Libya’s presidential council announces revised unity government Libya’s Presidential Council named a revised lineup late on Sunday for a unity government under a United Nations-backed plan aimed at ending the conflict in the North African state.
One of the council’s members, Fathi al-Majbari, said in a televised statement that the list of 13 ministers and five ministers of state had been sent to Libya’s eastern parliament for approval.But in a sign of continuing divisions over how to bring together Libya’s warring factions, two of the council’s nine members refused for a second time to put their signatures to the proposed government, according to a document posted on the Presidential Council’s Facebook page.
The U.N. plan under which the unity government has been named was designed to help Libya stabilise and tackle a growing threat from Islamic State militants. It was signed in Morocco in December, but has been opposed by hard-liners on both sides from the start and suffered repeated delays. »We call on Libyans suffering from the fighting … and the members of parliament to support the Government of National Accord, which will provide the framework to fight terrorism, » Majbari said.
Libya slid into conflict soon after the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi five years ago. Since 2014, it has had two competing governments, one based in Tripoli and the other in the east, both of which are backed by loose alliances of armed brigades and former rebels.
Islamic State has taken advantage of a security vacuum to establish a foothold in Libya, taking control of the city of Sirte and threatening to expand from there. Western governments have urged Libyan factions to back the unity government so that it can start taking on the threat and call in international support where needed.
Last month the eastern parliament, which has been recognised internationally, rejected an initial proposal for a unity government amid complaints that, at 32, the number of ministers nominated was too high.There have also been divisions over the distribution of posts and the future control of Libya’s armed forces.Prime Minister-designate Fayez Seraj, who also heads the Presidential Council, told reporters on Sunday that the latest appointments took into account « experience, competence, geographical distribution, the political spectrum and the components of Libyan society ».
Many of the names on Sunday’s list were different from last month’s proposal, though the nominee for the key post of defence minister, Mahdi al-Barghathi, was unchanged.U.N. Libya envoy Martin Kobler was quick to congratulate the council on announcing a new cabinet. « The journey to peace and unity of the Libyan people has finally started, » he tweeted.
Obama urges Russia to stop bombing « moderate » Syria rebels U.S.President Barack Obama urged Russia on Sunday to stop bombing « moderate » rebels in Syria in support of its ally President Bashar al-Assad, a campaign seen in the West as a major obstacle to latest efforts to end the war.Major powers agreed on Friday to a limited cessation of hostilities in Syria but the deal does not take effect until the end of this week and was not signed by any warring parties – the Damascus government and numerous rebel factions fighting it.
Russian bombing raids directed at rebel groups are helping the Syrian army to achieve what could be its biggest victory of the war in the battle for Aleppo, the country’s largest city and commercial centre before the conflict.There is little optimism that the deal reached in Munich will do much to end a war that has lasted five years and cost 250,000 lives.The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin and Obama had spoken by telephone and agreed to intensify cooperation to implement the Munich agreement.But a Kremlin statement made clear Russia was committed to its campaign against Islamic State and « other terrorist organisations », an indication that it would also target groups in western Syria where jihadists such as al Qaeda are fighting Assad in close proximity to rebels deemed moderate by the West.
Russia says the « cessation » does not apply to its air strikes, which have shifted the balance of power towards Assad.It says Islamic State and the al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front are the main targets of its air campaign. But Western countries say Russia has in fact been mostly targeting other insurgent groups, including some they support.
The White House said Obama’s discussion with Putin stressed the need to rush humanitarian aid to Syria and contain air strikes. »In particular, President Obama emphasized the importance now of Russia playing a constructive role by ceasing its air campaign against moderate opposition forces in Syria, » the White House said in a statement.
Ground operation in Syria will lead to « a full-fledged, long war, » Russian PM says Any ground operation in Syria will lead to « a full-fledged, long war », Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told Euronews TV station in an interview.
Major powers agreed on Friday in Munich to a pause in combat in Syria, which killed at least 250,000 people. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that if the peace plan fails, more foreign troops could enter the conflict.
Commenting on Kerry’s words, Medvedev said: « These are futile words, he should not have said that for a simple reason: if all he wants is a protracted war, he can carry out ground operations and anything else. But don’t try to frighten anyone. » U.S. President Barack Obama has ruled out sending U.S.ground troops to Syria, but Saudi Arabia this month offered ground forces to fight Islamic State. »Let me reiterate that no one is interested in a new war, and a ground operation is a full-fledged, long war, » Medvedev said, according to a transcript of the interview with Euronews that was distributed by his office.
Turkey shells Syrian Kurds, Russia says will keep bombing anti-Assad rebels The Turkish army shelled Kurdish militia in northern Syria for a second day on Sunday, while Russia made clear it would continue bombing Syrian rebel targets, raising doubts that a planned ceasefire would bring much relief.Major powers agreed on Friday to a limited cessation of hostilities in Syria but the deal does not take effect until the end of this week and was not signed by any warring parties – the Damascus government and numerous rebel factions fighting it.
Russian bombing raids directed at rebel groups are meanwhile helping the Syrian army to achieve what could be its biggest victory of the war in the battle for Aleppo, the country’s largest city and commercial hub before the conflict.The situation has been complicated by the involvement of Kurdish-backed combatants in the area north of Aleppo near the Turkish border, which has drawn a swift military response from artillery in Turkey.
The Kurdish YPG militia, helped by Russian air raids, seized an ex-military air base at Menagh last week, angering Turkey, which sees the YPG as an extension of the PKK, a Kurdish group that waged a bloody insurgent campaign on Turkish soil over most of the past three decades.Turkey began shelling while demanding that the YPG militia withdraw from areas it has captured from Syrian rebels in the northern Aleppo region in recent days, including the Menagh air base. The bombardment killed two YPG fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.The Syrian Kurdish PYD party rejected Turkish demands for withdrawal, while the Syrian government said Turkish shelling of northern Syria amounted to direct support for insurgent groups.
Other fronts were also active on Sunday.Kurdish-backed forces were fighting with insurgent groups near Tel Rifaat in the northern Aleppo countryside, while further south, government forces renewed their shelling of rebel positions to the northwest of Aleppo city.
The Observatory also reported air strikes by jets believed to be Russian in areas east of Damascus, north of Homs, and in the southern province of Deraa.Efforts to deliver humantitarian aid were being threatened by the latest escalation of violence. »We must ask again, why wait a week for this urgently needed cessation of hostilities? » says Dalia Al-Awqati, Mercy Corps Director of Programs for North Syria.
« Each delay places innocent civilians at greater risk and impedes our efforts to support the half a million people who depend on us for food and other essential supplies. » The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S.President Barack Obama had agreed to intensify cooperation to implement the agreement on Syria struck in Munich.After a phone call between Putin and Obama, the Kremlin said both gave a « positive valuation » to the Munich meeting.
But the Kremlin statement made clear Russia would continue bombing raids against Islamic State and « other terroristic organisations », an indication that it would also be targeting groups in western Syria where jihadists such as al Qaeda are fighting President Bashar al-Assad in close proximity to rebels deemed moderate by the West.Reaction from politicians in the West to the Munich deal was less positive.A senior ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Russia had gained the upper hand in Syria and the surrounding region through armed force.
Norbert Roettgen, head of the foreign affairs committee in the German parliament, was sceptical about how Russia would behave in the days and weeks ahead, despite agreeing to a cessation of hostilities. »Russia is determined to create facts on the ground, and when they have accomplished this, then they will invite the West to fight a common enemy, this is ISIS, » Roettgen said, referring to Islamic State.
Speaking at the same security conference in Munich, U.S.Senator John McCain said he did not view the deal as a breakthrough. »Let’s be clear about what this agreement does. It allows Russia’s assault on Aleppo to continue for another week, » he said.
