The leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has said that the number of Hezbollah fighters in Syria has decreased.

Hassan Nasrallah said in a recent interview with al-Manar TV, Hezbollah’s official television, that the Syrian regime has been recovering militarily after years of fighting rebel groups seeking to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“We are present where we are needed to be,” Nasrallah said, referring to his group’s military presence in war-torn Syria.

The Syrians “have realized that they don’t need us anymore. That’s why we don’t have a real presence on frontlines,” the militant leader said.

Since the outbreak of Syria’s civil war in 2011, Hezbollah has sent thousands of fighters to support the Assad regime.

The Lebanese Shi’ite militant group has been instrumental in major gains made against Syrian rebel forces throughout the country, particularly in Aleppo, Homs and Damascus suburbs.

Backed by Iran, Hezbollah fighters also have a strong presence in parts of oil-rich, eastern province of Deir al-Zour that are under the control of the Syrian regime.

Improved security

Throughout the Syrian war, Hezbollah fighters have been in control of much of Syria’s border with Lebanon. That arrangement has begun to change due to new military dynamics, he said.

Some experts like Seth Frantzman, the executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis, say that Hezbollah forces in Syria are not needed in the same numbers as the country enters a political phase.

“Nasrallah believes Syria is entering a political phase, with less need for boots on the ground, and after seven years of major involvement it makes sense for him to bring the fighters home,” he told VOA.

With Syrian regime troops regaining control of most territory once held by rebel fighters, experts believe that the Syrian government’s dependence on Hezbollah may be limited now.

Nasrallah, however, said that his fighters remain committed to backing Syrian troops for any potential battle in the future.

“A total withdrawal of our forces from Syria is unlikely in the near future. It depends on how the situations unfold in east of the Euphrates and Idlib. The decision is up to the Syrian leadership,” Nasrallah said.

Focus on Israel

In his interview, Hezbollah’s leader said that his group is now capable of striking anywhere in Israel, adding that “in all fields, the resistance has developed in quantity and quality.”

Some experts say that Hezbollah’s redeployment in Syria could be seen as a sign of the group’s “growing confidence and strength, as well as a threat to shift the focus to Israel.”

“In the context of [Nasrallah’s] threats against Israel, including claims that Hezbollah could reach the Galilee in a future war, Hezbollah needs its forces at home to rest up and also provide a kind of ‘lessons learned from Syria’ to future recruits,” analyst Frantzman said.

In response to Nasrallah’s comments, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, “If Hezbollah dares to do something stupid and attack Israel, we will strike it and Lebanon, a crushing military strike.”

Since the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war, the two sides have occasionally exchanged attacks. In the wake of Syria’s war, Israel has also hit Hezbollah targets inside Syria.

Labeled as a terrorist group by the United States, Hezbollah has been increasingly targeted by U.S. sanctions in recent months. Last week, the U.S. government announced new sanctions on three senior Hezbollah officials for their role in assisting Iran’s agenda in Lebanon.

 

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic outlasted Roger Federer of Switzerland in five sets (7-6 1-6 7-6 4-6 13-12) to capture his 5th Wimbledon championship, in the longest final in tournament history.

After splitting the first four sets, Federer had two match points in set number five but couldn’t close out the match.  The set eventually ended up in a tiebreaker which was dominated by Djokovic.  

This is the first year a tiebreaker was played in a 5th set of a Wimbledon final with the score tied at 12-12.  In previous years, the match would continue on until a player was able to win the final set by two games.

Sunday’s match lasted four hours and 57 minutes.

With his latest win, Djokovic has a total of 16 Grand Slam titles.

Federer was seeking his ninth Wimbledon title but just fell short.  

 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are set to launch nationwide raids Sunday aimed at arresting immigrants in the country who are facing deportation, so they can be sent back to their homelands.

The campaign, confirmed Friday by President Donald Trump, is expected to focus on hundreds of families in nine major cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.

“People are coming into this country illegally, we are taking them out legally,” Trump said.

ICE agents will target mostly immigrants who are considered dangerous. Acting ICE Director Matthew Albence said the immigrants being sought are on an “accelerated docket” of immigration court cases.

Trump’s immigration raids are expected to be well received by voters who voted for him on his repeated promises to crack down on migrants illegally in the U.S. Opposition Democrats have denounced the operation, declaring it is inhumane to target families, many of them from Central America, looking for a better life in the United States.

Trump claimed that a “big percentage of criminals” are already being held at detention centers in Texas, near the southern U.S. border with Mexico, where Vice President Mike Pence visited on Friday.

“Sorry, can’t let them into our Country,” Trump said on Twitter. “If too crowded, tell them not to come to USA, and tell the Dems to fix the Loopholes – Problem Solved!”

…..Sorry, can’t let them into our Country. If too crowded, tell them not to come to USA, and tell the Dems to fix the Loopholes – Problem Solved!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019

 

He said the Friday tour “showed vividly, to politicians and the media, how well run and clean the children’s detention centers are. Great reviews!”

