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Exiled Chinese tycoon Guo seeking asylum in U.S.
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BEIJING (Reuters) - Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire who has accused some of the most senior officials of China s Communist Party of corruption, has applied for political asylum in the United States, his lawyer said. Thomas Ragland, a Washington-based lawyer, said Guo, who lives in New York and is in the United States on a tourist visa expiring this year, applied for asylum on Wednesday because he feared his accusations had made him a political opponent of the Chinese regime . This step was taken because of his very real concerns of his safety and risks he would face from the Chinese regime because of his videos, his Twitter posts, the things that he s said and written, Ragland told Reuters by phone on Thursday. Guo, who is also known as Miles Kwok, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he was unaware of the situation when asked about it at a daily news briefing in Beijing earlier on Thursday. Guo, who left China in 2014, has emerged as a political threat to China s government in a sensitive year, unleashing a deluge of corruption allegations against high-level officials of the ruling party through Twitter posts and video blogs. The businessman has made it clear that he wants to disrupt an important Communist Party congress, which is held every five years and due to begin on Oct. 18. Despite providing scant evidence to back up his accusations, Guo s standing as a former billionaire insider with ties to senior intelligence officials has meant his online video streams and prolific tweeting command attention, as well as the ire of Beijing. Interpol issued a global red notice for Guo s arrest in April, at Beijing s request, while articles in China s state-controlled media have accused him of crimes including bribery, fraud, and embezzlement. Guo denies the accusations. Guo is also being sued for defamation in the United States by several Chinese individuals and companies, including the HNA Group conglomerate. Ragland said Guo feared that China could soon file criminal charges against him that were politically motivated and request American authorities to cancel his visa. Filing an application for asylum, Ragland said, triggers protections both under U.S. and international law that would allow Guo to remain in the country for the duration his application was being processed, the national average for which is two to three years.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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Greece 'ready and determined' to exit bailout in 2018: PM
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ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece is ready and determined to exit its international bailout next August, putting an end to years of crisis and uncertainty, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Thursday. Greece s third EU/IMF bailout since 2010 is due to expire in August 2018. We are absolutely ready and determined to move in this direction and I m certain our lenders have the same approach of avoiding hurdles and delays, Tsipras said during joint press conference in Athens with French President Emanuel Macron. It is important not only for Greece, it is important for Europe, Tsipras said. The final end of the Greek crisis will signal Europe s passage into a new era of less uncertainty.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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Exclusive: U.N. expects up to 300,000 Rohingya could flee Myanmar violence to Bangladesh
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COX S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Up to 300,000 Rohingya Muslims could flee violence in northwestern Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh, a U.N. agency official said on Wednesday, warning of a funding shortfall for emergency food supplies for the refugees. According to estimates issued by United Nations workers in Bangladesh s border region of Cox s Bazar, arrivals since the latest bloodshed started 12 days ago have already reached 146,000. Numbers are difficult to establish with any certainty due to the turmoil as Rohingya escape operations by Myanmar s military. However, the U.N. officials have raised their estimate of the total expected refugees from 120,000 to 300,000, said Dipayan Bhattacharyya, who is Bangladesh spokesman for the World Food Programme. They are coming in nutritionally deprived, they have been cut off from a normal flow of food for possibly more than a month, he told Reuters. They were definitely visibly hungry, traumatized. The surge of refugees, many sick or wounded, has strained the resources of aid agencies and communities which are already helping hundreds of thousands displaced by previous waves of violence in Myanmar. Many have no shelter, and aid agencies are racing to provide clean water, sanitation and food. Bhattacharyya said the refugees were now arriving by boat as well as crossing the land border at numerous points. Another U.N. worker in the area cautioned that the estimates were not hard science , given the chaos and lack of access to the area on the Myanmar side where the military is still conducting its clearance operation . The source added that the 300,000 number was probably toward the worst-case scenario. The latest violence began when Rohingya insurgents attacked dozens of police posts and an army base. The ensuing clashes and a military counter-offensive killed at least 400 people and triggered the exodus of villagers to Bangladesh. In a letter to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern that the violence could spiral into a humanitarian catastrophe . Based on the prediction that 300,000 could arrive, the WFP calculated that it would need $13.3 million in additional funding to provide high-energy biscuits and basic rice rations for four months. Bhattacharyya called for donors to meet the shortfall urgently. If they don t come forward now, we may see that these people would be fighting for food among themselves, the crime rate would go up, violence against women and on children would go up, he said.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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YRC Worldwide closes Florida terminals due to hurricane
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(Reuters) - YRC Worldwide Inc said on Thursday it has closed terminals in the Florida localities of Fort Pierce, Miami, Tampa, and West Palm Beach due to Hurricane Irma.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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EU tells Britain to protect data or delete them after Brexit
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BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union wants Britain to protect data it has in storage on continental Europeans after Brexit and maintain bans on cheap imitations of locally branded EU produce like cognac or Parma ham. The proposals were among those made in further position papers published by the European Commission s Brexit negotiators on Thursday for consultation with the other 27 EU member states which offered a glimpse of thinking in Brussels about future trade ties with Britain, despite an EU refusal to start talks. The British government has voiced frustration at the refusal of EU negotiators to open discussions on a future free trade pact until London makes concessions on elements that must be settled to avoid legal chaos when Britain leaves in March 2019. However, in spelling out what it wants to happen on some issues on Brexit Day, the Union is having to say what it wants after that point - for example, on the protection of personal data gathered on either side of the English Channel under EU law or on trademarks and other intellectual property. The paper on data protection says Britain may continue to use data gathered before exit day once it has left the EU as long as it continues applying the same level of protection, otherwise it must destroy the data. Britain will also lose access to EU networks, information systems and databases on the day it leaves, the paper says. That would include, for example, the information system underpinning the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) scheme. It makes no mention of how data could continue to flow after Brexit, unlike the British paper which sought continued close collaboration with the EU on data protection once Britain quits the bloc. In a separate paper on intellectual property, the EU said Britain must have legislation in place to keep on protecting locally branded produce under the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) scheme. The PGI system identifies products as originating from a particular region, like Cornish pasties or Roquefort cheese, meaning others cannot market imitations with that same name.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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Three policemen killed in Peru in drug-trafficking region: government
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LIMA (Reuters) - Three Peruvian policemen were killed in an attack on patrol vehicles in a drug-trafficking region controlled by a remnant band of Shining Path rebels, the interior ministry said on Thursday. Authorities are investigating the attack, which occurred late on Wednesday in the jungle region known as the VRAEM, where most of Peru s cocaine is produced, the ministry said. The Maoist-inspired Shining Path largely ended its armed rebellion in the 1990s on orders from the group s leaders. But a faction that refused to put down its weapons occasionally ambushes state security forces in the region, where rebels work with drug traffickers. So far this year, nine police or military officers have been killed in the VRAEM in a sign the Shining Path faction has regrouped after two top leaders were killed in 2013, said Peruvian security analyst Pedro Yaranga. This is going to continue, he said. Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski called the latest incident a cowardly attack and the interior ministry said it would increase security operations in the region.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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German election chief urges action to ensure vote software can't be hacked
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BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany s election chief has urged state officials to address vulnerabilities in vote collation software, just weeks before a Sept. 24 election that officials fear could be subject to foreign interference. Germans will vote on paper at polling stations or by mail in advance and the ballots will be counted and entered into a computer system, but two news reports published on Thursday cited concerns about the software, particularly the lack of an authentication step when results are transmitted. Die Zeit said Martin Tschirsich, a 29-year-old computer expert, had been able to find passwords on the internet to gain access to the maintenance program for the PC-Wahl (PC-Election) software, which would allow it to be manipulated. The election is not secure. It can be hacked, he told the weekly newspaper. Similar concerns were raised by another IT expert in the online version of Der Spiegel magazine. The reports come after repeated warnings from government officials that Russia could try to interfere in the election. French and U.S. intelligence officials say Moscow sought to influence recent votes there. Russia denies the accusations. Responding to the media reports, Federal Election Director Dieter Sarreither said he was familiar with the problems identified and had asked state officials and the software company, vote-iT, to take steps to shore up security. vote-iT had no immediate comment. The measures Sarreither demanded include the mandatory installation of software patches and the development of new steps aimed at ensuring the authenticity of the election results sent digitally, perhaps through telephone calls. That would ensure that any errors in data transmission are recognized and corrected before preliminary election results are released, Sarreither said, adding that actual results could not be manipulated as they were based on paper ballots. The security of the data was more important than the speed with which results were released, his office said. Germany s federal cyber protection agency, BSI, said it had worked closely with election officials and the software manufacturer to improve the security of election results. In the future, only information technology based on BSI-certified software should be used for election processes, BSI chief Arne Schoenbohm said.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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German, Chinese leaders agree on need to tighten North Korea sanctions
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BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed in a telephone call on Thursday about the need to tighten sanctions against North Korea in light of Pyongyang s latest nuclear weapons test, a spokesman for Merkel said. Both leaders expressed deep concern about the current situation in North Korea, and viewed the latest North Korean nuclear weapons test as a significant danger for the security of the entire region, as well as a violation of international law, Steffen Seibert said in a statement. Both leaders said they supported a tightening of the sanctions against North Korea, he said. At the same time, however, it was important to continue seeking dialogue to peacefully resolve the current tensions, he added.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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Hurricane Irma kills three in Puerto Rico, government says
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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - Three people died when Hurricane Irma hit the island of Puerto Rico, including a 79-year-old woman, the territory s governor said on Thursday. The elderly woman, who the government described as bedridden, died after a fall while being transported to a shelter. The other fatalities were a woman in Camuy, who was electrocuted in her home and a man who died of injuries suffered in a traffic accident in Can vanas during the storm, according to a statement from Governor Ricard Rossello.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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NuStar's St. Eustatius terminal damaged by Irma, no restart date set
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HOUSTON (Reuters) - Nustar Energy s oil terminal in the Caribbean island of St. Eustatius suffered damage to several tanks and other equipment due to Hurricane Irma, but all the U.S. firm s employees are safe and no oil spills were registered, it said in a statement. NuStar s Statia terminal has the capacity to store 13.03 million barrels of crude and products. The company also said that no restart date has yet been set, and that it will be working on Thursday to restore power at the facility. Despite the damage and major clean-up effort, we feel like we fared very well considering the significant power of this storm, it said.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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Tanzanian minister quits after diamond mining investigation: state TV
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DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - A Tanzanian minister who was named in reports on the results of an investigation into the diamond mining industry has resigned, state-run television broadcaster TBC1 said on Thursday. TBC1 said that George Simbachawene, the Minister of State in the President s Office, had relinquished his post.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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Russian military chief meets NATO General to soothe war games fears: Ifax
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MOSCOW (Reuters) - General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia s general staff, on Thursday used a meeting with General Petr Pavel, the chairman of the NATO military committee, to reassure him about upcoming Russian war games, the Interfax news agency reported. The Zapad-2017 war games this month have stirred unease in some countries because Russian troops and military hardware will be training inside Belarus, a Russian ally which borders Ukraine as well as NATO member states Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. Interfax said Gerasimov, during a meeting in Azerbaijan, had told Pavel that the war games were purely defensive in nature, not aimed at any third countries, and designed to help secure the security of Belarus.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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Xi calls for concerted effort to resolve Korean peninsula issue: Xinhua
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HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the international community to make concerted efforts to solve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, in a phone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the official Xinhua news agency said on Thursday. During the telephone conversation, Xi said that facts had repeatedly proven that an ultimate settlement of the nuclear issue can only be found through peaceful means, including dialogue and consultation, Xinhua said.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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France offers Belgium to supply its army with Rafale war planes
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PARIS (Reuters) - France has offered Belgium a deal to purchase Dassault Aviation s Rafale war planes, the French Defence ministry said on Thursday, as Brussels seeks to replace 34 of its Lockheed Martin s F-16 planes. The Defence minister, Florence Parly, has offered the Belgian Defence minister to setup an in-depth partnership between our two countries in order to respond to the need expressed by the Belgian air force, the ministry said. Dassault Aviation had no immediate comment.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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U.S. charges former Turkish minister with Iran sanctions evasion
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ISTANBUL (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors have charged a former Turkish economy minister and the ex-head of a state-owned bank with conspiring to violate Iran sanctions by illegally moving hundreds of millions of dollars through the U.S. financial system on Tehran s behalf. The indictment marks the first time an ex-government member with close ties to President Tayyip Erdogan has been charged in an investigation that has strained ties between Washington and Ankara. Ex-minister Zafer Caglayan was also charged with taking bribes in cash and jewelry worth tens of millions of dollars. The charges stem from the case against Reza Zarrab, a wealthy Turkish-Iranian gold trader who was arrested in the United States over sanctions evasion last year. Erdogan has said U.S. authorities had ulterior motives in charging Zarrab, who has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors have now charged Caglayan and former Halkbank general manager Suleyman Aslan and two others, according to the U.S. Attorney s Office for the Southern District of New York. They were charged with conspiring to use the U.S. financial system to conduct hundreds of millions of dollars worth of transactions on behalf of the government of Iran and other Iranian entities, which were barred by United States sanctions, U.S. prosecutors said in a statement dated Wednesday. They were also accused of lying to U.S. government officials about the transactions, laundering funds and defrauding several financial institutions by concealing the true nature of the transactions, prosecutors said. Reuters was not immediately able to reach Caglayan or Aslan for comment. Halkbank said all of its transactions have always fully complied with national and international regulations, adding that news regarding the U.S. case misleads the public and investors. Relations between Washington and NATO ally Turkey, an important partner in tackling the Syrian conflict, were strained after a failed coup against Erdogan in July last year and the president s subsequent crackdown on opposition. Ankara is seeking, so far without success, extradition of a U.S.-based Muslim cleric it accuses of backing the coup attempt. The cleric, Fethullah Gulen, denies the allegation. Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci defended his predecessor and said U.S. prosecutors had yet to prove their accusations. Caglayan did not do anything against Turkey s interests, Zeybekci told reporters. It is no concern to Turkey if Caglayan acted against interests of other countries. Both Caglayan and Aslan are also accused of taking bribes, according to the indictment. Caglayan, who was serving as Minister of the Economy... received tens of millions of dollars worth of bribes in cash and jewelry from the proceeds of the scheme to provide services to the government of Iran and conceal those services from U.S. government officials, prosecutors said. U.S. prosecutors have said that between 2010 and 2015 Zarrab and others worked to conceal his ability to supply currency and gold to Iran through the Turkish bank, avoiding U.S. sanctions. As part of that scheme, Zarrab and others used front companies and fake invoices to trick U.S. banks into processing transactions disguised to appear as though they involved food, and thus were exempt from the sanctions, prosecutors have said. The U.S. indictment echoes charges in a leaked 2014 Turkish police document, reported by Reuters, which detailed allegations that a crime organization had helped Iran exploit a loophole in Western sanctions that allowed it to purchase gold with oil and gas revenues. When the West prohibited the gold trade in 2013 as a sanctions violation, the police report alleged the network concocted records of shipments of food at preposterous volumes and prices to continue giving Iran access to foreign currency. Iran emerged from years of economic isolation in January 2016, when world powers lifted the crippling sanctions in return for Tehran complying with a deal to curb its nuclear ambitions. The sanctions had cut off the country of 80 million people from the global financial system, slashed its exports and imposed severe economic hardship on Iranians. Caglayan, Aslan and others indicted in the case on Wednesday remain at large, prosecutors said. Zarrab and a Halkbank deputy general manager, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, were arrested while in the United States. Zarrab was detained in March 2016 and Atilla a year later. Both are scheduled to appear for trial in October. Zarrab has hired former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey to defend him against the charges. Giuliani has said that both U.S. and Turkish officials remained receptive to a diplomatic solution due to the nature of the charges against Zarrab and the importance of Turkey as an ally. A decree issued two weeks ago gave Erdogan authority to approve the exchange of foreigners detained or convicted in Turkey with people held in other countries in situations required by national security or national interests . Shares of Halkbank were down 3.4 percent at 13.81 lira as of 1337 GMT, underperforming the benchmark BIST 100 index, which was flat.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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Moldova sends troops to NATO drills despite presidential veto
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CHISINAU (Reuters) - The Moldovan government said on Thursday it has sent 57 servicemen to Ukraine to participate in military exercises starting this week, deepening a row with the pro-Russian president who had vetoed the move. The drills in western Ukraine from Sept. 8-23 will be conducted mainly by NATO member countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Turkey. They coincide with war games known as Zapad , or West , by thousands of Russian troops in Belarus, the Baltic Sea, western Russia and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. The Russian exercises have worried NATO despite Moscow s assurances troops would rehearse a purely defensive scenario. Moldova is governed by a pro-Western government and a pro-Moscow president, meaning frequent clashes over foreign policy, especially where relations with Russia and the European Union are concerned. The government s plans to send troops were vetoed by President Igor Dodon, who argued that Moldova is bound by its constitution to stay neutral. The defense ministry ignored the president, who is also Moldova s commander-in-chief. Officially I confirm that, despite all the obstacles, 57 servicemen of Moldova, as was planned earlier, just an hour ago went by bus to participate in NATO military exercises, which start on Friday in Ukraine, Defence Ministry spokeswoman Diana Gradinaru said. Earlier this year Dodon banned the participation of military personnel in NATO exercises in Romania, prompting complaints by the U.S. and Romanian ambassadors. Moldova has been governed by pro-Western governments since 2009 and signed a trade pact with the EU in 2014. Russia retaliated by halting imports of Moldovan farm produce, depriving the country of a key market for its wine, fruit and vegetables. Relations suffered further this year due to a dispute in March over the treatment of Moldovan officials traveling to or through Russia, and the expulsion of Russian diplomats in May. In August, Moldova declared Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin persona non grata, accusing him of making defamatory remarks about Moldovan government officials.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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Merkel call to stop Turkey's EU bid draws mixed response
