ІНСАЙДЕР УКРАЇНА

Thousands of Rome residents gathered in the main square in front of city hall on Saturday to call for a new dignity for their city and to protest against what they say has been the failure of city authorities to deal with the rubbish, potholes and fallen trees. The rally was organized by a group called “Rome Says Enough.”

It was a peaceful protest with a clear message: Enough to the current state of affairs in one of the great capitals of the world. Hundreds of city residents of all ages gathered in front of the Renaissance city hall to voice their unhappiness with the public transport system, the lack of efforts in cleaning the filth off streets and buildings, and the dreadful state of the many roads and parks in the city.

The event was launched on social media by six young local women, with different jobs, who created the “Rome Says Enough” civic group. They are appealing for a capital city that must return to being livable and have a vision for the future.

Addressing the large crowd gathered on Saturday, one of the organizers said, “From this square which for us Romans, and for the whole world that watches us in shock, is the symbol of the eternal city, we have come to say ‘enough’ but also to shout ‘let’s start over.’”

Residents who turned out for the sit-in pointed the finger at the current city administration run by 5-Star-Movement Mayor Virginia Raggi. She was elected in 2016 promising a fresh start. Instead, she currently is under investigation for abuse of office and false testimony. They called for her to resign because they say Rome has never before been in such a poor state.

Miriam Klein has lived in Rome all her life. She arrived early in the morning for the protest wearing a white T-shirt sporting the “Rome Says Enough” slogan.

She explained that she lives in quite a central area of the city, Gregorio Settimo, near the Vatican, and her building looks onto a large parking area for tourist buses. It is surrounded, she added, by huge quantities of garbage and there is no proper collection. She said, “I am ashamed for the tourists that come off those buses.”

Organizers added that the ancient Roman Empire’s capital, with its iconic Colosseum and Trevi Fountain, has suffered too many years of neglect and corruption, and it is now urgent that something be done to remedy the situation. They say no other European capital is in such a poor state and tourists visit once but have no desire to come back.

 
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Ratings agency Fitch said Friday it no longer assumed that Britain would leave the European Union in a smooth transition and said an acrimonious and disruptive “no deal” Brexit could lead to a further downgrade of its sovereign credit rating.

“In Fitch’s view, an intensification of political divisions within the UK … has increased the likelihood of an acrimonious and disruptive ‘no deal’ Brexit.

“Such an outcome would substantially disrupt customs, trade and economic activity, and has led Fitch to abandon its base case on which the ratings were previously predicated.”

Previously Fitch had assumed Britain would leave the EU in March next year with a transition deal in place and the outline of a future trade deal with the bloc.

But Prime Minister Theresa May has struggled to agree to a deal that can secure the backing of Brussels and her own lawmakers in the Conservative Party.

The ratings agency currently rates British government debt at AA with a negative outlook, which means a further lowering of the rating is possible. Fitch cut its top-notch AAA rating on Britain in 2013, citing the outlook for weaker public finances.

Ratings downgrades up to now have had little impact on investors’ appetite for British government debt, which is still seen as a safe asset at times of political or economic turmoil.

But downgrades are embarrassing for May’s Conservative government, which emphasized preserving the country’s AAA rating when it embarked on an austerity program in 2010.
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A Turkish court on Oct. 12 freed American Pastor Andrew Brunson, who had been convicted on terror charges — charges he denies — and imprisoned for two years. Brunson, who is now back in the U.S. with his family, and his wife, Norine Brunson, spoke with Mehmet Toroglu about his time in prison and how it felt to be released.
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Russia failed on Friday to get the U.N. General Assembly to consider calling on Washington and Moscow to preserve and strengthen an arms control treaty that helped end the Cold War and warned that if the United States quits the pact it could raise the issue in the U.N. Security Council.

President Donald Trump said on Oct. 20 that Washington planned to quit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty which Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, and Ronald Reagan had signed in 1987. It eliminated all short- and intermediate-range land-based nuclear and conventional missiles held by both states in Europe.

Washington has cited Russia’s alleged violation of the treaty as its reason for leaving it, a charge Moscow denies.

Russia in turn accuses Washington of breaking the pact.

Russia had proposed a draft resolution in the 193-member General Assembly’s disarmament committee, but missed the Oct. 18 submission deadline. On Friday, it called for a vote on whether the committee should be allowed to consider the draft, but lost with only 31 votes in favor, 55 against and 54 abstentions.

“In a year, if the U.S. withdraws from the treaty and begins an uncontrolled buildup of weapons, nuclear-capable weapons, we will be confronting a completely different reality,” Andrei Belousov, deputy director of Russia’s Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control, told the committee.

He questioned whether the United States was preparing for a war, asking: “Why is it then … do they want to leave the treaty? Why do they want to build up their nuclear capability?”

Belousov said if the United States follows through on its threat to withdraw, then Russia could raise the issue in the 15-member Security Council. However, such a move would not lead to any action as both countries have veto powers in the council.

U.S. Disarmament Ambassador Robert Wood told the committee Washington had spent some five years trying to engage Moscow on the issue of compliance and that Russia had “denied having produced or tested a ground-launch cruise missile.”

