Fence Rises on Hungary's Border With Serbia
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An F-22 Raptor from the 95th Fighter Squadron based at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., flies over Tallinn, Estonia, Sept. 4, 2015. The Air Force deployed four F-22s, a C-17 Globemaster III and approximately 60 Airmen and their associated equipment to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. While the aircraft and Airmen are in Europe, they will conduct air training with other Europe-based aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Jason Robertson)
PHOTO: Raptor Watches Over Estonia
A work crew was laboring overtime Saturday to complete an 11.5-foot high fence, topped with razor wire strands, spanning the 110 miles of Hungary’s border with Serbia.
Foreign ministers from Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine agreed on steps to bring stability to eastern Ukraine, but the talks showed that any progress remains “difficult,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.
Local officials say the original ignition of a cooking-gas cylinder triggered a second explosion of mining detonators that were allegedly illegally stored nearby.
Saudi Arabia pledged to ensure the safety of the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims arriving at Mecca, following the collapse of a crane that left scores dead and injured in the holy city.
Police spokesman Werner Kraus says Munich is at the limits of its capacity to accept refugees, as more than 12,000 arrive in the Bavarian capital on Sunday. Many are sleeping in the railway station as Germany struggles to cope with the influx. Police are now working on distributing the refugees in order to make way for more people fleeing violence and poverty
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 Reuters |
Al Qaeda chief urges lone wolf attacks, militant unity
Reuters CAIRO Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on young Muslim men in the United States and other Western countries to carry out attacks inside there and urged greater unity between militants. "I call on all Muslims who can harm the countries of the ... Al Qaeda leader urges lone wolf attacks in US Sun Times National Ayman al Zawahiri: Al-Qaeda leader calls for lone wolf attacks working with IsisYahoo News UK Al Qaeda urges young Muslims in Europe to carry out Charlie Hebdo style attacksIrish Independent Daily Mail-The Independent all 29 news articles » |
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Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani tweeted out best wishes to Jews all over the world for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year that begins at sunset on Sunday.
Rouhani, seen as a “moderate” compared to his firebrand predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,who famously questioned whether the Holocaust happened, has played an instrumental role in thenuclear deal moving through Congress at the moment. Some Jewish lawmakers, such as Sen. Chuck Schumer, have voiced concerns over the deal and the historical rivalry between Iran and Israel, whileothers are supporting it.
May our shared Abrahamic roots deepen respect & bring peace & mutual understanding. L'Shanah Tovah. #RoshHashanah pic.twitter.com/UheJPrjuVx— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) September 13, 2015
This isn’t the first time Rouhani has extended new year greetings to Jews: the tradition began in 2013, when he was first elected to office.
But Rouhani has admitted that he doesn’t control his own Twitter account: at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2014, he confessed his Rosh Hashana tweet for the previous year was written by “friends.”
As the sun is about to set here in #Tehran I wish all Jews, especially Iranian Jews, a blessed Rosh Hashanah. pic.twitter.com/tmaf84x7UR— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) September 4, 2013
BERLIN/NICKELSDORF, Austria (Reuters) - Austria's chancellor criticized Hungary for its handling of the refugee crisis on Saturday, likening the country's policies to Nazi deportations during the Holocaust as refugees complained of their treatment in the eastern European country.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will continue with military supplies to Syria, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies on Sunday.
What began as a Saudi-led aerial campaign against the Houthis, a rebel militia movement, has become so broad and vicious that critics accuse the coalition of collectively punishing people living in areas the Houthis control.
CUSHING, Okla. (AP) -- An official says a fourth inmate involved in an attack or fight at an Oklahoma prison has died....
Last Thursday the FBI arrested Joshua Ryne Goldberg for conspiring to bomb a 9/11 memorial service in Kansas City. Goldberg however, appears to have been a complete idiot and an internet troll, and probably wouldn't be ...
