Libya’s Tripoli sees worst militias clashes in 2 years

Libya’s Tripoli sees worst militias clashes in 2 years Clashes continued for the second day among heavily-armed militias in the Libyan capital Tripoli, vying for power and control over the city, with one dislodging another in at least two posts, a five-star hotel and a barracks, in what appears to be the worst outbreak of violence the city has seen in two years.

Competing militias have chopped Tripoli up into fiefdoms and power centers after longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, Libya’s ruler for 42 years, was ousted and killed in an uprising in 2011.They maintain what observers describe as a « balance of terror. »

Witnesses in Tripoli said Friday that gun battles rocked the southeastern Nasr Forest district and adjacent neighborhoods as residents were advised by a local emergency body affiliated with the Interior Ministry to remain home and away from windows. The clashes started Thursday and have reportedly killed at least eight, according to state news agency LANA. During a lull in the violence late Thursday night, panicked residents could be seen lining up outside gas stations to stock up on fuel.

In a statement Friday, U.N. Envoy to Libya Martin Kobler called for halt to the fighting, saying he is « extremely alarmed. »

« It’s completely unacceptable for armed groups to fight to assert their interest and control, particularly in residential areas, terrorizing the population, » he said.

Reached by phone, a female resident in Tripoli told The Associated Press that families had locked themselves in their homes.

« We haven’t slept all night and we haven’t left the house since yesterday. All we are hearing is screaming, bombings and gunfire, » she said, « the security situation is going from bad to worse. »

« We just want the militias to leave, » she pleaded.

The U.N.-brokered unity government’s spokesman Ashraf al-Tulty said that a ceasefire agreement has been reached among warring militias but revealed no further details. Given the fluidity of the situation, it remains to be seen whether the victors of the clashes will back the internationally-recognized body.

« This is a struggle over power. Each of the warring parties has its political and ideological agendas, » said Sami al-Atrash, a Tripoli resident and a legal expert. « The clashes are belated. They expected at any moment and finally happened, » he said.

In March of this year, the prime minister of the unity government, Fayez Sarraj, arrived quietly by boat to Tripoli from Tunisia. Militias in control of the capital showed no resistance.

One of Tripoli’s warring sides is supportive of Sarraj and comprised of mainly local militias, such as the ultraconservative Salafist forces led Abdel-Raouf Kara, known as the Special Deterrent Force, or « Rada » in Arabic. One of Tripoli’s largest and most powerful militias, Tripoli Revolutionaries, led by Haytham al-Tajouri, had previously been ambivalent about the unity government, but it has now joined forces with the Rada militia.

The other warring group is more skeptical of the unity government. Some hail from the western city of Misrata, while others are linked to the former leader of the onetime Jihadist but now defunct Libya Islamic Fighting Group by Abdel-Hakim Belhaj. They are backed by the hard-line Grand Mufti Sadek al-Ghariani. Both of Belhaj and the Grand Mufti are believed to be receiving financing from Qatar.

The two sides have been exchanging accusations of orchestrating killings and kidnappings. The latest dispute involved an aide to al-Ghariyani, Nader al-Omrani, whose body was found weeks after he was abducted, and the Rada militia was blamed for his killing.

On Thursday night, the Rada and Tripoli Revolutionaries militias took control of five-star hotel Al Mahary Radisson Blu Hotel in central Tripoli, where Belhaj had turned some of its rooms into offices. The same alliance also took over the 6th Division barracks once occupied by rival militias.

Fighting also broke out in the vicinity of the Rixos hotel, to the capital’s southeast – its convention center was once the meeting venue for the outgoing parliament but has since changed hands.

Pictures posted by activists on social media showed militiamen firing RPGs from rooftops, and armored vehicles and pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft weaponry occupying main streets.

The fighting is believed to be the worst in two years, following Libya’s last parliamentary elections when Islamists were dealt an unexpected blow, and the anti-Islamist head of the armed forces general Khalifa Hifter launched an offensive against Islamic militants in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Friday’s fighting came amid unconfirmed reports that the U.N. would make substantial amendments to the current political agreement to give Hifter a share of power, which could anger his rivals in Tripoli and Misrata.

As the fighting in Tripoli rages on, Sarraj’s government may be pleased to see one of its rivals – the militias linked to Belhaj and the Grand Mufti – crushed, but given a climate of regularly shifting alliances, it’s still unclear whether the battles will serves the interest of the U.N.-backed unity government.

Meeting with his Italian counterpart in Rome, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry blamed the violence on Hifter and others refusing to join the unity government, saying that the ongoing violence was « only empowering extremists. »

« Our tool is diplomacy, » Kerry hastened to add, explaining that no military action by the U.S. or Western countries was being considered to stabilize Libya.

The last large-scale escalation of clashes in Tripoli occurred in 2014 when a coalition of Islamist militias known as Libya Dawn seized Tripoli International Airport, unseated the interim government and forced it to flee to the eastern city of Tobruk, where Libya’s last elected parliament convened. The violence forced the closure of foreign embassies, displaced hundreds of thousands of residents, and left the capital with no airport except for the Mitiga air-base under the control of Belhaj.

In 2015, the U.N. brokered a peace deal among warring parties, under which a new Presidency Council and power-sharing government sought to heal the country’s rift and lead it to new elections. The head of the Presidency Council and designated-prime minister, Sarraj, however, has failed to achieve this goal after the internationally-recognized parliament -seated in Tobruk – refused to give a vote of confidence to Sarraj’s government. The parliament objected to a key article which gives Sarraj’s institutions power over the army. Hifter – who is backed by Egypt and UAE – opposed the deal and has lately achieved some military victories over Benghazi’s militants, who were supported by some of Tripoli Islamists, and moved his forces to free Libya’s oil terminals, the country’s main revenue source, from eastern militia commander Ibrahim Jedran.

Meanwhile, in Sirte, the birthplace of Gadhafi, forces loyal to the U.N.-recognized government are battling Islamic State militants with the support of U.S. air cover.

On Friday, two suicide bombers blew themselves up near dozens of women and children who were being evacuated from Sirte, killing a number of civilians, according to the force battling IS.

In a statement posted on its official Facebook page, al-Bonyan al-Marsos, the name of the anti-IS campaign, said that it’s suspending the operation after the bombings. It also said that IS militants apparently have beheaded their own members, as bodies with severed heads were found by the forces.

Battles have been concentrated in one residential block where most of the remaining IS militants have been cornered.

A separate conflict has been blazing for two years in the eastern city of Benghazi, where Hifter is leading a battle against Islamic militants and the al-Qaida-linked group of Ansar al-Shariah.

As peace efforts stall, the lingering political and security vacuum has turned the once rich country into a proxy war battleground where Egypt and the United Arab Emirates support anti-Islamic forces, while Qatar and Turkey back various Islamist groups.

No military intervention on the table for Libya: Kerry

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that there would be no foreign military intervention in Libya and called for a diplomatic solution as violence flared in the capital Tripoli.

« Our tools are diplomacy. We are not looking at other options, » Kerry told journalists alongside his Italian counterpart Paolo Gentiloni following a summit in Rome on the future of countries in the Mediterranean region.

« I don’t think any country is prepared to engage in military action. »

Kerry said that diplomatic efforts had made progress, disagreeing with Gentiloni who said that negotiations « have not yet produced results ».

« There has been a significant shift in the last month of efforts diplomatically to bring general (Khalifa) Haftar to the table… and create a series of meetings to try to resolve some differences, » said Kerry, referring to the military strongman who has refused to support a UN-backed unity government.

He instead supports a parallel authority, based in eastern Libya near the border with Egypt, that controls much of the country’s oil production.

Fighting between rival militias erupted in Tripoli on Thursday and continued on Friday, with shooting heard throughout the day as most residents stayed at home.

The city is controlled by a loose alliance of militias of different political and religious factions, and clashes between them are an almost daily occurrence.

At least eight people were killed on Thursday and Friday, a source at the Al-Khadhra hospital in Tripoli said.

Five years after Libya’s 2011 revolution that toppled longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, the country remains embroiled in violence and political chaos as the militias and two rival governments vie for power.

UN appeals for calm after fighting in Libya capital

The UN’s special envoy to Libya appealed for calm on Friday after clashes between rival militias in the south of the capital killed at least eight people.

Tripoli is controlled by a loose alliance of militias of different political and religious factions, and clashes between them are an almost daily occurrence.

The fighting that erupted in the city on Thursday continued on Friday, with shooting heard throughout the day as most residents stayed at home.

