More than 30 million Americans will need passports to take domestic flights by David Millward
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New tighter security rules will mean that driving licences from several states will no longer be accepted as valid ID documents
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Pope Francis Pushes U.S. Congress On Immigration, Climate Change, Death Penalty by support@pangea-cms.com (Mike Eckel)
Pope Francis praised the United States as a land of liberty and opportunity, but also gently reprimanded the country, calling on lawmakers to abolish the death penalty, be more inclusive of immigrants, and do more to combat climate change.
After Prime Minister David Cameron said he wanted better conditions from the European Union if Britain was to remain a member, a French official said the talk lacked details.
Francis in America: Pope Francis Arrives in New York After Touring Washingtonby MARC SANTORA and SHARON OTTERMAN
Francis planned to lead a service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Thursday evening, and address the United Nations General Assembly on Friday morning.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations humanitarian aid chief Stephen O'Brien voiced serious concern on Thursday that authorities in Luhansk in eastern Ukraine are demanding that all U.N. agencies immediately vacate the city.
Russia’s return to the Middle East could ultimately prove more successful than the former Soviet Union in challenging American influence in the pivotal region.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping has transformed a collective, consensus-driven leadership into a more centralized presidential system.
Amid the EU’s contentious plans to redistribute asylum seekers, most are deciding themselves where they want to go—and more quickly than European officials can decide what to do with them.
In photos chosen by Wall Street Journal editors Thursday, the pope visits Washington, a child prepares for Sukkot, dawn breaks in China, and more.
Saudi Arabia has spent billions trying to make the event safe, but accidents still occur.
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Diplomats say the United States has refused to negotiate over a draft statement that Russia had hoped the Security Council would approve to bolster its position on Syria ahead of a major gathering of world leaders.
White House says the two leaders need to discuss Russia's military reinforcement of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and continuing violations of Ukraine cease-fire.
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The Russian President tells Sir Elton not to be offended by a prank call that was aired on television.
The US President will discuss "profound differences" over Ukraine and Syria with his Russian counterpart, say US officials.
Pope Francis urged the US Congress to reject a ‘mindset of hostility’ on immigration and to recognize those who wish to move to the United States as people who are trying to improve their lives and those of their families. Francis gave his historic address to a joint session of Congress on Thursday morning in which he also discussed the death penalty and climate change
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A woman in Mecca for the annual hajj pilgrimage recounts the moment panic broke out among pilgrims in a crush that killed at least 717 people and injured more than 850 in the Mina valley on Thursday. Disorder spread when two groups of pilgrims collided at an intersection of the valley. The Saudi Arabian health minister said the accident was caused by people not following route instructions
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A crash involving multiple buses has killed two people and closed the George Washington Memorial Bridge – more commonly known as the Aurora Bridge. Nine critical injuries have also been reported in the accident that happened on Thursday. A further 50 people are being evaluated for injuries, according to Seattle’s fire department
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The presence of Pope Francis in Washington had a particularly profound effect on John Boehner, the Speaker of the House. Boehner, a devout Catholic, fought back tears during the Pope’s address to Congress, and was visibly moved when he blessed a crowd of thousands who had gathered on the National Mall
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Dmitri Rybolovlev, the billionaire Russian art collector, hands French judges two paintings that Picasso's stepdaughter insists were stolen and sold without her knowledge
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As Xi Jinping arrives in Washington for a "fence-mending" dinner with Barack Obama, disagreements over key elements pose huge challenges
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Russia sends dozens of fighter jets and helicopter gunships to Syria amid growing signs that Western leaders may support plan to allow Bashar al-Assad to remain in power in the country
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 Times of India |
Syrian army uses new Russian jets to strike Islamic State: Monitor
Times of India BEIRUT: Syrian government forces used newly arrived Russian warplanes to bombard Islamic State fighters in Aleppo province in northern Syria, a group monitoring the conflict said on Thursday, in an attempt to break a siege on a nearby air base. Russia ... UPDATE 2-Syrian army uses new Russian jets to strike Islamic State - monitorReuters In Syria, treat the disease, not the symptomWashington Post (blog) Syrian transition could include Assad: Turkey's ErdoganThe Guardian Nigeria (satire) (press release) (blog) Telegraph.co.uk -Washington Times -Voice of America all 345 news articles » |
 TIME |
Latin America's Longest Running Guerrilla Conflict May Finally Be Ending
TIME BOGOTA – Urged on by Cuban leader Raul Castro, Colombia's blood enemies turned towards one another, locked eyes and clasped hands. It lasted just seconds but the handshake between Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Marxist rebel ... Many details remain as Colombia and FARC rebels move toward peaceLos Angeles Times Political, legal barriers face historic Colombia peace dealSalt Lake Tribune Colombian Negotiator: Peace Pact Deadline 'Definitely' Will Be MetVoice of America NBCNews.com -The Atlantic all 106 news articles » |
Obama, Putin to Meet Monday in New Yorkby webdesk@voanews.com (Charles Maynes)
U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Monday during the U.N. General Assembly in New York. The meeting in effect ends a standoff over direct talks after the two men fell into disagreement on a number of issues, including the war in Ukraine, Moscow's support for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, and a rollback on democratic rights within Russia. A White House official on Thursday said the meeting came at Putin's request and reflected...