Friday’s tour showed vividly, to politicians and the media, how well run and clean the children’s detention centers are. Great reviews! Failing @nytimes story was FAKE! The adult single men areas were clean but crowded – also loaded up with a big percentage of criminals……

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019

Ken Cuccinelli, the Trump-appointed acting director of the Citizenship and Immigration Services office, rejected the suggestion that the raids are a political stunt. He told CNN, “While lots of people in this government were saying it is a manufactured crisis… those people are now coming to the border and realizing we do have a real crisis.”

Sunday’s raids are also set to occur in Atlanta, Baltimore, Denver, Houston, Miami and San Francisco.

In the days leading up to the raids, the mostly Democratic mayors who run the cities have reiterated their policies of not cooperating with ICE officials on deportations and also have publicized telephone helplines immigrants can call to understand their rights.

Additionally, Democratic lawmakers and others have been informing immigrants of their rights and advising them not to open their doors for ICE unless the agents show a court-ordered warrant, and not to speak or sign anything without first talking with a lawyer.

Trump has said on Twitter his agents intend to arrest millions of immigrants who have entered the U.S. illegally, while administration officials have said about 2,000 people would be targeted.

Albence said ICE agents will go after entire families who have been ordered to leave the country, but that some families may be separated if some members, but not others, are in the country without the proper documentation.

Trump made the unusual move of announcing the raids ahead of time and said Friday he was not concerned the early notice could help some of the targeted immigrants evade arrest.

Trump’s confirmation of the raids came amid widespread criticism of the overcrowded, unsanitary conditions detained immigrants are allegedly residing in at facilities along the southwestern U.S. border. There also is considerable criticism that border officials are separating children from their parents.

Militants targeted a gas pipeline in government-controlled central Syria, putting it out of order Sunday, according to state media.

The SANA news agency didn’t name the attackers. The area in the central Homs province is close to where remnants of the Islamic State group are still holed up after losing all the territory they once held in the country.

SANA said technical teams are working to fix the pipeline, which links the Shaer fields to the Ebla processing plant. It did not elaborate on the extent of the damage or the nature of the attack.

The agency said the pipeline carries about 2.5 million cubic meters of gas to the processing plant and onward to power stations.

Islamic State militants briefly seized the Shaer fields in 2014 and 2016 before pro-government forces recaptured them in heavy fighting. Today much of Syria’s oil fields and infrastructure are held by U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led forces in the east.

In recent weeks, IS militants have increased their attacks against government troops, putting up checkpoints and ambushing convoys. While the government now controls over 60 percent of Syria, there is still a rebel stronghold in the northwest, where the government is waging a limited but stalled offensive. Smaller armed groups in northern, central and eastern Syria have vowed to target government and Kurdish-controlled facilities.

 

Israel’s prime minister says it will deliver a “crushing” strike against Hezbollah if the Lebanese militant group attempts to attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reacting to comments made by Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

In an interview Friday, Nasrallah boasted that his group is much stronger than during the 2006 war and is capable of striking anywhere in Israel. Pointing to a map, Nasrallah identified a list of targets he said his group could strike, saying “in all fields, the resistance has developed in quantity and quality.”

Speaking to his Cabinet Sunday, Netanyahu criticized what he called Nasrallah’s “arrogant” words.

He says “if Hezbollah dares to do something stupid and attack Israel, we will strike it and Lebanon, a crushing military strike.”

 

An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 struck southeast of the city of Ternate, in the Moluccas in the eastern area of Indonesia, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The earthquake occurred at a depth of 10 km (6 miles) at an area 168 km south-southeast of Ternate, the USGS said.

There were no immediate reports of damages or casualties in the quake.

Earlier Sunday, an earthquake of magnitude 6.6 struck west of Australia’s beach resort of Broome, the United States Geological Survey said, with residents saying the impact shook some buildings and pushed groceries off shelves.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties in the quake, which the agency initially said was of magnitude 6.9, hitting at a depth of 33 km (21 miles), about 203 km (126 miles) offshore from the town in the state of Western Australia.

Videos posted on social media showed cars and buildings shaking and groceries being knocked from shelves, with some residents reporting minor damage to businesses.

“We just had an earthquake in Broome,” one resident of the town said on Twitter. “The whole house was shaking and it went for ages. Never experienced anything like it before – quite amazing.”

The earthquake was widely felt in Perth, the capital of Western Australia, a distance of more than 2,000 km (1,242 miles) away, data from Geoscience Australia showed. An aftershock of 4.1 was also recorded.
 

 

Barry, which made landfall as a hurricane Saturday along the Louisiana Gulf Coast, quickly weakened to a tropical storm.

The storm made landfall in Louisiana near Intercoastal City, according to the National Hurricane Center, which warned that Barry is likely to bring dangerous storm surges, plus strong winds and heavy rain that could cause “life threatening flooding” in parts of the Gulf Coast and the Lower Mississippi Valley.

The storm had been expected to dump up to 50 centimeters (nearly 20 inches) of rain throughout the state by Sunday. The main threat from the storm is expected to be its flood potential rather than its high winds.

On Saturday night, Gov. John Bel Edwards urged residents across south Louisiana to stay “vigilant,” warning that Barry could still cause disastrous flooding across a wide stretch of the Gulf Coast overnight.

“This storm still has a long way to go before it leaves this state,” Edwards said. “Don’t let your guard down.”

