Syrian army gains ground around Aleppo, looks to Raqqa Russia said on Saturday a Syria ceasefire plan was more likely to fail than succeed, as Syrian government forces backed by Russian air strikes took rebel ground near Aleppo and set their sights on the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa province.
International divisions over Syria surfaced anew at a Munich conference where Russia rejected French charges that it was bombing civilians, just a day after world powers agreed on the « cessation of hostilities » due to begin in a week’s time.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated accusations that Russia was hitting « legitimate opposition groups » and civilians with its bombing campaign in Syria and said Moscow must change its targets to respect the ceasefire deal.The conflict, reshaped by Russia’s intervention last September, has gone into an even higher gear since the United Nations sought to revive peace talks. These were suspended earlier this month in Geneva before they got off the ground.
Turkish forces shelled Kurdish YPG militia targets near the northern Syrian town of Azaz on Saturday, Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, demanding that the group withdraw from land it recently captured.
The United States urged both Turkey and the Syrian Kurds to step back and focus instead on tackling the « common threat » of Islamic State militants who control large parts of Syria.The Syrian army looked poised to advance into the Islamic State-held province of Raqqa for the first time since 2014, apparently to pre-empt any move by Saudi Arabia to send ground forces into Syria to fight the jihadist insurgents.
A Syrian military source said the army captured positions at the provincial border between Hama and Raqqa in the last two days and intends to advance further. »It is an indication of the direction of coming operations towards Raqqa. In general, the Raqqa front is open … starting in the direction of the Tabqa area, » the source said.
Tabqa is the location of an air base captured by Islamic State two years ago, and the source said the army had moved to within 35 km (20 miles) of the base.The cessation of hostilities deal agreed by major powers falls short of a formal ceasefire, since it was not signed by the warring parties – the government and rebels seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad in a five-year war that has killed at least 250,000 people.
If its forces retake Aleppo and seal the Turkish border north of the city, Damascus would deal a crushing blow to the insurgents who were on the march until Russia intervened, shoring up Assad’s rule and paving the way to the current reversal of rebel fortunes.
Russia has said it will keep bombing Islamic State and the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, which in many areas of western Syria fights government forces in close proximity to insurgents deemed moderates by Western states.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, asked at a security conference in Munich on Saturday to assess the chances of the cessation of hostilities deal succeeding, replied: « 49 percent. » Asked the same question, his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier put the odds at 51 percent.The complex, multi-sided civil war in Syria, raging since 2011, has drawn in most regional and global powers, caused the world’s worst humanitarian emergency and attracted recruits to Islamist militancy from around the world.
Assad, backed on the ground by Iranian combatants and Lebanon’s Hezbollah in addition to big power ally Russia, is showing no appetite for a negotiated ceasefire. He said this week that the government’s goal was to recapture all of Syria, though he said this could take time.The U.S. government said Assad was « deluded » if he thought there was a military solution to the conflict.
Syrian state television announced the army and allied militia had on Saturday captured the village of al-Tamura overlooking rebel terrain northwest of Aleppo.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported advances in the same area, adding that Russian jets had hit three rebel-held towns near the Turkish border.
Government offensives around Aleppo have sent tens of thousands of people fleeing towards the Turkish border.Islamic State, driven by the goal of expanding its « caliphate » rather than reforming Syria – the original goal of the opposition when the conflict began as an unarmed street uprising in 2011 – is being targeted in separate campaigns by a U.S.-led alliance and Assad’s government with Russian air support. Regional Kurdish forces supported by Washington are also fighting Islamic State in Raqqa province.
Gulf states that want Assad gone from power have said they would be willing to send in troops as part of any U.S.-led ground attack against Islamic State. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Friday he expected Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to send commandos to help recapture Raqqa.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was reported as saying Saudi Arabia will send aircraft to Turkey’s Incirlik air base to support the air campaign against Islamic State in Syria. »Saudi Arabia is now sending planes to Turkey, to Incirlik.They came and carried out inspections at the base, » Cavusoglu told the Yeni Safak newspaper, adding it was unclear how many planes would come and that the Saudis might also send soldiers.
