Turkey's Davutoglu announces new government

August 29, 2014

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's new Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday reappointed all key ministers who served under the new president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, setting a course of continuity for the new government.

Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics for over a decade, was sworn in as Turkey's first popularly elected president on Thursday. He has picked former foreign minister and loyal ally Davutoglu to succeed him as prime minister and immediately asked him to form a new government.

Erdogan has indicated he wants to transform the presidency from a largely ceremonial post into a more powerful position. He has said he would exercise the president's seldom-used powers such as calling and presiding over Cabinet meetings, which would allow him to be involved in the running of government.

Davutoglu made no substantial changes to Erdogan's old government with the bulk of his ministers staying in place. He appointed Yalcin Akdogan — Erdogan's former chief adviser and his closest aide — as a deputy prime minister.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, a minister whose earlier task was to negotiate Turkey's accession to the European Union, took over the Foreign Ministry from Davutoglu. Former diplomat Volkan Bozkir replaces Cavusoglu as the minister in charge of ties with the EU.

Ali Babacan, a respected deputy prime minister in charge of the economy, would stay in place, in a move that is likely to reassure financial markets. Numan Kurtulmus, a senior party official and economist, was also promoted to deputy prime minister.

Cavusoglu, a U.S.- and British-educated founding member of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, was previously the president of the parliamentary assembly of the 47-nation Council of Europe, an organization that promotes human rights and democracy in the continent.

UN: Armed group detains 43 peacekeepers in Syria

August 29, 2014

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — An armed group detained 43 U.N. peacekeepers during fighting in Syria early Thursday and another 81 peacekeepers are trapped, the United Nations said.

The peacekeepers were detained on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights during a "period of increased fighting between armed elements and the Syrian Arab Armed Forces," the office of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement. It said another 81 peacekeepers are "currently being restricted to their positions in the vicinity of Ar Ruwayhinah and Burayqah."

The statement did not specify which armed group is holding the peacekeepers. Various Syrian rebel groups, including the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, have been fighting the Syrian military near the Golan Heights. On Wednesday, opposition fighters captured a Golan Heights crossing point on the disputed border between Syria and Israel.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the 43 detained peacekeepers are from Fiji and are thought to be in the southern part of the area of separation. The 81 troops from the Philippines had their movements restricted.

"The situation is extremely fluid. Obviously, we are very concerned," Dujarric said. "We are dealing with non-state armed actors," he said. "The command and control of these groups is unclear. We're not in a position to confirm who is holding whom. Some groups self-identified as being affiliated with al-Nusra, however, we are unable to confirm it."

The statement said the United Nations "is making every effort to secure the release of the detained peacekeepers," who are part of UNDOF, the mission that has been monitoring a 1974 disengagement accord between Syria and Israel after their 1973 war.

Philippines military spokesman Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala said in a statement later that Syrian rebels demanded that the Filipino troops surrender their firearms, but the soldiers refused. "They did not surrender their firearms as they may in turn be held hostage themselves. This resulted in a stand-off which is still the prevailing situation at this time," Zagala said.

Israel captured part of the Golan in the 1967 Mideast war and subsequently annexed the area in a move that is not internationally recognized. Syria retained the rest of the territory. The Security Council condemned the detention of the 43 peacekeepers and the restriction of movement of the other 81 and called for their immediate release. A rapidly drafted press statement blamed "Security Council-designated terrorist groups" and "members of non-state armed groups."

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki condemned the detainment of the U.N. detachment. "This is a force that is responsible for peacekeeping around the world, and certainly we don't think they should be a target of these type of efforts," Psaki said.

In June, the U.N. Security Council strongly condemned the intense fighting between Syrian government and opposition fighters in the Golan Heights and demanded an end to all military activity in the area. Syrian mortars overshooting their target have repeatedly hit the Israeli-controlled Golan, and U.N. peacekeepers have been abducted.

Thursday's statement noted that UNDOF peacekeepers who were detained by armed forces in March and May were later safely released. As of July, UNDOF has 1,223 troops from six countries: Fiji, India, Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands and the Philippines.

But the Philippine government last week said it would bring home its 331 peacekeeping forces from the Golan Heights after their tour of duty ends in October, amid the deteriorating security in the region.

In June 2013, Austria said it was withdrawing its 377 U.N. peacekeepers from the Golan Heights. Croatia also withdrew in 2013 amid fears its troops would be targeted.

Associated Press writer Bradley Klapper in Washington contributed.

India, Japan each seek deals during Modi's visit

August 29, 2014

TOKYO (AP) — Japan and India both have much to gain from a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and more than a dozen Indian steel, energy and IT tycoons that begins Saturday in the ancient capital of Kyoto.

The two countries have complementary economies, given Japan's wealth and technological prowess and India's natural resources and drive to modernize its economy. So far, though, they have failed to capitalize much on those mutual interests. The two countries signed an economic cooperation agreement in 2011 that is gradually dismantling tariffs, but trade between the two — despite gains — remains a tiny fraction of their overall import and export flows. That's partly because of India's restrictive policies toward foreign investment and partly because Japanese companies have been so focused on China.

Analysts expect Modi's visit with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to yield some substantial agreements, and possibly a long-awaited deal on cooperation in nuclear power generation technology. But in the long run, Modi must deliver on promises to improve his country's investment environment while balancing India's growing engagement with both Japan and rival China.

"I think there'll be some very big agreements, on the energy side also, not just nuclear but also renewable energy. India has been lagging on that and needs help from Japan," said Rajiv Biswas, chief Asia-Pacific economist at IHS Economics.

In the run-up to their meeting, Abe and Modi have been exchanging endearments on Twitter. "I deeply respect his leadership & enjoy a warm relationship with him from previous meetings," Modi wrote of Abe, adding that he hoped to take to take the relationship "to a new level."

"India has a special place in my heart. I am eagerly waiting for your arrival in Kyoto this weekend," tweeted back Abe, who is taking the unusually cordial step of traveling to Kyoto to escort Modi and his delegation before they fly to Tokyo late Sunday.

Since taking office in late 2012, Abe has been trotting the globe to help clinch big contracts for Japanese industrial giants like Hitachi and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, as part of his "Abenomics" agenda to help restore the country's economic dynamism. India, which plans to spend some $1 trillion on roads, railways and other infrastructure in 2012-2017, is a VIP customer.

And Modi will be trying to woo Japanese investment in three of his favorite projects, including railway modernization, an industrial corridor between New Delhi and Mumbai, and a plan to build 100 "smart cities" with high-tech communication facilities and modern infrastructure.

"Who is a better expert in bullet train technology than Japan?" said Kunal Singh, a researcher at the Center for Policy Research, a New Delhi think tank. The financial newspaper Nikkei reported Thursday that the two sides may also expand cooperation on India's mining of rare earths, as Tokyo diversifies away from a longstanding reliance on China for the minerals used in many high-tech applications.

To help move things along, India needs to attract investment by slashing red tape, experts say. Yet it remains unclear if Japan would proceed with sales of nuclear technology and related equipment to India. Such exports have been hampered by sensitivity in Japan over India's atomic tests and its refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"It is not an easy ride, definitely," Singh said. But he added that while India is balking at limits Japan wants to impose, the personal camaraderie between Abe and Modi might help, adding "the personal equations have to kick in, and we know they share a good bonhomie."

So far, Japan's investments have been concentrated mainly in India's thriving pharmaceuticals sector and auto industry — Maruti-Suzuki, a subsidiary of Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp., is India's biggest carmaker. In the energy sector, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and other Japanese banks agreed earlier this year to co-finance a $550 million loan for Reliance Industries Ltd.'s expansion of petrochemical and gasification plants and a refinery.

And Abe's moves to ease restrictions on exports of defense-related equipment dovetails with Modi's goal of refurbishing India's military. During a visit by Abe to India in January, the two sides agreed on closer cooperation in the energy and telecom sectors. The two sides also agreed to hold regular consultations between their national security councils on security issues. India invited Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force to participate in this year's India-U.S. naval exercises off India's western coast, and it wants to buy an amphibian aircraft called the US-2 and to participate in its production.

Japan's exports to India, especially of electronics, iron and steel, have jumped in the past decade. From India, Japan imports mostly refined petroleum products, gems and seafood. Yet Japanese brokerage Nomura said in a recent research report that noted that despite a 15 percent annual rate of increase in two-way trade between the two countries in recent years India accounts for only 1 percent of Japan's total trade, and Japan only 2 percent of India's.

Despite his keenness on Abe and Japanese investment to help support his economic agenda, Modi can only go so far. Shortly after his return home, he will be playing host to visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"He's going to have to play a balancing act," said Biswas at IHS Economics. "He will be playing it relatively even-handedly. Both are important economies and he won't want to be seen as playing favorites."

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Tim Sullivan and Vineeta Deepak in New Delhi contributed to this report.

Turkey's Erdogan sworn in as president

August 28, 2014

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Recep Tayyip Erdogan took the oath office as Turkey's first popularly elected president on Thursday, a position that will keep him in the nation's driving seat for at least another five years.

Erdogan was scheduled to appoint Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu — his designated successor as prime minster and loyal ally — to form a new government in the evening, following ceremonies at the presidential palace.

