Iraq cancels free healthcare system

Monday, 25 January 2016

Iraqi citizens are now being asked for fees at healthcare facilities around the country, a source at the Ministry of Health has informed Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

The oil-rich country has offered a free healthcare system since 1970.

The source said the ministry sent letters and a 10-page report to hospitals and clinic asking them to collect fees from patients to cover the cost of treatment after the deficit caused by the sharp decline in oil prices.

Many have warned that this could lead to a dangerous situation in public health due to the sever poverty in the country.

The ministry is looking into pricing medicines and services across the country.

Iraqis expressed their angry with the decision amidst the difficult economic situation which they are facing.

Patient Raghib Hassan said: “During my visit to a government hospital in Baghdad, I was surprised that I was asked to pay for the medical examination, x-ray, medical tests and treatment.”

“This means that one visit to a government hospital needs between 30,000 to 50,000 [Iraqi] dinars ($27-$45).”

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/23531-iraq-cancels-free-healthcare-system.

Bosnian first-graders reach out to deaf schoolmate

February 07, 2016

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — When Mirzana Coralic asked the primary school in her Sarajevo neighborhood whether they would enroll her deaf son, teacher Sanela Ljumanovic volunteered without thinking much about it.

Then September came and 6-year-old Zejd was there, silently sitting on one of the school's benches, his eyes wide open. At the time, no one at the school, not even Zejd, knew sign language. "We have to come up with something here," Ljumanovic remembers thinking.

She tried to develop her own tricks and signs to communicate with Zejd but a parent had another idea, proposing that the whole class learn sign language with him. Three months later, the first-graders of class 1-2 at Osman Nakas primary school in Sarajevo have mastered the basics of sign language to communicate with their classmate.

"Zejd," said Uma Nadarevic, 6, crossing her arms to sign his name. "Please," she then put her palms together as if she would be praying. "Can ... you ...show ...me ...our ...homework ...in ... math?" Uma waved the signs with her little arms as she slowly pronounced each word.

Zejd grabbed his notebook out of a bag and showed her the circles and squares he drew at home. Uma signed "Thank you" and Zejd bowed a "you are welcome." In 2003, Bosnia adopted laws that allow children with disabilities to be fully integrated into society, including schools. Children with special needs are supposed to have professional assistants who sit with them in class, translating or otherwise helping them participate. But in practice, impoverished Bosnia barely has enough money to keep normal schools functioning and children with disabilities are left to the care and imagination of their parents and the good will of school staff.

Zejd was lucky — and his teachers say the effort being put in by all is boosting his self-esteem. "He looks forward to going to school," said his mother, who tried to learn the sign language with him before school started but says he was not very interested in it. "Now he is happy and motivated."

Still, Zejd is an exception in Bosnian society, said Anisa Setkic-Sendic, the sign language teacher who teaches the class. "When he sees how much others insist on communicating with him, it is motivating," she added. "This should be normal."

His classmates are embracing the challenge of a new language. "I like to learn Zejd's language so I can talk to him and to other deaf people," said Tarik Sijaric, one of Zejd's best friends. "It is fun."

"I like this language and I also think it will be useful when I grow up," added student Anesa Susic. Zejd is fitting in now and the new language is spreading beyond the classroom, said Ljumanovic. Children are teaching their parents at home.

"We are all happy as we are learning a new language," she said. "The goal, however, is also to teach Zejd to read lips ... he is a good kid, a smart kid." Ljumanovic said she would introduce sign language into the curriculum not only to enable communication but because it helps children become more sensitive toward those with disabilities.

Setkic-Sendic said she should be paid for her work by the Ministry of Education but there are simply no funds right now. Instead, she is being paid by contributions from the parents of children in the class. Not all can financially participate. Only Ljumanovic knows who can't pay, who does and how much. And she won't tell anyone — that's the deal.

"We are finding ways," said Setkic-Sendic. "The children are growing, we can't wait for better times to come."

Turkey: Reaching limits but will keep taking in refugees

February 07, 2016

KILIS, Turkey (AP) — Turkey has reached the end of its "capacity to absorb" refugees but will continue to take them in, Turkey's deputy premier said Sunday as his country faced mounting pressure to open its border, where tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing a government onslaught have arrived.

Turkish authorities say up to 35,000 Syrians have massed along the border, which remained closed for a third day on Sunday. The governor for the Turkish border province of Kilis said Saturday that Turkey would provide aid to the displaced within Syria, but would only open the gates in the event of an "extraordinary crisis."