The storm, the first Atlantic hurricane of the season, was briefly a Category 1 hurricane. By late Saturday night, its maximum sustained winds had fallen to 50 mph (80 kph).

National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham said Barry has collected “a big slug of moisture” and is expected to rain on the region throughout the weekend.

Residents in New Orleans fortified their homes and stocked up on supplies as Barry began to roll in from the Gulf of Mexico. However, by late Saturday night, the city had been spared the worst of the storm, receiving only light showers and gusting winds.

By early Sunday, forecasters had downgraded rainfall estimates for New Orleans through the day to between 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters). Forecasters earlier said New Orleans could get up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain.

City officials have advised residents to shelter in their homes, with the exception of two coastal parishes south of the city, where mandatory evacuations were ordered.

Two parishes harder hit

No levees along the Mississippi River failed or were breached, but two levees were overtopped in Terrebonne and Plaquemines parishes.

Officials said an estimated 400 people were ordered evacuated in Terrebonne Parish, which is about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southwest of New Orleans. The Coast Guard also rescued a dozen people from flooded areas in the parish. Some had sought refuge on rooftops, a parish spokeswoman said.

Late Saturday night, authorities were trying to rescue a family of five trapped by high water in the south Louisiana town of Franklin, according to KTBS-TV. The National Guard had to halt its initial rescue mission because waters were too high to safely reach the family’s home. Franklin is about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southeast of Lafayette.

In other parts of Louisiana on Saturday, Barry flooded highways, forced people to scramble to rooftops and dumped heavy rain. Downpours also lashed coastal Alabama and Mississippi.

Tourists had largely left New Orleans Friday. Some airlines canceled outbound flights Saturday.

The storm is widely seen as a test of the city’s weather defenses put in place following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which left about 1,800 people dead.

U.S. President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in Louisiana Thursday night, authorizing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate federal funds and resources to help the state cope with the storm and its aftermath.

In Mandeville, a city on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain across from New Orleans, storm surge and choppy waters sent waves over the seawall and into nearby communities. Dozens of people waded through knee-high water to take a look at the pounding surf. 

A bull broke from the pack and gored three runners Sunday during the final bull run of this year’s San Fermin festival, health officials from the northern Spanish city of Pamplona said.

That took the number of gorings to eight for the eight bull runs that provide a high-adrenaline morning rush to the nonstop party that draws around 1 million people each year.

One bull raises havoc

While five of the bulls stayed in a group and charged through the twisting streets with their guiding steers, one bull drifted back and provoked havoc in the crowds of runners. The bull flipped one man over its horns and slammed him onto the cobblestone street. It then clipped another two runners who were trapped against a wall.

Regional hospital spokesman Tomas Belzunegui said the man who had been tossed by a bull named Rabanero was gored in the leg, while another man was gored in the right arm and a third in the armpit. He said all three were hospitalized.

The Red Cross reported several other injuries from knocks received from the bulls and steers, or from runners tumbling out of the way.

The previous seven bull runs had produced five goring: three Spaniards and two Americans.

The six bulls from the Miura breeder, who celebrated the farm’s record-extending 53rd showing at the festival, completed the 930-yard (850-meter) run to the bullring in 2 minutes, 42 seconds. They will be killed at the ring later Sunday.

Hemingway novel

The San Fermin fiesta was made famous internationally by Ernest Hemingway in his 1926 novel “The Sun Also Rises.” Most revelers stay up all night or rise early enough to gape from balconies or barricades as hundreds of runners dressed in the traditional white outfit with a red sash make their mad dash.

Animal rights protesters have also become a fixture at the festival in recent years. On the eve of the festival, dozens of semi-naked activists staged a performance simulating speared bulls lying dead on Pamplona’s streets to draw attention to what they see as animal cruelty for the sake of entertainment.

Bullfights are protected under the Spanish Constitution as part of the country’s cultural heritage.

Chilean officials said Saturday that the unborn baby of a Venezuelan migrant had died while the woman waited for the appropriate visa to cross the border from Peru into Chile.

Peru last month clamped down on immigration, requiring migrants have passports and visas in order to stay in the country. The new rules have pushed some migrants south to Chile.

Chile’s foreign ministry said in a statement it regretted the death of the unborn baby, but said “it was not possible to lend medical assistance to foreign citizens in a neighboring country.”

Venezuela’s economic collapse has unleashed the biggest migratory crisis in recent South American history. Chile, one of Latin America’s strongest and most stable economies, has become a magnet for Venezuelans seeking a new home.

Immigration into Chile has increased sixfold in less than 30 years, from 114,500 in the 1992 census, to 746,465 last year.

The majority of migrants recently have come from Haiti and Venezuela.

Chile’s foreign ministry said it had beefed up staff at its consulate in Tacna, Peru, to handle the influx. The consulate has issued more than a thousand visas for Venezuelans seeking entry into the country in the past three weeks, the ministry said.
 

OTTAWA, ONTARIO — A Canadian citizen has been detained in Yantai, China, Canada’s government said Saturday, a step that comes amid tense relations between the countries.  
 
Global Affairs Canada did not provide details about the identity of the detainee, nor the reason for the detention.  
 
