Former Panama Dictator Manuel Noriega Dies at Age 83

Former Panama dictator Manuel Noriega, whose time in power was marked by corruption and violence, has died at the age of 83.

Panama’s President Juan Carlos Varela said on twitter that Noriega’s death “closes a chapter in our history” and that his family deserves a burial in peace.

Noriega had been in the hospital recovering from several surgeries related to removing a brain tumor earlier this year.

Before being released on house arrest to prepare for the procedures, Noriega had been imprisoned for corruption and killing opponents during his 1983-89 regime.

Noriega was ousted from power by a U.S. invasion in 1989 and was imprisoned in the United States on drug offenses. He then was jailed in France for money laundering and was returned to Panama in 2011 for further imprisonment.

Despite amassing great wealth, Noriega had worked hard to cultivate an image of a man of the people. He lived in a modest, two-story home in an upper-middle-class neighborhood in Panama City that stood in stark contrast with the opulent mansions customary among Latin American dictators.

”He would only say `hello’ very respectfully,” said German Sanchez, who lived next door for 16 years. “You may think what you like of Noriega, but we can’t say he was anything but respectful toward his neighbors.”

”The humble, the poor, the blacks, they are the utmost authority,” Noriega said in one speech.

While some resentment lingers over the U.S. invasion, Noriega has so few supporters in modern-day Panama that attempts to auction off his old home attracted no bidders and the government decided to demolish the decaying building. Late in life, the ex-dictator essentially had zero influence over his country from behind bars.

”He is not a figure with political possibilities,” University of Panama sociologist Raul Leis said in 2008. “Even though there’s a small sector that yearns for the Noriega era, it is not a representative figure in the country.”

Noriega broke a long silence in June 2015 when he made a statement from prison on Panamanian television in which he asked forgiveness of those harmed by his regime.

”I feel like as Christians we all have to forgive,” he said, reading from a handwritten statement. “The Panamanian people have already overcome this period of dictatorship.”

But for the most part Noriega stayed mum about elite military and civilian associates who thrived on the corruption that he helped instill – and which still plagues the Central American nation of some 3.9 million people, a favored transshipment point for drugs and a haven for money laundering.

Meanwhile, families of more than 100 who were killed or disappeared during his rule are still seeking justice.

Some material for this report came from the Associated Press.

Moreno: Assange is a ‘Hacker’ But Will Continue to Receive Haven

Ecuador’s new President Lenin Moreno described WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as a “hacker” but said he would continue to receive asylum in the South American country’s embassy in London.

“Mr. Assange is a hacker. That’s something we reject, and I personally reject,” Moreno told journalists on Monday. “But I respect the situation he is in, which calls for respect of his human rights, but we also ask that he respects the situation he is in.”

Moreno’s tone is a sharp break from that of his predecessor Rafael Correa, who had said Assange was a “journalist and granted him asylum in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden over rape allegations. And Moreno’s right-wing opponent in the election had promised to kick Assange out of the embassy if he won.

Since taking power, Moreno has also warned Assange “not to intervene in the politics” of Ecuador or its allies.

Assange, who denies the allegations, feared Sweden would hand him over to the United States to face prosecution over WikiLeaks’ publication of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents in one of the largest information leaks in U.S. history.

Even though Sweden dropped the charges earlier this month, authorities in London have warned Assange that he would be arrested if he left the embassy that his been his home for five years.

 

New French President Promises Tough Talk at First Putin Meeting

New French President Emmanuel Macron is promising tough talk at his first meeting with Vladimir Putin on Monday, following an election campaign when his team accused Russian media of trying to interfere in the democratic process.

Macron, who took office two weeks ago, has said that dialogue with Russia is vital in tackling a number of international disputes. Nevertheless, relations have been beset by mistrust, with Paris and Moscow backing opposing sides in the Syrian civil war and at odds over the Ukraine conflict.

Fresh from talks with his Western counterparts at a NATO meeting in Brussels and a G-7 summit in Sicily, Macron will host the Russian president at the palace of Versailles outside Paris.

Amid the baroque splendor, Macron will use an exhibition on Russian Tsar Peter the Great at the former royal palace to try to get Franco-Russian relations off to a new start.

“It’s indispensable to talk to Russia because there are a number of international subjects that will not be resolved without a tough dialogue with them,” Macron said.

“I will be demanding in my exchanges with Russia,” the 39-year-old president told reporters at the end of the G-7 summit on Saturday, where the Western leaders agreed to consider new measures against Moscow if the situation in Ukraine did not improve.

Strained relations under Hollande

Relations between Paris and Moscow were increasingly strained under former president Francois Hollande. Putin, 64, cancelled his last planned visit in October after Hollande said he would see him only for talks on Syria.

