The United Nations carried out its first airdrop of humanitarian aid to the Syrian city of Deir al-Zor on Wednesday, U.N. aid chief Stephen O’Brien said, delivering 21 tons of relief to civilians besieged by Islamic State militants. « Earlier this morning a WFP (World Food Programme) plane dropped the first cargo of 21 (metric) tons of items into Deir al-Zor, » O’Brien told the U.N. Security Council. « We have received initial reports … that pallets have landed in the target area. » However, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric later told reporters the WFP was still trying to get information on where the aid ended up, suggesting it may not have all reached the target area.
« As you know, airdrops can be very challenging, » he said. »The pallets were dropped. They’re trying to reach local partners to ensure that the aid was received. »There may have been some difficulties in terms of the pallets, » he added.
Dujarric said there would likely be further airdrops in the coming days.The WFP said in a statement to Reuters that « the operation faced technical difficulties and we are debriefing crew and partners in Deir (al-Zor) to make necessary adjustments. » « The team will try again when possible to deliver assistance to up to 200,000 people in desperate need in the besieged city whom we have not been able to reach since March 2014, » it said. « High altitude drops are extremely challenging to carry out and take more than one trial to develop full accuracy. »
Syrian opposition supports idea of two-week ceasefire Syria’s opposition indicated on Wednesday it was ready for a two-week truce in Syria, saying it was a chance to test the seriousness of the other side’s commitment to a U.S.-Russian plan for a cessation of hostilities.Combatants are required to say whether they will agree to the « cessation of hostilities » in the five-year war by noon on Friday (1000 GMT), and to halt fighting on Saturday. The United Nations hopes the planned halt will provide a breathing space for Syrian peace talks to resume.
A statement seen by Reuters from the Saudi-backed High Negotiations Committee, which groups political and armed opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said it « views a temporary two-week truce as a chance to establish how serious the other side is in committing to the points of the agreement. » But it objected to Russia being a guarantor of the truce alongside the United States, saying Russia was a direct party to the conflict, and that the plan ignored the role Assad allies Russia and Iran were playing.
Russia intervened in the conflict on the side of Assad in September, and Iranian fighters have provided crucial support to the Syrian army in its fight against insurgents.In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama expressed caution about a plan to stop the fighting in Syria, which has killed 250,000 people and created a refugee crisis in Europe.
The last round of peace talks in Geneva broke up earlier this month without progress after the Syrian government launched a Russian-backed offensive on the city of Aleppo, where more fighting was reported on Wednesday.Obama told reporters that if some progress was made in Syria, that would lead to a political process to end the war there. « We are very cautious about raising expectations on this, » he said.
Although U.S officials have raised the question of a political transition in Damascus, Assad, backed by Russia, shows no sign of stepping aside.The cessation of hostilities plan does not include Islamic State or the Nusra Front, an al Qaeda affiliate that is widely deployed in opposition-held areas.The opposition has expressed fears government forces backed by the Russian air force will continue to attack rebels under the pretext of targeting the Nusra Front.
The Syrian government, its war effort buoyed since September by the Russian air force, has accepted the cessation of hostilities agreement announced on Monday.Assad told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday his government was ready to help implement the deal.
Putin and Assad, who held a telephone conversation, stressed the importance of a continued « uncompromising » fight against Islamic State, the Nusra Front and other militant groups.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he had spoken to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and their teams would meet in the next day or so to discuss the planned ceasefire. »I am not here to vouch that it’s absolutely going to work, » Kerry said in Washington. While there had to be a diplomatic solution at some point, the question was whether the time is ripe, he added.Putin has embarked on a round of telephone diplomacy, speaking to Assad, the Saudi king, the Iranian president and the Israeli prime minister. The Kremlin described the calls as an effort to explain the substance of the U.S.-Russia-brokered ceasefire.
The Russian Defence Ministry said it had significantly reduced the intensity of its air strikes in Syria in the past two days in areas where armed groups had expressed their readiness to join the ceasefire.Russian state media have presented the fact that Moscow helped broker the potential ceasefire as a sign that Russia matters again on the world stage and has shrugged off what it has cast as U.S.-led efforts to isolate it over the Ukraine crisis.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he feared the ceasefire plan would do little more than benefit Assad.Turkey has grown increasingly frustrated by the international response to the Syrian war, in particular U.S.support for a Kurdish militia it sees as a hostile insurgent force.
The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia told Reuters on Wednesday it would abide by the plan to halt the fighting but reserved the right to respond if attacked. The YPG is an important partner in the U.S-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria, but has also been fighting Syrian insurgent groups in northwestern Syria near Aleppo.
Ankara is also incensed by a Russian intervention that has tipped the balance of power in favour of its arch-enemy Assad. »If this is a ceasefire that is up to the mercy of Russia, which has brutally attacked the moderate opposition and aligned with Assad under the pretext of fighting Islamic State, we fear that the fire pouring over innocent people will never stop, » Erdogan said in a televised speech.
The United Nations said it was ready for a huge aid effort if the fighting stops.The war has left 4.5 million hard-to reach people in need of humanitarian aid, the United Nations says.The world body carried out its first airdrop of humanitarian aid to the Syrian city of Deir al-Zor on Wednesday, delivering 21 tons of relief to civilians besieged by Islamic State.The Syrian army and Islamic State fought fierce battles on Wednesday near Aleppo, where an attack by the jihadist group has cut the main land route to the city.
Russian leader pushes Syria truce deal amid skepticismRussian President Vladimir Putin spoke Wednesday with key players in the Syria conflict, including President Bashar Assad, ahead of a U.S.-Russia-engineered cease-fire, as the opposition voiced concerns that the truce due to begin later this week will only benefit the Syrian government.
Government troops backed by Russian warplanes waged fierce battles to regain control of a strategic road southeast of Aleppo from the Islamic State group. The extremist group seized the town of Khanaser and surrounding hills on Tuesday, cutting the main land route to Aleppo. The state-run news agency said 18 people were killed in IS shelling of government-held neighborhoods in the city over the past 24 hours.The truce agreement, which is set to take effect at midnight Friday local time, does not cover the Islamic State group, Syria’s al-Qaida branch known as the Nusra Front, or any other militia designated as a terrorist group by the U.N. Security Council.
It’s not clear exactly where along Syria’s complicated front lines the fighting would stop and for how long — or where counterterrorism operations could continue. Also unresolved are how breaches in the truce would be dealt with.