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TALLINN/PARIS (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel s call to stop Turkey s European Union accession talks drew a mixed response from the bloc s foreign ministers on Thursday, while French President Emmanuel Macron said Ankara remained a vital partner of the EU. NATO allies Germany and Turkey have traded increasingly bitter words over the last two years, contributing to an overall souring of Ankara s relations with the EU. President Tayyip Erdogan s crackdown on dissent following a failed 2016 coup attempt has drawn broad condemnation in the bloc. Merkel announced her toughened stance on Turkey s long-stalled EU bid in a TV debate last Sunday as she faced off with her main rival in national elections due on Sept. 24. Her Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, arriving for talks with his EU colleagues in the Estonian capital Tallinn, said it was Turkey itself that was moving away from the EU. Austria s Sebastian Kurz reiterated his line that the talks should end. But Finland and Lithuania spoke out against breaking off the talks, which opened formally in 2005 but stalled over Erdogan s track record on human rights and the unresolved issue of Cyprus - a Mediterranean island that belongs to the EU but of which part falls under an unrecognized protectorate of Turkey. No, we should continue the process and engagement. It s not easy but we have to value contacts, Lithuania s Linas Linkevicius told reporters. By stopping, by cutting, we will ...encourage them even more to go away. I think the effect would be the opposite than what we d wish. EU entry talks, no matter how protracted, had long been seen in themselves as a stimulus to Turkish democratic reform; but EU officials see a slide back in recent years with judicial independence and freedom of speech in peril. Turkey s EU ties minister, Omer Celik, is due to join the bloc s 28 officials for talks in Tallinn later on Thursday. The EU is wary of upsetting Erdogan, eager to preserve a deal that stemmed the mass migration via Turkey of people from conflict zones in the tumultuous Middle East. We have to tread very carefully and, while discussing Turkey s status as a candidate country, we should also discuss the future relationship in all its aspects, Estonia s Sven Mikser said in Tallinn. He said he did not expect the EU to make any formal decision this year, adding that the bloc needed to cooperate with Ankara on migration and security in particular. The French president told Greece s Kathimerini newspaper that ties with Turkey should be maintained. Turkey has indeed strayed away from the European Union in recent months and worryingly overstepped the mark in ways that cannot be ignored, he said. But I want to avoid a split because it s a vital partner in many crises we all face, notably the immigration challenge and the terrorist threat. With other countries in the EU also advocating more strategic patience , the unanimity of 28 member states required to kill off Turkey s bid seems absent. But suspending accession talks, which the European Parliament has already called for repeatedly, would only require the backing of majority of EU states. Merkel wants to discuss that with fellow EU leaders at their summit planned in October 19-20, more than three weeks after Germany s election. A senior Turkish official said EU states must decide whether they wanted Turkey as a member, but there was a sense they no longer want the marriage...(but) want cohabitation . Kati Piri, a European Parliament speaker on Turkey, advised suspending the membership track but pushing ahead with customs union talks as the most realistic leverage the EU can now have to try negotiate some standards with Turkey . Turkey under this government does not even uphold the minimum human rights standards now. But we should not take away the EU perspective from the Turkish people, and in suspending talks we would have to name conditions for reviving them. But this German twist is triggered by German elections, not by some change on the side of Turkey. So what does Merkel really mean? I think it s likely she will return to her usual pragmatism after the elections, Piri told Reuters.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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The millionaire socialist who may be Norway's next prime minister
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OSLO (Reuters) - Norway s next prime minister could be a man born into wealth and privilege who became the unlikely leader of the Labour Party, the political home of the working class. Jonas Gahr Stoere, 57, hopes to replace Conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg, 56, after a Sept. 11 parliamentary election. With the left and right neck-and-neck in the polls and many voters undecided, the race is too close to call. If he wins, it would be a victory for a millionaire, whose background was once deemed an obstacle to his ambition to lead a party rooted in the struggle for workers rights. Stoere got massive attention in the media in 2013 when he failed, apparently by accident, to raise the national flag outside his house on International Workers Day on May 1 - an important tradition in the labor movement. I have not grown up in the traditional working class and I cannot explain my background away. Like everyone else I m the sum of my experiences, he told the tabloid VG at the time. With a net worth of 64.5 million Norwegian crowns ($8.3 million), media interest in Stoere s investments has at times threatened to overshadow his campaign, leading him last week to divest stakes in a mutual fund that did not comply with the same ethical standards as the sovereign wealth fund. He served as foreign minister and health minister in the two cabinets of his friend, prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, in 2005-2013, and became Labour Party leader when Stoltenberg was named NATO Secretary General. In 2010, while foreign minister, Stoere helped broker a deal to delineate an Arctic offshore border between Norway and Russia that had been in dispute for four decades. Stoere was a very popular foreign minister, but has experienced problems as party leader, Toril Aalberg, a professor of political science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim told Reuters. While there is a greater degree of consensus in Norwegian foreign policy, there is a greater degree of disagreement in domestic policy matters. The son of a shipbroker, Stoere credits his conversion to social democracy to his move to study in France where he was confronted with starker class differences. I learnt what kind of society I wanted to live in. In France, differences between people are large, larger than in Norway between rich and poor, between those with education and those without, between city and countryside, he wrote in a column for Norway s ABC News website in June. In Norway, we have shaped a society where there are fewer differences. But we are not immune to this and this is not a given. He attended Paris prestigious Sciences Po university, became engaged in the movement to support Soviet dissidents, and traveled to the Soviet Union to provide supplies and support. He organized a protest in support of Andrei Sakharov, then held in internal exile, persuading French star Yves Montand, a long-time Communist sympathizer, to deliver a letter to the Soviet embassy in Paris calling for the Nobel laureate s freedom. When he returned to Norway, Stoere worked closely with Norway s first female prime minister, Gro Harlem Brundtland, known as the mother of the nation in Norway, first as an adviser and later a senior civil servant under several governments between 1989 and 1997. From 1998 to 2000 he followed Brundtland to the World Health Organisation to serve as chief of staff to the new executive director. He was also Secretary General of the Norwegian Red Cross from 2003 to 2005. If Labour wins the Sept. 11 vote, it would spend less money from Norway s near-trillion dollar sovereign wealth fund and instead raise taxes, arguing that the growth in oil revenue spending must slow. Sound public finances are critical for welfare and critical for productivity, Stoere told Reuters in an interview in June. Stoere also said he would be careful about allowing the sovereign wealth fund into new asset classes. Political risk is clearly one issue. Spreading the focus of the fund too much is another one, he said. To govern, Labour will need the support of the Centre Party, whose main support is in rural areas, with whom it shared power between 2005 and 2013. But depending on the outcome of the vote, Stoere may be in need of the support of the far-left Red Party and would face demands from the small-but-growing Green Party about limiting the reach of Norway s oil industry. Stoere says he is adamant he would not accept the Green Party s ultimatum of shutting down the industry but his position may be more difficult to defend if he needs their support. Forming a government is going to be difficult, said Johannes Bergh, a political scientist at the Institute of Social Research in Oslo.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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Spanish PM Rajoy to ask court to revoke Catalan referendum law
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MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Thursday he would ask Spain s constitutional court to revoke a referendum law passed on Wednesday by the Catalan parliament that sets the stage for a Oct. 1 vote on splitting from Spain. The law, passed by a majority of Catalan lawmakers, was unconstitutional, Rajoy told a news conference. Spain s state prosecutors office said on Thursday it would present criminal charges against leading members of the Catalan parliament for allowing Wednesday s parliamentary vote to go ahead.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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Tunisia's new government gets party backing for reform push
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TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisia s two main parties on Thursday gave parliamentary backing to Prime Minister Youssef Chahed s new cabinet, handing him the initiative to push sensitive economic reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund. Chahed s cabinet needs strong support to reform public sector wages and overhaul the pension system to improve national finances. Infighting and social protests have kept past governments from pushing through tougher austerity reforms. Chahed on Wednesday named 13 new ministers including heads of the interior, defense and finance ministries. He appointed Taoufik Rajhi, one of his advisors from the Islamist Ennahda party, to a new economic reforms ministry in a deal that ends weeks of party infighting over posts. Rached Ghannouchi, the head of Ennahda party, called his 69 lawmakers in parliament to give a vote of confidence to the coalition government which includes ruling Nidaa Tounes, Machroua Tounes, the Republican and Massar parties. The new cabinet also includes independents and former ministers who worked with ex-President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, ousted by a popular uprising in 2011. Ennahda won four important ministries, including the new ministry of economic reforms. Nidaa Tounes led by the son of President Beji Caid Essesbi welcomed the reshuffle in which his party secured six new posts and other junior portfolios. This reshuffle maintained political balances, boosted the political weight of our party, we will give our confidence to the new team, Sofian Tobal an official in Nidaa Tounes said. Backing from the two main parties means Chahed s government can expect support from at least 150 lawmakers in the 217-seat parliament. Ennahda and Nidaa Tounes have more than 130 seats between them plus the support of smaller parties. Chahed s cabinet needs 109 votes to win a confidence ballot. This government would be like a war cabinet, in a war against the corruption, against rampant unemployment and a war to save the economy, Chahed said on Wednesday. He has said he will present parliament with a comprehensive plan to push the economy forward, including accelerating the coordination of public-private partnerships and proposing more incentives to investors. We will confront the imbalance in public finances, adjust the trade balance and improve the situation of public institutions that are facing difficulties, as well progress on major priority reforms, he said. Tunisia is struggling to revive its economy and create jobs for frustrated youth. But it is under pressure to reduce deficits by stopping public sector hiring, laying off thousands of state employees and selling shares in some troubled public institutions. Reforms are also expected to include cuts in subsidies for energy and some basic materials, which would be highly sensitive and rejected by Tunisia strong unions who have in the past played the role of political power brokers.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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German SPD loses support after television debate: poll
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BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives widened their lead over the Social Democrats following a television debate in which Merkel came across as more convincing and reliable than her SPD challenger Martin Schulz, a poll showed on Thursday. The weekly survey by Infratest dimap for ARD television showed support for Merkel s CDU/CSU bloc holding steady at 37 percent while the SPD dropped two percentage points to 21 percent - their lowest reading in the poll since early January. The pollster questioned 1,503 voters from Monday to Wednesday, meaning the survey was the first fully conducted after Sunday s television debate in which hardly any policy differences emerged between Merkel and Schulz. The anti-immigration, euro-hostile AfD came in unchanged at 11 percent, making it the third-strongest political force. The radical Left followed with 10 percent, up 1 point. The business-friendly FDP scored 9 percent, also up 1 point, while the environmental Greens were unchanged at 8 percent. The polls indicated two parties FDP and the AfD should enter the Bundestag as they look set to beat the 5-percent threshold. The fractured political landscape could make it hard to form a viable alliance other than the current grand coalition between Merkel s CDU/CSU and the SPD. Another scenario could be a tricky three-way Jamaica coalition between Merkel s conservatives, the FDP and the Greens, though such a broad alliance has never been tested on the federal level before.
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September 7, 2017
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Aid convoy reaches Syria's Deir al-Zor after three-year siege
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BEIRUT (Reuters) - An aid convoy arrived at Deir al-Zor in eastern Syria on Thursday, bringing supplies to soldiers and civilians days after the Syrian army broke a three-year Islamic State siege, Syrian state media reported. The Syrian army and its allies reached Deir al-Zor on Tuesday in a sudden advance following months of steady progress east across the desert. The army on Thursday advanced against militants in a pocket they still hold further west, pro-Damascus media reported. State TV broadcast footage of scores of residents cheering with relief in Deir al-Zor as the convoy arrived. The United Nations estimated that 93,000 civilians living under Islamic State siege in Deir al-Zor had been in extremely difficult conditions, being supplied only by air drops. The 40 trucks that reached the area on Thursday carried basic needs such as fuel, food and medical supplies to civilians, and included two mobile clinics, state news agency SANA reported. The army also holds another besieged enclave at the city s airbase, separated from its advancing forces by hundreds of meters of IS-held ground. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday that the army had not yet connected with that enclave, and was working on expanding its corridor from the west. Islamic State mortar fire on neighborhoods still surrounded near the air base killed at least seven civilians and wounded dozens more on Thursday, the British-based monitoring group said. On Thursday, the army also advanced against Islamic State militants in countryside east of the city of Hama, a media unit run by Damascus ally Hezbollah reported. The advance, which saw forces recapture two villages there, is part of efforts to drive the militants out of an isolated pocket of territory they control east of Hama and Homs. Separately, the U.S. special envoy to the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, Brett McGurk, said on Wednesday that a convoy of Islamic State fighters and families from the Syria-Lebanon border was still in open desert. The coalition is using air strikes to block the convoy from reaching IS-held territory in eastern Syria, to which the Syrian army and its ally Hezbollah were escorting it as part of a truce following fighting on the Syria-Lebanon border. Islamic State is fighting separate offensives by both the Syrian army and its allies in eastern and central Syria, as well as the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in Raqqa. The group has lost nearly half of its territory across both Iraq and Syria, but still has 6,000-8,000 fighters left in Syria, the United States-led coalition has said.
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September 7, 2017
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Syrian opposition leader says U.N. mediation has failed
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BEIRUT (Reuters) - A prominent Syrian opposition leader said on Thursday U.N. mediation to end the country s six-year conflict has failed and the revolution would continue. Riyad Hijab, chairman of the Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee (HNC), rejected comments by U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura that President Bashar al-Assad s opponents must accept they have not won the war. De Mistura s statements reflect the defeat of U.N. mediation, Hijab wrote on Twitter. The Syrian revolution continues, he said. De Mistura had repeatedly made un-studied remarks on the conflict, he said. Hijab, a former Syrian prime minister under Assad, called for a new a U.N. approach on the Syrian issue , without elaborating. Assad has won a series of military victories but rebel groups still hold large parts of the northwest of the country and substantial enclaves in the southwest, in Homs province and near Damascus. De Mistura said on Wednesday the opposition must be unified and realistic in accepting it had not won the war. He did not say Assad was victorious. Victory can only be if there is a sustainable political long-term solution, de Mistura said, suggesting the conflict was almost over because many countries were involved principally to defeat Islamic State and a national ceasefire should follow. The remarks come ahead of a round of Syria talks between Damascus allies Russia and Iran and opposition backer Turkey in Astana next week. Several rounds of negotiations in Astana and a separate U.N.-sponsored track in Geneva between the government and the HNC have produced no visible progress on ending the war that broke out after a popular uprising in 2011. Russia and Iran have stood by Assad. Some Western countries have softened their initial stance that he should leave power immediately, saying he could be part of a transitional period.
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September 7, 2017
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Pakistan's anti-corruption agency starts criminal investigation into ex-PM, finance minister
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ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan s anti-corruption agency will open a criminal investigation into former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and current finance minister Ishaq Dar, it said on Thursday. Sharif was ousted in July after the Supreme Court deemed him unfit to hold office for not declaring a small source of income, and ordered the agency, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), to instigate a criminal investigation into him, his family and Dar. The agency said its investigation would rely on the evidence collected by a Supreme Court-appointed six-man panel that was investigating the Sharif family s wealth and included officers from powerful military intelligence agencies. The chairman (of) NAB directed that the prosecution of the cases will be followed up vigorously in the concerned Accountability Courts, the agency said in a statement. Sharif, his family, and Dar have denied any wrongdoing. The three-time premier said he never received the income that investigators said he did not declare. Sharif has said there was a conspiracy against him but did not identify anyone. Instead, he named long-time loyalist Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as his replacement as prime minister until the next election, expected in mid-2018. Pakistan has for decades been plagued by pervasive graft, as well as by rivalry between the military and civilian politicians. The NAB s conviction rates are notoriously low and Sharif has multiple investigations by the agency pending against him, including one dating back to 1999.
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September 7, 2017
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French police find more explosives after raid near Paris
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PARIS (Reuters) - French police unearthed a second stash of explosive materials near Paris on Thursday after a similar find in a nearby suburb on Wednesday, a justice official said as three suspects were questioned by anti-terrorism investigators. Thursday s swoop was carried out at a garage rented by one of the three detained in the wake of Wednesday s raid on an apartment in Villejuif, on the southern edge of the French capital, the source said. Materials used to produce TATP, an explosive often used by suicide bombers, were found at the flat after a plumber phoned police to report suspect activity there, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said. Two people in their 30s and 40s were arrested in the immediate wake of Wednesday s raid, said Collomb, who added that the suspects were being questioned on suspicion of terrorist activity despite talking of a bank heist. A third man was arrested overnight, a source said. Those under investigation spoke of wanting to blow up a bank with the TATP but they way we see it is they have links with terrorism, and this is the channel of investigation, Collomb told public radio station franceinfo. That line of inquiry was prompted by information found in telephone communications after the raid, he added. The minister spoke before developments later in the day in which police found explosive materials at a garage in Thiais, southeast of Paris. More than 230 people have been killed by Islamist-inspired attackers in the past three years in France, which along with the United States and other countries are bombing Islamic State bases in Iraq and Syria. TATP, an unstable explosive, has been used by militants in several attacks in western Europe in recent years, including Manchester in May, Brussels in 2016 and Paris in 2015.
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September 7, 2017
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Florida residents heed Irma warnings after Harvey's destruction
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Reuters) - Hurricane Harvey s destruction in Texas may not have altered Florida s well-tested storm plans, but it appears to have infused residents with a new sense of urgency as they prepare for approaching Hurricane Irma. Officials said Harvey s devastating flooding, coupled with the sheer power of Irma, ranked as the strongest Atlantic storm on record, had sharpened the focus of Floridians who were somewhat indifferent about preparing for past hurricanes. A lot of times they end up having hurricane parties here instead of evacuating, Monroe County spokeswoman Cammy Clark said by phone. That s been the opposite this time around. Monroe County includes the Florida Keys, which ordered evacuations for all residents and tourists. Clark said she saw a steady stream of traffic leaving the travel destination as she drove to work early on Wednesday. The U.S. National Hurricane Center forecasts that Irma may strike southern Florida on Saturday, when it could still be a major hurricane. As it neared Puerto Rico on Wednesday with maximum sustained winds of 185 miles per hour (295 kph), Irma was a Category 5 storm, the highest level on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity. This storm is bigger, faster and stronger than Hurricane Andrew, Florida Governor Rick Scott told a news conference on Wednesday, referring to one of the costliest storms in U.S. history that struck southern Miami-Dade County 25 years ago. For south Florida, Hurricane Irma is a once-in-a-generation storm. It s the Big One for us, Ed Rappaport, acting director of the hurricane center, told WFOR-TV in Miami on Wednesday evening. Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez on Wednesday evening announced mandatory evacuations for most of the county s coastal cities beginning at 9 a.m. (1300 GMT) on Thursday. Miami-Dade has a population of 2.7 million. The evacuation orders affect more than 100,000 residents, the Miami Herald reported. Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine had already urged residents of that city on Tuesday to evacuate. We don t want any heroes, he said. We want people to bring themselves to a safer place than a barrier island. Officials across Florida said they saw signs of people taking Irma more seriously than past storms. Residents were stocking up on water and batteries and even complaining that county leaders were not being quick enough to announce evacuations, said Don Walker, spokesman for Brevard County Emergency Management. Houston officials were criticized for not ordering an evacuation ahead of the flooding that left hundreds of people in the country s fourth-largest city trapped in their homes. Everyone is really in tune with this storm system. My neighbors are talking about it, and we don t usually do that, Walker said. For years, many Florida residents, joined by an ever-growing number of newcomers, paid little heed to hurricane warnings as most opted to stay in their homes, county officials said. Not this time around. I ll tell you for the community, heck yeah, they re taking this more seriously, said Teri Barbera, spokeswoman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff s Office, noting that many stores were out of bottled water by Monday. They re not playing.
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September 7, 2017
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China tightens control of chat groups ahead of party congress
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BEIJING (Reuters) - China issued new rules on instant messaging chat groups on Thursday, tightening control over online discussions ahead of a sensitive leadership reshuffle next month. Beijing has been ramping up measures to secure the internet and maintain strict censorship, a process that has accelerated ahead of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party, when global attention will be on the world s No.2 economy. Group chats on instant messaging apps and online commenting threads have seen a surge in popularity in China in recent years as forums for discussion, partly because they are private for members and so in theory are subject to less censorship. Internet chat service providers must now verify the identities of their users and keep a blog of group chats for no less than six months, the Cyberspace Administration of China said in a statement released on its website The rules, which take effect on Oct 8, just before the congress is due to begin, will cover platforms provided by China s internet titans, such as Tencent s WeChat and QQ, Baidu s Tieba and Alibaba s Alipay chat. The regulations also require companies to establish a credit system, and to provide group chat services to users in accordance to their credit rating, CAC said. Chat group participants who break the rules will see their credit scores lowered, their rights to manage group chats suspended or revoked and should be reported to the relevant government department, it added. The CAC did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment sent after office hours on Thursday. The administration also said the owner of the chat group should bear responsibility for the management of the group. Whoever owns the group should be responsible, and whoever manages the group should be responsible, it said. The new rules are the latest requirement for China s internet giants, who have already been subject to investigations from the CAC into their top social media sites for failing to comply with cyber laws. The administration has already taken down popular celebrity gossip social media accounts and extended restrictions on what news can be produced and distributed by online platforms, and has embarked on a campaign to remove virtual private network apps, which allow users to access websites blocked by the authorities.