Then during the French election campaign the Macron camp alleged Russian hacking and disinformation efforts, at one point refusing accreditation to the Russian state-funded Sputnik and RT news outlets which it said were spreading Russian propaganda and fake news.

Two days before the May 7 election runoff, Macron’s team said thousands of hacked campaign emails had been put online in a leak that one New York-based analyst said could have come from a group tied to Russian military intelligence.

Moscow and RT itself rejected allegations of meddling in the election.

Putin also offered Macron’s far-right opponent Marine Le Pen a publicity coup when he granted her an audience a month before the election’s first round.

Macron decisively beat Le Pen, an open Putin admirer, and afterwards the Russian president said in a congratulatory message that he wanted to put mistrust aside and work with him.

Hollande’s former diplomatic adviser, Jacques Audibert, noted how Putin had been excluded from what used to be the Group of Eight nations as relations with the West soured. Meeting in a palace so soon after the G-7 summit was a clever move by Macron.

“Putin likes these big symbolic things. I think it’s an excellent political opportunity, the choice of place is perfect,” he told CNews TV. “It adds a bit of grandeur to welcome Putin to Versailles.”

The Versailles exhibition commemorates a visit to France 300 years ago by Peter the Great, known for his European tastes.

Frank conversation

A Russian official told reporters in Moscow on Friday that the meeting was an opportunity “to get a better feel for each other” and that the Kremlin expected “a frank conversation” on Syria.

While Moscow backs President Bashar al-Assad, France supports rebel groups trying to overthrow him. France has also taken a tough line on European Union sanctions on Russia, first imposed when it annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and cancelled a $1.3 billion warship supply contract in 2015.

During the campaign, Macron backed expanded sanctions if there were no progress with Moscow implementing a peace accord for eastern Ukraine, where Kyiv’s forces have been battling pro-Russian separatists.

Since being elected, Macron appears to have toned down the rhetoric, although he noted the two leaders still had “diverging positions” in their first phone call.

Macron has said his priority in Syria was crushing the Islamic State group, which will resonate with Putin.

One French diplomat said Macron was insisting on talking more after several years when everyone took France’s hard line for granted, making compromise difficult.

“Macron gave himself enough wiggle room, which opens up a new diplomatic and political window,” said the diplomat.

Norway Demands Return of Funds From Palestinian Authority

Norway is demanding that the Palestinian Authority reimburse it for funds donated to a women’s center on the West Bank because the center was named after a female militant who participated in an attack in Israel that killed 37 civilians.

 

The Norwegian Foreign Ministry says the country “will not allow itself to be associated with institutions that take the names of terrorists.”

 

Israeli Foreign Ministry officials applauded Norway’s move and urged “the international community to check closely where the money that it invests in the Palestinian Authority goes.”

 

The women’s center was named for Dalal Mughrabi, a member of the Fatah faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). She participated in the 1978 Coastal Road massacre in Israel and died during the attack.

 

Swedish Satire Takes Top Prize at Cannes

The Swedish satire The Square has taken the top honors at the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival.

The art world satire by Swedish writer-director Ruben Ostlund won the Palme d’Or in Cannes, France, Sunday. Dominic West, Elisabeth Moss and Claes Bang star in the movie.  Bang plays the curator of an art museum, who sets up “The Square,” an installation inviting passers-by to acts of altruism. But after he reacts foolishly to the theft of his phone, the father of two finds himself dragged into shameful situations.

Sofia Coppola became only the second woman to win the prize for best director for her film The Beguiled, starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell.  Soviet director Yuliya Ippolitovna Solntseva was the first woman to win the prize in 1961.

Diane Kruger was named best actress for her performance in Fatih Akin’s In the Fade. In the drama, she plays a German woman whose son and Turkish husband are killed in a bomb attack.

Joaquin Phoenix was named best actor for his role in Lynne Ramsay’s thriller You Were Never Really Here, in which he played a tormented war veteran trying to save a teenage girl from a sex trafficking ring.

The French AIDS drama 120 Beats Per Minute won the Grand Prize from the jury. The award recognizes a strong film that missed out on the top prize.

Kidman was awarded a special prize to celebrate the festival’s 70th anniversary.  She wasn’t at the French Rivera ceremony, but sent a video message from Nashville, saying she was “absolutely devastated” to miss the show.

Jury member Will Smith made the best of the situation, pretending to be Kidman. He fake cried and said in halting French, “merci beaucoup, madames et monsieurs.”

Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar presided over the competition jury that included Smith, German director Maren Ade, Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, Italian director Paolo Sorrentino, American actress Jessica Chastain and South Korean director Park Chan-wook.

