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  • Windsor gears up for royal wedding, embraces Harry, Meghan

    Meghan Markle will have an heir to the British throne walk her down the aisle – and have her mother and friends on hand for support – when she marries Prince Harry at Windsor Castle.

    WINDSOR, England (AP) — Meghan Markle will have an heir to the British throne walk her down the aisle – and have her mother and friends on hand for support – when she marries Prince Harry at Windsor Castle.

    Friday’s announcement that Markle has asked her future father-in-law Prince Charles to offer a supporting elbow, stepping in for Markle’s father after he became ill, meant arrangements were almost complete for Saturday’s royal wedding.

    The event’s mix of royalty, celebrity, pomp and ceremony has drawn stratospheric levels of interest around the world and will be broadcast live to tens of millions.

    Kensington Palace said Prince Charles “is pleased to be able to welcome Ms. Markle to the royal family in this way” after Markle’s father Thomas was unable to attend due to illness.

    Thousands of well-wishers descended Friday on Windsor amid final preparations for the wedding, which has drawn royal fans and an international media throng to the castle town and royal residence 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of London.

    Union Jacks have been unfurled, security barriers and police patrols put into place and fans were already camping out to capture the prime viewing positions for Saturday’s royal carriage ride through the town.

    Harry and Prince William, his brother and best-man, delighted royal fans when they emerged from Windsor Castle late Friday afternoon to greet well-wishers.

    If Harry was feeling nervous, he didn’t show it. The smiling prince gave a thumb’s up and answered “Great, thank you” when asked how he was feeling on the eve of his wedding. The 33-year-old prince accepted a teddy bear from one well-wisher as he chatted to people from Britain, the United States, Canada and elsewhere.

    Tens of thousands of spectators, including many Americans who have come in support of the California-born Markle, are expected in Windsor to soak up the royal atmosphere. British police say they will be subject to airport-style security scanners and bag searches. Metal barriers have also been erected to stop vehicle attacks like the ones that killed several people on London and Westminster bridges last year.

    Sniffer dogs and mounted patrols are also out and about, and well-wishers have been asked not to throw confetti when the newlyweds ride through town in a horse-drawn carriage Saturday.

    “It poses a potential security risk and it’s a bit of a pain to clean up!” said Thames Valley Police.

    Buckingham Palace also announced that Queen Elizabeth II’s husband the Duke of Edinburgh will attend the royal wedding, just a few weeks after undergoing a hip replacement operation. Harry’s 96-year-old grandfather has largely retired from public duties and it had not been clear earlier whether he would be well enough to attend.

    Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, flew to England from her California home earlier in the week and had tea Friday with the queen at Windsor Castle. It was her first meeting with a head of state within whom she’s about to share a family bond.

    On Thursday, Ragland dined with William’s family and a day earlier she met Charles and his wife Camilla.

    Ragland had been was the bookies’ favorite to escort the bride down the aisle, but Charles has a lifetime of experience in appearing at large-scale public events amid intense scrutiny.

    “I think some people will be disappointed – people who were looking forward to the historic moment of a woman walking her daughter down the aisle, and a woman of mixed race heritage from America. It would have made an historic shot,” said royal historian Robert Lacey.

    But, he added, “for Prince Charles, the future king, to walk a bride down the aisle, what more could Meghan dream of?”

    Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who will conduct the wedding ceremony, said Charles is “a very warm person and that he’s doing this is a sign of his love and concern and support. And I think it’s wonderful. It’s beautiful.”

    The archbishop also said Harry and Markle are “a very self-possessed couple” and the atmosphere in rehearsals has been “relaxed, laughing and enjoyable.”

    It’s not the first time a royal bride hasn’t been walked down the aisle by her father. The monarch’s sister, the late Princess Margaret, was walked down the aisle by Prince Philip because her father was dead. Queen Victoria walked two daughters down the aisle.

    Roseline Morris, 35-year-old fan from Basildon, England, noted that Charles hasn’t got a daughter himself.

    “He’s never going to get the chance to walk a daughter down the aisle, so this will be nice for him as well,” she said.

    Having the father of the groom escort the bride is yet another twist in a royal wedding that is proving to be different from many others.

    Master baker Claire Ptak said Friday that the royal wedding cake – a three-part layered lemon and elderflower cake – will have an “ethereal” taste and be presented in a non-traditional way.

    Markle will not have a maid of honor but there will be 10 young bridesmaids and page boys, including 4-year-old Prince George and 3-year-old Princess Charlotte, the elder children of William and his wife Kate.

    The 600 invited guests include members of the royal family and celebrity friends of Harry and Meghan’s including, it’s rumored, Elton John. Also invited are several of Markle’s co-stars from the legal TV drama “Suits.”

