World

AMMAN — Citizens around the world are very concerned with the ramifications of a Donald Trump presidency, according to a poll conducted by Ipsos.

In a survey conducted in 25 countries, most citizens, 57 per cent, say they would vote for US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton; far surpassing her Republican rival, Trump, 13 per cent.  Thirty per cent of respondents have not chosen either candidate, Ipsos said in a statement sent to The Jordan Times this week.

Only 9 per cent of those surveyed in 25 countries believe that Trump, perceived as a controversial candidate, will have a positive impact on world peace and security, and 54 per cent believe that the election of the former first lady, Clinton, would be a positive step to keep the peace.

From an economic standpoint, those surveyed by Ipsos expressed pessimism towards the Republican candidate’s ability to bring about positive change on the global economy. Only 14 per cent of respondents believe that he may have a positive impact on the economy, the statement said.  

Clinton on the other hand, received the backing of 46 per cent of respondents, reflecting their belief in her ability to boost the global economy.

According to the survey, Mexico appears to be the most pro-Clinton country and global superpowers are in support of Trump.

The Republican candidate has indicated that he has plans to build a “wall” between the US and Mexico, to prevent what he described as “drug smugglers” from entering the country.

The pollster said Trump would only receive 1 per cent of Mexicans votes if the population was eligible to vote for the president of the United States.

In contrast, Trump has surpassed Clinton in the US’ rival economic and political superpower countries, China and Russia, where he received 32 per cent and 28 per cent in support from the surveyed citizens respectively, the poll showed.  Clinton on the other hand received 28 per cent support from the Chinese respondents and 12 per cent from the Russians.

In Muslim countries, the survey found that Trump's statements and plans, including plans to prevent Muslims from entering the US and to monitor mosques, has boosted Clinton's edge.

In Turkey, Trump gathered only 13 per cent of potential votes while Clinton received 57 per cent, Ipsos said.

In other European countries, Trump’s popularity is greatly limited, such as in France, Germany, Spain and Britain, where he received 7 per cent, 9 per cent, 6 per cent and 11 per cent in potential support, respectively in those nations. 

DHAKA — Seven militants who killed 20 people at a restaurant in Dhaka were local Bangladeshis and authorities had tried before to arrest five of them, police said, as investigators probed for possible links with international Islamist extremist groups.

The gunmen stormed the upmarket restaurant in the diplomatic zone late on Friday, before killing mostly non-Muslim hostages, including at least nine Italians, seven Japanese and an American.

The Daesh terror group claimed responsibility, warning citizens of “crusader countries” that their citizens would not be safe “as long as their aircraft are killing Muslims”, the group said in a statement. It also posted pictures of five fighters grinning in front of a black flag who it said were involved in the attack, according to the SITE monitoring website.

The claims have not been confirmed, but Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told Reuters late on Saturday that neither Daesh nor Al Qaeda was involved. He reiterated the government’s line that home-grown militants were responsible for a spate of killings in the country over the past 18 months.

“This was done by JMB,” Khan said, referring to Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, which claims to represent Daesh in Bangladesh.

Analysts say that as Islamic State loses territory in Iraq and Syria and its finances get drained, it may be trying to build affiliates in countries such as Bangladesh for terrorists to launch attacks locally and cheaply.

Rich families

Deputy inspector general of police, Shahidur Rahman, told Reuters on Sunday authorities were investigating any connection between the attackers and trans-national groups such as Daesh or Al Qaeda.

He said the militants were mostly educated and from rich families, but declined to give any more details.

National police chief Shahidul Hoque said all the gunmen were Bangladeshi.

“Five of them were listed as militants and law enforcers made several drives to arrest them,” Hoque told reporters in Dhaka late on Saturday.

Whoever was responsible, the attack marked a major escalation in violence by militants who have demanded Islamic rule in Bangladesh, whose 160 million people are mostly Muslim.

Previous attacks have mostly singled out individuals advocating a secular or liberal lifestyle or religious minorities.

Reciting Koran verse

Friday night’s attack, during the final days of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, was more coordinated than the previous assaults.

Gunmen singled out foreigners as soon as they stormed through the doors of the restaurant popular with expatriates. They ordered all Bangladeshis to stand up before the killing began, a source briefed on the investigation said. The Bangladeshis were later told to close their eyes and recite verses from the Koran and one militant cursed at a Bangladeshi for eating with non-Muslims during Ramadan, the source said.