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told CNN-Turk television that Turkey is now hosting a total of 3 million refugees, including 2.5 million Syrians. "Yes, Turkey has reached the end of its capacity to absorb (refugees)," Kurtulmus said. "But in the end, these people have nowhere else to go. Either they will die beneath the bombings and Turkey will ... watch the massacre like the rest of the world, or we will open our borders."

Kurtulmus said some 15,000 refugees from Syria were admitted in the past few days, without elaborating. He put the number of refugees being cared for at the other side of the border at 30,000. "At the moment, we are admitting some, and are trying to keep others there (in Syria) by providing them with every kind of humanitarian support," Kurtulmus added. "We are not in a position to tell them not to come. If we do, we would be abandoning them to their deaths."

The deputy premier did not explain why the Turkish border gate at Oncupinar, opposite the Bab al-Salameh crossing in Syria, was being kept closed or why tens of thousands of refugees were not immediately being let in.

On Saturday, the European Union urged Turkey to open its borders at a meeting between EU and Turkish officials in Amsterdam, saying it was providing aid to Ankara for that purpose. EU nations have committed 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) to Turkey to help refugees, part of incentives aimed at persuading Turkey to do more to stop thousands of migrants from leaving for Greece.

Kurtulmus estimated that — "in the worst case scenario" — as many as 1 million more refugees could flee the Syrian city of Aleppo and its regions. The war between Syrian President Bashar Assad's government and Syrian rebels began in 2011. It has killed over 250,000 people and forced millions to flee the country.

Fraser reported from Ankara.

Turkey under pressure as Syrians mass at border

February 06, 2016

BEIRUT (AP) — Turkey came under mounting pressure to open its border Saturday as tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing a government onslaught sought entry and the European Union called on Ankara to grant them refuge.

As many as 35,000 Syrians have massed along the closed border, according to Suleyman Tapsiz, governor of the Turkish border province of Kilis. He said Turkey would provide aid to the displaced within Syria, but would only open the gates in the event of an "extraordinary crisis."

The Norwegian Refugee Council said thousands of Syrians have arrived at seven of the main informal camps close to the Turkish border. The group said the camps were already at capacity before the latest influx, and that aid groups are working around the clock to deliver tents and essential items to the displaced.

Filip Lozinski, an NRC supervisor in the area, told The Associated Press that many refugee families were forced to sleep out in the open, some under trees, because they could not find shelter. At a meeting in Amsterdam between EU foreign ministers and their Turkish counterpart, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini urged Turkey to open its borders to "Syrians in need for international protection," and said the EU is providing aid to Ankara for that purpose.

EU nations have committed 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) to Turkey for helping refugees as part of incentives aimed at persuading it to do more to stop thousands of migrants from leaving for Greece. Turkey already hosts some 2.5 million Syrian refugees.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saturday that his country maintains an "open border policy for these people fleeing from the aggression of the (Syrian) regime as well as airstrikes of Russia."

He said Turkey had already allowed in more than 5,000 recently displaced Syrians, but did not address the restrictions along the border. Some of the refugees found shelter in Afrin, a Kurdish enclave to Aleppo's north controlled by a militia known as the YPG, said a Kurdish official, Idris Naasan. The militia hoped to prevent a humanitarian disaster and help those stuck at the border, he said.

Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces have been advancing across the north in recent days behind a curtain of heavy Russian airstrikes, and could soon encircle rebel strongholds in Aleppo, once the country's largest city and commercial hub. This week alone, Russian warplanes hit close to 900 targets across Syria, including near Aleppo.

Those living in parts of the city held by the rebels since 2012 fear they could be the next victims of siege tactics used across Syria by all sides in the war, which have caused widespread malnourishment and starvation.

"There is a big wave of people leaving Aleppo City because they are scared Al-Castello Highway — the only way out — will be cut off," said Osaid Pasha, an Aleppo-based activist who recently fled to Turkey.

"There are still a large number of civilians inside the city," he said. Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem meanwhile said government forces were "on track to end the conflict" following the recent gains around Aleppo.

"Like it or not, our battlefield achievements indicate that we are headed toward the end of the crisis," he told a press conference in Damascus. He called on rebel fighters to "come to their senses" and lay down their weapons.

The advance of Syrian troops and the blistering Russian airstrikes in Aleppo and elsewhere led to the breakdown of indirect peace talks launched earlier this week in Geneva, with the opposition saying there was no point in negotiating under fire. U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura hopes to resume the talks by Feb. 25, but it's unclear if either delegation will return.

Saudi Arabia, a key backer of the opposition, meanwhile said it is ready, in principle, to send ground troops to Syria, albeit in the context of the U.S.-led military campaign against the Islamic State group.

