Month: September 2017

Qatar and Saudi Leaders Explore Possible Talks

Posted on by SeeEA

Saudi Arabia says it has suspended any dialogue with Qatar, accusing it of “distorting facts,” just after reports that Saudi and Qatari leaders had spoken by phone and agreed to talks.

Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Press Agency said late Friday that a Qatari report about a phone call between Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “did not have any relevance to the truth.”

Qatari sources reported the two men agreed by telephone to appoint envoys for possible talks to work out the differences between Qatar and its neighbors.

​Five-nation talks

According to the Saudi news agency, Qatar initiated the phone call and asked for dialogue with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. All of those governments cut off diplomatic ties with Qatar in June, alleging Qatar supports extremists and has ties to Iran.

After Friday’s phone call and the disputed report, Saudi news said, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia declares that any dialogue or communication with the authority in Qatar shall be suspended until a clear statement explaining its position is made in public and that its public statements are in conformity with its obligations.”

Also Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump made telephone calls to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates a day after saying he is willing to help ease the dispute between Qatar and its neighbors.

At a joint news conference with Kuwait’s Emir Sabah al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah, the president said he would be willing to mediate talks.

“I would be willing to do so, and I think you’d have a deal worked out very quickly,” Trump said. “I think it’s something that’s going to get solved fairly easily.”

Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates cut all ties with Qatar after accusing it of having ties with Shiite Iran and fundamentalist Islamist groups.

Qatar’s leaders have denied the charges.

The Arab nations have made several demands of Qatar, and Kuwait has been trying to mediate the dispute.

Sheikh Sabah said he had received a letter from Qatar that expressed willingness to discuss a list of 13 demands from its neighbors. He expressed hope that “a great part of them will be resolved.”

Saudi Arabia and Qatar are both important allies of the U.S. in the restive region. Qatar is home to the region’s biggest U.S. military base.
…

your ad here

Blast in Kyiv Kills Georgian Man

Posted on by SeeEU

A Georgian citizen was reported to have died Friday in a car explosion in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said an explosive device went off inside a black Toyota Camry during rush-hour traffic.

Interior Ministry spokesman Artem Shevchenko said the victim was identified as Timur Makhauri. Shevchenko said Makhauri’s wife was seriously injured in the blast and was hospitalized.

Shevchenko told reporters a child was in the car with the couple. He said the child’s life was not in danger.

Police were investigating. Interfax Ukraine reported that a murder case had been opened.

Interfax quoted Shevchenko as saying Makhauri was “known quite well in the criminal world” and “had firm connections with various Chechen circles.” He said Makhauri had been targeted for the attack.
…

your ad here

Hugh Jackman, Lupita Nyong’o to Co-host New York’s Global Citizen Fest

Posted on by SeeUS

Hugh Jackman, Lupita Nyong’o, Aaron Paul and Demi Lovato will co-host this year’s Global Citizen Festival, an annual free event held in New York’s Central Park.

Performers at the Sept. 23 event include Stevie Wonder, Green Day, The Killers, The Lumineers, The Chainsmokers, Pharrell Williams, Big Sean, Andra Day and Alessia Cara.

The organization announced Friday that Frieda Pinto, Connie Britton, Deborra-lee Furness, Joan Smalls, Kal Penn, Malin Akerman, Mark Cuban and others will also co-host the multi-hour event. It will air live on MSNBC and Comcast NBCUniversal.

Fans can earn their free tickets for admission by joining the movement at globalcitizenfestival.com.

Last year, Jackman co-hosted the event with Neil Patrick Harris, Chelsea Handler and others. Performers at the 2016 concert included Rihanna, Eddie Vedder, Kendrick Lamar and Metallica.
…

your ad here

Hurricane Irma Threatens Millions of Homes, Worries Insurers

Posted on by SeeUS

Real estate experts say Hurricane Irma’s winds threaten 8.5 million homes and businesses in Florida.

A report from data analysis firm CoreLogic says storm surges — floodwaters driven by high winds and low pressure — may also endanger 3.5 million commercial and residential properties.

Standard & Poor’s analysts say they are still adding up the costs of Hurricane Harvey, but Irma seems likely to cost even more. Researchers at Barclays Bank say hurricane claims costs might rise high enough to wipe out a year of earnings for certain insurance companies.

Deadly Hurricane Irma is also hurting transportation companies, including airlines, which have canceled 4,600 flights to and from airports in the Caribbean and Florida, according to FlightAware.com. Bad weather is forcing Miami’s airport to stop operating Friday and Orlando’s facility to end flights on Saturday. Together, these major airports handle about 2,000 flights on normal days.

Florida accounts for about 5 percent of the U.S. GDP and 6 percent of U.S. jobs. PNC Bank chief economist Gus Faucher says U.S. economic growth may briefly slow in the third quarter because of Harvey and Irma, but he thinks it will bounce back late this year and early next year. Faucher says insurance and government aid will fund rebuilding efforts in the wake of the storms, and that will add to economic activity and hiring.

Commonwealth Financial Network’s Brad McMillan says previous major storms like Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy caused huge local problems but did not change the national economy in a “fundamental” way. He says the recovery in this case may take “longer than usual.”
…

your ad here

With Hurricane Looming, US Immigration Officials Cancel Planned Raids

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. immigration officials say the government is canceling nationwide immigration enforcement actions in the face of one devastating hurricane in Texas and a storm expected to pummel Florida over the weekend.

NBC reported Thursday night about planned enforcement actions across the United States targeting 8,400 undocumented immigrants in a series of September raids described as “the largest operation of its kind in the history of [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement].”

After the report was published, however, ICE said that with the approach of Hurricane Irma and the widespread flooding from Hurricane Harvey in Texas in recent weeks, it “reviewed all upcoming operations and has adjusted accordingly.”

“There is currently no coordinated nationwide operation planned at this time. The priority in the affected areas should remain focused on lifesaving and life-sustaining activities,” according to the statement.

NBC originally reported that “Operation Mega” was to begin September 17 and last for five days.

Since January, the Trump administration has changed the country’s immigration and deportation priorities. While immigration agents still say they prioritize the removal of undocumented immigrants with criminal records, such as those with felony arrests, over those with no criminal records, they now sweep up all undocumented immigrants they encounter during enforcement actions.

This change from the era of President Barack Obama makes all undocumented immigrants susceptible to detention and deportation.