    The couple will be married by Welby in a Church of England ceremony, but the Most Rev. Michael Curry, the first black presiding bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church, will also deliver a sermon.

    Curry – the son of an American civil rights activist and the descendant of African slaves – has spoken out for gay rights and plans to join a march on the White House next week to reject U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America first” stance.

    On Friday, Curry said seeing the couple up close, he saw “two real people who are obviously in love.”

    “When I see them, something in my heart leaps,” he said. “That’s why 2 billion people are watching them.”

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    Lawless reported from London. Danica Kirka contributed from London.

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    For complete AP royal wedding coverage, visit https://apnews.com/tag/Royalweddings

  • Ecuador pulls extra security from London embassy after spending millions shielding Julian Assange

    Ecuador will scale back security at its London embassy after news reports placed a $5 million price tag on operations protecting its most famous resident, WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, its gover

    Ecuador will scale back security at its London embassy after news reports placed a $5 million price tag on operations protecting its most famous resident, WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange, its government announced.

    “The President of the Republic, Lenin Moreno, has ordered that any additional security at the Ecuadorian embassy in London be withdrawn immediately,” the government of Ecuador said in a statement Thursday.

    “From now on, it will maintain normal security similar to that of other Ecuadorian embassies,” the statement said.

    The government’s announcement came a day after The Guardian newspaper and Focus Ecuador reported that upwards of $66,000 a month has been spent on security, intelligence gathering and counterintelligence operations related to protecting Mr. Assange, a residence of the embassy since 2012.

    The operations were authorized by Rafael Correa, the former president of Ecuador who granted Mr. Assange asylum nearly six years ago, and ultimately cost the country more than $5 million, the outlets reported.

    “When we have special security, we hire private security firms to provide it,” Mr. Correa told The Guardian. “There is nothing unusual about this. It would have been a violation of our duties if we did not.”

    The security operations included the installation of surveillance cameras and contracting a security team to “secretly film and monitor all activity in the embassy,” The Guardian reported.

    WikiLeaks did not immediately respond to a request for comment concerning Ecuador’s decision to scale back security at the embassy.

    Mr. Assange, 46, entered the embassy in June 2012 while under house arrest in connection with a rape investigation conducted by Swedish prosecutors. He argued that he would likely be extradited to the U.S. and prosecuted for publishing classified military and diplomatic documents through his WikiLeaks website upon surrendering to Swedish authorities, and Mr. Correa granted him asylum two months later.

    Sweden dropped their rape probe in 2017, but British authorities have said they would arrest Mr. Assange if he leaves the embassy for jumping bail in 2012.

    The Justice Department has not unsealed charges against Mr. Assange, but Attorney General Jeff Sessions called arresting him a “priority.”

    London police, on their part, previously acknowledged spending roughly $16,000 a day stationing security guards outside the embassy, or about $5.6 million during the first year of Mr. Assange’s residence, prior to scaling back their operations in 2015.

  • Russia eyes closer Iran ties, more trade if Trump nixes nuclear deal

    A top Russian official said bilateral relations and trade with Iran could actually be enhanced if President Trump follows through on a threat to take the United States out of the 2015 nuclear deal wit

    A top Russian official said bilateral relations and trade with Iran could actually be enhanced if President Trump follows through on a threat to take the United States out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran next week.

    Vladimir Yermakov, head of arms control and nonproliferation for the Russian Foreign Ministry, told reporters Friday that a U.S. withdrawal would not kill the deal, which Iran signed with the Obama administration and five international powers — Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.

    The European allies have lobbied heavily for Mr. Trump not to withdraw from the deal, fearing that the reimposition of American economic and financial sanctions could cast a heavy cloud over their own business dealings with Tehran.

    But Mr. Yermakov argued the deal, which curbed Iranian nuclear programs in exchange for an end to international sanctions, would survive even without U.S. participation, according to the Moscow Times. He spoke to reporters at a nuclear nonproliferation summit in Geneva.

    “It might even be easier for us on the economic front, because we won’t have any limits on economic cooperation with Iran,” he said. “We would develop bilateral relations in all areas — energy, transport, high-tech, medicine.”

    Iranian officials have said they would not be bound by the nuclear restrictions in the deal if the U.S. withdrew, and have rejected any attempt to re-write its terms. But they have stopped short of saying the entire agreement would be void if the U.S. pulled out.

    Mr. Yermakov said Friday it would be smarter for Tehran to stay in the deal and honor its commitments not to seek nuclear weapons.

    “It’s not in anybody’s interest that Iran goes back to the kind of development of its nuclear program that all states would be concerned about,” he said. “But Iran is fully entitled to develop peaceful nuclear energy.”

