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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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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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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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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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Leaders in Catalonia are facing increasing domestic and international pressure to abandon plans to declare independence from Spain, ahead of a planned speech by Catalonia’s regional president.

Catalan regional leader Carles Puigdemont is due to address the regional parliament on Tuesday, and Spain’s government is worried the legislature will vote for a unilateral declaration of independence. Puigdemont has not revealed what his message to lawmakers will be.

Political leaders, both domestically and internationally, urged Catalan leaders on Monday to back down to ease growing tensions in the country.

Major speaks out

Barcelona’s mayor was the latest to speak out against a declaration of independence, saying this would put “social cohesion” at risk. Ada Colau called on all sides to de-escalate tensions to solve “the most severe institutional crisis since the re-establishment of democracy in Spain.”

The head of Spain’s main opposition party, Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez, also called for Catalan leaders to drop an attempt to declare independence, saying “a universal declaration of independence doesn’t have a place in a state ruled by law.”

Germany and France also weighed in Monday against a split. German Chancellor Angela Merkel “affirmed her backing for the unity of Spain,” but also encouraged dialogue, according to her spokesman.

France said it would not recognize Catalonia if the region declared independence. “This crisis needs to be resolved through dialogue at all levels of Spanish politics,” France’s European affairs minister Nathalie Loiseau said.

Tensions have grown in Spain since last week when Catalonia held a regional vote for independence, an election deemed illegal by Madrid. Police cracked down on the vote, firing rubber bullets and storming crowds to disrupt the voting, leading to hundreds of injuries.

Huge support at the polls

Catalan leaders say 90 percent of those who went to the polls voted to break with Spain. However, opponents of the referendum say the vote did not show the true will of the region because those who want to stay in Spain mainly boycotted the polls.

Police say about 350,000 demonstrators attended an anti-independence protest on Sunday.

On Saturday, thousands of protesters gathered at rallies in Barcelona, Madrid and other Spanish cities to demand dialogue to end the dispute.

Banks, businesses may move

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he would not rule out using constitutional powers to take away Catalonia’s autonomous status if the region declares independence.

In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais published Sunday, Rajoy said that he will consider employing any measure “allowed by the law” to stop the region’s separatists.

The crisis has prompted several major banks and businesses to announce they will move their headquarters out of Catalonia to other parts of Spain so they can be sure they will remain in the European Union common market.

Catalonia, a northeastern region in Spain, has its own language and cultural traditions. It is home to 7.5 million people and accounts for about a fifth of Spain’s economy.
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A satirical look at the European Union and its bureaucracy, which opens with a pig running amok in one of Brussels’ main squares, has won the prestigious German Book Prize.

Austrian writer Robert Menasse scooped a 25,000 euro prize for his novel Die Hauptstadt (The Capital) on Monday, on the eve of the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Europe’s future hangs in the balance as Britain wrangles with Brussels about the terms of its departure from the bloc after the June 2016 Brexit vote. Despite efforts to provide a united front, the other 27 members remain deeply divided over the euro, taxes and migration.

“Contemporary times are presented literarily so well that contemporaries recognize themselves and coming generations will better understand this time,” the German Publishers and Booksellers Association said.

The Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten called Menasse’s book “provocative, timely and important: a plea to remember what lies at the centre of the ‘European peace project’, and to have the courage to take it into its next phase.”

The book, published by Suhrkampf Verlag in September, was one of six books shortlisted for the prize. Menasse, clearly moved, accepted the prize in Frankfurt.
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Any escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula is unacceptable, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call on Monday.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned over the weekend that “only one thing will work” in dealing with Pyongyang, hinting that military action was on his mind.

“Lavrov underlined the inadmissibility of any escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula, to which the USA’s military preparations lead, and called for contradictions to be resolved by diplomatic means only,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Lavrov also demanded the return of Russian diplomatic property seized by the United States in 2016 when former U.S. president Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats and ordered that some of its U.S. diplomatic properties be vacated.

