Month: October 2017

Rain and cooler temperatures are helping firefighters in Portugal and Spain’s Galicia region battle wildfires that have killed at least 40 people.

Authorities in Portugal said Tuesday the fires there were under control, while in Spain the blazes were still threatening inhabited areas.

Portugal also began three days of mourning Tuesday.

Winds from Hurricane Ophelia fanned the wildfires that officials in both countries have said were started by arsonists.

“They are absolutely intentional fires, premeditated, caused by people who knew what they are doing,” said Alberto Nunez Feijoo, the head of Galicia’s government.

Juan Ignacio Zoido, Spain’s interior minister, said in a tweet that several people had already been identified in connection with the fires. He appealed for people with further information to share it with the national protection service.

Wildfires are an annual problem in Portugal, where strong winds off the Atlantic blow into a hot and dry country. In June, a massive forest wildfire killed 64 people and injured 150 others. Scientists say climate change has extended the wildfire season from two to five months.
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Europe looks set to have its youngest leader with Austria’s 31-year-old Sebastian Kurz of the conservative People’s Party scoring a clear victory in Sunday’s parliamentary election, winning around 32% of the votes cast. 

Kurz, who took the reins of the party earlier this year, told his jubilant supporters that “The Austrian population gave us their confidence to bring about a new style of political culture and for a respectful relation to the other parties, and most importantly to advance Austria forward.”

His victory marks an extraordinarily rapid rise to the top of Austrian politics. Kurz transformed the fortunes of his People’s Party, largely on an anti-migrant platform.

On the campaign trail earlier this month, he promised supporters that he would “strike a very clear path which is going to reduce illegal migration to zero,” adding that migrants who “set off illegally must be stopped at the border, taken care of and sent back.”

Elections in France and the Netherlands this year checked the momentum of right-wing populist parties in Europe. But Austria has shown it is still a political force, says Leopold Traugott of the analyst group Open Europe.

“Right wing populism certainly is not dead in Europe, particularly not in Austria. Austria was one of the main reception countries, but also transit countries during the refugee crisis in 2015. And still during this election campaign it was the meta-topic to which all other issues were combined.”

Kurz’s rival, Heinz-Christian Strache – leader of the far-right Freedom Party – accuses Kurz of stealing his policies and political slogans on migration and Islam.

“Now we will see if they really mean it honestly or seriously, if they are even willing to have honest negotiations with us or not. And I’m telling you: you can rely on one thing. We are going to stay true to ourselves,” Strache told supporters Sunday as it became clear his party had sealed second place.

Coalition talks

With all parties well short of a majority, tough coalition talks lie ahead. Analysts say a coalition agreement between the People’s Party and the Freedom Party is now the most likely outcome of the election – although other combinations are possible. The third-placed Social Democrats, hurt by scandals during the campaign, have not ruled out forming a coalition with either of the two right-wing parties.

It’s clear Kurz’s People’s Party tried to offset the challenge of the far right by taking a tough line on immigration, says Traugott.

“The question of how you can actually beat the populists is debated all over Europe. And at least in Austria, moving towards them certainly did not help.”

In Austria, as in other parts of Europe, analysts say voters express the same common concerns.

“In general globalization, digitalization, economic crisis, people are more and more insecure, people lose their jobs and even or especially less educated people have kind of a feeling that they can’t keep up with modern times, a modern labor market and so on,” says Alexandra Siegl, a polling analyst at the Vienna-based Peter Hajek Strategies, a political consultancy firm.

Those same concerns were echoed in the French presidential election, won by another young leader who stormed the established political order – Emmanuel Macron. Analysts say the similarities end there.

“While Macron is a cosmopolitan, a globalist as he calls himself, Sebastian Kurz clearly portrays a more conservative, traditionalist image,” says Traugott.

They are contrasting visions within the new generation of European political leaders. For the EU itself, analysts say the result in Austria will dampen hopes that 2016 – the year of Brexit – marked the beginning of the end of the right-wing populist surge.
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Europe looks set to have its youngest leader with Austria’s 31-year-old Sebastian Kurz scoring a clear victory in Sunday’s election. With most results in, the conservative foreign minister appears to have won over 31% of the vote – still well short of a majority, meaning complex coalition talks lie ahead. As Henry Ridgwell explains, Kurz’s victory was built largely on an anti-immigrant platform.
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Turkey is expanding its latest military intervention in Syria rapidly, sending more special forces and commandos into Idlib as part of a high-risk effort agreed to with Moscow and Tehran to establish a de-escalation zone in the northwest Syrian province that is mainly controlled by an al-Qaida offshoot.

The intervention is the biggest incursion by the Turks in Syria since last year, when Turkish forces partnered with Free Syrian Army (FSA) militias, once aided by the U.S. but now dependent on Ankara, to clear Islamic State militants, as well as Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), from a stretch along the Turkish border in neighboring Aleppo province.

Analysts say the most recent incursion has several aims, including encircling a Kurdish enclave Turkey does not want the Kurds to unite with other territory they control further east. It marks a deepening of efforts by Moscow, Ankara and Tehran to try to shape an end-game to the long-running Syria conflict, independent of Western priorities and participation.

Turkish officials say the intervention in Idlib is part of a deal reached last month with Russia and Iran to reduce clashes between rebels based in Idlib and the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

For the Turks, the halting of clashes between insurgents, including al-Qaida offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Syrian regime, reduces the chances of refugee flight towards the Turkish border. More than two million people are estimated to be living in Idlib province, and prior to the agreement to set up a de-escalation zone there, the province was being targeted by Russian and Syrian regime warplanes in a vicious air campaign that killed hundreds of civilians.

Cengiz Tomar, an analyst with the Istanbul-based Marmara University, told a conference in Istanbul last week a key goal for Ankara is “to prevent a new wave of refugees from Syria.”

Damascus has raised objections to the Turkish intervention, denouncing the incursion as a violation of its sovereignty, and on Saturday demanding an “immediate and unconditional withdrawal” of Turkish troops deployed to Idlib alongside FSA fighters militiamen. But the condemnation from President Bashar al-Assad’s government strikes many as a face-saving one.

A senior Turkish lawmaker, who is a member of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, told the news outlet Al Jazeera the Syrian government’s demand for Turkish troops to withdraw was for domestic Syrian public opinion and should not be taken seriously.

“At the end of the day, foreign troops have entered the Syrian land and this has to be explained to the Syrian public one way or another,” said lawmaker Kani Torun.