    China this week also said it continued to support the nuclear accord and called on all sides to honor their commitments.

    The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency says Iran has met its commitments under the deal, but Mr. Trump and other critics say the accord has failed to restrain Iran’s other military programs and its moves to destabilize other states in the region. Many of the restrictions on Iran’s nuclear programs in the deal are also set to expire in just seven years.

  • Trump exit from Iran nuclear deal enters uncharted territory

    It’s not as simple as just saying “we’re out” of the Iran nuclear deal.

    WASHINGTON (AP) – It’s not as simple as just saying “we’re out” of the Iran nuclear deal.

    If President Donald Trump follows through on his threat to pull the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal on May 12, the rest of the world will be thrust into uncharted territory, forced to navigate a complex web of U.S. sanctions that were lifted under the landmark accord but would ostensibly be put back in place.

    Would Trump re-impose sanctions on those who do business with Iran? How quickly? And would Europe follow suit? How would Iran respond? And what happens to Iran’s pre-existing obligations to allow nuclear inspections?

    “It’s going to be very complicated,” said Ama Adams, who advises clients on international sanctions compliance at the law firm Ropes & Gray. “There are lots of opportunities to trip up and make mistakes. It’s going to be a period of a lot of activity and flurry.”

    A look at possible scenarios for what stays and goes if Trump exits the accord:

    U.S. SANCTIONS

    Under the 2015 deal, the United States issued waivers to longstanding sanctions punishing Iran for its nuclear program. Iran, in turn, restricted its program and allowed more inspections.

    Trump has essentially two options for re-imposing sanctions.

    On May 12, he faces a deadline on whether to renew the waivers that eased one basket of sanctions: those on Iran’s central bank, intended to hit Iranian oil exports. Another basket of sanctions waivers are up for renewal on July 11, focusing on more than 400 specific Iranian companies, individuals and business sectors.

    One of Trump’s options, being called “the nuclear option” by some experts, would re-impose all the sanctions at once – even those not scheduled for renewal until July. That would put the U.S. in immediate violation of the deal’s terms, which say sanctions remain lifted as long as Iran is complying with its terms. So far, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.’s nuclear monitoring agency, has said Iran is complying, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agrees.

    A second option: re-imposing only the central bank sanctions. That would start a 180-day clock in which companies or countries would be expected to reduce their purchases of oil from Iran. Those that don’t would ultimately be penalized by Washington.

    Why not restore all the sanctions at once? Proponents of doing it piece by piece say it would give the U.S. more leverage to bring about a “fix” to the deal so that Trump could stay in after all. Trump has long said the deal needed to be strengthened or abandoned, but efforts with European allies to strengthen it haven’t yet succeeded. With sanctions about to kick in again in 180 days, there might be enough pressure on the Iranians, the Europeans and other members of the deal to give in to Trump’s demands, proponents say.

    But supporters of the nuclear deal say that’s not a viable option because the U.S., by starting the 180-day clock, would have already breached the deal. And as soon as Trump announces sanctions will be coming back, companies will immediately start shutting down their business with Iran. That means Iran would suffer from lost business and could decide to walk away from the deal itself.

    Adams, the sanctions attorney, said some companies have already started winding down business in anticipation that Trump may re-impose sanctions.

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    THE REST OF THE WORLD

    What would Europe do? Germany, France and the U.K. have suggested they have no intention of leaving the deal, even if the U.S. withdraws. But it might not matter much. The global financial system is so interconnected and so tied to New York that it would be almost impossible for anyone anywhere in the world to continue their business with Iran without risk of violating U.S. sanctions. For example, Europe businesses owned or controlled by American parent companies would breach the sanctions if they didn’t cut off Iran.

    It’s a major dilemma for European businesses, made even more complicated if the European Union decides to invoke a measure put in place in the 1990s to counter the U.S. embargo on Cuba. The EU can use those regulations to prohibit European companies from complying with some U.S. sanctions. That puts businesses in the position of choosing whether to defy the United States or the EU.

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    IRAN‘S RESPONSE

    Iran’s leaders have been coy, although Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told The Associated Press last week Iran would “most likely” abandon the deal if Trump withdraws. Yet the key question is whether Iran would resume nuclear activities, such as enrichment and processing, beyond the limits that were imposed by the deal – and how aggressively.

    How would the world even know? If the deal collapses, Iran would no longer be bound by the rigorous inspections regime by the IAEA that it agreed to in the deal. That regime included the so-called Additional Protocol, which expanded the IAEA’s access to sites in Iran, including giving inspectors insight into all parts of the nuclear fuel cycle, access on short notice to all buildings at an acknowledged nuclear site, and the right to obtain samples from military sites.