The Obama administration said it was retaliating for Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election.

In July, Moscow responded, ordering the United States to cut the number of its diplomatic and technical staff working in Russia by around 60 percent, to 455.

“Russia reserves the right to go to court and to [take] retaliatory measures,” Lavrov told Tillerson.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month the foreign ministry would go to court “to see just how efficient the much-praised U.S. judiciary is”.

Lavrov and Tillerson discussed the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, the ministry said.

Lavrov said a Kyiv-backed draft law aiming at “reintegration” of Ukraine’s Donbas region, which is controlled by Russian-backed separatists, contradicts the Minsk peace agreements aimed at resolving the conflict.

The draft law would declare separatist-controlled regions to be “occupied,” allowing Kyiv to use military troops in those territories.

The ministry said the Russian and U.S. sides had agreed to continue a dialogue on “the difficult issues” between Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon.
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Hundreds of thousands of people rallied in Barcelona Sunday to support Spanish unity and to express opposition to a declaration of independence by Catalan leaders. Nobel-prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa was among those who addressed the crowd in Catalonia’s capital. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke has more on the rally that took place a day ahead of the banned parliamentary session planned by the regional parliament for Monday.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) have reportedly reached a deal with Bavarian conservatives on a refugee cap as both sides look to unite ahead of talks on forming a new government.

Merkel and the head of the Christian Social Union (CSU), Horst Seehofer, plan to spell out the details of the deal Monday.

Reports say the number of refugees to be allowed into Germany would be capped at about 200,000 per year. Merkel has, until now, rejected limits. She has said they would violate the country’s constitution which grants anyone facing political persecution the right to seek asylum.

Under the deal, asylum seekers would not be turned away at the border until their cases are heard.

Both parties also agreed to do more to attract immigrants with highly-sought-after labor skills and also up the fight against human traffickers.

Bavaria comprises about 15 percent of Germany’s population. Support from its CSU conservatives is vital as Merkel proceeds with talks on forming a new coalition government with the liberal Greens and pro-business Free Democrats.

Merkel won a fourth term as chancellor in last month’s parliamentary election, but her Christian Democrats failed to win an outright majority.

The far-right Alternative for Germany party won a stunningly-high 94 of 709 seats in the Bundestag and could cause trouble for the moderately conservative Merkel.
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When Israel’s envoy told UNESCO delegates last July that fixing the plumbing in his toilet was more important than their latest ruling, it highlighted how fractious geopolitics are paralyzing the workings of the agency.

Whoever wins the race to replace Irina Bokova as head of the U.N.’s cultural and education body next week will have to try to restore the relevance of an agency born from the ashes of World War II but increasingly hobbled by regional rivalries and a lack of money.

Its triumphs include designating world heritage sites such as the Galapagos Islands and the historic tombs of Timbuktu — re-built by UNESCO after Islamist militants destroyed them.

But in a sign of how toxic relations have become, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly last month that UNESCO was promoting “fake history.”

Like Israel’s plain-speaking envoy Carmel Shama Hacohen, Netanyahu was referring to UNESCO’s designation of Hebron and the two adjoined shrines at its heart – the Jewish Tomb of the Patriarchs and the Muslim Ibrahimi Mosque – as a “Palestinian World Heritage Site in Danger.”

Jews believe the Cave of the Patriarchs is where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their wives, are buried. Muslims, who, like Christians, also revere Abraham, built the Ibrahimi mosque, also known as the Sanctuary of Abraham, in the 14th century.

Israeli-Palestinian hostilities, though, are only part of a minefield of contentious issues on which the U.N. body has to hand down rulings.

Japan, for example, threatened to withhold its 2016 dues after UNESCO included documents submitted by China on the 1937 Nanjing Massacre in its “Memory of the World” program.

The Paris-based organization, which also promotes global education and supports press freedom, convenes its executive council on Oct. 9 to begin voting on seven candidates.