“It’s only recently that they admitted to having produced a ground-launch cruise missile but then maintained that it did not violate the range limits of the treaty,” he said.

“The U.S. has been extremely patient with Russia and our hope is that Russia will do the right thing and destroy that ground-launch cruise missile,” Wood said.

European members of NATO urged the United States on Thursday to try to bring Russia back into compliance with the treaty rather than quit it, diplomats said, seeking to avoid a split in the alliance that Moscow could exploit.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to host French, German and Russian leaders Saturday at a four-way summit on the Syrian civil war.

The summit seeks to build on a cease-fire between Syrian rebels and government forces brokered by Moscow and Ankara.

Former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen, who served widely in the region, says just assembling the gathering is a significant diplomatic achievement for the Turkish leader.

“To host this sort of summit with, on the one hand, Russia, Astana partner, on the other hand, the two NATO allies Germany and France, in here, in Turkey is quite a success for President Erdogan, to be honest,” Selcen said.

The Istanbul summit is a result of last month’s deal in Sochi, Russia, struck by Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin that prevented a Syrian government offensive against the northwest Idlib province.

Idlib is the last main refuge of the rebel opposition. The participation by Berlin and Paris at this round of talks is tied to the deal holding firm. It’s a commitment that analysts say Moscow appears ready to comply with, at least for now.

Moscow has said the Idlib deal is working and Ankara is complying with its side of the agreement. Under the terms of the deal, Ankara agreed to secure the withdrawal of radical groups and rebel heavy weapons from a newly created demilitarized zone between rebel and regime forces.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are expected to use the summit to work on consolidating the Idlib deal.

With about 3 million people in Idlib, analysts point out that European leaders feared any Idlib offensive could trigger another refugee exodus toward Europe. The attendance of the French and German leaders is seen as helping to strengthen Ankara’s hand in balancing Moscow, a key backer of the Syrian government.

“That it takes place in Istanbul has symbolic meaning because Germany and France will be the new actors participating in it,” said International Relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University. “So Turkey plays the balance of power policy between Russia and European countries. It’s a good tactic by Turkey to bring all these people together and talk about Syria.”

Erdogan is expected to hold a bilateral meeting on the summit sidelines with Putin. While the two leaders are backing rival sides in the Syrian civil war, they have developed deepening ties in efforts to resolve the conflict. That relationship is causing unease among Turkey’s NATO partners.

Syria’s reconstruction also is scheduled to be on the summit’s agenda. Estimated by the U.N. at upward of $250 billion, the financial means of Europe and, in particular, Berlin are likely to be vital in helping finance the cost of rebuilding.

“Everyone knows that such deep pockets do not exist, neither in Syria, nor in Russia, nor in Iran,” said former Turkish diplomat Selcen. “China might be interested but only to a certain extent. So nobody will offer Syria this money. EU is needed, so is America.”

Selcen suggests Berlin could have potential leverage over Damascus and Moscow to make concessions toward the opposition.

“It’s like, ‘if you want the money you have to redraft your constitution so that you will see a more equitable Syria,'” he added.

Little hope is being expressed, though, of any significant breakthrough at the Istanbul summit. Moscow already is downplaying expectations.

“We have already said that it would be probably incorrect to predict that the summit is held with the aim of reaching certain agreements,” Russia’s presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Monday. “We need to be realistic that this is not the case. But this summit is an excellent platform for comparing the notes, exchanging opinions and searching for possible areas of cooperation.”

Analysts suggest the French and German leaders’ participation at the Istanbul meeting, however, could yet mark the start of a new process offering significant impetus to finally end the Syrian civil war.
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Poland’s ruling party wants to see concrete plans for increasing the presence of American troops on Polish soil before national elections are held next fall, said Pawel Soloch, head of the National Security Bureau.

The nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party says increasing the number of U.S. troops in the country is essential to ward off the threat it says is posed by Russia.

Securing an American base would help PiS show it is taking action to protect Poland from perceived Russian threats ahead of national elections, analysts say. PiS may then use this as an argument to win over more voters, after its narrower than expected victory in regional elections last Sunday.

“It’s clear the electoral calendar is at play. It is definitely important for us to finalize a larger American presence in the country,” Soloch told Reuters in an interview when asked about the government’s defense priorities ahead of the vote.

It remains unclear, however, whether plans for a proposed permanent American base in Poland dubbed “Fort Trump” by Warsaw will take the exact form pitched by President Andrzej Duda in his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in September.

Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak will travel to the United States on Monday and is expected to raise the issue with Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton once more.

Poland’s armed forces have suffered from decades of under-investment and some two-thirds of their equipment dates from the Soviet era.

The country has repeatedly called for a permanent U.S. military presence on its soil. The United States currently rotates troops through Poland temporarily, and permanently stationing forces there would be expensive.

As part of its mission, PiS – which has clashed on many issues with the European Union of which Poland is a member – has prioritized strong bilateral ties with the U.S. government under Trump, outside the scope of NATO.

Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz, Deputy Minister of National Defense Tomasz Szatkowski and Soloch visited Brussels this week to inform NATO of their plans to expand the presence of American troops in the country.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg pressed the Polish delegation to provide concrete details about the proposals and to communicate their plans to all their allies, a NATO diplomat said.

In a meeting with Trump in September Duda said Poland was ready to invest $2 billion to facilitate the development of a permanent base.

But Soloch said only preliminary discussions have been held between the Ministry of Defense and the Pentagon.

 
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Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has described how she worked with designer Clare Waight Keller of Givenchy to create a “timeless” wedding gown for her wedding to Prince Harry earlier this year.

Harry and the former Meghan Markle recorded their memories of the wedding for an audio commentary that is part of the new “Relive the Royal Wedding” exhibition at Windsor Castle that opens Friday.

The gown is set to be the prime attraction at the 10-week display.

In the audio recording, the former actress said she worked with Keller to create a “timeless” gown with a “classic feeling.” The dress also needed to be suitably modest for the May 19 wedding held in a chapel on the grounds of Windsor Castle, she said.

“There was a great level of detail that went into the planning of our wedding day,” the duchess said.

“I think for us, we knew how large the scale of the event would be, so in making choices that were really personal and meaningful, it could make the whole experience feel intimate, even though it was a very big wedding,” she said.

Meghan described the “incredibly surreal day” when she and her fiance visited Queen Elizabeth II, Harry’s grandmother, to choose a tiara for her to wear during the wedding ceremony. She picked Queen Mary’s diamond and platinum bandeau tiara from the queen’s collection. It is featured in the new exhibit.

For his part, Harry said it was “very sweet” of his grandmother to lend his bride-to-be the priceless headpiece.

Harry’s wedding outfit, including the frockcoat uniform made by master tailors on Savile Row, is also display, though likely to be overshadowed by Meghan’s gown and the tiara.
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As they demand answers about his death, friends of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi have drawn some comfort from the unlikely figure of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has overseen his own crackdown on dissent, has jailed journalists and has shuttered media outlets in his country. 

Khashoggi’s friends hope Erdogan, who has vowed that Turkey won’t let anyone get away with the “savage” killing of the journalist inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, won’t be diverted from discovering the full details of the Oct. 2 slaying. 

“It is not over yet,” the Turkish leader has promised. “We are unraveling, dismantling [the case], and the world is closely following.” 

But Erdogan’s midweek speech to the Turkish parliament on Khashoggi’s death, which he had billed just days before as the moment for the “naked truth” to come out, has left them queasy, and has prompted others to question exactly what Turkey’s president wants out of the Khashoggi affair. 

In his speech, Erdogan added no new details to what was known already. “He did not drop a bombshell and he did not reveal anything we didn’t know before,” said Gonul Tol of the Middle East Institute, a Washington-based research group, aside from hinting he had personally approved the leaks to the media. 

His officials have been drip-feeding to the media lurid information about the grisly slaying in order to “maximize pressure on the Saudis” and to force reluctant admissions from them, said Peter Ricketts, a former British diplomat. 

Riyadh first claimed Khashoggi had left the consulate alive, only to be forced to admit the dissident commentator had been killed. But it insisted the killing was a rogue operation by renegade security and intelligence officials. 

In a twist that’s adding to the unease of those who want to get to the bottom of the killing, Erdogan spoke by phone Thursday with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the man many believe most likely had prior knowledge of the plan to kill Khashoggi. That view appears to be shared partially by U.S. President Donald Trump, who told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, “He’s running things and so if anybody were going to be [informed], it would be him.” 

The phone call between the two men, who have often clashed before, is prompting further questions about Erdogan’s objectives. Does he really want the “naked truth” to emerge, or will he parlay Khashoggi’s death into a geopolitical deal serving other purposes, such as leveraging the oil-rich Saudis’ money to help Turkey’s ailing economy? 

Reportedly, Erdogan reacted dismissively to an offer of financial aid and investments made by Saudi royal family member Prince Khalid bin Faisal al-Saud during his visit last week to the Turkish capital. But “there’s no evidence about a bargain that would involve a loan or investment by the Saudis in Turkey,” said academic Galip Dalay, a friend of Khashoggi. 

Balancing power, economy 

But the Saudis have traditionally made problems go away by writing checks, and large Saudi investments could help calm financial markets and restore some confidence in Turkey’s beleaguered economy, analysts said. 

Tol said Erdogan has to be careful that the Khashoggi affair doesn’t backfire on Turkey economically. “Gulf countries have played an important role in the Turkish economy,” she said. “Since 2002 when Erdogan first came into office, he has sought to decrease Turkish dependence on European investments and reached out to the Gulf countries.And the Saudis play a huge role in the Turkish economy.” 

That’s especially important for Erdogan now, she said, when Turkey is struggling and “can’t secure enough European investments.”

Above all, he must avoid pushing the case to the point of rupture with the Saudis, she said, and that may explain his careful strategy. “You have to give credit to Erdogan for the way he has played his hand very well,” she said in a podcast released Thursday by the Middle East Institute. 

Other analysts suspect Erdogan may have more than the Turkish economy in mind. 