The Daesh-affiliated Amaq news agency claimed in a report on Saturday the militants identified and released Muslim patrons from the Dhaka restaurant, SITE said.

The victims also included at least three Bangladeshis or people of Bangladeshi descent.

The militants hacked most of their victims with machetes, leaving their bodies to bleed over the floor.

A 12-hour standoff with security forces ended when around 100 commandos stormed the building, killing six of the militants and capturing a seventh after attempts at negotiations proved fruitless, authorities said. They recovered explosives and sharp weapons from the scene.

It was not clear if the attackers had made any demands.

Home-grown groups

Up until Friday’s attack, authorities had maintained no operational links exist between Bangladeshi militants and international jihadi networks. Bangladesh has blamed JMB and another home-grown outfit for the wave of grisly killings over the past year and a half.

One line of inquiry being pursued is whether the restaurant attackers received any guidance from Daesh or Al Qaeda, an official in Bangladesh’s counter-terrorism wing said.

“Pictures [uploaded on Twitter] indicate they might have been encouraged by ISIS [Daesh] activities abroad,” said Muhammad Zamir, a former senior Bangladesh foreign ministry official. “But this does not show a direct link to ISIS. This is exactly what was done and disputed later in the case of the Orlando attack.” 

He was referring to the killing of 49 people last month by a man who pledged allegiance to Daesh.

Friday’s attack in Dhaka was the worst since 2005, when JMB set off a series of bombs throughout Bangladesh in the space of an hour killing at least 25 people, mostly judges, police and journalists.

The authorities executed six top JMB leaders in March 2007 and police have continued to hunt for group members, often detaining suspected militants following intelligence tips.

In February, Bangladesh police arrested three JMB members suspected of killing a Hindu priest.

Daesh has claimed responsibility for a series of other attacks in Bangladesh in recent months since first taking credit for a killing in September last year. An Italian missionary was shot and wounded in the neck last November. Another Italian and a Japanese citizen were killed in attacks at the end of September and early October last year.

Save me, save me

In a run-down government hospital in Dhaka, two police officers who were on patrol duty on Friday night received treatment for gunshot wounds, with bandages and plasters on cheeks and legs. Behind their beds, a sheet of paper carried details of their wounds.

Struggling to speak, 30-year-old officer Pradip, who gave just one name, recalled rushing to the spot after receiving a wireless message that night. A blood-smeared man lay in front of the restaurant, shouting “save me, save me”.

The police officers called for backup after they were shot at from inside the restaurant.

“At some point I felt blood was rolling down my cheek,” Pradip said. “We did respond with fire and the attackers stopped. We then rescued the man, who was the driver of some of the Japanese citizens who were inside.” 

After meeting the officers in the hospital, national police chief A.K.M. Shahidul Hoque told Reuters they had gleaned some preliminary details on the identities of the attackers, but he declined to give details.

Garment industry

The seven Japanese killed were working on projects involving the Japan International Cooperation Agency, an overseas aid agency, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Saturday.

Six of them were in Dhaka to work on a metrorail project, Bangladesh’s communication minister, Obaidul Quader, said.

Italian media said several of the Italians victims worked in Bangladesh’s $26 billion garment sector, which accounts for 80 per cent of its exports.

DHAKA — Militants killed 20 people, most of them foreigners, inside an upmarket restaurant in Bangladesh's capital, before security forces stormed the building and ended a 12-hour standoff on Saturday.

The Daesh terror group said it was responsible for one of the most brazen attacks in the South Asian nation's history, but that claim has yet to be confirmed.

It marks a major escalation in a campaign by militants over the past 18 months that had targeted mostly individuals advocating a secular or liberal lifestyle in majority-Muslim Bangladesh.

The gunmen, who stormed the busy restaurant in Dhaka's diplomatic area late on Friday night, ordered all Bangladeshis to stand up before they began killing foreigners, a source briefed on the police investigation said.

Among the dead was the wife of an Italian businessman killed by a machete. She was found by her husband after he spent all night hiding behind a tree outside the café while the gunmen were inside, Agnese Barolo, a friend who lives in Dhaka and spoke to him, told Reuters.

Seven Italians were in the café when the attack started, including several working in the garment industry, Italian media have reported, while seven Japanese citizens were unaccounted for.

The killing of foreigners will likely shatter the confidence of the expatriate community in Bangladesh, many of whom work for multinationals in the country's $26 billion garment sector that accounts for around 15 per cent of the economy. Bangladesh is the world's second largest apparel exporter after China.