It remains shaky at best and major questions over enforcement are still unresolved. In a further reflection of the complicated terrain, Turkey’s president said Wednesday that a U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish militia group — which Turkey regards as a terror organization — should also be kept outside of the scope of the agreement. Turkey has in the past few weeks been shelling the group known as the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, in northern Syria.
The comments by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested Turkey may not stop bombarding the group, which has been a key fighting force against IS. Addressing dozens of local administrators in Ankara, Erdogan also voiced serious concern that the proposed truce will strengthen Assad and lead to « new tragedies. »
Although it has committed in principle to the truce, the main Syrian opposition umbrella group is deeply skeptical and has kept its meetings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, open while it seeks clarifications from the U.S. about the mechanism for the implementation of the agreement. Salem Al Meslet, spokesman for the alliance known as the High Negotiations Committee which groups political and rebel factions, said his group has « major concerns » that Russia and Assad’s forces will continue to strike at mainstream rebels under the pretext of hitting « terrorist groups » during the truce. However, in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, he reiterated that the opposition wants to stop the bloodshed and would abide by the truce in principle. « The Americans are taking note of our concerns and we are waiting for their replies, » Al Meslet said.
The U.S. is hoping that a cessation of hostilities would reduce the violence in Syria enough to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table in Geneva to discuss a roadmap for a political transition that was unanimously adopted by the U.N. Security Council in December.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told American lawmakers on Tuesday that he would not vouch for the success of the cease-fire agreement but that it is the best pathway for ending five years of violence in Syria that has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced another 11 million.
On Wednesday, Assad and Putin discussed the truce agreement in a phone call. SANA said the two leaders stressed the importance of continuing to fight the Islamic State group, Nusra Front « and other terrorist organizations. »Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said there were differences in opinion between Moscow and Damascus but that Russia is one of the few countries still in contact with « the legitimate Syrian leader. » He did not elaborate.
Speaking in a conference call with journalists, he said Moscow was doing its part and expects the United States to do the same to make sure the groups it supports adhere to the cease-fire. « The main goal is to stop the bloodletting in Syria, » he said. Asked whether Moscow had a Plan B in case the truce did not hold, he replied: « We are concentrating on Plan A right now. … It’s too early to speak of other plans. »
The Russian military later said its coordination center in Syria has helped negotiate the cessation of hostilities in some areas as part of efforts to implement the cease-fire deal. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj.-Gen. Igor Konashenkov, said the center, located at Syria’s Hemeimeem air base which is hosting Russian warplanes, has received several requests for assistance from various opposition groups. He said cease-fire declarations already have been signed by the government and opposition representatives in several areas in the provinces of Homs and Latakia.
Obama sounds cautious note about pending Syrian cease-fire President Barack Obama sounded a cautious note Wednesday about steps the U.S. and Russia are taking to put in place a cease-fire to help end the Syrian civil war, even as he also cited progress in pushing the Islamic State group out of territory in Iraq and Syria.Obama’s comments came after meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House, where the two leaders said that pursuing the political process designed to end the civil war and taking the fight to IS are their top priorities in Syria. The cease-fire is set to take effect Saturday, but does not cover IS. « We are very cautious about raising expectations on this, » Obama said. « The situation on the ground is difficult. »
Jordan is a key partner with the U.S. in the campaign to defeat IS and the effort to resolve the 5-year-old war.Obama said that if the cease-fire reduces the violence that has been wracking Syria, then it will provide the basis for a longer-term cease-fire. He also said that halting hostilities will allow the U.S. and its partners, including Russia, to focus on IS, « something that right now they are not doing and are not focused on. »
Obama also said the leaders talked about how to help Syrian refugees. Jordan houses about 635,000 Syrians registered by the U.N. refugee agency, out of about 4.7 million Syrians who have fled their homeland since the outbreak of the conflict in 2011. Most of the refugees live in regional host countries, though tens of thousands have moved on to Europe because living conditions were becoming increasingly difficult in those host countries, in part because of shortfalls in international aid.
Jordan has appealed for more aid, along with investment in the country, to help it cope with the refugee influx. »As they continue to be open to helping people in need, they will have a strong partner in the United States, » Obama said.
Abdullah said that efforts to resolve the conflict in Syria are moving in the right direction and described the coordination with the U.S. as exceptional. « I’m actually leaving Washington very optimistic about the level of support from the United States, » Abdullah said.Jordan has also been coordinating with Russia on stopping the conflict in Syria. It hopes to prevent new waves of refugees from heading toward Jordan.
Oraib Rentawi, director of the Al-Quds Center for Political Studies in Jordan, a think tank, said the U.S. remains the kingdom’s main strategic partner in the region. »Jordan will never go far from the American strategy in the region, » he said. « That does not mean we limit ourselves to coordination with the United States. We need to coordinate with other actors. » The two leaders also said they talked about steps to reduce tensions between Israel and Palestinians. »We continue to agree that it’s important for us to provide both sides a sense of possibility and hope, and not simply despair, » Obama said.Rentawi said Jordanians understand that the Obama administration doesn’t have much interest in launching a new peace initiative between Palestinians and Israel, « but at least we need to be sure that this issue will always be on the table, » he said, describing the festering conflict as one of the main sources of instability in the region.
Syrian Kurdish YPG says to abide by U.S.-Russian ceasefire The powerful Syrian Kurdish YPG militia will abide by a U.S.-Russian plan aimed at halting fighting in Syria, but reserves the right to respond if attacked, YPG official Redur Xelil told Reuters on Wednesday. »We, in the People’s Protection Units (YPG), give great importance (to the plan), and we will abide by it completely, while reserving the right to respond to any aggressor in the framework of legitimate self-defence, » Xelil said.The YPG has been an important partner for the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria, but has also been fighting Syrian insurgent groups in northwestern Syria near Aleppo in recent weeks. Islamic State is not included in the « cessation of hostilities » agreement.
Islamic State militants kill 17 in Libya’s Sabratha -officials Islamic State militants briefly entered the centre of the western Libyan city of Sabratha, beheading 11 members of local security forces and killing another six in overnight clashes before retreating, local authorities said on Wednesday.Islamist militants have taken advantage of political chaos and a lack of central authority to establish a presence in Libya, with fighters loyal to Islamic State seizing control in Sirte and staging attacks in several other cities.
The fighting in Sabratha started when local brigades – formerly among the many rebel groups that joined in an uprising that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 – attacked suspected Islamic State hideouts 15 km (9 miles) south of the city, Sabratha’s municipal council said in a statement.It said the militants then « took advantage of the security vacuum downtown and spread out all over the city ».