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A look at the best news photos from around the world.
 Washington Post |
Donald Trump's slide in the polls is beginning to look real
Washington Post You might have seen new national poll numbers from Fox News, released Wednesday night, that paint a fascinating portrait of the Republican race. Donald Trump, the figures show, remains in first place in the race for the nomination, actually increasing ... New Polls Show Support for Donald Trump Is Holding SteadyNew York Times Poll: Trump, Clinton lead, but each face challengesUSA TODAY Carly Fiorina and the GOP Outsider BoomNew York Magazine Bloomberg -Fox News -The Hill (blog) all 431 news articles » |
 USA TODAY |
Poll: Trump, Clinton lead, but each face challenges
USA TODAY Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump each lead in their bids for their parties' presidential nominations, a Quinnipiac University National poll out Thursday finds. Nothing new there. But both Trump and Clinton shouldn't celebrate too much, as the poll ... Morning Plum: No, Donald Trump isn't really 'telling it like it is'Washington Post (blog) Most Agree With Trump on America's Lost Greatness, Bloomberg Poll FindsBloomberg Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina called 'Longshot Frontrunners' in ...Washington Times CBS News -The Hill (blog) -Wall Street Journal (blog) all 1,438 news articles » |
 The Guardian Nigeria |
Pope Francis's speech to Congress, annotated
Washington Post Pope Francis made history Thursday morning as the first pope to address a joint meeting of Congress. Francis's speech was tinged with politics — okay, more than tinged — so I thought I'd annotate it to break down what he said and what he meant. I did ... Pope Francis in DC: Live UpdatesNew York Times Pope Francis Basically Just Retweeted Black Lives MatterHuffington Post 'I Am Convinced That We Can Make A Difference,' Pope Tells CongressNPR The Atlantic-NBCNews.com-USA TODAY all 163 news articles » |
(MOSCOW) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has called British musician Elton John and agreed to meet him. This time it’s for real.
After John posted a message on Instagram last week, thanking Putin for calling him, two Russian pranksters admitted that it was them who called John and fooled him into believing that Putin had given him a call.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia news agencies on Thursday that the Russian president, who was hosting a meeting on agriculture in a corn field in southern Russia, took time after the meeting to speak to John.
Peskov quoted Putin as saying: “I know that those phone pranksters fooled you. Please don’t be angry with them.”
“Putin also said that he understands how popular Elton John is, so if their schedules permit, he will be willing to meet him in the future and discuss any issues that he is concerned about,” Peskov said.
Earlier this month, John criticized Russia’s law against gay “propaganda” and comments by Putin suggesting that gay people prey on children.
CAIRO—Dozens of bodies in white shrouds lay on the pavement. Around them were piled blankets, flip-flops, even a wheelchair crushed in the mass of people. Ambulances wailed passed the crowds of pilgrims, dressed in the same white as the shrouds.
That was the aftermath of a stampede that left at least 717 people dead on Thursday near the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, during the hajj, an annual Muslim pilgrimage that drew more than two million people this year. Those scenes scenes emerged on videos that surfaced online after the disaster.
