The Wall Street Journal - 06.03.2020

A8| Friday, March 6, 2020 **** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

WORLD NEWS

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Thursday touted tight relations.

PAVEL GOLOVKIN/PRESS POOL

WORLD WATCH

AUSTRALIA

Hotter Climate Raised

Risk of Fires: Study

Climate change raised the
chances of Australia’s extreme
fire season by at least 30%, ac-
cording to a study released by
climate scientists at the World
Weather Attribution group.
Scientists from Australia, Eu-
rope and North America calcu-
lated how much human-caused
global warming elevated the like-
lihood of Australia’s record-set-
ting fire season by comparing
high-resolution computer models
of the continent facing varying
levels of climate change.
The scientists took into ac-
count differences in climate con-
ditions in about 1900 compared
with current conditions—tabulat-
ing both measured and observed
changes in temperature, drought
and fire intensity.
Last year was both the hot-
test and driest year on record in
Australia since measurements
began a century ago.
“There is evidence that Aus-
tralian fire seasons have length-
ened and become more intense—
and extreme temperatures have
played a role in this,” said Sophie
Lewis, a climate scientist at the
University of New South Wales
in Canberra, Australia, and a co-
author of the study.
“Climate change is now part
of Australia’s landscape—ex-
treme heat is clearly influenced
by human-caused climate
change, which can influence fire
conditions,” she said.
—Associated Press

DUBAI

U.K. Court Says Ruler

Abducted Daughters

The ruler of Dubai conducted
a campaign of fear and intimi-
dation against his estranged
wife and ordered the abduction
of two of his daughters, a Brit-
ish judge ruled in documents
that were unsealed Thursday.
A judge at the High Court in
London found that Sheikh Mo-
hammed bin Rashid Al Mak-
toum “acted in a manner from
the end of 2018 which has been
aimed at intimidating and fright-

ening” his ex-wife Princess

Haya.

Judge Andrew McFarlane

also said the sheikh “ordered

and orchestrated” the abduc-

tions and forced return to Dubai

of two of his adult daughters

from another marriage: Sheikha

Shamsa in August 2000, and

Sheikha Latifa in 2002 and

again in 2018.

The judge made rulings in

December and January after a

battle between the estranged

spouses over the welfare of

their two children, but the

sheikh fought to prevent them

from being made public. The

U.K. Supreme Court quashed

that attempt on Thursday.

In a statement after the rul-

ings were published, the sheikh

said that “as a head of govern-

ment, I was not able to partici-

pate in the court's fact-finding

process. This has resulted in the

release of a ‘fact-finding’ judg-

ment which inevitably only tells

one side of the story.”

—Associated Press

PHILIPPINES

Police Chief Survives

Helicopter Crash

A helicopter carrying the

Philippine national police chief

and seven other people crashed

after hitting a power cable on

takeoff, critically injuring two

other generals on board.

Gen. Archie Francisco Gam-

boa and the others were pulled

from the wreckage by police of-

ficers on a village road in San

Pedro city in Laguna province,

south of Manila. Gen. Gamboa

was injured in the shoulder and

right arm but flashed a

thumbs-up and said, “I’m OK”

while being wheeled to an am-

bulance.

In a video shown by the

DZMM network, Gen. Gamboa

said from his hospital bed that

he would report back to work

on Monday and asked for

prayers for those hospitalized.

Two passengers—Maj. Gen.

Mariel Magaway and Maj. Gen.

Jose Ma. Victor Ramos—were in

critical condition, while the rest,

including the police spokesman

and the police flight crew, were

in stable condition, police Maj.

Gen. Benigno Durana Jr. said.

The aircraft took off from a

police compound in Laguna and

hit a power cable before crash-

ing onto a road near houses,

witness Glenda Garcia said. No

one on the ground was hurt by

the crash.

Gen. Gamboa took over the

national police force in October

when his predecessor retired

early after being linked to illegal

drugs.

—Associated Press

COLLAPSE: A building that was having a fifth floor added in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi crumbled on Thursday, killing at least

11 people, including women and children, and injuring dozens, officials said. Residents pulled a survivor from the rubble of the structure.

REHAN KHAN/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

dle East expert at the Russian

International Affairs Council, a

nonprofit academic and diplo-

matic think tank in Moscow.

But in February, Mr. Erdo-

gan threatened to use force to

repel Syrian government

troops back to a cease-fire line

agreed with Russia in Septem-

ber 2018. Turkish officials said

Ankara’s goal was to protect

the four million civilians

trapped in the rebel enclave

and maintain a credible oppo-

sition to the Assad regime

ahead of tentative peace talks.

