Swiss vote to tighten gun laws, safeguard EU relations

Yahoo – AFP, Nina LARSON, May 19, 2019

Final results showed that Swiss voters overwhelmingly supported reforming their gun
laws, with 63.7 percent casting their ballot in favour (AFP Photo/STEFAN WERMUTH)

Geneva (AFP) - The Swiss voted Sunday to toughen their gun laws and bring them in line with EU legislation, heeding warnings that rejecting the change could have threatened relations with the bloc.

Final results showed that voters overwhelmingly supported reforming Swiss gun laws, with a full 63.7 percent casting their ballot in favour.

A majority of voters in all but one of Switzerland's 26 cantons backed the reform, with the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino in southern Switzerland the only outlier.

A demand from the neighbouring European Union that the Swiss toughen their gun laws prompted a rare national debate over firearm ownership in the wealthy Alpine nation, which has a deeply-rooted gun culture.

While the government cautioned that the new legislation was crucial to the non-EU country maintaining its treaties with the bloc, the proposal sparked a fierce pushback from the gun lobby and shooting enthusiasts, who gathered enough signatures to trigger a vote under Switzerland's famous direct democratic system.

Brussels changed its own weapons laws two years ago following a wave of deadly terrorist attacks across Europe, slapping bans on certain types of semi-automatic firearms.

While not an EU member, Switzerland is bound to the bloc through an array of intricately connected bilateral agreements.

Bern had cautioned that a "No" vote would lead to Switzerland's exclusion from the visa-free Schengen travel region and also the Dublin accords regulating Europe's asylum-seeking process.

Shooting enthusiasts have gathered enough support to trigger a vote on
new gun laws under Switzerland's famous direct democratic system
(AFP Photo/Fabrice COFFRINI)

This would have far-reaching consequences for security, asylum and even tourism, and would cost the country "several billion Swiss francs each year," it said.

Liberties 'eroded'

The shooting enthusiasts behind Sunday's referendum had insisted the government warnings were "exaggerated".

The campaign charged that law change amounts to an "EU dictate" that reins in Swiss sovereignty and would "erase the right to own weapons" in Switzerland.

The ProTell gun lobby voiced concern at the consequences of Sunday's referendum, in which some 43 percent of eligible voters participated.

"Today, our liberties have been eroded," ProTell President Jean-Luc Addor told RTS, also insisting that the reform would "obviously not avoid a single terrorist attack".

The populist, rightwing Swiss People's Party (SVP) -- the only party to oppose the reform -- meanwhile cautioned that bowing to an "EU dictate" would have consequences.

"We acknowledge that there is a certain need to remain within Schengen and Dublin, but we cannot accept just anything to do so," SVP vice president Celine Amaudru told the ATS news agency, cautioning that the EU going forward "will be able to dictate what it wants" by playing to Swiss fears of being left out.

It is difficult to know exactly how many firearms are in circulation in Switzerland, since guns are registered regionally and there is no national registry.

The strong gun culture in Switzerland is partially tied to its tradition of national defence 

service, as most Swiss men undergo obligatory military service (AFP Photo/STEFAN 

WERMUTH)

'Exceptional authorisation'

But according to a 2017 report by the Small Arms Survey, the country boasts the world's 16th highest rate of gun ownership, with some 2.3 million firearms in civilian hands -- nearly three for every 10 inhabitants.

The strong gun culture in Switzerland is partially tied to its tradition of national defence service, as most Swiss men undergo obligatory military service between the ages of 18 and 30. They are allowed to keep their assigned weapon when they are done.

Under the new gun law, which has already been approved by legislators, semi-automatic weapons with high-capacity magazines will be listed as "banned".

Collectors and sports shooters could still purchase such weapons, but would need to jump through more hoops to obtain an "exceptional authorisation".

Another issue put to a national referendum Sunday -- a government proposal to overhaul the country's corporate tax system and pump more cash into its pension system -- also won overwhelming support.

A full 66.4 percent of voters, and all 26 cantons, supported that reform, according to the final results.

