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Former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has compared Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan for Brexit to putting the country’s constitution in a “suicide vest” and handing the detonator to the European Union.

The attack, and Johnson’s choice of language, widened the divide in the governing Conservative Party over Brexit.

Johnson, a strong supporter of Brexit, quit May’s government in July after rejecting her proposal for close economic ties with the bloc after the U.K. leaves next year. His article in the Mail on Sunday ramped up speculation that he plans to challenge her leadership.

But some Conservative colleagues condemned his language.

Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan tweeted that the comments marked “one of the most disgusting moments in modern British politics” and should be “the political end of Boris Johnson.”
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Combined support for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative alliance and its partners, the left-leaning Social Democrats (SPD), has hit a

record low for any such “grand coalition” government, according to a survey published Sunday.

Germany’s two biggest and most established parties have had a difficult summer, blighted by infighting over immigration that is flaring up again after violent right-wing protests in the eastern city of Chemnitz followed the fatal stabbing of a German man, for which two migrants were arrested.

The survey by pollster Emnid for the weekly newspaper Bild am Sonntag had support for Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian allies, the Christian Social Union (CSU), down by 1 percentage point on the week, to 29 percent.

In last September’s federal election, the CDU/CSU bloc won 32.9 percent of the vote.

The poll put support for the SPD down 2 percentage points to 17 percent. In the last election, the SPD won 20.5 percent of the vote.

Their combined score of 46 percent was the lowest for any CDU/CSU/SPD coalition — a combination that also held power in 2005-09 and 2013-17 — in Emnid’s poll for the Bild am Sonntag.

The pollster surveyed 2,472 voters between August 30 and September 5.

Support for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) was unchanged from the previous week at 15 percent, the poll showed. The far-left Linke gained a point to 10 percent.

The ecologist Greens were unchanged at 14 percent and the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) remained at 9 percent.

Support for other parties rose 2 percentage points to 6 percent.
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Swedes vote on Sunday in a tight election dominated by fears about asylum and welfare, with the populist, anti-immigration Sweden Democrats vying to become the biggest party in a country long seen as a bastion of economic stability and liberal values.

Far-right parties have made spectacular gains throughout Europe in recent years following a refugee crisis sparked by civil war in Syria and conflicts in Afghanistan and parts of Africa.

In Sweden, the influx of 163,000 asylum seekers in 2015 has polarized voters, fractured the cozy political consensus and could give the Sweden Democrats, a party with roots in the neo-Nazi fringe, a veto over which parties form the next government.

‘Sense of discontent’

“Traditional parties have failed to respond to the sense of discontent that exists,” Magnus Blomgren, a social scientist at Umea University. “That discontent maybe isn’t directly related to unemployment or the economy, but simply a loss of faith in the political system. Sweden isn’t alone in this.”

The center-left bloc, uniting the minority governing Social Democrat and Green parties with the Left Party, is backed by about 40 percent of voters, recent opinion polls indicate, with a slim lead over the center-right Alliance bloc.

The Sweden Democrats, who want the country to leave the European Union and put a freeze on immigration, have about 17 percent support, up from the 13 percent they scored in the 2014 vote, opinion polls suggest.

But their support was widely underestimated before the last election and some online surveys give them as much as 25 percent support, a result that would most likely make them the biggest party, dethroning the Social Democrats for the first time in a century.

That could weaken the Swedish crown in the short term, but analysts do not see any long-term effect on markets from the election as economic growth is strong, government coffers are well-stocked and there is broad agreement about the thrust of economic policy.

Euroskeptic voices

Sweden has flirted with populism before. New Democracy, founded by an aristocrat and a record producer, won nearly 7 percent of the vote in 1991 promising strict immigration policies, cheaper alcohol and free parking, before crashing out of parliament only three years later.

But if the Sweden Democrats get a quarter of the vote, it would be a sensation in a country described as a “humanitarian superpower” by then-Moderate Party Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt in 2014.