The odds of a truce ap-

peared slim on Thursday be-

cause, while the meeting was

under way in Moscow, Ankara

said another Turkish soldier

had been killed in Syria while

a war-monitoring group said

Russian warplanes continued

to bombard rebel-held areas.

One airstrike hit an area hous-

ing displaced people near the

town of Marat Misrin, in Idlib

province, killing at least 15 ci-

vilians, according to the Syrian

Observatory for Human Rights.

Under the agreement, Rus-

sia and Turkey said they

would start conducting joint

patrols along the strategic M

highway, which connects

Aleppo to Russian maritime

and air bases on the Mediter-

ranean coast, starting March

15. The pact also calls for es-
    tablishing a security corridor
    along the highway.

MOSCOW—Russia and Tur-
key have agreed to a cease-fire
in northwestern Syria, where
intense fighting has triggered
a humanitarian catastrophe
and brought the nuclear power
and the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization member closer to
direct war.
“At midnight, a cease-fire
will be enforced,” Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdo-
gan told reporters in a Kremlin
hall on Thursday after a six-
hour meeting with his Russian
counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

BYANNM.SIMMONS
ANDDAVIDGAUTHIER-VILLARS

Mr. Putin, who stood by Mr.

Erdogan’s side after their third

meeting in as many months,

said the agreement was the

product of their tight relations.

“We do not always agree

with our Turkish partners in our

assessments of what is happen-

ing in Syria, but every time at

critical moments, relying on the

achieved high level of bilateral

relations, we have so far been

able to find common ground on

the disputed issues that have

arisen, and come to acceptable

solutions,” Mr. Putin said. “Such

as happened this time.”

Thursday’s accord raised

hopes that tension between

Moscow and Ankara would

cool after weeks of failed di-

plomacy over how to quell the

clashes that pit Turkey and its

allies entrenched in Syria’s last

rebel stronghold against Rus-

sian-backed government forces.

Although Russia and Turkey

never formally declared being

involved in a military conflict

in Syria’s Idlib province, over

the past five weeks their re-

spective forces directly en-

gaged on opposite sides of ar-

tillery clashes and airstrikes in

which more than 55 Turkish

soldiers were killed.

Tension escalated as Russia

said it was supporting what it

called the legitimate efforts by

Syrian President Bashar al-

Assad to reclaim control over

his country’s territory and crush

radical rebel groups in Idlib. An-

alysts said Russia’s intervention

also was aimed at staking a

claim on military bases it has in

the Middle East country.

“Russia needs to secure a

loyal government, which will

guarantee Russia’s interests in

the country and in the region,”

said Alexey Khlebnikov, a Mid-

Russia, Turkey Agree

To Cease-Fire in Syria

Pact, which followed

long meeting between

Erdogan, Putin, raises

hope tensions will ease

NEW DELHI—India has loos-

ened some restrictions on in-

ternet access for the Muslim-

majority region of Kashmir,

allowing residents direct access

to social media for the first

time in months, though the

easing is only temporary and

for slow-speed connections.

The region’s authorities

started allowing people on

Wednesday evening to use the

internet through 2G connec-

tions on their phones and in-

teract with others on social-

media sites for the first time

since August, after the govern-

ment announced an end to the

special status of the state of

Jammu and Kashmir.

“It will be slow, but it will

work,” said Reyaz Mir, manag-

ing director of CNS Infotel

Service, a private internet pro-

vider in Kashmir’s main city of

Srinagar. “People here will be

able to use Facebook, Whats-

App and Twitter.”

India has been slowly revers-

ing internet restrictions first

imposed as part of New Delhi’s

attempt to slow and stop the

spread of potential backlash

over its decision to strip the re-

gion of its special status.

Only cellphones connected

to registered addresses would

be allowed to surf, local au-

thorities said, and fixed-line

internet connections would be

allowed only for customers

who can be monitored.

The moves are “in the in-

terest of the sovereignty and

integrity of India, the security

of the state and for maintain-

ing public order,” the govern-

ment order said.

India’s highest court in Janu-

ary ruled indefinite suspension

of internet services in Kashmir

was unconstitutional. Lawmak-

ers in the U.S. and European

Union have urged authorities to

curb the restrictions.

The restrictions in Kashmir

and other policies “abrogate

the rights of different segments

of its Muslim population,

threatening the democratic fu-

ture of a country long seen as a

potential bulwark of freedom in

Asia and the world,” said Sarah

Repucci of Freedom House, a

U.S.-based pro-democracy non-

profit, in a recent report.

