'We're prisoners': Syrians trapped in SDF camps after escape from IS

Tuesday 22 August

Civilians fleeing the Islamic State (IS) group's two remaining Syrian strongholds face "horrific conditions" in dozens of poorly equipped camps on the outskirts of Syrian cities.

Many of these camps lack clean water, food and healthcare. Some are run by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, according to camp residents. The SDF denies it runs the camps, despite them being in territory under its control.

The fighting in areas where US-backed forces continue to battle IS militants has forced tens of thousands of Syrians from their homes into dozens of camps in Hasakeh and Raqqa provinces.

Many find themselves trapped in terrible conditions.

"Living in an actual prison would have been easier than living in one of these camps," said Ahmed, who fled his home in Deir Ezzor along with his parents and five brothers and moved to al-Sad camp, also known as Arisha.

Arisha is located in the southern suburbs of Hasakeh and is considered one of the biggest IDP camps housing about 6,000 people.

"We are like prisoners in the camp, not even allowed to leave," added Ahmed.

In a statement on 14 August, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Syrian civilians in Arisha as well as in dozens of other poorly equipped informal camps face "terrible, terrible conditions".

"There is one camp called Arisha in Hasakeh governorate. The camp itself used to be an oil refinery, so you see children playing in toxic waste, drinking and bathing in contaminated water," ICRC spokesperson Ingy Sedky said.

According to Ahmed, six people died in Arisha recently due to rising temperatures and the lack of medical care.

"The ambulance comes to the camp every day because the women and elderly keep falling ill due to the heat, lack of hygiene and an abundance of insects, snakes, and scorpions."

About 70,000 people are living in such camps, which are often in hard-to-reach locations, complicating aid provision, according to the ICRC.

'Death Camps'

Mohamed Hassan, a Syrian activist heading the "Death Camps" Campaign, an online initiative launched last week to raise awareness about the conditions in Syrian IDP camps, said that civilians were facing deadly conditions in eight informal camps on the outskirts of Hasakeh and Raqqa, and which are run by the SDF.

"Many Syrians leaving their homes are transferred by SDF members to SDF-run camps which lack any source of water or medical facilities," Hassan told MEE.

Residents of the eight camps - Rajm Salibi, Arisha, Alhoul and Mabouka in the suburbs of Hasakeh, Ain Eissa and Karama in the suburbs of Raqqa, and Ruwaishid and Rukban near the Iraqi border - reported poor conditions, and said that vital resources, such as medical facilities and food, are lacking, reported the campaigners.

Many well-known Syrian activists, including Lina al-Shamy and others, have joined the Twitter campaign to raise awareness about the issue.

In its report, the ICRC documented that tents at these camps tend to be placed in the middle of the desert, with snakes and scorpions posing a daily threat to the residents. Many of the camps are poorly equipped, lacking basic medical equipment and access to clean water, according to ICRC spokesperson Sedky.

"Most of the camps don't have doctors on site. They don't even have bandages, even the simplest things are not available. As a result, the camps' inhabitants are at risk of chronic diseases," Sedky said at the time.

Other camps lacked even the most basic items, including tents, with new arrivals sleeping in the open for up to 10 days while waiting for shelter.

The ICRC also reported that around 50 percent of camp residents are children, with intense heat and overcrowding making the conditions even worse.

"At the same time, the sheer number of people arriving every day is adding to the catastrophe," he added saying that there were about 18,000 people dispersed across the eight camps, all of which lack basic services.

According to ICRC, IDP camps in Syria are cramped with some housing anywhere between 2,000 and 10,000 people. And as the fighting has continued, the numbers within the camps have been increasing, the Red Cross said in a statement earlier this month.

Hassan told MEE that one camp was established along the frontlines between the SDF and IS and have therefore been sites where civilians died due to the fighting.

"IS attacked the IDPs in the Rajm Salabi camp last month while it was fighting with SDF and this led to 37 people being killed inside the camp," said Hassan.

According to the campaign organizers, Rajm Salabi, located in the suburbs of Hasakeh, is run by the SDF and houses about 400 families, most of whom fled their homes in Deir Ezzor.

But SDF spokesperson Mustafa Bali told MEE that his forces did not manage any camps across Syria and are "solely preoccupied with fighting IS".

'Living in a prison'

After fleeing the violence around his home in Deir Ezzor, Mohamed, 22, was taken by a member of the SDF to the Karama camp in the suburbs of Raqqa and interrogated for hours before being left without a tent.

"We arrived at the camp to find nothing but sand. The women and children were taken to a tent but all the men were left to sit and sleep in the open with nothing to shade us from the heat of the desert," Mohamed told MEE.

"After that, each one of us was searched and questioned by members of SDF to make sure we weren't affiliated with IS," he added.

According to Mohamed, when he tried to leave the camp, members of the SDF would not let him go without paying an extortionate amount of money.

"The SDF wouldn't let anyone out of the camp unless they were ill or willing to pay a huge sum of money," said Mohamed.

"For a young man like me, they wanted a huge amount."

Source: Middle East Eye.
Link: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syrian-refugees-forced-flee-death-camps-705837072.

New military factions join the National Front for the Liberation of Syria

11 Aug, 2017

AlDorar AlShamia:

The newly formed National Liberation Front of Syria (NFL) has announced the entry of new revolutionary factions into its ranks.

The Front published a number of statements bearing the names of the factions affiliated to it, namely, Osoud al-Furat Gathering, the Martyr Abu Mansur al-Amel Brigade, the Kafar Shams Martyrs Brigade, the Free Golan Brigade, the Golan Command Brigade and the Special Tasks Brigade.

At the end of last July, 10 military factions joined the group: the Commandos, the Qadisiyah Brigade, the Ahbab Omar Brigade, the Ra'ad, the Ahrar al-Janoub, the Maghawir al-Janoub, Ahrar al-Masifra, the martyrs of Damascus, Osoud Bani Umiya and the Karak martyrs.

It is noteworthy that the "National Front for the Liberation of Syria" was announced on July 22 after the merger of more than ten military factions.

It is worth mentioning that one of the objectives of the new formation - according to a previous statement - is to "restore the Syrian revolution to the right direction, to overthrow the injustice regime, to keep the national decision free and independent, to preserve the unity of Syria and the people and the gains achieved through the sacrifice of the people."

Source: al-Dorar al-Shamia.
Link: http://www.aldorars.com/en/news/1049.

New Hamas leader says it is getting aid again from Iran

August 28, 2017

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas' new leader in the Gaza Strip said Monday his group has repaired relations with Iran after a five-year rift and is using its newfound financial and military aid to gear up for new hostilities with Israel.