Thirteen hostages were rescued, including one Japanese and two Sri Lankans, the army said.

Sharp weapons

Army spokesman Colonel Rashidul Hasan said he could not yet confirm the nationalities of those who had died. Most of them had been killed by "sharp weapons".

Hasan said initially that it seemed all the victims were foreigners, but now the army believed some locals were among the dead as well.

Six gunmen were killed during the police operation and one was captured, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said in a TV broadcast after the army concluded its operation to clear the café. Two police were killed in the initial assault.

Daesh, which has claimed a series of machete attacks on minority groups in Bangladesh over the past year, posted photos of bodies and blood smeared across floors that it said were dead foreigners killed in the assault.

Police did not immediately confirm whether the pictures were from the site of the massacre.

Gowher Rizvi, an adviser to Hasina, told Reuters security forces had tried to negotiate with the gunmen.

Sporadic gunfire

The hostage crisis began when security guards in the Gulshan district of Dhaka, popular with expatriates, noticed several gunmen outside a medical centre, Rizvi said. When the guards approached, the gunmen ran into a building housing the restaurant, packed with people waiting for tables, he said.

Ali Arsalan, co-owner of the restaurant, said his staff told him the attackers yelled "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great) as they stormed the building, split between Holey Artisan Bakery and the O'Kitchen Restaurant.

The restaurant was regarded as a tranquil place that was safe to visit in an increasingly dangerous city.

Police said the assailants exchanged sporadic gunfire with police outside for several hours after the gunmen attacked the restaurant around 9:00pm on Friday.

A police officer at the scene said when security forces tried to enter the premises at the beginning of the siege they were met with a hail of bullets and grenades that killed at least two of them.

A café employee who escaped told local television about 20 customers were in the restaurant at the time, most of them foreigners. Some 15 to 20 staff were working at the restaurant, the employee said.

The rescued Japanese man was eating dinner with seven other Japanese, all of whom were consultants for Japan's foreign aid agency, a Japanese government spokesman said. The fate of the other seven remained unknown.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the Japanese aid workers "were giving their all for the development of Bangladesh".

"We feel strong indignation at this inhumane, despicable act of terrorism, which has claimed many lives," he told reporters.

Spate of murders

Bangladesh has seen a spate of murders in recent months claimed by Daesh and Al Qaeda on liberals, gays, foreigners and religious minorities.

A Hindu priest was hacked to death on Friday at a temple in Jhinaidah district, 300km southwest of Dhaka.

Local authorities say no operational links exist between Bangladeshi militants and international extremist networks. They say two local militant groups, Ansar-al-Islam and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, have been behind the violence over the past 18 months. Ansar pledges allegiance to Al Qaeda, while Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen claims it represents Daesh.

"The bottom line is Bangladesh has plenty of local, often unaffiliated, militants and radicals happy to stage attacks in ISIS's name," said Michael Kugelman, South Asia associate at The Wilson Centre in Washington DC, using an acronym commonly used for Daesh.

Daesh had claimed more attacks in Bangladesh than in Pakistan or Afghanistan, he said.

The restaurant assault also comes after Bangladesh hanged an Islamist party leader, Motiur Rahman Nizami, on May 11 for genocide and other crimes committed during a 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. That has drawn an angry reaction and some scattered violence from supporters.

Foreign diplomats and human rights groups have warned that Bangladesh's ongoing war crime tribunals and the government's pressure on the Bangladesh Nationalist Party have created a backlash domestically, according to Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. 

ISTANBUL — Three suspected Daesh suicide bombers who killed 44 people in a gun and bomb attack at Istanbul's main airport this week were Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationals, a Turkish government official said on Thursday.

The attack on one of the world's busiest airports, a hub at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, was the deadliest in a series of suicide bombings in Turkey this year.

The three bombers opened fire to create panic outside, before two of them got inside the terminal building and blew themselves up. 

The third detonated his explosives at the entrance. A further 238 people were wounded.

The official gave no further details beyond confirming the attackers’ nationalities and declined to be named because details of the investigation have not yet been released. Forensics teams had been struggling to identify the bombers from their limited remains, officials said earlier.

“A medical team is working around the clock to conclude the identification process,” one of the officials said.