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Reuters |
US, Chinese officials meet on cyber security issues: White House
Reuters Cyber security has been a divisive issue between Washington and Beijing, with the United States accusing Chinese hackers of attacks on U.S. computers, a charge China denies. U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice had a "frank and open exchange ... China, US reach important consensus on cyber securityecns all 6 news articles » |
Forbes |
Will China Collapse?
Forbes If China's economy, the second largest in the world, twice the size of Japan's, were to lapse into a meltdown situation such as this one, the effect would more than likely send the world economy into a tailspin. Its impact could be the worst the world ... |
September 13, 2015, 11:57 AM (IDT)
Weeks ago, President Vladimir discreetly offered Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu a deal for Moscow to undertake responsibility for guarding Israel’s Mediterranean gas fields against possible Iranian or Hizballah sabotage, along with Russian investment of $7-10 billion for developing Leviathan and building a pipeline to Turkey, debkafile reports. Netanyahu did not give him a clear answer. The Russian military buildup in Syria meanwhile radically alters Israel’s strategic landscape in respect of its posture on Syria, the gas fields’ vulnerability and foreign investment prospects for development.
September 13, 2015, 12:59 PM (IDT)
The U.S. Central Command said it is not in communication with the Russian military units that have been dispatched to Syria, amid increasing speculation over how the two militaries will stay out of each other’s way in the theater of operations.
“Coalition forces are focused on conducting counter-ISIS operations, and so to my knowledge there is no military-to-military contact at this point,” said Air Force Col. Pat Ryder, spokesman for CENTCOM.
“We’re keeping an eye on the Russian situation there, but right now again there’s really no deconfliction to do,” he said.
Hours earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there was an increasing risk of “unintended incidents” if the two militaries do not cooperate in Syria.
“Coalition forces are focused on conducting counter-ISIS operations, and so to my knowledge there is no military-to-military contact at this point,” said Air Force Col. Pat Ryder, spokesman for CENTCOM.
“We’re keeping an eye on the Russian situation there, but right now again there’s really no deconfliction to do,” he said.
Hours earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there was an increasing risk of “unintended incidents” if the two militaries do not cooperate in Syria.
CIA Releases Declassified Documents But 9/11 Cover Up Remains
Arutz Sheva Ten years after the Office of the Inspector General completed its investigation into intelligence failures prior to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the CIA released five newly declassified 9/11 documents which purportedly show a bitter dispute between CIA ... and more » |
SANAA, Yemen (AP) - Yemen's internationally recognized president will not participate in U.N.-brokered talks later this week with Shiite rebels who control the capital and much of the country's north, his office said Sunday.
The statement said there would be no talks with the rebels, known as Houthis, unless they ...
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The Pain of Tasers—more than shockingby therearenosunglasses
Don’t try this at home: See the impact of a Taser in slow motion (VIDEO) © The Slow Mo Guys / YouTube Being shocked by a plug socket feels bad enough. Ever wondered what’s it like to be shot with a police Taser stun gun? The moment a man is tasered has been […]
Russia’s Syrian Air Base Has U.S. Scrambling for a Plan By Josh Rogin The Barack Obama administration and the U.S. intelligence community have concluded that Russia is set to start flying combat missions from a new air base inside Syria, but there’s disagreement inside the U.S. government on what to do about it. Thursday at the White […]
Assessing Putin’s Chess Moves by therearenosunglasses
What’s All This About Russian Forces Going To Syria? Melik Kaylan , Contributor The media noise machine is abuzz about the Russians putting boots on the ground to support Assad in Syria. And not just the ground nor merely footsoldiers but air power and armor too. Three questions come to mind. Why now? Is […]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet at the White House in early November with President Barack Obama in an apparent attempt to repair the damage to U.S.-Israeli relations brought on by the prime minister’s offensive to derail the Iran nuclear deal.
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The Barack Obama administration and the U.S. intelligence community have concluded that Russia is set to start flying combat missions from a new air base inside Syria, but there’s disagreement inside the U.S. government on what to do about it.