The stampede took place around 9 a.m. local time on Thursday during one of the rituals associated with the hajj, the symbolic Stoning of the Devil, in Mina, roughly six miles east of Mecca. Thursday was Eid Al-Adha, one of the most important holidays in the Muslim calendar, one that honors the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son on God’s command.
The deadly crush of bodies was the latest in a series of lethal incidents that have occurred during and around the hajj. Earlier in September at least 111 people were killed when a large crane collapsed onto the Grand Mosque in Mecca. In 2006, at least 346 people died in a stampede in the same area. But Thursday’s accident is the deadliest in decades.
As the custodians of the holy mosques of Mecca and Medina, Saudi Arabia has long taken responsibility for overseeing the hajj—and those repeated tragedies have raised questions about the Saudi state’s ability to manage this vast annual influx of people. As more and more Muslims around the world have been able to afford to make the trip, the number of pilgrims has swelled to more than two million, including more than a million who visit from abroad.
But the sheer numbers alone do not explain the repeated catastrophes at the hajj. Experts say that Saudi-directed development in and around Mecca—including massive hotels, malls, and luxury housing—have done little to ease the problems of crowding during the hajj, while the authorities have ignored safety concerns raised by urban planners.
“The scale of this and the frequency of these sorts of things stand at odds with the amount of money that the Saudis pump into managing and ordering the hajj,” says Toby Craig Jones, a historian at Rutgers University who studies Saudi Arabia. “This is a highly sophisticated, regimented system”—and a rich one, given Saudi Arabia’s status as one of the world’s biggest oil producers.
“They have not sought to make the space usable by large numbers of people,” says Jones. “They’ve crammed it with hotels and real estate development. They’ve made it very difficult to have the hajj be a safe experience for people.”
According to some accounts, Thursday’s stampede began when a huge crowd of pilgrims was heading in the direction of a tent where the symbolic stoning of the devil takes place. Another group started heading the other way, according to a BBC reporter on the scene. The two throngs collided, sending people scrambling over one another.
In videos taken by individual pilgrims, a grizzly picture emerged of the moments following the stampede. In one clip posted online, unconscious bodies are piled on one other. Others appear to be still alive, their limbs moving in the mass of people. (In a statement, the Saudi health minister, Khalid al-Falih, said the stampede may have been “caused by the movement of some pilgrims who didn’t follow the guidelines and instructions issued by the responsible authorities.”)
The disaster was the worst to strike the hajj since 1990 when more than 1,400 people died in another stampede inside a tunnel near Mecca, also on Eid Al-Adha.
The deaths also pose a new challenge for Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, who ascended to the throne in January. The new monarch has adopted an aggressive posture in regional affairs, leading a coalition of states in a military operation against Shia Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen, and
Analysts also say that Saudi Arabia’s autocratic system of government is partly to blame for the repeated deadly incidents during the hajj. In the past, senior government officials have rarely been held accountable for such incidents.
Saudi authorities have historically viewed the hajj has a political and security challenge, viewing with suspicion the huge numbers of pilgrims who visit from places like Iran, the kingdom’s geopolitical rival. (In the aftermath of the stampede, Iran complained that Saudis had not been treating the scores of dead Iranians, and that Iranian officials had not been allowed near the dead.) But that approach to managing the hajj can come at the expense of basic safety concerns.
“The underlying interest on the part of the Saudis is meant to manage an event in a way that minimizes political risk,” said Jones, the historian. “I think the Saudis see the hajj as a problem they have to manage, rather than as an experience that they need to facilitate.”
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Unless you were born before 1945, you aren’t old enough to remember the catastrophes that gave birth to the United Nations and the surge of idealism that defined its mission. The UN charter commits the organization to, among other things, “promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,” to “reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small” and to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.”
Given the scope of that ambition, we shouldn’t be surprised that the UN has produced major successes over its 70 years—and major failures. Though they represent a tiny part of the UN story, these facts help bring both into sharper focus as the organization prepares to celebrate its 70thanniversary.
1. Protecting Global Health
In war zones, public health hotspots, and natural disasters, hundreds of men and women have died in service to the United Nations. Thousands continue to risk their lives every day.
