Austria's national vote Sunday: Questions and answers

October 13, 2017

VIENNA (AP) — Austrians will elect a new government Sunday after a campaign that has seen conflicting messages — two major parties have focused on concerns about immigrants and radical Islam while the third has highlighted the need to help the disadvantaged.

With polls indicating the next Austrian government could shift to the right, here are some questions and answers about the election and why it's significant beyond Austria's border.

WHY NOW — AND WHO ARE THE MAIN CONTENDERS?

Sunday's vote is coming a year ahead of schedule after squabbles lead to the breakup last spring of the coalition government of the Social Democrats and the People's Party. A total of 16 parties are vying for 183 seats in the national parliament and will be chosen by Austria's 6.4 million eligible voters.

The People's Party, which has shifted from centrist to right-wing positions, is leading in the pre-vote polls. Austria's traditionally right-wing and anti-migrant Freedom Party is second and the center-left Social Democrats are trailing in third place. Others that may clear the 4 percent hurdle needed to get into parliament are the Greens, the liberal NEOS, and Liste Pilz, led by former Greens politician Peter Pilz.

WHAT'S BEHIND AUSTRIA'S RIGHTWARD DRIFT?

In a word— migrants. The 2015 influx of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the war in Syria and poverty elsewhere into the EU's prosperous heartland left Austria with nearly 100,000 new and mostly Muslim migrants. That has fueled fears Austria's traditional Western and Christian culture is in danger. As a result, voters are receptive to the anti-migrant platforms of both the People's Party and the Freedom Party.

Although the Social Democrats have come either first or second in elections since World War II, voters are not receptive right now to the party's focus on social justice.

WHY IS THE PEOPLE'S PARTY AHEAD OF THE FREEDOM PARTY?

While their anti-migrant message is similar, the delivery differs. The Freedom Party has long used inflammatory and negative terminology in describing migrants in general and Muslims in particular. While it has publicly dissociated itself from decades of covert anti-Semitism, it continues to attract the neo-Nazi fringe. The People's Party in contrast, has no tradition of anti-Semitism and speaks of the perceived need to crack down on illegal migration and radical Islam in more measured terms. That makes it attractive to voters concerned about migrants and Muslims but who reject the racist and xenophobic sentiment many associate with the Freedom Party.

HOW HAS THE PEOPLE'S PARTY REINVENTED ITSELF?

As the government coalition was unraveling, the People's Party appointed Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz as its head, and the telegenic 31-year old set about to reinvent the party's image.

Long criticized as a stodgy old-boys network, the party under Kurz now sells itself as a fresh wind in the political landscape. It shrugs off criticism that it was part of the political establishment for decades — and that it has coopted Freedom Party positions on immigration that it has long opposed.

As Kurz's star waxes, Chancellor Christian Kern's is waning. The former head of Austria's state railway has seen his message as the bringer of change usurped by Kurz.

POST-VOTE SCENARIOS AND WHAT THAT MEANS FOR EUROPE

Polls suggest the People's Party will win Sunday's vote and the Freedom Party will come in second. With Kern saying the Social Democrats will go into the opposition if they do not win and a handful of other parties struggling to just get into parliament, the most likely scenario is a People's Party-Freedom Party coalition. But others are possible, depending on the results.

No one expects the European Union to impose sanctions on Austria like it did the last time the Freedom Party entered government in 2000. Still, because the party encourages euroskeptic and anti-immigrant sentiment, many would view its move into government as renewed evidence of right-wing political sentiment in Europe.

South Africa sees protests against murders of white farmers

October 30, 2017

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Thousands of white farmers have snarled traffic on some major roads in South Africa in what they call the Black Monday protest against the high rate of murders of farmers. Convoys of hundreds of slow moving trucks and cars brought traffic to a crawl on highways leading from farming areas to Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg and white farmers and their supporters wore black in memory of farmers killed. The protests have been peaceful and the South African police have accompanied the demonstrators.

The protests are backed by AfriForum, a lobby group which promotes the rights of South Africa's white minority, especially the Afrikaner population descended from Dutch settlers. AfriForum claims that 70 white farmers have been murdered in 341 attacks on farms so far this year.

The rate of murders of white farmers is much higher than South Africa's general murder rate, said Ian Cameron, AfriForum's head of community safety, speaking at the Afrikaners' Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria where hundreds of protesters gathered.

"A farmer has 4.5 times more chance of being murdered in South Africa, than an average South African," said Cameron, according to the African News Agency. "That means a farmer is three times more likely to be murdered in South Africa than a police officer in this country. So farmers have by far the most dangerous job of all people in this country, at the moment. We cannot allow this to continue the way it is."

The protest has been criticized by the Black First Land First group which claimed in a series of tweets that white farmers are perpetrating violence against black people.

FG okays establishment of new schools, hospitals by Turkey – Presidency

OCTOBER 22, 2017

Government has accepted offers by the Turkish authorities to set up new schools and hospitals in Nigeria.

Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, confirmed this development in a special feature tagged; Key Takeaways from President Muhammadu Buhari’s 4-day engagement in Turkey.

The Government of Turkey, on July 28, 2016, had alerted the Federal Government on the existence of schools and hospitals owned by suspected “terrorists” in Nigeria and demanded that the facilities be shut down.

The Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Hakan Cakil, who gave the alert when he received the Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Shehu Sani, said the owners of the schools allegedly sponsored the July 15, 2016 failed coup in Turkey.

Cakil said the institutions, which ranged from schools to hospitals, were allegedly owned by the Fethullah Gulen Foundation, adding that similar schools established in Turkey had been shut down.

The presidential aide, however, stated that a new investor, the Maarif Foundation for education was introduced to the Nigerian delegation to take up the establishment of schools and hospitals in Nigeria.

He disclosed that a delegation from the foundation would visit Nigeria to commence the process of registration as well as following the procedures of establishing the new schools.