In the Turkish capital, and among analysts in Europe and America, there’s conjecture that Erdogan’s aims are much broader than securing a single payoff and that they include major geopolitical objectives and a recalibration of the balance of power in the Gulf by dislodging the crown prince, or at the very least persuading the Saudi monarch, King Salman, to rein in his son. 

Among Erdogan’s aims, according to analysts, is a likely parlaying of the Khashoggi affair into an end to the Saudis’ economic blockade of Turkish ally Qatar and to halt the kingdom’s antipathy to the Muslim Brotherhood, which is aligned with Erdogan’s ruling AKP party. 

Western diplomats say that by pressuring the Saudi royal family with astute leaking and withholding of information, the Turkish leader is increasing his leverage. “The one thing the Saudis don’t want to happen is for the [reported] audio tape [of the killing] to be released. Then the fallout would be even harder to contain,” said a former British envoy to the Gulf kingdom. “If Erdogan steers this killing to safe port and minimizes the damage to the Saudi royal family, he will be owed a lot of favors.” 
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Police in four countries have smashed an international drug-trafficking ring in which cocaine was smuggled aboard commercial jet flights.

Colombian police say 30 people have been arrested, including the suspected ringleader, Jorge Juan Merlo of Spain. He was arrested in the Colombian city of Cali.

Other suspects were nabbed in Australia, Spain, and the United States. Nearly 800 kilograms of cocaine, $200,000 in cash, and cars and cell phones were also seized.

Authorities say the drug ring was centered in Colombia from which cocaine was flown to other countries hidden in luggage aboard regular passenger jets.

Also Thursday, Spanish authorities say they found nearly six tons of cocaine hidden inside a shipment of bananas. Sixteen people were arrested.

Police also confiscated cash, guns and luxury cars in a raid in the southern port of Malaga.

Spain says Dutch criminals were behind the ring in which cocaine from South America was smuggled aboard ships to Portugal, then trucked to Spain and the Netherlands.
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Russian State Duma lawmakers on Tuesday passed new legislation that would expand the federal government’s ability to ban foreign nongovernmental organizations accused of meddling in Russian elections. 

The legislation builds on a series of Russian laws that in 2012 began targeting “undesirable” activities, mainly by foreign advocacy groups, nonprofit organizations and news media outlets. The “undesirable” designation bans them from operating inside Russia, with any violation punishable by fines and jail time. 

In 2017, Russia warned nine U.S. government-funded news operations — including Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and seven separate regional outlets — that they would probably be designated “foreign agents” under legislation drafted in retaliation against a U.S. demand that Kremlin-supported television station RT register as such in the United States.  

Under Russian law, being declared a foreign agent requires designees to regularly disclose their objectives, full details of finances, funding sources and staffing. 

According to Riga-based online news portal Meduza, Tuesday’s expanded legislation, authored by deputies of all legislative parties, defines election meddling as any activities that “create obstacles to nominating or electing candidates or voting in referenda.” 

“Russian citizens who continue working for these banned groups risk criminal penalties,” Meduza reported. “Currently, Russia has designated 15 undesirable organizations, including the National Endowment for Democracy, the Open Society Foundation, the Open Russia Civic Movement and the German Marshall Fund.” 

Stephen Nix, Eurasia director for the Washington-headquartered International Republican Institute, said the latest legislation further restricted civil society space and open dialogue in Russia. 

“IRI closed our office in Moscow a few years prior to receiving the ‘undesirable’ designation in 2016, so it did not directly affect our work, since we had already left the country,” Nix told VOA’s Russian service in a prepared statement Wednesday.  

“In recent years, the Kremlin’s practice of issuing these designations has severely undermined the already limited civil society space in Russia,” he added. “This most recent bill is a clear attempt to deflect attention away from the Kremlin’s brazen and malignant interference in elections abroad as part of its campaign to undermine democracies around the world. Now more than ever, it is crucial that democracies speak out against these practices, the chief victims of which are the Russian people.” 

This story originated in VOA’s Russian service.  
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The European Parliament voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to ban single-use plastic products such as straws, eating utensils and coffee sticks across the European Union.

The measure passed 571 to 53, with 34 abstentions.

If approved by the European Commission — the EU executive — and individual states, the ban would become law in 2021.

Supporters say plastics are a major source of pollution that chokes oceans, litters cities, and can take decades to disintegrate.

Some U.S. cities have moved to ban plastic straws in restaurants after a heartbreaking video of a wildlife rescuer pulling a straw out of a turtle’s bloody nose was posted on the internet earlier this year.

A consortium of European plastics manufacturers called the EU bill “disproportionate” and said banning single-use plastics discourages investment into new ways to recycle.

The EU plastics bill also includes deadlines for reducing or recycling other plastics such as bottles, fishing lines, food wrappers, and cigarette filters.

 
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Russian President Vladimir Putin is warning of a new arms race if U.S. President Donald Trump follows through with his threat to pull out of a key arms control agreement. 

After talks in Moscow with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, Putin said Russia would respond “in kind” if the U.S. deployed intermediate-range missiles in Europe. 

