Month: May 2018

The big day finally arrived for Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, as the couple married Saturday in the town of Windsor, outside London.

Prince Charles, Prince Harry’s father, walked the bride down the aisle.

The American former actress confirmed earlier that her father would not attend the ceremony, owing to ill health, after days of speculation over whether he would make the journey across the Atlantic.

Throngs of people descended on the historic town as well-wishers tried to catch a glimpse of the royal couple. Thousands of police officers mounted one of the biggest security operations in recent years, paid for by the public — a bill resented by some opposed to the monarchy.

Supporters argued the wedding was likely to attract big spending by visitors and those watching in bars and big screens across the country.

The ceremony began at midday in the stunning 14th century Saint George’s Chapel on the grounds of Windsor Castle, where Prince Harry was baptized in 1984.

In Photos: The Royal Wedding

Some 600 guests were invited, mainly those who have a direct relationship with the couple.

In addition, more than 2,500 members of the public were invited onto the castle grounds — the prime spot to watch the guests come and go.

“To me, that was surprising, and it was very touching. Because for as much as they don’t like the media intrusion, the royals, they’ve invited media in, they’ve invited the public in, and they’re wanting to share their special day,” said Thomas Mace-Archer-Mills of the British Monarchist Society and Foundation.

Four members of the Mumbai city-based charity the Myna Mahila Foundation were invited. The non-governmental organization provides sanitary products in the slums of the Indian capital and was visited by Meghan Markle last year. It’s one of seven charities that the couple have asked guests to make donations to instead of providing wedding gifts. The charity’s founder, Myne Mahila, says the invitation came as a huge shock.

“We are representing not just ‘Myna,’ but also the women across the urban slums in the city and India as well. I think there is a lot on the plate and a lot of pressure,” she said.

More than 100,000 people were expected to line the streets of Windsor. Many arrived early to bag the best spots for a look. Donna Werner is a self-confessed royal “superfan” who flew over from her home in the U.S. state of Connecticut and camped out for four nights on a Windsor sidewalk.

In Photos: Crowds, Stars Gather for Royal Wedding

“Every little girl has read fairy tales from her childhood on by her mother and she always dreams of becoming a princess and living in a castle. And I mean, this is it. This is a real-life fairy tale,” she said.

In a break with U.S. tradition, Meghan Markle did not have a maid of honor. All of the six bridesmaids and four page boys were children of friends of the couple. Harry’s nephew, Prince George, was a pageboy, and niece, Princess Charlotte, a bridesmaid.  

In the kitchens of Windsor Castle, 30 chefs prepared a banquet for the reception guests.

“The couple … tasted everything, they’ve been involved in every detail,” says royal head chef Mark Flanagan.

That could mean some stateside surprises among the British fare.

“Are we going to see hot dogs and these sorts of American things? I’m sure there will be a nod to the American culture where food is concerned,” said Mace-Archer-Mills.

As well as the home crowds, millions were expected to watch on television around the globe, with the promise of British pomp mixed with plenty of Hollywood glamour.

Fern Robinson contributed to this report.
…

Human rights experts from the United Nations called on Spain Friday to halt extraditions of Chinese and Taiwanese nationals to China because of concerns they would be exposed to the risk of torture, ill treatment or the death penalty.

They cited the December 2016 arrest of 269 suspects, including 219 Taiwanese, over their alleged involvement in telecom scams to defraud Chinese citizens in a police swoop dubbed Operation Wall.

Two Taiwanese individuals were reported to have been extradited to China on Thursday and the U.N. experts said they feared others would also be deported soon.

“We are dismayed by the decision by the Spanish courts to extradite these individuals. The ruling clearly contravenes Spain’s international commitment to refrain from expelling, returning or extraditing people to any state where there are well-founded reasons to believe that they might be in danger of being subjected to torture,” the experts said.

The experts also said some of those detained may be victims of human trafficking after they stated they had been brought to Spain under the promise they would work as tourist guides.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry thanked Spain for “handling Taiwan matters on the basis of the ‘One China’ principle.”