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September 7, 2017
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'And then they exploded': How Rohingya insurgents built support for assault
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YANGON (Reuters) - When the former U.N. chief Kofi Annan wrapped up his year-long probe into Myanmar s troubled northwest on Aug. 24, he publicly warned that an excessive army response to violence would only make a simmering conflict between Rohingya insurgents and Myanmar security forces worse. Just three hours later, shortly after 8 p.m., Rohingya insurgent leader Ata Ullah sent a message to his supporters urging them to head to the foot of the remote Mayu mountain range with metal objects to use as weapons. A little after midnight, 600 km northwest of the country s largest city Yangon, a rag-tag army of Rohingya militants, wielding knives, sticks, small weapons and crude bombs, attacked 30 police posts and an army base. If 200 or 300 people come out, 50 will die. God willing, the remaining 150 can kill them with knives, said Ata Ullah in a separate voice message to his supporters. It was circulated around the time of the offensive on mobile messaging apps and a recording was subsequently reviewed by Reuters. The assault by Ata Ullah s group, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), was its biggest yet. Last October, when the group first surfaced, it attacked just three police border posts using about 400 fighters, according to Myanmar government estimates. The Myanmar army is now estimating up to 6,500 people took part in the August offensive. Its ability to mount a much more ambitious assault indicates that many young Rohingya men have been galvanized into supporting ARSA following the army crackdown after the October attacks, according to interviews with more than a dozen Rohingya and Rakhine villagers, members of the security forces and local administrators. The brutal October response led to allegations that troops burned down villages and killed and raped civilians. The crisis in ethnically-riven Rakhine state is the biggest to face Myanmar s leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and her handling of it has been a source of disillusionment among the democracy champion s former supporters in the West. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to Myanmar authorities on Tuesday to end violence against Rohingya Muslims, warning of the risk of ethnic cleansing, a possible humanitarian catastrophe, and regional destabilisation. Rohingya leaders and some policy analysts say Suu Kyi s failure to tackle the grievances of the Muslim minority, who have lived under apartheid-like conditions for generations, has bolstered support for the militants. The fledgling militia has been transformed into a network of cells in dozens of villages, capable of staging a widespread offensive. Myanmar s government has declared ARSA a terrorist organisation. It has also accused it of killing Muslim civilians to prevent them from cooperating with the authorities, and of torching Rohingya villages, allegations the group denies. The latest assault has provoked a major counteroffensive in which the military says it killed almost 400 insurgents and in which 13 members of the security forces have died. Rohingya villagers and human rights groups say the military has also attacked villages indiscriminately and torched homes. Myanmar government says it is carrying out a lawful counter-terrorism operation and that the troops have been instructed not to harm civilians. Nearly 150,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since Aug. 25, leading to fears of a humanitarian crisis. Some 26,750 non-Muslim villagers have also been displaced inside Myanmar. Suu Kyi has said she would adopt recommendations of Kofi Annan s panel that encouraged more integration. She has also previously appealed for understanding of her nation s ethnic complexities. In a statement on Wednesday, she blamed terrorists for a huge iceberg of misinformation on the strife in Rakhine. She made no mention of the Rohingya who have fled. Suu Kyi s spokesman, Zaw Htay, could not be immediately reached for comment. On Monday, however, he told Reuters Myanmar was carrying out a counterterrorism operation and taking care of the safety of civilians, including Muslims and non-Muslims. In an interview with Reuters in March, Ata Ullah linked the creation of the group to communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine in 2012, when nearly 200 people were killed and 140,000, mostly Rohingya, displaced. We can t turn the lights on at night. We can t move from one place to another during the day, he told Reuters in previously unpublished remarks, referring to restrictions placed on the Rohingya population s behaviour and movements. Everywhere checkpoints: every entry and every exit. That s not how humans live. A Rohingya community leader who has stayed in northern Rakhine said that, while the rest of Myanmar enjoyed new freedoms under Suu Kyi after decades of military rule, the Muslim minority have been increasingly marginalized. Support for the insurgents grew after the military operation last year, he said. When the security forces came to our village, all of the villagers apologised and asked them not to set the houses on fire - but they shot the people who made that request, he said. People suffered because their sons got killed in front of them even though they begged for mercy, their daughters, sisters were raped - how could they live without constantly thinking about it, that they want to fight against it, whether they die or not. Reuters couldn t independently confirm the villagers accounts. Last month, a Myanmar government probe - led by former head of military intelligence and now Vice President, Myint Swe - rejected allegations of crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during the crackdown last year. Villagers and police officers in the area say that ARSA had since last October established cells in dozens of villages, where local activists then recruited others. People shared their feelings with others from the community, they talked to each other, they told their friends or acquaintances from different regions and then they exploded, said the Rohingya community leader. Rohi Mullarah, a village elder from the Kyee Hnoke Thee village in northern Buthidaung, said the leaders sent their followers regular and frequent messages via apps like WhatsApp and WeChat, encouraging them to fight for freedom and human rights and enabling them to mobilize many people without the risk of being caught going into the heavily militarised areas to recruit. They mainly sent phone messages to the villagers, they didn t ... move people from place to place, he said. He said his village was not involved in the insurgency and even posted a signboard in front of it that said any militants would be attacked by the villagers if they attempt to recruit people. Many Rohingya elders have for decades rejected violence and sought dialogue with the government. While ARSA has now gained some influence, especially among young, disaffected men, many Rohingya elders have condemned the group s violent tactics. In recent months there had been reports of killings of local administrators, government informers and village chiefs in the Rakhine region, leading to speculation the insurgents were adopting brutal tactics to stop information on their activities from leaking to the security forces. They cut out the government communication by instigating a campaign of fear and took charge in the region, said Sein Lwin, police chief in Rakhine. . An army source directly involved in operations in northern Rakhine also said it was now much more difficult to get information on ARSA s plans. The strategy resulted in the shut down of government mechanisms in some places because no government servants dared to stay there , the army source said. A village head from northern Buthidaung township, who asked not to be named, said the insurgents called him several times pressing him to allow some young villagers to take part in their training - an offer he refused. I tried to stay safe and sometimes I had to sleep at the police station and local administrator s house, he said. Despite the largely successful clamp down on information by the insurgents, it was a tip off by an informer that stopped the Aug. 25 attacks from being much worse for the Myanmar security services, the army source said. About an hour after Ata Ullah s men headed for the jungle in the evening of Aug. 24, the army received a signal from the Rohingya informer saying the attack was coming. The 9 p.m. message mentioned imminent multiple attacks, but it did not say where they would occur. The warning was enough for the security forces to withdraw some troops to larger stations and to reinforce strategic locations, saving many lives on the government side, the military source said. The raids by the insurgents came in waves from around 1 a.m. until sunrise, and took place mostly in Maungdaw township where Ata Ullah staged his three attacks in October. This time, though, the distance between the northern- and southern-most points was as long as 100 km (60 miles). The Rohingya also struck in the north of the neighbouring Buthidaung township, including an audacious bid to storm an army base. We were surprised they attacked across such a wide geographical area - it shook the whole region, said the army source. (This version of the story corrects date in paragraph 39 to Aug. 24)
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September 7, 2017
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Cuban dissidents in electoral challenge as Castro era nears end
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HAVANA (Reuters) - Opponents of the Cuban government are putting forward an unprecedented number of candidates for municipal elections in late October, the first step in a process to select a new president after nearly 60 years of the Castro brothers rule. The electoral cycle comes at a tricky time for the Caribbean nation as the Castros revolutionary generation dies off, an economic reform program appears stalled, aid from key ally Venezuela shrinks, and the Trump administration threatens. The municipal vote, the only part of the electoral process with direct participation by ordinary Cubans, is expected to attract 35,000 candidates for the island s 168 municipal assemblies. It will be followed by provincial and national assembly elections in which candidates are selected from slates by commissions. The new national assembly will in late February select a successor to President Raul Castro, 86, who has announced he will step aside after two terms. Raul, younger brother and successor to Fidel Castro who died in November, will retain a grip on power as head of the Communist Party, the only legal party in Cuba. The elections are being cast in state-run media as a show of support for the Castros 1959 revolution rather than an opportunity to debate the pressing issues. Campaigning is prohibited and candidates for the 12,515 ward delegate positions are nominated at neighborhood meetings based on their personal merits, not policy positions. They need not belong to the Communist Party and many candidates are independents but only few government opponents have ever competed. During the last election, the three dissidents nominated lost at the polls. This year, however, one coalition of opposition groups, Otro18 (Other18), says it is running more than 160 candidates in the municipal elections, demanding electoral reform and government transparency. This is unheard of, said Boris Gonzalez, 41, one of the aspiring Otro18 candidates, explaining they wanted to challenge the Communist Party from within the system. Otro18 spokesman Manuel Cuesta Morua said in an interview that its candidates had faced harassment and threats by state security forces for months and had been warned not to participate. The government has not responded to these accusations. The Communist Party says it does not intervene in the elections, but a video circulating on social media of First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, Raul Castro s probable successor, suggested otherwise. There are six initiatives for the 2018 elections that seek to propose counter-revolutionaries as candidates, Diaz-Canel told Communist Party cadres in the video. We are taking steps to discredit all that. In this battle, which we are already fighting, we are going to be involved in this whole process in the second half of the year, he said. The government has not commented on the video. Cuba brands all dissenters as mercenaries funded by foreign governments and exiles, out to topple the government. Even if a few dissident candidates beat the odds and are elected to municipal assemblies, they have little chance of getting any further. The candidates for the provincial and national assemblies are nominated by commissions composed of representatives of Communist Party-controlled organizations such as the trade union federation and Committees in Defense of the Revolution. The slates have had the same number of names as seats in previous elections. Up to 50 percent of those names must be ward delegates. After the general election, the assemblies elect their respective executives and on Feb. 24 the new National Assembly is scheduled to name a new president and other members of the Council of State. I have never voted for anyone important, not even our president, said retired air force mechanic and staunch Castro-supporter Eduardo, who requested his last name not be used. I can only vote for my neighborhood representative and they never go anywhere, he said, but I still think it s a better system than one based on money and lies.
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September 7, 2017
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Does not make sense to keep Charter of Fundamental Rights post-Brexit: UK minister
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LONDON (Reuters) - It does not make sense for Britain to retain the European Union s Charter of Fundamental Rights after it leaves the bloc, Britain s Brexit minister David Davis said. Parliament began debating legislation on Thursday to sever political, financial and legal ties with the EU, but the opposition Labour Party has said it cannot support the bill without it being amended to better protect workers rights. We also do not believe it would make sense to retain the Charter of Fundamental Rights, Davis told parliament. The charter only applies to member states when acting within the scope of EU law. We will not be a member state nor will we be acting within the scope of EU law once we leave. He added: The charter catalogues the rights found under EU law which will be brought into UK law by the bill. It is not, and never was, the source of those rights.
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September 7, 2017
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China tightens regulation of religion to 'block extremism'
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BEIJING (Reuters) - China s cabinet on Thursday passed new rules to regulate religion to bolster national security, fight extremism and restrict faith practiced outside organizations approved by the state. The document passed by Premier Li Keqiang updates a version of rules put into place in 2005 to allow the regulation of religion to better reflect profound changes in China and the world, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The rules released by Xinhua use strong and specific language about the need to protect China s national security against threats from religious groups. Religious affairs maintenance should persist in a principle of maintaining legality, curbing illegality, blocking extremism, resisting infiltration and attacking crime, the regulations say. Any group or individual must not create conflict or contention between different religions, with a single religion or between religious individuals and non-religious individuals, they say. President Xi Jinping has emphasized the need to guard against foreign infiltration through religion and the need to prevent the spread to extremist ideology, while also being tolerant of traditional faiths that he sees as a salve to social ills. The officially atheist ruling Communist Party says it protects freedom of religion, but it keeps a tight rein on religious activities and allows only officially recognized religious institutions to operate. The rules, which come into effect on Feb 2, 2018, also place new oversight on online discussion of religious matters, on religious gatherings, the financing of religious groups and the construction of religious buildings, among others. They increase existing restrictions on unregistered religious groups to include explicit bans on teaching about religion or going abroad to take part in training or meetings. Much of China s religious practice, which has seen a revival in recent decades despite being effectively banned in the 1960s during the Cultural Revolution, takes place in informal settings not recognized, though often tolerated, by the authorities. Religious education is also further brought under the umbrella of the state in the regulations, with explicit provisions on the establishment and registration of religious colleges. New provisions are included on the use and raising of religious funds and on taxation. Donations from foreign groups or individuals, for example, are banned, while donations over 100,000 yuan ($15,420) need to be reported to authorities. Fines for breaking the rules have also been increased in the new version and the organizers of unapproved events can now be subject to fines from 100,000 to 300,000 yuan, rather than the previous 1 to 3 times the amount spent on the event.
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September 7, 2017
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EU withdrawal bill vital to ensuring orderly Brexit: minister
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LONDON (Reuters) - Legislation to sever political, financial and legal ties with the European Union is vital to ensuring Britain leaves the bloc in an orderly manner, Brexit minister David Davis said on Thursday. Davis also said the powers offered by the EU withdrawal bill, which seeks largely to copy and paste EU law into British legislation, would allow the government to make sure the statute book works on the day Britain leaves the EU. This bill is vital to ensuring that as we leave, we do so in an orderly manner, Davis said at the start of a debate in parliament on the bill.
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September 7, 2017
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Japan's Abe agrees with Putin North Korea nuclear test threatens peace
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TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday that he agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin that North Korea s latest nuclear test is a serious threat to regional peace and a challenge to global nuclear non-proliferation regime. Abe made the comments after holding talks with Putin on the sidelines of an economic forum in Russia s eastern port city of Vladivostok. We completely agreed that North Korea s nuclear test is a serious threat to the peace and stability of Korean peninsula as well as the region, and a grave challenge to the global non-proliferation regime, Abe told reporters.
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September 7, 2017
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Malaysia says foils hijacking of Thai tanker, 10 pirates arrested
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KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian authorities thwarted the hijacking of a Thai oil tanker on Thursday and arrested 10 suspected Indonesian pirates on board the ship, a maritime security agency commander said. A special team from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) stormed the MT Tanker MGT1, off the coast of the northeastern state of Terengganu, nearly 10 hours after it was reported missing on Wednesday. While the 10 were detained on the tanker, three suspects on a smaller boat nearby managed to escape, and an MMEA vessel has been sent to find them, the agency s chief, Maritime Admiral Zulkifli Abu Bakar, said in a statement. The boat was spotted near the tanker by a surveillance aircraft. Warning shots were fired from the aircraft when the boat tried to escape but the attempt to stop them failed as the aircraft was running low on fuel, Zulkifli said. Zulkifli identified the 10 suspected pirates that were arrested as Indonesian nationals. None of the 14 crew members on the tanker, all Thais, was hurt. The tanker, which was transporting 2.2 million liters of diesel valued at about 7 million ringgit ($1.66 million), had been escorted to the town of Kuala Terengganu to help with the investigations into the case. Piracy in Southeast Asian waters, including its busy international shipping lanes, has been a problem for years.
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September 7, 2017
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Sri Lanka court jails top former senior officials for graft
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COLOMBO (Reuters) - A Sri Lankan court on Thursday jailed and fined two top officials in former president Mahinda Rajapaksa s government for misappropriation of funds, a lawyer said, the first convictions in a series of investigations into official corruption. The government of President Maithripala Sirisena unseated Rajapaksa in 2015 on promises to expose corruption and is under pressure to follow through. Sirisena s administration has been probing money laundering and misappropriation of state property in more than 50 cases, but no one had been convicted until Thursday. Colombo High Court sentenced Lalith Weeratunga, former secretary to Rajapaksa, and Anusha Palpita, ex-head of the state-run Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, to three years of rigorous imprisonment , or jail with hard labor, and fined them 52 million rupees ($340,760) each. Election monitors had complained that the state fund was used to influence voters ahead of 2015 presidential polls. Kalinga Indratissa, the lawyer who appeared on behalf of Weeratunga and Palpita, told Reuters the two would appeal. Two of Rajapaksa s sons, Namal and Yoshitha, have been arrested and released on bail over money laundering allegations. His brother, Basil, who headed the economic development ministry, has also been arrested at least three times - twice over suspicion of misuse of anti-poverty funds and a once over suspicion of laundering money and released on bail. Rajapaksa and his family deny any wrongdoing. Rajapaksa was president for a decade until January 2015 and is popular among ethnic majority Sinhala Buddhists who credit him with ending the 26-year-war against minority Tamil separatist rebels in 2009.
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September 7, 2017
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China lodges stern protest with South Korea over THAAD deployment
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BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Thursday it had lodged stern representations with South Korea for installing the four remaining launchers of the U.S. anti-missile Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on a former golf course. Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the comment at a regular press briefing.
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September 7, 2017
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U.S. Navy to transport damaged destroyer from Singapore to Japan
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SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy plans to transport the USS John S. McCain to Japan for a full damage assessment after a collision last month in which ten sailors died between Malaysia and Singapore. Moving the McCain to Yosuka, where the navy has repair and maintenance facilities, would allow the crew to be close to their families, the Naval Systems Command Office said in a news release on Thursday. The guided missile destroyer is currently moored at Singapore s Changi Naval Base. The move is notionally planned for late September. The McCain suffered significant damage in the collision with a tanker east of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore on Aug. 21. Compartments, including berthing, machinery, and communications rooms, were flooded. The news release said a full assessment was needed to determine cost, schedule and location for the ship s repairs.
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September 7, 2017
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France's Macron urges continued EU ties with Turkey
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PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said Turkey remained a vital partner of the European Union and ties should be maintained even if the country had strayed from the EU path, according to a newspaper interview published on Thursday. A senior Turkish official said EU states must decide whether they wanted Turkey as a member, but there was a sense they no longer want the marriage...(but) want cohabitation . Comments from the French president followed German Chancellor Angela Merkel s remarks in a television debate on Sunday that the EU should halt membership talks with Ankara. Turkey has indeed strayed away from the European Union in recent months and worryingly overstepped the mark in ways that cannot be ignored, Macron told Greece s Kathimerini newspaper. But I want to avoid a split because it s a vital partner in many crises we all face, notably the immigration challenge and the terrorist threat. The EU is eager to preserve a deal with Turkey that has stemmed the mass migration via Turkish territory of people from conflict areas. Turkey has in the past questioned the EU s sincerity in keeping its side of the arrangement. Relations with Ankara and the European Union have deteriorated since a failed July 2016 coup that has been followed by the arrests of tens of thousands of people across the country. Critics accuse President Tayyip Erdogan of using the coup attempt as pretext for a reckoning political opponents. Turkey, which signed an association agreement with the EU in 1963, began formal negotiations to join the union in 2005. However, several members, including France, have opposed talks on certain subjects meaning that only 16 negotiation chapters out of 35 have been opened. Speaking to reporters in Paris, Turkey s ambassador echoed President Erdogan s comments that the EU had to make its mind up about membership and dismissed any notion of an alternative special partnership . Integrating Turkey into the EU is not a Turkish question, but a European question now. Of course we have the impression of being duped, Ismail Hakki Musa told reporters in Paris. They no longer want the marriage they want cohabitation. For a privileged partnership it s too late and Europe must now be honest and sincere. Turkey s relationship with France is not as bad as that with Germany, but ties have been strained following the arrest of French journalists in the country. The most recent, Loup Bureau, was seized by Turkish border guards on the frontier with Iraq in early August. Musa said Macron and Erdogan had asked their respective interior and justice ministers to find a way to solve the problem. We have to find a solution without tainting the fundamentals of the Turkish system, he said. France s foreign minister is due in Ankara on Sept. 14. Finland s Foreign Minister Timo Soini, arriving in Brussels for talks with counterparts, said he was against ending membership talks with Turkey. It s always useful to have a dialogue. We know there are problems with human rights in Turkey. While Macron has sought not to anger Erdogan since taking office, when responding in an interview last month on why being on the world stage was not so easy, Macron appeared to take a veiled swipe at the Turkish president. I am the one who has to talk with Erdogan every 10 days, he told Le Point without elaborating.