« Mr Putin is not interested in being our partner. He wants to shore up the Assad regime, he wants to establish Russia as a major power in the Middle East, he wants to use Syria as a live fire exercise for Russia’s modernizing military, » McCain said.As the fighting continued, the Syrian army urged citizens in Deraa province, the Ghouta area east of Damascus, and in rural districts east of Aleppo to quickly seek out « reconciliation » with the government.So-called local reconciliation agreements are often seen as a means for the government to force surrender on insurgents, and have typically followed lengthy blockades of rebel-held areas and the civilians living there.Saudi Arabia confirmed it had sent aircraft to Turkey’s Incirlik air base to join the fight against Islamic State. But said any move to deploy Saudi special forces into Syria would depend on a decision by the U.S.-led coalition combating the ultra-radical militants.
U.S., allies conduct 27 strikes in Syria, Iraq against IS, U.S. military says The United States and its allies conducted 27 strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq on Saturday, the Combined Joint Task Force overseeing the operations said in a statement.
In Iraq, 25 attacks were carried out near nine cities, six of them near Ramadi, striking Islamic State tactical units and destroying Islamic State staging areas, fighting positions and assembly areas.Near Mosul, 12 strikes hit two separate tactical units and other targets and destroyed 12 fighting positions and a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.In Syria, one strike near Al Hawl and another near Al Hasakah struck tactical units and destroyed a tunnel and a building used by the group.
Israel pessimistic on Syria ceasefire, talks up sectarian partition Israel voiced doubt on Sunday that an international ceasefire plan for Syria would succeed, suggesting a sectarian partition of the country was inevitable and perhaps preferable.While formally neutral on the five-year civil war racking its neighbour, Israel has some sway among the world powers that have mounted armed interventions and which on Friday agreed on a « cessation of hostilities » to begin within a week.
The deal, clinched at a Munich security conference, is already beset by recriminations between Russia, which backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad militarily and wants to see his rule restored, and Western powers that have called for change in Damascus involving select opposition groups.Addressing the conference after he met European counterparts and Jordan’s King Abdullah, Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said he was « very pessimistic » about the truce’s prospects.
« Unfortunately we are going to face chronic instability for a very, very long period of time, » he said. « And part of any grand strategy is to avoid the past, saying we are going to unify Syria. We know how to make an omelette from an egg. I don’t know how to make an egg from an omelette. » Referring to some of the warring sects, Yaalon added: « We should realise that we are going to see enclaves – ‘Alawistan’, ‘Syrian Kurdistan’, ‘Syrian Druzistan’. They might cooperate or fight each other. » Ram Ben-Barak, director-general of Israel’s Intelligence Ministry, described partition as « the only possible solution ». »I think that ultimately Syria should be turned into regions, under the control of whoever is there, » he told Israel’s Army Radio, arguing that Assad’s minority Alawite sect had no way to heal its schism with the Sunni Muslim majority.
« I can’t see how a situation can be reached where those same 12 percent Alawites go back to ruling the Sunnis, of whom they killed half a million people there. Listen, that’s crazy. » Helped by Russian firepower, Syrian government forces and their allies have been encircling rebel-held areas of Aleppo.That would give Assad effective control of western Syria, Ben-Barak said, although much of the east is dominated by Islamic State insurgents.
An Assad victory in Aleppo, Ben-Barak said, « will not solve the problem, because the battles will continue. You have ISIS there and the rebels will not lay down their weapons. » While sharing foreign concerns about Islamic State advances, Israel worries that the common threat from the insurgents has created a de-facto axis between world powers and its arch-foe Iran, which also has troops helping Assad. »As long as Iran is in Syria, the country will not return to what it was, and it will certainly find it difficult to become stable as a country that is divided into enclaves, because the Sunni forces there will not allow this, » Yaalon said in an earlier statement.
Saudi troop deployment in Syria up to US-led coalition -foreign minister Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that any move to deploy Saudi special forces into Syria would depend on a decision by the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State insurgents.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Friday he expected both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to send special operations forces to Syria to help local opposition fighters in their campaign to retake the city of Raqqa, Islamic State’s de facto capital in Syria.Saudi Arabia on Saturday confirmed it had sent aircraft to NATO-member Turkey’s Incirlik air base for the fight against Islamic State militants. »The Kingdom’s readiness to provide special forces to any ground operations in Syria is linked to a decision to have a ground component to this coalition against Daesh (Islamic State) in Syria – this U.S.-led coalition – so the timing is not up to us, » Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told a news conference with his Swiss counterpart in Riyadh.
« With regards to timing of the mission or size of troops, this has yet to be worked out, » he added.Major powers agreed in Munich on Friday to a pause in combat in Syria, but Russia pressed on with bombing in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, its ally. Assad has promised to fight until he regains full control of the country.U.S. President Barack Obama has ruled out sending U.S.ground troops to Syria. But Turkey said that both Ankara and Riyadh would support a coalition ground operation.However, the head of air defence forces in Iran, which along with Russia is the main supporter of Assad, said any interference without Syrian consent would fail.
Russia has gained upper hand in Syria, Merkel ally says Russia had gained the upper hand in Syria and the surrounding region through armed force, a senior conservative ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday, and he voiced doubts that Moscow would respect a truce plan for the war-torn country.
« I think Russia has gained the upper hand in the region and this is by historical measures a novelty. And they have done so by the use of armed force, » said Norbert Roettgen, head of the foreign affairs committee in the German parliament and a member of Merkel’s conservative party.Speaking at a security conference in Munich, he said he was sceptical about how Russia would behave in the days and weeks ahead, despite agreeing to a « cessation of hostilities » which is due to begin in a week’s time.
The deal agreed by major powers falls short of a formal ceasefire because it was not signed by the warring parties, the Syrian government and the rebels seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad.A day after the agreement was clinched, Syrian troops, backed by Russian air strikes, made gains against rebels near the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.
« Russia is determined to create the facts on the ground, and when they have accomplished this, then they will invite the West to fight a common enemy, this is ISIS, » Roettgen said. In his view, he said, the approach had disqualified Moscow as a credible partner in fighting Islamic State militants.Participating in the same panel, U.S. Senator John McCain said he did not view the deal, sealed in Munich early Friday morning after nine hours of talks, as a breakthrough. »Let’s be clear about what this agreement does. It allows Russia’s assault on Aleppo to continue for another week, » he said.
As Indonesia hunts down Islamic State, homegrown jihadis regroup As Indonesian counter-terrorism forces hunt down supporters of Islamic State following last month’s gun and suicide bomb attack in Jakarta, a quiet resurgence is unfolding of a homegrown radical network with a far deadlier track record here.
That group is Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), whose network was until recently thought to have been severely degraded by a crackdown that put hundreds of its leaders and followers behind bars after a series of attacks on Western interests in the 2000s.But Reuters interviews with two active and one former member of Jemaah Islamiyah have revealed that it is active again, enlisting new supporters, raising funds and sending men to train in war-torn Syria.
« JI is currently in preparation level. They have not done any operations but they are recruiting people, strengthening their knowledge, education, network and finances, » said Nasir Abas, a former member. « I would not underestimate them. » Jakarta-based security analyst Sidney Jones believes Jemaah Islamiyah’s membership is back to around 2,000, where it was before its most notorious attack, a bombing on the resort island of Bali that killed over 200 people, most of them Australians.
JI suspects arrested recently were found with caches of arms.Experts say there is no evidence that the emergence of the ultra-violent group Islamic State from the crucible of conflict in the Middle East has prompted the revival of Jemaah Islamiyah in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
Jemaah Islamiyah had links in the past to al-Qaeda, which Islamic State sees as a rival, but its resurgence is not being read as intra-jihadi competition playing out in Southeast Asia.Islamic State stamped its presence in the region for the first time last month when local supporters of the group launched a broad-daylight assault at a busy intersection in central Jakarta with explosives and guns. Eight people were killed, four of them the attackers themselves.
Police are on alert for further strikes by Islamic State followers, but say these are likely to be far from the scale of the attack on Paris last November because the group lacks organisational strength in Indonesia.