Erdogan has dominated Turkish politics for a decade and won Turkey's first direct presidential elections on Aug. 10. He has indicated he wants to transform the presidency from a largely ceremonial post into a more powerful position and is expected to hold sway in the running of the country. He intends to exercise the full powers of the presidency, including summoning Cabinet meetings.

Taking the oath in parliament, Erdogan said: "As president I swear on my pride and honor that I will protect the state, its independence, the indivisible unity of the nation ... and that I will abide by the constitution, the rule of law, democracy ... and the principle of the secular republic."

Later, Erdogan headed to the mausoleum of the nation's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, where he wrote on the visitors' book: "Today, the day the first president elected by the people takes office, is the day Turkey is born from its ashes."

Legislators from Turkey's main opposition party left parliament minutes before Erdogan arrived in protest of the man they accuse of not respecting the country's constitution. A legislator was seen throwing a copy of the constitution toward the parliamentary speaker, complaining that he wasn't allowed to speak.

Erdogan "will pledge allegiance to the constitution but he will lie. I don't want to witness that lie," said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the opposition party's leader, who snubbed the inauguration ceremony. In a ceremony where he formally took charge of the presidency from his predecessor, Abdullah Gul, Erdogan said that as the first president to be elected by the people — instead of parliament — his tenure would usher in an era of a "new Turkey, a great Turkey."

Working "hand in hand" with Davutoglu, the two would end divisions in Turkey, strive to further improve the economy, carry out democratic reforms and advance the country's bid to join the European Union, Erdogan said.

"Our march toward the EU will continue in a more determined way. Our democratic reforms won't lose speed," Erdogan said. On Wednesday, Erdogan rejected claims that Davutoglu would merely do his bidding, saying the two would work together.

Erdogan has been a divisive figure. He is adored by supporters after presiding over a decade of relative prosperity. But he is also despised by many for taking an increasing authoritarian tack and is accused of trying to impose his religious and conservative mores on a nation that has secular traditions.

With a splat, paintball fires into Afghanistan

August 29, 2014

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The hidden gunman, dressed in long green coveralls and a SWAT-team-style vest and helmet, looks ominous as he takes aim and fires off a short burst.

But this isn't a Taliban attack in the heart of Afghanistan's capital — it's just a friendly game of paintball. The arrival of recreational paintball to Afghanistan may seem peculiar to outsiders, especially in a country that's known decades of war, faces constant bombings and attacks by Taliban insurgents and is preparing its own security forces for the withdrawal of most foreign troops by the end of the year.

However, it shows both the rise of a nascent upper and middle class looking for a diversion with the time to spare, as well as the way American culture has seeped into the country since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion to topple the Taliban.

"These people deserve to have more fun," said Abbas Rizaiy, the owner of the "Eagle" paintball club in central Kabul. Rizaiy brought the game to Afghanistan just a few weeks ago. He's a longtime fan of the first-person shooter video game "Call of Duty" and stepped up to the next level by playing paintball in neighboring Iran where he was born.

He moved to Afghanistan 10 years ago and eventually decided to open the club this year in Kabul, a city more associated with real bullets than ones that splatter paint. For those who have never suffered a welt from the game, paintball involves participants geared up in helmets, goggles and protective clothing firing at each other using gas-powered guns that shoot paint pellets. The games can be complicated affairs that last for hours or as simple as a capture-the-flag contest that lasts only a few minutes.

Naqibullah Jafari, a marketing officer in Kabul who came with his friends one day, acknowledged that they didn't have much of a strategy when he took to the field — other than to shoot each other. "It is my first time that I came here, and I don't have any special tactics in this game," he said, with his goggles pushed up to his forehead and his weapon at his side.

Rizaiy said he hasn't had many issues with the neighbors, though he turned down the speed at which the weapons fire to reduce the noise. Instead, he said the biggest challenge was to get the paintball guns as the ones he imported from India got stuck for six months in Afghanistan's bureaucracy-laden customs department.

Paintball is one a small number of leisure activities that have sprung up in Kabul since the fall of the Taliban. A bowling alley called "The Strikers" opened up a few years ago and a number of pools around the city provide a place for residents to splash around in the summer months. There's also a 9-hole golf course a short drive outside of Kabul.

But most of these activities are geared toward the city's small, upper- and middle-class elite who can afford the admission. And customers are overwhelming male because of Afghanistan's conservative society, which deems it generally not acceptable for women to go to activities involving men who aren't relatives.

Rizaiy said he'd like women customers, but said women don't want to be stared at while wearing all the warrior gear. This year is one of many transitions for Afghanistan, with a presidential election that is still undecided and foreign troops scheduled to leave the country. Rizaiy said he thinks at least some U.S. troops likely will stay, providing stability for Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, his customers seem to appreciate the irony of firing toy guns in a country flooded with the real thing. "We can use guns for positive things and also for negative things," customer Ali Noori said. "These guns are for entertainment."

Icelandic officials say eruption near Bardarbunga

August 29, 2014

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Icelandic authorities raised the aviation warning code to red Friday after a small fissure eruption near Bardarbunga volcano, but no volcanic ash has been detected by the radar system.

The eruption took place the Holuhraun lava field, north of Dyngjujoekull glacier, Iceland's Meteorological Office said. The event was described as being not highly explosive — and thus not producing much of the fine ash that can affect aircraft engines.

"If this eruption persists it could become a tourist attraction, as it will be relatively safe to approach, although the area is remote," said David Rothery, a professor of Planetary Geosciences at The Open University in Britain. "This event should not be seen as 'relieving the pressure' on Bardarbunga itself, nor is it a clear precursor sign of an impending Bardarbunga eruption."

Icelandic Air Traffic Control has closed the airspace over the volcano from the ground up to 18,000 feet (5,486 meters). All of the country's airports remain open. In 2010, Iceland's Eyjafjallajokul volcano erupted and sparked a week of international aviation chaos, with thousands of flights canceled. Aviation officials closed Europe's air space for five days, fearing that volcanic ash could harm jet engines.

UN says Syria refugees top 3 million mark

August 29, 2014

GENEVA (AP) — The civil war in Syria has forced a record 3 million people out of the country as more than a million people fled in the past year, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday.

The tragic milestone means that about one of every eight Syrians has fled across the border, and 6.5 million others have been displaced within Syria since the conflict began in March 2011, the Geneva-based agency said. More than half of all those uprooted are children, it said.

"The Syria crisis has become the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era, yet the world is failing to meet the needs of refugees and the countries hosting them," said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres.

Syria had a prewar population of 23 million. The recent surge in fighting appears to be worsening the already desperate situation for Syrian refugees, the agency said, as the extremist Islamic State group expands its control of broad areas straddling the Syria-Iraq border and terrorizes rivals and civilians in both countries.

According to the agency, many of the new arrivals in Jordan come from the northern province of Aleppo and the northeastern region of Raqqa, a stronghold of the group. An independent U.N. commission says the group is systematically carrying out widespread bombings, beheadings and mass killings that amount to crimes against humanity in both areas.

The commission investigating potential war crimes in Syria said on Wednesday that the Syrian government of President Bashar Assad likely used chlorine gas to attack civilians, who are bearing the brunt of a civil war that has killed more than 190,000 people and destabilized the region.

The massive numbers of Syrians fleeing the civil war has stretched the resources of neighboring countries and raised fears of violence spreading in the region. The U.N. estimates there are nearly 35,000 people awaiting registration as refugees, and hundreds of thousands who are not registered.

International Rescue Committee President David Miliband said the Syrian refugee crisis represents "3 million indictments of government brutality, opposition violence and international failure." "This appalling milestone needs to generate action as well as anger," he said, calling for more aid to Syria's overburdened neighbors and for civilians still in the country.

The refugee agency and other aid groups say an increasing number of families are arriving in other countries in shockingly poor condition, exhausted and scared and with almost no financial savings left after having been on the run for a year or more. In eastern Jordan, for example, the agency says refugees crossing the desert are forced to pay smugglers $100 per person or more to be taken to safety.

Lebanon hosts 1.14 million Syrian refugees, the single highest concentration. Turkey has 815,000 and Jordan has 608,000.

Jordan's king pushes to expand military, intelligence authority

Osama Al Sharif
August 25, 2014

On Aug. 14, the Jordanian government announced that it would ask parliament to approve two constitutional amendments giving the king sole authority to appoint the head of the armed forces and director of the kingdom’s General Intelligence Department (GID). Almost three years ago, in October 2011, in response to public protests calling for political reforms, King Abdullah II had approved a number of constitutional amendments that curtailed some of his powers and allowed for the creation of a Constitutional Court and an Independent Elections Commission.

These reforms were hailed as a major step toward full constitutional monarchy. Jordan’s version of the Arab Spring was largely peaceful and bloodless, and Abdullah was able to project himself as a champion of political reforms that would lead, according to statements made in June 2011, to the formation of parliamentary governments. That promise remains to be fulfilled.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s Islamic Action Front (IAF) boycotted the 2013 legislative elections, and other political parties performed poorly, failing to fill the vacuum. Weak and unpopular, the parties' presence in the current Lower House, comprised mostly of independents, is modest. The government of Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, appointed by Abdullah in October 2012, was supposed to include elected deputies as a precursor to the formation of parliamentary governments. To date, however, Ensour has failed to fulfill that pledge, probably due to royal objections.