No objections from Russia

Russia, a key Assad ally, has raised no objections. On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the de-escalation zones — a total of four across the country— “were conducted in the framework of the Astana talks with the participation of the three guarantor countries, Russia, Turkey and Iran.”

“Cooperation with Russia is one of the key elements of our foreign policy. We are in close coordination on Syria as well,” Turkish Parliament spokesman İsmail Kahraman told reporters on Saturday in in St. Petersburg after a meeting with Russian officials.

The Turkish intervention began overnight Thursday when four convoys of armored vehicles, including tanks, crossed into Idlib near Bab al-Hawa.

On Saturday more convoys moved into position on the Turkish side ready to cross, say FSA commanders.

FSA rebels said the intervention force will probably go up to 40 kilometers inside Idlib province, giving the Turks and their FSA allies control of a large pocket of Syrian territory stretching from Bab al-Hawa to Jarablus city and south to the town of al-Bab, northeast of Aleppo city.

For Syrian Kurds aligned with the YPG, the Turkish incursion into Idlib represents a further threat to their interests and will block them from linking up territory they control along the Turkish border, some of it captured from FSA militias and jihadists.

Afrin, a Kurdish enclave the Turks have periodically bombarded, is potentially in Turkish cross-hairs. Ankara has threatened to expel Kurdish forces based there.

“We have no tolerance for the smallest wrong in Afrin,” Erdogan told reporters Friday while en route to Ankara from a trip in the Balkans.

But the intervention is high-risk for Turkey. There are many moving parts involved in what will be a phased operation, if the Turks are to be successful in pacifying Idlib. A key challenge will be constraining al-Qaida offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra.

Aron Lund, a Syria specialist at the U.S.-based think tank The Century Foundation, has questioned how Turkey will implement de-escalation.

“The obvious stumbling block is the fact that much of Idlib is under the control of Tahrir al-Sham, which is viewed internationally as a terrorist group,” he said.

So far, HTS has been withdrawing its fighters, allowing the Turks and their allies to move in. The al-Qaida offshoot also provided an escort for the initial Turkish convoys last week, helping the Turks complete an encirclement of Afrin. That has prompted Kurdish accusations of Ankara being in cahoots with the jihadist group.

But it isn’t clear HTS has much choice but to comply – to do otherwise would risk the Turks moving against them, according to Yezid Sayigh, an analyst at the Carnegie Middle East Center, a policy research group.

He argued even before the Turkish incursion was launched that Ankara’s moves to set up a ‘de-escalation’ zone could pave the way for an offensive against HTS.

An added complication for Turkey may come from a breakaway from HTS, which has sworn allegiance to a son of Osama bin Laden, Hamza.

According to the jihad and terrorism monitoring group the Middle East Media Research Institute, Ansar Al-Furqan Fi Bilad Al-Sham (the Supporters of the Qur’an in Syria) has sworn to target U.S. interests primarily but in statement released on October 10, the breakaway said it is also ready to fight the Turkish army.
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At least 34 people have died after wildfires ravaged Portugal and Spain’s Galicia region, rescuers said on Monday.

In Portugal, at least 31 people died in fires that blazed through forests in the northern and central parts of the country, causing residents to flee towns and villages, and injuring more than 50 people. Local media reports said several people are still missing, including a one-month old baby.

Three people have been reported dead in Spain; two victims were found in a burned-out car on the side of the road.

In Portugal, the government declared a state of emergency for regions north of the Tajo river. More than 6,000 firefighters in 1,800 vehicles were deployed by early Monday morning.

Winds from Hurricane Ophelia fanned the flames of the wildfires that Portuguese and Spanish authorities said were sparked by arsonists.

“They are absolutely intentional fires, premeditated, caused by people who knew what they are doing,” said Alberto Nunez Feijoo, the head of the Galicia government.

Juan Ignacio Zoido, Spain’s interior minister, said in a tweet that several people had already been identified in connection with the fires. He appealed for people with further information to share it with the national protection service.

Wildfires are an annual problem in Portugal, where strong winds off the Atlantic blow into a hot and dry country. In June, a massive forest wildfire killed 64 people and injured 150 people. Scientists say climate change has extended the wildfire season from two to five months.

The fires were caused by “higher than average temperatures for the season and the cumulative effect of drought, which has been felt since the start of the year,” Patricia Gaspar, Portuguese civil protection agency spokeswoman, said.

The Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, who is from Galicia, said he was returning to the region to see the emergency coordination himself.

Light rainfall early Monday is expected to help extinguish the flames.
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There is more trouble for disgraced U.S. movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday he has started the process to strip Weinstein of the Legion of Honor — the highest honor in France and one of the world’s most prestigious awards.

France presented Weinstein the honor in 2012 in recognition of his efforts to promote French and other European cinema around the world.

Four French actresses are among the 13 who accuse Weinstein of sexually assaulting or harassing them over several decades.

This latest blow against Weinstein came a day after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out the Oscars, voted to “immediately expel” Weinstein from the academy.

The vote by the 54 member Board of Governors was overwhelming, saying it wants “to send a message that the era of willful ignorance and shameful complicity in sexually predatory behavior and workplace harassment in our industry is over.”

It called the allegations that Weinstein traded professional favors for sexual ones “a deeply troubling problem that has no place in our society.”

The British film academy suspended Weinstein’s membership last week.

Weinstein was fired by the board of his production company, the Weinstein Co., following an explosive New York Times report just days earlier, in which 13 women accused him of sexually harassing or assaulting them.

History of transgressions

At least three women accuse him of rape. Among the actresses who have leveled accusations of sex abuse against Weinstein are such major stars as Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rosanna Arquette.

The New Yorker magazine reports 16 current and former employees The Weinstein Co. and Miramax, which Weinstein co-founded with his brother Bob, either witnessed of knew of Weinstein’s sexual abuse. According to the report, all of those employees said Weinstein’s sexual deviancy was widely known within the two companies.

The 65-year-old Weinstein oversaw production of many popular films over the past 30 years, including Shakespeare in Love, Pulp Fiction, Sex, Lies and Videotape, The English Patient, Good Will Hunting and The Butler.

Weinstein said in a statement “the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain, and I sincerely apologize for it.” Later, he claimed some of accusations reported in the media were false and said he would sue for defamation.

Weinstein has been a big donor in recent years to Democratic politicians in the U.S., including twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. But with the sexual harassment revelations, Democratic political figures scrambled over the weekend to distance themselves from the disgraced filmmaker.