Here’s a very small sample of the work that UN agencies have done to promote and protect health and wellbeing around the world. UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, draws donations from governments and private donors to serve the needs of children and mothers in developing countries. It feeds more than 80 million people each year, has helped more than 2.6 billion people gain access to clean water and has brought new vaccines to more than 400 million of the world’s children. The World Health Organization, the specialized agency of the UN that helps governments manage public health crises and fight both communicable and non-communicable diseases, was the main driver behind the eradication of smallpox, an accomplishment that probably saved 150 million lives. The UN’s work in support of health and wellbeing extends beyond these agencies. For those most cynical about the UN’s value, what other institution could take on the day-to-day responsibilities that generate such success?
(CBS News, UNICEF (a), UNICEF (b), The Guardian)
2. Aiding Refugees
The UN also helps people survive wars and rebuild their lives after the violence has ended. In 2014, the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) provided food, shelter and security to nearly 12 million refugees around the world. As we’ve been reminded yet again in recent weeks, these are people who desperately need help—and will need it for some time to come. By the end of 2013, more than 50 percent of those cared for by the UNHCR had been in exile for more than five years. The world has a short attention span when it comes to humanitarian crises, making the sustained commitment of the UN all the more critical.
But the UN is charged with more than emergency relief; it also calls those responsible for war to account. To that end, the UN has played a critical role in setting up the war crimes tribunals that prosecuted Charles Taylor (Liberia) and Slobodan Milosevic (former Yugoslavia), among others. In total, the UN has handed down more than 250 indictments for war crimes. No one can say that justice is always served in these cases, but no other institution has the moral authority and perceived objectivity to even attempt this work.
3. Preventing Wars
It’s one thing to help the refugees; it’s another to prevent the wars that put them at risk. In Rwanda in 1994, UN peacekeepers failed to stop the initial slaughter of Tutsis by Hutus, and the eventual result was a genocide that claimed the lives of 800,000 Rwandans—about 10 percent of the country’s population. The UN can’t claim that the carnage was unexpected. A Canadian general serving as part of a UN peacekeeping force cabled a warning that horror was on the horizon. The UN Secretariat failed to act on those warnings.
During the war in the former Yugoslavia, the UN designated the Bosnian town of Srebrenica as a “safe zone,” disarming Bosnian Muslims who entered in search of safe haven. When Serb forces surrounded the village in July 1995, the 110 Dutch soldiers left behind to guard its inhabitants could not save them. Some 8,000 Muslim men and boys were massacred. Similar UN failures have cost the lives of thousands of innocents in Sri Lanka and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
(The Independent, Global Policy Forum, New York Times (a), New York Times (b))
4. UN Scandals
In 1996, the UN Security Council approved an “Oil for Food” program to allow Saddam Hussein’s sanctioned government to sell limited amounts of oil through the UN to provide the Iraqi people with food and other necessities. Saddam’s government used the program to draw about $1.8 billion in illicit income. About 85 percent of that total came through kickbacks on the sale of humanitarian goods. Most of the rest was derived from surcharges paid on oil contracts.
In addition, for many years, UN peacekeepers have been accused of sexual assault or exploitation, particularly in Africa. Current Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke forcefully on the issue before he took up his post. While the UN has acknowledged nearly 500 more incidents of sexual misdeeds committed by peacekeepers during Ban’s tenure, Ban has done little about it. Only this year did he for the first time remove a commanding officer.
More recently, human rights groups sued the UN after evidence emerged that peacekeepers had triggered a cholera outbreak in Haiti that has killed nearly 10,000 people and sickened hundreds of thousands more by dumping human waste into Haiti’s largest river in October 2010. A U.S. judge threw out the lawsuit earlier this year because the UN Charter provides its representatives with legal immunity. For an organization that demands accountability from others, it must start with itself.