US Considering Laptop Ban on All International Flights

The U.S. Homeland Security chief says he’s considering banning laptop computers from the passenger cabins of all international flights to and from the United States.

John Kelly says there are signs of a “real threat” against civilian aviation from carry-on electronic devices.

Speaking on the Fox News Sunday television program, Kelly said terrorists are “obsessed” with the idea of “knocking down an airplane in flight.”

The ban would expand a March order that affects about 50 flights per day to the United States from 10 cities, in the Middle East and North Africa. The ban requires all electronics larger than a smartphone to be checked in.

About 3,250 flights a week are expected this summer between European Union countries and the United States, according to aviation industry figures.

Britain has taken similar measures targeting flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.

In Europe last week, during President Donald Trump’s nine-day foreign trip, Kelly met with European Commission officials in Brussels to discuss a possible laptop ban in airplane cabins.

 

 

Merkel: Europe Must Stay United in Face of Ally Uncertainty

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is urging European Union nations to stick together in the face of new uncertainty over the United States and other challenges.

Merkel said Sunday at a campaign event in Bavaria that “the times in which we can fully count on others are somewhat over, as I have experienced in the past few days.”

 

The comments follow President Donald Trump saying he needed more time to decide if the U.S. would continue backing a key climate accord.

 

Trump’s stance had led Merkel to describe the just-ended G-7 talks on climate change as “unsatisfactory.”

 

The dpa news agency reports that in her campaign remarks, the German leader emphasized the need for friendly relations with the U.S., Britain and Russia, but added: “We Europeans must really take our destiny into our own hands.”

Pope says Egyptian Copts Killed by IS Were ‘Martyrs’

For the second day in a row, Pope Francis has expressed his solidarity with Egypt’s Coptic Christians following an attack on a bus carrying Coptic pilgrims to a remote desert monastery.

 

Francis led thousands of people in prayer Sunday for the victims, who Francis said were killed in “another act of ferocious violence” after having refused to renounce their Christian faith.

 

Speaking from his studio window over St. Peter’s Square, Francis said: “May the Lord welcome these courageous witnesses, these martyrs, in his peace and convert the hearts of the violent ones.”

 

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack, which killed 29 people.

 

On Saturday during a visit to Genoa, Francis prayed for the victims and lamented that there were more martyrs today than in early Christian times.

 

 

 

Congo Militiamen Free One French, 3 Congolese Mine Workers

Militiamen have a freed French national and three Congolese who were kidnapped in March during an attack on Banro Corp’s Namoya gold mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

“The president of the republic welcomes the news of the liberation of our compatriot kidnapped on March 1 in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo,” said a statement from the office of French President Emmanuel Macron.

The militiamen had kidnapped five workers, including the French national, a Tanzanian and three Congolese.

The Tanzanian had already been freed. The remaining four hostages were all freed on Saturday, the Congolese Interior Ministry said in a statement.

New York and Toronto-listed Banro’s four gold mines in eastern Congo have faced hazards both from illegal miners squatting on site and by armed groups that are a legacy of a regional conflict which officially ended in 2003.

Armed robbers attacked Banro’s Twangiza gold mine in neighboring South Kivu province in February, killing three police officers.

Europe Left Uneasy by Trump’s Message

White House press spokesman Sean Spicer declared Saturday night Donald Trump’s first overseas trip as U.S. president had been a success in a tweet posted as the American leader was flying back to Washington “after very productive 9 days.”

Just hours earlier President Trump told American troops stationed in Sicily he had strengthened bonds with allies.

That isn’t how Europe leaders and most of the continent’s media see it.

European reaction — especially in the key capitals of Berlin and Paris — to the Trump visit is very different from the White House’s characterization; and “success” isn’t a word being used.

European officials say the transatlantic allies are no more united now than they were before Trump came and that they now are convinced Europe will have to go it alone more — something they expected would be the case after Trump was elected.

For them, Washington is no longer the dependable ally. And that broadly has been the view of Europe’s press. Headlines all week have been providing a counterpoint to the White House version of meetings. Belgium’s Le Soir headlined one front-page story: “Trump shoves his allies.”

And Germany’s financial newspaper Handelsblatt dubbed him “Boor-in-Chief.”

Disappointment

The Europeans had hoped Trump’s visit might mark a reset in transatlantic relations roiled by his election — that the U.S. president would be persuaded to see the world through their eyes more. But from Brussels to Sicily, there were uneasy smiles, awkwardness and no disguising rifts on a range of issues — from trade and immigration to sanctions on Russia and climate change.

European leaders and officials complained to the media that Trump and his advisers were ignorant of basic facts, notably on transatlantic trade. “Every time we talked about a country, he remembered the things he had done,” one official told Belgium’s Le Soir. “Scotland? He said he had opened a club. Ireland? He said it took him two-and-a-half years to get a license and that did not give him a very good image of the EU.”