UN envoy Martin Kobler in a statement called on forces involved in the violence to stop immediately « and for wisdom to prevail ».

« It is completely unacceptable for armed groups to fight to assert their interest and control, particularly in residential areas, terrorising the population, » Kobler said.

He said the United Nations was in contact with parties on the ground to urge « an immediate end to this fighting ».

At least eight people were killed on Thursday and Friday, a source at the Al-Khadhra hospital in Tripoli said.

Five years after Libya’s 2011 revolution that toppled longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, the country remains embroiled in violence and political chaos as the militias and two rival governments vie for power.

A UN-backed Government of National Accord took up office in March with the hopes of re-establishing central power and stemming a jihadist threat from the Islamic State group.

It was intended to replace the rival administrations but has failed to win a vote of confidence from the parliament in Tobruk while the Tripoli-based GNA considers it illegitimate.

The GNA suffered a fresh setback in October after the rival Government of National Salvation seized key offices in the capital.

The reasons for the latest clashes are not clear, but pro-GNA militias late Friday announced the end of an « operation » aimed at chasing a group of « extremists ».

Half of rebel Aleppo falls to Syrian forces

Syrian government forces have recaptured half the former rebel stronghold of east Aleppo, a monitor said, with the UN now facing a « race against time » to aid children forced out by the bloody offensive.

President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have made swift gains since their offensive against Aleppo — once Syria’s commercial powerhouse — began on November 15.

Tens of thousands of civilians have streamed out of the city’s east, and Russia has renewed calls for humanitarian corridors so aid can enter and desperate residents can leave.

Regime forces Friday « consolidated their control » over two eastern districts and were pushing further to squeeze the shrinking rebel enclave, said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdel Rahman.

« After the recent advances, the regime is comfortably in control of half of former rebel territory in the city’s east, » he said Friday.

Dozens of families trickled out Friday, adding to the more than 50,000 people who have poured from east Aleppo into territory controlled by government forces or local Kurdish authorities, the Observatory said.

Among those fleeing are nearly 20,000 children, according to estimates by the UN’s children’s agency.

« What is critical now is that we provide the immediate and sustained assistance that these children and their families desperately need, » UNICEF spokesman Christophe Boulierac said.

« It’s a race against time, as winter is here and conditions are basic. »

– ‘A giant graveyard’ –

The loss of east Aleppo — a rebel stronghold since 2012 — would be the biggest blow to Syria’s opposition in more than five years.

Earlier Friday, anti-government fighters had successfully rolled back regime gains in Sheikh Saeed on Aleppo’s southeastern outskirts.

Sheikh Saeed borders the last remaining parts of Aleppo still in rebel hands — a collection of densely populated residential neighbourhoods where thousands have sought refuge from advancing regime forces.

In preparation for street-by-street fighting in these districts, hundreds of fighters from Syria’s elite Republican Guard and Fourth Division arrived in Aleppo Friday, the Britain-based Observatory said.

It said four civilians were killed in rebel rocket fire on government-held areas, bringing to 59 the civilian toll in the city’s west.

More than 300 civilians, including dozens of children, have been killed in east Aleppo since the offensive began, according to the Observatory.

Intermittent clashes rocked residential buildings on Aleppo’s eastern edges Friday, as regime forces sought to secure the road towards the airport.

AFP’s correspondent in east Aleppo said ferocious clashes could be heard in the Tariq al-Bab district, where regime forces advanced Thursday.

Civilians had already totally emptied the adjacent neighbourhood of Al-Shaar, where a few rebels manned positions in front of shuttered shops and bakeries.

Vegetable stalls — empty for months because of a devastating government siege — now lay shattered by heavy artillery fire.

The escalating violence has been met with international outrage, including a UN warning that east Aleppo could become « a giant graveyard ».

– Wary of Russian offers –

Moscow has proposed setting up four humanitarian corridors into east Aleppo.

« We have informed the UN in New York and Geneva that there is no longer a problem with the delivery of humanitarian cargo to eastern Aleppo, » Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

He said the UN was coming up with a plan and approval from Syrian authorities remained essential.

Moscow has announced several humanitarian pauses in Aleppo to allow civilians to flee, but until the recent escalation, only a handful did so.

East Aleppo residents have been wary of previous such offers because of Russia’s support for Assad, including a bombing campaign backing his forces since September 2015.

US Secretary of State John Kerry late Friday said he had spoken to Lavrov about the situation in Aleppo.

« We are deeply concerned about the humanitarian disaster that continues to unfold in Aleppo, » he said.

« It is absolutely vital that the killings be replaced by immediate moves of humanitarian goods. »

The conflict erupted in March 2011 with protests calling for Assad’s ouster, and has since evolved into a highly globalised war that has killed more than 300,000 people.

Also Friday, around 2,000 people including rebels and their families quit an opposition-held town north of Damascus under a deal with the government. The evacuation of Al-Tal was the sixth such operation in three months.

2,000 rebels, civilians leave rebel-held town near Syrian capital

An estimated 2,000 people including rebel fighters and their families quit an opposition-held town north of Syria’s capital on Friday under a deal with the government, a monitor said.

« About 2,000 people were taken in more than 40 buses out of Al-Tal and transported to Idlib province on Friday, » said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Syrian state news agency SANA confirmed that rebels had left Al-Tal in accordance with an agreement between local leaders and Damascus.

Under such deals, rebel fighters agree to leave an opposition-held town in exchange for an end to government bombardment or suffocating sieges.

Al-Tal was the sixth such town in three months to be evacuated, just days after a similar operation in Khan Al-Shih southwest of Damascus.

The regime has touted such « local reconciliation » agreements as a way to bring an end to the country’s nearly six-year civil war.

But they have been blasted by rights groups and the United Nations.

In September, the UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, criticised the « strategy » of evacuations from besieged rebel-held communities.

Since it erupted in March 2011, Syria’s conflict has displaced more than half of the country’s pre-war population.

An estimated five million have fled to neighbouring countries, but millions more have sought refuge in internal displacement camps.

Saudi king shakes up top religious, advisory council The Saudi king has ordered a shake up of the country’s top religious institution and advisory councils in a series of royal decrees.

According to the state news agency SPA, King Salman on Friday also ordered removal of the minister of labor Mofreg al-Haqbani and replaced him with Ali Ghafis.

The reshuffles affected the country’s top religious body known as the Council of Senior Scholars composed of 21 members.

The king also ordered a shakeup of the 150-member Shura Council, keeping the number of women at 30. In 2013, the former Saudi King Abdullah had granted women seats on the council for the first time.

Saudi labour minister sacked

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Friday sacked the labour minister who headed efforts to help tens of thousands of unpaid foreign workers.

Mufarrej al-Haqbani, named to the portfolio almost seven months ago, was replaced by Ali al-Ghifaidh, according to a royal order published by the official Saudi Press Agency.

A crisis in the construction sector peaked shortly after Haqbani’s appointment, as some workers who had gone months without salaries were left also without food and other essentials.

The government stepped in, offering to pay for the workers’ flights home and to cover food and accommodation when the employer was no longer meeting obligations.

After Saudi Arabia’s oil revenues collapsed, the government was left owing billions of dollars to private firms, chiefly in the construction sector, which in turn could not pay their workers.

The government has vowed to clear the arrears by this month.

Haqbani was appointed in May as part of a major government reshuffle which merged various ministries — including labour and social affairs — to reflect new priorities under a wide-ranging plan to diversify the economy.

The plan, Vision 2030, also seeks greater government accountability and is driven by Salman’s powerful son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 31.

On November 1 King Salman sacked veteran finance minister Ibrahim al-Assaf and replaced him with Mohammed Aljadaan, head of the Capital Market Authority which regulates the stock market.

In other decrees on Friday, Salman removed the director general of the customs department, and fired the secretary general of the Shura Council which advises cabinet.

The king appointed 150 members of the Council, including 30 women, some of whom were new.

They will serve a four-year term on the body which has no legislative authority.

Salman also named members of the Grand Ulemas Council, the kingdom’s top religious body.

Most of the members appeared to be unchanged and it will continue to be led by Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, a descendant of 18th century Sunni preacher Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Wahhab, on whose conservative teachings the Islamic kingdom is founded.

Morocco arrests eight over alleged ties with IS

Morocco has arrested eight men with alleged ties to the Islamic State jihadist group active in the cities of Fez and Tangiers, the interior ministry said on Friday.

A rifle, ammunition « and documents inciting towards jihad » were seized during the operation on Thursday, it said in a statement.

An initial investigation pointed towards the men having ties with IS in Syria and Iraq, « recruiting and sending Moroccan volunteers » there.