“If they will deliver them to Europe, naturally our response will have to mirror this,” Putin said, adding that the Russian response would be “very quick and effective.” 

He also cautioned that European countries agreeing to host U.S. missiles would put themselves at risk of a Russian attack. 

Meeting in November?

But Putin said he wanted to discuss the issue with Trump if the two meet in Paris next month. Both will be attending ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. 

“I don’t understand why we should put Europe in such a grave danger. I see no reason for that. … We are ready to work with our American partners without any hysterics,” Putin said. 

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday blamed Russia for violating the arms control treaty Trump wants to abandon. But he said he did not foresee a nuclear arms buildup in Europe. 

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and the late U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987. It bans the United States and Russia from building, testing and stockpiling ground-launched nuclear missiles with a range of 500 to 5,000 kilometers (310 to 3,100 miles). 

Trump has accused Russia of violating the treaty by deploying land-based cruise missiles that pose a threat to NATO. 

Russia denies violating the INF pact and says it is U.S. missile defense systems in Europe and other unprovoked steps that are in violation. 

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton, who met with Putin on Tuesday in Moscow, called Russian violations of the treaty “long and deep.” 

“The threat is not America’s INF withdrawal. … The threat is Russian missiles already deployed,” Bolton said.  “The American position is that Russia is in violation. Russia’s position is that they are not in violation. So, one has to ask how to ask the Russians to come back into compliance with something that they don’t think they are violating.” 

But Bolton has implied that the INF deal with Russia might have run its course. He believes bilateral Cold War treaties may not apply to the current global security environment when other nations, including China, Iran and North Korea, have also developed missiles.
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Smugglers and other organized criminals are likely to exploit gaps in border enforcement if Britain leaves the European Union without an agreement, a watchdog warned Wednesday, amid a growing chorus of warnings about the disruptive impact of a “no-deal” Brexit.

Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, but London and Brussels have not reached an agreement on divorce terms and a smooth transition to a new relationship. The stalemate has heightened fears that the U.K. might leave without a deal in place, leading to chaos at ports and economic turmoil.

The National Audit Office said in a report that political uncertainty and delays in negotiations with the EU have hampered preparations for new border arrangements, and the government is now racing to bolster computer systems, increase staffing and build new infrastructure to track goods.

The office said that 11 of 12 major projects may not be delivered on time or at “acceptable quality,” with those who rely on the border “paying the price.” It added that “organized criminals and others are likely to be quick to exploit any perceived weaknesses or gaps in the enforcement regime.”

“This, combined with the U.K.’s potential loss of access to EU security, law enforcement and criminal justice tools, could create security weaknesses which the government would need to address urgently,” the office’s report said.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported that Transport Secretary Chris Grayling had raised at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday the idea of chartering ships to bring in food and medicines through alternative ports if new customs checks led to gridlock on the main shipping route between Dover in England and Calais in France.

“We remain confident of reaching an agreement with the EU, but it is only sensible for government and industry to prepare for a range of scenarios,” the Department for Transport said in a statement.

Prime Minister Theresa May said this week that a divorce deal is “95 percent” done, but the two sides still have a “considerable” gap over the issue of the border between the U.K.’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. Britain and the EU agree there must be no barriers that could disrupt businesses and residents on both sides of the border and undermine Northern Ireland’s hard-won peace process. But so far, each side has rejected the other’s solution.

May has attempted to break the impasse by suggesting that a post-Brexit transition period, currently due to end in December 2020, could be extended to give more time for new trade and customs arrangements to be put in place that would eliminate the need for border checks.

EU has said it is open to the proposal, but the idea has infuriated May’s political opponents on both sides of Britain’s Brexit divide.

Pro-Brexit politicians see it as an attempt to bind the country to the bloc indefinitely, while pro-EU politicians say it is a sign of May’s weak bargaining hand and an attempt to stall for time.

On Wednesday, May will try to stem a growing revolt within her Conservative Party over her Brexit blueprint. She’ll address the 1922 Committee, a grouping of backbench Conservative legislators with a key role in deciding who leads the party.

Under Conservative rules, a vote of no-confidence in the leader is triggered if 15 percent of party lawmakers write to the 1922 Committee requesting one. The required number currently stands at 48; only committee chief Graham Brady knows how many have been submitted.

 
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Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted a senior White House envoy on Tuesday as the U.S. affirmed President Donald Trump’s intention to exit a landmark nuclear treaty amid charges of violating the agreement.

US National Security Advisor John Bolton’s meeting with the Russian leader capped two days of talks with senior Kremlin officials aimed at paving the way for the United States’ withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

The deal, brokered between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, required the elimination of all short- and intermediate-range land-based nuclear and conventional missiles in Europe — then divided by the world’s two great superpowers.

For now, the U.S. has yet to formally exit the agreement. Yet Bolton left no doubt that the move was imminent.

“The INF is ignored and outmoded,” said Bolton. “It’s a Cold War treaty for a multipolar world.” 

President Trump has justified the withdrawal by pointing to a recent history of Russian transgressions — a charge Moscow has repeatedly levied against Washington. 