The announcement by Yehiyeh Sinwar came as U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was visiting Israel. At a meeting with the U.N. chief, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu complained about what he called rising anti-Israel activity by Iran and its allies in the region.

Iran was once the top backer of Hamas, an Islamic militant group that seeks Israel's destruction. But Hamas broke with Iran in 2012 after the group refused to support Iran's close ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad, in the Syrian civil war.

During a four-hour meeting with journalists, Sinwar said those ties have been restored and are stronger than ever. "Today, the relationship with Iran is excellent, or very excellent," Sinwar said. He added that the Islamic Republic is "the largest backer financially and militarily" to Hamas' military wing.

It was the first time that Sinwar has met reporters since he was elected in February. The 55-year-old Sinwar, who spent two decades in Israeli prison after being convicted of masterminding the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers, has close ties with Hamas' militant wing and takes a hard line toward Israel.

Israel and Iran are bitter enemies, and Israel has recently expressed concern that Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah are seeking a permanent military presence in Syria near the Israeli border. Both Hezbollah fighters and Iran have backed Assad's forces in the Syrian war.

In his meeting with Guterres, Netanyahu alleged Iran is building sites in Syria and Lebanon to produce "precision-guided missiles" to be used against Israel. "Iran is busy turning Syria into a base of military entrenchment, and it wants to use Syria and Lebanon as warfronts against its declared goal to eradicate Israel," Netanyahu said. "This is something Israel cannot accept. This is something the U.N. should not accept."

Israel has also accused the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, of failing to prevent Hezbollah from smuggling huge quantities of weapons into southern Lebanon in violation of a 2006 cease-fire. UNIFIL's mandate is up for renewal at the end of the month and Israel is pressing for the force to have an increased presence to better monitor and prevent the alleged Hezbollah arms buildup.

UNIFIL's commander, Maj. Gen. Michael Beary, told The Associated Press last week that he has no evidence that weapons are being illegally transferred and stockpiled in the Hezbollah-dominated south. But Guterres promised Netanyahu that he will do everything in my capacity" to ensure UNIFIL fulfills its obligations.

"I understand the security concerns of Israel and I repeat that the idea or the intention or the will to destroy the state of Israel is something totally unacceptable from my perspective," he said. Responding to Israeli claims that the U.N. is biased, Guterres stressed his commitment to "treating all states equally." He said those who call for Israel's destruction peddle in a "form of modern anti-Semitism" — though he also said he doesn't always agree with the country's policies.

Guterres heads to the West Bank on Tuesday and is scheduled to visit Gaza on Wednesday. The U.N. maintains major operations in Gaza, running schools and health clinics and delivering humanitarian aid. Guterres is not scheduled to speak to Hamas.

Late Monday, Guterres met with Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, commander of COGAT, the defense body that is responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs. Mordechai blamed Hamas for the poor conditions in Gaza, saying the group tries to exploit civilians and aid programs. He also said Hamas' refusal to return the remains of two dead Israeli soldiers, along with two Israeli civilians it is holding, hinders Israeli efforts to assist Gaza.

"The terror organization Hamas does not hesitate at all and repeatedly exploits the Gaza residents by attempting to take advantage of Israel's assistance, despite the severe civil hardships in the strip," Mordechai said.

Guterres later met with the families of the dead soldiers and captive Israeli civilians. In his briefing with reporters, Sinwar would not say how much aid Iran provides his group. Before the 2012 breakup, Iran provided an estimated $50 million a month to Hamas.

Hamas wrested control of Gaza from the Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas' forces in 2007. Since then, it has fought three wars with Israel. Hamas has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings, shootings and other attacks. It is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and the European Union.

Sinwar stressed that the Iranian aid is for "rebuilding and accumulating" Hamas' military powers for a larger fight against Israel that is meant to "liberate Palestine." "Thousands of people work every day to make rockets, (dig) tunnels and train frogmen," he said. "The relationship with Iran is in this context."

But the shadowy leader said his movement does not intend to start a fourth war with Israel, instead preferring to remedy dire living conditions in the impoverished coastal enclave. Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on Gaza after the Hamas takeover a decade ago. Trying to pressure Hamas and regain control, Abbas has asked Israel to reduce electricity supplies to Gaza, and he has slashed the salaries of thousands of his former government employees there.

The result is that Gaza suffers acute power outages of up to 16 hours a day, unemployment of nearly 50 percent and widespread poverty. Sinwar has turned to Egypt, which has begun to ease the blockade as it seeks Hamas' help in controlling their border. The Egyptian military has been fighting an Islamic insurgency in the Sinai desert, near Gaza.

Relations with Cairo "have improved dramatically," Sinwar said. Egypt has recently sent fuel to ease the power crisis in response to Hamas' building of a buffer zone along the border. "We will knock on all the doors, except that of the (Israeli) occupation, to resolve the problems," he said.

Sinwar was among more than 1,000 Palestinians released by Israel in 2011 in exchange for an Israeli soldier, Gilad Schalit, whom Hamas kidnapped in 2006. Sinwar said there would be no new talks over a prisoner swap until Israel frees 54 prisoners released in the Schalit swap that have been re-arrested.

"We are ready to start negotiations through a mediator, but only when the table is cleaned. Freed prisoners must feel they are immune."

Federman reported from Jerusalem.

Residents return home as guns fall silent in Benghazi

2017-08-24

BENGHAZI - Two months after the dominant military force in eastern Libya declared victory in a campaign to retake Benghazi, Hassan al-Zawy is living rough in his home in the district that witnessed the city's last major battle.

Like many other residents, he ventured back as Khalifa Haftar Libyan National Army gradually wrested back control from Islamist militants and other rebel groups.

Parts of Libya's second city were reduced to rubble during more than three years of fighting and, with economic crisis and political turmoil gripping the country, rebuilding is a daunting challenge.

"There are flies, mosquitoes and garbage. At night, we have absolutely nothing," Zawy said in mid-August in the seafront neighborhood of Sabri.

"We've been here for one month and 10 days and all we want from the state is (this): electricity and water, and for people to return to their homes, and stay there." A conflict that developed after strongman Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in an uprising six years ago has yet to be resolved. Benghazi, where the 2011 revolution started, has seen some of the worst violence. Tens of thousands of residents, many opposed to Haftar, were displaced to other Libyan cities.

Sabri is where Haftar's rivals had their final strongholds, and was bombarded by LNA heavy artillery and air strikes up until a few weeks ago. Sporadic fighting continued after Haftar announced victory on July 5..

People recover what they can from the rubble of ruined buildings. Children help with the cleanup.

Afterwards, men sit outside drinking tea or coffee and guarding their streets. One says he will stay in his home even if he has to hang towels over the doors and windows.