Thursday at the White House, top officials were scheduled meet at the National Security Council Deputies Committee level to discuss how to respond to the growing buildup of Russian military equipment and personnel in Latakia, a city on the Syrian coast controlled by the Bashar Assad regime. Obama has called on his national security officials to come up with a plan as soon as possible, as intelligence reports pour in about the Russian plans to set up an air base there. The options are to try to confront Russia inside Syria or, as some in the White House are advocating, cooperate with Russia there on the fight against the Islamic State.
The State Department already had begun pushing back against the Russian moves, for example by asking Bulgaria and Greece to deny overflight permissions to Syria-bound Russian transport planes. But State made those moves on its own, and when the president found out, he was upset with the department for failing to go through the interagency process, two officials said. The president wants his national security team to come up with a consensus on the way forward as early as next week.
For some in the White House, the priority is to enlist more countries to fight against the Islamic State, and they fear making the relationship with Russia any more heated. They are seriously considering accepting the Russian buildup as a fait accompli, and then working with Moscow to coordinate U.S. and Russian strikes in Northern Syria, where the U.S.-led coalition operates every day.
For many in the Obama administration, especially those who work on Syria, the idea of acquiescing to Russian participation in the fighting is akin to admitting that the drive to oust Assad has failed. Plus, they fear Russia will attack Syrian opposition groups that are fighting against Assad, using the war against the Islamic State as a cover.
“The Russians’ intentions are to keep Assad in power, not to fight ISIL,” one administration official said. “They’ve shown their cards now.”
The U.S. intelligence now shows that Russia is planning to send a force into Syria that is capable of striking targets on the ground. Two U.S. officials told me that the intelligence community has collected evidence that Russia plans to deploy Mikoyan MiG 31 and Sukhoi Su-25 fighter planes to Latakia in the coming days and weeks. The military equipment that has already arrived includes air traffic control towers, aircraft maintenance supplies, and housing units for hundreds of personnel.
Secretary of State John Kerry called Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last Saturday to urge him to halt the Russian military buildup, but the Russian told Kerry that his military was doing nothing wrong and that Russia’s support for Syria would continue, according to one official who saw a readout of the call. That response was seen inside the administration as a rebuke of Kerry’s efforts to reach out to Moscow to restart the Syrian political process. Kerry met with Lavrov and the Saudi foreign minister on the issue last month.
This is a turn of events from the situation this summer. In July, Russian President Vladimir Putin called Obama and according to Obama, Putin was moving away from a weakened Assad.
“I think they get a sense that the Assad regime is losing a grip over greater and greater swaths of territory inside of Syria [to Sunni jihadist militias] and that the prospects for a [Sunni jihadist] takeover or rout of the Syrian regime is not imminent but becomes a greater and greater threat by the day,” Obama told the New York Times. “That offers us an opportunity to have a serious conversation with them.”
But since then, Putin has been moving away from a serious conversation with the U.S. about a diplomatic solution in Syria. Just as the Russian military buildup was beginning last week, Putin said publicly that Assad was ready to engage with the “healthy” opposition, a far cry from the process the U.S. is promoting, which would bring the Western-supported Syrian opposition into a new round of negotiations with the regime.
“Russia’s support for the Assad regime is not helpful at all, it’s counterproductive, and it’s against some of the things they have said about trying to bring about a solution,” Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told me Wednesday. “It’s disappointing, but it’s been consistent with some of the policies they’ve done in the past that we think are just wrong.”
Putin is planning to focus on the fight against “terrorism” in his speech later this month at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Russia will also host a ministerial-level meeting on the sidelines about fighting extremism, which it defines as including all the groups fighting the Assad regime, including the U.S.-backed rebels.
There is concern inside the Obama administration, even among those who advocate for confronting Russian actions in Syria, that the U.S. has no real leverage to fight back. If Obama decides not to accept the Russian air force presence in Syria, he would have several options, all of which have drawbacks or limitations.