It is clear that Abdullah instructed Ensour to handle the two constitutional amendments. Under the current constitution, the government recommends the appointees for head of the armed forces and GID director, and the king approves them through royal decree. The king had asked the prime minister on Aug. 12 to “activate” the Ministry of Defense, whose portfolio has been handled directly by the prime minister for decades. In effect, the portfolio will now be managed by a civilian or a retired army officer. The king said the new ministry will handle “political, economic, legal and logistical duties related to national defense … and nonmilitary services … while allowing the armed forces to dedicate its time to professional military duties.”

The government is rushing the two amendments through parliament, which has been convened in an extraordinary session. The timing and reasons for the amendments, described by Ensour as important reforms that will enhance Jordan’s democratic process, were not made clear. Pundits rushed to explain the surprise move. Clearly Abdullah is looking to expand his authority, making sure that the decision to appoint and fire the heads of two very sensitive institutions remains his alone.

Critics of the move did not waste time making their points. In general, they saw the move as a violation of the constitution and a derogation of the general mandate of the government. A number of retired army officers issued a statement denouncing the action, describing it as “an attack on the constitution and a challenge to the will of the people, who are the source of all authorities.”

Mohammad al-Hammouri, a respected constitutional expert and former justice minister, wrote on Aug. 19, “Giving the king exclusive powers to appoint the heads of the armed forces and GID constitutes an abrogation of the parliamentary system and a coup against the constitution, effectively turning Jordan from a constitutional monarchy to a presidential monarchy.”

He added that the Jordanian system of government is based on the principle of separation of powers, with the people being the source of authority. He added that the only exclusive power that the king has is to prevent amendment of the constitution, while the authority to run the state’s domestic and foreign affairs is tied directly to the Council of Ministers.

Omar al-Atout, a lawyer, published an article on Aug. 14 accusing the government of “committing the crime of undermining the regime.” He wrote that the amendments aim at “implicating the monarchy by making the king directly responsible for any mistakes committed by the security institutions … and by demoting the king from being a judge over all branches of government to a mere player.” He accused “frivolous boys” at the royal court of standing behind such ideas while reminding the prime minister that the first article in the constitution defines Jordan's system of government as a parliamentary monarchy.

Despite such strong legal objections, it is clear that the royal court is seeking to secure strategic objectives in pushing the amendments. Mohammad Abu Rumman, a political commentator, provided one possible explanation when he wrote in the daily Al-Ghad on Aug. 14 that the royal move aims at “redefining the role of the monarchy in Jordan” and that the king is pushing toward the formation of parliamentary governments “but not until he secures some guarantees … by withdrawing sovereign key decisions from governments and placing them in his hands to protect the country’s security and to prevent key positions from being influenced by political wrangling.” He also said that the suggested amendments will “clash head on with the philosophy of the system of governance and the spirit of the constitution, where the king enjoys full immunity from direct responsibility.”

Abu Rumman’s explanation echoes that of others who believe the king is about to engage Jordanians in a new political experiment through parliamentary government. The legislature is yet to pass a new political parties’ law, and the government has promised to make substantial changes to the controversial election law next year.

Despite vocal opposition from a number of deputies, the lower house of parliament is likely to approve the two amendments in a special session as early as this week. Deputy Tamer Bino told Al-Monitor the amendments “affect the identity of the political system in Jordan,” reminding colleagues that former GID directors had been convicted of corruption in the past and sentenced to jail. He said, “If this happens again, then who will bear the final responsibility?”

Minister of Political Affairs Khaled al-Kalaldeh told Al-Monitor that both the chief of the General Staff of the armed forces and GID director will be under the oversight of both the executive and legislative branches, regardless of the proposed amendments. Deputy Jamil al-Nimri said that the amendments were “unnecessary and based on unrealistic fears,” arguing, “The general mandate of the government could have been saved by maintaining the current system of appointment.” He told Al-Monitor that Jordan should get ready for full parliamentary government and even party-led governments in the future.

It is clear that the controversial amendments will be approved and that the king’s powers will be increased in contrast to the reformist course adopted during the height of the Arab Spring. Apologists say this will pave the way for the creation of full parliamentary governments in the near future, but how this will affect the evolution of Jordan’s monarchy remains an open question.

Source: al-Monitor.
Link: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/08/jordan-king-constitution-amendments.html.

In Zaatari refugee camp, early marriage often trumps school

Mishelle Shmulovich
August 22, 2014

MAFRAQ, Jordan — Rahaf still giggles when she talks about her husband. Newly married to another resident of Zaatari, the world’s largest Syrian refugee camp, the 16-year-old from Daraa carries a picture from their wedding day under her dress, “just above her heart,” she says.

“I’m lucky. He’s Syrian, too,” she gushes. Her husband, Gassem, is 25 and the couple hopes to have children soon.

Such is the case for other Syrian girls living in Zaatari: The path of marriage trumped the option of going to school.

“I wanted to go to school,” she says, “but my father didn’t let me. He didn’t think it was safe. He’d say, ‘What’s the use? It [the degree] will be useless when you go back home.’”

But with the Syrian civil war in its fourth year, the fleeting promise of returning to Syria any time soon dwindles each day.

Zaatari is no longer temporary. It’s home.

Today, 80,428 people live in Zaatari, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which administers the camp in conjunction with the Jordanian government. Unofficial sources put the number of Zaatari residents higher, closer to 120,000.

According to UNHCR, approximately 57% of the camp’s population is under 18 — and that percentage is growing. On average, 11 babies are born at one of the camp’s medical clinics each day, and Syrian families with children continue to pour across the border seeking safety in Jordan.

To cope with the ballooning numbers of children in the camp, the Jordanian Ministry of Education, together with UNICEF and partner agencies, opened three schools, which run double shifts — girls come in the morning, boys in the afternoon. Hind Omer, a UNICEF education specialist, told Al-Monitor that three more are set to open in the fall.

Last year, 18,000 children enrolled in Zaatari’s schools. With school set to start Sunday, UNICEF is expecting an increase of 4,000 children — to 22,000 students — according to Omer.

That number is a victory, because it would mean that two-thirds of the school-age population in Zaatari goes to school.

The trends within the overall Syrian refugee community, however, are not as positive. Today, some 3 million Syrian children aren’t going to school or are at risk of dropping out, according to UNICEF.

Much of Zaatari’s success is thanks to aid agencies that have poured millions of dollars into education programs, both formal and informal, for Syrian youngsters living in or outside Zaatari. For example, the European Union, UNICEF’s biggest partner on the issue, has invested more than 30 million euros into Syrian educational programs in Jordan since the crisis began, UNICEF specialist Miraj Pradhan told Al-Monitor.

Yet, many families, like those of the newly married Rahaf, still shy away from sending their daughters to school in Zaatari, and it’s not only due to stigma.

Zaatari, which sits on arid, unforgiving enclosed terrain, has been prone to violence, theft and assault.

More than 90% of Zaatari residents are from Daraa and its neighboring villages, which was home to a conservative and devout Sunni population. Some parents worry they can’t control their daughter’s environment as well as they did in Syria. Living far from the camp’s schools adds to the danger that their daughters can be harassed along the way, one family told Al-Monitor.

Another indirect obstacle to youth education in Zaatari is that 42% of the families in Zaatari are female-headed households. In some cases, the mothers are widows; in others, the men are still fighting the regime in Syria. Especially in this context, boys are viewed as potential breadwinners for the family, making school more of a luxury than an immediate necessity.

But for Manal, a mother of four in her early 30s who was an English teacher before the war, there’s no other option besides school.

“In Syria, most kids go to school. But the classrooms here are so crowded!” she says. Still, she insists that her children must continue their education because the other alternatives, such as boredom or idleness, are even bigger threats.

“We can’t just sit here, not being allowed to leave the camp, without having anything to do,” she says. “My kids would go crazy.”

Amne, 18, has been living in Zaatari for 1½ years. During the day she goes to school — she’s finishing 12th grade this year — and then comes home to rest for two hours before heading to work at one of the camp’s reception centers.

Shy yet sharp, Amne worries about how she’ll continue her education. “I want to go to university, but it’s very difficult for us to do that here in Jordan,” she says, fixating her sky-blue eyes on the swinging tarpaulin that serves as the front door of her neighbor’s home.

For Amne and other college-age Syrians in Zaatari, university often seems like a faraway fable.

With Jordanian universities filled to capacity, and competition from other foreign nationals — such as students from the Gulf countries — for the non-Jordanian spots, Syrian refugees seeking a higher education can easily fall through the cracks, an official from the Ministry of Education told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity.

UNHCR’s DAFI program was created to address this very need: The program offers more than 2,000 scholarships annually so refugees can study in other countries.

But the demand for higher education among Syrian refugees continues to grow, and for young women like Amne, leaving her family to go study alone in another country isn’t really socially acceptable.

Yusuf, a soft-spoken 20-year-old originally from Daraa, was enrolled in a mechanical college in Damascus before the war broke out, which put his studies on hold indefinitely.

“I applied to the university here in Jordan,” he says, speaking from his father’s dress shop in Zaatari’s open-air market, “but I wasn’t accepted. And now I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to finish the degree.”