India imposed a communica-

tions lockdown on the region on

Aug. 5, when it stripped the

state of the relative autonomy it

had enjoyed for decades. It

rounded up much of the region’s

political class and has flooded it

with thousands of extra troops.

The disputed Kashmir re-

gion is claimed by both India

and Pakistan, and many Kash-

miris want independence from

India. Indian authorities say

the measures were necessary

to prevent violent protests and

thwart attempts by outsiders

to incite the local populace.

Residents were happy with

the restoration of internet ser-

vices, said Saqib Rehman Dar,

a Srinagar taxi driver who has

been interacting with friends

and family through WhatsApp

for the first time this year.

“We are happy,” he said.

“Things are getting better.”

BYVIBHUTIAGARWAL

India Gives

Kashmir

Limited

Web Access

an unaccountable political in-

stitution masquerading as a

legal body.”

He said the timing, days af-

ter the U.S. government and

the Taliban signed an agree-

ment designed to lead to a

lasting peace, is “all the more

reckless.” Mr. Pompeo said

the U.S. government will take

all necessary measures to

protect its people against any

action by prosecutors.

The U.S. last year an-

nounced visa restrictions

against ICC officials involved

in the probe and warned that

prosecutions could imperil

U.S. personnel and American

allies.

The Trump administration

had welcomed the court’s re-

jection last year of the 2017

request by ICC prosecutor Fa-

tou Bensouda to investigate

possible crimes committed

since May 2003 in Afghani-

stan. The judges in a pretrial

chamber had ruled that an in-

vestigation “would not serve

the interests of justice.”

But the appellate ruling

said that the pretrial chamber

shouldn’t have considered the

“interests of justice factor,”

but only whether there was a

reasonable factual basis to

proceed and whether it was in

the court’s jurisdiction.

In a statement, the Afghan

government said war crimes

are still being committed by

the Taliban, while Kabul has

addressed wrongdoing in its

own ranks, including by pros-

ecuting those responsible. A

signatory to the treaty that

created the ICC, Afghanistan

said it would cooperate with

the ICC chief prosecutor’s of-

fice.

The chief prosecutor, Ms.

Bensouda, in a statement wel-

comed the appellate decision,

and said the investigation will

be “independent, impartial

and objective.” Ms. Bensouda

said her office would provide

formal notice to the relevant

parties.

The appellate decision

drew praise from interna-

tional advocacy organizations.

Solomon Sacco, head of in-

ternational justice at Amnesty

International, called it “the

first true hope of justice for

the victims of conflict, who

have been shamefully ignored

for years, including in the re-

cent peace agreement that

has nothing to say about the

crimes committed against

them.”

Jamil Dakwar, director of

the human rights program at

the American Civil Liberties

Union, said of Mr. Pompeo’s

comments: “No one except

the world’s most brutal re-

gimes win when the United

States tries to disparage and

sabotage international insti-

tutions established to hold

human rights abusers ac-

countable.”

Ms. Bensouda spent years

collecting information on the

Afghan war and potential

crimes on all sides.

Prosecutors said in 2017

that they had information

that provided a reasonable

basis to believe that U.S.

armed forces and CIA mem-

bers “committed acts of tor-

ture, cruel treatment, out-

rages upon personal dignity,

rape and sexual violence

against conflict-related de-

tainees in Afghanistan and

other locations.”

The U.S. isn’t a signatory

to the ICC, which began its

work in The Hague in 2002 as

a court of last resort for

genocide, war crimes and

crimes against humanity,

when national justice systems

can’t or won’t take action.

Mr. Pompeo, who said the

Afghan government had urged

the ICC not to take this ac-

tion, accused the body of po-

litical motives and disputed

the factual basis for the deci-

sion.

The International Criminal
Court ruled that its chief
prosecutor could investigate
alleged war crimes in Afghan-
istan that may have been
committed by U.S. and other
forces, deepening a confron-
tation with the Trump admin-
istration.
The appellate ruling Thurs-
day allows prosecutors of the
court, created under an inter-
national treaty but never rec-
ognized by Washington, to
move ahead with investiga-
tions of actions during the
lengthy conflict by the U.S.,
the Central Intelligence
Agency, Afghan forces, the
Taliban and the Taliban-
aligned Haqqani network.
The U.S. has long opposed
such an investigation, saying
it could place U.S. personnel
at risk of punitive action by
an international body. Secre-
tary of State Mike Pompeo
called Thursday’s decision “a
truly breathtaking action by

BYJAMESMARSON
ANDCOURTNEYMCBRIDE

U.S. Faces Court’s Afghan-War Investigation

Secretary of State

Pompeo rejects the

International

Criminal Court move.