The U.S. could impose new sanctions on Russia, although the current punishments related to Ukraine have not changed Putin’s calculus, and there’s little chance European countries would join in on a new round. The U.S. might warn Russia that its base is fair game for the opposition to attack, but that could spur Putin to double down on the deployment. The U.S. could try to stop the flow of Russian arms, but that would mean pressuring countries such as Iraq to stand up to Putin and Iran, which they might not agree to.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday he would try to impose sanctions on Russia from the Congressional side if the administration doesn’t move in that direction. He said that Russia’s military involvement in Syria will only make the terrorism threat and the refugee problems emanating from there worse.
“This is a chance for us to slap Russia hard, because what they are doing is making America less safe,” he said. “The Russians are just slapping President Obama and Secretary Kerry in the face. This is a complete insult to their efforts to try to find a solution to Syria. They’ve made Assad’s survivability more likely, which means the war in Syria never ends.”
The White House’s concerns about escalating tensions with Russia inside Syria are legitimate, but cooperating with Russian forces on the ground or in the air would undermine whatever remaining credibility the U.S. has with the Syrian opposition and the Gulf States that support it. The U.S. may not be able to stop Russia’s entry into fighting the Syrian civil war, but at a minimum America shouldn’t be seen as colluding with Moscow. If that happens, the suspicion that Obama is actually working to preserve the Assad regime will have been confirmed.
Josh Rogin is a Bloomberg View columnist.
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Some in the White House are seriously considering accepting the Russian buildup as a fait accompli, and then working with Moscow to coordinate U.S. and Russian strikes in Northern Syria, where the U.S.-led coalition operates every day.
Editor’s Note: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the brutal leader of the world’s most brutal terrorist group, is an enigma to many Westerners. Unlike Osama bin Laden, Baghdadi does not grant long interviews to Western journalists. So when the group suddenly grabbed Western attention, rumors and false reports abounded. William McCants, the director of the Brookings Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World and author of the forthcoming book The ISIS Apocalypse (a kickass book with a kickass title), sets about correcting these errors. In this essay, he sets his sights on the biggest one: that the United States created Baghdadi.
***
The Western press usually portrays the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as a religious scholar who was radicalized by the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 and his later detention in an American prison camp in 2004. That portrayal is wrong.
The story goes that Baghdadi was a peaceful, pious graduate student devoted to his studies of religious texts before the U.S. invasion. The invasion infuriated him. The stories divide on whether he took up arms then or after he was detained in February 2004 and held in an American prison for ten months. Either way, before the war he was peaceful, and by the time he came out of prison he was a committed insurgent.
The Arab press has typically followed the lead of their Western counterparts. But a few Arab journalists who spoke with Baghdadi’s close friends from his college days before the war told a different tale. They found that Baghdadi had radicalized well before the Americans invaded. Palestinian journalist Wael Essam talked to Baghdadi’s college friends and discovered he had already taken up with Muhammad Hardan, a radical Salafi who had fought in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Another college friend told Ali al-Hashem, a Lebanese journalist, that Baghdadi’s older brother Jum`a was already a jihadist and influenced his sibling’s outlook.
So why the divergent stories?
One reason is time. Many of the early influential biographies of Baghdadi in the Western press were written soon after the takeover of Mosul last year when there wasn’t much known about the enigmatic leader of the Islamic State. So the early reporting was spotty. For example, one early article reported that Baghdadi was in prison for six years rather than ten months because a former director of the American prison misidentified him. As time goes on, better information becomes available, like Baghdadi’s detainee records.
As the preceding example illustrates, another reason stories about Baghdadi diverge is the different sources of information. Talking to Baghdadi’s neighbor will tell you a lot about Baghdadi as a neighbor, which is quite valuable for creating a complete picture of the man. But talking to a neighbor won’t tell you much about a person’s inner life, as demonstrated by the countless stories of people who lived next to serial killers. (“He was such a nice man, I had no idea…”) I wouldn’t dream of criticizing the reporters who bravely traveled to Iraq and patiently interviewed anyone they could find who would talk about the man (and many were too scared to talk). I would just make the pedestrian observation that not all sources are equal, and each source is only a piece of the puzzle.