Even if he were accepted, the task of trying to transfer credits between Syria and Jordan isn’t seamless, Jordan’s Ministry of Higher Education acknowledged.

The ministry told Al-Monitor there is no quota on the number of Syrian students allowed to attend Jordan’s universities, but it doesn’t have any special programs for Syrian refugees either.

The cost of university tuition in Jordan, which is higher for foreigners, and the complications of leaving Zaatari — Syrian refugees need a Jordanian sponsor guaranteeing financial support to move out of the camp — in addition to the myriad costs of daily life (another problem as Syrians aren’t given work permits) make going to university in Jordan seem unrealistic, if not impossible, for Amne, Yusuf and countless others.

It wouldn’t be hard to imagine the young generation of Syrian refugees giving up on their hopes and plans when daily existence is a struggle riddled with pain and unknowns.

But that’s not the case for people with passion, says Amne. “I know there’s a way,” she says, and it’s that hope that keeps her going.

Source: al-Monitor.
Link: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/08/jordan-zaatari-schools-syrian-refugess.html.

South Korea launches fourth of 20 new frigates

by Richard Tomkins
Seoul (UPI)
Aug 25, 2014

A fourth guided missile frigate for the South Korean Navy has been launched by STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, the Ministry of National Defense announced.

The ship, "Gangwon Ham," is one of 20 new frigates planned for the Navy by the mid-2020s and will be delivered to the service next year.

Gangwon Ham displaces 2,300-tons and 374 feet in length. It carries 120 sailors, has a maximum speed of as much as 30 knots and will carry a full complement of anti-ship and air defense weapons. Among them: the Haeseong ship-to-ship guided missile, Chung Sang Eo light torpedoes and a 5-inch main gun.

More than 90 percent of ship systems are locally made.

"The next frigate will allow our defense ability for near sea to be improved so that North Korean threats can be deterred," a South Korean Navy spokesman said. "If the enemy provokes us, we'll instantly punish them and bury them at sea."

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/South_Korea_launches_fourth_of_20_new_frigates_999.html.

Japan mulls enhancing missile detecting capability

Tokyo, Japan (XNA)
Aug 26, 2014

Japan is mulling to further and effectively use space to detect early signs of ballistic missile so as to boost its defense capabilities, local media reported on Saturday.

The Japanese Defense Ministry hopes to promote empirical research with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and also considered to set up a special force for space surveillance within the Self-Defense Forces, Japan's Kyodo News quoted a new space policy draft released Friday.

It is "extremely important to use space to prepare for various contingencies, including ballistic missiles," the draft said, adding that there are "grave threats to stable use of space."

The ministry also weighs to develop smaller satellites that can be lifted off easily, Kyodo quoted the draft as saying.

Currently, Japan has four information-gathering satellites.

The ministry also plans to load its infrared sensors onto JAXA' s new satellite to conduct research and improve its capabilities to analyze satellite images, said the report.

Japan has enabled JAXA to do research for the country's defense since the law concerning the agency was revised, and aimed for greater use of space under the latest defense program guidelines.

The ministry crafted the first basic policy in 2009 after Japan enacted the Basic Space Law in 2008.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Japan_mulls_enhancing_missile_detecting_capability_999.html.

Japan mulls building its own fighter jets: report

Tokyo (AFP)
Aug 21, 2014

Japan is considering building its own fighter jets after years of playing second fiddle in a US construction partnership, a report said Thursday, in a move likely to stoke fears of its military resurgence among Asian neighbors.

Japan's attempt in the 1980s to build its first purely domestic fighters since World War II faced US resistance and resulted in joint US-Japan development and production of the F-2, the Nikkei newspaper said.

But joint F-2 production ended more than two years ago and the last of the fighters are due to be retired from Japan's air defense force around 2028, it added.

The defense ministry plans to seek about 40 billion yen ($387 million) in state funding for the next year starting in April 2015 to test experimental engines and radar-dodging stealth airframe designs for a purely Japanese fighter, the report said.

According to its medium-term defense program, the Tokyo government will decide by the 2018 financial year whether to go ahead with the all-Japanese fighter project.

There is a growing need for Japan to develop a long-haul, highly stealthy fighter jets in face of China's increasing assertiveness in the East China Sea, where the two countries are locked in a dispute over a group of Tokyo-controlled islands, the Nikkei said.

Beijing regularly warns of what it says is Tokyo's intent to re-arm on the quiet, saying selective amnesia about its World War II behavior means it cannot be trusted to have a fully-fledged military.

Last month the cabinet of conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe loosened the bonds on Japan's military -- proclaiming the right to go into battle in defense of allies -- in a highly controversial shift in the nation's post-war pacifist stance.

Japan denies its intent is anything other than defensive, and hits back that Beijing's opaque military spending and its burgeoning ambitions are the real danger.

The defense ministry started work four years ago on the so-called Advanced Technology Demonstrator-X (ATD-X) plane to explore the project's feasibility by studying lightweight airframe designs and built-in missile-firing mechanisms, the Nikkei said.

The ATD-X is due to start testing experimental engines in January and the stealth airframe designs in April, the report said.

The ministry hopes to develop the actual engines for the project in cooperation with IHI, Mitsubishi Heavy and other defense contractors in about five years.

Developing a purely domestic fighter is estimated to cost a massive 500-800 billion yen ($4.8-7.7 billion), the report said.

Source: Space Mart.
Link: http://www.spacemart.com/reports/Japan_mulls_building_its_own_fighter_jets_report_999.html.

Battle for Ukraine's southeast coast heats up

August 27, 2014

NOVOAZOVSK, Ukraine (AP) — Pushing west in a new offensive along Ukraine's strategic coastline, heavily armed Russian-backed separatist forces captured new territory Wednesday far from their previous battles with government troops.

The bold offensive along a new southeastern front raised the prospect that the separatists are seeking to create a land link between Russia and Crimea, which also would give them control over the entire Azov Sea.

After a third day of heavy shelling that sent many residents fleeing, rebel fighters with dozens of tanks and armored vehicles entered Novoazovsk, a resort town of 40,000 on the Azov Sea, the mayor told The Associated Press.

Novoazovsk lies along the road linking Russia to the Ukrainian port of Mariupol and onto Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed in March. The separatist attack appears to have caught government forces off guard, and they were scrambling Wednesday to build up defenses. The offensive also adds to growing evidence that the rebels receive Russian support.

Oleg Sidorkin, the mayor of Novoazovsk, told the AP by telephone that the rebel forces had rolled into town from positions near Ukraine's southernmost border with Russia. To travel to this spot through Ukraine from the main front line around Donetsk and Luhansk, far to the north, the rebels would have had to cross territory controlled by government troops. The more logical conclusion is that they came across the nearby Russian border.

Ukraine and Western governments have long accused Russia of playing a direct role in the conflict, supplying troops and weaponry to the rebels. Russia consistently denies the claims, but its stance is increasingly dismissed abroad.

"Information, which in recent hours has gained another hard-facts confirmation, is that regular Russian units are operating in eastern Ukraine," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Wednesday. "This information, coming from NATO and confirmed by our intelligence, is in fact unequivocal."

The U.S. government accused Russia on Wednesday of orchestrating a new military campaign in Ukraine that is helping rebel forces expand their fight and sending in tanks, rocket launchers and armored vehicles.

"These incursions indicate a Russian-directed counteroffensive is likely underway in Donetsk and Luhansk," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters. She also voiced concern about overnight deliveries of materiel in southeast Ukraine near Novoazovsk and said Russia was being dishonest about its actions, even to its own people.

Russian forces, she said, are being sent 30 miles (48 kilometers) inside Ukraine, without them or their families knowing where they are going. She cited reports of burials in Russia for those who've died in Ukraine and wounded Russian soldiers being treated in a St. Petersburg hospital.

Associated Press journalists on the border have seen the rebels with a wide range of unmarked military equipment — including tanks, Buk missile launchers and armored personnel carriers — and have run into many Russians among the rebel fighters. Ukraine also captured 10 soldiers from a Russian paratrooper division Monday around Amvrosiivka, a town about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Russian border.

On Wednesday, AP reporters saw more than 20 shells fall around Novoazovsk in a one-hour span. Many people were leaving the town, while others were rushing back in to evacuate relatives. Later in the day, access from the west was blocked by Ukrainian soldiers and the presence of rebels in Novoazovsk could not be independently confirmed.

A spokesman for Ukraine's security council, Col. Andriy Lysenko, said he had no information that Novoazovsk had been occupied. Earlier, he said the shelling around the town was coming from both Ukrainian and Russian territory. Ukrainian security officials said nearby villages had also come under shelling.

The artillery shells in Novoazovsk appeared to be flying between rebel and government positions. "It hit a tree, there was a blast and the shrapnel came down here," said Alexei Podlepentsov, an electrician at the Novoazovsk hospital, which was struck by shelling Tuesday.

In Mariupol, a city of 450,000 about 30 kilometers (20 miles) to the west, defenses were being built up. A brigade of Ukrainian forces arrived at the airport on Wednesday afternoon, while deep trenches were dug a day earlier on the city's edge. Other troops were blocking traffic from leaving the port heading east.

