Gulf Cooperation Council Labels Hezbollah a Terrorist Group - WSJ
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
Russia, Syria Said Using Migrant Crisis As 'Weapon' Against West
What does it say about a regime when it is prepared to turn helpless civilians into weapons in its war for geopolitical influence?
Because that is exactly what NATO's top commander has just accused Russia of doing.
Addressing the U.S. Senate's Armed Services Committee yesterday, NATO's commanding General Philip Breedlove said in an official forum what many Kremlin-watchers have been claiming in less official forums for months: that Vladimir Putin's regime appears to be intentionally exacerbating Europe's migrant crisis by targeting civilians in Syria.
He called it "the weaponization of immigration."
The Kremlin clearly believes it can benefit from the migrant crisis, which has posed the greatest threat to the European Union in its history.
In addition to aggravating the migrant crisis, Moscow is also backing xenophobic and Eurosceptic parties on the continent that are exploiting it.
And, according to media reports, officials in Germany suspect that Russia is trying to use the migration issue as part of a covert operation to topple the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Now Russia's behavior over the past couple of years has been so outrageous that it has pretty much lost the ability to shock us.
But let's step back and think about this for a minute.
If Russia is really intentionally targeting civilians in Syria as part of an effort to destabilize Europe, doesn't that put Putin into a very special class of war criminal?
If this this true, is he really all that different from rogues and war criminals like Slobodan Milosevic -- and Bashar al-Assad?
Keep telling me what you think on the Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page.
Newly released documents show Osama bin Laden struggling for relevance and fearful of being tracked.
Security officials race to develop an underground defense system, fearing Hamas may be rebuilding its subterranean network.
Gulf Cooperation Council countries on Wednesday designated Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah militia as a terrorist group, a move that could add fuel to a growing confrontation with Hezbollah’s main backer Iran.
Shelling in Northern Syria Shows Limits of Truceby Vladimir Isachenkov / AP
(KINSIBBA, Syria) — Artillery shells struck near the main street of a Syrian village controlled by the government on Tuesday, sending international reporters diving for cover and highlighting the fragility of a partial cease-fire that both sides in the civil war say has been repeatedly violated.
The blasts that shook Kinsibba, near the Turkish border, came as the journalists were touring the village under Russian military escort. No one was wounded by the artillery, but some suffered minor cuts as they ran for cover or threw themselves to the ground.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj.-Gen. Igor Konashenkov, who was on the trip, said the shells came from positions held by the al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front, which along with the Islamic State group is excluded from the cease-fire that began Saturday.
The U.S. and Russian-brokered “cessation of hostilities” has brought the first wide-scale reduction in violence seen in Syria’s five-year civil war, but has been rattled by alleged violations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that any faction that repeatedly violates the cease-fire can be attacked.
The cease-fire is intended to pave the way for the resumption of peace talks to end the conflict, which has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced half the country’s population.
The office of the U.N. envoy for Syria said he has pushed back the planned resumption of talks between the government and the opposition to March 9 for “logistical and practical” reasons. Staffan de Mistura had earlier said the talks — which last broke down in early February after just a few days — would resume March 7.
Syrian President Bashar Assad meanwhile told Germany’s ARD television that moderate rebels who lay down their arms can expect “full amnesty.” But it was unclear whether any rebels would take him up on such an offer after years of civil war, mass detentions and widespread allegations of severe human rights violations by his government.
Assad also said convoys from Turkey have been supplying weapons to the insurgents. Turkey is one of the leading backers of those fighting to end the Assad family’s four-decade rule. The Syrian government has received crucial support from both Russia and Iran.
In Kinsibba, which was seized in a recent government offensive, the reporters were talking to local residents when the first shell struck a hillside a few hundred meters (yards) away. Russian officers yelled at the journalists to lie down, and they ducked as the shelling drew closer with a series of loud thuds. A Russian armored personnel carrier rushed forward to screen the reporters from direct hits.
The head of Russia’s coordination center for the Syrian crisis, Lt. Gen. Sergei Kuralenko, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying eight shells hit and that four journalists, from Russia, Canada, China and Bulgaria, sustained light injuries.
More shells landed in the area just after the reporters left, killing three Syrian troops and wounding eight others, said Konashenkov, the Russian military spokesman.
He said Russia has delivered around 580 tons of food aid to government-held areas in recent weeks. He also said that the Russian coordination center and a similar U.S. center in Amman, Jordan, have been in close contact, with the Russians calling the Americans several times a day to exchange information about the cease-fire.
The cease-fire has remained fragile, however, with violations reported in many areas and the government and opposition trading blame. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday the cease-fire has been violated 15 times in the past 24 hours.