ETA hands over arms ahead of expected disbanding

Yahoo – AFP, April 25, 2018

Bayonne prosecutor Samuel Vuelta Simon said he had received an email tip-off
that "a quantity of arms" belonging to ETA had been retrieved by police (AFP
Photo/IROZ GAIZKA)

Bayonne (France) (AFP) - Basque separatist group ETA has handed over several cases of weapons and munitions as a confidence-building measure ahead of its expected disbanding, a French prosecutor said Wednesday.

Bayonne prosecutor Samuel Vuelta Simon said he had received an email tip-off that "a quantity of arms" belonging to ETA had been retrieved by police after being dropped at a location in the south of the French Basque city.

The announcement comes days before ETA is expected to announce its dissolution, definitively ending its nearly four-decade campaign of bombings and shootings for an independent Basque state in northern Spain and southwest France, seven years after it declared a permanent ceasefire.

A source close to the case said the police had found four cases "in the open air, in the city centre" containing around 20 handguns, several hundred bullets for 9mm and .38-calibre revolvers and a 20-metre-long detonator cable as well as several electronic detonators.

They also found around 200 fake registration places and materials that can be used to steal cars, added the source, who requested anonymity.

ETA last year had already provided French authorities with a list of eight arms caches.

A member of a group mediating in the peace process told AFP that ETA had committed to finding those weapons "which had gone astray" and not been included on the list.

"This restitution process, which remains confidential, is ongoing," Jean-Noel Etcheverry said.

Last week ETA asked forgiveness from its victims for the "pain" caused by its campaign, a move seen as a necessary step towards reconciliation.

Created in 1959 at the height of Francisco Franco's dictatorship ETA is blamed for the deaths of at least 829 people.

International mediators are organising a peace conference in southwest France on May 4.

10 years after massacre, Norway to ban semi-automatic weapons

Yahoo – AFP, 27 February 2018

Police and emergency services search the waters for victims some around Utoeya
 island, some 40 km southwest of Oslo, on July 23, 2011, after a bombing in central
Oslo and a series of shootings on an island just outside the capital

Norway plans to ban semi-automatic firearms as of 2021, a decade after right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik's mass shooting that left 69 people dead, a Norwegian lawmaker said Tuesday.

The minority right-wing government had presented a proposal on the ban last year.

"Today (Tuesday), it has become clear that there is a parliamentary majority in favour of the government's proposal. Semi-automatic weapons will therefore be banned in Norway," Peter Frolich, a Conservative member of parliament's standing committee on judicial affairs, told AFP.

The ban, which would enter into force in 2021, comes amid renewed debate on semi-automatic weapons in the United States, following a school shooting in Florida that claimed the lives of 17 students and teachers on February 14.

The massacre in Norway took place on July 22, 2011, when disguised as a police officer and armed with a Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic rifle and a Glock pistol, Breivik killed 69 people, most of them teenagers who were attending a Labour Party youth camp.

Just a few hours before the camp attack, he had killed eight people in a bombing outside a government building in Oslo.

In a 2012 report, a commission tasked with drawing conclusions from the attacks had called for a ban on semi-automatic weapons, one of its 31 recommendations.

"This decision is a very good thing, even if it comes belatedly," the head of a victims' support group, Lisbeth Kristine Royneland, said.

The bill allows for several exemptions, in particular for shooting sports.

Frolich attributed the long delay in drafting the proposal to the fact that many hunters in Norway use semi-automatic firearms.

It was not immediately clear how the new law would affect hunters.

Breivik, 39, who now goes by the name Fjotolf Hansen, was sentenced in 2012 to 21 years in prison, which can be extended indefinitely as long as he remains a threat to society.

Trump defence chief to NATO: pay up or we reduce support

Yahoo – AFP, Thomas WATKINS and Lachlan CARMICHAEL, February 15, 2017

US Defence Minister James Mattis addresses the press at the NATO headquarters
in Brussels on February 15, 2017 (AFP Photo/EMMANUEL DUNAND)

Brussels (AFP) - US Defence Secretary James Mattis bluntly warned NATO allies Wednesday that Donald Trump's administration would "moderate its commitment" to the transatlantic alliance unless members met their spending pledges.

Mattis's no-nonsense message to his counterparts in Brussels follows years of calls by Washington for allies to spend at least two percent of their GDP on defence, a goal that only a handful meet despite agreeing on it at a summit in 2014.