“Russia has not, unfortunately, honored the agreement,” said Mr. Trump, in comments at a political rally over the weekend. “So we’re going to terminate the agreement and we’re going to pull out.”

“Until people come to their senses – we have more money than anybody else, by far,” added the American leader. 

Bolton echoed that rationale before reporters again in Moscow. 

“This question of Russian violations is long and deep,” said Bolton, noting that Russian violations had dated back to the Obama administration. 

“The threat is not America’s INF withdrawal from the treaty. The threat is Russian missiles already deployed.”

Arms race 2.0?

From President Putin on down, Kremlin officials have repeatedly warned any new US arms deployments that result from the treaty’s collapse will be met in kind.

Such exchanges have unnerved key European allies — including Germany and France — who fear a return to the days of the Cold War when Europe served as a nuclear sparring ground between the world’s two superpowers.

Other American allies, such as Poland and England, have voiced support for the move. 

Yet behind the US decision: the growing military capabilities of nations not included in the INF — such as China and Iran. 

“One-third to one-half of Chinese missiles today would violate the INF,” argued Bolton. 

“Exactly one country is constrained by the INF treaty: the United States.”

Thou doth protest too much?

In Moscow, debate has centered on whether the Kremlin tacitly achieved its aim — or doom — by prompting the U.S. withdrawal of a treaty in lieu of NATO’s subsequent expansion into Eastern Europe.

“For Russia, it’s beneficial to have in its arsenal a class of nuclear and strategic weapons to combat regional threats without the distraction of the limitations of the strategic arsenal aimed at the USA,” argues independent analyst Vladimir Frolov in the online publication Republic. 

“It’s a big diplomatic accomplishment for Vladimir Putin,” he added. 

“It’s sad to watch,” countered opposition activist Vladimir Milov in a Facebook post. “Trillions and trillions will be thrown to the wind.”

“The decades-old system of global security is being destroyed before our eyes, and will not be easy to resuscitate.” 

Either way, the Kremlin seemed eager to embrace Bolton’s visit — the second in the past 4 months — as a willingness to engage despite ongoing allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential elections. 

“We barely respond to any of your steps but they keep on coming,” said President Putin, joking to Bolton before cameras at the Kremlin in a reference to U.S.-Russian tit-for-tat sanctions over ongoing allegations of election meddling.

In turn, Bolton argued Russia’s actions had not changed the outcome of the 2016 race. Rather they’d made it all but impossible for progress in U.S.-Russian relations. 

The two sides, noted Bolton, did make progress on reinstating cooperative efforts relative to terrorism, Syria, and North Korea. And, President Trump had accepted Putin’s offer to meet on the sidelines of the upcoming celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the armistice marking the end of World War I in Paris in November. 

But much hinges on how the U.S. views Russian cyber activities ahead of an already charged political season when Americans head to the polls November 6th for midterm elections. 

Depending on how things go, warned Bolton, the U.S. position could change “with a keystroke.” 
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Saudi Arabia has detained 18 people and dismissed five senior government officials as part of an investigation into the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and critic of Saudi policies, disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to obtain documents for his marriage.

Saudi Arabia initially denied knowledge of his fate. Then, on Saturday, its public prosecutor said he had been killed in a fight in the consulate, an explanation that has drawn international scepticism.

Turkish security sources say that when Khashoggi entered the consulate, he was seized by 15 Saudi intelligence operatives who had flown in on two jets just hours before.

A senior Saudi official confirmed to Reuters they were among the 18 Saudis detained, along with three local suspects.

Most of the 15 worked in the Saudi military or security and intelligence services, including at the royal court, according to Saudi and Turkish officials and several sources with ties to the royal court.

Turkey’s pro-government Sabah newspaper published what it said were photographs of the men taken from surveillance footage at the airport, two hotels they briefly checked into, the consulate and the consul’s residence.

The following profiles of some of those detained or dismissed are based on those photographs, Saudi media reports and information from Saudi officials and sources.

Saud al-Qahtani

Saud al-Qahtani, 40, seen as the right-hand man to Prince Mohammed, was removed as a royal court adviser and is the highest-profile figure implicated in the incident.

Qahtani entered the royal court under the late King Abdullah. He rose to prominence as a confidante in Prince Mohammed’s secretive inner circle. He regularly spoke on behalf of the crown prince, known as MbS, and has given direct orders to senior officials including in the security apparatus, the sources with ties to the royal court said.

Tasked with countering alleged Qatari influence on social media, Qahtani used Twitter to attack criticism of the kingdom in general and Prince Mohammed in particular. He also used Twitter to attack critics and ran a WhatsApp group with local newspaper editors, dictating the royal court line.

Qahtani had tried to lure Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia after he moved to Washington a year ago fearing reprisals for his views, according to people close to the journalist and the government.

In an August 2017 Twitter thread asking his 1.35 million followers to flag accounts for a black list for monitoring, Qahtani wrote: “Do you think I make decisions without guidance? I am an employee and a faithful executor of the orders of my lord the king and my lord the faithful crown prince.”