    Even without the nuclear deal, Iran would still be required to allow a more limited regime of inspections required by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which Iran has signed. But it’s unclear how rigorously Iran would comply. After all, alleged cheating and delay tactics by Iran were a major concern prior to the 2015 deal. And Iranian officials haven’t explicitly ruled out the possibility that if Trump blows up the nuclear deal, Iran may also leave the Nonproliferation Treaty.

    Then there’s the question of whether Iran, feeling swindled on a deal the U.S. itself brokered, would take other steps to retaliate – such as ballistic missile tests or more support for militant groups abroad.

  • Candidates compete for schools chief, lieutenant governor

    Voters will choose candidates for lieutenant governor, schools chief and other statewide offices in California’s June 5 primary. The race for superintendent of public education is shaping up to be an

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Voters will choose candidates for lieutenant governor, schools chief and other statewide offices in California’s June 5 primary. The race for superintendent of public education is shaping up to be an expensive showdown between unions and charter school advocates. In the crowded contest to become California’s next lieutenant governor, several Democrats have emerged as front-runners. Five candidates are vying to replace the state’s outgoing treasurer. Meanwhile, incumbents are trying to hold onto their offices in the races for secretary of state and controller.

    Below is an overview of those five down-ballot races:

    SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

    With wealthy donors on both sides of the charter school debate throwing their weight behind candidates, the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction promises to be an expensive contest.

    Assemblyman Tony Thurmond, backed by teachers unions, and former Los Angeles schools executive Marshall Tuck, backed by pro-charter donors, are front-runners in the race to be the state’s top public education official.

    Tuck and Thurmond both want to spend more on public schools and ban for-profit charter schools. Thurmond has also stressed opposing the Trump administration’s agenda, including proposals to transfer money from traditional public schools to charter schools. Tuck has emphasized giving families choice in the schools their children attend, including nonprofit charter schools.

    Tuck’s donors include charter school advocates such as Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and KB Home founder Eli Broad. Thurmond’s top donors are teachers unions and labor groups.

    Thurmond and Tuck are Democrats, but the race is nonpartisan and their party affiliation won’t appear on the ballot.

    Lily Ploski, an educator and former college administrator, and Steven Ireland, a parent, are also running.

    If any candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote in June, he or she will win the race outright. Otherwise, the top two candidates advance to the November general election.

    Tuck ran for the seat unsuccessfully in 2014. Incumbent Tom Torlakson beat him with backing from unions.

    LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

    Three Democrats are leading the cash race to be California’s next No. 2 executive.

    The lieutenant governor serves as a University of California regent, a California State University trustee and as a state lands commissioner overseeing conservation and public access. He or she also acts as governor when the top executive is away.

    There’s little difference among state Sen. Ed Hernandez and former diplomats Eleni Kounalakis and Jeff Bleich when it comes to policy. All three say they want to lower college costs and oppose oil drilling off the California coast.

    They have tried to differentiate themselves by experience.

    If elected, Kounalakis would be the first woman to hold the position. She emphasizes her background as a developer and former ambassador to Hungary.

    Hernandez, chair of the Senate Health Committee, authored a bill increasing transparency around drug pricing last year. It passed over opposition from pharmaceutical companies.

    Bleich, a former aide to President Barack Obama and ambassador to Australia, has touted his experience as a California State University trustee and as a lawyer on civil rights and immigration cases.

    As of the April campaign finance filing deadline, Bleich had raised roughly $2 million, Hernandez about $2.6 million and Kounalakis nearly $3 million.

    Republican Cole Harris also has a sizeable war chest after putting $2 million into his own campaign.

    Three other Republicans – Lydia Ortega, David Fennell and David Hernandez – are running, along with Democrat Cameron Gharabiklou. Two no-party-preference candidates – Gayle McLaughlin and Danny Thomas – are also on the ballot.

    California’s current lieutenant governor, Gavin Newsom, is running for governor.

    TREASURER

    Five candidates are vying to replace Treasurer John Chiang, who is running for governor.

    The treasurer manages the state’s money and sits on the boards of California’s public employee pension funds.

    Democrat Fiona Ma has the most political experience and the biggest fundraising haul. The State Board of Equalization member and former assemblywoman says she would make socially responsible investments with the state’s money.

    One of her challengers is Gov. Jerry Brown aide Vivek Viswanathan, a Democrat who says he won’t take corporate money.

    Two Republicans are running: Cudahy City Councilman Jack Guerrero, who says he would push for lower taxes, and businessman Greg Conlon, who challenged Chiang in the last general election.

    Peace and Freedom candidate Kevin Akin is also running.