Syrian army intends move into IS stronghold of Raqqa province-sourceThe Syrian army intends to advance into Islamic State-held Raqqa province having captured positions at the provincial border of the jihadists’ stronghold, a Syrian military source said on Saturday.
A move into Raqqa province would reestablish a foothold for Damascus in a region where it has had no presence since August 2014, and complicate any attempt by Saudi Arabia to send ground forces to the area to fight Islamic State.The military source who was briefed on the matter said the operation had been going on for a number days. The army had captured several positions from Islamic State at the provincial border between Hama and Raqqa in the last two days. »It is an indication of the direction of coming operations towards Raqqa. In general, the Raqqa front is open … starting in the direction of the Tabqa area, » the source said. Tabqa is the location of an air base captured by Islamic State in 2014.
The army had moved to within 35 km (20 miles) of the base.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war, earlier reported the army’s had advanced to the provincial borders of Raqqa.Saudi Arabia, which wants Assad gone from power, has said it would be willing to send in troops as part of any U.S.-led ground attack against Islamic State.U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Friday he expected Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to send commandos to help recapture Raqqa.U.S. allied Kurdish militia are also fighting Islamic State in Raqqa province, advancing into the province from the northeast last year with help from U.S.-led air strikes.
Russia casts doubt on Syria ceasefire deal as army gains ground Russia said on Saturday a Syria ceasefire plan was more likely to fail than succeed, as Syrian government forces backed by Russian air strikes took rebel ground near Aleppo and set their sights on the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa province.International divisions over Syria surfaced anew at a Munich conference where Russia rejected French charges that it was bombing civilians, just a day after world powers agreed on the « cessation of hostilities » due to begin in a week’s time.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated accusations that Russia was hitting « legitimate opposition groups » and civilians with its bombing campaign in Syria and said Moscow must change its targets to respect the ceasefire deal.The conflict, reshaped by Russia’s intervention last September, has gone into an even higher gear since the United Nations sought to revive peace talks. These were suspended earlier this month in Geneva before they got off the ground.In another sign of that escalation, Turkey’s military shelled Kurdish militia targets near the northern Syrian town of Azaz on Saturday, a Turkish military source said. A Kurdish official said the shelling targeted the Menagh air base in the northern Aleppo countryside, which he said had been captured by the Kurdish-allied Jaysh al-Thuwwar group.
Saudi Arabia confirms sends aircraft to Turkey for IS fight Saudi Arabia confirmed late on Saturday it sent aircraft to NATO-member Turkey’s Incirlik air base for the fight against Islamic State militants. Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri, adviser in the office of Saudi Arabia’s minister of defence, told pan-Arab Al Arabiya television that the kingdom was committed to stepping up the fighting against Islamic State and that the move was part of those efforts.
He also said that the current presence in the air base was limited to aircraft and no ground troops had been sent.
« What is present now is aircraft that are part of the Saudi Arabian forces, » Assiri said in response to a question on whether ground troops were included.Saudi Arabia has resumed its participation in air strikes against Islamic State in recent weeks and U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Thursday welcomed its commitment to expand its role.Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the Yeni Safak newspaper on Saturday that Saudi Arabia had carried out inspections at the air base in preparation to sending aircraft.
Turkey strikes Kurdish militia in Syria, demands it withdrawTurkey’s military shelled Kurdish militia targets in northern Syria on Saturday and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu demanded that the group withdraw from the area in a move that further complicated the conflict across the NATO member’s border.
The shelling took place after Kurdish YPG fighters backed by Russian bombing raids drove Syrian rebels from a former military air base, south of the town of Azaz and near the Turkish border. »Today retaliation was taken under the rules of engagement against forces that represented a threat in Azaz and the surrounding area, » the prime minister told reporters in comments shown live by state broadcaster TRT Haber.
A Kurdish official said the Menagh base which was hit had been captured by the Kurdish-allied Jaysh al-Thuwwar group rather than the YPG. Both are part of the Syria Democratic Forces alliance.The shelling came amid growing anger in Ankara with the United States for supporting the YPG, which Ankara regards as a terrorist organisation, in its fight against Islamic State militants.The Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which backs the YPG, controls most of the Syrian side of Turkey’s border and Ankara views it as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade-old insurgency for autonomy in southeast Turkey.