“The two countries agreed to expand cooperation in exchange of scholars, exchange of students and exchange/sharing of ideas, skills and education technology and to improve scholarships for Nigerians to study in Turkey,’’ he added.

Shehu revealed that Nigeria and Turkey also agreed to resolve the issues relating to Nigerian students in Turkish universities that were facing exclusion due to visa challenges.

He said: “Nigeria and Turkey have equally agreed to strengthen and promote investments in health institutions and this, as promised by the President will proceed quickly.

“That is as soon as the details of the various agreements reached in the bilateral discussions are laid on his table."

On defense, the presidential spokesman said the two countries agreed to strengthen defense and military cooperation initiated a few years ago.

“This had already led to the establishment of the Defense section in the Turkish Embassy, Abuja in 2013 and Nigeria’s Defense section in Ankara in 2016.

“In the latest rounds of discussions, Nigeria and Turkey penned an agreement on military training,’’ he said.

Shehu said the two countries also agreed to collaborate towards the upgrading of the Defense Industries Corporation (DIC) in Kaduna into a Military Industrial Complex of Nigeria.

He said that two Turkish companies were already collaborating with the DIC in the production of arms and ammunition.

“Of the two companies, one is establishing a rifles production line and the supply of raw materials, technical assistance and training.

“The second one is partnering the DIC in the conceptualization, designing, consulting, invention, manufacturing, marketing, sale, exportation and sale of military industrial products."

On the just concluded ninth summit of the D-8 member countries, Shehu said the members also used the event to mark the 20th Anniversary of the organization.

He said the event witnessed the handover of the baton of its leadership from the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Sahid Khaqan Abbasi to President Recep Tayyep Erdogan of Turkey.

“At the end of the Summit, the Heads of State and Government adopted a communique which spelt out the direction of the organization for the coming two years under Turkey.’’

Source: Vanguard.
Link: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/10/gov-tambuwal-appoints-committee-sale-govt-quarters/.

Erdogan, Buhari to ramp up Nigeria-Turkey cooperation

OCTOBER 19, 2017

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday vowed to ramp up security and and economic cooperation between Ankara and Africa’s most populous nation.

Speaking after talks at Erdogan’s palace, Buhari and the Turkish leader vowed to increase investment and cooperate in the fight against extremist groups including Boko Haram jihadists.

“There are a lot of potentialities in terms of investment. Already a lot is being done in the education and the health sectors,” said Buhari.

“This will be strengthened and Nigeria is prepared to receive Turkish business people to come and explore more of Nigeria’s potentialities,” he added.

Erdogan said he believed both sides would push trade volumes above $1.245 billion. “Turkish business people are ready to take on the development of Nigeria,” he said.

At a time of tense relations with the European Union and the United States, Turkey has been moving to broaden its influence in Africa, opening new diplomatic missions and air links.

Erdogan has himself been a frequent visitor to the continent, most recently travelling to Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar in January.

Erdogan said Turkey saw no difference between Boko Haram and Islamic State (IS) and the group of the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen blamed for the 2016 failed coup.

“These organizations are the killers who feed off the blood of the innocent,” he said. Asked how Turkey could help Nigeria defeat Boko Haram, Erdogan replied that intelligence cooperation was of the utmost importance.

Boko Haram’s quest to establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria has left at least 20,000 dead and threatened regional security.

Buhari will on Friday travel to Istanbul to attend a summit of the Developing-8 (D-8), a grouping of growing mainly-Muslim countries first envisaged by Erdogan’s late political mentor and former Turkish premier Necmettin Erbakan.

It comprises Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.

Source: Vanguard.
Link: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/10/erdogan-buhari-ramp-nigeria-turkey-cooperation/.

Nigerian govt denies bias towards the north in Buhari's World Bank request

October 13, 2017

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s office on Friday denied that he favored the north of the country over other regions, after he was criticized for asking the World Bank to focus on the region.

The northeast in particular has been wracked by an eight-year Islamist militant insurgency that has killed more than 20,000 people and forced 2 million to flee their homes, spawning what the United Nations says is one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim told journalists on Thursday in Washington that Buhari, himself a Muslim from the north, had asked the bank to focus on that region of Africa’s most populous country when they first met.

That led to criticism in the domestic press and social media from those who say Buhari has an anti-south agenda, highlighting the deep ethno-religious tensions in the country.

Buhari’s spokesman Femi Adesina said there had been a “deliberate twisting” of the president’s words to make it sound like he wanted to give the north an unfair advantage over other regions.

“President Buhari has a pan-Nigerian mandate, and he will discharge his duties and responsibilities in like manner,” Adesina said in an emailed statement.

“Any part of the country that requires special attention would receive it,” said Adesina.

The presidency said Buhari had made the comments to the World Bank president in July 2015 when the lender pledged financial support for Nigeria.

Opposition party member Femi Fani-Kayode, a former aviation minister who served under former president Goodluck Jonathan, whom Buhari defeated in a 2015 election, expressed outrage at the comments.

“Why am I not surprised? After all as far as @MBuhari is concerned southern Nigerians and Middle Belters are nothing but low-lifes, vassals and slaves,” he posted on his Twitter feed.

Buhari has in the last few weeks criticized secessionists in the country of 180 million, split roughly equally between Christians and Muslims and around 250 ethnic groups who mostly live peacefully side by side.

Some separatist critics of his administration, including those calling for the secession in the southeast, have also accused the president of focusing on his own part of the country.

Reuters

Source: Africa News.
Link: http://www.africanews.com/2017/10/14/nigerian-govt-denies-bias-towards-the-north-in-buhari-s-world-bank-request/.

Nigerians 'attack' Buhari over directive to World bank to concentrate on North

October 13, 2017
By Fikayo Olowolagba

Some Nigerians have taken on President Muhammadu Buhari over the alleged instruction he gave to World Bank to concentrate on the Northern part of Nigeria with regards to its assistance.