A study by the US-based Soufan Group said last December that at least 1,200 Moroccans had travelled to fight alongside IS in Iraq and Syria in the previous 18 months.

In 2011, a cafe bombing killed 17 people, mostly foreign tourists, in the central city of Marrakesh.

It was the deadliest attack in Morocco since Casablanca blasts in 2003 that killed 45 people, including 12 suicide bombers, and were claimed by Islamic militants.

OPEC deal could lead to US shale surge

With this week’s deal to cut output, OPEC is creating incentives for American shale producers to boost output just as the incoming Trump administration vows measures to promote US oil development.

The deal, announced Wednesday by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, will cut the cartel’s output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd).

Oil prices shot up on the announcement, which was more muscular than many analysts expected, boosting prices by nearly 10 percent Wednesday and lifting the US benchmark contract to above than $50 a barrel Thursday.

OPEC’s planned production cuts are nearly the same amount US producers trimmed in the wake of a two-year skid in prices.

US output has fallen to 8.5 million a day, down from a peak of 9.6 million barrels a day in April 2015 following cutbacks in West Texas and other key shale-producing regions.

Some believe the OPEC deal to boost prices could sow the seeds of its undoing as more US companies boost output in response, which in turn would push prices lower.

US « production could surprise to the upside, » Morgan Stanley said in a note Thursday. « Surprisingly, when asked about this possibility during the press conference it appeared the oil ministers were unconcerned. »

Morgan Stanley predicted it would take six to nine months for the price increase to prompt a supply response in the US, around the same time OPEC producers also are expected to ramp up.

– ‘America First’ and energy –

The OPEC meeting this week also came amid a sea change in US politics as the world’s biggest economy transitions to President-elect Donald Trump, who vowed in the campaign to free the petroleum industry from burdensome restrictions.

During the campaign, Trump promised to open new US lands to petroleum production, approve new pipelines, encourage offshore development and cut regulations on the industry.

That cocktail of domestic policies « could depress oil prices markedly given Trump’s promise, » Oxford Economics said in a research note.

Harold Hamm, the chief executive of shale producer Continental Resources who advised Trump on energy during the campaign, acknowledged the possibility the OPEC deal could pose problems for US producers if they restore too much production.

« We have the ability to oversupply the market, » Hamm told CNBC on Thursday. « The key is not to. »

Hamm said limited US refining capacity has pinched the industry, in part because foreign oil companies from Saudi Arabia and Venezuela own refineries in the US and are biased towards imported crude. But it is not clear if Trump will take on foreign ownership of refineries.

Trump’s full intentions on environmental policies also remain unclear. The president-elect described climate change as a hoax during the campaign, but suggested in a recent interview with the New York Times that he was open to climate mitigation policies.

Carl Larry of consultancy Frost & Sullivan predicted US shale producers would be prudent.

« We’ll see an increase at a slower pace, » he told AFP. « I think producers will be very, very careful not to go too far too fast. »

International push aims to protect endangered heritage

Representatives from dozens of countries gathered in Abu Dhabi on Friday to focus on setting up a $100-million fund to protect and restore heritage sites threatened by extremism and conflict.

The two-day conference reflects growing international alarm over the destruction of ancient artefacts by Islamic State group jihadists using sledgehammers, bulldozers and explosives.

Another key aim is to establish « refuge zones » around the globe for endangered works of art, according to organisers.

There were calls Friday by its Emirati, French and UN initiators for joint action to safeguard endangered cultural treasures.

« To succeed, we need to work together… united for heritage, » UNESCO director Irina Bokova told participants.

Protecting heritage « is inseparable from protecting human life », she said, describing its deliberate destruction as a « war crime ».

On the eve of the meeting, five Nobel prize winners appealed for urgent action to safeguard world heritage sites, pointing to irreparable damage in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Mali.

« Part of our history has been lost forever, with the goal of fanaticism being to undermine our hope for the future, » said the statement from Aung San Suu Kyi, Kofi Annan, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Orhan Pamuk and Mario Vargas Llosa.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization says 55 out of a total of 1,052 global heritage sites are listed as « World Heritage in Danger ».

They include the Crac des Chevaliers castle and the ruins of Palmyra in Syria, the archaeological remains of the Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan, the Old City of Sanaa in Yemen, and Timbuktu in Mali.

The conference aims to create « a broad coalition of partners connecting the dots between the security, humanitarian and cultural issues with so many organisations and governments » taking part, said Bokova.

Delegates from around 40 countries, including more than a dozen heads of state or government, among them several Gulf monarchs, are attending the gathering, based on an initiative led by France and the United Arab Emirates.

French President Francois Hollande and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, whose countries will be key contributors to the fund, will make closing speeches on Saturday.

– ‘Refuge zones’ –

Former French culture minister Jack Lang, head of the Paris-based Institut du Monde Arabe, said the forum « will launch concrete action » such as the creation of a fund to help cover the cost of transporting, safeguarding and restoring affected monuments.

France will contribute $30 million to the fund, Lang has said.

It will be formed as an « independent legal entity », according to a preparatory document that says it will probably be established in Geneva from 2017.

The conference opened as Swiss authorities announced they had seized cultural relics looted from Palmyra, Libya and Yemen, that were being stored in Geneva’s free ports.

They were deposited at the free ports in 2009 and 2010, before the outbreak of the Arab Spring revolts, Geneva prosecutors said.

The other key aim of the Abu Dhabi conference is to establish the refuge zones.

The proposed partnership would include governments, public institutions, private groups, non-governmental organisations and experts.

« UNESCO will play a critical role to guide and to advise and to monitor where exactly the needs are the most, » Bokova told AFP, adding that the conference was a « good start ».

A French official described the initiative as the « cultural counterpart » of the international military and political war on terrorism.

Hollande, who has called for « asylum rights for artefacts », last month announced that a safekeeping facility is to open in northern France in 2019.

In addition to housing the Louvre Museum’s stored collection, it could also be a refuge for endangered artworks.

France is expected to make the proposal during the Abu Dhabi conference.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi, whose delayed opening is now expected in 2017, « could also become a refuge zone » for threatened artefacts, a French official said.

Louvre Museum director Jean-Luc Martinez warned during a panel discussion that extremists are exploiting media as a propaganda tool for their « deliberate destruction of heritage ».

Hollande will visit the Louvre Abu Dhabi on Saturday as well as a military airbase near the Emirati capital from which French warplanes have been flying missions targeting jihadists in Iraq and Syria.

Erdogan urges Turks to convert foreign currency to lira

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday urged Turks to convert their foreign money into gold and lira to stimulate the country’s economy as Turkey’s currency continued its slide against the dollar.

« For those who have foreign currencies under the pillow, come change this to gold, come change this to TL (Turkish lira). Let the lira win greater value. Let gold win greater value, » he said during a televised speech in Ankara.

« What necessity is there to let foreign currency have greater value? » he asked.

The lira lost value against the dollar as he delivered his speech, however, reaching lows of 3.51.

Later the Istanbul Exchange said on its website it would convert all of its cash assets into Turkish lira « in support of (Erdogan’s) call, » leading the lira to make up some of its losses against the greenback after it reached record lows of 3.58.

The lira was at 3.50 against the dollar around midnight (2100 GMT) on Friday, down 0.30 percent on the day in another volatile 24-hours for the currency.

In November alone, the lira haemorrhaged more than 10 percent of its value against the dollar.

Erdogan also suggested that there were forces « playing games » against Turkey, which Turks could counter by changing their money.

« Don’t worry, in a short while, we will destroy this game, » he said.

The Turkish currency was also reacting to Erdogan’s repeated insistence on lowering interest rates because, he claims, there is « no other remedy ».

He pointed to the United States, Japan and Europe as examples of economies where rates are low and questioned why Turkey still had such high rates.

After several rate cuts earlier this year, the central bank stepped in with an unexpected hike of 50 basis points in its leading rate last month.

But concerns over Turkey’s political instability, including the government’s race to expand Erdogan’s powers, as well as its fractious relationship with the European Union, meant a rally in the lira was short-lived after the bank’s announcement.

Worries over Erdogan’s influence grew after Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Thursday that the government would bring a bill to parliament next week which would change the constitution and hand the president increased powers.

The economy’s fragility and the lira decline seem not to have gone unnoticed by the government with its economic coordination committee meeting for five hours on Friday night in Ankara.

In a statement reported by local media after the meeting ended, the committee said it decided on several measures to support public finances, the banking and finance sector as well as the property and labour markets — but gave no further details of its decisions.