U.S. State Department spokesperson John Kirby urged both Turkey and the Syrian Kurds to step back, saying they should focus instead on tackling a « common threat » of Islamic State militants who control large parts of Syria. »We have urged Syrian Kurdish and other forces affiliated with the YPG not to take advantage of a confused situation by seizing new territory, » Kirby said in a statement.
« We have also seen reports of artillery fire from the Turkish side of the border and urged Turkey to cease such fires. » Davutoglu demanded that the Menagh base be evacuated and said he had spoken to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to make that point and stress that the PYD was an extension of the PKK and a direct threat to Turkey.
« We will retaliate against every step (by the YPG), » he said after a visit to the eastern Turkish city of Erzincan. « The YPG will immediately withdraw from Azaz and the surrounding area and will not go close to it again. » Turkey’s disquiet has been heightened by the tens of thousands of people fleeing to the Turkish border after attacks by Russian-backed Syrian government forces, swelling refugee numbers in the area to 100,000.Turkey, which already hosts 2.6 million Syrian refugees, has kept the latest arrivals on the Syrian side of the border, in part to pressure Russia to cease its air support for Syrian government forces near the city of Aleppo.
Davutoglu earlier condemned the attacks in Aleppo as « barbarity, tyranny, a war strategy conducted with a medieval mentality » and said hundreds of thousands faced the danger of starvation if a humanitarian corridor was not opened. »We will help our brothers in Aleppo with all means at our disposal. We will take those in need but we will never allow Aleppo to be emptied through an ethnic massacre, » he said.
French PM rejects permanent quota system for refugees French Prime Minister Manuel Valls rejected on Saturday the idea of a permanent quota system for distributing refugees across Europe, putting Paris at odds with Germany ahead of a summit to discuss the EU crisis over migration.
Speaking to reporters at a security conference in Munich, Valls said France would stick to its pledge to take on 30,000 of the 160,000 refugees European countries have agreed to divide among themselves, but would not accept additional numbers. »We won’t take any more, » Valls said. He expressed admiration for Germany’s readiness to take on more refugees, but added: « France never said ‘come to France’. » German Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to push European partners to accept so-called « contingents » of refugees at a meeting on Thursday in Brussels, shortly before European Union leaders come together for their summit.
Cobbling together a coalition of countries ready to accept more asylum seekers over time is crucial to Merkel’s efforts to convince Turkey to stem the tide of refugees fleeing countries in the Middle East, notably Syria. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will attend the pre-summit meeting.
« France rejects this, » Valls said of the permanent quota mechanism. He said France had received 80,000 asylum applications last year and was struggling with youth radicalisation and high unemployment. In another sign of Europe’s deep divisions over the influx of migrants and refugees, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico said Germany had protested against plans by eastern European leaders to help Macedonia and Bulgaria seal their border with Greece, the entry point into the EU for many migrants.Leaders of Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, known as the Visegrad Group, meet on Monday in Prague with their Macedonian and Bulgarian counterparts and could offer them manpower and other aid, diplomats said on Friday.
German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier – prominent social democrats in the government led by the conservative Merkel – have sent a letter to European Socialist leaders calling for a common approach, a message simultaneously sent to the central European governments. »Such measures must be agreed together and may not be unilaterally directed against one member state, » the letter said.
Closure of Greece’s northern borders could strand migrants in Greece, which has been struggling to protect its sea borders as the huge influx of migrants and refugees arrive via Turkey. »We want an agreement among the Visegrad Four countries that if Greece is not working, and it’s not working, it makes more sense to invest money into the protection of borders between Greece and Macedonia, Bulgaria and other countries, » Fico said.
« We received a demarche (saying) how do we dare as V4, Bulgaria and Macedonia to discuss protection of external borders. Germany has filed a protest with our deputy foreign affairs minister because of this summit, saying we need to seek another way, » he said.The Czech government tried to defuse the tension, saying the Visegrad group supported cooperation with Turkey, NATO’s engagement in the Aegean Sea and was also ready to increase aid for Greece as well Macedonia and Bulgaria.
Libyan naval forces in Tripoli say have seized foreign tanker Libyan naval forces have seized a Sierra Leone-flagged oil tanker on suspicion of illegally entering Libyan waters in an attempt to smuggle gasoline, authorities said on Saturday.