It would also make them the biggest populist party in the Nordic region, topping the Danish People’s Party, which got 21 percent support in 2015, and trump the 12.6 percent for the far-right Alternative for Germany, which swept into the Bundestag in 2017.

With an eye on the European Parliament elections next year, Brussels policymakers are watching the vote in Sweden closely, concerned that a nation with impeccable democratic credentials could add to the growing chorus of euroskepticism in the EU.

Sweden took in more asylum seekers per capita than any other country in Europe in 2015, magnifying worries about a welfare system that many voters already believe is in crisis.

Lengthening queues for critical operations, shortages of doctors and teachers, and a police service that has failed to deal with inner-city gang violence have shaken faith in the “Swedish model,” built on a promise of comprehensive welfare and social inclusion.

Akesson’s objectives

Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Akesson has labeled the vote a choice between immigration and welfare.

He has also promised to sink any government that refuses to give his party a say in policy, particularly on immigration.

Mainstream politicians have so far rebuffed him. But with some kind of cooperation between parties in the center-left and center-right blocs the only other alternative out of the current political deadlock, analysts believe Akesson may yet end up with some influence on policy.

With both options unpalatable to the traditional players, forming a government could take weeks.

Polling stations open at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) and close at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT), with exit polls set be published by Sweden’s two main broadcasters around that time. Results from the vote count will become clear later in the evening.
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British anti-terrorism officers were helping to investigate a knife attack in a northern English town Saturday in which one man was injured, although police said they were keeping an open mind.

A 28-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, they said, after what officers earlier called a “serious incident” in Barnsley that resulted in the man suffering minor injuries.

A kitchen knife had been recovered and was being forensically examined, South Yorkshire police said.

“At this stage we are keeping an open mind as to the motivation … we are receiving support from detectives at Counter Terrorism Policing North East,” the police said in a statement.

“The woman is currently being assessed from a mental health perspective,” the police said.

An investigation had begun to establish whether it was an isolated incident and whether the suspect acted alone.

Sections of the town center shopping area where the incident occurred were still cordoned off Saturday as forensics officers clad in white suits gathered evidence.

Police released no further details of the incident, but urged the public to remain vigilant and appealed for witnesses.

“We understand that this morning’s incident will have been distressing and shocking for those in the town center,” said Assistant Chief Constable Tim Forbes. ” … Rest assured we are working relentlessly to piece together

what happened.”
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Turkey is again warning that a “bloodbath” would result from any Syrian government military offensive on Syria’s last rebel stronghold of Idlib.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeated that warning Friday as a trilateral summit involving his country and Russia, and hosted by Iran, appeared to end in deadlock over efforts to avert conflict in the Idlib enclave.

“We never want Idlib to turn into a bloodbath,” Erdogan said at a news conference with his Russian and Iranian counterparts. “Any attack launched or to be launched on Idlib will result in a disaster, massacre and a very big humanitarian tragedy,” Erdogan added.

Syrian forces have been massing around Idlib, backed by Russian air power and naval might. The Tehran summit was touted as the last chance to avoid the looming military operation. Iran and Russia maintain that Damascus is right to deal with terrorist threats.

“Fighting terrorism in Idlib is an unavoidable part of the mission of restoring peace and stability to Syria,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said at the press conference, adding, “but this battle must not cause civilians to suffer or lead to a scorched earth policy.”

“The legitimate Syrian government has a right and must eventually take control of its entire national territory,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said, supporting his Iranian counterpart.

Russian bombers this week started to target Idlib ahead of an expected ground operation. Around 3 million civilians are believed to be trapped in the enclave bordering Turkey.

Erdogan warned that with Turkey hosting millions of Syrian refugees, it cannot take in any others.

“That [Idlib attack] would lead to a humanitarian wave adding to existing refugees, but because of the nature with Idlib, some of these refugees would be people associated with jihadist groups,” said political analyst Sinan Ulgen, head of the Istanbul-based Edam research institution.