It packs extra weight as it comes after Trump has said US help for NATO members -- already worried by the threat from Russia in the east -- might depend on how much they have paid.

"Americans cannot care more for your children's future security than you do," retired Marine general Mattis said in prepared remarks to defence ministers at NATO headquarters.

"If your nations do not want to see America moderate its commitment to this alliance, each of your capitals need to show support for our common defence."

Mattis called for "milestone dates" this year that would track NATO member contributions.

'Very firm message'

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg denied that Mattis's words amounted to a threat, saying it was a "firm message" and that his colleagues agreed that they would do more to contribute.

Map of NATO member countries (AFP Photo/)

"Secretary Mattis conveyed a very firm message to all Allies. That message is about the importance of fair burden-sharing. It reflects a political reality in the United States," Stoltenberg told a press conference.

Currently, only the United States, Britain, Estonia, Greece and Poland have hit or surpassed the two percent figure.

The call for more funding comes as NATO mounts its biggest buildup since the Cold War, strengthening its eastern flank following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told reporters that he had called on laggards to at least increase spending annually to "demonstrate good faith."

NATO said its member countries spent a total of $892 billion (842 billion euros) in 2015, with the United States accounting for $641 billion. Russian military spending in 2015 rose to 66 billion dollars, the SIPRI institute in Stockholm said.

Despite lambasting some NATO partners' spending, Mattis hailed NATO as the "fundamental bedrock" of transatlantic security as he sought to reassure allies about Trump's commitment to the alliance.

Since his inauguration, Trump has taken a more orthodox stance on NATO and reaffirmed long-standing US commitment to the alliance that Mattis has previously served.

Trump, who is set to meet NATO leaders in Brussels in May, had previously said the alliance was "obsolete."

Russia scandal

Mattis's visit to NATO, his first trip to Europe since being sworn in last month, comes amid a growing scandal at the White House following the resignation of Trump's national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Flynn quit over allegations he had discussed US sanctions with Russia's ambassador before taking office.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (C) presides a NATO defence ministers

meeting in Brussels on February 15, 2017 (AFP Photo/EMMANUEL DUNAND)

Mattis and Stoltenberg both insisted the Flynn scandal was not a cause for concern for the alliance, which has underpinned transatlantic security since the aftermath of World War II.

But NATO partners are worried about possible ties between other officials on Trump's campaign team and Moscow, which has alarmed former communist countries with its belligerent stance since the Crimea annexation.

During the previous Barack Obama administration, NATO agreed to send four multinational battalions to Poland and each of its three Baltic state members.

Also hanging over the meeting was a New York Times report that Moscow had deployed a new type of cruise missile, raising fears it would violate the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty.

Stoltenberg said any non-compliance with the treaty was of "serious concern" while Mattis said NATO would "defend ourselves if Russia chooses to act contrary to international law."

Prodded by the new Trump administration, NATO is also stepping up efforts to counter terrorist threats from North Africa and the Middle East.

NATO will set up "as soon as possible" a hub with 100 staff at the alliance's Joint Force Command in Naples, Italy, which will coordinate intelligence on crisis countries like Iraq and Syria, Stoltenberg said.

The alliance will also deploy surveillance drones in Sicily to get a better intelligence picture.

Related Articles:

As crisis swirls, Trump faces mounting pressure in party

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  8 - The End of War

The last one is the best. For thousands of years on this planet, Human Beings have warred with each other. If you take a look at the reasons they warred with each other, you will quickly see there aren't any good ones - land, resources, greed. Those are not reasons. That is a description of old energy. Those are not reasons. Reasons would be perhaps defense against an aggressor. But what if there is no longer the consciousness of the aggressor?

When I appeared in my partner's life more than 20 years ago, I said to him privately that the first messages we're going to give will be unbelievable. There would be laughter. We told him that Human nature and consciousness itself would change, and that the seeds of peace would be planted and there would come a time where there is no more war. Indeed, the laughter was great because humans look at history and they see patterns based on an absolute energy called Human Nature. "Impossible! There always has to be war. There always has been. Therefore, there always will be." This is you, in a box, in a black and white potential, where you can only see the black and white of what is and the black and white of what has been. You have no idea the shades of color that are there in your consciousness and the beauty of the love of God.