Azerbaijan, China, Egypt, France, Lebanon, Qatar and Vietnam have put forward candidates. There is no clear front-runner.

UNESCO’s struggles worsened in 2011, when the United States cancelled its substantial budgetary contribution in protest at a decision to grant the Palestinians full membership. UNESCO has been forced to cut programs and freeze hiring.

“It’s an organization that has been swept away from its mandate to become a sounding board for clashes that happen elsewhere, and that translates into political and financial hijacking,” said a former European UNESCO ambassador.

Drawing Lots

All the candidates have vowed a grassroots overhaul and pledged independence from their home nations.

France and China, both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, argue the agency needs “strong leadership, which can only come with the backing of a major power.

Chinese candidate Qian Tang has almost 25 years experience at UNESCO. His bid fits into Beijing’s soft power diplomacy, though Western capitals fret about China controlling an agency that shapes internet and media policy.

Former French culture minister Audrey Azoulay carries the support of France’s new young president, Emmanuel Macron. But the last minute French candidacy has drawn the ire of Arab states, notably Egypt, who believe it should be their turn.

The Arab states face their own political tests. Their three entries underscore their own disunity, something the Egyptian hopeful Moushira Khattab has indicated stymie the Arab bid.

The crisis engulfing Qatar and its Gulf Arab neighbors, who have called Doha a “high-level” sponsor of terrorism, meanwhile may have hurt the chances of former Qatari culture minister Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari.

Voting takes place over a maximum five rounds. If the two finalists are level, they draw lots.
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London police have released a 47-year-old man they had detained on suspicion of dangerous driving after his car veered off the pavement Saturday outside the city’s Natural History Museum.

Eleven people were hurt in the incident and nine were hospitalized. Officials said none of the injuries was life-threatening.

Initially, the crash was thought to be a terrorist attack, but police later said, “The incident is a road traffic investigation and not a terrorist-related incident.”

Police said the man was released “under investigation” and did not reveal his identity.

Britain is on its second-highest security alert level after five deadly attacks this year, three involving a vehicle, including attacks on pedestrians at Westminster and London Bridges.
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As Germany moves to implement sanctions against North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, its efforts seem to be at odds with a private business in Berlin.

Poised to tighten financial screws on a regime that is making steady progress toward a nuclear-tipped missile that can threaten the U.S. mainland, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution in November 2016, which for the first time included a prohibition on using any property that North Korea owns or leases for purposes other than diplomatic activities.

Five months after its passage, Germany stated in an implementation report submitted to the U.N. that it had begun implementing the restrictive measure.

Facing the brunt of Germany’s sanctions implementation is a youth hostel located in North Korea’s embassy compound in Berlin. The German foreign ministry, which has pressured the North Korean embassy into terminating the rental agreement with the hostel, is now squeezing the hostel owners to cease operations that indirectly benefit the Kim Jong Un regime.

​City Hostel Berlin, which has housed tourists for many years, reportedly pays up to 38,000 euro ($45,000) per month in rent to North Korea.

In response to an inquiry from VOA’s Korean Service about the termination of the rental agreement, an unnamed official in Germany’s Federal Foreign Office said, “The office continuously called upon the North Korean embassy to cease all violations of U.N. and EU sanctions. The North Korean embassy now terminated the rental agreement. This is a further step to put an end to this practice.”

However, the hostel owners said the claims in media reports that they are funding Pyongyang’s illegal nuclear and missile programs are false, and they expressed their regrets in a statement obtained by VOA that the hostel had fallen prey to international politics.

The unilateral termination notice issued to the hostel by Pyongyang has no legal basis and was refuted by the hostel’s lawyers, the owners said. They added that although it is still in operation, it is not paying rent to the North Korean embassy, pending legal evaluation.