Also Tuesday, Syrian state news agency SANA said insurgents fired seven shells at government-held neighborhoods and the airport in the southern city of Daraa, where the uprising began in March 2011.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees, opposition groups that monitor the conflict, said government forces shelled rebel-held parts of the city.
The Observatory and other opposition activists also said five people were killed and more than 15 wounded when rockets slammed into two villages in the rebel-held northern province of Idlib.
Earlier in the day, the reporters had visited the northern village of Ghunaymiyah, near Kinsibba, where residents recently began returning to their homes after government forces drove out Nusra Front fighters last month. Most of the buildings were concrete shells, with windows and doors missing.
One resident, Musa Magardish, stood in shock in front of his ruined home. “I don’t have any money for rebuilding my house, and I have no idea how I can do it,” he said.
“Everything is broken, everything is burned,” said 66-year-old Araksi Sarko, who said the Nusra fighters who had until recently occupied the city were “animals.”
At a village church damaged in the fighting, a few people gathered to clean up shards of glass and pieces of concrete littering the floor. Then they prayed.
One of the parishioners, Farah Arijan, said Nusra Front militants badly damaged the church when they captured the village in 2012. “They also killed many of our people,” he said. “One woman was killed when she was trying to flee.”
___
Associated Press writer Albert Aji contributed to this report from Damascus, Syria.
Read the whole story
· · · ·
Almost 2,000 refugees and migrants arrived in Europe by sea every day in the first two months of 2016, according to new statistics from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that come amid warnings of a coming “humanitarian crisis.”
In just nine weeks through Feb. 29, 129,455 people arrived on the Mediterranean shores of Greece and Italy — the majority from war-ravaged Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq — the IOM said in a statement. In the same period last year, fewer than 12,000 arrivals were recorded, leading the organization to predict that 2016 could surpass the figure of more than 1 million arrivals for the whole of last year.
The deaths of 418 people at sea were also recorded in the January and February, the IOM said.
Austria and the Balkan states are attempting to stem the tide by setting higher criteria for granting entry to refugees. This week, authorities used tear gas to prevent people crossing by land from Greece into Macedonia.
The U.N.’s refugee agency has meanwhile warned that the inconsistent policies of European countries are causing “unnecessary suffering.”
“Europe is on the cusp of a largely self-induced humanitarian crisis,” UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told Al Jazeera. “This is in light of a rapid build-up of people in an already struggling Greece, with governments not working together despite having already reached agreements in a number of areas, and country after country imposing new border restrictions.”
Next Page of Stories
Loading...
Page 2
The headlines on the Southern Metropolis Daily’s Feb. 20 front page seemed innocuous enough. One paid obeisance to the Chinese Communist Party in language redolent of the Cultural Revolution:“Party-sponsored media and the government are the propaganda front and their names must be that of the party.” Below, a short headline accompanied a photo of mourners at a sea burial: “Souls return to the ocean.”
But if the neighboring headlines were read vertically, they carried a far more subversive message:“The souls of Chinese media have died because they bear the party’s name.” The word play came a day after China’s President Xi Jinping instructed domestic media to dedicate themselves, above all, to burnishing the splendor of China’s ruling party. “Love the party,” ordered Xi, on a tour of the offices of China’s biggest state media outlets. “Protect the party and serve the party.”
Southern Metropolis’s sleight of hand wasn’t subtle enough. On March 1, news leaked out that the editor in charge of the offending front page, Liu Yuxia, had been fired. It was the latest blow to media freedom in a country that last year jailed the most journalists of any nation, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Under Xi’s reign, the Chinese government has cracked down on messages that diverge from party line, whether from journalists, academics or even influential businessmen. Over the weekend, Ren Zhiqiang, a property magnate with some 37 million online followers, had his social-media account shut by censors. His offense? Questioning Xi’s media directive.
Members of the Chinese media, particularly those who work for commercial outfits that were given more latitude than the official press, have been practiced at cat-and-mouse games with censors. Outspoken journalists and editors have been regularly fired or even detained. But after a period of disgrace, many turned up at other publications where they again raked mud or investigated official malfeasance.
But in his third year in power, Xi has silenced even mild forms of dissent, from lawyers who want China to hew to its own constitution to watchdogs who call for officials to publicly declare their assets. Even though China now boasts the world’s largest online population, the space for free expression has narrowed. A new rule that takes effect this month could make it illegal for foreign companies or joint ventures to publish online without prior government approval.