Ukraine has already lost more than 750 kilometers (450 miles) of coastline in Crimea, along with a major naval port and significant mineral rights in the Black Sea. If the separatists were to seize a land bridge to Crimea that would be a further loss of more than 250 kilometers (150 miles) of coastline. This would also give them or Russia control over the entire Azov Sea and any offshore oil and gas reserves.

This would leave Ukraine with about 450 kilometers (270 miles) of coastline to the west of Crimea. Fighting also persisted elsewhere Wednesday, and Lysenko said 13 Ukrainian troops had been killed over the past day.

In Donetsk, the largest rebel-held city further north, at least three people were killed on a main road when their cars were hit by shrapnel from falling artillery shells. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, met Tuesday for their first one-on-one meeting, but there was no indication of a swift resolution to the fighting that has claimed at least 2,000 civilian lives.

Poroshenko called the talks "overall positive" and said Putin had accepted the principles of his peace plan, which includes an amnesty for those in the east not accused of serious crimes and calls for some decentralization of power.

Putin, however, insisted that only Kiev could secure a cease-fire deal with the separatists, saying the conflict was "Ukraine's business" because Russia was not in the fight. "I think we are in for more bad news," said Maria Lipman, an independent political analyst in Moscow. "This may be the first step toward what eventually may become de-escalation, but it is not a direct step."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke with Putin on Wednesday about the situation in Ukraine, both governments said. Merkel stressed Russia's responsibility for a de-escalation and for surveillance of its border, her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said in a statement.

Ukraine wants the rebels to hand back the territory they have captured in eastern Ukraine, while Putin wants to retain some sort of leverage over the mostly Russian-speaking region so Ukraine does not join NATO or the European Union. Putin has so far ignored requests from the rebels to be annexed by Russia.

In Moscow, Denis Pushilin, one of the leaders of the pro-Russia insurgency, told reporters he had no information about whether Russian soldiers had entered Ukraine near Novoazovsk. But he said the Ukrainian separatists have been joined by many volunteers from Russia and also Serbia.

AP reporters in eastern Ukraine have heard a variety of Russian accents from all over the country among the rebel fighters.

Jim Heintz in Kiev, Ukraine, Nicolae Dumitrache in Donetsk, Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, and Lynn Berry and Laura Mills in Moscow contributed to this report.

Czech UNESCO garden gets back 17th-century look

August 28, 2014

KROMERIZ, Czech Republic (AP) — A visit to the Flower Garden in the eastern Czech city of Kromeriz is like traveling 300 years back in time.

With its original geometrical layout and high topiary walls, it's a rare example of an early baroque garden style. And it's now reclaiming the unique features it had when it was completed in 1675, including fountains, sculptures inspired by Greek and Roman mythology, a Dutch bulb garden, citrus trees, fishponds and a rabbit hill.

The Flower Garden was created near an archbishop's chateau, but it proved so difficult and expensive to maintain that it was neglected. Ironically, that neglect allowed it to survive for centuries mostly unchanged, though some features disappeared or suffered damage over time.

Restoration efforts began in the 1950s, and the Flower Garden was added to UNESCO's World Heritage list in 1998 together with the chateau and another garden on its grounds. The European Union is now funding restoration of about a third of the Flower Garden, using copper engravings from 1691 as a guide for what it once looked like.

"Here, time has stopped, somehow," said Lenka Kresadlova from the National Heritage Institute. "As it served as a kitchen garden, most of its artistic features, including the topiary, were preserved. It was a fortunate coincidence that allowed this garden to be preserved in its original authentic shape, when all other gardens created in the era ceased to exist. That's why we are so unique."

Kresadlova said the project's goal is "to give the visitors a chance to relive the atmosphere. We might not be faithful to every single detail but the whole atmosphere and the spirit of the place should return to the early baroque time."

Here are some of the restored features from the Flower Garden that offer visitors a glimpse of a 17th-century world. DUTCH GARDEN Growing bulbs — called "Dutch" flowers — was a prestigious activity among the upper class in the 16th and 17th centuries. These spring-blooming flower beds have been restored with 20,000 bulbs of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and Kaiser's crown (or crown imperials). The Dutch Garden also includes a fountain with the original statue of a water god, and is considered one of the Flower Garden's most authentic spots.

ORANGE GARDEN Originally, this area had three rows of citrus trees. It formed a very prestigious part of the garden because only the richest people could afford citrus trees in Central Europe due to the severe weather. In winter, the area was covered with a wooden shelter and heated, but the structure was difficult to maintain and did not survive. In the 18th century, it was replaced by an orangery, but that, too, did not survive. It's also not known what the wooden structure looked like, so the citrus trees that are there today were planted in wooden barrels and will be placed in glasshouses in winter.

TROUT PONDS Two square pools with fountains in the middle survived as ruins. They reclaimed their original look, including stone balustrades. Despite being called trout ponds, they never housed trout, just carp, and the new ponds will get some fish.

RABBIT HILL Rabbits lived in a series of burrows in an artificial hill with a statue of Diana, goddess of the hunt, placed on the top. The hill disappeared over time but has been rebuilt. The statue survived.

AVIARY A large baroque enclosure for birds with 10 huge windows, located in the middle of a pool on an island, survived to the 20th century in poor condition and was not much improved by a partial reconstruction in the 1960s. The aviary and pool have now been completely renovated.

HISTORY Kromeriz was once a summer seat of bishops and archbishops from the nearby city of Olomouc. The Flower Garden was commissioned by Bishop Charles II Lichtenstein-Castelcorn, designed by architect Filiberto Lucchese and completed after Lucchese's death by Giovanni Pietro Tencalla in 1675. It's a rare example of an early baroque style that combined an Italian Renaissance garden with a newer French baroque approach typical of the period of Louis XIV, the Sun King.

ORIGINAL LAYOUT The space is divided by a network of paths with a central rotunda, with labyrinths, fountains and a colonnade with 44 sculptures inspired by Greek and Roman mythology.

If You Go...

FLOWER GARDEN: http://www.zamek-kromeriz.cz/gardens/floral-garden/.

Located in Kromeriz, Czech Republic, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) east of Brno, the second-largest Czech city, which has an international airport. Open daily.
Adults, 40 Czech koruna ($1.90; 1.4 euro). Discounts for seniors, family, children and students.

The archbishop's chateau and chateau garden are also UNESCO World Heritage sites and worth a visit.

Dozens of planes grounded in German pilot strike

August 29, 2014

BERLIN (AP) — Thousands of passengers are feeling the impact of a pilots strike in Germany after negotiations between the country's biggest airline Lufthansa and the union representing pilots collapsed over a long-running dispute regarding wages and early retirement benefits.

Germanwings, a subsidiary of Germany's biggest airline Lufthansa, said up to 15,000 passengers were affected by Friday's strike which started at 6 a.m. and was to last until noon local time (0400-1000 GMT).

More than a hundred flights, mostly domestic connections from airports in Cologne, Stuttgart, Duesseldorf, Dortmund, Hannover, Hamburg and Berlin, were grounded by the strike. The airline said on its website it was trying to rebook customers free of charge.

A three-day pilots' strike in April grounded Lufthansa and its Germanwings and Lufthansa Cargo subsidiaries.

Hungarian T-72 tanks on way to Czech Republic

by Richard J. Tomkins
Budapest, Hungary (UPI)
Aug 26, 2014

More than four dozen T-72 tanks are on their way to the Czech military from Hungarian Army depots.

The Hungarian Ministry of Defense said the transport of 58 surplus tanks began on Monday to an undisclosed point in the Czech Republic but offered no other details.

The Soviet-made T-72 came into production in the early 1970s. It weighs about 45 tons, has a speed of about 37 miles per hour and an operation range of about 290 miles.

Hungary said the Prague government purchased the tanks in accordance with the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, or CFE, an international agreement which governed the number of tanks that both NATO and the Warsaw Pact could have on the Continent. It also set regulations governing the withdrawal of tanks from service and their storage and sale.

"Under the terms of the sales contract, the customer has strict liability because the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe applies to all sales of tanks, and it must also comply with the concrete regulations imposed by the Hungarian laws," Hungary's Defense Ministry said. "The customer is allowed to resell the tanks only in compliance with the relevant provisions of the CFE Treaty."

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Hungarian_T-72_tanks_on_way_to_Czech_Republic_999.html.

Sweden: 3 protesters injured by mounted police

August 23, 2014

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — At least three people were seriously injured Saturday when mounted riot police charged demonstrators in southern Sweden, authorities said.

Police spokeswoman Ewa-Gun Westford said officers on horseback chased rock-throwing demonstrators who were "causing violent riots" in Malmo, Sweden's third-largest city. Swedish media published photos of people on the ground as police horses raced over them down a street.

Approximately 1,000 people had gathered in Malmo to protest an election rally by a far-right group, the Party of the Swedes, ahead of the country's Sept. 14 parliamentary vote. Westford said a fourth person was slightly injured after being hit by a police van.

"It goes without saying that we are not happy with what happened today," Westford said. Six people were detained for violence, public disturbance or masking themselves. It was not immediately clear whether they would be charged.

Roscosmos Intends to Spend About $298 Million on Removing Orbital Clutter

Moscow (RIA Novosti)
Aug 25, 2014

The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) is planning to spend 10.8 million rubles to develop a new spacecraft that would be used to remove space debris which is locked in a geostationary orbit, such as decommissioned satellites and used-up boosters, according to Izvestia.