5. Secretaries-General
Eight men have served as UN Secretary-General. They are Norway’s Trygve Lie, Sweden’s Dag Hammarskjold, Burma’s U Thant, Austria’s Kurt Waldheim, Peru’s Javier Perez de Cuellar, Egypt’s Boutros Boutros Ghali, Ghana’s Kofi Annan and South Korea’s Ban Ki-moon. None was more controversial than Waldheim, who lied about membership in a Nazi youth organization and the details of his service to the German army during World War II. But a larger problem for the UN itself is that its leaders often emerge from within the system they are expected to reform. Perez de Cuellar served in various capacities within the UN for more than a decade before becoming secretary-general. Kofi Annan spent nearly 30 years within the UN before assuming the top job. With a UN career that began in 1975, Ban Ki-moon played multiple roles within the organization before succeeding Annan in 2007, after spending a couple of years as foreign minister of South Korea.
Ban’s term ends late next year, and the process of choosing his successor will dominate thinking within the UN throughout 2016. Maybe it’s time for leadership from outside the organization.
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BOGOTA – Urged on by Cuban leader Raul Castro, Colombia’s blood enemies turned towards one another, locked eyes and clasped hands. It lasted just seconds but the handshake between Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Marxist rebel chieftain Rodrigo Londoño may have sealed a deal to end Latin America’s longest-running guerrilla conflict.
In Havana, Cuba, on Tuesday, Santos announced that three years of arduous peace talks were about the deliver vast dividends. After reaching a framework agreement to provide leniency for rebels accused of human rights abuses, Santos announced that his government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, intend to sign a peace treaty within six months. After that, he said, the guerrillas would have 60 days to begin laying down their arms.
“We are adversaries, but today we advance in the same direction, the most noble direction of any society, which is peace,” said Santos, who was making his first appearance at the peace negotiations since they began in the Cuban capital in November 2012.
Life without war would be a novel experience for most Colombians. The FARC first took up arms in 1964 to fight for land reform, social equality and Marxist rule. But the guerrillas became deeply involved in drug trafficking, extortion, kidnapping and illegal gold mining. The profits allowed them to keep fighting even as the Cold War ended and rebel abuses turned nearly the entire population against the FARC.
The conflict has killed nearly a quarter of a million people while thousands more – mostly civilians – have disappeared or been uprooted from their homes. Even though the intensity of the war has diminished in recent years, land mines and a lurking rebel presence have kept vast tracts of countryside off-limits to tourism and investment while government funds that could go towards anti-poverty programs are funneled into the war effort. It’s no wonder that Pope Francis, in his Mass in Cuba on Sept. 20, called on both sides to end “the long night of pain and violence.”
Whether or not the Pope’s prayers played a role, a day after he left the island for the United States, President Santos announced a major breakthrough. FARC negotiators had long insisted that its leaders accused of massacres and kidnappings would spend no time behind bars. Instead, the FARC lobbied for amnesty, similar to the way some of the worst offenders avoided justice following conflicts in South Africa, Northern Ireland, El Salvador and Argentina. But international law now demands that governments investigate and prosecute war crimes.
After more than a year of haggling, the two sides agreed to set up a special tribunal with Colombian and foreign magistrates to deal with the most extreme cases of massacres, forced displacement, sexual violence and hostage-taking. Accused FARC members who cooperate and tell the truth are to receive five to eight year sentences in non-traditional penal settings, such as work camps. Those who refuse to collaborate could get 20-year sentences in conventional prisons.
But the agreement has provoked howls of protest. The Colombian government’s Inspector General, Alejandro Ordoñez, said punitive measures must by proportional to the crimes committed rather than “symbolic or non-existent.” Former President Alvaro Uribe, one of the most vocal critics of the peace process, accused Santos of “surrendering” to the FARC. Human rights groups are dismayed by the accord’s vague definitions and potential amnesties.
“Colombia has a duty to investigate and prosecute all those suspected of criminal responsibility for crimes under international law,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International. “This obligation is non-negotiable, even in the context of a peace process.”
Given recent history that seems unlikely to happen. For example, a decade ago some 30,000 paramilitaries who fought against the FARC demobilized. But even though these right-wing militias were responsible for some of the war’s worst atrocities, Guevara-Rosas said only a small handful of paramilitary leaders were brought to trial.
Still, the FARC was unlikely to approve any deal calling for stiffer punitive measures. At a news conference in Havana on Thursday, Sergio Jaramillo, the Colombian government’s peace commissioner, insisted that ending the war would be the biggest advance for human rights in Colombia. But he also insisted that “the crimes that were the most agonizing for Colombians will not remain in impunity.”
