Author Archive VidWorld

The woman campaigning to succeed Angela Merkel as head of Germany’s Christian Democrats (CDU) said she may consider quotas to get more women in parliament, as she positioned herself for a party election in December. 

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer was placed second in a poll released by Bild am Sonntag, with support from 32 percent of conservatives, behind businessman Friedrich Merz with 49 percent in favor of seeing him succeed Merkel at a party congress on Dec. 7. 

The poll, which questioned members of the Bavarian CSU as well as the CDU, put Health Minister Jens Spahn third, with 7 percent. 

But in another poll of a more narrow sampling of CDU supporters for broadcaster ARD, Kramp-Karrenbauer, CDU general secretary, won 46 percent compared with 31 percent for Merz and 12 percent for Spahn. 

Kramp-Karrenbauer told broadcaster Suedwestrundfunk that many in the party had failed to take seriously a 1996 CDU rule that a third of party list candidates should be women, and she said a fall in the proportion of CDU lawmakers to one-fifth in the 2017 elections could be a vote loser. 

‘Last resort’

Creating quotas for parliament was “a last resort,” she said. “But it would be naive to think we can just let the issue run its course.” 

On another policy front, Kramp-Karrenbauer criticized dual citizenship rules, accusing Turkey’s leadership of trying to split the loyalties of German-Turkish dual nationals. 

“If that continues, then dual citizenship is missing its sense and purpose, and we must talk about how we end this system,” she told Der Spiegel magazine. 

The former premier of the western state of Saarland said she supported a plan under which the children of immigrants received a second passport, but their children would not. 

The CDU voted in 2016 to end dual citizenship, but Merkel subsequently said she did not feel bound by the vote. 

Spahn, an early critic of Merkel’s 2015 decision to welcome over a million mostly Muslim migrants, also weighed in on the immigration issue, urging the party congress to debate a U.N. pact on global migration signed in July. 

“All the citizens’ questions … should be answered. Otherwise there will be political fallout,” he said. 

Merkel on Friday accused her critics of spreading lies about the U.N. migration pact and insisted it would not curtail German sovereignty. 

Merkel, now in her fourth term, has said she will step down as party leader but will remain chancellor through 2021. 
…

British lawmakers are calling for hand car washes to be regulated and licensed to combat the modern-day slavery that is being carried out “in plain sight.”

The Environmental Audit Committee said in a report that authorities are not doing enough to prevent the “flagrant rule-breaking” and exploitation of workers at the tens of thousands of hand car washes around the country. Many of them operate on shopping center parking lots and other disused spaces.

More than a quarter of the reports of alleged labor abuses referred to the Modern Slavery Helpline last year were about hand car washes.

“Hand car washes are a common sight in our towns and cities,” said Committee Chair Mary Creagh. “Yet they hide the widespread exploitation of workers through illegally low pay, poor working conditions and in some cases, forced labor.”

The committee report said thousands of workers in Britain are believed to be slaves. Many of them are thought to be Eastern European men trapped in debt bondage, forced to work in unsafe conditions, stripped of their documents and subjected to threats, abuse and violence.

The hand car washes are also blamed for water pollution as the chemicals used flow unchecked into storm drains.
…

British lawmakers are calling for hand car washes to be regulated and licensed to combat the modern-day slavery that is being carried out “in plain sight.”

The Environmental Audit Committee said in a report that authorities are not doing enough to prevent the “flagrant rule-breaking” and exploitation of workers at the tens of thousands of hand car washes around the country. Many of them operate on shopping center parking lots and other disused spaces.

More than a quarter of the reports of alleged labor abuses referred to the Modern Slavery Helpline last year were about hand car washes.

“Hand car washes are a common sight in our towns and cities,” said Committee Chair Mary Creagh. “Yet they hide the widespread exploitation of workers through illegally low pay, poor working conditions and in some cases, forced labor.”

The committee report said thousands of workers in Britain are believed to be slaves. Many of them are thought to be Eastern European men trapped in debt bondage, forced to work in unsafe conditions, stripped of their documents and subjected to threats, abuse and violence.

The hand car washes are also blamed for water pollution as the chemicals used flow unchecked into storm drains.
…

Turkish police have detained 13 academics, activists and journalists over links to a jailed businessman and human rights defender, and allegations that they sought to topple the government by supporting mass protests during 2013, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported Friday.

Anadolu Agency said professors Betul Tanbay and Turgut Tarhanli of Istanbul’s Bosphorus and Bilgi universities, and journalist Cigdem Mater were among those detained in simultaneous police operations in Istanbul and in three provinces.