“This is a normal commercial lease signed under usual terms. All approvals and permits for our operation are issued by responsible authorities in Berlin,” the City Hostel owners said in a statement translated via Google. “In this context, City Hostel sees [the termination of rental agreement] an unacceptable intervention … and will defend itself by all means against any such intervention.”

The hostel said the German foreign ministry has yet to respond to its question concerning compensation.

Following the adoption of the resolution in November, other EU member states such as Poland, Romania and Bulgaria have also taken action against North Korea’s practice of using embassy property for commercial purposes.
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Catalonians are rallying in Barcelona Sunday to protest the Catalan government’s push for secession from the rest of Spain.

“We have perhaps been silent too long,” one protester told the French news agency, AFP.

The rally comes a week after a referendum in which Catalonians voted overwhelmingly for independence.  In that poll, deemed illegal by Madrid, 90 percent voted to break with Spain, but the turnout was well under half of the electorate.

Opinion polls have consistently suggested that more Catalans favor remaining in Spain than declaring independence.

Organizers say the slogan for Sunday’s rally is “Enough, let’s recover good sense.”  

Protesters gathered at Barcelona’s Urquinaona square are singing “Viva Espana.”  

Catalonian leaders, now faced with tough decisions on how to proceed, are calling for dialogue with Spain’s national government.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy says he will not rule out using constitutional powers to take away Catalonia’s autonomous status, if the region declares independence.

Rajoy made the remark Saturday to the newspaper El Pais. He added, “I don’t rule out anything that is within the law.” He added, “I would like the threat of an independence referendum to be withdrawn as quickly as possible.”

On Saturday, thousands of protesters gathered at rallies in Barcelona, Madrid and other Spanish cities to demand dialogue to end the dispute.

Secessionist anger in Catalonia has intensified following the violence last Sunday when Spain’s national police and Civil Guard fired rubber bullets, roughed up Catalans and raided polling stations as part of an effort to disrupt the plebiscite. Catalan authorities say almost 900 people were hurt in the crackdown.

With the crisis deepening, and no sign of an end to political instability, some Catalan businesses have announced they are relocating their headquarters to other parts of Spain to avoid the possibility of getting knocked out of the European Union common market by a Catalonian secession.
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Thousands of protesters gathered Saturday at rallies in Barcelona, Madrid, and other Spanish cities as Catalonians continue to push for secession from Spain after last week’s independence referendum.

Organizers of the Catalonia secession rally had asked the demonstrators to wear neutral white, and not to display any flags, either Spanish or Catalonian. The demonstration organizers have been promoting the slogan, “Let’s Talk.”

In Madrid, the Spanish national capital, there also was a competing demonstration, for Spanish unity. That demonstration, centered on Madrid’s Plaza de Colon, featured thousands of people waving red and yellow Spanish flags.

The competing rallies follow Monday’s referendum in which Catalonians voted overwhelmingly for independence, but the national government has called the vote illegal. Catalonian leaders, now faced with tough decisions on how to proceed, are calling for dialogue with Spain’s national government.

 A top EU official Thursday warned that the separatist dispute risks escalating into armed conflict.

“The position is very, very alarming. Civil war is conceivable there, in the middle of Europe,” Gunther Oettinger, the Germany EU commissioner said at an event in Munich.

The German commissioner’s startling remarks prompted disquiet among EU diplomats. One told VOA he thought the comments were “nonsense.”

Oettinger and the EU Commission, the European bloc’s governing body, which fears Catalan independence might stir up separatism elsewhere in Europe, also have urged the authorities in Madrid and Barcelona to start negotiations and to avoid further provocations. But there are few signs of that happening. Both sides appear to be standing firm in Spain’s worst constitutional crisis since an attempted coup in 1981.

Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, has threatened to suspend Catalonia’s semi-autonomy and to introduce direct rule from Madrid. He has said there can be no talks while Catalonia’s separatist leaders are threatening to issue a declaration of independence on the back of last Sunday’s unauthorized plebiscite.

