I think the pope needs to encourage the Church to be an active player in those conversations, in the reconstruction of the social order. Reconciliation is the main theme of the trip and will be the emphasis for events on Friday in the city of Villavicencio, south of Bogota. There, in what is billed as the Great Prayer Meeting for National Reconciliation , the pope will listen to testimonials from people whose lives were affected by the violence and then deliver a homily. Burke, the Vatican spokesman, said those attending the prayer meeting would include victims of violence as well as former guerrillas who have been integrated into Colombian society for some time and are not part of the recent peace process with FARC. He said there would be no formal meeting with opposition politicians, FARC, or the National Liberation Army (ELN), the second-largest insurgent group, which began formal peace negotiations in February after more than three years of secret talks. The Marxist-led ELN, which was founded by radical Roman Catholic priests in 1964, has said it could declare a unilateral ceasefire during the trip to honor Pope Francis, whom they have praised for bringing attention to the world s poor and disenfranchised. The trip will have inter-related themes each day. Builders of Peace, Promotes of Life, in Bogota, Reconciliation with God, among Colombians and with Nature Villavicencio, The Christian Vocation and Apostolate in Medellin, and The Dignity of People and Human Rights in Cartagena.

worldnews

September 3, 2017

Exclusive: Colombia's ELN says it killed Russian hostage; risks peace talks with government

NORTHWESTERN JUNGLES, Colombia (Reuters) - Colombia s ELN guerrilla group said a Russian-Armenian citizen it held hostage for six months was killed in April while trying to escape, a startling admission that risks throwing current peace talks with the government into jeopardy. In a rare interview, a commander of the National Liberation Army, Colombia s last active guerrilla group, said that ransoms from kidnappings were necessary to keep its fighters in the field and that peace would be impossible without state funding to feed and clothe the rebels. The ELN seized Arsen Voskanyan in November. The group claimed that he was collecting endangered, poisonous frogs in the jungles of the northwestern department of Choco and accused him of wanting to smuggle wildlife overseas. After his lengthy captivity, Voskanyan was shot when he grabbed a hand grenade in a bid to escape, according to the ELN commander, who would only give his nom-de-guerre Yerson. He s dead, Yerson told Reuters in a remote area along the banks of a river that sees frequent combat between the leftist rebels, government troops and right-wing paramilitaries. The grenade exploded ... several of our boys were wounded, the entire unit of five boys. He fled, he was shot and killed ... The issue of his body will be negotiated, he said, adding that the death took place within his unit. Yerson supplied no evidence to back up his assertions. Another person with knowledge of the matter also subsequently confirmed that Voskanyan had been killed. Reuters could not independently confirm the circumstances surrounding Voskanyan s death. Colombia s government said it knows nothing of the ELN s claim and the last it knew was a statement from the ELN that said he had escaped. The responsibility is with the ELN, the senior official said, asking not to be named. The Russian Embassy in Colombia, Colombia s High Peace Commissioner and the Foreign Ministry in Moscow did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The ELN s practice of kidnapping civilians is a key issue at peace talks taking place in the Ecuadorean capital of Quito. The fact that Voskanyan was killed as talks progress and the ELN failed to inform the government may complicate already tricky negotiations to end 53 years of war and make the need to agree a ceasefire more pressing. It makes it urgent to get a bilateral, verifiable ceasefire as soon as possible so this doesn t keep happening, leftist Senator Antonio Navarro Wolff, who once belonged to now-demobilized urban guerrilla group the M-19, told Reuters. Yerson and his troops said they are not optimistic a peace agreement can be reached because neither side will give ground on kidnapping. The ELN has refused to stop taking hostages for ransom, launching bomb attacks and extorting foreign oil and mining companies while talks are ongoing. The government has said it will not move forward on issues like a bilateral ceasefire until it does. Talks with the ELN are being held as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), until this year the biggest rebel group, has demobilized, formed a new political party and ended its part in a civil war that killed more than 220,000 people and displaced millions over five decades. His face covered by a thin black balaclava and wearing a beret and camouflage fatigues, Yerson, 35, said he has been fighting in Colombia s jungles and mountains for many, many years. Flanked by two fighters carrying semi-automatic rifles as other rebels watched on, he questioned the government s willingness to make sufficient concessions but said he would adhere to the wishes of his leadership if a peace deal was reached. The ELN has sought peace before, holding talks in Cuba and Venezuela between 2002 and 2007, but experts have said those discussions were dogged by lack of will on both sides. Yerson is the commander of the Ernesto Che Guevara Front, that fights under the command of the ELN leader known as Uriel who commands the Western War Block Omar Gomez. He declined to say how many rebels fight in his unit. The ELN - which has kidnapped hundreds of Colombians and foreigners for economic and political gain - previously said in a statement that Voskanyan escaped injured after a struggle that left several fighters wounded as they tried to release him to the International Committee of the Red Cross. The killing of Voskanyan may turn already dire public perception further against the ELN, analyst Ariel Avila told Reuters. The impact will be on public opinion and in the questioning of the talks, he said. Inspired by the Cuban revolution and established by radical Catholic priests in 1964, the ELN was close to disappearing in the 1970s but steadily gained power again. By 2002 it had as many as 5,000 fighters, financed by war taxes levied on landowners and oil companies. It is now believed to have about 2,000 fighters, but Yerson, who would not confirm the number, said the group is heavily recruiting. Considered a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, the ELN has stepped up attacks on economic infrastructure this year, hitting oil pipelines and power lines repeatedly. President Juan Manuel Santos, who meted out some of the most crushing military blows against the FARC and earned a Nobel Peace Prize last year for his efforts at peace, has had less success with the ELN, which moves in mobile units of four or so fighters. The ELN has said it may declare a temporary ceasefire to honor Pope Francis during his visit next week to Colombia.

worldnews

September 2, 2017

Police fire tear gas at Congo opposition leader's supporters

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Police fired tear gas to disperse supporters of Democratic Republic of Congo s opposition chief on Sunday as they gathered in the capital amid high tensions over election delays keeping President Joseph Kabila in power, a Reuters witness said. Felix Tshisekedi, head of an opposition coalition, is due to fly back to the capital Kinshasa on Sunday after a prolonged absence abroad. Around a dozen supporters had gathered at his family residences in the morning, although there was no sign of violence. Tshisekedi intends to call for a civil disobedience campaign in order to pressure Kabila, whose mandate expired last year, to step aside. Congolese authorities banned the coalition s planned meeting on Sunday, citing a risk of violence in the Central African country of more than 70 million people.

worldnews

September 3, 2017

Russia expresses deep concern about North Korea nuclear test

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian foreign ministry said on Sunday it was deeply concerned about a reported nuclear test by North Korea. The ministry said on its website that the test was a defiance of international law and deserved condemnation. It urged all sides involved to hold talks, which it said was the only way to resolve the Korean peninsula s problems.

worldnews

September 3, 2017

Australia defends hardline immigration policy as keeping out 'undesirables'

(Reuters) - Australia said on Sunday it is stopping undesirables such as terrorists, pedophiles, organized criminals and drug smugglers from boarding flights to the country, defending its hardline immigration policy that has drawn criticism from rights groups. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said that Australian Border Force Airline Liaison Officers were operating in major transit airports to push those threats beyond our borders . Where other countries allow people to arrive and then assess the threat then , the Australian model was to bar those considered a threat. (Liaison officers) try to identify the threats particularly given that we ve got foreign fighters coming back through Southeast Asia and all over the idea is to stop them getting on planes, the minister told the Nine Network. According to media, immigration officials prevented 1,043 passengers from boarding flights to Australia since 2013. Australia has seen the rise of nationalist, anti-immigration politics with far-right wing parties such as One Nation garnering strong public support, while the popularity of the ruling center-right government has been languishing. Under its policy on asylum seekers arriving by boat, Australia turns back unauthorized vessels at sea to their port of origin when it can and sends those it cannot to controversial camps in the South Pacific for long-term detention. Earlier this year, the government announced it would raise the bar for handing out citizenships by lengthening the waiting period, adding a new Australian values test and raising the standard for English language as part of a shake up of its immigration program.

worldnews

September 3, 2017

Tropical Storm Lidia leaves seven dead in Mexico's Baja California peninsula

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Lidia s death toll rose to at least seven people, including two children, as the storm doused various states in Mexico with heavy rain on Saturday and left a severe trail of damage in the Baja California peninsula, authorities said. The victims were either electrocuted or drowned while trying to cross streams, according to a report from the prosecutor s office in the state of Baja California Sur, home to the tourist area Los Cabos, that was cited by local media. The storm, which continued to churn through various states, particularly in Western Mexico, also cut off power and damaged homes and roads in Baja California Sur, where some 3,000 people were taken to shelter. Lidia was located 110 kilometers north of Punta Eugenia, moving at a speed of 19 kilometers per hour to the northeast with maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour, the National Hurricane Center in the U.S. said.

worldnews

September 2, 2017

Romania to hold same-sex marriage referendum this autumn: ruling party leader

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania s ruling Social Democrats hope to organize this autumn a referendum to restrict the constitutional definition of family, which would effectively rule out the possibility of legalizing same-sex marriage, party leader Liviu Dragnea said on Saturday. The plan for a referendum came about after the Coalition for the Family, a civil society group, collected 3 million signatures last year in favor of changing the constitutional definition of marriage as a union strictly between a man and a woman from the existing spouses. Under Romanian law, the constitution can be changed after a proposal by the president, the government, a quarter of all lawmakers or at least 500,000 citizens. Parliament must approve any revision, which must then pass a nationwide referendum. It is known that we are committed ... in this direction, state news agency Agerpres quoted Dragnea as saying at a party meeting at a resort on the Black Sea. Our intention is to end up organizing the referendum to change the constitution on the family issue this autumn. Few politicians openly support same sex marriage or even civil partnerships in the socially conservative eastern European nation of 20 million, where the Orthodox Church yields significant influence. Notable exceptions include centrist President Klaus Iohannis, an ethnic German, who has said that as a member of an ethnic and religious minority, he supports tolerance and openness towards others who are different while rejecting religious fanaticism and ultimatums. The opposition Save Romania Union (USR) also held an internal vote on the issue and decided to oppose the referendum. In June, dozens of Romanian rights groups jointly asked parliament to reject the proposed constitutional change that they said would push the European Union state onto a populist, authoritarian track leading to an erosion of democratic rights and liberties. The Coalition for the Family also supports cancelling subsidies for contraception and elective abortion, forcing parents of minors to have counseling if they want to divorce, and lowering some taxes for married couples. Restricting the definition of family based on a marriage between man and woman also would hurt single parents, non-married couples and other non-traditional parenting units, rights groups have said.

worldnews

September 2, 2017

Rohingya Muslims flee as more than 2,600 houses burned in Myanmar's Rakhine

COX S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - More than 2,600 houses have been burned down in Rohingya-majority areas of Myanmar s northwest in the last week, the government said on Saturday, in one of the deadliest bouts of violence involving the Muslim minority in decades. About 58,600 Rohingya have fled into neighbouring Bangladesh from Myanmar, according to U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, as aid workers there struggle to cope. Myanmar officials blamed the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) for the burning of the homes. The group claimed responsibility for coordinated attacks on security posts last week that prompted clashes and a large army counter-offensive. But Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh say a campaign of arson and killings by the Myanmar army is aimed at trying to force them out. The treatment of Myanmar s roughly 1.1 million Rohingya is the biggest challenge facing leader Aung San Suu Kyi, accused by Western critics of not speaking out for the Muslim minority that has long complained of persecution. Former colonial power Britain said on Saturday it hoped Suu Kyi would use her remarkable qualities to end the violence. Aung San Suu Kyi is rightly regarded as one of the most inspiring figures of our age, but the treatment of the Rohingya is, alas, besmirching the reputation of Burma, foreign minister Boris Johnson said in a statement. The clashes and army crackdown have killed nearly 400 people and more than 11,700 ethnic residents have been evacuated from the area, the government said, referring to the non-Muslim residents. It marks a dramatic escalation of a conflict that has simmered since October, when a smaller Rohingya attack on security posts prompted a military response dogged by allegations of rights abuses. A total of 2,625 houses from Kotankauk, Myinlut and Kyikanpyin villages and two wards in Maungtaw were burned down by the ARSA extremist terrorists, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said. The group has been declared a terrorist organisation by the government. But Human Rights Watch, which analysed satellite imagery and accounts from Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh, said the Myanmar security forces deliberately set the fires. New satellite imagery shows the total destruction of a Muslim village, and prompts serious concerns that the level of devastation in northern Rakhine state may be far worse than originally thought, said the group s deputy Asia director, Phil Robertson. Near the Naf river separating Myanmar and Bangladesh, new arrivals in Bangladesh carrying their belongings in sacks set up crude tents or tried to squeeze into available shelters or homes of locals. The existing camps are near full capacity and numbers are swelling fast. In the coming days there needs to be more space, said UNHCR regional spokeswoman Vivian Tan, adding more refugees were expected. The Rohingya are denied citizenship in Myanmar and regarded as illegal immigrants, despite claiming roots that date back centuries. Bangladesh is also growing increasingly hostile to Rohingya, more than 400,000 of whom live in the poor South Asian country after fleeing Myanmar since the early 1990s. Jalal Ahmed, 60, who arrived in Bangladesh on Friday with a group of about 3,000 after walking from Kyikanpyin for almost a week, said he believed the Rohingya were being pushed out of Myanmar. The military came with 200 people to the village and started fires...All the houses in my village are already destroyed. If we go back there and the army sees us, they will shoot, he said. Reuters could not independently verify these accounts as access for independent journalists to northern Rakhine has been restricted since security forces locked down the area in October. Speaking to soldiers, government staff and Rakhine Buddhists affected by the conflict on Friday, army chief Min Aung Hlaing said there is no oppression or intimidation against the Muslim minority and everything is within the framework of the law . The Bengali problem was a long-standing one which has become an unfinished job, he said, using a term used by many in Myanmar to refer to the Rohingya that suggests they come from Bangladesh. Many aid programmes running in northern Rakhine prior to the outbreak of violence, including life-saving food assistance by the World Food Programme (WFP), have been suspended since the fighting broke out. Food security indicators and child malnutrition rates in Maungdaw were already above emergency thresholds before the violence broke out, and it is likely that they will now deteriorate even further, said Pierre Peron, spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Myanmar. More than 80,000 children may need treatment for malnutrition in northern Rakhine and many of them reported extreme food insecurity, WFP said in July. In Bangladesh, Tan of UNHCR said more shelters and medical care were needed. There s a lot of pregnant women and lactating mothers and really young children, some of them born during the flight. They all need medical attention, she said. Among new arrivals, 22-year-old Tahara Begum gave birth to her second child in a forest on the way to Bangladesh. It was the hardest thing I ve ever done, she said.

worldnews

September 2, 2017

Yemeni al Qaeda leader calls for attacks in support of Myanmar's Rohingya

DUBAI (Reuters) - A senior leader of al Qaeda s Yemeni branch has called for attacks on Myanmar authorities in support of minority Rohingya Muslims, the SITE monitoring center said on Saturday as thousands fled what they say is a government assault on their villages. Myanmar s roughly 1.1 million Rohingya pose one of the biggest challenges facing leader Aung San Suu Kyi, accused by Western critics of failing to support the Muslim minority that has long complained of persecution. In a video message released by al Qaeda s al-Malahem media foundation, Khaled Batarfi called on Muslims in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia and Malaysia to support their Rohingya Muslim brethren against the enemies of Allah. Batarfi, who was freed from a Yemeni prison in 2015 when Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) seized the port city of Mukalla, also urged al Qaeda s Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) branch to carry out attacks. So spare no effort in waging jihad against them and repulsing their attacks, and beware of letting down our brothers in Burma (Myanmar), Batarfi said, according to the U.S.-based monitoring center. About 58,600 Rohingya have fled into neighboring Bangladesh from Myanmar, according to U.N. refugee agency UNHCR. Myanmar officials accuse the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) of burning homes. The group claimed responsibility for coordinated attacks on security posts last week that prompted clashes and a large army counter-offensive. But Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh say the Myanmar army is conducting a campaign of arson and killings to drive them out. The Rohingya are denied citizenship in Myanmar and regarded as illegal immigrants, despite claiming roots that date back centuries. Bangladesh, where more than 400,000 Rohingya live since they began fleeing Myanmar in the 1990s, is also growing increasingly hostile to the minority. (This version of the story corrects to show Rohingya are a minority, not a majority, in second paragraph)

worldnews

September 2, 2017

Russian diplomats vacate three properties on U.S. orders

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Russian diplomats vacated three properties in the United States on Saturday including the six-story consulate in San Francisco, complying with a U.S. order issued in retaliation for Moscow cutting the American diplomatic presence in Russia. Staff at the San Francisco consulate were seen moving equipment, furniture and small items from the building into minivans and driving away, before coming back for more 20 to 30 minutes later. A group of men in plainclothes and suits were seen on the roof of the consulate looking around, some wearing rubber gloves. The closure ordered by the Trump administration of the consulate in San Francisco and two buildings housing Russian trade missions in Washington and New York was the latest in tit-for-tat measures between the two countries that have helped plunge relations to a new post-Cold War low. Accusations made by the Russian government, including that U.S. officials threatened to break down doors in the relevant properties or that the FBI is clearing the premises, are untrue, a senior U.S. State Department official said in a statement. The State Department said the Russian government had complied with the order to shutter those operations by Saturday and said no diplomats were being expelled as result of the closures. Russia will no longer be permitted to use these facilities for diplomatic or consular purposes, the department official said. In July, the Kremlin ordered the United States to cut its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia by more than half, to 455 people, to match the number of Russian diplomats in the United States, after the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly approved new sanctions against Russia. Those U.S. sanctions were imposed as punishment for what U.S. intelligence agencies concluded was Moscow s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election as well as Russia s annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine. As of early Saturday afternoon, the Russian flag was still seen atop the consulate in San Francisco. Someone opened a window above the main entrance and wedged a small Russian flag there. A small contingent of news media and curious passersby gathered below the building. Images posted on social media on Friday showed black smoke billowing from a chimney of the consulate on the hottest day in San Francisco s recorded history. The smoke prompted speculation that diplomatic staff inside the consulate were burning sensitive documents. Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, said the fire was part of a mothballing. Russia s foreign ministry said on Saturday it had summoned a U.S. diplomat in Moscow to protest what it called plans to conduct searches in Russia s trade mission complex in Washington, another of the buildings ordered closed. Images posted on social media on Friday showed smoke and flames visible outside the trade mission building in Washington.

worldnews

September 2, 2017

Kenyan president, election overturned by court, attacks judiciary

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Saturday the country had a problem with its judiciary, which annulled his election win of last month, and we must fix it . The Law Society of Kenya said in a strongly worded statement that Kenyatta, as the head of state who under the constitution is a symbol of national unity , should refrain from derogatory comments about the judiciary. Kenyatta, speaking a day after the Supreme Court canceled his victory and ordered new polls within 60 days, repeated his message from Friday that he would respect its ruling. But, speaking on live television at the State House in Nairobi after meeting elected officials from his Jubilee party, he added Who even elected you?...We have a problem and we must fix it. He did not elaborate. The decision to annul the election was unexpected and unprecedented in Africa where governments often hold sway over judges. The president s latest comments mark the second time since Friday s ruling that he has criticized the judiciary in public. On Friday, during an impromptu rally in Nairobi, he accused the court of ignoring the will of the people and dismissed the chief justice s colleagues as wakora , or crooks. The lawyers association condemned Kenyatta s use of the Kiswahili word, saying that the judges serving in the highest court had acted professionally, with honor and dignity . They...do not deserve the disrespectful treatment they are being shown , the statement read. The president s appearances since the ruling suggest he intends to campaign rigorously for the re-run of the Aug.8 poll. He said via Twitter on Saturday: For now let us meet at the ballot. Attention now turns back to the election board. The court ruled that it had failed, neglected or refused to conduct the presidential election in a manner consistent with the dictates of the constitution . Raila Odinga, the veteran opposition leader whose coalition brought the petition against the election board to the Supreme Court, said on Friday that some officials from the commission should face criminal prosecution. The chairman of the election board said there would be personnel changes, but it was not clear if that would be enough for the opposition. Sweeping out the whole board would complicate efforts to hold a new poll within two months. Last month s election which included the presidential poll in addition to races at other levels of government was one of the most expensive ever held in Africa. Ahead of the vote Kenya s treasury said preparation and conduct of polling would cost the equivalent of around $480 million. Analysts saw the president s latest comments on the judiciary as a worrisome development. It s extremely unfortunate that Kenyatta seems to be issuing veiled threats at the judiciary, said Murithi Mutiga, a Nairobi-based senior Africa analyst at the International Crisis Group. This was a tremendous moment for Kenyan democracy, where the court upheld the rule of law. Politicians should be careful not to incite the public against the judiciary. On Friday, Chief Justice David Maraga said the Supreme Court s verdict was backed by four of the six judges and declared Kenyatta s victory invalid, null and void . Details of the ruling will be released within 21 days. Prior to last month s election Maraga spoke out to emphasize the judiciary s independence. In a statement he read out on behalf of the Judicial Service Commission less than a week before the election, he listed instances in which politicians from the ruling party and the opposition had tried to intervene in the judiciary s work. The emerging culture of public lynching of judges and judicial officers by the political class is a vile affront to the rule of law and must be fiercely resisted, the statement read. We wish to state that ... the judiciary will not cower to these intimidating tactics. Kenya s judiciary went through sweeping changes in a bid to restore confidence in the legal system after the bloodshed following the 2007 election. Experts say the constitution adopted in 2010 enshrines protections for the judiciary against interference by the executive.

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September 2, 2017

Eight Kenyan schoolgirls die in dormitory blaze: government

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Eight Kenyan teenage schoolgirls died and 10 more were hospitalized after a fire engulfed their boarding school dormitory in Nairobi early on Saturday morning, a government official said. The cause of the fire was not known, and the government ordered Moi Girls School closed for two weeks while it investigated, education minister Fred Matiangi told reporters when he visited the school. A fire broke out at the school at 2:00am in the morning in one of the dormitories, said Matiangi. He said the school, which has nearly 1,200 students, is one of our top schools in the country and... (one) that we are very proud of. A statement from his office on Saturday evening said the death toll had risen from seven to eight. A shaken 16-year-old schoolgirl, Daniella Maina, told Reuters: We were sleeping and a girl woke us up and said that our hostel was burning. We were helped to safety by some teachers. Fires have in the past claimed the lives of dozens of Kenyan boarding school students. In 2001, 58 schoolboys were killed in a dormitory fire at Kyanguli Secondary School outside Nairobi. In 2012, eight students were killed at a school in Homa Bay County in western Kenya. Lax safety standards and poor emergency procedures have been blamed for some past fires at schools and for other tragedies such as the collapse of a residential building in Nairobi in May that killed nearly 50 people. The Kenyan police did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Saturday morning.