President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, on Thursday disclosed that Buhari ordered the body to concentrate on North to enhance Nigeria’s economy.

While some Nigerians have expressed surprise at such revelation others have insisted that Nigeria should be divided since Buhari is sidelining other regions...

Source: Daily Post.
Link: http://dailypost.ng/2017/10/13/nigerians-attack-buhari-directive-world-bank-concentrate-north/.

Nigerian court convicts 45 in Boko Haram mass trials

October 13, 2017

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A Nigerian court has convicted 45 Boko Haram members in the largest mass trial in the Islamic extremist group's history. The closed-door proceedings have raised the concerns of human rights groups about whether the trials of the 1,669 people will be fair.

These are the first results of the mass trials that began early this week at a military barracks in northern Nigeria. The judges are drafted from civil courts, while the barracks are being used for security reasons.

The 45 people were sentenced to between three and 31 years in prison, the country's information minister said in a statement Friday. Another 468 suspects were released, but the court ordered that they undergo deradicalization programs.

The government has not said what exactly the hundreds of suspects are charged with. Nigeria is trying to show it is making progress against the extremist group that has killed more than 20,000 people during its eight-year insurgency. Boko Haram has yet to comment publicly on the mass trials.

Nigeria has arrested thousands of suspected Boko Haram members in recent years, and military detention facilities are overcrowded. Human rights groups say most of those detained have been picked up at random and without reasonable suspicion, including women and children.

Former detainees have described malnutrition, mistreatment and deaths in the facilities. Boko Haram's attacks have spilled into neighboring countries and displaced more than 2.4 million people in the Lake Chad region, creating a vast humanitarian crisis. Some fighters have allied with the Islamic State group.

While Nigeria's military has arrested many Boko Haram top fighters and last year declared the extremist group had been "crushed," leader Abubakar Shekau remains elusive. The group in recent months has carried out a growing number of deadly suicide bombings and other attacks, many carried out by women or children.

Kenya's vote dispute simmers, though opposition areas calmer

October 28, 2017

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya's second presidential election since August remained in limbo on Saturday as the election commission said it was working on a "way forward" in opposition areas where voting has been postponed because of unrest. While most of the country was calm, police used tear gas to disperse crowds in a Nairobi slum where anger toward the government runs deep.

It was unclear when tensions over the election, a rerun of the nullified August vote, would subside. Opposition leader Raila Odinga boycotted the vote on Thursday, citing a lack of election reforms. Tallies from many polling stations, published on the election commission's website, showed President Uhuru Kenyatta with vast leads over Odinga and six other candidates.

However, any decision to declare Kenyatta the winner would likely intensify grievances among opposition supporters in the East African country with a reputation for stability and economic growth. Kenya is again struggling with divisions fueled by ethnic-based politics. The voting delays in four counties where opposition supporters have fought with police have complicated hopes for the country's troubled democracy.

The election commission will provide an update Sunday "on the way forward" in two dozen constituencies where voting did not occur, commission chief Wafula Chebukati said. "We have the materials ready but we can't do this alone. It's a security issue," Chebukati said. "We cannot put the lives of our staff at risk."

The election commission also revised its turnout from Thursday's election to 48 percent of 19.6 million registered voters, saying an earlier estimate of about one-third was not based on complete data. The opposition boycott sharply reduced turnout in comparison to the Aug. 8 vote, when nearly 80 percent of registered voters participated.

The Supreme Court nullified the August vote because of irregularities — the first time a court in Africa had overturned a presidential election. Odinga, whose legal challenge led to the ruling, withdrew from the new election, saying the process was not credible because of the lack of electoral reforms.

The streets of Kisumu, Kenya's third-largest city and an opposition stronghold, as well as several Nairobi slums were largely quiet on Saturday, though police clashed with crowds in the capital's Kawangware slum.

Young men in Kawangware, some of them carrying machetes, taunted the police and ran for cover. "No Raila, no peace," some chanted. "I don't see this ending soon," said one supporter, Paul Maumo. He accused the election commission of staging a fraudulent vote.

At least six people have died in violence linked to the latest vote. Kenyatta, who got 54 percent of the vote in August, is from the Kikuyu community and has talked about the need to dispel ethnic loyalties in politics. Odinga, who got nearly 45 percent in the earlier election, is a Luo.

Some Kenyans have raised concerns about the way Thursday's election was conducted. The electoral commission announced that 35,564 polling stations opened on voting day, but the commission chairman later tweeted they had received results forms from 36,796 polling stations.

Commission spokesman Andrew Limo said some electronic transmission kits fail to send a signal to show the polling station has opened but still transmit results. The commission has stopped updating results that were transmitted electronically and will announce only the final ones, he said.

International election observers had a much lower profile in Thursday's election, reflecting their concern about opposition hostility toward their generally positive reviews of voting day in August. Observers had urged anyone with grievances to address them through legal channels.

Acting on behalf of the African Union, former South African President Thabo Mbeki was the only high-profile election observer during Thursday's vote. Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was in Kenya in August as an observer for The Carter Center, did not return this time.

Kenyan officials report low turnout in presidential election

October 27, 2017

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya's election commission says about 6.5 million people, or one-third of registered voters, went to the polls in a presidential election that was boycotted by the main opposition group.

The turnout in Thursday's election was much lower than the nearly 80 percent of registered voters who participated in an Aug. 8 election that was later nullified by the Supreme Court. Wafula Chebukati, the election commission chairman, said late Thursday the count was based on results from 267 out of Kenya's 290 constituencies.

Authorities postponed voting in several counties until Saturday because opposition supporters prevented polling stations from opening and clashed with police. Four people were killed. President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the winner in the August vote; opposition leader Raila Odinga says the election process is not credible.