In that poll, deemed illegal by Madrid, 90 percent voted to break with Spain but the turnout was well under half of the electorate. Opinion polls have consistently suggested that more Catalans favor remaining in Spain.

Secessionist anger in Catalonia has only intensified, though, over the violence last Sunday when Spain’s national police and Civil Guard fired rubber bullets, roughed up Catalans and raided polling stations as part of an effort to disrupt the plebiscite. Catalan authorities say almost 900 people were hurt in the crackdown.

Catalan anger has been further provoked by Spain’s constitutional court barring Catalonia’s regional parliament from sitting on Monday in a session scheduled to discuss the results of last Sunday’s referendum, and possibly to declare independence.

With the crisis deepening, and no sign of an end to political instability, some Catalan businesses have announced they are relocating their headquarters to other parts of Spain to avoid the possibility of getting knocked out of the European Union common market by a Catalonian secession.

 
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London police have ruled out terrorism as the motive behind a car incident Saturday that injured a number of pedestrians near the city’s Natural History Museum.

Police had said earlier that they were keeping an open mind about the incident, after initially saying it was not being treated as an act of terrorism.

But in the latest statement, police said “the incident is a road traffic investigation and not a terrorist-related incident.”

A man was detained after British media reported a car had veered onto the pavement outside the museum, a popular tourist attraction in the South Kensington area of west London. He has not been charged.

Eleven people were hurt, nine of whom were hospitalized, according to the London Ambulance Service.

Britain is on its second-highest security alert level after five deadly attacks this year, three involving vehicles, including vehicular attacks on pedestrians at Westminster Bridge and London Bridge.
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Three men have been handed preliminary terror-linked charges in the failed attack a week ago on a residential building in an upscale Paris neighborhood with gas canisters that failed to ignite, a judicial official said Saturday.

The suspects were placed under formal investigation late Friday in the mysterious attack attempt in the building in western Paris’ chic 16th arrondissement, the official said. No motive for the attack has been uncovered, and the three have refused to answer questions. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak on the record about an ongoing investigation.

The trio has denied a role in the attack plot in which four gas canisters on the building’s ground floor, doused with gasoline, were set to explode once a phone call was made to a mobile phone that served as a detonator, anti-terrorism prosecutor Francois Molins said at a Friday news conference. A resident awakened by a whistling sound and the smell of gas alerted police. Molins said the explosion, had it been pulled off, could have led to “dramatic human and material consequences.”

But a week later, the mystery remains. Investigators have yet to find a “logical explanation” for why the building was targeted, the prosecutor said. The attempt to destroy the building stood apart from numerous other attacks in France, including last week’s deadly knife attack on two young women at the Marseille train station, claimed by the so-called Islamic State group. Investigators continued that probe with no known concrete advances about the attacker, killed by soldiers, who used seven identities, including a Tunisian passport.

Two of the three men charged in the attempted Paris bombing, identified as Aymen B., who turns 30 next month, and Amine A., 30, are among thousands on a list for radicalization. Samy B., 28 and father of three, also was charged.

All were held for attempted murder linked to a terrorist enterprise, transporting explosives and participating in a terrorist association aimed at preparing attacks. They all had been convicted in the past. Aymen B., convicted three times, had been checked last November by police when he was found praying in the emergency lane of a highway, along with Amine A., detained in 2013 in another terrorist case.
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Experts from Europe’s top human rights body on Friday expressed concerns over decrees issued by Turkey’s government that removed elected mayors from posts and replaced them with unelected officials.

Following last year’s coup attempt Turkey declared a state of emergency that allows the government to rule by decrees, largely by-passing parliament. Turkey says the emergency powers are needed to deal with the coup-plotters and thwart security threats.

The Council of Europe’s advisory body — known as the Venice Commission and made up of constitutional law experts — said it was “particularly worried” by the use of decrees to sack elected mayors and other municipal officials in Turkey’s mainly-Kurdish southeast over terror-related charges and to appoint unelected officials in their place.

