Islamic State’s ‘minister of war’ likely killed in U.S. air strike -officialsAn Islamic State commander described by the Pentagon as the group’s « minister of war » was likely killed in a U.S. air strike in Syria, U.S. officials said on Tuesday, in what would be a major victory in the United States’ efforts to strike the militant group’s leadership. Abu Omar al-Shishani, also known as Omar the Chechen, ranked among America’s most wanted militants under a U.S. program that offered up to $5 million for information to help remove him from the battlefield.
Born in 1986 in Georgia, which was then still part of the Soviet Union, the red-bearded Shishani had a reputation as a close military adviser to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was said by followers to have relied heavily on Shishani.
The strike itself involved multiple waves of manned and unmanned aircraft, targeting Shishani near the town of al-Shadadi in Syria, a U.S. official said.The Pentagon believes Shishani was sent there to bolster Islamic State troops after they suffered a series of setbacks at the hands of U.S.-backed forces from the Syrian Arab Coalition, which captured al-Shadadi from the militants last month.Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the U.S. military was still assessing the results of the strike, but acknowledged its potential significance.
Shishani « was a Syrian-based Georgian national who held numerous top military positions within ISIL, including minister of war, » Cook said, using an acronym for the group. Cook said Shishani’s death would undermine the group’s ability to coordinate attacks and defend its strongholds. It would also hurt Islamic State’s ability to recruit foreign fighters, especially those from Chechnya and the Caucus regions, he said.
Several U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed optimism that the strike was successful, although none were prepared to declare Shishani dead with certainty.The first official said initial assessments indicated Shishani was likely killed along with an additional 12 Islamic State fighters.
An official in the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which has been fighting Islamic State in the al-Shadadi area, said it had received information that Shishani was killed but had no details and had been unable to confirm the death. The official declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. Born with the name Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili, Shishani once fought in military operations as a rebel in Chechnya before joining Georgia’s military in 2006 and even fighting against Russian troops before being discharged two years later for medical reasons, the first U.S. official said.
He was arrested in 2010 for weapons possession and spent more than a year in jail, before leaving Georgia in 2012 for Istanbul and then later to Syria, the official said.He decided to join Islamic State the following year and pledged his allegiance to Baghdadi. The State Department said Shishani was identified as Islamic State’s military commander in a video distributed by the group in 2014.The strike would be one of the most successful operations to take out Islamic State’s leadership in Iraq and Syria since May, when U.S. special operations forces killed the man who directed the group’s oil, gas and financial operations.In November, a U.S. air strike killed Islamic State’s senior leader in Libya, known as Abu Nabil.
U.S. general wants to revive training of Syrians fighting Islamic State A top U.S. general has asked for permission to resurrect an effort to train Syrian opposition fighters for battles against Islamic State militants, but on a smaller scale than a previous program that failed and was scrapped last year.General Lloyd Austin, the head of Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East, told a Senate hearing on Tuesday that unlike the previous effort, which sought to recruit and train entire units of fighters outside the country to redeploy into Syria, the new program would focus on shorter-term training of smaller groups. »As we reintroduce those people back into the fight, they will be able to enable the larger groups that they’re a part of, » Austin said.
The failure of the original program, which sought to train thousands of fighters, was an embarrassment for President Barack Obama, whose strategy depends on local partners combating Islamic State militants in both Syria and Iraq.
But the program was troubled from the start, with some of the first class of Syrian fighters coming under attack from al Qaeda’s Syria wing, Nusra Front, in their battlefield debut. At one point, a group of U.S.-trained rebels even handed over ammunition and equipment to Nusra Front. »I’ve asked for permission to restart the effort using a different approach, » Austin said.The U.S. strategy against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the home of the Sunni militant group’s self-declared caliphate, aims to eventually force the collapse of its two major power centers of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria.
Austin told the Senate hearing that he made recommendations, now being reviewed at the Pentagon, about the types of additional U.S. capabilities that would be needed to accelerate operations « as we look towards Raqqa and Mosul. » Although he did not explicitly say he asked for more U.S.troops, Austin acknowledged that would allow him to obtain better intelligence, offer greater assistance to local forces and to « increase some elements of the special operations footprint. » The United States has deployed a small number of special operations forces to Iraq with a mission to carry out raids against Islamic State there and in Syria.
In Syria, dozens of U.S. special operations forces are helping enable forces on the ground with the Syrian Democratic Forces. U.S. General Joseph Votel, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, estimated that group was about 80 percent Kurdish.That could limit their ability to capture and hold predominantly Arab or other non-Kurdish communities in Syria.
The timing of both the Mosul and Raqqa operations are also unclear. Mosul may not be recaptured this year, officials say.Votel acknowledged at the hearing that while the United States had a plan for local forces to isolate Raqqa, allowing it to choke off Islamic State’s defacto capital, there was no plan yet in place to capture or hold the city. »I would say there’s not a plan to hold Raqqa, » Votel said.
Civil liberties groups want involvement in U.S. online extremism talks A dozen civil liberties and digital freedom groups asked the White House on Tuesday to include them in ongoing discussions about how best to combat the spread of violent propaganda online by Islamic State and other extremist groups. The Obama administration has convened two summits in the past two months – one in San Jose, Calif., and one in Washington, D.C. – with social media companies and other groups to discuss how to more effectively reduce the potency of online extremism and develop strategic counter-messaging campaigns.
« When the government sits down with private sector entities to discuss the future of free expression and privacy online, civil liberties and human rights advocates need to be at the table, too, » read a letter sent to senior White House officials, including U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice. Signatories included the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Democracy and Technology, Amnesty International and Access Now.
Several social media firms, including Twitter, have ramped up their efforts to take down jihadist content in recent months. Facebook has also worked with the government to help fund and promote counter-messaging campaigns developed by university students and others.While the civil liberties groups said they were encouraged by media reports of the government’s careful consideration of how best to enlist cooperation from Internet firms, they also warned that the conversations could « lead to voluntary surveillance or censorship measures that would be illegal or unconstitutional for the government to undertake itself. » The White House National Security Council declined to respond to the groups’ letter specifically. A senior administration official said the White House remains committed « to working with a broad range of partners to develop community-oriented approaches to counter hateful extremist ideologies that radicalize, recruit or incite to violence. »
Children in besieged Syrian areas live in fear of bombs, air strikes-charity A quarter of a million of children live in terror in besieged areas of Syria, where barrel bombs, air strikes and shelling are a daily occurrence, charity Save the Children said on Wednesday.
Deprived of food, children are forced to eat boiled leaves and animal feed, while living in constant fear of attack, Save the Children said in a report published ahead of peace talks expected to start in Geneva in the coming days. »Fear has taken control. Children now wait for their turn to be killed. Even adults live only to wait for their turn to die, » Save the Children quoted one mother in Eastern Ghouta as saying.
More than a quarter of a million people have been killed in the five-year-old Syrian war, which has created a massive refugee crisis in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and the European Union.The United Nations estimates there are almost 500,000 people living under siege in Syria, out of 4.6 million who are in areas hard to reach with aid.
The cessation of hostilities that came into force more than a week ago has made it easier for the United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) to reach such people, but fighting persists in some places and opposition groups said not enough aid was getting through.Save the Children said aid deliveries were only a tiny fraction of what was needed, and people in besieged areas were not being allowed to leave to receive medical treatment.
« Children are dying from lack of food and medicines in parts of Syria just a few kilometres from warehouses that are piled high with aid, » said Misty Buswell, Save the Children regional director of advocacy, media and communications. »Families (Save the Children interviewed) spoke of sick babies dying at checkpoints, vets (veterinary surgeons) treating humans, and children forced to eat animal feed as they cower in basements from airstrikes. » she said in a statement.
Besieged Syrian children run toward bombs for fire wood aid worker Instead of fleeing aerial bombings throughout winter, besieged Syrian children ran towards devastated buildings to search for broken furniture that could fuel fires for warmth and cooking, said a Syrian aid worker as the country marks five years of war.The aid worker – who spoke on condition of anonymity because her group was operating without Syrian government approval – said despite the dangers of unexploded devices or further bombs the children still ran toward the sites of attacks.
« We’ve seen a lot of children … running to collect the furniture, » she said as aid group Save the Children launched a report on children under siege in Syria on Tuesday. « They wanted to use the wood in heating and cooking. » Save the Children said at least a quarter of a million children in Syria are living in besieged areas, where it said less than 1 percent of people had received United Nations food last year and only 3 percent received health assistance. »There are regularly stories of children dying because they couldn’t get the emergency aid and medical care that they needed, » Sonia Khush, Save the Children’s regional Syria director, told reporters.
According to the United Nations, some 486,700 people live in besieged areas – 274,200 people in areas besieged by the government, 200,000 in areas besieged by Islamic State and 12,500 people in areas besieged by opposition groups. Save the Children and its partners spoke to 126 mothers, fathers and children in besieged areas and conducted 25 interviews with local aid groups, doctors, teachers and individuals for its 27-page report. »Across the board the main thing that children said they fear is aerial bombardment, » Khush said.The report said children were forced to eat animal feed and leaves when food was sometimes just a few miles away in warehouses outside the besieged area and children had been forced underground to play and go to school.