Much remains to be done before a signing ceremony can take place, including coming up with a mechanism for disarming the FARC, which still has about 6,000 fighters under arms. The FARC then intends to form a left-wing political party and take part in elections. President Santos has also pledged to put the peace treaty before Colombian voters in a referendum.
Yet there is a growing sense that, even if its an unfamiliar term, Colombia is quickly moving towards a postwar era. Speaking to reporters in Havana on Thursday, Humberto de la Calle, the Colombian government’s chief negotiator, declared: “We are starting to count the days.”
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KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwanda is unlawfully locking up beggars, sex workers and homeless people to clean up the image of its capital, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday, in a report dismissed by the government.
BEIRUT and GENEVA (Reuters) - Warring sides in Syria have reached an agreement under UN supervision over the fate of two villages in the northwest and a town near the Lebanese border, sources familiar with the talks said on Thursday, as a ceasefire in the areas held.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The planned meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama in New York on Sept. 28 was organized by "mutual agreement" and will focus on Syria, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian provincial lawmaker who, in a rare show of defiance, accused the Kremlin of lying about whether it sent its forces to fight in Ukraine was stripped of his seat in the local parliament on Thursday.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States hopes to advance political talks on Syria in meetings at the United Nations next week and has told Russia it does not favor the Security Council issuing statement on Syria before the body meets, a U.S. State Department official said on Thursday.
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a new military doctrine on Thursday naming Russia as the main military threat to Ukraine, according to a statement on the presidential website.
WASHINGTON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in New York next week at a time of high tension in Europe and the Middle East, but the Kremlin and the White House disagreed on Thursday over the top priority for the talks.
YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenia said on Friday three civilians were killed and two were wounded in an attack by Azeri forces in several villages near the border between the two former Soviet republics.
In the first ever papal address to a joint meeting of Congress, Pope Francis called on Americans to embrace immigrants from Latin America . Report by Jessica Wakefield.
US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will meet for the first time in nearly a year on Monday, officials say.
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Saudi Arabia's King Salman orders a safety review for the Hajj pilgrimage after at least 717 people died in a stampede near the holy city of Mecca.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama has invested more time building personal ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping than with most other world leaders. But as Xi arrives in Washington late Thursday for a grand state visit, it's clear that Obama's overtures have produced decidedly mixed results....
European leaders have pledged more than $1 billion to help Syrian refugees in the Middle East, in an attempt to stop the flow of migrants arriving on the continent’s southern shores. But big differences remain over what to do with the migrants who have already arrived, as Henry Ridgwell reports from London.
The lethal stampede near Mecca is a reminder that the strong social roles that preserve lives in most crises can break down when the right factors are present.
On the Scene: Fleeing Extremism in Hopes of New Life in Europe by webdesk@voanews.com (Heather Murdock)
"All the men wear pants like this,” said Soaid, indicating with his hand that the pants needed to be long enough to cover the ankles. “And the women stay inside." As he waited in a crowded line of refugees and other migrants, hoping to board yet another bus, Soaid said he had escaped Deir Ezzor, a province in Syria mostly controlled by Islamic State militants, only a week or two ago. Since then, he said, he had already passed through Turkey, Greece, Macedonia and Serbia on...
A Puerto Rican woman accused of hiring a hit man to kill her wealthy Canadian husband was extradited to the U.S. territory Thursday after a lengthy international manhunt.
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FILE - In this Sunday, July 26, 2015 file pool photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin, centre, reviews a Navy parade in Baltisk, western Russia, during celebration for Russian Navy Day. With dozens of Russian combat jets and helicopter gunships lined up at an air base in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready for a big-time show at the United Nations General Assembly. Observers expect the Russian leader to call for stronger U.N.-sanctioned global action against the Islamic State group and possibly announce some military moves in his speech on Monday, Sept. 28, 2015. (Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA-Novosti, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, file) (Associated Press)
By Lori Hinnant and Cara Anna | AP September 24 at 4:34 PM
PARIS — Europe’s top diplomats, the United States and Russia jostled to lay out their positions Thursday on how best to end the civil war in Syria, which has sent millions fleeing their homes and killed thousands.