The Commission said: “Local authorities are one of the main foundations of democratic society … Their election by the local population is key to ensuring the people’s participation in the political process.”

Among other things, the Commission called on Turkey to stop filling vacancies through appointments, to ensure that decisions affecting municipalities are taken after parliamentary debate and to introduce rules that would reinstate mayors if charges do not lead to a criminal conviction.

Opposition politicians say the government has used the state of emergency to crack down on critics.

More than 50,000 people have been arrested and some 110,000 others were sacked from government jobs in a large-scale crackdown on people with alleged links to terror groups or to U.S.-based cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey accuses of orchestrating the failed coup.

 
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Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif says other countries in the region may be able to sway the Taliban into peace talks better than Islamabad, including Russia.

“At least for our influence on Taliban today, there is a mistrust … perhaps they have more influence from other countries in that region than in our Pakistan,” Asif said Thursday when asked by VOA’s Urdu service whether he was referring to Russia.

Asif was speaking to reporters in Washington a day after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to discuss issues of mutual concern, such as Afghanistan.

The Pakistani foreign minister said an upcoming four-way round of talks on Afghanistan was slated for Oman’s capital, Muscat, on October 16.

“The quadrilateral arrangement will again be in operation. So, that is something we still hope will … still work,” Asif said.

He gave no further details on the talks or who would be attending.

Quadrilateral group restored

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani agreed in June to revive the Quadrilateral Coordination Group, made up of Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States. The group last met in May 2016 and fell into disarray with the Taliban’s refusal to take part, a change in U.S. leadership, and bickering between Islamabad and Kabul.

Asif urged the United States to act as a facilitator between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“We need the bilateral contacts, which were resumed three or four days back with Kabul and Islamabad. The Americans will support us in this process,” Asif said.

Pakistan has rejected U.S. accusations that it is not doing enough to fight terrorism on its own soil.

Asif told VOA Urdu that Pakistan is going beyond offering Kabul joint-border monitoring and is asking for Afghan military commanders to help identify hideouts of Taliban inside Pakistan.

“We offered them — don’t give us information, board the helicopter with us, tell us the coordinates — we’ll straight go over there,” he said. “You want us to sniff them out? We’ll do that. You want us to take action against them? Whatever action you propose, we’ll do that. But,  … these hollow allegations are not acceptable.”

Russia in Afghanistan

Russia’s influence has slowly been returning to Afghanistan since the Soviet Union’s 1979 invasion ended in defeat at the hands of the U.S.-backed mujahedeen.

Since launching a 2001 war against the Taliban for harboring al-Qaida terrorists, U.S. forces have gradually drawn down from the protracted conflict, providing room for Russia to assert itself.

Since December, Moscow has hosted three rounds of expanding international talks on Afghanistan, which the Taliban also has refused to support. For the second round in February, Russia invited Afghan representatives for the first time after Kabul and Washington raised concerns about their exclusion.

For the last round in April, Moscow invited former Soviet Central Asian states to join Afghanistan, China, India, Iran and Pakistan for a total of 11 countries. The United States also was invited, but Washington declined, saying it was not informed of the agenda beforehand and was unclear of the meeting’s motives.

The Taliban so far has refused direct talks with Kabul, calling it a “U.S. puppet,” and has declined to support the Moscow-led talks.

Russia acknowledged in 2016 it has been in direct contact with the Taliban leaders, but insists it is part of efforts to promote peace, and it has denied allegations of supplying or arming the Taliban.

Just days ahead of the February talks, however, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Russia was legitimizing and supporting the Taliban.

Pakistan has said Russia is “positively” using its influence with the Taliban and wants the U.S. to participate in the talks initiated by Moscow.

VOA’s Urdu service contributed to this report.
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U.S. Ambassador to Turkey John Bass is criticizing the arrest of a local U.S. Consulate employee in Istanbul, saying it was motivated by “revenge rather than justice” on the part of elements within the Turkish government.