They believe Jemaah Islamiyah’s sophisticated training, organisation, and funding could pose a bigger security threat.Former Jemaah Islamiyah member Nasir Abas said its ranks still include older men who trained in Afghanistan in the 1980s and returned with combat experience and bomb-making skills.Then there is the more ample funding: Experts estimate that the weapons used in last month’s attack on the Indonesian capital cost no more than $70, a shoestring budget compared to the $50,000 spent to launch the Bali bombings back in 2002.
No date set for Saudi king’s visit to Russia-SPA No date has been set for Saudi King Salman’s visit to Russia, Saudi Arabia’s state news agency SPA reported on Sunday citing a source at the foreign ministry.
Russia’s RIA news agency reported on Wednesday that the king plans to visit Moscow in mid-March, quoting Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov..SPA said recent media reports about the visit were incorrect.Russia and Saudi Arabia are backing opposing sides in the Syria conflict, and both countries are major oil exporters.
Hariri says Lebanon will never be an « Iranian province » Sunni politician Saad al-Hariri said on Sunday Lebanon would never be an « Iranian province » hostile to Saudi Arabia, and attacked Shi’ite Hezbollah’s role in the Syrian war in a speech reflecting regional tensions.
The former prime minister was speaking in Beirut on the 11th anniversary of the assassination of his father, Rafik al-Hariri.It was only his third visit to the country since the Hezbollah-dominated March 8 alliance toppled his cabinet in 2011.Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which both have powerful influence in Lebanon and support rival political blocs, are contributing to conflicts across the Middle East, including in Syria.
« We will not allow anyone to pull Lebanon to the camp of hostility towards Saudi Arabia and its Arab brothers. Lebanon will not be, under any circumstances, an Iranian province. We are Arabs, and Arabs we shall remain, » said Hariri, who is backed by Saudi Arabia.Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, is fighting alongside the Syrian army in support of President Bashar al-Assad in a war against insurgents who have received backing from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other states.
Five Hezbollah members have been indicted by an international tribunal over the 2005 killing of Rafik al-Hariri.The group has denied any involvement in the killing, which pushed Lebanon to the brink of civil war and still stirs emotions 11 years later. The killing deepened a sectarian divide in Lebanon’s politics that still affects it to this day.
Hariri, whose last visit to Lebanon was for the 10th anniversary, heads the March 14 political alliance that was forged in the aftermath of his father’s assassination.He publicly confirmed for the first time that late last year he put forward a proposal for Suleiman Franjieh, an ally of Hezbollah and friend of Assad, to fill the post of president that has been vacant for 21 months.But he questioned whether his political rivals really wanted an end to the crisis that reflects wider paralysis in Lebanese government. His initiative has not gained traction. Hezbollah says it is sticking by its preferred candidate, Michel Aoun. »We are sincere. We want a president of the republic. We want to be rid of the vacuum. We have paid the price at home and abroad, » Hariri said.But addressing his rivals, he said: « Please go to the parliament and elect a president, unless your real candidate is the vacuum. »
Israel says its forces shot dead five Palestinian assailantsIsraeli police officers fatally shot two Palestinians who opened fire at them outside Jerusalem’s walled Old City on Sunday, police said, on a day when officials said three other Palestinian assailants were killed in two other incidents.A police spokeswoman said two men used automatic weapons to shoot at officers stationed on the Damascus Gate plaza, a busy entrance to the Old City and the scene of many previous violent incidents, and they responded swiftly and shot the two.
Multiple rounds of gunfire could be heard on amateur video footage taken during the incident late in the evening, with traffic, including a commuter bus, stopped nearby. There were no reports of other casualties.Earlier, the Israeli army said troops shot and killed two Palestinian teenagers who were throwing stones at cars in the occupied West Bank after coming under fire from one of them.In a third incident, a Palestinian tried to stab an Israeli paramilitary policeman at a checkpoint in the West Bank, near Jerusalem, and was shot dead, police said.Israeli security forces have killed at least 163 Palestinians, 107 of whom Israel says were assailants, while the others were shot dead during violent anti-Israeli protests, as the bloodshed persists into a fifth month.
Stabbings, shootings and car rammings by Palestinians have killed 27 Israelis and a U.S. citizen since early October.
As well as frustration over Jewish settlement-building, deemed illegal by the United Nations, on land Palestinians want for a state, tensions have been rising over Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound and Islamist calls for Israel’s destruction.In Sunday’s shooting near the West Bank city of Jenin, « two assailants hurled rocks at cars », a military statement said. »Forces arrived and were fired upon by an assailant. Soldiers responded and shot the attackers, resulting in their deaths. » The Palestinian Health Ministry said two 15-year-old Palestinians were killed.Wassef Abu Baker, a 56-year-old local resident, told Reuters that after hearing gunshots, he drove to within 40 metres (yards) of where one of the teenagers was lying on the ground.
« He was still moving. The soldier shouted at me to move back and they fired at him – maybe it was 12 bullets, » he said.Abu Baker said he could not see whether the person on the ground was armed. A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted a photograph of what appeared to be an M-16 assault rifle on the pavement, which he said was the weapon used against the soldiers.
UAE sentences four to death for joining IS- news agency A United Arab Emirates court sentenced four people to death in absentia on Sunday for joining the Islamic State militant group, the UAE state news agency WAM reported.They were among 11 citizens of the Emirates and other Arab countries on trial after some of them entered an Arab country and participated in the militant group’s activities, offered finances and ran a website to promote their ideas, WAM said.The four given the death sentence were Emiratis and traveled to Syria, local newspapers added.The UAE, an oil-exporting confederation of seven Muslim emirates bordering Saudi Arabia and Oman, is concerned about Islamist movements that appeal to religious conservatives and challenge its lack of democratic rule.
It has declared the Islamic State insurgent group a terrorist organisation and taken part in U.S.-led air strikes on it in Syria.In another case on Sunday, the court sentenced three people to 10 years in prison and subsequent deportation for providing supplies, communications devices and chemical materials to the Iran-allied Houthi movement in Yemen, WAM reported.Three others on trial were acquitted, said WAM, which did not specify their nationalities.
Bahrain on path to recovery five years after revolt, says police chief Bahrain’s police chief said the Gulf state was slowly returning to stability five years after a 2011 uprising was put down by force, but still faced security threats from Iran-backed elements and militants linked to Islamic State. Speaking ahead of the fifth anniversary of the start of the pro-democracy protests, Brigadier-General Tariq al-Hassan also rejected accusations by rights groups of torture by security forces as a « broken record », saying Bahrain has set up several monitoring mechanisms to ensure police transparency.The U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state has struggled to overcome bitter divisions that developed after a revolt in 2011 by majority Shi’ite Muslims demanding reforms and an end to the Sunni monarchy’s political domination.
Critics of the island kingdom, where the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet is based, say the divisions have been deepened by a harsh crackdown on the opposition by Bahrain’s security forces.Al-Hassan dismissed that, saying that the protests had been hijacked by « extremists » directed by Shi’ite Iran. »Bahrain has faced terrorist attacks … acts of unrest and attacks in the past five years. Today, security is better and is under control, » he told Reuters in an interview. « But this stability must be preserved because we are facing an assault from abroad, specifically from Iran as we have shown more than once. » Iran has consistently denied accusations that it foments instability in Bahrain and its fellow Gulf Arab states.
Al-Hassan said Bahrain also faced threats from Islamic State and al Qaeda militants. The brother of prominent Islamic State preacher Turki Mubarak al-Bin’ali is among 24 people on trial in Bahrain for trying to set up an Islamic State branch.Spring protests rocked Bahrain in 2011, when thousands of demonstrators camped out in downtown Manama demanding reforms before security forces, supported by Gulf Arab allies including Saudi Arabia, removed them and bulldozed a roundabout that came to symbolise the uprising.The confrontation has caused a rift between Shi’ites and Sunnis, damaging relations between communities of various ethnic and religious backgrounds with a long tradition of tolerance.Rights groups say Bahrain has stepped up its crackdown on dissent in the past two years, arresting opposition leaders for incitement and revoking the citizenship of more than 300 people.International human rights groups also accuse security forces of using torture to extract confessions from prisoners, a charge vehemently denied by al-Hassan.