The stories of Baghdadi’s radicalization also differed because of how the puzzle pieces were assembled. In a biography of an enigmatic person like Baghdadi, you don’t know what the final picture is supposed to look like. To compensate, you create a mental picture of the man and see if the pieces fit. The fewer the pieces, the more your mental picture determines where you place them.
Pause for a second and answer this question: under what circumstances would you take up arms? Chances are, foreign occupation is high on your list, so let’s call that your theory of radicalization. In the absence of facts to the contrary and the presence of several accounts from Baghdadi’s neighbors that he was a peaceful guy before the war, how would you explain his radicalization? I’ll bet the puzzle pieces fit your theory of radicalization. And given that the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq did radicalize thousands of Iraqis and Muslims in general, Baghdadi’s supposed radicalization is a path many of his co-fighters really did travel.
But enough time has passed where we can begin to reappraise this story. More of Baghdadi’s intimate associates before the war have come forward, his government and university documents have come to light, and more Islamic State defectors have aired the organization’s dirty laundry. All of this tells us more about the man in charge of the Islamic State, which is valuable in itself. But it also helps us understand what lessons we are to take from his rise to power.
Based on these new sources, I come to a different conclusion about the meaning of Baghdadi’s rise. In my profile of the man, the lesson I draw is that we should be very wary of destroying a government, no matter how authoritarian, lest we create a proving ground in the ensuing chaos for men like Baghdadi to thrive and set up even more repressive states.
Should Baghdadi die, the state he built can survive without him. But he has capabilities and qualifications that his acolytes will miss. He’s a religious scholar, which matters a lot for a movement that obsesses over the religious knowledge of Muslim rulers. He’s not only a descendent of the Prophet’s tribe, which is one qualification for caliph; he’s also descends directly from the Prophet himself, which his supporters believe is a fulfillment of prophecy. And he’s a cunning bureaucrat that rose through the cutthroat ranks of the Islamic State by building alliances among its factions and eliminating his rivals once he got to the top spot. Baghdadi will be a hard man for the Islamic State to replace.
***
For a more in-depth look at the man behind the Islamic State, read my Brookings Essay on Baghdadi, titled “The Believer.” For even more on Baghdadi and the apocalyptic vision driving his organization, read my new book The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State, now available for pre-order.
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The Red Web: Russia's Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries
Financial Times But the book's biggest accomplishment is to trace the roots of Russia's internet censorship far beyond Mr Putin. Each of the strands chronicled by Soldatov and Borogan starts in the Soviet Union. There is Soldatov's own father, a “serious, heavily ... |
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Moscow will continue sending military supplies to Syria.
Outrage Follows Venezuelan Opposition Leader's Sentenceby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
The United States is expressing outrage at the jailing of Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. Lopez was sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison in connection with opposition-led protests last year that turned deadly when state forces clashed with demonstrators. Samantha Power, the United States' U.N. ambassador, told VOA's Margaret Besheer that Lopez's trial was unfair and "it goes without saying that these charges on the basis of what Lopez did are absurd." Power said Lopez's conviction was not going "to advance peace and prosperity and stability in Venezuela" at a time when the country is going through an economic crisis. The U.S.-trained economist was convicted of inciting violence against the government in an attempt to force President Nicolas Maduro from office. Lopez, 44, is the founder of opposition party Popular Will. Earlier, the White House said Maduro's government was using the justice system to attempt to silence critics. "The decision to prosecute and sentence Lopez, and the conduct of his trial, have highlighted significant failures in the rule of law and judicial system in Venezuela,'' National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said. Amnesty International said in a statement that Lopez's sentence showed "an utter lack of judicial independence and impartiality" in Venezuela. "His only 'crime' was being leader of an opposition party in Venezuela," said Erika Guevara-Rosas, the Americas Director of Amnesty International. "With this decision, Venezuela is choosing to ignore basic human rights principles and giving the green light to more abuses." The court rejected all but two defense witnesses, both of whom ultimately declined to testify, while letting the prosecution call more than 100 during the closed-door sessions, according to Lopez's attorneys. Lopez insists he called only for peaceful protests, and his backers blame armed government supporters for much of the bloodshed last year that resulted in more than 40 deaths. Government officials said Lopez implicitly encouraged the violence. More opposition protests have been scheduled for next week in response to the verdict.
