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Pakistan’s foreign minister says Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate will arrive in the capital, Islamabad, on a four-day visit next week.Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Friday the royal couple, known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, will arrive in Pakistan on Oct. 14.He said the visit will further improve ties between Pakistan and Britain.Qureshi said Prince William’s mother Princess Diana visited Pakistan in the 1990s to participate in a fundraising event for a cancer hospital built by Imran Khan, now Pakistan’s prime minister.
 
Qureshi said Pakistanis still fondly remember Diana, who died in a car accident in 1997.
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Henry Ridgwell contributed to this report from Kyiv.
WHITE HOUSE — The former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine arrived on Capitol Hill Friday morning to testify privately before House committees leading the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, despite previous efforts by the State Department to block officials from being deposed.Trump recalled Marie Yovanovitch from her U.S. ambassadorship to Ukraine last May after unfounded claims she sought to undermine his policies.The White House is refusing to participate in the impeachment inquiry, calling it “unconstitutional.” and the State Department has, thus far, blocked U.S. Ambassador to the European Union and Trump donor Gordon Sondland from giving voluntary testimony.Trump continues to maintain that his July 25 phone call with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy–which prompted the impeachment inquiry– was innocuous.FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the sidelines of the 74th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Sept. 25, 2019.Zelenskiy has also stated that there was “no blackmail” in the call in which Trump asked Zelenskiy to investigate Democratic presidential frontrunner and former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter.There is no evidence of any wrongdoing by Joe or Hunter Biden.After President Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier in the day stated there was “no blackmail” in the July 25 call with Trump, the U.S. leader told reporters, “We released a perfect conversation. The president of Ukraine just confirmed that and that should be case over.”Trump alleges that when Biden was vice president, he threatened to withhold loan guarantees to Ukraine unless the government stopped investigating a gas company on which Hunter Biden, held a board seat.House committees on Thursday issued a subpoena for Trump’s energy secretary, Rick Perry, as well as two associates of the president’s outside lawyer, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.”I don’t know why they would be calling Rick Perry. I don’t know why they would be calling all these people. It is a very bad situation for our country,” Trump said to reporters on the White House South Lawn before boarding the Marine One helicopter.FILE – U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry speaks at the California Republican fall convention in Indian Wells, California, Sept. 6, 2019. House Democrats say Perry may have “reinforced the stark message” Trump conveyed to Zelenskiy. Perry says his only interest was to get Trump to talk to the Ukrainians on energy matters.Former White House advisor on Russian affairs Fiona Hill is expected to testify on Monday. Also scheduled to testify next week are Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent, State Department counselor Ulrich Brechbuhl, and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland.Sondland was originally scheduled to testify last Tuesday but did not appear. Shortly thereafter, Trump tweeted he could not allow Sondland to testify because the Democratic-led investigation was “compromised.”House investigators subpoenaed Sondland hours after he did not appear. His lawyers said Friday he would testify next Thursday, although he has not been authorized to release documents investigators have sought.
 
According to a whistleblower complaint, and a rough transcript of the call released by the White House, Trump urged Zelenskiy to open an investigation into Biden.The three main House committees conducting the impeachment inquiry have released a set of text messages obtained from former U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, including one Volker sent to Zelenskiy aide Andrey Yermak saying, “We will nail down date for visit to Washington” if Zelenskiy “convinces Trump he will investigate.”Zelenskiy was elected in April on a platform of rooting out corruption. Now the Ukrainian leader is facing criticism over his own conduct, according to political analyst Ilya Kusa of the Ukrainian Institute of the Future.”It has become his first international diplomatic crisis. He allowed us to get involved in the American elections and this is not the thing that we should have done because we have plenty of our own problems and trying to get into this process it’s too global, too big a game to play. And, of course, too risky because Ukraine here is just a gambling chip,” says Kusa.
 
Volker last week gave closed-door testimony to the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight committees. 