Earlier this week, federal officials announced the end of another Obama-era protection, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which temporarily shielded from deportation nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and allowed them to work legally.

President Donald Trump said DACA recipients would not be a priority for deportation, but the administration stopped short of making that point part of a policy.
…

your ad here

South Africa to Extend Residency Permits for Some Zimbabwean Migrants

Posted on by SeeAF

South Africa has extended the residency permits for nearly 200,000 Zimbabwean economic migrants by four years. Their current permits were set to expire December 31, which had raised fears of mass deportations.

Home Affairs Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize said the government is extending the permits due to worsening economic conditions in Zimbabwe. She stressed that these are one-time extensions, not a path to permanent residency.

“I trust that [this] will go a long way in assisting the Zimbabweans to rebuild their lives as they prepare at work, in business and in educational institutions for their final return to their sovereign state Zimbabwe in the near future,” she said.

As many as 1.5 million Zimbabweans have migrated to South Africa in recent years, seeking to escape Zimbabwe’s chronically struggling economy.

The extended residency permits are available only to the nearly 200,000 Zimbabweans who were granted amnesty in 2010. Those who are eligible must show proof they have a job.

Still, many Zimbabwean migrants are breathing a sigh of relief. Economic conditions back home have left many of their families dependent on the remittances they send.

“We had hoped, though, that the minister was [also] going to include those undocumented Zimbabweans that are working in South Africa,” said Ngqabutho Mabhena, chairman of the Zimbabwe Community in South Africa organization. “But at the same time, we welcome this statement. We are calling on all holders of Zimbabwe special permit, to apply within the time set by the minister.”

Relations between Zimbabwe and South Africa have dipped in recent weeks due to unrelated issues. Pretoria’s decision to grant Zimbabwe’s first lady diplomatic immunity after her alleged assault of a woman while in Johannesburg is being challenged in a South African court.

And this week, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe publicly attacked the late Nelson Mandela for presiding over a reconciliation process that Mugabe criticized as leaving whites still dominating the economy. Mugabe’s statements have drawn anger from South Africa’s ruling ANC party.
…

your ad here

Somali Restaurant Bombed for Third Time in 3 Years

Posted on by SeeAF

At least four civilians were killed and three others were injured when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest early Friday evening inside a small restaurant in the Somali town of Baidoa.

Witnesses told VOA Somali that a man wearing a vest arrived on a bicycle and entered Barwaqo restaurant, then detonated his vest. All four victims died at the scene, while three other people were taken to the hospital.

Mukhtar Mohamed Atosh, a reporter for VOA in Baidoa, said there were several other people who were wounded but able to walk away from the restaurant.

Among the dead is a local humanitarian worker, according to a relative who did not want to be named.

This is the third time explosions have targeted the same restaurant in the last three years. The first attack was Dec. 5, 2014, when a suicide bomber detonated a bomb, killing seven people including two local journalists.

The second attack occurred Feb. 29, 2016, when twin bombings — a car bomb and a bomb planted at the scene — went off simultaneously, killing 30 people.

Military strike

On Thursday, the U.S. military says it conducted a “precision strike” that killed an al-Shabab militant near the town of Barawe.

Somali officials say there were two people in the car that was hit in the strike late Thursday. The statement from AFRICOM says one “terrorist” was killed.

The mayor of Barawe, Aden Omar Madobe, told VOA Somali it’s not clear who was targeted.

This is the third U.S. airstrike in seven days targeting al-Shabab militants.

On September 1, a U.S. strike killed Abdirahman Hudeyfi, former al-Shabab governor of the Jubba regions, while he was en route to a market to buy a sheep to slaughter for Eid al-Adha celebrations, according to Somali officials.

On September 5, the U.S. conducted another strike near the village of Dodale in the Bay region, on an unspecified target.

Soccer match

Despite the violence, Mogadishu celebrated its first nighttime soccer match in more than 30 years late Friday.

The packed stadium was hosting youth teams from Waberi and Hodan, two areas of the capital where al-Shabab explosions often occur.

Musicians entertained the crowd before the kickoff. Somali soccer officials hailed the milestone as a sign of Somalia’s determination to move ahead, despite al-Shabab attacks.
…

your ad here

US Justice Department Set to Appeal Travel Ban Ruling to Supreme Court

Posted on by SeeUS

The U.S. Justice Department is expected to appeal the latest travel ban court ruling to the Supreme Court.

According to a Justice Department official, the agency plans to ask the high court to weigh in on an appeals court ruling that says grandparents and cousins are close enough relatives to constitute an exemption from the Trump administration’s travel order. The court also said that refugees accepted by a resettlement agency should be allowed to travel to the United States.

“The Supreme Court has stepped in to correct these lower courts before, and we will now return to the Supreme Court to vindicate the executive branch’s duty to protect the nation,” a Justice Department spokesperson told reporters.

The statement comes after Thursday’s ruling by a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

President Donald Trump’s travel order restricts travelers from six Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

‘Bona fide’ relationships

The Supreme Court said in a June provisional decision that travel restrictions could not be applied to people who have a “bona fide” relationship to the U.S. The high court, however, did not clarify that definition, which was then left open for interpretation.

Although the high court will hear the full case in October, the federal government has interpreted “bona fide” narrowly to mean parents, spouses and siblings, excluding other relatives including grandparents.

The list was then expanded by a judge in Honolulu, Hawaii.

“Common sense, for instance, dictates that close family members be defined to include grandparents,” U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson wrote. “Indeed, grandparents are the epitome of close family members. The government’s definition excludes them. That simply cannot be.”

Watson’s ruling was subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court, which allowed relatives including grandparents to continue coming to the U.S., pending a ruling from the Ninth Circuit. Refugees whose sole connection to the U.S. was through a re-settlement agency were barred until the appeals court ruled.

Refugees

VOA reported in early September that refugee admissions have dropped dramatically since the travel order took effect June 26.

In July, 1,224 refugees were admitted. In August, 910 refugees arrived in the U.S., compared to an average of 6,955 in that month over the previous 10 years.

The travel order restricts refugee admissions to 55,000. Before he left office, President Barack Obama had raised the limit to 110,000.

In the next few weeks, President Trump will determine the refugee level for fiscal year 2018, which begins October 1. His decision will help government agencies and nonprofits plan ahead to help resettle refugees.

Meanwhile, a State Department official told VOA that two cost studies the president called for in March, under his Presidential Memorandum relating to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, or USRAP, are nearing completion.