German officials told Süddeutsche Zeitung that Trump and his aides were under the impression America had separate trade deals with each individual EU country.

‘America First’ message

France’s Le Monde newspaper said: “During this visit, President Trump maintained his line ‘America First,’ refusing to take a step to improve U.S.-European relations.” It faulted him for failing to make a clear statement reaffirming Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, guaranteeing mutual assistance in the event of armed attack, and for lecturing European leaders on financial burden-sharing.

The German magazine Der Spiegel pounced on the closing photo-op of a midweek meeting between Trump and newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron in which the two men appeared locked in a hand-wrestling match as a visual metaphor of the U.S. president’s European trip.

WATCH:  Trump Meets French President Macron

“The Frenchman grabbed Trump’s hand and squeezed hard,” the magazine noted. “Trump squeezed back. For a moment, they looked like opponents locked in a wrestling match. Trump wanted to let go, but Macron squeezed even harder until his knuckles turned white,” was the Der Spiegel’s description of an iconic almost sumo-like standoff between the two leaders.

Body language

Other European media outlets focused their attention on the shove President Trump gave Montenegro’s prime minister, Dusko Markovic, in order to position himself to the front for a group photo-opportunity of NATO leaders.

Aside from body-language, European media attention Saturday focused on the brevity of the communiqué concluding the two-day G-7 summit in Sicily Saturday — half-a-dozen pages long, compared to 32 pages last year — which many editorial writers saw as advertising the absence of consensus between the U.S. and the other G-7 members.

Trump’s refusal to reaffirm the 2015 Paris pact on climate change aimed at reining in greenhouse gas emissions was the headline dispute of the G-7 summit in the cliff-top town of Taormina on Sicily’s Ionian coast, but European commentators noted that across the board there was very little meeting of minds.

Italian newspapers noted the disappointment of Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni in his efforts to get U.S. backing for a new partnership between G-7 nations and Africa involving aid and investment in a bid to stem the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean.

Deadlock over climate change

European newspapers have now taken to dubbing the G-7 as “G-6 plus one” — a characterization prompted partly by German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s remarks on the summit deadlock over climate change.

“The whole discussion on the topic of climate was very difficult, not to say very unsatisfactory,” Merkel said as the summit of the leaders of the world’s most economically advanced nations was drawing to a close. “Here we have a situation of six against one, meaning there is still no sign of whether the U.S. will remain in the Paris accord or not,” she added.

The Guardian newspaper’s Jon Henley, the paper’s European affairs correspondent, argued in his assessment of Trump’s visit: “It may, mercifully, have passed off without apocalyptic mishap, but Donald Trump’s first transatlantic trip as U.S. president still left European leaders shaken.”

Britain Enlisting Tech Companies in Fight Against Terrorism

Internet companies are beginning to be more helpful in the fight against terrorism, in the wake of the recent attack in Manchester, Britain’s home secretary said.

Amber Rudd said in a British television interview Sunday Britain is making “good progress” in working with technology companies to attain access to the encrypted messages of terror suspects.

She added, however, “The area that I am most concerned about is the internet companies who are continuing to publish the hate publications, the hate material that is contributing to radicalizing people in this country.”

Concert in Manchester

Saturday in Manchester, a group of local bands drew 50,000 fans to the city’s first big music event since Monday’s suicide bombing at Manchester Arena.

Earlier Saturday, Britain reduced its terrorism threat level from “critical” to “severe.”

Extra security, however, was in place at Old Trafford Cricket Ground, on the outskirts of Manchester, for a concert by Manchester bands the Courteneers, the Charlatans, Blossoms and Cabbage.

Fans attending the show were asked to arrive early and not to bring bags. Security officers in ball caps and high-visibility jackets were stationed at 50-meter intervals on roads approaching the venue.

In comments ahead of their set, Courteneers front-man Liam Fray said of Manchester: “If you can think you can beat us, you don’t know who we are.”

Wedding vows

One couple even went ahead with their wedding celebration at the concert. The groom, Pete Richards, told the Manchester Evening News: ”It has been crazy today. We have had complete strangers coming and congratulating us and having pictures with us.”

The bride, Abby Turner, said the couple had had doubts about whether to continue with their wedding plans, but decided: “You’ve just got to crack on, really.”

Police also released more details about the bomber’s actions just before he detonated his device.

Officials say they are trying to learn whether more people were involved in the planning of the attack.

An apartment building in Manchester’s city center is cordoned off after police found the flat where they believe the bomber, 22-year-old Salman Abedi, may have assembled his explosive device. Police are guarding the building, known as Granby House.