« Children have really lost any sense of hope for the future, » said Khush.U.N. Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura said he hopes to reconvene peace talks in Geneva from Wednesday.A cessation of hostilities agreement accepted by President Bashar al-Assad’s government and most of his enemies, has reduced violence in Syria since it took effect on Feb. 27. The war has killed more than 250,000 people and caused the world’s worst refugee crisis.
Cost of Syria’s war to blight future generations, charity says The economic fallout from Syria’s war may be felt for generations because of the high number of children going without an education, an aid agency warned on Tuesday.
World Vision predicted the cost of recovery from the five-year conflict could spiral to almost $700 billion – close to the estimated total market value of U.S. tech giant Apple – even if it ended this year. »The war in Syria has shattered the lives of over 8 million children. Unless we act now, this war won’t just affect a generation of children, but their children’s children, » said Tim Pilkington, Chief Executive of World Vision UK.
The United Nations says the conflict has left 2.8 million Syrian children out of school, more than a quarter of a million people dead and triggered an exodus of more than 4 million refugees.The Syrian Centre for Policy Research estimates nearly 25 million years of schooling had been lost by the end of 2015, meaning a likely reduction in lifelong earnings, the report said.
Pilkington said rich governments needed to start thinking about Syria’s recovery now, to avoid their « post-war planning failures » after recent conflicts elsewhere. World Vision analysed data from the World Bank, the United Nations and the Total Economy Database to estimate how much Syria’s economy would have grown had the country remained stable.
It found the cost of the conflict to date had swollen to $275 billion in lost growth alone. The growth rate had at times dipped to nearly 25 percent less than if war had not broken out, the report said.Even if the war were to end this year, it would take at least 10-15 years for Syria’s gross domestic product per capita to recover to pre-conflict levels, the research found.
« This optimistic scenario would swell the total cost of the war to up to $689 billion, » the report said.But World Vision said the expense would spiral to $1.3 trillion, roughly the same as Spain’s total annual GDP, if the war continued for another five years.
The war has also taken its toll on Syria’s neighbours, especially Lebanon and Jordan, whose exports to Syria have shrunk dramatically, the report said.World Bank data showed that the direct cost to the Lebanese government of hosting Syrian refugees stood at just over $1 billion between 2012 and 2014, because of increased demand for electricity and public services like education, the report said.
The data showed that Jordan had seen a $0.9 billion rise in public spending between 2012 and 2013 due to the influx of refugees.The impact of the conflict on Turkey’s economy was negligible or « moderately positive », because the influx of refugees had also generated higher-wage jobs for Turkish workers, the report said.But the lives of those displaced within Syria were feeling the greatest strain, World Vision UK’s boss said.
« With their homes, schools and hospitals bombed and their friends and families killed, many have been forced into appalling living conditions and abject poverty, » Pilkington said.The report’s authors found that Syria’s oil revenues, which accounted for a quarter of all government revenue before the outbreak of war in 2011, had halved.
Meanwhile public debt relative to GDP had burgeoned to 126 percent in 2013 from 23 percent in 2010, the report said, quoting the Syrian Centre for Policy Research. »Faced with their suffering, it’s hard to think in terms of cold economic costs, » Pilkington said. « But financial loss translates into human loss. We must prepare the ground for peace now. »
Russia says registered seven ceasefire violations in Syria in past 24 hours – RIA Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Tuesday it had registered seven ceasefire violations in Syria over the past 24 hours, RIA news agency reported.The ministry said four violations had been registered in the province of Aleppo, two in Idlib and one in Latakia.
Two killed as rockets from Syria hit southern Turkish town -mayor A young child and another person were killed on Tuesday when rocket fire hit the Turkish town of Kilis from across the Syrian border, the mayor and security sources said, in an attack that Ankara blamed on Islamic State militants.Kilis, near Turkey’s southern border with Syria, was hit by a series of eight rockets, with one landing near a hospital, mayor Hasan Kara said.Turkish security sources said two more people were injured.
« The first rocket landed in an empty field. Then, when people started gathering, they started firing around those areas, » Kara said. « They are being fired intentionally. » A residential area near a high school was also hit and the Turkish military returned fire into Syria, the security sources said.Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference that Islamic State militants were responsible for the attack.The attack showed how « fragile » the Syrian ceasefire is, he said. Davugtoglu was speaking at a joint news conference with his Greek counterpart in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir. The ceasefire agreement, accepted by the Syrian government and most of those fighting against it, has reduced violence in Syria since it took effect on Feb. 27, the first truce of its kind in a 5-year-old war that has killed more than 250,000 people and caused the world’s biggest refugee crisis.Islamic State is one of the Islamist insurgent groups not taking part in the ceasefire.The area of Syria from where the rockets probably came is believed to be under the control of Islamic State, Kara said.
On Monday, the U.S. military said coalition forces had targeted the militant group in Iraq and Syria with two dozen strikes near 15 cities.Live footage from broadcaster TRT World captured the sound of a large explosion, followed by a plume of black smoke rising from nearby buildings.Local schools had been shut but the town was calm, Kara said.
Tunisia says Islamic State attacked border to control town Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid said on Tuesday Islamic State militants had carried out the huge raid on Ben Guerdan on Monday that killed 55 people in an attempt to control the town and expand their territory.
Tunisia has become increasingly concerned about violence spilling across its frontier as Islamic State has expanded in Libya, taking advantage of the country’s chaos to control the city of Sirte and setting up training camps there.Dozens of militants stormed through the border town of Ben Guerdan on Monday attacking army and police posts and triggering street battles during which troops killed 36 fighters. Twelve soldiers and seven civilians also died during the attack.
Essid said officials were still investigating whether the group of 50 militants had infiltrared across the frontier from Libya, though officials found three caches of arms, explosives and rockets in Ben Guerdan after the attack.
« They wanted to take over the barracks and police stations and gain territory, but our forces were ready, » Essid told reporters. « They thought it was going to be easy and the people of Ben Guerdan would help them. But Tunisians would never accept them. » The attack was one of the worst in Tunisia’s history and followed three major Islamic State assaults last year, including gun attacks on a museum in Tunis and a beach resort in Sousse that targetted foreign tourists.
Since its 2011 revolt to oust autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has battled a growing Islamist militancy at home and more than 3,000 Tunisians have left to fight for Islamic State and other jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq.But the increasing chaos in Libya, where two rival governments and armed factions are battling for control, has allowed Islamic State to thrive just over Tunisia’s border, and the government has been preparing for potential attacks.
The United Nations is trying to bring Libya’s factions behind a national unity government that would allow Western governments to help them fight Islamic State. But the group’s rapid growth has also prompted Western governments to consider air strikes and special forces operations in Libya.Last month, a U.S. air strike killed more than 40 militants in Sabratha, a coastal town near the Tunisian border. Officials say many were Tunisian fighters.
Turkish authorities end operations in Kurdish town, 114 militants killed Turkish authorities said security forces killed 114 militants in the mainly Kurdish town of Idil during three weeks of operations that ended on Tuesday.Two police officers were killed in Idil earlier in the day when an explosive placed on the road detonated under their vehicle, security sources said separately. Three police and three soldiers were also wounded in the blast. Turkish security forces have launched operations in towns and cities across the predominantly Kurdish southeast to root out Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, who have declared autonomy and built ditches and barricades in residential areas.
The fighting follows the July collapse of a 2 1/2-year ceasefire with the PKK, which had been lauded as the best chance to end the three-decade insurgency.It was not immediately possible to verify whether any civilians were killed in the latest operation. The opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) said on Friday three civilians had been killed in Idil since a curfew was imposed last month.
Authorities imposed the round-the-clock curfew in Idil, a town of 73,000 people situated some 25 km (15 miles) north of the Syrian border, on Feb. 16. Officials said the curfew remained in effect.A curfew in the historic district of Sur, a UNESCO-listed area in the region’s largest city, Diyarbakir, is also still in place after almost 100 days of clashes
Ryan says U.S. Congress will press for new sanctions against Iran U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Tuesday that lawmakers would continue to press for new sanctions against Tehran « until the regime ends its violent, provocative behavior against the U.S. and our allies. » Ryan, whose Republican party opposed the landmark nuclear agreement the Obama administration and five other world powers reached with Tehran last year, said Iran’s latest reported missile test violated international law.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) test-fired several ballistic missiles on Tuesday, state television said, challenging a United Nations resolution and drawing the threat of a diplomatic response from the United States.U.S. and French officials had earlier said a missile test by Iran would violate U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, which calls on Iran not to conduct « any activity » related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
Several Republican lawmakers called for more U.S. sanctions in response, but there were no immediate plans to introduce new legislation.The House last month passed a measure that would have limited President Barack Obama’s ability to lift sanctions under the nuclear pact, but there are no plans for the Senate to take up the legislation, which Obama is expected to veto.
Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said his staff was working on an alternative that could win enough support to pass the Senate, but which would require Democratic support. »We’re having discussions right now and trying to see what type of legislation is passable, » he told Reuters.
Iran fires ballistic missiles, U.S. hints at diplomatic response Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) test-fired several ballistic missiles on Tuesday, state television said, challenging a United Nations resolution and drawing a threat of a diplomatic response from the United States.Two months ago, Washington imposed sanctions against businesses and individuals linked to Iran’s missile programme over a test of the medium-range Emad missile carried out in October 2015.