Several Democrat politicians, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Elizabeth Warren, have promised to donate money they received from Weinstein to charities supporting women.
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Innsbruck no longer plans to bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics after its promise to organize low-cost and sustainable games failed to convince residents.

The province of Tyrol said Sunday it will drop plans to host the games after 53.35 percent of voters had rejected the idea in a referendum. In Innsbruck, the capital of the province, 67.41 percent of residents said “no” to a possible bid.

Results from postal voting will be announced Monday but were not expected to significantly change the outcome.

“The decision stands,” Tyrol governor Guenther Platter said. “I was, and still am convinced that our offer for re-dimensioned games would have been a chance, not only for Tyrol but also for the Olympic movement.”

A feasibility study presented in June suggested Innsbruck could host the games on a budget of 1.175 billion euros ($1.3 billion).

The host city would have avoided building new permanent infrastructure with sports being spread over existing venues in the Tyrol region as well as in southern Germany and northern Italy. The Alpine skiing events would have taken place in St. Anton, biathlon in Hochfilzen, Nordic combined in Seefeld, hockey in Bolzano, Italy, and ice skating in Inzell, Germany.

IOC reform program dealt blow

Also, the concept refrained from building a central Olympic Village as athletes would have been located close to their respective venues.

In sharp contrast to the overall outcome, residents in St. Anton (85.12 percent), Hochfilzen (80.71) and Seefeld (65.40) easily voted in favor of a possible bid.

The rejection deals a blow to the International Olympic Committee as Innsbruck’s plans closely followed the guidelines of Agenda 2020, the IOC’s reform program that allows more flexibility in hosting the games, including the possibility of using venues in other cities, and even in neighboring countries.

Peter Mennel, general secretary of the Austrian Olympic Committee, said he was “personally disappointed.”

“We have been fighting hard for this chance over the last couple of months because we are convinced that the time was right for this low-key bid by Tyrol,” Mennel said.

After Innsbruck hosted the Winter Games in 1964 and again in 1976, its residents have voted against another bid two times before, in 1993 and again in 1997. Since then, Austria had several failed bids, most recently with Salzburg for the 2014 Games.

In 2013, the last time Austrian citizens were asked about hosting Olympics, Vienna had to drop plans to bid for the 2028 Summer Games after more than 70 percent of its residents rejected the idea.

The formal bidding process for the 2026 Olympics will start next year with the hosting rights to be awarded in July 2019.
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Ireland dispatched its armed forces to bolster flood defenses on Sunday and warned people against non-essential travel as the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia threatened the country with its worst storm in 50 years.

Ophelia, the sixth major hurricane of the Atlantic season, is due to make landfall on the south west coast of Ireland at around 0500 GMT on Monday, the Irish weather service said, describing the storm as “unprecedented.”

Hurricane force winds are likely off Ireland’s south coast but they are expected to ease before they reach the coastline, said the weather service, which has declared a Status Red weather alert.

The weather service has warned some gusts may exceed 130 kilometers per hour (80 miles per hour).

The government has also warned of localized coastal flooding and likely disruption to transport and electricity services.

“You should not be out in this storm … this is an extreme weather event,” the chairman of Ireland’s National Emergency Coordination Group Sean Hogan said at a briefing.

Asked if it was likely to be the worst storm in half a century, he said the “comparable weather event” was Hurricane Debbie, which killed 12 in Ireland in 1961. Ophelia has the potential to be a life-threatening event in Ireland, he said.

The storm is likely to pass close to a west of Ireland golf course owned by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has been planning a wall to protect its greens from coastal erosion.

“The storm has the potential to reshape stretches of the Irish coast, John Sweeney, a climatologist at Maynooth University,” said.

“It is going to be perhaps an event comparable to Debbie in 1961 which has effectively marked many of the coastlines of the west coast of Ireland to the present day,” Sweeney told state broadcaster RTE.

Members of the armed forces have been sent to Tralee on the south west coast to build coastal defenses with sandbags.

Britain’s meteorological service said in a statement that the weather system may effect road, rail, air and ferry services.

British media are comparing the storm to the Great Storm of 1987, which subjected parts of the United Kingdom to hurricane strength winds 30 years ago to the day.
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Polls are open in Austria where voters are casting ballots in a snap election that analysts say could result in a resurgence by conservatives.

Opinion polls favor Sebastian Kurz, the 31-year-old charismatic conservative party leader and current foreign minister, who observers say has succeeded in reinventing the conservative party and galvanizing the Austrian right, including the far right, following the breakdown of a coalition between conservatives and socialists.

The campaign has been dominated by the issue of immigration. Austria, with a population of just less than 9 million, accepted 90,000 asylum seekers, most of them Muslim, during the 2015 migrant crisis, fueling support for right-wing politicians who favor tougher immigration laws.

Conservatives suffered a blow in December 2016 when Norbert Hofer was narrowly defeated in an election also dominated by the issue of immigration, but in which voters chose a Green party candidate, Alexander van der Bellen.

Now, analysts say the conservative People’s Party, led by Kurz, has soared to No. 1 in the polls, leaving the far-right Freedom Party and the socialists vying for second place. 

Observers say the poll represents a chance for the far right to join a coalition government for the first time in years and mark a shift to the right in Austrian politics.
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Hurricane Ophelia, a rare storm for the North Atlantic, was expected to bring high winds and rough seas to five western counties of Ireland this weekend.

Ophelia, strengthening offshore near the Azores Islands, was a   Category 3 storm, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. It had top sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour (115 mph) and was expected to produce total rain accumulations of up to 10 centimeters (4 inches) over the southern Azores.

Seven of the nine islands of the Azores were on red alert as ordered by regional civil protection services. The islands were expecting heavy rainfall overnight.

The 245,000 people who inhabit the Azores were told to stay inside while the storm passes.

Ophelia was expected to wind down slightly before reaching Ireland as a tropical cyclone on Monday. Five counties were placed on red alert for severe weather conditions on Monday and Tuesday, according to the Irish Meteorological Service.

Ireland, which only rarely sees hurricanes, was expected to endure winds in excess of 130 kph (80 mph) on Monday.

Coincidentally, Monday will be the 30th anniversary of what has been nicknamed the Great Storm of 1987, a hurricane that took down 15 million trees in Britain and killed more than 20 people in Britain and France together.
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The United Nations warns some 4 million people across Ukraine are facing a desperate situation as winter approaches and are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance to survive the bitterly cold months ahead.

