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Manhunt Over After Second Escaped Inmate Shot, Captured

Manhunt Over After Second Escaped Inmate Shot, Captured

New York (AFP) – A convicted murderer who escaped from a maximum-security New York prison three weeks ago was shot and captured Sunday, authorities said, bringing an end to an intense manhunt that saw his fellow escapee shot dead.

David Sweat was apprehended just two miles south of the Canadian border and taken to the hospital for treatment, New York State Police said.

A photograph circulated in the media showed a bloodied Sweat, wearing camouflage and waterproof gear, in police custody. Reports said police spotted the fugitive as he ran through an open field.

His capture wraps up a huge manhunt that saw hundreds of law enforcement officers working around the clock to scour the rugged, remote area around the Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York after Sweat and Richard Matt busted out on June 6. Matt was shot dead by a federal agent on Friday.

“At approximately 3:20 pm on June 28, a member of the New York State Police spotted a suspicious man walking down a roadway in the Town of Constable,” police said Sunday in a statement.

“The State Police member shot and injured Clinton Correctional Facility escapee David Sweat. Sweat was taken into police custody alive, then taken to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries.”

It said his condition was “unknown.”

Sweat, 35, and Matt, 49, had escaped in an audacious act in which they used power tools to cut through cell walls, then crawled through pipes to emerge from a manhole in the village of Dannemora, home to the sprawling prison.

“Sleep peacefully New York,” the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said on Twitter after Sweat’s capture.

Two prison workers have been charged over the brazen breakout.

Corrections officer Gene Palmer, 57, was charged with promoting prison contraband, two counts of tampering with evidence and one count of official misconduct.

Palmer allegedly helped smuggle tools and other banned items hidden in hamburger meat.

Another prison worker, Joyce Mitchell, has been charged with facilitating the escape by providing hacksaw blades and drill bits to the pair, again hidden in hamburger meat.

Matt was killed Friday in the town of Malone, less than 10 miles from the Canadian border, after he apparently fired at a passing camper van.

An autopsy found that he died from three bullet wounds to the head after a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon.

“An examination of the body revealed bug bites on the lower extremities, blisters, and minor abrasions consistent with living in the woods for three weeks,” state police said.

Sweat was serving a life sentence without parole for murdering a sheriff’s deputy in New York state in 2002 when he was 22.

Matt was serving a sentence of 25 years to life for the 1997 kidnapping and dismembering of his former boss in a 27-hour ordeal.

He fled to Mexico after he murdered and killed another American there, before being sentenced to 20 years and extradited back to New York.

Photo: FBI agents conduct a search for convicted murderer David Sweat on June 28, 2015 near Duane, New York (Getty/AFP / Scott Olson)

Turkey’s Erdogan Breaks Silence To Push For Coalition

Turkey’s Erdogan Breaks Silence To Push For Coalition

Ankara (AFP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday called for the swift formation of a new coalition government, ending almost four days of unusual silence after legislative polls seen as a blow to his authority.

Erdogan’s comments added weight to expectations of a coalition government in Turkey after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) he co-founded lost its majority in Sunday’s dramatic polls.

“Everyone should put their egos aside and a government must be formed as soon as possible, within the constitutional process,” Erdogan said in his first public comments since Sunday’s vote.

In a message to investors rattled by the political uncertainty, Erdogan insisted that the election result “certainly does not mean Turkey will remain without a government”.

He said he hoped political parties would “prefer a solution rather than crisis.

“We cannot leave Turkey without a government, without a head. Those who are condemned to their egos will neither be able to give account to history, nor to our people.”

Although the AKP won the biggest share of the vote in the elections, it lost its majority for the first time since it came to power in 2002.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Wednesday that the AKP would lead coalition talks with other parties but warned that snap elections were not ruled out should the discussions fail.

The elections were also seen as a huge personal blow to Erdogan, who has dominated Turkey first as premier from 2003-2014 and now as president.

Erdogan wanted the AKP to win a supermajority to push through a new constitution that would give him reinforced powers as president. But this plan has now been scuttled for the foreseeable future.

Erdogan said the election result was “the people’s will” and must be respected.

“Nobody, no matter which politician, has the right to say ‘I’. We must say ‘We,'” he said.

Erdogan’s relatively conciliatory comments helped support the Turkish lira reverse early losses against the dollar to gain 0.5 percent in value. On the Istanbul bourse, the BIST 100 Index was up 0.9 percent.

The president — known for his raucous speeches and omnipresence on Turkish television news channels — had not spoken in public since he cast his vote in Sunday’s polls.

According to a “ticking clock” set up by bloggers, he had been “off air” for three days, 22 hours and one minute.