Kenya police shoot dead 2 opposition protesters

October 13, 2017

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Police in Kenya said Friday they shot and killed two opposition protesters who allegedly stormed a police station with farm tools and rocks in the western part of the country, while police used tear gas on rallies in the capital and elsewhere demanding reforms ahead of the new election.

Three other protesters had gunshot wounds in Siaya County, Bondo police chief Paul Kiarie said. The demonstrations defied a new government ban on opposition protests in the central business districts of Kenya's three largest cities, while concerns rose again about election-related violence in East Africa's largest economy.

In the capital, Nairobi, police fired tear gas as opposition supporters tried to march to the central business district. In Kisumu, Kenya's third-largest city, local television showed running battles with stone-throwing youth.

Police also used tear gas in Mombasa, Kenya's second-largest city, said opposition legislator Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir. The government on Thursday banned opposition protests in the cities' central business districts because of "imminent danger of breach of peace," Interior Minister Fred Matiangi said, claiming that opposition supporters had looted businesses and attacked police stations.

Human rights groups protested the ban, with some pointing out that police have killed at least 37 people in protests since the results of the August election were announced. The Supreme Court annulled that vote, citing irregularities, and called for a new one. It is set for Oct. 26.

"This ban, announced just two weeks ahead of a fraught repeat presidential election, is likely to become a basis for heavy-handed police crackdowns," said Michelle Kagari, a deputy regional director with Amnesty International.

Opposition coalition Chief Executive Officer Norman Magaya said police have allowed government supporters into the banned protest areas and that they were attacking opposition supporters. Opposition leaders have called for daily demonstrations ahead of the fresh elections. Opposition leader Raila Odinga, whose legal challenge led the court to nullify President Uhuru Kenyatta's re-election, this week said he has withdrawn from the race because no reforms to electoral commission have been made.

The commission has said the new election will go ahead with all eight candidates who ran in August and that Odinga is still considered a candidate as he has not formally withdrawn. No candidate aside from Odinga and Kenyatta received even 1 percent of the vote.

Kenyatta's Jubilee Party has been pursuing changes to the electoral law that the opposition says will make it more difficult for the Supreme Court to nullify a presidential election and will reduce safeguards against electoral fraud. Parliament approved the amendments, and on Friday the president's communication office said he had received them and had 14 days to sign them into law.

Opposition legislator James Orengo said Friday the law will lower safeguards against vote-rigging by making the preferred system of transmitting election results a manual one. Kenya adopted an electronic system following the flawed 2007 election which sparked ethnic violence that left more than 1,000 people dead.

Japan votes for lower house; Abe's party seen headed for win

October 22, 2017

TOKYO (AP) — Voting in a general election started Sunday that would most likely hand Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's right-wing ruling coalition a victory and possibly close to a two-thirds majority in parliament.

Abe dissolved the lower house less than a month ago, forcing the snap election. He judged the timing was ripe for his ruling Liberal Democratic Party, or at least better than waiting until the end of its term next year.

Up for grabs are 465 seats in the more powerful lower house, which chooses the prime minister. Media polls have indicated voters are passively choosing Abe's government despite its railroading of unfavorable bills and cronyism scandals, seeing it as a safer choice over an opposition with little or unknown track records.

Scare over North Korea's missile and nuclear development is also seen contributing to voters' conservative choice. Media surveys also predicted Abe's coalition to win around 300 seats though they said it could lose some ground from the current 318 due to scandals.

Hiroshi Yamada, 82, said his vote was based on "the issues such as (a possible) war and foreign affairs," suggesting his support for the LDP coalition amid growing concerns over North Korea. "I am supporting the political party which presents feasible policies amid the current situation."

Makiko Yamada, who's unrelated to the other voter, said she was bothered by Abe's cronyism scandals. "I saw reports showing people who would help (Abe) were given high positions. It made me think twice."

Voters were casting ballots early, apparently worried by an approaching powerful typhoon. Vote counting at a few locations in southwestern Japan may be delayed due to the weather, NHK public television reported.

Abe says he is seeking a mandate on his government's tougher stance to defend Japan against the North's threat and his proposed increase in the consumption tax, but experts say it's an election about securing his rule.

An election victory would boost Abe's chances to head LDP for another three years at the party's convention next September. It would extend his premiership possibly to 2021 and eventually achieve his long-time goal of revising Japan's war-renouncing postwar constitution.

In a speech in Tokyo wrapping up the 12-day campaigning Saturday night, Abe said, "We will protect Japan at all costs for the future of this country." Support for Abe's Cabinet has recovered thanks to the absence of parliamentary debates over political scandals during a recess.

The main opposition force, the Democratic Party, was in more disarray after a leadership change and a key member was slammed by an extramarital affair. Holding off on an election would only give Abe's potential rival, Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, more time to organize a challenge.

Koike hastily launched a new party to contest the vote, though she ended up not running. Her Party of Hope attracted a slew of defectors from the Democrats who converted to her populist platform including phasing out nuclear energy by 2030, and freezing of a consumption tax hike due in 2019. The initial excitement for her party has waned as Koike's nationalist stance and policies were seen similar to those of Abe's LDP.

The Democratic Party had imploded and its more liberal members, led by former top government spokesman Yukio Edano, launched yet another group, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, whose focus on grassroots democracy, pacifist principles and calls for "decent" politics is now outpolling the Party of Hope.

Abe's victory would likely mean a continuation of the policies he has pursued in the nearly five years since he took office in December 2012 — a hard line on North Korea, close ties with Washington, including defense, as well as a super-loose monetary policy and push for nuclear energy.

With a possible backing from the conservative opposition, he may get the two-thirds majority he needs in parliament to propose a constitutional amendment, though any change also needs approval in a public referendum.

Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu contributed to this report.