“As the president requested, the reports will look at the estimated long-term costs of the USRAP at the federal, state, and local levels along with recommendations about how to curtail those costs, as well as how many refugees are being supported in countries of first asylum and those associated costs,” the official said.

The federal official said the State Department is working with the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services on these reports.

“We are not able to characterize the reports before they are finished,” the official said.
…

your ad here

US House Approves Hurricane Relief and Debt Ceiling Bill

Posted on by SeeUS

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a debt ceiling bill Friday that includes more than $15 billion in hurricane relief aid.

The measure, passed Thursday by the Senate, now goes to the White House for U.S. President Donald Trump to sign into law.

House members voted 316 to 90 in favor of the bill, which raises the debt ceiling, funds the government until mid-December and provides a relief package for victims of Hurricane Harvey, which hit Texas. All of the opposition votes were cast by Republicans.

The legislation was the result of a deal that was made earlier this week among Trump, Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Some conservative Republican lawmakers strongly objected to the agreement, preferring instead a stand-alone hurricane relief measure that was not linked to efforts to raise the federal borrowing limit and keep the federal government operating until December 8.

Once Trump signs the bill as expected, $15.25 billion in federal aid would be available just as Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful hurricanes in recorded history, was expected to hit the southeastern state of Florida.

Irma comes on the heels of Hurricane Harvey, which devastated the southern state of Texas and other parts of the Gulf Coast region last week.
…

your ad here

Army Chief Killing Raises Concerns About Instability in Lesotho

Posted on by SeeAF

The assassination this week of Lesotho’s army chief has raised fears domestically and abroad about instability in the tiny southern African kingdom, and put into focus the relationship between political leaders and the military.

Lieutenant General Khoantle Motsomotso was killed after armed individuals burst into his office at a military barracks and shot him. The assailants — officers who were the lead suspects in the 2015 killing of the previous chief — were killed in a subsequent shootout.

The Southern African Development Community was quick to condemn the incident as an “indescribable and inexcusable barbaric and heinous act,” and sent in a team to investigate.

Finance Minister Moeketsi Majoro told VOA that he and other ministers visited the crime scene. Majoro says he’s not sure the incident was an attempted coup, but rather an effort by the officers to punish the general for refusing to shield them from an investigation into the 2015 killing of his predecessor.

Majoro disputed reports that the SADC had deployed peacekeepers to Lesotho, saying he was only aware of an investigative team.

“We are not thinking that there was an intention to have a coup, particularly on Tuesday,” he told VOA. “We are not ruling out that some members of the LDF [Lesotho Defense Force] have met with others to conspire about such ideas as coups, but I don’t necessarily think that on Tuesday that was the execution of such conspiracies.

“This is subject to confirmation by intelligence in the future. But for now, I think, Lesotho is calm.”

Slow process of reform

The incident also highlights a central promise made by Lesotho’s new government, which was elected in June: to immediately reform the security services.

The military has long been tightly entwined with Lesotho’s political woes and, in 1986, the army led a coup to push out a long-serving government. In this century, Lesotho’s military has been involved in a number of political actions, including the putsch that pushed then-prime minister Tom Thabane into exile in 2014 after just two years in power. Thabane became opposition leader and was re-elected into government in June.

Majoro agrees that security sector reforms are an urgent priority for the new government, but says they were never going to be quick.

“The difficulties with the army cannot be fixed, and could not have been fixed, all at once,” he said. “You should appreciate that, within the Lesotho Defense Force, there was a cabal of soldiers we considered quite dangerous, soldiers that have committed crimes that would not have just easily rolled off and allowed themselves to face criminal prosecution. So there was always a need for caution. This process was always going to take a bit of time.”

Clash foretold?

Others disagree. The vice chancellor of the National University of Lesotho, Professor Nqosa Mahao, says regional mediators and the government should have seen such a clash coming and acted sooner.

“They should have done that a long time ago,” he said of the mediators’ recent efforts to help the government implement reforms. “SADC has been very tardy in terms of handling this over the past one-and-a-half years. Government itself does not appear to me to have been conscious enough that they could sooner or later be dealing with a rebellion led by a small group of officers in the army.”

Mahao is the brother of Lieutenant-General Maaparankoe Mahao — the defense forces head who was killed in 2015, allegedly by the same men who killed Motsomotso. In these troubling times, Nqosa Mahao says, his family feels a surprising emotion.

“We feel saddened by their deaths,” he told VOA. “Because our healing was going to come from a court process where they would be able to answer why they did what they did onto my brother, but also, did it in the brutal fashion that they did.”
…

your ad here

UN: Destruction, Human Suffering Acute in DRC’s Kasai Region

Posted on by SeeAF

A recent United Nations mission to the Kasai region in the Democratic Republic of Congo reports more than a year of fighting between the government and local armed groups has caused widespread destruction and enormous human suffering.

Improved humanitarian access to conflict-ridden Kasai has made it possible for U.N. refugee staff to go to the territory of Kamonia at the DRC’s border with Angola to assess the situation.

This was the first time UNHCR could go to this area since the killing of a tribal chief by government soldiers triggered fighting between them and a local militia in August 2016.  

UNHCR spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly says the agency’s staff saw entire villages burned down, civilians in dire condition and rampant lawlessness.

“Local armed groups have systematically destroyed or pillaged health posts, schools and public buildings. Hundreds of children have been separated from their parents or have witnessed their murders. Elderly, disabled or sick people also are at serious risk.”

The UNHCR estimates the conflict has displaced about 1.4 million people. Another 33,000 refugees have fled to neighboring Angola. Pouilly tells VOA the number of refugees arriving in Angola has declined drastically since July.

 “We have no full account of what is happening. But, according to those we have been able to talk to and who have newly arrived, we understand that the main roads to the border are largely blocked, and so people who want to flee are forced to use unofficial border entry points.”  

Despite the critical situation, Pouilly says some Congolese refugees have spontaneously returned to Kasai, without explanation. She says many have found their homes destroyed and are forced to live as displaced people.
…

your ad here

Turkey Lets 7 German Lawmakers Visit Konya NATO Air Base

Posted on by SeeEU

Amid rising German-Turkish diplomatic tensions, Ankara has allowed seven German lawmakers to visit German servicemen deployed at Turkey’s Konya NATO air base. For several months, Ankara had banned such visits, saying the climate in bilateral relations was inappropriate.