Interior Minister Efkan Ala told parliament that evidence continued to point to Daesh responsibility and that 19 of the dead were foreigners. Ala said the identity and nationality of one of the bombers had been determined, but did not comment further.

The pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper said the Russian bomber was from Dagestan, which borders Chechnya, where Moscow has led two wars against separatists and religious militants since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper named him as Osman Vadinov and said he had come from Raqqa, the heart of Daesh-controlled territory in Syria. The Russian interior ministry said it was checking information about Vadinov.

A spokesman for Kyrgyzstan’s state security service said it was investigating, while the Uzbek security service had no immediate comment.

Thousands of foreign fighters from scores of countries have crossed Turkey to join Daesh in Syria and Iraq in recent years. Turkey has tightened security on the Syrian border, but has long argued it needs more information from foreign intelligence agencies to intercept the fighters.

The revelation that one of the attackers was a Russian national comes at an awkward time for relations between Ankara and Moscow, strained since Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border last November.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote to Russian leader Vladimir Putin this week to express regret over the incident, but officials in Ankara say he stopped short of making the apology Moscow wants before it will lift economic sanctions.

Nikolai Patrushev, the head of Russia’s Security Council, sent a telegram to his Turkish counterpart calling for cooperation in fighting terrorism after the bombing, Russian news agencies reported.

Dawn raids

Turkish police detained 13 people, four of them foreigners, in raids across Istanbul in connection with Tuesday night’s attack. Broadcaster CNN Turk said they were accused of providing logistical support for the bombings.

Counter-terrorism teams led by police special forces launched simultaneous raids at 16 locations in the city, two officials told Reuters.

Yeni Safak said the organiser of the attack was suspected to be a man called Akhmed Chatayev, of Chechen origin. Chatayev is identified on a United Nations sanctions list as a leader in Daesh responsible for training Russian-speaking militants, and as wanted by Russian authorities.

Turkish officials did not confirm to Reuters that Chatayev was part of the investigation.

Wars in neighbouring Syria and Iraq have fostered a home-grown Daesh network blamed for a series of suicide bombings in Turkey, including two others this year targeting foreign tourists in the heart of Istanbul.

Daesh has established a self-declared “caliphate” on swathes of both Syria and Iraq and declared war on all non-Muslims plus Muslims who do not accept its ultra-hardline religious vision. It has claimed responsibility for similar bomb and gun attacks in Belgium and France in the past year.

Turkey, a member of the NATO military alliance and part of the US-led coalition against Daesh, has repeatedly fired back on the Sunni hardliners in recent months after rocket fire from northern Syria hit the border town of Kilis.

In a sign of the growing threats to Turkey, US defence sources said on Wednesday that Washington was moving towards permanently banning families from accompanying US military and civilian personnel deployed in the country.

US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the Istanbul attack bore the “hallmark” of Daesh and that one US citizen had been slightly injured.

Parliamentary pressure

Critics say Turkey woke up too late to the threat from Daesh, focusing instead early in the Syrian civil war on trying to oust President Bashar Assad by backing even his hardline Islamist opponents, arguing there could be no peace without his departure.

Turkey’s main opposition leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, angered by the ruling AK Party’s refusal to hold an inquiry into the airport attack, accused the AKP of “an ideological kinship” with Daesh. Government officials have flatly rejected such accusations in the past.

Turkey adjusted its military rules of engagement this month to allow NATO allies to carry out more patrol flights along its border with Syria.

It has also carried out repeated raids on suspected Daesh safe houses in Turkey.

Nine suspected militants, thought to have been in contact with Daesh members in Syria, were detained in dawn raids in four districts of the Aegean coastal city of Izmir on Thursday, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

It said they were accused of financing, recruiting and providing logistical support to the group.

The military killed two suspected Daesh members trying to enter Turkey illegally at the weekend, security sources said on Thursday.

One of the suspects, a Syrian national, was thought to have been plotting a suicide bomb attack in either the capital Ankara or the southern province of Adana, home to Incirlik, a major base used by US and Turkish forces through which some coalition air strikes against Daesh are carried out. 

BRUSSELS — The EU opened a new negotiating chapter with Turkey on Thursday on its long-stalled bid for membership, a week after a British vote to leave the EU in which it was a major campaign issue.

The decision is part of the European Union’s migrant deal with Ankara in which it also agreed to boost aid to Turkey to cope with millions of refugees on its territory and to speed up visa liberalisation.