It said « technical studies » would be undertaken before it publicly shares the measures next week.

Merkel to chart 2017 election battle at party congress

After Donald Trump’s shock victory, Francois Hollande’s decision not to seek re-election and populism on the rise, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is next up on the campaign podium to set out her strategy for winning in 2017 polls.

When her centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) holds its annual two-day congress from Tuesday, she will seek to rally members behind her bid for a fourth term as Germany’s leader.

Merkel has admitted that the general election, likely to be held in September, will be « more difficult than any before it ».

Her opponents will seek to capitalise on resentment over her liberal refugee policy that brought one million asylum seekers to Europe’s biggest economy over the past two years.

Here is an outline of what the CDU congress in the western city of Essen is about.

What is expected to happen?

The event opens Tuesday with a speech by Merkel, who has led the CDU for 16 years after ousting long-time leader Helmut Kohl.

The 62-year-old is due to give a rundown on what she has achieved since their last congress, especially on the hot-button issue of reducing the mass influx of refugees and migrants.

Crucially, the party faithful will be keen to hear how she expects to take the party forward into the coming election year, which will pit the CDU against its current coalition partner the Social Democrats and several smaller parties.

Will anyone challenge her?

There is no question Merkel will win a new two-year mandate to helm the CDU, but her score, and the length of the standing ovation, will be closely scrutinised for any signs of dissent.

At the last vote in 2014, she scored a North Korean-style 96.7 percent, just below her record high of 97.9 percent from 2012.

Several potential successors have been floated, but no one has caught the wider public’s imagination — among them Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere and Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen.

Most German voters still feel comfortable with « Mutti » (Mummy) — a survey found 64 percent welcomed her new candidacy against 33 percent who did not.

Political analyst Hajo Funke of Berlin’s Free University said Merkel had made « the correct decision, for both the party and for Germany’s stability ».

Despite some grumbling from their Bavarian CSU allies, angered by the migrant influx, the conservative CDU rank-and-file « know who generates power for their party, » Funke said.

What else will they discuss?

While CDU members approve of Merkel’s fourth term bid as chancellor, not all are on board with her policies.

Merkel will be called to account for the party’s poor showing in five consecutive state elections this year in a voter backlash driven by the migrant crisis.

Linked to that are questions on how the party can counter the leaching away of support to the right-wing populist and anti-Islam Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is polling around 12 percent.

To address some of the concerns, party chiefs will propose banning the full-face Muslim veil and cracking down on marriages involving minors.

Some may seek a tougher stance on immigration. CDU deputy chairman Thomas Strobl last week set out a demand to streamline the extradition of rejected asylum seekers.

But it remains unclear if his proposal will be put to the congress, or whether party leaders will try to quash unwelcomed suggestions through backroom compromises.

What’s next for Merkel?

With the party congress, the CDU kicks off a long election campaign in which Merkel will seek to capture the middle ground.

CDU general secretary Peter Tauber said « all the questions that currently preoccupy the population also preoccupy CDU members ».

Merkel’s party next year faces three state elections, with momentum steadily building to the last regional poll in May in Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia.

The new year promises to throw up a host of new international challenges. It will see Trump move into the White House and Britain start its EU exit negotiations.

Merkel will also watch carefully the hotly contested French presidential election and its impact on key EU issues, including migration and attitude towards Russia

Merkel: from austerity queen to ‘leader of free world’

A pastor’s daughter raised behind the Iron Curtain, Germany’s Angela Merkel has defied predictions to become Europe’s most powerful politician and, some argue, the new « leader of the free world ».

As the West is badly shaken by Donald Trump’s White House win, the Brexit vote and the rise of shrill populism, many see the pragmatic, no-nonsense chancellor as the last voice of reason on a chaotic global stage.

The unruffled, some say bland, style of the trained physicist has seen Merkel, 62, lead Europe’s top economy through the storms of the eurozone crisis, tensions with Russia and a historic refugee influx.

During her marathon 11 years in power she has seen world leaders come and go, including George W. Bush, Tony Blair, David Cameron, Jacques Chirac, and soon Barack Obama and Francois Hollande. Next year she will seek another four-year term in office.

Once derided as Europe’s « austerity queen », she recently earned kudos when she reminded Trump that cooperation must be based on « democracy, freedom and respect for the law and the dignity of man ».

International newspapers declared Merkel the new torch-bearer of liberal democracy, and outgoing US President Obama called her his closest partner saying: « If I were German and I had a vote, I might support her. »

In a signature show of modesty, Merkel waved off the many accolades as « grotesque and absurd ».

Days later, she told her centre-right CDU party she was up to the challenge of running again, declaring dutifully that « many people would not be very understanding if I failed to use all of my experience to do my duty for Germany ».

– Behind the Wall –

With a doctorate in quantum chemistry, Merkel is known for a methodical approach to problem-solving, rather than for soaring oratory or big-vision statements.

Seemingly devoid of vanity and indifferent to the trappings of power, she lives in a Berlin flat with her media-shy scientist husband Joachim Sauer, shops in a local supermarket and spends holidays hiking in the Alps.

Germans seem to like it that way, given how past ideologues have plunged the country into catastrophe, and have re-elected « Mutti » (Mummy) twice since 2005.

Merkel was born Angela Dorothea Kasner in 1954 in the port city of Hamburg. Weeks later her father, a Lutheran clergyman, moved the family to a small town in the communist East at a time when most people headed the other way.

Biographers say life in a police state taught Merkel to hide her true thoughts behind a poker face.

Like most students, Merkel joined the state’s socialist youth movement, but she rejected an offer to inform for the Stasi secret police while also staying clear of risky pro-democracy activism.

A top student, she excelled in Russian, which would later help her keep up the dialogue with President Vladimir Putin, who was a KGB officer in Dresden when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.

During that momentous upheaval, Merkel was working in a Berlin laboratory but quickly joined the nascent group Democratic Awakening. The group merged with the Christian Democrats of then chancellor Helmut Kohl, who fondly if patronisingly dubbed Merkel « my girl ».

Merkel’s mentor was not the last politician to underestimate her and pay the price.

When Kohl became embroiled in a campaign finance scandal in 1999, Merkel openly urged her party to drop the self-declared « old warhorse » — kicking off her meteoric rise as the youngest-ever and first female German chancellor in 2005.

– ‘Mother Angela’ –

In a party dominated by Catholic men from south Germany, the twice-married, childless woman from the communist East was and remains an outsider.

As party leader she has remade the Christian Democratic Union, anchoring it in the political centre by pushing social policies, abolishing compulsory military service and scrapping nuclear power.

She emerged as Europe’s go-to leader during the sovereign debt crisis, when she was derided as a puritanical « austerity queen » in crisis-wracked southern countries.

At home though, Merkel’s insistence on fiscal discipline soothed the angst of a thrifty populace fearful about its pensions.

Merkel’s image as a reassuring leader was upturned last year when she took the unusually bold step of throwing open German borders to a flood of refugees from Syria, Iraq and other conflict zones.

She won praise from asylum seekers and was portrayed as « Mother Angela » with a nun’s habit by news weekly Der Spiegel.

But the influx also fuelled a surge in right-wing populism, angered Merkel’s coalition allies and saw her isolated within the European Union.

A year on, as new arrivals have tapered off, Merkel’s approval ratings have moved back up to around 60 percent.

Despite the political damage, she heads into the 2017 campaign season as the strongest candidate, with no serious rival for the top post or likely challenger in her own conservative ranks.

After rapid rise, Italy’s Renzi braced for fall

Matteo Renzi rose from local government in Florence to running Italy in the space of only a few months.

Nearly three years later, Sunday’s constitutional referendum could send the youthful prime minister sliding back down the greasy pole of politics, temporarily at least.

If, as the polls suggest they will, voters reject Renzi’s plan to streamline parliament, the centre-left leader has said he will step down.

The self-styled outsider in a hurry to shake up Italy finds himself on the inside, a target for those who say he has not been quick enough in fixing long-standing problems.

Renzi was just 39 when he came to power via an internal party coup in February 2014.

With his penchant for retro sunglasses, open-necked shirts and jeans, the former mayor of Florence was hailed at the time as a premier for the smartphone generation.

But the breath of fresh air is now in danger of being blown away by rival young Turks from populist and far right opposition parties trying to force him out.

After 1,000 days in office, Renzi, now 41, boasted last month of having steered the economy out of recession, got Italians spending again and improved public finances.

He has also had significant political victories: a controversial Jobs Act passed, election rules rewritten and his candidate, Sergio Mattarella, installed as president.