The Greater Manchester Police said on Twitter they arrested two men — ages 22 and 20 — in raids Saturday. The statement said a “controlled explosion” was used to gain entry to the men’s address in the Cheetham Hill neighborhood.

A police tweet said, “A total of 11 men remain in custody for questioning.”

Troop presence

Soldiers, who have been helping police, are expected to be withdrawn from Britain’s streets in the next few days.

Abedi, a Manchester native, blew himself up in the lobby of Manchester Arena Monday just after U.S. pop singer Ariana Grande finished her concert. The explosion killed 22 people and wounded at least 116 children and adults.

A militia in Libya has detained Abedi’s father and brother. Details on how they may be tied to the bombing have not been released.

Many of the victims were young girls, a large part of Grande’s fan base. Others were parents who had gone to meet their children after the concert. The youngest victim was 8 years old.

Grande said she would return to Manchester to do a benefit show to raise money for the victims and their families. No date has yet been set for the concert.

 

Computers Not Fully Up, But British Airways to Resume Flights

British Airways said Sunday it was still working to restore its computer systems but hoped to resume flights from London airports, a day after a global IT failure crippled its services.

 

The airline said that it hopes to operate a “near normal schedule” at Gatwick and the “majority of services” from Heathrow Sunday. 

 

“Work continues to restore all of our IT systems but we expect some further disruption today,” BA said in a statement.

Thousands inconvenienced 

BA canceled all flights from both airports Saturday, upending the travel plans of tens of thousands of people on a busy U.K. holiday weekend. It blamed a power supply issue for the outage and said there was no sign it was under cyberattack.

 

BA operates hundreds of flights from Heathrow and Gatwick on a typical day, and both are major hubs for worldwide travel.

 

On Saturday, passengers at Heathrow and Gatwick faced long lines at check-in counters and the failure of both the airline’s website and its mobile app. BA said the crash also affected its call centers.

Lack of information

 

Many passengers complained about a lack of information from the airline.

 

“Some 80-year-old lady was standing around waiting for announcements, et cetera, and she fell over,” said Londoner Terry Page, who managed to get on one of the last flights from Heathrow to Dallas-Fort Worth Saturday. He and other passengers arrived, but their luggage did not.

 

“We helped her up and she said ‘I’m just so tired,’” Page said. “It’s been a terrible, terrible day.”

 

The airline said it would refund or rebook customers affected by the IT failure.

Scuffles Break Out, Tear Gas Fired at End of G-7 Protest

A group of protesters sought to break through a police cordon at the end of a protest march against world leaders meeting on the island of Sicily on Saturday, scuffling with security forces, who fired tear gas to disperse them.

After hundreds of people had peacefully marched through the streets of the seaside town of Giardini Naxos, down the hill from where a Group of Seven meeting had been held, a smaller group of about 100 people peeled off from the pack and challenged riot police.

When they tried to flank them by running along the beach, police charged and fired tear gas. Protesters washed their eyes out with water and an ambulance appeared to take away at least one injured person.

Italy had massive security measures in place for the protesters who accused world leaders of ignoring the interests of ordinary people.

Though some 3,500 were expected to turn up, the actual turnout appeared to be about half of that.

Salvatore Giordano, a Sicilian high school professor, blamed the low turnout of in part on heavy security. He was stopped by police multiple times and blocked for a half-hour at the highway exit before finally being let through. Police were also stopping buses and searching them, he said.

“They are criminalizing our dissent,” Giordano said. “We’re pacifists. We’re not here to break windows, but to protest against Sicily being turned into a giant aircraft carrier for the world’s military powers.”

 “CAMPAIGN OF FEAR” U.S. President Donald Trump and the heads of Italy, France, Britain, Germany, Canada and Japan had been meeting in Taormina, which sits on a rocky hilltop just north of Giardini Naxos.

Bus loads of police lined the route of the march in what is normally a sleepy town of beach-going tourists, while a police helicopter circled above.

Giordano came to air his opposition to the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), part of an ultra-fast satellite communications network for the American military that he says poses a health risk to people living near the infrastructure.

Another group of protesters carried red flags bearing the communist hammer and sickle symbol.

Alessandro D’Alessandro, the coordinator of Sicily’s communist party, said there had been a media campaign of fear against the protesters, which kept numbers low.

“It was hard to get here,” D’Alessandro said. “But we came to tell the world’s most powerful people that we oppose their military and capitalistic worldview. We’re here to defend the interests of the weakest.”

Fears of violent protests like the ones seen during a G7 summit in the northern Italian city of Genoa in 2001 prompted the mayor of Giardini Naxos to order all local businesses to close for the day.

Sixteen years ago throngs of protesters in Genoa clashed with authorities in street battles spread out over two days, and police shot dead an anti-globalization protester during some of Italy’s worst-ever riots.