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The Pentagon on Friday urged Turkey to halt its military incursion into Syria, saying it threatens progress in combating the Islamic State group and risks harm to U.S. troops.It was the Pentagon’s most explicit criticism of the Turkish operation, which began Wednesday as a campaign against a Syrian Kurd-led militia that has partnered with U.S. forces over the past five years to fight the Islamic State.President Donald Trump has called the invasion a “bad idea” and held out the possibility of the U.S. mediating a settlement. The Pentagon had said before the operation began that the U.S. military would not support it, but it had not openly criticized the invasion. The U.S. pulled about 30 special operations troops out of observation posts along the invasion route on the Syrian border.In a written statement, the chief Pentagon spokesman, Jonathan Hoffman, said that in a phone call Thursday with his Turkish counterpart, Defense Secretary Mark Esper “made it clear” that the U.S. opposes the incursion.In this photo taken from the Turkish side of the border between Turkey and Syria, in Akcakale, Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey, smoke billows from targets inside Syria during bombardment by Turkish forces, Oct. 10, 2019.Hoffman said Esper told Defense Minister Hulusi Akar that his government’s military actions “place at risk” the progress made to defeat the extremists, and Esper urged Turkey to stop its incursion.“While the secretary reaffirmed we value our strategic bilateral relationship, this incursion risks serious consequences for Turkey,” Hoffman said. “The secretary also reiterated his strong concern that, despite U.S. force protection measures, Turkey’s actions could harm U.S. personnel in Syria.”The U.S. has about 1,000 troops in Syria.“As part of the call, Secretary Esper strongly encouraged Turkey to discontinue actions in northeastern Syria in order to increase the possibility that the United States, Turkey and our partners could find a common way to deescalate the situation before it becomes irreparable,” Hoffman said.Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke by phone on Wednesday with his Turkish counterpart to discuss the security situation in Syria. Details were not released. 
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U.S. President Donald Trump says the U.S. mission of defeating Islamic State in Syria is accomplished and that he plans to keep Turkey in line through economy and not military power. Trump told reporters Thursday that there are no U.S. combat forces in Syria and he does not think Americans would want to send thousands of troops to fight there. Turkey’s assault on Kurdish-held villages in northern Syria has sparked an exodus of civilians from their homes and is threatening to exacerbate a humanitarian crisis in the region. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
 
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is threatening to “open the gates” to millions of refugees to enter Europe as criticism grows over Turkey’s ongoing military operation against a Syrian Kurdish militia.”Hey, European Union! Pull yourself together,” Erdogan said at a meeting of party supporters Thursday. “I repeat it: If you try to describe our operation as an invasion, we will do what’s easy for us: we will open the doors and send 3.6 million refugees to you,” he added, to rapturous applause.Erdogan’s threat comes as the European Union and individual leaders in Europe are voicing criticism and calls for an end to Turkey’s major military offensive against the YPG Kurdish militia.Ankara launched the offensive Wednesday against the YPG, which it designates as a terrorist organization linked to Kurdish insurgents inside Turkey. The second day of fighting saw an intensification of airstrikes and artillery barrages against the militia.Tens of thousands of people are reported to have already fled the fighting, with growing numbers of civilian casualties.”Turkey is putting millions of people at humanitarian risk,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday at a news conference.European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker holds a news conference at the EU Commission headquarters ahead of an informal meeting of EU leaders, Brussels, Belgium, May 7, 2019.Blunt messageAnalysts suggest what provoked Erdogan’s migrant threat to Europe, however, were comments by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. On Wednesday, he called the Turkish operation a “catastrophe” and sent a blunt message to the Turkish president.”If the plan [in Syria] involves the creation of a so-called ‘safe zone,’ don’t expect the EU to pay for any of it,” Juncker said.That threat, some analysts say, will start alarm bells ringing in Ankara.Turkey’s military operation is seeking to create what Erdogan has called a “safe zone” 30 kilometers deep into Syria.Ankara plans to use the “safe zone” to resettle up to 2 million Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey. On Thursday, Erdogan declared that a million new homes would be built in the planned zone.Turkish media reported last month the project would cost more than $20 billion. Ankara reportedly is looking to the EU to foot much of the bill.FILE – In this June 14, 2015 file photo taken from the Turkish side of the border between Turkey and Syria, in Akcakale, Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey, thousands of Syrian refugees walk in order to cross into Turkey.The project is seen as a political lifeline for Erdogan. “For Turkey to send even 1 million refugees back will be a great success,” said Huseyin Bagci, professor of international relations at Ankara’s Middle East Technical University.”In the sense of not keeping the refugees here and paying for them,” he added, “everyday tensions in the country are growing over the refugees.”Erdogan asserts that hosting the 3.6 million Syrian refugees has cost nearly $40 billion. The massive construction program required to house the returning refugees in the proposed Syrian “safe zone” also would provide a significant boost to Turkey’s floundering economy, which has been another headache for Erdogan.Critics accuse Ankara of seeking to change the demographic makeup of the region, however, replacing Kurds with Sunni Arab Syrians, who are considered more loyal to Turkey.”There is zero chance of the EU funding this project. No decent country can consider this proposal,” political scientist Cengiz Aktar said. “To expect the EU to support a project involving the changing of demographics is madness.”Refugees and Migrants disembark on a ferry with destination the port of Piraeus, on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece, Sept. 30, 2019.Accusations against Syrian KurdsAnkara counters, accusing the Syrian Kurdish militia of ousting the local Arab population in the region, insisting it is seeking to redress those changes.Given the high stakes, Erdogan is using what is widely seen as his most potent leverage over Europe — the threat of a new refugee exodus. On Thursday, the Turkish president gave Europe a stark choice: face “catastrophe” if you do not “fall into line” with Turkey’s plans.In the past few months, there has been a surge in refugees entering the Greek Islands from nearby neighboring Turkey.Several Greek refugee centers warned of being overwhelmed. The rise in refugees stirred memories of the massive exodus in 2015 from Turkey when nearly a million people entered Greece.A 2016 migrant deal between Ankara and the EU markedly reduced the number of migrants, with Turkey becoming Europe’s gatekeeper.Some analysts question the power of Erdogan’s refugee card over Europe, though, given that since 2016, migration routes from Greece to western Europe are now closed.”I can see Greece being sunk by any new exodus,” said Soli Ozel, international relations lecturer at Istanbul’s Kadir Has University. “But I don’t see any refugees going to anywhere else from Greece. Therefore, this can turn out to be a bluff by Erdogan, something that will devastate Greece but not anybody else.”The recent increase in migrants entering Greece from Turkey and threats by Erdogan to end the migrant deal prompted a flurry of European diplomats and ministers rushing to Ankara seeking to assuage Turkish government concerns.”The primary concern of all European countries — from Spain to Portugal to Italy — they are all afraid of another wave of migrants to Europe. The European chemistry is completely destroyed over migration,” Bagci said.Analysts claim Ankara likely will be banking on such European migration fears in its efforts to get the EU to pay for its Syrian initiative.
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The Swedish Academy’s decision to bestow the 2018 Nobel Prize in literature on Polish author Olga Tokarczuk has given a rare morale boost to liberal Poles only three days before a national election that is likely to be won by the country’s right-wing populist party.Tokarczuk, 57, is a literary celebrity in Poland, whose reputation has risen fast in the English-speaking world, particularly after she won the Man Booker International prize in 2018 for her novel “Flights.” She won the Nobel for what the prize committee said was “a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life.”But she is not loved by all in her native land.She has been criticized by Polish conservatives _ and received death threats _ for criticizing aspects of the country’s past, including its episodes of anti-Semitism. Some of her works have celebrated the rich ethnic heritage of Poland, which was a cultural and religious melting pot before the Nazi German genocide during World War II and the postwar resettlement of ethnic populations.Her very appearance, with a dreadlock style known as a “plica Polonica” or Polish tangle, which has roots in Polish history, makes her stand out as a progressive icon as the country’s leadership seeks to put its conservative mark on the nation.