– Dinner with Obama –

All were seen as evidence of the deft touch of a political operator who learnt his trade in Machiavelli’s home town in the age of social media.

As his Twitter follower numbers rose, so too did his international profile. Renzi was feted for his reform efforts by US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

« Matteo has the right approach and it is beginning to show results, » Obama said just before treating Renzi and his school teacher wife Agnese to the last official White House dinner of his administration in October.

But many Italian voters do not share Obama’s optimism. As the recovery has struggled to gain traction — leaving unemployment stubbornly high, particularly among young people — Renzi’s ratings have slipped.

The Jobs Act, which eased hiring and firing, made him business friends but alienated trade unions and the left.

A bullish style that was once seen as energetic has come to be viewed by some as high-handed, including by some grandees of his own party.

Former Prime Minister Massimo d’Alema, a fervent critic of Renzi’s constitutional proposals, described his successor to the New York Times as a Twitter-obsessed « oaf ».

The decline in Renzi’s popularity is relative however. Polls suggest the Democratic Party, under his leadership, would top an election held tomorrow, albeit only just.

To some, Renzi is a ruthless schemer who stabbed party ally Enrico Letta in the back when he orchestrated his ouster from the premier’s office in February 2014.

The move came only three months after Renzi had been elected leader of his party on the strength of his work in Florence, where he cut local taxes and tried to foster innovation.

– Full-time politician –

Like former British prime minister Tony Blair he often pitches himself in opposition to the left, as someone unafraid to challenge established doctrines in the name of change.

Critics say his record of doing that at a national level is patchy, noting how he has avoided a fight over public sector pay and privileges.

Promised reforms of the education and judicial systems have yet to get underway and Renzi, a practising Catholic, largely stayed out of the battle as legislation on same-sex civil unions was watered down, denying gay couples equal adoption rights.

Born on January 11, 1975 in Florence, Renzi studied law and took his first steps in politics as a teenage campaign volunteer for future prime minister and European Commission chief Romano Prodi.

By 26 he was a full-time organiser for La Margherita (The Daisy), a short-lived centre-left party.

He was only 29 when he became the leader of the province of Florence in 2004, establishing a power base that enabled him to go on to become mayor in 2009 and prime minister five years later.

But for a brief spell in his early 20s working for the family advertising business, politics is all he has done and friends say he would be loath to give it up, despite his protestations to the contrary.

Even if has to make way as premier, he is not expected to give up the party leadership.

China hopes Trump call with Taiwan leader won’t damage ties

China’s foreign minister said Saturday he hopes Beijing’s relations with the U.S. would not be « interfered with or damaged » after President-elect Donald Trump broke with decadeslong diplomatic tradition and spoke directly with Taiwan’s leader.

It is highly unusual, probably unprecedented, for a U.S. president or president-elect to speak directly with a leader of Taiwan, a self-governing island the U.S. broke diplomatic ties with in 1979.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the call between Taiwan’s president and Trump was « just a small trick by Taiwan » that he believed would not change U.S. policy toward China, according to Hong Kong’s Phoenix TV.

« The one-China policy is the cornerstone of the healthy development of China-U.S. relations and we hope this political foundation will not be interfered with or damaged, » Wang was quoted as saying.

Washington has pursued a so-called « one China » policy since 1979, when it shifted diplomatic recognition of China from the government in Taiwan to the communist government on the mainland. Under that policy, the U.S. recognizes Beijing as representing China but retains unofficial ties with Taiwan.

A statement from Trump’s transition team said he spoke with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who offered her congratulations.

« During the discussion, they noted the close economic, political, and security ties … between Taiwan and the United States. President-elect Trump also congratulated President Tsai on becoming President of Taiwan earlier this year, » the statement said.

Trump tweeted later: « The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you! »

The Taiwanese presidential office issued a statement early Saturday saying Trump and Tsai discussed issues affecting Asia and the future of U.S. relations with Taiwan.

« The (Taiwanese) president is looking forward to strengthening bilateral interactions and contacts as well as setting up closer cooperative relations, » the statement said.

« The president also told U.S. President-elect Trump that she hopes the U.S. will continue to support Taiwan’s efforts in having more opportunities to participate in and contribute to international affairs in the future, » Tsai’s office said.

It said the two also « shared ideas and concepts » on « promoting domestic economic development and strengthening national defense » to improve the lives of ordinary people.

The White House learned of the conversation after it had taken place, said a senior Obama administration official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive diplomatic relations involved.

China’s embassy in Washington, its foreign ministry in Beijing and Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to requests for comment.

Friday’s call is the starkest example yet of how Trump has flouted diplomatic conventions since he won the Nov. 8 election. He has apparently undertaken calls with foreign leaders without guidance customarily lent by the State Department, which oversees U.S. diplomacy.

Obama blocks proposed takeover Germany’s Aixtron President Barack Obama is blocking a Chinese firm’s proposed takeover of a German manufacturing company, saying the deal poses a security risk.

The Treasury Department announced Friday that Obama would veto semiconductor maker Fujan Grand Chip’s acquisition of the U.S. business of Aixtron SE. The move threatens to scuttle the deal.

Treasury says in a statement that the administration believes Aixtron’s technology has « military applications. »

Obama’s decision upholds a recommendation from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which reviews foreign purchases of U.S. companies.

Aixtron has a subsidiary in California.

It is only the third time Washington has blocked a Chinese corporate takeover on security grounds.

US allies hope for best as they reach out to Trump

America’s closest partners are putting a brave face on Donald Trump’s surprise election win while reaching out to try to shape his worldview and to preserve traditional alliances.

Allies were rattled by Trump’s nationalist campaign rhetoric and by the haphazard way he has approached his first round of calls with world leaders since becoming president-elect.

But they are not panicking. Trump may have no foreign policy experience, but he does not appear to have any deep-rooted ideology either, and seems open to discussion.

And, despite Trump’s threats to tear up trade deals and his vaguely worded calls for warmer ties with Russia, Washington’s closest partners believe a crisis can be avoided.

« The US alliance system is one of the crown jewels of America’s national security, » said John Hannah of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, who served as a senior foreign policy adviser to three US administrations.

While Russia and China have increasingly sophisticated militaries, they cannot match Washington’s network of allies.

And, Hannah told AFP, any president « should think not once, not twice, but 100 times before taking steps that might undermine or jeopardize » those friendships.

This week, envoys from America’s most important allies in the Pacific and the Atlantic, respectively — Japan and Britain — said they were keen to engage with Trump’s team.

– Brutal dismissal –

Concerns were raised in Japan during the US campaign when Trump suggested America’s military allies are not pulling their own weight and might be left to face foes on their own.

And Trump’s brutal dismissal of the « terrible » Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade deal did not bode well for ties with America’s premier friend in Asia.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had made TPP a key plank of Japan’s economic policy, and he was the first world leader to rush to meet the US president-elect in New York.

Trump received no briefing from the US State Department ahead of the informal talks, and was accompanied by his daughter Ivanka, a business executive with no official role.

But, according to Japan’s Ambassador Kenichiro Sasae, Abe’s team left the meeting reassured that the US-Japan alliance is important to Trump and could even be strengthened.

« I’m given to understand that the president-elect is different when there is a person-to-person talk, » the envoy said, playing down the « high tone » of Trump’s campaign speeches.

« We got the impression that he’s a good listener. He listened to a lot of views and tried to digest them. »

So, while the TPP remains a dead letter — « meaningless, » in Abe’s view, without US support — Japan is not ready to abandon the general principle of a multilateral pact.

And once Trump takes office in January and assembles a team of experts to advise him, something may be salvaged.

« I don’t think many Americans read the text of this agreement, to be honest, » Sasae said, at an event promoting the « Value of Strong Alliances » at the Heritage Foundation think tank.

– Ruffled feathers –

Trump has yet to nominate anyone to act as his secretary of state, and in the weeks since he won the election, he has ruffled diplomatic feathers on several occasions.

Britain, supposedly the proud owner of a « special relationship » with Washington, has found itself embarrassed.

In his first call with Prime Minister Theresa May, Trump — rather than inviting her to Washington — breezily suggested that if she comes over, she should « get in touch. »

And in a stark breach of protocol, Trump suggested on Twitter that the British ambassador be replaced by his euroskeptic friend Nigel Farage, former leader of the UK Independence Party.

Britain’s actual ambassador, Kim Darroch, nevertheless insists that ties between Trump Tower and Number 10 are off to a better start than they may seem to be on the surface.

Appearing alongside his Japanese colleague, Darroch said May has now spoken twice to Trump and that a formal visit is being arranged for « very soon » after his January inauguration.