They were being questioned over their links to the Anatolia Culture Association founded by Osman Kavala, a philanthropist businessman who was arrested a year ago and accused of attempts to “abolish” the constitutional order and the government. No indictment has been issued against him.

Anadolu said police are searching for seven other people linked to the association, which says it aims to promote peace and minority rights through culture.

The group is suspected of trying to bring down the government by fomenting “chaos and disorder” through their alleged involvement in efforts to expand anti-government protests that grew from opposition to the cutting down of trees at Istanbul’s Gezi Park. Authorities suspect that Kavala used the association, as well as a foundation that he also headed, to finance and organize efforts to broaden the protests, the agency reported.

The detentions drew criticism from the European Union, which called the development “alarming,” and from human rights groups.

“The repeated detentions of critical voices and the continued widespread pressure on civil society representatives run counter to the Turkish government’s declared commitment to human rights and to fundamental freedoms,” the EU said a statement.

The statement said the detentions would be raised during a high-level EU visit to Ankara next week.

Amnesty International’s Turkey Strategy and Research Manager Andrew Gardner said: “This latest wave of detentions of academics and activists, on the basis of absurd allegations, shows that the authorities are intent on continuing their brutal crackdown of independent civil society.”

​Since an attempted coup in 2016, Turkey’s government has been accused of stifling freedom of expression by arresting thousands of people for alleged connections to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey blames for the failed attempt, or links to terror groups. It has purged many more people from state institutions and jailed dozens of journalists.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called Kavala “Turkey’s Soros,” a reference to American billionaire George Soros, whose Open Society Foundations have funded education, health, justice and media projects around the world. Pro-government media in Turkey accuse Kavala of engaging in anti-government conspiracies.

Eleven prominent activists, including Amnesty International’s former Turkey chairman, were arrested last year at their hotel on an island off of Istanbul while training. They were eventually released from jail pending the outcome of their trial for supporting terror groups.

Separately on Friday, police detained 86 people, most of them former Air Force personnel, in operations across Turkey and were looking for 100 others for alleged links to Gulen’s movement, Anadolu reported.

More than 15,000 people have been purged from the military since the coup, Turkey’s defense minister has said.

The cleric denies involvement in the coup. 
…

Turkish police have detained 13 academics, activists and journalists over links to a jailed businessman and human rights defender, and allegations that they sought to topple the government by supporting mass protests during 2013, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported Friday.

Anadolu Agency said professors Betul Tanbay and Turgut Tarhanli of Istanbul’s Bosphorus and Bilgi universities, and journalist Cigdem Mater were among those detained in simultaneous police operations in Istanbul and in three provinces.

They were being questioned over their links to the Anatolia Culture Association founded by Osman Kavala, a philanthropist businessman who was arrested a year ago and accused of attempts to “abolish” the constitutional order and the government. No indictment has been issued against him.

Anadolu said police are searching for seven other people linked to the association, which says it aims to promote peace and minority rights through culture.

The group is suspected of trying to bring down the government by fomenting “chaos and disorder” through their alleged involvement in efforts to expand anti-government protests that grew from opposition to the cutting down of trees at Istanbul’s Gezi Park. Authorities suspect that Kavala used the association, as well as a foundation that he also headed, to finance and organize efforts to broaden the protests, the agency reported.

The detentions drew criticism from the European Union, which called the development “alarming,” and from human rights groups.

“The repeated detentions of critical voices and the continued widespread pressure on civil society representatives run counter to the Turkish government’s declared commitment to human rights and to fundamental freedoms,” the EU said a statement.

The statement said the detentions would be raised during a high-level EU visit to Ankara next week.

Amnesty International’s Turkey Strategy and Research Manager Andrew Gardner said: “This latest wave of detentions of academics and activists, on the basis of absurd allegations, shows that the authorities are intent on continuing their brutal crackdown of independent civil society.”

​Since an attempted coup in 2016, Turkey’s government has been accused of stifling freedom of expression by arresting thousands of people for alleged connections to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey blames for the failed attempt, or links to terror groups. It has purged many more people from state institutions and jailed dozens of journalists.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called Kavala “Turkey’s Soros,” a reference to American billionaire George Soros, whose Open Society Foundations have funded education, health, justice and media projects around the world. Pro-government media in Turkey accuse Kavala of engaging in anti-government conspiracies.

Eleven prominent activists, including Amnesty International’s former Turkey chairman, were arrested last year at their hotel on an island off of Istanbul while training. They were eventually released from jail pending the outcome of their trial for supporting terror groups.