« Unfortunately, the issue of human rights had been misused by some organisations and by some states, and it is only just that they acknowledge what Bahrain had achieved in this field, » Hassan said. « This broken record about torture in prisons, I don’t know what this talk is about. » He said Bahrain had set up several watchdogs to monitor police work to ensure transparency, appointed an ombudsman to investigate complaints of abuse and was working with prison authorities in Britain and Ireland to improve prison services.
« I see that the level of transparency that exists today, unfortunately, is being ignored by those who belong to human rights bodies, or some of them, » he said.Human Rights Watch last November questioned Bahrain’s claims that it had ended torture in detention. « All the available evidence supported the conclusion that these new institutions have not effectively tackled … a ‘culture of impunity’ among security forces, » said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director.
Czech PM says ready to protect Balkan borders in migrant crisis Central European leaders are ready to help Balkan countries seal their borders with Greece to stem the flow of migrants across the continent, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka told Reuters on Sunday.Despite objections from regional powerhouse Germany, which says it would make the situation in Greece more difficult, the so-called Visegrad group will debate the plans on Monday at a summit hosted by Sobotka.He said the European Union’s agreements with Turkey to reduce the flow of refugees and migrants crossing to Greece to flee war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa had so far not yielded satisfactory results and time was running out.
« The current situation when up to 3,000 people come to Greece every day certainly is not what we had in mind, » he said in emailed answers to Reuters questions. »The Visegrad Four (V4) realises how important it is to focus on the west Balkan route and show solidarity with the west Balkan countries and help them with protection of their borders. » « Already now policemen from V4 countries are helping on the Macedonian border, we are prepared to strengthen our aid if needed, » he said.
The Visegrad group is made up of the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, and the Prague meeting will be also attended by the leaders of Bulgaria and Macedonia.Sobotka said he would discuss the plans with the Greek foreign minister on Tuesday, ahead of an EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday.
The central European countries, with the exception of Hungary, have so far not seen any significant numbers of migrants, but they fear they could be swamped as well if Europe’s external borders stay leaky, or if Germany were to close its own borders.Germany believes sealing Balkan borders with Greece could undermine its approach focused on making the agreement with Turkey work and would lead to accumulation of refugees in Greece, a country already under huge strain.
Austria wants to press ahead to protect its borders-paper Austria will start building new facilities to better protect its borders, notably the one with Italy, Chancellor Werner Faymann said in an interview published on Sunday, underlining efforts to limit admissions of migrants.Austria recently built a 3.7 km (2.3 mile) fence at its busiest border crossing with Slovenia, Spielfeld, saying this would help manage the flow of new arrivals onto its territory.Asked whether Austria would take new measures on the Italian border, including the « Brenner » border crossing, he told the daily Oesterreich: « It’s already February. I’m not willing to let more time pass. It’s too late for that.
« In March, one can expect a new wave of migrants. So we have to build the technical facilities now so they are ready for use when we need them. » Faymann said the defence and the interior ministries would specify what the border control system will look like.The newspaper had reported earlier that a fence was planned for the Brenner crossing, but that the government first wanted to see how efficient the fence at the Spielfeld crossing would turn out to be.
The new border management system at Spielfeld aims to speed up applications while making sure no asylum seekers can enter the country without undergoing thorough checks and registration.Austria, which has a population of 8.4 million and last year received 90,000 applications for asylum, has said it will limit the number of refugees it accepts this year to 37,500.
« We’ve set this threshhold and it remains valid, » Faymann said, adding he had to take responsibility for Austria even if Italy and Germany were not pleased.Austria told Macedonia on Friday to be ready to « completely stop » the flow of migrants across its southern border from Greece, warning that Vienna would do the same on its own frontiers within months.
Unknown dead fill Lesbos cemetery for refugees drowned at seaShe drowned trying to reach Europe, but her headless body was never identified. Her tombstone will bear no name.Like others buried beside her in an olive grove on the Greek island of Lesbos, the marble plaque on her unmarked grave will proclaim the victim « Unknown ». Her epitaph an identification number, the date she washed ashore, and her presumed age: one.
Sixty-four earthen graves have been dug in this land plot for refugees and migrants who drowned crossing the Aegean Sea trying to reach Europe. Just 27 of those are named.The others state plainly: « Unknown Man, Aged 35, No 221, 19/11/2015; » « Unknown Boy, Aged 7, No 40, 19/11/2015; » « Unknown Boy, Aged 12, No 171, 19/11/2015. » More than half a million people fleeing Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries plagued by war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa have arrived on Lesbos since last year hoping to continue to northern Europe.In 2015, the deadliest year for migrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean, more than 3,700 people are known to have drowned or gone missing, the International Organization for Migration says. The actual number is believed to be higher.
Hundreds have drowned in Greece since arrivals surged last summer. So many, in fact, that the section of one Lesbos cemetery designated for refugees and migrants has long run out of space.Locals conclude that entire families have drowned in the same shipwreck, leaving no survivors to identify the victims.They recall bodies found severely decomposed after days at sea, or dismembered from crashing against the rocks of the island’s long coastline.
« It doesn’t feel right, seeing a child of unknown identity, an unknown child, a child of ‘roughly this age’, » said Alekos Karagiorgis, a caretaker who has transported hundreds of corpses from beaches across the island to the morgue since summer. »It doesn’t matter if it’s your job. It breaks your heart. » Remote beaches on the island still bear the traces of arrivals: flimsy, discarded life jackets are strewn across the rocks as well as the odd shoe, a jacket, milk formula and nappies.
Though fewer than 10 nautical miles separate the Aegean island of Lesbos from Turkey, hundreds have drowned trying to make it across on overcrowded rubber or wooden boats.In October, following a nighttime shipwreck from which more than 200 were rescued but dozens died, the St. Panteleimon cemetery ran out of space to bury the dead and the island’s morgue had to bring in a container to keep the bodies.
That prompted local authorities to set aside a plot of land in one village for burials.There Mustafa Dawa, a boyish-looking 30-year-old from Egypt in Greece since his 20s, has taken on the unofficial role of washing, shrouding and burying the dead, their heads faced towards Mecca. »I did 57 funerals in seven days. In one day I did 11, » he said, recalling spending a few minutes crouched in the grave of the headless child, weighed down by emotion.
Dawa says it’s the least he can do. « I can’t stop the war there, I can’t make them cross (to Europe) legally. All I can do is bury them. » Since the October shipwreck, Theodoros Nousias, a coroner, has photographed and taken DNA samples of more than 200 victims who drowned off Lesbos and the island of Samos, keeping an archive in case relatives seek them out.One body washed ashore this week, but it’s anyone’s guess when or where the person died, he said. Whenever the wind blows, those who drowned in Turkey are washed ashore on Lesbos.
While some victims have been identified through photographs, others are simply unidentifiable, he said, except through DNA.Only one of hundreds has been traced this way so far, Nousias said.Like Nousias, Karagiorgis, the caretaker, and others on Lesbos faced daily with the reality of death, hope for the day the victims will be identified. »I hope they trace them through DNA so that these people can rest, » Karagiorgis said. »So that their souls can rest in peace, the mother or father searching for this person finds peace and says, ‘you know what, they chose to do this and they drowned this way’. »
Most UK firms seriously weighing risks of Brexit, says CBI head Most major British firms are seriously considering the risk of Britain leaving the European Union and many are making contingency plans, according to the head of the Confederation of British Industry.
Speaking to reporters at a briefing, CBI Director-General Carolyn Fairbairn said the prospect of a British referendum around the middle of the year on whether to leave the EU was a growing concern for business.
Prime Minister David Cameron hopes to reach a deal to reform the European Union at a summit of EU leaders this weekend, which he can put to voters in a referendum many analysts expect to be held in late June.Recent opinion polls have shown a narrow but growing lead for campaigners who want to leave the EU.