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September 2, 2017

Laughing in crisis, Venezuelan acts out dissident Ortega's tale

CARACAS (Reuters) - Laughing at their own tribulations, Venezuelan theatergoers have been enjoying a new satire about a senior official who broke with President Nicolas Maduro and fled the socialist-ruled country in a boat. Former chief state prosecutor Luisa Ortega has been one of the protagonists in this year s political crisis in Venezuela, denouncing rights abuses and corruption before finally going into hiding and moving to Colombia in mid-August. Dressed in a blonde wig and Ortega s trademark office suit, actress Mercedes Benmoha recreates some well-known scenes - and imagines others - in a 15-minute show called The Prosecutor, which is proving popular at a small venue in a mall. Benmoha, who happens to be a lawyer like her subject, acts out a news conference and an imaginary phone call with Ortega s nemesis, state election board head and diehard Maduro ally Tibisay Lucena. She also recreates the once-powerful Ortega s attempt to re-enter her office after authorities fired her and security forces surrounded the building. Jokes fly about corruption, Maduro, and Ortega s own precipitous fall from power. We use humor as a defense mechanism, Benmoha, 35, told Reuters on Friday night, minutes before going on stage for her sellout show. It s our way to survive, to breathe, to entertain ourselves but also to reflect. Venezuelans have had little to laugh about this year. A fourth year of recession and runaway inflation have pummeled households, with shortages and hunger widespread. Months of opposition-led protests led to about 130 deaths and thousands of injuries. Having first fled to Aruba in a speedboat, Ortega has been traveling round Latin America denouncing the Maduro government, which in turn has accused her of corruption. While Venezuela s opposition has applauded her stance against Maduro, activists also remember she was until recently a pillar of the socialist government and that her office had spearheaded its jailing of political foes. Benmoha, who co-wrote the script for her show, said she watched more than 800 videos of Ortega to study her gestures and mannerisms. But with her subject still making news almost daily, the play is regularly updated. When the show started in early August, a producer actually invited Ortega, but she was never able to attend. After Ortega left the country, however, one of her assistants sent a Lady Justice statue that had been in her office. Now, it adorns a Caracas stage every night.

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September 2, 2017

Iran sees little chance of enemy attack: military chief

DUBAI (Reuters) - - Enemies are unlikely to attack Iran, especially on the ground, the country s military chief predicted on Saturday, saying even unwise leaders in the West know that any such conflict would have huge costs for them. U.S. President Donald Trump, adopting an aggressive posture towards Iran after its test launch of a ballistic missile, said in February that nothing is off the table in dealing with Tehran, and the White House said it was putting Iran on notice . In the remote case of an aggression (by enemies), this won t be on the ground because they would face brave warriors, Iran s semi-official news agency Tasnim quoted military chief of staff General Mohammad Baqeri as saying. Thank God, even the unwise who lead world arrogance (the West)... can conclude that attacking the Islamic Republic would entail heavy costs, Baqeri said at an air defense exhibition. Even if they would control the start of an aggression, they would not have a say about its end and they won t even be able to limit the war to Iran s borders, Baqeri added. The United States imposed unilateral sanctions against Iran last month after saying the ballistic missile tests violated a U.N. resolution, which endorsed a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers to lift sanctions. The resolution called upon Tehran not to undertake activities related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such technology. It stopped short of explicitly barring such activity. Iran denies its missile development breaches the resolution, saying its missiles are not designed to carry nuclear weapons.

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September 2, 2017

Hezbollah says bulk of IS convoy has left Syrian government area

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Most of an Islamic State evacuation convoy stuck in east Syria has crossed out of government territory and is no longer the responsibility of the Syrian government or its ally Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi ite group said on Saturday. A U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State has been using warplanes to prevent the convoy from entering territory held by the jihadists in east Syria. Hezbollah and the Syrian army had escorted it from west Syria as part of a truce deal. The Syrian state and Hezbollah have fulfilled their obligations to transfer buses out of the area of Syrian government control without exposing them, the statement said. Hezbollah said in a statement that the U.S.-led jets were still blocking the convoy of fighters and their families, which was stuck in the desert, and were also stopping any aid from reaching it. Six buses remain in government-held territory under the protection and care of the Syrian state and Hezbollah, the statement said. There were originally 17 buses in the convoy. Hezbollah said there were old people, casualties and pregnant women in the buses stranded outside Syrian government control in the desert and called on the international community to step in to prevent them coming to harm. About 300 lightly armed fighters were traveling on the buses, having surrendered their enclave straddling Syria s border with Lebanon on Monday under a deal which allowed them to join their jihadist comrades on the other side of the country. It angered both the U.S.-led coalition, which does not want more battle-hardened militants in an area where it is operating, and Iraq, which sees them as a threat because the convoy s proposed destination of Al-Bukamal is close to its own border. The Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad, helped by Russia and Iran-backed militias including Hezbollah, is fighting Islamic State as it pushes eastwards across the desert. A commander in the pro-Assad military alliance said earlier on Saturday that Hezbollah and the Syrian army were seeking an alternative way for the convoy to cross into Islamic State territory, having already tried two other routes. Work is under way to change the course of the convoy for a second time, the commander said. The coalition has vowed to continue monitoring the convoy and disrupting any effort it makes to cross into jihadist territory but said it would not bomb it directly because it contains about 300 civilian family members of the fighters. It has asked Russia to tell the Syrian government that it will not allow the convoy to move further east towards the Iraqi border, according to a statement issued late on Friday. On Wednesday, the coalition said its jets had cratered a road and destroyed a bridge to stop the convoy progressing, and had bombed some of the jihadists comrades coming the other way to meet it. Hezbollah and the Syrian army on Thursday changed the route of the convoy from Humeima, a hamlet deep in the southeast desert, to a location further north, but coalition jets again struck near that route, the commander said. It was considered a threat, meaning there was no passage that way, the commander said. On Friday coalition jets made mock air raids over the convoy, the commander added. It caused panic among the Daeshis. The militants are scared the convoy will be bombarded as soon as it enters Deir al-Zor, the commander said, using a plural form of the Arabic acronym for Islamic state to refer to its fighters.

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September 2, 2017

Saudi king says kingdom has made progress in tackling terrorism

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Saudi King Salman, receiving dignitaries attending the annual Muslim haj pilgrimage, said on Saturday the kingdom had made progress in eradicating terrorism aimed at attacking its holy sites, state news agency SPA reported. Saudi Arabia, which stakes its reputation on its guardianship of Islam s holiest sites and organizing the haj, has been hit by bombings in recent years and uncovered plots to carry out attacks in Mecca. The limbs of terrorism have sought to harm the holy cities, paying no attention to their sanctity, SPA quoted King Salman as telling foreign dignitaries at a reception he held in Mecca, where more than 2 million pilgrims are performing haj. But the kingdom, by the grace of God and in cooperation with its sisters and friends, has made big successes in eradicating terrorism and has worked decisively and with determination to dry its sources, he added, without elaborating. Salman also said Saudi Arabia had devoted all its material and human resources to ensure the safety of pilgrims who come from all over the world to perform the five-day ritual, a religious duty to be undertaken once in a lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford the journey. We are determined, with God s permission, to continue to provide the highest level of services for the two holy mosques ... to ensure the safety of those who seek the sacred house of God, he said. The pilgrimage has frequently been hit by stampedes and fires. In the most recent incident, hundreds of pilgrims were killed in a crush two years ago.

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September 2, 2017

Suicide bombers attack power station north of Baghdad, killing seven: police

TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - Suicide bombers struck a state-run power station north of Baghdad early on Saturday, killing seven people and forcing the facility to shut down in an attack claimed by Islamic State, police and army sources said. At least three gunmen wearing explosive vests attacked the power station around 3 a.m. local time, near the northern city of Samarra, about 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad. They used grenades to enter the facility. I was on my night shift and suddenly heard shooting and blasts. A few minutes later I saw one attacker wearing a military uniform and throwing grenades through the windows, said Raied Khalid, a worker who was injured by shrapnel. Security sources said the three gunmen briefly took control of the station, but police managed to regain control after three hours. Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement. Four policemen and three workers were killed in the assault, in which 13 were wounded, police and medical sources from a nearby hospital said. One of the attackers, who was cornered by security forces, detonated his suicide vest near one the power generators, causing a fire. The two other gunmen were killed, security sources said, either by blowing themselves up or in clashes with the security forces. Operations at the facility were expected to be suspended briefly, while repairs were under way, electricity officials said.

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September 2, 2017

Frankfurt starts evacuation before attempt to defuse WWII bomb

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Frankfurt emergency service staff started to evacuate patients from two hospitals in Germany s financial capital on Saturday ahead of the planned defusing of a massive World War Two bomb. Some 60,000 people have to leave their homes early on Sunday in Germany s biggest evacuation since the war while officials disarm the 1.4 tonne British bomb. It was discovered on a building site in Frankfurt s leafy Westend, where many wealthy bankers live. More than 100 hospital patients, including premature infants and those in intensive care, were evacuated on Saturday, Frankfurt city councillor Markus Frank told Reuters television. More than 2,000 tonnes of live bombs and munitions are found each year in Germany, even under buildings. In July, a kindergarten was evacuated after teachers discovered an unexploded World War Two bomb on a shelf among some toys. Frankfurt fire and police chiefs said they would use force and incarceration if necessary to clear the area of residents, warning that an uncontrolled explosion of the bomb would be big enough to flatten a city block. The HC 4000 bomb is assumed to have been dropped by Britain s Royal Air Force during the 1939-45 war. The country was pummeled by 1.5 million tonnes of bombs from British and American warplanes that killed 600,000 people. German officials estimate 15 percent of the bombs failed to explode, some burrowing six meters (yards) deep. Three police explosives experts in Goettingen were killed in 2010 while preparing to defuse a 1,000 lb (450 kg) bomb. The compulsory evacuation radius of 1.5 km (roughly a mile) around the bomb includes police headquarters, two hospitals, transport systems and Germany s central bank storing $70 billion in gold reserves. Frankfurt s residents have to clear the area by 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Sunday and police will ring every doorbell and use helicopters with heat-sensing cameras to make sure nobody is left behind before they start diffusing the bomb. Roads and transport systems, including the parts of the underground, will be closed during the work and for at least two hours after the bomb is defused, to allow patients to be transported back to hospitals. Air traffic from Frankfurt airport could also be affected if there is an easterly wind on Sunday. Also, small private planes, helicopters and drones will be banned from the evacuation zone. Frankfurters can spend the day at shelters set up at the trade fair and the Jahrhunderthalle convention center. Most museums are offering residents free entry on Sunday, and a few of them will open their doors earlier in the morning than usual.

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September 2, 2017

Russia hands note of protest to U.S. over plans to search trade mission

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia s foreign ministry has summoned a U.S. diplomat in Moscow to hand him a note of protest over plans to conduct searches in Russia s trade mission complex in Washington, which should soon be closed, the ministry said in a statement on Saturday. It said it has summoned Anthony F. Godfrey, a deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. The ministry called the planned illegal inspection of Russian diplomatic housing an unprecedented aggressive action , which could be used by the U.S. special services for anti-Russian provocations by the way of planting compromised items . The closure by Sept. 2 of the consulate and buildings in Washington and New York that house Russian trade missions is the latest in tit-for-tat actions by the two countries that have helped push relations to a new post-Cold War low. The Kremlin has said the moves to close the Russian facilities pushed bilateral ties further into a dead end. On Friday, the Russian foreign ministry also said the U.S. special services were prepared for searches in its consulate in San Francisco. Some media reported that a smoke was billowing from a chimney of the building. Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the ministry, said it was part of a mothballing . In relation to this, the windows could be closed, the light could be turned off, the water could be drained out, the heating appliances could be turned off, the garbage could be thrown away, essential services could be turned off and many other things, she wrote on social media. Moscow last month ordered the United States to cut its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia by more than half, to 455 people to match the number of Russian diplomats in the United States, after Congress overwhelmingly approved new sanctions against Russia.

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September 2, 2017

With prayer, sacrifices, Pakistani Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha

KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Muslims in Pakistan crowded mosques and prayer grounds across the country to offer prayers and sacrifice goats and cows for Eid al-Adha holiday on Saturday, marking the second major religious festival of Islam. Security was tight, with authorities on guard from any possible attack by religious extremists who have carried out bombings across the country in recent years. Today, we are here to offer Eid prayers, said worshipper Saleem Ahmed at a ceremony in Karachi, Pakistan s largest city. The security arrangements were very good. May Allah approve our prayers. Eid al-Adha commemorates the Koranic tale of the Prophet Abraham s willingness to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to Allah, before Allah replaced the son with a ram to be sacrificed instead. A similar story involving Abraham is recounted in the holy books of Judaism and Christianity. It is tradition for those who can afford it to sacrifice domestic animals as a symbol of Abraham s willingness to sacrifice his only son. The result is a booming pre-holiday trade in goats, cows and sheep. In Pakistan alone, nearly 10 million animals, worth more than $3 billion, are slaughtered during the two days of Eid al-Adha, according to the Pakistan Tanners Association. We are presenting sacrifices to follow the path of the prophet Abraham. We should not forget our poor and needy Muslim brethren on this occasion, Karachi resident Mohamad Muzammil said at the prayer ground where cows and goats were being slaughtered. Eid al-Adha marks the end of an annual Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, which is one of the five pillars of Islam, and should be undertaken by every Muslim who can afford to do so. With a population of about 208 million people, Pakistan is the sixth most-populous country in the world, and has the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia. About 97 percent of Pakistanis are Muslims.

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September 2, 2017

Australia, East Timor reach agreement on maritime border

MELBOURNE/THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Australia and East Timor have reached a breakthrough agreement on a maritime border, ending a decade-old row between the two nations that has stalled a $40 billion offshore gas project. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague announced on Saturday that the neighboring countries had reached an agreement on the central elements of a maritime boundary delimitation between them in the Timor Sea but that details would remain confidential until the deal was finalised. Arbitration began last year and the talks, hosted by Denmark, resulted in a deal on Aug. 30. The countries agreed to establish a special regime for the Greater Sunrise field, paving the way for its development and the sharing of the resulting revenue, the court said in a statement. Until all issues are resolved, the details of the Parties agreement will remain confidential, the statement said. Nevertheless, the Parties agree that the agreement reached on 30 August 2017 marks a significant milestone in relations between them and in the historic friendship between the peoples of Timor-Leste and Australia. The leader of East Timor s delegation, chief negotiator and former President Xanana Gusm o, hailed the agreement as a historic moment which would mark the beginning of a new era in Timor-Leste s friendship with Australia . I thank the Commission for its resolve and skill in bringing the Parties together, through a long and at times difficult process, to help us achieve our dream of full sovereignty and to finally settle our maritime boundaries with Australia, Gusm o said. Timor, a former Portuguese colony, has struggled to develop as an independent nation since a violent break from occupying forces from Indonesia in 1999. Gas reserves, once claimed by Australia, is a key to its economic future. The long-running political dispute has led the owners of the Greater Sunrise fields - Woodside Petroleum, ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell and Japan s Osaka Gas - to shelve the project. The fields are estimated to hold 5.1 trillion cubic feet (144 billion cubic meters) of gas and 226 million barrels of condensate, which analysts have estimated could be worth $40 billion. The existing maritime boundary is aligned with Australia s continental shelf, but East Timor has long argued the border should lie half way between it and Australia - placing much of the Greater Sunrise fields under its control. Australia had previously resisted renegotiating a permanent border but under pressure from the United Nations has agreed to enter talks with East Timor. Australia Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the agreement was a landmark day in the relationship between Timor-Leste and Australia. This agreement, which supports the national interest of both our nations, further strengthens the long-standing and deep ties between our governments and our people, Bishop said. Australia earlier this year agreed to allow East Timor to terminate an oil revenue sharing treaty between the two countries, while earlier treaties that govern production remain in place. East Timor withdrew legal proceedings it launched over the past few years against Australia challenging the validity of the Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea, to advance the conciliation process, a joint statement said in January. Having reached an agreement, the two countries will continue to meet with the commission in order to finalize talks in October. The commission said the countries will now begin to engage with other stakeholders in the Timor Sea regarding the implications of their agreement, in particular with respect to the Greater Sunrise resource .

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September 2, 2017

NAFTA envoys lay out proposals, try to block Trump noise

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Trade negotiators from Canada, the United States and Mexico presented more proposals for a renewed North American Free Trade Agreement on Friday and tried to put behind them threats from U.S. President Donald Trump to pull out of the treaty. Teams from the three countries kicked off a second round of talks in Mexico City on 25 areas of closed-door discussion, with subjects such as digital commerce and small businesses seen as areas where consensus was possible, officials said. The teams did not debate details, according to officials, but one union leader present said that U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross had indicated he favored North American content of more than 70 percent in autos built in the NAFTA region. Taking up where they left off in Washington talks two weeks ago, the delegations were showing each other proposed language for reworking the accord, without yet seeking to thrash out mutually acceptable compromises, officials present told Reuters. Trump s multiple attacks on NAFTA in the build-up to the Mexico City round were seen by Mexican and Canadian officials as a ploy to wring concessions, but they have heightened uncertainty over the accord. Away from the diplomatic noise, the Mexico talks are expected to help define the priorities of each nation rather than yield major advances. Nevertheless, Trump s warnings have Mexico preparing for something hard to imagine even a few months ago - life without the agreement that boosted trilateral trade to around $1 trillion annually from $290 billion in 1993. The Sept. 1-5 talks will touch on some thorny topics such as rules governing local content in products made in North America, Mexico s economy ministry said in a statement. Substantial discussion of such areas is unlikely in either this round or the next one, a source familiar with the process said. We do not expect any major breakthroughs or major developments in this round. We really don t, one official familiar with the negotiating process said. Mexican officials believe Trump wants to include rules that a certain amount of content must be made in the United States. The head of Unifor, Canada s largest private sector union, Jerry Dias, told reporters he had suggested in a recent meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Ross that the NAFTA content level for autos be raised to 70 percent from the current 62.5 percent. But Ross, he said, had proposed a more aggressive level. Hundreds of small farmers and union members including speakers from Canada gathered outside the Mexican Congress on Friday to demand that NAFTA be reworked to truly help workers. Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke by phone on Thursday and stressed they wanted to reach a NAFTA deal by the end of 2017, the White House said. An accord by year end that significantly changes NAFTA is seen as unlikely. The goal is for an agreement before Mexico s 2018 presidential campaign starts in earnest. Officials fear the campaign will politicize talks, with nationalist frontrunner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador already recommending a tougher line from Mexico. Nevertheless, one Mexican official noted that Trump s repeated threats put pressure on his negotiators, forcing them to adopt tougher positions than they would like, while another official said they were ready to leave the table if needed. Trump said this week he might trigger a 180-day countdown to withdraw from NAFTA while the talks were ongoing to help meet his goals, which include sharply reducing a $64 billion annual U.S. trade deficit with Mexico. NAFTA, first implemented in 1994, eliminates most tariffs on trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico. Critics say it has drawn jobs from the United States and Canada to Mexico, where workers are paid far lower wages. Supporters say it has created U.S. jobs, and that the loss of manufacturing from the United States has more to do with China than Mexico. If NAFTA collapses, costs could rise for hundreds of billions of dollars of trade as tariffs are brought back. Free-trade lobby groups say consumers would be saddled with higher prices and less availability of products ranging from avocados and berries to heavy trucks. Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo and Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told officials in Washington on Wednesday that Mexico would walk away from the negotiations if Trump pulls the trigger on withdrawing from the deal. Juan Pablo Castanon, president of Mexico s Business Coordination Council representing the private sector in the talks, said the country was refining a Plan B that could be up and running within three months of an eventual NAFTA collapse. Talking on Mexican television, he said the plan included striking new trade arrangements in Asia and Latin America, sourcing alternate suppliers such as Brazil for grains now imported from the United States, and finding ways to recreate investor guarantees that are included in NAFTA. Graphic on trade battles: tmsnrt.rs/2oYClp2 Graphic: NAFTA's benefit to the breadbasket - tmsnrt.rs/2tNMtlc

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September 1, 2017

Factbox: Key issues in the NAFTA renegotiations

(Reuters) - Negotiators from Canada, Mexico and the United States are meeting for a second round of talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, amid threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to pull out of the deal. NAFTA, first implemented in 1994, eliminates most tariffs on trade between the United States, Canada and Mexico. Critics say it has drawn jobs from the U.S. and Canada to Mexico, where workers are badly paid. Supporters say it has created U.S. jobs, and the loss of manufacturing from the United States has more to do with China than Mexico. Key issues facing negotiators include: NAFTA says in order for a good to be traded duty-free within the three countries, it must contain a certain percentage of North American content, which differs for various products. The rule of origin is most contentious in the auto industry; cars must contain at least 62.5 percent American, Canadian or Mexican content. The United States wants to increase the content threshold for NAFTA goods in a bid to return manufacturing jobs to the United States, and the auto industry has conceded that the rules should be updated to account for auto components that did not exist when the original deal was signed. Canada has said it is prepared to discuss some strengthening of rule of origin in the auto sector, but any change must apply equally to all three countries. Mexico is willing to look at strengthening rules, but warns that going too far will make the region less competitive. The United States has sought to ditch the so-called Chapter 19 tool, under which binational panels hear complaints about illegal subsidies and dumping and then issue binding decisions. The United States has frequently lost such cases since NAFTA came into effect in 1994, and the mechanism has hindered it from pursing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases against Canadian and Mexican companies. Washington also argues that Chapter 19 infringes on the sovereignty of its domestic laws. Canada has said Chapter 19 can be updated, but said a dispute settlement mechanism is its red line and must be part of any updated NAFTA. Mexico also says dispute settlement mechanisms are a vital part of the deal to give investors security. U.S. negotiators are seeking to allow U.S. seasonal produce growers to file anti-dumping cases against Mexico. Seasonal fruit and vegetable growers in the southeastern United States have come under increasing pressure from year-round Mexican imports under NAFTA and are seeking the ability to pursue anti-subsidy and anti-dumping cases or seek temporary import quotas. But U.S. retailers and food industry groups argue that American producers could be left open to retaliatory measures if more complaints were to be filed, for instance, against avocados, tomatoes and other produce imported from Mexico. Quotas are a feature of NAFTA in several agricultural commodities including dairy and sugar, but Washington is seeking to eliminate non-tariff barriers to U.S. agricultural exports. Most notably, U.S. President Donald Trump has called Canada s restrictions on dairy imports a disgrace. Although dairy was excluded from the original 1994 deal, the United States is seeking to eliminate non-tariff barriers to its agricultural exports. The United States is seeking a provision to deter currency manipulation. While Washington wants a mechanism to ensure the NAFTA countries avoid tinkering with exchange rates to gain a competitive advantage, neither Canada nor Mexico is on the U.S. Treasury s currency manipulation watch list. Critics say the U.S. demand is an attempt to get currency manipulation into a global trade agreement to establish a precedent with other trading partners, including China. The United States is pushing for governments in Canada and Mexico to open up their tender processes to U.S.-made products but at the same time is defending existing Buy American procurement laws. The Buy American provisions have blocked the use of Canadian steel to build U.S. bridges, and Canada is pushing for a freer market for government procurement. Mexico says it expects government procurement, already included in NAFTA, to be part of the renegotiation. INVESTOR-STATE DISPUTE SETTLEMENT The United States has proposed minor tweaking of the NAFTA Chapter 11 provisions, designed to ensure that firms that invest abroad receive fair and equitable treatment by foreign governments. As with Chapter 19, opponents of the provisions argue they infringe on sovereignty which benefits multinational corporations. Canada wants to update the mechanism to allow governments to regulate in the interest of the environment or labor, as in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement that Canada recently negotiated with the European Union.