“So it represents not only a humanitarian burden on Turkey, but also a very significant security risk going forward,” he added. “So that is a scenario Turkey wants to prevent and relies on Russia’s support.”

At the Tehran summit, Erdogan proposed a cease-fire in which the radical jihadist groups could be disarmed and removed from the region.

Ankara is one of the main backers of the Syrian rebels, developing strong ties with myriad warring opposition groups. Turkey’s relations with the opposition made it a key partner with Russia and Iran in their efforts to end the Syrian civil war under the so-called “Astana Process.”

Idlib is the last of four de-escalation zones created under the auspices of the Astana Process in which rebels and their families were transferred to designated areas protected by a cease-fire. Much to Ankara’s anger, the other de-escalation zones were overrun by Syrian government forces and Russian airpower, the fate now awaiting Idlib.

Twelve Turkish military outposts are located in the Idlib enclave as part of the agreement to create the de-escalation zone with Tehran and Moscow. Speaking in Tehran, Erdogan reiterated that the military posts were to protect civilians. Some analysts suggest that could be a thinly veiled warning.

On Thursday, Ibrahim Karagol, a columnist closely linked to Erdogan, was more direct. “A possible attack on these military posts (in Idlib) or provocation by the Damascus administration or the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) and other organizations that act in cooperation with the regime will be met with an extremely harsh reaction from Turkey — just as it should be,” wrote Karagolin the pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper. Turkey considers the PKK a terrorist group. The PKK has been waging a long-running insurgency in southeastern Turkey.

Earlier this year, a senior adviser to Erdogan warned against any attack on Idlib, describing it as a “red line.”

In the last couple of weeks, Ankara has been reinforcing its military presence in Idlib, reportedly including deployment of anti-aircraft missiles. Turkish tanks are also being deployed on the enclave’s border, ostensibly to deal with a refugee exodus.

Ankara’s cooperation with Moscow on Syria has been the basis of a broader deepening of bilateral ties, at the same time as U.S.-Turkish relations deteriorate. Ties have been strained in part over Turkey’s detention of a U.S. pastor whose release the United States has demanded. Turkey is calling on the U.S. to extradite a cleric accused of involvement in a 2016 coup attempt against Erdogan. The cleric, Fethullah Gulen, denies the accusation.

Idlib, however, is providing rare common ground between Ankara and Washington, with U.S. President Donald Trump warning against a major offensive on the enclave; however, given what analysts suggest is the improbability of any U.S. military intervention, Ankara will be reluctant to sacrifice its ties with Moscow.

“Ankara needs to be realistic. It cannot totally alienate itself from Russia, given that it still needs Russia as a partner in Syria,” analyst Ulgen said. “Turkey would not want to find itself in a position it can no longer cooperate with Russia, because of their other concerns regarding Syria.”

Addressing one pressing Turkish concern, Rouhani appeared to reach out to Erdogan on Friday, condemning Washington’s military support of a Syrian Kurdish militia, the YPG.

“The illegal presence and interference of America in Syria which has led to the continuation of insecurity in that country, must end quickly,” Rouhani said. Ankara has repeatedly condemned U.S. support of the YPG Kurdish militia in its fight against Islamic State, calling it a terrorist organization linked to the PKK insurgency inside Turkey.

“Terrorists are trying to establish a foothold there with the help of foreign powers and stay there forever,” Erdogan said Friday. “We are very concerned with the attempts by the United States to empower and support those terrorist organizations.”
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As U.S. ties with Turkey have turned sour, relations between the U.S. and Greece are warming rapidly. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross arrived Friday in Thessaloniki along with a bevy of American officials and U.S. companies for an international trade fair. VOA’s Jamie Dettmer reports.
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U.S. and European Union officials are considering new ways to penalize Russia after concluding economic sanctions have not influenced Moscow’s behavior. The sanctions were imposed after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and were extended after a Russian-made nerve agent killed one person and sickened three more in Britain. Observers say Russia’s economy has suffered because of sanctions, but that has not deterred Russian President Vladimir Putin. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has more.]]
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A Polish national who fled to the U.S. after being found guilty in a massive fraud case dating back to the country’s communist era is fighting his extradition while imprisoned in Florida.