The vessel, the Captain Khayyam, was stopped in Libyan waters on Friday night 25 miles northwest of Zuwarah city, and was carrying 1.6 million litres of gasoline, said Ayoub Qassem, a spokesman for the naval forces allied to Tripoli’s self-declared government.
« The tanker was seized due to illegal entrance to Libyan waters without permission, » Qassem said. He said more details would be announced when the tanker was docked in Tripoli.He said it was a sailing under a Sierre Leone flag with a crew of nine including nationals of Turkey, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan, including one woman.Five years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has two rival governments each backed by competing armed factions, and a U.N.-backed government of national unity that is trying to bring the sides together but faces resistance on the ground.
Each side accuses the other of illegally trying to smuggle out oil or bringing in weapons to arm Islamist militants or other fighting groups. Tankers and ships are often seized off the coast, and have in the past been hit with air strikes.In September, military forces allied with Tripoli said they had captured a Russian-flagged oil tanker and its crew trying to smuggle oil from the port of Zawara. Some of those crew have been released, others face trial.
U.S. commander sees al Qaeda Africa group strengthening Two high-profile strikes in West Africa since November by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) could further strengthen the Islamist militant group, a U.S.commander for North and West Africa said.
AQIM, a militant group that emerged from the Algerian civil war in the 1990s and is now mostly north Mali-based, is emerging from a period of near dormancy marked by factional infighting.The group, linked to veteran jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar, claimed two hotel sieges in the Mali and Burkina Faso capitals in November and January that killed dozens, including many Westerners, proving its ability to strike further south.
Some experts say the urban attacks, and a slew of recent propaganda, may be a bid to compete with ultra-hardline group Islamic State, which now has a base in Libya. »(The hotel attacks) raised the profile of the group and will help the group do a (few) things, » said Colonel Bob Wilson, Third Special Forces Group Commander, in an interview with Reuters and The New York Times in Dakar this week.
« One, show that it’s still relevant. Two, help it to recruit personnel and commit resources. And three, create the impetus to do more attacks like that, » he said on a visit to Senegal during the annual U.S.-led ‘Flintlock’ counter-terror training programme in the Sahel region.
The United States has its own Africa Command with between 1,000-1,200 forces on the continent at any given time, mostly in training and support roles. Wilson’s North and West Africa command is the largest of three regional groups, with around 500 deployed across a dozen countries.
U.S. officials say this year’s event is marked by a growing threat of Islamic State (ISIS) in Libya, Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin and AQIM in the Sahel which, while deeply concerning, is also boosting African security cooperation.Wilson said he expects ISIS to spread beyond Libya to other African countries in the next year, echoing fears expressed by Niger and Chad to the south.
The Islamic State has thousands of fighters in the former Italian colony and controls parts of Libya’s northern coastal strip, including the city of Sirte. »I think it (ISIS) is going to expand beyond Libya where it can find subordinate elements to cooperate with, » he said, adding that he was worried about « increased collusion and cooperation » between militant groups.He declined to comment on plans for special operations in Libya amid speculation of possible Western air strikes.
Wilson welcomed the creation of a regional task force last year to fight Nigeria’s Boko Haram, which has pledged allegiance to ISIS and is blamed for 15,000 deaths.But he said the countries involved — Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin — have yet to prove that they can work effectively together in joint operations and that a regional headquarters is still « nascent ».
Red Cross says delivers medical aid to Taiz in Yemen « breakthrough »The Red Cross said on Saturday it had entered the war-torn Yemeni city of Taiz for the first time since August, delivering three tonnes of life-saving medical supplies to four hospitals treating the wounded.
Taiz has been one of the hardest-fought fronts in a war in which local militias and forces loyal to a Saudi-backed government ousted by Houthi rebels last March are seeking to fight their way back to the capital Sanaa.Many residents of the city of 200,000, in the southwest of the country, say the Houthis have blocked aid from entering and bombed civilian targets.