“We are also very happy that the two countries of China and Spain have achieved increasingly fruitful results in cracking down on crime and in joint law enforcement as political trust continuously deepens and pragmatic cooperation advances in a variety of areas,” the ministry said at a briefing on Saturday.

The Spanish government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
…

Conservationists around the world are making great strides in rescuing animal species from the brink of extinction. Despite the recent death of the last male white rhinoceros, there is hope that science can bring the species back. In Europe, scientists are raising bison almost a century after they vanished from the wild, and California’s population of sea otters has rebounded from only 50 specimens in the 1930s. VOA’s George Putic has more.
…

President Vladimir Putin says the Russian military will start receiving new nuclear weapons in the coming years.

Speaking at a meeting Friday in Sochi, Putin said delivery of the new Avangard hypersonic vehicle will begin next year while the new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile will enter duty in 2020.

The Avangard and the Sarmat were among an array of new nuclear weapons Putin presented in March, saying that they can’t be intercepted. They also included a nuclear-powered global range cruise missile and an underwater drone designed to strike coastal facilities with a heavy nuclear weapon.

Putin said two other new systems unveiled in March —  the Kinzhal hypersonic missile and the laser weapon called Peresvet —  have already been put on duty with the units of Russia’s Southern Military District.
…

Turkey has called on Muslim nations to stand with Palestinians and to work to stop countries joining the United States in relocating their Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The call came at the end of a week that has seen Turkey take a leading role internationally to condemn Israeli actions in Gaza after Israeli forces killed dozens of people in Gaza. A diplomatic spat ensued with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu trading barbs on Twitter and both countries expelling senior diplomats.

As part of its condemnation of events in Gaza earlier this week, the Turkish government organized a massive “Curse Oppression, Support Jerusalem” rally and an extraordinary summit of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation, or OIC, as a show of solidarity Friday.

Speaking to tens of thousands waving Palestinian and Turkish flags, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah criticized the U.S., describing its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving its embassy there Monday a “big mistake.”

Erdogan told the rally the responsibility to defend Jerusalem lay with them as crowds chanted “Chief, take us to Jerusalem.” He said the U.S. can no longer play the role of a mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as it is “siding with creating problems rather than solving them.”

He also lambasted those elements of the Islamic world that failed in what he termed “the Jerusalem exam,” saying “all we Muslims do is condemn” and not unite. Erdogan argued Muslim countries were “severe, intolerant and unconscientious” to each other and “toothless and cowardly” to unspecified enemies.

Erdogan is expected to address leaders of Muslim nations later Friday at the OIC and demand action.

At the morning session of the OIC summit, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, “we must prevent other countries from following the U.S. example” and that “precautions” are taken within the grouping after some nations voted against, abstained or did not show up at a United Nations vote in December. Some 128 countries overwhelmingly supported the U.N. motion against Washington’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Despite that, Cavusoglu said “the U.S. administration did not give up on ignoring the basic principles of international law or the will of the international community.”

High-level officials from more than 50 member states, including Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, are attending the summit.
…

Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday that he would stand up to any attempts by U.S. President Donald Trump to block a Russian-German gas pipeline project.

Berlin and Moscow have been at loggerheads since Russia’s annexation of Crimea four years ago, but they share a common interest in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which will allow Russia to export more natural gas to northern Europe.

A U.S. government official this week said Washington had concerns about the project, and that companies involved in Russian pipeline projects faced a higher risk of being hit with U.S. sanctions.

“Donald is not just the U.S. president, he’s also a good, tough entrepreneur,” Putin said at a news conference, alongside Merkel, after the two leaders had talks in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.

“He’s promoting the interests of his business, to ensure the sales of liquefied natural gas on the European market,” Putin said, departing from his usual approach of being scrupulously respectful when speaking about Trump. “But it depends on us, how we build our relations with our partners, it will depend on our partners in Europe. We believe it [the pipeline] is beneficial for us, we will fight for it.”

As well as the differences over Nord Stream 2, European capitals are at odds with Washington over Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal. Moscow shares Europe’s position on the deal.

