Month: July 2017

Two gunmen opened fire outside a mosque in the southern French city of Avignon Sunday, wounding eight people. Police said they are “not at all treating it as terrorist-related,” the regional newspaper La Provence reported.

Reports from witnesses said two men got out of a car near the mosque and opened fire with a shotgun and another weapon, local authorities said.

Two of the eight people wounded were hospitalized, but their injuries reportedly were not serious. La Provence said four people were wounded outside the mosque and four members of a family were hit by shrapnel in their apartment about 50 meters away.

The newspaper said worshippers leaving the mosque were not the target of the late-evening attack. It quoted a judicial source as saying that police suspect a dispute among youth groups sparked the gunplay.
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With an eye on anti-globalization protests brewing in Hamburg before this week’s G20 summit, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday leaders will have to focus on sustainable and inclusive economic growth rather than their own prosperity.

In her weekly podcast, the German chancellor said this year’s G-20 summit will delve into issues championed by protesters such as distribution of wealth and consumption of resources — alongside related issues like climate change, free markets, consumer protection and upholding social standards.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched against the meeting in the rain in Hamburg on Sunday in a prelude to the July 7-8 gathering, where 21,000 police from across Germany will protect the meetings of the world’s 20 largest economies.

“It’s not only going to be about [economic] growth but rather sustainable growth,” Merkel said. “We’ve got to have a ‘win-win’ situation for everyone. The issues obviously revolve around: how do we achieve inclusive or sustainable growth?”

Merkel, seeking a fourth term in a Sept. 24 election, outlined the issues as: “What are we doing with our resources? What are the rules for distribution of wealth? How many people are taking part? And how many countries are able to profit from that?”

Without mentioning the protests that have German security officials worried about possible acts of sabotage this week in the country’s second-largest city, Merkel noted that these non-traditional issues were forced onto the G-20 agenda.

“If we simply try to carry on as we have in the past, the worldwide developments will definitely not be sustainable and inclusive,” she said. “We need the climate protection agreement, open markets and improved trade agreements in which consumer protection, social and environmental standards are upheld.”

In a speech to parliament last week, Merkel promised to fight for free trade and press on with multilateral efforts to combat climate change at the summit, challenging the “America First” policies of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The G-20 meeting follows a G-7 summit in Sicily a month ago that exposed deep divisions between other Western countries and Trump on climate change, trade and migration. Trump later announced he was pulling the United States out of a landmark agreement to combat climate change reached in 2015 in Paris.

German authorities are bracing for trouble in Hamburg, worried that the protests could turn violent as they did outside a G8 summit in Genoa, Italy in 2001 when one person was shot dead and hundreds injured.

The German Federal Crime Office warned that violent G-20 opponents could carry out arson and sabotage at infrastructure targets such as the Hamburg harbor and airport, newspaper Welt am Sonntag said on Sunday.

“New and creative forms of attack have to be watched out for,” the report said. It added Hamburg police are bracing for attempts by activists to disrupt electrical power in Hamburg.

Sunday’s demonstration was organized by a group called “Protest Wave G20”, with 50,000 to 100,000 protesters expected on an afternoon march through the city center. Other

demonstrations this week are called “Welcome to Hell” and “G-20 Not Welcome”.

 
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The chief executive of Russia’s Kaspersky Lab says he’s ready to have his company’s source code examined by U.S. government officials to help dispel long-lingering suspicions about his company’s ties to the Kremlin.

In an interview with The Associated Press at his Moscow headquarters, Eugene Kaspersky said Saturday there’s never been any truth to rumors of his work with Russian intelligence. But he acknowledges it’s unusual for a successful company to operate independently of the government in Russia, saying, “I do understand why we look strange.”

But he says the firm never cooperates with cyberespionage, saying he shuts down the conversation when he occasionally sensed that unidentified governments were pushing him to.

He says “we stay on the bright side and never, never go to the dark side.”
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Pope Francis is calling for an end to the violent anti-government protests in Venezuela and expressing solidarity with families of those killed.

Francis led thousands of people in prayer for Venezuela on Sunday as he noted the country is to mark its independence on Wednesday.

He said, “I assure this dear nation of my prayers and express my closeness to the families who have lost their children in the protests. I appeal for an end to the violence and for a peaceful and democratic solution to the crisis.”

At least 80 people have been killed since anti-government protests erupted three months ago.

The Vatican sponsored a dialogue last year that failed. Recently, Venezuelan bishops have travelled to the Vatican and briefed Francis on their criticism of President Nicolas Maduro’s authoritarian bent.
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Amid tight security, hundreds of thousands of people took part in a global gay rights demonstration in Madrid on Saturday.

“For all the people in countries who are suffering persecution, we have to celebrate and make visible our pride,” Jesus Generelo, the head of the Spanish federation of LGBT people, told revelers.