France and Qatar get to final of UNESCO chief vote

October 13, 2017

PARIS (AP) — The election of UNESCO's new chief has been narrowed down to two candidates, one from Qatar and the other from France. The winner to be selected on Friday will succeed outgoing Director-General Irina Bokova, whose 8-year term leading the U.N. cultural agency was marred by financial woes and criticism over Palestine's inclusion as a member.

The final vote comes the day after the U.S. and Israel said they plan to pull out of the Paris-based organization over perceived anti-Israel bias. Qatar's Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari and France's Audrey Azoulay are vying to get the needed 30 votes from UNESCO's executive board.

Arab countries have long wanted to lead the organization, but the Palestine issue has complicated the election. UNESCO's general assembly will have to sign off on the board's pick.

Israel companies in talks to invest in Saudi Arabia's 'smart city'

October 26, 2017

Several Israeli companies are in talks with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia about business opportunities in the Kingdom’s new “smart city”, according to documents obtained by the Jerusalem Post.

The Israeli daily claims to have seen correspondence confirming economic cooperation between Arab diplomats and businessmen in Tel Aviv; Israeli firms will reportedly be competing under the table for billion-dollar contracts from the Saudi government.

“The Saudis are not so willing to cooperate with the Israelis formally, but … it’s much easier to create all kinds of cooperation on water, energy, ag-tech, food tech. This is the stuff that the prince of Saudi Arabia [Mohammed Bin Salman] wants to promote in the smart city,” said a source in Israeli venture capital who is familiar with the project.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia officially launched the NEOM, a developmental project to create an economic zone spanning the country and parts of Egypt and Jordan. Designed to free the Kingdom of its dependency on oil, it will focus on industries including water, biotechnology, food, advanced manufacturing and entertainment; at an estimated cost of $500 billion.

The project is part of Bin Salman’s 2030 economic vision for the country, which he has also promised will come with modernization.

The news comes amid increased rumors of a burgeoning relationship between Saudi Arabia and Israel; causing controversy in recent weeks. The normalizing of relations between the two countries remains a proposal that has repeatedly been rejected by the Saudi public.

Yesterday Major General Anwar Bin Majed Bin Anwar Eshki, a former government advisor, was reported to have confirmed suspected relations when he said diplomatic and intelligence cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Israel were solely based on non-political matters.

Last week, Israeli officials also confirmed that Bin Salman had secretly visited Tel Aviv in September. The suggestion was vehemently denied by Saudi officials who insist that settling the Palestinian issue must take place before any normalization of relations.

Last month, leaked documents by the Twitter account Mujtahidd spoke of the country’s plans to “accept Israel as a brotherly state”, causing widespread controversy. The rumors were again denied by state officials. But recent months have witnessed an informal economic rapprochement between Riyadh and Tel Aviv, with former Saudi businessmen and former senior officials visiting Israel.

Israel has also supported the current blockade imposed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt on Qatar. Tel Aviv has repeatedly called on Doha not to host prominent Palestinian figures, a view now shared by Riyadh and Abu Dhabi.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171026-israel-companies-in-talks-to-invest-in-saudi-arabias-smart-city/.

Israeli PM blasts Palestinian reconciliation agreement

13.10.2017

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized a landmark reconciliation agreement hammered out this week in Cairo between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, claiming the deal would “make it harder to achieve peace”.

“Israel opposes any [Palestinian national] reconciliation in which the terrorist organization Hamas does not disarm and end its war to destroy Israel,” Netanyahu declared late Thursday on his official Facebook page.

“Reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas makes peace much harder to achieve; it is part of the problem, not part of the solution,” he said.

Naftali Bennett, Israel’s hardline education minister, also blasted the deal, saying: “The Palestinians today [Thursday] decided to form a terror government.”

He went on to assert that, by partnering with Hamas, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas -- who serves as chairman of both Fatah and the Palestinian Authority (PA) -- “turns the PA into a terror authority”.

“Israel must sever any connection to this terror authority,” Bennet said in a statement carried by the Times of Israel news website. “From now, any Israeli cooperation with Abbas is cooperation with Hamas.”

He added: “This must be said ahead of expected international pressure to resume [Israel-Palestine] negotiations in light of the Palestinian agreement.”

Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz also slammed the reconciliation deal, describing it as “a convenient cover for Hamas to continue its… activity as a terror organization while relinquishing civilian responsibility for the Gaza Strip”.

On Thursday, Hamas and Fatah signed a landmark reconciliation agreement in Cairo aimed at ending ten years of deep inter-Palestinian political division.

Under the deal, the Ramallah-based Palestinian unity government will assume political and administrative responsibility for the Gaza Strip no later than Dec. 1.

The West Bank and the Gaza Strip have remained politically and administratively divided since 2007, when Hamas wrested control of the strip from Fatah following several days of bloody street fighting.

Hamas’s capture of Gaza in 2007 ended an earlier -- if short-lived -- unity government established after Hamas swept 2006 Palestinian legislative polls.

Source: Anadolu Agency.
Link: http://aa.com.tr/en/politics/israeli-pm-blasts-palestinian-reconciliation-agreement/934916.

Philippine military pushes to defeat last Marawi fighters

October 17, 2017

MARAWI, Philippines (AP) — Gunfire rang out sporadically and explosions thudded as Philippine soldiers fought Tuesday to gain control of the last pocket of Marawi controlled by Islamic militants as President Rodrigo Duterte declared the southern city liberated from "terrorist influence."

The military, boosted by the deaths of two key militant leaders in a gunbattle the day before, hopes the current fighting is the final phase of defeating a dwindling band of fighters who are now trapped in an area the army says is about 2 hectares (5 acres).