« You are now seeing a number of companies recently that have had contingency plans (and) are debating important questions of what it means for their suppliers and their exports and so on, » Fairbairn said.
« I would say it is most, now, that have given the issue serious thought, » she added, based on having met almost 100 businesses since she took the CBI’s helm in November.No firms have spoken publicly in any detail about how they would react if Britain decided to leave the 28-member bloc and had to renegotiate a raft of global trade deals.
But behind closed doors, some companies — including major international banks based in London’s financial district — have spent tens of millions of dollars considering their options, according to firms advising them.
Fairbairn’s comments show contingency planning is now common, and she said it was not concentrated in any one sector.The Bank of England has confirmed that it has looked at what might happen if Britain voted to leave the EU, although finance minister George Osborne has said the government is wholly focused on ensuring reform of the bloc.The CBI said most of its members wanted to stay in a reformed EU, and it has generally pointed to the benefits of staying in, drawing criticism from ‘leave’ campaigners.
Last week the CBI said firms’ investment intentions had not been affected by the prospect of the vote. But at the briefing Fairbairn said this could change, given Scotland’s experience of a referendum on independence in 2014. »We are not surprised not to see an impact now, » she said. « One of the things we saw from the Scottish referendum is that those decisions around investment tended to be quite late, at the point at which a date was actually announced. »
Britain says EU reform talks will ‘go to the wire’ Britain’s push to win backing from its European partners for its wish list of EU reforms will go « right to the wire » at a summit this week, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Sunday. »There isn’t a deal yet, there is a working draft, there are lots of moving parts and we have got a negotiation that will run through this week, and I have no doubt will run right to the wire, » he told BBC television on Sunday.
He said progress was needed to nail down key demands in the areas of competitiveness, the relationship between countries in the bloc that use the euro and those that do not, national sovereignty and access to welfare benefits.British and EU negotiators have already broadly agreed much of a reform package, but tricky political issues, notably on migration, are still outstanding.
Prime Minister David Cameron is hoping to return from a summit of European leaders on Thursday and Friday in Brussels with a package of reforms that he can take to the British people in a referendum on whether to remain in the EU. »Our European partners understand that we have to have a robust deal in each of those areas if the British people are to vote to remain inside the European Union, » Hammond told the Andrew Marr show.
The campaign to remain in the bloc stepped up a gear on Sunday, when the boss of airline easyJet said Britain’s membership of the EU was the reason that the cost of flights had plummeted, while the range of destinations had soared.
« Whatever way to look at it, the EU has brought huge benefits for UK travellers and businesses, » Carolyn McCall wrote in the Sunday Times. »Staying in the EU will ensure that they, and all of us, continue to receive them. » Campaigners to leave, however, repeated claims that EU supporters were running a fear campaign to scare people into voting to stay. »Those that wish to remain in the EU should make the positive case for the supranational European project rather than frightening people, » former defence minister Liam Fox told the newspaper.
Sarkozy party rivals challenge re-election bid, snub speech Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy faced growing opposition on Sunday in his own party to his bid to return to power next year, with three leading rivals snubbing a major speech and a fourth joining the race.Before officials of his Republicans party, Sarkozy – who has not yet declared his candidacy – outlined a programme of curbing immigration and cutting taxes that he wants as the conservative party’s platform for the 2017 presidential election.
But the main declared hopefuls – former prime ministers Alain Juppe and Francois Fillon and ex-agriculture minister Bruno Le Maire – were conspicuously absent. They have already said they would not be bound by Sarkozy’s policy proposals.Another rival, former party leader Jean-Francois Cope, chose Sunday to announce that he would also run in the party’s primary election in November to choose its candidate for president.In a further sign of dissatisfaction in the ranks, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, a former prime minister and party heavyweight, announced that he was backing Juppe.
Sarkozy, who was president from 2007 to 2012 when he lost his reelection bid to Socialist Francois Hollande, urged his party to unite in the face of a strong challenge from far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen.
« It would be unacceptable for us to be divided at a time when the National Front is so strong, » said Sarkozy, who began his political comeback in 2014 by winning election as leader of the UMP party, which he renamed The Republicans.
But Raffarin suggested Sarkozy was ignoring his own advice. »I have told Nicolas Sarkozy his strategy was too divisive, » he told BFM TV. « I prefer someone who tries to unite. » Some 48 percent of conservative voters think Juppe – who has also been foreign and defence minister in various governments – would be the party’s best candidate in 2017 versus only 20 percent for Sarkozy, a BVA poll published on Saturday showed.
Sarkozy’s policy proposals were staunchly conservative, including an overhaul of labour laws, construction of more jails and tightened border controls. He also spoke of France’s Christian roots, a code phrase for a strict line against any concessions to demands from its large Muslim minority.
The former president plans to put the proposals to a vote of all party members in April.Sarkozy has not officially announced his candidacy for 2017 but Raffarin said he should not be ruled out: « We should not under-estimate Nicolas Sarkozy’s potential, neither his intelligence nor his capacity to rebound. » Asked why he would not be present to listen to Sarkozy’s policy speech, rival Le Maire told BFM TV: « I want to spend Valentine’s Day with my wife and children. » Juppe also invoked « family reasons ».
Republicans gear up for U.S. Supreme Court battle after Scalia’s death Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates hardened their positions on Sunday on blocking a move by President Barack Obama to fill the Supreme Court seat left by the late conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, a lifetime appointment that would help decide some of the most divisive issues facing Americans.
The next justice could tilt the balance of the nation’s highest court, which was left with four conservatives and four liberals. The vacancy quickly became an issue in the 2016 presidential race.
« We ought to make the 2016 election a referendum on the Supreme Court, » U.S. Senator and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said on NBC’s « Meet the Press. » The normally nine-justice court is set to decide this year its first major abortion case in nearly a decade, as well as cases on voting rights, affirmative action and immigration.
Scalia, 79, died on Saturday at a West Texas resort. The cause of death will not be determined for several days, the top official in the county where he died, Presidio County Judge Cinderela Gueara, said on Sunday in an interview with local TV station WFAA-TV.
Obama, a Democrat, will nominate someone to fill the empty seat but will wait until the U.S. Senate is back in session, the White House said on Sunday. The Senate returns from recess on Feb. 22. »At that point, we expect the Senate to consider that nominee, consistent with their responsibilities laid out in the United States Constitution, » White House spokesman Eric Schultz said.
The White House declined to give a more specific timeline for Obama to announce his nominee. The nomination will set up a battle with the Republican-controlled chamber, which must approve any nominee.Shortly after news of Scalia’s death, Republicans vowed not to act on the vacancy until Obama’s successor takes office next January. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said failure to act would be a « shameful abdication » of the Senate’s constitutional duty.
Both sides said history was on their side.Reid said it would be unprecedented to have a vacancy on the court for a year. In the modern era, the longest Supreme Court vacancy was 363 days after Abe Fortas resigned in May 1969.
Republicans cited 80 years of tradition in which no Supreme Court nominees were approved in presidential election years. In fact, Justice Anthony Kennedy was approved in 1988, after a bruising battle in which the Senate rejected President Ronald Reagan’s first nominee, conservative Robert Bork.Supreme Court nominations are rare, so neither side has much data to rely on in determining precedents. History is also an unreliable guide as the nomination process has become significantly more politicized in recent years.
For Obama’s previous two Supreme Court picks, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, he took about 30 days each to announce the elections after their predecessors, Justice John Paul Stevens and Justice David Souter, respectively, said they planned to step down. Ohio Governor John Kasich, a moderate among the Republicans vying for the White House, said the Senate should wait because a battle this year would only deepen divisions in the country.
« You know how polarized everything is, » Kasich said on ABC’s « This Week. » « What I don’t want to see is more fighting and more recrimination. » Democratic U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy warned that a delay could have consequences in November’s election, when voters get to decide who fills one-third of the Senate’s seats. »If the Republican leadership refuses to even hold a hearing, I think that is going to guarantee they lose control of the Senate, because I don’t think the American people will stand for that, » he said on CNN’s « State of the Union. » Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said the Constitution was clear. « The president makes the appointment, Senate confirms, let’s get on with that business, » the senator from Vermont said on « Fox News Sunday. » One possible contender to replace Scalia is an Indian-American appeals court judge, Sri Srinivasan, who has pro-business credentials and a stellar resume. His nomination could make it more politically challenging for Republicans to block anyone put forward by Obama.