North Korea is on the edge of change, as we told you it might be. What did this require? The death of the old energy, and I want you to watch this take place. The advisors of the young leader are going to do their best to pull him back into an old energy. This free choice of his will be far different than his father, for he sees some color. Watch for these things. They'll take longer than you want, but it is the beginning of the beginning.

You'll see a fresh unification of South America sooner than not, for what is going to take place potentially this year in Venezuela. You'll see Iran changing. We have no clock. These are the potentials. These can change with free choice. These are not prophecies. This is a reality shift, dear ones, so number eight becomes the propensity not to war again. This is what Humans are going to want. This is what governments are going to want. There is a wisdom factor that will begin to happen on the planet that is grander than what you think is possible. For when you look at government, what do you think about? You see dysfunction, and there is an axiom that says the more people that try to do something together, the worse it gets. It all settles to the lowest common denominator. I'm telling you even those things are going to become old energy concepts. Instead, you're going to watch wisdom become the top potential.

I have no clock. I cannot tell you when. I can just tell you it is in the works, and there will be the seeds of it for you to observe soon - right now, in every single of the eight categories I showed you.

There are those who will say, "Well, Kryon, you're doing a lot more predictions than you used to." I want to tell you what's going on, dear one. I am not predicting anything. I am just telling you what's already there in the potential soup of your reality. That's what Humans are doing on this planet, and for those who believe this communication, you should breathe a sigh of relief and say, "It's about time." ….”

"The Biggest Filter" - July 18-19, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“..  War - Nobody Sees What is Coming

Let's talk about war. Let's discuss something that very few are considering. What you expect next is completely and totally out of perspective of what's actually coming, because you only have one kind of knowledge about war. Your war has advanced over history with bigger explosions, higher yields and weapons that fire faster. Nuclear, laser, sound - all are far more efficient ways to terminate life. That's how war has evolved. However, there hasn't really been anything called anti-war devices, have there?

I'm going to give you an invitation for discovery, and some are already in the postulation stage of this. Multidimensional fields change 3D reality. Period. I've told you that lurking in your future are discoveries that will help you with every aspect of your life, mainly due to the discovery of what makes basic physics do what it does at the atomic level. If you fully understand multidimensionality, you can manipulate the formula for mass and create massless objects. You can even do it with the tools you have right now.

There is physics possible that can create certain kinds of fields - listen to me - certain kinds of heretofore unseen multidimensional fields that are harmless to your biology, but will alter some attributes of 3D. These fields are designer fields, and they are isolated and specifically designed for one purpose. When in the field, conventional explosive reactions can't happen. Can you imagine putting a field within rooms of a building so that no matter what weapon is fired, whether it's a machine gun or a pistol, it simply won't work! What about targeting an airplane when it drops a bomb and it won't explode? This is pure physics. The alteration of 3D reality through multidimensional designer fields, both small and large, is coming. I know you don't believe it, but just wait. As you start to discover multidimensional physics and the ability to control it, you will discover that there is a "benevolent attitude" of this kind of physics. You can't "weaponize it" as easily as you can 3D. It is an entirely different kind of reality.

Again, I tell you that when you understand how mass is created at the atomic level, you'll learn how to create massless objects. By the way, that has another name. You call it anti-gravity, but there is no such thing. It's just the ability to finally control the formula that creates gravity with mass. You understand that this is simple physics, don't you? And it's very easy to manipulate for benevolent uses through other fields that you do know about. Just like you have learned to control certain kinds of physics that are 3D, you can also control multidimensional physics. Imagine a planet where it doesn't matter what war device you had, it wouldn't work anymore! What do you think about that? Imagine physics having the ability to shatter the molecules of a biological weapon. Do you think that would change world politics? It's happening, it's going to happen. It's in the laboratory today. You're broaching the discovery of multidimensional physics. Being able to control that which you don't think is controllable is what you are doing. It's going to make such a difference to the Human race!

You don't believe it, since your knowledge of how things work just doesn't allow for such a thing. This is your filter.  ….”

