Kamis, 01 Oktober 2020

EU warns Turkey of sanctions over 'provocations' in Mediterranean - BBC News

Turkish research ship off Antalya, Turkey on July 22, 2020
image copyrightGetty Images

The EU says it could impose sanctions on Turkey over "provocations and pressures" in a row with Greece over energy resources and maritime borders.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Ankara to "abstain from unilateral actions" in the eastern Mediterranean.

She spoke early on Friday during a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels.

Earlier, Turkey and Greece set up a military hotline to try to reduce the risk of clashes in the region.

Tensions rose earlier this year when Turkey sent a ship into a disputed area to search for potentially rich oil and gas deposits.

What has the EU said?

Mrs von der Leyen told reporters that the EU wanted "a positive and constructive relationship with Turkey and this would be also be very much in Ankara's interest".

"But it will only work if the provocations and pressures stop," she said. "We therefore expect that Turkey from now on abstains from unilateral actions. In case of such renewed actions by Ankara the EU will use all its instruments and options available. We have a toolbox that we can apply immediately."

European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (R)
image copyrightEPA

After their late-night meeting, EU members agreed to review Turkey's behaviour in December and impose sanctions if "provocations" had not stopped.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, posting on Twitter after the meeting, said: "The EU issues a clear threat of sanctions against Turkey should it continue to violate international law."

European Council President Charles Michel said the EU was offering Turkey closer relations on trade and other areas but holding out the threat of sanctions if tensions in the Mediterranean did not de-escalate.

What's the background?

The European Union and Turkey have long held a fragile relationship.

Turkey has been a long-term candidate for membership of the EU but efforts have stalled. EU leaders have criticised Turkey's record on human rights and the rule of law, in particular in the wake of the 2016 failed military coup.

Despite the strains, Turkey remains an important partner for the EU. Turkey hosts millions of migrants and struck a deal with the EU that limited the numbers arriving in Greece.

Greece and Turkey are both Nato members, but have a history of border disputes and competing claims over maritime rights.

Tensions flared in August when Ankara sent the research ship into an area south of the Greek island of Kastellorizo which is claimed by Greece, Turkey and Cyprus.
Overlapping claims in the Eastern Mediterranean graphic
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Greece called the move a "new serious escalation" and the EU has backed its members Cyprus and Greece against Turkey.

Tensions eased somewhat when the research ship returned to Turkish waters last month and both sides said they were prepared to resume talks.

Why the military hotline?

The announcement of the hotline on Thursday followed talks between Turkey and Greece at the Nato headquarters in Brussels.

"I welcome the establishment of a military de-confliction mechanism, achieved through the constructive engagement of Greece and Turkey, both valued Nato allies," said Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

"This safety mechanism can help to create the space for diplomatic efforts to address the underlying dispute and we stand ready to develop it further."

Such mechanisms enable direct communication between two sides. Russia and the US set one up during the Cold War and it has been in operation ever since.

Last month France - which is also at odds with Turkey over the crisis in Libya - deployed two Rafale fighter jets and a naval frigate in the Eastern Mediterranean because of the tensions between Greece and Turkey.

Related Topics

  • Greece
  • European Union
  • Turkey
  • Nato

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2020-10-02 01:23:00Z
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Trump aide Hope Hicks tests positive for coronavirus - reports - Sky News

Hope Hicks, one of President Donald Trump's top aides, has tested positive for coronavirus, according to US media reports.

Ms Hicks, who serves as a counsellor to the president, reportedly tested positive for the disease on Thursday, the day after she travelled with the president to a rally.

The information was revealed by an anonymous administration official who spoke to news agency Bloomberg.

US President Donald Trump points to former communications director Hope Hicks shortly before making his way to board Marine One on the South Lawn and departing from the White House on March 29, 2018
Image: Hope Hicks worked on Mr Trump's 2016 campaign from its inception

Reports said Ms Hicks is the closest aide to Mr Trump to test positive for the disease so far.

The 31-year-old has travelled with the president a number of times during the past week, including on presidential helicopter Marine One, and on Air Force One to Tuesday night's first presidential debate.

There is no indication that Mr Trump has contracted the virus and it is not known whether he has been tested since Ms Hicks's diagnosis.