« This is a breakthrough and we hope that today’s operation will be followed by many more to come, » Antoine Grand, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in Yemen, said in a statement.The ICRC team delivered surgical items, intravenous fluids and anaesthetic supplies to help treat hundreds of wounded, he said. »Essential medicines and supplies for pregnant women were also provided. All of these items are in high demand by the hospitals in Taiz that continue to receive a daily influx of wounded people, » Grand said.
Italian student showed signs of electrocution – Egypt forensic source Egypt’s forensics authority handed over to the prosecutor general’s office on Saturday its final autopsy report on the Italian student who was tortured and found dead in Cairo last week.
Giulio Regeni, 28, had been researching independent trade unions in Egypt and had written articles critical of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s government – prompting speculation that he was killed at the hands of Egypt’s security forces.
Egypt’s interior and foreign ministers both dismissed the notion of security forces being behind Regeni’s murder.The prosecutor general’s office said it would not publicly disclose the contents of the report as the investigation was ongoing. Reuters was not able to obtain a copy to verify the contents.
However, a senior source at the forensics authority told Reuters Regeni, a graduate student at Britain’s Cambridge University, had seven broken ribs, signs of electrocution on his penis, traumatic injuries all over his body, and a brain haemorrhage.
His body also bore signs of cuts from a sharp instrument suspected to be a razor, abrasions, and bruises. He was likely assaulted using a stick as well as being punched and kicked, the source added.A second autopsy in Italy « confronted us with something inhuman, something animal », Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told Sky News 24 television last week.
Oman leader Sultan Qaboos to travel to Germany for medical checks Omani leader Sultan Qaboos is to travel to Germany on Sunday for a limited period of time for medical checks, the official Oman state news agency said on Saturday.Qaboos had previously spent eight months in Germany for medical reasons returning to Oman in March.His long absence had fueled concern over succession in the Arabian peninsula state over which Qaboos, nearly 75, has been absolute ruler since 1970.Western-backed Qaboos has ruled since taking over from his father in a bloodless coup with the help of Oman’s former colonial power, Britain.
Israeli troops kill Palestinian who tried to stab soldier -army Israeli security forces shot dead on Saturday a Palestinian woman who tried to stab a soldier in the occupied West Bank, Israel’s military said.No Israelis were wounded in the attack that happened near the Cave of the Patriarchs in the city of Hebron.A campaign of stabbings, shootings and car-rammings by Palestinians has killed 27 Israelis and a U.S. citizen since the start of October.Israeli forces have killed at least 158 Palestinians in the same period, 102 of them assailants, according to Israeli authorities. Other Palestinians have died during violent anti-Israeli protests.The surge in attacks has been partly fueled by Palestinian frustration over the collapse of U.S.-sponsored peace talks in 2014, the growth of Jewish settlements on land they seek for a future state and Islamist calls for the destruction of Israel.
Afghan Taliban use captured Humvees in suicide attack Taliban insurgents in captured military Humvee vehicles launched suicide attacks in the southern Afghan province of Helmand on Saturday, killing several members of the security forces in the district centre of Sangin, a senior official said.
The incident came amid bitter fighting in Helmand, a traditional Taliban heartland where insurgents have overrun many areas, leaving government forces in some district centres including Sangin and Marjah barely clinging on.Provincial police chief Abdul Rahman Sarjang said that after heavy fighting on Friday during which the Taliban lost around 40 fighters, suicide bombers in two captured Afghan army Humvees targeted the police and governor’s headquarters.
« The first Humvee was ordered by the police to stop but when he ignored warnings, the police fired a rocket-propelled grenade, » Sarjang said.The second bomber detonated his vehicle near a checkpoint guarding the two headquarters. Four policemen were killed and seven wounded, he said, while an army spokesman said one soldier was killed and another was wounded.In Kabul, the outgoing commander of international troops in Afghanistan Gen. John Campbell confirmed the incident but said no American troops were involved.
Russia warns of new Cold War as east Ukraine violence surges Violence in eastern Ukraine is intensifying and Russian-backed rebels have moved heavy weaponry back to the front line, international monitors warned on Saturday as Moscow responded by accusing the West of dragging the world back 50 years.Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev described East-West relations as having « fallen into a new Cold War » and said NATO was « hostile and closed » towards Russia, in the latest sign that peace efforts have made scant progress almost two years since Moscow annexed Crimea.