The agency intends to deploy the spacecraft, codename Liquidator, to clear up the geostationary orbit over the equator, which is 36 thousand kilometers above sea level.

Satellites in this area, which is sometimes called the Clarke orbit or Clarke belt, appear stationary because they are locked in place relative to the Earth. As a result of this feature, the geostationary orbit is where communication and broadcasting satellites mostly operate.

The Liquidator's parameters are listed in the Federal Space Program project for 2016-2025: the spacecraft will weigh four tons and be capable of removing up to 10 decommissioned craft and boosters from orbit per 6-month cycle. The space vehicle is expected to have an operating life of up to 10 years and it will be capable of performing at least 20 clean-up cycles.

"The geostationary orbit is already pretty crowded. The task of creating such a spacecraft is extremely difficult and we haven't chosen a contractor yet. I believe that we'll review proposals that have been presented by several companies which have experience in creating and operating spacecraft in a geostationary orbit.

"I'm talking about S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, NPO Lavochkin, and Information Satellite Systems - Reshetnev Company.

"I believe that the companies that have more experience with orbital approaches and docking will have the advantage, as this technology will be particularly valuable to the project," Alexander Danilyuk, Assistant General Manager of TsNIIMash (the principal scientific agency of Roscosmos) told Izvestia.

According to Danilyuk, there are two ways the Liquidator could dispose of space debris: it could either direct the debris to a higher orbit where it won't affect other craft, or it could shift the debris out of orbit, so that it can sink towards the so-called Spacecraft Cemetery in the southern Pacific Ocean. He also added that taking the debris to a higher orbit is easier and more expedient than de-orbiting.

Source: Space Mart.
Link: http://www.spacemart.com/reports/Roscosmos_Intends_to_Spend_About_298_Million_on_Removing_Orbital_Clutter_999.html.

Russia May Continue ISS Work Beyond 2020

Moscow (RIA Novosti)
Aug 26, 2014

Russia may continue working at the International Space Station (ISS) beyond 2020, Izvestia newspaper reported Monday.

"The issue of Russia's participation at the ISS after 2020 remains open, but there is a 90-percent chance that the state's leadership will agree to participate in the project further," the paper wrote citing a source at Russia's Federal Space Agency Roscosmos.

Russian space enterprises continue to make new modules for the space station according to the schedule, the paper said.

NASA earlier said it had to freeze cooperation with Russian space researchers following Washington's sanctions against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine, prompting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin to suggest Americans would now have to "get their astronauts to the ISS [International Space Station] using a trampoline."

Later, Rogozin announced Moscow was not planning to use the International Space Station after 2020 and would instead re-focus its funding on more promising new space projects. In response, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden vowed the US and Russia would continue to cooperate on space missions and keep each other informed.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Russia_May_Continue_ISS_Work_Beyond_2020_999.html.

Russia's Putin urges release of Ukrainian soldiers

August 29, 2014

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Friday called on pro-Russian separatists to release Ukrainian soldiers who have been surrounded by the rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Putin's statement came several hours after Ukraine accused Russia of entering its territory with tanks, artillery and troops, and Western powers accused Moscow of lying about its role and dangerously escalating the conflict.

NATO said at least 1,000 Russian troops are in Ukraine and later released what it said were satellite photos of Russian self-propelled artillery units moving last week "I'm calling on insurgents to open a humanitarian corridor for Ukrainian troops who were surrounded in order to avoid senseless deaths," Putin said in the statement published on the Kremlin's web-site in the early hours on Friday.

Putin did not address the claims about Russia's military presence in Ukraine. Instead, he lauded the pro-Russian separatists whom he described as "insurgents" for "undermining Kiev's military operation which threatened lives of the residents of Donbass and has already led to a colossal death toll among civilians."

Putin's statement could be referring to Ukrainian troops who have been trapped outside the strategic town of Ilovaysk, east of Donetsk, for nearly a week now. Protesters rallied outside the Ukrainian General Staff on Thursday, demanding reinforcements and heavy weaponry for the troops outside Ilovaysk, most of whom are volunteers.

A top rebel leader in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk promptly reacted to Putin's appeal but said the Ukrainian troops would have to lay down the arms before they were allowed to go. "With all our respect to Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, the president of a country which gives us moral support, we are ready to open humanitarian corridors to the Ukrainian troops who were surrounded with the condition that they surrender heavy weaponry and ammunition so that this weaponry and ammunition will not be used against us in future," Alexander Zakharchenko said on Russia's state Rossiya 24 television.

Two columns of tanks and other equipment entered southeastern Ukraine at midday on Thursday, following heavy shelling of the area from Russia that forced overmatched Ukrainian border guards to flee, according to Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's national security council.

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has been a key power broker between the West and Russia, and both leaders agreed Russia must face consequences for its actions.

Obama ruled out a military confrontation between the U.S. and Russia. He said Russia's activity in Ukraine would incur "more costs and consequences," though these seemed to be limited to economic pressure that will be discussed when Obama meets with European leaders at a NATO summit in Wales next week.

In a phone conversation with Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko late on Friday, Merkel assured the Ukrainian leader of her support for "decisive actions" that could be taken at a European Council meeting on Aug. 30, Poroshenko's press office said.

Iran unveils new missiles, drones

Tehran (AFP)
Aug 24, 2014

Iran on Sunday unveiled two new missiles and two new drones it said have been added to its arsenal, in a ceremony attended by President Hassan Rouhani.

The Ghadir (Mighty), with a range of 300 kilometers (185 miles), is a ground-to-sea and sea-to-sea missile, the official IRNA news agency said. It is in the same family as the Ghader or Qader cruise missile, which has a range of 200 kilometers.

The other missile unveiled on Sunday, the Nasr-e Basir (Clear Victory), is equipped with a seeker homing head. Its range was not given.

The new Karar-4 (Striker) drone can track and monitor enemy aircraft, the agency said, while the Mohajer-4 (Migrant) drone is designed to perform photographic and mapping missions. Iran has developed a major missile program in addition to producing different types of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), including attack drones.

The United States, whose Fifth Fleet is based in Sunni-ruled Bahrain across the Gulf from the mainly Shiite Islamic republic, has repeatedly expressed concern about these two programs.

Rouhani on Sunday sought to allay such fears. "Iran has no intention to interfere in, dominate or attack other countries or plunder their resources," he said in a speech broadcast on state television, adding that the country's military doctrine was defensive. "But at the same time we will stand up to any aggression," he added.

In May, Iran said it had succeeded in copying an American RQ-170 Sentinel drone that it forced down and recovered nearly intact in December 2011. Tehran is currently engaged in negotiations with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany -- known as P5+1 -- on securing an agreement with world powers on its controversial nuclear program.

Israel and Western powers suspect Iran's civilian nuclear project to be a cover to develop an atomic weapon, an allegation Tehran denies, insisting its uranium enrichment drive is entirely peaceful.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_unveils_new_missiles_drones_999.html.

Turkey's Davutoglu nominated new premier

August 21, 2014

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's ruling party has picked Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to replace president-elect Recep Tayyip Erdogan as its new chairman and prime minister.

Erdogan announced Davutoglu's nomination on Thursday following a meeting of the senior leaders of his ruling Justice and Development Party. Davutoglu, a loyal party official, was long reported to be Erdogan's top choice to replace him. Erdogan has indicated he intends to keep his grip on government by making use of the largely ceremonial presidency's seldom-used powers such as calling and presiding over Cabinet meetings.

Davutoglu, 55, has steered Turkey's foreign policy as foreign minister since 2009 and as Erdogan's adviser before that.

Turkey prepares to pull down statue of slain PKK commander

2014-08-18

DIYARBAKIR - A newly unveiled statue of a militant commander who planned the first attacks of the Kurdistan Workers Party's 30-year insurgency against the Turkish authorities is to be demolished, a court ruled on Monday.

The monument to Mahsum Korkmaz, a PKK commander killed in 1986, was just unveiled on Saturday in the village of Yolacti in the majority Kurdish Diyarbakir province in southeast Turkey.

But the move sparked outrage among nationalists who denounced it as the unwanted result of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's policy of granting greater rights to Turkey's Kurdish minority.

A court in Lice ordered that the statue be demolished after the Diyarbakir governor's office launched a legal complaint on Sunday, the Dogan news agency reported.

Preparations are already under way to pull down the statue, according to a reporter at the scene.

The monument -- which shows Korkmaz standing on a high triangular plinth dressed for battle and with a rifle by his side -- was placed in a new cemetery for slain PKK fighters.

It had been unveiled on the 30th anniversary of the first attacks by the PKK in the southeastern towns of Eruh and Semdinli on August 15, 1984.

The head of Turkey's ultra-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahceli called the statue a "very clear and dirty challenge to our moral and historic rights."

Turkey is seeking to restart stalled peace talks with the PKK -- which is blacklisted as a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies -- to end a conflict that claimed an estimated 40,000 lives.

The jailed head of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, said in a statement Saturday that the 30-year conflict was "coming to an end".

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=67680.

Turkey ruling party disqualifies Gul as possible successor to Erdogan

2014-08-17

ISTANBUL - Turkey's outgoing President Abdullah Gul is not being considered as a possible successor to Recep Tayyip Erdogan as prime minister, a senior ruling party official said Sunday.