The rally had been expected to draw between 1 million and 2 million people to march for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights, organizers and authorities said. Madrid city officials said later that “hundreds of thousands of people” were in the streets, dancing, cheering or watching the parade. Officials had released no official count by late Saturday.

The gathering, led by Spain’s major political parties, was the highlight of a 10-day World Pride 2017 festival, which ends Sunday.

The parade included 52 floats, and festivities lasted several hours. Groups from several countries, including the United States and Britain, took part.

The event will be held in New York in 2019.

While police did not identify a specific terror threat regarding the pride parade, Europe is on edge after several high-profile attacks, such as recently in Britain and France.

‘Generalized threat’

“There is no specific terrorist threat but a generalized threat,” German Castineira, operations chief for Madrid police, told the French news agency AFP earlier this week.

Thousands of security officials were on hand for the parade.

Forty years after members of the nation’s gay community began marching for their rights, Spain has become one of the most progressive countries for gay rights. In 2005, it became the third country — after the Netherlands and Belgium — to legalize same-sex marriage.

Parades and events were held elsewhere around the globe Saturday.

In Singapore, thousands of people dressed in pink for the Pink Dot rally, which began in 2009. The government banned foreign participants from the rally.

In Northern Ireland, thousands marched in Belfast to demand the legalization of same-sex marriages, a day after Germany’s parliament voted to do so.

However, a march for transgender rights that was scheduled for Sunday in Turkey has been canceled. The Istanbul governor’s office cited public order and the safety of participants and tourists in canceling the eighth Trans Pride March.

Gay rights and the LGBT community are under assault in many countries.

ILGA, an international LGBT association, released its State-sponsored Homophobia report last month, which listed that 72 countries still consider intercourse between same-sex couples to be illegal. Same-sex couples also face the death penalty in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen, and in parts of Nigeria and Somalia.
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France inaugurated two new high-speed rail lines Saturday linking the capital to the western cities of Bordeaux and Rennes in what is likely to be the last launches of their kind for years as public cash becomes increasingly scarce.

The state-owned SNCF railway operator expects 35,000 passengers to use the new route to Bordeaux daily and 30,000 to use the line to Rennes.

Nearly 8 billion euros ($9.1 billion) was invested in the stretch to Bordeaux, while 3.4 billion euros ($3.9 billion) went into the Rennes line, both under public-private partnerships, SNCF said.

While local politicians often fight hard to bring high-speed lines to their regions to boost jobs and activity, such projects have fallen out of favor with the central government because of the costs.

A 60-kilometer (37-mile) high-speed stretch is due to open at the end of the year in the south of France, but after that, nothing major is in the works, with the government preferring to support high-use commuter lines instead.

The SNCF capacity to finance major new projects is now severely constrained by its nearly 45 billion euros in debt and by a rule taking effect this year that limits how much new debt it can take on as a function of its operating margin.

Spending cuts coming

Budgetary pressure is also adding up for France’s new government, which is due to announce a wave of spending cuts in the coming days after an audit found this week that the 2017 finances were overshooting targets.

The line to Bordeaux, which links up with existing high-speed rail lines in the central city of Tours, was financed under a unique public-private partnership that will see a consortium led by construction group Vinci operate it under concession for 50 years.

However, the price of usage has left the SNCF concerned, and its president, Guillaume Pepy, told Le Monde newspaper it would lose 90 million euros on the line this year.

Despite the huge costs of high-speed lines, a study from the INSEE statistics agency found this year that they do bring significant economic activity, boosting companies’ profitability and productivity.
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Reigning champion Chris Froome wasted no time flexing his muscles at the Tour de France as he powered to sixth place Saturday in a treacherous opening time trial won superbly by Team Sky colleague Geraint Thomas.

Heavy rain turned what, on paper, had looked like a regulation 14-kilometer circuit alongside the Rhine river into an incident-packed Grand Depart that could have major consequences in the three-week battle for the yellow jersey.

While it was a great start for Team Sky, with Thomas, three-time champion Froome and Vasil Kiryienka all in the top six of the 198 riders to start, a sickening crash ended the Tour for Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde.

Several riders continued after crashing on the greasy roads, but there was no getting up for Valverde, third overall in 2015, after he skidded off the route and careered into crowd barriers. He was taken to a hospital with leg injuries.

It was heartbreaking for Valverde and also a huge blow for teammate Nairo Quintana, who was counting on Valverde’s experience in the mountain stages to come.

Welshman Thomas, riding his eighth Tour, looked completely at home in the puddles as he became the eighth Briton to wear the yellow jersey — making up for the disappointment of crashing out of the Giro d’Italia as team leader.