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 Первый канал |
В Берлине прошли переговоры глав МИД "нормандской четверки"
BBC Russian В Берлине завершились переговоры глав министерств иностранных дел "нормандской четверки". Представители России, Германии, Франции и Украины обсудили соблюдение минских соглашений в Донбассе. По словам главы МИД России Сергея Лаврова, соглашение об отводе ... Штайнмайер: "четверка" продвинулась по политурегулированию на УкраинеРИА Новости Главы МИД «нормандской четверки» выступили за скорейший отвод вооруженийРБК Встреча глав МИД нормандской четверки завершиласьВести.Ru Коммерсантъ -Газета.Ru -Российская Газета Все похожие статьи: 540 » |
The United States seems to have finally understood that it is losing something in the Arctic; but instead of mobilizing its resources for the development of the region, it has opted to build up its spy network there to watch and listen to what the others are doing, especially Russia.
U.S. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says NATO members must acknowledge the alliance is facing "multiple complex threats.'
Defense Department officials provided the following information, summarizing Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work's visit to the United Kingdom Sept. 9-12, which concluded the last leg of a seven-day trip that included visits to Iceland and Norway.
Russia called on the United States to reopen channels of communications between the two military superpowers to avoid 'unintended incidents' as Russia steps up military assistance to the Syrian government.
The United States has warned Russia again that sanctions against the country will remain in place until peace accords are fully implemented in Ukraine.
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Russia and the European Union on September 11 discussed ways of ending Russia's gas dispute with Ukraine to allow for the resumption of gas supplies this winter.
At least 13 Yemeni people have been killed and scores of others wounded in Saudi Arabia's latest airstrikes as Riyadh's unabated aggression against the war-torn country continues.
Yemeni forces have seized control of four Saudi military bases in the southwestern province of Dhahran al-Janub.
Iran slammed US President Barack Obama for his contradictory remarks about the nuclear agreement of July 14 between Iran and the G5+1 group of countries, saying the world would be safer if the US stopped its bullying attitude.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that among the topics on the agenda of the Normandy Four Group meeting is the withdrawal of heavy and light weapons of up to 100-mm caliber from the contact line in Donbass.
New York Times |
Why Russians Hate America. Again.