Ukraine is into its fourth year of war, a war that the United Nations estimates has killed about 10,000 people and injured more than 23,500 others. No resolution is in sight to what has become a frozen conflict between the Kyiv government and Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine.

This is causing immense suffering to millions of people living in zones close to the contact line that separates the areas controlled by each side. The UN reports some four million people need food, health services, shelter, water and sanitation and protection as winter approaches.

Jens Laerke is spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. He says most of the people in urgent need of aid live in the rebel-controlled areas in the east, though pockets of need also exist in Government-controlled areas throughout the country.

“One of the results of this deteriorating crisis is that we now estimate that 1.2 million people in Ukraine on both sides of the contact line…are food insecure. So, that is certainly a concern,” said Laerke.

Laerke says some 600,000 people, most living in separatist east Ukraine, are unable to access their pensions, which are critical for their survival.

He warns aid agencies will not be able to provide the humanitarian aid needed to help Ukraine’s millions of vulnerable people this winter without more money. He notes only 26 percent of this year’s $200 million U.N. appeal for Ukraine has been received.
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The Vatican trial over $500,000 in donations to the pope’s pediatric hospital that were diverted to renovate a cardinal’s penthouse is reaching its conclusion, with neither the cardinal who benefited nor the contractor who was apparently paid twice for the work facing trial.

Instead, the former president of the Bambino Gesu children’s hospital and his ex-treasurer are accused of misappropriating 422,000 euros from the hospital’s fundraising foundation to overhaul the retirement home of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state under Pope Benedict XVI.

Prosecutors have asked for a guilty verdict, a three-year prison term and a fine of 5,000 euros ($5,910) for the ex-president, Giuseppe Profiti. They asked to dismiss the case against the ex-treasurer, Massimo Spina, for lack of evidence.

The trial, which began in July and resumes Saturday with the defense’s closing arguments, exposed how Bertone bent Vatican rules to get his retirement apartment in shape for him to move into after Pope Francis was elected in 2013 and named a new secretary of state.

Retirement nest 

After retiring in 2013, Bertone was assigned a 400 square meter (4,305 square feet), top-floor apartment in the Vatican-owned Palazzo San Carlo, which sits on the edge of the Vatican gardens and offers fabulous views of St. Peter’s Basilica and overlooks the Vatican hotel where Francis lives.

During the trial, Bertone was shown to have personally engineered the unprecedented maneuver to get an old friend, Gianantonio Bandera, to do the renovation. Bertone’s project jumped the queue for Vatican real estate repairs, and avoided the normal external bidding process required for such an expensive overhaul, presumably because he promised to foot the bill himself.

And Bertone did indeed pay some 300,000 euros ($355,000) out of his own pocket. The problem is the hospital foundation also paid Bandera’s firm 422,000 euros for a job that totaled 533,000 euros, including communal repairs to the palazzo’s leaky roof.

The chief engineer of the Vatican’s building maintenance office, Marco Bargellini, testified that Bertone’s August 2013 request for renovations was unique. Bargellini said he had never seen a case where a tenant proposed a project with the construction firm already chosen, since the Vatican has a list of contractors who would normally bid for the contract.

Bandera’s firm, Castelli Re, originally estimated the renovation at 616,000 euros, a fee Bargellini said was excessive compared to market rates. But he said the Vatican approved it after Bandera offered a 50 percent discount up-front.

In the end, Castelli Re went bankrupt, and the hospital’s 422,000 euros were sent instead to another Bandera company located in Britain. 

A donation made

The only hint of a potential kickback from Bandera’s apparent double-billing involved a proposed six-figure “donation” from Bandera to the hospital foundation. Profiti said he “didn’t exclude” that he had sought such a donation, and Spina testified that he tried to get the money out of Bandera. Bandera, however, pleaded financial hardship after his company went bankrupt and never paid up.

Neither Bertone nor Bandera were indicted in the case, though it’s possible prosecutors in the Vatican and Italy now have the evidence they need to mount a case against the builder over the apparent double billing.

At the trial, Bandera testified that he never billed twice for the work, though he acknowledged he was no longer fully in control of the company after it went bankrupt in early 2014.

Bertone has insisted he knew nothing of the hospital’s payment. After the scandal came to light in late 2015, Bertone quickly made a 150,000 euro ($177,300) “donation” to the hospital. He insisted it wasn’t a payback but a gesture of goodwill.

Profiti, for his part, admitted he used foundation money to spruce up Bertone’s flat because he planned to host hospital fundraising soirees there. None were ever held.

Profiti’s replacement as hospital president, Marella Enoc, testified that “it’s not my style to have fundraising dinners in the homes of cardinals or celebrities.”
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UNESCO’s executive board voted Friday to make a former French government minister the U.N. cultural agency’s next chief after an unusually heated election that was overshadowed by Middle East tensions.

The board’s selection of Audrey Azoulay over a Qatari candidate came the day after the United States announced that it intends to pull out of UNESCO because of its alleged anti-Israel bias.

The news rocked a weeklong election already marked by geopolitical resentments, concerns about the Paris-based agency’s dwindling funding and questions about its future purpose.

If confirmed by UNESCO’s general assembly next assembly next month, Azoulay will succeed outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova of Bulgaria, whose eight-year term was marred by financial woes and criticism over Palestine’s inclusion in 2011 as a member state.

Azoulay narrowly beat Qatar’s Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari in the final 30-28 vote after she won a runoff with a third finalist from Egypt earlier Friday. The outcome was a blow for Arab states that have long wanted to lead the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

UNESCO has had European, Asian, African and American chiefs, but never one from an Arab country.

In brief remarks after she won the election, Azoulay, 45, said the response to UNESCO’s problems should be to reform the agency, not to walk away from it.

“In this moment of crisis, I believe we must invest in UNESCO more than ever, look to support and reinforce it, and to reform it. And not leave it,” she said.

The new director will set priorities for the organization best known for its World Heritage program to protect cultural sites and traditions. The agency also works to improve education for girls, promote an understanding of the Holocaust’s horrors, defend media freedom and coordinate science on climate change.

The next leader also will have to contend with the withdrawal of both the U.S. and Israel, which applauded its ally for defending it and said Thursday that it also would be leaving UNESCO.

The election itself had become highly politicized even before the U.S. announced its planned departure.

Azoulay started the week with much less support than Qatar’s al-Kawari but built up backing as other candidates dropped out. She went on to win a runoff with a third finalist, Moushira Khattab of Egypt. Egypt’s foreign ministry has demanded an inquiry into alleged “violations” during the voting.