In a statement, White House spokesman Judd Deere said: "The president takes the health and safety of himself and everyone who works in support of him and the American people very seriously."

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"White House Operations collaborates with the physician to the president and the White House Military Office to ensure all plans and procedures incorporate current CDC guidance and best practices for limiting COVID-19 exposure to the greatest extent possible both on complex and when the president is travelling," he added.

Ms Hicks quit as White House communications director in 2018 but returned earlier this year as an adviser, working closely with the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

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2020-10-02 01:07:56Z
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How to avoid another Trump-Biden 'car-crash' debate - BBC News

Among those who tuned for the first US presidential debate, there is a clear and growing consensus that the first on-air face-off between Donald Trump and Joe Biden was a mess.

For some 90 minutes, the candidates shouted, bickered and largely ignored the topics at hand, despite repeated pleas from moderator Chris Wallace.

And it looks like the Commission on Presidential Debates - the nonpartisan charity that sponsors the events - agrees. On Wednesday, the group said the first debate had "made clear" that additional structure must be added for the remaining two match-ups. One possible change being considered is cutting candidates' microphones if they try to interrupt each other, according to CBS News.

President Trump has since responded, in a tweet, implying that he would not be willing to accept changes to the format.

With two weeks until Mr Trump and Mr Biden are back in the ring, what could these next debates look like?

Mute the candidates?

Typically, presidential debates give voters a chance to hear what the candidates have to say before casting their ballots. During's Tuesday event, however, there was a prevailing wish among those watching for the two men on stage to be quiet.

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As the debate wore on, social media was flooded with requests - from voters, pundits and journalists - for moderators to be given the power to selectively mute the candidates and prevent them from jumping in out of turn. Though both nominees were guilty of interruptions, President Trump was by most accounts the more egregious offender, cutting in some 73 times, according to CBS news.

This change is now said to be at the top of the list of those proposed by the debate commission, according to US media.

The calls for muting seem to be a product of the Zoom-era brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. When working from home and using video-chat apps, such as Zoom, we're now able to mute ourselves and turn the volume down on colleagues - a tool that could conceivably lend a hand to a moderator desperate to maintain calm.

A better moderator?

Many who were unhappy with Tuesday's performances expressed dissatisfaction with moderator Chris Wallace.

From the outset, the Fox News anchor struggled to maintain control of the candidates, resorting to desperate appeals to Mr Trump to stop talking and allow his opponent to finish, at one point shouting for the president to "Let him [Mr Biden] answer!".

But many defended him, saying that dealing with this set of candidates - namely Mr Trump - was a tough order for anyone.

"I don't blame Chris Wallace at all. He's a stellar, stand-up journalist," presidential historian Laura Ellyn Smith told the BBC. "He did well with the Clinton-Trump debate in 2016, he was a good choice to moderate. He was given an almost impossible task, straight out of the gate."

Speaking to the New York Times the morning after, Mr Wallace said he was saddened by the way the evening had unfolded.

"I never dreamt that it would go off the tracks the way it did," he said.

For the next two debates, Mr Wallace will pass the torch. First, to Steve Scully, a political editor with the C-SPAN television network and then to Kristen Welker, White House Correspondent for NBC News.

Will they have a better chance of keeping the candidates in check? That is a great unknown. As a conservative veteran from Mr Trump's favourite network, praised for his work as moderator in the last presidential election, Mr Wallace was thought to have as good a chance as any. But even he proved no match for the chaotic collision this year.

A new format?

This change is already certain. The next debate, on 15 October in Miami, Florida, will be in a town-hall format, where candidates take questions from voters instead of journalists. Here, the environment is generally more casual. In pre-coronavirus elections past, candidates have been seated within arms' reach of voters, instead of protected behind a podium on stage.

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The town-hall style may serve to benefit these particular candidates, Ms Smith said, adding that it might bring some civility. "In the first debate, they were just looking at Chris Wallace, the room otherwise is pretty dark," she says.

This time, neither Mr Biden nor Mr Trump will get to steamroll the moderator - they'll have to answer directly to voters.

"It might inspire a bit more confidence and might bring a bit more pride back into the format of debate," Ms Smith said.