Separately on Friday, police detained 86 people, most of them former Air Force personnel, in operations across Turkey and were looking for 100 others for alleged links to Gulen’s movement, Anadolu reported.

More than 15,000 people have been purged from the military since the coup, Turkey’s defense minister has said.

The cleric denies involvement in the coup. 
…

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says “Ukraine has no greater friend than the United States” in resisting Russia’s attempted annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. He spoke Friday in Washington after meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.

Pompeo said Washington would continue to punish Russia until it returned control of Crimea to Ukraine.

Klimkin said the U.S. and Ukraine “stand shoulder to shoulder in countering Russian aggression.” He said such aggression takes many forms, both the war in Crimea and parts of Donbas in Ukraine, and in Russian efforts to undermine democratic institutions in the United States and Europe.

The two men met on the 10th anniversary of the declaration of a strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States. Pompeo said they made progress on countering Russian aggression in Ukraine; bolstering the rule of law and humanitarian issues; and economic and energy security matters.

In an interview with Voice of America’s Ukrainian service Friday, Klimkin predicted that Russia would “try its utmost” to meddle in Ukraine’s presidential and parliamentary elections next year. He accused Russia of spreading “fierce propaganda” and “disinformation.” 

“It’s a comprehensive conventional and nonconventional war against Ukraine,” he said.

Klimkin also expressed concern about Russian aggression in the Azov Sea, saying it was “critically important” to keep the peace there.

“We need the support of the international community to bring peace to this important region,” he said.

Klimkin also told VOA that Ukraine was open to any kind of international mission to help the occupied Donbas region. He said Ukrainian citizens have been suffering from Russian occupation there. 

“It could be a peacekeeping mission, it could be a police mission, it could be international administration, or all three coming together,” he said, to aid the citizens of the region.

VOA’s Ukrainian service contributed to this report.
…

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says “Ukraine has no greater friend than the United States” in resisting Russia’s attempted annexation of the Crimean Peninsula. He spoke Friday in Washington after meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.

Pompeo said Washington would continue to punish Russia until it returned control of Crimea to Ukraine.

Klimkin said the U.S. and Ukraine “stand shoulder to shoulder in countering Russian aggression.” He said such aggression takes many forms, both the war in Crimea and parts of Donbas in Ukraine, and in Russian efforts to undermine democratic institutions in the United States and Europe.

The two men met on the 10th anniversary of the declaration of a strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States. Pompeo said they made progress on countering Russian aggression in Ukraine; bolstering the rule of law and humanitarian issues; and economic and energy security matters.

In an interview with Voice of America’s Ukrainian service Friday, Klimkin predicted that Russia would “try its utmost” to meddle in Ukraine’s presidential and parliamentary elections next year. He accused Russia of spreading “fierce propaganda” and “disinformation.” 

“It’s a comprehensive conventional and nonconventional war against Ukraine,” he said.

Klimkin also expressed concern about Russian aggression in the Azov Sea, saying it was “critically important” to keep the peace there.

“We need the support of the international community to bring peace to this important region,” he said.

Klimkin also told VOA that Ukraine was open to any kind of international mission to help the occupied Donbas region. He said Ukrainian citizens have been suffering from Russian occupation there. 

“It could be a peacekeeping mission, it could be a police mission, it could be international administration, or all three coming together,” he said, to aid the citizens of the region.

VOA’s Ukrainian service contributed to this report.
…

The Justice Department inadvertently named Julian Assange in a court filing in an unrelated case, suggesting prosecutors have charged the WikiLeaks founder under seal.

Assange’s name appears twice in an August court filing from a federal prosecutor in Virginia, who was attempting to keep sealed a separate case involving a man accused of coercing a minor for sex.

Any charges against Assange could help illuminate the question of whether Russia coordinated with the Trump campaign to sway the 2016 presidential election. It would also suggest that, after years of internal wrangling within the Justice Department, prosecutors have decided to take a more aggressive tact against the secret-sharing website.

Wrong name in filing

In one sentence, the prosecutor wrote that the charges and arrest warrant “would need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested in connection with the charges in the criminal complaint and can therefore no longer evade or avoid arrest and extradition in this matter.” In another sentence, the prosecutor said that “due to the sophistication of the defendant and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged.”

It was not immediately clear why Assange’s name was included in the document, though Joshua Stueve, a spokesman for the Eastern District of Virginia, which had been investigating Assange, said, “The court filing was made in error. That was not the intended name for this filing.”

The Washington Post reported late Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter, that Assange had indeed been charged. The Associated Press could not immediately confirm that.

It was not immediately clear what charges Assange, who has been holed up for years in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, might face.