The senior Saudi official said Qahtani had authorized one of his subordinates, Maher Mutreb, to conduct what he said was meant to be a negotiation for Khashoggi’s return to the kingdom.

Qahtani also supplied Mutreb with unspecified information based on his earlier conversations with Khashoggi, the official said. Qahtani did not respond to questions from Reuters. Reuters was not able to reach Mutreb for comment.

Maher Mutreb

General Maher Mutreb, an aide to Qahtani for information security, was the lead negotiator inside the consulate, according to the senior Saudi official. He is a senior intelligence officer and part of Prince Mohammed’s security team. He appeared in photographs with the crown prince on official visits this year to the United States and Europe.

According to the Saudi official, Mutreb was selected for the Istanbul operation because he already knew Khashoggi from their time working together at the Saudi embassy in London.

“He knew Jamal very well and he was the best one to convince him to return,” the official said.

Mutreb received Khashoggi at the Saudi consul’s office around 1:25 pm. He began urging him to come home and claimed he was wanted by Interpol, the official said.

The official said Khashoggi told Mutreb he was violating diplomatic norms and asked whether Mutreb planned to kidnap him. Mutreb said yes, the official said, in an apparent attempt to intimidate Khashoggi.

Sabah newspaper published stills from surveillance cameras that appear to show Mutreb entering the consulate three hours before Khashoggi, and later outside the consul’s residence.

Britain’s Foreign Office confirmed that Mutreb served as a first secretary for a period including 2007.

Salah Tubaigy

Salah Tubaigy is a forensic expert at the Saudi Ministry of Interior’s criminal evidence department, according to a biography posted online by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties.

In the Istanbul operation, he was supposed to remove evidence such as fingerprints or proof of the use of force, according to the Saudi official.

Tubaigy spent three months in 2015 at Australia’s Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine to observe death investigation procedures and learn about the use of CT scanning for mass fatality incidents, director Noel Woodford told Reuters.

Photographs from the institute’s 2015 annual report, which resemble the suspect named by Turkish media, show Tubaigy wearing medical scrubs, a smock and rubber gloves in a laboratory setting, and separately chatting with colleagues.

Tubaigy did not respond to an email sent by Reuters.

The Saudi Society of Forensic Medicine lists him as a board member. He earned a master’s degree in forensic medicine from the University of Glasgow in 2004, the biography shows. A university spokeswoman declined to comment.

Tubaigy is 47 years old, according to a passport copy provided to U.S. media by Turkish officials.

Ahmed al-Asiri

Ahmed al-Asiri, former deputy head of General Intelligence, was among those sacked by King Salman. He joined the military in 2002, according to Saudi media reports, and was spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition which intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015.

Asiri was named deputy chief of foreign intelligence by royal decree in April 2017.

Reuters was unable to reach Asiri for comment.

Moustafa al-Madani 

Moustafa al-Madani led the intelligence efforts for the 15-man team in Istanbul, the senior Saudi official said.

According to that official, Madani donned Khashoggi’s clothes, eyeglasses and Apple watch and left through the back door of the consulate in an attempt to make it look like the journalist had walked out of the building.

Madani is a government employee who studied at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, according to a Facebook profile with photographs resembling the suspect identified by Turkish media.

Reuters was unable to reach Madani for comment. University officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Meshal Saad Albostani 

Meshal Saad Albostani is lieutenant in the Saudi Air Force from the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, according to a Facebook profile with multiple photographs resembling the suspect identified by Turkish media.

The senior Saudi official said he was responsible for the Istanbul team’s logistics.

Albostani studied at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, according to Facebook. University officials contacted by Reuters said they could not confirm a graduate of that name.

A LinkedIn profile matching his name and photo says he has served in the air force since 2006.

He is 31 years old, according to a passport copy provided to U.S. media by Turkish officials.

Albostani could not immediately be reached for comment.

Other members of the team

Abdulaziz Mohammed al-Hawsawi is a member of the security team that travels with the Saudi crown prince, according to a New York Times report that cited a French professional who has worked with the royal family. He is 31, according to a passport copy provided to U.S. media by Turkish officials. Reuters could not reach Hawsawi for comment.

General Rashad bin Hamed al-Hamadi was removed as director of the general directorate of security and protection in the General Intelligence Presidency.

General Abdullah bin Khaleef al-Shaya was removed as assistant head of General Intelligence for human resources. General Mohammed Saleh al-Ramih was removed as assistant head of General Intelligence for intelligence affairs.

The three generals could not be reached for comment. 
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King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands highlighted the “shadow of uncertainty” hanging over Dutch nationals living in Britain due to Brexit in an address to the British parliament on Tuesday during a two-day state visit.

The king used a speech to lawmakers and diplomats in one of parliament’s grandest halls to express his regret over Britain’s decision to leave the European Union next year – a body he said was flawed, but which had also made great achievements.

“It truly saddens us to see a close partner leave. But of course we respect your country’s choice,” he said.

Reaching a deal and predicting the consequences of Brexit was a highly complex task, he said, adding that the 150,000 Dutch nationals living in Britain and 50,000 British nationals living in the Netherlands deserved special attention.