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September 1, 2017

Vietnam says violations found at central bank in war on graft

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam has found faults with the central State Bank of Vietnam, including poor supervision of credit organizations and inefficiency in preventing corruption, the government said on Saturday. The announcement, which was published on the government s website, came amid an intensifying crackdown on corruption that has pushed many state executives and government officials into the spotlight. The Government Inspectorate found the bank slow and not complying with regulations when publicizing its properties and revenues, the report said, without elaborating. Government officials have to reveal their incomes and properties to the public. Inspectors also pointed out violations by SBV s banking supervision agency, a department in charge of overseeing and examining credit organizations, from 2010 to 2015. Credit organizations had several faults but during inspection, the supervising department did not promptly detect them to deal with and prevent them, the government said. The inspectorate has called for the state bank governor to investigate groups and individuals behind the violations. Vietnam s crackdown on corruption and mismanagement, with a focus on inefficient state-owned companies, earlier led to the rare dismissal of a member of the politburo and the sacking of a vice-minister. Four more officials from a scandal hit state-oil firm are being prosecuted over links to investment losses in a local bank.

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September 2, 2017

Australian military probes 'rumors' of possible war crimes in Afghanistan

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia s military watchdog has issued a public plea for information regarding rumors of possible war crimes committed by Australian troops in Afghanistan. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported in July on an alleged cover-up of the killing of an Afghan boy as well as hundreds of pages of leaked defense force documents relating to the secretive operations of the country s special forces. On Friday, the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force released a statement saying it was conducting an inquiry into rumors of possible breaches of the Laws of Armed Conflict by Australian troops in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016. The inquiry would like anyone who has information regarding possible breaches of the Laws of Armed Conflict by Australian forces in Afghanistan, or rumors of them, to contact the inquiry, the statement read. Australia is not a member of NATO but is a staunch U.S. ally and has had troops in Afghanistan since 2002. As recently as May, Australia recommitted to the 16-year-long, seemingly intractable war against the Taliban and other Islamist militants by sending an additional 30 troops to Afghanistan to join the NATO-led training and assistance mission. That brought Australia s total Afghan deployment to 300 troops.

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September 2, 2017

Colombia's FARC political party looks to coalition for 2018 elections

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia s disarmed FARC rebels have their eye on forming a political coalition for the 2018 elections, ex-rebel leaders said on Friday, as the group marked its transition to a political party with a concert in Bogota s central square. The former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), whose political party will be called the Revolutionary Alternative Common Force, ended its part in a decades-long war that has killed more than 220,000 people under a 2016 deal which granted amnesty to most of its fighters. The decision by the group to preserve its famous FARC Spanish acronym raised eyebrows, given many Colombians associate the word with decades of bloodshed. Whether the ex-rebels can convince Colombians, many of whom revile them, to back the new party remains to be seen. The FARC will hold 10 automatic seats in Congress through 2026 under the terms of the accord and may campaign for others. Both legislative and presidential elections are set for 2018 and the party plans to reach out to ideological allies to try to form a coalition, without abandoning its Marxist commitments to land reform and social justice, the group said. We are continuing, via an exclusively political path, our historic goal and aspiration for a new order of social justice and true democracy in our country, said secretariat member Ivan Marquez at a closing event for the group s six-day conference to inaugurate the new party. We want our ideas to be available for a transitional government of reconciliation and peace for the elections in 2018, whose foundation will be a great democratic coalition, Marquez said. The formal party launch, featuring musical performances and a planned speech by FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, known by his nom de guerre Timochenko, took place in Bogota s colonial Bolivar Square on Friday in front of a crowd of thousands. Long live peace! shouted the crowd, as FARC members on stage displayed banners reading Welcome to political life. We don t want one more drop of blood for political reasons, we don t want any mother to spill tears because her children suffer violence, Londono said. That s why we don t hesitate to extend our hands in a gesture of forgiveness and reconciliation. We want a Colombia without hate. Londono said the party would focus on fighting corruption and poverty, especially in rural areas, and that politics would not be easy. Our first step now is to present to Colombia our political party, its strategic program, our proposal for political action, Londono added. The FARC s often old-fashioned Marxist rhetoric strikes many as a throwback to their 1964 founding, but concrete proposals for reforms to complicated property laws could get traction with rural voters who struggle as subsistence farmers. FARC leaders have repeatedly expressed fears that members could be targeted for assassinations in a repeat of the 1980s killings of some 5,000 members of the rebel-allied Patriotic Union party, which grew out of a failed peace process with the government.

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September 1, 2017

U.S., South Korea agree to revise missile treaty in face of North Korean threats

SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump agreed with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to revise a joint treaty capping the development of the South s ballistic missiles, Moon s office said on Saturday, amid a standoff over North Korea s missile and nuclear tests. Trump also gave conceptual approval to the purchase by the South of billions of dollars of U.S. military hardware, the White House said. The South wants to raise the missile cap to boost its defenses against the reclusive North, which is pursuing missile and nuclear weapons programs in defiance of international warnings and UN sanctions. The two leaders agreed to the principle of revising the missile guideline to a level desired by South Korea, sharing the view that it was necessary to strengthen South Korea s defense capabilities in response to North Korea s provocations and threats, South Korea s presidential Blue House said. Impoverished North Korea and the rich, democratic South are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The North regularly threatens to destroy the South and its main ally, the United States. North Korea sharply raised regional tension this week with the launch of its Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific. That followed the test launch of two long-range ballistic missiles in July in a sharply lofted trajectory that demonstrated a potential range of 10,000 km (6,000 miles) or more that would put many parts of the U.S. mainland within striking distance. North Korea has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States and has recently threatened to land missiles near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. South Korea s development of its ballistic missiles is limited to range of 800 km (500 miles) and payload weight of 500 kg (1,100 pounds) under a bilateral treaty revised in 2012. South Korea has said it wants to revise the agreement to increase the cap on the payload. The two countries agreed to the cap as part of a commitment to a voluntary international arms-control pact known as the Missile Technology Control Regime, aimed at limiting the proliferation missiles and nuclear weapons. The two leaders pledged to continue to apply strong diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea and to make all necessary preparations to defend against the growing threat by the North, the White House said. The White House did not mention the voluntary bilateral agreement but said the two leaders agreed to strengthen their defense cooperation and South Korea s defense capabilities. Trump provided his conceptual approval of planned purchases by South Korea of billions of dollars in American military equipment , the White House said. Trump, who has warned that the U.S. military is locked and loaded in case of further North Korean provocation, reacted angrily to the latest missile test, declaring on Twitter that talking is not the answer to resolving the crisis. North Korea defends its weapons programs as necessary to counter perceived U.S. aggression, such as recent air maneuvers with South Korean and Japanese jets.

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September 2, 2017

At least three dead as Lidia slams Mexico's Los Cabos tourist hub

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - At least three people died after torrential rain from Tropical Storm Lidia provoked major flooding around Mexico s popular Los Cabos beach resort on Friday, authorities said. Featuring maximum sustained winds of 60 miles per hour (97 kph), the storm was projected to move north over a large swath of Mexico s Baja California peninsula before turning west toward the Pacific on Sunday. Local television footage showed abandoned cars and trucks in washed-out roads, as well as destroyed beach-front structures. Lidia, about 55 miles (89 km) north-northeast of Cabo San Lazaro, was moving at a speed of 12 miles per hour (19 kmh) as it skirted the western coast of the peninsula, according to an advisory from the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC). Luis Felipe Puente, the head of national emergency services, told Reuters that the storm claimed a child and two adults who were trying to cross a raging river. Lidia also provoked power outages, damaged houses and roads, as well as forcing some 2,800 people into local shelters. While the storm is forecast to further weaken over the next couple of days, it is expected to dump between 6 to 12 inches (15-30 cm) of rain across the peninsula as well as parts of Sinaloa and Sonora states. These rains may cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, the NHC said in its advisory.

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September 1, 2017

U.S. Commerce Secretary wants NAFTA autos content above 70 percent: union chief

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross wants more than 70 percent of North American content in vehicles built in the United States, Canada and Mexico under a renegotiated NAFTA trade deal, the head of Canada s largest private sector union said on Friday. Jerry Dias, national president of Unifor, told reporters he suggested in a recent meeting with Ross that the level be raised to 70 percent from the current 62.5 percent, and that the U.S. commerce secretary suggested a more aggressive level. Ross has long advocated strengthening the rules of origin for the auto industry as a way to bring back automotive production from Asia and other non-NAFTA countries. Negotiations to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement are in their second round this weekend in Mexico City, where rules of origin are expected to be discussed. U.S. negotiators, however, may not reveal specific rules of origin targets until later rounds, according to auto industry lobbyists. In fairness to Wilbur, he was more aggressive than I was, Dias said of Ross desired North American content level. Dias said he thought that a 70 percent rule would be a step in the right direction for an industry whose jobs have migrated from the United States and Canada to Mexico, and would help shift production of some automotive electronics and other parts from Asia and Europe back to North America. A spokesman for Ross in Washington could not immediately be reached for comment. Dias said tougher NAFTA rules of origin would only be a small part of restoring manufacturing jobs, and that far stronger labor standards were needed to boost wages in Mexico that are far below those in the United States and Canada. He said he agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump s threat to terminate NAFTA if it cannot be improved enough. NAFTA has been a disaster for workers in Canada, Mexico and the United States. So when he threatens to walk away from it, that s OK. So now we need to reconfigure how we fix things, he said. At the same time, Dias said that Trump was not an ally of unions, describing him as batshit crazy.

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September 2, 2017

Trump to nominate Juster to be ambassador to India: White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will nominate Kenneth Juster to be ambassador to India, the White House said on Friday. Juster was a deputy assistant to Trump for international economic affairs and the deputy director of the National Economic Council until June. From 2001 to 2005 he was under secretary of Commerce under former president George W. Bush.

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September 2, 2017

Suspected Boko Haram members kill 18 people in northeast Nigeria

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Suspected Boko Haram militants killed 18 people in northeast Nigeria on Friday, according to local witnesses and officials, the latest in an escalating number of lethal attacks in the region. The knife-wielding attackers, moving under cover of night, targeted people in the town of Banki, 80 miles (130 km) southeast of the city of Maiduguri in Borno state, the epicenter of the eight-year conflict with Boko Haram, said a community leader and a local member of a vigilante group. The attack on the town, which sits on the border with Cameroon, is the latest in a string of deadly Boko Haram raids and bombings that have undermined the Nigerian military s statements that the insurgency is all but defeated. The frequency of attacks in northeastern Nigeria has increased in the last few months, killing at least 172 people since June 1 before Friday s attack, according to a Reuters tally. The attack on Banki left 18 dead, according to Modu Perobe, a member of the Civilian Joint Task Force, a regional vigilante group. Abor Ali, a local ruler, confirmed the death toll. Boko Haram s eight-year insurgency has left at least 20,000 dead and sparked one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world, with tens of thousands already in famine-like conditions, according to the United Nations. Some 8.5 million people in the worst affected parts of northeast Nigeria are now in need of some form of humanitarian assistance, with 5.2 million people lacking secure access to food, the U.N. has said.

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September 2, 2017

Brazilian prosecutors want Lula absolved in corruption case

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva should be cleared of any wrongdoing in one of several corruption cases pending against him in federal court due to a lack of evidence, prosecutors said on Friday. The federal prosecutors said in a statement that former Senator Delcidio Amaral had lied about Lula, as one of the country s most popular politicians is known, as part of a plea-bargain agreement. His testimony was key to Lula s legal entanglements, the statement added, saying Amaral himself should be put on trial for perjury. Amaral has accused Lula of working with billionaire financier Andre Esteves to buy the silence of a top executive at Petroleo Brasileiro, the state-controlled oil company, about alleged corrupt acts committed by Lula. The obstruction of justice case is one of five for which Lula is still expected to go on trial in federal court. The prosecutors also recommended that charges against Esteves, the founder, former chief executive officer and largest shareholder in investment bank Grupo BTG Pactual SA, be dropped. Lula s legal team, in a written statement, welcomed the prosecutors statement as just and said it proved he never acted to obstruct justice. Amaral s lawyer Eduardo Marzagao denied that his client had lied, however. The former president was convicted in July in a separate case and sentenced to 9-1/2 years in prison for accepting 3.7 million reais ($1.18 million) worth of bribes from engineering firm OAS SA [OAS.UL]. That ruling marked a stunning fall for Lula, a founder of the Workers Party, and a serious blow to his chances of a political comeback. The former union leader, who remains free pending an appeal, won global praise for policies to reduce inequality in Brazil. The verdict represented the highest-profile conviction yet in a sweeping corruption investigation that has rattled Brazil for more than three years, revealing a sprawling system of graft at top levels of business and government. More than 100 powerful business and political figures have been found guilty since the anti-graft push began in early 2014. Brazil s lower house of Congress voted last month to reject a corruption charge against current President Michel Temer for allegedly taking bribes, sparing him from facing a possible Supreme Court trial that could have ousted him from office. More corruption charges are expected to filed in the coming weeks against Temer, Rodrigo Janot, Brazil s prosecutor general, has said.

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September 1, 2017

Exclusive: Displaced Rohingya in camps face aid crisis after Myanmar violence

SITTWE, Myanmar (Reuters) - Around 120,000 displaced people - mostly Rohingya Muslims - in camps in Myanmar s Rakhine state are not receiving food supplies or healthcare after the U.N. and aid groups suspended operations following government accusations of supporting insurgents. Nearly 400 people have died in fighting in the far north of the state after Rohingya militants attacked police posts and an army base a week ago, provoking a major army counteroffensive. The impact from the conflict has now spread, including to the state capital Sittwe further south, where some 90,000 Rohingya have lived in camps since an outbreak of communal violence rocked the city in 2012, killing nearly 200 people. A further 30,000 Rohingya are housed in camps elsewhere in the state, while a small number of ethnic Rakhine Buddhists displaced in the 2012 violence also live in separate camps. As a result of the disruption of activities in central Rakhine state, many people are currently not receiving their normal food assistance and primary healthcare services have been severely disrupted, said Pierre Peron, a spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The U.N. and international aid groups had already evacuated all non-critical staff from the north of the state amid intensifying fighting and after the office of national leader Aung San Suu Kyi repeatedly published pictures of World Food Programme (WFP) energy biscuits allegedly found at an insurgent camp. Suu Kyi s office also said it was investigating aid groups support for the insurgents in one incident. Now contractors working for the WFP, a U.N. agency, have refused to carry food to the camps in Sittwe and elsewhere. Staff with international aid groups who run clinics inside the large, densely populated camps have also been afraid to show up for work, leading to the closure of facilities, U.N. sources and aid workers told Reuters. Local staff were afraid of being intimidated by Rakhine Buddhist hardliners, and some worried about being attacked by Muslims, the sources said. Sanitation is also a major problem - contractors cleaning latrines in the camps have also refused to work and the latrines are overflowing in the monsoon rains, increasing the risk of cholera and other waterborne diseases, they said. The treatment of Myanmar s roughly 1.1 million Rohingya, who have long complained of persecution in Buddhist majority Myanmar, is the biggest challenge facing Suu Kyi. The top U.N. human rights official, Zeid Ra ad al-Hussein, has criticized Suu Kyi s office for irresponsible suggestions that aid agencies may have assisted Rohingya militants calling themselves the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). #WFP Aid & #ARSA terrorists : #Myanmar Govt asking #WFP, Aid for civilian or terrorists? #Rakhine #Myanmar, said Suu Kyi s spokesman, Zaw Htay, in a tweet on Thursday. Tin Maung Swe, secretary of the Rakhine state government, confirmed that workers have refused to work for the WFP. Laborers who carry the WFP food bags don t want to contract with them any more. People who have made contract with WFP refused to work for them, he said. He added that residents were disgusted with the organization following the government s accusations. Tin Maung Swe also said that the government was trying to find a different way to support the organization . Rakhine Buddhist leaders have long bemoaned the presence of international agencies, who they accuse of favoring the Rohingya. Aid offices in Sittwe were sacked during 2014 riots. The discovery at a suspected militant camp on July 30 of WFP-branded biscuits intended for malnourished children had further stoked tensions even before last week s attacks. Accusations against the U.N. have been spread on social media by nationalist hardliners, stoking fears of another outbreak of communal violence in a state that has long been divided along religious and ethnic lines. International aid agencies operating in Myanmar issued a statement on Thursday condemning the insurgent attacks and subsequent violence, and urging all stakeholders to cease the spread of misinformation . The OCHA s Peron said the disruption was already being felt. Humanitarian aid normally goes to these vulnerable people for a very good reason, because they depend on it, he said. In addition to the closure of camp clinics, Rohingya who have been referred to the main hospital in Sittwe for more serious complaints were finding it hard to travel there, said the hospital s chief doctor Kyaw Naing Win. There have been some constraints for them to come to the hospital because of the tighter security control after recent clashes, he said, but added the hospital did not discriminate against them. Kyaw Naing Win said he arranged for the state government to provide security for 17 Muslim patients who were discharged from the hospital on Thursday. Even before the recent violence Rohingya camp residents faced severe restrictions on their movements around Sittwe. Talks between government and relief agencies are scheduled for next week, aid group sources told Reuters. Possible solutions might include the government providing security escorts for food convoys, they added. (This story has been refiled to remove extraneous words in paragraph 6)

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September 1, 2017

U.S.-led coalition says still monitoring IS convoy in Syria

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A convoy of Islamic State fighters and their families being evacuated into jihadist territory in east Syria remained in government-held areas of Syria on Friday, U.S.-led forces said. It has not managed to link up with any other ISIS elements in eastern Syria, said Colonel Ryan Dillon, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State. There are about 300 fighters and about 300 civilians in the convoy, which the Syrian army and Lebanon s Hezbollah group granted safe passage after the jihadists surrendered their enclave on Syria s border with Lebanon. But the coalition against Islamic State has used air strikes to block the convoy from crossing into the group s main territory straddling Syria s eastern border with Iraq. The Islamic State fighters in the border pocket accepted a truce and evacuation deal after simultaneous but separate offensives by the Lebanese army on one front and the Syrian army and Hezbollah on the other. It angered both the coalition, which does not want the fighters bussed to a battlefront in which it is active, and Iraq, which is fighting Islamic State across the border. We are continuing to monitor that convoy and will continue to disrupt its movement east to link up with any other ISIS element and we will continue to strike any other ISIS elements that try to move toward it, Dillon said. The coalition has asked Russia to tell the Syrian government that it will not allow the convoy to move further east to the Iraqi border, the coalition said in a statement. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gave prayers on Friday for Islam s Eid al-Adha festival in the town of Qara, near the enclave surrendered on Monday by the Islamic State fighters. Confined to Damascus for long periods in the early part of Syria s six-year civil war, Assad has grown more confident in traveling around government-held areas as the army and its allies have won a series of victories. Assad was shown on state television standing and kneeling on a green carpet in a packed mosque alongside Syrian religious leaders as he followed the imam giving prayers. The departure of Islamic State and other groups from the Western Qalamoun district means the border with Lebanon is Syria s first to be controlled entirely by its army since early in the conflict. Qara is only a few miles from the mountains delineating the frontier with Lebanon, in which Islamic State and other militant groups held territory until August. Part of an agreed exchange under the truce went ahead on Thursday as wounded Islamic State fighters were swapped for the bodies of pro-government forces. But the fate of the main part of the convoy is uncertain. It was moving this morning and then they had stopped. ... I don t know if they stopped for a break or were trying to figure out what to do, Dillon said. The frontline between Syrian government forces and Islamic State in eastern Syria is active, as the army, aided by Russian jets and Iran-backed Shi ite militias, presses an offensive to relieve its besieged enclave at Deir al-Zor. On Friday, a Syrian military source said the army and its allies had made an advance against Islamic State in that area and had also taken several villages in a jihadist enclave in central Syria.

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September 1, 2017

U.S.-led coalition says Islamic State convoy remains in Syrian desert

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A convoy of Islamic State fighters and their families remains in the Syrian desert after turning back from the Iraqi border, the U.S.-led coalition said on Friday. The coalition said in a statement that it has asked Russia to tell the Syrian government that the coalition will not allow the convoy of 17 buses to move further east to the Iraqi border. The Syrian army and Lebanon s Hezbollah group gave safe passage to the jihadists after they surrendered their enclave on Syria s border with Lebanon. The U.S.-led coalition says it was not a party to the deal.

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September 1, 2017

Trump to host Sept. 18 meeting of world leaders on U.N. reform

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, a frequent critic of the United Nations, will seek to gather global support for reforming the world body when he hosts an event at U.N. headquarters in New York on Sept. 18, a day before he formally addresses the 193-member organization. Countries will be invited to attend Trump s function if they sign on to a U.S.-drafted 10-point political declaration backing efforts by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to initiate effective, meaningful reform, according to a draft of the political declaration seen by Reuters on Friday. Trump has complained that the U.S. share of the world body s budget is unfair, pushed to slash funding and described it as a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. Trump, who took office in January, has since described U.S. funding as peanuts compared to the important work of the organization. The United States is the biggest U.N. contributor, providing 22 percent of its $5.4 billion biennial core budget and 28.5 percent of its $7.3 billion peacekeeping budget. The contributions are agreed on by the 193-member General Assembly. Trump, Guterres, who also took office in January, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley are scheduled to speak at the Sept. 18 event, diplomats said. The draft political declaration states: We support the secretary-general in making concrete changes in the United Nations system to better align its work on humanitarian response, development and sustaining peace initiatives. We commit to reducing mandate duplication, redundancy and overlap, including among the main organs of the United Nations, the draft declaration reads. The United States also is reviewing each of the U.N. peacekeeping missions as annual mandates come up for Security Council renewal in a bid to cut costs. The United States is a veto-wielding council member, along with Britain, France, Russia and China. Haley has said there is a lot of fat around the edges and some abuses that happen at the U.N. but I do think it is very important that we make the most of it. Ethiopia, which is president of the 15-member Security Council for September, said on Friday it would hold a high-level council meeting on peacekeeping reform on Sept. 20 that will be chaired by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. Ethiopian U.N. Ambassador Tekeda Alemu told reporters it was unclear if Trump would attend the meeting, which would be his first appearance in the Security Council, but that he expected about 10 heads of state or government to be present.