Chinese officials have repeatedly warned the public that the West wants to prevent China’s rise and have campaigned against the lure of so-called “universal values,” such as free speech and democracy. “The Southern Media Group holds the flag of universal values,” wrote veteran pundit Sima Nan, on his social-media account, dismissing speculation that the headline placement in theSouthern Metropolis Daily, which is owned by the Southern Media Group, might have been accidental. “[The media group] has erased the contribution of the party.”
Meanwhile, one journalist with the Southern Media Group, who wished not to be named because of the sensitive political climate, described a gloomy mood at the paper’s offices. Earlier this year, Li Xin, a former editor for Southern Metropolis Daily’s website, disappeared from Thailand, where he was planning to apply for political asylum. Days later, he turned up back in China, under detention. Human-rights groups fear Li, who had leaked a list of censored terms to overseas media, was kidnapped abroad and forced home — just one in a series of suspected extraterritorial seizures in recent months. “We think it won’t get any worse and then it does,” says the Southern Metropolis Dailyjournalist. “We are being strangled.”
— With reporting by Yang Siqi / Beijing
Read the whole story
· ·
AMMAN, Jordan — A government spokesman confirmed Wednesday that an arrest raid and shootout in Jordan’s third largest city targeted a militant group.
Mohammed Momani told state media that the operation late Tuesday in the city of Irbid left eight dead, including seven wanted men and a member of the Jordanian security forces.
The target of the raid was a “terrorist group,” Momani told The Associated Press in a text message. He did not elaborate. Previous statements by the security forces had only referred to the wanted men as “outlaws.”
Pro-Western Jordan is part of a U.S.-led military coalition against the extremist Islamic State group in neighboring Syria and Iraq.
Jordanian security forces have also cracked down on suspected IS sympathizers in the kingdom. Some of those expressing support for the group on social media have been sentenced to prison.
The operation in downtown Irbid began late Tuesday, with security forces raiding several locations and exchanging fire with the fugitives. In one area, troops surrounded a building where the wanted men were holed up.
Irbid resident Abdullah Nashwan said he heard the sound of shooting, and that security forces cut off power to parts of the city during the raids.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — A bloc of six Gulf nations led by Saudi Arabia says it has formally declared Lebanon’s Hizballah a terrorist organization.
A statement from the Gulf Cooperation Council said Wednesday that it was taking the step because of hostile acts by the militant group within its member states.
The group accused Hizballah of charges including seeking to recruit members within the GCC and smuggling of weapons and explosives.
The GCC includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
Israeli Forces Shoot 2 Palestinian Attackers by Associated Press
JERUSALEM — Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian assailants who infiltrated into a West Bank settlement and attacked an Israeli, the military said Wednesday.
Witnesses told Israeli Army Radio that the Palestinians were armed with a knife and clubs and forced their way into a home in the Eli settlement, where they wounded the Israeli. A spokeswoman for a Jerusalem hospital said the man was lightly wounded.
The military said the forces opened fire “upon the significant threat to the people of the community.”
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the attackers as Labeeb Azzam and Mohammed Zakhloul, both 17-year-old high school students.
Wednesday’s incident is the latest in more than five months of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Since September, 28 Israelis have been killed in near-daily Palestinian attacks. Some 170 Palestinians have been killed, the majority of which Israel says were attackers. The rest were killed in clashes with Israeli troops.
Meanwhile, the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din said the Israeli military has revoked land seizure orders issued more than 30 years ago, allowing for 170 hectares (420 acres) of West Bank land to be returned to its Palestinian owners. The land was seized for military purposes in the 1970s and 1980s but was barely used by the military, Yesh Din said, adding that the nullification of such orders by the military is rare.
Yesh Din provided The Associated Press with the revocation orders. The military had no immediate comment.
Israel has seized thousands of hectares of private Palestinian land in the West Bank for military purposes.
Next Page of Stories
Loading...
Page 3
Baghdad resident Raad al-Quraishi talks on Monday about citizens’ increased fears overrising water levels and flooding. Iraqi authorities instructed people to stay at least 6km from the Tigris River after the US embassy warned of an imminent catastrophe due to the possible collapse of the dam further north
Continue reading...
Next Page of Stories
Loading...