OPEC members increasingly keen to end oil glut -Nigeria oil minister The mood inside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is shifting from mistrust to a growing consensus that a decision must be reached on how to end the global oil price rout, Nigeria’s oil minister told Reuters.Oil prices have slumped by more than 70 percent to near $30 a barrel over the past 18 months as OPEC, led by top producer Saudi Arabia, sought to drive higher-cost producers out of the market by refusing to cut production despite a supply glut.
The price crash has crippled some economies that depend heavily on oil sales for income, such as Nigeria and Venezuela, and even Saudi Arabia is shoring up its resources to withstand the painful revenue drop. »There’s increased conversation going on. I think when we met in December … they (OPEC members) were hardly talking to one another. Everyone was protecting their own positional logic, » Nigerian oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachiwku told Reuters in an interview.
« Now I think you have cross-logic … they are looking at what are the deficiencies, what is the optimum. » Struggling oil producers have made repeated calls for an emergency OPEC meeting, but Kachikwu said that the timing had not been right. The cartel’s next regular meeting is in June. »We haven’t been sure that if we held those (emergency) meetings that we could actually walk away with some consensus, » Kachikwu said. »A lot of barrels are tumbling out of the market from non-OPEC members, so the Saudi philosophy is obviously working.But it’s not influencing the price higher, which means that whether we like it or not some barrels are coming in from …
members and non-members to cover whatever is dropping out. » IEA WARNING The International Energy Agency said on Jan. 19 that oil markets could be oversupplied by as much as 1.5 million barrels per day in the first half of 2016 and warned that prices could decline further as Iran’s emergence from economic sanctions brings more crude to the market.OPEC has declined to trim output without help from non-members, which so far have refused to participate. Russia, the world’s biggest oil producer, has played coy by floating the idea of a cut without saying whether it would participate.In an attempt to find a compromise, Venezuela’s oil minister recently proposed a freeze on new production to place a cap on the growing glut while not requiring countries to surrender market share.Kachikwu said that he would meet his Qatari and Saudi counterparts next week to discuss the situation.
« Have we got to the point where we can say there is a definite strategy? In terms of production reduction or freezing, no, I don’t think we have got there. But there is a lot of energy (behind the idea), » Kachikwu said. »As you get closer to the statutory (OPEC) meeting dates …you are going to see a lot more people get active in those conversations and try to find solutions. »
Israel’s Netanyahu defends gas deal in rare Supreme Court visit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israel’s top court on Sunday the country must forge ahead with developing a large natural gas field, with billions of dollars worth of potential exports, for both economic and security reasons.In an unusual step for an Israeli prime minister, Netanyahu testified, at his own request, in the Supreme Court to defend a framework gas deal after opposition parties and non-government organisations filed petitions to block plans to develop the Leviathan field off Israel’s Mediterranean coast.Critics, including the anti-trust authority, have argued that planned control of the country’s gas reserves by one consortium will limit competition and keep prices high.
Under the deal, Texas-based Noble Energy and Israel’s Delek Group, which discovered Leviathan in 2010, would retain control of the field but are being forced to sell other, smaller assets such as the nearby Tamar field that began production in 2013.
Netanyahu argued the blueprint provided major opportunities for Israel’s foreign relations and that any delay in its implementation could lead to the deal’s collapse and cause « long-term significant damage » to the country’s security and economy.Holding estimated reserves of 622 billion cubic metres, Leviathan will cost at least $6 billion to develop. It is meant to begin production by 2020 and supply billions of dollars worth of gas to Egypt and Jordan, and possibly Turkey and Europe.
Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab states to have signed peace deals with Israel. Gas exports could help shore up ties between Israel and its neighbours to the east and south. »There is no realistic alternative to the gas deal, » Netanyahu said. « If we reverse course, we will fall into the chasm once and for all. » After years of political infighting Netanyahu signed a framework deal that gave long-awaited approval for Leviathan’s development.Netanyahu had defended the deal in an affidavit to the Supreme Court last week and requested appearing in front of the judges before they make their final, binding ruling.Last year, parliament narrowly approved the deal but the anti-trust commissioner resigned in protest. The deal still needed anti-trust approval or for the economy minister to sign a waiver to bypass the Anti-Trust Authority.
The minister, Aryeh Deri, refused and ultimately resigned and Netanyahu took over as economy minister. In December, he invoked a never-before-used clause in the anti-trust law that allows for decisions of the Anti-Trust Authority to be overridden in the name of security and international diplomacy.Last month, the Leviathan partners signed a deal to sell $1.3 billion of gas over 18 years to Edeltech Group and its Turkish partner Zorlu Enerji for power plants they plan to build in Israel.Other deals with Jordan and BG are pending while Israel is in talks with Greece and Cyprus to build a natural gas pipeline to Europe.It is not immediately clear when the Supreme Court will hand down its ruling.
GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia shares mostly firm, China sets yuan higher Asian shares bounced to snap a five-session losing streak on Monday as a strong fix for China’s yuan eased devaluation concerns and Shanghai stocks returned from the Lunar New Year holidays with only modest losses.
The Shanghai Composite Index eased 2.2 percent in its first session since Feb. 5, a relatively benign move given the wild swings seen worldwide recently.More troubling were the January readings on Chinese trade which showed exports fell 6.6 percent in yuan terms from a year earlier, while imports dived 14.4 percent.
Still, rallies in European bank stocks and on Wall Street on Friday helped soothe jitters enough for MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan to rise 1.2 percent. That follows a loss of almost 4 percent last week.E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 added 0.7 percent, while the cash market is closed on Monday for a holiday.
Japan’s Nikkei jumped 4.7 percent to retrace some of last week’s 11 percent drop, the largest such fall since 2008, though sentiment remained fragile. « Although we consider the violent risk-off move of recent weeks largely unwarranted by economic fundamentals, the sheer magnitude of the sell-off has raised the risk that market volatility could feed back into the real economy, » said Ajay Rajadhyaksha, an economist at Barclays.
« Central banks have very limited ability to ride to the rescue of risk assets. » Barclays pointed to three sources of volatility that had potential negative feedback loops: lower oil prices, capital outflows and macroeconomic weakness in China, and pressure on European banks.
« Of these, we consider China the biggest medium-term risk, but the least immediate issue, » wrote Rajadhyaksha.Indeed, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) took the opportunity of the U.S. dollar’s recent decline to fix its yuan at its highest in over a month on Monday, hoping to deflect speculation about a possible devaluation.
In an interview over the weekend, PBoC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said there was no basis for the yuan to keep falling, and China would keep it stable versus a basket of currencies while allowing greater volatility against the U.S. dollar.
Figures out over the weekend suggested there was still life in the Chinese consumer with retail sales growing 11.2 percent during the week-long Lunar New Year vacation compared with the same holiday period last year.
Retail figures from the United States out on Friday had also been relatively upbeat and helped calm market jitters a little.
The Dow ended Friday with a gain of 2 percent, while the S&P 500 added 1.95 percent and the Nasdaq 1.66 percent. The rally snapped a five-day losing streak, but all three indices were still down on the week.
Global oil prices had also surged as much as 12 percent on Friday after a report once again suggested OPEC might finally agree to cut production to reduce the world glut.Early Monday, U.S. crude had eased 35 cents to $29.09 a barrel, while Brent crude dipped 45 cents to $32.91.Oil was aided in part by weakness in the U.S. dollar as a steep drop in Treasury yields undermined the currency’s interest rate differentials.