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September 7, 2017
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Indian court sentences two Mumbai 1993 blasts convicts to death
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MUMBAI (Reuters) - An Indian court on Thursday sentenced to death two men convicted of involvement in India s most deadly bombings, a series of blasts in the city of Mumbai that killed 257 people in 1993, while two others were jailed for life. Investigators said the bombs were ordered by India s most wanted man, gangster Dawood Ibrahim, to avenge the demolition of the historic Babri mosque in north India by Hindu hardliners in 1992, during a period of religious conflict. Ibrahim is believed to be hiding in Pakistan. Pakistan denies that. The court sentenced Feroz Abdul Rashid Khan and Taher Merchant to death, while Abu Salem and Karimullah Khan were jailed for life, a lawyer for the federal police, Deepak Salvi, told reporters. A fifth man, Riyaz Siddiqui, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, Salvi said. Lawyers for the convicted men did not answer their telephones, and it was not immediately known if they would appeal against the sentences. Legal proceedings against those accused of being involved in the bombings have resulted in more than 100 convictions, most of which are still winding their way through the legal system because of appeals and commutations of sentences. One suspect in the case, Yakub Memon, was hanged in 2015. In June, a court had ruled the five guilty of involvement in the blasts that shook India s financial hub more than two decades ago. A six man also found guilty at that time died in prison before sentencing.
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September 7, 2017
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Dutch prime minister: 'enormous devastation' on Saint Martin
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AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Hurricane Irma has caused enormous devastation to the Dutch side of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin and cut off electricity and gas, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Thursday. Most communications with the outside world are being conducted via the military, he said, adding that there was no clarity on victims. The Dutch navy, which has two ships stationed off the coast of the island, tweeted images gathered by helicopter showing damaged houses, hotels and boats. French authorities have counted at least eight dead on the French side of the island. Dutch Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk said he briefly had contact with Saint Martin s prime minister but communications are sporadic. He said nine patients at a hospital in the country had been evacuated by Dutch military helicopter. Sint Maarten is an independent nation within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with a population of around 40,000 about the same as the French side. Images of the country s Juliana Airport showed the landing strips appeared intact, though the navy said the airport is unreachable for now. Andre van der Kamp, commander of the Dutch ship Zeeland, tweeted that the Zeeland and Pelikaan would be trying to moor on Sint Maarten to deliver emergency aid on Thursday, but they needed to complete a safety check of the port first.
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September 7, 2017
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UK PM May to listen to concerns on EU bill, but is vital legislation: spokesman
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LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May will listen to concerns from lawmakers about legislation to sever political, financial and legal ties with the European Union, but it is a vital bill, her spokesman said on Thursday. Parliament is due to begin debating the repeal bill, which is central to the government s plan to exit the bloc in 2019, later on Thursday but some lawmakers have expressed concerns about the powers it will give the government. She has said she will listen to the concerns of MPs (lawmakers) but we believe the bill is the right way to go about delivering a smooth exit from the European Union which is in everybody s interest, the spokesman told reporters.
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September 7, 2017
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Hurricane Irma likely to drop to Category 4 upon landfall in Florida: NHC
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(Reuters) - Hurricane Irma is likely to be downgraded to a Category 4 storm by the time it makes landfall in Florida, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Thursday. Irma, at present a Category 5 storm packing maximum sustained winds of 180 miles (285 km) per hour, is moving off the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, the NHC said. It has become a little less organized over the past few hours but the threat of direct hurricane impacts in Florida over the weekend and early next week continues to increase, it said. Hurricane watches were in effect for the northwestern Bahamas and much of Cuba. Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century, killed eight people on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin and left Barbuda devastated on Thursday. Meanwhile, a hurricane swirling in the Gulf of Mexico, Katia, which is about 195 miles (310 km) northeast of Veracruz with maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour (130 km per hour), is likely to gain near major hurricane strength by landfall, the NHC said. A third hurricane in the Atlantic, Jose, has strengthened slightly and is expected to intensify further over the next 48 hours, it added. Hurricane Jose is about 815 miles (1,310 km) east of the Lesser Antilles with maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour (150 km per hour), the Miami-based weather forecaster said.
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September 7, 2017
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Indonesian school a launchpad for child fighters in Syria's Islamic State
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SUKAJAYA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Hatf Saiful Rasul was 11 years old when he told his father, a convicted Islamic militant, that he wanted to leave school and go to Syria to fight for Islamic State. The boy was visiting his father in a maximum security prison during a break from Ibnu Mas ud, his Islamic boarding school, Syaiful Anam said in a 12,000 word essay on his son and religion that was published online. At first, I did not respond and considered it just a child s joke, he wrote. But it became different when Hatf stated his willingness over and over. Hatf told his father some of his friends and teachers from Ibnu Mas ud had gone to fight for Islamic State and become martyrs there , Anam wrote. Anam agreed to let him go, noting in his essay that the school was managed by comrades who share our ideology . Hatf traveled to Syria with a group of relatives in 2015, joining a group of French fighters. Reuters spoke to three Indonesian counter-terrorism officials who confirmed the boy went to Syria. Indonesia is the world s most populous Muslim-majority country and most of its people practice a moderate form of Islam. But there has been a recent resurgence in militancy and authorities believe Islamic State has more than 1,200 followers in Indonesia while about 500 Indonesians have left to join the group in Syria. Drawing on court documents, registration filings and interviews with counter-terrorism police and former militants, Reuters has found that Hatf was one of at least 12 people from Ibnu Mas ud who went to the Middle East to fight for IS or attempted to go there between 2013 and 2016. Eight were teachers, four were students. At least another 18 people linked to the school have been convicted, or are now under arrest, for militant plots and attacks in Indonesia, including the three deadliest attacks in the country in the past 20 months, according to counter-terrorism police and trial documents of convicted militants. For details, click here: tmsnrt.rs/2wDwgPD Jumadi, a spokesman for Ibnu Mas ud, denied the school supported IS or any other militant Islamist group, or taught any extreme or ultra-violent interpretation of Islam. Ibnu Mas ud is one of about 30,000 Islamic boarding schools, or pesantren, across Indonesia. Most educate students in Islam and other subjects, but a handful are linked to extremism and act as centers for recruitment, Indonesian police and government officials say. Ibnu Mas ud has been in existence for a decade, despite its links to militants. Irfan Idris, the head of deradicalization at Indonesia s national counter-terrorism agency, blamed weak laws and bureaucracy for the lack of action against such schools. Basically, it s not our domain, it s the religious ministry, he told Reuters. We have informed the ministry that you have a problem with Ibnu Mas ud. Asked about the school s links to militants and why it had not been shut down, Kamaruddin Amin, the director general of Islamic education at Indonesia s Ministry of Religious Affairs, said: Ibnu Mas ud never registered as a pesantren. Jumadi confirmed the school was not registered with the ministry. The local government, Amin added, had requested an explanation regarding the status of their study but did not get a response. Jumadi confirmed recent discussions with local government officials about the school s teaching. We have no curriculum, he said, a reference to the emphasis on teaching the Koran. We re focused on the tahfiz, on memorizing the Koran, and the Hadith (the sayings of the Prophet Mohammad), he said. We teach students about the Arabic language, about faith and the history of Islam. Jumadi said Hatf studied at Ibnu Mas ud but he did not know the circumstances of his leaving. He said he was unaware of any staff or students traveling to Syria to join IS, other than three teachers and one student detained in Singapore last year. Mustanah, a former student deported from Iraq in August, has told police several ex-students from Ibnu Mas ud had traveled to Syria, two counter-terrorism officials told Reuters. Nestled in the foothills of Mount Salak, a dormant volcano, in the village of Sukajaya, 90 km (55 miles) south of Indonesia s capital Jakarta, Ibnu Mas ud is a ramshackle complex of classrooms, dormitories and prayer rooms that hosts up to 200 students from elementary school to junior high. A Reuters team entered the school in June but was not allowed to tour the premises and was eventually asked to leave. Inside a mosque that forms part of the complex, young boys dressed in Arabic tunics and skull caps could be seen sitting in a circle holding their Korans, smiling and fidgeting as they waited for their lessons. In a courtyard, young girls were scampering about. They looked no older than five or six and were wearing headscarves. In a video viewed by Reuters but later taken down from Youtube, principal Masyahadi outlines the institution s adherence to Salafism, an ultra-conservative brand of Sunni Islam that urges followers to emulate the lives of the earliest disciples of Mohammad and embrace sharia law. Ibnu Mas ud ensures that Muslim children are preoccupied with efforts to understand their religion correctly so they become a generation that understands the religion and will fight for the religion, he says. Asked if fighting for the religion included taking up arms, Jumadi, the spokesman, said it would need further discussion to answer that question before declining to elaborate further. According to documents presented in court, Ibnu Mas ud was founded in 2007 in Depok, a Jakarta satellite town, by Aman Abdurrahman, a jailed cleric and Indonesia s leading Islamist ideologue. The deed of establishment of the foundation that runs Ibnu Mas ud lists three people among its executives who were jailed with Abdurrahman for setting up a militant training base in the Indonesian province of Aceh in 2009. Sofyan Tsauri, a former militant who said he has made donations to the school, told Reuters Ibnu Mas ud was for the children of Ikhwan (Islamic fighters) to study while also serving as the hub of safehouses for Islamist fugitives. Dulmatin, who had a $10 million bounty on his head for taking part in a 2002 bombing on the Indonesian resort island of Bali in which 202 people were killed, prayed at Ibnu Mas ud while he was on the run, according to court documents related to the Aceh trials of Abdurrahman and the three foundation executives. Dulmatin was killed by police in 2010. After the trials, Ibnu Mas ud moved from Depok in 2010 but it ran into problems at its current location as well when a teacher tried to set fire to bunting celebrating Indonesia s independence day on August 17. The incident was confirmed by police and local villagers. People in the area were already suspicious about activities at the school, village chief Wahyudin Sumardi said. Every time there was a terrorist incident elsewhere, the authorities would come, he told Reuters in July. I m not comfortable with the whole situation. After complaints by villagers, local authorities have asked Ibnu Mas ud to leave by September 17, but Jumadi said this week that the school was negotiating to stay. The school may look for a new location if forced to move, he said. Pesantren have deep roots in Indonesia, harking back centuries, when they were the main form of education for most poor and rural people. Even as Indonesia s education system modernized and state-run secular schools were introduced, the overwhelmingly private Islamic boarding schools remain important. Amin, at Indonesia s Ministry of Religious Affairs, told Reuters in July that the ministry was working on a new policy to standardize the curriculum in pesantren and assume control of their approval. No policies have yet been announced. Anam, Hatf s father, told Reuters in handwritten comments in response to questions during a court hearing in Jakarta in July that he was proud of his son. Photos viewed by Reuters, which Anam said were taken in Syria and posted on social media by Hatf, showed the boy at a meal with older men and one in which the fresh-faced youngster is holding an AK-47 rifle almost as big as himself. Hatf could disassemble the rifle in 32 seconds, Anam wrote. He was also issued a 9mm handgun, 2 hand grenades, a commando knife and compass. By his father s account, citing messages sent by his son, Hatf survived one air strike, flying through the air from the force of an explosion and emerging with only a bloody ear and hearing loss. On September 1, 2016, two months short of his 13th birthday, Hatf was hit by another air strike. Shortly thereafter, the death of three Indonesians near the Syrian city of Jarabulus was announced by IS. The merry little mujahid was dead, wrote Anam in his essay, his tattered little body crushed by the bomb . I do not feel sad or loss, except a limited sadness as a father who was left by his beloved child, Anam told Reuters in the notes he provided at the court hearing. Instead I felt happy because my child has achieved martyrdom, inshallah.
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September 7, 2017
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UK's Prince George starts school, pregnant mum Kate too ill to go
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LONDON (Reuters) - Britain s Prince George, the great-grandson of Queen Elizabeth and third-in-line to the throne, started school on Thursday but without his pregnant mother Kate to support him because she is suffering from severe morning sickness. George, 4, was taken by his father, Prince William, from their Kensington Palace home to Thomas s Battersea school in southwest London, which says its most important rule is to Be Kind and charges almost 18,000 pounds ($23,490) per pupil per year. We expect our pupils to make impressive progress as a result of their own hard work, the best efforts of their teachers, the judicious support of their parents and the encouragement of their peers, the school says on its website. A nervous-looking George, wearing a school uniform of dark shorts and a navy jumper with red trim, held his father s hand as the Head of Lower School, Helen Haslem, escorted the royal duo to his classroom. His mother Kate missed the occasion due to acute morning sickness and has canceled other engagements this week after the palace announced on Monday that she was expecting her third child. Like his parents, George and his younger sister Charlotte have already appeared on the front covers of magazines around the world and this summer they traveled on official royal tours of Poland and Germany where crowds cheered them.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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EU to ask Britain to look for 'solutions' to Ireland border: Guardian
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(Reuters) - The European Union will soon ask Britain to take responsibility for solving the Irish border problems, according to documents leaked to the Guardian. Michel Barnier, the European Union s chief negotiator, will ask Britain to work out solutions that avoid the creation of a hard border with Ireland, the newspaper also reported. The news comes after the Guardian earlier reported, based on a draft memo it reviewed, that Britain is considering measures to restrict immigration for all but the highest-skilled EU workers. The British government declined to comment on the report while the European Union was not immediately available for comment.
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September 6, 2017
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Germans most afraid of terrorism, secure about finances: study
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BERLIN (Reuters) - Fear of terrorism, political extremism and social tension due to mass migration are Germans top concerns as they prepare to vote in a federal election, a survey showed on Thursday. Worries about jobs and the economy have meanwhile fallen to record lows, according to the annual study by insurer R+V. Having presided over an economic upswing that has boosted wages and created jobs, Chancellor Angela Merkel is widely expected to win a fourth term in the Sept. 24 election. Some voters from her conservative alliance have however defected to the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) over her decision in 2015 to open Germany s borders to hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing war in Syria and Iraq. The R+V study showed terrorism remained the top fear, worrying 71 percent of Germans compared to 73 percent last year, Security officials have said the country should brace for further violence by Islamist militants after it was hit by five attacks in 2016, including one in December on a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people. The fear of terror attacks is clearly in first place and is at one of the highest levels that has ever been measured, said Brigitte Roemstedt, who heads the R+V Info Centre that surveyed around 2,400 Germans. Political extremism was the second biggest worry, troubling 62 percent of Germans compared with 68 percent last year, while 61 percent fear that immigration could provoke social tension, down from 67 percent. R+V said fear of unemployment and a poor economic situation were at record lows, while concerns about natural disasters and contaminated food had increased.
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September 7, 2017
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North Korea pledges 'powerful counter measures' against U.S.-backed sanctions
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VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) - North Korea on Thursday pledged to take powerful counter measures to respond to U.S. pressure or any new sanctions against it over its missile program, accusing Washington of wanting war. Pyongyang s pledge, made in a statement by its delegation to an economic forum in Russia s Far East, came after the United States said it wanted the U.N. Security Council to impose an oil embargo on North Korea, ban the country s exports of textiles and the hiring of North Korean laborers abroad, and subject leader Kim Jong Un to an asset freeze and travel ban, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters on Wednesday. We will respond to the barbaric plotting around sanctions and pressure by the United States with powerful counter measures of our own, the statement read. The same statement also accused South Korea and Japan of using the Russian forum to play dirty politics, saying the event was meant to be about discussing economic cooperation in the region and not about criticizing its missile program. Russian President Vladimir Putin told the same forum on Thursday he thought the North Korea crisis would not escalate into a large-scale conflict involving nuclear weapons, predicting that common sense would prevail.
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September 7, 2017
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New Zealand's Labour widens lead as governing party loses ground
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WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand s newly invigorated Labour Party has widened its lead over the governing National Party, further threatening its decade-long hold on power, a poll showed on Thursday, as the two party leaders exchanged jabs at their third debate in a week. National fell 2 points to 39 percent, while support for the opposition Labour Party was unchanged at 43 percent, the poll released on the website of the 1 News broadcaster showed. New Zealand holds a general election on Sept. 23. The poll still tipped the nationalist New Zealand First as a likely kingmaker, and showed the Green Party would only just make it into parliament. Jacinda Ardern has almost single-handedly changed the chances of her Labour Party since taking over as leader last month, with her charisma and popularity offsetting some criticism over vague tax plans and tighter immigration policy. National leader Bill English, who is pinning his bid on his government s strong economic record, said he was not particularly worried about the poll results. On those numbers it would seem to me that a Labour/New Zealand First government would be the more likely outcome, but that all depends on a number of negotiations, said Grant Duncan, associate professor at Massey University in Auckland. Based on these numbers, New Zealand First would be a key player for both Labour and National. The New Zealand dollar fell to the day s low of $0.7173, having stood at $0.7207 shortly before the poll results were released. The poll showed support for the New Zealand First Party rose 1 point to 9 percent, while support for the Green Party remained at 5 percent. Duncan said the Greens were perilously close to the 5 percent voting threshold below which you do not get a seat in parliament. Ardern reiterated that her first call would be to the Green Party, with which she has a working agreement, if she was in a position to form a coalition government after the vote. The debate saw the party leaders trade jabs on taxes and housing, much as in their two previous encounters. It also touched on allegations this week by National that there is a NZ$11.7 billion hole in Labour s fiscal plans - a claim rejected by Labour and one that has been refuted by economists, according to media. If you continue to maintain that then you re maintaining a lie. That is misleading voters and it is wrong, Ardern told English during the debate. Support for Labour overtook that of National in a similar poll released a week ago.
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September 7, 2017
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Turkey's economy minister defends predecessor over Iran sanctions charges
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ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey s economy minister said on Thursday his predecessor Zafer Caglayan, charged in the United States with conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, had done nothing to harm his country. Caglayan did not do anything against Turkey s interests, Nihat Zeybekci told reporters. It is no concern to Turkey if Caglayan acted against interests of other countries. Zeybekci also said the case against Caglayan remained unverified. There are claims that these sanctions are violated, but the ones who claim these things are obliged to prove them. U.S. prosecutors have charged Caglayan, a former Turkish economy minister, and the former head of a Turkish state bank with conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, widening an investigation that has fueled tension between Washington and Ankara.
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September 7, 2017
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Syrian war monitor says strikes hit military science center
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BEIRUT (Reuters) - An air strike on Masyaf in Syria hit a Scientific Studies and Research Centre facility and an adjacent military camp where ground-to-ground rockets are stored, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday. The United States has imposed sanctions on employees of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre, which it describes as the Syrian agency responsible for developing and producing non-conventional weapons including chemical weapons, something Damascus denies.
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September 7, 2017
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UK Brexit minister says 'good prospect' of agreeing transitional deal with EU
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LONDON (Reuters) - There is a good prospect Britain will negotiate a transitional arrangement with the European Union before it leaves the bloc in March 2019, Britain s Brexit minister David Davis said on Thursday. Davis said Britain had only raised the issue of transition briefly with the EU so far in negotiations as it is not among the first four issues due to be discussed. Asked by a lawmaker what prospects there were for bespoke transitional arrangements being agreed and implemented by March 2019, Davis told parliament: We are finding that the (European) Commission is open to discussion of transition ... I think there is a very good prospect. Parliament is on Thursday due to begin debating legislation to sever political, financial and legal ties with the EU, and the opposition Labour Party has said it cannot support the bill without it being amended to better protect workers rights. Junior Brexit minister Steve Baker told lawmakers the government would not accept any amendments to the bill that compromised its purpose.