But al-Moallem warned that Saudi or other foreign troops entering his country would "return home in wooden coffins," a line he repeated three times during the one-hour press conference. Russia's Defense Ministry has said it has "reasonable grounds" to suspect that Turkey, another opposition ally, is preparing for a military invasion of Syria.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking during a visit to Senegal on Friday, dismissed the Russian claim as "laughable" and blamed Moscow for the deaths of civilians in Syria. Iran, another military ally of Syria, ridiculed Saudi Arabia.

The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, as saying he didn't think the Saudis were "brave enough" to send ground troops. "They talk big," Jafari said. "But even if it happens, it won't be bad because they would be definitely defeated."

Iran on Saturday held funerals for six soldiers, including a senior Guard commander, Gen. Mohsen Ghajarian, who were killed in northern Syria while fighting alongside government troops. Iran has said it has dispatched military advisers to Syria, but denies sending combat troops. A number of Iranians have been killed in recent months, including several high-ranking commanders.

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, an ally of Iran and Syria, has also sent reinforcements to Syria. The Syrian state news agency SANA reported Saturday that a member of Hezbollah's "war media" department, which films military battles for the group, was among those killed in fighting north of Aleppo.

Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press writers Zeina Karam in Beirut, Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran, Iran, Albert Aji in Damascus, Joseph Krauss in Cairo and Dominique Soguel in Istanbul contributed to this report.

Hundreds of Syrian Turkmens enter Turkey

Saturday, 06 February 2016

Some 2,000 Turkmens have crossed into Turkey Saturday after fleeing attacks from Russian and Syrian regime forces in northwestern Syria, according to the Turkish disaster agency.

The displaced were fleeing Russian and Syrian attacks of Turkmen Mountain in Syria Bayirbucak.

According to the Turkish Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), nearly 600 families have taken refuge in Guvecci camp near Yayladagi, a border town in the Hatay province of southern Turkey.

The officials said the more migrants would be allowed into Turkey in the coming days.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday that more than 5,000 Turkmens and Arab refugees had been accepted into Turkey in the last week alone, following the airstrikes.

Predominantly Turkmen areas of northwestern Syria have been under attack by regime forces - backed by Russian air power - since November of last year.

Recent attacks in these areas have displaced thousands of Turkmens, a Turkic ethnic group concentrated mainly in Syria and Iraq, prompting many to seek refuge in southern Turkey.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/23770-hundreds-of-syrian-turkmens-enter-turkey.

Thousands more Syrians rush toward Turkey to flee fighting

February 05, 2016

BEIRUT (AP) — Thousands of Syrians rushed toward the Turkish border Friday, fleeing a fierce government offensive and intense Russian airstrikes near Syria's largest city of Aleppo.

Turkey, an ally of the Syrian opposition, promised humanitarian help for the displaced civilians, including food and shelter, but it did not say whether it would let them cross into the country, already burdened with hundreds of thousands of refugees.

"The attacks and bombings by the Russian planes and the Syrian regime have left our brothers with nowhere else to go," Turkish Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu said in a televised speech. The U.N. estimated that nearly 40,000 newly displaced people have massed in recent days in several border areas of northern Syria, including about 20,000 near the Bab al-Salam border crossing. Turkish authorities increased security at the crossing and the pro-government A Haber news channel said all police and military leaves were canceled.

The international aid group Mercy Corps said that among those fleeing toward Turkey were residents of rebel-held areas of Aleppo who feared they would soon be besieged by government forces, while others were running from troops advancing in rural areas.

The Syrian government offensive began earlier this week in rural areas north of Aleppo, the provincial capital, and appears aimed at eventually encircling the city. Forces loyal to President Bashar Assad captured several towns and villages, driving a wedge into rebel-held areas and cutting off a supply road to Turkey.

Once Syria's thriving commercial center, Aleppo has been divided since 2012 between government- and rebel-controlled districts. A government siege of rebel strongholds could isolate tens of thousands of civilians and would deal a devastating blow to the morale of groups fighting to topple Assad for the last five years.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest expressed concern that government forces backed by Russia threatened Aleppo. "It does look like a terrible humanitarian situation inside of Syria and it is poised to get worse. And that is something that we continue to be quite concerned about," Earnest said.