Sabratha’s mayor, Hussein al-Thwadi, told Reuters that six members of the local brigades had been killed in clashes on Tuesday evening and 11 more were beheaded when militants entered the security directorate building in the city centre overnight before the brigades forced them out.Late on Wednesday the Deterrence force, an armed brigade based in Tripoli that has a counter-terrorism role, said it had arrested three senior Libyan Islamic State members in a suburb of the capital, including Sabratha commander Mohamed Saad Altajouri.
A security source from the western city of Zintan said on Wednesday that authorities had agreed to treat the five wounded brigade members from Sabratha, a sign that Zintan and Sabratha may be prepared to cooperate in the fight against Islamic State.The two cities have been on opposite sides of Libya’s post-Gaddafi conflict, with Zintan allied to the internationally recognised government now based in the country’s far east and Sabrathan forces among those that support a rival government whose armed supporters seized the capital Tripoli in 2014.
Sabratha mayor Thwadi said local towns and cities including Zawiya and Surman had offered support against Islamic State, and that Sabratha had asked Zintan and two other towns to cut off militants’ supply routes along desert roads. On Friday, the United States carried out an air strike on a suspected Islamic State training camp on the outskirts of Sabratha, killing nearly 50 people. Serbia’s government said two Serbian diplomats kidnapped in Libya in November also died in the attack.It was the second U.S. air strike in three months against Islamic State in Libya.
Libya officials: French special forces on ground fighting IS French special forces have been helping Libyan troops fight Islamic State militants in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi for two months, two Libyan military officials said Wednesday.The French combat squad, consisting of 15 special forces, carried out four military operations against IS and other militant groups in Benghazi, the officials told The Associated Press. They said that French forces work with Libyan troops to pinpoint IS militant locations, plan operations and carry them out. They had also been training Libyan forces, they added.
According to the officials, the French forces were setting up an operations room in Banina air base in Benghazi alongside British and U.S. teams. They said that in addition to the special forces, a French intelligence unit is working with Britain and the U.S. units to collect information on the location of IS militants and their numbers.
Similar teams are also operating out of an air base in the city of Misrata, located to the east of the IS stronghold of Sirte, the officials said.The Libyan officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.The French defense ministry declined to comment, citing a policy against commenting on special forces’ activities.
The Libyan officials said the presence of Western forces was not welcomed by ultraconservative Salafist factions, who are allied with Libya’s eastern army and perceive the foreign intervention as an « occupation. »
Washington is counting on the UK, France and Italy to join the international coalition against IS extremists gaining ground in Libya. Last week, the U.S. carried out airstrikes against the extremist group’s position in the western city of Sabratha, killing dozens of fighters as well as two Serbian hostages.Libya’s chaos, five years after the uprising that led to the ouster and killing of longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, has allowed IS to take control of several cities. The divided country is ruled by two parliaments: an internationally recognized body based in the eastern city of Tobruk and a rival government, backed by Islamist-allied militias, that controls the capital, Tripoli.
The United Nations brokered a deal last year to unite the country’s various factions. A new unity government is awaiting endorsement by the eastern parliament. The unity government could pave the way international military intervention against the Islamic State group.
Also on Wednesday, Islamic State affiliates in Libya briefly took over the security headquarters of the western city of Sabratha, beheading 12 security officers before being driven out early in the morning, two city security officials said. The incident highlighted the enduring presence and unpredictable striking power of the local IS militants in the city, which serves as a hub for migrants heading to Europe.Taher al-Gharabili, head of Sabratha Military Council, told The Associated Press that the gunmen « exploited a security vacuum » by deploying in the city center as the military was occupied conducting raids elsewhere.
A second security official said that the militants used the headless bodies of the officers they killed to block the roads leading to the security headquarters — which they occupied for about three hours. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said the total number of officers killed in the occupation and ensuing clashes reached 19.
Sabratha has become the latest Libyan power center for the local IS affiliate.On Monday, Italy said it has agreed to allow American drones to be armed and take off from an air base in Sicily, but only to defend U.S. forces while they target Islamic State group extremists in Libya.An Italian defense ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity as the government hasn’t announced the deal, said Rome and Washington reached agreement last month. Permission will have to be asked of the Italian government every time, and decided on a case-by-case basis, for the drones to take off from Sigonella air base to protect military personnel deemed at risk during anti-IS operations in Libya and elsewhere in northern Africa. Permission won’t be granted for offensive missions under the arrangement.So far the U.S. drones based in Sigonella have neither been armed nor requested to be used, the official said.
Egypt’s president says criticism threatens the state Egypt’s president said Wednesday that excessive criticism of the government is contributing to attempts to bring down the state, telling Egyptians not to listen to anyone but him. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi did not go into specifics in an address broadcast live, saying only that he would « remove from the face of the Earth » anyone plotting to bring down the state.
In recent weeks, Egypt has seen startlingly public shows of anger over police abuses and brutality. Rights groups have documented arbitrary arrests, torture and disappearances. Even stalwartly pro-government TV commentators have raised alarm over a series of perceived miscarriages of justice, police brutality and economic problems — a shift from the near blanket avoidance of criticism in the past two years.
El-Sissi appeared angry as he addressed an audience that included public figures, youth groups and university students and some military officers. « Please, don’t listen to anyone but me. I am dead serious, » he said sharply. « Be careful. No one should abuse my patience and good manners to bring down the state. » « I swear by God that anyone who comes near it, I will remove him from the face of the Earth, » he said, then added, seeming to address those conspiring against the state, « What do you think you’re doing? Who are you? »
It is « still very early for open democratic practices, like criticizing and pushing (officials) out of office, » he said, adding that democracy is being practiced but « under difficult circumstances, so let us safeguard Egypt. »As military chief, el-Sissi led the July 2013 overthrow of Egypt’s first freely elected president, an Islamist whose divisive rule ignited mass protests. El-Sissi was elected president a year later in a landslide. Supporters largely cheered his government’s crackdown on Islamists — jailing thousands and killing hundreds — and the arrests of dozens of secular activists, including leaders of the 2011 uprising.
El-Sissi devoted much of his 120-minute speech, his longest since coming to office in June 2014, to the threats Egypt faces and his efforts to spare it from the violence convulsing much of the region. »What has been achieved in the last year and half was not achieved in 20 years before then, » he said, referring to a series of infrastructure projects, including an expansion of the Suez Canal.