Another Sabri resident, Farag Mahmoud, said some people were so keen to get back to their homes that they were ignoring the risk from land mines still planted in parts of the district.

"We found our homes had been flooded from broken pipes in the plumbing systems, and were submerged in water around 70 to 80 centimeters deep," he said.

Some returning residents have formed citizens' committees to lobby the municipal authorities on water, electricity and hygiene, said Milad Fadlallah, a local engineer.

Most residents in the less severely damaged eastern part of Sabri would be able to spend the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which starts on Sept. 1, back in their neighborhood, Fadlallah said.

But a lack of funds and political leadership in a country still divided between two rival governments will hinder reconstruction, said Osama al-Kaza, director of projects at Benghazi's municipality.

In Benghazi, the conflict has also had left deep physical and psychological scars.

"Achieving an outstanding and modern image for the city will have to be done in stages, will take years and cost billions," he said.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=84530.

Unofficial armed group stops migrants from leaving Libya for Europe

August 22, 2017

An unofficial armed group is stopping boats used by people smugglers from setting off from Libya to cross the Mediterranean Sea, resulting in a fall in the number of migrants making the perilous journey.

There has been a noted decline in migrants arriving in Italy from Libya this year. Libya is the main route for migration to Europe but there was a fall of more than 50 per cent in July compared with 2016. Even fewer have made the journey this month, despite this time of year being a peak period due to more favorable weather and sea conditions.

The EU’s Frontex border control agency said last week that “clashes in Sabratha” contributed to July’s migrant decline. The agency also cited changeable weather and an increased Libyan coastguard presence.

According to sources in Sabratha, the sudden drop has been due to a new group operating in the city which is preventing migrants from leaving and in some cases locking them up in detention centers instead, reports Lebanon’s Daily Star. The group is made up of several hundred “civilians, policemen and army figures” who conduct a “very strong campaign” that was launched by a “former mafia boss,” local sources told Associated Press.

Italy has been trying to bolster the ability of Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) to stop people smuggling by giving cash incentives, training the coastguard and sending a ship to help repair coastguard and naval vessels.

Over 600,000 migrants have reached Italy by sea from North Africa since 2014; more than 12,000 having died trying to make the journey. Italy will be looking to replicate a deal with Libya like the one struck by the EU with Turkey last year to shut down migrant routes through Greece and the Balkan states.

The UN-backed GNA has little control over armed groups in western Libya, including the capital, and none at all over militant factions which control the east of the country under the leadership of the Libyan National Army’s Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar. Smuggling networks are likely to keep on operating as along as the country suffers from a lack of a strong central authority, the absence of which has worsened Libya’s security situation.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170822-unofficial-armed-group-stops-migrants-from-leaving-libya-for-europe/.

New distress call to save besieged city of Derna

August 22, 2017

Derna Local Council and civil society institutions have reiterated their call to state officials and all local and international human rights organizations to intervene and save their besieged city.

The council said in a statement that the siege of the city imposed by Dignity Operation militants is still in force despite their announcement of partial lifting of the blockade.

“Dignity Operation forces are still banning access of food, fuel and medical supplies to the city”, read the statement.

Source: Libya Observer.
Link: https://www.libyaobserver.ly/inbrief/new-distress-call-save-besieged-city-derna.

Armed clashes among pro-Haftar gunmen erupted east Derna

August 17, 2017

Clashes erupted Wednesday among groups of gunmen of Omar Al-Mukhtar operations room near Martuba checkpoint in east Derna.

According to eyewitnesses, the gunmen used light weapons to resolve the dispute over who should be controlling the checkpoint that separate Derna from the areas eastward.

"The gunmen, after internal clashes, opened fire on Derna locals who were gathering there since early morning to enter Martuba to buy basic needs after all of the city's entrances and exits have been closed for two weeks." Eyewitnesses added.

According to sources, the reason behind the clashes was that some of the gunmen wanted to open the road for Derna residents to enter Martuba, while others disagreed.

Tens of Derna locals gather every day in front of Martuba road's checkpoint hoping to get a pass to go and buy whatever they could find of the needed basic needs like foods, medicines and fuel after the siege of Haftar-led forces had left the city on the verge of a humanitarian disaster.

Meanwhile, the head of the Derna local council, Awad Al-Aweij, said in presser in Tripoli that the city has become a disaster, calling on the residents to break the siege.

He also urged local and international organizations and officials to lift the siege on Derna and allow the basic needs and services to enter the city urgently via humanitarian corridors.

Source: Libya Observer.
Link: http://www.libyaobserver.ly/news/armed-clashes-among-pro-haftar-gunmen-erupted-east-derna.

Libyan eastern forces prepare for land-attack on Derna

August 14, 2017

Pro-Haftar Omar Al-Mukhtar Operations Room is preparing for carrying out a land attack on Derna city in the coming days after the crippling siege that has been laid by Haftar's forces on the city depriving them of basic humanitarian needs.

The spokesman of the Dignity Operation forces, Ahmed Al-Mismari, revealed a plan for the attack on Derna by controlling strategic spots in the city including Wadi Al-Naqa area and western entrance of the city, which was used by Derna Shura Council fighters in several attacks against Haftar's forces.

"A new joint operations room was formed in Ean Mara area." Al-Mismari added.

In that area, there is a force called "Awliya Al-Dam" (blood Owners) a group of civilians related to the victims of Al-Qubba explosion two years ago, when over 50 people got killed from Ean Mara area.

The residents of Ean Mara still hold Derna Shura Council accountable for the explosion despite the fact that IS militants - who were fought out of Derna by the council fighters - claimed responsibility for it.

"Other fight axes will be protecting the advance of the frontline forces." Al-Mismari added, naming Martuba in east Darn and Al-Fatayeh as well.

He also indicated that a new fighting axis will see warplanes taking part in the operation, without saying which warplanes - Haftar's ones or those from other countries like Egypt, which had already air-attacked Derna several times.

Al-Mismari explained that, on Sunday, ground troops advanced toward Derna from five fighting axes under an aircraft cover, adding that their fighter jets had targeted houses in Daher Al-Hamar area on the outskirt of the city and destroyed two vehicles for Derna Shura Council.

Dignity Operation toughened the grip on Derna city after the downing of pro-Haftar aircraft on August 02, disallowing the residents from going out or in leading to worsened living conditions amid shortages of food, fuel and medicines.

Source: Libya Observer.
Link: http://www.libyaobserver.ly/news/libyan-eastern-forces-prepare-land-attack-derna.

Second group suspends migrant rescues, cites Libyan threats

August 13, 2017

ROME (AP) — A second humanitarian group in two days has reluctantly decided to suspend migrant rescues in the Mediterranean Sea due to Libyan threats, and other charities with rescue ships on Sunday were considering doing the same.