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September 1, 2017

Germany may 'rethink' Turkey ties after two more Germans detained: Merkel

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday said Germany should react decisively to Ankara s detention of two further German citizens, amid growing calls for Berlin to issue a formal travel warning for Germans heading to Turkey. Twelve German citizens are now in Turkish detention on political charges, four of them holding dual citizenship. Among these is German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel, who will have been in detention 200 days on Friday. Under the circumstances, Merkel said she did not think it was appropriate to carry out further discussions with Ankara about its participation in a European Union customs union. We must react decisively, Merkel told a business event in the southern city of Nuremberg, noting that Germany had already fundamentally revamped its relations with Ankara. Given the latest events, perhaps it is necessary to rethink them ever further. Germany was not officially informed of the two new detentions, which took place at Antalya airport on Thursday, leaving Berlin s consulate in the coastal city of Izmir to learn of their arrest from non-state sources , Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr told a news conference. Many European citizens have been detained in Turkey over the past year, accused of involvement in last year s failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom many accuse of purging opposition under the cover of a crackdown. We re trying to establish what they are charged with, said Adebahr said. We must assume that it s a political charge, suspicion of terrorism, as with the others. Diplomats had not been able to contact them, she added, with Friday s public holiday celebrating the Muslim festival of Eid a possible reason for delays in contacting officials. Social Democrat Martin Schulz, Merkel s main challenger in Sept. 24 elections, and other German politicians urged Berlin to issue a formal travel warning for Germans heading to Turkey. The government in July urged German citizens to exercise caution if traveling to Turkey, but stopped short of issuing a formal travel warning. Juergen Hardt, a senior member of Merkel s conservatives, told Die Welt newspaper that a further tightening of the travel guidance should be seriously considered . Cem Ozdemir, leader of the Greens party, told Bild newspaper he could no longer assure anyone they would be safe in Turkey. Erdogan is no president, but a hostage-taker, Ozdemir told the daily newspaper Bild. No comment was immediately available from the foreign ministry about whether it was considering a travel warning. About 3 million people with Turkish heritage or citizenship live in Germany. Such a move could mark a significant setback for Turkey, which already saw the number of foreign visitors drop to its lowest level in nine years last year. Bookings from Germany accounted for some 10 percent of Turkey s tourists this year.

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September 1, 2017

Frankfurt to evacuate thousands as huge WWII bomb defused

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Frankfurt city officials have warned that Germany s financial capital could grind to a halt on Monday if residents don t heed orders to vacate their homes to allow the defusing of a massive World War Two bomb. On Sunday, the city will evacuate some 60,000 people in the nation s biggest such maneuver since the war while officials disarm the British bomb discovered on a building site this week in Frankfurt s leafy Westend, where many wealthy bankers live. Fire and police chiefs, at a hastily called press conference on Friday, said they would use force and incarceration if necessary to clear the area of residents. An uncontrolled explosion of the bomb would be big enough to flatten a city block, Frankfurt fire chief Reinhard Ries told reporters. This bomb has more than 1.4 tonnes of explosives, he said. It s not just fragments that are the problem, but also the pressure that it creates that would dismantle all the buildings in a 100-metre (yard) radius. . The HC 4000 bomb is assumed to have been dropped by Britain s Royal Air Force during the 1939-45 war. Such finds are not unusual, but rarely are the unexploded bombs so large and in such a sensitive position. The compulsory evacuation radius of 1.5 km (roughly a mile) around the bomb includes police headquarters, two hospitals, transport systems and Germany s central bank storing $70 billion in gold reserves. Officials on Friday called on Frankfurt s residents to clear the area by 8 a.m. on Sunday and warned the effort could take at least 12 hours. Police said they couldn t begin defusing the bomb until they were sure everyone had left the area. They would ring every doorbell and use heat-sensing technology from overhead helicopters to help them identify stragglers, they said. Roads and transport systems, including the parts of the underground, will be closed during the work and for at least two hours after the bomb is defused, to allow patients to be transported back to hospitals without traffic. Air traffic from Frankfurt airport could also be affected if there is an easterly wind on Sunday, air traffic control told Reuters on Friday. Also, small private planes, helicopters and drones will be banned from the evacuation zone, they said. Frankfurters can spend the day at shelters set up at the trade fair and the Jahrhunderthalle convention center, police have said. In addition, most museums are offering Frankfurt residents free entry on Sunday, and a few of them will open their doors earlier in the morning than usual, the city said on its website.

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September 1, 2017

Merkel's Social Democrat rival bullish ahead of German TV clash

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Social Democrat (SPD) leader Martin Schulz, whose party trails Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives by 17 points, said he was going into Sunday s television debate convinced he would win this month s elections. I am not in the least bit nervous, he told Bild newspaper in an interview conducted after media reports suggesting his predecessor as leader had given up hope of an SPD victory. A successful duel can create momentum, Schulz said in a separate interview with the RND network of newspapers. Merkel, 63, has been chancellor since 2005 and is widely seen as Europe s most influential politician. She has weathered storms over mass immigration and financial and political turmoil the European Union, while the SPD, Germany s oldest party, has struggled to promote a strong rival. Merkel told the Rheinische Post newspaper she expected the debate to spark great public interest. I ll be happy if as many people as possible take the time to watch, she told the newspaper in an interview to be published Saturday. But she defended her decision to allow only one such two-way debate since voters in Germany s parliamentary system pick parties and direct candidates in their districts, rather than voting directly for a chancellor. Schulz s campaign got off to a promising start early this year, with thousands flocking to the party after he was chosen as candidate; but three crushing defeats at the hands of the conservatives in regional elections, including in its heartland of North Rhine-Westphalia, knocked him off course. These were very difficult defeats for the SPD ... but nonetheless, 46 percent of voters have yet to make up their minds, a weary-looking Schulz, 61, said in a live online interview with Bild. He said he would turn things around in the first and only televised debate between the pair ahead of the Sept. 24 election. I believe we will certainly still win the election. The SPD, which has stewarded Europe s biggest economy as junior partner to Merkel s conservatives for the last four years, was on 22 percent in an opinion poll published on Friday, while the conservatives were on 39 percent. Almost half the 61.5 million people eligible to vote are expected to tune into the debate, pollster Forsa found. Nearly two-thirds of Germans expect Merkel to win the contest while 17 percent expected Schulz to fare better, another poll showed. It also found that if there were to be a direct vote for chancellor, 49 percent of Germans would pick Merkel, who is seen as a steady pair of hands at a time of global uncertainty, with Donald Trump in the White House and Britain preparing to leave the European Union. Just 26 percent would opt for former European Parliament President Schulz, whose campaign focusing on social justice has struggled at a time when Germans are enjoying rising wages and record employment. In a bid to appeal to the younger generation, Schulz told Bild the biggest domestic policy difference between him and Merkel was on pensions. If someone is in his early 40s, he will belong to the generation that pays ever more contributions and at the end will get the lowest pension in history from his pension insurance, he said.

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September 1, 2017

Nearly 400 die as Myanmar army steps up crackdown on Rohingya militants

COX S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Nearly 400 people have died in fighting that has rocked Myanmar s northwest for a week, new official data show, making it probably the deadliest bout of violence to engulf the country s Rohingya Muslim minority in decades. About 38,000 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar, U.N. sources said on Friday, a week after Rohingya insurgents attacked police posts and an army base in Rakhine state, prompting clashes and a military counteroffensive. The army says it is conducting clearance operations against extremist terrorists and security forces have been told to protect civilians. But Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh say a campaign of arson and killings aims to force them out. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is deeply concerned by reports of the use of excessive force during the army s operations in Rakhine state, spokeswoman Eri Kaneko said in a statement on Friday. (He) urges restraint and calm to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe, Kaneko said. The secretary-general underlines the responsibility of the government of Myanmar to provide security and assistance to all those in need and to enable the United Nations and its partners to extend the humanitarian support they are ready to provide, she said. The treatment of Myanmar s roughly 1.1 million Rohingya is the biggest challenge facing national leader Aung San Suu Kyi, accused by some Western critics of not speaking out for a minority that has long complained of persecution. The clashes and ensuing army crackdown have killed about 370 Rohingya insurgents, 13 security forces, two government officials and 14 civilians, the Myanmar military said on Thursday. By comparison, communal violence in 2012 in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine, led to the killing of nearly 200 people and the displacement of about 140,000, most of them Rohingya. The fighting is a dramatic escalation of a conflict that has simmered since October, when similar but much smaller Rohingya attacks on security posts prompted a brutal military response dogged by allegations of rights abuses. Myanmar evacuated more than 11,700 ethnic residents from the area affected by fighting, the army said, referring to the non-Muslim population of northern Rakhine. More than 150 Rohingya insurgents staged fresh attacks on security forces on Thursday near villages occupied by Hindus, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said, adding that about 700 members of such families had been evacuated. Four of the terrorists were arrested, including one 13-year-old boy, it said, adding that security forces had arrested two more men near a Maungdaw police outpost on suspicion of involvement in the attacks. About 20,000 more Rohingya trying to flee are stuck in no man s land at the border, the U.N. sources said, as aid workers in Bangladesh struggle to alleviate the sufferings of a sudden influx of thousands of hungry and traumatized people. While some Rohingya try to cross by land, others attempt a perilous boat journey across the Naf River separating the two countries. Bangladesh border guards found the bodies of 15 Rohingya Muslims, 11 children among them, floating in the river on Friday, area commander Lieutenant Colonel Ariful Islam told Reuters. That takes to about 40 the total of Rohingya known to have died by drowning. Late on Friday, Bangladesh foreign ministry said it had lodged a strong protest against violation of air space by Myanmar helicopters on three days this week, including Friday, near the area where the Rohingya are fleeing violence. These instances of incursion into Bangladesh air space by Myanmar helicopters run contrary to the good neighborly relations and could lead to unwarranted situation, said the foreign ministry statement. Suu Kyi spokesman Zaw Htay said h he was not aware of the complaint but that there were channels in place for dialogue between the two sides. If Myanmar receives the complaint from Bangladesh, it will respond, he said. (For a graphic on Myanmar's ethnic groups click tmsnrt.rs/2wY3MSQ)

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September 1, 2017

Muslim pilgrims converge on Jamarat for symbolic stoning of the devil

JAMARAT, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Two million Muslim pilgrims performed a symbolic stoning of the devil on Friday, the riskiest part of the annual haj pilgrimage where hundreds of people were killed in a crush two years ago. Saudi Arabia, which stakes its reputation on organizing the world s largest annual Muslim gathering, has deployed more than 100,000 security forces and medics as well as modern technology including drones and fiber optics to ensure a safe pilgrimage. Under close supervision from Saudi authorities, pilgrims clad in white robes converged on Jamarat carrying pebbles to perform the ritual from a three-storey bridge erected to ease congestion. Group leaders carrying flags from their countries directed pilgrims into the building. Some of the faithful held umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun, with temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) around midday. This is the embodiment of the Prophets Ismail and Ibrahim (Abraham) fighting the devil, said Egyptian pilgrim Mohammed al-Jawhiri, 56. The ritual reveals the extent of the devil s evil and his actions to destroy this world. The 2015 incident killed nearly 800 people, according to Riyadh, when two large groups of pilgrims arrived together at a crossroads in Mina, a few kilometers east of Mecca, on their way to performing the stoning ritual. Counts by countries of repatriated bodies, however, showed over 2,000 people may have died, more than 400 of them Iranians. It was the worst disaster to strike haj for at least 25 years. The Saudi authorities redesigned the Jamarat area after two stampedes, in 2004 and 2006, killed hundreds of pilgrims, and the frequency of such disasters has greatly reduced as the government spent billions of dollars upgrading and expanding haj infrastructure and crowd control technology. Officials said they had prepared a strict timetable for pilgrims from various countries to follow in order to reduce congestion. Saudi Arabia said more than 2.3 million pilgrims, most of them from abroad, had arrived for the five-day ritual, a religious duty once in a lifetime for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford the journey. They will continue the stoning ritual over the weekend and return to Mecca to pray at the Grand Mosque before completing the pilgrimage. Some 90,000 Iranians have returned to haj after boycotting last year amid a diplomatic rift between Tehran and Riyadh, which are both vying for power and influence in the region. In previous years, jostling to perform the stoning before returning to Mecca accounted for many of the stampedes and crushes that have afflicted haj. Thanks to the latest construction, this time even small children, old men, women and the disabled are being accommodated, said Abdelaziz al-Azmi from Kuwait. As you see, there is no problem. King Salman was in Mina on Friday, the first day of Eid al-Adha (feast of the sacrifice). He and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, welcomed well-wishers at a palace gathering attended by princes, clerics, military leaders and distinguished guests. Saudi authorities have urged pilgrims to set aside politics during the haj but violence in the Middle East, including wars in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya and other global hotspots are sure to be on the minds of many. For a graphic on the Haj journey, click: here For a graphic on Haj stampedes, click: here

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September 1, 2017

Rome's 5-Star mayor launches bid to save ailing city transport firm

ROME (Reuters) - Rome s mayor on Friday launched an attempt to save the city s ailing public transport company from bankruptcy, asking creditors to support a restructuring of its 1.3 billion euros ($1.54 billion) of debt. Virginia Raggi, a prominent face of Italy s anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, said she would ask magistrates to approve the plan for a total renewal of the company to keep it operating as a public body. Atac s workforce, of around 12,000 people, has been criticized as bloated and its fleet of buses, trams and metros as old and badly maintained. Calls have grown for it to be privatized. Raggi, who was elected in June last year, rejects this solution and on Friday the company s board approved the restructuring plan, which will require the backing of her city government and its suppliers. Atac must remain public, Raggi wrote in a Facebook post. We are beginning a revolution that will transform the biggest public transport company in Europe into an efficient one. Several city transport unions, fearing lay-offs, immediately announced they would hold a one-day strike this month. Turning Atac around is a daunting task. Its former chief quit in July after just three months in the job, saying he was unable to salvage the firm and feared possible legal action tied to any eventual collapse. Raggi has had a torrid time since becoming Rome s first ever woman mayor. She has lost several close aides due to political infighting or legal scandals and has so far made little tangible progress in fixing the heavily-indebted city s chronic problems, from road maintenance to refuse collection. Despite her difficulties, 5-Star remains Italy s most popular party, according to many opinion polls, and Raggi s fortunes in attempting to clean up Atac could have significant repercussions nationally. With a general election due by May next year, 5-Star can ill afford the bad publicity of extended strikes and legal disputes over the capital s transport company.

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September 1, 2017

Kenyan court scraps presidential vote, Kenyatta calls for calm

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya s Supreme Court on Friday nullified President Uhuru Kenyatta s election win, citing irregularities, and ordered a new poll within 60 days, an unprecedented move in Africa where governments often hold sway over judges. The ruling, broadcast to a stunned nation on television, sets up a new race between Kenyatta, 55, and veteran opponent Raila Odinga, 72. Kenyatta called for calm and respect for the ruling and said he would run again in a televised speech. But he later struck a more combative note, criticizing the court for ignoring the will of the people and dismissing the chief justice s colleagues as wakora (crooks). In Odinga s western heartland, cheering supporters paraded through the streets chanting and waving tree branches. Kenya, a U.S. ally in the fight against Islamists and a trade gateway to East Africa, has a history of disputed votes. A row over a 2007 poll, which Odinga challenged after being declared loser, was followed by weeks of ethnic bloodshed that killed more than 1,200 people. Kenya s economy, the biggest in the region, slid into recession and neighboring economies wobbled. Chief Justice David Maraga announced the Supreme Court s verdict that was backed by four of the six judges, saying the declaration of Kenyatta s victory was invalid, null and void . Details of the ruling will be released within 21 days. In the court room, a grinning Odinga pumped his fist in the air. Outside, shares plummeted on the Nairobi bourse amid the uncertainty, while Kenyatta s supporters grumbled. But the mood on the streets of the capital was jubilant rather than angry. Judges said they found no misconduct by Kenyatta but said the election board failed, neglected or refused to conduct the presidential election in a manner consistent with the dictates of the constitution. Kenya s judiciary went through sweeping changes after the 2007 election violence in a bid to restore confidence the legal system. Friday s ruling is likely to galvanize pro-democracy campaigners across Africa, where many complain their judiciaries simply rubber stamp presidential rule. This is a monumental and unprecedented decision, very remarkable and courageous that will be watched carefully with keen interest across the continent, said Comfort Ero, the head of the Africa program for the Crisis Group think-tank. Kenyatta struck a conciliatory note in his televised address. The court has made its decision. We respect it. We don t agree with it. And again, I say peace ... peace, peace, peace, he told the nation. That is the nature of democracy. But later he criticized the court, telling a rally at a Nairobi market: Earlier, I was the president-elect. (Chief Justice) Maraga and his people those wakora (crooks) have said let that election get lost ... Let Maraga know he is dealing with the incumbent president. He spoke in kiswahili. Official results had given Kenyatta 54.3 percent of the vote, compared to Odinga s 44.7 percent, a lead of 1.4 million votes. Kenyatta s ruling party also swept the legislature. Those results triggered angry protests and at least 28 people died in the police clamp-down that followed. For the first time in history of African democratization a ruling has been made by a court nullifying irregular elections for the president, Odinga said outside the court. Later, he called for the commission to resign and face criminal prosecution. International observers, including former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, had said they saw no manipulation of voting and tallying at polling stations. But the election board was slow posting forms showing polling station results online. Thousands were missing when official results were declared, so opponents could not check totals. Court experts said some documents lacked official stamps or had figures that did not match official tallies. The chairman of the election board said there would be personnel changes, but it was not clear if that would be enough for the opposition. Sweeping out the whole board would complicate efforts to hold a new poll within two months. In a nation of more than 40 ethnic groups, tribal loyalties often trump policy at election time. Kenyatta s Kikuyu is the biggest of Kenya s tribes but still a minority. Odinga is a Luo. Odinga s strongholds include his ethnic heartland in the west; the coast, where many of the nation s Muslims live; and the urban slums. Residents of all three areas feel neglected by central government. Kenyatta, whose Kikuyu tribe has produced three out of Kenya s four presidents, has his main support base in the central region. Kenyatta and Odinga are both scions of political families. Kenyatta s father, Jomo Kenyatta, was the nation s founding president and had a long-running rivalry with Odinga s father. Oginga Odinga was originally Kenyatta s deputy but eventually left the government to unsuccessfully contest the presidency. Raila Odinga has contested the last three elections and lost each time. After each one, he claimed the votes were marred by rigging. In 2013, the Supreme Court dismissed his petition. This time, his team focused on proving the process for tallying and transmitting results was flawed, rather than proving how much of the vote was rigged. Residents in the western city of Kisumu, where Odinga has strong backing, cheered and motorcycle drivers hooted their horns. Today is a special today and I will celebrate until I am worn out, said 32-year-old Kevin Ouma. In the eastern Rift Valley town of Kinangop, a stronghold for the ruling party, small groups gathered and complained. Over 8 million people supported the election of Uhuru Kenyatta but the Supreme Court has ignored this in the ruling which is very shameful, said Matheri Wa Hungu. Kenyan shares, which rallied after Kenyatta was declared winner, tumbled by 3.5 percent on Friday and prompted the authorities to suspend trading for half an hour. The shilling KES= fell by 0.4 percent and Kenya's dollar bonds fell. But although analysts said there was likely to be short-term volatility, the ruling could be a long-term win for Kenya. The population s lack of faith in the system is one of the reasons why politics often descends into violence, said Emma Gordon, a senior analyst at risk analysis firm Verisk Maplecroft . While this decision cements the view that the (election board) was biased, it demonstrates that independent checks and balances do exist. For a graphic on Kenya's presidential election, click: here

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September 1, 2017

The rocky history of NAFTA

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Negotiators from Canada, Mexico and the United States kicked off a second round of talks about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on Friday as the countries try to fast-track a deal to modernize the treaty by early next year. Following are key moments in the history of the deal: * June 10, 1990: U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari endorse a new, comprehensive free trade pact between the two neighbors, ordering talks to begin. Canada join the talks in 1991, paving the way for three-way negotiations. The United States and Canada signed a bilateral free trade deal in 1988. * Nov. 3, 1992: Running as an independent for president in the United States, Ross Perot claims the proposed NAFTA would lead to a giant sucking sound of jobs rushing to Mexico. Bill Clinton wins the election, defeating incumbent Bush. Perot wins 19 percent of the vote to place a strong third. * Dec. 17, 1992: NAFTA is signed by outgoing Bush, Mexico s Salinas de Gortari and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, creating the world s largest free trade area. The timing was, in part, aimed at making it harder for President-elect Clinton to pursue major changes; Clinton had endorsed the deal but insisted on environmental and labor side agreements. * Jan. 1, 1994: NAFTA comes into effect, and the Maya Indian Zapatista guerrilla army in southern Mexico launches an armed rebellion against neo-liberalism and explicitly against the free trade deal. The declaration of war against the Mexican government leads to days of fighting and dozens of deaths before the rebels retreat into the jungle. * Nov. 30, 1999: Tens of thousands of anti-globalization protesters converge on the U.S. city of Seattle, leading to widespread rioting coinciding with a ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization, which was seeking to launch new international trade talks. The protests underscore growing, if scattered, opposition to free trade deals like NAFTA. * Dec. 11, 2001: China formally joins the World Trade Organization, integrating the Asian giant more deeply into the global economy. Easing trade with China intensifies a trend that had been seen since NAFTA came into effect as the U.S. trade deficit soared to more than $800 billion by 2006. * July 16, 2004: Senior trade officials from Canada, the United States and Mexico issue a joint statement touting a decade s worth of expanded trade in North America. Three-way-trade more than doubled to reach $623 billion while cumulative foreign direct investment increases by over $1.7 trillion compared to pre-NAFTA levels. * Jan. 1, 2008: NAFTA is fully implemented as the last of its polices come into effect. In sensitive sectors such as sugar, NAFTA stipulates that trade barriers would only gradually be phased out, which was designed to smooth economic shocks in vulnerable industries. By this time, trade within the three North American nations has more than tripled. * July 19, 2016: Billionaire businessman and political outsider Donald Trump formally clinches the Republican presidential nomination, winning the traditionally pro-free-trade party s nod in part by denouncing NAFTA, calling it the worst trade deal ever. * Aug. 16, 2017: High-stakes talks aimed at modernizing NAFTA kick off in Washington, with both U.S. and Mexican officials aiming to conclude a new pact in early 2018 before elections later in the year in both nations might derail negotiations. A second round of talks takes place in Mexico in September. * Sept. 1, 2017: In the week ahead of the second round of talks in Mexico which begin on Sept. 1, Trump had said repeatedly he would likely end the agreement if negotiations did not go his way. Mexico said it would walk away from the table if Trump began the process of withdrawing from NAFTA.

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September 1, 2017

Grace Mugabe returns to Zimbabwe campaign trail after assault charge

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe s first lady Grace Mugabe hit the campaign trail with her husband Robert on Friday, urging discipline in his party two weeks after she faced assault charges in South Africa. Grace, who is seen as a possible successor to her 93-year-old husband, was accused of assaulting a model at an upmarket Johannesburg hotel, but flew home after a minister granted her immunity. The first lady did not refer to the incident in her first speech since returning, instead telling a ZANU-PF party rally that supporters should stand behind Africa s oldest leader in the build-up to next year s elections. We have a very unique position in Zimbabwe where we have our president who will soon be 94 years because that is what God decreed. No man of flesh can stop that, Grace said in the speech broadcast on state television. South Africa s main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party is challenging the international relations minister s decision to give her immunity - a move that could in theory affect any future plans to travel to the country. Twenty-year-old model Gabriella Engels accused Grace Mugabe of whipping her with an electric extension cable as she waited with two friends in a luxury hotel suite to meet one of the Mugabes adult sons.