A central issue at the U.N.’s largest gathering of world leaders next week will be how and whether to include Syrian President Bashar Assad in any talks about the future of the country.
In the U.S., envoys said the Obama administration refused to negotiate over a Russian statement they feared would strengthen Assad’s hand at the United Nations. But efforts to stem the long-running crisis have new urgency in Europe, which is divided over how to deal with a new influx of refugees fleeing the war zone.
Russia, meanwhile, is bolstering military support for Assad, while U.S. support for rebels fighting the Syrian leader has foundered. About 4 million people have fled Syria during the conflict, which the U.N. says has killed more than 250,000.
A Kremlin spokesman has said Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet President Barack Obama on Monday.
A draft of Russia’s council statement, obtained by The Associated Press, urges countries to fight extremist groups “in coordination with the governments of the affected states.”
Sheba Crocker, the assistant U.S. secretary of state for international organization affairs, confirmed that the U.S. told Russia it couldn’t back the proposed statement.
One Security Council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussion was not a public one, said Russia’s new military buildup in Syria was hindering any hope for talks.
The diplomat noted the recent flurry of diplomatic activity on Syria after the Iran nuclear deal was announced, including a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Qatar, but said that window “slammed shut” with Russia’s new military buildup.
The international community is also watching for possible shifts on key countries’ stance on Assad.
While Kerry stressed last week the U.S. demand that Assad must go, he stated explicitly that an acceptable resolution to the Syrian war would allow Assad to remain in place for a time before departing.
“We’re not being doctrinaire about the specific date or time — we’re open,” Kerry said. “But right now, Assad has refused to have a serious discussion and Russia has refused to bring him to the table in order to do that. So that’s why we’re where we are.”
As for an Assad timetable, Kerry said “it doesn’t have to be on day one or month one or whatever,” but in context of negotiations.
And on Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she favored including Assad at the negotiating table in the future.
“I think one has to speak with many actors. That includes Assad,” she said.
In Paris, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said it wasn’t yet time to negotiate with Russia, and in a brief statement didn’t even broach the idea of negotiations with Assad as he sought some kind of common position with his French and British counterparts.
“We have to find an approach which will be able to bridge the different positions, interests especially of the actors in the region,” Steinmeier said.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Thursday’s Paris meeting aimed to lay the groundwork for more in-depth talks at the U.N. General Assembly, which begins Monday in New York.
But, Fabius said, “Bashar Assad cannot represent the future of a people in a country that he has martyred.”
___
Cara Anna reported from the United Nations. Bradley Klapper contributed to this report from Washington.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Israeli, Russian Deputy Military Chiefs to Coordinate on Syriaby webdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)
An Israeli-Russian coordination team set up to prevent the countries accidentally trading fire in Syria will be headed by their deputy armed forces chiefs and will hold its first meeting by Oct. 5, an Israeli military officer said on Thursday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Monday to set up the team as Moscow steps up military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has been losing ground to an Islamist-led insurgency. Israel is worried the Russian deployment, which U.S. officials and regional sources say includes advanced anti-aircraft units and warplanes, risks pitting Russian forces against its own over Syria. Israeli jets have occasionally struck in neighboring Syria to foil suspected handovers of sophisticated Russian- or Iranian-supplied arms to Assad's guerrilla allies in Lebanon. The United States has also raised concerns that Russian military support for Assad could raise the risk of confrontation with the U.S.-led coalition that has been carrying out air strikes against Islamic State in Syria. An Israeli military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the talks with Moscow would focus on aerial operations in Syria and "electromagnetic coordination." The latter appeared to refer to the sides agreeing not to scramble each other's radio communications or radar-tracking systems, and devising ways of identifying each other's forces to avoid any unintended confrontation in the heat of battle. Israel and Russia will also coordinate on sea operations off Syria's Mediterranean coast, where Moscow has a major naval base, the Israeli officer said. In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said progress had been made in Russian-Israeli contacts over Syria, though he declined to confirm the coordinating team could meet soon. "When it comes to communication channels and coordination of possible actions, yes, in fact, this topic was discussed and certain agreements and points during the meeting with Netanyahu were reached," Peskov told reporters in a conference call.
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