Duterte visited the battle-scarred city on Tuesday where to cheers from rain-drenched troops he announced its liberation in a short speech from a stage at a ruined school campus about a kilometer from the fighting.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby declare Marawi city liberated from the terrorist influence," he said. To the side of stage of the stage, a large banner displayed photos of the slain militant leaders. Military chief Gen. Eduardo Ano told The Associated Press that Duterte's statement means the threat from the militants, who've occupied parts of the lakeside city for five months, is substantially over.

"They're leaderless and they have no more organization," he said. "There are still skirmishes." According to military spokesman Restituto Padilla, there are 20 to 30 militants left in Marawi, including six to eight foreign fighters. They have about 20 hostages, including women and children, he said. As many as 80 buildings will need to be swept for explosives.

Marawi, a mosque-studded center of Islamic faith in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines, has been devastated by the siege laid by the Islamic State group-allied militants who overran the city on May 23. More than 1,000 people have been killed, including about 800 militants.

The surprise occupation of the city and the involvement of foreign fighters set off alarms in Southeast Asia and the West. Analysts said parts of the southern Philippines were at risk of becoming a new base for IS as it lost territory to international forces in Iraq and Syria.

Philippine flags hung on Tuesday from pockmarked buildings and houses in Marawi, their roofs either blasted away or riddled with gunshot holes. Soldiers stood guard in front of some buildings and at intersections where battle debris has been shoveled to the side.

The Philippine government on Monday confirmed an Associated Press report that two key figures behind the siege, Isnilon Hapilon, who is listed among the FBI's most-wanted terror suspects, and Omarkhayam Maute, were killed in a gunbattle.

A top Malaysian militant, Mahmud bin Ahmad, who uses the nom de guerre Abu Handzalah and is a close associate of Hapilon, has not been found and was among the remaining militants being hunted by troops.

At a public hall converted into an evacuation center just outside Marawi, there was joy among evacuees at news of the two men's deaths and hopes of a return to some form of normality. Evacuees chatted about the news and looked at Facebook posts showing pictures of the dead Hapilon and Maute.

"We're very happy because they have lost their leaders. I hope that all of them will be wiped out," said Seima Munting, a 40-year-old mother of four who is among 750 people living at the hall in Balo-i township.

"My brother told me that finally we can return home, but when? When can we finally return home? What will we return to? Do we still have a house? Do we have jobs?" she said.

Thailand grieves in elaborate final goodbye to King Bhumibol

October 27, 2017

BANGKOK (AP) — With solemn faces and outright tears, Thais said farewell to their king and father figure with elaborate funeral ceremonies that cap a year of mourning and are steeped in centuries of tradition.

Smoke rose just before midnight Thursday from the spectacularly ornate crematorium built in the year since King Bhumibol Adulyadej died. On Friday morning, his son, current King Maha Vajiralongkorn, participated in a religious ceremony to move his father's ashes to special locations for further Buddhist rites. Thai television broadcast pictures of Vajiralongkorn bathing Bhumibol's relics — charred bones — and placing them in golden reliquary urns.

The five-day funeral began Wednesday with Vajiralongkorn performing Buddhist merit-making rites. On Thursday, a ceremonial urn representing Bhumibol's remains was transferred from Dusit Maha Prasad Throne Hall to the crematorium in somber processions involving thousands of troops, a golden palanquin, a gilded chariot and a royal gun carriage.

The urn, placed under a nine-tiered white umbrella and accompanied by a palace official, was hoisted into the main chamber of the golden-spired crematorium as monks chanted, traditional instruments wailed and artillery fired in the distance. The king then climbed the red-carpeted steps to light candles and incense in honor of his father.

On a day designated a public holiday in the kingdom, tens of thousands of mourners dressed all in black watched the processions from streets in Bangkok's royal quarter and millions more saw broadcasts aired live on most TV stations and shown at designated viewing areas across the country.

Before dawn, 63-year-old Somnuk Yonsam-Ar sat on a paper mat in a crowd opposite the Grand Palace. Her granddaughter slept in her lap and her husband rested his head against a metal barrier. The family came from the coastal province of Rayong, where they run a food stall.

Somnak waved a fan to cool herself but said she was not tired. "I feel blessed to be able to sit here, and be part of this," she said. "It's an important day for us." Bhumibol's death at age 88 on Oct. 13, 2016, after a reign of seven decades sparked a national outpouring of grief. Millions of Thais visited the throne hall at the Grand Palace to pay respects.

Deceased Thai royals have traditionally been kept upright in urns during official mourning. But Bhumibol, who spent much of his early life in the West, opted to be put in a coffin, with the royal urn placed next to it for devotional purposes.

The ceremonial urn was at the center of Thursday's processions, including one led by the current king when the golden container was placed upon the Great Victory Chariot. Built in 1795 and made of gilded and lacquered carved wood, the chariot has been used to carry the urns of royal family members dating to the start of the Chakri dynasty.

As the chariot, pulled by hundreds of men in traditional red uniforms, passed the mourners lining the parade route, they prostrated themselves, pressing their folded hands and head on the ground in a show of reverence.

In the evening, a symbolic cremation was witnessed by royalty and high-ranking officials from 42 countries. Orange-robed monks chanted Buddhist prayers to bless Bhumibol's spirit as the official guests waited to offer sandalwood flowers at the crematorium built to represent mystical Mount Meru, where Buddhist and Hindu gods are believed to dwell.

Bhumibol's ashes and relics will be transferred to the Grand Palace and the Temple of The Emerald Buddha for further Buddhist rites, and on the final day of the funeral, they are set to be enshrined in spiritually significant locations.

The funeral is by design an intensely somber event, but also rich in history and cultural and spiritual tradition. The adulation Bhumibol inspired was fostered by palace courtiers who worked to rebuild the prestige of a monarchy that lost its mystique and power when a 1932 coup ended centuries of absolute rule by Thai kings.