Blair defends Iraq war after damning inquiry report

Yahoo – AFP, Alice Ritchie, July 6, 2016

Iraq Inquiry chairman John Chilcot presents the findings of his report at the QEII
Centre in London, on July 6, 2016 (AFP Photo/Dan Kitwood)

London (AFP) - Former British prime minister Tony Blair on Wednesday made a passionate defence of the 2003 war in Iraq, after a long-awaited official inquiry condemned it as woefully executed and based on flawed evidence.

His voice cracking with emotion, Blair said he had "more sorrow, regret and apology than you may ever know or can believe" for some mistakes in the planning of a war that deeply divided Britain.

But, in a two-hour press conference, he stuck resolutely to his defence, as more than 100 anti-war protesters rallied in London, shouting: "Blair lied, thousands died" and "war criminal Tony Blair."

Former prime minister Tony Blair said 

he acted "in good faith and in what I

 believed to be the best interests of the

country" (AFP Photo/Stefan Rousseau)

"I believe we made the right decision and the world is better and safer" without Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Blair told reporters.

The long-awaited Chilcot report offered a damning verdict on Britain's role in the US-led war, detailing the flawed intelligence, questionable legal basis and "woefully inadequate" preparation for the occupation.

Iraq's descent into violence and loss of life following the invasion saw 150,000 Iraqis killed by the time most British troops left in 2009.

The report said Britain deployed troops before diplomatic options had been exhausted.

It also highlighted how Blair wrote to president George W. Bush in July 2002, the year before the war saying: "I will be with you, whatever."

The inquiry found that "military action in Iraq might have been necessary at some point. But in March 2003 there was no imminent threat from Saddam Hussein".

Shortly after Blair had responded to the report, current Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn -- a top figure in the anti-war campaign -- directly contradicted the former Labour premier.

"The invasion and occupation of Iraq was a catastrophe," Corbyn, who formed the Stop the War coalition, said in a speech to the families of British soldiers who died.

"I now apologise sincerely on behalf of my party for the disastrous decision to go to war in Iraq," he said.

'No lies, parliament not misled'

The war was justified at the time by claims that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, but they were never found and the intelligence was later withdrawn.

Inquiry chairman John Chilcot laid the blame for this firmly on spy chiefs, clearing Blair's officials of "improperly" influencing a key intelligence paper published in September 2002.

The report also criticised Blair for failing to challenge Bush on the lack of planning for the post-invasion phase -- and dismissed his assertion that the impact of local militia and Iran could not have been predicted.

Britain's Iraq War Inquiry said Tony Blair (left) promised George W. Bush in 2002 that

 he would be with him on Iraq "whatever" happened, nearly a year before the US-led

invasion (AFP Photo/Paul J. Richards)

"I accept that especially in hindsight we should have approached the situation differently," said Blair, who was prime minister from 1997 to 2007.

But he added: "There were no lies, parliament and cabinet were not misled, there was no secret commitment to war. The intelligence was not falsified and the decision was made in good faith."

Iraq remains plagued by sectarian violence -- on Sunday at least 250 people were killed by a Baghdad suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group.

Blair rejected claims the war led to the rise of Islamist groups in the region, saying Saddam was "himself a wellspring of terror" -- but admitted many disagreed.

'I hold him responsible'

Relatives of some of the 179 British soldiers who died in Iraq said they would scrutinise the findings for possible grounds for legal action against Blair and other officials.

"The inquiry has confirmed all our fears that these young men and women were deployed on the back of a falsehood," said Roger Bacon, whose son Matthew, 34, died in 2005.

The legality of the invasion was not in his remit, but Chilcot said the process of deciding the legal basis for war was "far from satisfactory".

"We have concluded that the UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted. Military action at that time was not a last resort," he said.

A detail of a declassified handwritten letter sent by the then British Prime Minister

 Tony Blair, to former U.S President George W. Bush, is seen as part of the Iraq Inquiry

 Report presented by Sir John Chilcot at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London, 

Wednesday, July 6, 2016. The head of Britain's Iraq War inquiry has released a 

damning verdict on a conflict he says was mounted on flawed intelligence, executed

 with "wholly inadequate" planning. (Jeff J Mitchell/Pool via AP)

The families are not the only ones considering legal action against Blair -- a cross-party group of MPs is also looking into the possibility, including of taking a case to the International Criminal Court.

The war, which at one point saw 46,000 British troops deployed, mostly in southern Iraq around the strategic oil hub of Basra, still looms large over British politics.