Page 4
Reuters |
New coalition commander inherits raging war in Afghanistan
Reuters KABUL U.S. Army General John Campbell stepped down as commander of the NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan on Wednesday, capping an 18-month tenure that saw the alliance transition from regular combat to a training-focused mission as war continued ... Change in Command of US-NATO Forces in AfghanistanNew York Times NATO welcomes new commander of mission in AfghanistanKuwait News Agency all 84 news articles » |
The Indian Express |
Gulf Nations Declare Lebanon's Hezbollah a Terrorist Group
New York Times DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A Saudi-led bloc of six Gulf Arab nations formally branded Hezbollah a terrorist organization on Wednesday, ramping up the pressure on the Lebanese militant group fighting on the side of President Bashar Assad in Syria. Gulf States Led by Saudi Arabia Call Hezbollah a Terrorist GroupBloomberg Lebanon's Hezbollah Is a Terrorist Group, Gulf Nations DeclareU.S. News & World Report Gulf Arab states label Hezbollah a terrorist organisationswissinfo.ch all 453 news articles » |
Daily Mail |
Osama bin Laden wanted to mark 9/11 with more attacks on the US, documents reveal
Daily Mail Osama bin Laden was planning more attacks on the U.S. just days before his death in order to mark the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, it has emerged. A cache of letters written by the former Al-Qaeda leader reveal he wanted to continue the organisation's ... and more » |
www.worldbulletin.net |
Turkey: 1845 cases opened for insulting Erdogan
The San Diego Union-Tribune ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's justice minister says as many as 1,845 cases have been opened against people accused of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan since he came to office in 2014. Erdogan has been accused of aggressively using a ... Ghana, Turkey Sign 4 AgreementsPeace FM Online Turkey to increase foreign trade volumes to $1bn by 2020Ghana Sod cut for KIA 3rd terminal worksGhanaWeb AllAfrica.com -Cihan News Agency -defenceWeb all 32 news articles » |
Many Mexican Schools Have No Bathrooms, Failing Teachersby webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)
Mexicans are getting shocking news about their public schools, 11 percent of which don't even have bathrooms. That figure rises to almost one-third in poor states like Oaxaca, Guerrero and Chiapas, Education Secretary Aurelio Nuno said Tuesday. Nuno also gave details on how the government plans to handle the relatively poor showing on the nation's first round of teacher evaluations. About 24 percent of teachers tested at grade schools and middle schools either failed teacher...
Next Page of Stories
Loading...
Page 5
Brazil Running Out of Time to Change Doping Lawby webdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)
Brazil, which has built a $25 million laboratory just to test drug cheats at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, risks being unable to do so, as it has less than three weeks to change its doping laws to conform to global regulations. Under World Anti-Doping Agency rules, doping cases must be heard by an independent specialized tribunal as opposed to a general sports court, as is the current process in Brazil. "They [Brazil] are very well aware of what they have to do," WADA chief...
Clock Ticks as Argentina's Macri Asks Congress to OK Creditors Deal by webdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)
Argentine President Mauricio Macri on Tuesday urged Congress to approve a landmark deal reached with creditors over defaulted debt, in order to comply with a U.S. court deadline and permit access to the financing needed to jumpstart Latin America's third largest economy. Macri, less than three months in office, is likely to cobble together the votes needed to implement the deal announced on Monday to pay $4.65 billion "holdout" hedge funds that rejected steep cuts in...
European Rights Body Says Worried by Hate Speech in Georgiaby webdesk@voanews.com (Reuters)
The Council of Europe told Georgia on Tuesday to improve its anti-discrimination policies and legislation, saying it was worried by an increase in cases of hate speech and violence against religious and sexual minority groups. The criticism from the pan-European human rights body comes at a sensitive time for Georgia as it seeks to move closer to NATO and the European Union following Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. "Despite certain progress achieved by...
Tech company Apple and the FBI faced off at a congressional hearing Tuesday, over the government's demand for help unlocking an iPhone used by a terrorist who killed 14 people in a December attack in San Bernardino, California. The FBI contends the phone may contain key information needed in its investigation. Apple says unlocking the device would set a dangerous precedent. Zlatica Hoke has more.
Residents Return to Mainly Kurdish Turkish Townby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Residents returned to Turkey's mainly Kurdish town of Cizre on Wednesday to find many of their homes damaged or destroyed after the government lifted a months-long 24-hour curfew. Turkey has been pressing an offensive against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the southeastern part of the country since July and has shut off parts of cities with curfews and security operations. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged to continue until every one of the militants is...
Gulf Nations Label Hezbollah a Terrorist Groupby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council announced Wednesday it has labeled the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah a terrorist organization. GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif al-Zayani said the move is linked to Hezbollah's attempts to recruit young people in GCC countries to carry out terrorist acts, smuggle weapons and explosives, and incite disorder and violence. He said Hezbollah actions in Syria, Yemen and Iraq are not compatible with moral and humanitarian values and pose a...
Next Page of Stories
Loading...