Muslim-majority Turkey formally launched its membership bid and since then the EU has opened 15 chapters out of the 35 required to join the bloc, although it has only completed one.

Britain’s bitterly-fought Brexit referendum saw “Leave” campaigners jump on the Turkish membership issue to back their claim Turkey would be a massive source of migrants in the future.

“All EU member states have agreed to open this chapter” on finance and budgetary affairs, said Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders after chairing a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Brussels.

“We stressed the importance of EU-Turkey relations, the EU and Turkey working together on issues including migration,” Koenders said.

The decision was part of an EU agreement in March to speed up accession talks in return for Turkey helping to control the massive inflow of migrants, mostly fleeing Syria, which overwhelmed the bloc last year.

Koenders told reporters the talks had begun with a minute’s silence in memory of the victims of the bomb attacks on Istanbul Airport which left more than 40 dead, recalling a similar, Daesh-claimed atrocity in Brussels in March.

Turkey rights concerns 

The membership talks have been stalled largely due to disagreements over Turkey’s human rights record and there were tough exchanges again on Thursday. 

Koenders stressed Turkey must meet EU rights standards as all candidate countries should.

“As the EU, we also stressed the need for swift reform efforts, especially in areas of the rule of law and fundamental rights,” he said.

“As a candidate country, naturally [there has to be] respect for the highest standards of democracy and rule of law.” 

The EU says it cannot grant Turkey visa-free travel if it does not curb the broad scope of its anti-terror laws, something Ankara says it cannot do as it battles Kurdish militants and other extremist groups.

“Of course the messages of condolences and solidarity are always appreciated,” Cavusoglu said in translated remarks.

“But only showing solidarity is not efficient in fighting terrorism... Turkey is fighting against terrorism; new demands that would encourage terrorists, we do not find that helpful.” 

The Commission, the EU’s executive arm, responded immediately that visa liberalisation was never meant “to reduce Turkey’s capacity to fight terrorism effectively, quite the contrary”. 

But the Turkish authorities should be proportionate, so that peaceful opponents of the government “do not find themselves being put in prison or charged for this expression of views on the basis of the terrorism legislation”. 

Cavusoglu was due to meet European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans later Thursday for talks on the visa issue.

BRUSSELS — Turkey defied pressure from the European Union on Thursday to amend its anti-terrorism laws, saying that a suicide bomb attack at Istanbul Airport this week that killed 42 people provided further vindication of its tough stance.

But Turkish officials, in Brussels for further talks on their country’s decades-long bid to join the EU, also argued that the bloc needed Turkey, with its economic and geopolitical weight, more than ever after Britain’s vote last week to leave.

The EU repeated its demand that Turkey modify its anti-terrorism laws, saying they limit freedom of expression and allow indiscriminate arrests of activists, but Ankara showed no sign of budging.

“Turkey today is fighting against terrorism,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a joint news conference with senior EU officials, referring to Tuesday’s gun and bomb attack by three suspected Daesh militants.

“New demands directed at Turkey would encourage terrorists. We cannot make any changes in our anti-terror laws,” he said.

Turkish police have detained 13 people, three of them foreigners, in raids across Istanbul in connection with the attack, the deadliest in a series of suicide bombings in Turkey this year.

The EU has tied the changes in the anti-terrorism laws to progress in Turkey’s bid to win for its citizens the right to travel in Europe without visas. That right is part of a bigger deal whereby Turkey also promises to take back Syrian and other migrants who leave its shores for the EU.

Fresh vision needed

Turkey, a NATO member strategically located between Europe and the Middle East and boasting a vibrant economy and young population, will be a great asset for the EU, the country’s EU minister Omer Celik said in Brussels.

“Turkey is a major European power... Europe needs a fresh start and a fresh vision and will have to include Turkey,” he said, referring to Britain’s decision to leave, or “Brexit”.

“Whatever the picture will be after Brexit, Turkey’s position will be stronger. Any picture that doesn’t include Turkey will be a weak picture.” 

Ironically, Britain had long been Turkey’s main advocate in the EU, often in the face of deep German and French scepticism.

But Britain’s referendum “leave” campaign successfully tapped into Britons’ fears of large-scale immigration, including from Muslim Turkey. Prime Minister David Cameron, struggling to persuade his compatriots to vote to remain in the EU, even suggested Turkey might not join until the year 3000, causing consternation in Ankara.