Some commentators have said that a shared opposition to Trump’s stances on Iran and other issues could lead to a rapprochement between Europe and Russia, repairing a relationship badly damaged by the Ukraine conflict.

Merkel, who earlier in the day received a bouquet of pink and white roses from Putin as she arrived at his residence in Sochi, also hinted at tensions between Berlin and the Trump administration.

Asked about differences with the United States over the Iran deal and other issues, Merkel told reporters: “We have a strong transatlantic friendship, which during its history has had to withstand many questions of different opinions, and I think that might be the case now as well.”

While the Russian leader is frequently critical of U.S. policy, he has been meticulous about not attaching blame to Trump personally. Kremlin officials have said in the past the two men have a personal rapport that Putin wishes to preserve.

Pipeline politics

European states involved in Nord Stream 2 say it is a purely commercial project but the Trump administration say it is helping the Kremlin pursue its political agenda.

The pipeline may result in less Russian gas being transported via Ukraine, depriving Kiev’s struggling pro-Western government of transit fees that are a vital source of revenue.

In a nod to the U.S. concerns, Merkel said Russian gas should still be pumped through Ukraine. “We see Nord Stream 2 as an economic project but it also has implications and that’s why we are working on what guarantees Ukraine could be given,” she said.

Putin said he was willing to negotiate with Kiev about continued transit of Russian gas.

Despite the common ground on Nordstream and the Iran deal, long-standing tensions in the Berlin-Moscow relationship surfaced at the news briefing.

Merkel said she was worried about a new property law implemented by the government of Syria, which is backed by Moscow. Rights activists say the law allows the Syrian government to deprive people who have been displaced by the fighting of their homes.

“That is bad news for people who want one day to return to Syria. We will discuss that intensively and ask Russia to use their influence to persuade Assad not to do that. We must prevent facts being created on the ground,” Merkel said.

Putin a day earlier had received Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad at his residence in Sochi for talks.

At the briefing with Merkel, the Russian president chided European leaders over Syria, saying if they want Syrian refugees living in their countries to return home, Europe had to commit to reconstruction in Syria.

Diplomats say that is a bone of contention, because European governments believe Russia should pay the lion’s share of the multi-billion-dollar reconstruction cost since it is the main military force and powerbroker in Syria.
…

The U.S. ambassador to Russia said he would not speak when he appears on the panel of the St. Petersburg economic forum (SPIEF) next week which he was to participate in with Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian oligarch recently added to a U.S. sanctions list.

“While I will not be participating in any panel discussions at SPIEF, I will be meeting as many people as possible to discuss the road ahead,” the envoy, Jon Huntsman, said in a video posted by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow on Twitter.

Russian media said earlier that Huntsman was scheduled to give a speech at the forum’s Russia-USA panel session where Vekselberg is one of the participants. The Russian businessman and his Renova Group were added to the list of U.S.-sanctioned individuals and entities on April 6.

The official program of the forum, which runs from May 24-26, included Huntsman as panelist, Russian media reported in May. As of Thursday, he was no longer on the list.

The United States imposed major sanctions against 24 Russians deemed close to President Vladimir Putin in one of Washington’s most aggressive moves to punish Moscow for its alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and other “malign activity.”
…

Close to 3.5 million people caught up in the conflict in eastern Ukraine urgently need humanitarian aid, according to the U.N. — which says its assistance program has received a small fraction of the funding it needs. Populations live under the constant threat of artillery and gunfire, mines, and unexploded ordnance — and now face growing food insecurity and outbreaks of diseases like TB. For VOA, Henry Ridgwell traveled to the front line earlier this week and has this report.
…

The newly-opened bridge linking Crimea and Russia carries traffic both ways, but the political divide its construction has come to symbolize is most apparent to those who call the territorially contested peninsula home.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin led the televised, inaugural crossing of the controversial span on Tuesday—ensconced in the cab of a bright-orange, (partly) Russian-made Kamaz dump truck to emphasize the new route’s commercial promise—senior members of the Mejlis, the self-governing body of Crimean Tatars that Russia outlawed upon its annexation, saw a very different image.