Assange arrest a priority for Sessions

But recently ousted Attorney General Jeff Sessions last year declared the arrest of Assange a priority. Special counsel Robert Mueller has been investigating whether Trump campaign associates had advance knowledge of Democratic emails that were published by WikiLeaks in the weeks before the 2016 election and that U.S. authorities have said were hacked by Russia. Any arrest could represent a significant development for Mueller’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the election.

Barry Pollack, a lawyer for Assange, told the AP earlier this week that he had no information about possible charges against Assange.

The filing was discovered by Seamus Hughes, a terrorism expert at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, who posted it on Twitter and said, “To be clear, seems Freudian, it’s for a different completely unrelated case, every other page is not related to him, EDVA just appears to have assange on the mind when filing motions to seal and used his name.”
…

The Justice Department inadvertently named Julian Assange in a court filing in an unrelated case, suggesting prosecutors have charged the WikiLeaks founder under seal.

Assange’s name appears twice in an August court filing from a federal prosecutor in Virginia, who was attempting to keep sealed a separate case involving a man accused of coercing a minor for sex.

Any charges against Assange could help illuminate the question of whether Russia coordinated with the Trump campaign to sway the 2016 presidential election. It would also suggest that, after years of internal wrangling within the Justice Department, prosecutors have decided to take a more aggressive tact against the secret-sharing website.

Wrong name in filing

In one sentence, the prosecutor wrote that the charges and arrest warrant “would need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested in connection with the charges in the criminal complaint and can therefore no longer evade or avoid arrest and extradition in this matter.” In another sentence, the prosecutor said that “due to the sophistication of the defendant and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged.”

It was not immediately clear why Assange’s name was included in the document, though Joshua Stueve, a spokesman for the Eastern District of Virginia, which had been investigating Assange, said, “The court filing was made in error. That was not the intended name for this filing.”

The Washington Post reported late Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter, that Assange had indeed been charged. The Associated Press could not immediately confirm that.

It was not immediately clear what charges Assange, who has been holed up for years in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, might face.

Assange arrest a priority for Sessions

But recently ousted Attorney General Jeff Sessions last year declared the arrest of Assange a priority. Special counsel Robert Mueller has been investigating whether Trump campaign associates had advance knowledge of Democratic emails that were published by WikiLeaks in the weeks before the 2016 election and that U.S. authorities have said were hacked by Russia. Any arrest could represent a significant development for Mueller’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia to influence the election.

Barry Pollack, a lawyer for Assange, told the AP earlier this week that he had no information about possible charges against Assange.

The filing was discovered by Seamus Hughes, a terrorism expert at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, who posted it on Twitter and said, “To be clear, seems Freudian, it’s for a different completely unrelated case, every other page is not related to him, EDVA just appears to have assange on the mind when filing motions to seal and used his name.”
…

Ethically driven businesses are becoming increasingly popular and profitable but they can face threats for shaking up the existing order, entrepreneurs said on Social Enterprise Day.

When Meghan Markle wore a pair of “slave-free” jeans on a royal tour of Australia last month, she sparked a sales stampede and shone a spotlight on the growing number of companies aiming to meet public demand for ethical products.

“Right now is the perfect time to have this kind of business,” said James Bartle, founder of Australia-based Outland Denim, which made the $200 (150 pound) jeans. “There is awareness and people are prepared to spend on these kinds of products.”

Social Enterprise Day

Social Enterprise Day, which celebrates firms seeking to make profit while doing good, is being marked in 23 countries, including Australia, Nigeria, Romania and the Philippines, led by Social Enterprise UK (SEUK), which represents the sector.

Outland Denim is one such company, employing dozens of survivors of human trafficking and other vulnerable women in Cambodia to make its jeans, which all contain a written thank-you message from the seamstress on an internal pocket.

Bartle said he wanted to create a sustainable model that gives people power to change their future through employment.

More companies are striving to clean up their supply chains and stamp their goods as environmentally friendly and ethical, with women and millennials, people born between 1982 and 2000, driving the shift to products that seek to improve the world.

“For-profits create the mess, and then the not-for-profits clean it up,” said Andrew O’Brien, director of external affairs at SEUK, which estimates that 2 million British workers are employed by a social enterprise. “We are an existential threat to that system, by coming through the middle and forcing businesses to change the way they do business.”

Risky business 

Britain has the world’s largest social enterprise sector, according to the U.K. government. About 100,000 firms contribute 60 billion pounds ($76 billion) to the world’s fifth largest economy, SEUK says.

Elsewhere in the world, it can be a risky business.