– Closest cooperation –

He acknowledged the challenge of keeping up with any US administration in transition — some 4,000 officials will be replaced, and 1,200 face Senate confirmation hearings.

But he said Britain would continue to seek the closest cooperation — while still making its own views known.

Britain is keen that the United States maintain Western solidarity in the face of aggression from Vladimir Putin’s Russia — despite Trump’s warm words for the strongman.

« That’s one of the things we will cover when we talk to his foreign policy team, » Darroch said, noting Russia’s annexation of part of Ukraine and role « in the carnage » in Syria.

Darroch said Washington and other western capitals talk to the Kremlin and « as long as we’re all expressing similar views on the challenge we face, I think that’s a good thing. »

Philippines President Duterte phones Trump

 Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte telephoned U.S. President-elect Donald Trump late Friday and had a brief but « very engaging, animated conversation » in which both leaders invited each other to visit his country.

In a video released by Duterte’s close aide, Bong Go, the Philippine leader is seen smiling while talking to Trump and saying: « We will maintain … and enhance the bilateral ties between our two countries. »

Duterte shuffled and looked at some notes during the conversation, which Go said lasted for more than seven minutes. The presidential palace earlier announced that Duterte will make a « congratulatory call » to Trump from his hometown in southern Davao city.

It was not immediately clear if the touchy topic of Duterte’s bloody crackdown against illegal drugs came up during the chat. Duterte has lashed out at outgoing President Barack Obama and the State Department for raising concerns over the crackdown, which has left more than 4,000 suspected drug dealers and users dead.

Duterte, who took office in June, has been antagonistic to the U.S., his country’s treaty ally, while reaching out to China and Russia. He has met Chinese President Xi Jinping twice and Russian leader Vladimir Putin once.

Obama canceled what could have been their first formal meeting in an Asian summit in Laos in September after Duterte unleashed an expletive-laden warning for the U.S. leader not to lecture him on human rights.

During their talk, Trump invited Duterte to visit the White House next year and Duterte asked the U.S. president-elect to attend an East Asian summit to be hosted by the Philippines next year.

The Philippine president has been compared to Trump for his bombastic rhetoric and unorthodox political style but Duterte apparently did not relish the comparison, telling The Associated Press in an interview during the campaign in March: « Donald Trump is a bigot, I am not. »

A Cabinet of generals? Trump’s choices get mixed reviews

Donald Trump’s move to pack his administration with military brass is getting mixed reviews, as Congress and others struggle to balance their personal regard for the individuals he’s choosing with a broader worry about an increased militarization of American policy.

No fewer than three combat-experienced retired Army and Marine leaders, with multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, are on tap for high-level government jobs normally reserved for civilians. Others are entrenched in Trump’s organization as close advisers.

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn will serve as the president’s national security adviser, and Trump announced retired Marine four-star Gen. James Mattis Thursday night as his secretary of defense. In addition, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly is a likely pick to head the Department of Homeland Security.

All three had high-profile military careers leading top commands, and they are known for their willingness to offer blunt policy assessments publicly and privately. But their strategic advice could be colored by their years on the battlefront watching soldiers and Marines fight and die battling insurgents in the mountains of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iraq.

Those experiences can have markedly varied effects, making some officers a bit cautious when considering plans to send troops into battle but making others more likely to urge aggressive military responses to national security crises and less patient with the slow pace of diplomacy.

The men Trump has chosen so far are familiar faces on Capitol Hill, having made frequent trips in their former jobs, and lawmakers are expressing personal respect. But some temper that with a wariness about the wisdom of putting so many military leaders at the helm of the country’s national security when the nation was founded on the idea of civilian control.

In particular, some Democrats oppose passing a law overriding a prohibition on an officer leading the Defense Department before he has been out of the military for seven years. That law has been waived only once in American history, for George Marshall in 1950. Flynn’s appointment does not require congressional approval, and there is no similar law for Homeland Security.

Mattis retired from the Marine Corps in June 2013, and Kelly retired early this year. Flynn retired in 2014 after being pushed out of his job as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

« While I deeply respect General Mattis’ service, I will oppose a waiver, » said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., a member of the Armed Services Committee. « Civilian control of our military is a fundamental principle of American democracy, and I will not vote for an exception to this rule. »

Rep. Adam Smith, ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, echoed that concern, saying that while Mattis served with distinction, « civilian control of the military is not something to be casually cast aside. »

It is unlikely, however, that those trepidations will threaten Mattis’ nomination. He has broad support from Republicans, who hold the majority in both chambers, including from John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

« America will be fortunate to have General Mattis in its service once again, » said McCain, R-Ariz.

There were even positive words Friday from House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, who said, « We are grateful that the president-elect reportedly found General Mattis’ argument against torture persuasive. We will need the secretary of defense to continue to uphold the laws, alliances and norms that protect our nation and enshrine our values as Americans. »

Still, national security experts raise concerns about the possibility of a greater reliance on military solutions to international problems.

Vikram Singh, a former senior adviser at the Defense Department and now vice president at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, said the law requiring a gap between military service and leading the Pentagon « exists to preserve civilian control of the military, a cornerstone of American democracy, and appointing a general so recently retired from active service to be secretary of defense is a serious matter, no matter how qualified that general may be for the position. »

Jon Soltz, who leads the liberal political action committee VoteVets, said that people with military service are needed in Washington, but « it is somewhat concerning that Donald Trump continues to eye recently retired generals for some of the most important traditionally civilian positions in government. »

He added, « We should never lose sight of the balance in civilian and military roles that has served our nation well for centuries. »

Spencer Meredith, an associate professor at the National Defense University, said Friday that military officers can bring vital strategic thinking and organizational skills to administration jobs. But he acknowledged possible concerns about a cadre of advisers with military viewpoints — the idea that « everything looks like a nail to a hammer. »

The generals themselves have expressed little worry about any militarization of U.S. policy.

Military officers, said Kelly, spend their careers willing to give their lives to defend their country and the U.S. Constitution. He said civilian control is rooted in the president as commander in chief and the Congress, which controls spending.

Mattis, in a recent exchange, showed a sense of humor about his status as a career military officer. When a reporter addressed him as « General, » he responded, « Please call me Jim. I was once a general, but it was long ago and I’ve happily rejoined the human race. »

The « Two Trumps » surface in president-elect’s transition

Donald Trump’s skeptics hope the presidency will reveal a serious side of the brash businessman. His supporters want him to keep the freewheeling style that rattled Washington.

In true Trump fashion, so far he’s doing both.

Trump has soothed some Republican establishment anxieties with many of his early Cabinet picks, including the respected retired Gen. James Mattis to lead the Pentagon and Georgia Rep. Tom Price, an orthopedic surgeon tapped to head the Department of Health and Human Services. He’s hinted that he’s open to shifting some of his most controversial policies, including his rejection of climate change and support for torture. He’s been full of praise for President Barack Obama and largely respectful of Hillary Clinton, his vanquished campaign rival.

But Trump is also refusing to abandon the raucous, stream-of-consciousness rallies and Twitter tirades that defined his presidential campaign. He’s continued to level false statements, claiming without evidence that millions of people voted illegally in the election. And he’s infused the normally staid Cabinet selection process with reality television drama, inviting cameras into his dinner with Mitt Romney, a leading candidate for secretary of state, and announcing the secretary of defense pick in an arena, seemingly off the cuff.

« He was a very unconventional candidate, » House Speaker Paul Ryan said. « He’s going to be an unconventional president. »

Despite his tell-it-like-it-is reputation, Trump is fueled by a deep need to be liked, according to long-time associates. He often modulates his tone to his setting and frequently tries to curry favor with his audience by telling them what he thinks they want to hear. He often speaks in vague generalities, his policy plans short on details, and that allows supporters to read in what they wish.

And sometimes he seems to move in contradictions, as when he made simultaneous appointments of Reince Priebus — a nod to the Washington establishment — and Stephen Bannon — a shot across the establishment’s bow — to fill two key roles in his administration, giving opposing factions of his coalition something to cheer.

People who meet with the president-elect personally talk about there being « two Trumps » — the self-promoting celebrity that’s seen in public and the amiable and courteous grandfather who emerges in private.