Poll: UK Conservative Party’s Lead Narrows to 10 Points

British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party’s lead over the opposition Labor Party has narrowed to 10 percentage points, according to an Opinium poll for the Observer newspaper on Saturday.

Opinium said May’s lead had slipped from 13 percentage points on May 16 and 19 percentage points at the start of the campaign.

The Conservatives were on 45 percent, down one percentage point since Opinium’s last survey, and Labor were on 35 percent. The online poll of 2,002 people was carried out between May 23 and 24.

Computer Outage Grounds British Airways Flights From London

British Airways canceled all flights from London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports Saturday as a global IT failure caused severe disruption for travelers on a busy holiday weekend.

The airline said it was suffering a “major IT systems failure” around the world. It didn’t say what was causing the problem but said there was no evidence of a cyberattack.

Several hours after problems began cropping up Saturday morning, BA suspended flights up to 6 p.m. (1700GMT) because the two airports had become severely congested. The airline later scrapped flights from Heathrow and Gatwick for the rest of the day.

Passengers at Heathrow reported long lines at check-in counters, flight delays and failures of BA’s website and mobile app.

One posted a picture on Twitter of BA staff writing gate numbers on a white board.

“We’ve tried all of the self-check-in machines. None were working, apart from one,” said Terry Page, booked on a flight to Texas. “There was a huge queue for it and it later transpired that it didn’t actually work, but you didn’t discover that until you got to the front.”

Another traveler, PR executive Melissa Davis, said she was held for more than an hour and a half on the tarmac at Heathrow aboard a BA flight arriving from Belfast.

She said passengers had been told they could not transfer to other flights because “they can’t bring up our details.”

Passenger Phillip Norton tweeted video of an announcement from a pilot to passengers at Rome’s Fiumicino airport, saying the problem affects the system that regulates what passengers and baggage go on which aircraft. He said passengers on planes that have landed at Heathrow were unable to get off because there was nowhere to park.

Heathrow said the IT problem had caused “some delays for passengers” and it was working with BA to resolve it. Some BA flights were still arriving at Heathrow Saturday afternoon, while many were listed as “delayed.”

The problem comes on a holiday weekend, when thousands of Britons are travelling.

BA passengers were hit with severe delays in July and September 2016 because of problems with the airline’s online check-in systems.

Britain Lowers Threat Level to ‘Severe’ as Bombing Probe Progresses

Britain lowered its security threat level Saturday to “severe,” Prime Minister Theresa May said, as police continue to make progress investigating the suicide bomb attack in Manchester.

British police say they have arrested two more people in connection with the suicide bombing earlier in the week after an Ariana Grande concert.

The Greater Manchester Police said on Twitter they arrested two men — ages 22 and 20 — in raids on Saturday. The statement said a “controlled explosion” was used to gain entry to the men’s address in the Cheetham Hill neighborhood. A police tweet said, “A total of 11 men remain in custody for questioning.” 

The level had been raised to “critical” — meaning another attack was thought to be imminent — after Monday’s bombing at the pop concert in Manchester. The downgrade to “severe” means an attack still is considered highly likely.

Soldiers, who have been helping police, will be withdrawn from Britain’s streets.

Mark Rowley, head of Britain’s counter-terrorism police, said Saturday at a news conference, “We’re getting a greater understanding of the preparation of the bomb. There is still much more to do, there will be more arrests, there will be more searches, but this greater clarity and this progress has led J-TAC, the independent body that assess threat, to come to the judgement that an attack is no longer imminent. And you’d have heard consequently the prime minister’s announcement therefore the threat level  has moved down from critical to severe – which of course still means that an attack is highly likely.”

Manchester native Salman Abedi, 22, blew himself up in the lobby of Manchester Arena Monday just after pop singer Grande finished her concert.The explosion killed 22 people and wounded at least 116 children and adults. 

A militia in Libya has detained Abedi’s father and brother. Details on how they may be tied to the bombing have not been released.  

Many of the victims were young girls, a large part of Grande’s fan base.Others were parents who had gone to meet their children after the concert.The youngest victim was 8 years old. 

Grande says she will return to Manchester to do a benefit show to raise money for the victims and their families.No date has yet been set for the concert. 

US Splits With G-7 Counterparts on Climate Change

In an unprecedented move, a Group of Seven summit communique has carved out a unique place for the United States to break with its counterparts on a major issue. 

In a pared-down final communique, all G-7 nations, except the United States, pledged action to mitigate climate change.

“The United States of America is in the process of reviewing its policies on climate change and on the Paris Agreement and thus is not in a position to join the consensus on these topics,” the communique read. “Understanding this process, the heads of state and of government of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom and the presidents of the European Council and of the European Commission reaffirm their strong commitment to swiftly implement the Paris Agreement.”