In another role reversal, German Chancellor Angela Merkel reluctantly agreed to back an acceleration in Turkey’s EU bid because she needs Ankara’s help in stemming the flow of migrants after more than one million arrived in Germany last year.

This month EU officials have taken Ankara to task not only over its anti-terrorism laws but also over its arrest of three press freedom campaigners, amid deepening unease about the human rights situation in Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“We have to act within the limits of the rule of law and defend our freedom of expression. This is not something we can give up or suspend,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn told Thursday’s news conference.

In a small victory for Turkey, the EU opened negotiations on Thursday on EU budget payments, one of 35 policy areas or chapters in the country’s accession process.

But Slovakia, which takes over the EU’s rotating six-month presidency on Friday from the Netherlands, played down Turkish hopes for more swift progress in the negotiations which began in 2005 but have only edged forward very slowly.

“I would like to open more chapters during our presidency but honestly I don’t see the consensus,” Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak told reporters in Bratislava.

LONDON — Britain must secure control over immigration in divorce negotiations with the European Union, Stephen Crabb, the first candidate to put himself forward to succeed David Cameron as British prime minister, said on Wednesday.

Work and Pensions Minister Crabb, who supported Britain staying in the EU at last week's vote, ruled out holding another referendum and said his Conservative Party and the country must now unite in focusing on negotiating the best Brexit deal.

Cameron, who led the Remain campaign, announced his resignation after Britain voted by 52 to 48 per cent to leave the bloc. A leadership contest within the ruling Conservative Party will take place to elect his successor by early September.

Crabb, a lawmaker since 2005, said it was vital Britain sought as close an economic relationship with the EU as it had now but it was also clear immigration curbs would be needed.

"The British people want control of immigration... For us, this is a red-line," said Crabb, launching his leadership bid alongside Business Minister Sajid Javid who he said he would appoint as his finance minister if he won the top job.

"Brexit needs to do what it says on the tin," he said, adding that Britain should begin discussions about a free-trade deal with the EU immediately and would demand the supremacy of UK law over EU law.

He said it would be challenging to reconcile control over immigration with full access to the single market but the task of a future government "must be to get a set of arrangements that approximates as closely as possibly what we have now”.

The Brexit vote has triggered one of Britain's biggest crises in modern times with both major political parties in turmoil, more than $3 trillion wiped off global stocks and one of the steepest falls in sterling in a generation.

Crabb dismissed the prospect of holding a snap election if he becomes prime minister, saying: "The answer to the question of instability is not to create further uncertainty."

Urging his party to unite, Crabb said the leadership contest, which former London mayor Boris Johnson and Interior Minister Theresa May are also expected to join before Thursday's nomination deadline, should not be defined by labels like "Remain" or "Leave".

Underdog

Speaking in a packed room against a blue backdrop emblazoned with the slogan "A plan for unity and opportunity", Crabb emphasised his working-class roots, which has led him to be dubbed the "blue collar ticket" by some newspapers.

It contrasts dramatically with that of bookmakers favourite and leading "Out" campaigner Johnson, who like Cameron attended elite private boarding school Eton and Oxford University.

"I worked every week from the age of twelve, starting at the local corner shop, graduating to the Tesco shop floor. I paid my way through university working on building sites in different parts of the country," said Crabb, who was born in Scotland and brought up in public housing in Wales by his single mother.

Crabb's background compares with that of Conservative icon Margaret Thatcher, the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century who had a modest upbringing as the daughter of a grocer.

The front runner has rarely succeeded in winning Conservative leadership battles in the past, and Thatcher surprised the political establishment in 1975 by winning control of the party after starting the contest as an outsider.

A poll by grassroots Conservative website Conservative Home published on Wednesday put May narrowly ahead of Johnson on 29 and 28 per cent respectively, with Crabb on 9 per cent.

"I know what the odds are and I am not afraid of being the underdog," said Crabb, 43.

"The blend of qualities I bring are exactly those that are needed if we are to get through the difficult circumstances we are in: Resilience, optimism, humility, strength."

BRUSSELS — Leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage was booed and heckled in a raucous special session of the European Parliament on Tuesday as he accused the EU of imposing a superstate on its citizens and predicted other countries would leave the bloc like Britain.

Facing Farage, who sat with a British "Union Jack" flag planted on the table in front of him, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker asked: "Why are you here?"

When Farage interrupted Juncker's speech to applaud the results of last week's British vote to leave the EU, the commission chief shot back: "That is the last time you are applauding here."