« He’s charming in person, » said John Allison, the former CEO of BB&T, who recently met with Trump. « He absolutely has a lot of personal charisma. »

Indeed, Trump has appeared to win over some of his toughest Republican critics since defeating Clinton. GOP lawmakers have praised all of his Cabinet nominees, some of whom hold more traditionally conservative views than Trump himself. Romney, who was one of Trump’s fiercest critics during the campaign, emerged from their dinner this week with warm words for a man he’d only recently called a « phony. »

« He continues with a message of inclusion and bringing people together and his vision is something which obviously connected with the American people in a very powerful way, » Romney said in a stunning turnabout for the 2012 GOP nominee.

But Trump appears acutely aware that the enthusiastic supporters who propelled him to the White House are watching carefully to see if he’ll back away from his pledges to shake up the political system. Supporters shouted their opposition to Romney being in the Cabinet Thursday as Trump stood on stage in Cincinnati for the kickoff of a « thank you » tour for voters.

Trump gave them plenty else to cheer about, fully re-embracing his firebrand and raucous campaign persona.

He took the stage full of swagger and as focused on score-settling as he was during the campaign. He spent more than 10 minutes bashing the press, recounting how the media doubted his chances of winning.

« These are very, very dishonest people, » said Trump, one of several times during the night when he incited the crowd to jeer the press gathered in the pen at the back of the arena. « Ok, I love this stuff. Should I go on with this just a little bit longer? I love it. » Shifting to how he broke Clinton’s so-called Midwest firewall, he said, « We didn’t break it, we shattered that sucker. We shattered it, man. That poor wall is busted up. »

Trump did hit some of the right notes in terms of unifying the nation when he managed to stick to the script rolling down the teleprompter. He called for a « truly inclusive society, where we support each other, love each other, and look out for each other. »

But he also reminisced how « fun » it was « fighting Hillary. » He stunned even his own advisers by announcing his nomination of Mattis from the stage. And facing the pressures of the presidency, he seemed to still be reliving and relishing his victory.

« We had a lot of fun, » he said, adding: « The bottom line is, we won. »

An all-encompassing need to win seems to be one thing the « two Trumps » have in common.

« Nothing is presidential except victory, » Trump said in March. « Victory is presidential. »

Trump forms an advisory group of CEOs for input on jobs

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday announced the formation of an advisory group of more than a dozen CEOs and business leaders who will offer input on how to create jobs and speed economic growth.

The President’s Strategic and Policy Forum will hold its first meeting at the White House in the first week of February, shortly after Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of the Blackstone Group investment firm, will lead the group.

Trump has vowed to keep manufacturing jobs from leaving the country, and set a goal of growing the economy at 4 percent a year, about twice the average of recent years.

« This forum brings together CEOs and business leaders who know what it takes to create jobs and drive economic growth, » Trump said in a statement. « My administration is committed to drawing on private sector expertise and cutting the government red tape that is holding back our businesses from hiring, innovating, and expanding right here in America. »

The forum will meet « frequently » with the president to offer views on how government policy impacts growth and jobs, according to the statement.

Trump has been reaching into the ranks of big business and Wall Street to fill his cabinet posts. He has tapped former Goldman Sachs partner Steven Mnuchin as Treasury secretary and investment banker Wilbur Ross to head the Commerce Department.

President Barack Obama set up a similar non-partisan advisory group — the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness — to help shape his economy policies and help create jobs.

Members of Trump’s forum include Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors; Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase; Doug McMillon, CEO of Wal-Mart Stores; Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM; Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock; and Bob Iger, CEO of Walt Disney.

US casts watchful eye on Cuban crossings after Castro death

Rodolfo Lledes departed Cuba and headed for Florida with 26 others on a motorized raft made of empty 55-gallon drums. Claudia Cruz Perez wound her way on buses, boats and planes through South America to the U.S.-Mexico border, eventually landing in Miami.

Many migrants like them make the journey because of what they call appalling conditions or political persecution, but also because of the U.S. « wet-foot, dry-foot » policy that shields Cubans from deportation if they make it to U.S. soil. Now, the death of longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s hardline stance on curbing illegal immigration have cast new uncertainty over that decades-old policy.

Arrivals from the communist-ruled island already had surged in the past two years because of fears that the policy would be discontinued as President Barack Obama sought warmer relations, the U.S. Coast Guard has said, and now officials are on alert for another uptick in sea crossings.

While it’s too soon to note a definitive trend, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted 38 Cubans in the South Florida Straits and brought them back to Cuba on Thursday. Under « wet-foot, dry-foot, » migrants intercepted at sea are returned to Cuba.

« It’s not right to recommend that anyone leave by raft, because it’s a trip that can lead to death, » said Lledes, a Castro opponent who fled Cuba after being sent to a work camp and being blacklisted from getting a job. « But the reality of living in Cuba can lead to that, and much more. »

Lledes made his crossing in September 1994, during the so-called Cuban rafter crisis. The Coast Guard stopped the homemade vessel, and he was sent to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay. In all, about 30,000 rafters were held at Guantanamo during the crisis. Lledes was later flown to the U.S., where he worked as a truck driver in Miami. He became an American citizen, bought a house and is now retired at age 71.

Since Obama ordered restoration of diplomatic relations between Washington and Havana in December 2014, the U.S. Coast Guard has noted a significant uptick each year in the number of Cuban migrants who brave the dangerous Straits of Florida and arrive on the coast of South Florida, the islands of the Florida Keys or elsewhere.

During the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, U.S. authorities captured, intercepted or chased away 7,411 Cuban migrants — an increase over 3,737 in the 2014 fiscal year and 2,218 in 2013. An additional 827 tried to make the trip since October, the Coast Guard said. It’s not clear how many others have died at sea.

Castro’s death is unlikely to significantly change living conditions in Cuba, as Raul Castro continues the communist rule he took over from his ailing brother in 2008. That means migrants will likely continue to set sail, especially if there is even a perception that the « wet-foot, dry-foot » policy may be restricted.

« It’s almost impossible to think that there’s an improved future in Cuba under the current conditions, » said Pedro Roig, senior research associate at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami. « It’s very feasible that any Cuban, man or woman, would want to seek another horizon under these laws. »

Cruz Perez made her circuitous journey in 2015, arriving in October of that year after what she said had been concern among those on the island about the future of U.S.-Cuba immigration policy.

But more important, she said, was daily survival in Cuba, where necessities like soap and toilet paper often are hard to obtain. She doesn’t think Fidel Castro’s death alone will have an immediate impact, given that Raul Castro has handled the nation’s governing since 2008. People will still come to the U.S. to seek work and send money and goods to relatives left behind, or eventually bring loved ones to the U.S.

« If one has children, one almost has to leave the island to seek a better life and a better future for them, » said Cruz, who works a night shift at a printing factory. « That is why people risk their lives to leave. »

Adulation of Fidel Castro runs deepest in rural eastern Cuba

The single dirt street in El Guayabo runs past a few dozen cinderblock homes, the medical clinic and the primary school to a grove of 76 trees planted to honor Fidel Castro on his 76th birthday.

On Friday, residents of El Guayabo walked a mile down that street to Cuba’s central highway to bid a final farewell to the man they credit for bringing medical care, education and basic comforts to this hamlet in the farming and ranching country of arid, sun-scorched eastern Cuba.

« We owe him everything, » said Rafael Toledo, a 71-year-old rancher. « There’ll never be another one like him. »

Mourning for Castro has reached near-religious peaks of public adulation across Cuba since his death at age 90 on Nov. 25. Huge crowds have been shouting his name and lining the roads to salute the funeral procession carrying his ashes from Havana to the eastern city of Santiago.

By midday on Friday, the cortege had reached the city of Las Tunas, some 1,450 miles (600 kilometers) east of Havana.

Las Tunas residents shouted, « I am Fidel! » as the seven-vehicle caravan sped by, some waving little Cuban flags and others capturing the moment with cameras on their cellular phones.

In the cities some of the ceremony has been undercut by grumbling about Cuba’s autocratic government, inefficient bureaucracy and stagnant economy. The outpouring has seemed the most heartfelt in Cuba’s east, the region his ashes are crossing Friday.

Castro was born in eastern Cuba. His revolution started here, and it’s here and in other parts of rural Cuba where his campaigns for literacy, social welfare and land redistribution had their deepest impact.

« Before the revolution, the countryside wasn’t what you see now, » Toledo said. « My parents were sharecroppers, cane-cutters. They did what they could to support a family of 12, but they couldn’t even sign their names. When they died they were literate and had a house with electricity, television and a refrigerator. »

For many foreigners, landing in Havana feels like traveling back in time, to an era of 1950s cars and Art Deco homes unpainted for decades. Heading into the countryside is another step back — to a region where farmers plow with oxen and people travel by horse-cart. But, thanks to Castro’s programs, there are also neighborhood health clinics, small-town libraries and specialized high schools with dance and arts instructors.