Britain's scarring experience in Iraq has made it deeply wary of committing ground troops to international military interventions in countries like Syria and Libya.

Retired civil servant Chilcot said his report was "an account of an intervention which went badly wrong, with consequences to this day".

In a statement to the House of Commons, Prime Minister David Cameron said: "We cannot turn the clock back but can ensure that lessons are learned and acted on".

Rage against Blair as families mourn Iraq war dead https://t.co/q06JFb9D7l pic.twitter.com/4ZpUxakiFg

— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 6, 2016

Related Article:

UK press condemn Blair 'arrogance' over Iraq war

Germany slams NATO 'warmongering' on Russia

Yahoo – AFP, June 18, 2016

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, pictured in May (AFP
Photo/Petras Malukas)

Berlin (AFP) - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has criticised NATO for having a bellicose policy towards Russia, describing it as "warmongering", the German daily Bild reported.

Steinmeier pointed to the deployment of NATO troops near borders with Russia in the military alliance's Baltic and east European member states.

"What we should avoid today is inflaming the situation by warmongering and stomping boots," Steinmeier told Bild in an interview to be published Sunday.

"Anyone who thinks you can increase security in the alliance with symbolic parades of tanks near the eastern borders, is mistaken," Germany's top diplomat added.

NATO had announced on Monday that it would deploy four battalions to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to counter a more assertive Russia, ahead of a landmark summit in Warsaw next month.

All four countries were once ruled from Moscow and remain deeply suspicious of Russian intentions, especially after Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

In an interview with Bild on Thursday, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Russia is seeking to create "a zone of influence through military means".

"We are observing massive militarisation at NATO borders -- in the Arctic, in the Baltic, from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea," he told the newspaper.

Stoltenberg has stressed that NATO does not seek confrontation with Russia and wants a constructive dialogue but that it would defend the 28 allies against any threat

Russia bitterly opposes NATO's expansion into its Soviet-era satellites and last month said it would create three new divisions in its southwest region to meet what it described as a dangerous military build-up along its borders.

European Parliament calls for arms embargo against Saudi Arabia

EU officials have called on Brussels to stop shipping weapons to Saudi Arabia. The move is in response to alleged human rights violations committed by Riyadh in neighboring Yemen.

Deutsche Welle, 25 February 2016

European lawmakers called on Thursday for the EU's foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini to approve an arms embargo against Riyadh in response to the government's involvement in the ongoing war in Yemen.

The European Parliament's resolution followed a petition signed by 750,000 European citizens calling for an end to weapons sales. The resolution would not be legally binding, but officials hope that it would dissuade countries like Britain and France, who are the two main European exporters of arms to Saudi Arabia. Earlier this year, Germany announced it would look harder at its decision to export arms to Saudi Arabia.

"This is about Yemen. The human rights violations have reached a level that means Europe is obliged to act and to end arms sales to Saudi Arabia," said British lawmaker Richard Howitt, according to Reuters news agency.

Calls to end the war

Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Arab allies intervened in Yemen last year after a Houthi rebel uprising led to a wider war that has claimed the lives of some 6,000 people.

Riyadh buys most of its weapons from the United States, and the EU-wide embargo would go against Washington's policy of aiding the Sunni Arabs in the fight to help the internationally recognized government retake swathes of territory back from the rebel and al Qaeda factions that have divvied up the country.

Some EU officials also warned that an embargo could trigger a backlash from Riyadh. Howitt, for instance, said the Saudis had threatened to cut off relations with the EU in response.

blc/sms (Reuters, AFP)

Related Article:

Russia vows to ensure Damascus observes ceasefire: Putin

European Union agrees to end nearly all sanctions on Belarus

The European Union has lifted almost all sanctions on Belarus, including those against President Alexander Lukashenko, paving the way for closer relations. An arms embargo, however, remains in place.

Deutsche Welle, 15 February 2016

Despite criticism from human rights activists, most of the European Union's economic sanctions against Belarus will be permanently lifted, agreed EU foreign ministers during a regular meeting in Brussels on Monday.

"There is an opportunity for EU-Belarus relations to develop on a more positive agenda," the foreign ministers said in a joint statement.