 
She was photographed recently at a gay pride parade in her hometown of Wroclaw holding small rainbow flags at a time when the ruling Law and Justice party has been depicting the gay rights movement as a mortal threat to Poland’s culture.Just this week, Law and Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski lashed out during a campaign stop at filmmakers and other cultural elites who he claims have tried to “destroy Poland’s reputation” with their explorations of Polish crimes, including the participation of some in killing Jews during the war. He said under his party, cultural elites will be no longer working for our enemies.''“Those who work (for the enemy) are being stigmatized and will be stigmatized further,” Kaczynski said.Those remarks sparked sharp criticism by some opposition politicians, while others found poetic justice in the world's most prestigious literary award going to Tokarczuk.“Olga Tokarczuk is an outstanding representative of the elites hated by Kaczynski,'” said Tomasz Lis, the editor of Newsweek Polska.
 
On Thursday, however, the country's conservative authorities had only words of praise for Tokarczurk, with Polish President Andrzej Duda calling it a “great day for Polish literature.”Culture Minister Piotr Glinski, who said recently that he had tried to read her books but just couldn't finish them, said he would try harder now. And he was happy to claim her accomplishment as one for the Polish nation.“A Nobel Prize is a clear sign that Polish culture is well appreciated in the world,'' Glinski tweeted.Congratulations!”European Union leader Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister who is also a critic of the current government, said on Twitter: “What joy and pride!”
 
Speaking Thursday before readers in Bielefeld, Germany, Tokarczuk described her surprise at winning, and had a message for people back in Poland: ‘let’s vote in a right way for democracy,” she said.Law and Justice is leading opinion polls ahead of the country’s parliamentary election on Sunday, its popularity boosted by generous state spending and an assertive Poland-first foreign policy.Two Nobel Prizes in literature, one for 2019 and one for last year, were announced Thursday after the 2018 literature award was postponed following sex abuse allegations that had rocked the Swedish Academy. The recipient of this year’s Nobel award for literature was Austrian writer Peter Handke.
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Thousands of people have watched the video uploaded by a gunman who killed two people Wednesday near a synagogue in Halle, Germany.The shooter livestreamed the attack for 35 minutes on the Amazon-owned gaming site Twitch.Twitch said only 5 people watched it live but subsequent recordings were viewed by another 2,200 people before the video was removed from the site.In the video, the shooter starts by saying, “My name is Anon, and I think the Holocaust never happened.” He also mentions feminism and “mass immigration” and concludes that “the root of all these problems is the Jew.”Despite efforts by tech giants to curb the spread of hate speech, the video has been shared on other platforms.According to AFP and NBC News, some 24 hours after the attack, it could still be found in its entirety on other websites.Agence France-Presse found two websites where the video was available — 4Chan and Bitchute. On those sites the video had been viewed more than 90,000, the French news agency reports.On Thursday, Germany’s chief federal prosecutor Peter Frank said the incident is being considered a terrorist attack.”What we experienced yesterday was terror,” he said. “The suspect, Stephan B., aimed to carry out a massacre in the synagogue in Halle.”
 
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Protesters in New York City brought traffic to a standstill in the city’s busiest hub and an activist in London climbed atop a plane as climate change demonstrators entered the fourth day of rallies around the world.Protesters transported a green boat on a trailer into Times Square and then sat down and refused police orders to move.The boat bore the logo of the activist group Extinction Rebellion. It also had the words “Act Now” written on it and a string of brightly colored flags.Some of the demonstrators carried signs in the shape of orange rescue lifebuoys, with the words, “Save our Future.”The New York Police Department made dozens of civil disobedience arrests and removed the vessel some time later, which led to re-opened area streets and brought the traffic back to normal.In London, a climate change activist scaled a British Airways plane at London City Airport. Extinction Rebellion identified the activist as a former Paralympic cyclist. A video streamed by the group showed the activist clinging to the fuselage.British Airways says that customers were booked onto alternative flights to Amsterdam.In a separate incident, BBC Newsnight political editor Nicholas Watt tweeted that his flight from London to Dublin had been grounded after a protester stood up to deliver a lecture on climate change just as it was to take off.Activists sought to shut down London City Airport on Thursday as part of their wave of protests worldwide.The environmental protests have been taking place in cities around the world.The group got its start in London last year, and has since spread to other countries. 