Erdogan is set to be sworn in as president on August 28 after his first-round election victory, and some observers had seen his longtime ally Gul as a possible replacement as prime minister.

But amid speculation of a growing rift between Gul and Erdogan, the deputy chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Mehmet Ali Sahin, said the outgoing president had no chance of becoming premier.

"After his term expires Abdullah Bey will not be able to become prime minister... because he is not a member of parliament," Sahin said, using a traditional Turkish form of address.

Reports on Saturday said the AKP strongly favoured Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, an Erdogan loyalist, becoming the new prime minister.

But Sahin said in televised comments there was "no resentment" within the party about the exclusion of Gul, given that the reasons for his ineligibility were clear.

Some analysts have argued that the whole succession process has been set up with the specific aim of making sure Gul cannot become premier and party leader.

The AKP executive committee is due to meet this Thursday to agree on who will simultaneously hold both the posts of premier and party leader.

Sahin was equivocal about what role Gul could play in the future as Turkey prepares for 2015 legislative elections.

"Time will tell which duties fall on who," he said.

Gul co-founded the AKP with Erdogan but in recent years has taken a more conciliatory approach than the combative premier, particularly after the anti-government protests of 2013.

His exclusion will disappoint those -- particularly in financial markets -- who hoped that Gul would play a moderating influence in an Erdogan presidency.

The Milliyet daily on Sunday reaffirmed Davutoglu was the frontrunner to become prime minister in a government that appears set to be filled with Erdogan loyalists.

The head of Turkey's secret service, Hakan Fidan, was a likely choice to replace Davutoglu as foreign minister, although Europe Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was also under consideration, it said.

Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, the government's economic pointman who is highly respected by markets, could leave the government and be replaced by top party official Numan Kurtulmus.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=67643.

Turkey raises $20.8 million aid for Gazans in need

17 August 2014 Sunday

Turkey has raised 45 million Turkish liras ($20.8 million) to help Gazans in need, an official said Sunday.

The Gaza Strip has reeled under an Israeli offensive that has killed at least 1,980 Palestinians – most of them civilians – and injured more than 10,000 since July 7.

An aid campaign initiated by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the money, Deputy Prime Minister Emrullah Isler said in a written statement.

“Turkey's international development agency (TIKA) has provided 15,000 families with food through its permanent office in Gaza under the ongoing heavy Israeli attacks," Isler said. "TIKA also has provided more than 350,000 Palestinians with daily food since the beginning of Ramadan.”

Ramadan, the holiest month in the Muslim calendar, began on June 28 this year.

Palestinians and Israelis are now observing a five-day ceasefire, brokered by Egypt, which came into effect early Thursday.

Tension remains high in the West Bank, as well, as Israeli forces clash with Palestinians protesting in solidarity with those in the Gaza Strip.

“The Palestinian Energy Authority was provided with desperately-needed fuel," Isler said. "The Turkish Red Crescent has delivered aid basically consisting of medicine. Gaza and other municipalities’ immediate needs, like generators, were also delivered.”

He said some injured Gazans are being treated in Turkish hospitals.

On Wednesday, a Turkish Armed Forces plane airlifted 18 injured Gazans, including a pregnant woman and five children, to Ankara, the Turkish capital, for medical treatment.

Source: World Bulletin.
Link: http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/142648/turkey-raises-208-million-aid-for-gazans-in-need.

Mauritania president names new PM

2014-08-21

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz on Wednesday (August 20th) named his new prime minister, AFP reported. Yahya Ould Hademine had served as transport minister.

Outgoing Prime Minister Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf had earlier submitted his resignation.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2014/08/21/newsbrief-03.

Troubled Libya now faces dueling governments

August 26, 2014

CAIRO (AP) — Libya's past, Islamist-dominated parliament reconvened Monday and voted to disband the country's current interim government, defying voters who elected its opponents to take over amid ceaseless fighting by rival militias.

The power grab highlights the lawlessness that has swept Libya since rebels overthrew dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011 and later formed powerful militias that successive governments have been unable to tame. It also leaves troubled Libya with two governments and two parliaments, deepening divisions and escalating the political struggle that's torn the country apart.

Islamist militias have attempted to cement their power in the capital after claiming its airport and forcing rival militias to withdraw. The fighting began after Islamist candidates lost parliament in June elections and a renegade general began a military campaign against Islamist-allied militias in Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city.

The Islamist-led past parliament voted unanimously to appoint a new "national salvation government" headed by Omar al-Hassi, a university professor. That happened as Islamist-militias said in a statement that their forces had "liberated" all facilities and barracks in Tripoli, inviting the United Nations and foreign diplomats to return.

Libya's newly elected parliament meanwhile continues to meet in the far eastern city of Tobruk far from the militia violence. Those lawmakers have branded Islamist militias as terrorists, sacked the country's chief of staff over his alleged links to Islamists and named a new one who vowed Monday to wage war against "terrorists."

Libya's interim government is also unable to return to the capital and has been holding its meetings in the eastern city of Bayda. It sent its foreign minister to Egypt to meet officials from neighboring countries to discuss ways to stop the spiraling violence.

The meeting ended with calls for disarming the militias and opposition to outside military intervention in Libya's affairs. That appears to be an attempt to mute accusations that Libya's neighbors, including Egypt, played a role in recent unclaimed airstrikes that have targeted Islamist militias' positions in Tripoli.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri warned the gathering that the situation in Libya threatens the entire region and other parts of the world. "The developments in Libya have left an impact we have felt on the security of neighboring countries, with the presence and movement of extremist and terrorist groups whose activists are not only limited to the Libyan territories but also spill over to neighboring countries," he said.

Meanwhile, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States issued a joint statement to "strongly condemn the escalation of fighting and violence" and urged "all parties in Libya (to) accept an immediate ceasefire and engage constructively in the democratic process, abstaining from confrontational initiatives that risk undermining it."

Also on Monday, retaliatory attacks swept Tripoli, targeting houses and buildings of Islamist rivals, including Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni. He accused Islamists of attacking his house in Tripoli, then torching and looting it.

"It is impossible that you can impose anything on Libyans using force," al-Thinni warned. "It will be like a devil who wants to enter heaven." Libya's divisions are rooted in rivalries between Islamists and non-Islamists, as well as powerful tribal and regional allegiances between groups who quickly filled the power vacuum after Gadhafi's fall. Successive transitional governments have failed to control them.

The formation of a new government by the Islamist-dominated outgoing parliament came on the grounds that handover of authority earlier this month was improperly handled. However, Libya's court system and laws remain in disarray, meaning whomever has the guns has the power.

The political rivalry has been coupled with militia infighting that has scarred the capital and driven out thousands of its residents. It has also turned Benghazi into a battlefield between Islamist militias and fighters loyal to a renegade army general who vowed to weed them out.

Libya's Islamist militias claim control of capital

August 24, 2014

CAIRO (AP) — Libya's Islamist militias said Sunday they have consolidated their hold on Tripoli and its international airport, driving out rival militias to the outskirts of the capital following a weekslong battle for control of the strategic hub.

The umbrella group for Islamist militias calling itself Dawn of Libya said it has also taken hold of other locations in the capital controlled by the rival militias, drawing to a close one chapter in a prolonged confrontation between the Islamist-allied militia, largely from the city of Misrata, and the powerful militia from the western mountains of Zintan.

The fight has largely destroyed the airport and scarred the capital, prompting diplomats, foreign nationals and thousands of Libyans to flee. The violence in Libya is rooted in the empowerment of militias after successive transitional governments since the 2011 ouster of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi depended on them to maintain order in the absence of a strong police force or a unified military.

It also comes as part of a backlash by Islamist factions after losing their power in parliament following June elections and in the face of a campaign by a renegade military general against extremist Islamic militias in Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city.

But this has been the worst bout of violence in the battle over turf and influence since 2011. Mysterious airstrikes have struck the positions of Islamist militias, sparking accusations by the groups that Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, who oppose Islamists in the region, were behind it.

A field commander of the Dawn of Libya militia said Sunday his forces are in control of Tripoli and adjacent cities, pushing back the rival Zintan forces some 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of the capital. It was not immediately possible to reach members of the Zintan militias.

The commander spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters. The fighting on the ground has mirrored a political standoff between Islamists and the outgoing parliament they controlled, and anti-Islamist groups who control the newly elected parliament. Each considers the other illegitimate.

After claiming control over the airport, Dawn of Libya called on the outgoing parliament to convene in the capital to take "the necessary measures to protect state sovereignty." On Sunday, the speaker of the outgoing parliament, Omar Hmeidan, said the body will convene until it hands over power to the newly elected deputies.

Further inflaming the situation, the newly elected parliament described the Dawn of Libya militias as "outlawed" and "terrorist groups" who fight to undermine the legitimacy of the state. The newly elected parliament has been convening in Tobruk because of security concerns amid a growing lawlessness in the capital and Libya's second largest city of Benghazi.

Fresh clashes Saturday in Benghazi pitting forces loyal to renegade Gen. Khalifa Hifter against a group of Islamist militias called The Benghazi Revolutionary Shura Council left eight troops killed and 35 wounded, a health official said. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the militias.