Reports have suggested that some in the AKP were unhappy with Erdogan’s aggressive conduct of the campaign, where he lashed out at enemies in all directions.

However in Thursday’s speech, the combative leader showed no sign of retreating into a corner.

He lashed out at the Western media following a series of “ugly” articles critical of his conduct as president.

“It is hard to understand their intolerance. It means, thank God, we are on the right path. I would doubt about myself if they had praised (me),” Erdogan said.

Erdogan also lashed out at Western foreign policy in Syria, saying while war planes bombed Arabs and Turkmen the West allowed “a terrorist organisation” like the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to move in.

“How can we look at this positively? How can we look to the West sincerely?” he asked.

He also accused the West of leaving refugees to “drown” in the Mediterranean. “We cannot allow this,” he said.

Erdogan warned that all those “who pinned their hopes on Turkey entering into a climate of crisis or chaos will be disappointed once again”.

The election results meant the AKP will have 258 seats in the hung 550-seat parliament, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) 132, and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) 80 apiece.

Analysts have said an AKP-MHP coalition is the most likely option, with the AKP sharing a conservative and nationalist voter base with the MHP.

But such a partnership could also spell trouble for the peace process with Turkey’s Kurds, which is opposed by the MHP.

HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas said that the peace process would continue once a government was formed, indicating the PKK’s jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan was readying a new appeal to lay down arms.

“It is Mr Ocalan who will appeal for disarmament. He is waiting on Imrali ready to make an appeal,” said Demirtas, referring to the prison island where Ocalan is held.

Photo: Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan says “egos” should be cast aside in order to form a government as soon as possible (AFP / Adem Altan)

G7 Warns Russia Of More Sanctions, Pledges Climate Action

G7 Warns Russia Of More Sanctions, Pledges Climate Action

Elmau Castle (Germany) (AFP) – World leaders Monday warned Russia it would face stepped-up sanctions for its “aggression” in Ukraine, as they wrapped up a G7 meeting also pledging strong action to fight climate change.

At a luxury retreat nestled in the picture-perfect Bavarian Alps, the leaders of the most powerful countries also tackled threats to global security posed by Islamist extremism and risks to the global economy from Greece.

For the third time, Kremlin strongman Vladimir Putin was barred from the summit due to what US President Barack Obama termed his “aggression in Ukraine”, as the group of seven top powers closed ranks against Russia.

“We … stand ready to take further restrictive measures in order to increase cost on Russia should its actions so require,” said the leaders in a joint communique after the two-day huddle.

“We recall that the duration of sanctions should be clearly linked to Russia’s complete implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty,” the leaders added, referring to a peace deal struck in the Belarus capital.

The tough line from the world’s power brokers came as Ukraine’s defence minister accused pro-Russian rebels — backed by Moscow — of deploying an army of 40,000 men on the Ukrainian border.

The force threatening Kiev was equivalent to that of a “mid-sized European state”, said Stepan Poltorak.

Clashes in recent days between the Ukrainian forces and the separatists have threatened the ceasefire deal thrashed out in Minsk.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Canada’s Stephen Harper on Saturday made a point of visiting Kiev on their way to the summit, to voice support for Ukraine’s embattled leaders, as a recent flare-up in fighting in the east has left at least 28 dead.

Sanctions could also be “rolled back” if Russia lived up to its commitments, the communique said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, hosting the talks, also noted that Russia was involved in resolving several other global crises and called for their “cooperation.”

The leaders also sought to thrash out other threats to global security over a lunch of Thai chicken soup, trout and a peach dessert with almonds.

In an unusual move, the G7 leaders invited the heads of countries threatened by jihadist groups, including the leaders of Nigeria and Iraq, both battling deadly insurgencies.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was invited to discuss the US-led campaign to help his country fight the Islamic State extremists who launched a lightning offensive a year ago and have snatched over a third of the country’s territory.

Abadi also got one-on-one time with Obama to discuss the Washington-led campaign to help Baghdad recover territory lost to IS militants, whose self-proclaimed “caliphate” extends deep into neighbouring Syria.

Another visitor to the summit, Nigeria’s newly elected President Muhammadu Buhari, put a “shopping list” to the G7 leaders, seeking help to fight an insurgency by Boko Haram Islamists blamed for 15,000 deaths since 2009.

Buhari has been tested with 11 separate attacks that have left at least 93 dead in the week he has been in the job.

“We reaffirm our commitment to defeating this terrorist group and combatting the spread of its hateful ideology,” said the leaders, in reference to the Islamic State group.

Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, meanwhile, pushed their G7 counterparts to reach consensus on another burning global issue, climate change, ahead of a crunch year-end United Nations summit in Paris.

The leaders stressed that “deep cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions” were required with “a decarbonisation of the global economy over the course of this century.”