“I get threats,” said Farhad Wajdi who runs Ebtakar Inspiring Entrepreneurs of Afghanistan, which helps women enter the workforce by training and providing seed money for them to operate food carts in the war-torn country. “I can’t go to the provinces.”

His work has met resistance in parts of Afghanistan, a conservative society where women rarely work outside the home.

“A social enterprise can lead to sustainable change in those communities,” Wajdi said on the sidelines of the Trust Conference in London. “It can propagate gender equality and create friction for social change at a grassroots level.”

Niche? Window dressing?

There is, however, a danger that social enterprise will remain a niche form of business or become window-dressing for firms that just want to improve their public image.

“I don’t want social enterprise to become the next (corporate social responsibility), another (public relations) move,” said Melissa Kim, the founder of Costa Rican-based Uplift Worldwide, which supports social enterprises.

“To me this is just good business, and good sustainable business is not just about the environment and human rights … if you care about your relationships internally and externally you will stay in business.”
…

Ethically driven businesses are becoming increasingly popular and profitable but they can face threats for shaking up the existing order, entrepreneurs said on Social Enterprise Day.

When Meghan Markle wore a pair of “slave-free” jeans on a royal tour of Australia last month, she sparked a sales stampede and shone a spotlight on the growing number of companies aiming to meet public demand for ethical products.

“Right now is the perfect time to have this kind of business,” said James Bartle, founder of Australia-based Outland Denim, which made the $200 (150 pound) jeans. “There is awareness and people are prepared to spend on these kinds of products.”

Social Enterprise Day

Social Enterprise Day, which celebrates firms seeking to make profit while doing good, is being marked in 23 countries, including Australia, Nigeria, Romania and the Philippines, led by Social Enterprise UK (SEUK), which represents the sector.

Outland Denim is one such company, employing dozens of survivors of human trafficking and other vulnerable women in Cambodia to make its jeans, which all contain a written thank-you message from the seamstress on an internal pocket.

Bartle said he wanted to create a sustainable model that gives people power to change their future through employment.

More companies are striving to clean up their supply chains and stamp their goods as environmentally friendly and ethical, with women and millennials, people born between 1982 and 2000, driving the shift to products that seek to improve the world.

“For-profits create the mess, and then the not-for-profits clean it up,” said Andrew O’Brien, director of external affairs at SEUK, which estimates that 2 million British workers are employed by a social enterprise. “We are an existential threat to that system, by coming through the middle and forcing businesses to change the way they do business.”

Risky business 

Britain has the world’s largest social enterprise sector, according to the U.K. government. About 100,000 firms contribute 60 billion pounds ($76 billion) to the world’s fifth largest economy, SEUK says.

Elsewhere in the world, it can be a risky business.

“I get threats,” said Farhad Wajdi who runs Ebtakar Inspiring Entrepreneurs of Afghanistan, which helps women enter the workforce by training and providing seed money for them to operate food carts in the war-torn country. “I can’t go to the provinces.”

His work has met resistance in parts of Afghanistan, a conservative society where women rarely work outside the home.

“A social enterprise can lead to sustainable change in those communities,” Wajdi said on the sidelines of the Trust Conference in London. “It can propagate gender equality and create friction for social change at a grassroots level.”

Niche? Window dressing?

There is, however, a danger that social enterprise will remain a niche form of business or become window-dressing for firms that just want to improve their public image.

“I don’t want social enterprise to become the next (corporate social responsibility), another (public relations) move,” said Melissa Kim, the founder of Costa Rican-based Uplift Worldwide, which supports social enterprises.

“To me this is just good business, and good sustainable business is not just about the environment and human rights … if you care about your relationships internally and externally you will stay in business.”
…

The three candidates competing to succeed German Chancellor Angela Merkel as leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU) agreed on Thursday to revive their party’s fortunes by cutting taxes and reducing Germany’s dependence on the United States for defense.

In a strikingly good-humored three-hour debate in the northern city of Luebeck, the first of eight meetings with party grass roots across Germany before a leadership vote on Dec. 7, the rivals barely clashed on broad policy.

While there were different nuances on details, the three agreed to work to improve the integration of migrants, focus more on affordable housing, cut subsidies to poorer eastern states and further Merkel’s digitalization drive.

The race for leader of the Christian Democratic Union party has shaped up as a dual between Merkel protege Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, widely seen as the continuity option, and Friedrich Merz, a millionaire who describes himself as “a free-trade man.”

Merkel has said she will remain chancellor atop a ‘grand coalition’ with the CDU’s Bavarian sister party and Social Democrats until the end of her term in 2021.