"There is no denying that the efforts of the Russian military to buck up and strengthen the Assad regime's grip on power only gives the Assad regime less of an incentive to come to the negotiating table and act constructively in conversations there," he added.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accused Russia of using imprecise "dumb bombs" that have killed large numbers of civilians. "This has to stop. Nobody has any question about that," Kerry told reporters at the State Department.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the "intense Russian airstrikes mainly targeting opposition groups in Syria are undermining the efforts to find a political solution to the conflict." A U.N.-led attempt to launch indirect talks between a government delegation and opposition representatives in Geneva was adjourned Wednesday amid acrimonious bickering. U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura said the process will resume Feb. 25.

The opposition's chief negotiator, Mohammed Alloush, told The Associated Press late Thursday that his delegation is unlikely to return to Geneva because of what he said was a "merciless" bombing campaign by Russia and the Syrian air force this week.

At the United Nations, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Moscow plans to present new ideas on how to restart the talks, including a cease-fire, at a Feb. 11 meeting of key countries in Munich. He said Moscow hopes others in the 17-nation group will "shoulder responsibility" in restarting the talks.

Tensions ran high outside the U.N. Security Council, as Britain and France blamed Syria's offensive near Aleppo for the suspension of talks. French Ambassador Francois Delattre said the opposition couldn't be expected to negotiate "with a gun to their heads," and British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said Churkin "needs to look in the mirror and understand where the responsibility lies."

The Syrian rebels were able to hold positions in the Aleppo area before, but the Russian bombing, along with reinforcements sent to Assad by his allies in Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, appear to have tilted the balance in the battlefield.

London-based analyst Ayman Kamel, head of the Middle East and North Africa program at the Euroasia Group, said he expects Assad's forces to regain control of Aleppo at some point this year, barring further foreign intervention.

"I don't think Aleppo is necessarily the most important city in the country, but it is very symbolic," he said. "If rebels lose their presence in Aleppo, then they are largely going to be demoralized, and it's part of a larger campaign of them losing influence in northern Syria."

Russia began its airstrikes in late September, ostensibly going after Islamic State extremists who control large areas of northeastern Syria. However, critics say Russian warplanes have struck a wide range of opposition targets in order to bolster Assad, a longtime ally.

Russia's Defense Ministry said its warplanes hit 875 targets across Syria this week, including in the area of the current offensive. Mercy Corps, which has been delivering food to civilians in northern Syria, said it had to stop distributions in opposition-held areas of Aleppo earlier this week because the sole access road became too dangerous.

The Russian airstrikes north of Aleppo have "hugely increased" in the past two weeks, said Rae McGrath, head of Mercy Corps operations in Turkey and northern Syria. The human rights advocacy group Amnesty International urged Turkey to admit the displaced. Turkey "must not close its doors to people in desperate need of safety," said Amnesty's Global Issues Director Sherif Elsayed-Ali.

Turkish TV showed Syrians walking between long rows of large white tents at Bab al-Salam, and Davutoglu said tens of thousands more were on the move. Abdulgani Fettah told Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency that he escaped to the border after his hometown of Bab came under heavy bombardment.

"We are asking that Turkey looks after us and opens its doors to us," Fettah said. "We are in difficulty because of the cold. There are sick people, children, women, and wounded people. They came to the border in difficult conditions."

There were conflicting estimates of the number of displaced near the border. The U.N. said up to 20,000 people gathered at the Bab al-Salam crossing. Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, said another 5,000 to 10,000 people reached the town of Azaz and that 10,000 arrived in the town of Afrin.

The Turkish Islamic charity IHH said about 50,000 people arrived since Thursday in the area of Bab al-Salam. The group is erecting tents on the Syrian side of the border, said spokesman Serkan Nergis. The charity runs about 10 camps for displaced Syrians on the frontier.

Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press writers Zeina Karam in Beirut, Bassem Mroue in Geneva and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed reporting.

Syrian refugee teachers help fill the education gap

February 02, 2016

QAB ELIAS, Lebanon (AP) — In the refugee camp in eastern Lebanon where Fatima Khaled lives with her two daughters, only three children found a spot in the local school.

So when parents found out that Khaled was an educator, they begged her to teach their children. An unemployed teacher who fled Damascus three years ago, Khaled could not find work in Lebanon. "I came here and tried to find a job, but no one would hire me," she said. "Parents here suggested the idea. They told me I could teach and help the children."

Khaled, 30, has been teaching literacy and basic arithmetic for over a year, first out of her living room, and now out of a shed built by her husband. While humanitarian actors meet in London on Thursday to fund the education of Syrian refugees, Khaled's is one of a multitude of anonymous shoestring initiatives filling the gap on the ground. With local schools overwhelmed and aid money so far falling short, only 59 percent of Lebanon's 338,000 school-age Syrian refugees receive an education, according to the UNHCR. Some 238 public schools offer a second shift to accommodate more refugees, yet the United Nations estimates that twice as many second shifts are needed to accommodate them all.