“The way the Turkish side is billing it is that it’s a multilateral visit, it’s not bilateral,” said political columnist Semih Idiz of the al-Monitor website. “They say this visit comes from NATO, therefore Turkey has to oblige, being a NATO member.”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg reportedly had been lobbying intensively to allow the German lawmakers’ visit. The ban on German lawmakers already had resulted in Berlin relocating its reconnaissance planes that had been engaged in anti-Islamic State operations from Turkey’s Incirlik air base.

“The visit by German lawmakers is significant. It eliminates one major factor, political factor, of irritation in the relationship,” according to Sinan Ulgen, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Institute in Brussels. “However, there are still a number of outstanding important problems. So this will help, but it’s not a solution in and of itself in the difficulties we are witnessing.”

Coincidentally or not, Friday also saw the release of the second Turkish German national, detained last Friday. The two detentions had marked a new low in German-Turkish relations, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel calling them political. Berlin claims 12 German citizens, including journalists and human rights workers, are being held for political reasons since last year’s introduction of emergency rule in Turkey following a failed military coup. Ankara has strongly defended the detentions, claiming its judiciary is independent.

‘Effort’ by Turkey

German-Turkish relations have been plummeting in the last few months. Berlin has become increasingly vocal in its concerns over the ongoing crackdown since last year’s failed coup, and Merkel on Sunday said she was opposed to Turkey becoming a member of the EU. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday shot back, accusing Berlin of following policies of the Nazis.

But analysts suggest Ankara could be trying to contain the crisis.

“There is an effort, at least part of the Turkish administration, to prevent a further degradation of the relationship,” analyst Ulgen said. “There are many people in Ankara within the government which are concerned about the state of the affairs. But I think these efforts so far at least have proved to be piecemeal in nature.”

‘Increasing isolation’

Turkey’s increasingly precarious diplomatic situation is being cited as a key factor behind efforts to contain current German-Turkish tensions. Ankara is facing strained relations, not only with Berlin, but the wider European Union and Washington.

On Friday, Erdogan slammed the indictment by a U.S. prosecutor of a former Turkish minister and former head of a Turkish state bank on Iranian sanction-busting charges, claiming they were with “malicious intent.” Last month, U.S. prosecutors indicted 15 of Erdogan’s security detail for allegedly attacking protesters during a visit to Washington.

“Increasing isolation has started costing Turkey a lot, not only in Europe but also the Middle East, where Turkey is being basically sidelined on issues of crucial importance to it, whether it’s in Iraq or Syria,” said columnist Idiz. “So as far as the [Turkish] policy planners are concerned, it’s a matter of concern. But as far as the president is concerned, it seems he is more concerned, sending the right message to his constituents, a message that goes down well with his constituent.”

Erdogan faces a re-election bid within two years and already is campaigning hard on a nationalist platform, with a message that a strong independent Turkey can stand up to western powers.

Some analysts suggest that given the turmoil on Turkey’s southern borders and the need to maintain economic stability, Erdogan will need to balance nationalist campaign rhetoric and populist policies with diplomatic pragmatism.
…

your ad here

Britain Announces More Support for Lebanese Army

Posted on by SeeEU

Britain announced Thursday it is stepping up support of the Lebanese army, providing funds for defensive barriers to be used along Lebanon’s border with Syria.

The move is being seen as a vote of confidence by London in the Lebanese army and encouragement of the ambition of its commanders to emerge as the dominant military force on the frontier with Syria — a goal that would complicate Iran’s forging of a so-called ‘land bridge’ through Iraq and Syria and of assisting its allies in Lebanon, Hezbollah.

Britain’s foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, said Thursday, “Our ambition is for Lebanon to have complete authority over its border with Syria.”

The stepping up of aid to the Lebanese army (LAF) — Britain had already agreed to help fund over several years construction of 30 border watch towers and 20 forward operating bases — comes just days after LAF and Hezbollah, the country’s radical Shi’ite movement succeeded in clearing Islamic State fighters from a mountainous pocket of the Syria-Lebanon border.

The clearance operations were simultaneous but LAF insists there was no coordination between its assault inside Lebanon and Hezbollah’s from the Syrian side, a claim dismissed this week by Israeli officials. Any evidence of liaison with Hezbollah, designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization, would undermine LAF’s standing in Washington and Western capitals and jeopardize Western military aid for the Lebanese military.

In the end Hezbollah negotiated safe passage for some 300 jihadists and their families to eastern Syria, close to the Iraqi border.

The Hezbollah safe-passage deal infuriated the U.S. and Iraq, whose governments condemned the agreement, which appears to have been engineered to spoil claims of battlefield success by LAF. For years LAF has had to defer to the Shi’ite movement, in a complex dance of a relationship aimed at avoiding clashes between the two and upsetting Lebanon’s delicate and highly charged sectarian politics.

Even so, some analysts say LAF should be seen as the bigger winner of the clearance operations rather than Hezbollah, as it drew the country’s military out from the shadows and allowed it to assert itself, undercutting Hezbollah’s claims that it is indispensable when it comes to Lebanon’s defense.

Aram Nerguizian, a military analyst who specializes in Lebanon, noted in an interview with local media, that for the first time since Lebanon’s independence LAF is now deployed almost fully along the border with Syria. “Over the last five years, areas that have been no-go zones for the Lebanese army – because they were spheres of Syrian government and/or Hezbollah preeminence – have gradually become LAF zones of control,” he said.

In a paper for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based policy research group, Nerguizian noted that “successive generations of LAF leadership have grown ever more confident and emboldened by the idea that the LAF can be Lebanon’s preeminent national security actor. Still, the LAF has struggled time and again with what it sees as the false perceptions of LAF-Hezbollah collusion.”

Last week, Israel’s envoy to the UN, Dany Danon, accused Hezbollah of planning for its next military campaign against Israel, arguing that Shi’ite commanders are “using officers in the Lebanese Army as terror operatives who help it against the IDF [Israel Defense Force] along the border,” with Israel. He claimed Hezbollah was building up its arsenals in southern Lebanon readying for a future attack and accused the UN peace-keeping force of failing to interdict the movement of arms.

Since Lebanese General Joseph Aoun, a veteran field commander and counter-terrorism expert who trained in the U.S., was made army commander in March, LAF has become more assertive. Aoun has irritated Hezbollah with some of his picks for staff positions, although Nerguizian notes in his research paper that the army is “not in a position where it can be openly antagonistic towards Hezbollah,” which remains “the preeminent faction in Lebanon’s sectarian political landscape.”