“The bridge is Putin’s image-boosting project for the sake of his electorate in Russia,” Ulmi Umerov, deputy director of the Mejlis, told VOA’s Russian Service. “Whatever is being said about the bridge being a gateway somewhere, it’s only a gateway to a dead end. Economically, it won’t be justified.”

For Umerov’s fellow deputy, Ahtem Chiygoz, financial prospects are beside the point. No amount of economic benefits could adequately compensate for what has been lost, he told VOA.

“Close brotherly ties with Ukraine ended when Russia started to kill Ukrainian citizens in Crimea, in Eastern Ukraine, including women and children,” he said. “It severed all ties.”

While even some Russians have dubbed the road-and-rail bridge, purposely designed to hardwire Crimea into Russia’s transport network, “Putin’s bridge,” many in Russia see the move as restoring Moscow’s rule over a historically Russian region.

As a pack of leather-clad bikers roared toward the Black Sea Peninsula on Wednesday—their tri-color Russian flags snapping in wind, the leader of a widely known pro-Kremlin motorcycle club in their midst—even some native Crimeans were there to greet them.

“The Crimea bridge is a link,” said Andrey Merkulov, a resident from Sevastopol, the peninsula’s biggest city. “It is the greatness and might of my country. It’s yet more proof of this might and greatness.”

“We came to participate in the opening [of the bridge], to drive on it for the first time,” said Aleksandr Karavayev, also from Sevastopol.

His family, like other Crimean locals, said they had driven through the night to attend what they called a historic moment.

Project finances questioned

Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine drew sanctions and prompted a deterioration in ties with the West.

On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko joined top EU officials in condemning the project as a violation of international law, saying it has damaged the environment and that larger ships won’t be able to navigate to ports on the Azov Sea.

Although the United States has sanctioned numerous individuals and entities involved in the project, and U.S. officials on Tuesday vowed anew that Crimea-related sanctions would remain in place until Russia returns control of the peninsula to Ukraine, Russian attorney Nikolay Polozov, who provides legal counsel for some Mejli deputies, said completion of the bridge only proves the sanctions are largely obsolete.

“It turned out a number of European companies took part in the bridge construction despite the existing sanctions,” he told VOA. “Since Russia did not have the technology that made constructing the bridge by themselves possible, they were working with Dutch companies. This is going to lead to a very serious political conversation between the U.S. and Europe.

“And it wasn’t by chance that Arkady Rotenberg, Putin’s friend, was present at the grand opening,” he added, referring to the construction magnate who is one of Russia’s wealthiest men and Putin’s one-time Judo coach.

“His company was responsible for the bridge construction, as well as for Sochi Olympics and other construction projects organized with double and triple profit in mind,” he said. “The task is to extract as many funds from the budget as possible and then split it between themselves.”

The bridge, Polozov argued, has no practical meaning.

The main highway that the bridge feeds into, he said, “leads directly to the Simferopol city bus terminal,” which is roughly a 130 mile drive from Kerch, portions of which are on slower secondary roads.

“You can’t go anywhere else from it.”

Tourism promotion

Many Russians, however, know that’s technically not true. And with beachfront destinations such as Feodosia and Koktebel marking the way, that may not matter.

Crimea is a popular destination for Russians during the summer, and Putin said in March he would like to see the bridge open by the time the season arrives.

The bridge will also make the peninsula easier to reach from southern Russia, where long lines of vehicles frequently form as they wait to board ferries, which can’t always run during winter storms.

“In the past three years, nothing stopped Russians from coming to the Crimea,” said Chiygoz, the deputy Mejli who, like his fellow deputy, Umerov, has ostensibly been excommunicated to Kyiv.

Upon Russia’s 2014 annexation, both Chiygoz and Umerov were quickly jailed, only to be whisked to Istanbul where they received pardons. Because they were denied access to the terms of the pardon, however, they now reside indefinitely in Kyiv, uncertain if they will ever be allowed to return home to Crimean soil.