Such teaching initiatives help fill more than an educational void for refugees. Ahmed Shareef's teaching career nearly came to an end when a Tunisian fighter from the Islamic State group summoned him, in his village of West Atchan outside the Syrian city of Aleppo. As principal of the local school, Shareef had ordered a teenage student to trim his beard and the militant wanted to know why.

"I didn't ask him to shave it, just trim it," Shareef told him. The fighter told him to scrap philosophy and history from the curriculum because those courses were "blasphemy" and demanded that girls leave school after the 6th grade. When Shareef asked why, he says the man replied: "When you grow a beard I will tell you why."

Not long afterward, 38-year-old Shareef packed his bags and fled to Lebanon with his wife and children. Two years later, Shareef teaches Syrian children how to read and write out of a plywood and tarp-covered tent in Qab Elias, a village in the Bekaa valley of Lebanon where most of his fellow villagers had resettled to flee the fighting.

Since none of the camp's approximately 100 children found a spot at the local school and Shareef couldn't find a teaching job, he gives free lessons to children aged 5 to 12 who have had their education disrupted by the conflict. On a normal day, over 30 rowdy students sit on the floor. The class schedule is determined by the weather; when rain floods the tent, class is dismissed.

Like Khaled, Shareef does not earn a salary. He lives on the $100 a month the UNHCR allocates his family. But Khaled admits that money is hardly a motivation for her. The work, even if unpaid, is as much a lifeline for herself as it is for her students.

"I cannot not teach," she says smiling. "I've been teaching since I was 18 and when I arrived here I couldn't stand doing nothing."

Syrians fleeing war find unlikely refuge in Sudan

Thursday, 28 January 2016

As European countries close their doors and neighboring countries struggle to cope, an increasing number of Syrian refugees are seeking refuge in an unlikely destination - Sudan.

Battling with an economic crisis and rebellions in its own far-flung hinterlands, the African country has nevertheless opened its doors, offering Syrians safety and citizen status, with its allure of access to public healthcare and schools, Reuters reported.

A survey conducted by the Syrian Support Committee in July 2015 found more than 100,000 Syrians living in the country as a direct result of the war, a number that has since grown.

Anas Khalid, a Syrian who arrived in Khartoum in 2007, long before the Syrian war, opened a restaurant to cater for the influx of his countrymen in Sudan.

“All the young men that work with me have fled the war. I employ around 40 Syrians between two branches and house them all,” Khalid explained.

“Before the Syrians began migrating here in masses I worked at a Syrian restaurant and a factory. I started up the restaurant as a way of helping the young men coming in who I knew would struggle to find work and pay rent.”

“He’s my relative and he’s my relative,” he said, pointing towards men carving a rotating slab of chicken and exchanging money with customers. “I know most of them from back home and knew they were coming. Any man over the age of 18 has no choice but to leave or join the military and face certain death.”

A shared language and the promise of help from old friends and relatives already in Sudan has encouraged more Syrians to make a life there. The streets of Khartoum are now lined with Syrian restaurants.

Every week, two flights arrive from Damascus. Syrian families effortlessly pass through passport control with no need for visas, in stark contrast to the strict border controls they face around the world.

“We began pushing to accommodate Syrian refugees just over a year ago," says Ahmed Gizouli, Commissioner of Refugees for Sudan. "Initially, there was a small number but this eventually increased, following the orders of the president to allow Syrian refugees entry without a visa.”

While Syrians are thankful to escape dangers and psychological stress of the war back home, they face economic challenges in Khartoum.

Housing shortages and foreign demand have driven up the price of land and rent, leaving newcomers with little time to get on their feet.

Abdelkareem Abuzamar, a 28-year-old working in Khalid's kitchen, arrived in Sudan from Turkey in the summer of 2015 after struggling to find work in the saturated job market there.

“I got in touch with a Sudanese family on Facebook and told them about my plans to move to Sudan. They met me at the airport and welcomed me into their home,” he said.

“I stayed with them for a month before getting in touch with Anas, my neighbor back home in Syria, and started work with him.”

Though he works 12-hour shifts, Abuzamar still struggles to make ends meet.

“I’m engaged to a Syrian girl I met here but my wages won’t cover the cost of rent. It’s stressful because the cost of living is going up and the wages are staying the same,” he said.

In July, an initiative called Shukran Sudan, Arabic for “thank you Sudan”, was launched by a group of Syrians who handed out sweets and water to passing cars.