Islamist militias also controlled an air defense base near the city's international airport, a security official said. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

Expanding the tension to neighboring Egypt, the Dawn of Libya militia accused Cairo and United Arab Emirates of being behind mysterious airstrikes on its posts in Tripoli, a claim that Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi rebuffed Sunday.

El-Sissi said his armed forces have not carried out any military operations outside Egypt "so far." Egypt is hosting a conference with Libya's neighbors Monday.

Libya shuts state TV stations

By Aya Elbrqawi in Benghazi for Magharebia
21/08/2014

The Libyan interim government shut down both state TV channels on Tuesday (August 19th).

Egyptian satellite company Nilesat took Al-Wataniya and Al-Rasmiya off the air after receiving an official request from the acting Libyan media minister.

The TV stations had been under the control of anti-government forces and backed the Islamists fighting for control of Tripoli international airport.

Al-Rasmiya chief Nadhim Tayari slammed the move, calling it "a political decision and a desperate attempt by the House of Representatives and the interim government to suppress the voice of the revolution of February 17th".

"We will call on all international organizations for freedom of speech to denounce this act and work to correct it," he said.

Tarek Al-Houni, head of Al-Wataniya, has stepped down of his role as director of Channel 3 earlier this month, saying: "The reason for my resignation is because of the extremist groups who took over the channel and prevented it from exerting its role impartially."

Libyans interviewed by Magharebia praised the decision to crack down on the militia-controlled television stations.

"It is a daring and brilliant move to shut down these channels that promoted the corrupt groups and their agendas at the expense of the Libyan people," commented Samar Barqaoui, a 34-year-old bank employee. "From now on, the state channels will not promote the Egyptian supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, nor will it promote Hassan al-Banna or al-Zawahiri. It will promote a free civil state."

Barqaoui added: "Let them go to Qatar, their masters, so that they will open up channels for them at their own expense."

"The first positive move made by the House of Representatives was to shut down the channels of strife that incite killing and support Libya Dawn that seeks to destroy the capital," remarked Amal Bsikri, a 41-year-old human rights activist. "Al-Wataniya belonged to the previous government, and Al-Rasmiya also belonged to the previous National Congress, and since they were taken over by the terrorists from Misrata they immediately began inciting violence and war."

She added: "The terrorists are trying to use other frequencies to broadcast these two channels."

"There is news confirming the closure of the Misrata channel," journalist Fariha Mansouri said. "It spreads more strife and lies, because it calls for overthrowing the new parliament and the re-election of a new one, where the head of state would be from Misrata."

"The city of Misrata is the cause of Libya's problems. It was Misrata that carried out the Libya Dawn operation, which destroyed the Tripoli airport, bombed warehouses, and expelled families from their homes," Mansouri added.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/features/2014/08/21/feature-01.

Ukrainian president dissolves parliament

August 25, 2014

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's president on Monday dissolved parliament and called for early elections in October as his country continues to battle a pro-Russian insurgency in its eastern regions.

In a statement on his website, President Petro Poroshenko said snap elections would be held Oct. 26. Poroshenko said the dissolution, which was prefigured by the breakup of the majority coalition last month, was in line with "the expectations of the vast majority of the citizens of Ukraine" and called it a move toward "cleansing" the parliament.

Many members of parliament "are allies of the militants-separatists," Poroshenko said, referring to the pro-Russian rebels who have battled government troops in the country's east since April. The Party of Regions, which is backed by much of the country's industrial, Russian-speaking east and was supported by pro-Russian ex-president Viktor Yanukovych, was the largest party in parliament before Yanukovych fled the country in the wake of massive protests in February and still has a substantial presence.

Most of these members "accepted dictatorial laws that took the lives of the Heaven's Hundred," he said, using the common term for those killed during the protests against Yanukovych, many by sniper fire.

He emphasized the need to elect new leaders from the war-torn areas of east Ukraine in order to represent the region in the new government. It wasn't clear how it would be possible to conduct elections at such short notice in Donetsk and Luhansk, where hundreds of thousands have fled their homes and shelling between rebel and government forces continues daily.

Over the past month, Ukrainian forces have made substantial inroads against pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine, taking control of several sizeable towns and cities that had been under rebel control since April, when the clashes began.

But the advances have come at a high cost — more than 2,000 civilians reportedly killed and at least 726 Ukrainian servicemen. There is no independent figure for the number of rebel dead, although Ukrainian authorities said Monday that 250 rebels were in fighting around Olenivka, a town 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Donetsk.

Many have expressed hopes ahead of a summit Tuesday in Minsk, Belarus that includes both Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and could be aimed at pressuring Ukraine into seeking a negotiated end to the conflict rather than a military victory.

Earlier Monday, a Ukrainian official said a column of Russian tanks and armored vehicles entered southeastern Ukraine — a move that brings the conflict to an area that has so far escaped the intense fighting of recent weeks.

Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's National Security Council, told reporters that the column of 10 tanks, two armored vehicles and two trucks crossed the border near the village of Shcherbak and that shells were fired from Russia toward the nearby city of Novoazovsk. He said they were Russian military vehicles bearing the flags of the separatist Donetsk rebels. The village is in the Donetsk region, but not under the control of the rebels.

The Ukrainian National Guard later said two of the tanks had been destroyed. In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday he had no information about the column. Russia announced plans, meanwhile, to send a second aid convoy into rebel-held eastern Ukraine, where months of fighting have left many residential buildings in ruins.

Russia's unilateral dispatch of over 200 trucks into Ukraine on Friday was denounced by the Ukrainian government as an invasion and condemned by the United States, the European Union and NATO. Even though the tractor-trailers returned to Russia without incident Saturday, the announcement of another convoy was likely to raise new suspicions.

Lavrov said the food, water and other goods the convoy delivered Friday to the hard-hit rebel city of Luhansk were being distributed Monday and that Red Cross workers were involved in talks on how best to do that. There was no immediate confirmation from the Red Cross.

In sending in the first convoy, Russia said it had lost patience with what it called Ukraine's stalling tactics. It claimed that soon "there will no longer be anyone left to help" in Luhansk, where weeks of heavy shelling have cut off power, water and phone service and made food scarce.

The Ukrainian government had said the aid convoy was a ploy by Russia to get supplies to the rebels and slow down the government's military advances.

Laura Mills in Moscow contributed to this report.

Serbia says it won't impose sanctions on Russia

August 22, 2014

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Despite pressure from the European Union, Serbia will not impose sanctions against Russia or curb its food exports to that country, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said Friday.

After the U.S. and the EU slapped sanctions on Russian state banks and major industries last month over the crisis in Ukraine, Russia responded with a wide-ranging ban on food products imported from those countries.

Serbia, a traditional Russian Slavic ally which is seeking EU membership, is hoping to capitalize on Russia's ban by increasing its food exports and replacing some Western goods on the Russian market.

The EU has warned candidate countries to refrain from exploiting the Russian ban. Vucic said his government will accept EU's demands not to additionally subsidize those exports to Russia, but will not prevent Serbian companies from making new deals. Serbian officials have said that they hope to increase the food and agricultural exports to Russia from the current $170 million (128 million euros) a year to $300 million (226 million euros).

The EU said Friday it welcomes that "Serbia will not increase the state support for its exports to Russia." "We welcome the attention the Serbian government pays to this issue and we appreciate the constructive approach as announced by Prime Minister Vucic," the European Commission said in a statement.

Although Serbian officials had said they respect Ukraine's territorial integrity and are against Russia's annexation of Crimea, they told the West that imposing sanctions against Russia would be disastrous for its economy, especially because its energy sector is almost entirely in Gazprom's hands.

"It is Serbia's strategic goal to become a member of the European Union," Vucic told reporters. "At the same time, Serbia did not and will not introduce sanctions against the Russian Federation." "In the interest of Serbia, we need to maintain friendly relations with Russia," he said.

Leaders clash in final debate before Scotland vote

August 25, 2014

LONDON (AP) — Scotland's leading politician vied with Britain's former treasury chief in a heated televised debate Monday, making a final push to capture wavering voters three weeks ahead of a historic referendum on Scottish independence.

Pro-independence First Minister Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling argued and shouted over each other on questions from defense to the sustainability of an economy dependent on revenues from North Sea oil, but the heart of the 90-minute exchange centered on what currency an independent Scotland would use.

The two rivals had faced off in a first debate session on Aug.5, and both men stuck to familiar arguments Monday. Salmond reiterated that he wanted the territory to keep using the pound sterling in a currency union with the rest of the U.K.

But Darling, who leads the "No" campaign, maintained that such a deal would not work and would leave Scotland with little control over its economy. His opponents provided no financial security for Scotland's future generations, he argued.

"Any country's starting point is currency, money," he said. "Uncertainty about currency can bring a country to its knees." Salmond appealed to television audiences to vote for a Scotland governed by Scottish people.

"We can create a prosperous nation and a fairer society. A real vision for the people of Scotland. This is our time, it's our moment — let us do it now," he said in his opening remarks. The debate was the last one before the Sept. 18 referendum.

Polls have suggested that voters are narrowly divided on whether to break up Scotland's 307-year-old union with England, or remain alongside the English, Welsh and Northern Irish inside the United Kingdom.

While the anti-independence side has maintained a consistent lead, support for independence has been growing and thousands of still-undecided voters are holding the balance.