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September 1, 2017

L'Oreal sacks transgender model after comments on white people

PARIS (Reuters) - French cosmetics giant L Oreal sacked its first transgender model to appear on a British advertising campaign after she described all white people as racist on Facebook. London-based model Munroe Bergdorf had announced on her Facebook page on August 27 that she was to be part of the French cosmetics brand s new advertising campaign celebrating diversity. In an online message that later appeared on Friday to have been deleted, Bergdorf said, according to the Daily Mail newspaper: Honestly I don t have energy to talk about the racial violence of white people any more. Yes ALL white people. L Oreal s UK unit said on its Twitter page it had decided to terminate her contract: L Oreal champions diversity. Comments by Munroe Bergdorf are at odds with our values and so we have decided to end our partnership with her. In a post on her page on Friday, Bergdorf criticized the Daily Mail article and sought to defend her comments, which she said were a reaction to the violence of white supremacists in Charlottesville in the United States. When I stated that all white people are racist , I was addressing that fact that western society as a whole, is a SYSTEM rooted in white supremacy - designed to benefit, prioritize and protect white people before anyone of any other race, she said.

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September 1, 2017

UK's Davis sees good Brexit deal despite recent tense talks

WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) - Britain s Brexit minister told a business audience in Washington on Friday that he hoped talks to leave the European Union would produce a good deal for both sides, although he conceded that discussions were getting a bit tense . David Davis had just returned on Thursday from Brussels, where EU officials warned that so far progress in their negotiations had fallen short of what was needed to move on to discussion of their future relationship. I am a determined optimist, Davis told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Because I fundamentally believe that a good deal is in the interests of both the UK and the EU and the whole of the developed world. Davis came under pressure from the U.S. Chamber s head of international affairs, Myron Brilliant, to lay out a clear path for Brexit for the 7,500 U.S. companies with operations in Britain - one that had predictable transition periods that minimized business disruption. Negotiations so far have centered on Britain s EU budget obligations, with the EU insisting the bill be agreed before talks can proceed to discuss areas like international trade. Davis declined to say whether Britain would be open to paying for access to the single market during any post-Brexit transition period and said London was closely examining the bill for exiting the EU. It is getting a bit tense. I rule nothing in, nothing out, Davis said. Britain would expect to conclude a free-trade agreement with the United States once a transition period with the EU ends, Davis said. But he cautioned that any deal between two large economies such as Britain and the United States would be quite complex . Davis appeared to seek to draw a line between Britain s ambitions for global free-trade agreements and the protectionist line being followed by U.S. President Donald Trump, who has sought to impose trade tariffs and threatened to quit the North American Free Trade Area in order to boost domestic industry. Davis said Britain would press for further liberalization of services and engage with international bodies like the World Trade Organization. Trump has said the United States would consider ignoring WTO rulings. Britain has been courting the United States as it leaves the EU, with Prime Minister Theresa May becoming the first foreign leader to meet U.S. President Donald Trump after his inauguration in January. She called on Trump then to renew the special relationship between the two countries, and she has pinned hopes on securing a trade deal with the country soon after Brexit to show that Britain can prosper outside the EU . But she has been criticized by opposition politicians for trying to cozy up to Trump, whose unpredictable policy stances on issues such as trade and other international obligations have raised concern over whether Washington will stick to its global agreements.

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September 1, 2017

Putin warns North Korea situation on verge of 'large-scale conflict'

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday that the standoff between North Korea and the United States was close to spilling into a large-scale conflict and said it was a mistake to try to pressure Pyongyang into halting its nuclear missile program. Putin, due to attend a summit of the BRICS nations in China next week, said the only way to de-escalate tensions was via talks, and Sergei Lavrov, his foreign minister, said Washington not Pyongyang should take the initiative on that. It is essential to resolve the region s problems through direct dialogue involving all sides without advancing any preconditions (for such talks), Putin, whose country shares a border with North Korea, wrote on the Kremlin s web site. Provocations, pressure, and bellicose and offensive rhetoric is the road to nowhere. The Russian leader, whose nuclear-capable bombers recently overflew the Korean Peninsula in a show of force, said the situation had deteriorated so badly that it was now balanced on the verge of a large-scale conflict. Pyongyang has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States and recently threatened to land missiles near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. On Monday, North Korea, which sees joint war games between the United States and South Korea as preparations for invasion, raised the stakes by firing an intermediate-range missile over Japan. In Russia s opinion the calculation that it is possible to halt North Korea s nuclear missile programs exclusively by putting pressure on Pyongyang is erroneous and futile, Putin wrote. A road map formulated by Moscow and Beijing, which would involve North Korea halting its missile program in exchange for the United States and South Korea stopping large-scale war games, was a way to reduce tensions, wrote Putin. Lavrov, addressing students in Moscow, said he felt events were building towards a war which he said would cause large numbers of casualties in Japan and South Korea if it happened. If we want to avoid a war the first step must be taken by the side that is the more intelligent and stronger, said Lavrov, making clear he was referring to the United States. He said Russia was working behind the scenes and that Moscow knew that Washington had a back channel to Pyongyang which he said he hoped would allow the two sides to de-escalate.

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September 1, 2017

U.S.-backed forces in Syria's Raqqa say they take old city

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, said on Friday it had taken the last districts in the old city of Raqqa from Islamic State, but the U.S.-led coalition which backs it could not confirm the report. We declare to our people the liberation of the old city of Raqqa, the SDF said in a statement. The SDF has been battling to capture the former de facto capital of Islamic State s self-declared caliphate since June with backing from U.S.-led jets and special forces. The walled old city lies in the heart of Raqqa but the jihadist group still holds important districts in the west of the city. The SDF said it now held 65 percent of Raqqa in total. A war monitor, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said it was not true that the SDF had fully captured the old city, but added that it did hold more than 90 percent of that area. The coalition said it was not yet able to confirm the news. We have not received confirmation of that through our channels, coalition spokesman Colonel Ryan Dillon said.

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September 1, 2017

Turkey's Erdogan calls killing of Rohingya in Myanmar genocide

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that the death of hundreds of Rohingya in Myanmar over the past week constituted a genocide aimed at Muslim communities in the region. Nearly 400 people have died in fighting that has rocked Myanmar s northwest for a week, new official data showed, making it probably the deadliest bout of violence to engulf the country s Rohingya Muslim minority in decades. There is a genocide there. They remain silent towards this... All those looking away from this genocide carried out under the veil of democracy are also part of this massacre, Erdogan said at his ruling AK Party s Eid al-adha celebrations in Istanbul. The army says it is conducting clearance operations against extremist terrorists to protect civilians. Erdogan, with his roots in political Islam, has long strived to take a position of leadership among the world s Muslim community. He said it was Turkey s moral responsibility to take a stand against the events in Myanmar. Around 38,000 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar, United Nations sources said, a week after Rohingya insurgents attacked police posts and an army base in Rakhine state, prompting clashes and a military counteroffensive. Erdogan said the issue would be discussed in detail when world leaders convene for the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 12 in New York.

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September 1, 2017

Al Shabaab bomb kills 12 in Somalia's Puntland

BOSSASO, Somalia (Reuters) - An al Shabaab bomb attack killed 12 people, including five soldiers, in Somalia s Puntland region on Friday, the Puntland military said. The explosions hit Af-Urur, 100 km (60 miles) south of the city of Bossaso. Af-Urur is near the Galgala hills, an area controlled by al Shabaab Islamists who have attacked and captured the town several times and in June killed 38 people there. A bomb planted near the khat market of Af-Urur exploded, Major Mohamed Ismail, a Puntland military officer, told Reuters. So far 12 people including civilians and soldiers have died. The attack coincided with Eid al-Adha, a Muslim holiday. Al Shabaab, which is linked to al Qaeda and wants to impose strict Islamic law, claimed responsibility. We are behind the attack in Af-Urur village. We killed five soldiers and injured 10 others, al Shabaab s military operations spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters.

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September 1, 2017

Rescue efforts end in Indian building collapse; 34 dead

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Rescuers in the Indian city of Mumbai wound down on Friday their search for victims in the ruins of a condemned building that collapsed, after pulling 12 survivors and 34 bodies from the rubble, emergency services said. The 117-year-old, six storey-building in a congested old neighborhood came crashing down early on Thursday after heavy rain had drenched the financial hub for days. Rescue operations are in a demobilization phase. Two fire appliances and one ambulance will be on standby at site as a precautionary measure, said P. S. Rahangdale, chief fire officer of the Mumbai Fire Brigade. Among the dead was a 20-day old baby, police said. The collapse was the second in Mumbai in little over a month. In July, 17 people were killed when a four-storey building came down after suspected unauthorized renovations. The cause of the latest collapse was not known but it came after several days of torrential rainy-season downpours that flooded parts of the city. Devendra Fadnavis, the chief minister of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, ordered an inquiry. The building had been declared unsafe by the housing regulator in 2011 but many people had stayed on living here. Neighbors said developers tasked with renovating properties in the area had not provided enough information about options for temporary housing. Officials from the housing regulator told media they had granted a neighborhood trust with the right to redevelop the building and provide temporary housing to residents. The trust issued a statement on Thursday saying it had started relocating residents, and had moved seven families in 2014, but other residents had refused to leave.

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September 1, 2017

Pope Francis consulted psychoanalyst in 1970s: book

PARIS (Reuters) - Pope Francis saw a Jewish psychoanalyst once a week for six months during the 1970s and found the experience beneficial, the pontiff was quoted as saying in a new book. For six months, I went to her once a week to shed light on certain things, the Argentine pontiff said in a series of interviews with French sociologist Dominique Wolton, extracts from which were published by Le Figaro on Friday. She was very good, very professional ... but she always remained in her proper place, the 80-year-old said, adding he was aged 42 at the time. She helped me a lot. The excerpts released did not name the psychoanalyst or explain why the sessions had been originally set up. Francis said she had called him when she was on the verge of death, not for sacraments, because she was Jewish, but for a spiritual dialogue . Francis, who has campaigned for a more open and inclusive Catholic Church, criticized rigid priests, who are afraid of communicating . It is a kind of fundamentalism. When I come across someone rigid, especially if they are young, I say to myself that they are sick. In reality, they are looking for security. The book, Pope Francis: Meetings with Dominique Wolton, Politics and Society is due for publication by Les Editions de L Observatoire on Sept. 6.

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September 1, 2017

Thai university removes student leader for defying royalist tradition

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand s prestigious Chulalongkorn University has removed the head of its student council, a vocal critic of military rule, after he was accused of disrupting a royalist initiation ceremony. But Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal, 20, and the student council said they refused to accept the university order against him and four other members, and would appeal against the decision. First-year students are required to prostrate themselves before a statue of late Thai King Rama V, but older students are meant to do nothing except observe from the audience. Netiwit and his colleagues, however, strode out in front of the students and bowed to the statue during the ceremony, and university authorities took that gesture as a show of defiant disrespect for the tradition. This reflects disrespect towards rights and liberties of other people whose views differ from their own, Pomthong Malakul Na Ayudhaya, a deputy dean at Chulalongkorn University, said in a statement on Thursday. Pomthong said Netiwit was removed for student disciplinary misconduct . Respect for the monarchy is a fundamental tenet of Thai society. In recent years, Thailand has been riven by rivalry between the old, royalist-military establishment and populist forces that have arisen in conjunction with economic growth. Netiwit was elected in May to lead the student council at the university. He rose to prominence as an anti-establishment figure after refusing to prostrate himself before the statue as a first-year student last year. I only wanted to show there are different ways to pay respect to the King Rama V, Netiwit told Reuters. Everyone should be able to think for themselves. You shouldn t force or coerce anyone into doing anything. The tradition of prostration before kings was abolished in 1873 by King Rama V, the university s namesake. But the practice was revived in recent decades and the university began its own tradition in 1997. The university did not comment when contacted by Reuters. Netiwit has emerged as a rare critic of the military junta, which has silenced most dissent since seizing power in 2014. He has drawn comparisons with Hong Kong student activist Joshua Wong. The dismissals from the student council were less about misconduct than undermining what Netiwit represents, said Carina Chotirawe, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University s Faculty of Arts who disagreed with the decision. To some their status as heroes is reinforced even more, Carina said.

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September 1, 2017

Xi's power on parade as China party congress looms

BEIJING (Reuters) - The recent scene at a dusty Inner Mongolia military base provided evidence of Chinese President Xi Jinping s consolidation of political power, even as he faces pushback from some quarters in his ruling Communist Party ahead of a critical gathering next month. Dressed in army fatigues, Xi reviewed a military parade on July 30 marking the 90th founding anniversary of the People s Liberation Army (PLA). Breaking with precedent at such events, Xi who is head of the party and the military as well as president - did not share the stage with peers or party elders. PLA General Fan Changlong, in a further departure from the norm, hailed Xi as lingxiu , or leader, a reverent honorific bestowed only on two others since the 1949 founding of the People s Republic of China: Chairman Mao Zedong and his short-lived successor, Hua Guofeng. According to six sources with ties to the leadership, as well as Chinese analysts and foreign diplomats, that display and others sent a clear signal of his increasingly dominant position in the runup to the Party s congress starting on Oct. 18, a meeting that is only held once every five years. Rana Mitter, director of the University of Oxford China Centre, said the lingxiu title would suggest Xi had succeeded in one of his key aims to centralize as much authority and charisma under his own person as possible. But as Xi s supporters promote his agenda, some party insiders, wary that he will accumulate too much power and effectively end three decades of collective leadership, have delayed agreement on who will end up on the party s Standing Committee, the apex of power, currently made up of seven men. There is opposition to Xi getting too much power, said a source with ties to the leadership. The State Council Information Office, which doubles as the party s spokesman s office, did not respond to a request for comment for this story. As is typical in the run-up to the Congress, competing name lists have been circulating in leadership circles for the Standing Committee, but sources caution they are possibilities rather than the final line-up. There is an anti-Xi faction forming up, said a Beijing-based diplomatic source, citing meetings he has had with Chinese officials. It remains to be seen if he ll get it all his own way for the Standing Committee. Key questions include whether Xi ally and top corruption buster Wang Qishan will stay on past traditional retirement age and, whether Xi will get his supporters in all the key positions. There will also be a lot of attention on any moves that would enable Xi to stay on in some top leadership capacity after his second term ends in 2022. Xi is required by the country s constitution to step down as president after two five-year terms. There is no limit on his tenure as the party and military chief, though a maximum 10-year term is the norm. Distinct from the standard usage of lingdao for leader, lingxiu evokes grander, almost spiritual, connotations. The party is gearing up to put Xi on the same level as Mao, another Beijing-based diplomatic source said, referring to the significance of the lingxiu term. The Central Party School, which is the top training ground for up-and-coming cadres and is influential in interpreting and disseminating party directives, has since the military parade used lingxiu in official party language to refer to Xi. The Study Times, the school s official newspaper, referred to Xi as lingxiu for the first time on Aug. 21. This is the choice made by history, made by the people, it said. The military s official PLA Daily also referred to Xi as lingxiu on Aug. 25. However, the People s Daily, the party s official newspaper, has yet to call Xi lingxiu . If Xi becomes lingxiu at the congress, it would be tantamount to being party chairman, another source with leadership ties said. Xi is currently the party s general secretary, but not chairman. China s first three leaders after the founding of the People s Republic in 1949 all carried the title party chairman -Mao, Hua and then Hu Yaobang. It has not been used since. It would be a life-long tenure, the source said, adding that adopting such a title would be easier than amending the party charter to resurrect the chairmanship, which was abolished in the early 1980s to prevent another Mao-like personality cult. Xi added core to his slew of titles last October. If he were to be formally anointed lingxiu during the congress, his political clout would eclipse that of the past few presidents, the sources said. It would effectively grant him veto power on any major decision put to the Standing Committee, they said. For decades, the Communist Party general secretary has been technically first among equals in the Standing Committee under a collective leadership model designed to avoid one-man rule. While western analysts largely view Xi s centralization of authority as having a possibly narrowing effect on China s potential for further radical economic reform, three sources with leadership ties said Xi wants a strong hand precisely to force through changes that are resisted by vested interests. This kind of title is essential, a source with ties to the leadership told Reuters. China at this juncture needs this kind of powerful man in control.

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September 1, 2017

Britain lifts electronic device ban on flights from Cairo: ministry

CAIRO (Reuters) - British authorities have lifted a ban on carry-on electronic devices on planes arriving from Cairo airport, Egypt s Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Friday. The United States and Britain in March imposed restrictions banning electronic devices from being carried on planes coming from certain airports in Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Authorities lifted the ban after confirming that security procedures on Egypt s flights meet the requirements of the British Transportation Security Administration, the ministry said in a statement.

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September 1, 2017

U.S.-led forces acknowledge killing 61 more civilians in Iraq, Syria

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants said on Friday it had confirmed another 61 likely civilian deaths caused by its strikes in Iraq and Syria, raising to 685 the number of civilians it has acknowledged killing since the conflict began. The coalition said in a statement that during July, it had investigated 37 reports of civilian casualties. It found that only 13 of the reports were credible and there were an estimated 61 unintentional civilian deaths. The coalition is investigating another 455 reports of civilian casualties caused by its artillery or air strikes, the statement said. It has now acknowledged at least 685 civilian deaths due to its air and artillery strikes since the conflict began in August 2014. The deadliest incident investigated in July was a March 14 strike near Mosul, in which the coalition attacked an Islamic State position where fighters were firing at coalition allies. That strike is believed to have killed 27 civilians in an adjacent structure, the statement said.

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September 1, 2017

Next round of Syria talks in Astana set for September 14-15

ASTANA (Reuters) - The next round of talks between Russia, Turkey and Iran on settling the Syrian civil conflict will take place in Kazakhstan on Sept. 14-15 and focus on forces that the three nations plan to deploy there, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said on Friday. Kazakhstan hosts the talks which have in the past few months focused on establishing de-escalation zones in Syria. According to the information from the guarantor states, during the upcoming meeting they plan to review several documents covering the work of de-escalation control forces, and continue work on agreeing the make-up of control forces in Idlib, the ministry said in a statement. Moscow, Ankara and Tehran plan to map out de-escalation zones in Idlib, Homs and Eastern Ghouta, and discuss other matters such as prisoner exchange, it said. At the most recent Astana meeting, in July, the three nations failed to finalize an agreement on creating four de-escalation zones in Syria after Ankara raised objections. The talks, which began in January, have so far produced no breakthrough. Some Western diplomats have described them as Russia s attempt to hijack U.N.-led peace talks in Geneva involving the government and opposition.

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September 1, 2017

Austrian Chancellor's party sues Foreign Minister ahead of election

VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria s ruling Social Democratic Party (SPO) is suing Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, the chairman of its junior coalition partner, after he accused Chancellor Christian Kern s party of secretly accepting a 100,000 euro ($119,120) donation. The lawsuit marks a new low in the already strained relationship between the coalition partners, who have engaged in public squabbles for years. Polls for parliamentary elections scheduled for Oct. 15 show Kurz s conservative People s Party (OVP) ahead of the SPO. The lawsuit relates to an interview shown on public broadcaster ORF on Monday in which Kurz said industrialist Hans-Peter Haselsteiner, a vocal supporter of the pro-business Neos party, donated 100,000 euros to the SPO via opaque channels. The lawsuit filed at Vienna s commercial court on Friday said the SPO s good reputation, economic progress and honor was damaged by Kurz s comments as it implied dishonesty. The SPO wants party donations to be capped at 20,000 euros. With a view to the upcoming parliamentary elections, there is a very concrete danger that the (SPO) will achieve a worse result because of this accusation, the lawsuit, seen by Reuters, said. The SPO said it has not been offered or received any donations from Haselsteiner, who is a key shareholder of construction group Strabag. Haselsteiner denied Kurz s accusations in newspaper Der Standard. The SPO wants Kurz to publicly retract his comments. In an emailed statement, the General Secretary of Kurz s OVP said Haselsteiner had donated money to an association that is critical of the OVP and hence indirectly supports the SPO. She said the SPO should make all its donations public. Kurz s spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

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September 1, 2017

Myanmar army drops charges against six journalists amid free speech concerns

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar s military on Friday dropped charges against six journalists facing trial on offences ranging from defamation to unlawful association, saying it wanted to work with the media in the interests of the country and its people. The legal action had sparked fears over curbs on free speech during Myanmar s transition from decades of military rule, under a government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, following a landmark 2015 election win. The military decided to forgive and drop charges against the media in an effort to work together for the interest of the citizens and the country , it said in a statement. The army had to take legal action because the coverage had disgraced the image, the dignity and the activity of the Tatmadaw, it added, referring to the armed forces by their Myanmar name. Charges were dropped against three reporters arrested in late June for covering an event organized by the Ta ang National Liberation Army, an ethnic militia engaged in a stand-off with government troops. They were charged under a colonial-era law against unlawful association , which rights watchers said has long been used by Myanmar authorities to arbitrarily arrest and detain people. It s injustice from the very beginning, Pyae Phone Aung, one of the reporters arrested on June 26 in northeastern Shan state, told Reuters by telephone from the court where his trial was being held. We journalists were just doing our work, but we were charged and spent more than 60 days in jail. It was not immediately clear when the three journalists would be released. Charges were also dropped against three more reporters, whose articles critical of the military had attracted defamation charges on the basis of several laws, including a telecoms law that rights monitors say restricts free speech. Twenty journalists have been charged or arrested under the controversial law since Suu Kyi s government took power, the advocacy group Research Team for Telecommunications Law said.Despite pressure from human rights groups and Western diplomats, her government has retained the broadly worded law, and has not spoken out against the increasingly frequent arrests of reporters and activists. The military retains control of the police, key ministries and a quarter of lawmakers seats. The courts also still lack independence, some analysts say.

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September 1, 2017

Vietnam protests over Chinese military drill in South China Sea

BEIJING/HANOI (Reuters) - China urged Vietnam on Friday to take a calm and rational view of its military drills in the South China Sea, after Vietnam expressed opposition, as tension between the neighbors worsens over the disputed strategic waterway. China has appeared uneasy at Vietnam s efforts to rally Southeast Asian countries over the busy waterway as well as at its neighbor s growing defense ties with the United States, Japan and India. In July, under pressure from Beijing, Vietnam suspended oil drilling in offshore waters that are also claimed by China. Vietnam was deeply concerned about the exercises in the Gulf of Tonkin area, at the north end of the South China Sea, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said in a statement, but did not make clear what drills were being referred to. Vietnam proposes China to cease and refrain from repeating acts that complicate the situation in the East Sea, Hang said, employing Vietnam s name for the South China Sea. All foreign activities in Vietnamese waters must comply with Vietnamese and international laws, she added. Vietnam s Foreign Ministry conveyed its position to a Chinese embassy representative on Thursday, the statement added, without saying when China s announcement was made or when any drill might take place. In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the drills were routine annual exercises and were being carried out in the northwestern part of the South China Sea. The relevant sea is under China s jurisdiction, she told a daily news briefing on Friday, adding that China had the right to carry out such drills in the waters there. We hope the relevant side can calmly and rationally view it, she added. Last month, the Maritime Safety Administration of China s southern province of Hainan, which oversees the South China Sea, said military drills would take place south of the province and east of Vietnam from Aug. 29 until Sept. 4. There would be live fire drills around the Paracel Islands, which Vietnam claims, until Sunday, it added. China claims nearly all the South China Sea, through which an estimated $3 trillion in international trade passes each year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan also have claims.