U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington would review the incident and, if it is confirmed, raise it in the U.N. Security Council and seek an « appropriate response ».
« We also continue to aggressively apply our unilateral tools to counter threats from Iran’s missile program, » Toner added, in a possible reference to additional U.S. sanctions.An Iranian state television report showed a missile being fired from a fortified underground silo at night time. The presenter said it was a medium-range Qiam-1 missile, and the test took place in the early hours of Tuesday.
The report said the Guards had fired several missiles from silos across the country, though it only showed footage of one. »The missiles struck a target 700 km away, » said Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC’s aerospace arm.
State-run Press TV had earlier shown footage of the Emad missile, Iran’s most advanced model under development, being fired. However, that footage appeared to be of the earlier October launch that triggered the U.S. sanctions.
U.S. and French officials said a missile test by Iran would violate U.N. Security Council resolution 2231, which calls on Iran not to conduct « any activity » related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.However, Washington said that a fresh missile test would not violate the Iran nuclear deal itself, under which Tehran agreed to restrict its atomic program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. The deal was endorsed in resolution 2231.
It is unlikely the Security Council would take action on Iranian missile tests, diplomats say.While most of its 15 members would agree with the United States and France about a likely violation of resolution 2231, Russia and China, which have veto power, made clear during negotiations on the Iran nuclear deal they did not agree with continuing the U.N. restrictions on Tehran’s missile program and arms trade. Hajizadeh said sanctions would not stop Iran developing its ballistic missiles, which it regards as a cornerstone of its conventional deterrent.
« Our main enemies are imposing new sanctions on Iran to weaken our missile capabilities But they should know that the children of the Iranian nation in the Revolutionary Guards and other armed forces refuse to bow to their excessive demands, » the IRGC’s website quoted Hajizadeh as saying.Iran always denied any link between its ballistic missiles and its disputed nuclear programme, which is now subject to strict limitations and checks under the nuclear deal.
Tuesday’s test is intended « to show Iran’s deterrent power and also the Islamic Republic’s ability to confront any threat against the (Islamic) Revolution, the state and the sovereignty of the country », the IRGC’s official website said.While any missile of a certain size could in theory be used to carry a nuclear warhead, Iran says the Emad and other missiles are for use as a conventional deterrent. Recent work has focused on improving the missiles’ accuracy, which experts say will make them more effective with conventional warheads.
Turkish news agency says it was seized by government Turkish authorities have seized control of the Cihan news agency, the agency said, widening the crackdown against supporters of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, an influential foe of President Tayyip Erdogan.Cihan said on its website late on Monday an Istanbul court would appoint an administrator to run the agency on a request from a state prosecutor. The action comes days after authorities seized control of the leading Gulen-linked newspaper, Zaman .
In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday that the action against Cihan was « just another example of an unnecessary crackdown on journalism » and urged the Turkish government to ensure full respect for due process.The seizure of Zaman prompted international alarm about press freedom in Turkey and was discussed at Monday’s European Union summit with Ankara over the migration crisis.France’s foreign minister said the decision to seize control of Zaman, Turkey’s largest newspaper by circulation, was « unacceptable » and went against European values.Both Cihan and Zaman are part of the Feza Gazetecilik media company.
Erdogan accuses Gulen of conspiring to overthrow the government by building a network of supporters in the judiciary, police and media. Gulen denies the accusations.The two men were allies until police and prosecutors considered sympathetic to Gulen opened a corruption investigation into Erdogan’s inner circle in 2013.At the start of March, Turkish authorities shut down media businesses seized last year from Koza Ipek Holding, a conglomerate linked to Gulen.
Houthis, Saudis discuss ending Yemen war, sources Iran-allied Houthis and their Saudi foes have begun talks to try to end Yemen’s war, two officials said, in what appears their most serious bid to close a theatre of Saudi-Iranian rivalry deepening political tumult across the Middle East. A delegation from Yemen’s Houthi movement is in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, they said, in the first visit of its kind since the war began last year between Houthi forces and an Arab military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, a foe of Tehran.The reported talks coincide with an apparent lull in fighting on the Saudi-Yemen border and in Saudi-led Arab coalition air strikes on the Houthi-held Yemeni capital Sanaa.
Underlining the regional rifts, a senior Iranian military official meanwhile signalled that Iran could yet send military advisers to Yemen to help the Houthis.Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of staff of the armed forces, suggested Iran could support the Houthis in a similar way it has backed President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in Syria, in an interview with the Tasnim news agency.Asked if Iran would send military advisers to Yemen, as it had in Syria, Jazayeri said: « The Islamic Republic … feels its duty to help the people of Yemen in any way it can, and to any level necessary. » Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of backing Yemen’s armed Houthi movement, which drove the internationally-recognised government into exile, triggering a Gulf intervention in March.
The United Nations says nearly 6,000 people have been killed in Yemen’s fighting. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced.The two senior officials from the administrative body that runs parts of Yemen controlled by the Houthis said the Houthi visit to Saudi Arabia began on Monday at the invitation of Saudi authorities, following a week of secret preparatory talks.The Houthi delegation in Saudi Arabia is headed by Mohammed Abdel-Salam, the Houthis’ main spokesman and a senior adviser to Houthi leader Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, the officials said.
Abdel-Salam previously led Houthi delegates in talks in Oman that paved the way for U.N.-sponsored talks in Switzerland last year.A spokesman for the Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power could not immediately be reached for comment. A Saudi foreign ministry spokesman could also not be reached.
Like Syria, Yemen is contested turf in Shi’ite Muslim Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia’s power struggle across the Middle East, which has played out along largely sectarian lines.Tehran views the Houthis as the legitimate authority in Yemen but denies providing any material support to them. The Houthis say they are a fighting a revolution against a corrupt government and its Gulf Arab backers.
Iran could send military advisers to Yemen-official suggests A senior Iranian military official signalled on Tuesday that Iran could send military advisers to Yemen to help the Shi’ite Houthi group fight a Gulf Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of staff of the armed forces, suggested Iran could support the Houthis in a similar way it has backed President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in Syria, in an interview with the Tasnim news agency.Asked if Iran would send military advisors to Yemen, as it had in Syria, Jazayeri said: « The Islamic Republic felt its duty to help the Syrian government and nation. It also feels its duty to help the people of Yemen in any way it can, and to any level necessary. » Iran has sent thousands of troops and advisors to Syria.
Alongside Russian air power, Iranian troops have helped Assad’s forces turn the tide against rebel forces supported by Saudi Arabia and other Sunni powers.Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of also backing Yemen’s armed Houthi movement, which drove the internationally-recognized government into exile, triggering a Gulf intervention in March.Tehran views the Houthis as the legitimate authority in Yemen but denies providing any material support to them. The Houthis say they are a fighting a revolution against a corrupt government and its Gulf Arab backers.The coalition has committed ground troops to the war effort.
The top foreign policy advisor to Iran’s supreme leader said last month that cooperation between Iran and Russia could expand to Yemen, after a visit to Moscow.A growing dispute between Riyadh and Tehran, which cut diplomatic ties in January, has harmed the prospects of a peace deal in Yemen. More than 6,000 people have been killed, about half of them civilians, since the start of the Saudi-led intervention a year ago.
U.S. raised concerns with Saudis about halting aid to Lebanese armyThe United States said on Tuesday it had raised concerns with Saudi Arabia about the kingdom’s cutting off aid to the Lebanese army, adding that international assistance to Lebanon is essential to curbing the influence of Iranian-backed Hezbollah.Saudi Arabia said last month it had suspended a $3 billion aid package for the Lebanese army in what an official called a response to Beirut’s failure to condemn January attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran.
« We have raised our concerns about the reports of aid cutoff with the Saudi authorities, » State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a news briefing. « I am not going to talk about the details. » Hezbollah, a Shi’ite Muslim paramilitary organization that is also the strongest political force in Lebanon, is listed as a terrorist group by the United States.Hezbollah forces fight in the Syrian civil war alongside government troops against Sunni opposition groups, which are supported by Saudi Arabia and some other Sunni Muslim countries in the region. »Assistance to the Lebanese armed forces and to other legitimate state institutions is essential to help diminish the role of Hezbollah and its foreign patrons, » Kirby said.U.S. aid to Lebanese armed forces will continue, he said. »We don’t want to leave the field open to Hezbollah or its patrons, » Kirby said.
In jobs push, Saudi to ban foreigners from selling mobile phones In an effort to provide more jobs to Saudi Arabian citizens, the kingdom will ban foreign workers from selling and maintaining mobile phones and accessories for them, the Ministry of Labour said on Tuesday.Stores selling mobile communications devices will have to ensure that at least 50 percent of staff doing such work are Saudi citizens in three months’ time, the ministry said. Six months from now, the required ratio will rise to 100 percent.
The government is under heavy pressure to create more jobs for Saudis as the economy slows because of low oil prices, threatening to boost unemployment, which was officially 11.5 percent among local citizens last year.The vast majority of jobs in Saudi Arabia’s retail and services sectors are currently held by foreign workers from southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent; they are generally paid much lower wages than Saudi citizens.
Some jobs such as human resources managers and security officers have long been reserved for Saudi nationals, but the ministry’s decree suggests the government is now willing to intervene more aggressively in the labour market to get Saudis into work.State funds will be used to support companies facing higher costs because of the decree, the ministry said.