 

The United States, according to the document, needs “more time” to decide whether it will exit the landmark deal to reduce carbon emissions agreed upon by representatives of 195 countries two years ago.

“I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week!,” U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted from Sicily on his personal account near the conclusion of a G-7 working lunch. 

“I told Donald Trump that it was crucial that the United States remained fully engaged in the Paris climate change deal,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the climate agreement is so important there should not be any compromises on it. 

“The entire discussion about climate was very difficult, if not to say very dissatisfying,” the German leader told reporters. “There are no indications whether the United States will stay in the Paris Agreement or not.”

“There was a very frank exchange of views” on the topic, acknowledged President Trump’s top economic adviser, Gary Cohn. 

WATCH: Steve Herman reports from the G-7 summit in Italy

Conservation groups criticize delay

Environmental groups immediately expressed disappointment with the American stance. 

“Europe, Canada and Japan stood up today and made a stand, revealing again how far Trump is out of step with the rest of the world on climate change,” Greenpeace International Executive Director Jennifer Morgan said, adding it was up to the other leaders to ensure that the larger G-20 bloc signals even greater ambition for the transformation to clean energy. 

“President Trump should now return to Washington and make the right decision, take climate change seriously and take action with the rest of the world,” said Morgan in a statement sent to VOA News. 

Protectionism condemned

Trump did accede on language on trade in the communique, agreeing to fight protectionism despite his oft-repeated “America first” stance on commerce. 

“We do to you what you do to us,” was what Trump communicated to his G-7 partners on trade policy, Cohn told reporters. 

In remarks to U.S. service personnel at Naval Air Station Sigonella the president did not mention any of the disagreements with the six other countries, saying the summit was “a tremendously productive meeting” and “we made a lot of good friends this week.”

 

In another break with tradition, the U.S. president did not hold a news conference following the conclusion of the G-7 summit – the only leader present who did not speak with reporters.

Cohn and the president’s national security advisor, General H.R. McMaster, instead, briefed a group of traveling White House reporters but television cameras were not permitted to show their remarks.  

Trump’s first foreign trip as U.S. president was a hectic nine-day jaunt that took him to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Italy and Belgium, concluding with a second Italian stop for the G-7 on the largest Mediterranean island, Sicily.

 

Migrants a topic on final day of summit 

On the second and final day of the G-7 summit, the host country, Italy, wanted to draw attention to the migration crisis and the dangerous Mediterranean crossings taken by tens of thousands of people looking for a better life in Europe.

Leaders from Ethiopia, Kenya, Niger, Nigeria and Tunisia were involved in Saturday’s talks, as those are the main countries of origin for migrants trying to reach Europe.

The Oxfam charity consortium accused the Trump administration of blocking any agreement on human mobility. 

“As the leaders fly home from Taormina they will look down on the waters that have claimed thousands of lives on the G-7’s watch,” said the British-based international confederation of 20 non-governmental organizations.  

Along with the United States, the other members of the G-7 are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Britain. The EU is also represented.

The Africa-focused anti-poverty group One says the communique sets a “new low” for the G-7 in a year of “greatly diminished expectations.” 

“The early promise of this summit was crushed by the Trump administration’s hostile negotiating posture and the evident lack of ambition of other leaders,” said the international advocacy group’s statement. 

North Korea discussed

At the start of a one-hour discussion on Friday between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the U.S. president said the G-7 summit would have a particular focus on the North Korea problem. 

The leaders subsequently reaffirmed their commitment “to cooperate to the fullest extent possible to counter terrorist threats” and agreed to “enhance sanctions on North Korea” in an attempt to deter the development of Pyongyang’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs,” according to a White House statement.

The U.S. Navy has dispatched a third strike force group led by a nuclear-powered USS aircraft carrier to the western Pacific. 

The USS Nimitz will join the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Ronald Reagan, VOA News has learned. It is unusual in peacetime for the navy to deploy three aircraft carriers in the same region.

From Bitcoin to Big Business, Blockchain Technology Goes Mainstream

Bitcoin, the controversial digital currency, recently made headlines for reaching a record high valuation of more than $2,700, but perhaps the bigger growth potential lies in blockchain. The technology behind bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies is being explored by more conventional companies and businesses. VOA’s Tina Trinh reports from New York.

Students Tackle Tough US Defense Problems

In their Hacking for Defense class, students at Stanford University in California don’t hit the books or work on problem sets in the library. They go out into the field, tackling real world problems given to them by the Department of Defense and the U.S. military. The unusual 10-week course is an eye opener for the students who learn up close the challenges facing national security. VOA’s Michelle Quinn checked it out.