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August 31, 2017

Despite strains, Vietnam and China forge closer economic ties

HANOI (Reuters) - Tensions are high on the South China Sea as Vietnam faces off against China over their overlapping maritime claims. But for the boatmen on the junks cruising the calm expanse of Vietnam s Ha Long Bay, another growing Chinese presence in the region is very welcome indeed. More than half our tourists are Chinese now, said Nguyen Van Phu, 33, who has spent six years working on the boats that chug between the bay s spectacular stone towers. If they stopped coming it would be a big problem, if not a disaster. The number of Chinese tourists in Vietnam has surged this year, just one sign of the growing economic ties between two long-time enemies. Chinese investment in Vietnam is also increasing rapidly, as is trade between the two countries. But while tourists, trade and investment are being welcomed, they also present a challenge for a fiercely independent country like Vietnam, which has been wary of China s growing influence in the region. The rising economic dependence on China makes it more difficult for Vietnam to decide how far to confront China on the South China Sea, said Nguyen Khac Giang, a researcher at the Vietnam Economics and Policy Research Institution. Vietnam would suffer far more than China economically in the event of political instability given its smaller size, he said. China exports more goods to Vietnam than any other country in Southeast Asia, sending textiles to be made into shirts and sneakers, and electronic components for mobile phones and large flat-panel displays. Those completed products are exported around the world, as well as back to China. Vietnam also makes electronics components for factories in China, and exports computers for Chinese consumers. Manufacturers see Vietnam as an attractive base, with wages as little as a third of those in coastal regions of China, according to employment consultants. And while proximity has historically been a source of friction between the two countries - they fought a border war as recently as 1979 and armed clashes flared for years afterwards - for manufacturers it s a boon. We strategically invested in Vietnam because of its geographical advantage closer to China and hence lower cost on materials, transportation and relatively shorter production lead time, said Bosco Law, chief executive of the Hong Kong-based Lawsgroup. The company makes clothes for brands such as Gap, whose global operations include scores of outlets in China. Businesses contacted by Reuters declined to talk openly about the risks for them of tension between Vietnam and China. Chinese trade and investment has surged across Southeast Asia in recent years as companies search out new bases for manufacturing and consumers for their goods. China has also invested in infrastructure and plans to pour development funds into Southeast Asia as part of its sprawling Belt and Road initiative. That has already had a political effect. Big recipients of Chinese investment such as Cambodia and Laos are promoting China s line on the South China Sea at regional meetings. President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, meanwhile, has cited Chinese investment pledges as he softens his country s stance on its maritime disputes with China. Tensions between Beijing and Hanoi have been high since mid-June, when Chinese pressure forced Vietnam to suspend oil drilling on a block that overlaps the line China says marks its claim to almost all the South China Sea. As Vietnam has emerged as the most vocal regional opponent of China s maritime claims in Southeast Asia, it has drawn Beijing s ire. Its growing defense links to the United States, Japan and India also make China suspicious. The Vietnamese government has also had to contend with public pressure at home. A row over Chinese oil drilling in disputed waters in the South China Sea in 2014 sparked anti-China riots in Vietnam in which foreign factories thought to be Chinese were set on fire, before the rig was removed. Tourism dipped in the aftermath, but quickly bounced back. Trade has also risen steadily since then. Exports to China jumped nearly 43 percent to $13 billion in the first half of 2017 from a year earlier, according to customs data. Imports rose more slowly, climbing 16 percent. Chinese tourist arrivals, meanwhile, soared 60 percent to nearly 1.9 million in the first half of 2017 to account for around one third of all foreign visitors. For the most part, the government has welcomed the boost from Chinese tourism, as it strives to meet a 6.7 percent target for annual economic growth. Vietnam is also welcoming Chinese investments, if cautiously. We should be careful but at the same time we should take advantage, said Nguyen Mai, the president of Vietnam s Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises. The biggest foreign direct investors in Vietnam have long been from South Korea and Japan, particularly in the electronics sector. More than 100,000 Vietnamese work for Samsung alone in Vietnam. However, Chinese investment is growing quickly, nearly doubling last year to almost 8 percent of total foreign direct investment. Investment went into solar panel and plastics factories, among other areas. Direct U.S. investment accounts for about 2 percent of the total so far this year; the United States is also Vietnam s second-largest trade partner. For a graphic on Vietnam-China trade, click: tmsnrt.rs/2fIhfYc

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September 1, 2017

Thailand approves $2.2 billion in help for rice farmers

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand s government on Friday announced $2.2 billion in loans and handouts to help stabilize prices for rice farmers, a politically influential group whose heartland is in regions where opposition to the military junta is strongest. Thailand s staple food has long been a factor in its politics. The announcement by the commerce ministry came a week after former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra fled into exile ahead of a court verdict in a criminal negligence case over a rice subsidy scheme that cost billions of dollars. The ministry said it would provide $1.57 billion in handouts to farmers and $633 million in loans that will cover 3.7 million households. The program will span the seasonal harvest from the start of November this year to the end of February 2018. This is to help take 2 million tonnes of rice from the market, Nuntawan Sakuntanaga, head of the commerce ministry s department of internal trade, told reporters. The government introduced similar short-term loans and cash handouts for rice farmers last year that cost the state $2.3 billion to cover 4 million households during the same period. This subsidy program is essentially similar to past rice subsidies introduced by previous governments, said Somporn Isvilanonda, a senior fellow at the Knowledge Network Institute of Thailand who is critical of subsidies. The bottom line is these cash handouts create more debt for farmers, Somporn said. After hitting a four-year high earlier this year, the price of benchmark Thai 5-percent broken white rice has tumbled by nearly 20 percent over the last two months to $372.50 per tonne, its lowest since April. Thailand s main rice-growing areas are the northeastern and central regions, which have traditionally been strongholds of support for the populist Shinawatra movement of Yingluck and her brother Thaksin, who was overthrown in a 2006 coup.

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September 1, 2017

France says North Korea close to long-range missile capability

PARIS (Reuters) - France s foreign minister said on Friday that North Korea would have capability to send long-range ballistic missiles in a few months and urged China to be more active diplomatically to resolve the crisis. The situation is extremely serious... we see North Korea setting itself as an objective to have tomorrow or the day after missiles that can transport nuclear weapons. In a few months that will be a reality, Jean-Yves Le Drian told RTL radio. At the moment, when North Korea has the means to strike the United States, even Europe, but definitely Japan and China, then the situation will be explosive, he said. Le Drian, who spoke to his Chinese counterpart on Thursday, said everything had to be done to ensure a latest round of United Nations sanctions was implemented and urged China, Pyongyang s main trade partner, to do its utmost to enforce them. North Korea must find the path to negotiations. It must be diplomatically active.

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September 1, 2017

Exclusive: Pyongyang university to start fall classes without American staff after travel ban

SEOUL (Reuters) - Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), North Korea s only western-funded university, will start the fall semester without its dozens of American staff after failing to secure exemptions to a U.S. travel ban that starts on Friday. PUST - home to the largest concentration of foreigners in the reclusive state - plans to revise courses and teaching schedules but its largely English-based curriculum will be heavily impacted, two sources familiar with PUST s operations said. PUST was founded in 2010 by a Korean American evangelical Christian with the goal of helping North Korea's future elite learn the skills to modernize the isolated country and engage with the outside world. (Graphic: Americans detained in North Korea - tmsnrt.rs/2pmE3ks) In mid-July, however, the U.S. State Department announced a ban on Americans traveling to North Korea following the death earlier this year of an American student who had been detained by the state while on a tour. It advised U.S. citizens living there to leave. Since then, tensions on the Korean peninsula have escalated significantly. Nuclear-armed North Korea has undertaken a number of provocative missile tests, including two intercontinental ballistic missile launches and one medium-range missile test this week that flew over Japan. Of the roughly 130 foreigners at PUST including faculty members, staffers and family members, about 60 were U.S. citizens, one of the sources said, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation. None had received special permission to stay and all have now left Pyongyang. The teaching activities and the unique international English-based character of the school are severely impacted by the U.S. travel ban and the decision of some other personnel not to return, the source said. The school, which is open about its Christian affiliation, has already been rocked by the detention of two of its staff members by the North Korean regime this year. The two were accused of acting against the interests of the state. U.S. officials announced the ban six weeks ago due to the risk Americans will be held for long-term detention in the country. The ban was imposed after U.S. student Otto Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years hard labor for allegedly trying to steal a propaganda poster while on a tour last year. Warmbier fell into a coma in custody and died soon after he was released to U.S. officials. The circumstances surrounding his death are not clear. The last major tour involving U.S. tourists flew out of North Korea on Thursday. The ban, similar to previous U.S. restrictions on travel to Iraq and Libya, makes North Korea the only country in the world Americans are currently banned by the State Department from visiting. Journalists and humanitarian workers can apply for special permission. But the U.S. government has yet to issue guidelines on how to obtain waivers, leaving PUST and educators uncertain how or when it might be possible to apply for exemptions, according to the people familiar with PUST s operations. The State Department said it was unable to comment on specific requests for exemptions. Over the past several weeks, PUST leaders have tried to lobby for exemptions so that their work can continue, the sources said. The school is involved in ongoing discussions with U.S. officials, they added. The university was seen as a rare experiment in academic diplomacy with a country increasingly entirely isolated from the rest of the world due to tightening sanctions over its defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons programs. U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to stop Pyongyang achieving its goal of being able to fire a nuclear warhead to the United States and has warned the U.S. military is locked and loaded in case of North Korean provocation. Since PUST took in its first 50 students in 2010, the school has grown to about 500 undergraduate and 60 graduate students studying in mostly three departments - electronic and computer engineering, international finance and management and agriculture and life sciences. A lot of effort has been spent over the past seven years that PUST has been operating. The prospect of this progress being undermined - even totally thwarted - as a consequence of the U.S. government action, is deeply worrying to everyone involved, one of the sources said.

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September 1, 2017

Top Indian court to hear Rohingya deportation case amid Myanmar violence

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India s top court has agreed to hear a plea challenging a government decision to deport all of an estimated 40,000 Rohingya Muslims living in the country after fleeing persecution in Myanmar, a lawyer involved in the case said on Friday. A petition was filed on behalf of two Rohingya men who live in Delhi after fleeing their village in Myanmar s Rakhine State, where the latest surge of violence has killed at least 400 people and sent about 40,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi s Hindu nationalist government said last month it was going to expel all Rohingya, even those registered with the U.N. refugee agency, drawing criticism from aid groups and some politicians. The Supreme Court realizes the urgency of it, that s why they have agreed to hear it on Monday, lawyer Prashant Bhushan told Reuters. You can t send somebody away to face certain death in another country, that would be a violation of his Article 21 rights. Bhushan said the Indian constitution s Article 21, on the protection of life and personal liberty, applied to non-citizens. Deportation would also contradict the principle of non-refoulement - or not sending back refugees to a place where they face danger, he said. Home Ministry spokesman K.S. Dhatwalia declined to comment, saying the government would present its case to the court. Mohammad Salimullah, the first petitioner, came to India in 2012 via the eastern state of West Bengal, on the border with Bangladesh, according to the petition seen by Reuters. The second petitioner, Mohammad Shaqir, arrived in 2011. Both said in the petitions that their lives would be in danger if they were sent back to Myanmar, where clashes broke out last Friday after Rohingya insurgents wielding sticks, knives and crude bombs attacked police posts and an army base. The Rohingya are denied citizenship in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and regarded as illegal immigrants, despite claiming roots that date back centuries. Bangladesh is also growing hostile to Rohingya, more than 400,000 of whom live there after fleeing Myanmar since the early 1990s. From Bangladesh, many Rohingya have crossed a porous border into Hindu-majority India, where they are starting to get vilified by some right-wing groups. We should not be targeted just because we are Muslims, Rohingya Ali Johar, who came to India in 2012 and lives with his family in a Delhi settlement, said by phone. We ve already faced persecution in Myanmar. India should not do anything that will show them as racist. Myanmar denies persecuting the Rohingya. It says its security forces are tackling terrorists who have launched attacks in Rakhine State.

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September 1, 2017

China names new commanders for army, air force in reshuffle

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has appointed new commanders of its army and air force in a reshuffle ahead of next month s Communist Party congress, as President Xi Jinping brings new blood into the military s top ranks amid an ambitious modernization program. China s armed forces, the world s largest, are ramping up their capabilities with new equipment like aircraft carriers and stealth fighters as the country pursues a more assertive stance in the disputed East and South China Seas and seeks to project power far from home shores. The new army chief, Han Weiguo, is not a high-profile figure but has risen rapidly, with three promotions since 2015. He was also commanding officer in charge of a military parade in Inner Mongolia in July overseen by Xi to mark 90 years since the founding of the People s Liberation Army. Han had previously served as head of the central theater command, a military district that includes Beijing and a large swathe of central China. His new position was announced by state media on Friday. The army has been less of a focus of the military modernization, with more resources poured into the air force and navy that have increasingly been carrying out drills in distant regions. The new air force chief, Ding Laihang, announced by the Defence Ministry on the same day, is also a relatively low-profile figure, who ran air force operations for China s northern theater command before his promotion. New navy chief Shen Jinlong took up his position in January. Sources with ties to the leadership say he is close to Xi. All three men could be promoted to the Central Military Commission headed by Xi, which is in overall charge of the People s Liberation Army, when the party holds its once-in-five-years congress in Bejing next month. Another promotion was announced in August, with previous army commander Li Zuocheng being made the new chief of the Joint Staff Department of the People s Liberation Army. Li has had a much higher profile, as one of the few senior military officers with combat experience, having fought Vietnam in a brief border war in 1979. Last year he was glowingly profiled in the official Beijing Daily, which described his time fighting the Vietnamese, accompanied by black-and-white pictures of the then 26-year-old in a trench and pointing to a map. It was not clear what had happened to Fang Fenghui, the chief of the Joint Staff Department before Li. At a news briefing on Thursday, Defence Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang declined to comment on Fang, who turns 67 next year, usually around the age at which Chinese officials retire.

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September 1, 2017

G4S suspends nine staff at UK migrant center, says to investigate conduct

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - British outsourcer G4S has suspended nine members of staff at an immigration removal center while it investigates a BBC report alleging abuse in the treatment of migrants, the company said on Friday. We have received written allegations of abhorrent conduct at Brook House and on that basis we have deemed it serious enough to suspend the staff involved, a spokeswoman for G4S said. She said the company had not yet seen footage of the alleged incidents, however. BBC Panorama, a flagship documentary program, said on its website that an investigation revealed chaos, incompetence and abuse in the treatment of migrants in a program which will be aired next week. The incident has been reported to the police, the spokeswoman said. Officers were not immediately able to comment. The kind of behavior alleged is completely unacceptable, and does a great disservice to the vast majority of staff who do a great job in very difficult circumstances, the spokeswoman said. The issue highlights the difficulty of running sensitive services for the government and the potential reputational damage for outsourcing companies. Earlier this year an investigation at the G4S-run Medway Secure Training Centre resulted in allegations of abuse and mistreatment of youngsters. The center is now run by the government s National Offender Management Service. Brook House, near Gatwick Airport, is staffed by more than 200 employees and has around 500 occupants. More than 14,000 people passed through it in the last year. The unit houses a mix of those who have not fulfilled their visa requirements and criminals who are being deported.

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September 1, 2017

Pope, Orthodox leader make climate change appeal to 'heal wounded creation'

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis and Orthodox Christian leader Patriarch Bartholomew called on Friday for a collective response from world leaders to climate change, saying the planet was deteriorating and vulnerable people were the first to be affected. The appeal comes three months after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from a global agreement, struck in Paris, to limit greenhouse gas emissions. We urgently appeal to those in positions of social and economic, as well as political and cultural, responsibility to hear the cry of the earth and to attend to the needs of the marginalized, Francis and Bartholomew said in a joint statement. Above all , the leaders of the world s 1.2 billion Catholics and up to 300 million Orthodox Christians asked for a response to the plea of millions and support (for) the consensus of the world for the healing of our wounded creation. The joint message was not addressed to any specific world leaders. Many were dismayed when the U.S. backed out of the Paris accord, a decision a senior Vatican official later called a disaster .

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September 1, 2017

Japan's struggling opposition Democrats pick ex-foreign minister Maehara as leader

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan s struggling opposition Democratic Party elected former foreign minister Seiji Maehara to lead the party on Friday as it tries to raise its single-digit ratings and fend off a challenge by a new group with ties to popular Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike. Maehara, 55, a conservative on security who shares Prime Minister Shinzo Abe s desire to revise the post-war, pacifist constitution, takes over amid speculation that Abe may call a snap general election later this year to refresh his mandate. Maehara previously held the Democrats top post from 2005-2006. If I were to refer now to a change in government, the people would say, Whatever are you talking about? But we must change this dangerous political situation where there are no choices except the (ruling) Liberal Democratic Party or hopes for something whose form is not yet known, Maehara told his fellow party members. The party, an often fractious mix of conservatives and liberals, had to pick a new chief after its first female head, Renho, who goes by one name, quit having failed to capitalize on Abe s sagging ratings, eroded by suspected cronyism scandals and a perception he was complacent after 4-1/2 years in office. Abe s support has since rebounded off lows of under 30 percent in some polls, touching 46 percent in a survey by Nikkei business daily in late August. The novice Democratic Party surged to power in 2009, ousting the long-ruling LDP with promises to put individuals ahead of companies and address social inequalities. But many voters still have bad memories of its rule, which was plagued by infighting, policy flip-flops and unkept promises. Abe led the LDP to a huge victory in December 2012. The Democrats could face a new threat if efforts by backers of former LDP lawmaker Koike to create a new nationwide opposition party bear fruit. Her Tokyo Citizens First party dealt the LDP a historic defeat in a metropolitan assembly election last month, spurring talk it could evolve into a Japan First party to field candidates in a general election that must be held by late 2018. Speculation is simmering that Abe could call a snap election as early as October, to take advantage of opposition disarray, though he d risk losing the ruling bloc s super majority in the lower house. Maehara defeated liberal rival Yukio Edano, a former chief cabinet secretary during the Democrats days in power.

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September 1, 2017

Tajikistan agrees to more intelligence exchanges with China

BEIJING (Reuters) - China s foreign ministry on Friday announced an agreement with Tajikistan to establish exchanges of security intelligence as part of an upgrade to diplomatic relations during a state visit by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to China. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Rahmon on Thursday established a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, according to a statement released on the foreign ministry s website. The two sides agreed to bolster efforts to combat the threats of terrorism, separatism and religious extremism, as well as international criminal groups and drug trafficking by launching professional intelligence exchanges, the posting said. Both sides will strengthen communications between defense, security and law enforcement departments and deepen intelligence exchanges, it said. China s plan to rebuild the ancient Silk Road by reconnecting trade routes from its borders into Central and South East Asia, dubbed the Belt and Road Initiative, has raised new security concerns for the country and its companies. Beijing has worked to deepen security cooperation with countries in Central Asia and elsewhere to make up for shortfalls in its own intelligence and security measures to combat terror groups and other threats in the region. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security bloc established in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to fight radical Islam, has expanded to now include nearly twenty states as members or partners. In September last year, China agreed to finance and build several outposts for Tajik border guards and other facilities along the porous 1,345-km border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

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September 1, 2017

Former Venezuelan prosecutor meets Mexican attorney general

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Venezuela s former chief prosecutor Luisa Ortega met Mexico s attorney general on Thursday, a Mexican official said, weeks after she fled her homeland accusing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of involvement in corruption. Ortega, who was removed from her position earlier this month, said a week ago she had evidence that Maduro was involved in graft with construction company Odebrecht. The 59-year-old Ortega has said she would give details of the corruption cases to authorities in the United States, Spain, Mexico, Brazil and Colombia. Mexican attorney general Raul Cervantes met Ortega for around 10 minutes in Mexico City, an official at the attorney general s office said. He gave no further details of the meeting and spoke on condition of anonymity. Late on Thursday, Ortega posted a picture on Twitter of herself with Cervantes in Mexico, saying the two had met to coordinate actions in the fight against corruption. Pictures posted on social media earlier on Thursday showed Ortega arriving at Mexico City airport. Ortega says she has been persecuted by opponents in an effort to hide details of high-level corruption and that she has proof of it. She was a key player in Venezuela s government before breaking with it in March. Ortega left Venezuela for Colombia and traveled to Brazil to meet prosecutors last week. Odebrecht admitted in a settlement with U.S. and Brazilian prosecutors to paying bribes across 12 countries to win contracts. According to a U.S. court ruling, Odebrecht paid about $788 million in bribes in countries including Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela between 2001 and 2016. Mexico s government has been sharply critical of the Maduro administration, accusing it of undermining democracy.

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September 1, 2017

China probes former vice-chief of securities regulator for graft

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A former vice-chairman of China s securities regulator, Yao Gang, is being investigated for taking bribes, the official China Daily said, citing the prosecutors office. Yao was one of the most senior figures arrested in a crackdown on suspected stock manipulation in late 2015, after the mid-year collapse of the Chinese stock market following a long bull run. Yao was subject to coercive measures, which can range from summons and surveillance to detention and arrest, among other actions, the Supreme People s Procuratorate said, without specifying which he faced, the newspaper said on Thursday. In July, China s graft watchdog said Yao would be prosecuted for offences that included taking bribes and destroying the order of capital markets . Yao, 55, was the general manager of Guotai Junan Securities in 1999 before taking a position with the China Securities Regulatory Commission in 2002, the paper said. At the CSRC, he was known as the King of IPOs , overseeing initial public offerings on the Chinese mainland for 13 years, it added.