Bass made his comments Friday in the case of Metin Topuz, who was taken into custody Wednesday on terrorism charges.

“There is a big difference between pursuing justice and pursuing vengeance in terms of the rule of law and the democratic norms that this country, and my country, have committed themselves to, both through the Helsinki Charter and their own constitutions,” Bass said at a meeting of Turkish reporters.

Turkey’s semi-official Anadolu news agency, citing security sources, reports that Topuz was in regular communication with alleged leading members of a terrorist network blamed for last year’s failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

According to the government, the Fethullah Terrorist Organization, created by U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, was involved in the attempted coup in which more than 250 people were killed. Gulen, who is in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, denies any involvement.

Takes issue with media

The same media report says Topuz also faces charges of espionage and attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.

Ambassador Bass took aim at the use of the media in Topuz’s detention.

“I am deeply disturbed that some people in the Turkish government prefer to try this case through media outlets rather than properly pursuing the case in a court of law before a judge. That does not strike me as pursuing justice; it seems to me more a pursuit of vengeance,” he said.

The U.S. ambassador, who is due to leave his post in Ankara for a new assignment in Afghanistan, also pushed back against the Turkish Foreign Ministry, saying Topuz was a staff member.

On Tuesday, the ministry issued a statement saying, “He [Topuz] is neither a staffer of the U.S. Consulate nor does he have any diplomatic or consular immunity.”

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag on Friday, in appearing to contradict the Foreign Ministry, criticized the U.S. diplomatic representation for its employment of Topuz.

“The important thing to be highlighted here is the presence and employment of a terror-linked person at the U.S. embassy without the knowledge of Turkish authorities,” Bozdag said.

U.S.-Turkish tensions have been on the rise over Washington’s support of the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG in its fight against Islamic State. Ankara deems the YPG as terrorists.

“This crisis of the confidence has been there for quite a while,” noted Semih Idiz, a political columnist with Al Monitor website.

But those tensions continue to be exacerbated over the ongoing fallout concerning last year’s coup attempt.

In the days after the botched military takeover, several Turkish ministers and the pro-government media accused Washington of being involved, a charge the U.S. strongly denied; however, the U.S. refusal to extradite cleric Gulen continues to fuel suspicions of Washington’s alleged collusion with him.

Political rhetoric

Turkish President Erdogan is increasingly using in his rhetoric accusations of foreign conspiracies against his government and country.

“It’s affecting the public opinion because when these conspirators are regularly referred to, the Turkish public is simply looking to its [Turkey’s] Western allies as conspirators and as enemies,” said former Turkish Ambassador Unal Cevikoz, who now heads the Ankara Policy Forum.

“If this belief and this perception become more and more structural, then I am afraid it will carry Turkey away from its Western location and it will be very difficult to find a remedy to that illness in the future because it will be a part of the structural Turkish public opinion thinking.”

Erdogan warned recently of what he said was the danger of Turkish students studying overseas and returning as spies. The fear of foreign spies, especially from Turkey’s Western allies, is part of the national psyche. “Under every stone can be found an English spy,” is a Turkish adage.

Analysts point out Erdogan will be aware that stirring xenophobic fears and standing up to Washington will play well with nationalist voters, a key constituent for him in the 2019 presidential elections.
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Protesters in Catalonia have demonstrated for and against independence. Thursday, both sides gathered outside Barcelona over the deployment of national troops in the region. Spanish authorities have sent thousands of police and Civil Guard to Catalonia to block moves for independence. Spain’s Constitutional Court has ordered a suspension of Catalonia’s parliamentary session next week, in which regional leaders plan to vote for a unilateral declaration of independence. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
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European countries are forcibly returning tens of thousands of Afghan asylum seekers, knowing they are at serious risk of torture, kidnapping, death and other human rights abuses, according to Amnesty International. The human rights group says the deportations are a brazen violation of international law. Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
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