As Egypt’s dollar crisis deepens, push to cut imports casts shadow over economy Sami Khangy’s printing press has a problem: finding paper. A dollar shortage and import controls mean supply is tight. Prices are rising, profits are falling and uncertainty over the fate of Egypt’s currency is clouding investment plans. »They want to cut imports but there are only two paper plants in the country and the quality is rubbish, » said Khangy, sipping coffee in the office at his factory west of Cairo.
« We buy imported paper from merchants. They struggle to get dollars and raise the price from one week to the next … To fix the price now they want dollars but who has dollars? » Few in the business community argue with Egypt’s push to preserve scarce dollars by narrowing its trade deficit, but many say a number of policies announced in recent months were imposed hastily and threaten to undermine the economic growth that Egypt needs to create jobs for its growing population.
Egypt has suffered a shortfall in foreign currency since the 2011 uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak ushered in years of turmoil that drove off foreign investors and tourists, sources of forex it needs to finance imports of everything from wheat to consumer goods.
Foreign reserves have more than halved since 2011 to $16.53 billion in February, enough for only three months of imports.As reserves fell sharply and emerging markets crashed last year, Egypt depreciated the pound by about 10 percent. It then strengthened the currency by 20 piastres to 7.73 per dollar in November and has held there since.
To crush a black market that flourished in the uncertainty, the central bank restricted forex movements, sapping dollar liquidity from the market and making it harder to open letters of credit and clear imports, which have piled up at ports.
In an effort to curb demand for forex it says is wasted on needless goods, it plans to cut imports by a quarter this year.In the past three months alone, Egypt has imposed rules requiring importers to register source factories, provide import documents from foreign banks and pay 100 percent cash deposits on letters of credit. It also raised customs duties on more than 500 items, including apples and deodorant, deemed luxuries.
But manufacturers and importers alike say Egypt’s industrial base is incapable of meeting consumer demand in a market of 90 million. In the best case, they say, the policy will reduce choice and competition. In the worst, it will create shortages, inflate prices and force small businesses to close. »The policy of import substitution was popular during the period of decolonisation … It’s one of those policies that looks good on paper but doesn’t work, » said Timothy Kaldas, a fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP).
« Lots of things are imported because there is no alternative but also because they are cheaper than domestic alternatives.
There are many imports poor people depend on. Even if in theory local production could pick up the slack it would take time and in the meantime we could see a sharp reduction in employment. » Manufacturers say they want nothing more than to nurture industries and exports but forex controls are proving a blunt instrument, hitting the industrial base as firms big and small struggle to obtain dollars to import raw materials.
When restrictions were introduced about a year ago, companies were allowed to deposit only $50,000 a month in the bank to open letters of credit, with priority given to essential foods, medicines, fuel and raw materials. In January, the limit was raised to $250,000 for essential products only.Manufacturers say the definition of essential is narrow, excluding coffee for instance, while they struggle to persuade banks to prioritise some components.
The problem has disrupted production at some companies, with the automotive sector among the worst hit.GB Auto, Egypt’s largest-listed vehicle assembler which employs 10,000 people, halted production for 20 days last year because of delays clearing component imports.
« The government wants to close unnecessary imports of goods that could be substituted locally but we are one of the local producers, » said GB Auto’s chief investment officer Menatallah Sadek. « We have 50 percent local components in the cars we assemble. » General Motors halted production for a week last month on similar grounds, pushing the central bank to allow exporters access to up to $1 million a month provided they remit a similar amount in forex within three months.
Multinationals operating in Egypt say they remain committed and are looking to the long term. Egypt is the region’s largest market while countries from Libya to Iraq are in turmoil.
The central bank has also sought to boost forex liquidity through several special operations in recent months, though pressures quickly build again.
In a televised interview last month, Central Bank Governor Tarek Amer showed scant sympathy for large carmakers, which he said made such huge profits in Egypt that they had neglected over the years to export and earn forex.
« We need them to add to the economy not just to make profit, » he said. The pain is felt most among small businessmen like Walid Riad, who imports and resells used printing presses and stopped trading two months ago, unable to meet new import rules or get forex.
« They have virtually banned these goods, » he said, waving a list of goods from juice to cosmetics subject to new rules.Khangy’s medium-sized firm is managing as over half its production is exported. Payment is in dollars, but Khangy can only withdraw $30,000 a day, which he exchanges on the black market to pay his 320 staff. The rest pays for more imports.Contracts with Egyptian clients are denominated in pounds, but the currency has depreciated by more than 10 percent on the black market in the past month alone, eroding his margins.These are problems many family-run companies face.Interfood imports raw coffee beans and spices. Its coffee imports fell to about 2,500 tonnes last year from upwards of 4,000 tonnes in a typical year due to the crisis.
« One day you find a decision on the dollar, then on something else, and another day on imports. You have no stability. Customs clearance used to take five or six days. Now it takes 15 or 20 days, » said sales manager Bassem Hussein. »We raised our prices 15-30 percent due to FX risks plus import costs. Banking takes 10-15 days procedures. It is getting crazy. »
Palestinian kills U.S. tourist in stabbing spree on Tel Aviv boardwalk An American tourist was stabbed to death and at least nine other people were wounded by a Palestinian armed with a knife on a popular boardwalk in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, authorities said, while U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was in a meeting a few kilometres (miles) away.
The attack took place in the popular Jaffa port area, which is a favourite spot among tourists. The Magen David Adom ambulance service said four of the wounded had severe injuries. »A terrorist, an illegal resident who came from somewhere in the Palestinian territories, came here to Jaffa and embarked on a run … along the boardwalk. On his way he indiscriminately stabbed people, » Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai told Army Radio.He said a police officer eventually caught up with the attacker and shot him dead.The U.S. State Department strongly condemned the attack and identified the slain American as Taylor Allen Force.
« As we have said many times, there is absolutely no justification for terrorism. We continue to encourage all parties to take affirmative steps to reduce tensions and restore calm, » it said in a statement.Biden arrived in Israel late on Tuesday for a two-day visit, and was meeting former Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jaffa around the time of the stabbings.
Tuesday also saw three other attacks by Palestinians.In Jerusalem, a Palestinian opened fire at Israeli police on a crowded street, seriously wounding two officers, before being shot dead, and a 50-year-old Palestinian woman who tried to stab Israeli police officers was also shot and killed.
In the Tel Aviv suburb of Petah Tikva, a Palestinian entered a store and stabbed an Israeli. The wounded man and the store owner together overpowered the attacker and fought him off using the same knife. The attacker died of his wounds, a police spokesman said.Since October, Palestinian stabbings, shootings and car rammings have killed 28 Israelis and two Americans. Israeli forces have killed at least 177 Palestinians, 119 of whom Israel says were assailants. Most others were shot dead during violent protests.
About half of Israeli Jews want to expel Arabs, survey finds Nearly half of Israeli Jews believe Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel, according to a survey on the political views of Jewish religious and secular communities.The poll released on Tuesday by the Washington-based Pew Research Center, a non-partisan think tank, also found that many Israelis – Jews and Arabs – appeared to have lost hope for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Forty-eight percent of Israeli Jews said they agreed with the statement that Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel, where they make up 19 percent of the population of 8.4 million.
While 54 to 71 percent of Jews who defined themselves as ultra-Orthodox, religious or « traditional » supported such a step, only about 36 percent of the secular community did.President Reuven Rivlin called the findings a « wake-up call for Israeli society ».
The survey also addressed the role of religion in a modern-day democracy founded as a Jewish state, exposing wide gaps between Orthodox and non-religious Jewish respondents.
According to the poll, 89 percent of Israel’s secular Jews want democratic principles to outweigh Jewish ritual law when the two clash. An identical percentage of ultra-Orthodox Jews take the opposite view.In addition, about 8 in 10 Arabs complained of heavy discrimination in Israeli society against Muslims, the largest religious minority, while 79 percent of Jews questioned said Jewish citizens deserved preferential treatment.
« It pains me to see the gap that exists in the public’s consciousness – religious and secular – between the notion of Israel as a Jewish state and as a democratic state, » Rivlin said in a statement after receiving the report. « A further problem is the attitude towards Israel’s Arab citizens. » In the poll, 9 percent of Jews identified themselves as ultra-Orthodox, 13 percent as religious, 29 percent as ‘traditional’ and 49 percent as secular.
It found devout Jews largely lean to the right politically, while secular Jews mainly see themselves as centrists.Among the many divides on social and religious issues, the vast majority of ultra-Orthodox and religious Jews supported a long-standing shutdown of most public transportation on the Jewish Sabbath, while 94 percent of secular Jews took the opposite view.Most secular Jews saw themselves as « Israelis first », while 91 percent of ultra-Orthodox and 80 percent of religious Jews in general said they were « Jews first ».About 40 percent of Israeli Jews believe a way can be found for Israel to co-exist with a future Palestine, while a similar percentage believe this is not possible, according to the poll.
Among the Arab population, about half saw such co-existence as possible, compared with 74 percent in 2013.Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014, just before a seven-week war between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza.The researchers conducted 5,601 face-to-face interviews with 3,789 Jews, 871 Muslims, 468 Christians and 439 Druze in Israel from October 2014 to May 2015.