Western powers, though, are clear in their determination to help boost LAF. Britain’s ambassador to Lebanon offered congratulations to Aoun during a Thursday visit to LAF headquarters on the clearance operation known as “the dawn of mountains,” of IS fighters in the mountain regions of Al-Qaa and Aarsal, on Lebanon’s north-eastern border with Syria.

The ambassador, Hugo Shorter, said the assault was “complex, risky and dangerous,” adding, “The Lebanese Army has shown that it is an effective, professional army capable of defending Lebanon from the threats of an uncertain region. We believe in the Lebanese Army as the sole legitimate defender of Lebanon and the only one which represents all Lebanese acting within the law and with the consent of the Lebanese state and its people.”
…

your ad here

Hungary’s Orban to Fight EU Ruling on Asylum Seekers

Posted on by SeeEU

Hungary’s prime minister says that a ruling by the European Union’s top court upholding the relocation of asylum-seekers opens the way to a “mixed culture and population” on the continent. 

Prime Minister Viktor Orban says Hungary, which is refusing to take part in the EU scheme to temporarily relocate refugees from Greece and Italy, is not an “immigrant country” nor does it want to be one.

 

Orban has kept immigration on top of his political agenda since 2015. He said Friday on state radio that he “took note” of the European Court of Justice ruling which rejected legal arguments by Hungary and Slovakia against the EU decision creating the relocation scheme. 

 

He says “now instead of a legal fight, we have to fight a political fight” to change the decision.
…

your ad here

Veteran Texas Democrat to Head Harvey Rebuilding Effort

Posted on by SeeUS

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday tapped a veteran Democrat to lead the state’s recovery effort after Harvey, which is shaping up to be among the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.

John Sharp is chancellor of Texas A&M University and doesn’t plan to leave that job while heading the new Governor’s Commission to Rebuild Texas. Sharp is tasked with overseeing state and local spending — especially on efforts to restore damaged roads, bridges and government buildings — while helping oversee the flow of federal funds to Texas communities who most urgently need it.

The new position will focus on infrastructure rather than rebuilding private homes, which will fall to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to an operation plan provided by Abbott’s office.

“I want you to advocate for our communities, and make sure things get done without delay,” Abbott told Sharp.

Harvey slammed into the Gulf Coast as a Category 4 hurricane before dumping more than 50 inches (127 centimeters) of rain on parts of Texas, more than had ever been recorded previously in the continental United States. The storm triggered widespread flooding in Houston and elsewhere and has been blamed for at least 71 deaths, while damaging more than 200,000 homes.

During a news conference at the Texas Capitol, Abbott said Sharp should “rebuild Texas ahead of schedule, under budget.” Sharp responded, “Texans are a tough breed.”

 The U.S. House has approved nearly $8 billion in initial Harvey aid and the Senate passed a $15.3 billion package — even as another monster storm, Hurricane Irma, is menacing Florida. Abbott has suggested that Harvey’s damages could cost up to $180 billion — outpacing even those from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Marc Ferzan, who led recovery and rebuilding in New Jersey following Superstorm Sandy in 2012, said reconciling the timing of available funding and the scope of what’s needed to rebuild can cause uncertainty, leading to “a tremendous amount of frustration” for the storm czar.

“It’s not like Congress approves that money and it comes right to the jurisdiction,” Ferzan said. “It goes to the federal agencies and then there’s typically an application process, which is different at every federal agency, to go after the funds and say, `Hey, can we use it for this project?”‘

Helping to perform that balancing act will be Sharp, a former state representative and senator who also served as Texas comptroller. He is a longtime friend and former roommate of Abbott’s predecessor, Rick Perry, and Sharp was narrowly defeated when he ran against Perry for lieutenant governor in 1998. Perry then moved into the governor’s mansion when George W. Bush left Texas for the White House in December 2000.

In 2006, Perry named Sharp to head a commission that revamped taxes in Texas and helped create a tax on businesses that many top Republicans in the Legislature now despise.

Abbott and Sharp plan to travel to areas impacted by the storm and receive briefings. They were visiting the Gulf Coast communities of Corpus Christi and Richmond on Thursday, and were headed to Houston and Victoria on Friday. 

Sharp said the goal is to rebuild in a way that can withstand future natural disasters. Exactly how to do that remains to be seen.

Ferzan said it was difficult to explore a regional approach to rebuilding after Sandy because federal funding “tends to be very project-specific,” discouraging wide-ranging planning in favor of “Well, this building’s broken, so here’s money to fix this building.”

“You can’t just build a berm and say, `OK, well Houston’s never going to flood again,”‘ Ferzan said. “You have to have a layered approach to these things.”
…

your ad here

5 Ex-US Presidents Team Up to Raise Money for Hurricane Victims 

Posted on by SeeUS

They may differ on policy, but agree on one thing — hurricane victims need help.

The five living former U.S. presidents — Democrats Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and Republicans George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush — have launched what they call the “One America Appeal.”

It is a joint effort to reach out to their “fellow citizens and friends around the world” to raise funds for those whose lives have been turned upside down by Hurricane Harvey. The storm slammed into southeastern Texas last month.

All five appeared in a public service announcement called Our Friends in Texas to be broadcast during Thursday night’s National Football League telecast.

Other announcements will be broadcast all weekend as Hurricane Irma takes aim at Florida.

The five presidents say they are ready to expand their appeal to help Irma’s victims as well.

A website has been set up by the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation where people can securely donate. Every penny donated will go directly to storm victims.

The web address is: OneAmericaAppeal.org
…

your ad here

Irma Looms as Mythical ‘Big One’ Florida Has Long Feared

Posted on by SeeUS

They call it the Big One — a mythic, massive hurricane that would obliterate the densely populated southeast coast. And it has long been the stuff of Florida’s nightmares.

Irma, it appears, could be it. The storm has triggered near-panic in a region of more than 6 million people that includes Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, clustered along a narrow ribbon of coastline that has seen nearly double-digit population growth over the past five years.

Isabella Janse Van Vuuren just arrived — she left her home in South Africa two weeks ago to start a job as a stewardess on a yacht, which she and other crew members spent time securing. As Irma approached, she was trying to decide whether to stay or go.