“If Sudan closes its doors, Syrians have two options: Turkey or the sea," said Mazin Abu El-Kheir, founder of the Syrian Support Committee and a dual Syrian-Sudanese citizen from before the war. "And everyone has seen the tragedies that happen at sea.”

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/23608-syrians-fleeing-war-find-unlikely-refuge-in-sudan.

Jordan decries Israeli plan to build Western Wall 'prayer plaza'

Sunday, 07 February 2016

Jordanian officials are calling on Israel to halt plans to build a new "prayer plaza" at Jerusalem's Western Wall, located in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Jordan's official Petra News Agency on Saturday quoted Communications Minister Mohammad Momani as saying that the proposed plaza would violate the site’s Islamic heritage.

Sacred to Jews, the Western Wall is situated in East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which for Muslims represents the world’s third holiest site.

Both Jordanian and Al-Aqsa Mosque officials say construction of the proposed prayer plaza would damage the Umayyad Palaces, a seventh-century Islamic archaeological site.

The Petra News Agency reported Thursday that Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, the Jerusalem-based director of the Awqaf (the Jordanian foundation responsible for the upkeep of Jerusalem’s Muslim holy sites), had written a letter to the Israeli authorities calling for management of the Umayyad Palaces to be handed over to the Awqaf.

Israel has already erected temporary platforms at the site of the proposed prayer plaza, which will be set up next to the retaining wall of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound - known to Jews as the "Temple Mount" and considered sacred by both faiths.

The planned plaza is intended to provide a space at the Western Wall in which Jewish women can read the Torah (the Jewish holy book), as Orthodox Jews are opposed to the presence of women in the main areas reserved for prayer.

Since Israel’s 1967 occupation of Jerusalem and the West Bank, Jordan - via the Awqaf - has been responsible for safeguarding and managing Jerusalem’s Islamic heritage sites, especially the iconic Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Since then, a "status quo" has been maintained at the site in which non-Muslims are prohibited from performing prayer activities.

Amid mounting tension over access to the site and accusations that Israel was altering this status quo by allowing groups of Jews - in increasing numbers - to visit Al-Aqsa, Jordan and Israel agreed last October to a US-backed deal to install surveillance cameras to monitor activity inside the mosque compound.

Until now, however, the two sides have failed to agree on how to install the cameras and on who should be able to control the video feeds.

On Sunday, Israeli daily Haaretz quoted Israeli officials as saying that a solution may not be found before the Jewish Passover holiday in April, when large numbers of Jews usually visit the flashpoint site.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/23776-jordan-decries-israeli-plan-to-build-western-wall-prayer-plaza.

'No real Jordanian effort to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque,' Mufti says

Wednesday, 03 February 2016

Head of the Supreme Islamic Committee in Jerusalem Sheikh Ekrema Sabri said on Tuesday that there has been no real efforts or measures by the Jordanian Awqaf to challenge the situation for Muslims at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Safa news agency reported.

Sabri said that the “official and popular silence” on the Israeli ban on certain Muslims praying at Al-Aqsa Mosque “encourages” the continuation of Israeli violations.

Sabri blamed the “rightest” Israeli government, which “supports” the extremist groups, for preventing Muslims from performing their prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque. He also blamed the “silence” of the Arab and Islamic nations, who he said “gave up support for the Mosque”.

He added: “The end of this prevention is coming soon. We support you and pray for you. Oppression will backfire on the oppressors.”

He said the Supreme Islamic Committee would likely hold a press conference on Wednesday to speak about this issue.

Palestinian men and women banned from Al-Aqsa Mosque organised a sit-in at its gates on Tuesday. Israel forces responded with violence and dispersed them.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/23707-no-real-jordanian-effort-to-protect-al-aqsa-mosque-mufti-says.

Jordan to purchase Arlan armored vehicles from Kazakhstan

Astana, Kazakhstan (UPI)
Jan 26, 2016

Jordan will purchase Arlan armored vehicles as part of its recently signed military cooperation agreement with Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering, a joint venture that began business in 2015, has stated the Kingdom of Jordan plans to buy 50 Arlan vehicles, though it has not been disclosed exactly how many were purchased.

In addition to the vehicles, Jordan will also procure 12.7mm guns, night vision sights, and additional equipment. It is not yet known when the equipment is scheduled for delivery.

The Arlan is an armored vehicle designed to transport 10 military personnel with a high level of protection. The vehicle can also be used for armored vehicle fire support operations, or as an anti-missile launcher.