Netanyahu’s no to Obama no big deal but poorly signaled -White House Israel would have shown good manners had it informed the United States directly rather than through the news media that it was turning down a proposed summit meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, the White House said on Tuesday.
But spokesman Josh Earnest said there was « no offense taken » by the decision which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday ascribed to a desire to steer clear of the U.S.presidential election campaign.It was the latest episode in a fraught relationship between the right-wing Israeli leader and the Democratic U.S. president that has yet to recover from deep differences over last year’s U.S.-led international nuclear deal with Israel’s foe Iran.
In a stark reminder of the paralysis in peace talks which Obama tried to revive earlier in his tenure, an American tourist was stabbed to death on a boardwalk in Tel Aviv in the most serious of several Palestinian attacks on Tuesday.The stabbing occurred about the time U.S. Vice President Joe Biden began a two-day visit to Israel. Biden met former Israeli president Shimon Peres and was due to hold talks on Wednesday with Netanyahu in Jerusalem and with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank.
With a wave of Palestinian street attacks now five months old, U.S. officials did not expect a peace breakthrough during Biden’s visit. A 2010 Biden visit was marred by acrimony over a Jewish settlement plan Israel announced during his trip.The White House said on Monday it had been « surprised » to learn first from Israeli media that Netanyahu had decided against coming to a conference of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC in Washington on March 20, and to see a suggestion in some reports that Obama’s unavailability had been one of the reasons.It said Netanyahu had been offered a March 18 meeting with Obama, ahead of the president’s landmark visit to Cuba on March 21 and 22.
Asked whether the Netanyahu government should have told the Obama administration before the media, Earnest said on Tuesday, « I think it’s just good manners. » Zeev Elkin, an Israeli cabinet minister close to Netanyahu, countered that Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer had given the White House advance warning the trip might not happen.
Netanyahu’s office cited the U.S. election campaign in saying he would not travel to Washington for the AIPAC event, and voiced appreciation for Obama’s willingness to host him.In 2012, Netanyahu hosted Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney in Israel in what many Democrats saw as a bid to undermine Obama’s attempt to secure a second term. Israel denied meddling.
While candidates for the Republican and Democratic presidential nomination have been vying to assert their credentials as friends of Israel, Obama is not up for re-election in November, having served a maximum two terms.Earnest said Biden was not in Israel to handle talks over a memorandum of understanding about the United States providing military support to Israel. There was a separate channel through which those negotiations were taking place, he said.
Slovenia, Serbia place new restrictions on migrants’ entry Slovenia and Serbia said on Tuesday they would place new restrictions on the entry of migrants, putting extra obstacles in the way of those trying to reach the European Union via the Balkans.The decisions to further restrict routes taken by more than a million migrants in the last year were announced hours after EU leaders declared an end to a mass scramble to reach wealthy countries in Europe from war zones.
« From midnight, there will be no more migration on the Western Balkan route as it took place so far, » the Interior Ministry of EU member Slovenia said in a statement.It said EU leaders agreed in Brussels on Monday that member states must enforce the rules of the open-border Schengen area.
This means Slovenia would bar passage to migrants except those who planned to request asylum in the country or who sought entry for humanitarian reasons, which would be individually assessed.Only about 460 of the almost 478,000 migrants who have passed through Slovenia since last October asked for asylum in the country, with most heading to wealthier northern nations such as Germany.
Non-EU member Serbia said Slovenia’s decision meant « a closure of the Balkan route » for migrants and said it would follow suit. « Serbia cannot allow itself to become a collective centre for refugees, so it will harmonise all its measures with those of the EU member states, » the Interior Ministry said in a statement.Croatia’s Interior Minister Vlaho Orepic confirmed late on Tuesday that the former Yugoslav republic, which is an EU member but not part of the Schengen area, will also from midnight apply new rules meaning that only those travelling with valid documents and visas will be able to enter.
At least 34,000 people have been trapped in various parts of Greece from a cascade of border shutdowns further north. That has slowed the numbers reaching Slovenia to a trickle. The last migrants arrived in Slovenia three days ago, according to police there.Nevertheless, the United Nations refugee agency says there are around 1,500 migrants in Macedonia and about 1,000 in Serbia. These people could be stranded by the new border restrictions.
Turkey, Greece vow intensified joint effort to stem illegal migrant flowTurkey and Greece vowed close cooperation on Tuesday on a plan to send back migrants rejected by Europe, laying aside historic differences in an agreement they hope will end illegal flows of people across the Aegean Sea.Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu that the readmission agreement would help to reduce the « unbearable flow » into Europe.
« (It) sends a clear message to migrants coming from third countries, rather than countries at war, … that there is neither the political will (to allow their passage) nor the ability to cross to Europe, » he said after meetings in Turkey’s Aegean coastal city of Izmir.
« This is the reality we ought to sincerely convey to them in order to stop, to reduce, this unbearable flow for our countries. » The prime ministers were meeting a day after Ankara offered to the EU to take back all migrants who cross into Europe from Turkish soil in return for agreement in principle on its demands for more money, faster EU membership talks and earlier visa-free travel.
More than a million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and beyond have flooded into the EU since early 2015, most making the perilous sea crossing from Turkey to Greece, then heading north through the Balkans to Germany.A Greek official said that while Turkey and Greece had had a readmission agreement for some time, the deal signed on Tuesday changed the mechanism so that illegal migrants could be sent back immediately.
« The aim here is to discourage irregular migration and …to recognise those Syrians in our camps who the EU will accept – though we will not force any one to go against their will – on legal routes, » Davutoglu said, adding that there would be no extra financial burden on Turkey. »Europe will cover all costs of readmitting migrants from the Aegean, the readmission costs (including) returning to Turkey and to a third country, or their own country, » he said.
Davutoglu heralded what he described as an « important victory for our citizens » in the agreement from EU leaders to bring forward visa liberalisation for Turks to June from the end of 2016. He vowed Turkey would pass the necessary legislation in the coming months to see it implemented.The EU agreed to the earlier target date provided Ankara meets all the conditions including changing its visa policy towards Islamic states and introducing harder-to-fake biometric passports. »We will pass the legislation needed for visa-free (travel) in the coming months, » he said, and called on Turkey’s opposition parties to support the effort in parliament.
Tsipras said the two countries would step up efforts to tackle people smugglers in the Aegean Sea and would not simply implement « some plan imposed on us by some of our partners ».The EU leaders pledged on Monday to help Greece cope with a backlog of migrants stranded on its soil and welcomed NATO naval back-up in the Aegean.
As crunch votes loom, Merkel says migrant plans gaining traction German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday things were moving in the right direction after the European Union agreed a draft deal with Turkey to stem the flow of migrants to Europe, a touchstone issue for voters in state elections on Sunday.
The deal is a crucial sign of progress for Merkel, who is battling domestic resistance to get an EU plan for handling the crisis, which brought more than a million migrants to Germany last year. »Overall, things are going in the right direction, » Merkel told SWR radio, while trying to assuage worries that Turkey is blackmailing Europe: « No. We are seeking a balance of interests, » she said.EU leaders welcomed an offer by Ankara to take back migrants crossing into Europe and agreed in principle to its other demands but delayed a deal until March 17-18.
« Finally, there are concrete steps towards a joint European refugee policy, » said Sigmar Gabriel, leader of the Social Democrats (SPD), the junior partner in Merkel’s ruling coalition.The CDU and SPD had lost support before Sunday’s votes in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt, but Merkel’s own rating rebounded last week from February’s 4 1/2- year low in February.
Forsa pollster Manfred Guellner said the draft deal would help shore up her support among Germans, although it would widen the divide separating the CDU and SPD from the anti-immigration AfD party and Bavaria’s conservative Christian Social Union (CSU). »The majority will say ‘That is Merkel. She is toiling away again … and she is on the right path’, » Guellner said.But pollsters draw a clear distinction between support for Merkel as chancellor and for her party in the state votes.
The anti-migrant AfD is expected to do well after it scored 13.2 percent in local elections in the state of Hesse at the weekend to become the third biggest party in councils there.Senior AfD member Paul Hampel condemned the summit outcome.
« Using Turkey as a highly paid bouncer has several dangerous pitfalls, » he said, mentioning Ankara’s demands for more money, faster EU accession talks and quicker visa-free travel.There is widespread scepticism among conservatives in the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party to Merkel’s CDU, about Turkey joining the EU.
CSU leader Horst Seehofer said Bavaria had « serious misgivings » about granting this plus EU visa liberalisation to Turks in return for Turkish concessions on the refugee crisis.He said clarity was needed on which EU states would take refugees from Turkey. « It can’t be the case that we ultimately have a German contingent. » CSU lawmaker Hans-Peter Friedrich told SWR: « We mustn’t put ourselves in the hands of the Turks. »
U.N., rights groups say EU-Turkey migrant deal may be illegal The United Nations and human rights groups warned on Tuesday that a tentative European Union deal to send back all irregular migrants to Turkey in exchange for political and financial rewards could be illegal. »I am deeply concerned about any arrangement that would involve the blanket return of anyone from one country to another without spelling out the refugee protection safeguards under international law, » U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
He was speaking hours after the 28 EU leaders sketched an accord with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Brussels that would grant Ankara more money to keep refugees in Turkey, faster visa-free travel for Turks and a speeding up of Ankara’s long-stalled membership talks.Rights group Amnesty International called the proposed mass return of migrants a « death blow to the right to seek asylum ».Relief charity Doctors without Borders said it was cynical and inhumane.But Davutoglu insisted the preliminary deal would not stop Syrian refugees legitimately seeking shelter in Europe.