Listing Egypt’s deep economic woes, he suggested that if 10 million Egyptians would donate one pound — about 10 cents — every day to the government, it would make a difference. « By God, if it were possible for me to be sold, I would sell myself, » he said, then paused as he seemed to hold back tears.He also suggested for the first time that militants were behind the downing of a Russian passenger plane that crashed in Sinai on Oct. 31, killing all 224 people on board. The crash dealt a major blow to Egypt’s vital tourism sector.
The extremist Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the crash, and Russia announced in November that a bomb brought down the aircraft. But Egyptian officials have insisted they must wait for the results from the international investigation. »Those who downed the aircraft, what did they hope to achieve? Just to hit tourism? » el-Sissi said. « No, they also wanted to strike at our relations with Russia … and, if they could, with the whole world, so we are left alone and isolated. »
Egypt has been battling an IS-led insurgency in the Sinai that grew increasingly assertive after Morsi’s overthrow. On Wednesday, el-Sissi acknowledged — also for the first time — that security forces had committed « excesses » in Sinai, saying it was difficult to combat terror while safeguarding people’s rights. « Am I happy about it? No, » he said.
Kuwait, Qatar urge citizens to avoid Lebanon
Kuwait and Qatar on Wednesday became the latest Arab countries to follow in Saudi Arabia’s footsteps by urging their citizens already in Lebanon to leave and issuing a travel warning for nationals planning to visit there.Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — all member-states of the tight-knit Gulf Cooperation Council — have called for their citizens to avoid travel to Lebanon.
The Kuwait News Agency, which carried the travel advisory by Kuwait’s Embassy in Lebanon, gave no details on the nature of the security threat. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry issued a similar advisory later Wednesday, published on state-run news agency. The move comes days after Saudi Arabia cut $4 billion in aid to Lebanese security forces in retaliation for Lebanon siding with Iran in the Sunni kingdom’s proxy wars with the Shiite power. Lebanon is home to the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
The Saudi decision came after the Lebanese foreign minister, Gibran Bassil, an ally of Hezbollah, declined to support Saudi resolutions against Iran during two meetings of Arab and Muslim foreign ministers.
The spat is inflaming tensions in Lebanon between the pro-Saudi and pro-Hezbollah camp in Lebanon.On Wednesday, pro-Saudi politicians and other well-wishers flocked to the Saudi Embassy in Beirut to express solidarity with Saudi Arabia.The Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Awad Asiri, said « mistakes were committed against the kingdom and what is required is to rectify them. »
Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said « the problem is that there are groups in Lebanon, whether Hezbollah or its allies, who think that they are bigger than the state. » »Hezbollah should understand that it is not alone in the country and that there are Lebanese interests all over the world, and they are exposing Lebanon and all the Lebanese to dangers in the Arab world in general and the Arab Gulf in particular as well, » he added.
Islamic State bomb supply chain includes firms in 20 countries -report Companies from 20 countries are involved in the supply chain of components that end up in Islamic State explosives, a study found on Thursday, suggesting governments and firms need to do more to track the flow of cables, chemicals and other equipment.The European Union-mandated study showed that 51 companies from countries including Turkey, Brazil, and the United States produced, sold or received the more than 700 components used by Islamic State to build improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
IEDs are now being produced on a « quasi-industrial scale » by the militant group, which uses both industrial components that are regulated and widely available equipment such as fertiliser chemicals and mobile phones, according to Conflict Armament Research (CAR), which undertook the 20-month study.Islamic State controls large swathes of Iraq and Syria. NATO member Turkey shares borders with both countries and has stepped up security to prevent the flow of weapons and insurgents to the hardline Sunni group.
A total of 13 Turkish firms were found to be involved in the supply chain, the most in any one country. That was followed by India with seven. »These findings support growing international awareness that IS forces in Iraq and Syria are very much self-sustaining – acquiring weapons and strategic goods, such as IED components, locally and with ease, » said James Bevan, CAR’s executive director.
The sale of these cheap and readily available parts, some of which are not subject to government export licences, is far less scrutinised and regulated than the transfer of weapons.The study found that Islamic State is able to acquire some components in as a little as a month after their lawful supply to firms in the region, suggestion a lack of oversight in the supply chain.
« Companies having effective accounting systems to establish where the goods went after them would act as a deterrent, » Bevan said.Bevan said the Turkish government refused to cooperate with CAR’s investigation so the group was not able to determine the efficacy of Ankara’s regulations regarding the tracking of components. Turkish government officials did not reply to requests for comment.
CAR gained access to the components through partners including the Washington-backed Kurdish YPG in Syria, the Iraqi Federal Police, the Kurdistan Region Security Council and forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government.The components were recovered during major battles around the Iraqi towns of al Rabia, Kirkuk, Mosul, and Tikrit and the Syrian town of Kobani.
The report’s authors said they attempted to contact the companies linked to the components, adding the firms did not respond or were not able to account for where the goods went after they left their custody. Seven Indian companies manufactured most of the detonators, detonating cord, and safety fuses documented by CAR. Those were all legally exported under government-issued licences from India to entities in Lebanon and Turkey, CAR found.Companies from Brazil, Romania, Russia, the Netherlands, China, Switzerland, Austria and Czech Republic were also involved, the report found.
China’s Xinjiang to use entertainment, possibly singing and dancing, in terror fight China’s violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang will use entertainment to fight terrorism, holding cultural activities – which typically involve singing and dancing – to spread its law-enforcement message, state media said on Thursday.
Hundreds of people have been killed over the past few years in resource-rich Xinjiang, strategically located on the borders of central Asia, in violence between the Muslim Uighur people who call the region home and ethnic majority Han Chinese.
The government has blamed the unrest on Islamist militants, though rights groups and exiles say anger at Chinese controls on the religion and culture of the Uighurs is more to blame for the unrest. China denies any repression in Xinjiang.The official Xinjiang Daily said the government would begin a new round of public education activities to spread knowledge about China’s new counter-terrorism law, passed last year, to help improve the region’s peace and stability.
These activities will « mobilise the masses from all ethnicities to proactively and actively participate in the anti-terrorism struggle », the paper said.While law enforcers and lawyers would hold public talks, there will also be a « leading role for culture », it added.
« Hold many cultural propaganda activities that delight the masses, and let them be educated through entertainment, » the paper said, citing instructions from the government.It did not give details, but typically such events involve song and dance routines and comedic skits. Generally these days they happen in more remote parts of the country rather than China’s increasingly sophisticated large cities.The government will also use mass and social media to « strengthen public opinion » work and « create a good atmosphere » for Xinjiang’s lasting social stability, the paper added.