The exchanges underscored just how fraught ties between European officials and British politicians have become since the vote on Thursday, which left far-right anti-European parties across the bloc cheering and governments fretting about political and economic aftershocks.

It came hours before Prime Minister David Cameron met EU leaders for the first time since the referendum. The other 27 leaders will gather on Wednesday.

The parliamentary session began on a friendly note, with Juncker air-kissing Farage, acknowledging sadness at the outcome of the referendum and paying tribute to Jonathan Hill, the British financial services commissioner who resigned on Saturday after campaigning for Britain to remain in the EU.

Hill, a popular figure among EU colleagues during his 18 months in Brussels, appeared overwhelmed by the outpouring.

But the air of sombre civility did not last long, as leading lawmakers accused the Leave camp of having lied their way to victory.

‘Selfish man’

In a fiery speech, former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt accused British politicians of creating a "toxic climate" of uncertainty since the Brexit vote and described former London mayor Boris Johnson, a Brexit advocate and leading candidate to replace Cameron, as a "selfish man" who had put his own political ambitions above the interests of his country.

German Manfred Weber, an ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel and the leader of the biggest group in parliament, took on Farage in the packed house: "If you had an ounce of decency today, you would apologise to the British people. Shame on you.”

Many of the speakers appealed for unity and pressed Britain to speed its withdrawal from the EU to end uncertainty that has roiled financial markets and sparked concern about contagion to economically weak continental countries.

But Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's far-right National Front, hailed the Brexit vote as the most momentous event in Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

"It is a cry of love by a people for their country," she said. "It is a huge victory for democracy and a slap at an EU built on fear, blackmail and lies."

Speaking to reporters earlier, Farage appeared to backtrack on disputed claims by the Leave campaign that an exit would allow London to redirect £350 million ($467.81 million) per week they alleged it sent to Brussels to Britain's National Health Service.

Farage estimated the savings at £34 million per day, significantly less than promised on a weekly basis. Experts have said the £350 million figure is a distortion.

"If you had said this before the vote I could have congratulated you," Juncker said. "But you lied."

Farage has long used the Parliament, where UKIP has won seats much more easily than under Britain's voting system, as a platform for his campaign to get Britain out of the EU.

By the time he rose to speak, hissing from other members of parliament had grown so loud that parliament president Martin Schulz was forced to admonish members. Recalling he was laughed at when he arrived in the chamber 17 years and spoke of Britain leaving the EU, Farage taunted MEPs: "You're not laughing now."

He called Brexit vote a "seismic" result that offered a "beacon of hope" for democrats across Europe: "I will make one prediction this morning," said the former commodities trader.

"The United Kingdom will not be the last member state to leave the European Union."

LONDON — Britain’s vote to leave the European Union has triggered a surge in applications for Irish passports, which would allow their holders to remain EU citizens, officials said Monday.

A spokeswoman for the UK Post Office, which handles passport applications, said: “We have seen an unusually high number of people in Northern Ireland seeking Irish passport applications, though we do not have exact numbers or a breakdown by branch.” 

Britain voted in a referendum last Thursday by 52 per cent to 48 per cent to leave the 28-nation EU, whose citizens enjoy free movement rights.

They can also seek employment in other EU states without the need for a work permit, use public healthcare facilities across the bloc and benefit from welfare and other rights. 

The process of Britain actually leaving the bloc is expected to take at least two years, and will only start when London formally triggers the Article 50 of the EU’s 2007 Lisbon Treaty.

Discussion about applying for an Irish passport has been rife on social media.

Twitter user @Saraita101 posted a picture of a sign put up at the central post office in Belfast. 

“Due to the increased demand for Irish Passport Forms we have currently run out. We have an emergency order to meet the extra demand coming on Tuesday 28th June,” it read.

Geographically most applications have been made in the British province of Northern Ireland. Anyone born on the island of Ireland before January 1, 2005 is entitled to Irish citizenship.

People whose parents were born in Ireland are automatically entitled to claim an Irish passport. People may also qualify if one of their parents was an Irish citizen when they were born.

There were 430,000 Irish-born people in Britain while one in four people in Britain have Irish heritage, according to 2011 Census figures cited by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The ministry played down the urgency of the situation, and said it should not slow down the processing of passport renewal applications for Irish citizens.

“There is no urgent need for UK passport holders to look into applying for a possible other EU member state passport,” it said.