EU: Turkey Tensions Ease on Erdogan Visit

A picture of a smiling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan flanked by EU President Donald Tusk and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker adorned much of Turkey’s pro-government media this week.

“Erdogan got his picture of his handshake in Brussels, which is really only what he wanted,” said political science professor Cengiz Aktar, “because he is looking for legitimacy in his new position as strongman of Turkey.”

Erdogan’s narrow referendum victory extending his presidential powers remains mired in vote-rigging allegations. EU leaders, unlike U.S. President Donald Trump, had refrained from endorsing his success.

During the referendum campaign, Turkey’s relations with the EU plummeted, with Erdogan describing some EU members as behaving like Nazis because they refused to allow Turkish ministers to campaign among Turkish diaspora voters.

“The pictures that emerged with Juncker and Tusk suggest a reduction of tensions and a more relaxed atmosphere,” said Semih Idiz, political columnist of the Al Monitor website. But Idiz played down any talk of any new rapprochement in relations.

“Bottom line is nether side wants to go to some kind of nasty severance of ties or divorce. There are too many issues that require cooperation. I think they will muddle through, and I think that is the message that came out. Although both sides had theirs, in terms of issues that are important, the main thing is that they are not going to escalate tensions,” said Idiz.

“We discussed the need to cooperate,” Tusk said following the meeting in a tweet.

Turkey plays its part

Monday’s suicide bombing of a pop concert in Manchester, England, served as a reminder of Turkey’s importance in countering terrorism, with a Turkish official confirming the suspected bomber had traveled through Turkey to Britain. With Turkey bordering Syria and Iraq, Europe’s security forces depend heavily on Ankara in sharing intelligence and monitoring those traveling to Europe.

The EU is also dependent on Ankara to continue to honor last March’s agreement to stem the flood of refugees and migrants into Europe. “This is perhaps one of the few and certainly important pieces of leverage Ankara has over Brussels,” said Sinan Ulgen, visiting scholar at the Carnegie Institute in Brussels. “We have been hearing from Ankara over the past few months that if the EU does not fulfill its end of the bargain and does not deliver on visa freedom, even under current circumstances Turkey will not continue with the refugee deal.”

Before leaving for Brussels, Erdogan pointedly reminded the EU of its commitments. “We don’t aim to break away from the EU, but the EU shall take its responsibilities, too. The EU cannot see Turkey [as] a beggar. It does not have such a right,” he said.

 

 

Turkey crackdown to continue

Brussels insists any visa free travel is dependent on Ankara’s narrowing of its legal definition of terrorism to harmonize it with EU law. Tens of thousands of people in Turkey have been prosecuted for terrorism offenses in a crackdown since last July’s failed coup.

But Erdogan has ruled out any letup in the crackdown, or lifting of emergency rule introduced after the coup. On Friday, Ankara’s governor, under emergency powers, issued a decree imposing a night curfew on any acts of protests, including chanting or playing music, or issuing of press statements.

Tensions with Washington could also be a factor in Ankara’s wanting to avoid a collapse in EU ties. Trump’s decision to arm Syrian Kurdish fighters, considered by Ankara as terrorists, in their fight against Islamic State has strained bilateral ties. Those strains weren’t alleviated by Erdogan’s visit this month to Washington.

Ariana Grande to Return to Manchester for Benefit Show

U.S. pop singer Ariana Grande says she will return to Manchester, England, to play a benefit show to raise money for the 22 victims and families of this week’s terrorist attack.

Grande had just finished her show Monday night when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the crowded lobby of the Manchester Arena. She was unharmed, although deeply shaken by the attack, and canceled her concert dates for the next two weeks.

No date has yet been set for the benefit concert, which Grande announced in a letter posted on Twitter Friday:

“Our response [to the bombing] must be to come closer together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder, and to live more kindly and generously than we did before. I’ll be returning to the incredibly brave city of Manchester to spend some time with my fans and to have a benefit concert in honor of and to raise money for the victims and their families.”

She said she would share details of the concert as soon as they are confirmed.

Grande is expected to resume the European portion of her world tour next month, with shows in France, Portugal, Spain and Italy.

Manchester native Salman Abedi, 22, killed himself in the Manchester attack, detonating a bomb filled with nuts and bolts that he carried in a backpack. In addition to the 22 dead, at least 116 children and adults were wounded.

Many of the victims were young girls, who make up a large part of Grande’s fan base. Others were parents who had gone to arena to meet their children after the concert. The youngest victim was 8 years old.

British authorities detained eight people in connection with the attack, and Abedi’s father and a brother, who live in Tripoli, Libya, were taken into custody there. Details on how they may be tied to the bombing have not been released.