Closer look at pro-Ankara rebels amassing around Afrin

2018-01-22

Turkish forces and their Syrian rebel allies have launched a cross-border offensive against the Afrin region of northern Syria, held by a powerful Kurdish militia.

Since “Operation Olive Branch” began on Saturday, rebels and Turkish forces have advanced about five kilometers (three miles) into Syrian territory.

An alliance of pro-Ankara rebels is amassing on front lines around Afrin for an expected ground attack.

– The fronts –

Afrin is a hilly enclave that juts out from Syria’s northern Aleppo province. Turkey holds the borders to the north and west while Syrian rebels control those south and east.

Rebels have deployed along a highway east of Afrin between their two strongholds of Azaz and Marea.

Other forces, including some fighters from the neighboring province of Idlib, have gathered south of Afrin.

Rebels have also launched a push alongside Turkish soldiers from inside Turkish territory, south into the enclave.

Ankara had bused around 600 rebels from northern Syria into Turkish territory ahead of a ground invasion.

– The forces –

The Turkish-backed rebel forces taking part in the offensive number around 25,000, according to Yasser Abdelrahim, a key member of the campaign’s joint operations room.

They include factions from Euphrates Shield, an operation launched by Ankara in 2016 against the Islamic State group and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia which Turkey considers as “terrorists”.

Euphrates Shield brought together a smattering of non-jihadist factions that have received Turkish and US support, among them the Sultan Murad Brigades, Hamzat Division, and Mutasem Brigades.

Those forces are fighting side-by-side again in the Afrin assault.

Also taking part in “Operation Olive Branch” are fighters from Al-Jabha al-Shamiya and Faylaq al-Sham, two rebel alliances operating in northern Syria since 2014.

Many of these groups have threatened the YPG or already clashed with them.

– The mission –

Rebel forces behind the offensive say they are opposed to the YPG and its political branch, the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), calling the groups “terrorists” and “separatists”.

“The operation is to liberate the area from all kinds of terrorism and protect civilians, Arabs and Kurds,” said Abdelrahim, who is also Faylaq al-Sham’s military chief.

“We’re not attacking to reach the town of Afrin. The residential buildings are not our aim — just the military bases and military positions used by the PYD and YPG.”

But rebels also blamed the YPG for not battling regime forces and have even evoked ethnic divides and accuse them of displacing Arabs.

“The goal of the offensive is, in the first phase, to oust the separatist parties from the Arab villages in our areas,” said Abu Meslem, a field commander in Al-Jabha al-Shamiya.

He insisted “Operation Olive Branch” does not aim to push out the entire Syrian Kurdish community.

“This is our duty: to oust the separatist parties and bring back the displaced families who have been living in tents during the winter,” he said.

– The operation –

On Sunday, a day into the operation, rebel forces and their Turkish backers entered the Afrin region and claimed to have captured several villages and hilltop positions.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said Turkish troops, whose number was not specified, were advancing alongside pro-Ankara rebels and were already five kilometers (three miles) inside Syria.

Turkey has mainly provided air cover to the operation, pounding dozens of YPG targets with artillery and air strikes.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=86877.

Syria's death toll in Idlib car bomb rises to at least 25

January 08, 2018

BEIRUT (AP) — A Syrian monitoring group and paramedics in the northwestern city of Idlib say the death toll from a massive car bombing there the previous evening has risen to at least 25. Also, nearly 100 people were wounded.

The first-responders Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets says four children and 11 women were among the 25 killed. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Monday gave a higher death toll, saying 34 people were killed, including 18 civilians.

The Sunday night bombing targeted the office of Ajnad al-Koukaz, a militant group consisting of foreign fighters mostly from the Caucuses and Russia, according to activists. Idlib is the capital of a province by the same name that is controlled by several rebel factions, including an al-Qaida-linked group.

Morocco's king appoints five new ministers

2018-01-23

RABAT - Morocco's king appointed five new ministers on Monday, a government statement said, after several top officials were dismissed in October for failing to improve the economic situation in a region shaken by protests.

King Mohammed VI named ministers for education, planning, housing, health and for African relations, the statement said.

In October the king had dismissed ministers and top officials after an economic agency found "imbalances" in implementing a development plan.

Protests erupted in the Rif region around the northern city of Al-Hoceima in 2016, triggered by the death of a fishmonger whose produce was confiscated by police.

The man's crushing to death in a garbage truck during a confrontation with police became a symbol of corruption and official abuse.

Protests, also fueled by economic underdevelopment, continued there this year.

Political protests are rare in Morocco, where the palace remains the ultimate power.