Germany-based Sea-Eye said it made the decision to halt its water rescues "with a heavy heart," but for the sake of its crew's safety. Sea-Eye cited the "changed security situation in the Western Mediterranean" following the Tripoli-based government's announcement it was extending its territorial waters.

Save the Children said its rescue ship was staying in Malta after Libya declared that its search-and-rescue area now will extend far beyond the 12 nautical miles Italy and other countries consider the limit of its territorial waters.

Libya also proclaimed its intention to "extend its control and prohibition of NGO ships in international waters," according to Save the Children, which is evaluating whether to stop its ship's patrols.

On Saturday, Doctors Without Borders also cited Libyan threats in suspending its sea rescue activities. A Spanish aid group's rescue ship reported that the Libyan coast guard last week fired warning shots at them while the vessel was in international waters.

Humanitarian groups worry that if migrants are blocked at sea after setting out from Libyan shores in smugglers' unseaworthy boats, they risk drowning without rescue ships nearby. They also fear that migrants will be mistreated in Libyan detention centers if they are thwarted from leaving the North African country.

The Italian Parliament recently approved the center-left government's request to send a naval mission to Libya to help the Libyan coast guard patrol its coast for migrant smugglers. In an interview published Sunday in La Stampa daily newspaper, Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano was quoted as saying, "We must avoid deaths at sea by reducing the departures" from Libya.

"We made two choices: that of taking away criminal earnings from traffickers — because fewer persons departing mean the traffickers earn less — and that of financing the U.N. agencies" working with refugees and migrants to "assure respect for human rights in the Libyan camps."

Some rescued migrants have told Italian judicial authorities that while waiting months for a chance to get on the smugglers' boats, they suffered from scarce rations, forced labor, rape, beating and torture.

Save the Children said it was seeking guarantees it could safely carry out effective rescue operations, and expressed worry for "the possibility that migrants are brought back to Libya, that's not considered a safe place where fundamental human rights are respected."

After hundreds of thousands of migrants rescued from foundering boats were brought to Italian ports in the last few years, Italians have become worried about the costs of caring for asylum-seekers in a country where unemployment is high and the economy is flat.

With elections due next year, Italian politicians of most stripes are advocating strategies to choke off the flow of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

Qatar announces new port to 'break shackles' of Gulf boycott

2017-09-05

DOHA - Qatar said Tuesday that a new $7.4 billion port would help to "break the shackles" of a three-month-old boycott of the gas-rich emirate by Arab states led by Saudi Arabia.

The Hamad Port, which began operating in December, is a major hub for imports to Qatar, hit by a land and air embargo by some of its most powerful neighbors.

"This is a gateway to break the shackles imposed on Qatar," transport minister Jassim bin Saif Al-Sulaiti said in a speech during an inauguration ceremony for the port held Tuesday.

"Nothing can stop us and our ambition," he added.

In a relatively rare public appearance since the onset of the crisis, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani attended the inauguration but did not speak.

On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of bankrolling Islamist extremist groups and having close ties to Shiite Iran.

Qatar denies the charges.

Tuesday's hour-long ceremony, broadcast live on Qatari television stations, included a band, acrobats and fireworks.

The ostentatious display was a clear signal of defiance to Qatar's neighbors after their suspension of economic and diplomatic relations with Doha.

Hamad will be Qatar's largest container port and will provide commercial access to some 150 countries, according to official reports.

These include links to regional ports in Oman and Kuwait, and more distant ports of call from Turkey to India and Pakistan.

Qatar previously relied on neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for food imports.

But as part of the sanctions, Saudi Arabia sealed its land border with Qatar.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia's arch-rival Iran have since stepped in to help meet Qatar's food needs.

The Hamad Port is located on Qatar's south eastern coast, around an hour's drive from Doha.

It has a capacity of 1.7 million tonnes of general freight and one million tonnes of grain, according to Mwani Qatar, the country's port management company.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=84693.

Saudi Arabia and Iraq to re-open border crossing after 27 years

August 15, 2017

Saudi Arabia and Iraq plan to open the Arar border crossing for trade for the first time since 1990 when it was closed after the countries cut ties following Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, Saudi local media reported on Tuesday.

Saudi and Iraqi officials toured the site on Monday and spoke with Iraqi religious pilgrims, who for the past 27 years had access to the crossing only once annually during the Hajj season, Saudi sources reported.

The governor of Iraq’s southwestern Anbar province, whose staff was on hand for the ceremonies, said the Iraqi government had deployed troops to protect the desert route leading to Arar and called its opening a “significant move” to boost ties.

“This is a great start for further future cooperation between Iraq and Saudia Arabia,” said Sohaib al-Rawi.

The announcement follows a decision by the Saudi cabinet on Monday to establish a joint trade commission with Iraq.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are both wooing their northern neighbor in an effort to halt the growing regional influence of arch-foe Iran.

The Sunni-led Arab Gulf countries have hosted influential Iraqi Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr for talks with their crown princes in recent weeks, rare visits after years of troubled relations.

Sadr’s office said his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman resulted in an agreement for Saudi Arabia to donate $10 million in aid to the Iraqi government and study possible investments in Shi’ite regions of southern Iraq.

The opening of border crossings for trade was also on a list of goals for the talks published by Sadr’s office.

Sadr commands a large following among the urban poor of Baghdad and southern Iraq and is one of few Iraqi Shi’ite leaders to keep some distance from Tehran.

The Saudi-Iraqi rapprochement extends back to 2015 when Saudi Arabia reopened its embassy in Baghdad following a 25-year break.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir visited Baghdad in February, and the two countries announced in June they would set up a coordination council to upgrade ties.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170815-saudi-arabia-and-iraq-to-re-open-border-crossing-after-27-years/.

Louvre Abu Dhabi to open on November 11

2017-09-06

ABU DHABI - The Louvre Abu Dhabi will finally open its doors to the public in November, bringing to the Gulf Mesopotamian artifacts and post-impressionist masterpieces in the first Louvre-branded museum outside of Paris.

Housing 600 works of art, including 300 loaned by 13 French museums for the inaugural year, the Louvre Abu Dhabi is described as the "first universal museum" in the Arab world.

"At a time when culture is under attack... this is our joint response," French Culture Minister Francoise Nyssen said at a news conference Wednesday in Abu Dhabi to announce the November 11 opening date.

The museum has been a decade in the making and is opening five years behind schedule.

Among the works on loan to Abu Dhabi are Leonardo da Vinci's La Belle Ferronniere from the Louvre -- which houses the world's largest collection of art -- and Vincent van Gogh's self-portrait from the Musee d'Orsay.

Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel of France, the "museum city" is reminiscent of an Arab medina, enveloped by a part arabesque, part futuristic silvery dome that lets in the light in patterns mimicking leaves of the palm trees of the Gulf.

While the Louvre Abu Dhabi will not lack its Rodins and Gaugins, for some, the real heart of the museum is in its narration of ancient civilizations through artifacts acquired by the United Arab Emirates.

- 'Complex, ambitious' -

The planned opening comes a decade after France and the UAE agreed a 30-year partnership worth $1.1 billion under which many top French museums will loan art to Abu Dhabi.

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to attend the inauguration of the museum, which had originally been scheduled to open in 2012.

The "complex, ambitious project", in the words of museum director Manuel Rabate, has faced delays in funding and construction.

The decision to grant Abu Dhabi the rights to the Louvre name sparked heated debate in France with critics accusing the Louvre of "selling its soul" and questioning the emirate's record on labor rights.

"Yes, it's exceptional. Yes, this is the first time a project like this launches in the Middle East. But that's what's unique to this project," Rabate told AFP in response to the critiques.

He sought to allay concerns about the transportation of the art and the conditions in which it will be stored, in a country where temperatures soar well above 40 degrees Celsius (over 100 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer.

"Their protection is vital to us and we have made sure we have the systems in place to protect them against the environmental conditions," Mohamed Khalifa al-Mubarak, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, said.

"The museum's galleries are operated by sophisticated climate controls for humidity, temperature and light and during installation, the works are in environmentally protected crates and cases to make sure they are not affected by outside conditions."

Guarded by Emirati forces, in coordination with French experts, including civil defense and terrorism security forces, the art is protected by "state of the art security systems and procedures, in line with international standards," said Mubarak.

- 'Message of tolerance' -

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is part of "a major cultural strategy" to promote the city as a patron of the arts in a region increasingly focused on soft power.

About five percent of the overall museum will be dedicated to contemporary and modern art. The rest focuses on telling the story of world histories and religions.

In the gallery of world religions, a sixth century Koran, a gothic Bible and a Yemeni Torah face each other, open to verses that give similar accounts.

"To send that message of tolerance is really important for our time," said Mubarak.

A branch of the Guggenheim, still under development, and the Zayed Museum, the national museum named after the country's founder, are located on the same island.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi's opening comes as the UAE, which in April announced the establishment of a Soft Power Council, is locked in a diplomatic battle with neighboring Qatar, accused by its Gulf neighbors of supporting Islamist extremism.

The UAE will also host the global trade fair Expo 2020.

"We're definitely not this closed-off society that's putting a massive wall up," said Mubarak.

"We (the UAE and France) have a goal that is exactly identical: we both want to tell the world how our history is connected. Through culture, the world can become a better place," he added.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=84696.

Spanish court suspends Catalonia's independence vote

September 07, 2017

MADRID (AP) — Spain's constitutional court on Thursday suspended the call for a referendum on Catalonia's independence after agreeing to review an appeal by central authorities in Madrid. The move was widely expected after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced that the government was challenging both a controversial law meant to legitimize the independence vote and a decree signed Wednesday by the regional Catalan government summoning voters for the Oct. 1 ballot.

The reaction to the court's decision by leaders in Catalonia, a prosperous region in northeastern Spain, also didn't come as a surprise. Carles Puigdemont, the regional president and one of the main promoters of the referendum, said that neither central Spanish authorities nor the courts could halt their plans.

"We will respond to the tsunami of lawsuits with a tsunami of democracy," Puigdemont told local broadcaster 8TV. He also boasted that more than 16,000 people had already registered online as volunteers and that more than half of the mayors in Catalonia were supporting the vote.

Spain's constitutional court has previously ruled that a referendum can only be called with the approval of the central authorities. But Puigdemont's pro-independence coalition claims that the universal right to self-determination overrules Spain's laws.

The Catalonia region, centered on Barcelona, generates a fifth of Spain's gross domestic product and holds 7.5 million people. It self-governs in several important areas, such as police, health and education. But key areas such as taxes, foreign affairs and most infrastructures are in the hands of the Spanish government. Both Catalan and Spanish are spoken, and many Catalans feel strongly about their cultural heritage and traditions.

The central government called the move an attack against Spain's and Catalonia's institutional order. "That's something that the government and the courts can't allow," Rajoy said in a televised address Thursday following an urgent meeting of his cabinet. "There won't be a self-determination referendum because that would be taking away from other Spaniards the right to decide their future."

Rajoy is trying to strike a delicate balance between tamping down the secessionist defiance yet staying away from dramatic measures that would further inflame anti-Spanish sentiments, such as suspending Catalonia's autonomous powers or declaring a state of emergency, which could bring the military to the mix.

His conservative government has not disclosed what other possible actions are in the pipeline, but it has vowed to trigger all measures in a "proportional" way and "with serenity." "The Constitution can be modified but through the rules and channels established, never through disobedience," Rajoy said.

The state prosecutor, meanwhile, announced plans for lawsuits accusing Catalan officials involved in the possible referendum of disobedience, abuse of power and embezzlement, among other charges. One lawsuit seeks to punish members of the Catalan parliament who allowed the debate and the vote on the legal framework of the Oct. 1 referendum. A separate lawsuit was aimed at Puigdemont and the other members of his cabinet who signed the referendum decree.

Chief state prosecutor Jose Manuel Maza said prosecutors and police forces in Catalonia have been told to investigate and stop any actions taken to celebrate the referendum. Businesses who print tickets for the ballot, produce commercials to advertise it or provide ballot services to the Catalan government could also be legally liable.

He said the measures were aimed at "guaranteeing the constitutional coexistence framework" in Spain. Although much of the blame for the institutional crisis has been put on the pro-independence bloc in the Catalan parliament, Rajoy's conservative government is being targeted by other political parties for letting the situation get this far.

The pro-independence bloc has argued that full control would benefit Catalonia. The idea gained support amid the high unemployment and harsh austerity measures that came as a result of Spain's 2008-2013 financial crisis.

A return to solid growth, however, has weakened public backing for independence. Catalan leaders have pledged to proclaim a new republic within 48 hours if the "yes" side wins the referendum, regardless of turnout.

Macron ends Greek visit with surprise stroll through town

September 08, 2017

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Wrapping up a visit to Greece, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, departed from the official program Friday to stroll down a crowded central Athens shopping street, delighting selfie-thirsty pedestrians but inconveniencing those unfortunate enough to get stuck in the ensuing traffic jams.

Accompanied by plainclothes security guards, the couple posed for pictures, shook hands and chatted to passers-by for more than half an hour on the Ermou pedestrian street, near central Syntagma Square and the Greek parliament. The president then met and spoke to a group of Greek Orthodox priests outside Athens Cathedral.