But Russians, Chiygoz says, are “being actively encouraged to visit [Crimea].”

“You can’t steal territory from another state in the 21st century, you can’t kill women and children and then make it seem like nothing happened,” Chiygoz said.

“Russia’s image-making projects are destined to fail,” added Umerov, referring to the bridge.

“Because today this state transmits terror,” he said, claiming that’s that what the bridge, in his mind, represents. “It brings death.”

The 19-km (12 miles) long Kerch Strait Bridge opened to public traffic Wednesday.

This story originated in VOA’s Russian Service. Some information is from Reuters.
…

When EU leaders pose for a “family picture” with counterparts from six western Balkan nations hoping to join the bloc, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will stay away in protest – highlighting how long and hard their road to membership is likely to be.

Thursday’s summit, the first such meeting in 15 years, is meant to demonstrate the European Union’s renewed commitment to a region that remains fragile two decades after the ethnic wars that followed the break-up of Yugoslavia.

Spain does not even recognize the independence of Kosovo, which will attend the Sofia summit along with Albania, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia, and EU governments also worry about a string of other problems afflicting the region.

But after years of neglecting the six, the EU has been spurred into action by the growing influence of other powers in the region, which in 2015-16 also became a main route for a wave of migrants from the Middle East and Africa heading to wealthier European nations to the north.

‘European perspective’

EU chairman Donald Tusk made this point before the summit.

“It will be an opportunity for both sides to reaffirm that the European perspective remains the Western Balkans’ geostrategic choice,” he said. “I hope to bring our Western Balkan friends closer to the EU.”

As Britain is on the way out, the bloc’s executive European Commission has proposed that EU leaders decide in June to open formal membership negotiations with Albania and Macedonia.

“The risks to Europe are zero,” said Prime Minister Boyko Borissov of Bulgaria, which itself joined the EU in 2007 with neighboring Romania.

“If we do not embrace… the Western Balkans and do not help them – yes, many of them are not ready and they have yet to catch up – then there is no reason to be angry that the influence of the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia will be greater than that of Europe,” Borissov added.

But many in the EU feel differently.

As the bloc is still recovering from economic and migration crises that have fuelled euro-skepticism among its own voters, doubters point to problems ranging from organized crime in Albania to Macedonia’s dispute with EU member Greece over its name, which is blocking Skopje’s aspirations.

Rajoy has decided to leave Sofia before the western Balkans meeting and EU officials say no one from the Spanish delegation will pose for the symbolic joint photograph on Thursday – a reminder that Madrid is just one of five member states that do not regard Kosovo as a sovereign nation.

Madrid, locked in a dispute with Catalan separatists at home, refuses to recognize Kosovo’s split from Serbia in 2008.

Timing in doubt

Two ex-Yugoslav republics, Slovenia and Croatia, have already joined the EU. But lawlessness and crime flourished in the Balkans during the wars of the 1990s, leaving the region awash with weapons and a transit route for drug and human traffickers.

“The direction of travel is very clear – the European perspective,” a senior EU official said. “What really matters is the determination of applicants in implementing reforms. And patience because also on the EU side you need to have the right window of opportunity to take the decision.”

The EU and Balkan six will sign a declaration on improving infrastructure including electricity and gas connections, as well as countering radicalism, improving security and controlling migration.

Brussels also sees building good neighborly relations as vital to a region where wartime hostilities still burden relations and threaten the fragile peace.

To join the EU, Serbia – the biggest market among the six – must settle its borders with Kosovo and with Bosnia, where tensions between rival communities often paralyze decision-making.

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev warned that a clear perspective was needed to prevent the region from sliding back into conflict.

“We saw that the status quo brings an erosion of democracy, a lack of economic opportunity,” he told a meeting in Sofia.

“Negative influence from third parties is increasing.”

 
…

President Tayyip Erdogan is driving Turkey “to the cliff” through ideological politics and a determination to control the central bank, the main opposition party’s presidential candidate said on Wednesday as the lira hit new record lows.