Dariusz Przywieczerski fled his home country to avoid incarceration. He was found guilty in 2005 of being involved in a scheme to illegally trade in foreign debt at a state agency controlled by the communist secret service.

The fraud involving the Foreign Debt Servicing Fund, known as FOZZ, cost the country’s treasury the equivalent of about 80 million euros in the late 1980s.

Several others involved were given prison sentences in Poland.

Living in Florida

The 72-year-old was arrested in October 2017 in Florida, where he has been residing. He has since been fighting his extradition and has a pending case with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

He has been given until November 5 to submit a written brief and is representing himself without an attorney.

In court documents, Przywieczerski claimed to be impoverished and suffering from numerous ailments, including diabetes and “significant hearing loss.”

He remains under the supervision of the U.S. Marshals Service, the federal agency that tracks down fugitives.

“He is still in our custody in the Pinellas County Jail, in Florida,” spokesman Ron Lindbak told AFP.

Claims trial unfair

Przywieczerski claimed in court his rights to a fair trial and due process were being violated, and that a U.S. judge erred in approving his extradition.

“I did not receive a fair trial in Poland, and the prosecution should have been barred by statute of limitations,” he wrote in federal court petition.

“The Polish judge was not impartial and advocated for a special law to enlarge the statute of limitations solely for my prosecution. My Polish convictions must be considered null and void.”

FOZZ, which was closely controlled by the secret services in the early 1990s, was set up by the central European nation’s last Communist regime to buy back Poland’s external debt.

FOZZ bosses moved the funds earmarked for the debt buy-up through fictitious offshore companies, described by prosecutors during a marathon trial nearly two decades ago as “a parade of swindlers.”
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China accused Britain of “provocation” after a Royal Navy warship sailed near islands claimed by Beijing in the disputed South China Sea. 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said Britain had “violated international and Chinese laws” when the HMS Albion sailed by the Paracel Islands on Aug. 31. 

“The Chinese Navy legally verified the ship and warned it to leave,” Hua told a news briefing Thursday. 

Vietnam and Taiwan also claim the islands, also known as Xisha in Chinese and Hoang Sa in Vietnamese.

Reuters news agency, which first reported the story Thursday, said Albion’s maneuver was an assertion of freedom of navigation. The U.S. Navy has also sent ships and planes to the disputed area to conduct Freedom of Navigation Operations. 

Britain and France announced in June that they would send ships to the region for similar exercises.

China claims a large swathe of the South China Sea, extending from its southern coast almost to Malaysia, a much larger area than the internationally recognized territorial limit of 22 nautical kilometers (12 nautical miles).

China’s claim is contested by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. 
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The International Criminal Court ruled Thursday it has jurisdiction to investigate the alleged forced mass exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh as a possible crime against humanity.

The Hague-based court said the top prosecutor must consider the ruling “as she continues with her preliminary examination concerning the crimes allegedly committed against the Rohingya people.”

The ruling came after chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, in an unprecedented move, asked judges for an opinion on whether she could investigate the deportations as a crime against humanity.

The preliminary probe, which aims to determine if there is sufficient evidence to launch a full investigation, “must be concluded within a reasonable time,” the court said.

Myanmar is not a member of the court, but Bangladesh is — which was the basis of Bensouda’s argument for jurisdiction. She compared deportation to “a cross-border shooting” that “is not completed until the bullet [fired in one country] strikes and kills the victim [in another country].”