Earlier this week, 16 foreign teachers and students and three Chinese were arrested on drug allegations in Xuzhou, about 370 miles (600 kilometers) southwest of the coastal city of Yantai. Global Affairs would not say whether the Canadian’s detention was related to those arrests.    
 
Relations between China and Canada chilled in December when Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese tech giant Huawei, was arrested in Vancouver on a U.S. warrant, stemming from an alleged breach of U.S. sanctions against Iran. Meng, who is also the daughter of Huawei’s founder, is under house arrest in her Vancouver mansion. 

Two Canadians detained
 
After Meng’s arrest, China detained two Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, for alleged spying. Their detentions are believed to have been retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Meng.  
 
China also sentenced another Canadian to death for drug smuggling and suspended imports of Canadian meat products. 
 
On Friday, the British Embassy said it was providing consular assistance to four British citizens who were among the teachers and students arrested in Xuzhou. 
 
Police did not say where the teachers worked, but the Education First language school expressed regret for a drug-related incident. The school said it could not confirm the nationalities of those facing alleged drug offenses. 

The number of bodies recovered by Tunisia after a ship packed with migrants sank off its coast last week has risen to 82, in one of the worst disasters in recent years, the Tunisian Red Crescent said Saturday.

The boat capsized after setting off for Europe from neighboring Libya. Survivors told the Tunisian coast guard last week that it had been carrying 86 people.

Tunisian fishermen rescued four people but one later died in hospital, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said last week.

“After a week of searches, all the 82 bodies who were in the boat that sank last week were recovered,” Mongi Slim, an official of the Tunisian Red Crescent, told Reuters.

Libya’s west coast is a main departure point for African migrants hoping to reach Europe, though numbers have dropped because of an Italian-led effort to disrupt smuggling networks and support Libya’s coast guard.

Sixty-five migrants heading for Europe from Libya drowned in May when their boat capsized off Tunisia.
 

KHARTOUM, SUDAN — Tens of thousands of Sudanese flooded the streets of Khartoum and other cities Saturday to mark the 40th day since the deadly dispersal of a protest sit-in, and a protest leader said a planned meeting with the country’s ruling generals to sign a power-sharing deal was postponed until Sunday. 
 
The “Justice First” marches were called by the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, which has been spearheading the protests since December. Those demonstrations led to the military ouster of autocratic president Omar al-Bashir in April.  
  
The marches marked 40 days since the dispersal of the pro-democracy protesters’ sit-in outside military headquarters in Khartoum on June 3. Protest organizers said security forces killed at least 128 people during the dispersal and subsequent crackdown. Authorities, however, put the death toll at 61, including three from security forces. 

Accountability sought
 
Protesters have called for a “transparent and fair” investigation into the deaths. “The military council should be held accountable [for] the massacre,” said protester Samer Hussein. 
 
Footage and photos posted by the SPA showed thousands of people demonstrating in the capital and its sister city of Omdurman. There were protests in other places, including the Red Sea city of Port Sudan and the eastern province of Kassala. 
 
Protesters were seen waving Sudanese flags and posters that read “Freedom, Peace and Justice” and “Civilian [authority] is the people’s choice.” 
 
The marches came just over a week after massive demonstrations on June 30, when tens of thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets in the biggest show of numbers in the uprising. At least 11 people were killed in clashes with security forces, according to protest organizers.  

Saturday’s marches also put pressure on the ruling military council as it and the Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change, which represents the protesters, planned to meet to sign a power-sharing agreement. African Union envoy Mohammed el-Hassan Labat originally said a meeting would take place Saturday night. But Ahmed Rabei, a spokesman for the SPA, said later the protest movement called for the talks to be postponed until Sunday “for more consultations” within the FDFC on the deal. 
 
The state-run SUNA news agency, however, reported that both sides would meet late Saturday. SUNA quoted a statement by the military council as saying that they would discuss the “constitutional document” with the FDFC in their meeting in a luxury Khartoum hotel. 
 
The signing ceremony was expected to take place earlier this week, but several delays have been announced, raising suspicions the two parties might still be divided over the agreement’s details.  

Communists reject deal
  
Late on Saturday, the Sudanese Communist Party, which is part of the protest movement, said it rejected the power-sharing agreement because it does not include an international investigation into the crackdown and it keeps paramilitary forces in existence. 
 
The party said it would not take part in the joint Sovereign Council, the FDFC-appointed cabinet or the legislative body that would rule Sudan during the transition. 
 
The deal provides for the Sovereign Council to rule for a little over three years while elections are organized, along with a constitutional declaration, according to a copy of the deal obtained by The Associated Press. A military leader is to head the 11-member council for the first 21 months, followed by a civilian leader for the next 18. 
 
The deal was meant to end a weekslong political deadlock between the military and protesters since the Khartoum sit-in site was cleared. 
 
They also agreed on an independent Sudanese investigation into the deadly crackdown by security forces on the protests last month, though it’s unclear if anyone will be held accountable. 
 
Gen. Mohammed Hamadan Dagalo, deputy head of the military council, told a gathering of military supporters in Nile River province, about 100 kilometers [62 miles] north of Khartoum, that his forces, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, “are not angels and we will try all offenders.” 
 