The protests, the largest in Morocco since the days of the 2011 "Arab Spring", were directed at the government and the king's entourage rather than the monarch himself.

Police confiscated fish they said the fishmonger had bought illegally and then dumped it in a garbage truck. Desperate to recover his stock, Fikri jumped inside and was killed by a rubbish crusher.

In July the king pardoned dozens of people arrested in the protests and blamed local officials for failing to quickly implement development projects which stoked public anger.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=86886.

Twin car bombs kill at least 30 in Libya's Benghazi

2018-01-24

BENGHAZI - More than 30 people were dead and dozens wounded after two car bombings outside a mosque frequented by jihadist opponents in Libya's second city Benghazi, medical officials said Wednesday.

The attack after evening prayers on Tuesday underlined the continued chaos in Libya, which has been wracked by violence and divisions since dictator Moamer Kadhafi was toppled and killed in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising.

Benghazi has been relatively calm since military strongman Khalifa Haftar announced the eastern city's "liberation" from jihadists in July last year after a three-year campaign, but sporadic violence has continued.

The bombers blew up two cars 30 minutes apart outside the mosque in the central neighborhood of Al-Sleimani, according to security officials.

Emergency and security workers who had rushed to the scene were among those killed in the second blast.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the mosque is known to be a base for Salafist groups which fought the jihadists alongside Haftar's forces.

Mourners gathered outside the mosque on Wednesday, walking through puddles of water stained red with blood. Vehicles in a parking lot outside the mosque were burnt-out and mangled, their windows shattered.

The city's Al-Jala hospital received 25 dead and 51 wounded, its spokeswoman Fadia al-Barghathi said. The Benghazi Medical Center received nine dead and 36 wounded, spokesman Khalil Gider said.

Ahmad al-Fituri, a security official for Haftar's forces, was among those killed, military spokesman Milud al-Zwei said.

Medical officials said many of the wounded were in critical condition and the death toll was likely to rise.

- Political turmoil -

Haftar supports an administration based in the east of the country. It declared three days of mourning following the attack.

A UN-backed unity government based in the capital Tripoli, the Government of National Accord (GNA), has struggled to assert its authority outside the west.

The GNA condemned the attack as a "terrorist and cowardly act".

The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) denounced the bombings as "horrific" and warned that "direct or indiscriminate attacks against civilians... constitute war crimes".

UN efforts to reconcile the rival administrations have produced no concrete result.

Haftar said in late December he would support elections in 2018 to bring the country out of chaos, but suggested he could take measures if efforts for "a peaceful power transition via free and democratic elections were exhausted".

Haftar's opponents accuse him of wanting to seize power and establish a military dictatorship, while his supporters have called for him to take control by "popular mandate".

UN envoy Ghassan Salame presented a plan to the Security Council in September to hold parliamentary and presidential elections this year, but analysts are skeptical they will take place.

Clashes between rival militias are common, with fighting at Tripoli's airport last week leaving 20 dead and forcing the cancellation of all flights for five days.

The turmoil has stifled efforts to restore oil-rich Libya's economy and made the country fertile ground for extremists.

The Islamic State group has a significant presence and was in control of coastal city Sirte from late 2014 to late 2016, when the jihadists were pushed out by pro-GNA forces.

People-smugglers have also taken advantage of the chaos to turn the country into a major gateway for migrants heading to Europe.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=86906.

Saudi Arabia frees wealthy prince held in anti-graft drive

2018-01-27

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia released billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal on Saturday nearly three months after his arrest in an anti-corruption drive targeting the kingdom's elite, a business associate said.

"He (Prince Al-Waleed) is out," the associate said, requesting anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Prince Al-Waleed, dubbed the Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia, was among some 350 suspects rounded up since November 4, including billionaire tycoons and ministers who were detained in Riyadh's luxury Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Prince Al-Waleed is the latest in a series of high-profile detainees to be freed from the hotel. The terms of his release were not immediately clear.

Authorities have previously said most of those detained struck monetary settlements in exchange for their freedom, which could earn state coffers about $100 billion.

Another high-profile detainee, former National Guard chief Prince Miteb bin Abdullah, was released recently following his "settlement" with authorities which reportedly exceeded $1 billion.

Saudi Arabia also on Friday released the owner of the influential Arab satellite network MBC nearly three months after his arrest, sources said.

Waleed al-Ibrahim was among the suspects rounded up since November 4.

Ibrahim held a family gathering at his residence after his release, three MBC employees said on condition of anonymity. The staff also received an official e-mail congratulating them on his freedom.