CDU General Secretary Kramp-Karrenbauer, the front-runner, won applause for saying she would continue the process of renewal, by taking into account the views of the party base.

Former Merkel rival Merz said he aimed to take the CDU back over the 40 percent mark and halve support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), currently polling at around 16 percent. The CDU is at around 26-27 percent in most surveys.

“It is our job to do this,” he said, adding the CDU had to make clear it had not forgotten voters who felt neglected after the influx of some 1.5 million migrants since 2015.

Health Minister Jens Spahn, the third candidate and an arch-critic of Merkel’s migrant policy, said CDU policy had in part led to the rise of the AfD, now represented in all of Germany’s 16 states. “We can also get rid of them,” he said.

All three candidates promised to work with each other after the leadership election and stressed their mutual respect.

“I will not criticize the others, we will only say good things about each other … In the end, the party must be the winner,” said Merz.

An opinion poll for broadcaster ARD conducted on Monday and Tuesday showed Kramp-Karrenbauer, known as mini-Merkel, still favorite among CDU voters with 46 percent support.

The poll, released on Thursday, showed 31 percent of CDU supporters favored Friedrich Merz, returning to politics after 10 years in the private sector. Twelve percent backed Spahn.
…

The three candidates competing to succeed German Chancellor Angela Merkel as leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU) agreed on Thursday to revive their party’s fortunes by cutting taxes and reducing Germany’s dependence on the United States for defense.

In a strikingly good-humored three-hour debate in the northern city of Luebeck, the first of eight meetings with party grass roots across Germany before a leadership vote on Dec. 7, the rivals barely clashed on broad policy.

While there were different nuances on details, the three agreed to work to improve the integration of migrants, focus more on affordable housing, cut subsidies to poorer eastern states and further Merkel’s digitalization drive.

The race for leader of the Christian Democratic Union party has shaped up as a dual between Merkel protege Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, widely seen as the continuity option, and Friedrich Merz, a millionaire who describes himself as “a free-trade man.”

Merkel has said she will remain chancellor atop a ‘grand coalition’ with the CDU’s Bavarian sister party and Social Democrats until the end of her term in 2021.

CDU General Secretary Kramp-Karrenbauer, the front-runner, won applause for saying she would continue the process of renewal, by taking into account the views of the party base.

Former Merkel rival Merz said he aimed to take the CDU back over the 40 percent mark and halve support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), currently polling at around 16 percent. The CDU is at around 26-27 percent in most surveys.

“It is our job to do this,” he said, adding the CDU had to make clear it had not forgotten voters who felt neglected after the influx of some 1.5 million migrants since 2015.

Health Minister Jens Spahn, the third candidate and an arch-critic of Merkel’s migrant policy, said CDU policy had in part led to the rise of the AfD, now represented in all of Germany’s 16 states. “We can also get rid of them,” he said.

All three candidates promised to work with each other after the leadership election and stressed their mutual respect.

“I will not criticize the others, we will only say good things about each other … In the end, the party must be the winner,” said Merz.

An opinion poll for broadcaster ARD conducted on Monday and Tuesday showed Kramp-Karrenbauer, known as mini-Merkel, still favorite among CDU voters with 46 percent support.

The poll, released on Thursday, showed 31 percent of CDU supporters favored Friedrich Merz, returning to politics after 10 years in the private sector. Twelve percent backed Spahn.
…

Unknown assailants threw gasoline bombs at a historic 18th century Orthodox church in the Ukrainian capital and attacked a priest early on Thursday morning, a church spokesman said, blaming Moscow for the incident.

The attack comes amid rising tensions between Kyiv and Moscow over Ukraine’s decision to create a new national independent church and severing centuries-old ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.

The petrol gasoline bombs did not explode and no damage was done to St. Andrew’s church, a baroque mid-18th century church which sits on a steep slope on one of Kyiv’s best-known tourist spots.

The church spokesman, Archbishop Yevstraty, said the attackers, who police said numbered four, used a spray against a priest.

The Kyiv authorities handed over the use of St. Andrew’s to the Ecumenical Patriarch, the global spiritual leader of Orthodox Christianity who sits in Istanbul, while courting the patriarch’s support for Ukrainian church independence.

“We see that Moscow’s henchmen are dropping “clear hints” to intimidate representatives of Ecumenical Patriarch,” Yevstraty said.

Ukraine in October secured approval to set up an independent church from the Ecumenical Patriarch, a move fiercely opposed by the Russian Orthodox Church and the Kremlin.

Ukraine says the split is an essential step to blocking out Russia’s pernicious influence on its soil.