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was up a shade at 96.120 having been at its lowest in almost four months.Likewise, it edged up to 113.68 yen, having touched a 15-month trough just under 111.00 last week.The euro was last at $1.1219, having slipped from a 3-1/2 month peak of $1.1377.Gold eased off to $1,222.80 an ounce, after enjoying its best week in four years.
Japan economy shrinks more than expected, adds to fears of global slowdown Japan’s economy contracted an annualised 1.4 percent in the final quarter of last year as consumer spending slumped, adding to headaches for policymakers already wary of damage the financial market rout could inflict on a fragile recovery.The data underscores the challenges premier Shinzo Abe faces in dragging the economy out of stagnation, as exports to emerging markets fail to gain enough momentum to make up for soft domestic demand.
Market speculation of additional monetary easing simmers, although the Bank of Japan’s policy ammunition appears to be dwindling, analysts say, after it deployed negative interest rates last month.
The contraction in gross domestic product (GDP) was bigger than a median market forecast for a 1.2 percent decline and followed a revised 1.3 percent increase in the previous quarter, Cabinet Office data showed on Monday. It matched a fall marked in April-June last year. Private consumption, which makes up 60 percent of GDP, fell 0.8 percent, more than a median market forecast for a 0.6 percent decline, a sign Abe’s stimulus policies have so far failed to nudge households into boosting spending.In a glimmer of hope for policymakers, however, capital expenditure rose 1.4 percent, confounding market expectations for a 0.2 percent decrease.
While domestic demand shaved 0.5 percentage point off GDP growth, external demand, or net exports, added 0.1 point due to a decline in the value of imports caused by falling oil prices.Last month the Bank of Japan unexpectedly cut a benchmark interest rate below zero, stunning investors with another bold move to stimulate the economy as volatile markets threatened its efforts to overcome deflation.
In poor, violent enclave of Saint Death, Pope slams Mexicos rich Celebrating Mass for more than 300,000 people in one of Mexicos poorest and most dangerous cities, Pope Francis on Sunday took a swipe at the country’s rich and corrupt elite .
Decrying « a society of the few and for the few », he denounced deep inequality and the vanity and pride of those who consider themselves a cut above the rest. »That wealth which tastes of pain, bitterness and suffering.This is the bread that a corrupt family or society gives its own children, » the pope said at the Mass in the city of Ecatepec.
Francis urged his listeners to struggle to make Mexico « a land of opportunities where there will be no need to emigrate in order to dream » and where drug traffickers, whom he called « dealers of death », would not ensnare their children.
Mexico is home to one of the worlds richest men, billionaire Carlos Slim, and a wealthy political class stained by corruption even as much of the country is steeped in poverty and violence.A gritty expanse of cinder block homes north of Mexico City, Ecatepec has seen a surge in crime in recent years as it became infested with warring drug cartels.Fueled by a weak economy and youth unemployment, gang violence has driven the city’s murder rate to one of Mexico’s highest.
It is notorious for the unsolved murders of scores of women, the bodies of many found abandoned in garbage dumps or tossed in a canal only miles from where Francis spoke on Sunday.The pope warned Mexicans not to succumb to evil: « You cannot dialogue with the devil because he will always win, » he told them.Ecatepec is home to a giant statue of « Santa Muerte », or Saint Death, a cult figure followed by millions across the Americas.
The saint is often depicted as a skeletal « grim reaper » draped in white satin robes, beaded necklaces and carrying a scythe, and is believed to grant requests without judging people.Although he did not address Santa Muerte in his Mass, the Roman Catholic Church has been dismayed by the cult’s rise at a time it is battling competition from other religions.
Refugees find free Berlin films contain a few shock extras The Berlin film festival has gone out of its way this year to make refugees feel welcome by giving them free tickets to screenings, but for Syrian refugee Marwa Anjwka and others who have taken up the offer, it can all be a bit of a culture shock.
Anjwka, 38, who had worked as a teacher in Aleppo until she had to flee the fighting there three months ago, making her way to Germany via Turkey and the Balkans, said she had enjoyed Israeli director Udi Aloni’s « Junction 48″, about a Palestinian rap star.
She and about a dozen other Syrians and Iraqis who stay in a cavernous shelter in east Berlin saw the film on Saturday. »It’s not only a movie and a story, it’s what’s happening in real life, » she said, adding: « I like that it is an Israeli director, working with Palestinians. » But Abdullah Saleh, 24, a refugee from Damascus accompanying the group, said he’d noticed that Anjwka and another woman sitting beside her, both wearing headscarves, had looked uncomfortable when the characters in the film swore in Arabic.
« In our culture it’s not good to say those words in front of women, » Saleh said. He had also noticed that when the two lead characters were kissing, Anjwka « was playing with her phone ».The film festival that began in 1951 when Germany — and Europe — were recovering from a war that had uprooted millions of people is making an extra effort to welcome the latest wave of refugees who have fled war in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere.
Refugees are being taken behind the scenes of the festival, some accompanied by NGO workers who are helping them to adjust to life in Germany. There is also a refugee-staffed food truck serving up Mediterranean fare with the aid of a celebrity chef.If Anjwka and the other refugees from the shelter had not gone to the cinema, they would have had little else to do, said Mira Sophie Walter, a volunteer.
« I think it’s important to get the people out, » Walter said. « They live in a hall, they don’t have a room or anything, or privacy. We’re trying to get them to have a bit of fun. » But what some find diverting may bother or anger others.This was the case for some refugees who attended a screening of the Tunisian film « Inhebbek Hedi » (Hedi), about a young car salesman who, on the eve of his wedding, falls in love with a tourist guide at a seaside resort — with mildly steamy sex scenes ensuing.
Khairallah Swaid, 25, a Syrian refugee who arrived in Germany in July, said he knew in advance the film contained explicit scenes.But he came out disappointed at the way the film had portrayed Arab society — with Hedi’s fling with the guide apparently tolerated by his family, though they do not approve. »This is not the truth. There is no such thing in the Arab world. It reflects a negative image of Arab traditions and customs, » Swaid said. »I will integrate in society and will be part of your culture but I want to preserve my Muslim culture »
Doctor’s despairing war letters inspire Portuguese film in Berlin Letters a then-newlywed doctor wrote to his pregnant wife in Portugal while he served in a futile war to retain Angola as a Portuguese colony inspired the film « Cartas da Guerra » (Letters from War) shown at the Berlin film festival on Sunday.The letters written in 1971-2 by Antonio Lobo Antunes, who has become one of Portugal’s most distinguished novelists, trace the growing despair of a man caught up in a conflict he can see is ruinous to his own country and to Angolans.
« In 1971 everybody knew it was an unjust war without any prospect of success, » director Ivo Ferreira said at a post-screening news conference for his film which is in competition for the main Golden Bear prize. »Through this war the end of dictatorship in Portugal was triggered, » Ferreira added, referring to Portugal’s so-called « Carnation Revolution » that brought an end in 1974 to more than four decades of authoritarian rule.
Ferreira’s film, with Miguel Nunes portraying Lobo Antunes, shows how initial camaraderie among Portuguese forces newly arrived in Angola gradually gives way to demoralisation and despair in the face of a largely unseen enemy who nevertheless inflicts casualties with landmines and sneak attacks.The film shows Portuguese soldiers getting their revenge by executing captured Angolan rebels in cold blood. In another scene, a Portuguese soldier cracks and wanders into the jungle naked, after throwing away his identification tag.
The soldiers and officers who returned home, Ferreira said, formed the backbone of the revolution, which took its name from demonstrators stuffing flowers in the muzzles of soldiers’ rifles. »These officers and soldiers started a revolution…that is what this Doctor Lobo Antunes experienced in this war, and they were the fathers of the revolution, » Ferreira said.
He said seeing his own wife reading a book by Lobo Antunes gave him the idea of having the letters read out in a voiceover by the doctor’s wife at home in Portugal. »That is the key aspect of the film, without this aspect the film wouldn’t exist, » he said.Margarida Vila-Nova, who plays the wife, told Reuters on the red carpet for the premiere that she hopes the film will help younger Portuguese learn about that period of history. »We know just a little bit about what happened, » she said, noting that people of the older generation rarely talk about it. »I think this movie can be (a) lesson to the young people. » Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said he was proud the film had been shown in Berlin. »Not only is it the first time in a long time that we present a long movie, it is also a film adaptation to one of the main works of our literature and our contemporary writers, » he said.