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September 7, 2017
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Germany has no right to block update of Turkey's EU customs union: minister
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ANKARA (Reuters) - Germany has no right to block a planned update of Turkey s customs union with the European Union, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said on Thursday, touching on a simmering row between Ankara and Berlin. Last week German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she did not think it was appropriate to carry out further discussions with Ankara about the customs union. Speaking to reporters in Ankara, Zeybekci said there were no problems in Turkey s accession negotiations with the EU and that the process continued.
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September 7, 2017
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Putin rues awarding U.S. top diplomat Tillerson Russian state honor
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VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin took a jab at Rex Tillerson on Thursday, joking that the U.S. Secretary of State had fallen in with the wrong company since he had awarded him a Russian state honor for his contribution to Russian-U.S. relations. Hopes of detente in Moscow s relations with Washington under Donald Trump, who had praised President Putin before winning the White House, have faded as the countries have imposed sanctions and expelled diplomats in recent months. Addressing a U.S. citizen at a plenary session of an economic forum in the far eastern city of Vladivostok, Putin said: We awarded your compatriot Mr. Tillerson the Order of Friendship, but he seems to have fallen in with the wrong company and to be steering in the other direction. I hope that the wind of cooperation, friendship and reciprocity will eventually put him on the right path, Putin added, drawing cheers from the crowd. In 2013 Putin awarded Tillerson, then CEO of energy giant Exxon Mobil, the Order of Friendship, a Russian state honor, for his significant contribution to strengthening cooperation in the energy sector . Russia s relations with the United States deteriorated over its annexation of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014 and support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, prompting Washington to impose economic sanctions against Moscow. The Kremlin, which has denied U.S. allegations it meddled in the presidential vote, had heaped praise on Trump during his election campaign, saying it supported efforts to improve Russian-American relations. But Trump, who was faced scrutiny over the alleged ties of his entourage with Russia, reluctantly signed into law fresh sanctions against Moscow, further straining relations.
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September 7, 2017
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Japan's Abe says North Korea situation needs quick action
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MOSCOW (Reuters) - The crisis around North Korea requires quick action, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday, calling on world powers to press Pyongyang to abide by its U.N. obligations. North Korea must fulfil all U.N. resolutions, abandon its nuclear and missile programmes, Abe said at an economic forum in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok. The international community must unite to force North Korea to fulfil its U.N. obligations.
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September 7, 2017
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Ukraine president says against holding early elections
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KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday said he opposed holding elections earlier than is mandated by the constitution. The approach of planned votes for the president and the parliament makes the idea of early elections even more irrational. My position is unchanged: everything should happen in the timelines determined by the constitution, he said in an address to parliament. The presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2019 but many lawmakers have talked up the prospects of an early vote. Poroshenko currently trails the main opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko in opinion polls.
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September 7, 2017
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Putin thinks North Korea crisis will not go nuclear, diplomacy to prevail
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VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he thought the North Korea crisis would not escalate into a large-scale conflict involving nuclear weapons, predicting that common sense would prevail. But he said he believed North Korea s leadership feared any freeze of its nuclear program would be followed by what amounted to an invitation to the cemetery . Putin, speaking at an economic forum in the far eastern Russian port of Vladivostok alongside his South Korean counterpart and the Japanese prime minister, had previously warned that simmering tensions around Pyongyang s missile program could tip into global catastrophe . But on Thursday, after days of talks with regional leaders and officials, Putin struck a more optimistic note, saying Russia could see that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump wanted to defuse tensions around North Korea. I am sure that things will not go as far as a large-scale conflict, especially with the use of weapons of mass destruction, Putin told delegates at the forum. All the competing sides have enough common sense and understanding of their responsibility. We can solve this problem through diplomatic means. Russia has a land border with North Korea less than 20 km (12 miles) long. Putin, who was sharing a platform with South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has spent the past few days pushing for negotiations, calling on all sides to dial down rhetoric. The United States wants the U.N. Security Council to impose an oil embargo on North Korea, ban its , and subject leader Kim Jong Un to an asset freeze and travel ban, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters on Wednesday. Putin gave no indication on Thursday whether Moscow would back that resolution; but he and top Russian government officials have previously condemned the idea of tightening sanctions and shown little enthusiasm to stop modest fuel exports to Pyongyang or send home North Korean workers. Instead, Russia, along with China, has advocated a freeze for freeze plan, under which the United States and South Korea would stop major military exercises in exchange for North Korea halting its weapons programs. Neither side appears willing to budge so far however. Putin said Pyongyang would not end its nuclear and missile programs because it viewed them as its only means of self-defense. It s impossible to scare them, said Putin. Pyongyang was being offered the prospect of no new sanctions if it froze its weapons programs, but Putin said North Korea believed the wider risks to its own security outweighed the potential economic benefits of such a concession. We are telling them that we will not impose sanctions, which means you will live better, you will have more good and tasty food on the table, you will dress better, said Putin. But the next step, they think, is an invitation to the cemetery. And they will never agree with this.
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September 7, 2017
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Gruesome Uganda murders put police role in the public dock
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KAMPALA (Reuters) - A spate of unsolved murders of young women in Uganda is putting rare public pressure on a police force long accused by opposition politicians of spending more time suppressing political dissent than tackling crime. Widespread media coverage of the appearance of 20 corpses beside roadsides south of the capital since May reflects public anger with police for repeatedly saying they have arrested the perpetrators, only for another body to be discovered. It s terrifying, Susan Kabul, 29, told Reuters, standing near the garbage-littered bank of a drainage channel where the latest murder victim was discovered. The police need to tell us who is slaughtering people like this. The government has defended the police, and police say they have arrested 30 suspects and charged 13 of them, listing possible motives ranging from domestic rows through sexual abuse to ritual murder linked to human sacrifice. Ritual killing is one of the motives that we suspect, we also think there might be cases of jilted lovers, police spokesman Asan Kasingye said by telephone. Other theories might come up as investigations progress. There have been occasional individual cases of alleged ritual murder in the east African nation, but this is the first time there has been such a large number of people killed in similar circumstances in the same area. In a nod to the public outrage, lawmakers stopped work for two days this week after the 20th body was found, saying ministers had failed to appear before the legislature over the killings in three districts on the outer edge of Kampala. Government spokesman Ofwono Opondo accused them of populism. They spoke as if the government is doing nothing, he said. They should leave police to work without pressure. The legislature is dominated by supporters of longstanding President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986. The constitution was changed in 2005 to remove a two-term limit, allowing him to extend his rule, and parliament is discussing removing an age cap. His son is a major general and powerful presidential adviser. Opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who contends that Museveni stole his victory in last year s election, has been charged with treason. Police often break up opposition rallies with teargas, beatings or detentions. The opposition and rights activists have long accused security forces of neglecting crime to focus on political control. Police can t secure women in a small area - all the attention is on politics, on who is criticizing Museveni, said Sarah Birete of the Centre for Constitutional Governance. Government spokesman Opondo said police were doing a good job. Some people start disguised as political activists and degenerate to criminals, I think they are unhappy that the police is on their back, he said. The police is right to focus on all forms of crime that can cause insecurity. Uganda is ranked among the world s most corrupt countries by watchdog Transparency International. The Ugandan government s inspector general said in a 2014 report that the police force was the most corrupt public institution in the country and noted crimes were rarely investigated. In Wakiso, the district south of Kampala where most of the victims have been found, few residents have faith that the killings will stop. I have stopped moving about at night. He could be a serial killer. I don t know where he will strike next, said Deo Busulwa, who lives a stone s throw from the canalside bank location of the latest grisly discovery, of mother-of-two Maria Nabilawa. Many residents suspect the victims are killed elsewhere and the bodies dumped. Kasingye said they had arrested Nabilawa s husband in connection with her killing. (Story refiles to add dropped word in fifth paragraph.)
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September 7, 2017
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Ukraine president hopes to secure defensive weapons from Western allies
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KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday said he hoped to complete talks with Western allies on the supply of defensive weapons, as he warned that upcoming Russia-Belarus military exercises could be cover for an invasion of Ukraine. The creation of new strike groups of Russian troops for an invasion of Ukrainian territory can t be ruled out, he said in a speech to parliament. I hope that we will successfully complete negotiations with our Western partners on supplies of defensive weapons, he said.
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September 7, 2017
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Hurricane Irma kills at least eight in Saint Martin: Minister
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PARIS (Reuters) - At least eight people were killed on the Franco-Dutch Caribbean island of Saint Martin by hurricane Irma, French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said on Thursday. Collomb said the toll was likely to rise in the coming hours.
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September 7, 2017
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Hurricane Irma wreaks 'total carnage' on Barbuda: prime minister
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LONDON (Reuters) - The Caribbean island of Barbuda is a scene of total carnage after the passage of Hurricane Irma and the tiny two-island nation will be seeking assistance from the international community to rebuild, its prime minister said on Thursday. Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, told the BBC that about half of Barbuda s population of some 1,800 were homeless while nine out of 10 buildings had suffered some level of devastation, many of them total destruction. We flew into Barbuda only to see total carnage. It was easily one of the most emotionally painful experiences that I have had, Browne said in an interview on BBC Radio Four. Approximately 50 percent of them (residents of Barbuda) are literally homeless at this time. They are bunking together, we are trying to get ... relief supplies to them first thing tomorrow morning, he said, adding that it would take months or years to restore some level of normalcy to the island.
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September 7, 2017
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Australia's High Court rejects challenge to vote on same-sex marriage
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Melbourne (Reuters) - Australia s High Court rejected two legal challenges on Thursday against a proposed postal ballot on whether to legalize same-sex marriage, clearing the way for a vote on an issue that has wide support but which has also threatened to divide the government. Australians will now begin voting in the non-compulsory ballot as early as next week, with a result expected some time in November. The court s decision to reject the legal challenges, both of which argued that the center-right government needed the support of parliament to hold the ballot, comes as a welcome relief for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Turnbull supports same-sex marriage, as do two-thirds of Australians, but his government holds a razor-thin majority and more conservative elements in his Liberal-National coalition have used the issue to threaten his leadership. Some conservative lawmakers threatened to resign if the court ruled against the proposal, while more liberal members said they would side with the Labor opposition to secure same-sex marriage before Turnbull offered the postal vote as an alternative. A rejection would have led to increased pressure on Turnbull to hold a vote in parliament, which has already twice rejected a national ballot. Every Australian can have a say and we can, as a Commonwealth of Australia, embrace this important social change, Turnbull told parliament in Canberra after the court s decision was announced. Turnbull has said Australia s Marriage Act would be changed by the end of the year if the public backed same-sex marriage in the postal ballot. Although the court s verdict provides a viable pathway to same-sex marriage, advocates fear an escalation in an already vitriolic campaign. Turnbull called for mutual respect last month as the issue gathered heat. Opponents of same-sex marriage launched a contentious No campaign advertisement last week that the government immediately rejected as inaccurate. Activists fear a surge in malicious campaigning for the ballot, which is not a formal election and is therefore not subject to the usual rules on political advertisements. Many supporters of same-sex marriage in Australia had backed the legal challenges, insisting that the campaign would hurt people who were already vulnerable, but said they would now support the ballot. We now get out there and campaign long and hard for a Yes vote, Alex Greenwich, co-chair of Australian Marriage Equality, told reporters in Melbourne. When we win this, we can all come together, having finally achieved marriage equality.
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September 7, 2017
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EU should impose more sanctions on North Korea-foreign policy chief
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TALLINN (Reuters) - The European Union should add more sanctions on North Korea as part of international pressure following Pyongyang s largest nuclear test to date, the bloc s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Thursday. While sanctions have so far done little to stop North Korea boosting its nuclear and missile capacity, Federica Mogherini said more such steps were required along with piling on political pressure. I would propose to ministers today to strengthen the economic pressure on North Korea, supporting a new U.N. Security Council resolution adopting tougher economic measures, starting new autonomous EU sanctions... and working with other partners in the world to make sure that everybody implements fully and strictly the already-decided economic measures, Mogherini told reporters before meeting the EU defense and foreign ministers in the Estonian capital. The United States and China are discussing options to rein in Pyongyang and South Korea has deployed a defense system aimed at countering North Korean missile attacks. No formal EU decision is expected from the bloc on Thursday and its leverage on Pyongyang, as well as Russia and China North Korea s main ally is limited. It has to be pursued because the alternative in our view is and could be extremely dangerous, especially if in front of you have an interlocutor that might act quite irrationally.
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September 7, 2017
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Factbox: New Zealand 2017 election - main parties and policies
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(Reuters) - New Zealand s two main parties are neck and neck in opinion polls after the appointment of a charismatic leader boosted the opposition Labour Party, threatening the governing National Party s decade-long hold on power. The election is on Sept 23. Below are the main parties positions on key issues: ECONOMYNew Zealand s once booming economy is facing some capacity constraints. Unemployment is at an eight-year low and a labor shortage, most noticeably in construction, threatens to curb growth. Both main parties plan to be fiscally prudent and maintain a budget surplus, but would differ on monetary policy. National plans to cut net debt to 10-15 percent of GDP by 2025, while Labour and the Green Party both plan to cut it to 20 percent of GDP within five years of taking office. Labour proposes adding full employment to the existing inflation mandate of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, which economists say could lead to easier monetary policy and fuel longer-term inflation. To form a government, National may be more dependent on New Zealand First, which favors greater currency intervention - something New Zealand has been reluctant to do in the past. National is planning to adjust tax thresholds, or effectively deliver tax cuts, from April 2018 to boost family income. Labour wants to do away with National s planned tax cuts and boost tax credits and subsidies. New Zealand s house prices have risen more than 50 percent in the past decade as the construction industry failed to keep up with demand from a growing population, fueled by record migration and an increasing number of New Zealanders staying home. Labour criticizes National for leaving the housing crisis unresolved after nine years in government. It wants to ban overseas buyers from purchasing existing homes and build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 years. It also plans to create a housing authority to speed up residential development. National questions Labour s ability to build so many houses while curbing immigration. It plans to make NZ$1 billion available to speed up the development of 60,000 houses. New Zealand First wants to ban foreign non-residents from owning a home in New Zealand, except in particular cases, and to provide government assistance for first-home buyers. The Green Party wants to provide 10,000 new houses over 10 years for low-income groups through a rent-to-buy scheme. The National Party tightened eligibility criteria this year for immigration and believes current levels of immigration are about right to meet the economy s needs. Labour plans to reduce net immigration by up to 30,000 from record levels of over 70,000 annually and to charge every visitor a NZ$25 fee, which would be ring-fenced for a NZ$75 million infrastructure fund. The Greens want to review immigration policy to make sure migrants match the skills employers need, in line with Labour s policy. New Zealand First wants to curb immigration by ensuring New Zealand workers have the first chance at jobs and by capping the number of older migrants. National wants to expand New Zealand s international trade. Among other plans, it wants to complete the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, launch a free trade deal with the European Union and Britain post-Brexit and upgrade its free trade agreement with China. Labour wants to reconsider New Zealand s role in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact if provisions on foreign investment are not changed to allow the New Zealand government to restrict investment into the country. New Zealand First wants to renegotiate the TPP.
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September 7, 2017
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Hurricane Irma kills at least six on French island of Saint-Martin
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PARIS (Reuters) - Hurricane Irma, described as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century, has killed at least six people in the French Caribbean island territory of Saint Martin, a local government official said. This is not, by far, a definitive number... we have not explored all the parts of the island, Guadeloupe prefect Eric Maire told reporters, adding the death toll was likely to rise in the next few hours. Hurricane Irma had previously been described as a potentially catastrophic storm placed in Category 5, the highest U.S. classification for hurricanes.
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September 7, 2017
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South Korea's Moon says there will be no war on Korean peninsula
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VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday there will not be war on the Korea peninsula, even though tensions have risen considerably since North Korea s latest nuclear test less than a week ago.
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September 7, 2017
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Russia's Putin says we will be able to solve the North Korea crisis by diplomatic means
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VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the crisis around North Korea could be resolved by diplomatic means.
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September 7, 2017
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Philippine president's son denies links to $125-million drug shipment
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MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte s son on Thursday told a Senate inquiry he had no links to a seized shipment of $125 million worth of narcotics from China, dismissing as baseless the allegations of his involvement in the drugs trade. Opponents of the president, who has instigated a fierce crackdown on a trade he says is destroying the country, say they believe his son Paolo may have helped ease the entry of the drug shipment at the port in Manila, the capital. On Tuesday Duterte said he had told Paolo to attend the senate investigation if he had nothing to hide, besides advising him not to answer questions and invoke his right to keep silent. I cannot answer allegations based on hearsay, Paolo Duterte, the vice mayor of the southern city of Davao, told the Senate. My presence here is for the Filipino people and for my fellow Davaoe os whom I serve, he added, referring to the people of Davao, where his father served as mayor for more than two decades before being elected president in 2016. The Philippine leader has repeatedly said he would resign if critics could prove any members of his family were involved in corruption. Senator Antonio Trillanes, a staunch critic of the president, displayed to the Senate panel photographs of Paolo Duterte beside a businessman who was behind the shipment in which the alleged drugs were found. The president s son-in-law, Manases Carpio, who has also been accused of links to the May drug shipment from China, told the hearing he had no involvement. Duterte unleashed his bloody campaign the day he took office on June 30 last year, after promising Filipinos he would use deadly force to wipe out crime and drugs. Police records show more than 3,800 people have died in police operations since July last year, and more than 2,100 other reported murders are linked to drugs. Police reject activists allegations that they are executing suspected drug users and dealers and say officers shoot only in self-defense. Trillanes said he had intelligence information from an undisclosed foreign country that Paolo Duterte was a member of a criminal syndicate, citing as proof a dragon-like tattoo with secret digits on his back. Asked about the tattoo, Duterte said he had one, but declined to describe it, invoking his right to privacy. Asked by Trillanes if he would allow a photograph to be taken of the tattoo and sent to the U.S Drug Enforcement Agency to decode secret digits, Duterte said: No way . He refused to respond to questions about his bank accounts, calling them irrelevant . Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the attendance of Duterte and Carpio demonstrates that both gentlemen are willing and ready to face malicious allegations intended to impugn their character and credibility. ($1=51.0290 Philippine pesos)
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September 7, 2017
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NATO head says all states must comply with North Korea sanctions
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TALLINN (Reuters) - NATO head Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday all countries must comply with sanctions on North Korea as the international community ratchets up pressure on the reclusive regime following its largest nuclear test to date. Asked if he was worried that Russia was resisting stepping up U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea, Stoltenberg told reporters before meeting the European Union s defense ministers: There are already sanctions agreed in the UN and it is extremely important that those sanctions are fully implemented.
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September 7, 2017
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South Korea says U.N. sanctions should inflict pain on North
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SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea said on Thursday practical and forceful measures than can inflict pain on North Korea should be included in U.N. sanctions, a new batch of which have yet to be announced. Foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck told reporters the measures should be taken in addition to surely severing funds that can be used for the North s programs to develop weapons of mass destruction. The United States wants the U.N. Security Council to impose an oil embargo on North Korea, ban its exports of textiles and the hiring of North Korean laborers abroad, and subject leader Kim Jong Un to an asset freeze and travel ban, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
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September 7, 2017
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Fire at building in India's Mumbai kills at least six
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MUMBAI (Reuters) - A blaze in a building under construction in a suburb of the Indian city of Mumbai killed at least six people, most of them laborers, and injured nearly a dozen, fire and police officials said on Thursday. The cause of the fire, which broke out late on Wednesday, was being investigated, a fire service officer said. It is likely to compound concern about safety in the financial hub after an old building collapsed last week killing 34 people. Laborers working on the building were living on the ground floor, some with families, and cooking gas canisters were believed to have exploded in the fire, fuelling its spread. Though the fire was brought under control immediately, all injuries and deaths occurred before the arrival of the fire brigade, said P.S. Rahangdale, chief officer at the Mumbai Fire Brigade. Eleven people were injured, eight of them critically, he said. Mumbai has endured torrential monsoon rain and serious flooding over recent weeks. The building collapsed last week in a congested neighborhood of the old city after two days of intense downpours.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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South Korea's Moon asks Russia to continue supporting sanctions on North Korea
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VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday said he wanted Russia to continue supporting sanctions against North Korea after Pyongyang conducted its largest nuclear test at the weekend. I hope that Russia will continue its support on this question, Moon said alongside Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at an economic forum in the far eastern Russian city of Vladivostok.