Relations between the two countries plunged following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and support for separatist rebels in the Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

 
…

Unknown assailants threw gasoline bombs at a historic 18th century Orthodox church in the Ukrainian capital and attacked a priest early on Thursday morning, a church spokesman said, blaming Moscow for the incident.

The attack comes amid rising tensions between Kyiv and Moscow over Ukraine’s decision to create a new national independent church and severing centuries-old ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.

The petrol gasoline bombs did not explode and no damage was done to St. Andrew’s church, a baroque mid-18th century church which sits on a steep slope on one of Kyiv’s best-known tourist spots.

The church spokesman, Archbishop Yevstraty, said the attackers, who police said numbered four, used a spray against a priest.

The Kyiv authorities handed over the use of St. Andrew’s to the Ecumenical Patriarch, the global spiritual leader of Orthodox Christianity who sits in Istanbul, while courting the patriarch’s support for Ukrainian church independence.

“We see that Moscow’s henchmen are dropping “clear hints” to intimidate representatives of Ecumenical Patriarch,” Yevstraty said.

Ukraine in October secured approval to set up an independent church from the Ecumenical Patriarch, a move fiercely opposed by the Russian Orthodox Church and the Kremlin.

Ukraine says the split is an essential step to blocking out Russia’s pernicious influence on its soil.

Relations between the two countries plunged following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and support for separatist rebels in the Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

 
…

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees has almost closed a funding gap caused by the loss of $300 million in U.S. contributions, its chief said on Tuesday.

The Trump administration pulled the bulk of U.S. funding of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in January after a U.N. General Assembly vote rejected Washington’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Since President Donald Trump’s move, the EU has become UNRWA’s largest single donor, Japan had increased its funding, and four Gulf countries – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates – had contributed $200 million, according to UNRWA chief Pierre Kraehenbuehl.

He told reporters that the U.S. funding cut had made 2018 a very difficult year for UNRWA, which runs schools and clinics for 5.4 million Palestinians across the Middle East, including in Gaza and the West Bank.

It began 2018 with a shortfall of $146 million in its planned budget of $1.2 billion. That ballooned to $446 million after Trump’s cutback, forcing Kraehenbuehl to seek new funds from other countries and private sector donors.

“We decided not to sit back and complain but to reach out and launch a global campaign called ‘dignity is priceless’, and that really mobilized the international community,” he said.

“We have mobilized until now $382 million of additional funding, which means we brought the shortfall down to $64 million, and we are still in contact with a number of countries; we are hopeful that this shortfall will be brought down further in couple of weeks,” said Kraehenbuehl.

He added that it was at least good to have a greater geographical spread of donors more representative of the United Nations as a whole. But new donations would have to be stabilized to keep UNRWA funded next year and in future years.

“We’re not out of the woods (yet),” he said.

Trump’s endorsement in December of Israel’s claim to Jerusalem as its capital drew universal condemnation from Arab leaders and criticism around the world. It broke with decades of U.S. policy that the city’s status must be decided in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
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The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees has almost closed a funding gap caused by the loss of $300 million in U.S. contributions, its chief said on Tuesday.

The Trump administration pulled the bulk of U.S. funding of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in January after a U.N. General Assembly vote rejected Washington’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Since President Donald Trump’s move, the EU has become UNRWA’s largest single donor, Japan had increased its funding, and four Gulf countries – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates – had contributed $200 million, according to UNRWA chief Pierre Kraehenbuehl.

He told reporters that the U.S. funding cut had made 2018 a very difficult year for UNRWA, which runs schools and clinics for 5.4 million Palestinians across the Middle East, including in Gaza and the West Bank.

It began 2018 with a shortfall of $146 million in its planned budget of $1.2 billion. That ballooned to $446 million after Trump’s cutback, forcing Kraehenbuehl to seek new funds from other countries and private sector donors.

“We decided not to sit back and complain but to reach out and launch a global campaign called ‘dignity is priceless’, and that really mobilized the international community,” he said.

“We have mobilized until now $382 million of additional funding, which means we brought the shortfall down to $64 million, and we are still in contact with a number of countries; we are hopeful that this shortfall will be brought down further in couple of weeks,” said Kraehenbuehl.

He added that it was at least good to have a greater geographical spread of donors more representative of the United Nations as a whole. But new donations would have to be stabilized to keep UNRWA funded next year and in future years.

“We’re not out of the woods (yet),” he said.