The RSF grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias used by al-Bashir in the Darfur conflict in the early 2000s. Protesters accuse it of leading the nationwide crackdown, and the SPA has called for the force to be disbanded. 
 
Dagalo accused “intelligence agencies” of defaming the RSF. He did not elaborate. 

KATHMANDU, NEPAL – Floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains have killed at least 40 people across South Asia in the last two days, officials said Saturday. 
 
The monsoon, which lasts from June to September, causes widespread death and destruction across South Asia each year. 
 
In Nepal, 27 people have died in floods and landslides after heavy rains hit the country’s eastern region and the southern plains.  
 
Bishwaraj Pokharel, spokesperson for Nepal police, added that another 11 people were injured and 15 others reported missing.  
 
Three of the victims were killed when a wall collapsed in Kathmandu. 
 
“Our first priority is lifesaving rescue and all our resources have been deployed,” Home Ministry official Umakanta Adhikari told AFP. 

Rescues by boat

Police used boats to bring people to safety as rivers swelled, inundating their settlements, while parents were seen wading through chest-high waters carrying children on their shoulders.  
 
Nepal’s weather department issued a high alert for the southern Sapta Koshi river on Saturday and sent text warnings to people in the area. 
 
In neighboring India, 11 deaths have been recorded in the northeastern states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, officials said Friday. 
 
Monsoon floods have inundated 21 districts in Assam, affecting thousands, officials said Friday. 
 
In Bangladesh, aid groups were providing rations to Rohingya refugees in the southeast of the country, with the U.N. World Food Program saying Friday that two people, including a child, had died. 
 
Last year, more than 1,200 people were killed across South Asia in monsoon storms, with India’s Kerala suffering its worst floods in nearly 100 years. 

LONDON — British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt told his Iranian counterpart on Saturday that Britain would facilitate the release of the detained Grace 1 oil tanker if Tehran gave guarantees it would not go to Syria. 
 
British Royal Marines seized the tanker last week off the coast of the British Mediterranean territory of Gibraltar on suspicion of violating sanctions against Syria. 
 
Iran on Saturday reiterated its call for the ship’s release. It denies the tanker was taking oil to Syria in violation of European Union sanctions. 
 
The affair has stoked tension in the Persian Gulf region, with Britain saying Thursday that it had fended off Iranian ships that tried to block a British tanker in the area. 
 
Hunt said the call with Iran’s foreign minister had been constructive. He said Mohammad Javad Zarif had told him that Iran wanted to resolve the issue and was not seeking to escalate tensions. 
 
“I reassured him our concern was destination not origin of the oil on Grace One & that UK would facilitate release if we received guarantees that it would not be going to Syria, following due process in [Gibraltar] courts,” Hunt wrote on Twitter. 
 
A statement on the Iranian Foreign Ministry website said Zarif told Hunt during the call that Britain should quickly release the tanker. 
 
Iran will continue its oil exports under any conditions, Zarif also told Hunt, according to the statement. 

U.S. blamed
 
Tehran blames the United States for arranging the seizure of the tanker. Washington has imposed sanctions against Iran with the aim of halting Iranian oil exports. 
 
European countries do not have sanctions against Iran, but have had them in place against Iran’s ally Syria since 2011. Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo told the territory’s parliament on Friday that the decision to detain the tanker, which he said was carrying 2.1 million barrels of oil, had not been taken at the request of any other country. 
 
“Also spoke to @FabianPicardo who is doing an excellent job co-ordinating issue and shares UK perspective on the way forward,” Hunt said. 
 
Gibraltar police said four crew members who had been arrested, including the vessel’s captain and chief officer, were released on bail without charge, but that their investigation was ongoing. 

Pennsylvania’s message was clear: The state was taking a big step to keep its elections from being hacked in 2020. Last April, its top election official told counties they had to update their systems. So far, nearly 60% have taken action, with $14.15 million of mostly federal funds helping counties buy brand-new electoral systems.

But there’s a problem: Many of these new systems still run on old software that will soon be outdated and more vulnerable to hackers.

An Associated Press analysis has found that like many counties in Pennsylvania, the vast majority of 10,000 election jurisdictions nationwide use Windows 7 or an older operating system to create ballots, program voting machines, tally votes and report counts.

That’s significant because Windows 7 reaches its “end of life” on Jan. 14, meaning Microsoft stops providing technical support and producing “patches” to fix software vulnerabilities, which hackers can exploit. In a statement to the AP, Microsoft said Friday it would offer continued Windows 7 security updates for a fee through 2023.

Critics say the situation is an example of what happens when private companies ultimately determine the security level of election systems with a lack of federal requirements or oversight. Vendors say they have been making consistent improvements in election systems. And many state officials say they are wary of federal involvement in state and local elections.

It’s unclear whether the often hefty expense of security updates would be paid by vendors operating on razor-thin profit margins or cash-strapped jurisdictions. It’s also uncertain if a version running on Windows 10, which has more security features, can be certified and rolled out in time for primaries.

“That’s a very serious concern,” said J. Alex Halderman, a University of Michigan professor and renowned election security expert. He said the country risks repeating “mistakes that we made over the last decade or decade-and-a-half when states bought voting machines but didn’t keep the software up-to-date and didn’t have any serious provisions” for doing so.