The military cooperation agreement between Kazakhstan and Jordan includes other collaborations. Kazakhstan and Jordan will both participate in the International Exhibition of Arms and Military Equipment, also known as KADEX-2016, where Jordan will serve as the host country.

KADEX-2016 will host defense contractors from around the world, and feature weapons and military equipment. The exhibition will take place in Astana.

"It should be noted, despite the long distances between the two countries, [they have] great potential of development in the economic, military and political cooperation," the Kazakhstan Ministry of Defense wrote in a statement.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Jordan_to_purchase_Arlan_armored_vehicles_from_Kazakhstan_999.html.

Algeria's parliament approves draft constitutional changes

Sunday, 07 February 2016

Algeria’s parliament on Sunday approved a raft of draft constitutional amendments, which - among other things - will limit future presidents to two terms in office and officially recognize the language of the country’s sizable Berber minority.

The changes were approved with 499 MPs voting in favor, two opposed and 16 abstaining.

Passage of the amendments required the approval of 454 out of 606 lawmakers.

"This will usher in a new political and constitutional era for Algeria," President Abdelaziz Bouteflika - whose ruling National Liberation Front proposed the raft of amendments - said in a message to parliament.

Sunday’s parliamentary session was boycotted by 89 members of the 606-seat assembly.

Most importantly, the new amendments will reintroduce a presidential term limit of two five-year terms in office.

They will also see Amazigh - the language of Algeria’s Berber minority - recognized as an official language, while retaining Arabic as the country’s first language.

Furthermore, the changes will require the president to henceforth nominate a prime minister from among the party with the largest parliamentary presence.

Article 176 of Algeria’s current constitution states that the president can introduce constitutional amendments without putting them to a public referendum - as long as he has the consent of three-quarters of parliament’s two chambers.

He can only do this, however, the charter adds, as long as Algeria’s constitutional court rules that the proposed changes "will not affect the general principles that govern Algerian society; human and citizens’ rights and freedoms; the country’s system of checks and balances; or constitutional institutions".

Last month, the constitutional court gave Bouteflika the green light to put the proposed changes to a parliamentary vote rather than a public referendum.

Since coming to power in 1999, the 78-year-old Bouteflika has presided over two previous constitutional amendments.

The first was in 2001, whereby he made Amazigh a national - albeit informal - language, while a 2008 constitutional change abolished presidential term limits altogether, allowing Bouteflika to successfully run for a third term in office in 2009 and a fourth in 2014.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/africa/23779-algerias-parliament-approves-draft-constitutional-changes.

Spanish village of Lantz celebrates clash between good, evil

February 07, 2016

LANTZ, Spain (AP) — The inhabitants of a northern Spanish mountain village have taken part in an age-old Carnival festival that re-enacts a legendary confrontation between good and evil.

Sunday's festivities in Lantz celebrate a long-standing tradition in which the opposing forces challenge each other in a symbolic battle during which the colorfully-garbed villagers' thirst for justice builds up into fiery public rage.

Villagers from Lantz, which is located on the western skirts of the Pyrenees Mountains where highwaymen once threatened rural harmony and cross-border trade with neighboring France, are reputed to have chased down Miel Otxin, one of most fearsome bandits of them all.

During the annual feast, villagers dress in colorful and jingle-belled outfits and act out the hunt, capture and death sentence by burning meted out to the evil "bandido" raider.

Socialists meet to plan coalition strategy to govern Spain

January 30, 2016

MADRID (AP) — Socialist Party leaders are meeting in Madrid to plan a strategy on how to form a coalition with the anti-austerity Podemos party in Spain.

Leader Pedro Sanchez addressed the gathering Saturday, reiterating his decision to rule out linking-up with the center-right Popular Party that won most votes in the Dec. 20 election but fell short of a parliamentary majority.

Sanchez said acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy should "abandon hope" of reaching a power-sharing agreement, and "we aren't going to back him." No party won a majority in the 350-seat Parliament, but newcomers Podemos and Ciudadanos shattered the dominance of Rajoy's Popular Party and the main opposition Socialists, which have alternated in government for decades.

Socialists must overcome qualms about joining forces with a far-left group it has lambasted for years.

N. Korea praises launch, others see as covert missile test

February 07, 2016

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Sunday defied international warnings and launched a long-range rocket that the United Nations and others call a cover for a banned test of ballistic missile technology.

The rocket was fired from North Korea's west coast and its path was tracked separately by the United States, Japan and South Korea; no damage from debris was reported. At an emergency national security council meeting in Seoul, the country's president called the firing an "intolerable provocation."