Trump’s endorsement in December of Israel’s claim to Jerusalem as its capital drew universal condemnation from Arab leaders and criticism around the world. It broke with decades of U.S. policy that the city’s status must be decided in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
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The disruption of Finland’s global positioning system (GPS) signal during recent NATO war games came from Russian territory, the Finnish foreign ministry said on Thursday.

The Kremlin on Monday dismissed an earlier allegation from Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila that Russia may have intentionally disrupted the signal during the war games.

Finland’s air navigation services earlier this month issued a warning for air traffic due to a large-scale GPS interruption in the north of the country.

Norway had posted a similar warning in its own airspace and also accused Russia.

Finnish authorities are continuing to investigate the matter and the issue is being discussed with the Russian Federation through diplomatic channels, the ministry added in a statement on Thursday.

Finland is not a NATO member but it took part as an ally in NATO’s largest exercise in decades which ended on Wednesday.

Forces from 31 countries participated in the games close to Russia, in an area stretching from the Baltic Sea to Iceland.

Finland shares a 1,340 km (833-mile) border and a difficult history with Russia. It has lately developed closer ties with NATO but stopped short of full membership in line with a tradition of avoiding confrontation with its eastern neighbor.

 
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The disruption of Finland’s global positioning system (GPS) signal during recent NATO war games came from Russian territory, the Finnish foreign ministry said on Thursday.

The Kremlin on Monday dismissed an earlier allegation from Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila that Russia may have intentionally disrupted the signal during the war games.

Finland’s air navigation services earlier this month issued a warning for air traffic due to a large-scale GPS interruption in the north of the country.

Norway had posted a similar warning in its own airspace and also accused Russia.

Finnish authorities are continuing to investigate the matter and the issue is being discussed with the Russian Federation through diplomatic channels, the ministry added in a statement on Thursday.

Finland is not a NATO member but it took part as an ally in NATO’s largest exercise in decades which ended on Wednesday.

Forces from 31 countries participated in the games close to Russia, in an area stretching from the Baltic Sea to Iceland.

Finland shares a 1,340 km (833-mile) border and a difficult history with Russia. It has lately developed closer ties with NATO but stopped short of full membership in line with a tradition of avoiding confrontation with its eastern neighbor.

 
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The United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed on a deal that will give London’s vast financial center only a basic level of access to the bloc’s markets after Brexit. 

The agreement will be based on the EU’s existing system of financial market access known as equivalence — a watered-down relationship that officials in Brussels have said all along is the best arrangement that Britain can expect. 

The EU grants equivalence to many countries and has so far not agreed to Britain’s demands for major concessions such as offering broader access and safeguards on withdrawing access, neither of which is mentioned in the draft deal. 

“It is appalling,” said Graham Bishop, a former banker and consultant who has advised EU institutions on financial services. The draft text “is particularly vague but emphasizes the EU’s ability to take decisions in its own interests. … This is code for the UK being a pure rule taker.” 

Britain’s decision to leave the EU has undermined London’s position as the leading international finance hub. Britain’s financial services sector, the biggest source of its exports and tax revenue, has been struggling to find a way to preserve the existing flow of trading after it leaves the EU. 

Many top bankers fear Brexit will slowly undermine London’s position. Global banks have already reorganized some operations ahead of Britain’s departure from the European Union, due on March 29. 

Currently, inside the EU, banks and insurers in Britain enjoy unfettered access to customers across the bloc in all financial activities. 

No commercial bank lending

Equivalence, however, covers a more limited range of business and excludes major activities such as commercial bank lending. Law firm Hogan Lovells has estimated that equivalence rules cover just a quarter of all EU cross-border financial services business. 

Such an arrangement would give Britain a similar level of access to the EU as major U.S. and Japanese firms, while tying it to many EU finance rules for years to come. 

Many bankers and politicians have been hoping London could secure a preferential deal giving it deep access to the bloc’s markets. 

Under current equivalence rules, access is patchy and can be cut off by the EU within 30 days in some cases. Britain had called for a far longer notice period. 

The draft deal is likely to persuade banks, insurers and asset managers to stick with plans to move some activities to the EU to ensure they maintain access to the bloc’s markets. 

Britain is currently home to the world’s largest number of banks, and about 6 trillion euros ($6.79 trillion) or 37 percent of Europe’s financial assets are managed in the U.K. capital, almost twice the amount of its nearest rival, Paris. 

London also dominates Europe’s 5.2 trillion-euro investment banking industry. 

Rachel Kent, a lawyer at Hogan Lovells who has advised companies on future trading relations with the EU, said the draft deal did not rule out improved equivalence in the future. 

“I don’t see that any doors have been closed,” she said. “It is probably as much as we could hope for at this stage.” 
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