The AP surveyed all 50 states, the District of Columbia and territories, and found multiple battleground states affected by the end of Windows 7 support, including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Arizona and North Carolina. Also affected are Michigan, which recently acquired a new system, and Georgia, which will announce its new system soon.

“Is this a bad joke?” said Marilyn Marks, executive director of the Coalition for Good Governance, an election integrity advocacy organization, upon learning about the Windows 7 issue. Her group sued Georgia to get it to ditch its paperless voting machines and adopt a more secure system. Georgia recently piloted a system running on Windows 7 that was praised by state officials.

If Georgia selects a system that runs on Windows 7, Marks said, her group will go to court to block the purchase. State elections spokeswoman Tess Hammock declined to comment because Georgia hasn’t officially selected a vendor.

The election technology industry is dominated by three titans: Omaha, Nebraska-based Election Systems and Software LLC; Denver, Colorado-based Dominion Voting Systems Inc.; and Austin, Texas-based Hart InterCivic Inc. They make up about 92% of election systems used nationwide, according to a 2017 study . All three have worked to win over states newly infused with federal funds and eager for an update.

U.S. officials determined that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election and have warned that Russia, China and other nations are trying to influence the 2020 elections.

Of the three companies, only Dominion’s newer systems aren’t touched by upcoming Windows software issues — though it has election systems acquired from no-longer-existing companies that may run on even older operating systems.

Hart’s system runs on a Windows version that reaches its end of life on Oct. 13, 2020, weeks before the election.

ES&S said it expects by the fall to be able to offer customers an election system running on Microsoft’s current operating system, Windows 10. It’s now being tested by a federally accredited lab.

For jurisdictions that have already purchased systems running on Windows 7, ES&S said it will be working with Microsoft to provide support until jurisdictions can update. Windows 10 came out in 2015.

Hart and Dominion didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Microsoft usually releases patches for operating systems monthly, so hackers have learned to target older, unsupported systems. Its systems have been ground zero for crippling cyberattacks, including the WannaCry ransomware attack, which froze systems in 200,000 computers across 150 countries in 2017.

For many people, the end of Microsoft 7 support means simply updating. However, for election systems the process is more onerous. ES&S and Hart don’t have federally certified systems on Windows 10, and the road to certification is long and costly, often taking at least a year and costing six figures.

ES&S, the nation’s largest vendor, completed its latest certification four months ago, using Windows 7. Hart’s last certification was May 29 on a Windows version that also won’t be supported by November 2020.

Though ES&S is testing a new system it’s unclear how long it will take to complete the process — federal and possible state recertification, plus rolling out updates — and if it will be done before primaries begin in February.

Election administrators notoriously suffer from insufficient resources. Recently, many jurisdictions splurged on new election systems, some using their portion of $380 million in federal funds provided to states.

Counties in South Dakota, South Carolina and Delaware all recently bought election systems, while many others are evaluating purchases.

The use of election systems that still run on Windows 7 “is of concern, and it should be of concern,” said U.S. Election Assistance Commission Chair Christy McCormick. EAC develops election system guidelines.

McCormick noted that while election systems aren’t supposed to be connected to the internet, various stages of the election process require transfers of information, which could be points of vulnerability for attackers. She said some election administrators are working to address the problem.

Officials in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona say they have discussed the software issue with their vendors. Other states mentioned in this story didn’t respond to AP requests for comment.

Pennsylvania elections spokeswoman Wanda Murren said contract language allows such a software upgrade for free. Arizona elections spokeswoman C. Murphy Hebert said ES&S has also assured the state that it will provide support to counties for an upgrade.

Susan Greenhalgh, policy director for the advocacy group National Election Defense Coalition, said even the best scenario has election administrators preparing for primaries while trying to upgrade their systems, which is “crazy.” Her group shared its concerns about Windows 7 with AP.

Certification, which is voluntary at the federal level but sometimes required by state laws, ensures vendor software runs properly on operating systems they’re tested on. But there is no cybersecurity check and the process often fails to keep up with rapidly changing technology.

Kevin Skoglund, chief technologist for Citizens for Better Elections, said county election officials point to EAC and state certifications as “rock-solid proof” their systems are secure, but don’t realize vendors are certifying systems under 2005 standards.

Local officials rely on vendors to build secure systems and EAC and the states to enforce high standards, Skoglund said.

After the AP began making inquiries, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wrote McCormick asking what EAC, which has no regulatory power, is doing to address a “looming election cybersecurity crisis” that essentially lays the “red carpet” out to hackers.

“Congress must pass legislation giving the federal government the authority to mandate basic cybersecurity for election infrastructure,” Wyden told the AP in a statement.

President Donald Trump was defiant and declarative, with all the hammer-on-anvil subtlety that has charted a now-familiar pattern of his presidency: create a crisis, retreat, declare victory, move on.

“Not only didn’t I back down, I backed up,” Trump insisted Friday. However he may phrase it, though, Trump walked away from his earlier vow to include a contentious question about citizenship on the 2020 census.