The Financial Times reported earlier Friday that authorities had ordered Ibrahim to hand over his controlling stake in MBC to secure his release.

Authorities have so far not commented on his case.

The government on Friday also released a number of other detainees including Khaled Tuwaijri, former chief of the Saudi royal court, and Turki bin Nasser, former head of the country's meteorology agency, a source close to the government said.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 32-year-old son of the king, has spearheaded the unprecedented crackdown on corruption among members of the government and royal family, as he consolidates his grip on power in the kingdom.

The windfall settlements agreed with those detained will help the government finance a multi-million dollar package announced by King Salman this month to help citizens cope with the rising cost of living, Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan told Al Arabiya television in Davos on Wednesday.

Some critics have labelled the campaign a shakedown, but authorities insist the purge was aimed to target endemic corruption as Saudi Arabia seeks to diversify its oil-dependent economy.

The Ritz-Carlton is set to re-open for business next month as the campaign draws to an end, sources at the hotel have said. Its website lists rooms as available from February 14.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=86960.

Ex-guerrilla launches historic presidential bid in Colombia

January 28, 2018

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Former guerrilla leader Rodrigo Londono was once one of Colombia's most-wanted men. Now he is a presidential contender. The graying, spectacled man best known by his alias Timochenko launched his bid Saturday to lead the government he once battled from the jungle with a celebratory campaign kickoff featuring giant posters, colorful confetti and even a catchy jingle.

"I promise to lead a government that propels the birth of a new Colombia," he said. "A government that at last represents the interests of the poor." Breaking with the traditional campaign launch from a five-star Bogota hotel, Timochenko initiated his presidential bid from one of the city's poorest, most crime ridden neighborhoods in a clear nod to the underprivileged class whose votes the ex-combatants are hoping to win. Hundreds gathered in the parking lot of a community center decorated with banners featuring a smiling Timochenko sporting a neatly trimmed beard, angular, thick-rimmed glasses, and a crisp blue shirt.

"Timo president," a new campaign song played from loudspeakers. "For the people." The campaign is another historic step in transforming the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia into a political party following the signing of a 2016 peace accord ending more than a half-century of conflict. The nation's once-largest rebel group is now known as the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force, keeping its Spanish FARC acronym, and presenting a slate of former guerrillas as candidates.

Yet even as the ex-combatants ditch rebel green fatigues for simple white T-shirts emblazoned with the party's red rose emblem there have been fresh reminders that the road to peace is filled with hazard.

Two ex-combatants were recently shot to death while campaigning for a FARC congressional candidate in northwestern Colombia. In total, 45 former FARC members or their relatives have been reported killed, according to a recent government report. Many fear a repeat of events in the 1980s, when scores of leftist politicians affiliated with the Patriotic Union party were gunned down.

On the same day as the FARC campaign's inauguration at least four police officers were killed and another 42 injured when a homemade bomb exploded outside a police station in the city of Barranquilla, underscoring security challenges that remain even after the peace signing.

"From here on is going to be a huge test of whether the FARC's gamble is correct: That they can practice politics without fear of being killed," said Adam Isacson, an analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America.

Like Timochenko, the candidates include ex-guerrillas who have been convicted in Colombian courts for their part in massacres and kidnappings and whose new role as politicians has irked many Colombians. The U.S. State Department has offered a $5 million reward for anyone who helps secure Timochenko's capture and accused him of directing the FARC's cocaine trafficking and "the murders of hundreds of people."

The budding politicians will still have to go before a special peace tribunal, but so long as they fully confess their crimes they are unlikely to serve any jail time. Formed in the 1960s and inspired by Marxist principles, the ex-combatants are vowing to tackle Colombia's entrenched inequalities, though their initial proposals haven't been as radical as many of the country's conservatives have warned. In community meetings and ads leading up to the launch, candidates have talked about creating a subway in Bogota and a basic monthly income, an idea currently being debated throughout Europe.

"They are not proposals of a socialist, Soviet or Chavista model," said Ivan Cepeda, a trusted conduit of both the FARC and the government, referring to the Venezuelan socialist model promoted by the late Hugo Chavez.

FARC leader and candidate Griselda Lobo, alias Sandra Ramirez, characterized the party's ideology as being based on "principles of unity, solidarity and honesty" rather than attaching themselves to a particular political philosophy.

"That is what has characterized us as guerrillas and that is what we will bring society," she said. The ex-combatants are guaranteed 10 seats in congress as a condition of the peace agreement, but could capture more depending on how many votes they receive. Though Timochenko's presidential bid is widely considered a long shot, the former guerrillas are entering politics at a time when polls show Colombians are frustrated with corruption and give the more established political parties dismal approval ratings.