Greek police, apparently caught by surprise by the unscheduled walk, blocked major streets leading to the city center, leaving motorists and passengers in public transport stranded for about 45 minutes.

Macron's visit to Greece, four months after his election victory, has focused on the Greek recovery as well as wider issues related to Europe's future. Addressing a round-table of Greek and French business leaders earlier on his second and final day in Greece, Macron urged European firms to step up their investments in Greece, to help reduce the cash-strapped country's growing reliance on non-European countries, notably China.

He said Greece was "forced" to choose non-European investors "because the Europeans were not there." French enterprises, Macron said with certainty, would ramp up their investments in Greece, a country that's spent much of the past decade hurtling from one crisis to the next and seen its economy shrink by a quarter and unemployment and poverty levels swell alarmingly.

"We want Korean, Chinese and American investments, these are very important," he said. "But if there are no European investors, then we are forced to select non-European investors." A failure to respond, he said, would show that Europeans have "no faith in Europe."

Greece has relied on international bailouts to stay afloat, after losing bond market access in 2010. Following years of belt-tightening that's seen improvements in the country's annual budget, Greece's bailout era is due to end in the summer of 2018.

In return for the money that's prevented the country's bankruptcy, Greece has been compelled to institute a wide array of economic reforms, including the sale of a raft of state-owned assets, such as airports, ports, railways and real estate. Many of those have ended up in the hands of non-European investors.

In two of the biggest privatization projects, China's Cosco expanded its stake in Greece's main port of Piraeus to 67 percent, while Chinese and Gulf investors are involved in an 8 billion-euro ($9.6 billion) development scheme at the site of the old Athens airport, which had also been used for the 2004 Olympic Games.

Macron's comments come a day after he met Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and presented his vision for Europe in a speech at the site of the ancient Athenian assembly, seen as an enduring icon of democracy worldwide.

Speaking with the ancient Acropolis as a backdrop, he urged the European Union to carry out six-month national reviews on EU reforms before imposing them. That's been interpreted as a signal that the new French president is distancing himself somewhat from the German-backed approach that's been based on fiscal discipline within the 19-country eurozone.

"It would be a mistake to abandon the European ideal," Macron said Thursday. "We must rediscover the enthusiasm that the union was founded upon and change, not with technocrats and not with bureaucracy."

Elena Becatoros in Athens contributed to this story.

UK universities face EU student exodus due to Brexit

September 08, 2017

LONDON (AP) — Growing up in a small Italian farming town, Andrea Guerini Rocco dreamed of pursuing a career in economics in a big, bustling city. Three years ago, he thought that city would be London. He did his undergraduate studies at the London School of Economics, earning good grades and working analyst internships he was passionate about. He was able to afford the lowered tuition for European Union students - half what other international students pay - and he didn't need a visa to work and live in Britain.

Britain's vote to leave the European Union changed all that. When the country leaves the bloc in 2019, there's no promise that the financial and immigration perks for incoming European students and workers will remain.

So after the Brexit vote, when Rocco was preparing to enroll in a master's degree, he decided to move to Columbia University in New York instead. Tuition is pricy and he'll need more paperwork - but at least there's clarity. He knows what he's signing up for and can plan ahead.

"If Brexit was not happening I would have stayed in London," the 22-year-old said. "The university is great. I love LSE." He isn't alone in having to reassess his plans. More than 60,000 EU students attend British universities, bringing brain power for employers, diversity and more than 400 million pounds ($518 million) of tuition money with them each year, on top of the 500 million pounds these universities receive in EU funding annually.

This year, EU applications to U.K. schools dropped for the first time in at least five years, by 5 percent. More than 2,500 young, bright Europeans took their talents elsewhere, rather than face the uncertainties of Brexit. The British government has promised that EU students starting before Brexit will pay reduced tuition prices and that they'll stay visa-free until 2019 - and that's about all they've promised.

If the British government doesn't provide clarity for EU nationals and EU education funding, U.K. universities could lose over 1 billion pounds a year and some of their top students. That's fewer bright minds staying and contributing to the British economy after graduation, innovating and producing - and paying taxes - in Britain. Until the government tells young EU nationals what they can expect post-Brexit, Britain's education, financial and other crucial sectors may find themselves struggling to attract and retain the talent needed to stay competitive.

The Russell Group, which represents 24 U.K. universities, including LSE, Cambridge and Oxford, has repeatedly asked the British government to provide clarity for EU students, including assurances that they will be able to stay and work in Britain after graduation.

Some of the damage to Britain's image as a welcoming environment seems to have already been done. Adrian Thomas, the director of communications at LSE, says that some of the applicants he's spoken to were spooked by the focus on immigration in the Brexit debate.

Felix Heilmann, who is starting his second year at Oxford, was at home in Germany last year as he watched the Brexit referendum votes rolling in. He was prepping for his first year and had been excited to start studying at one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the world.

But that excitement turned to anxiety about how the referendum would affect his tuition, immigration status and social experience. "There was a very big feeling of, 'Am I still welcome?'" Heilmann said.

While he hasn't noticed any blatant discrimination at Oxford, he says EU students on campus are weighed down by the insecurity of their future options. He's not sure if he'll stay in the U.K. for graduate school, something he once took as certain.

If EU students no longer get the discounted tuition rates after Brexit, Heilmann and others like him will likely further their education at schools outside the U.K. Stefano Caselli, Dean for International Affairs at Bocconi, one of Italy's top schools for business, says their applicant numbers have been on the rise since last year. He says Italian students who once flocked to the U.K. for a good education are now looking to earn a high quality degree at home, a trend that could rise faster if the prices of a school like LSE nearly doubles from 9,250 pounds ($12,062) to 18,408 pounds ($24,005). That jump is a huge difference for European students, in a culture where higher education is often virtually free or relatively inexpensive and families don't save up for college funds.

"Today, many schools in Europe are offering programs in English. The faculty is diversified, with an incredible placement rate," Caselli said. "And when you have all these parameters you start saying 'Why would I move to the U.K.?'"

If Europe's best and brightest choose continental schools like Bocconi, it's not just British universities that suffer but also companies that will find it more difficult to recruit new talent. The finance industry, London's economic backbone, is particularly vulnerable. Reza Moghadam, the vice-chairman for capital markets at investment bank Morgan Stanley, notes that around 80 percent of the finance industry's recruits came from U.K. universities, but only 20 percent are British-born.

"We do need global talent," he told a conference this summer. "The global diversity is important in terms of delivering global services." Financial recruiters will have two options if European students head elsewhere for university - accept lower talent from a smaller pool, or build pipelines that extend beyond British schools.