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September 7, 2017
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U.S. airlines brace themselves, passengers for Hurricane Irma
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(Reuters) - As Hurricane Irma bore down on the southern United States on Wednesday, airlines adjusted flight schedules, made cancellations and assured passengers they would not have to pay unusually high fares ahead of the storm s arrival. Irma, the second powerful hurricane to approach the United States in as many weeks, was expected to make landfall in Florida by the weekend. It had already pummeled islands in the Caribbean with rain, pounding winds and surging surf by Wednesday. While the storm s precise trajectory remained uncertain, airlines preemptively canceled flights in the likely affected regions and put in place travel waivers for customers to reschedule plans. American Airlines, the largest U.S. carrier by passenger traffic, said on Wednesday it would begin winding down operations in south Florida, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, on Friday. Miami-bound flights arriving on Friday from Europe and South America were canceled. American, Delta Air Lines and JetBlue all announced fare caps on flights out of Florida - $99 on JetBlue and American and $399 on Delta - for residents trying to get out of the storm s path. We want those trying to leave ahead of the hurricane to focus on their safe evacuation rather than worry about the cost of flights, JetBlue spokesman Doug McGraw said. Airlines have been criticized in the past for raising prices in the wake of deadly episodes and, as Irma approached, some social media users accused carriers of engaging in price-gouging schemes ahead of the dangerous storm. In response, Senators Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey called on the U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday to launch an investigation into potential opportunistic fare hikes by airlines. It would certainly be offensive if airlines who rely on publicly supported infrastructure and have been bolstered by American taxpayers for nearly a century used this opportunity to impose unconscionable costs on consumers, they wrote in a letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. Accusations of unfair pricing techniques have been investigated in the past, including after a deadly Amtrak derailment in 2015, but U.S. officials said last year they found no evidence of wrongdoing in that instance. United Airlines, which took a substantial financial hit when Hurricane Harvey slammed into Texas last week, said it had suspended operations out of San Juan, Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory that was being raked by the very powerful Category 5 hurricane on Wednesday afternoon, and had extended a travel waiver to include cities in south Florida. In some cases, carriers added flights and upsized aircraft out of Florida and the Caribbean before the storm struck to accommodate as many passengers evacuating the area as possible. Fort Lauderdale-based Spirit Airlines said it expected its largest operational hub to be affected and planned to move its operations center to Detroit on Thursday evening. Beyond U.S. airlines, Canadian carriers Air Transat and WestJet Airlines both launched evacuation operations on Wednesday to remove passengers that could be affected by Hurricane Irma in the Dominican Republic, and Air Canada allowed passengers to change flights in impacted areas free-of-charge. WestJet, Canada s second-largest carrier, operated rescue flights to Punta Cana and Puerto Plata on Wednesday and could make additional trips to Santa Clara and Cayo Coco, Cuba, on Thursday, airline spokeswoman Lauren Stewart said. Carnival Cruise Lines, which has major operations in Florida, canceled two of its Bahamas-bound cruises and said it was likely that other schedules would be affected as the storm s path and impact became more clear.
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September 6, 2017
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Factbox: Caribbean and Gulf oil companies begin to brace for Hurricane Irma
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(Reuters) - Gulf Coast and Caribbean energy infrastructure began to brace for Hurricane Irma, even as recovery operations from Hurricane Harvey are under way. On Wednesday, BP Plc said it would evacuate non-essential personnel from its Thunder Horse platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Shell said it was monitoring its Gulf assets. Buckeye Partners has shut its Yabucoa oil terminal in Puerto Rico and is preparing for the storm at two other marine terminals in Florida and the Bahamas, the company said on Wednesday. Irma ranks as one of the five most powerful Atlantic hurricanes in the last 80 years and the strongest Atlantic storm recorded by the U.S. National Hurricane Center outside the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
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September 7, 2017
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Trump says U.S. not 'putting up with' North Korea's actions
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WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that the United States would no longer tolerate North Korea s actions but said the use of military force against Pyongyang will not be his first choice. His comment appeared to be in line with classified briefings to Congress in which Trump s top national security aides - Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence - stressed the search for a diplomatic solution to the crisis, lawmakers said. A senior administration official, meanwhile, said that the White House has set aside for now consideration of exiting a free trade pact with South Korea, a move being contemplated by Trump that could have complicated relations with Seoul. In a flurry of phone calls with world leaders days after North Korea s sixth and most powerful nuclear test, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping committed to take further action with the goal of achieving the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, the White House said. President Xi would like to do something. We ll see whether or not he can do it. But we will not be putting up with what s happening in North Korea, Trump told reporters, though he offered no specifics. I believe that President Xi agrees with me 100 percent, he added. Asked whether he was considering a military response to North Korea, Trump said: Certainly, that s not our first choice, but we will see what happens. Xi, who has been under pressure from Trump to do more to help curb North Korea s nuclear and missile programs, told the U.S. president during their 45-minute call that the North Korean issue must be resolved through dialogue and consultation. The focus on negotiations by China, North Korea s main trading partner, contrasted with Trump s assertions over the last few days that now was not the time for talks with North Korea while pressing instead for increased international pressure on Pyongyang. The United States and South Korea have asked the United Nations to consider tough new sanctions on North Korea after its nuclear test on Sunday that Pyongyang said was an advanced hydrogen bomb. Late on Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin indicated that if the U.N. Security Council fails to approve sufficiently strong measures, Trump could authorize him to impose sanctions on any country or entity that trades with North Korea. We believe that we need to economically cut off North Korea, Mnuchin told reporters aboard Air Force One as it flew back from North Dakota, where Trump gave a speech on tax reform. I have an executive order prepared. It s ready to go to the president. It will authorize me to . . . put sanctions on anybody that does trade with North Korea. Mnuchin said that Trump would consider the order at the appropriate time once he gives the U.N. time to act. He provided no further details, including whether Trump would consider slapping sanctions on China, North Korea s largest trade partner. Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted on Wednesday that resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis was impossible with sanctions and pressure alone. Putin met South Korea s Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of an economic summit in the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok amid mounting international concern that their neighbor plans more weapons tests, including possibly a long-range missile launch before a weekend anniversary. Putin echoed other world leaders in denouncing North Korea s latest nuclear bomb test on Sunday, saying Russia did not recognize its nuclear status. Pyongyang s missile and nuclear program is a crude violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, undermines the non-proliferation regime and creates a threat to the security of northeastern Asia, Putin said at a news conference. At the same time, it is clear that it is impossible to resolve the problem of the Korean peninsula only by sanctions and pressure, he said. No headway could be made without political and diplomatic tools, Putin said. Moon, who took office this year advocating a policy of pursuing engagement with North Korea, has come under increasing pressure to take a harder line. He has asked the United Nations to consider tough new sanctions after North Korea s latest nuclear test. The United States wants the Security Council to impose an oil embargo on North Korea, ban the country s exports of textiles and the hiring of North Korean laborers abroad and subject leader Kim Jong Un to an asset freeze and travel ban, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters on Wednesday. Diplomats say the U.N. Security Council could also consider barring the country s airline. I ask Russia to actively cooperate as this time it is inevitable that North Korea s oil supply should be cut at the least, Moon told Putin, according to a readout from a South Korean official. Putin said North Korea would not give up its nuclear program no matter how tough the sanctions. We too, are against North Korea developing its nuclear capabilities and condemn it, but it is worrying cutting the oil pipeline will harm the regular people, like in hospitals, Putin said, according to the South Korean presidential official. Russia s exports of crude oil to North Korea were tiny at about 40,000 tonnes a year, Putin said. By comparison, China provides it with about 520,000 tonnes of crude a year, according to industry sources. Last year, China shipped just over 96,000 tonnes of gasoline and almost 45,000 tonnes of diesel to North Korea, where it is used across the economy, from fishermen and farmers to truckers and the military. Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May agreed in a telephone call on Tuesday that China must do more to persuade North Korea to cease its missile tests, a spokesman for May said. Sanctions have done little to stop North Korea boosting its nuclear and missile capacity as it faces off with Trump, who has vowed to stop it from being able to hit the U.S. mainland with a nuclear weapon. China and Russia have advocated a freeze for freeze plan, where the United States and South Korea stop major military exercises in exchange for North Korea halting its weapons programs, but neither side is willing to budge. North Korea says it needs to develop its weapons to defend itself against what it sees as U.S. aggression. South Korea and the United States are technically still at war with North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce, not a peace treaty. China objects to both the military drills and the deployment in South Korea of an advanced U.S. missile defense system that has a radar that can see deep into Chinese territory. South Korea s Defence Ministry said the four remaining batteries of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system would be deployed on a golf course in the south of the country on Thursday. Two THAAD batteries have already been installed. For a graphic on nuclear North Korea, click: here
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September 2, 2017
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China says it will handle North Korea trade issues for benefit to peace, stability
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BEIJING (Reuters) - China s Commerce Ministry said on Thursday it will continue to handle North Korean trade issues in a way that benefits peace, stability and denuclearization on the Korean peninsula. Ministry spokesman Gao Feng made the comment at a routine media briefing.
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September 7, 2017
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U.N. mulls U.S. push for North Korea oil embargo, textile export ban
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UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States wants the United Nations Security Council to impose an oil embargo on North Korea, ban the country s exports of textiles and the hiring of North Korean laborers abroad, and subject leader Kim Jong Un to an asset freeze and travel ban, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has said she wants the 15-member council to vote on Monday on the draft resolution to impose new sanctions over North Korea s sixth and largest nuclear test. However, Russia s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia has said a Monday vote may be a little premature. It was not immediately clear if the draft resolution had the support of North Korean ally China. Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted on Wednesday that resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis was impossible with sanctions and pressure alone. A U.N. resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, Britain, France, Russia or China to pass. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Wednesday that if the Security Council did not act, he had an executive order prepared to send to President Donald Trump that would authorize me to stop doing trade and put sanctions on anybody that does trade with North Korea. The president will consider that at the appropriate time once he gives the U.N. time to act, Mnuchin told reporters. Since 2006, the Security Council has unanimously adopted eight resolutions ratcheting up sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. Haley said the incremental approach had not worked and a diplomatic solution could only be reached by imposing the strongest sanctions. The new draft U.N. resolution would ban exports to North Korea of crude oil, condensate, refined petroleum products and natural gas liquids. China supplies most of North Korea s crude. According to South Korean data, Beijing supplies roughly 500,000 tonnes of crude oil annually. It also exports 200,000 tonnes of oil products, according to U.N. data. Russia s exports of crude oil to North Korea are about 40,000 tonnes a year. The Security Council last month imposed new sanctions over North Korea s two long-range missile launches in July. The Aug. 5 resolution aimed to slash by a third Pyongyang s $3 billion annual export revenue by banning coal, iron, lead and seafood. The new draft resolution would remove an exception for transshipments of Russian coal via the North Korean port of Rajin. In 2013 Russia reopened a railway link with North Korea, from the Russian eastern border town of Khasan to Rajin, to export coal and import goods from South Korea and elsewhere. The Aug. 5 resolution capped the number of North Koreans working abroad at the current level. The new draft resolution would impose a complete ban on the hiring and payment of North Korean laborers abroad. Some diplomats estimate that between 60,000 and 100,000 North Koreans work abroad. A U.N. human rights investigator said in 2015 that North Korea was forcing more than 50,000 people to work abroad, mainly in Russia and China, earning between $1.2 billion and $2.3 billion a year. The wages of workers sent abroad provide foreign currency for the Pyongyang government. The draft resolution would ban textiles, which were North Korea s second-biggest export after coal and other minerals in 2016, totaling $752 million, according to data from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). Nearly 80 percent of the textile exports went to China. The assets of military-controlled airline Air Koryo would be frozen if the draft resolution is adopted. It flies to Beijing and a few other cities in China, including Dandong, the main transit point for trade between the two countries. It also flies to Vladivostok in Russia. Along with blacklisting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the draft resolution would impose a travel ban and asset freeze on four other senior North Korean officials. The Worker s Party of Korea and the government of North Korea would also be subjected to an asset freeze. The draft resolution would allow states to intercept and inspect on the high seas vessels that have been blacklisted by the Security Council. Currently nearly two dozen vessels are listed and the new draft text would add another nine ships. The draft resolution does not contain any new language on the political track. It again reaffirms council support and calls for a resumption of talks between North Korea, the United States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia. China and Russia have been pushing their proposal to kick-start talks with a joint suspension of North Korea s ballistic missile and nuclear programs and the military exercises by the United States and South Korea. Haley has dismissed the suggestion as insulting.
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September 6, 2017
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Myanmar plays diplomatic card to avert U.N. censure over Rohingya
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YANGON/SHAMLAPUR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Myanmar said on Wednesday it was negotiating with China and Russia to ensure they block any U.N. Security Council censure over the violence that has forced an exodus of nearly 150,000 Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh in less than two weeks. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi blamed terrorists for a huge iceberg of misinformation on the strife in the northwestern state of Rakhine but, in a statement, she made no mention of the Rohingya who have fled. Suu Kyi has come under increasing pressure from countries with Muslim populations, including Indonesia, where thousands led by Islamist groups rallied in Jakarta on Wednesday to demand that diplomatic ties with Buddhist-majority Myanmar be cut. In a rare letter to the U.N. Security Council, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern the violence could spiral into a humanitarian catastrophe . He warned on Tuesday that there was a risk of ethnic cleansing in Myanmar that could destabilize the region. Myanmar National Security Adviser Thaung Tun said Myanmar was counting on China and Russia, both permanent members of the Security Council, to block a U.N. resolution on the crisis. We are negotiating with some friendly countries not to take it to the Security Council, he told a news conference. China is our friend and we have a similar friendly relationship with Russia, so it will not be possible for that issue to go forward. Russia s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said he believed the 15-member Security Council had sent a signal, by meeting behind closed doors on the issue a week ago, that it would like to see the situation calm down. We called for restraint, he told reporters on Tuesday. The Security Council for the time being did what it could do. The U.S. State Department said Washington was deeply concerned by sustained reports of significant violence and the impact on civilian populations, including the Rohingya community. These reports include allegations of violence conducted by security forces and civilians, as well as additional attacks by ARSA, a spokesman said, referring to Arakan Rohingya Solidarity Organization insurgents. The spokesman said the United States had discussed the issue with Myanmar at the highest levels and was also in touch with its neighbors and other international partners. We welcome indications that the government is committed to providing access to humanitarian aid via the Red Cross, and we look forward to learning further details. he added. Reuters reporters in Bangladesh s Cox s Bazar region have witnessed boatloads of exhausted Rohingya arriving near the border village of Shamlapur. According to the latest estimates from U.N. workers operating there, arrivals in 12 days stood at 146,000. This brought to 233,000 the total number of Rohingya who have sought refuge in Bangladesh since last October. New arrivals told authorities that three boats carrying a total of more than 100 people capsized in early on Wednesday. Coastguard Commander M.S. Kabir said six bodies, including three children, had washed ashore. The surge of refugees, many sick or wounded, has strained the resources of aid agencies and communities helping hundreds of thousands from previous violence in Myanmar. Many have no shelter, and aid agencies are racing to provide water, sanitation and food. People have come with virtually nothing so there has to be food, a U.N. source working there said. So this is now a huge concern where is this food coming from for at least the elderly, the children, the women who have come over without their husbands? Suu Kyi spoke by telephone on Tuesday with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who has pressed world leaders to do more to help a population of roughly 1.1 million he says are facing genocide. In a statement issued by her office on Facebook, Suu Kyi said the government had already started defending all the people in Rakhine in the best way possible and warned against misinformation that could mar relations with other countries. She referred to images on Twitter of killings posted by Turkey s deputy prime minister that he later deleted because they were not from Myanmar. She said that kind of fake information which was inflicted on the deputy prime minister was simply the tip of a huge iceberg of misinformation calculated to create a lot of problems between different countries and with the aim of promoting the interests of the terrorists, her office said in the statement. Suu Kyi on Wednesday met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who said he shared Myanmar s concern about extremist violence in Rakhine state. Modi s government has taken a strong stance on an influx into India of some 40,000 Rohingya from Myanmar over the years, vowing last month to deport them all. The latest violence began when Rohingya insurgents attacked dozens of police posts and an army base. The ensuing clashes and a military counter-offensive killed at least 400 people and triggered the exodus of villagers to Bangladesh. Suu Kyi has been accused by Western critics of not speaking out for the minority that has long complained of persecution, and some have called for the Nobel Peace Prize she won in 1991 as a champion of democracy to be revoked. Myanmar says its security forces are fighting a legitimate campaign against terrorists it blames for a string of attacks on police posts and for burning homes and civilian deaths. It says 26,747 non-Muslims have been displaced. Fleeing Rohingya and rights monitors say the Myanmar army is conducting a campaign of arson and killings to force them from their homes. Two Bangladesh government sources said Myanmar had been laying landmines across a section of its border for the past three days, possibly to prevent the return of fleeing Rohingya. Bangladesh will formally lodge a protest on Wednesday against the laying of land mines so close to the border, said the sources who had direct knowledge of the situation but asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. A Myanmar military source said landmines were laid along the border in the 1990s to prevent trespassing and the military had since tried to remove them, but none had been planted recently.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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By land, river and sea, Rohingya make their escape from Myanmar
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COX S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - When his family of six crossed the monsoon-soaked Mayu mountains last week, Mohammed Ishmail tied his four-year-old daughter to his back with a longyi, or Myanmar sarong. His wife carried their two-year-old the same way. Some parts were so steep we had to pull ourselves up by tree roots, said Ishmail, a Rohingya Muslim, in an interview near the Kutapalong settlement for refugees in Bangladesh, shortly after arriving on Tuesday. At night, we just cut a clearing in the bush and slept there. We had two umbrellas for shelter. The trek through the dense bush of the mountains took two days, but the journey from his home in Khin Tha Ma village which he says was on fire the last time he saw it - took 10. He says it felt like a month. The number of refugees who have arrived in Bangladesh from Myanmar s Rakhine state since militant attacks there on Aug. 25 stands at nearly 150,000. They have come by land, river and sea. Many have died along the way. Others have found themselves detained by human traffickers, demanding payment for their rescue. Their destination is the Cox s Bazar region of impoverished Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya already live in makeshift camps, reliant on overstretched aid agencies. Once through the mountains, Ishmail s family came across villages in the northern part of the Maungdaw district the epicenter of violence in the state since October - that had been abandoned. By his count, only about one in 20 houses had survived fires that have swept the area. Some people are still hiding in the forest on the Maungdaw side but in some villages there s no one, he said. There was no one to ask directions. But then there was. As they reached a canal and were trying to find a way to cross it, he said, two young Myanmar soldiers spotted them and aimed their guns, he said. I put my hands up and shouted, We re going to Bangladesh , he said. There was a tense silence before the soldiers lowered their weapons. After that they showed us the best way to cross the canal, he added. In one village, to escape the rain, Mohammed Ishmail entered a house still standing to find the bodies of five boys, who appeared to be teenagers, their necks hacked and heads nearly severed. The death toll in the conflict is more than 400 and rising. Myanmar says most of those killed have been insurgents, but accounts from new arrivals in Bangladesh suggest reprisals by Myanmar security forces and Buddhists against Rohingya civilians the government says are in cahoots with extremist Bengali terrorists . Myanmar rejects accusations that its security forces are targeting civilians saying they are fighting terrorists . Dozens of bodies, including those of women and children, have washed up on the Bangladesh side of a border river, many with bullet or knife wounds, according to Bangladesh border guards. Fishermen report seeing bodies floating in the river. Reuters was shown one cadaver what looked to be a teenage boy lying face up on the muddy river bank, a gaping wound on his face washed clean by the river. In Maungdaw, thousands of people are on the move. A Rohingya aid worker, who was in touch with Reuters during his flight, recorded video of the journey on his mobile phone. It s like something I ve never seen before, not even in any film, the refugee said after his arrival in Cox s Bazar. The footage appears to show hundreds of people lining up to cross a river in Laung Don village. Some swim across, as two small ferries run back and forth. At one river crossing, the aid worker said, fighters from the Arakan Rohingya Solidarity Organization (ARSA) prevented ferries from crossing for half a day, telling civilians to return to their homes. Campaign group Fortify Rights has documented how ARSA has prevented men and boys from leaving the area. The refugee, who asked not to be identified so he could freely discuss his journey, said the fighters backed down when villagers pleaded with them. In southern Maungdaw, the military s campaign has driven tens of thousands of people to the coast. Bangladeshi boatmen, in their hundreds, are going to pick them up. Mostly by night, the wooden crescent-shaped boats that normally ply the fishing grounds of the Bay of Bengal, make the journey across the 5.7-km (3.6 mile) mouth of the Naf river that separates Myanmar and Bangladesh. The 5-metre boats are loaded with as many as 50 people and their belongings. Soon after the conflict blew up, boats began landing at Shah Porir Dwip, a remote island off the southernmost tip of Bangladesh. But after three boats capsized in two days last week, killing 24 women and children, authorities launched a crackdown on boatmen and brokers they call human traffickers. They bring these stranded people here. If they are not able to pay, the money, they imprison them, Pronay Chakma, assistant commissioner for land in Teknaf sub-district. More than 50 people have been sentenced to short jail terms as a warning to others not to take advantage of the crisis. It s mercenary interest, nothing else, he said. They tried to profit from stranded women and children.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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Abe, Moon to seek Chinese, Russian support for North Korea sanctions: Kyodo
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(Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in will ask China and Russia for their support for new sanctions against North Korea, Kyodo News said on Thursday, citing a Japanese official. Abe and Moon, in talks on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, agreed to step up pressure on North Korea, Kyodo said, as the reclusive state pushes ahead with its nuclear and missile programs.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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Merkel tells voters: 'don't experiment' with the left
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BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel warned German voters on Wednesday not to risk allowing an untested left-wing alliance to take power after this month s national election, urging them to stick with her in turbulent times . Less than three weeks before the Sept. 24 vote, politicians and media in Germany are turning their attention to the possible coalitions that could form after the election, from which no single party is expected to emerge with a clear majority. Merkel, 63, leads a grand coalition of her conservatives and the left-leaning Social Democrats (SPD) - a tie-up neither wants to repeat after the vote. Seeking a fourth term, Merkel is stressing her credentials as a global stateswoman. Our country can t afford experiments - especially in these turbulent times, she told a rally in Torgau, some 70 miles (120 km) south of Berlin in the state of Saxony. Merkel spoke above a cacophony of jeers and whistles from some protesters - a feature at many of her rallies as resentment persists at her decision in 2015 to open Germany s borders to hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing war in Syria and Iraq. That decision helped the rise of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which punished her conservatives in regional votes last year. She has since bounced back, but the national election is likely to return a more fractured parliament due to the rise of the AfD - set to enter the Bundestag for the first time - and the expected return of the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP). This could make coalitions harder to form. Merkel wants to avoid being outflanked by a coalition of the SPD, the far-left Linke and the environmentalist Greens, who have held exploratory talks about the possibility of joining forces in a so-called Red-Red-Green , or R2G , coalition. I say Red-Red-Green would be bad for our country, she told the rally. In the future too, we will need stability and security. In a televised debate with SPD leader Martin Schulz on Sunday, Merkel challenged him to rule out a coalition with the Linke party, which he refused to do. A Red-Red-Green combination is untested at federal level, though the three parties have teamed up to take control of Berlin s city government. An opinion poll released on Wednesday put support for Merkel s conservatives at 38.5 percent, ahead of the SPD on 24 percent. The Greens were on 7.5 percent, the Free Democrats on 10 percent and the Linke and the AfD each on 8 percent. Resentment at Merkel s open-door policy runs particularly high in eastern Germany, but she has also been booed at rallies in the west - such as in Ludwigshafen, 45 miles (70 km) south of Frankfurt, last week. We are Germans. She needs to be taking care of us, Vincent Raap, an 18-year-old starting an apprenticeship as a machine operator, said at the Ludwigshafen rally. Three times, an apprenticeship for which I had applied was given to foreigners instead, he said, holding a sign saying Merkel must go .