Five seconds up

He displayed brilliant handling to cross the finish line at the huge Messe Duesseldorf exhibition complex in 16 minutes, 4 seconds. He was five seconds ahead of BMC’s Swiss rider Stefan Kueng, who was two seconds ahead of Kiryienka in third.

Froome, the last rider out, was 12 seconds slower than Thomas, but significantly quicker than all his main General Classification (GC) rivals.

Quintana was 48 seconds slower than Thomas, with Australian Richie Porte one second quicker than the Colombian. French GC hopefuls Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet were 50 and 51 seconds off the pace, with Spain’s Alberto Contador 54 down.

Thomas said it had been a great day for Welsh sport, after Sam Warburton captained the British and Irish Lions to victory over the New Zealand All Blacks in rugby.

“That inspired me, to be honest,” he said. “I didn’t believe I would hang on, felt sure Tony [Martin] or someone would beat my time. This is amazing for me after what happened at the Giro, and massive for the team. The jersey is a huge bonus.”

Hopes that Martin would mark the first German Grand Depart since Berlin in 1987 with a home win were washed away as he could only manage fourth quickest.

While Porte will be concerned to be trailing Froome before the Tour starts for real, he said at least he had not suffered the same fate as Valverde.

“It wasn’t a day to take risks,” Froome’s former teammate said. ” … I was petrified, to be honest. It was such a slippery course.”
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President Emmanuel Macron heads to Mali on Sunday to throw France’s weight behind a new West African military force he hopes will lay the basis for an exit strategy for its own troops; but its prospects for success look slim.

Mali is hosting a heads of state summit with Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania – known as the G5 Sahel – who could ultimately deploy thousands of troops into the vast, arid Sahel region that remains a breeding ground for militants and traffickers that Paris considers a threat to Europe.

Four years after intervening in its former colony to ward off a jihadist offensive, there is no sign of France withdrawing its 4,000-strong regional Barkhane contingent as they, alongside 10,000 U.N. peacekeepers, struggle to stabilize Mali and implement peace accords.

“It’s not wrong to say that it’s part of an exit plan because the Barkhane mission is not intended to be there for ever, but it’s hard to see how we could draw down soon,” said a senior French diplomat. “We need a long-term multilateral strategy so that we’re less exposed. The time of doing everything alone in West Africa is over.”

The force endorsed by the U.N. aims to initially establish specially-trained units by the end of the year, which would work with French forces where jihadist groups are known to operate.

But it faces headwinds before it even becomes operational, with questions over financing, manpower and equipment.

“France had an exit strategy in mind when it spearheaded the new force and wanted as much multilateral funding as possible,” said Vincent Rouget, West Africa analyst at Control Risks.

“They don’t have the option that they had in CAR [Central African Republic] to just leave. The fact that Macron is in Bamako twice in a month really shows he is pushing his whole weight behind it.”

Experts and officials question the merits of a mission that could muddy the picture in an area where there are already a plethora of military operations and there is a risk of diverting money away from local governance.

“By putting the emphasis on setting up a new autonomous force with ‘mostly’ external financing the risk is that it might distract from the absolute necessity of consolidating the states in all their dimensions,” said Yabi Gilles, founder of WATHI, a citizen think tank of West Africa.

French officials insist that their efforts will not just focus on security aspects. Macron pledged in May to ensure unfulfilled development promises from Paris and the wider international community would materialize.

Reaching the Limit

But the real concern is that there will not be enough appetite to finance another regional military operation and that it could be hampered because interests and objectives are not aligned.

The neighboring multi-national joint task force (MNJTF) to fight Boko Haram, for example, has been complicated by divisions and a lack of cooperation. With the world’s wealthy nations focused on the fight against Islamist militants in the Middle East, financial support for the MNJTF, has fallen short.

“Chad and Niger are already members of the MNJTF so a solid foundation has been laid; let us build on it instead of creating another layer and going begging for resources from the same donors,” said an African security source. The G5 Sahel gives them [France] leverage over the heads of states who virtually depend on it for their security.”

Those concerns were echoed by the United States when it watered down the French-backed Security Council resolution fearing that U.N. funding – as much as $800 million could be required – would be wasted and that bilateral financing would be more fruitful.

In response, France is lobbying for more European involvement beyond an initial 50 million euros and at some point might push for a donor conference. It will also have to dig into its own pocket despite its own budget constraints.

“We have always said that the security of the region should be done by Africans themselves,” Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told Le Monde newspaper on June 29. “Barkhane will accompany them for as long as it takes… until the situation is pacified.”

But where those thousands of efficient troops to replace Barkhane will come from is a mystery.

The G5 Sahel nations are already heavily committed, leading to speculation that Chad, Burkina Faso and Niger may simply re-hat some or all of their 4,100 soldiers now serving in the U.N. MINUSMA force in Mali, potentially undermining a mission that is already struggling.