“And it is hoped there will not be any significant impact on turnaround times for Irish citizens renewing their existing passports.”

GUNWI, South Korea — It’s lunch break at Seoksan Elementary School and the entire student body has taken to the vast playground for a game of football — with just three players on each side.

“We don’t really have enough people and there’s no goalkeeper, but it’s still fun,” said Lee Jung-bin, playing on the same side as his sole fourth grade classmate, Kim Dong-won.

Lee is one of only six students — all boys aged seven to 11 — attending the school in the southern South Korean rural county of Gunwi, which once boasted 700 pupils.

Many classrooms are padlocked and rusty goalposts and a basketball hoop stand forlornly at the corners of the playground, while an old banner welcoming queries “for admissions and transfers” flutters on a nearby fence. 

Seoksan is one of many “mini-schools” struggling to stay open in rural communities that have been decimated by a dramatic demographic shift in South Korea which now has one of the world’s lowest birth rates.

By 2030, a quarter of all South Koreans will be over 65 years old, and the overall population is expected to peak at around 52 million the same year before entering a period of steady decline.

Silver tsunami 

This so-called “silver tsunami” poses a major challenge for Asia’s fourth-largest economy as the young, working-age population declines and the cost of caring for the elderly escalates.

And in remote, rural communities like Gunwi, which lies some 200 kilometres southeast of Seoul, the trend is exacerbated by a youth exodus to the cities for work.

Nestled among mountains and known for its mushrooms and apples, Gunwi county boasted a population of more than 70,000 in the 1980s. 

That number now stands at 24,000 with nearly 40 per cent over 65 years old — one of the highest ratios in South Korea.

“I’m worried this county might disappear from the map once we die,” said Lee Jong-rak, a local official of 38 years standing.

Childbirth has become so rare that there isn’t a single obstetrician or maternity ward in the entire county, and more than 20 elementary, middle and high schools have closed since the 1990s.

At the other end of the demographic spectrum, elderly care facilities have mushroomed and the number of their permanent residents has tripled in the past decade.

Outside one Gunwi community centre where they had been attending a health class, a group of elderly men and women climbed onto a rusty town bus whose driver — in his 60s — was the youngest on board.

South Korea has a fertility rate of 1.19 births per woman — the lowest among OECD member nations.

More than 3,700 schools nationwide have closed since the 1990s and thousands more are set to be shut down or merged in coming years, according to the education ministry. 

And this year, more than 20 per cent of 6,218 elementary schools across the country had a first grade intake of less than 10 students.

Risk of extinction

Lee Sang-ho, a researcher at Korea Employment Information Service, said Gunwi was one of many rural communities facing a “high risk of extinction” in the next 30 years.

And he warned that a collapse in production and consumer demand triggered by a rapidly ageing society wasn’t a threat limited to the countryside.

“The same forces behind the plight of the rural communities will eventually reach urban areas, pushing the entire national economy into a long-term downturn cycle,” Lee said.

In Gunwi’s county seat, also called Gunwi, small businesses are struggling to cope with an ageing consumer base that has little or no consumerist intent.

“Look around here. How many people in their 20s do you see?” said the owner of a small electronics shop near the town hall.

“These days, I can’t even put rice on the table,” said the owner, who declined to be identified.

Her 40-year-old store showed its age in its product line, with dusty shelves stacked with cathode-tube TVs, cassette tapes of 80s’ pop hits and corded phones featuring extra-large keypads.

Incentives 

Gunwi officials have done what they can to rejuvenate the county, offering free school lunches and cash incentives for couples having a third child.

The central government has launched similar schemes across the country, pumping more than 80 trillion won ($68.3 billion) since 2006 into programmes aimed at encouraging people to marry young and have larger families, according to health ministry data.

But critics say such schemes ignore the root causes of the problem, including a lack of quality jobs, childcare facilities and support for working mothers.

At Seoksan elementary, the school’s three remaining teachers were downbeat on their future employment prospects.

“Realistically speaking, it’s hard to see the school remaining open for another 10 years,” Kang Min-sung said after finishing her reading class with three students in a classroom big enough for 30.

Kang, 28, grew up in Gunwi. After high school she left for for college in the nearest major city Daegu where she opted to stay after graduation.

Teaching at the school requires an hour-long daily commute by car and a strong sense of commitment.

“Schools like this, however small, are necessary for the education of the children who live here,” she said.

“I just don’t know how many will be left for us to teach in the future.”