Jewish groups opposed al-Kawari, citing a preface he wrote to a 2013 Arabic book called “Jerusalem in the Eyes of the Poets” that they claimed was anti-Semitic. He wrote, “We pray to God to liberate (Jerusalem) from captivity and we pray to God to give Muslims the honor of liberating it.”

In March, the Simon Wiesenthal Center wrote an open letter to German Ambassador Michael Worbs, chair of the UNESCO Executive Board, to criticize the organization for accepting the former Qatari culture minister’s candidacy.

During the months leading up to the election, Egypt and three other Arab nations were engaged in a boycott of Qatar over allegations that the government funds extremists and has overly warm ties to Iran.

French media reported that Qatar recently invited several members of the UNESCO executive board on an all-expenses-paid trip to the country’s capital, Doha.

Azoulay’s late entry into the leadership race in March also annoyed many UNESCO member states that argued that France shouldn’t field a candidate since it hosts the agency. Arab intellectuals urged French President Emmanuel Macron to withdraw his support for her.

She will be UNESCO’s second female chief and its second French chief after Rene Maheu, UNESCO’s director general from 1961-74. While she is Jewish, her father is Moroccan and was an influential adviser to Moroccan kings, so she also has a connection to the Arab world.

The Trump administration had been preparing for a likely withdrawal from UNESCO for months, but the timing of the State Department’s announcement that it would leave at the end of 2018 was unexpected. Along with hostility to Israel, the U.S. cited “the need for fundamental reform in the organization.”

The outgoing Bokova expressed “profound regret” at the U.S. decision and defended UNESCO’s reputation.

The U.S. stopped funding UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member state in 2011, but the State Department has maintained a UNESCO office and sought to weigh in on policy behind the scenes. UNESCO says the U.S. now owes about $550 million in back payments.

Azoulay acknowledged the image of the organization — founded after World War II to foster peace, but marred by infighting between Arab member states and Israel and its allies — needed rebuilding.

“The first thing I will do will be to focus on restoring its credibility,” she said.

While UNESCO’s general assembly must sign off month on the executive board’s leadership pick, but officials said the confirmation vote typically is a formality.
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Azerbaijan, Egypt and Indonesia have all unjustly arrested dozens of people during anti-gay crackdowns in recent weeks, subjecting many to mistreatment in custody, the United Nations human rights office said Friday.

“Arresting or detaining people based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity is by definition arbitrary and violates international law,” U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing.

In Azerbaijan, more than 80 lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) people have been arrested since mid-September and the U.N. has received allegations that some were subjected to electric shocks, beatings, forced shaving and other forms of humiliation to force them to incriminate themselves before being released, Colville said.

There was no immediate comment from authorities in Baku.

More than 50 people have been arrested so far in Egypt’s widest anti-gay crackdown, a swift zero-tolerance response to a rare show of public support for LGBT rights in the conservative Muslim country.

Two were arrested for waving rainbow flags at a concert and one for a Facebook page, Colville said.

“In some cases, individuals were reportedly arrested after being entrapped by law enforcement officials on apps and in internet chat rooms. Charges include ‘habitual debauchery,’ ‘inciting indecency and debauchery,’ and ‘joining a banned group,'” he said.

At least 10 men in Egypt have been sentenced to between one and six years imprisonment, a few have been released, and most others await trial, Colville added.

In Indonesia, more than 50 people were arrested at a sauna in Jakarta last Friday, Colville said. Four men and one woman were charged under the country’s pornography law, a vague statute used to arrest people for consensual same-sex relations, he said.

“In all three countries, authorities have alleged that those arrested were involved in sex work — although in almost all cases the accused have denied such allegations or indicated that they were coerced into confessing involvement,” Colville said.

He called for the release of people detained on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity and for authorities to drop charges based on vague or discriminatory laws, and to repeal such legislation.
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A Polish security official says Poland has expelled a Russian historian on suspicion that he acted against Poland’s interests.

A spokesman for the minister in charge of state security, Stanislaw Zaryn, said Friday the man used his contacts among Polish historians and journalists to promote Russia’s viewpoint, to discredit Polish authorities and to undermine Poland’s ties with Ukraine.

The man, identified only as Dmitry K. in line with Poland’s privacy law, taught at a college in Pultusk, eastern Poland. He was expelled Wednesday.

Zaryn said he had failed to tell the college about his cooperation with the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, which is led by a former foreign intelligence service chief and advises the Russian government.

Poland, a NATO member, is distrustful of Moscow’s activity in the region.
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A military helicopter lands to evacuate people wounded during a police raid against terrorists who took hostages at Sarajevo airport – part of the first joint

drill by the EU peacekeeping force (EUFOR) in Bosnia and local army and police.

In the exercise, part of the drill dubbed “Quick Response 2017,” Sarajevo is hit by severe flooding, and EUFOR flies in to help the population. There are also protests across the country and a risk of terrorist groups linked to organised crime rings smuggling arms and fake documents.

“This was a realistic exercise and an opportunity to demonstrate that we have capacities, power and determination to quickly and efficiently respond to any security threat,” said Bosnia’s Security Minister Dragan Mektic.

More than 20 years since the end of its war in the 1990s, Bosnia is still troubled by ethnic politicking and external influences. While separatist aspirations by the Bosnian Serb and Croat nationalists grow stronger, there is also a threat of radicalisation among traditionally moderate Bosnian Muslims.

The five-day drill, by the 600- strong EUFOR along with 400 British and NATO troops, also includes reconnaissance and surveillance of wide areas across Bosnia.

In 2015, parts of Bosnia were hit by the greatest flooding in a century, leaving thousands without homes and hurting the economy. The same year, two soldiers and a police officer were killed in separate terrorist attacks.

EUFOR was deployed in Bosnia in late 2004, replacing NATO’s SFOR force to maintain security after the 1992-95 war. Its mandate has been repeatedly extended.

While Bosnia’s central authorities want to join NATO, Bosnian Serbs, who prefer stronger ties with Russia, oppose that and have threatened to hold a referendum on the issue.

Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Robin Pomeroy.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Thursday that Russia was preparing lawsuits to reclaim what Moscow says was illegally seized property in the United States, Russia’s foreign ministry said.

Lavrov, in a telephone conversation with Tillerson, also said it was unacceptable that U.S. authorities had removed Russian flags from its seized diplomatic buildings in the United States, the ministry said.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, asked about the accusations later, told reporters that U.S. actions at the shuttered Russian facilities were “perfectly legal” and were carried out with “a lot of thought” and in a “judicious fashion.”