New York Times MOSCOW — ON a warm August evening, I found myself sitting with three educated youngRussians at the Beverly Hills Diner, a chain restaurant whose gaudy décor includes human-size figures of Porky the Pig and Marilyn Monroe. They had invited me to ... |
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Refugees on the Move: Landing in Europeby webdesk@voanews.com (Heather Murdock)
The first picture was messaged to my WhatsApp account at 3:51 a.m. The group of men were on a dark beach with wet clothes, smiling with their fingers held up in victory signs. The night before they had marched off with backpacks and life jackets in a risky bid to be smuggled from Turkey to Greece by rubber boat. The eight men barely knew each other before they decided to travel together. Omar and Monaf, two college students and the youngest in the group, grinned and puffed their chests, miming quickly beating hearts. Thousands of people have died on this journey as they hurtle toward Europe. Others are robbed of their life savings by smugglers or thieves and left trapped in war zones with no money. There are countless people stranded right now, left broke and homeless after risking, and losing, everything. When I saw the photos, I knew these eight were — so far — among the lucky ones. The group had survived years of war, escaped from Syria and had spent days planning. They had slept in the street the night before and were about to attempt the trek from Greece to Germany, where they hope to find a future. Their text message said, “We made it.” Discrimination The next day I traveled to meet the group, taking a commercial ferry from Greece to Turkey for $20. The men had paid smugglers $1,200 each. When my boat came ashore, I walked through customs into downtown Mytilene. They walked for 2½ hours from the beach. Mobile phones with GPS service are a must for any refugee who can afford it. “The city is not safe and the hotels are all full,” said a local taxi driver outside customs. He flicked his hands at the refugees loitering by the port, some with plastic tents. “These people,” he said with exasperation. The streets of Mytilene were crowded with refugees, and Arabic was the only language heard in the worn-down tourist destination. Many people were buying cheap shoes on the streets, having ruined theirs on the rubber boats. The shops sold tourist items like T-shirts and knickknacks, unlike the Turkish side, where shop windows displayed life jackets, knives and other equipment for crossing the sea. The first hotel was only minutes from the port, and I lined up at the reception desk. While I waited, two young men entered behind me wearing backpacks, practically the uniform of this portion of this human wave. “All full?” the men said in English. “Full,” the receptionist replied. When it was her turn to help me, I told her: “I know you are full, but .... " She interrupted. “You need a room? I have a balcony room with a sea view. It is 72 euros.” I felt embarrassed but I took the room. Ice cream cafe An hour after I arrived, Modar, an iPhone repairman-turned-refugee, came back online on WhatsApp, telling me his group was sitting in an outdoor ice cream parlor. He texted the location. The group, now larger, had finished their coffees and waters before I arrived. Omar was curled up in his chair asleep, while some of the other men excitedly told their tale. After driving four hours and carefully avoiding the police, they had walked through the woods for an hour in pitch darkness. Smugglers hurriedly gave directions to the 32 passengers in English, repeating, “Go, go, go!” at every new phase of the trip. One of the smugglers was a blond Turkish girl in her 30s, said Modar. When they arrived at the beach, they saw four people sleeping there, and even 8-year-old Mohammed knew why they were there. “Their smuggler had stolen their money from them,” he later said. “Go, go, go!” the smugglers repeated, packing them into the boat and ignoring the four sleepers. The sea was smooth and the journey thankfully short, with only an hour and a half on the water. If the men were scared, they wouldn’t admit it. On the road from Syria to Europe, fear is dismissed as only for the weak. And after more than four years living in a humanitarian disaster, many people say they are too numb to feel much of anything. Now that they had finally arrived in Greece, they were in a hurry to get to the next border. Everyone knows Hungary is passing new anti-immigration laws and building a wall, and they want to get in and out of the country while it is still possible. At the mention of Hungary, eyes clouded over at the ice cream shop. Besides the danger of illegally entering a hostile country, they said that having come so far, the idea of failing in Hungary was unbearable. “Hungary is hard,” said Omar, now awake, dipping his forehead into his hands.
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A VOA reporter visited the town of Cizre the day an eight day curfew was lifted.
As Syria’s agony deepens, and once more the talk is of using western military force to stem the tide of misery, our Middle East editor considers scenarios for the stricken country
Problem
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 Daily Mail |
Iran uranium which could fuel nuclear programme without Western monitoring
Daily Mail The Iranian government has found a surprise uranium reserve which could allow the country to fuel its nuclear programme without having to look abroad. It was previously thought that Iran would have to import uranium from other countries in order to ... and more » |
 New York Times |
Eastern Bloc's Resistance to Refugees Highlights Europe's Cultural and ...
New York Times WARSAW — Even though the former Communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe have been asked to accept just a fraction of the refugees that Germany and other nations are taking, their fierce resistance now stands as the main impediment to a ... Pro-migrant rallies in Europe and Australia draw thousandsBBC News Marchers show support for refugees in solidarity events across EuropeCNN International German Chancellor Angela Merkel fends off backlash to open-arms refugee stanceLos Angeles Times Washington Post -CTV News all 701 news articles » |
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