Call them off?

Some voters and pundits alike who tuned into the first debate think the events aren't worth saving. As Tuesday's contest was unfolding, Twitter was alighting with pleas to cancel the remaining match-ups entirely.

"I wouldn't be surprised if this is the last presidential debate between the president of the United States and the former vice-president of the United States," CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer said minutes after the face-off concluded.

"For the sake of democracy, cancel the Trump-Biden debates", read the headline of a New York Times column by Frank Bruni. The call was echoed by the Washington Post, Slate and the Atlantic magazine.

But the debates still have their defenders, including Ms Smith.

"I think that would be a step in the wrong direction [to cancel]. It would be admitting defeat at this point," she said. "The debate has been a helpful way in the past to demonstrate candidates' skills. To see policy, even, in a bit more detail."

She added: "I don't think you should ever cut back on dialogue in democracy, even if it's loud."

The remaining debates will proceed as scheduled on 15 October and 22 October, with new rules from the debate commission to be announced this week.

But the vice-presidential candidates - Vice-President Mike Pence and California Senator Kamala Harris - will be squaring off first in their debate on 7 October. It is expected to be less raucous than that of their running mates.

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2020-10-01 19:36:55Z
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Macron claims Syrian fighters operating in Nagorno-Karabakh - Al Jazeera English

Macron said he had evidence that ‘militants’ travelled through the Turkish city of Gaziantep on their way to the conflict in the Caucasus.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said he is sure Syrian fighters were operating in Nagorno-Karabakh, where Armenia and Azerbaijan are engaged in heavy fighting.

Macron said he has evidence that fighters have travelled through the Turkish city of Gaziantep on their way to the conflict in the South Caucasus, where the fiercest clashes in years have killed nearly 130 people.

“We have information today that indicates with certainty that Syrian fighters from jihadist groups have transited through Gaziantep to reach the theatre of operations in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Macron said as he arrived for a summit with the European Union leaders in Brussels.

“This is a very grave new development,” Macron warned, saying he agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump “to exchange all the information [they] have about this situation and draw all necessary conclusions”.

Armenia has accused Turkey of sending mercenaries to back its ally, Azerbaijan, and on Monday the United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Ankara had dispatched at least 300 proxies from northern Syria.

Turkey has pledged to support Azerbaijan by all means but has so far denied direct involvement in the conflict.

Macron this week condemned what he called Turkey’s “reckless and dangerous” statements backing Azerbaijan.

Claims of Turkish involvement in the conflict look set to colour Thursday’s EU summit in Brussels, which is expected to cover the bloc’s relations with Ankara as Greece and Cyprus push for a tough line against their old enemy over disputed east Mediterranean waters.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a separate statement that it had been informed of claims that mercenaries, sent from Libya and Syria, were involved in the fighting over the disputed territory.

The presence of such “illegal armed units” would pose a long-term security risk for all nearby countries, Russia’s Foreign Ministry added.

France, Russia and the US are co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group, set up in 1992 to mediate in the decades-old conflict over the mountainous enclave.

On Thursday, they appealed for peace as the death toll rose in the heaviest clashes since the 1990s around Nagorno-Karabakh – part of Azerbaijan, but run by its mostly ethnic Armenian inhabitants.

“We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities between the relevant military forces,” the joint French, Russian and US statement said.

They urged the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan to “commit without delay to resuming substantive negotiations, in good faith and without preconditions” under what is called the Minsk process.

The recent fighting has raised concerns that the flare-up could escalate into an all-out war, as the combatants look to regional powers Turkey, which supports Baku, and Russia, which maintains a military base in Armenia, for support.

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2020-10-01 15:30:07Z
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Alexei Navalny blames Vladimir Putin for poisoning him - BBC News

Navalny sits on a park bench in a photo uploaded to his Instagram account
image copyrightReuters

Leading Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny says he believes President Vladimir Putin was responsible for his poisoning.

"I assert that Putin is behind this act, I don't see any other explanation," he told German news magazine Der Spiegel in an interview.

Germany, where Mr Navalny is recovering, says he was poisoned by a Novichok nerve agent. Its findings were confirmed by labs in France and Sweden.