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September 1, 2017

Guatemala political crisis may affect growth: central bank

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemalan economic growth may slow if a political crisis sparked by a dispute between President Jimmy Morales and the head of a U.N. anti-corruption body persists, the head of the central bank said on Thursday. The Central American nation has been rattled by uncertainty since Morales on Sunday tried to eject Ivan Velasquez, head of Guatemala s International Commission against Impunity (CICIG), in the face of resistance from Western powers. The Friday before, Velasquez and the attorney general s office requested Morales be stripped of presidential immunity so he could be investigated for suspected campaign finance irregularities during his successful 2015 tilt at the top job. The country s top court later blocked Morales from expelling Velasquez, a decision the president accepted. Nevertheless, the dispute continues to simmer, and street protests have been staged in support of both Morales and Velasquez. The row has not had a negative effect on the economy so far, said Sergio Recinos, head of the central bank. But if it carries on for a long time, well, it s going to have an impact, he told Reuters in an interview. Morales, a former comedian, was elected on the back of popular discontent with his predecessor Otto Perez, who was toppled in 2015 over a multi-million dollar graft scandal uncovered by the CICIG and attorney general Thelma Aldana. Perez is now in prison standing trial. Recinos said he had received phone calls this week from credit rating agencies and international investors mindful of what had happened in 2015 so they could question him on the crisis. Saying the economy grew 4.1 percent in 2015, Recinos added that the Perez scandal did not immediately hit the economy. But in 2016 there was a slowdown (to 3.1 percent) and the (Perez) crisis must have had an effect, he added. The central bank now expects the Guatemalan economy to grow by between 3.0 and 3.4 percent this year. The CICIG, which is already investigating a brother and son of Morales on suspicion of fraud, has been strongly backed by the United Nations, the European Union and the United States.

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September 1, 2017

Colombia's FARC rebels keep famous acronym for new political party

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia s disarmed FARC rebel group is preserving its famous acronym as it becomes a civilian political party, part of its demobilization under a peace deal with the government to end more than 50 years of war. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebels, whose first political conference will close on Friday with a concert and speeches in Bogota s central square, will now go by Revolutionary Alternative Common Force, preserving the Spanish initials. Under the 2016 peace deal to end its part in a war that has killed more than 220,000 people, most of the group s fighters were granted amnesty and allowed to participate in politics. Whether the rebels will get backing from Colombians, many of whom revile them, remains to be seen. The group had originally floated several other names, including others which kept the initials, but the new name won against New Colombia in voting at the conference on Thursday, FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, known by his nom de guerre Timochenko, said on Twitter. FARC leadership and social media accounts also posted a graphic of the party s policy priorities and its new logo, a red rose with a red star in the middle. Policies will included the fight against corruption and promoting arts and culture. No more traditional political parties and their corrupt policies. Transparency and truth will guide the actions of the new party, the graphic reads. Youth, women, indigenous people, rural farmers, Afro-Colombians, artists, the LGBTI population, housewives, students, workers and the unemployed - everyone s opinion matters. The FARC s often old-fashioned Marxist rhetoric strikes many as a throwback to their 1964 founding, but proposals for reforms to complicated property laws could get traction with rural voters who struggle as subsistence farmers. Under the peace accord, FARC s party will have 10 automatic seats in Congress through 2026 and may campaign for others. Both legislative and presidential elections are set for 2018.

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August 31, 2017

Jails, justice system at breaking point as Philippine drugs war intensifies

MANILA Reuters) - In a teeming prison for undertrials in the Philippines capital Manila, Rody Lacanilao, an inmate for 18 months, says he prays for clear weather at night. A downpour, he says, will prevent him and hundreds of fellow prisoners in the Quezon City jail from sleeping on plywood mats in an outdoor hallway. The cells themselves are overflowing with an influx of detainees from President Rodrigo Duterte s year-long war on drugs. Thousands of people have been killed in Duterte s campaign, mainly drug users and small-time peddlers. Tens of thousands of others have been thrown into jail, and both prisons and courts in the Southeast Asian nation are creaking under the pressure. Since the war on drugs started, it became harder to sleep, Lacanilao told a Reuters team allowed access to the Quezon City jail. We have no place to go to when it rains. The 37-year-old is facing trial on a drugs charge. The prison was initially built for 262 inmates, but now has 2,975, three-quarters of them jailed for drug-related offences. At night, its basketball court, chapel, classrooms and walkways become sleeping areas for detainees. Inmates who spoke to Reuters said living conditions were unbearable, made worse by the prospect that it could be years before their trials are decided. Many of them are not eligible for bail or cannot afford to pay the bond. Prisoners came in one after the other. If you have money, you can buy a spot in the sleeping quarters, said Junjun Vallecer, who says he has been in the jail for four years for possession of drugs but is still being tried. He says he has to wait four to six months between court appearances. The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) put the prison population in the country, including undertrials and convicts, at 137,417 as of the end of June, up 22 percent since Duterte took office at the end of June last year. Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency arrested 96,703 suspected pushers, users and chemists from July last year until earlier this month, according to police data. A staggering 94 percent of people jailed for drug offences are still undertrials, according to BJMP. Police in Manila arrest nearly 100 drug suspects each day, says Oscar Albayalde, the capital s police chief. Whether they are minor charges or not, we have to arrest these people, Albayalde told Reuters. We make these arrests that contribute to the over-congestion of the detention cells ... but what can we do? Including a backlog, the BJMP says 303,534 narcotics cases were at trial or being processed as of June. Most of the cases are defended by the Public Attorney s Office (PAO), a legal aid agency attached to the Department of Justice. At the end of 2016, the agency had a backlog of 303,000 drugs cases, compared to about 82,000 at the end of June 2016, just before Duterte unleashed his fierce anti-drugs campaign. The agency says it has 1,665 lawyers to handle a total of 709,128 criminal cases currently pending, meaning an average of 426 cases for each of them. We have tons of work, said public defender Karen Jay Sabugo, eating a meal of instant noodles at her desk. There are times when I return to the office so exhausted that I can t speak with colleagues anymore. The 30-year-old, in her first year as a trial lawyer, told Reuters she attends more than a dozen court hearings a day. In the morning, we attend court hearings and in the afternoon, we prepare pleadings and meet clients. I go to jails to prepare our defense. Boxloads of documents are piled up inside the PAO s office in Quezon City. Most are related to cases, but some are applications for about 750 new positions the government has agreed to create in the agency in the next two years to handle the overflow of cases. Typically, trials in the Philippines begin some years after arrest, said Maria Socorro Diokno, executive director of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), an organization of human rights lawyers. Trial last two to three years on average in regional courts, and another two or three years are taken up by appeals. Even before Duterte s anti-drugs crackdown, the Philippines had the third-most-congested prison system in the world after Haiti and El Salvador, according to the London-based Institute for Criminal Policy Research. An average of six inmates occupy a space of 4.7 square meters, the space intended for one prisoner, data from the BJMP showed. One Philippine prison officer watches over 63 prisoners on average, far from the stipulated one-to-seven ratio, and there are insufficient numbers of guards to escort suspects to court hearings, the data showed. The ratios are really wild, said Martin Perfecto, deputy director of the Philippines Bureau of Corrections. FLAG lawyer Alex Padilla says judicial reform is not a priority in the Philippines because there is scant sympathy for those accused of crimes. Duterte is extremely popular because people are fed up with crime and many support the killings in his campaign, he said. Judicial reform is the last reform because it s dirty, Padilla said. These are criminals ... they are the garbage of the society. (GRAPHIC: Lawyers, jails inundated by Duterte's war on drugs - tmsnrt.rs/2vNCFW4)

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August 31, 2017

Panama ex-president facing political spying charges should be extradited: U.S. judge

(Reuters) - A federal judge in Miami on Thursday said former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli should be extradited to his homeland to face charges he illegally orchestrated a campaign funded by public money to spy on political rivals there. U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres said Panama had established probable cause for all charges it brought against Martinelli, and that a show of good faith to its government required his surrender. There are reasonable grounds to suppose him guilty of all or some of the offenses charged, Torres wrote in a 93-page decision. The U.S. Department of State will decide whether to extradite Martinelli, but in an Aug. 1 court filing said it supported extradition. It is not clear when a decision might be made. Martinelli, 65, has denied the charges, and plans to appeal the extradition order, according to an email from his lawyer Marcos Jimenez. He is also seeking political asylum. Officials with the Panamanian government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Martinelli was Panama s president from 2009 to 2014. Prosecutors accused him of diverting more than $13.4 million of public funds, intended to help the underprivileged, to fund a surveillance system to listen in on more than 150 rivals. Martinelli, a wealthy businessman through his ownership of supermarkets, was arrested in June by U.S. authorities in Coral Gables, Florida, and later held without bail. He had previously left Panama as that country was preparing to charge him. Panama s current president, Juan Carlos Varela, had once been Martinelli s vice president, but they later became rivals. Martinelli s lawyers have called their client s prosecution politically motivated. They had sparred with U.S. prosecutors over whether an extradition treaty updated in July 2014 between the United States and Panama covered Martinelli s alleged cyber crimes, which predated the update. Torres said it did, and that Martinelli s having at best suggested the issue was ambiguous was not enough to conclude that his interpretation ultimately prevails and bars his extradition.

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August 31, 2017

Iraqi prime minister declares victory over IS in Tal Afar

ERBIL, Iraq/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Hayder al-Abadi declared victory over Islamic State militants in Tal Afar and the entire province of Nineveh on Thursday, despite continued fighting in the small town of al- Ayadiya. Tal Afar had become the next target of the U.S.-backed war on the jihadist group following the capture of Mosul, where it had declared its caliphate over parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014. Tal Afar has been liberated, Abadi said in a statement. We say to the Islamic State fighters: wherever you are, we are coming for you, and you have no choice but to surrender or die. The defeat in Mosul, Nineveh s provincial capital, marked the latest in a string of territorial losses for the group. However, the militants still control areas on both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi border. This includes Hawija, a city between Mosul and Baghdad that Iraqi officials have said will be the coalition s next target. The Iraqi army dropped millions of leaflets over Hawija on Thursday, warning residents it was preparing an offensive to recapture the city from Islamic State, the military said in a statement. The leaflets urged residents to stay away from militants headquarters, to drop weapons and turn themselves in to avoid being killed. Iraqi forces had been waiting to clear al- Ayadiya, 11 km (7 miles) northwest of Tal Afar, before declaring complete victory in the offensive. Islamic State militants had retreated to the town. Divisions from the Iraqi army and federal police, backed by units from Shi ite paramilitaries, retook al- Ayadiya on Thursday, military officers told Reuters, after several days of unexpectedly fierce fighting. However, pockets of resistance remained and Iraqi forces were still working to clear the remaining militants from the town. We have to make sure that no more terrorists remain hiding inside the town s houses, Army Lieutenant Colonel Salah Kareem told Reuters. Two military officers whose units are leading the fight in al- Ayadiya on Thursday said scattered groups of militants were still hiding in houses and using tunnel networks to move through the town. Four soldiers were killed and 10 more wounded as clashes continued in parts of al- Ayadiya on Thursday night, despite the announcement hours earlier by the prime minister. Three soldiers were killed on Thursday evening and seven more wounded when a woman detonated a suicide vest, Kareem said. Soldiers thought the woman was a civilian trying to escape the fighting, but as soon as she came close to the soldiers, she blew herself up and killed three, an army officer said. In a separate incident, an Islamic State sniper killed a soldier and wounded three others during a search. We are still being shot at by snipers and coming under heavy gunfire from Daesh fighters, Kareem said. Iraqi forces will intensify their operations on Friday, to dislodge the militants still entrenched inside scattered houses, army officers said. Hundreds of additional troops had been sent into al- Ayadiya on Wednesday, as Iraqi forces came under increasing pressure to clear Islamic State fighters before the start of the Muslim holiday of Eid on Thursday evening. The battle was unexpectedly tough, with house-to-house fighting in the center of town. If reclaiming the town was harder than expected, the larger battle for Tal Afar was easier. The city s rapid collapse on Sunday after just eight days of fighting lent support to Iraqi military reports that the militants lack sturdy command and control structures west of Mosul. Up to 2,000 battle-hardened militants were believed to be defending Tal Afar against around 50,000 government troops last week. It was unclear how many had retreated to al- Ayadiya. U.S. Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend congratulated the Iraqi forces on achieving a stunningly swift and decisive victory in Tal Afar. This is Iraq liberating Iraqis, he told a Pentagon teleconference from Baghdad. Townsend added however, that a quick victory in Tal Afar did not necessarily mean the fight to retake Islamic State s remaining territory would be easy. While I would like to say that we would see this elsewhere in Iraq and Syria, we are not really planning for that, Townsend said. We pledge to you, our people, that we will continue to liberate every inch of Iraq, Abadi said in his statement. Tens of thousands of people had fled Tal Afar, a city with a pre-war population of about 200,000, in recent months. The United Nations estimated that 20,000 people had fled the city and its surrounding areas between Aug. 14 and 22 alone. Civilians who fled Tal Afar in recent weeks told Reuters they had faced months of starvation and brutal treatment by the militants, who threatened them with death if they tried to escape.

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August 31, 2017

Brazil anti-graft head defends graft fines after backlash

BRASILIA (Reuters) - A top Brazilian federal prosecutor defended the size of fines levied against companies involved in the nation s graft probes, saying that despite a public outcry some were too low, it was more important to dismantle the schemes than punish firms. Fines of different sizes and different terms have raised concerns that Brazil s sweeping anti-corruption investigation may not be dishing out equal justice for all. Marcelo Muscogliati, the coordinator of the anti-corruption committee within Brazil s federal prosecutors office, told Reuters on Wednesday that the main aim of the leniency deals which include the fines was to root out corruption. The deals are a tool to seek evidence, not to hand out fines, Muscogliati said. The fine and reparations are secondary. What is important is dismantling criminal organizations, mafias. Brazilian prosecutors came under withering criticism after they signed a 10.3 billion-real ($3.3 billion) leniency deal with the holding company running JBS SA, the world s largest meatpacker, in relation to kickbacks it paid politicians to win government investment deals and contracts. Prosecutors gave the billionaire Batista family, which controls the company, 25 years to pay the fine and pegged it to Brazil s consumer price index, sharply reducing the penalty s net present value. According to Reuters calculations, the fine s net present value is 5.45 billion reais - about 47 percent less than in nominal terms. By contrast, a 3.9 billion-real fine that engineering group Odebrecht SA agreed to pay over 22 years will be adjusted by the benchmark overnight Selic interest rate, currently running well above annual inflation. A state attorney is investigating whether the Batistas leniency deal harmed taxpayers interests. Federal prosecutors are working on creating clearer rules for future leniency deals to ensure more equal treatment in investigations into graft at top levels of private business, government and state-run enterprises. Earlier this week, the federal prosecutors office released 18 new guidelines for reaching the accords, but nothing fresh on the size of fines companies should pay, telling prosecutors to refer to an existing law allowing fines of up to 20 percent of a company s net revenue. Muscogliati said that if there were concrete guidelines on the fines for leniency deals, it would signal to firms a price tag they would pay if caught in corruption, money they would simply set aside. Instead, prosecutors must focus on making leniency deals with companies making internal changes so that they halt carrying out (corrupt) action and do not try to do it again.

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August 31, 2017

U.S. bombers drill over Korean peninsula after latest North Korea launch

SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - South Korean and Japanese jets joined exercises with two supersonic U.S. B-1B bombers above and near the Korean peninsula on Thursday, two days after North Korea sharply raised tension by firing a missile over Japan. The drills, involving four U.S. stealth F-35B jets as well as South Korean and Japanese fighter jets, came at the end of annual U.S.-South Korea military exercises focused mainly on computer simulations. North Korea s actions are a threat to our allies, partners and homeland, and their destabilizing actions will be met accordingly, said General Terrence J. O Shaughnessy, Pacific Air Forces Commander, who made an unscheduled visit to Japan. This complex mission clearly demonstrates our solidarity with our allies and underscores the broadening cooperation to defend against this common regional threat. North Korea has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States and has recently threatened to land missiles near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. On Monday, North Korea, which sees the exercises as preparations for invasion, raised the stakes in its stand-off with the United States and its allies by firing an intermediate-range missile over Japan. On Thursday, its official news agency, KCNA, denounced the military drills in traditionally robust fashion, calling them the rash act of those taken aback by the missile test, which it described as the first military operation in the Pacific. President Donald Trump, who has warned that the U.S. military is locked and loaded in case of North Korean provocation, reacted angrily to the latest missile test, declaring on Twitter that talking is not the answer to resolving the crisis over North Korea s weapons programs. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was quick on Wednesday to stress that a diplomatic solution remained possible, but on Thursday he told reporters he agreed with Trump that Washington should not be talking right now to a nation that is firing missiles over the top of Japan, an ally. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders reiterated at a regular briefing on Thursday that all options - diplomatic, economic and military - remained on the table. Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera spoke to Mattis by telephone and agreed to keep putting pressure on North Korea in a visible form, Japan s defense ministry said. Japanese Prime Shinzo Abe said he and visiting British Prime Minister Theresa May agreed to urge China, North Korea s lone major ally, to do more to rein in North Korea. May and Abe also discussed the possibility of adopting a new U.N. Security Council resolution on North Korea, a British government source said. The 15-member U.N. Security Council on Tuesday condemned the firing of the missile over Japan as outrageous and demanded that North Korea halt its weapons programs. But the U.S.-drafted statement did not threaten new sanctions. Japan has been urging Washington to propose new Security Council sanctions, which diplomats said could target North Korean laborers working abroad, oil supplies and textile exports. However, diplomats expect resistance from Russia and fellow veto-wielding power China, particularly given that new measures were only announced on Aug. 5 after North Korea tested its first two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July. A U.S. ban on travel by Americans to North Korea comes into effect on Friday, a step announced after the death of a U.S. student shortly after his release from a 15-year prison sentence in the country, where three other Americans are still detained. China repeated a call on Thursday for restraint by all parties. Defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang told a monthly briefing China would never allow war or chaos on the Korean peninsula, its doorstep, and military means were not an option. China strongly demands all sides to exercise restraint and remain calm and not do anything to worsen tensions, Ren said, adding that Chinese forces were maintaining a normal state of alert along the North Korean border. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the situation on the peninsula was serious. The current tense situation on the peninsula isn t a screenplay or a video game, she told reporters. It s real, and is an immense and serious issue that directly involves the safety of people from both the north and south of the peninsula, as well as peace and stability of the entire region. For an interactive on North Korea's missile capabilities, click: here For a graphic on North Korean missile trajectories, ranges, click: here For a graphic on Kim's new act of defiance, click: here

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August 29, 2017

Chilean economic officials resign in blow to center-left coalition

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chilean President Michelle Bachelet s top economic officials resigned on Thursday after the cancellation of a major mining project, weakening her center-left coalition before November elections. Finance Minister Rodrigo Valdes said in a news conference some members of Bachelet s government had not shared his sense of urgency to spur growth and attract investment to the world s top copper producer. I wasn t able to make everybody share this conviction, Valdes said, pointing to the need for discipline and clear rules for the private sector. Valdes, who held his position for two years, had criticized the government s decision to reject a $2.5 billion copper and iron project owned by Andes Iron last week on environmental grounds. So had Economy Minister Luis Felipe Cespedes and Finance Undersecretary Alejandro Micco, who also stepped down. [nL2N1L70ZT] Cespedes, talking with reporters, did not respond when asked why he had quit. Micco s office declined to comment on his reasons for resigning. Dominga, as the project is known, had become a symbol in recent months of the increasing difficulties of doing business in what remains one of Latin America s most open economies and laid bare philosophical differences within the government. Bachelet said Valdes will be replaced by Nicolas Eyzaguirre, an economist in charge of legislative affairs for the president, while Cespedes will be replaced by Jorge Rodriguez, president of Banco del Estado de Chile. I don t think development is something to be done with your back to the people, where only the numbers matter and not what s happening to families, said Bachelet. The shakeup was seen by some as a blow to the center-left and its presidential candidate Alejandro Guillier, who is generally supportive of Bachelet, and a boost for conservative frontrunner Sebastian Pinera. The correct solution is not a change of cabinet, it is a change of government, Pinera told journalists. The Chilean peso strengthened over 1 percent after Valdes resignation as traders bet the shake-up will make a Pinera win more likely and will make it tougher for the current government to push through a social security reform. The only thing this can do is divide the center-left even more, said Kenneth Bunker, head of an elections unit at Universidad Central de Chile. Eyzaguirre and Rodriguez, both centrists, served under Ricardo Lagos, a moderate who was president from 2000 to 2006. Growth has slowed recently in Chile, long an investor darling and Latin America s richest nation. In July S&P downgraded its debt for the first time since the 1990s. Bachelet has faced criticism that her government is poorly organized and lacks unity. Her approval rating has risen slowly in recent months after a series of legislative wins but remains in the low 30s.

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August 31, 2017

U.S. retaliates against Russia, orders closure of consulate, annexes

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has told Russia to close its consulate in San Francisco and buildings in Washington and New York that house trade missions, the State Department said on Thursday, in retaliation for Moscow cutting the U.S. diplomatic presence in Russia. The announcement was the latest in tit-for-tat measures between the two countries that have helped to drive relations to a new post-Cold War low, thwarting hopes on both sides that they might improve after U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January. Last month, Moscow ordered the United States to cut its diplomatic and technical staff in Russia by more than half, to 455 people to match the number of Russian diplomats in the United States, after Congress overwhelmingly approved new sanctions against Russia. The sanctions were imposed in response to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and to punish Russia further for its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. We believe this action was unwarranted and detrimental to the overall relationship between our countries, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement on Thursday, adding that the United States had completed the reduction. In the spirit of parity invoked by the Russians, Nauert said, the United States has required the Russian government to close its San Francisco consulate and two annexes in Washington, D.C. and New York by Sept. 2. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson informed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov of the closures in a phone call on Thursday, a senior Trump administration official said. The two men plan to meet on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September, the official said. Lavrov expressed regret about Washington s decision during the phone call with Tillerson, his ministry said. Moscow will closely study the new measures announced by the Americans, after which our reaction will be conveyed, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. The latest U.S. move caps eight months of back-and-forth retaliatory measures between the two countries spanning two U.S. administrations. In December, the administration of Barack Obama closed two Russian countryside vacation retreats in Maryland and New York, saying the compounds had been used for intelligence-related purposes. The closures were part of a broader response, including the expulsion of 35 suspected Russian spies, to what U.S. officials have called cyber interference by Moscow in the 2016 elections. The Kremlin has denied the allegations. Trump came into office wanting to improve relations with Russia, a desire that was hamstrung by the election interference allegations. The new sanctions passed by Congress conflicted with Trump s goals, but he grudgingly signed them into law this month. The United States said last week that it would have to sharply scale back visa services in Russia, a move that will hit Russian business travelers, tourists and students. The Russian consulate in San Francisco handles work from seven states in the Western United States. There are three other Russian consulates separate from the embassy in Washington. They are in New York, Seattle and Houston. The consulate in San Francisco is the oldest and most established of Russia s consulates in the United States, the senior Trump administration official told reporters. An official residence at the consulate will also be closed. No Russian diplomats are being expelled, and the diplomats assigned to San Francisco can be re-assigned to other posts in the United States, the official said. The Russians can continue to retain ownership of any of the closed facilities, or sell them, but will not be allowed to carry out diplomatic activities there, the official said. Even after these closures, Russia will still maintain more diplomatic and consular annexes in the United States than we have in Russia, the official said. We ve chosen to allow the Russian government to maintain some of its annexes in an effort to arrest the downward spiral in our relationship.