« I sometimes wonder – are we in 2016 or 1962?, » Medvedev asked in a speech to the Munich Security Conference.
Implementation of a deal agreed in Minsk a year ago, which would allow for the lifting of sanctions on Russia, and a lull in violence late last year raised hopes that the conflict that has killed more than 9,000 people could be resolved quickly.
But Lamberto Zannier, who heads the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring eastern Ukraine, said the situation had « become difficult again. » « We see a multiplication of incidents, violations of the ceasefire, » he told Reuters at the Munich Security Conference. »We’ve seen cases of redeployment of heavy armaments closer to the contact line … and multiple rocket launchers, artillery being used, » he said, referring to the heavy weaponry that is meant to be removed under the Minsk deal.
Medvedev accused Kiev of trying to shift the blame onto Moscow for the continued shelling in the industrial regions of eastern Ukraine now under rebel control. »The Minsk agreements have to be observed by everyone. But we believe that it’s first and foremost up to the Kiev authorities to do that, » he said.
The West says it has satellite images, videos and other evidence to show Russia is providing weapons to the rebels and that Moscow has troops engaged in the conflict that erupted following Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014.
Russia denies such accusations.NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Philip Breedlove said Russia had the power to « dial up and down » the conflict as it wished to put pressure on the government in Kiev but he said NATO did not want, nor currently see, a new Cold War.
Pakistanis should ignore Valentine’s Day, president urges President Mamnoon Hussain has urged Pakistanis not to observe Valentine’s Day, the romantic holiday that hardline Muslim clerics want banned but officials in the capital say they cannot suppress.
The president criticised Valentine’s Day, which falls on Sunday this year, as a Western import that threatens to undermine the Islamic values of Pakistan.Despite its roots as a Christian holiday, Valentine’s Day has gained popularity among Pakistanis, with flower vendors reporting booming sales this year, as in recent years.
« Valentine’s Day has no connection with our culture and it should be avoided, » Hussain said at a ceremony celebrating a nationalist leader.Local media reported earlier in the week that Islamabad would ban celebrations on Valentine’s celebrations as an « insult to Islam », but city officials later said such a rule would be unenforceable.The northwestern city of Peshawar, near the Afghan border, has banned Valentine’s Day celebrations, local media said.
Loser! Jerk! Insults fly on Republican campaign trail For months Republican U.S.presidential candidates traded insults such as « dummy, » « jerk » and « loser. » Then, party front-runner Donald Trump repeated a supporter’s description of Ted Cruz as a « pussy. » With the contest for the party’s nomination moving into South Carolina and the stakes rising, it is possible the most disparaging discourse of the Nov. 8 election campaign is yet to come.
The epithets may be characteristic of schoolyard bullies, but there is some evidence that candidates are reveling in the attention they draw. The harshest attacks elicit the biggest responses at rallies, on the Internet and on cable TV.
Trump, the billionaire former reality TV star, sent a New Hampshire rally into a frenzy on Monday when he repeated the term « pussy » shouted by a person in the crowd, effectively questioning Cruz’s manliness. Trump went on to win the state’s primary the next day, ahead of the third-place Cruz by a 3-to-1 margin. »It’s one of the reasons I won. You have to be yourself, » Trump said in a television interview on NBC’s Today show. Trump later promised to clean up his foul language and to be more presidential.History suggests the language could turn even more coarse in the run-up to next Saturday’s Republican nominating contest in South Carolina. It was there that U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona was accused in 2000 of fathering an illegitimate African-American child, and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in 2008 of supporting polygamy. »These adults are acting like elementary children, » Leslie McRobbie, a former fifth-grade schoolteacher from New Hampshire, said of this year’s Republican contenders.
President Barack Obama, a Democrat, this week spoke of the snark that characterized a Republican race of the past when he recalled that Ronald Reagan was described by rivals as an « unshapely man » and a « yahoo » before his election as president in 1980.Coming off the first nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, the seven remaining candidates for the Republican nomination are under pressure either to break away from the crowd or prevent others from doing so.