The Kremlin denies any involvement.

Responding to the interview on Thursday, Mr Putin's spokesman said there was no evidence that Mr Navalny had been poisoned with a nerve agent, and said CIA agents were working with the opposition leader.

  • Two hours that saved Alexei Navalny's life
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Mr Navalny collapsed on a flight in Russia's Siberia region on 20 August. He was transferred to the Charité hospital in the German capital Berlin two days later.

In an interview published by Der Spiegel on Thursday - the first since he fell ill - Mr Navalny said the order to use Novichok could only have come from the heads of three of Russia's intelligence services, all of whom work under Vladimir Putin.

"If 30 people have access to a [chemical] agent, and not three, then it's a global threat," the 44-year-old told the magazine.

His supporters initially believed his tea had been spiked at Tomsk airport but traces of the nerve agent were later found on water bottles at the hotel where he stayed the previous night.

Speaking of his experience, Mr Navalny said: "You feel no pain, but you know you're dying. Straight away."

Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia Navalnaya pose for a picture at Charite hospital in Berlin, Germany
image copyrightReuters

It was only because of "a chain of lucky circumstances" that he had been able to receive urgent medical care and survive, he said. Otherwise, "it would have just been a suspicious death".

Kremlin's 'extreme measures'

Asked why the Russian president would target him, Mr Navalny spoke of recent unrest in the far eastern province of Khabarovsk.

"The Kremlin realises that it must take extreme measures to prevent a 'Belarus situation'," the opposition leader said, in reference to weeks of mass anti-government protests there following a disputed election.

"The system is fighting for its survival and we've just felt the consequences."

Mr Navalny was released from hospital in Berlin last week and is still receiving physiotherapy to aid his recovery.

His spokeswoman said last week that his bank accounts had been frozen and his flat seized but Mr Navalny told Der Spiegel he still planned to return to Russia.

"Not going back would mean that Putin had achieved his goal... I will not give Putin the gift of not returning to Russia."

The EU and a number of governments have called for Russia to investigate Mr Navalny's poisoning.

A nerve agent from the Novichok group was also used to poison Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England in 2018. They both survived, but a local woman, Dawn Sturgess, died after coming into contact with the poison.

Britain accused Russia's military intelligence of carrying out that attack. Twenty countries expelled more than 100 Russian diplomats and spies. Moscow denied any involvement.

Related Topics

  • Alexei Navalny
  • Russia
  • Vladimir Putin

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2020-10-01 13:19:00Z
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US election 2020: Debate rules to change after chaotic Trump-Biden exchange - Sky News

Debate rules will be changed to avoid a repeat of the chaotic first meeting between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the US presidential debate commission has said.

The ill-tempered debate on Tuesday between the US president and his Democratic challenger descended into chaos, with personal insults thrown and frequent interruptions - mainly from Mr Trump.

Chris Wallace, the moderator, had few options other than pleading with the candidates when rules both campaigns had agreed to were not followed.

What is being planned for future debates?

One option being discussed is allowing the moderator to cut off microphones when a candidate violates rules, CBS News reported.

The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) said in a statement that the first debate had "made clear that additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues".

"The CPD will be carefully considering the changes that it will adopt and will announce those measures shortly."

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Trump on Biden: "There's nothing smart about you, Joe"

It added: "The commission is grateful to Chris Wallace for the professionalism and skill he brought to last night's debate and intends to ensure that additional tools to maintain order are in place for the remaining debates."

CBS News reported that the next 48 hours would be spent drawing up new guidelines and rules for future debates, according to a source.

The rules will not be negotiable, the source said.

How have both campaigns reacted?

Mr Trump, retweeting a story about the planned debate changes, said: "Try getting a new Anchor and a smarter Democrat candidate!"

His team have criticised the plans for future debates.

Tim Murtaugh, communications director of the campaign, said: "They're only doing this because their guy got pummelled last night.

"President Trump was the dominant force and now Joe Biden is trying to work the refs. They shouldn't be moving the goalposts and changing the rules in the middle of the game."

Mr Biden called the debate "a national embarrassment."