    SECRETARY OF STATE

    Secretary of State Alex Padilla faces seven primary challengers in his re-election bid.

    Republican attorney Mark Meuser is challenging Padilla on a platform of modernizing California elections. He advocates purging voter rolls of people who have moved or died and conducting audits to ensure ineligible people aren’t registered to vote.

    Padilla has emphasized his record of sparring with the Trump administration. He often denounces the president’s unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud in the state. Padilla also refused to comply with the administration’s requests to hand over data on California voters, arguing it was politically motivated.

    Democrat Ruben Major, Green Party candidates Michael Feinstein and Erik Rydberg, Libertarian Gail Lightfoot and Peace and Freedom candidate C.T. Weber will also appear on the ballot.

    CONTROLLER

    Controller Betty Yee faces a Republican challenger in her re-election campaign.

    The California controller serves as the state’s top accountant and audits various state programs. They sit on several state boards and the State Lands Commission.

    Entrepreneur Konstantinos Roditis says he would advocate cutting government spending and auditing high-speed rail, a project Republicans frequently criticize because of rising costs.

    Yee says she has promoted tax policies that are equitable for vulnerable populations, including people living in poverty and LGBT people, specifically supporting equal taxation for same-sex couples before gay marriage was legalized.

    Peace and Freedom candidate Mary Lou Finley is also running for the office.

  • Iranian dissidents call for Trump to ‘rip up’ nuclear deal

    Thousands of supporters of Iranian opposition groups rallied just blocks from the White House on Saturday for the downfall of Tehran’s theocratic government and to invite President Trump to “rip up” t

    Thousands of supporters of Iranian opposition groups rallied just blocks from the White House on Saturday for the downfall of Tehran’s theocratic government and to invite President Trump to “rip up” the Iran nuclear deal.

    The rally came one week before Mr. Trump’s May 12 deadline to decide whether to pull out of the Obama-era Iranian nuclear deal that saw the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China ease sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limits to its nuclear program. Mr. Trump has criticized the 2015 accord since it took effect.

    “What do you think is going to happen to that nuclear agreement?” former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani yelled to a packed conference hall at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

    A longtime ally of Iranian dissidents, Mr. Giuliani just joined Mr. Trump’s personal legal team. Holding a piece of paper in his hands, he drove the rally wild by pretending to rip it apart.

    “We do not want President Trump to renegotiate, we want him to rip it up,” said Shirin Nariman, a spokeswoman for the Organization of Iranian American Communities (OIAC) and an event organizer.

    Saturday’s rally saw organizers gather more than 1,000 Iranian delegates from across the U.S. for a rowdy flag ceremony, fiery speeches and music. In addition to criticizing the nuclear deal, dissidents blasted the Islamic Republic’s human rights record, and argued for a free, democratic and secular Iran.

    Several speakers zeroed-in current unrest across Iran. Protests are still underway after a major uprising that erupted in 142 cities across in January, the largest since 2009.

    Some analysts believe the demonstrations began as an attempt by hard-line conservatives in the regime to undercut President Hassan Rouhani, a relatively moderate cleric who strongly backed the nuclear deal and just won a second four-year term.

    Mr. Rouhani has claimed that one of the exiled opposition groups involved in organizing Saturday’s rally — the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK) — was inciting the violence.

    The MEK has close ties to a Paris-based organization, the National Council of Resistance (NCRI) of Iran. The NCRI holds an annual rally in France that draws tens of thousands to call for the downfall of Iran’s mullah-led government and has deep sources in Iran.

    The group is credited with exposing secretive Iranian nuclear facilities in the early 2000s. It also has had a contentious relationship with Washington, and was listed it as a terrorist organization by the State Department until 2012.

    Many prominent U.S. politicians from both sides of the aisle, including Mr. Giuliani, have long spoken out in support of the NCRI and the MEK, claiming the latter was wrongly put on the terror list.

    NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi addressed the rally via video link from Paris.

    “At no time has the regime been so engulfed in crisis, and at no time has the time been so ripe to organize and expand the uprising,” she said.

    Mrs. Rajavi, who also called for the end of the Iranian death penalty, which has been liberally used as a scare tactic to subdue protests, also voiced opposition to the nuclear deal. She urged the international community to abandon the agreement and instead conduct unconditional inspections of Iran’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles program.

    Former U.S. Energy Secretary and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a longtime MEK and NCRI supporter, fired up the convention hall.

    “The regime is on the ropes as they say with boxers,” he said. “The debate is no longer the hard liners against the reformers. It is now the entire people against the regime.”

    Mr. Richardson also praised OIAC, MEK and NCRI as “leadership that is willing to sacrifice and take risks.”