“The flags of the former Russian consular properties in San Francisco were respectfully lowered. They’re safely stored within each of the buildings,” Nauert said. “There’s no country in the world that pays greater respect to its own flag and to the flags of other nations. That is something that we take seriously.”

But Russia’s foreign ministry said Lavrov stressed to Tillerson that “the lawlessness continued by U.S. officials runs counter to declarations made at the highest level in Washington about intentions to normalize the bilateral relations, which have hit an all-time low.”

Russian staff left the consulate in San Francisco last month after Washington ordered Moscow to vacate some of its diplomatic properties, part of a series of tit-for-tat actions resulting from a souring of relations between the two countries.
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Full Name: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Created: 1945.

Mission: To build a culture of peace, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information.

How does it work?

UNESCO’s primary decision-making body is the General Conference, comprising all 195 member states. It meets every 2 years to set the policies and programs of the agency. It is overseen by a Director-General, who is appointed every four years.

Programs: UNESCO’s activities are focused on five areas.

    Attaining quality education for all and promoting lifelong learning
    Mobilizing scientific knowledge and policy for sustainable development
    Addressing emerging social and ethical challenges
    Fostering cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue and a culture of peace
    Building inclusive knowledge societies through information and communication

Observances: UNESCO observes 40 International Days, including International Women’s Day on  March 8, World Press Freedom Day on May 3, World Teachers’ Day on October 5 and International Migrants Day on December 18.
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A suggestion by President Donald Trump that a U.S. regulator pull broadcast licenses from TV networks over what Trump calls “fake news” has been met by silence from the watchdog’s head Ajit Pai, who has a history of defending free speech rights.

Pai, who was reconfirmed last week for a new five-year term at the Federal Communications Commission and named chairman by Trump in January, has been urged by members of Congress to denounce Trump for a proposal that has little, if any, chance of success.

That is because the commission does not actually license broadcast networks or cable stations and the hurdles to denying licenses to individual stations are extremely high.

Trump’s remarks on Wednesday that threatened to muzzle the media and fellow-Republican Pai’s strong support for press freedoms could conflict as Pai mounts ambitious plans to overhaul federal communications regulations.

Trump said in a Twitter post: “Network news has become so partisan, distorted and fake that licenses must be challenged and, if appropriate, revoked. Not fair to public!”

His ire was raised by an NBC News report that said he had called for a massive increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal, a report Trump denied. Trump and his supporters have repeatedly used the term “fake news” to cast doubt on media reports critical of his administration, often without providing any evidence to support their case that the reports were untrue.

Pai’s office has declined to comment, despite Reuters’ repeated requests Wednesday and Thursday.

The FCC, an independent agency, does not issue licenses to individual networks but to local stations, including those directly owned by broadcasters such as Comcast Corp that owns NBC. Comcast and NBC declined to comment on Trump’s remarks.

Pai has defended the First Amendment and press freedoms. In October 2016, he said anyone at the FCC “has the duty to speak out whenever Americans’ First Amendment rights are at stake.”

In a 2014 Wall Street Journal piece, Pai said “the government has no place pressuring media organizations into covering certain stories.”

Pai has an ambitious agenda, which he is expected to unveil details of in the coming months. It includes proposing to eliminate some significant media ownership restrictions and a plan to roll back former Democratic President Barack Obama’s so-called net neutrality rules.

Senator Tom Udall, a New Mexico Democrat, said on Twitter Trump’s comments were “unacceptable attacks on the #FirstAmendment by @POTUS. @AjitPaiFCC committed to Congress to speak up at times like this. We are waiting.”

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan defended press freedoms Thursday but did not directly criticize Trump.

“I’m for the First Amendment. I don’t always agree and like what you guys write, but you have a right to do it,” Ryan said.

Republican Senator Ben Sasse asked if Trump was “recanting” the oath of office to defend the First Amendment.

In March, Pai told the U.S. Congress he did not agree with Trump when he said that “the media is the enemy of the American people.” Pai said he would act independently of the White House on media-related matters.

Last month, Pai lamented that people on Twitter demand “the FCC yank licenses from cable news channels like Fox News, MSNBC, or CNN because they disagree with the opinions expressed on those networks. Setting aside the fact that the FCC doesn’t license cable channels, these demands are fundamentally at odds with our legal and cultural traditions.”
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Nerves are fraying in the Brexit talks, negotiators are trying to work out if the other side is bluffing about walking away, and a ticking clock is fast narrowing British options come March 2019.

Philip Hammond, Britain’s finance minister, echoed recent EU assertions when he said that a transition period to some new relationship was a “wasting asset,” the value of which would “diminish significantly” for both sides if its form remains unclear to businesses much after the start of the New Year.

As negotiators in Brussels make little progress before Prime Minister Theresa May meets EU leaders next week, a warning about a breakdown in talks from a minister seen strongly to favor a business-friendly “bespoke” transition out of the EU came a day after the EU summit chair spoke of a similar New Year deadline.

Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that if London fails to settle divorce terms by December, and so unlock talks on the transition and future trade pact, then the EU would reconsider its objectives. That reflects mounting doubts across Europe that any legal exit deal can be struck.

The longer the stand-off goes on, EU negotiators said, the more Britain’s choice come March 30, 2019 will be between the “hard Brexit” by which it will simply quit all EU systems and be treated like, say, Australia, and a virtual status quo, staying in most EU systems, without voting rights, rather like Norway.

“The closer we get, the less there is to discuss about a transition and the more it just goes to a standstill transition, with Britain still in everything, but without a vote,” one said.

“Pretty soon,” said another, “It will be Norway or nothing.”

While all such commentary reflects the sides’ jockeying for negotiating advantage, the evidence this week is that they remain far apart and are getting tetchy. May and the EU traded jabs over whose court “the ball” is in after the prime minister made concessions in a speech at Florence on Sept. 22.

Behind closed doors, British negotiators voiced outraged surprise that her offer was seen as insufficient to launch talks on the future relationship. “It’s hard to say it was genuine,” one EU official said of the show of emotion. “It’s a form of pressure.”

Business worries

Businesses are sounding the alarm. A German industry federation warned members to start preparing for a “very hard Brexit.” A senior representative of London’s financial services industry told a Brussels audience this week that a legal transition agreement must be reached by the end of this year.