But their tendency to rely on British-educated recruits is partially what makes finance-focused schools like LSE and London Business School so popular. If top talent goes elsewhere, and recruiters follow them, it erodes the schools' brand name power.

Thomas says his LSE's reputation is strong enough to combat the Brexit uncertainty working against it. Unlike many other U.K. schools, he says, LSE's applicant numbers didn't decrease post-referendum "because LSE on your CV is a read-through to a great job at the end of the day."

David Kurten, the education spokesman for the U.K. Independence Party, which campaigned in favor of Brexit, also believes the appeal of schools like LSE and Oxford will endure. He notes that applications from international students outside of Europe, particularly East Asia, are on the rise, despite their higher tuition fee. "For every one EU student that doesn't want to come, there's two or three from China and the Far East who do," Kurten said.

Such optimism is cold comfort for Rocco, who can't risk his financial future and resident status on a brand. "If you need to pay the international student fees, you're basically forced to go elsewhere," Rocco said. "Most (Italian) students at LSE are middle class, so that tuition change is quite relevant. If this changes in the future, we expect Italian students at LSE to basically disappear."

Protesters in Minsk denounce military exercises with Russia

September 08, 2017

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — About 200 people have held an unauthorized demonstration in the Belorussian capital of Minsk to protest their nation's joint military exercises with Russia this month. Although police in the authoritarian former Soviet republic often harshly break up unsanctioned demonstrations, there were no arrests at Friday's gathering.

The military exercises beginning Sept. 14 have raised concerns among Belarus' beleaguered opposition that Russia could use them to establish a permanent military presence. Nikolai Statkevich, Belarus' most prominent opposition figure, told the rally that Russia could use the exercises to "use our country as a base for aggression."

Belarus borders Lithuania and Latvia and is near Estonia. All three Baltic states, which were once part of the Soviet Union, have expressed fears that Russia could try to annex them like it did Crimea in 2014.

Israel's attorney general may indict Netanyahu's wife

September 08, 2017

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's attorney general took a step Friday toward indicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife for corruption in a scandal that deepened the mounting legal problems of Israel's first family.

Attorney General Avichai Mandleblit announced he is considering charging Sara Netanyahu with graft, fraud and breach of trust for alleged overspending of over $100,000 in public funds on private meals at the prime minister's official residence.

Friday's announcement is the procedural first step ahead of leveling formal charges against Sara Netanyahu. The Justice Ministry said in a statement that she will have the opportunity to plead her case at a hearing before any charges are filed.

Investigations that Netanyahu improperly hired a political supporter as an electrician, used government money to buy furniture for their private beach house, and used state funds to pay for her late father's medical care were dropped for lack of evidence, the attorney general's office said.

A similar notice was issued to Ezra Saidoff, a former official at Netanyahu's official residence, for suspected involvement in the case. The Netanyahus dismissed accusations of wrongdoing against Sara Netanyahu as "absurd" in a Facebook post on the prime minister's official page on Thursday. The prime minister doubled down on the denial in another post Friday, saying the accusations "will evaporate in the hearing" like other suspicions against the prime minister's wife.

An indictment of Sara Netanyahu would not pose a direct threat to Netanyahu. But it is an embarrassing blow to the prime minister, who is facing a series of criminal investigations into his personal and financial dealings.

Emanuel Gross, a legal expert at Haifa University, said Mandelblit's announcement is a standard legal procedure that is "very preliminary," and won't absolutely result in an indictment. "We cannot be sure what will happen after the hearing," he said. "We have to wait and see."

The potential indictment threatens to reinforce the unflattering reputation the Netanyahus have gained for enjoying an expensive lifestyle out of touch with common Israelis. The Netanyahus have repeatedly charged that they are victims of a political witch hunt and hostile media.

Discovery of boron on Mars adds to evidence for habitability

Los Alamos NM (SPX)
Sep 07, 2017

The discovery of boron on Mars gives scientists more clues about whether life could have ever existed on the planet, according to a paper published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

"Because borates may play an important role in making RNA - one of the building blocks of life - finding boron on Mars further opens the possibility that life could have once arisen on the planet," said Patrick Gasda, a postdoctoral researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory and lead author on the paper. "Borates are one possible bridge from simple organic molecules to RNA. Without RNA, you have no life. The presence of boron tells us that, if organics were present on Mars, these chemical reactions could have occurred."

RNA (ribonucleic acid) is a nucleic acid present in all modern life, but scientists have long hypothesized an "RNA World," where the first proto-life was made of individual RNA strands that both contained genetic information and could copy itself. A key ingredient of RNA is a sugar called ribose. But sugars are notoriously unstable; they decompose quickly in water. The ribose would need another element there to stabilize it.

That's where boron comes in. When boron is dissolved in water - becoming borate - it will react with the ribose and stabilize it for long enough to make RNA.

"We detected borates in a crater on Mars that's 3.8 billion years old, younger than the likely formation of life on Earth," said Gasda. "Essentially, this tells us that the conditions from which life could have potentially grown may have existed on ancient Mars, independent from Earth."

The boron found on Mars was discovered in calcium sulfate mineral veins, meaning the boron was present in Mars groundwater, and provides another indication that some of the groundwater in Gale Cater was habitable, ranging between 0-60 degrees Celsius (32-140 degrees Fahrenheit) and with neutral-to-alkaline pH.

The boron was identified by the rover's laser-shooting ChemCam (Chemistry and Camera) instrument, which was developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in conjunction with the French space agency. Los Alamos' work on discovery-driven instruments like ChemCam stems from the Laboratory's experience building and operating more than 500 spacecraft instruments for national defense.

The discovery of boron is only one of several recent findings related to the composition of Martian rocks. Curiosity is climbing a layered Martian mountain and finding chemical evidence of how ancient lakes and wet underground environments changed, billions of years ago, in ways that affected their potential favorability for microbial life.

As the rover has progressed uphill, compositions trend toward more clay and more boron. These and other chemical variations can tell us about conditions under which sediments were initially deposited and about how later groundwater moving through the accumulated layers altered and transported dissolved elements, including boron.

Whether Martian life has ever existed is still unknown. No compelling evidence for it has been found. When Curiosity landed in Mars' Gale Crater in 2012 the mission's main goal was to determine whether the area ever offered a habitable environment, which has since been confirmed.

The Mars 2020 rover will be equipped with an instrument called "SuperCam," developed by Los Alamos and an instrument called SHERLOC, which was developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory with significant participation by Los Alamos. Both of these will search for signs of past life on the planet.

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Discovery_of_boron_on_Mars_adds_to_evidence_for_habitability_999.html.