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The U.S. military has conducted an aerial survey of Greenland to assess the vast arctic island’s mineral potential as part of agreement between the two governments, a top U.S. diplomat said on Wednesday.The memorandum of understanding for cooperating on developing the mineral sector there was inked in June before a diplomatic flap between the United States and Denmark, to which Greenland is linked as an autonomous territory.U.S. President Donald Trump called off a visit to Denmark scheduled for early September after the country’s prime minister rebuffed his idea of purchasing Greenland.Frank Fannon, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for energy resources, told reporters at a gathering at London’s Chatham House that the process was “quite costly and technology intensive” and so Greenland had sought U.S. assistance.”We had the navy there to shoot a hyperspectral survey, to basically use overflight technology to better understand the resource endowment.””That creates data room where the U.S. Geological Survey would be brought in to help interpret the data and share with the Greenlanders what the potential resource endowment might be.”According to a press release by Greenland’s government, the aerial mapping would be jointly funded and involves surveying around 3,000 square kilometers in the territory’s southwestern Gardar province.The data gathered would measure the reflection of sunlight, including infrared light invisible to the naked eye, to better understand the geology of the terrain and its mineral content.Fannon added that the United States planned to help Greenland, armed with the data, to develop a regulatory structure to exploit mineral finds and market future tenders.Asked if relations with Greenland or Denmark had deteriorated since Trump’s offer to buy the territory, Fannon responded: “I’ve only seen the strongest relationship with Greenland as well as with Denmark … It’s a very positive relationship.”Greenland is gaining attention as global superpowers including China, Russia and the United States look toward the Arctic region for mineral resources and strategic waterways.A defense treaty between NATO allies Denmark and the United States dating back to 1951 gives the U.S. military rights over the Thule Air Base in northern Greenland.After Trump canceled his planned meeting with his Danish counterpart in August, Greenland’s foreign minister Ane Lone Bagger told Reuters: “We are open for business, but we’re not for sale.”
 
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Two associates of President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani have been arrested on federal charges of making illegal contributions to U.S. political campaigns.Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian-born U.S. citizen, and Igor Fruman, a Belarus-born U.S. citizen, were detained late Wednesday in Virginia, a law enforcement official said.  
 
The two men are expected to make their first court appearance in Alexandria, Virginia, Thursday afternoon, the official said.Parnas and Fruman reportedly helped Giuliani investigate corruption allegations against former vice president Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. House investigators conducting an impeachment inquiry of Trump were scheduled to talk to Parnas on Thursday and Fruman on Friday.Two other defendants — Ukrainian-born Andrey Kukushkin and American-born David Correia — also are named in the indictment in connection with the scheme to make illegal campaign contributions.Kukushkin has been arrested and will appear in federal court in San Francisco later Thursday, the official said. Correia remains at large.The four defendants are accused of “engaging in a scheme to funnel foreign money to candidates for federal and state office” in order to buy influence with them.  To hide the source of their illegal contributions, they created limited liability partnerships and used so-called “straw donors,” according to the 21-page indictment.Parnas and Fruman “sought to advance their personal financial interests and the political interests of at least one Ukrainian government official with whom they were working,” according to the indictment. The Ukrainian official is not identified.In 2018, Parnas and Fruman allegedly made a contribution of $325,000 to a pro-Trump super PAC through Global Energy Producers (GEP), a purported liquefied natural gas company created for the purpose of funneling the funds. The contribution triggered a complaint with the Federal Election Commission. Parnas and Fruman made another contribution of $15,000 to a second political committee, claiming the gas company as its source.“Despite the fact that the FEC forms for these contributions required Parnas and Fruman to disclose the true donor of the funds, they falsely reported that the contributions came from GEP,” according to the indictment.Instead, according to the indictment, the funds came from “a private lending transaction” between Fruman and third parties.Parnas and Fruman also allegedly pledged to raise $20,000 for an unnamed member of Congress who had received as much as $3 million from the pro-Trump super PAC, according to the indictment.