“Most importantly, it must reflect the status quo,” said Catherine McGuinness of the City of London Corporation. “There is no feasibility in asking firms to transition to a transition. If uncertainty continues, businesses will vote with their feet.”

Hammond ruled out budgeting — yet — for more customs and border facilities, and few on the continent believe threats of a walkout they say would hurt Britain more than them.

So leaders will watch May’s struggle to unite her government and sit tight. One senior EU diplomat said British counterparts were in such a weak position that “sometimes I feel sorry them.”

For many in Brussels, that makes a virtual status quo after Brexit the increasingly likely outcome: “In March 2019, Britain will formally leave,” said another EU official.

“But de facto most of the existing arrangements will remain … They will have their celebration of ‘independence’ and then we will sit down to talking business again.”

May insists a two-year transition period is enough to agree a new free trade pact, but many question that.

John Bruton, the former prime minister of Ireland, has recommended an alternative to either no deal at all or a virtual status quo transition — just keeping Britain fully in the EU for four years beyond 2019.

Arguing that the two-year deadline set by Article 50 of the EU treaty raises the risk of talks collapsing, and that agreeing first a transition and then another accord is complex, Bruton said this week that Britain and the EU should agree to a six-year negotiating period, with Britain only leaving in 2023.

Neither wants any extension. But Bruton warned: “The present tight time frame … increases the likelihood of miscalculation and of the UK leaving the EU with no deal at all.”
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European countries are scrambling to cobble together a package of measures they hope will keep the Iran nuclear deal on track if U.S. President Donald Trump ignores their pleas and decertifies the landmark 2015 agreement this week.

The package would include a strong statement backing the deal by European powers, together with efforts to lobby the U.S. Congress and put wider pressure on Iran, officials said.

But without strong U.S. support for the deal, senior officials in Berlin, Paris and London say it may be only a matter of time before the pact between Tehran and six world powers unravels, with grave consequences for Middle East security, nonproliferation efforts and transatlantic ties.

The 2-year-old agreement, under which Iran agreed to freeze its nuclear program for 15 years in exchange for sanctions relief, is viewed in Europe as a rare triumph of international diplomacy in the Middle East.

​North Korea watching

As tensions over North Korea’s nuclear activities risk boiling over into all-out war, any move by the United States to undermine the Iran deal is seen in Europe as utter folly.

European capitals have been delivering this message to the White House and Congress in one of the most intense lobbying campaigns in recent memory. In the past weeks, European ambassadors have met dozens of U.S. lawmakers. And on Tuesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May lobbied Trump by phone.

Despite this, Trump is expected declare this week that Iran is not complying with the pact. He is also due to unveil a tough new strategy towards Iran, including designating its Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist organization, that could sink the deal.

“If the feeling is the United States no longer supports the agreement then the political reality is that the deal will be in serious jeopardy and its implementation will be very difficult,” a senior French diplomat told Reuters.

A decision by Trump to decertify would not automatically kill the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The expectation is that Trump would kick the ball to Congress, which would then have 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions lifted as part of the JCPOA.

Three-pronged response

European officials said they were preparing a three-pronged strategy if this does occur.

First, Berlin, London and Paris would issue statements reaffirming their commitment to the deal.

Second, they would redouble efforts to lobby Congress, which appears keen to keep the deal, against any rash moves.

And third, they would present measures to pressure Iran over its ballistic missile program and destabilizing policies in the Middle East, areas that fall outside the narrowly focused nuclear deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron alluded to this at the United Nations last month. Diplomats said the package was still in the works and they had not yet briefed Brussels on it.

Imperfect agreement

With the third step, the Europeans hope to build a bridge to Washington while keeping the JCPOA intact. But a German diplomat said ratcheting up pressure on Tehran was like walking a tightrope: push too hard and the whole deal could fall apart.

“We all knew the JCPOA wasn’t perfect, but by calling its benefits into question I see us only losing,” said a senior European diplomat who has been involved in negotiations with Iran since 2003, well before Washington joined the talks under President Barack Obama.

If Trump follows through on his threats it will be the second time in four months that he has distanced the United States from a major multilateral agreement despite intense lobbying by partners and members of his own Cabinet.

But in Europe, the Iran move would be seen as far more damaging than Trump’s decision in June to pull out of the Paris climate accord.

“The threat from Iran in terms of nuclear proliferation is more immediate. This is far more dangerous,” said Elmar Brok, a veteran foreign policy expert in the European Parliament and party ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

European officials and analysts fear a breakdown of the JCPOA could lead to an arms race in the Middle East, a military conflict between Iran and Israel and an escalation of regional proxy wars between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

They fear it would also doom any chances, no matter how slim, for a negotiated deal with North Korea.

All about war

“At the end of the day it’s all about the risk of war,” said Francois Heisbourg, chairman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

There is also the danger of a further deterioration in transatlantic ties, especially if Washington targets European firms that do business in Iran.

Were that to happen, the EU ambassador to Washington, David O’Sullivan, has said Brussels would revert to a 1990s-era law that shields European companies from extraterritorial sanctions.

Even if the EU were to take such a step, the senior French diplomat said European companies could think twice about their Iran commitments.

Among firms that have announced big deals in Iran since the JCPOA went into force are planemaker Airbus, French energy group Total and Germany’s Siemens.

“One of the big difficulties of the agreement is ensuring the economic operators have confidence in the system and key to that is confidence in the United States,” the diplomat said.

Any signs that European companies are pulling back could prompt the Iranians to reassess the merits of the nuclear deal.

“The agreement with Iran is like a delicate plant,” said Omid Nouripour, an Iranian-born lawmaker with the German Greens party, which is expected to be part of Merkel’s next coalition government.

“It is a sign of what diplomacy can achieve, but it is fragile. The American president doesn’t appear to believe in diplomacy. He seems intent on crushing this plant.”
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He may strike fear in the hearts of dissidents and foreign leaders, but Russian President Vladimir Putin lost his heart Wednesday to a fluffy white puppy with black and brown markings.

Putin received a belated birthday gift from Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov — an  alabai, a top Turkmen-bred variety of the Central Asian shepherd dog. The pup is named Verny, or Russian for “loyal.”

Putin, who turned 65 over the weekend, cuddled Verny and kissed it on the head during a meeting in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The pup joins the Kremlin kennel that already is home to a Bulgarian shepherd named Buffy, a gift from Bulgaria’s premier, and an Akita named Yume, from a Japanese official.