    When Mr. Giuliani noted that Mr. Trump backed the Iranian protests earlier this year with the words “we support their fight for freedom,” the crowd erupted.

    All speakers predicted regime change is coming soon, with Ms. Nariman noting that one of the organization’s most prominent Washington supporters, John R. Bolton, is Mr. Trump’s new national security adviser.

    Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also supports regime change.

    Ms. Nariman expressed hope that this group, in addition to Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Trump, would soon bring about change.

  • Airplane and oil deals at risk in Trump pullout of Iran deal

    From airplanes to oilfields, billions of dollars are on the line for international corporations as President Donald Trump weighs whether to pull America out of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – From airplanes to oilfields, billions of dollars are on the line for international corporations as President Donald Trump weighs whether to pull America out of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers.

    Regardless of where they are headquartered, virtually all multinational corporations do business or banking in the U.S., meaning any return to pre-deal sanctions could torpedo deals made after the 2015 agreement came into force.

    That threat alone has been enough to scare risk-averse firms, like Boeing Co., into slow-walking deals agreed to months ago. A complete pullout by the U.S. would wreak further havoc and likely frighten off those considering making the plunge.

    “I absolutely think those on the fence will not jump in,” said Richard Nephew, a former sanctions expert at the U.S. State Department who worked on the nuclear deal and now is at New York’s Columbia University. “The only ones who will, will be those who see tremendous monetary benefit and no U.S. risk.”

    The 2015 Iran nuclear deal lifted crippling economic sanctions that had locked Iran out of international banking and the global oil trade. In return, Tehran limited its enrichment of uranium, reconfigured a heavy-water reactor so it couldn’t produce plutonium and reduced its uranium stockpile and supply of centrifuges.

    For Western businesses, the deal meant access to Iran’s largely untapped market of 80 million people. Most prominently, airplane manufacturers rushed in to replace the country’s dangerously dilapidated civilian fleet.

    In December 2016, Airbus Group signed a deal with Iran’s national carrier, IranAir, to sell it 100 airplanes for around $19 billion at list prices. Boeing later struck its own deal with IranAir for 80 aircraft with a list price of some $17 billion, promising that deliveries would begin in 2017 and run until 2025. Boeing separately struck another 30-airplane deal with Iran’s Aseman Airlines for $3 billion at list prices.

    But Boeing has yet to deliver a single aircraft to Iran. The Chicago-based company’s CEO recently stressed it understands the “risks and implications around the Iranian aircraft deal,” which would be the biggest business agreement between an American company and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and U.S. Embassy takeover.

    “We continue to follow the U.S. government’s lead here and everything is being done per that process,” Dennis Muilenburg said during a quarterly earnings conference call on April 25. “We have no Iranian deliveries that are scheduled or part of the skyline this year, so those have been deferred again in line with the U.S. government process.”

    Airbus, a European airline consortium based in Toulouse, France, likewise continues its sales at the discretion of the American government. At least 10 percent of its aircraft components are of American origin, meaning it requires permission from the U.S. Treasury for its sales to Iran. Airbus has already delivered two A330-200s and one A321 to Iran.

    Airbus declined to comment when asked by The Associated Press about its possible plans ahead of Trump’s decision.

    European airplane manufacturer ATR struck a $536-million deal with IranAir for at least 20 aircraft last year. It’s already has delivered eight of its twin-engine turboprops to Tehran after earlier winning permission from the U.S. Treasury.

    “To date, we are on track to deliver the remaining ATR aircraft in due time, before the end of the year,” ATR spokesman David Vargas told the AP.

    The speed at which Western airplane manufacturers went into Iran is contrasted by a slow start by Western energy firms despite the country’s vast oil and gas wealth. The exception is French oil giant Total SA, which in July signed a $5 billion, 20-year agreement with Iran and a Chinese oil company to develop the country’s massive South Pars offshore natural gas field. The natural gas pumped by the deal will go toward Iran’s domestic market.

    The deal marked a return to Iran for Total, which pulled out of the country in 2008 as Western sanctions over its nuclear program began to ramp up. Total did not respond to requests for comment, though its CEO Patrick Pouyanne reportedly told Trump in February to stick with the deal.

    “If the framework, the rules of the game, change, of course we will have to re-evaluate,” Pouyanne told the Financial Times.

    French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen reached a deal in 2016 to open a plant producing 200,000 vehicles annually in Iran. Peugeot, once a major player in Iran’s car market before sanctions, did not respond to a request for comment.

    Meanwhile, fellow French automobile manufacturer Groupe Renault signed a $778-million deal to build 150,000 cars a year at a factory outside of Tehran.

    “The Renault Group is closely monitoring the evolution of the diplomatic situation,” the company said in a statement to the AP, without elaborating.