German government expects arrival of 3.6 mln refugees by 2020 -media The German government expects a total influx of 3.6 million refugees by 2020, with an average of half a million people arriving each year, German media reported on Thursday, in a country that took in a record 1.1 million migrants last year. The calculations are based on internal estimates by the Economy Ministry in coordination with other ministries, German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung said.In order to project economic development, the Economy Ministry created « an internal, purely technical estimate on migration in coordination with other government departments ».
There is no official government estimate on how many refugees Europe’s biggest economy expects over the next years, as numbers are highly volatile.But the unprecedented arrival of 1.1 million asylum seekers last year, included in the 3.6 million forecast, stretched public resources thin and put strains on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government.
Merkel, whose open-door refugee policy has put her under much pressure, in recent months vowed to significantly reduce the number of people arriving this year.On Wednesday, German federal police said that they had only registered 103 migrants arriving on Tuesday, suggesting a sharp drop as a result of tighter controls along the Balkan route.At the start of the prior week, over 2,000 were arriving on a daily basis. Last autumn the daily arrivals sometimes totaled over 10,000.
Greece will not be turned into migrant warehouse PM Tsipras Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urged European Union countries to honour the bloc’s decisions on sharing the burden of the migrant crisis, saying that if they did not, Athens would block future agreements. Austria, defying criticism from Greek and U.N. refugee officials, took further steps on Wednesday to coordinate border restrictions spanning the Balkans that are intensifying a logjam of migrants in Greece.
« We will not accept turning the country into a permanent warehouse of souls with Europe continuing to function as if nothing is happening, » Tsipras told parliament on Wednesday. « Greece will not agree to deals (in the EU) if a mandatory allocation of burdens and responsibilities among member countries is not secured, » he said.
Athens has protested against restrictions imposed by countries further north along the main land corridor into Europe, including along Austria’s frontier with Slovenia and Macedonia’s border with Greece. Defying criticism from Greek and U.N. refugee officials, Austria on Wednesday took further steps to coordinate a slew of border restrictions spanning the Balkans that have caused a worsening logjam of migrants in Greece.
« We will not tolerate that a number of countries will be building fences and walls at the borders without accepting even a single refugee, » Tsipras said. « Greece will demand the mandatory participation of EU countries in the relocation of refugees. » He said it was unacceptable for EU partners to dump the burden of the crisis on Greece, forcing it to shoulder a weight way disproportionate to its size.
« We did and will continue to do everything we can to provide warmth, essential help and security to uprooted, hounded people, » he said. « We will either be in a union of common rules for all or everyone will do they please: we will not accept the latter. » Addressing worries that flow restrictions at the northern border could swell the number of migrants stranded in Greece, Tsipras said he would meet political party leaders to form a common stance before an early March summit of EU leaders on the migration crisis.
Earlier on Wednesday, he told German Chancellor Angela Merkel he was deeply displeased about the failure of some EU leaders to stick to bloc decisions on tackling the refugee crisis.The two leaders agreed to intensify efforts to implement EU decisions and start NATO operations in the Aegean Sea immediately to counter smuggling networks to reduce migrant inflows.
Looting of charity health center threatens medical care in South Sudan A health center operated by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has been damaged by looters in South Sudan, threatening medical care for residents of the violence-torn region, the charity said on Wednesday.The medical compound in Pibor was looted during fighting on Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving at least 35 people wounded and some 1,000 people seeking shelter, it said.
The raid threatened to deprive the area located in the nation’s east of health care services, MSF said. »If we cannot restart activities this could make a bad situation catastrophic, » said Corinne Benazech, MSF’s head of mission, in a statement. »There are critical emergency medical needs right now in Pibor, and really limited capacity to respond and save lives, » she said.
The charity said it has yet to assess the extent of the damage after its staff evacuated for the safety of at a nearby United Nations peacekeepers’ compound.A political dispute between South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar two years ago sparked a civil war and renewed hostilities between Kiir’s Dinka and Machar’s Nuer people.
More than 10,000 people have been killed.South Sudan’s warring government and opposition have continued killing, abducting and displacing civilians and destroying property despite conciliatory rhetoric by both sides, the United Nations said last week.U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is due to visit South Sudan on Thursday and hold talks with Kiir.
After strike, Moroccan unions aim to block pension plan in parliament Morocco’s main trade unions, whose members control a sixth of the seats in parliament’s upper house, held a one-day strike on Wednesday, before saying they would seek to block a government draft bill to reform pensions.Public and private sector workers in Morocco’s four largest labour unions went on strike for 24 hours in protest at government efforts to overhaul spending on pensions and subsidies.Morocco has ended fuel subsidies and frozen public-sector hiring, winning praise from international lenders who say it has made better progress in controlling public spending than some other countries in the region.
Last month the government adopted a bill to reform the pension system.But protests such as Wednesday’s general strike, called by the Moroccan Labour Union (UMT) and three other union movements, have started to weigh on the Islamist-led government’s plans to curb deficits and revive public finances.
« We have been facing a stubborn government which does not believe in dialogue, but … in destroying people’s purchasing power, » UMT leader Miloudi Moukharik told Reuters, forecasting parliament would reject the pension bill. »We have already delayed it three times inside the parliament and I can tell you that it will not pass. » Dozens of workers gathered in the headquarters of UMT and CDT, chanting slogans against government and foreign lenders such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
The strike disrupted the port of Casablanca, Morocco’s biggest city, as well as transport and other sectors, a Reuters witness said. However, small shops, bars and cafes and some taxi drivers were working. »We have always been in talks with the union and we will keep talking on the pension reform, » Communication Minister and government spokesman Mustapha Khalfi told Reuters.
He said called the strike unjustified and said without reform, the pensions of 400,000 workers would be at risk because the government would not be able to finance them.The pension bill reached the second house of Morocco’s parliament last month but the government has so far failed to get it discussed.Unions control 20 of the 120 seats in the upper house and experts say other opposition parties would join them in rejecting the reform.
Moukharik declined to give details on the unions’ next move, saying they will meet to decide on action.The proposed changes to state pension funds include raising the retirement age to 63 by 2019, and raising contributions, according to a government statement.Workers will have to pay 14 percent of their salaries by 2019 and government contributions will rise in tandem, from 10 percent before the reform, adding 1 percentage point each year to meet the new plan.