Putin favorite Konnie, a black Labrador famous for terrifying German Chancellor Angela Merkel, died a few years ago. He was a present from Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

The Central Asian shepherd dog is a multipurpose working dog native to Russia and the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. The breed is used for a number of purposes, including livestock protection, dog fighting, personal and property protection, companionship and military work.
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Russia has won the latest round in a judicial tug-of-war with the U.S. over who should try a Russian cybercrime suspect arrested during a holiday in Greece.

Last week, a panel of judges in the city of Thessaloniki agreed to send Alexander Vinnik to the U.S. to face charges he laundered $4 billion worth in bitcoins.

A different panel of judges accepted Wednesday a Russian extradition request, which followed the initial U.S. one. In Russia, Vinnik is accused of a 667,000-rouble (10,000-euro, $12,000) fraud.

The final decision will rest with Greece’s Justice Minister, once Vinnik, 37, has exhausted the process of appealing his extradition to the U.S.

Vinnik denies both sets of charges, but said he wants to be tried in Russia. He has appealed his U.S. extradition.

 
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Financial markets in Istanbul were pummeled this week as the tit-for-tat visa spat between the Unites States and Turkey escalated. Turkish stocks and currency values fell on Monday before rebounding in Tuesday’s trading. The Oct. 8 decision by the United States to place the NATO ally on the same list of pariah states as North Korea and Iran comes at a critical time for the Turkish economy. Mil Arcega has more.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears to be escalating a diplomatic clash with the United States, saying the U.S. should immediately withdraw its outgoing Ambassador John Bass if he failed to consult with his superiors over a decision to suspend visa services. The U.S. State Department is asking why Turkey detained two of its locally-employed staff in Istanbul-which it says prompted the visa suspension in the first place. VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.
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The Pentagon says a diplomatic dispute between Turkey and the United States has not affected military operations or personnel out of Turkey, including efforts to defeat Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.

“I can confirm that these developments have not impacted our operations or personnel,” Pentagon spokesman Army Colonel Robert Manning told reporters on Tuesday. “Coalition counter-IS operations out of Incirlik and other Turkish facilities are closely coordinated with and have the full support of our Turkish partners.”

Manning said the Turkish air force base in Incirlik continues to “fulfill an important role” in NATO and coalition efforts.

Since the rise of Islamic State, the U.S.-led coalition has used Incirlik Air Base as the main staging area for air attacks against IS in Syria and in northern Iraq. The facility is also used to support U.S. forces in both countries.

Counter-Islamic State flights from ships in the Mediterranean Sea also typically fly through Turkish airspace during their missions.

Relations between the NATO allies have hit a new low, with Turkey and the U.S. blocking bilateral business and tourist travel.

Last week, Turkey arrested a U.S. consulate employee and Turkish national, accusing him of regular communication with alleged leading members of what Turkey has deemed a terrorist network blamed for a failed coup against Erdogan last year.  

Following the arrest, the U.S. embassy in Ankara announced it would temporary halt all non-immigrant visa applications — a move that was quickly mirrored by Turkey.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is defending the arrest of a U.S. consulate employee, accusing him of being a spy.

“How did these spies infiltrate the American consulate?  If they didn’t infiltrate the American consulate, who put them there?” Erdogan said, speaking Tuesday alongside Serbia’s president in Belgrade.  “No state would allow such spies that pose an internal threat.”

Last week, Turkey arrested Metin Topuz, a U.S. consulate employee and Turkish national, accusing him of regular communication with alleged leading members of what Turkey has deemed a terrorist network blamed for a failed coup against Erdogan last year.  Turkey has said it will also be questioning a second consulate employee.

The arrest led to a diplomatic feud between the two countries in recent days.  Following the arrest, the U.S. embassy in Ankara announced that it would temporary halt all non-immigrant visa applications – a move that was quickly mirrored by Turkey.

A statement Sunday from the U.S. Embassy in Ankara said, “Recent events have forced the United States Government to reassess the commitment of the Government of Turkey to the security of U.S. Mission facilities and personnel.”  The statement did not say how long the suspension would last.

The statement added, “In order to minimize the number of visitors to our Embassy and Consulates while this assessment proceeds, effective immediately we have suspended all non-immigrant visa services at all U.S. diplomatic facilities in Turkey.”

Hours later, Turkey retaliated by announcing its own suspension of visa services in the United States, using language that parroted the U.S. statement and reasons for the halt.

Applicants for these visas said that upon going to the embassy for their appointments, they were simply given a piece of paper instructing them to call a phone number for more information.

“I came here for my appointment, which was confirmed, I want to reiterate that,” Ali Guney, a visa applicant, told VOA Turkish.  

“But the security gave me this paper, saying we can contact them via the phone number written on it and get information.  I’ve called this number over and over again but don’t have any results.  A voicemail operator answers, no real person behind, and no one gives any further information in the consulate.  I don’t know what I am going to do, just sitting in this cafe, waiting.”

Omer Yavuz, who had planned to travel to Houston, Texas to visit his cousin, said he also was told to call the number but has received no response.

“No one is giving any complete information,” he said, adding that he anticipates having to cancel his plans.

VOA Turkish contributed to this report.
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A nationwide strike by French public sector workers on Tuesday was affecting schools, hospitals and public services and causing disruptions in domestic air traffic.

Nine public sector unions called for nationwide industrial action to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policies, which they say would result in deteriorating work conditions.

The unions are angry at plans to tighten rules for sick leave, freeze salaries and decrease the number of public sector employees in the next five years.

Flagship carrier Air France says about 25 percent of domestic flights would be cancelled due to a walkout by some traffic controllers. The airline expects to run all long-haul flights to and from Paris airports.

The Education Ministry said in a statement about 17 percent of teachers across the country were on strike Tuesday. Some school cafeterias and nurseries were closed, and several high schools in Paris were closed because students were blocking the entrances in solidarity with the union action.

“They unravel all the social protections supposed to protect the weakest and the workers,” said Sandrine Amoud, a teacher on strike in Paris to protest Macron’s policies.

Railway traffic was expected to be close to normal.

Jean-Claude Mailly, secretary general of the hard-left FO union, called on Macron to stop “austerity” policies toward public servants during a protest in the city of Lyon.   

Tuesday’s industrial action comes after several other street protests in recent weeks against Macron’s proposed changes to labor laws, which apply to employees of the private sector. Unions fear Macron’s economic policies would weaken France’s hard-won workers protections.

The hard-left CGT union called for new protests and strikes against Macron’s labor reforms on October 19.
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