“I’m terrified,” she said. “I’m not used to this. I just want to go into a cave and hide, basically. This is not a nice feeling.”

But for veterans of life in the Sunshine State, hurricanes are as Floridian as oranges and Mickey Mouse. And every hurricane season brings with it the chance of cataclysm.

In 1928, a hurricane caused Lake Okeechobee to burst its banks, unleashing a 20-foot (6-meter) wall of water that killed an estimated 2,500 people. The event was a key part of Zora Neale Hurston’s classic 1937 novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God.

“All gods who receive homage are cruel,” she wrote. “All gods dispense suffering without reason. Otherwise they would not be worshipped. Through indiscriminate suffering men know fear and fear is the most divine emotion.”

Another famed storm, the killer 1935 Labor Day hurricane that swept across the Florida Keys, is central to the plot of the 1948 movie Key Largo, which starred Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

Irma could be the strongest hurricane to hit southern Florida since Andrew in August 1992, which caused widespread damage south of Miami. It killed 15 people and indirectly caused the deaths of 25 more in Miami-Dade County alone, according to the National Hurricane Center.

“It was very scary. We just had no idea how bad it was going to be,” said Rosi Ramirez, who went through Andrew as a child in Homestead.

She’s leaving Florida for South Carolina with her three children. “I don’t want my kids to go through that traumatic experience. I hadn’t thought about Andrew in a while. But now I am seeing some flashes of what we went through. It is all coming back.”

Floridians have not been directly hit by a major hurricane since Wilma in 2005, but if they needed any reminder of what might await them, they saw the catastrophic flooding and damage caused by Hurricane Harvey in Houston. Jenna Wulf, a native Floridian who is six months pregnant, said seeing the damage caused by Harvey made her family more cautious; she stocked up on water Saturday and the hurricane shutters are going up on her home in suburban Plantation.

“I think it’s such devastation that you’d be silly not to go through the motions,” she said. “I’m nervous because I’m pregnant and because I have a baby already. I’m trying not to watch [the news] because I think it’s causing more panic.”

‘Great Miami Hurricane’

Andrew is often considered the worst storm in South Florida’s history. But in terms of fatalities, it didn’t come close to the “Great Miami Hurricane” of September 1926, which killed 372 people when it came ashore directly over the city, carrying with it a 10-foot (3-meter) storm surge. Many died after apparently thinking the worst was over when the storm’s relatively calm eye passed over Miami, only to be caught without shelter in the second part of the hurricane, according to a National Weather Service history.

“Residents of the city, unfamiliar with hurricanes, thought the storm was over and emerged from their places of refuge out into the city streets. People even began returning to the mainland from Miami Beach. The lull lasted only about 35 minutes,” the history says.

“The intensity of the storm and the wreckage it left cannot adequately be described,” it says.

The hurricane brought a halt, at least temporarily, to a growth boom which saw Miami’s population more than double to more than 100,000 in just six years. Today’s population of Miami-Dade County is about 2.7 million.

Craig Pittman, an environmental reporter at the Tampa Bay Times and the author of the bestselling book, Oh, Florida, said the mythic Big One is just that — a myth. Hurricanes are just a fact of life in a state that is hit by the big storms more often than any other state. And even if the Big One were to strike, he doubts that it would deter people from living in — or visiting — what many consider paradise.

“We’re the state that’s constantly trying to kill us,” he said. “We’re the state with sinkholes, shark bites, alligators and lightning. And we get hit by hurricanes. Yet people keep flooding here day after day.”

People like Austin Spitler, a former Miami Dolphins player who moved from Ohio nine years ago. He said he never considered a potential storm as a reason to leave.

“It never crossed my mind, to be honest with you,” Spitler said. “It was the lure of the sun and the sand. The beautiful weather far outweighs any of the hurricanes that come through.”

But he added: “I hope I’m not eating my words.”
…

your ad here

GAO Report: A Third of US Pacific Fleet Not Ready for Operations

Posted on by SeeUS

A U.S. government watchdog said Thursday that more than a third of U.S. Navy ships based out of Japan had expired warfare training certifications, as lawmakers raised concerns about readiness after a series of collisions involving the Navy this year.

The U.S. Navy recently removed Seventh Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin after a predawn collision between a guided-missile destroyer and a merchant vessel east of Singapore and Malaysia in August, the fourth major incident in the U.S. Pacific Fleet this year.

In the latest incident, 10 sailors were killed after the USS John S. McCain collided with a merchant vessel, triggering a fleet-wide probe of operations and training.

In June, the USS Fitzgerald collided with a Philippine container ship, killing seven U.S. sailors.

Increasing lack of readiness

Speaking before a House of Representatives Armed Services Committee hearing, John Pendleton, from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), said a report had found that 37 percent of U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers based out of Japan had expired warfare certifications as of June 2017. That was a five-fold increase from the number in May 2015.

The certification is a measurement of whether a ship and its crew are well-trained and ready for operations.

Fewer sailors, more risk

The GAO report also found that a reduction in crew sizes was contributing to safety risks, with some sailors working more than 100 hours a week, and there was limited training because of an increased demand for operations.

“The Navy has made plans to revise operational schedules to provide dedicated training time for overseas-based ships, but this schedule has not yet been implemented,” the report said.

Admiral Bill Moran, deputy chief of naval operations, said that advanced technology was meaningless unless sailors are well-trained.

“All of the marvelous technology, the magnificent hardware that we put together in these ships, and the power of our weapons systems are meaningless without well-trained, skilled, patriotic and experienced sailors who are well lead,” Moran said at the hearing.

Lawmakers expressed concern about the Navy’s readiness.

“These negative training trends clearly contributed to the lack of seamanship evident onboard the USS John McCain and the USS Fitzgerald,” Congressman Rob Wittman said.
…

your ad here

US Monitors Russia-backed Syrian Army’s Advances in Deir Ez-Zor

Posted on by SeeEA

As the Syrian government forces, backed by allied militias and Russian airstrikes, continue to advance against the Islamic State group in Deir ez-Zor, Syria, the U.S.-led coalition says it is monitoring the army to ensure it does not cross a deconfliction zone established across the city.

“We do monitor and watch where they are and where they are going at the same time as they move closer to the middle of the Euphrates Valley,” Colonel Ryan Dillon, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition against IS, told VOA on Thursday.

Dillon added that the coalition warplanes were continuing to strike IS positions in Deir ez-Zor as the U.S-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) partnered with local tribal militias in preparation for an attack from the northeast of the deconfliction line.