Iran arrests elderly father of jailed U.S. citizen -family Iranian authorities this week arrested the elderly father of an American jailed in Iran since October, the man’s family said on Wednesday. Siamak Namazi, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, was detained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in October while in Iran visiting family. Officials have yet to announce charges against him. Baquer Namazi, Siamak’s father, was arrested late on Monday in Tehran, his wife Effie Namazi said in a Facebook post on Wednesday. The 80-year-old Namazi, also a dual Iranian-American citizen, was taken to Evin Prison, where his son is also being held, she said.
Asked at a Senate hearing about the elder Namazi’s arrest, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said: « I am very familiar with this and I am engaged on it specifically, but I am not permitted due to privacy reasons to go into details here. » Baquer Namazi has a serious heart and other conditions which require special medication, Effie Namazi wrote in her post.
« Now both my innocent son Siamak and my Baquer are in prison for no reason. This is a nightmare I can’t describe, » she said. »I am extremely concerned and worried sick for Baquer’s health. » « I have been trying to find out more information but have been unable to do so, » she wrote. « The lawyer also couldn’t get any information or get to see him. » U.S. State Department Spokesman Mark Toner said the agency was aware of reports that a U.S. citizen had been detained in Iran.
« The U.S. Department of State has no higher priority than the protection of U.S. citizens overseas, » Toner said. « We take our obligation to assist U.S. citizens abroad seriously. » A former Iranian provincial governor and UNICEF official, Baquer Namazi was more recently running Hamyaran, an umbrella agency for Iranian nongovernmental organizations. His son Siamak was most recently working for Crescent Petroleum in the United Arab Emirates, and previously headed a consulting business in Iran.
Baquer Namazi’s arrest comes more than a month after a high-profile prisoner swap between Iran and the United States, which saw five Americans released from Iranian prison in return for clemency for seven Iranians and dropped arrest orders for 14 others. Siamak Namazi was not released as part of that deal.Iran is believed to be holding several other dual nationals, including Iranian-British citizen Kamal Foroughi, who was arrested in 2011 while working in Tehran as a business consultant. Iran’s judiciary spokesman said this month that most of the detained dual nationals face espionage charges.
U.S. to boost S.China Sea freedom of navigation moves, admiral says The United States, which is worried by China’s military buildup to assert dominance in the South China Sea, will increase freedom-of-navigation operations there, a senior Pentagon official said on Wednesday. »We will be doing them more, and we’ll be doing them with greater complexity in the future and … we’ll fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, » Admiral Harry Harris, head of the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Command, told a hearing of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.
« We must continue to operate in the South China Sea to demonstrate that water space and the air above it is international, » Harris said.On Tuesday, Harris said in comments coinciding with a visit to Washington by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that China was « changing the operational landscape » in the South China Sea by deploying missiles and radar as part of an effort to militarily dominate East Asia.
China says its military facilities in the South China Sea are « legal and appropriate, » and on Tuesday, in an apparent reference to U.S. patrols, Wang said Beijing hoped not to see more close-up reconnaissance, or the dispatch of missile destroyers or strategic bombers.
Wang met with U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice on Wednesday and they « candidly discussed » maritime issues, the White House said in a statement. Rice emphasized strong U.S.support for freedom of navigation and urged China to address regional concerns, the statement said. China’s official Xinhua news agency said of the meeting that both countries believed all sides should work hard to maintain the peace and stability of the South China Sea. »The South China Sea issue should be resolved via dialogue and peaceful means, » Xinhua added.
Harris, asked what more could be done to deter militarization, said the United States could deploy more naval assets, although there were significant « fiscal, diplomatic and political hurdles » in the way of stationing a second aircraft carrier group in the region. »We could consider putting another (attack) submarine out there, we could put additional destroyers forward …there are a lot of things we could do, short of putting a full carrier strike group in the Western Pacific, » he said. China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.Harris’s comments came a day after he said China had deployed surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island in the South China Sea’s Paracel chain and radars on Cuarteron Reef in the Spratly islands further to the south.
On Tuesday, his command said China’s repeated deployment of advanced fighter aircraft to Woody Island was part of a disturbing trend that was inconsistent with Beijing’s commitment to avoid actions that could escalate disputes.Last month, a U.S. Navy destroyer carried out a patrol within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island in the Paracels, a move China called provocative.The United States has also conducted sea and air patrols near artificial islands China has built in the Spratlys, including by two B-52 strategic bombers in November.
Trump momentum grows ahead of Super Tuesday next week
Donald Trump’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination is building a momentum that may sweep away challenges by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, with his crushing win in the Nevada caucuses marking a third straight victory in state contests.
Rubio captured second place with fewer than 2,000 more votes than Cruz as final vote totals were reported Wednesday morning.Trump, the billionaire New York businessman, now can claim victories in the West, the South and Northeast — a testament to his broad appeal among voters frustrated with the political establishment. His rivals are running out of time to stop him.On Wednesday, Trump won his first endorsements from sitting members of Congress, with Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and Chris Collins of New York announcing they are backing him for the Republican presidential nomination.
« We’re winning, winning, winning the country, » Trump declared Tuesday. « Soon, the country is going to start winning, winning, winning. » Listing the upcoming primary states where he’s leading in preference polls, Trump predicted he’ll soon be able to claim the nomination. « It’s going to be an amazing two months, » he told a raucous crowd at a Las Vegas casino. « We might not even need the two months, folks, to be honest. » A candidate must have 1,237 state delegates to win the Republican nomination at the National Convention this summer. Trump won 14 delegates in Nevada. Rubio won seven, and Ted got six. Overall, Trump has 81 delegates so far, and Cruz and Rubio have 17 apiece.
Rubio and Cruz are battling to emerge as the clear alternative to Trump. Lagging behind in the Republican race are Ohio Gov. John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. The race for the nomination in both major political parties has produced candidates who reflect a deepening anger among American voters with the gridlock during much of the Obama administration. Trump and Cruz in particular have found strong support among such voters.
Entrance polls in Nevada captured the sentiment propelling Trump’s insurgent campaign: Six in 10 caucus goers said they were angry with the way the government is working, and Trump got about half of them.After winning in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, Trump has momentum heading into March 1, or Super Tuesday. It is the biggest single-day delegate haul of the nomination contests. Republicans will vote in 11 states, with 595 delegates at stake. Democrats will vote in 11 states and American Samoa, with 865 delegates up for grabs.
On Wednesday, Cruz won the endorsement of the governor in his home state of Texas, the largest of the Super Tuesday states.