Page 6
Tech company Apple and the FBI faced off at a congressional hearing Tuesday, over the government's demand for help unlocking an iPhone used by a terrorist who killed 14 people in a December attack in San Bernardino, California. The FBI contends the phone may contain key information needed in its investigation. Apple says unlocking the device would set a dangerous precedent. Zlatica Hoke has more.
Originally published at - http://www.voanews.com/media/video/3215861.html
Originally published at - http://www.voanews.com/media/video/3215861.html
New York Daily News |
Former NYPD officer working as Texas cop killed in shootout at Dallas-area park; suspect also dead
New York Daily News A former NYPD officer working as a cop in Texas was killed in a shootout that also left the armed suspect dead Tuesday afternoon, police sources said. Officer David Hofer, 29, who joined New York's police force in 2009 and was assigned to the 9th ... Former NYPD Officer Shot, Killed On Duty In Dallas SuburbsCBS Local Euless police speak at 9:30 about fatal officer shootingDallas Morning News (blog) Officer killed in Euless had previously worked for New York policeFort Worth Star Telegram WFAA.com -Fox News -Tulsa World all 81 news articles » |
CNN |
NATO general: Europe migration causing ISIS to spread 'like a cancer'
CNN (CNN) NATO's top general said that the current exodus of migrants to Europe is providing cover for terrorists and that the mass migration is allowing ISIS to spread "like a cancer." Following testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Supreme ... Terrorists 'a daily part' of refugee flow into Europe, NATO commander saysFox News Breedlove Says European Security Situation 'Serious,' 'Complicated'Eurasia Review Russia, Syria Said Using Migrant Crisis As 'Weapon' Against WestRadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty Kansas City Star all 195 TASS-Military.com-The Guardian all 192 news articles » |
NBCNews.com |
Norfolk Southern Train Derails Near Ripley, New York; Cars Leak Ethanol
NBCNews.com Local residents were evacuated from their homes after a train carrying hazardous materials derailed in western New York overnight, causing an unspecified amount of ethanol to leak. More than a dozen cars on the eastbound Norfolk Southern train from ... Train carrying hazardous materials derails in upstate New YorkFox News Homes in western New York evacuated after train derails, leaks ethanolNew York Daily News Norfolk Southern train derails in New York, prompting evacuationsWAVY-TV Globalnews.ca all 58 news articles » |
Fox News |
US Special Operations troops capture ISIS operative in Iraq
Fox News A U.S. Special Operations assault force captured an ISIS operative during a recent raid in northern Iraq, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT. The official would not discuss specifics of the raid, including the identity of ... Situation Report: Delta Force hits ISIS; B-52s deploy to …Foreign Policy (blog) US forces capture Islamic State operative in Iraq: NYTReuters US Captures ISIS Operative, Ushering in Tricky PhaseNew York Times CNN-Breitbart News all 129 news articles » |
The head of the U.S. National Security Agency warned that hackers will inevitably attack U.S. infrastructure in an attempt to cause a power failure like the one in Ukraine last year.
Next Page of Stories
Loading...
Page 7
Russia, Syria Said Using Migrant Crisis As 'Weapon' Against West by support@pangea-cms.com (RFE/RL)
NATO's top commander warned that Russia and Syria have turned the refugee crisis into a "weapon" against the West at a time when it lacks resources to counter a "resurgent, aggressive" Russia.
What does it say about a regime when it is prepared to turn helpless civilians into weapons in its war for geopolitical influence?
Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry says nine people were killed on March 2 in a collision between a truck and a minibus on the Ural Highway in Russia's Penza region.
Puerto Rico braced for massive rise in cases
Nato's top commander in Europe accuses Russia and Syria of deliberately using migration to destabilise Europe.
Security officials said several Islamist extremists were killed along with a police officer near the northern city of Irbid.
Next Page of Stories
Loading...
Page 8
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- A Saudi-led bloc of six Gulf Arab nations formally branded Hezbollah a terrorist organization on Wednesday, ramping up the pressure on the Lebanese militant group fighting on the side of President Bashar Assad in Syria....
RIPLEY, N.Y. (AP) -- Crews are working to contain a leak on an ethanol tanker that was among 16 cars on a freight train that derailed in far southwestern New York and forced the evacuation of several homes....
FBI Error Locked San Bernardino Attacker's iPhone
New York Times-11 hours ago
WASHINGTON — The head of the F.B.I. acknowledged on Tuesday that his agency lost a chance to capture data from the iPhone used by one ...
The $760 million measure is the first emergency humanitarian program to be proposed by the 28-nation bloc to alleviate suffering inside its borders.
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
Comments
Post a Comment