He did not disclose a timeline for the assault.

The deconfliction zone in Deir ez-Zor was established between the U.S. and Russia in late 2015 to separate their areas of operation in Syria and prevent inadvertent clashes between the two sides.

The vast line starts from the town of Tabqa, roughly 45 kilometers west of IS’s self-proclaimed capital, Raqqa, and extends parallel to the Euphrates River that runs across Deir ez-Zor toward Al-Bukamal town bordering Iraq. It has divided Deir ez-Zor province and city into two parts; SDF operates north and east of the line, and the Syrian government troops and their allied militias are in the west and south.

“We will continue to deconflict as necessary and as required,” Dillon said while speaking to reporters in Washington during a teleconference briefing from Baghdad. “We will continue to draw that line … farther and down the Middle Euphrates River Valley.”

Earlier this week, the Syrian army and its allied Shi’ite militias, backed by heavy Russian airstrikes, made significant gains against IS in the western parts of Deir ez-Zor. Syrian regime forces were able to enter the outskirts of the city and break a three-year IS siege of an enclave known as Regiment 137.

IS still controls pockets

IS still controls much of the city and the wider oil-rich province that stretches to the Iraqi border. An estimated 2,500 IS fighters are thought to be in the province to defend their positions in one of the terror group’s last major strongholds in Syria.

Rabee Hamidi, a spokesman for Jaish Maghawir al-Thawra (MaT), a rebel group consisting of local Deir ez-Zor fighters supported by the U.S.-led coalition, told VOA that Syrian regime forces had established control over some isolated areas on the western outskirts of the city.

He said the regime’s progress would most likely be stalled as government forces approached more densely populated neighborhoods.

“IS is launching counterattacks by sending suicide bombers. The area is under fierce air raids,” Hamidi told VOA.

He added that MaT and other U.S.-backed forces were prepared to attack from the town of al-Shaddadi, about 85 kilometers northeast of Deir ez-Zor, but warned that safety corridors to allow civilians to flee from the city needed to be opened in advance to keep them from getting caught in the crossfire.

A million civilians    

More than a million people are estimated to live under IS-controlled areas in Deir ez-Zor. Observers expect a complicated battle as IS, the U.S.-backed forces and the Syrian regime, backed by Russian air support and Iranian-allied Shi’ite militias, compete for the strategic province, and U.N. officials have expressed concerns about civilian casualties.

“The fight in the city will be long and difficult. We should not expect a rapid victory for the Syrian army in Deir ez-Zor,” Robert S. Ford, a former U.S. ambassador to Syria, told VOA.

He said the Syrian regime’s recent advances in the province had most likely taken Washington by surprise.

“This complicates the American decision, because if they go there, would they fight with [Syrian government] forces against ISIS?”

Ford added that a race for the province and its natural resources was imminent and inevitable.

“Deir ez-Zor is for whoever captures the middle of the city,” he said.
…

your ad here

Egypt Blocks HRW Site After Torture Report

Posted on by SeeAF

Egypt blocked the website of Human Rights Watch one day after the organization released a report on systematic torture in the country’s jails.

Reuters attempted to access the website late Thursday but was unsuccessful.

“Egyptian authorities keep insisting that any incidents of torture are isolated crimes by bad officers acting alone, but the Human Rights Watch report proves otherwise,” Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said Thursday.

The report, “We Do Unreasonable Things Here,” based on the accounts of 19 former detainees and the family of another, claimed Egyptian authorities used arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and torture.

“Rather than address the torture crisis in Egypt, the authorities have blocked access to a report that documents what many Egyptians and others living there already know.”

Egypt objects to report

Egypt’s foreign ministry lambasted the report Wednesday, saying it defamed the country and ignored progress made on human rights in recent years.

“The report … is a new episode in a series of deliberate defamation by such organization, whose politicized agenda and biases are well known and reflect the interests of the entities and countries sponsoring it,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid.

Hundreds of news sites blocked

Egypt first blocked access to a number of news websites including Al Jazeera and Huffington Post Arabic in May after similar actions by its Gulf allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

But since, hundreds of other news sites and blogs have been wiped from Egyptian screens with the most recent count according to the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, a nongovernment organization tracking the affected sites through software that monitors outages, at 424.

Journalists see the campaign against them as a step toward banning all but the most state-aligned media, effectively reversing the private media boom that flourished in the final decade of former president Hosni Mubarak’s rule and which they say helped push him from power in 2011.

The government has offered no comment on the reason behind the blockages.
…

your ad here

Spanish High Court Blocks Catalan Referendum

Posted on by SeeEU

Spain’s Constitutional Court on Thursday blocked the prosperous Catalan region’s plan to vote on independence from Spain.

The ruling was expected after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy vowed earlier in the day to “stop at nothing” to prevent the independence referendum called by the regional leaders from taking place.

According to court regulations, the suspension lasts five months while judges come up with a ruling.

The pro-independence coalition ruling Catalonia claims that the universal right to self-determination overrules Spain’s laws.

The regional parliament on Wednesday approved a law to legitimize the independence vote and set an October 1 date for it.

It is not clear how such a vote might turn out. Polls in the northeastern region show support for self-rule waning as Spain’s economy improves. But the majority of Catalans say they do want the opportunity to vote on whether to split from Spain.

Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría on Wednesday condemned the Catalan leadership for carrying out “an act of force” and for acting more like “dictatorial regimes than a democracy.”

“What is happening in the Catalan parliament is embarrassing, it’s shameful,” she told reporters.
…

your ad here

Trump Nominates White House Lawyer to Important Court Seat

Posted on by SeeUS

President Donald Trump has tapped one of his own White House attorneys for a judgeship on one of the most important federal appeals courts, opening the door for confirmation hearing questions about the legal controversies that dominated the first seven months of Trump’s presidency.

 

Gregory Katsas was nominated Thursday to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Katsas, the deputy White House counsel, was a former Justice Department official under President George W. Bush. A biography on the White House’s website says he has argued more than 75 appeals, including the constitutional challenge to President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act before the Supreme Court.

 

He would replace the libertarian-leaning Judge Janice Rogers Brown, who retired this summer. The court is influential, in part because of its role in adjudicating many of the orders and laws put forth by the administration. It is sometimes called America’s second highest court because it can be a stepping stone to the Supreme Court just a few blocks away.