On the Democrat side, impatient voters have rallied around Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist, who has put up a strong challenge to front-runner and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.Clinton was looking for a commanding victory over Sanders in Saturday’s South Carolina primary to give her a boost heading into Super Tuesday. Polls show the former first lady with a huge advantage among African-Americans, which bodes well for her prospects in the Southern states that vote next week.
GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian stocks slip as crude heads south Asian shares slipped on Thursday as a fragile recovery in volatile crude oil unravelled, reviving anxiety about the health of the global economy, and Chinese shares skidded.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gave up early gains and was down 0.2 percent.Japan’s Nikkei stock index added about 0.5 percent as the yen moved away from its recent highs.Sharp Corp shares jumped after its board decided to accept a takeover offer from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co , a source said, in what would be the largest acquisition by a foreign company in Japan’s insular technology sector.
Market players said investors have focused on Friday’s G-20 meeting in Shanghai as one potential catalyst for troubled, directionless markets. »The IMF has suggested that members of the G-20 summit use the meeting as a means of discussing a coordinated policy response for what could otherwise be a crisis, » said Stefan Worrall, director of Japan equity sales at Credit Suisse in Tokyo.
« I think investors are closely watching the G-20 for any signs of a coordinated fiscal response. » Chinese shares extended early losses, with the CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen down 3.4 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index slumped 3.6 percent The dollar added about 0.1 percent against its Japanese counterpart to 112.33 yen, well off a two-week low of 111.04 yen plumbed overnight. The euro rose about 0.1 percent to $1.1021 after touching a three-week low of $1.0957 overnight.The British pound steadied at $1.3930 after dropping to a seven-year low of $1.3878 in the previous session on heightened fears that a June 23 referendum could lead to a British exit from the European Union.
U.S. crude futures shed about 0.9 percent to $31.86 a barrel, after they gained nearly 1 percent overnight on government data showing gasoline demand rose more than 5 percent over the past four weeks compared with a year ago. That helped offset investors’ fears about record high crude inventories. The sharp downturn in global oil prices has fed investor fears about slowing world growth, with broader concerns about China’s cooling economy adding to heightened anxiety and financial market volatility.
Brent crude for April delivery skidded 1.1 percent to $34.04 a barrel.Wednesday’s recovery in crude oil prices helped drag Wall Street higher at the close, after lacklustre economic data weighed on sentiment for much of the session.
U.S. data showed the services sector contracted in early February for the first time since October 2013, suggesting a weakening of economic conditions beyond the troubled manufacturing and energy industries. Other data showed weakness in new U.S. single-family home sales, though the overall housing market recovery remains intact. Spot gold erased early losses and rose about 0.4 percent to $1,234.50 an ounce, within site of a one-year high of $1,260.60 reached on Feb. 1
US STOCKS-Bulls chalk one up after late-day surge on Wall St U.S. stocks mounted a late-session rally to close higher on Wednesday after an increase in oil prices helped reduce investors’ fears about banks’ vulnerability to energy companies struggling to pay their debts.
Nine of the 10 major S&P sectors rose, with the materials index up 0.99 percent.The S&P energy sector gained 0.9 percent, trimming its loss in 2016 to 27 percent after U.S. crude futures settled nearly 1 percent higher.Crude prices near 2003 lows have hammered the earnings of U.S. energy companies, exacerbated fears of a slowing global economy and created turbulence on Wall Street that has left the S&P 500 almost 6 percent weaker since the start of the year.
The three major indexes moved higher toward the end of the day after trading deep in negative territory. »You have a tremendous amount of underperformance out there in the hedge fund community, » said Ian Winer, director of trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles. « When the market starts to turn, it starts to feed on itself because people can’t afford to miss out on a rally. » The S&P financial sector, already the worst performing sector this year, fell 0.2 percent, with shares of Wells Fargo down 1.02 percent.
JPMorgan ended flat after it flagged declining investment banking revenue and raised its provisions for energy loan losses.The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.32 percent to end at 16,484.99 points and the S&P 500 gained 0.44 percent to 1,929.8. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.87 percent to 4,542.61.
Facebook rose 1.34 percent and Apple added 1.49 percent. Concerns about slowing iPhone sales had pushed Apple’s stock down 19 percent in the past three months.After the bell, Salesforce.com surged 6 percent after its fourth-quarter results reduced fears of a slowdown in software spending.During the session, Target Corp climbed 3.99 percent after its quarterly sales showed the store’s turnaround efforts were gaining traction.
Ford declined 2.74 percent and General Motors lost 1.84 percent after Credit Suisse said it was a « poor time » to own auto stocks.Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by 1,952 to 1,086. On the Nasdaq, 1,759 issues rose and 1,003 fell.The S&P 500 index showed 11 new 52-week highs and five new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 22 new highs and 98 lows.About 8.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, below the 9 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.
GLOBAL MARKETS-Oil rebound buoys Wall St; bonds, gold erase gains A sharp rebound in crude prices lifted stocks on Wall Street on Wednesday, but a gauge of equities across the globe fell on lingering concern about economic growth. Crude turned higher after data showed U.S. gasoline demand spiked over the past four weeks from a year ago, and inventories of motor fuel slid from record highs.The S&P 500 climbed steadily after the U.S. gasoline data, turning positive just ahead of oil’s close. It was last up after falling as much as 1.6 percent.
« As much as it frustrates people, the reality is (oil and equities) are incredibly highly correlated and they have been really going back to November, » said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas. « It’s that simple. » The Dow Jones industrial average was up 36.98 points, or 0.23 percent, to 16,468.76; the S&P 500 gained 6.33 points, or 0.33 percent, to 1,927.6, and the Nasdaq Composite added 30.88 points, or 0.69 percent, to 4,534.46.
The turn in the S&P contrasted with a fall in European stocks, which were weighed by energy and commodity sector names.The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 share index fell 2.3 percent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks globally fell 0.7 percent.
Nikkei futures edged down less than 0.1 percent.Government data showed U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose by 3.5 million barrels in the United States last week to an all-time peak. But the increased gasoline demand over the past four weeks and a drop in inventories helped push crude futures higher.Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 3.5 percent to $34.44 a barrel. U.S. crude added 1 percent to $32.20.
The turn in oil and stocks pushed yields on the lowest-risk government bonds slightly higher, though they were still lower on the day.Benchmark 10-year U.S. notes were last up 2/32 in price to yield 1.734 percent on Wednesday. At their session low the yield was 1.647 percent. In currency markets, the yen, often sought by investors as a shelter when riskier assets are under pressure, reached an almost three-year high against the euro of 123.43 yen.It was last up 0.3 percent at 123.03. At 111.82, the yen was up 0.25 percent against the U.S. dollar.The euro dipped 0.1 percent versus the greenback to $1.1005. The dollar index was flat.