Muharrem Ince, who seeks to end Erdogan’s 15-year hold on power in next month’s elections, said the central bank and other economic institutions must be able to operate independently.

Erdogan said this week he plans to take greater control of the economy after the June 24 presidential and parliamentary polls, comments which drove the lira to fresh record lows. It is down 15 percent against the dollar this year.

“He’s taking the country to the cliff. The central bank needs to be independent, and the other economic bodies need to be autonomous. The rules need to operate,” Ince told Reuters in an interview.

The victor in next month’s election, held under a state of emergency imposed after a failed coup in 2016, will exercise sweeping new executive powers after Turks narrowly approved a constitutional overhaul in a referendum last year. The changes come into effect after the June vote.

Polls favor Erdogan

Polls show Erdogan is comfortably the strongest candidate, though he could face a challenge if the presidential vote goes to a second round in July and his opponents rally around the other remaining candidate.

Ince, 54, a combative parliamentarian and former physics teacher, has energised his secularist opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) since he started campaigning and may emerge as the leading opposition candidate — although he faces competition from former interior minister Meral Aksener.

Aksener’s nationalist Iyi (Good) Party and the CHP have joined with two other smaller parties in an opposition alliance for the parliamentary election. She and Ince are competing separately in the presidential vote.

 ‘Wind of change’

Ince said the president was driven by “ideological obsessions” and pushing Turkey in the wrong direction.

Erdogan, a self-described “enemy of interest rates,” wants lower borrowing costs to boost credit and new construction, and has said the central bank will not be able to ignore the president’s wishes. That has fuelled concerns about the bank’s ability to fight double-digit inflation.

Since his Islamist-rooted AK Party swept to power in 2002, Erdogan has dominated Turkish politics. His power is reinforced by a near-monopoly of broadcast media coverage. Most TV channels show nearly all his campaign rallies, but rarely offer a platform to his opponents.

“The state of the media is heartbreaking. They have surrendered, they have kneeled,” Ince said, adding he had told broadcasters that unless they started to cover his speeches, he would hold a rally directly outside their offices to shame them.

If elected, Ince pledged to reverse some of the powers granted to the new presidency, saying it handed total control of the budget, judiciary and executive to one person.

EU countries concerned

Several European Union countries have expressed alarm that those changes are pushing Turkey deeper into authoritarian rule.

Turkey is still a candidate for EU membership, though negotiations have stalled over rights concerns and other issues.

Erdogan says the increased powers are necessary to tackle security threats following the failed coup and conflict on Turkey’s southern borders with Syria and Iraq.

“No mortal should be given such authority,” Ince said. “It shouldn’t be given to me either.”

‘Everyone’s president’

Against Erdogan, a skilled campaigner, the CHP has struggled to win support beyond its core base of secular-minded voters. In the last parliamentary election in November 2015 it took 25.3 percent of the vote.

Ince has pledged to be a non-partisan leader if elected, styling himself as “everyone’s president” and promising not to live in the 1,000-room palace built by Erdogan in Ankara.

“I see that a wind of change is blowing,” he said, pointing to what he described as a new atmosphere at his political rallies compared to last year’s referendum campaign.

“The momentum I have garnered is very different — there is a strong wind and people feel excitement,” he said.
…

Moscow is protesting the arrest of a journalist in Ukraine, and the Council of Europe and other human rights groups have expressed concern.

Ukraine’s domestic security agency, the SBU, detained Kirill Vyshinskiy, the head of the Ukraine office of Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency, on treason charges. His arrest followed SBU raids of the Kyiv offices of RIA Novosti and RT television Tuesday.

The agency alleges the Russian state-funded media outlets were being “used as tools in a hybrid war against Ukraine.”

The Kremlin denounced Ukraine’s action as an attack on media freedom, and the Russian Foreign Ministry lodged a formal protest.

The Council of Europe said Wednesday it was “concerned about the implications that repeated detentions of journalists may have for the situation with media freedom in Ukraine.”

 
…