« The aim here is to discourage irregular migration and …to recognise those Syrians in our camps who the EU will accept – though we will not force anyone to go against their will – on legal routes, » he said at a meeting with his Greek counterpart in the Turkish coastal city of Izmir.The executive European Commission also said the deal to put an end to a mass influx of more than a million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and beyond, due to be finalised next week, was legally sound.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who pushed for the accord to assuage anxious voters before regional elections on Sunday, said things were finally moving in the right direction after nearly a million Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans and others flooded into Germany alone last year.Denying charges by German critics that Turkey was using refugees to blackmail Europe, she told a campaign event that Ankara had taken in 2.7 million Syrian refugees. « That’s why it’s only fair of us to ask first: can we give Turkey a little bit of help in shouldering this task? » Merkel said.
The 28 EU leaders were taken by surprise by the bold, last minute Turkish initiative, which went beyond previous plans for more limited cooperation. Unable to sign up to firm commitments immediately, they agreed to wrap up a deal at their next summit on March 17-18 but several points remain sensitive.Migrants marooned in squalor on Greece’s frontier with Macedonia by the closure of borders further north vowed to keep trying to cross Europe to wealthy Germany, while Syrian refugees in Turkey said they too would not be deterred by the lockdown.
« We will stay here even if we all die, » said Kadriya Jasem, a 25-year-old from Aleppo in Syria, one of 13,000 people living in a makeshift camp in Idomeni on the Greek side of the border with Macedonia.Under the tentative deal, the EU would admit one refugee directly from Turkey for each Syrian it took back from the Greek Aegean islands, and those who attempted the perilous sea route would be returned and go to the back of the queue.
The aim is to persuade Syrians and others that they have better prospects if they stay in Turkey, with increased EU funding for housing, schools and subsistence.
EU officials questioned how the one-for-one scheme would work in practice, with several EU countries objecting to any quota system for resettling refugees.It might also be overwhelmed if the volume of migrants crossing the Aegean remains high despite increased NATO-backed sea patrols by Greece and Turkey.Proclaiming their determination to work together to stop illegal migration, Davutoglu and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras signed an amendment to their readmission agreement to make returning third country nationals easier.
Davutoglu said the EU would cover the cost of readmission of illegal migrants by Turkey. He also said Ankara would rush through laws required by the EU to implement visa-free travel for Turks, calling it an « important victory for our citizens ».
Brussels sought to dismiss concerns over the legality of the proposed re-admission arrangements. »You can be sure that the agreement that will come at the end of it will comply with both European and international law, » Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein told a news briefing.
Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker cited EU asylum procedure rules to argue that member states were entitled to refuse to consider a claim from a person who arrives from a safe third country.Some Commission officials have private misgivings both about Turkey’s « safe » status, given its human rights record, and the compatibility of mass returns with asylum seekers’ right to an individual assessment of their claim, an EU source said.
It was unclear whether an eventual deal could be challenged in European or international courts. Any case might take years to reach a ruling, with EU doors closed in the meantime.Migration experts said refugees would probably try other routes if Turkey’s closure worked. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have begun tightening identity controls and erecting fences on their eastern borders, fearing the Baltic region will become a new entry point for migrants.
EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, speaking in the European Parliament, welcomed the preliminary deal and said: « We need now to ensure a quick implementation of the voluntary humanitarian scheme from Turkey and to implement projects that will further improve the situation of the Syrians in Turkey. » But many lawmakers criticised a « fortress Europe » approach, saying the EU must ensure people needing international protection are able to claim asylum.
« In the name of ‘realpolitik’, member states seemed ready to trample on their principles to conclude a shameful bargain with Turkey, » the French Socialist group said.Critics denounced a cascade of border closures down the main Western Balkan migration route that has left 33,000 people stranded in Greece, causing a humanitarian catastrophe.
Slovenia announced on Tuesday it would limit entry for migrants from midnight, allowing in only those who planned to seek asylum in the country or were coming for humanitarian reasons.In reaction, Serbia said it would harmonise its policies with those of EU member states, adding that Slovenia’s decision meant « the Balkan route for migrants is being closed ». (Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald in Brussels, Lefteris Papadimas in Idomeni,
Migrants undeterred by deal to stop rush to Europe Refugees and migrants stranded at Greece’s border with Macedonia vowed to keep trying to cross on Tuesday, hours after European Union leaders declared an end to a mass scramble to reach wealthy countries in Europe from war zones.At least 34,000 people have been trapped in various parts of Greece from a cascade of border shutdowns further north blocking a so-called ‘Balkans corridor’ used by more than a million people since the migratory wave started a year ago.There was no sign the pressure was easing on Tuesday, as would-be migrants on Turkey’s Aegean coast vowed to continue attempting perilous sea crossings and thousands of people queued at Greece’s northern border for Macedonia to open a border gate.
Greek police say it has not opened in at least 24 hours, but heavy rain and a declaration by EU leaders that a tentative accord reached with Turkey on Monday would close the Balkans route did not dampen their resolve.
« We will stay here even if we all die, » said Kadriya Jasem, a 25-year-old from Aleppo in Syria among at least 13,000 people living in squalor in makeshift camp in Idomeni, a village on the Greek side of the border with Macedonia.
She held a four-month-old baby in her arms who she said needed a doctor. « Please open the border, if only for the children, » she said.At an EU summit on Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told leaders of the bloc Ankara was willing to take back all migrants who enter Europe from Turkey in future in return for financial aid, faster EU entry talks and quicker visa-free travel for its citizens.
People fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and beyond have flooded into the EU since early 2015, most making the perilous sea crossing from Turkey to Greece, then heading north through the Balkans to Germany.EU leaders aim to work out key details with Turkey by the next scheduled summit on March 17-18. European Council President Donald Tusk, said the outcome would show migrants that there was no longer a path into Europe for people seeking a better life.
« The days of irregular migration to Europe are over, » he told a joint news conference with Davutoglu in the early hours of Tuesday.In Izmir, the main city on Turkey’s Aegean coast, there was little immediate sign that the draft deal with the EU – which could see Ankara receive 6 billion euros ($6.6 billion) in aid – would deter migrants from attempting sea crossings to Greece.
« All countries and their presidents are looking out for their own interests only and taking money on the back of the Syrian people, » said Ibrahim Abdulhamid Ivaki, a Syrian father of four who entered Turkey 20 days ago, dismissing the deal.
« I want to go with my family to Europe, » he told Reuters, as he ate breakfast in an Izmir cafe.
In an abandoned beach house near Cesme, a town on the tip of a Turkish peninsula stretching towards the Greek island of Chios, Afghan migrant Mohammed, 27, said he was aware of the situation on the Macedonian border but would still try to go.
« I heard the latest situation on the border between Greece and Macedonia, but if I pass to Greece I believe that I will find a way to Germany, » he said, adding he had struggled to find work in Istanbul and wanted to join relatives working as builders in Germany.
Idomeni continued to see arrivals on Tuesday morning, albeit at a slower pace, Reuters witnesses said.There was no let-up in the number of people arriving on outlying islands, with the government reporting 723 new arrivals in the past 24 hours.NATO began patrols in the Aegean on Monday to support efforts to locate migrant boats, overcoming territorial sensitivities in Greece and Turkey to patrol in the waters of both NATO states.
It was not immediately clear whether Greek authorities planned to remove the migrants from the Macedonian border; a similar operation took place two weeks ago, but then Idomeni hosted about 1,000 migrants and not 13,000-plus.Macedonia has restricted entry drastically over the past two-and-a half weeks, starting by imposing restrictions and not allowing Afghans across, then slowing down the admission rate and the hours the border is open.Babies sat on cardboard at the frontier on Tuesday morning.
It had rained heavily the night before, soaking through hundreds of tiny tents designed for much milder weather. Many people were coughing. »I’m afraid that we will die here, we are all sick, » said Amina Khalil, 20, also from Aleppo. « We are living like wild animals but if we leave we will lose our priority number to go to Europe, if Macedonia ever lets us pass. » (Additional reporting by Melih Aslan in Izmir and Umit Bektas in Cesme; writing by Michele Kambas and Nick T
Britain’s finance lobby says Brexit would hit City of London All alternatives to Britain’s membership of the European Union are second best and risk damaging the competitiveness of the City of London’s finance industry, although Brexit would not be ruinous for the economy, TheCityUK lobby said on Wednesday.
In a guide to the consequences of Brexit, TheCityUK said a bespoke financial services agreement between Britain and the EU was feasible, but its content would be uncertain.Negotiations would take a long time and the bloc could end up treating Britain as a less-regulated « off-shore » centre, TheCityUK, which lobbies for Britain’s financial services sector, said.
« We haven’t seen anything that gives the UK the same level of influence as membership, » TheCityUK Chief Executive Chris Cummings told Reuters.Britain goes to the polls on June 23 to vote on whether to stay in the EU or leave.