The aim was to send a clear signal to push other nations taking part in the Paris meeting to commit to reducing dangerous greenhouse gas emissions, which threaten to melt ice caps and glaciers, raise sea levels and bring more violent storms and floods.

Another pressing problem has been the haggling between debt-hit Greece and its international creditors — the EU, ECB and IMF — and the fear that a messy default could lead to Greece exiting the eurozone, with unknown repercussions for the world economy.

The issue arose again when the G7 leaders met another guest in their “outreach talks” Monday, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde.

Merkel warned “we don’t have much more time” to resolve the debt crisis, with Athens and its creditors — the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and European Central Bank — having been locked in negotiations for five months on reforms needed to unlock 7.2 billion euros ($8 billion) in rescue funds that Athens desperately needs.

As has become tradition at such gathering, several thousand anti-G7 protesters marched over the weekend in largely peaceful demonstrations.

There were a handful of clashes with the police and a few arrests but overall the demonstrations were colourful and non-violent.

The summit also provided some colourful moments, notably just before talks when Merkel invited Obama to have beer with lederhosen-wearing locals in a small Bavarian village.

Photo: A group photo at the G7 summit near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in southern Germany, on June 8, 2015. (AFP / Mandel Ngan)

Ukraine Says Rebels Have Army Of ‘Mid-Sized European State’

Ukraine Says Rebels Have Army Of ‘Mid-Sized European State’

Kiev (AFP) – Ukraine’s defence minister on Monday accused pro-Russian rebels backed up by Moscow’s forces of assembling a 40,000-strong army sufficient for a “mid-sized European state”.

Stepan Poltorak’s estimates fly in the face of Russia’s denials that it either backs the separatist fighters or covertly sneaks troops across its southwestern border into the Ukrainian warzone.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko last week put the number of active Russian soldiers in his former Soviet republic’s industrial east at more than 9,000.

But President Vladimir Putin describes Russians fighting against Ukraine’s pro-Western government troops as patriotic volunteers and off-duty soldiers who are answering “a call of the heart.”

Moscow has also distanced itself from two Russians captured last month who have told Ukrainian interrogators and Western reporters that they were active members of the Kremlin’s special military reconnaissance force.

The Ukrainian defence minister said the insurgent army — in control of parts of the Russian-speaking Lugansk and Donetsk regions that are home to about four million people — could muster more than 550 tanks and an arsenal of other heavy weapons.

“The combined size of the Russian armed forces and illegal armed formations… stands at more than 42,500,” Poltorak told a group of visiting lawmakers from NATO countries.

“This amount of weapons, as we all understand, would be sufficient for a mid-sized European state.”

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Kiev’s own eastern force had grown to more than 50,000 after being limited to 5,000 soldiers at the onset of the war 14 months ago.

Ukraine’s latest charges come against the backdrop of growing fears that the ceasefire that Germany and France helped forge in February is now falling apart.

Clashes around the 10,000-strong town of Marinka — straddling the twisting line separating Kiev’s forces from the militants — and other disputed villages claimed some 30 lives last week and threatened to escalate on Monday.

“Our positions near Marinka came under small weapons and mortar fire this morning,” Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko told AFP by telephone.

A rebel defence spokesman denied the charges and called the situation around the heavily-damaged town “calm”.

The international community had initially stopped short of formally accusing Putin of sending troops into Ukraine in what appears to be a bid to either break up the country or stamp out its budding alliance with the European Union and NATO.

Washington and Brussels imposed their heaviest sanctions on Moscow in response to its March 2014 annexation of Crimea. The eastern campaign saw those measures toughened but never saw Russia accused of an outright “invasion”.

The International Committee of the Red Cross also initially labelled the conflict a “civil war”.

And monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) occasionally refer to “irregularly armed groups” but prefer to simply call the rebels by their self-proclaimed name — armies of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

Yet the West’s tone appears to have recently hardened.

NATO commanders and some EU leaders openly accuse Putin of sending out alarming war signals across eastern Europe.

U.S. President Barack Obama used the G7 summit on Sunday to condemn “Russian aggression in Ukraine”.

And the U.S. State Department last week noted the presence in Ukraine of “Russian-separatist” forces — a term it had avoided using for months.

The West’s verbal assault has so far produced only a muted response from Moscow.

But Ukraine’s defence minister said he had recently found all previous communication lines with the Moscow military being gradually cut off.

“I personally have made several attempts to speak to the Russian defence minister, Mr (Sergei) Shoigu,” Poltorak said.

“But he always complained about a heavy workload and never agreed to talk.”

Photo: A Ukrainian serviceman stands guard on the front line in Opytne village, close to Donetsk airport on June 7, 2015. (AFP / Oleksandr Ratushniak)