DNA rice breakthrough raises ‘green revolution’ hopesRice-growing techniques learned through thousands of years of trial and error are about to be turbocharged with DNA technology in a breakthrough hailed by scientists as a potential second « green revolution ».Over the next few years farmers are expected to have new genome sequencing technology at their disposal, helping to offset a myriad of problems that threaten to curtail production of the grain that feeds half of humanity.
Drawing on a massive bank of varieties stored in the Philippines and state-of-the-art Chinese technology, scientists recently completed the DNA sequencing of more than 3,000 of the world’s most significant types of rice.With the huge pool of data unlocked, rice breeders will soon be able to produce higher-yielding varieties much more quickly and under increasingly stressful conditions, scientists involved with the project told AFP.
Other potential new varieties being dreamt about are ones that are resistant to certain pests and diseases, or types that pack more nutrients and vitamins. »This will be a big help to strengthen food security for rice eaters, » said Kenneth McNally, an American biochemist at the Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
Since rice was first domesticated thousands of years ago, farmers have improved yields through various planting techniques.
For the past century breeders have isolated traits, such as high yields and disease resistance, then developed them through cross breeding.However, they did not know which genes controlled which traits, leaving much of the effort to lengthy guesswork.The latest breakthroughs in molecular genetics promise to fast-track the process, eliminating much of the mystery, scientists involved in the project told AFP.Better rice varieties can now be expected to be developed and passed on to farmers’ hands in less than three years, compared with 12 without the guidance of DNA sequencing.
Genome sequencing involves decoding DNA, the hereditary material of all living cells and organisms. The process roughly compares with solving a giant jigsaw puzzle made up of billions of microscopic pieces.A multinational team undertook the four-year project with the DNA decoding primarily in China by BGI, the world’s biggest genome sequencing firm.Leaf tissue from the samples, drawn mostly from IRRI’s gene bank of 127,000 varieties were ground by McNally’s team at its laboratory in Los Banos, near Manila’s southern outskirts, before being shipped for sequencing.
A non-profit research outfit founded in 1960, IRRI works with governments to develop advanced varieties of the grain.Farmers and breeders will need the new DNA tools, which scientists take pains to say is not genetic modification, because of the increasingly stressful conditions for rice growing expected in the 21st Century.
While there will be many more millions to feed, there is expected to be less land available for planting as farms are converted for urban development, destroyed by rising sea levels or converted to other crops.Rice-paddy destroying floods, drought and storms are also expected to worsen with climate change. Meanwhile, pests and diseases that evolve to resist herbicides and pesticides will be more difficult to kill.And fresh water, vital for growing rice, is expected to become an increasingly scarce commodity in many parts of the world.
As scientists develop the tools necessary to harness the full advantages of the rice genome database, the hope is that new varieties can be developed to combat all those problems. »Essentially, you will be able to design what properties you want in rice, in terms of the drought resistance, resistance to diseases, high yields, and others, » said Russian bioanalytics expert and IRRI team member Nickolai Alexandrov.
Scientists behind the project hope it will lead to a second « green revolution ».The first began in the 1960s as the development of higher-yielding varieties of wheat and rice was credited with preventing massive global food shortages around the world.That giant leap to producing more food involved the cross-breeding of unrelated varieties to produce new ones that grew faster and produced higher yields, mainly by being able to respond better to fertiliser.
But the massive gains of the earlier efforts, which earnt US geneticist Norman Borlaug the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, have since reached a plateau.Although the DNA breakthrough has generated much optimism, IRRI scientists caution it is not a magic bullet for all rice-growing problems, and believe that genetically modifying is also necessary.
They also warn that governments will still need to implement the right policies, such as in regards to land and water use.One of the key priorities of IRRI is to pack more nutrients into rice, transforming it into a tool to fight ailments linked to inadequate diets in poor countries as well as lifestyle diseases in wealthier countries. »We’re interested to understand the nutritional value…. we’re looking into the enrichment of micronutrients, » Nese Sreenivasulu, the Indian head of the IRRI’s grain quality and nutrition centre told AFP.Nese believes Type-2 diabetes, which afflicts hundreds of million of people, can be checked by breeding for particular varieties of rice which when cooked will release sugar into the bloodstream more slowly.IRRI scientists are also hoping to breed rice varieties with a higher component of zinc, which prevents stunting and deaths from diarohea in rice-eating Southeast Asia.
Israel girl band marries hip hop with ‘Yemenite’ folkThree Israeli sisters have built up a passionate fan base at home and abroad with music where past meets present with a twist: a mix of « Yemenite » folk, hip-hop and Arabic.Looking rather like heroines from the Arabian Nights — apart from the tennis shoes — the sisters in traditional embroidered dresses who make up the band A-WA recreate a desert party at their energetic concerts. »We belong to an ancestral tribe, that of our grandparents who left Yemen to emigrate to Israel, » said Tair Haim, at 32 the oldest of the trio that includes Liron, 30, and Tagel, 26.
The three sisters grew up in the desert village of Shaharut in southern Israel, near the borders of Jordan and Egypt, the daughters of an architect and holistic therapist.They found their musical inspiration in a past that came alive through the women in their family who sang Yemeni folk songs, an oral tradition handed down from generation to generation.
They were discovered by Israeli musician Tomer Yosef of the band Balkan Beat Box and signed on as the opening act at his concerts, before they made their own impact on the music scene and he became their producer.
« I heard traditional Yemenite music for the first time when I was young, at a henna ceremony, » a tradition at Jewish, Arab and Muslim weddings, Tair Haim told AFP. »I started to get excited about this tradition. I learned the songs by heart. I knew that I wanted to do something with it. »In a secret operation dubbed « Flying Carpet » between 1949 and 1950, nearly all of Yemen’s 45,000 Jews left to the newly-created state of Israel, the Haim family included.
Israel’s cultural scene — not only in music, but also film and literature — has undergone a recent trend of third-generation Jewish immigrants from Yemen or Morocco returning to their roots.In the spring of 2015, A-WA posted an online music video of « Habib Galbi » (Arabic for « Love of My Heart »), without mentioning they were Israeli Jews.Perched on a jeep cruising over vast sands after slipping away from chores for an officer in military uniform sporting a whip, the girls appear in the video wearing bright pink veils and singing in an unidentified Arabic dialect, before joining a dance session with three boys.
« We wanted people to come to us with an open mind, » said Tair Haim. « We just wrote something like: ‘We are bringing you a fresh desert breeze.' »Army radio, the most listened to in Israel, helped make Habib Galbi a summer hit, a first for a song in Arabic in the Jewish state.Its « la-la-la-la » refrain has turned into a hit at Israeli marriages, at clubs and on car radios, with enthusiasts trying to replicate the girls’ dance moves — blend of folk dancing and break-dance.
Two million Internet views later, A-WA (pronounced « aywa, » or yes in Arabic) has also attracted a following in the Arab world, according to the sisters. »It’s incredible that we have so many fans in the Arab world, » said Liron Haim.
In Europe, music festivals and radio stations are also discovering the trio, sometimes referred to as an « Israeli-Yemenite choir ». »I’ve been involved in the world music scene for 10 years, and something like them has simply been lacking. I’ve never seen anything like it, » their producer Yosef told Haaretz newspaper.The three sisters — two of whom live together in Tel Aviv — have played several gigs in Europe since last summer. »We have telepathic moments on stage, » said Liron. « It’s like when we were small and we played together. »A-WA is « a world of freedom and love and a combination of styles, old and new, traditional and modern, hip-hop and Yemenite folk, and girl power, » Tair said. »But also a world where guys can feel comfortable in their own skins. It’s a cool and happy world. »
(World news summary compiled by Maghreb news staff)