If Britain backed Brexit, a two-year negotiation period on exit terms could mitigate some of the initial fallout. »I don’t think we would see a huge movement of jobs immediately, but what would worry me greatly is that foreign direct investment doesn’t arrive, » Cummings said. »I don’t think all businesses that would leave the UK would end up in Paris or Frankfurt. I think quite a share would go to New York and Asia, with Europe as a whole losing out, » he said.TheCityUK said if Britain left, it could not be assumed that EU regulators would be able to live with big EU financial services businesses maintaining their current level of assets in London if markets there were subject to different rules.TheCityUK also represents related services like accounting and law firms, which, together with the banks, employ some 2.2 million people.
The finance industry accounts for nearly 12 percent of the British economy and pays 66 billion pounds ($93.75 billion) a year in tax, making it the biggest contributor to government coffers of any business sector.TheCityUK, which has already stated that Britain is better off staying in the EU, listed the drawbacks of any potential alternatives to membership, such as still having to contribute money to the EU for access to the single market while having no say over its financial rules.
Banks in London have also backed staying in and last week the City of London, the municipal authority for the financial district, also formally supported staying.U.S. banks Morgan Stanley Citi have said there could be a backlash against Britain as a financial centre if it left the EU. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have made donations to the campaign to keep Britain in, sources have said.
London mayor Boris Johnson, who is campaigning to pull Britain out of the EU, has said leaving would be a « golden opportunity » and has dismissed « threats » from banks to relocate from London.Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said less favourable exit terms under a Brexit would see some banking operations move to Ireland or continental Europe.
U.S. says in talks to base long-range bombers in Australia The United States is in talks to base long-range bombers in Australia, U.S. defence officials said, within striking distance of the disputed South China Sea, a move that could inflame tensions with China.The deployments could include B-1 bombers and an expansion of B-52 bomber missions, said Lt. Col. Damien Pickart, a spokesman for the U.S. Air Force in the Pacific, stressing that discussions were continuing and no decisions had yet been reached.
« These bomber rotations provide opportunities for our Airmen to advance and strengthen our regional alliances and provide (Pacific Air Forces) and U.S. Pacific Command leaders with a credible global strike and deterrence capability to help maintain peace and security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, » said Pickart.The United States does not currently fly B-1 bombers from Australia, but does conduct periodic B-52 missions.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declined to comment on the discussions. »I can just assure you that everything we do in this area is very carefully determined to ensure that our respective military forces work together as closely as possible in our mutual national interests, » he told reporters on Wednesday. Should an agreement be reached, it would position further U.S. military aircraft close to the disputed South China Sea and risk angering China, analysts said. »China will see it in the context of the (Australian Defence) White Paper which they have already mentioned that they expressed a certain degree of dissatisfaction, » said Euan Graham, director of the International Security Program at Sydney-based think tank, the Lowy Institute.Australia last month committed to increase defence spending by nearly A$30 billion ($22 billion), seeking to protect its strategic and trade interests in the Asia-Pacific as the United States and its allies grapple with China’s rising power.
The potential stationing of B-1 bombers in Australia was raised by U.S. officias last year, but Australia’s then Defence Minister said they had misspoken.China claims almost all of the South China Sea, but Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have overlapping claims.Tensions between the U.S. and China have been inflamed in recent weeks.
The U.S. Navy has carried out freedom of navigation exercises, sailing and flying near disputed islands to underscore its rights to operate in the seas.Those patrols, and reports that China is deploying advanced missiles, fighters and radar equipment on islands there, have led Washington and Beijing to trade accusations of militarising the region.
General Lori Robinson, talking to reporters in Canberra, said the U.S. would continue to conduct exercises through the disputed waterway, while calling on Australia to conduct similar freedom of navigation exercises. »We would encourage anybody in the region and around the world to fly and sail in international air space in accordance with international rules and norms » the Australian Broadcasting Corporation quoted Robinson as saying.
Trump wins Michigan, Mississippi as 4 U.S. states vote Republican front-runner Donald Trump rolled to big primary wins in highly prized Michigan and Mississippi on Tuesday, brushing off a week of blistering attacks from the party’s establishment to expand his lead in the White House nominating race.Trump’s convincing win in Michigan increased the pressure on the party’s anti-Trump forces to find a way to stop his march to the nomination as several key contests loom next week. Trump built his victories in a state in the industrial Midwest and another in the Deep South with broad appeal across many demographics, winning evangelical Christians, Republicans, independents, those who wanted an outsider and those who said they were angry about how the federal government is working, exit polls showed.
At a news conference afterward, Trump mocked rivals John Kasich, the Ohio governor; Ted Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas; and Marco Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida, and suggested they had little hope going forward.He took particular aim at Cruz, who split four nominating contests on Saturday with Trump and positioned himself as the prime alternative to the brash New York billionaire in the race to be the party’s candidate in the Nov. 8 election.
« Ted is going to have a hard time, » Trump said of Cruz. « He rarely beats me. » The Michigan victory could set Trump up for a potentially decisive day of voting on March 15, when Ohio, Florida, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina – like Michigan, delegate-rich states – cast ballots.
The Republican contests in Florida and Ohio award all the state’s delegates to the winner. If Trump, 69, could sweep those two states and pile up delegates elsewhere next week, it could knock home-state favorites Rubio and Kasich out of the race and make it tough for Cruz to catch him.Rubio, 44 – the favorite of a Republican establishment alarmed by Trump’s controversial proposals and anxious about Cruz’s uncompromising conservatism – lagged in Michigan polls and needs a win in his home state next week to keep his campaign alive.
Republicans were also voting on Tuesday in Idaho and Hawaii.
Many mainstream Republicans have been offended by Trump’s statements on Muslims, immigrants and women and alarmed by his threats to international trade deals. Trump said on Tuesday he has not assembled a foreign policy team, despite having said he would have one in place by February, and dismissed criticism his statements would be harmful to U.S. interests.Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton also won in Mississippi, helped by a strong showing with African-American voters, who make up more than half of the Democratic electorate.Exit polls showed Clinton winning nine of every 10 black voters.Clinton and rival Bernie Sanders were locked in a tight race in Michigan with about 30 percent of the votes counted.
Trump says foreign policy team still not ready Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump acknowledged on Tuesday he does not yet have a foreign policy team, and three former U.S.military and intelligence officials who have endorsed him are little known in either the Republican Party or the wider foreign policy community.The New York billionaire, who had promised to name his foreign policy and national security advisers last month, told MSNBC that he has met with people but made no decision yet on who to advise him on global affairs.
Asked whether he had a team, Trump said on Tuesday: « Yes, there is a team. Well, there’s not a team. I’m going to be forming a team at the appropriate time. I’ve met with far more than three people. » Trump has given hints of the kind of advisor he would hire to promote his national security policy, much of which is focused on cracking down on Islamic State. He also promises to gut global trade deals and build a wall on the Mexican border to halt illegal immigration.
Asked during a debate last week who he trusts on national security, Trump had warm words for three men with world views that differ from one another: former diplomat Richard Haass and retired U.S. Army officers Gen. Jack Keane and Col. Jack Jacobs.
And on his campaign website last month, Trump announced that he had received endorsements in Florida from two « top national security experts. » Foreign policy experts say they know little about those Trump supporters.They are Gary Berntsen, a former senior CIA officer, and retired Colonel James Waurishuk, a one-time deputy chief of intelligence for U.S. Central Command during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq who also once served on the National Security Council staff.
« These people are not well known in foreign policy circles…I never heard of any of them, » said Harvard professor and former Kennedy School of Government dean Joseph Nye.Waurishuk said on Tuesday he would have been happy to give advice if asked, by any presidential candidate, including Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.Apart from Trump, however, Waurishuk said that the only other candidate he had contact with was Republican Jeb Bush, who he says snubbed him when they met at an event in 2014. Bush « ignored me and walked away, » Waurishuk said.
Former CIA officer Berntsen is perhaps the best known of the three endorsers. A participant in efforts to hunt down Osama bin Laden, he later wrote a book entitled « Jawbreaker, The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. » According to The Hill newspaper, one of its contributors, J.D. Gordon, has also endorsed Trump. Gordon is a former Navy commander officer and former Pentagon spokesman.
On Tuesday, Trump described U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions from Alabama, as someone he would consider for his team, adding that he would make a decision « in due time. » Sessions is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and one of the few senior mainstream Republicans to endorse Trump.
Sessions is not known as one of the party’s leading foreign policy voices in the Senate. He opposes comprehensive immigration reform and supports tight border security measures.On Tuesday, Trump, dismissed criticism that his harsh rhetoric would damage America’s standing in the world.Foreign diplomats from Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia have expressed alarm to U.S. government officials about Trump, calling his public statements inflammatory and insulting.
The businessman shot back, saying diplomats are upset over his tough stance on trade and returning jobs to the United States as he seeks the party’s nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election. »Every country is ripping us off in trade, and other things.And they know that won’t happen with me. I’m going to bring trade back, I’m going to bring our jobs back, » Trump told Fox News.
GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks ease as China worries resurface, oil dropsWorld stock markets fell on Tuesday after weak data from China reignited worries about a global economic slowdown and oil prices pulled back from recent strong gains.China’s February trade performance was worse than economists expected, with exports tumbling the most in over six years, days after top leaders sought to reassure investors the outlook for world’s second-largest economy remains solid.