 

Katsas, once a law clerk to Justice Thomas, has served in high-ranking Justice Department roles, including as head of the civil division that has responsibility for defending the administration’s policies against court challenges. He is part of the steady stream of Jones Day law firm partners who have flowed into the Trump administration, including White House counsel Don McGahn.

 

So many Jones Day attorneys work in the White House that the counsel’s office issued a blanket ethics waiver for them so that they can maintain contact with their former colleagues without running afoul of ethics provisions. The firm’s lawyers continue to represent members of the Trump campaign outside the White House.

 

Senators are likely to grill Katsas about his time at the Trump White House, which has been rocked by legal problems. That includes expanding investigations by Congress and the Justice Department into Trump campaign ties to Russia, which U.S. officials say interfered in the 2016 election.

 

Trump’s initial attempt at an executive order temporarily banning travel to the U.S. from several Muslim-majority countries hit roadblocks in the courts. On his second attempt, the Supreme Court allowed only a sharply scaled back version of the order to go forward pending arguments scheduled for October.

 

And a federal judge said in July that he’s not likely to reinstate an executive order to cut funding from so-called sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with U.S. immigration authorities.

 

Former colleagues were quick to praise the nomination. John O’Quinn, who worked with Katsas in the Justice Department, called him “an incredibly talented lawyer who has a servant’s heart and a humble demeanor.”

 

“I can’t think of anyone who would have better judicial temperament,” he said.

 

There were no immediate indications that Katsas would face intense opposition from Democrats on the committee. But even if they have qualms about Katsas’ nomination to the lifetime position, they have no way to block Katsas — there is no filibuster left for nominations and no “blue slip process” for the D.C. Circuit, which allows senators in a nominee’s home state to submit their written opinions of him.
…

your ad here

Cholera Outbreak Threatens More Than 1M People in Nigeria Refugee Camps

Posted on by SeeAF

At least 1.4 million people uprooted by Boko Haram’s insurgency in northeast Nigeria are living in ‘cholera hotspots,’ prey to an outbreak of the deadly disease which is sweeping through camps for the displaced, the United Nations said on Thursday.

An estimated 28 people have died from cholera in the conflict-hit region, while about 837 are suspected to have been infected with the disease, including at least 145 children under the age of five, said the U.N. children’s agency (UNICEF).

The outbreak was first identified last week in the Muna Garage camp in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, which is the heart of jihadist group Boko Haram’s brutal eight-year campaign to carve out an Islamic caliphate in northeast Nigeria.

About 1.8 million people have abandoned their homes because of violence or food shortages, U.N. agencies say, and many live in camps for the displaced throughout northeast Nigeria.

Several aid agencies last month told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that Nigeria’s rainy season could spread disease in already unsanitary displacement camps, and 350,000 uprooted children aged under five are at risk of cholera, UNICEF said.

“Cholera is difficult for young children to withstand at any time, but becomes a crisis for survival when their resilience is already weakened by malnutrition, malaria and other waterborne diseases,” UNICEF’s Pernille Ironside said in a statement.

“Cholera is one more threat amongst many that children in northeast Nigeria are battling today in order to survive,” added Ironside, UNICEF’s deputy representative in Nigeria.

UNICEF said aid agencies have set up a cholera treatment centre at the Muna Garage camp, chlorinated water in camps and host communities to curb the outbreak, and mobilised volunteers and local leaders to refer suspected cases to health facilities.

The disease, which spreads through contaminated food and drinking water, causes diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. It can kill within hours if left untreated, but most patients recover if treated promptly with oral rehydration salts.

The latest figures represent a 3.3 percent fatality rate – well above the 1 percent rate that the World Health Organization rates as an emergency. The short incubation period of two hours to five days means the disease can spread with explosive speed.

More than 20,000 people have been killed in the conflict with Boko Haram, at least 2.2 million have been displaced, and 5.2 million in the northeast are short of food, with tens of thousands living in famine-like conditions, U.N. figures show.
…

your ad here

Germany Disputes Size of Russian War Games, Predicts 100,000 Troops

Posted on by SeeEU

Germany said on Thursday that Russia was planning to send more than 100,000 troops to war games on NATO’s eastern flank this month, disputing Moscow’s version that only 13,000 Russian and Belarussian servicemen would participate.

The Sept. 14-20 exercises known as Zapad, or “West,” in Belarus, the Baltic Sea, western Russia and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, are stirring unease in NATO despite Moscow’s assurances troops would rehearse a purely defensive scenario.

“It is undisputed that we are seeing a demonstration of capabilities and power of the Russians,” German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen told reporters at an EU defense ministers’ meeting in Tallinn.

“Anyone who doubts that only has to look at the high numbers of participating forces in the Zapad exercise: more than one hundred thousand,” she said in a joint news conference with her French counterpart, Florence Parly.

While Baltic nations have voiced concerns about a bigger-than-reported exercise and while NATO’s secretary-general expects more than 13,000 troops, Von der Leyen’s remarks are the first time a top Western politician has called out Russia publicly on what NATO sees as the true size of the war games.

Such numbers would be legal under international treaties on war games, but would require inviting international observers.

With less than 13,000 troops, international observation of the drills is not mandatory, Russia says.

In a sign of efforts to contain tensions, NATO general Petr Pavel held his first face-to face meeting in more than two years with Russia’s top general, Valery Gerasimov, in Azerbaijan on Thursday, the alliance said.

NATO said in a statement the meeting showed “a clear mutual interest to maintain the military lines of communication.”

“Demonstration of force”?

An exercise on that scale is one of NATO’s most pressing concerns. France, for one, believes the war games are no simple military drill, even though Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin told Western military attaches in Moscow in August the West had nothing to fear.

Russia accuses NATO of building up forces on its frontiers in a manner reminiscent of the Cold War. But NATO says it is protecting the interests of member states bordering Russia who are troubled by Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea and links to pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Previous large-scale exercises in 2013 employed special forces training, longer-range missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles that were later used in the Crimea annexation and in actions in eastern Ukraine and Syria, NATO diplomats said.

“Russia has a global strategy of a visible, deliberate demonstration of force,” Parly said before heading to meet French troops in Estonia as part of NATO’s deployment of deterrent forces in the Baltics and Poland.

“They have a strategy of intimidation,” Parly said, warning that any attack on a Baltic country or Poland by Russia would be considered an attack on all of the U.S.-led NATO alliance.
…

your ad here