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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China's military practices for 'surprise attack' over sea near Korea
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BEIJING (Reuters) - China s air force has carried out exercises near the Korean peninsula, practicing to defend against a surprise attack coming over the sea, Chinese state media said. The exercises came days after North Korea s sixth, and most powerful, nuclear test fueled global concern that the isolated nation plans more weapons tests, possibly of a long-range missile. An anti-aircraft defense battalion held the exercises early on Tuesday, near the Bohai Sea, the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea that separates China from the Korean peninsula, an official military website said. Troops traveled to the site from central China before immediately beginning drills to fend off the surprise attack simulating real battle, it said. The troops rapid response capabilities and actual combat levels have effectively been tested. It was the first time certain weapons, which the website did not identify, had been used to shoot down low-altitude targets coming over the sea, www.81.cn said, without elaborating. The drills do not target any particular goal or country , and were part of an annual plan intended to boost the troops capability, China s Defence Ministry said on its website late on Wednesday, in a response to media. After weeks of rising tension over North Korea s actions, South Korea and the United States have been discussing the deployment of aircraft carriers and strategic bombers to the Korean peninsula. China is deeply suspicious of any U.S.-backed military build-up in the region, and has repeatedly expressed anger at the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile defense system in South Korea.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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U.S. warns of sanctions on any country trading with North Korea
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Wednesday that if the United Nations does not put additional sanctions on North Korea over nuclear tests, he has an executive order ready for President Donald Trump to sign that would impose sanctions on any country that trades with Pyongyang. I have an executive order prepared. It s ready to go to the president. It will authorize me to stop doing trade, and put sanctions on anybody that does trade with North Korea. The president will consider that at the appropriate time once he gives the U.N. time to act, Mnuchin told reporters on a flight back to Washington from North Dakota, where Trump gave a speech on tax reform.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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Two Florida nuclear plants likely to shut if Irma stays on path
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Energy firm Florida Power & Light (FPL) said on Wednesday it could shut its four nuclear reactors in the path of Hurricane Irma before Saturday if the storm stayed on its current path. Based on the current track, we would expect severe weather in Florida starting Saturday, meaning we would potentially shut down before that point, spokesman Peter Robbins said in an email. The company, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc, is watching the weather and would adjust any plans as necessary, Robbins said. The trajectory of Irma, a Category 5 storm with winds of 185 miles per hour (295 km per hour), is uncertain. Irma, which the U.S. National Hurricane Center said was the strongest Atlantic storm on record, was expected to pass near or just north of Puerto Rico on Wednesday before scraping the Dominican Republic on Thursday. FPL operates the St. Lucie nuclear power plant on Hutchinson Island, a barrier island on the Atlantic about 55 miles (88 km) north of West Palm Beach. Two reactors generate 2,000 megawatts of electricity, enough power to supply more than 1 million homes. It also operates Turkey Point nuclear power station on Biscayne Bay, about 24 miles south of Miami. That has two reactors that generate about 1,600 megawatts of electricity, or enough for about 900,000 homes. Robbins said the plants were designed to withstand extreme natural events including hurricanes and serious floods.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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South Korea deploys U.S. anti-missile launchers amid clashes with protesters
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SEOUL (Reuters) - Protesters clashed with thousands of police at a South Korean village on Thursday as Seoul deployed the four remaining launchers of the U.S. anti-missile THAAD system designed to protect against mounting threats from North Korea. The South s defense ministry confirmed on Wednesday the launchers would be installed on a former golf course near Seongju City some 217 km (135 miles) south of Seoul. Two launchers and a powerful radar are already in place at the site as part of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system. Early on Monday, around 8,000 South Korean police gathered in the village of Soseong-ri, along the only road that leads up to the golf course, to break up a blockade of around 300 villagers and civic groups opposed to THAAD. Some 38 protesters were wounded in tussles with police, with 21 sent to hospital, according to a Seongju Fire Station official. None of the injuries were life-threatening, said Kim Jin-hoon. The Soseong-ri residents say they do not have a political motive but are against the deployment of THAAD as their lives have been disrupted by the dozens of military helicopters, buses, trucks that travel through the small melon-farming town of 80 residents. The decision to deploy THAAD, designed to shoot down short- to medium-range missiles mid-flight, has drawn strong objections from China. It believes the system s radar could be used to look deeply into its territory and will upset the regional security balance. South Korea s defense ministry has said the deployment is necessary due to the imminent threat from North Korea, which has launched numerous missiles since South Korean President Moon Jae-in took office in early May. Pyongyang also conducted its sixth nuclear test on Sunday, prompting vehement reprimands from neighboring Japan and the United States. According to a United Nations draft resolution seen by Reuters on Wednesday, the United States wants the United Nations to impose an oil embargo on North Korea, ban the country s exports of textiles and the hiring of North Korean laborers as part of new sanctions on the North.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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Ex-minister accuses former Brazil President Lula of accepting bribes
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BRASILIA (Reuters) - The former finance minister under Brazil s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday accused the ex-president of receiving bribes from contractor Odebrecht [ODBES.UL], adding to a list of corruption accusations that threaten Lula s ability to run for president in 2018. Lawyers for the former finance minister, Antonio Palocci, said he told prosecutors that Lula accepted Odebrecht s purchase of land for an institute in his name, a country house in Sao Paulo state and 300 million reais ($97 million) to be used after he left office. A representative for Lula said in a statement that Palocci, who was arrested a year ago in a corruption investigation, was lying and making accusations without evidence to secure a favorable deal with prosecutors to reduce his sentence. Such testimony from a close confidant could be damning for Lula, who intends to run for president again next year if he can successfully appeal a conviction that would bar him from standing. Lula faces four additional trials. Separately on Wednesday, Brazil s top prosecutor, Rodrigo Janot, charged Lula, ex-President Dilma Rousseff and a former minister with obstruction of justice related to Lula s nomination as Rousseff s chief of staff in 2016. The nomination, later struck down by the Supreme Court, would have shielded Lula from prosecution by lower courts. It was the second charge from Janot in two days. On Tuesday he accused Lula, Rousseff and six other members of their Workers Party for allegedly forming a criminal organization to carry out corruption and other crimes involving state-controlled oil company Petrobras. Lula and Rousseff deny the charges. Palocci leveled his accusations in two hours of testimony on Wednesday as part of a probe into allegations that Lula accepted the land for the institute. It was a blood pact and a package of bribes that included payment for a property, an estate ranch and 300 million reais that gradually were made available according to a spreadsheet delivered by the contractor, said Adriano Bretas, one of Palocci s lawyers. Tracy Reinaldet, another of Palocci s lawyers, said the agreement was made during the transition from Lula into Rousseff s first term. Palocci also served as Rousseff s chief of staff initially but was forced to resign due to corruption allegations.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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Irma wreaks 'absolute devastation' on Caribbean isle of Barbuda
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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Hurricane Irma left a trail of absolute devastation as it tore across the tiny Caribbean island of Barbuda on Wednesday with 185-mile-per-hour (295-kph) winds, destroying houses, snapping trees and killing at least one person Gaston Browne, the prime minister of the two-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, described the island as barely habitable after the powerful Category 5 storm struck early on Wednesday. This rebuilding initiative will take years, Browne told local ABS Television Radio after a visit to the island, where he confirmed that one person died in the storm. Describing the scene as absolute devastation, he said the storm, which also snapped a telecoms tower, had caused estimated damage of some $150 million. Lying a little over 250 miles (400 km) east of Puerto Rico, Barbuda has a population of 1,800 and is one of the Caribbean s quietest getaways for tourists coming to enjoy its turquoise seas and coral reefs. Aerial footage of the island after Irma had passed through showed a desolate, flooded landscape shorn of trees and foliage with overturned vehicles and scattered debris. An island resident who identified himself as King Goldilocks, 60, said he had been left homeless. Last night was the worst night of my life, Goldilocks said on ABS, wearing a raincoat and clutching a cane. We had minimal loss of life but we had maximum damage. Browne, who said earlier the damage had not been serious on Barbuda, about 30 miles (48 km) from Antigua, changed his mind after taking a helicopter to the island once the winds died down. He said Barbudan residents should be evacuated if a second hurricane, Jose, turns toward the islands later this week. Jose is forecast to become a major storm and pass close to Antigua and Barbuda on Saturday.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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Pope arrives in Colombia to help heal wounds of 50-year war
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BOGOTA (Reuters) - Pope Francis arrived in Colombia on Wednesday with a message of unity for a nation deeply divided by a peace deal that ended a five-decade war with Marxist FARC rebels but left many victims of the bloodshed wary of the fraught healing process. Francis, making his 20th foreign trip since becoming pontiff in 2013 and his fifth to his native Latin America, started his visit in Colombian capital Bogota. He will travel later in the week to the cities of Villavicencio, Medellin and Cartagena. Greeted at the airport by President Juan Manuel Santos as attendees waved white handkerchiefs, the Argentine pope hopes his presence will help build bridges in a nation torn apart by bitter feuding over a peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Speaking to reporters on the Bogota-bound plane, Francis said the trip was a bit special because it is being made to help Colombia go forward on its path to peace. Francis will encourage reconciliation as Colombians prepare to receive 7,000 former FARC fighters into society and repair divisions after a war that killed more than 220,000 people and displaced millions over five decades. References to the recent peace deal were immediate. A teenage boy, born in 2004 to vice presidential candidate Clara Rojas when she was held captive in the jungle by the FARC, handed Francis a white porcelain dove as a welcome present. On his drive to the Vatican Embassy in central Bogota, the leader of the world s Roman Catholics was mobbed in the pope mobile by screaming crowds tossing flowers and holding up children to be kissed. Peace is what Colombia has been seeking for a long time and is working to achieve, the pope said in a video message ahead of his arrival. A stable, lasting peace, so that we see and treat each other as brothers, never as enemies. The FARC, which began as a peasant revolt in 1964 and battled more than a dozen governments, has formed a political party and now hopes to use words instead of weapons to effect changes in Colombia s social and economic model. But many Colombians are furious that the 2016 peace deal with the government granted fighters amnesty and some will be rewarded with seats in congress. A referendum on the deal last year was narrowly rejected, before being later modified and passed by congress. Trumpet players, singing children and white-clad rappers greeted the pope - wearing a traditional woolen poncho - at the embassy where he urged young people to keep smiling and then led the crowd in the Hail Mary prayer. Don t let anyone steal your hope, he said. People lined up all day to see the pope pass by, queues stretched around the cathedral in Bogota as residents sought passes for his events, and street vendors sold t-shirts, baseball caps and posters carrying Francis s image. Pope Francis coming to Colombia has to unite the people. We cannot continue to be polarized. We must learn to live in peace and respect our differences, Lucia Camargo, a pensioner, said as she lined up for a glimpse of the pontiff. Although most church leaders have voiced support for the accord, some politicians and Catholic bishops have criticized the deal for being too lenient on the guerrillas. The pope is expected to urge them to set aside their differences. The visit will leave us a sense of union, of forgiveness, Bogota Mayor Enrique Penalosa told Reuters. Colombia is very polarized at the moment. There are many passions, many hatreds. Reconciliation will be the emphasis for events on Friday in the city of Villavicencio, south of Bogota, where the pope will listen to testimonials from people whose lives were affected by the violence and then deliver a homily. Victims and former rebels who demobilized prior to the accord will attend. The pope will not meet FARC leaders or the opposition. He also had a message of dialogue and forgiveness for neighboring Venezuela, wracked by months of protests against President Nicolas Maduro, who has tightened his hold on power as an economic crisis has escalated. As his plane flew over the socialist nation, the pope sent cordial greetings in a telegram to Maduro and Venezuelans. Praying that all in the nation may promote paths of solidarity, justice and harmony, I willingly invoke upon all of you God s blessings of peace, he said.