The president shifted his bulldozer of an administration into reverse, announcing that he would drop his push to seek the citizenship status of all American residents on the census, instead ordering other agencies to share data with the Department of Commerce, which oversees the decennial survey.

The face-saving measure, announced to fanfare in the Rose Garden on Thursday, underscored the president’s obsession with projecting a “win” even in the face of defeat. He’s demonstrated a reluctance to acknowledge even the minor missteps that have plagued his administration from its start.

After fighting in court and in the press for nearly two years to include the citizenship question, Trump this week insisted it was unnecessary because federal data-sharing would lead to more accurate results.

“We’re already finding out who the citizens are and who they’re not,” Trump said without evidence, barely 12 hours after signing the executive order. “And I think more accurately.”

Critics, including the ACLU, which successfully sued the administration to block the citizenship question, disagreed.

“Trump may claim victory today, but this is nothing short of a total, humiliating defeat for him and his administration,” said Dale Ho, director of the organization’s Voting Rights Project.

And there were indications that Trump supporters, who were clamoring for the president to keep up the fight, also were unsatisfied with the outcome.

Trump’s announcement was met with silence from most of his allies, rather than the usual cacophony of supportive statements for presidential actions.

The scene was reminiscent of one six months earlier in the same spot. In that case, Trump declared he was “very proud” to announce an agreement to end a debilitating government shutdown that had been sparked by his own insistence that Congress fund his long-sought border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Despite Trump’s bravado, no such funding materialized from lawmakers, as the president backed down in the face of mounting criticism and claimed victory anyway.

Weeks later, after lawmakers again rebuffed Trump’s request for wall funding, he boasted that a wall “is being built as we speak.”

“You are going to have to be in extremely good shape to get over this one,” he added. “They would be able to climb Mount Everest a lot easier, I think.”

In fact, Trump has added strikingly little length to barriers along the Mexico border despite his pre-eminent 2016 campaign promise to get a wall done.

Trump followed a similar pattern the day after his party lost the House in the midterm elections, bringing about divided government and a flood of Democratic oversight investigations. The president was unbowed, telling reporters, “I thought it was a very close to complete victory.”

It’s no surprise that Trump has difficulty conceding defeat, even when it’s plain as day.

He rose to celebrity, and then the White House, with relentless self-promotion and touting the “Art of the Deal.” In Trump’s view, admitting defeat would pose an existential political risk to the candidate who famously rallied his supporters with promises that “We’re going to win so much, you’re going to be so sick and tired of winning.”

Overseas, too, Trump rushes to claim victory when the facts paint a very different picture.

After his inaugural meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Trump flatly declared on Twitter that “There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea” — despite no change to its established stockpile. And last month, he embraced Kim at the demilitarized zone and insisted their second summit in Vietnam earlier this year had been a success, despite his own highly publicized walkout.

Trump also postponed steep tariffs he had announced on Mexico last month in an effort to push that country to curtail a surge in illegal border crossings. Even as he backed off, though, the president found reason to declare a win on a central campaign promise that has been largely unfulfilled as he prepared to formally launch his 2020 campaign.

After Trump claimed the deal would “greatly reduce, or eliminate, Illegal Immigration coming from Mexico and into the United States,” he drew mockery from Democrats, including Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who sarcastically declared in response that it was “an historic night!”

A British investigation into the leaking of confidential diplomatic memos is raising press freedom issues with a police warning that U.K. media might face a criminal inquiry if leaked documents are published.

The Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command is investigating the leak of private memos written by Britain’s ambassador to the United States as a possible breach of the Official Secrets Act.

Announcing the police inquiry, Counterterrorism police unit leader Neil Basu warned against any further publication of leaked documents.

“The publication of leaked communications, knowing the damage they have caused or are likely to cause, may also be a criminal matter,” he said.

“I would advise all owners, editors and publishers of social and mainstream media not to publish leaked government documents that may already be in their possession, or which may be offered to them, and to turn them over to the police or give them back to their rightful owner, Her Majesty’s Government.”

His warning may be aimed specifically at preventing publication of any more memos that have already been leaked from Britain’s sprawling diplomatic and security services.

Basu also urged the leakers of the already published documents to “turn yourself in at the earliest opportunity, explain yourself and face the consequences.”

The leak led to the resignation of British Ambassador Kim Darroch after President Donald Trump said his administration would no longer work with Darroch, who had criticized Trump in the leaked cables.

Darroch’s defenders said his critical memos showed he was doing his job by providing candid assessments, as diplomats are expected to do, but he said the controversy had made it impossible to fulfill his duties.

British officials say they believe the leak was not a result of computer hacking and seems to have been carried out by an insider.

The Official Secrets Act prohibits public servants from making “damaging” disclosures of classified material. It is aimed at civil servants and others in the government with access to sensitive information and is not designed to target journalists.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who is jousting with Boris Johnson to become the next prime minister, tweeted Saturday that the person responsible for the leak must be found and held responsible, but he differed with police over whether the publication of leaks is a possible crime.

“I defend to the hilt the right of the press to publish those leaks if they receive them & judge them to be in the public interest: that is their job,” he said.

Johnson, a former foreign secretary, also said it would be wrong to seek criminal charges against the press for publishing leaked material.