Around the  time he made the pledge, Parnas allegedly met with the congressman to enlist his help in getting the Trump Administration to recall Marie Yovanovitch, then the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. The effort allegedly came at the request of one or more Ukrainian officials, according to the indictment.  
Trump recalled Yovanovitch on May 20. During a July 25 call to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Trump described her as “bad news.” In addition, Zelenskiy was critical of Yovanovitch, complaining during the call that she “would not accept me as a new president well enough.”
Yovanovitch is scheduled to give a deposition Friday to House impeachment investigators.   
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused his predecessor on Thursday of fomenting protests to derail a peace process for the country’s separatist-held east and said talks with Russia were the only way to end the five-year war there.Zelenskiy told reporters that Petro Poroshenko, the incumbent leader he defeated in April, was “pushing” people to oppose the withdrawal of heavy weaponry in eastern Ukraine, where fighting against Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014.“He is against the pullback and he thinks that he can spearhead another Maidan,” Zelenskiy said, referring to the square in the capital of Kyiv that was the site of 2013-2014 protests that ousted a pro-Russian government and eventually propelled Poroshenko into power.“We want to end this war. I don’t think the previous government had quite the same desire,” Zelenskiy said.Zelenskiy said he hoped his country’s people would back his efforts to end the conflict with the separatists.Yet the weaponry pullback failed in two locations in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, separatist officials said. In Kyiv, the military in charge of the operation in the east said one Ukrainian soldier died in shelling Thursday.Ukraine, along with Russia and the separatists, signed an accord last week that calls for a local election and weapons withdrawal in the east, paving the way for a much-anticipated summit with Russia mediated by the leaders of Germany and France.The political opposition and Poroshenko have called the steps too much of a concession to Moscow. Poroshenko lost his bid for re-election by a landslide to Zelenskiy, a comedian with no prior political experience.Demonstrators greet former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (C) in central Kyiv Oct. 6, 2019, during a protest against broader autonomy for separatist territories, part of a plan to end a war with Russian-backed fighters.The planned weaponry withdrawal by both government forces and the separatists was to begin Monday but was delayed because of shelling from both sides.  Heavy shelling was reported in several locations along the front line late Wednesday.Several dozen far-right Ukrainian activists and veterans also arrived in the area Wednesday, threatening to hamper the disengagement. Zelenskiy accused both the separatists and the veterans of trying to spoil peace efforts.“As long as different people from both sides who don’t want the disengagement keeping coming there and do random shooting, there won’t be any pullback,” he said.Russia has been propping up the rebels in Ukraine’s industrial heartland since 2014 with funds, weapons and sometimes troops that would cross over into Ukraine for crucial offensives against government forces. Russia vehemently denies, however, that it is party to the Ukrainian conflict, insisting that the separatists are acting independently.After some parts of the withdrawal failed, Ukrainian officials said they would wait for the current cease-fire to last a week before attempting the heavy weapons withdrawal.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in comments carried by state-owned news agencies Thursday, said he regretted the withdrawal hasn’t happened and expressed suspicion that Ukraine might be looking to backtrack on the agreement.Asked about the details of a political settlement as well as conditions for holding the local vote in the east, Zelenskiy said details including control over the Russian-Ukrainian border would be discussed at the four-way summit with Russia, France and Germany.Zelenskiy said he was open to sitting down with Russian President Vladimir Putin for one-on-one talks, despite the overwhelming view in Ukraine that Russia’s shrewd leader would wrap the Ukrainian leader around his finger and get him to make unacceptable concessions. 
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