That effort built a semi-divine aura around Bhumibol, who was protected from criticism by a draconian law that mandates prison of up to 15 years for insulting senior royals. But he was also genuinely respected for his development projects, personal modesty and as a symbol of stability in a nation frequently rocked by political turmoil, though his influence waned in his final years.

Thais have braved tropical heat and torrential monsoon rains to secure street-side vantage points to witness the funeral. Thousands of police and volunteers were on hand to ensure order and entry into the historic royal quarter was tightly controlled to eliminate the faint possibility of protest against the monarchy or military government.

An activist was detained earlier this week after writing on Facebook that he planned to wear red clothing on the day of Bhumibol's cremation, a color associated with support for elected governments ousted in coups in 2006 and 2014.

Thais mark 1 year since king's death with prayers, ceremony

October 13, 2017

BANGKOK (AP) — Thais marked one year since the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej with solemn ceremonies and acts of personal devotion Friday before an elaborate five-day funeral later this month. Official commemorations of Bhumibol were organized at Bangkok's Siriraj Hospital, where he died, and at Government House and the ornate royal palace. But many ordinary people showed their respects on the streets, at neighborhood markets and temples, kneeling before orange-robed monks to perform a Buddhist merit-making ritual.

"You see his achievements on TV sometimes, but now that he has passed we are learning about so many other things he has done for the country," said Panicha Nuapho, 66, who traveled from a province 330 kilometers (205 miles) north of Bangkok to pay respects at Siriraj Hospital. "This is my final send-off," she said, weeping.

Outside the hospital, mourners clad in black offered alms to a long procession of Buddhist monks and several thousand packed its grounds, joining nurses and doctors in prayers as monks chanted over loudspeakers.

Bhumibol's death at age 88 after a reign of seven decades sparked a national outpouring of grief and a year of mourning that will culminate with his cremation on Oct. 26. More than 12 million people, or nearly a fifth of Thailand's population, have visited the palace throne hall where the king's body has been kept for the past year.

The reverence Bhumibol inspired was in part the result of decades of work by palace officials to rebuild the prestige of the monarchy, which lost much of its influence after a 1932 coup ended centuries of absolute rule by Thai kings. That effort built an aura of divinity around Bhumibol, who was protected from criticism by draconian lese majeste laws, but the king was also genuinely adored for his charitable work, personal modesty and as a symbol of stability in a nation frequently rocked by political turmoil.

Thailand's military government has asked the public to observe 89 seconds of silence Friday at 3.52 p.m., marking the official time of Bhumibol's death in what Thai culture emphasizes was his 89th year.

At the same time, nine elephants powdered an auspicious white will kneel with their handlers in memory of Bhumibol in the ancient royal capital Ayutthaya outside of Bangkok. His son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarankun, knelt before a portrait of the late king and Queen Sirikit at Dusit Palace and is expected to preside over merit-making ceremonies on Friday and Saturday. Many people flocked to the palace area and left flowers beneath a giant portrait of Bhumibol.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the head of Thailand's ruling junta which seized power in a 2014 coup it was said was necessary to restore political stability, oversaw ceremonies at Government House.

The military, which frames itself as the monarchy's most important defender, has used Thailand's harsh lese majeste laws with increased frequency in the past three years. The law allows for prison of up to 15 years for anyone found guilty of insulting senior members of the royal family.

Supporters of the law argue that the monarchy is a sacred pillar of Thai society and must be protected at all costs. Critics say the law is being used to silence dissent.

Russia launches European atmosphere monitoring satellite

October 13, 2017

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia successfully launched a satellite into orbit Friday that will monitor Europe's atmosphere, helping to study air pollution. The European Space Agency's Sentinel-5P satellite was launched by a Rokot missile from the Plesetsk launch pad in northwestern Russia. The satellite will map the atmosphere every day.

After separating from the upper stage booster, the satellite deployed its solar panels and began communications with Earth, the ESA said. The first signal was received 93 minutes after launch as the satellite passed over the Kiruna station in Sweden.

Controllers at ESA's operations center in Darmstadt, Germany, then established command and control links allowing them to monitor the satellite's condition. "The Sentinel-5P satellite is now safely in orbit so it is up to our mission control teams to steer this mission into its operational life and maintain it for the next seven years or more," ESA Director General Jan Woerner said in a statement.

The mission will contribute to volcanic ash monitoring for aviation safety and for services that warn of high levels of UV radiation causing skin damage. The measurements also will help understand processes in the atmosphere related to the climate and to the formation of holes in the ozone layer.

It's the sixth satellite in the ESA's Copernicus program. Other Earth-observing Sentinel satellites launched earlier provide radar and optical imagery of the Earth, and monitor the condition of the world's oceans and ice sheets.

"Having Sentinel-5P in orbit will give us daily and global views at our atmosphere with a precision we never had before," ESA quoted Josef Aschbacher, the head of its earth observation programs, as saying.

Philippe Gaudy, who oversees the Sentinel project for the European Space Agency, said data collected by Sentinel 5P would help scientists to better monitor air pollution, such as for nitrogen oxide emitted by cars.

A recent report estimated that more than 400,000 people die prematurely in Europe alone because of air pollution. Orbital observation can be used to compare reported air pollution by governments with actual data, to see whether countries are living up to their commitments under international treaties, Gaudy said.

The data from Sentinel-5P will be made available for free to anyone who wants it, he added. It will take engineers several months to calibrate and validate the measurements, meaning data will start to become available in the first half of next year.

Russia's Putin in Tehran for official visit

2017-11-01

TEHRAN - Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for an official visit, with talks expected to focus on Syria, the Iranian nuclear agreement and bilateral ties.

Putin will also take part in a summit with his Iranian and Azerbaijani counterparts, Hassan Rouhani and Ilham Aliyev.

Putin is to hold separate talks with Rouhani and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Russia and Iran cooperate on a range of issues including the conflict in Syria.