« The data this morning has dampened sentiment more so than anything else at this point in terms of confirming some of the concerns regarding growth in China, » said Ryan Larson, head of U.S. equity trading at RBC Global Asset Management in Chicago.Weighing on oil, Kuwait saying it would agree to an output freeze only if all major producers took part.Brent crude futures were at $39.77 a barrel, down $1.07, or 2.6 percent, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were down $1.32, or 3.5 percent, at $36.58.
The declines come a day after Brent and U.S. oil settled at their highest levels since December.In the stock market, energy and materials shares led the way lower. The S&P energy index was down 3.2 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 27.54 points, or 0.16 percent, to 17,046.41, the S&P 500 had lost 11.4 points, or 0.57 percent, to 1,990.36 and the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 26.66 points, or 0.57 percent, to 4,681.60.
U.S. stocks had sold off sharply at the start of the year amid worries about weakness in China and its impact on the global economy, but major indexes retraced much of those losses in recent weeks.MSCI’s all-country world stock index was down 0.6 percent, while in Europe, the pan-regional FTSEurofirst 300 index ended down 0.9 percent.
The weak Chinese trade data stoked safe-haven demand for the yen and the Swiss franc as investors shed holdings of stocks and other risky investments on renewed concerns about a slowing global economy.The dollar was down 0.6 percent at 112.68 yen, while the Swiss franc was up 0.2 percent against the greenback at 0.9928 franc.U.S. Treasury yields fell in line with Japanese yields after the weak Chinese data, which increased demand for safe-haven U.S. government debt.The benchmark 10-year note was last up 26/32 in price to yield 1.811 percent, down from 1.904 percent late on Monday.
Investors are also awaiting Thursday’s European Central Bank announcement. The bank is expected to announce more monetary stimulus measures to boost ultra-low inflation and sluggish growth in the euro zone.A small 10-basis point cut to push its deposit rate deeper into negative territory is a foregone conclusion, while some type of adjustment of the bank’s 1.5 trillion euro asset purchase program is also near certain.
GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia shares retreat from 2-mth high on China, oil concerns Sharp losses in Chinese stocks pulled Asian equities further away from two-month highs on Wednesday, as weak trade figures from the world’s second-biggest economy and a retreat in oil prices revived concerns about global growth.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.6 percent, down 1.7 percent from its two-month high hit on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei tumbled 1.6 percent to a one-week low in morning trade.
Chinese shares also lost ground, with the Shanghai Composite index and the CSI 300 both losing about 2 percent. »Although oil prices have risen sharply from the trough, many investors are not yet convinced if things have improved that much and I suspect they judged now is a good time to sell, » said Tatsushi Maeno, managing director of PineBridge Investments.
« But I do believe that this year the global economy will prove better than last year, » he added.U.S. stocks also ended near the day’s lows on Tuesday as energy shares tumbled, losing steam after hitting a two-month high on Friday.
S&P 500 Index lost 1.12 percent to 1,979.26 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.26 percent to 4,648.83.The reversal came as oil prices fell about 3 percent on Tuesday, ending six days of gains for benchmark Brent crude futures, following industry data showing U.S. stockpiles reached record highs again last week.
Brent settled down 2.9 percent at $39.65 a barrel on Tuesday after hitting a 2016 high of $41.48 earlier in the session.
They slipped 0.3 percent to $39.52 on Wednesday, but are still up 45 percent from a 12-year low of $27.10 struck on Jan.
20.U.S. crude, which fell 3.7 percent on Tuesday, also stabilized as doubts major exporters can coordinate an output freeze was offset by optimism that U.S. production will fall in 2017. It was last holding steady at $36.44.Also casting a shadow on markets, China’s February trade performance was far worse than economists had expected, with exports tumbling the most in over six years.Exports dived 25.4 percent from a year earlier on depressed demand in all of China’s major markets, while imports slumped 13.8 percent, the 16th straight month of decline.
The data did not bode well for many companies that have relied on strong growth in the world’s second largest economy, with the energy and material sector at the top of the list.Against this grim backdrop, assets that are perceived to be safe fared batter.
The 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield fell back to 1.8392 percent, erasing its gains made after Friday’s payrolls data.That in turn dented the dollar’s attraction against other major currencies.The dollar’s index against a basket of six major currencies slipped to a two-week low of 96.887 on Tuesday. It eased back up to 97.387 on Wednesday.
The yen rose to one-week high of 112.42 to the dollar on Tuesday and last stood at 112.485, a gain of 1.2 percent so far this week.The People’s Bank of China set the yuan’s midpoint rate at 6.5106 per dollar prior to market open, weaker than both the previous fix. The currency opened stronger at 6.5062 but has since weakened to 6.5146.
The euro rose to $1.1058 on Tuesday, its highest in more than a week. It has since eased to around $1.0977, down about 0.3 percent for the week, ahead of the European central Bank’s policy meeting on Thursday.
Financial markets expect the ECB to cut its deposit rate by at least 10 basis points and expand its asset-buying programme.However, with so much already priced in, some traders are primed for a repeat of the sharp gains in the euro seen in December when the ECB’s measures fell short of market expectations.
Ahead of the ECB, the Bank of Canada will announce its policy decision later on Wednesday.The Canadian dollar has rallied almost 10 percent from its 12-1/2-year low since the central bank surprised markets by not cutting rates at its last meeting on Jan 20.The Canadian dollar traded at C$1.344 per U.S. dollar , off its three-month high of C$1.3262 hit on Monday.
Wall Street bids Happy Birthday to bull market for stocks Wednesday marks the seven-year anniversary of the start of the current bull market for U.S.stocks, one that has shaped up to be more notable for its duration than its intensity.The current bull run of 84 months is the third-longest on record, with the average lasting slightly less than 59 months, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.Though also above average, the gains are somewhat less impressive, with the S&P 500 stock index up 193 percent, fifth among 13 bull markets since the Great Depression. The average bull market climb is 167 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq Composite, also bottomed on March 9, 2009. They grew about 159 percent and 266 percent, respectively, since then.The bull started from a low point after the Great Recession and the financial crisis pushed stocks down 56.3 percent from the S&P’s October 2007 high of 1,565.15 to 676.53.
A technicality might make Wednesday’s whole birthday celebration moot. The S&P index actually peaked on May 21 and has yet to go above that. Should it fall more than 20 percent from that high of 2,130.82, it will confirm that the great bull actually ended back in May, and the market has technically been in a bear since then.
To confirm that the bull rolls on, the S&P will have to eclipse that high and continue its upward trajectory.That’s far from certain. Stocks have struggled early in the year, with the S&P off 3.2 percent for 2016 and 3.9 percent below the May high. With relatively weak earnings and some concerns about global growth, it’s not clear stocks can resume their upward march.
« It has been long, it has been at times grueling, and it is tired, » said Peter Kenny, senior market strategist at Global Markets Advisory Group, in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.The market has room to move up, Kenny said, if corporate earnings and revenues can show signs of growth that would reveal stronger economic growth.
Mysterious extinction of prehistoric marine reptiles explained One of the enduring mysteries of paleontology, the demise of a highly successful group of dolphin-like marine reptiles called ichthyosaurs that flourished in Earth’s seas for more than 150 million years, may finally have been solved.
Scientists on Tuesday attributed their extinction 94 million years ago to the combination of global warming and their own failure to evolve swiftly enough.The research, the most comprehensive analysis to date of their disappearance, undercut previous notions that ichthyosaurs had been in decline for tens of millions of years and had been out-competed by other predators such as the fearsome ocean-going lizards called mosasaurs that were just arriving on the scene.The study showed that large mosasaurs in fact appeared only after ichthyosaurs went extinct.
« We found ichthyosaurs were very diversified during the last part of their reign, » said paleontologist Valentin Fischer of Belgium’s University of Liege, noting that several species with various body shapes and ecological niches existed although ichthyosaur evolution had become relatively stagnant. »We find that the extinction was abrupt, not gradual, » added University of Oxford paleontologist Roger Benson.
Ichthyosaurs arose about 248 million years ago. They became key players in marine ecosystems while dinosaurs ruled the land.With a streamlined, dolphin-like body design, they were fast, efficient, air-breathing swimmers with muscular flippers and vertical tail flukes like sharks, not horizontal like whales and dolphins. They possessed unusually large eyes to spot prey like fish and squid in deep or turbid waters. They bore live babies rather than laying eggs.Some measured less than 3 feet (1 meter) long. Others achieved immense size like Shonisaurus, which lived about 210 million years ago and reached about 70 feet (21 meters).
« Shonisaurus was probably the biggest animal that had appeared on Earth up to that point in time, » Benson said.The researchers performed a thorough examination of the ichthyosaur fossil record, reconstructing the group’s evolutionary diversity, and scrutinized evidence of climate change coinciding with their extinction.
Earth was warming rapidly, approaching the hottest times of the past 250 million years, triggering strong fluctuations in sea levels and temperatures. For a time, large swathes of seafloor became depleted in the oxygen necessary for animals to live.Fischer said these changes likely altered ichthyosaur migratory routes, food availability and birthing places.Other marine creatures including squid relatives and reef-building clams also suffered major losses.The research was published in the journal Nature Communications.
(World news compiled by Maghreb news staff)