The deputy manager of his campaign, Kate Bedingfield, said the former vice-president will "be focused on answering questions from the voters there, under whatever set of rules the Commission develops to try to contain Donald Trump's behaviour".

What happened at the first debate?

Wednesday's debate saw constant interruptions from Mr Trump which led to bickering, with both candidates talking over each other.

Mr Trump questioned Mr Biden's intelligence, saying: "There's nothing smart about you Joe. 47 years, you've done nothing,"

He later bought up Mr Biden's son Hunter, raising questions about his links with Ukraine as well as mentioning his drug problems.

The pair also clashed about Mr Biden's now deceased son Beau and his military service.

Meanwhile, Mr Biden called Mr Trump "the worst president this country has ever had", dubbed him a "clown", and at one point asked, "Will you shut up, man?"

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What about the next ones?

Both campaigns have said they expect to attend future debates, with the next one scheduled for 15 October in Miami.

The second debate will be in a town hall format, meaning half the questions to both candidates will come from voters in the hall while the other half will be influenced by voter concerns on social media.

The last debate is on 22 October - less than two weeks before the election on 3 November.

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2020-10-01 12:19:30Z
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Nagorno-Karabakh: Deadly fighting spills into fifth day - Al Jazeera English

Azerbaijan and Armenia refuse international appeal to hold dialogue, deepening fears of an all-out war.

Heavy shelling between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces has been reported around the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region as fighting raged for a fifth day, with both sides refusing to back down and heed international calls for talks.

The fiercest clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in years over the breakaway region were ignited on Sunday, leaving scores from both sides dead.

Azerbaijan’s general prosecutor’s office said on Thursday that Armenian shelling killed a civilian in its city of Terter, about 90km from Nagorno-Karabakh, in the morning and badly damaged the train station there.

Separately, the country’s defence ministry said its forces had carried out “crushing artillery strikes against Armenian forces’ positions in the occupied territories”, throughout the night.

In the city of Stepanakert in Nagorno-Karabakh, known also as Khankendi, two explosions were heard around midnight as sirens sounded, the AFP news agency reported, adding that residents claimed the city had been attacked by drones.

Ethnic-Armenian officials in the region described the overnight situation along the front line as “tense” and said both sides exchanged artillery fire.

“The enemy attempted to regroup its troops, but Armenian forces suppressed all such attempts,” they said.

Armenian authorities also claimed that two French nationals working as journalists for Le Monde were injured on Thursday during shelling by Azeri forces in the Armenian town of Martuni, west of the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The reporters were being taking to hospital, authorities said in a statement.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s declaration of independence from Azerbaijan sparked a war in the early 1990s that killed 30,000 people, but it is still not recognised as independent by any country, including Armenia.

Armenia and the breakaway region declared martial law and military mobilisation last week, while Azerbaijan imposed military rule and a curfew in large cities.

Talks to resolve the conflict have largely stalled since a 1994 ceasefire agreement. France, Russia and the United States have mediated peace efforts as the “Minsk Group”, but the last big push for a peace deal collapsed in 2010.

The two sides claim to have inflicted heavy losses on opposing forces in the conflict that carries the threat of drawing in regional powers Turkey and Russia, which support opposing sides.

Yerevan, which is in a military alliance of former Soviet countries led by Moscow, has accused Turkey of dispatching mercenaries from northern Syria to bolster Azerbaijan’s forces in the conflict, adding it was concerned that members of illegal armed groups, including from Syria and Libya, were being deployed to the fight. The claims were refuted by Azerbaijan.

Yerevan also said earlier this week that a Turkish F-16 flying in support of Baku’s forces had downed an Armenian SU-25 warplane, but Ankara and Baku denied the claim.

Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith, reporting from the Armenian capital, said that there were fears that the clashes could lead to full-scale war.

“There have been already clashes beyond Nagorno-Karabakh, in the border areas between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Smith said.

Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify the claims made by both sides.

Despite mounting international pressure, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have both rejected the idea of holding talks, even as calls for a halt in the fighting mount.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, in a telephone conversation late on Wednesday, issued the most recent call for a complete halt to fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh and said they were ready to intensify diplomatic efforts to help resolve the conflict.

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2020-10-01 11:54:32Z
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