Restrictive sanctions on 170 Belarusian officials, including the country's strongman President Alexander Lukashenko, were lifted following improvements in the east European nation's human rights record.

An arms embargo, however, will remain in place for another 12 months.

The bloc's ministers recognized that Lukashenko delivered on his promise to release the last political prisoners he had detained. They called it a "long sought step."

Belarus' Foreign Ministry welcomed the EU's decision, saying: "(This) clearly proves that only dialogue is the most effective tool for settlement of disputes," ministry spokesman Dmitry Mironchik said in a statement.

"This decision marks an important phase on the way towards full normalization of relations and opens new possibilities for broadening comprehensive interaction between Belarus and the EU," the statement said.

#FAC Foreign Affairs Council conclusions on #Belarus after debate today https://t.co/Yp7ovi004p pic.twitter.com/4U9tYu1PZZ

— EU External Action (@eu_eeas) February 15, 2016

A 'good compromise'

In October, the EU already ended travel bans and asset freezes against the 170 individuals and have now decided to make the decisions permanent.

Four men involved in "unresolved disappearances" of political opponents will also remain blacklisted, an EU source told news agency AFP.

"I think that what we have on the table today is a good compromise," said Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, who lobbied for maintaining the sanctions against Minsk.

The remaining sanctions make it easier to leverage pressure on Minsk should the human rights situation once again deteriorate, said an EU diplomat on condition of anonymity.

Dubbed Europe's "Last Dictator" by the United States and in power since 1994, Lukashenko's political prisoner release was hailed as a major step forward for the former Soviet state.

Rights groups still worry that Belarus continues to fall short in the areas of democracy and human rights, including the existence of the death penalty, a practice which is opposed by the EU.

rs/ (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)

Third Turkish journalist arrested amid fears of Ankara censorship: reports

Local media has reported that a third Turkish reporter has been arrested, amid concern Ankara is cracking down on free speech. Yesterday, protesters took to the streets following the arrest of two other journalists.

Deutsche Welle, 28 Nov 2015

Ertugrul Ozkok, a reporter for the Turkish daily newspaper Hurriyet, was arrested following an allegedly slanderous article criticizing the country's president, local media and German news agency DPA reported.

Ozkok (pictured) had written a critical column in September that was presumed to have been directed at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, even though it didn't actually use the politician's name. He faces up to five years and four months in prison.

The news follows growing concern that Erdogan's government is cracking down on free speech in Turkey. Just two days ago, two other journalists working for a different publication were also arrested.

Public backlash

Following the earlier arrests, hundreds of protesters demonstrated in front of the Istanbul office of the Cumhuriyet newspaper in solidarity with the journalists.

The publication's editor in chief, Can Dundar, and its Ankara representative, Erdem Gul, were sent to prison on Thursday, following the publication of photos reportedly showing Turkish trucks delivering arms to Syrian militants.

President Erdogan filed a criminal complaint against the journalists after information was leaked suggesting that the trucks were indeed delivering arms or ammunition to Turkmen fighters in Syria. Prosecutors subsequently launched a criminal probe into the two.

Their arrest also prompted a response from the US Embassy in Turkey.

Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner: We are troubled by pre-trial arrest of editors of Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet. https://t.co/FF9I9X8bpY

— Department of State (@StateDept) November 27, 2015

Protesters on Saturday said Erdogan's government was trying to "silence" free speech, as well as cover up a government scandal.

blc/rc (dpa, AP, AFP)

#UPDATE Putin accuses Turkey of shooting down Russian warplane to protect IS oil trade https://t.co/bgM3u3WPXM pic.twitter.com/ZFGOe7aWeY

— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) November 30, 2015

Related Articles:

Erdogan says would resign if Putin IS oil trade claims proven - New

Top Kurdish rights defender in Turkey shot and killed

Russia slaps economic sanctions on Turkey over jet downing
Putin tells Hollande 'ready for cooperation' in terrorism fight

Russia-Turkey war of words escalates over downed warplane

Turkey and EU strike 3bn euro migrant aid deal


2015 Kryon Kundalini Tour (Cusco #2, Peru) - Nov, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - New (Reference to Paris/ISIS/Dark-Old Energy/USA+Warning for Governments around the World !!!)