Before the revolution, El Guayabo was a family estate with a cheese factory owned by a Cuban family who fled to the United States after Castro and his rebel army took power. The land was distributed to those working it under agricultural reforms that Castro began in 1959.

Still, while rural Cubans’ lives have improved with the arrival of doctors and teachers in once-ignored backwaters, it has been a struggle to earn a living under the island’s one-party socialist government and its stifling economic rules.

More than five decades after the revolution, much of the countryside is deeply unproductive and Cuba imports a large percentage of its food. Weeds choke unproductive fields and ranches are without cattle. Many young people are moving to the cities, or leaving Cuba entirely.

Yudisleidy Borges and her husband, Julio Cesar Camejo, want to start a small dairy in Santa Elena in central Cuba’s Ciego de Avila province but are struggling with a centrally planned system that maintains a monopoly on all agricultural inputs.

« The issue of getting the supplies that we need, the feed and the equipment, is serious, » Camejo said.

Yet, Borges said, the problems of life in the countryside don’t sour the appreciation she feels for Castro’s socialist system.

« In central and eastern Cuba, people have always followed Fidel, » she said.

 

Mercosur suspends Venezuela for failure to follow rules South American nations suspended Venezuela on Friday from the Mercosur trade group over what they said was its failure to comply with the commitments made when it joined the group in 2012.

Argentina’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Venezuela had failed to meet a Thursday deadline to adopt certain standards required for membership. The foreign ministers of the four founding members— Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay — notified Venezuela’s government of the decision in a letter.

Mercosur accepted Venezuela as a member when South America was dominated by leftist governments in an effort to link the region’s biggest agricultural and energy markets.

But the socialist-run Venezuela fell afoul of its neighbors as it cracked down on the opposition and conservative governments assumed power in Argentina and Brazil. Venezuela’s regional influence also waned as the country cut back on oil shipments once provided to allies at cut-rate prices.

This strong rebuke from Venezuela’s one-time friends could open the door to stronger action from countries and regional blocs. The head of the Organization of American States for months has threatened moves against Venezuela for its increasing authoritarianism. Some U.S. Congress members have called for sanctions and other forms of pressure.

Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez said Friday she had not been informed of the suspension. She rejected the notion that Venezuela had failed to conform to the trade group’s rules.

« Venezuela does not recognize the null action carried out under the law of the jungle taken by the officials who are destroying Mercosur, » she said.

Earlier in the week, Venezuela’s opposition coalition threatened to walk away from ongoing dialogue with the socialist government. The Vatican-mediated talks were intended to head off a growing political crisis as critics of President Nicolas Maduro allege he has become a dictator and call for him to resign.

Venezuela has arrested hundreds of opposition activists in recent years and stifled opposition media. A local human rights group counts 100 political prisoners still in jail. This fall, the government killed an effort stage a recall referendum against Maduro.
S. Koreans to march for 6th weekend calling for Park ouster

 Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans are expected to march in capital Seoul for the sixth straight Saturday calling for the removal of scandal-plagued President Park Geun-hye, who faces an impeachment vote in parliament next week.

The demonstration will come hours after lawmakers formally launched an attempt to impeach Park. State prosecutors accuse her of helping a close confidante extort money and favors from large companies and manipulate state affairs.

Police say the turnout in streets near the presidential office could be similar to what was the largest anti-Park protest last Saturday when they sized the crowd at 270,000. Protest organizers estimated the crowd at 1.5 million.

Thousands were also expected to rally near the National Assembly to pressure parties, including Park’s conservative ruling party, to vote for her impeachment.

Opposition parties controlling South Korea’s parliament waited until after the end of this week’s plenary session to register an impeachment motion early Saturday. It means the vote will take place as early as next Friday.

The motion, which had the support of 171 opposition and independent lawmakers, accuses Park of violating the constitution and undermining democracy by allowing her longtime friend, Choi Soon-sil, to interfere in state affairs, and letting senior presidential aides help Choi extort from companies.

It also accuses Park of committing other crimes, such as abuse of authority, coercion and bribery, over allegations that large companies were bullied or offered rewards for giving money and favors to foundations and businesses Choi controlled.

« President Park Geun-hye, in executing her duty, has broadly and seriously violated the constitution and laws, » the impeachment motion says.

The opposition had earlier planned to call for a vote this week, but it squabbled over timing after Park made a conditional offer to resign.

The opposition lacks votes to push through with Park’s impeachment without help from dissenters in the ruling party.

A group of anti-Park lawmakers in the ruling party have vowed to vote for her impeachment if she fails to announce by Wednesday that she will step down voluntarily in April.

On Tuesday, Park, without providing a timeline, said she would leave office if parliament comes up with a stable power transfer plan. Opposition lawmakers criticized the overture, saying it was a stalling ploy aimed at luring back members of her party who supported impeachment.

Malaysia defends rally against ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Myanmar Malaysia’s government has defended plans for a protest to condemn what it called ethnic cleansing of Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya minority, saying it has an obligation to ensure that its neighbor takes steps to prevent the crisis from deteriorating.

Prime Minister Najib Razak is expected to attend the rally on Sunday but Myanmar has warned Muslim-majority Malaysia not to interfere in its internal affairs.

Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry says the high number of Rohingya refugees in Malaysia and neighboring countries « makes this matter no longer an internal matter but an international matter. » It says the fact that « only particular ethnicity is being drive out is by definition ethnic cleansing. »

It said in a strongly worded statement Saturday that the practice must stop immediately to bring back security and stability to the region.

Gambia’s president concedes defeat after election loss

Gambia’s president of 22 years acknowledged his election defeat on state television Friday night, vowing to step down hours after news of the results prompted thousands to celebrate in the streets in an unprecedented display of disdain for his rule.

With cameras rolling, Yahya Jammeh called the winner, opposition coalition leader Adama Barrow, on a mobile phone to praise the election and vow not to contest the result.

« Allah is telling me my time is up and I hand over graciously with gratitude toward the Gambian people and gratitude toward you, » Jammeh said.

Jammeh, a man long accused of heading a government that tortures opponents and silences all dissent, was jovial on the call, promising to help Barrow through the transition period before retiring to his home village to begin a new life as a farmer.

It was a stunning turn of events in a country where critics have long alleged votes are rigged. Just five years ago, Jammeh said he could stay in power for a billion years.

According to the electoral commission’s tally, Barrow received 45 percent of Thursday’s vote compared to Jammeh’s 36 percent.

Many Gambians stayed up all night Thursday listening to the radio and tallying results as they were read out constituency by constituency.

Once the results were announced on Friday, some tore down posters of Jammeh as the military stood by. Men in pickup trucks rode through the streets of Banjul screaming « Freedom! Freedom! Freedom! »

For the tens of thousands watching abroad from political exile, it was a day they thought might never come.

Speaking by phone from Washington, Gambian activist Pasamba Jow said the election was a « great victory » for the country and the entire African continent, though he anticipated a « difficult task of rebuilding our country and healing our nation. »

Ned Price, a spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council, in a statement Friday congratulated Barrow and welcomed Jammeh’s concession, saying the country’s first democratic transfer of power is a « moment of great opportunity. »

« The United States looks forward to being a strong partner in efforts to unify the country, » he said.

Eight opposition parties united behind Barrow, a former businessman, and the campaign period featured large opposition rallies.

Nevertheless, Jammeh had projected confidence, saying his victory was all but assured by God and predicting « the biggest landslide in the history of the country » after he voted.

« We are happy to be free, » said Omar Amadou Jallow, an opposition leader for the People’s Progressive Party, which joined the coalition that backed Barrow. « We are able to free the Gambian people from the clutches of dictatorship, and we are now going to make sure Gambia becomes a bastion of peace and coalition. Our foundation will be based on national reconciliation. »

Jammeh came to power in a coup in 1994 and then swept elections in 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011 after a 2002 constitutional amendment removed presidential term limits. Critics say those earlier elections were not free and fair.

All internet and international phone service was cut on election day in what Jammeh’s government said was a bid to thwart unrest.

Jammeh’s ouster demonstrates that even Africa’s most entrenched leaders can be brought down if opposition politicians overcome their divisions, said Jeffrey Smith, a human rights activist and founding director of Vanguard Africa, a U.S.-based group that worked with Gambia’s opposition coalition.

« This is going to have resonance way beyond the tiny borders of Gambia, » Smith said, describing the result as « a momentous occasion for the region writ large. »

(World news sumary compiled by Maghreb news staff)