The Kremlin said Syria will be a focus of the talks, which come after Russia, Turkey and Iran pledged in Kazakhstan on Tuesday to bring the Syrian regime and its opponents together for a "congress" to push peace efforts.

Russia and Iran, which support President Bashar al-Assad's government, and Turkey, which backs Syrian rebels, have organised a series of peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana this year, agreeing on the establishment of "de-escalation" zones in various parts of the war-torn country.

Wednesday's talks will also focus on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which saw sanctions lifted in exchange for limits on Tehran's atomic program and which is under pressure from US President Donald Trump.

Tehran signed the deal with six countries including Russia and the United States, but Trump last month refused to certify the agreement, drawing criticism from Moscow which slammed the US president's "aggressive and threatening rhetoric" against Iran.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=85710.

Russian editor says newspaper plans to arm its journalists

October 26, 2017

MOSCOW (AP) — The editor of Russia's most prominent opposition newspaper says he intends to arm his staff with guns that fire rubber bullets amid growing concern about attacks on journalists. Novaya Gazeta editor Dmitry Muratov discussed his plans two days after Tatiana Felgenhauer of Russia's only independent news radio station, Ekho Moskvy, was stabbed in her studio.

Muratov told the station on Thursday that the newspaper is buying "traumatic weapons" for its journalists, providing courses on how to use them and taking other unspecified security measures. "Traumatic weapons" usually refer to pistols that fire rubber bullets.

Several Novaya Gazeta journalists have been killed or died under mysterious circumstances, including renowned Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya. She was shot in 2006. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that citizens can take security measures they think are necessary.

Amnesty: Myanmar army killed at least hundreds of Rohingya

October 18, 2017

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar security forces killed hundreds of men, women and children during a systematic campaign to expel Rohingya Muslims, Amnesty International said in a new report Wednesday that calls for an arms embargo on the country and criminal prosecution of the perpetrators.

More than 580,000 refugees have arrived in Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when Myanmar security forces began a scorched-earth campaign against Rohingya villages. Myanmar's government has said it was responding to attacks by Muslim insurgents, but the United Nations and others have said the response was disproportionate.

The continuing exodus of Rohingya Muslims has become a major humanitarian crisis and sparked international condemnation of Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which still denies atrocities are taking place. Based on interviews with more than 120 fleeing Rohingya, Amnesty International said at least hundreds of people were killed by security forces who surrounded villages, shot fleeing inhabitants and then set buildings alight, burning to death the elderly, sick and disabled who were unable to flee.

In some villages, women and girls were raped or subjected to other sexual violence, according to the report. The witnesses repeatedly described an insignia on their attackers' uniforms that matched one worn by troops from Myanmar's Western Command, Amnesty International said.

When shown various insignia used by Myanmar's army, witnesses consistently picked out the Western Command patch, it said. The 33rd Light Infantry Division and border police, who wear a distinctive blue camouflage uniform, were also frequently involved in attacks on villages, along with Buddhist vigilante mobs, witnesses said.

Matthew Wells, an Amnesty crisis researcher who spent several weeks at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, said the rights group plans to issue another report in the coming months examining individual criminal responsibility, including specific commanders and others that may be involved in abuses.

He said hundreds of Rohingya have been treated for gunshot wounds and doctors say that the injuries are consistent with people being shot from behind as they fled. There were credible indications that a total of several hundred people had been killed in just five villages that were the focus of Amnesty's reporting. Wells said that given that dozens of villages across northern Rakhine State have been targeted in a similar fashion, the death toll could be much higher.

He said satellite imagery, corroborated by witness accounts, show that Rohingya homes and mosques have been burned entirely in villages, while non-Rohingya areas just one or two hundred yards (meters) away were untouched.

"It speaks to how organized, how seemingly well-planned this scorched-earth campaign has been by the Myanmar military and how determined the effort has been to drive the Rohingya population out of the country," Wells said.

Among almost two dozen recommendations, the human rights group called for the U.N. Security Council to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Myanmar and financial sanctions against senior officials responsible for violations that Amnesty says meet the criteria for crimes against humanity.

It said the council should explore options for bringing the perpetrators to justice under international law if Myanmar authorities do not act swiftly. "It is time for the international community to move beyond public outcry and take action to end the campaign of violence that has driven more than half the Rohingya population out of Myanmar," Amnesty said.

Witnesses and a drone video shot Monday by the U.N. refugee agency show that Rohingya are continuing to flee persecution in Myanmar and crossing into Bangladesh. The video showed thousands upon thousands of Rohingya trudging along a narrow strip of land alongside what appears to a rain-swollen creek in the Palong Khali area in southern Bangladesh. The line of refugees stretches for a few kilometers (miles).

The new wave of refugees started crossing the border over the weekend, witnesses said. An Associated Press photographer saw thousands of newcomers near one border crossing Tuesday. Several said that they were stopped by Bangladeshi border guards and spent the night in muddy rice fields.

Nearly 60 percent of the refugees are children. The U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, warned Tuesday that without immediate additional funding, it will not be able to continue providing life-saving aid and protection to Rohingya children. UNICEF said it has received just 7 percent of the $76 million it needs.

On Aug. 25, a Rohingya insurgent group known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked at least 30 security posts on Aug. 25, causing dozens of casualties, according to Myanmar authorities. The brutal attacks against Rohingya that followed have been described by the U.N. as "textbook ethnic cleansing."

Buddhist-majority Myanmar has denied citizenship for the Rohingya since 1982 and excludes them from the 135 ethnic groups officially recognized, which effectively renders them stateless. They have long faced discrimination and persecution with many Buddhists in Myanmar calling them "Bengalis" and saying they migrated illegally from Bangladesh, even though they have lived in the country for generations.

AP journalists Matthew Pennington and Dar Yasin in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh contributed to this report.