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August 31, 2017

Muslim pilgrims in Muzdalifa prepare for haj's final stages

MUZDALIFA, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Two million Muslims gathered at Mount Arafat on Thursday for a vigil to atone for their sins, then descended to Muzdalifa to prepare for the final stages of the annual haj pilgrimage. Pilgrims clad in white robes spent the previous night in an encampment at the hill where Islam holds that God tested Abraham s faith by commanding him to sacrifice his son Ismail and where the Prophet Mohammad gave his last sermon. Other worshippers who had been praying in the nearby Mina area ascended in buses or on foot from before dawn as security forces directed traffic and helicopters hovered overhead. Some of the faithful carved out seats on the craggy hillside, carrying umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun. Others filled nearby roads, with temperatures approaching 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). Men and women from nearly every country in the world gathered side by side, some crying on their neighbor s shoulder. An elderly Syrian pilgrim sitting on the hilltop shouted out, Oh God, take revenge on the oppressors . Others assembled around him responded, Amen . Awfa Nejm, from a village near Homs, said: We ask God to protect Syria and its people and return it to the way it was before. Twenty-seven-year-old Amin Mohammed from Nigeria said he was praying for peace in his country. Saudi Arabia said more than 2.3 million pilgrims, most of them from outside Saudi Arabia, had arrived for the five-day ritual, a religious duty once in a lifetime for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford the journey. Sheikh Saad al-Shathri, a senior Saudi cleric, delivered a midday sermon denouncing terrorism and violence against civilians. Sharia came to preserve the security of nations and cultivate benevolence in (people s) hearts, he said, referring to the Islamic legal and moral code derived from the teachings of the Koran and the traditions of the Prophet. He urged pilgrims to set aside politics during the haj and come together with fellow Muslims. This is no place for partisan slogans or sectarian movements which have resulted in great massacres and the displacement of millions, he said. Still, violence in the Middle East, including wars in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya, and other global hotspots are sure to be on the minds of many pilgrims. As the sun set, they began moving to the rocky plain of Muzdalifa to gather pebbles to throw at stone columns symbolizing the devil at another location called Jamarat on Friday, which marks the first day of Eid al-Adha (feast of sacrifice). A crush in 2015 which killed hundreds occurred when two large groups of pilgrims arrived together at a crossroads in Mina, a few kilometers east of Mecca, on their way to Jamarat. It was the worst disaster to strike haj for at least 25 years. Saudi Arabia stakes its reputation on its guardianship of Islam s holiest sites - Mecca and Medina - and organizing the pilgrimage. King Salman visited Mina to review the services offered to pilgrims, state media showed. Officials say they have taken all necessary precautions this year, with more than 100,000 members of the security forces and 30,000 health workers on hand to maintain safety and provide first aid. Saudi state television on Thursday morning showed a new kiswa, the cloth embroidered with verses from the Koran, being placed over the Kaaba in Mecca s Grand Mosque. Pilgrims will return to pray there at the end of haj. Abdelhadi Abu Gharib, a young Egyptian pilgrim, prayed in Muzdalifa before collecting stones for Friday s ritual. The scene today in Arafat confirms that Muslims are not terrorists and that Islam is the greatest religion, he said. God has blessed us with Islam. For a graphic on the haj journey, click: here For a graphic on the haj stampedes, click: here

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August 31, 2017

French foreign minister to travel to Libya to push peace deal

PARIS (Reuters) - France s foreign minister said on Thursday he would head to Libya very soon to push warring parties to support a peace roadmap tentatively agreed in Paris in July. Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj and the divided country s eastern commander Khalifa Haftar verbally committed last month to a conditional ceasefire and to work toward holding elections next spring. I will be traveling to Libya very soon to ensure the follow-up of this meeting and to get the support of all sides to the declaration that was adopted then, Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a speech to French ambassadors. France, which took a leading role in the NATO air campaign that helped rebels topple Muammar Gaddafi, has sought to play a greater role in Libya, believing diplomatic efforts were stalling and that under President Emmanuel Macron it could fill that void. Officials fear jihadist groups could try to exploit the power vacuum in Libya to regroup after losing substantial ground in Syria and Iraq, and see a resolution to the conflict as vital to ending Europe s migrant crisis. In Libya, France along with others has a specific responsibility to help this country find unity and stability, Le Drian said. Past attempts at peace deals in oil-producing Libya have often been scuttled by internal divisions among the myriad of competing armed groups that have emerged since rebels toppled Gaddafi in 2011. Diplomats declined to say specifically when Le Drian was traveling due to security reasons. The French initiative has angered officials in Italy, which has previously taken the lead in efforts to bring peace to its former North African colony and borne the brunt of successive waves of African migrants who have crossed the Mediterranean from Libya.

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August 31, 2017

India PM plans cabinet revamp, some ministers offer to quit: sources

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to reshuffle his cabinet over the next two days and some mid-level ministers have offered to quit to pave the way for changes, sources in the party and aides to the ministers said. A revamp of the cabinet has been on the cards for months because some ministers are holding multiple portfolios which is seen as a drag on efficiency. Modi is also seeking to improve governance before he seeks re-election in 2019. With economic growth slowing to its slowest pace in three years, Modi is coming under pressure to deliver the promises he made in 2014. There was no official announcement of the cabinet revamp but sources Reuters spoke to said if it took place it would have to be done before Modi leaves on a foreign tour on Sunday. The death of Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave and the election of Minister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu as vice-president opened vacancies, giving Modi an opportunity to bring in members from regional political parties. According to four party sources, Sanjeev Balyan, minister of state for water resources, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, minister of state for skill development and entrepreneurship, Kalraj Mishra, minister of micro, small and medium enterprises, and Mahendra Nath Pandey minister of state for human resource development have all offered to resign.

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August 31, 2017

German legal experts say Poland has no right to WW2 reparations: report

BERLIN (Reuters) - German parliamentary legal experts, reacting to calls by some Polish politicians, have ruled that Warsaw has no right to demand Berlin pay reparations for World War Two, according to a document obtained by a German newspaper. The experts found any claims related to German crimes had become unfeasible at latest in 1990 when a treaty was signed by East and West Germany, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States ahead of German reunification, according to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). The experts, who provide independent advice to the German parliament, said EU partner Poland had, during the treaty negotiations, at least implicitly waived their right to assert them , FAZ cited the report as saying. They said it was agreed back then that this treaty blocks any reparation demands against Germany to the present day , FAZ reported. In recent weeks, Polish politicians and officials have stepped up calls for compensation, but the government has yet to officially demand any reparations. Johannes Singhammer, the vice-president of the Bundestag lower house and a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU) - the Bavarian sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel s Christian Democrats (CDU), had commissioned the report. He told FAZ: The Polish demand for reparations, which does not stand a chance from a legal point of view, is contrary to the joint future project between Germany and Poland and could instead have dangerous effects. On Thursday, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said that by seeking reparations, Poland would be asking for justice. We are the victims of World War Two, the damages have not been repaid in any way, quite to the contrary, Szydlo said. Several Polish government sources told Reuters that it is unlikely Poland will officially ask for repayments, but it also could not be completely ruled out.

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August 31, 2017

Car bomb kills four Libyan troops at checkpoint: security sources

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - A car bomb at a checkpoint killed four troops from Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar s forces on Thursday, in an attack claimed by Islamic State, officials and security sources said. Haftar s Libyan National Army is one of the most powerful armed brigades in Libya, where rival factions and their military backers have competed for control since the fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in a 2011 uprising. The car bomb explosion that targeted a checkpoint in Nawfiliya town has resulted in two killed of Sirte Security Directorate and some other wounded, LNA spokesman Ahmad Mesmari told Reuters. Two security sources later said two more soldiers had died. Islamic State claimed the attack, according to the militant group s AMAQ news agency. Haftar s forces have been fighting against Islamist militants and other foes in eastern Benghazi and are besieging the city of Derna to try to oust militants there. Thursday attack in Nawfiliya was 80 km (50 miles) from Ras Lanuf, part of Libya s Oil Crescent and one the OPEC country s major oil exporting terminals. Libyan officials are concerned Islamic State may try to regroup there after defeat in nearby Sirte city last year.

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August 31, 2017

Nigeria asks Britain for gear to fight Islamists: Johnson

LAGOS (Reuters) - Britain is considering a request to sell military equipment to Nigeria to help it fight Boko Haram Islamist militants, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Thursday. British soldiers were already training Nigerian 28,000 troops confronting the militants in the northeast, Johnson told Reuters in the commercial capital Lagos. They have put out a request for more help with materiel - equipment of one kind and another. We are going to look at that, he said. We will look at that very seriously on counter-IED provision, on a request for more help with attack helicopters, for instance. Let s have a look at what we can do, he added, without going into further detail. Boko Haram militants have killed more than 20,000 people, forced around 2 million to flee and attacked Nigeria s neighbors in a campaign to carve out an Islamist caliphate. Britain s Foreign Office was unable immediately to provide details of military sales to Nigeria in the last few years. The Pentagon notified the U.S. Congress this month of the sale to Nigeria of 12 Super Tucano A-29 planes and weapons worth $593 million, to help it fight Boko Haram, . [nL2N1LE1A7] Johnson traveled to Maiduguri, the northeast Nigerian city at the heart of the insurgency, on Wednesday and met Nigeria s Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, in the capital, Abuja, earlier on Thursday.

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August 31, 2017

German Social Democrats say election race still open despite weak polls

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany s Social Democrats (SPD) on Thursday insisted they were still in with a chance of ousting Chancellor Angela Merkel in a Sept. 24 election after media reports said a senior party member seemed to have given up hope. The SPD, which surged in the polls early this year after nominating former European Parliament President Martin Schulz as its election candidate, was on 23 percent in the latest opinion poll - far behind Merkel s conservatives on 37 percent. Some German media reported that foreign minister and former SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel no longer believed his party could win the election after he told German magazine Der Spiegel on Wednesday: A grand coalition doesn t make sense because that would mean the SPD could not come up with the chancellor. The SPD is currently the junior partner in a grand coalition - generally a last resort alliance - with Merkel s conservatives. Gabriel contradicted those media that suggested he thought there was no prospect of an SPD victory, saying in a statement released on Thursday: Whoever says anything like that is talking nonsense. He said the race between Merkel and her SPD challenger remained completely open and pointed to a survey by pollster Allensbach last week that showed almost 50 percent of voters had yet to decide who they would choose. Schulz told Germany s RND network of newspapers: Sigmar Gabriel said he doesn t want to continue the grand coalition. I don t want that either. Where s the drama? Schulz said his aim was still to become chancellor of Germany with the SPD as the strongest party, adding that he would use a television debate between him and Merkel on Sunday to highlight the differences between their parties.

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August 31, 2017

Huge WW2 bomb to be defused close to German gold reserves

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Frankfurt s city center, an area including police headquarters, two hospitals, transport systems and Germany s central bank storing $70 billion in gold reserves will be evacuated on Sunday to allow the defusing of a 1.8 ton World War Two bomb. A spokesman for the German Bundesbank said, however, the usual security arrangements would remain in place while experts worked to disarm the bomb, dropped by the British air force and uncovered during excavation of a building site. The Bundesbank headquarters, less than 600 meters from the location of the bomb, stores 1,710 tonnes of gold underground, around half the country s reserves. We have never defused a bomb of this size, bomb disposal expert Rene Bennert told Reuters, adding that it had been damaged on impact when it was dropped between 1943 and 1945. Airspace for 1.5 kilometers around the bomb site will also be closed. Frankfurt city officials said more than 60,000 residents would be evacuated for at least 12 hours. The evacuation area would also include 20 retirement homes, the Opera house and the diplomatic quarter. Bomb disposal experts will make use of a Rocket Wrench to try and unscrew the fuses attached to the HC 4,000 bomb. If that fails, a water jet will be used to cut the fuses away from the bomb, Bennert told Reuters. The most dangerous part of the exercise will be applying the wrench, Bennert said. Roads and transport systems, including the underground, will be closed during the work and for at least two hours after the bomb is defused, to allow patients to be transported back to hospitals without traffic. It is not unusual for unexploded bombs from World War Two air raids to be found in German cities, but rarely are they so large and in such a sensitive position.

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August 31, 2017

South Sudan's sacked army chief 'confined' to Juba home, minister says

JUBA (Reuters) - South Sudan s former army chief is being confined to his home for security reasons, the country s defense minister said on Thursday. Paul Malong was sacked in May by President Salva Kiir amid resignations by senior generals alleging military abuses and tribal bias as the country s ethnically charged civil war ground on. He was not arrested, but he [is] confined. There are no charges against him, Defence Minister Kuol Manyang Juuk told Reuters in an interview. The oil-rich nation gained independence from neighboring Sudan in 2011. The world s youngest nation plunged into civil war in 2013 when Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his deputy, Riek Machar, a member of the rival Nuer community. A peace deal between the two sides signed in 2015 collapsed last year amid fighting in the capital. Machar is now in exile in South Africa. Malong, a former elected civilian governor, is a member of the Dinka ethnic group. He was not immediately available for comment. The former army chief had left Juba, the capital, in a convoy of vehicles hours after he was removed from his post, sparking fears he might join a revolt. The defense minister said Malong was persuaded to come back to Juba and is now back in his house. He said government doctors will be provided in the event Malong needs medical care, and that he must see those doctors before he decides to go anywhere outside the country. The minister also said the president had granted amnesty to Thomas Cirillo Swaka, the most senior officer to defect from the military in the last year. Cirillo, who now lives in Ethiopia, says his aim is to overthrow Kiir and accuses him of running a tribalist army and government. W hope he will respond to the amnesty by the president, Juuk said. If he wants, he can come and form his own political party and then we can develop our democratic system. East African leaders said in June they would push South Sudan s warring sides to revive collapsed peace efforts and delay scheduled elections but did not set a date for that new process. In July, donors from the European Union, the United States, Britain and Norway said they would offer no further support to implementation of the peace deal until regional leaders find a credible way of re-launching the peace process.

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August 31, 2017

U.N. calls on Iran to resolve prisoner hunger strike

GENEVA (Reuters) - A U.N. human rights investigator called on Iran on Thursday to resolve a prolonged hunger strike by prisoners protesting against their conditions of detention and abrupt transfer to a high-security section. U.N. special rapporteur Asma Jahangir voiced concern about 53 prisoners, including 15 followers of the Baha i faith, who have been transferred to a high-security section of Rajai-Shahr prison in Karaj, west of Tehran, over the past few weeks. The Bahai faith was founded in Iran in the 19th century and activists say more than 300,000 adherents live in Iran today. Iran s Shi ite government considers the faith a heretical offshoot of Islam. I am deeply alarmed by reports about the deteriorating medical conditions of the prisoners on hunger strike, and that their torture and ill-treatment have continued since their transfer, Jahangir said in a statement. At least 18 of the 53 were known to be on the hunger strike, her office said. Iranian Foreign ministry declined to comment. Exiled Bahai leaders say hundreds of followers have been jailed and executed since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The Iranian government denies it has detained or executed people for their religion. Jahangir said the prisoners were not allowed to take their belongings, including medicines, amid reports that they have also been deprived of adequate clothing, medical care and food. Depriving prisoners of having family contact, lawyers and adequate medical care is contrary to international law, she added. I urge the government of Iran to look for a prompt solution to the extreme situation created by the hunger strike through good faith dialogue about the grievances and underlying human rights violations, ensuring full respect for their dignity and autonomy, Jahangir said. The Baha i International Community, in a statement on Aug. 16, denounced the transfer as a harsh move . Not only are these Baha is unjustly imprisoned because of their beliefs, they are now also subjected to added pressures and ill treatment without any justification but also in contradiction with Iran s own laws, said Diane Ala i, the group s representative to the United Nations in Geneva. About 95 Baha is are imprisoned in Iran, all of whom it said had been arrested solely because of their religious beliefs .

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August 31, 2017

North Korea sentences South Korean reporters to death over review of book about country

SEOUL (Reuters) - A North Korean court sentenced two South Korean journalists and their publishers to death for seriously insulting the dignity of the country by reviewing and interviewing the British authors of a book about life in the North, its state media said on Thursday. North Korea has previously issued harshly worded accusations against South Korean entities and individuals for allegedly violating its dignity, by slandering its leadership and its political system. The book in English titled North Korea Confidential was authored by James Pearson, a Seoul-based correspondent for Reuters, and Daniel Tudor, former correspondent in South Korea for the Economist magazine. The book, based on interviews with North Korean defectors, diplomats and traders, depicts a growing market economy where ordinary North Koreans enjoy access to South Korea music and TV dramas, fashion and smuggled Chinese and American films. Pearson wrote the book, published in 2015, before joining Reuters. The Korean-language edition, published earlier this month with the title translated as Capitalist Republic of Korea , was reviewed by South Korea s Dong-A Ilbo and Chosun Ilbo newspapers. A spokesman for the North s Central Court said in a statement carried by the country s official KCNA news agency that the book viciously slandered the reality of the DPRK , the initials for North Korea s official name of the Democratic People s Republic of Korea. The book painted life in the country as increasingly capitalistic where money can buy power and influence, the spokesman said. The South Korean journalists who reviewed the book committed a hideous crime of seriously insulting the dignity of the DPRK with the use of dishonest contents carried by North Korea Confidential , the court spokesman said. The Central Court has ordered the execution of the journalists, Son Hyo-rim of the Dong-A Ilbo and Yang Ji-ho of the Chosun Ilbo, and the publishers of the newspapers. It also demanded the South Korean government investigate their crimes and punish them, the state media said. The court statement did not make any mention of punishment for the book s authors. A Dong-A Ilbo representative said the newspaper declined to comment and its reporter Son did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chosun Ilbo reporter Yang declined to comment while a newspaper representative could not be immediately reached for comment. Tudor, the co-author of the book, declined to comment. A Reuters spokeswoman declined to comment. Dong-A Ilbo, Chosun Ilbo and other conservative media in South Korea have so far committed smear campaign against the DPRK nonstop, KCNA quoted the court as saying. The criminals hold no right to appeal and the execution will be carried out any moment and at any place without going through any additional procedures.

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August 31, 2017

Holocaust survivor celebrates bar mitzvah in Israel, 80 years later

HAIFA, Israel (Reuters) - Eighty years after he missed the Jewish coming-of-age ceremony, 93-year-old Holocaust survivor Shalom Shtamberg celebrated his bar mitzvah on Thursday with his family and friends in the northern Israeli city of Haifa. Shtamberg was born in Warsaw, Poland, and should have celebrated his bar mitzvah when he turned 13, but instead he was taken to a Warsaw Ghetto with his family. He survived - unlike most of his family - by training as an electrician and acquiring skills that made him valued as a good worker. On Thursday, Shtamberg was picked up from his home by trainee police officers, who drove him to a synagogue in Haifa where he was welcomed by cheering crowds and flower bouquets. He was given a prayer shawl and read from the Torah scroll before breaking into dance with guests, including his wife. I haven t fulfilled my mission yet because I still have things to do, Shtamberg told Reuters. One of those things is to detail in lectures the horrors of the Nazi camps he survived, unlike his parents and five brothers who were killed. Recalling his time in the Ghetto, he said: In the beginning I did not speak, I said and told nothing because I stayed a child, aged 13, 14, and (living in) Warsaw Ghetto was extremely difficult, every day.

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August 31, 2017

Rohingya women, children die in desperate boat escape from Myanmar

SHAH PORIR DWIP ISLAND, Bangladesh (Reuters) - On a remote beach looking out onto the Bay of Bengal, a baby boy lies swaddled in cloth, his face smeared with wet sand. The bodies of nine more children and eight women lie alongside. Another woman and a child have already been buried. The group, all Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, were found washed up on the shore on Thursday by villagers from Shah Porir Dwip island in Bangladesh, a short distance from the mouth of the Naf river that separates the two countries. They died after two rickety boats capsized as they fled a Myanmar army counteroffensive that followed Rohingya insurgent attacks on security forces last week. Nearly 30,000 more Rohingyas have made the perilous crossing by boat or on foot into Bangladesh, while 20,000 more are stuck in no man s land at the border. We left after the army came early yesterday. They burned houses and shot many people. We ran away so they couldn t find us, said Samira, 19, a survivor from one of the boats, as the monsoon wind and rain blew off the sea to soak her bright orange hijab. I have no words. I don t know what we ll do. Samira and others fled violence unleashed after Rohingya insurgents wielding sticks, knives and crude bombs attacked police posts and an army base on Friday, leading to clashes that have killed at least 117 people. Journalists and other outside observers have been unable to independently travel to the northwest of Myanmar s Rakhine state since an earlier outbreak of violence last year, although some aid programs had quietly been resumed. Myanmar says its army is conducting clearance operations against extremist terrorists and that security forces have been told to protect civilians, but Rohingya arriving in Bangladesh say a campaign is under way to force them out. The bodies washed up on Thursday were hardly the first Rohingya to perish trying to escape by boat from Myanmar. Many died trying to cross the Naf after smaller-scale insurgent attacks last October provoked a harsh military response. Over the years, tens of thousands have attempted to flee across the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea to Thailand and Malaysia. A crackdown on people smuggling networks in Thailand in 2015 saw many Rohingya abandoned at sea by traffickers. The disruption to the smuggling networks also cut off a major escape route for the Muslim minority, which is denied citizenship and endures apartheid-like conditions in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Samira s group hailed from a village to the south of the major regional town of Maungdaw in Rakhine. A Reuters reporter who traveled with government minders to the area on Wednesday saw many villages on fire. The two boats set off for the Bangladesh coast around 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The Naf here is about 3 km (1.9 miles) wide. After the group arrived on the Bangladeshi side, someone shouted that the police were near, Samira said. They went back out to sea - and a large wave tipped the boats over. Out of the 22 members of Samira s extended family six died. My brother can swim so he managed to save some of us, she said. In total, 14 people survived, but young children and those women couldn t swim and they couldn t be saved, she said, looking over the bodies lined up on the beach. The island - which used to be reachable by a bitumen road on a causeway - is about an hour by boat from Bangladesh s Teknaf peninsula. The road has been washed away by the Bay of Bengal s tides and strong winds. As the number of Rohingya refugees is expected to swell, humanitarian workers worry such boat accidents may become more frequent. Hundreds fleeing on boats were being pushed back by Bangladeshi border guards, according to authorities. The United Nations is pressuring Dhaka to let those fleeing Myanmar seek shelter on its territory, but Bangladesh - one of the poorest countries in Asia - has said it cannot cope with any more refugees and will not allow people to cross the border. Another boat in the area sank on Wednesday, killing two women and two children, after Myanmar border guards fired on it, Bangladesh Border Guard Lt. Col. Ariful Islam told Reuters. One person survived by floating on a jerry can. Jahid Hussein Saddique, a local administrator, confirmed the Thursday accident took place and said that a broker has been sentenced to six months in jail by a mobile court for human trafficking. They didn t know how to swim, so they died, Saddique said. We don t know the actual cause of death.

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August 31, 2017

Russia says regrets over U.S. moves on consulate closure

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed regret during a phone call with his U.S. counterpart Rex Tillerson about Washington s move to close down Moscow s San Francisco consulate and two other annexes, his ministry said. Moscow will closely study the new measures announced by the Americans, after which our reaction will be conveyed, Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

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August 31, 2017