    Volkswagen also began exporting cars to Iran.

    “Currently we are tracking and examining the development of the political and economic environment in the region very closely,” the German carmaker said in a statement. “In principle, Volkswagen adheres to all applicable national and international laws and export regulations.”

    Nuclear deal co-signers Britain, France and Germany, which have urged Trump to preserve the deal, may seek exemptions to protect their companies if the U.S. snaps back sanctions, said Ellie Geranmayeh, a senior policy fellow studying Iran at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

    “This should include a series of exemptions and carve-outs for European companies already involved in strategic areas of trade and investment with Iran, with the priority being to limit the immediate shock to Iranian oil exports,” she wrote Wednesday.

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    Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellap . His work can be found at http://apne.ws/2galNpz .

  • Chelsea Manning: Insurgent bid for US Senate is genuine

    Chelsea Manning is no longer living as a transgender woman in a male military prison, serving the lengthiest sentence ever for revealing U.S. government secrets. She’s free to grow out her hair, trave

    NORTH BETHESDA, Md. (AP) – Chelsea Manning is no longer living as a transgender woman in a male military prison, serving the lengthiest sentence ever for revealing U.S. government secrets. She’s free to grow out her hair, travel the world, and spend time with whomever she likes.

    But a year since former President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence, America’s most famous convicted leaker isn’t taking an extended vacation. Far from it: The Oklahoma native has decided to make an unlikely bid for the U.S. Senate in her adopted state of Maryland.

    Manning, 30, filed to run in January and has been registered to vote in Maryland since August. She lives in North Bethesda, not far from where she stayed with an aunt while awaiting trial. Her aim is to unseat Sen. Ben Cardin, a 74-year-old Maryland Democrat who is seeking his third Senate term and previously served 10 terms in the U.S. House.

    Manning, who also has become an internationally recognized transgender activist, said she’s motivated by a desire to fight what she sees as a shadowy surveillance state and a rising tide of nightmarish repression.

    “The rise of authoritarianism is encroaching in every aspect of life, whether it’s government or corporate or technological,” Manning told The Associated Press during an interview at her home in an upscale apartment tower. On the walls of her barely furnished living room hang Obama’s commutation order, and photos of U.S. anarchist Emma Goldman and British playwright Oscar Wilde.

    Manning’s longshot campaign for the June 26 primary would appear to be one of the more unorthodox U.S. Senate bids in recent memory, and the candidate is operating well outside the party’s playbook. She says she doesn’t, in fact, even consider herself a Democrat, but is motivated by a desire to shake up establishment Democrats who are “caving in” to President Donald Trump’s administration. She vows she won’t run as an independent if her primary bid fails.

    She’s certainly got an eye-catching platform: Close prisons and free inmates; eliminate national borders; restructure the criminal justice system; provide universal health care and basic income. The top of her agenda? Abolish the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal agency created in 2003 that Manning asserts is preparing for an “ethnic cleansing.”

    Manning ticks off life experiences she believes would make her an effective senator: a stint being homeless in Chicago, her wartime experiences as a U.S. Army intelligence analyst in Iraq – even her seven years in prison. She asserts she’s got a “bigger vision” than establishment politicians.

    But political analysts suspect the convicted felon is not running to win.

    “Manning is running as a protest candidate, which has a long lineage in American history, to shine light on American empire,” said Daniel Schlozman, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University. “That’s a very different goal, with a very different campaign, than if she wanted to beat Ben Cardin.”

    Manning’s insurgent candidacy thus far has been a decidedly stripped-down affair, with few appearances and a campaign website that just went up. In recent days, she approached an anti-fracking rally in Baltimore almost furtively, keeping to herself for much of the demonstration. But when it was her turn to address the small group, her celebrity status was evident. People who never met her called her by her first name and eagerly took photos.

    Manning has acknowledged leaking more than 700,000 military and State Department documents to anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks in 2010. She said her motivation was a desire to spark debate about U.S. foreign policy, and she has been portrayed as both a hero and a traitor.

    Known as Bradley Manning at the time of her arrest, she came out as transgender after her 2013 court-martial. She was barred from growing her hair long in prison, and was approved for hormone therapy only after litigation. She spent long stints in solitary confinement, and twice tried to kill herself.

    The Pentagon, which has repeatedly declined to discuss Manning’s treatment in military prison, is also staying mum about her political ambitions. Democratic Party officials say they have no comment, citing a policy not to weigh in on primaries. Republican operatives are quiet.

    In Maryland, a blue state that’s home to tens of thousands of federal employees and defense contractors, it appears Manning’s main supporters are independents or anti-politics, making them unlikely to coalesce politically. She recently reported contributions of $72,000 on this year’s first quarterly finance statement, compared with Cardin’s $336,000.