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September 6, 2017
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No 'fire and fury' as Trump team talks North Korea with Congress
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump s top national security advisers stressed efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the North Korea crisis to Congress on Wednesday, staying far from Trump s tough talk of potential fire and fury military responses to Pyongyang s missile program. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Joseph Dunford held classified briefings on North Korea and Afghanistan for the entire House of Representatives and Senate. Lawmakers said the officials discussed efforts including consultations with allies, sanctions, pushing for action at the United Nations and military options. But they said the briefings tone was sharply different from some of Trump s recent public statements. After recent missile launches and nuclear tests by North Korea, the president has vowed to stop the weapons program and said he would unleash fire and fury if Pyongyang threatened U.S. territory. Mattis also warned of a massive military response if the United States or its allies were threatened. Each of them was very professional, very measured in what they were saying, and understand the stakes that are in play here. So there s nothing over-the-top, no over-the-top rhetoric, just a layout of where they are in trying to deal with this issue, Senator Bob Corker, Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters. Representative Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said after the briefing it was clear that the administration would like to negotiate an agreement with North Korea. There was really no bluster whatsoever, Engel said. Members of Congress from both parties called for stricter sanctions against North Korea, and said the United States should seek to work closely with allies like South Korea, push China to do more and see action at the United Nations. The best strategy would be deploying sanctions... sustained financial pressure in which we do not let up on those financial institutions that are assisting North Korea, said Republican Representative Ed Royce, chairman of the House committee, who just returned from a trip to South Korea. Republican Representative Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said there had been more members of the House at the briefing than he could remember at similar sessions. There was a tremendous amount of interest, he said.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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Florida stations face fuel shortages, delays ahead of Irma
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gasoline stations around Florida struggled to keep up with demand from customers anxious to fill tanks as Hurricane Irma approached, with some locations running out of supply on Wednesday. Some convenience stores are out of fuel as delivery trucks wait three to four hours to get cargoes from Port Everglades, the main supply source for the southern part of the state, said Ned Bowman, executive director at the Florida Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, which represents 98 percent of fuel sold in Florida. Deliveries in the southern part of the state have been slowed by heavy traffic as residents evacuate. The Category 5 storm, with winds exceeding 185 mph (295 km/h), clobbered Caribbean islands on Wednesday as Florida officials called for evacuations ahead of expected landfall this weekend. It would be the second powerful storm to hit the U.S. mainland in as many weeks, following Tropical Storm Harvey. Filling stations in Orlando struggled to keep up with demand as early as Tuesday, with some running out of fuel or facing long lag times for resupply. Deliveries are usually made on an as-needed basis within an hour of a station signaling low fuel levels. We re normally not even super busy at our pumps, and there are people parked behind each other right now, waiting, said Eli Brito, shift manager of a RaceTrac station in Orlando that was out of regular fuel on Wednesday after waiting four hours for delivery on Tuesday. Gasoline prices in Florida hit $2.71 a gallon on Wednesday, up 42 cents from a month ago, according to motorist advocacy group AAA. Florida has no refineries and its more than 20 million residents rely on refined products delivered by tanker and barge at its ports. On Wednesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it would allow diesel fuel normally restricted to off-road use like farm equipment to be sold for highway vehicles that use diesel through Sept. 22, due to the approaching storm. The U.S. Coast Guard limited movement of ships into and out of the ports, including Port Everglades, which houses about a dozen fuel terminals. Commercial traffic is still allowed, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Brandon Murray. The Coast Guard plans to further restrict traffic at the port midday Thursday, and require ships to make final mooring plans by midday Friday. No timeline for port closure has been set. Port Everglades had supplies on hand through mid-September when Harvey hit Texas, spokeswoman Ellen Kennedy said. The port usually has about two weeks of fuel available, she added. The state s other fuel-receiving ports, including Jacksonville and Tampa, remained open, said Bowman. We ve been down this horse race before, Bowman said from Florida s emergency operations center ahead of the storm.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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After year of 'repression' in Bahrain, West remains silent, Amnesty says
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DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain s government has crushed dissent and violently cracked down on protests in the past year, Amnesty International said on Thursday, and it accused Britain and the United States in particular of turning a blind eye to its abuses. Amnesty said in a report on Thursday that it had documented how the Bahraini government, from June 2016 to June 2017, arrested, tortured, threatened or banned from travel at least 169 activists and opponents or their relatives. Bahraini authorities could not immediately be reached for comment. Bahrain has repeatedly denied systematic rights abuses. Entitled No one can protect you: Bahrain s year of crushing dissent , the report said that at least six people were killed, including a child, in the crackdowns. The report also accused Western governments, notably the United States and Britain of remaining silent. The two countries have a particularly high level of influence in Bahrain, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based and where Britain s Royal Navy has a major facility. Amnesty said U.S. President Donald Trump s policy has shifted from that of his predecessor, Barack Obama, who had publicly criticized the authorities of the tiny Gulf state. In March 2017, President Trump told Bahrain s King Hamad there won t be strain with this administration : Bahrain appears to have interpreted this statement as a green light to pursue its repression, the report said. Bahrain has stepped up a crackdown on critics, shutting down two main political groups, revoking the citizenship of the spiritual leader of the Shi ite Muslim community and jailing rights campaigners. It denounced attempts by previous U.S. and UK governments to intervene in its campaign. In July, a Bahraini court sentenced rights campaigner and prominent activist Nabeel Rajab to two years in jail for allegedly making false or malicious statements about Bahraini authorities. Rajab is facing another trial and risks a further 15 years in prison for tweeting. Using an array of tools of repression, including harassment, arbitrary detention and torture, the government of Bahrain has managed to crush a formerly thriving civil society, Philip Luther, Amnesty International s director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement. Amnesty said it had received reports of nine cases of government critics being tortured in detention, eight of them in May 2017 alone. Bahrain has been a flashpoint since the Sunni-led government put down Arab Spring protests in 2011. The kingdom, most of whose population is Shi ite, says it faces a threat from neighboring Shi ite theocracy Iran. It accuses the Islamic Republic of radicalizing and arming some members of its majority Shi ite population in an effort to bring about the downfall of the ruling Al Khalifa family. Tehran denies any meddling in Bahrain.
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worldnews
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September 7, 2017
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Saudi King Salman to visit White House early next year: White House
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Saudi King Salman on Wednesday and the two leaders agreed Salman will visit the White House early next year, the White House said in a statement. In the phone call, Trump and Salman also discussed ways to continue advancing shared priorities, including enhancing security and prosperity in the Middle East, the statement said.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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China's Xi tells Trump that North Korea nuclear issue must be solved via talks
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BEIJING (Reuters) - China is focused on solving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue through talks and peaceful means, Chinese President Xi Jinping told U.S. President Donald Trump in a telephone call on Wednesday. The United States and South Korea have asked the United Nations to consider tough new sanctions on North Korea after its nuclear test on Sunday that Pyongyang said was an advanced hydrogen bomb. Washington and its allies have said there is a growing urgency for China, North Korea s top ally and trading partner, to apply more pressure on its already isolated neighbor to get it to back down on its nuclear weapons and missiles programs. China s focus on negotiations contrasts with Trump s assertions over the last few days that now was not the time to focus on talks with North Korea. In a telephone call with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday, President Trump reiterated that now is not the time to talk to North Korea, and made clear that all options remain open to defend the United States and its allies against North Korean aggression, the White House said on Wednesday. However, the issue was not mentioned in a separate White House statement on the Trump-Xi call, which said only that the two leaders recognized the danger posed by North Korea and committed to working together with the goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. Earlier, a statement from China s foreign ministry said China unswervingly works to realize denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and to safeguard the international nuclear non-proliferation system, Xi told Trump. At the same time, we always persist in safeguarding peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and resolving the issue through dialogue and consultation, Xi said. It is necessary to stay on the path of a peaceful solution. Xi also said that China attaches importance to Trump s visit to China later this year. The statement cited Trump as saying that the United States was deeply concerned about the Korean nuclear issue and that it valued China s important role in resolving the problem. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley accused North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Monday of begging for war and urged the Security Council to impose the strongest possible sanctions. Beijing has said reining in North Korea is not chiefly its responsibility, and has expressed doubts that U.N. economic sanctions, which it has backed, will resolve the situation. Sanctions so far appear to have done little to stop North Korea from boosting its nuclear and missile capacity as it faces off with Trump, who has vowed to stop Pyongyang from being able to hit the U.S. mainland with a nuclear weapon. It is unclear if China will back further sanctions. Beijing fears that completely cutting off North Korea could lead to its collapse, unleashing a wave of refugees into China s northeast. China accounted for 92 percent of North Korea s trade in 2016, according to South Korea. China s foreign ministry said on Tuesday it would take part in Security Council discussions in a responsible and constructive manner . China and Russia have advocated a plan in which the United States and Seoul stop major military drills in exchange for North Korea halting its weapons programs, but neither side is willing to budge. Trump and Xi last spoke by telephone on Aug. 12. The White House said at the time that their relationship was extremely close and will hopefully lead to a peaceful resolution of the North Korea problem. But tensions in China-U.S. ties have increased since Trump took office, with the U.S. president having authorized an investigation into China s alleged theft of intellectual property, and suggesting trade relations would be linked to Beijing s help on North Korea.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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Hurricane Irma threatens luxury Trump properties
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(Reuters) - Hurricane Irma swept over U.S. President Donald Trump s 11-bedroom Caribbean mansion on Wednesday, the first of several luxury Trump properties threatened by the storm s path. It was not immediately known whether Irma damaged Trump s beachfront Chateau des Palmiers, or Castle of the Palms, on St. Martin. The gated estate, for sale for $16.9 million, is owned through a trust and had been rented out, U.S. media has reported. But French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said some buildings had been destroyed and social media showed flooded roads and overturned cars on the island that is roughly divided between France and the Netherlands. The situation was being closely monitored on St. Martin and at a number of Trump properties in Florida, Trump Organization spokesperson Amanda Miller told Reuters in a statement. Our teams at the Trump properties in Florida are taking all of the proper precautions and following local and Florida state advisories very closely to ensure that everyone is kept safe and secure, Miller said. While Irma s exact trajectory remained uncertain, Trump s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach - which has been called the winter White House and valued by Forbes at $175 million - could also take a hit. Trump bought the estate in 1985 and turned it into an exclusive club, which now boasts a membership fee of $200,000 and is a haven for the tony Palm Beach set who pull up to the gate in Bentleys and Rolls-Royces. A staffer who answered the phone said it was closed and declined to comment further. Palm Beach County declared a state of emergency on Wednesday. Near Miami, Trump owns luxury high-rise condos called the Trump Towers, Sunny Isles and the oceanfront Trump International Beach Resort. Some guests were leaving ahead of the storm but precautions were being taken and resort officials were prepared to oversee evacuations if they were ordered, marketing director Jim Monastra said. At the Trump National Doral, an 800-acre golf resort in Miami that local media reported had completed a $250 million renovation last year, officials tweeted Wednesday that resort operations were going on as normal until further notice.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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Pope arrives in Colombia on mission to promote peace
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BOGOTA (Reuters) - Pope Francis arrived on a five-day trip to Colombia on Wednesday with the hope his presence will unite a nation deeply divided by a peace deal that ended a five-decade war with Marxist FARC rebels. An Alitalia flight carrying the Argentine pontiff landed at the Catam military air base in Bogota and will head to the Vatican Embassy after being greeted by President Juan Manuel Santos.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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U.S. to suspend immigration enforcement in areas hit by Hurricane Irma
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said on Wednesday it will not conduct non-criminal immigration enforcement operations in areas affected by Hurricane Irma, which is barreling through the Caribbean and is forecast to hit Florida this weekend. When it comes to rescuing people in the wake of Hurricane Irma, immigration status is not and will not be a factor, the department said in a statement.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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Peru raises cost of post-floods rebuilding to nearly $8 billion
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LIMA (Reuters) - Previously uncalculated damage caused by severe flooding in Peru this year has pushed up the cost of rebuilding infrastructure by 28 percent to 25.65 billion soles ($7.92 billion), a government official said Wednesday. Pablo de la Flor, who was appointed by President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski to lead the reconstruction effort, said 38 percent of the new total will pay for rebuilding highways, roads and bridges. The rest will be used to help build homes, schools, health clinics, sewage systems and farms affected by the floods. Without a doubt this is the most important fiscal effort in Peru s recent history, de la Flor told a press conference. Finance Minister Fernando Zavala said the cost increase would be included in the budget in 2019 or 2020. The rebuilding plan was approved by Kuczynski s cabinet on Wednesday and does not need a green light from Congress. Early this year an unusually brutal rainy season due to a sudden warming of Pacific waters killed 162 people, slowed economic growth sharply and caused damage equivalent to 2 percent of Peru s gross domestic product. De la Flor said the government would likely start awarding contracts at the end of the year.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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Catalonia parliament votes for Oct. 1 referendum on split from Spain
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MADRID (Reuters) - Catalonia s parliament voted on Wednesday to hold an independence referendum on Oct. 1, setting up a clash with the Spanish government that has vowed to stop what it says would be an illegal vote. After 12 hours of often chaotic debate in the Barcelona parliament, a majority voted for the referendum and the legal framework to set up a new state, under which the assembly would declare independence within 48 hours of a yes vote. Lawmakers who opposed independence abandoned the chamber before the vote, with some leaving Catalan flags in their empty seats. The winners, led by regional head Carles Puigdemont, sang the Catalan national anthem once the votes were counted. Committed to freedom and democracy! We push on! Catalonia s deputy governor, Oriol Junqueras, tweeted after the vote. Polls in the northeastern region show support for self-rule waning as Spain s economy improves. But the majority of Catalans do want the opportunity to vote on whether to split from Spain. The government has asked the Spanish constitutional court to declare the referendum law void as soon as it is approved by the regional parliament. The Spanish constitution states that the country is indivisible. What is happening in the Catalan parliament is embarrassing, it s shameful, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria told reporters. The details of the referendum, which would pose the question Do you want Catalonia to be an independent republic? to all Spanish citizens living in Catalonia, were revealed amid a tense atmosphere in the 135-seat regional parliament. You will not split up Spain, but you are breaking up Catalonia, Alejandro Fernandez of the ruling People s Party (PP) told pro-independence lawmakers. You re putting social harmony at risk. The vote comes about three weeks after Barcelona and a nearby town were struck by Islamist attacks that killed 16 people and caused the Catalan and Spanish governments to present a brief united front. Divisions reappeared as both sides squabbled over whether either could have prevented the attacks, and rallies against terrorism became politicized. Crowds in Barcelona booed Spain s King Felipe when he visited for one march. There will be no minimum turnout requirement to make the result of the referendum binding, Puigdemont said in a recent briefing. Ballot boxes, voting papers and an electoral census are at the ready, he said. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy told a news conference on Monday the government would come down with all the force of the law to ensure no referendum would go ahead. Courts have already suspended from office and leveled millions of euros in fines at Catalan politicians who organized a non-binding referendum in 2014, which returned a yes vote on a low turnout.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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Trump administration blacklists three officials for South Sudan war
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions against two senior South Sudanese officials and the country s former army chief in a warning to the government of President Salva Kiir over increasing attacks on civilians in the country s four-year civil war. The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement on its website said it had blacklisted Malek Reuben Riak Rengu, deputy chief of defense for logistics in South Sudan s army; Paul Malong, former army chief sacked by Kiir in May; and Minister of Information Michael Makuei Lueth for their roles in destabilizing South Sudan. The measures freeze any assets in the United States or tied to the U.S. financial system belonging to the three men. Mawien Makol, spokesman at South Sudan s foreign affairs ministry, called Washington s announcement unfortunate. Such sanctions can undermine the efforts rather than help the efforts, Makol said, referring to a 2015 peace deal. Nathaniel Oyet, a senior official in the opposition SPLA-IO group, welcomed the move although added: It has come a bit late. We wanted it yesterday. This now gives us the confidence that the Donald Trump administration will fix the crisis in South Sudan, said Oyet. The U.S. crackdown comes days after Trump s new aid administrator, Mark Green, visited South Sudan to deliver a blunt message to Kiir that Washington was reviewing its policy toward his government. He called on Kiir to end the violence and implement a real ceasefire. The meeting signaled that the Trump administration was reconsidering its backing for Kiir, who came to power with the support of Washington when oil-rich South Sudan won independence from neighboring Sudan in 2011 following decades of conflict. But the world s youngest country dissolved into civil war in 2013 after Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his deputy Riek Machar, a Nuer. Nearly one-third of the country s population - or 4 million people - have fled their homes, creating the continent s largest refugee crisis since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. In its statement, the U.S. Treasury said Malek Reuben was central to weapons procurement during the first few years of the conflict and helped plan an offensive in Unity State in April 2015, which targeted civilians and led to numerous rights abuses. It also accused him of issuing military contracts at inflated prices in order to receive extensive kickbacks. The U.S. Treasury blacklisted All Energy Investments, A+ Engineering, Electronics & Media Printing and Mak International Services which it said was owned or controlled by Malek Reuben. Malong was sacked by Kiir in May as army chief and put under house arrest in the capital Juba, the country s defense minister told Reuters last week. The U.S. Treasury said he was being sanctioned for obstructing peace talks, international peacekeeping efforts and humanitarian missions in South Sudan. The Treasury statement said Malong was reportedly responsible for efforts to kill Machar in 2016 and did not discourage the killing of civilians around the town of Wau last year. It said Malong was found with currency worth millions of U.S. dollars in his possession belonging to the military s treasury as he tried to flee Juba in early May. Reached by phone in Nairobi, Malong s wife, Ayak Lucy, told Reuters her husband did not have financial assets in the United States. She was unaware of the sanctions announcement. Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury accused Makuei of attacks against the U.N. mission in South Sudan and obstructing of peacekeeping and humanitarian missions in the country. What do they call it? Economic sanctions? What property do I have in America and all over the world? he told Reuters in response to the sanctions.
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September 6, 2017
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Togo opposition calls for president to quit as protests mount
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LOME (Reuters) - Togo s opposition chief called on Wednesday for the immediate resignation of President Faure Gnassingbe, the current head of a half century-old political dynasty, rejecting a government move to introduce term limits as protests gained momentum. Tens of thousands of protesters clad in red, orange and pink - the colors of Togo s opposition parties - marched through the streets of the capital Lome as security forces looked on, a Reuters witness said. Some carried banners bearing slogans including Free Togo and Faure resign . Gnassingbe has ruled the West African nation since his father died in 2005 after 38 years in power. The late President Gnassingbe Eyadema passed a law in 1992 limiting the president to two terms in power, only to scrap it a decade later. Togo s cabinet on Tuesday adopted a draft bill to bring back the term limits, the government announced in a statement. But the decision did little to satisfy an increasingly rejuvenated opposition. Speaking before a crowd of thousands of protesters in central Lome, Jean-Pierre Fabre, the head of the main ANC opposition party, said: We will march again tomorrow. Faure should talk to us about the conditions for his departure. The (draft) law on mandates comes too late. Residents said similar protests were underway in Sokode, 340 km (210 miles) north of the coastal capital, as well as several other towns. A number of long-serving African rulers, notably in Rwanda, Burundi and Burkina Faso, have moved to drop term limits in recent years in order to remain in power. In some cases this has sparked strong opposition that has led to violent unrest. However, unlike marches last month during which at least two protesters were killed by security forces, there was no sign of violence by early afternoon on Wednesday. Togo, which aspires to become an African Dubai and hosts the headquarters of pan-African lender Ecobank and other major firms, has a history of repression. Around 500 people were killed during protests against the current leader s 2005 poll victory. But the move to reintroduce a two-term limit could represent an important volte-face by the president, whose government in 2015 voted against the introduction of regional term limits across the ECOWAS 15-nation zone which he currently chairs. (I) deplore the serious incidents in Sokode and Lome during the protests of 19 August and call upon the people to exercise calm, serenity and moderation, Gnassingbe said in a statement released on Wednesday. He also pledged to improve living conditions in the country of nearly 8 million people. It was not immediately known when the bill approved by the cabinet will be presented to parliament. Nor was it clear how the proposed change to article 59 of the constitution would affect Gnassingbe, who is now serving a third mandate which ends in 2020. Government critics accused authorities of cutting mobile internet access on Wednesday in a move they said mirrored cuts imposed by other African incumbents, such as Gabon s Ali Bongo, to control criticism at sensitive times. However, the main internet gateway remained operational according to Dyn which monitors global internet traffic. A government official could not immediately be reached for comment.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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Holocaust survivors rock Berlin's Brandenburg Gate with song of hope
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BERLIN (Reuters) - Two aging Holocaust survivors joined forces with a younger Israeli singer to perform songs of hope at Berlin s Brandenburg Gate on Wednesday at a time when Germany is seeing a rise in anti-Semitism. Saul Dreier, a drummer aged 92, and Reuwen Ruby Sosnowicz, an 89-year-old accordionist, backed up Gad Elbaz at a site once used by Adolf Hitler for anti-Semitic speeches. I don t want to cry. If I can be 92 and be here after what I went through - there are no words, Dreier told Reuters at the end of a long and emotional day This is a miracle. I lost 30 people in my family, he told a crowd of around 80 people before the performance. Dreier said recent news of neo-Nazi marches in the United States and Germany made him sick and brought back memories of the horrors of the Nazi regime that killed 6 million Jews. It s very frightening. Young people have to make sure it never happens again. The men, who both live in Florida, formed their Holocaust Survivors Band in 2014 and went on to play in front of packed audiences from Warsaw and Las Vegas to Washington, D.C. Elbaz said the event in Berlin was meant to make sure younger people remained vigilant about the dangers of anti-Semitism. This is about reviving history and showing our generation how important it is not to forget where we came from, what we ve been through, and that it should never happen again, he said. Organizers plan to release a music video filmed during the performance of one of the songs, Let the Light Shine On . Shani Ramer, 48, who was born in Israel but grew up and lives in Berlin, said the concert reminded her of family members who perished. It touched my heart, she said. She welcomed the concert s message of hope. It s saying we are still here. No one will kill us now. Abida Ali, a Muslim tourist visiting Germany from Pakistan, joined other bystanders dancing to the upbeat music. Ali said she had experienced no discrimination during her visit despite her head scarf. It s only a small percentage of the people who are violent, she said. There is hope. Everyone really wants peace. A study by Bielefeld University carried out last year showed that 78 percent of Jews living in Germany believe anti-Semitism has increased to some extent, or to a large extent, in the previous five years.
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worldnews
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September 6, 2017
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