North Korea, which calls its launches part of a peaceful space program, trumpeted the beauty of the launch's "fascinating vapor" as the rocket cut through the clear blue sky and said it had successfully put a new Earth observation satellite, the Kwangmyongsong 4, or Shining Star 4, into orbit less than 10 minutes after liftoff. It vowed more such launches. A U.S. official said it might take days to assess whether the launch was a success.

The firing came about two hours after an eight-day launch window opened Sunday morning. It follows North Korea's widely disputed claim last month to have tested a hydrogen bomb. Washington and its allies will consider it a further provocation and push for more tough sanctions. The United States and Japan quickly requested an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Sunday morning, saying Pyongyang violated a council ban on ballistic missile launches.

North Korean rocket and nuclear tests are seen as crucial steps toward the North's ultimate goal of a nuclear armed missile that could hit the U.S. mainland. North Korea under leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to bolster its nuclear arsenal unless Washington scraps what Pyongyang calls a hostile policy meant to collapse Kim's government. Diplomats are also pushing to tighten U.N. sanctions because of the North's Jan. 6 nuclear test.

In a statement, North Korea's National Aerospace Development Administration, in typical propaganda-laden language, praised "the fascinating vapor of Juche satellite trailing in the clear and blue sky in spring of February on the threshold of the Day of the Shining Star." Juche is a North Korean philosophy focusing on self-reliance; the Day of the Shining Star refers to the Feb. 16 birthday of former dictator Kim Jong Il. North Korea has previously staged rocket launches to mark important anniversaries.

Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang Gyun said a South Korean Aegis-equipped destroyer detected the North Korean launch at 9:31 a.m. The rocket's first stage fell off North Korea's west coast at 9:32 a.m. and the rocket disappeared from South Korean radars at 9:36 a.m. off the southwestern coast. There was no reported damage in South Korea.

The South Korean government couldn't immediately confirm reports by Yonhap news agency and YTN TV that the rocket might have failed. The U.S. Strategic Command issued a statement saying it detected and tracked a missile launched on a southern trajectory but it did not pose a threat to the United States or its allies.

Japan's NHK broadcaster showed footage of an object visible in the skies from the southern island of Okinawa that was believed to be the rocket. Japanese chief Cabinet spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters that no debris fell on Japanese territory.

The global condemnation began almost immediately. South Korean President Park Geun-hye called the launch an "intolerable provocation." She said the North's efforts to advance its missile capabilities were "all about maintaining the regime" in Pyongyang and criticized the North Korean leadership for ignoring the hardships of ordinary North Koreans.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to "take action to totally protect the safety and well-being of our people." U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice called the North's missile and nuclear weapons programs a "serious threats to our interests — including the security of some of our closest allies."

The Foreign Ministry in China, the North's only major ally and protector in the U.N. Security Council, where Beijing wields veto power, expressed "regret that, disregarding the opposition from the international community, the (North) side obstinately insisted in carrying out a launch by using ballistic missile technologies."

Kim Jong Un has overseen two of the North's four nuclear tests and three long-range rocket tests since taking over after the death of his father, dictator Kim Jong Il, in late 2011. The U.N. Security Council prohibits North Korea from nuclear and ballistic missile activity. Experts say that ballistic missiles and rockets in satellite launches share similar bodies, engines and other technology.

"If North Korea has only nuclear weapons, that's not that intimidating. If they have only rockets, that's not that intimidating, either. But if they have both of them, that means they can attack any target on Earth. So it becomes a global issue," said Kwon Sejin, a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

North Korea in 2013 also did a nuclear test and then unnerved the international community by orchestrating an escalating campaign of bombast, including threats to fire nuclear missiles at the U.S. and Seoul.

North Korea has spent decades trying to develop operational nuclear weapons. North Korea has said that plutonium and highly enriched uranium facilities at its main Nyongbyon nuclear complex are in operation. The North is thought to have a small arsenal of crude atomic bombs and an impressive array of short- and medium-range missiles. But it has yet to demonstrate that it can produce nuclear bombs small enough to place on a missile, or missiles that can reliably deliver its bombs to faraway targets.

After several failures testing a multistage, long-range rocket, it put its first satellite into space with a long-range rocket launched in December 2012. The North's recent activity comes amid a long-standing diplomatic stalemate. Six-nation negotiations on dismantling North Korea's nuclear program in exchange for aid fell apart in early 2009.

Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim and Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul; Yuri Kageyama and Eric Talmadge in Tokyo; Lolita Baldor in Washington; Louise Watt in Beijing, and Edith Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.