“We have reached our limit. We can’t continue to be everywhere,” Chadian President Idriss Deby, whose troops are considered the most battle-hardened in the region, said in an interview to French media on Sunday. “Even if we had financing, Chad would be either in the G5 or MINUSMA. Choices will have to be made.”
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The United States and Britain urged Russia on Friday to bring to justice all those responsible for the slaying of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov.

A Russian court on Thursday convicted five men of murdering Nemtsov, but allies of the politician have said the investigation was a cover-up and that the people who had ordered his killing remained at large.

“We call once more on the Russian government to ensure that all involved in the killing of Boris Nemtsov, including anyone involved in organizing or ordering the crime, are brought to justice,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement, calling Nemtsov a “champion of democracy and human rights.”

Britain said it wanted Russia to further investigate Nemtsov’s death.

“The Foreign and Commonwealth Office supports Boris Nemtsov’s family in their call for a fuller investigation into who ordered his murder,” a spokesman for Britain’s Foreign Ministry said. “Responsibility for his murder goes further than those already convicted, and we call on the Russian government to bring the perpetrators to account.”

Litvinenko slaying

Russia and Britain have repeatedly clashed publicly over Syria, Ukraine and the 2006 London slaying of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.

Trump had frequently called during the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign for warmer ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite criticism from lawmakers in his own Republican Party.

Allegations that Russia interfered in the U.S. presidential election last year and colluded with Trump’s campaign have overshadowed the businessman’s unexpected victory and dogged his first five months in office.

Russia and the United States are also at odds over Ukraine, NATO expansion and the civil war in Syria, where Moscow supports President Bashar al-Assad.

Trump and Putin are due to meet next week in Hamburg at the summit of leaders from the Group of 20 major world economies.
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French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was charged Friday with allegedly misusing European Parliament funds to pay two parliamentary aides who also work at her National Front headquarters. Her lawyer said she denies the charges and will fight to get the investigation suspended.

Investigators suspect some National Front lawmakers used legislative aides for the party’s political activities while they were on the European Parliament payroll. Le Pen is president of the far-right National Front party.

 The prosecutor’s office said Le Pen was summoned and handed preliminary charges of breach of trust and complicity in breach of trust concerning two parliamentary aides when she served at the European Parliament.

Misuse of EU funds

 Le Pen is suspected of using parliamentary funds to pay Catherine Griset from 2009 to 2016 and bodyguard Thierry Legier from 2014 to 2016 for allegedly working as aides in Strasbourg, seat of the European Parliament, even though they also have roles in her far-right National Front party.  Griset was charged in February for allegedly receiving money through a breach of trust.

 Le Pen is also charged with complicity in breach of trust in connection with her role as president of the National Front from 2014-2016. That charge could not immediately be clarified.

Le Pen denies the charges.

“It makes no sense,” National Front vice president Florian Philippot, Le Pen’s top lieutenant, said on the BFM-TV station. “She is obviously 24 hours out of 24 both the president of the National Front and a European deputy.”

Le Pen plans to file an urgent demand Monday at the Appeals Court asking that the preliminary charges be annulled due to “the violation of the principle of separation of powers,” her lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut, said in a statement. She will also seek a suspension of the investigation.

His reference to “separation of powers” may relate to a contention that the French justice system should not interfere in the affairs of political parties. Bosselut could not immediately be reached for comment.

Faces prison time, fine

The preliminary charges are thrown out if investigators fail to come up with convincing evidence. The case goes to trial if they do. A conviction for breach of trust charge carries a potential penalty of up to three years in prison and a fine of 375,000 euros ($428,000).

Le Pen had twice refused summonses from authorities while campaigning, first for the French presidential election which she lost May 7 to Emmanuel Macron, then for a lawmaker’s seat in the French National Assembly which she won on June 18. Due to that win, Le Pen gave up her seat in the European Parliament.

Other European parliamentarians, including Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie Le Pen and her companion Louis Aliot, have also been investigated for allegedly misusing parliamentary aides’ wages. Aliot last week refused to respond to a summons by investigators, French media reported.

Cloud of suspicion

Some leading politicians are now living under a cloud of suspicion as to whether they misused funds meant to pay aides’ salaries.

The one-time front-runner in France’s presidential race this year, conservative Francois Fillon, was charged over allegations that he paid his wife, who served as his parliamentary aide, and two children for work they did not perform. Fillon suffered a big loss in the first round of the presidential vote.

Macron himself is determined to avoid any possible connection to the lax or corrupt political practices of the past. Three of his ministers bowed out of their jobs shortly after being appointed — the justice, defense and European affairs ministers — over concerns they could be caught in the investigations into the political use of salaries to parliamentary aides.

 
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