“Many of them have lived and worked here for many years. They feel at home in their local community and their contribution to society is valued,” he said.

“Yet these individuals now live under the shadow of uncertainty about their future status. I understand how difficult this is for them and I trust this uncertainty will be resolved.”

Earlier, the king and Queen Maxima were formally welcomed by Queen Elizabeth with a Guard of Honor before taking a state carriage procession along the Mall in London to lunch at Buckingham Palace.

The Dutch royals were also visiting the grave of William III and Mary II of England, the Anglo-Dutch couple who ruled Britain at the end of the 17th Century, and were also due to lay a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier in Westminster Abbey.

After his address to parliament the king was scheduled to take afternoon tea with Elizabeth’s heir Charles at his official Clarence House residence.

Elizabeth was later hosting the Dutch royals at a banquet to celebrate the first UK state visit by Dutch monarchy for 36 years.

Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus visited Britain in 1982, while Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip paid a state visit to Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in 1958.
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A man who swore allegiance to the Islamic State militant group before killing four foreign cyclists in ex-Soviet Tajikistan went on trial Tuesday in a process closed to the public.

Tajikistan’s Supreme Court spokesperson told AFP Tuesday the trial for the “brutal murder of four foreign cyclists” had begun in the suspect’s high-security detention center.

Hussein Abdusamadov, 33, already confessed to killing American cycling tourists Lauren Geoghegan and Jay Austin, Dutch citizen Rene Wokke and Swiss citizen Markus Hummel in July.

The victims were struck by a car as they cycled back from the remote Pamir Highway, a popular route among adventure tourists, before being set upon with knives and firearms.

Four of Abdusamadov’s accomplices were killed by police during a manhunt.

A video of the five men pledging allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was released by an official IS media channel.

Tajik authorities have so far ignored the video evidence, instead blaming a former opposition party – the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan – that was banned by the government in 2015.

The fact the trial is closed has raised concerns about due process in a country with a poor record on political freedoms and human rights.

Abdusamadov implicated the IRPT as the ultimate organizer of the attack in a televised confession, but critics say the government is using the case to tar the opposition.

A dozen senior members of the IRPT are serving long sentences up to life on charges government critics say are trumped up.

In addition to Abdusamadov, 16 other people stand accused of not offering information to the authorities that could have prevented the attack, a source in the police told AFP.

 
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The United States has launched a cyber campaign aimed at Russian operatives in an effort to curb misinformation ahead of the November 6 congressional elections, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, in what it said was the first known such operation to protect American elections.

The Times, citing unnamed defense officials briefed on the operation, said the U.S. Cyber Command, the military’s cyber warfare division, was using direct messages to target individuals behind influence campaigns in an effort to deter them from spreading propaganda and fake information.

While the United States was not directly threatening any individuals, its previous sanctions and indictments could help deter the Russian operatives once they realized they had been identified, according to the Times report.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Kremlin-backed entities meddled in the 2016 presidential election campaign to try to boost Republican candidate Donald Trump, an accusation Moscow has repeatedly denied. Intelligence officials have said that Moscow remains a threat to U.S.

elections.

On Friday, the U.S. government unveiled what one official said was the first criminal charges linked to attempted interference in next month’s midterm elections. Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, a 44-year-old Russian national, was charged with playing a key financial role in a Kremlin-backed plan to conduct “information warfare” against the United States, including ongoing attempts to influence American voters.

The Times said the protective operation included missions taken in recent days, but has been limited in part to prevent Moscow from escalating its response beyond election-related actions that could target the U.S. power grid or other targets.

U.S. Cyber Command has also sent teams to Europe in an effort to help allies fight Russian intrusions, officials told the Times.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the Times report, and representatives for the Pentagon did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton, in Moscow for meetings this week, told Russian officials on Monday that its election meddling sowed distrust.

More than a dozen Russians and three Russian entities have been indicted as part of a U.S. investigation into the 2016 interference and possible collusion by Trump’s campaign, including 12 Russian intelligence officers and a St. Petersburg-based group known for its trolling on social media.

Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion.
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U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton says he told Russian officials that its meddling in the 2016 election did not affect the outcome but instead created distrust.

“The important thing is that the desire for interfering in our affairs itself arouses distrust in Russian people, in Russia. And I think it should not be tolerated. It should not be acceptable,” Bolton said Monday on Ekho Moskvy radio.

Bolton is in Moscow for talks with Russian leaders on President Donald Trump’s intention to pull the United States out of a 1987 arms control agreement.

Before joining the White House, Bolton called Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 election an “act of war.”

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating Russian election interference and allegations of collusion with the Trump campaign — allegations both Trump and Russia deny.

The U.S. has charged a number of Russian citizens and agents with election meddling.

Last week, the Justice Department charged a Russian woman with “information warfare” for managing the finances of an internet company looking to interfere in next month’s midterm elections.

The company is owned by a business executive with alleged ties to President Vladimir Putin.

The woman, Elena Khusyaynova, said Monday she is “shocked” by the charges against her. She calls herself a “simple Russian woman” who does not speak English.
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