    The candidate has barely made an effort at tapping sources of grassroots enthusiasm outside of activism circles. And it’s easy to find Democrats who feel her candidacy is just a vehicle to boost her profile.

    “It feels to me almost like it’s part of a book tour – that this is her moment after being released from prison,” said Dana Beyer, a transgender woman who leads the Gender Rights Maryland nonprofit and is a Democratic candidate for state senate. “I don’t think this is a serious effort.”

    Manning is indeed working on a book about her dramatic life. For now, she says she supports herself with income from speaking engagements. She’s spoken at various U.S. colleges and is due to take the stage at a Montreal conference later this month.

    Last week, she appeared at a tech conference in Germany’s capital of Berlin, arriving to cheers from the audience of several thousand people. She told attendees she’s still struggling to adjust to life after prison and hasn’t gotten used to her celebrity status yet.

    “There’s been a kind of cult of personality that is really intimidating and that is overwhelming for me,” she said in Berlin.

    At her Maryland apartment, Manning told the AP she occasionally wakes up panicked that she’s back in the cage in Kuwait where she was first jailed, or incarcerated at the Marine base at Quantico, Virginia, where a U.N. official concluded she’d been subjected to “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.” She works hard to overcome anxiety, centering herself with yoga, breathing exercises, and reading.

    “I’ve been out for almost a year now and it’s becoming increasingly clear to me just how deep the wounds are,” she said in her Spartan living room.

    Asked how she would define success, Manning responded with passionate intensity: “Success for me is survival.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.

    ___

    Follow McFadden on Twitter at https://twitter.com/dmcfadd

  • Gigi Hadid, Vogue Italia apologize for darkened skin tone

    Gigi Hadid and Vogue Italia have both apologized for the May Vogue Italia cover that showed the model with a dark skin tone, a distortion that unleashed a social media backlash and underlined the lack

    MILAN (AP) — Gigi Hadid and Vogue Italia have both apologized for the May Vogue Italia cover that showed the model with a dark skin tone, a distortion that unleashed a social media backlash and underlined the lack of diversity in the fashion industry.

    In a post on Instagram on Thursday, Hadid said diversity in the industry needs to be addressed and that she does not want “to take opportunities away from anyone else.”

    The cover shot by Steven Klein showed the normally blonde Hadid with dark hair and heavily bronzed skin, wearing a Dolce & Gabbana sequined legging ensemble with matching tiara. Inside, Hadid poses in beachwear in the spread titled “High Voltage.”

    Hadid said the photo shoot that also included digital editing of the photo, “was not executed correctly” and agreed that the concerns raised were “valid.”

    Social media posts decried the dark skin tone, many likening it to the blackface minstrels of the 19th century that promoted racial stereotypes. Others pointed out that Vogue Italia under its previous editor, the late Franca Sozzani, was a prominent advocate for racial diversity in fashion, notably with its famed “All Black” cover in 2008.

    “I want to address this for those who were offended by the editing/retouch/coloring of the cover. Please know that things would have been different if my control of the situation was different,” the model said.

    “Regardless, I want to apologize because I never want to diminish these concerns.”

    Vogue Italia said Klein’s “vision was to create a beachwear-themed story with a stylized bronzing effect,” and that “throughout its history, Vogue Italia has respected and encouraged the creative viewpoints of commissioned photographers.”

    But the fashion magazine added that it understood the issues it ignited among its readers.

    “We sincerely apologize if we have caused any offense.”

  • Donald Trump to host South Korea’s Moon Jae-in ahead of summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un

    South Korean President Moon Jae-in will visit President Trump at the White House later this month ahead of Mr. Trump’s historic summit with North Korea’s leader on the pivotal issue of denuclearizatio

    South Korean President Moon Jae-in will visit President Trump at the White House later this month ahead of Mr. Trump’s historic summit with North Korea’s leader on the pivotal issue of denuclearization.

    The White House said Friday that Mr. Trump will host Mr. Moon on May 22, their third meeting since Mr. Trump took office.

    White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Mr. Trump’s upcoming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will be high on the agenda, following Mr. Moon’s first meeting with Mr. Kim on April 27.

    “President Trump and President Moon will continue their close coordination on developments regarding the Korean Peninsula,” she said. “This third summit between the two leaders affirms the enduring strength of the United States–Republic of Korea alliance and the deep friendship between our two countries.”

    Mr. Trump said Friday that the U.S. and North Korea have agreed on the date and location of their summit, but he didn’t disclose the details. Among the locations under consideration are Singapore, Mongolia and the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.