About 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state into Bangladesh since August of last year to escape a military offensive that has resulted in torched villages and allegations of murder and rape by troops and vigilantes.

A special U.N. investigative panel accused Myanmar’s military on August 27 of carrying out numerous atrocities during the crackdown against the Rohingya “with genocidal intent” after a series of Rohingya militant attacks on security outposts.

The panel, sanctioned by the U.N. Human Rights Council, concluded in a scathing report that Myanmar’s military actions were “grossly disproportionate to actual security threats.”

Investigators also denounced Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, for failing to use her position and “her moral authority” to prevent the crisis.

Aung San Suu Kyi received a Nobel Peace Prize for her decades-long struggle against Myanmar’s former military regime, but her global reputation has been tarnished for failing to speak out in support the Rohingya.

 
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Three Baltic countries have lashed out at retail giant Walmart for selling online T-shirts and other products with Soviet Union emblems on them, and demanded that the goods be removed.

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were forcibly annexed by Moscow in 1940 and remained part of the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991, except for a brief occupation by Nazi Germany 1941-1944.  Lithuania has been taking a particularly hard line against its communist-era legacy, banning all Soviet symbols as well as Nazi ones.

“Horrific crimes were done under the Soviet symbols of a sickle and hammer,” the Lithuanian ambassador to the United States, Rolandas Krisciunas, wrote Wednesday to Walmart. “The promotion of such symbols resonates with a big pain for many centuries.”

“When the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania, hundreds of thousands of our citizens were killed, exiled, tortured, raped, separated from their families. Similar fates struck dozens of millions of other innocent people, including children, across Europe and across the globe,” the ambassador wrote.   

Krisciunas said he does not believe that Walmart deliberately chose to offend by selling the T-shirts, tank tops and sweatshirts with Soviet symbols and the letters USSR. “But in this case, the T-shirts and other products with the symbols of mass murder should be immediately withdrawn,” he wrote.

The Baltic News Service said a group of lawmakers from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had written Wednesday another letter to Walmart, saying “it is utterly disappointing [that the chain] does not show respect for the millions of different citizens who fell victim to the Soviet totalitarian regime.”

Selling such items “demonstrates lack of human decency,” the BNS news agency quoted them as saying. They added that Walmart “participates in promotion, among its customers worldwide, of totalitarianism, human rights abuse and suppression of freedom and democracy, the values that allowed such corporations as Walmart to grow and prosper.”

“We call on Walmart Inc. to demonstrate their corporate responsibility…and immediately discontinue selling of the…items,” they wrote, according to BNS.

There was no immediate reaction from the retailer based in Bentonville, Arkansas.

It seemed from the site that it is a third-party company — called Buy Cool Shirts — that sells the shirts through Walmart Inc.’s page.

In May, German sports gear maker Adidas agreed to remove a red tank top with the letters USSR and emblems of the Soviet Union from its online store. The item was being sold ahead of the soccer World Cup in Russia.

 
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Georgette Mosbacher, an entrepreneur and Republican donor, officially began her term as the new U.S. ambassador to Poland on Thursday by presenting her credentials to President Andrzej Duda.

The 71-year-old Mosbacher was tapped by President Donald Trump for her mission in the nation of 38 million that has close ties with Washington. Warsaw was the inaugural stop on Trump’s first European tour last year.

The two NATO allies share security concerns in the face of Russia’s increased military activity. Poland is seeking a greater U.S. troop presence on its territory and in the region.

Duda is to hold talks with Trump at the White House on Sept. 18. The meeting is expected to cover energy cooperation and increasing business ties.

Poland wants to increase the volume of liquefied gas contracts with the U.S., as it seeks to cut dependence on gas imports from Russia, which has occasionally used them as a political tool. Poland also wants more U.S. investment to help fuel it’s fast-developing economy.

The ceremony at the early 19th century Belweder palace in Warsaw included a handshake and a few brief remarks exchanged.
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