Insults can foster that.Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, mocked more than once by Trump as a « low-energy » candidate, has since retaliated by tweeting that Trump was « not just a loser, » but also a « liar and a whiner. » The put-down was re-tweeted nearly 3,000 times and « liked » by more than 4,000 users.Cruz, responding to Trump’s decision to skip a Fox News-hosted Republican debate, branded his rival « Ducking Donald » and sponsored a special edition filter on picture-sharing app Snapchat that featured a blond-haired duck with an exaggerated pout meant to represent the real-estate mogul.
Northeast U.S. in deep freeze, could break Valentine’s Day records A dangerous cold snap gripped the northeastern United States on Saturday, with temperatures in some areas set to fall below zero and Boston facing its coldest Valentine’s Day in almost four decades.
Officials warned people to stay indoors away from what the National Weather Service described as « life threatening » cold.Wind chill advisories were in effect over parts of nine states extending from northern Pennsylvania to western Maine, with forecasters expecting gusts up to 45 miles per hour (72 kph). »Wind chills will be getting colder and colder as the day goes on, » said Alan Dunham, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton, Massachusetts.
The temperature in Boston was expected to drop to -7 degrees Fahrenheit overnight (-21.7?C), but feel as cold as -30 degrees Fahrenheit (-34.4?C) with the wind chill.That would be below the record low of -3 degrees Fahrenheit (-19.4?C) set in 1979.
In Pennsylvania, more than 50 cars were involved in a collision on an interstate highway outside Harrisburg after a snow squall blew through the capital. »There are multiple injuries, » said Pennsylvania State Police Trooper David LeBron, saying that no detail was yet available on the number of people hurt or if anyone was killed.
Pope presses Mexican president on corruption and drugs Pope Francis called on Mexico’s government on Saturday to fight endemic corruption and drug trafficking and he then prayed with thousands before the icon that unites the country – the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Corruption is deeply ingrained in Mexico, and President Enrique Pena Nieto, his wife and finance minister have all been embroiled in conflict of interest scandals involving homes purchased from government contractors.
The pope also exhorted Mexico’s bishops to take a more active stand against the drug trade, which he said « devours like a metastasis. » Drug-trafficking gangs have infiltrated police forces across the country and more than 100,000 people have been killed in drug violence over the last decade. Some 26,000 are missing. »Experience teaches us that each time we seek the path of privilege or benefits for a few to the detriment of the good of all, sooner or later the life of society becomes a fertile soil for corruption, the drug trade, the exclusion of different cultures, violence and also human trafficking, kidnapping and death, » the pope said in a speech to Pena Nieto, government ministers and foreign diplomats.
He said Mexico’s leaders have a « particular duty » to move past corruption and violence and work for the collective good.The pope later celebrated mass at the vast Basilica of our Lady Of Guadalupe. Some 5,000 mostly well-heeled spectators gathered inside the church, while at least five times as many spectators gathered outside under the beating sun.
Francis had said he yearned to visit the Basilica of Guadalupe, which attracts millions of pilgrims from all over Latin America, and to reflect silently in front of her image. »‘Don’t be afraid,’ that is what she tells me, » the pope said ahead of his visit.While inside a small niche behind the altar to venerate the icon, he lost his balance and fell back into a chair, causing the crowd to gasp, although it did not seem serious. After praying for about 20 minutes, the 79-year-old pope, who suffers from sciatica in one leg, stood up and walked out.
Berlin film « National Bird » gives whistleblower view of drones Lisa, a former technical sergeant who worked for a U.S. government data-gathering system, thought the way information was being used for military drone strikes put her « on the right side of history ».
Now, in the documentary « National Bird » shown out of competition at the Berlin Film Festival, she and two other whistleblowers talk about what they see as its dangers.Lisa thinks the drone programme poses a threat not only to civilians killed accidentally in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but to Americans back home as well.
« It’s not just one person sitting there with a little remote control, a little joystick moving around a plane that’s halfway across the world, » Lisa, whose last name and those of the other two are not revealed in director Sonia Kennebeck’s film.The documentary, co-produced with Errol Morris and Wim Wenders, strongly hints at what Lisa thinks the threat is by showing drone’s eye views of Afghanistan and neighbourhoods in the United States. »This could grow to get so out of control and we’re not the only ones that have this. This is going to be commonplace, if it’s not already, » Lisa says.
(World news summary compiled by Maghreb news staff)