Sterling plumbed a seven-year low of $1.3876 on concerns Britons might vote to leave the European Union in a June referendum. It last traded down 0.7 percent at $1.3924.Copper slipped 0.1 percent to $4,641.85 a tonne.Gold retreated from major gains earlier in the day, last trading up 0.1 percent. It had risen as much as 2.1 percent.
Syrian refugee who charmed Rio with his snacks has eye on Olympics Syrian refugee Ahmad Ryad Hamada arrived in Brazil just six months ago, but his food stand has already taken Rio by storm and he is now gearing up for the Olympics.Customers flock to buy his falafels, quibbeh (croquettes) and sfiha (Middle Eastern pizza) from a small table outside a cinema in Rio, Brazil’s beachfront Carnival city; taxi drivers stop in the street to shout orders from their cabs.
Sales are so good that Hamada, 31, is now hoping to sell his Syrian snacks at competition venues during the Olympic Games which Brazil is hosting in August. »Our short-term dream is the Olympics, but after that, I want to be known in Brazil. This is a very good country, » he said. As hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees head to Europe, a small but growing number are shifting their sights to Brazil which, unlike many European countries, has thrown open its doors, making it relatively simple to get a visa and work papers.
Brazil decided in 2013 that any Syrian affected by the conflict would be eligible for refugee status, and Hamada is among some 2,100 Syrians who have arrived since then.The food vendor escaped from Damascus in 2013, fleeing across the border to Turkey where his family still lives. »Almost everyone I meet here wants to hear my story. Here, if you work hard, people will help you. Even the mayor of Rio helped me, » he said.
Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes took pity on Hamada and his business partner, Ethiopian refugee Mohamoud Said, after police raided their food stand because they had no licence. Photos of the raid circulated on social media and caught the eye of the mayor, who invited Hamada to his office and granted him the licence.
« It’s not fair to escape ISIS and be harassed by Rio’s municipal police, » O Globo newspaper quoted the mayor as saying.Brazil’s new refugee arrivals have joined a Syrian community that has lived in the country since the late 19th century, attracted by opportunities in Brazil’s growing economy.Along with Lebanese immigrants who started arriving at around the same time, the Syrians thrived in trade and commerce. By the 1920s, the Syrian-Lebanese community was one of the most prosperous in S?o Paulo, Brazil’s financial powerhouse, and built schools, hospitals and sports clubs including the highly regarded Hospital S?rio-Liban?s.
It was largely responsible for creating Brazil’s biggest discount commercial centre in downtown S?o Paulo. Every day, around 400,000 shoppers descend on the area to buy goods to resell across the country. Not everyone is finding it as easy as Hamada to make a fresh start.
Many Syrians are living in shelters or precarious housing and struggling to find work even when highly qualified, said Aline Thuller, who coordinates aid programmes for refugees at Catholic charity Caritas in Rio.Language difficulties and the recession make it hard for many Syrians to find work, she added.
Business manager Alaa Aldin Mahmoud, 34, is living with about 120 squatters including many refugees in an abandoned building in Liberdade, S?o Paulo’s Little Japan neighbourhood.He has been looking for work since arriving last July but is still struggling with basic Portuguese. Mahmoud picks up odd carpentry jobs paying about $25 a day where he can.
It is a far cry from his comfortable life in Syria working for multinationals. But Mahmoud said that at least in Brazil he had freedom and was allowed to work – unlike in Turkey when he spent time there after fleeing Syria. »That is very important to remember. I know things will get better for me here, » he said.
Like most Syrians in Brazil, Mahmoud admitted the Latin American country was not his first choice – he had previously tried and failed to get to Germany, the United States and Canada.He was disappointed to learn that Brazil – unlike Germany – did not provide refugees with financial aid and housing.But he said life in S?o Paulo, even as an unemployed squatter, was better than in Istanbul, where he felt he was just another Syrian refugee with no prospects.For some Syrians, Brazil is a long-term dream fuelled by hard work and a bit of luck.
Eyad Abouharb, 26, arrived in S?o Paulo two years ago with just $100 in his pocket. He sought help from the Syrian-Lebanese community through contacts at mosques and community centres, and was hired as an assistant in the kitchen of a smart restaurant.After moving to the mixed neighbourhood of Br?s, he found partners to invest in his business and last July opened his own restaurant. It is packed every day.
His success caught the attention of Henrique Foga?a, a top Brazilian chef and a juror in the local version of reality TV show MasterChef. Foga?a went to Abouharb’s restaurant to try his dishes and to cook with him. »He loved it! » Abouharb said in excellent Portuguese, with a hint of the local S?o Paulo accent. His next project: a food truck to take his famous shawarma (meat wraps) around the city. »There is a lot to do here in Brazil, but you have to work hard, and accept that it’s difficult in the beginning, » he said.
Study says climate change pushes fish toward poles, threatening food source for poor Climate change is pushing fish toward the planet’s North and South poles, robbing traditionally poorer countries closer to the Equator of crucial natural resources, U.S. biologists said in a study published on Wednesday.
Key species of fish are migrating away from temperate zones and toward the poles as global temperatures rise, according to a research team from Rutgers University, Princeton University, Yale University and Arizona State University.The migration patterns of fish, a critical food source for millions of people, are likely to exacerbate inequality between the world’s poor and rich, they said.The world’s wealthier areas tend to be in cooler regions closer to the poles.
« Natural resources like fish are being pushed around by climate change, and that changes who gets access to them, » said Malin Pinsky, one of the study’s authors and a marine biologist, in a statement.The study, published on Wednesday in the journal « Nature Climate Change, » used data on fish migration patterns along with a mathematical formula that tracked the movement of natural resources and shifts in wealth
Experts to probe death of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda An international team of genomics experts and forensic specialists will investigate the remains of Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda. The leftist writer died in the chaos following Chile’s 1973 right-wing military coup, and some have speculated he was poisoned.
His body was exhumed in 2013 to determine the cause of his death, but tests showed no toxic agents in his bones. Even so, Chile’s government said in 2015 that it’s « highly probable that a third party » was responsible for his death. Canada’s McMaster University said Wednesday that Neruda’s bones and teeth remains will be analyzed at a lab located at its Ancient DNA Centre and the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Forensic Medicine. The panel of experts will focus on identifying pathogenic bacteria that might have caused Neruda’s death.
(World news summary compiled by Maghreb news staff)