Steampunk Rover Could Explore Hellish Venus

By Mike Wall, Space.com
September 6, 2017

Researchers are studying the possibility of building a steampunk Venus rover, which would forsake electronics in favor of analog equipment, such as levers and gears, to the extent possible.

"Venus is too inhospitable for the kind of complex control systems you have on a Mars rover," project leader Jonathan Sauder, an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. "But with a fully mechanical rover, you might be able to survive as long as a year.

"Inhospitable" may be a bit of an understatement. Thanks to Venus' thick atmosphere, pressures on the planet's surface are high enough to crush the hull of a nuclear submarine, NASA officials said. That same atmosphere has also spawned a runaway greenhouse effect: Venus' average surface temperature is a whopping 864 degrees Fahrenheit (462 degrees Celsius) — hot enough to melt lead (not to mention standard electronics).

No spacecraft has ever survived these conditions for more than 127 minutes, and none has even tried for more than three decades; the last probes to reach the Venusian surface were the Soviet Union's twin Vega 1 and Vega 2 landers, which launched in 1984.

So Sauder and his team are thinking creatively, drawing inspiration from mechanical computers such as Charles Babbage's famous 19th-century Difference Engine and the intricate Antikythera mechanism, which the ancient Greeks used to predict eclipses and perform a variety of other celestial calculations.

They're developing their concept vehicle, known as the Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments (AREE), using two rounds of funding from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. NIAC grants are intended to help nurture potentially revolutionary space science and exploration ideas.

"In Phase 1, purely mechanical rover technologies were compared to a high-temperature electronics rover and hybrid rover technologies," Sauder and his colleagues wrote in a description of the project. "A purely mechanical rover, while feasible, was found to not be practical, and a high-temperature electronics rover is not possible with the current technology, but a hybrid rover is extremely compelling."

This hybrid rover, as currently envisioned, would trundle across Venus not on wheels but on treads, like a tank. Most of its power would be generated by an onboard wind turbine, though roof-mounted solar panels would help as well.

The team's current plans also call for AREE to feature a radar target with a rotating shutter, which would allow the rover to selectively bounce back radar signals from an overhead orbiter. As such, AREE could relay data in an old-fashioned, Morse-code sort of way.

"When you think of something as extreme as Venus, you want to think really out there," JPL engineer Evan Hilgemann, who's working on AREE high-temperature designs, said in the same statement. "It's an environment we don't know much about beyond what we've seen in Soviet-era images."

Source: SPACE.com.
Link: https://www.space.com/37994-nasa-steampunk-venus-rover-concept.html.

Life on Mars: Let's Try Oman Desert First for Space Mission

Moscow (Sputnik)
Sep 05, 2017

Life on Mars may still be light years away - but it clearly hasn't stopped us from thinking ahead. Next year six space-suited and booted astronauts will head to the Dhofar desert in Oman in an attempt to simulate what life will be like on Mars.

According to scientists, the Dhofar desert is possibly the most realistic place on Earth that is as harsh and uninviting as the landscape of Mars.

The astronauts will take part in a lavish dress rehearsal for the first manned voyage to another planet as they attempt to retrace the footsteps of Marco Polo and the English explorer Wilfred Thesiger.

It is not the first time such an elaborate adventure has been staged in readiness for the real mission in later years. Teams have simulated identical missions in an open cast mine in southern Spain, the Sahara desert in Africa, as well as a glacier in the Alps.

"Every time we try to get bigger and better and closer to the real thing. We need to understand the capabilities and limitations of our equipment and what people need to do when they get there. This is the biggest mission we have ever done," Gernot Gromer, president of the Austrian Space Forum, revealed.

When they head to Arabia next February the space crew will go armed with a drone, an inflatable hydroponic greenhouse, several robotic rovers as well as a host of other scientific equipment.

Although they will spend their time in complete isolation, their three week journey will be closely monitored by mission control, on this occasion, based in Austria. In order to make the event all the more realistic, any signal contact between them will be delayed by 10 minutes, just as there would be in real life.

"What we know about Mars has progressed massively in the past 15 years, and I strongly believe that the first human to walk on Mars is already born. We could see permanent human settlement on the Red Planet several generations from now, and they may not be happy eating canned food," said Mr. Gromer.

A 50-strong army of support personnel - including Squadron Leader Bonnie Posselt, an RAF doctor who became Britain's first trainee space medic last year - will be on hand throughout the mission. Some 60 researchers will also follow their every footsteps as they probe the 120 square mile test site looking for 'alien' DNA or, anything else they can find in the barren desert wastes.

In addition to the obvious inhospitable conditions beyond Earth, he explained, there are a number of less well known challenges to humans.

"The way our body processes food is different enough to matter a great deal. A person's sense of taste changes in zero gravity. There are medical implications to different gravity effects. In our work we're verifying whether the ideas and designs to survive on Mars work in practice, and the gaps between theory and practice that we observe range from trivial to serious matters."

The astronauts are guaranteed to be put to the test during their mission, most notably temperatures will vary from 16 degrees and 27 Celsius, a far cry from anything Mars has to offer.

In many respects, however, the landscape in Oman will be similar to those expected on the red planet, thanks to its salt domes, sedimentary rocks and dried up riverbeds.

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Life_on_Mars_Lets_Try_Oman_Desert_First_for_Space_Mission_999.html.

Nobel institute: Myanmar leader can't be stripped of prize

September 08, 2017

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The organization that oversees the Nobel Peace Prize said Friday the 1991 prize awarded to Myanmar's Aung Sang Suu Kyi cannot be revoked. Olav Njolstad, head of the Norwegian Nobel Institute said in an email to The Associated Press that neither the will of prize founder Alfred Nobel nor the Nobel Foundation's rules provide for the possibility of withdrawing the honor from laureates.

"It is not possible to strip a Nobel Peace Prize laureate of his or her award once bestowed," Njolstad wrote. "None of the prize awarding committees in Stockholm and Oslo has ever considered revoking a prize after it has been awarded."

An online petition signed by more than 386,000 people on Change.org is calling for Suu Kyi to be stripped of her Peace Prize over the persecution of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority. Suu Kyi received the award for "her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights" while standing up against military rulers.

She became the country's de facto leader after Myanmar held its first free election in 2012 and she led her party to a landslide victory. On Thursday, former South African archbishop Desmond Tutu urged her to intervene to stop the persecution of the Rohingya. In an open letter, he told his fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner that it is "incongruous for a symbol of righteousness" to lead a country where violence against the Rohingya is being carried out.

Rohingya have described large-scale violence perpetrated by Myanmar troops and Buddhist mobs — setting fire to their homes, spraying bullets indiscriminately and ordering them to leave or be killed. Suu Kyi has dismissed the Rohingya crisis as a misinformation campaign.