“A prosecution on this basis would amount to an infringement on press freedom and have a chilling effect on public debate,” he said at a campaign event.

The Mail on Sunday, which first obtained the trove of leaked memos, has not faced any legal repercussions for its decision to publish.

The Foreign Office criticized the leak but did not challenge the authenticity of the memos, which characterized the Trump administration as chaotic and inept.

Darroch’s defenders said his critical memos showed he was doing his job by providing candid assessments as diplomats are expected to do, but he said the controversy had made it impossible to function.

 

Taiwan on Saturday defended a proposal to purchase $2.2 billion in arms from the U.S., following a Chinese announcement that it would sanction any American companies involved in the deal.

U.S. weapons help strengthen Taiwan’s self-defense in the face of a growing military threat from China, the defense ministry said.

“The national army will continue to strengthen its key defense forces, ensure national security, protect its homeland and ensure that the fruits of freedom and democracy won’t be attacked,” the ministry said in a statement.

China threatens sanctions

China announced late Friday that it would impose sanctions on any U.S. enterprises involved in the deal, saying it “undermines China’s sovereignty and national security.”

Taiwan split from China during a civil war in 1949, but the mainland still considers the self-governing island as part of its territory.

The U.S., which recognized Beijing as the government of China in 1979, does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but U.S. law requires that it provide Taiwan with sufficient defense equipment and services for self-defense.

The Trump administration announced the proposed $2.2 billion sale, which would include 108 Abrams tanks and 250 Stinger surface-to-air missiles, earlier in the week.

Taiwanese president in US

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, speaking in New York Friday, said her government has strengthened Taiwan’s national defense to protect its democracy, according to a transcript posted on the presidential office website.

China has objected to her U.S. visit, which Taiwan calls a “two-evening transit stop” on the way to Haiti and three other Caribbean nations that recognize Taiwan.

“We urge the U.S. to abide by the ‘One China’ principle and … not allow Tsai Ing-wen’s stopover, cease official exchanges with Taiwan and refrain from providing any platform for separatist Taiwan independence forces,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Friday in Beijng.

Tsai dismissed Chinese criticism of both her visit and the arms deal. 

“We don’t need our neighbor to make irresponsible remarks,” she told reporters in New York, according to Taiwan’s official Central News Agency.

She has rejected Chinese pressure to reunite Taiwan and China under the “one-country, two-systems” framework that governs Hong Kong. She said Friday that the people of Taiwan stand with the young people of Hong Kong who are fighting for democratic freedoms in ongoing protests.

“Hong Kong’s experience under ‘one country, two systems’ has shown the world once and for all that authoritarianism and democracy cannot coexist,” she said.

A U.S. service member was killed in Afghanistan Saturday, the NATO-led Resolute Support mission said in a statement.

It gave no further details and withheld the name of the service member until the next of kin were informed.

The latest fatality brings the tally of U.S. service member deaths in Afghanistan to at least seven in 2019.

About 20,000 foreign troops, most of them American, are in Afghanistan as part of a U.S.-led NATO mission to train, assist and advise Afghan forces. Some U.S. forces carry out counterterrorism operations against hardline Islamist militant groups.

A record 3,804 Afghan civilians were killed last year because of stepped-up air attacks by U.S.-led forces and more suicide bombings, the United Nations said in a February report.

U.S. President Donald Trump wants to secure a political settlement with the Taliban to end the 18-year war in Afghanistan. The Taliban, however, demand a complete foreign force pullout before entering into a formal peace agreement.
 

Somalia’s security forces Saturday ended an overnight attack by the al Shabab Islamist militant group on a hotel in the southern port city of Kismayu that killed at least 13, a police officer said.

“The operation is over,” police officer Major Mohamed Abdi told Reuters by telephone from Kismayu. “So far we know 13 people died. Many people have been rescued. The four attackers were shot dead.”

Members of the al-Qaida-linked group stormed the hotel after targeting it with a car bomb Friday while local elders and lawmakers were meeting to discuss approaching regional elections.

A second witness put the death toll at 14.

“The operation was concluded at 7 a.m. We know at least 14 people died including journalists and (local election) candidates. These are the prominent people. The death toll is sure to rise,” local elder Ahmed Abdulle told Reuters.

A journalists’ group had confirmed Friday that two journalists were among the dead; Somali-Canadian journalist Hodan Naleyah, the founder of Integration TV, and Mohamed Sahal Omar, reporter of SBC TV in Kismayu.

Separately, Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu, general secretary of the Federation of Somali Journalists, said in a statement: “We are saddened and outraged by this loss of life, and condemn in the strongest possible terms this appalling massacre.”

Al Shabab was ejected from Mogadishu in 2011 and has since been driven from most of its other strongholds.

It was driven out of Kismayu in 2012. The city’s port had been a major source of revenue for the group from taxes, charcoal exports and levies on arms and other illegal imports.

Kismayu is the commercial capital of Jubbaland, a region of southern Somalia still partly controlled by al Shabaab.

Al Shabaab remains a major security threat, with fighters frequently carrying out bombings in Somalia and neighboring Kenya, whose troops form part of the African Union-mandated peacekeeping force that helps defend the Somali government.