"That group of thieves needs to get out," one man told a contingent of FARC supporters recently canvassing a poor Bogota neighborhood. The FARC's entry into politics thus far has been emblematic of the challenges Colombia still faces in implementing the peace accord. One of the biggest concerns has been security, as an estimated 10,000 fighters return to life as civilians. Some are going home to families and communities who despise the FARC. Many Colombians are reluctant to quickly turn a page on a conflict that left at least 250,000 dead, another 60,000 missing and more than 7 million displaced.

Lawmaker Edward Rodriguez said the political party founded by former president and peace accord critic Alvaro Uribe would file a complaint with the International Criminal Court to try and halt Timochenko's candidacy.

"It's an affront to Colombians," he told reporters at a small protest in Bogota's historic district where demonstrators held up signs reminding passersby of crimes committed by the FARC. The FARC campaign kickoff drew retirees, housewives and construction workers who live in Ciudad Bolivar and said that despite the FARC's legacy as a violent guerrilla group they were nonetheless curious to hear their proposals.

"They are human beings and like all human beings make mistakes," said Marco Tulio, 65, a former railroad worker. "Today they are reflecting and I think it's magnificent that people listen to them."

Politicians in Greece, Macedonia meet over name issue

January 28, 2018

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Political leaders in both Greece and Macedonia met Saturday to discuss ways to resolve a longstanding dispute over the name of Greece's northern neighbor. The meetings come days before United Nations envoy Matthew Nimetz will visit the countries to seek a compromise. Nimetz is expected in Greece on Monday and Tuesday before going to Macedonia the following two days.

Greece has disputed Macedonia's right to call itself by a name shared with its own northern province of Macedonia ever since the Republic of Macedonia became independent in 1991. It has blocked Macedonia's accession to NATO.

Greece contends that the use of the name, along with certain clauses in Macedonia's constitution, imply territorial designs on Greece, as well as the perceived appropriation of Greek symbols and names, such that of Alexander the Great, the most famous ruler of the Ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedonia.

Although recognized as the Republic of Macedonia by the majority of countries, Macedonia sits in the U.N. as The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in deference to Greek objections. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met Saturday with the leaders of all opposition parliamentary parties except for far-right Golden Dawn. Although none gave him carte blanche for negotiations, he focused his criticism on opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Tsipras described Mitsotakis as vacillating and too influenced by "extremists" within his party. The Greek premier said he is prepared to accept a "composite name ... with a geographical or historical reference" that would include the name Macedonia. This could mean a name such as Upper, or New, Macedonia.

"We must not listen to nationalist outbursts or fanatical shouts," Tsipras said in a televised speech after the meetings were over. He nonetheless acknowledged that "there is still a long way" before an agreement is achieved.

Besides the opposition, the leftist Tsipras has to contend with his own defense minister and leader of the right-wing, populist Independent Greeks, who has called for a referendum on the name issue and suggested the neighboring country call itself "Vardarska."

A protest against allowing the name "Macedonia" to be used by Greece's neighbor is scheduled for Feb. 4 in Athens. It follows a similar one in Thessaloniki, capital of Greece's Macedonia province, which, according to police, was attended by 90,000 people.

In Macedonia, a "coordination meeting" under President Gjorge Ivanov went late into the night Saturday and no statements have been issued. It was attended by Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov, and opposition leaders Hristijan Mickovski, the new leader of the conservative VMRO-DPMNE party, and Ali Ahmeti, head of the Albanian-minority Democratic Union for Integration.

There was a protest outside the meeting. The protesters object to Zaev's proposal to rename Macedonia's main highway and airport, both named for Alexander the Great, and demand termination of negotiations on the name issue.

Testorides reported from Skopje.

Germany's Social Democrat plan cutoff date for new members

January 24, 2018

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's Social Democrats plan to establish a cutoff date after which new members won't be able to participate in a crucial upcoming vote on whether to join a new government, party officials said Wednesday.

The move reflect growing annoyance among the party leadership about efforts by its youth wing to recruit new, short-term members in a bid to scuttle a coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Union bloc.

The Young Socialists and the left wing of the party launched the campaign Monday offering two months' membership for 10 euros ($12.25) and expressly urged new recruits to oppose a possible renewal of the "grand coalition."

The party registered 1,700 news members within the first day of the membership drive, according to German news agency dpa. Deputy Social Democratic leader Thorsten Schaefer-Guembel slammed the campaign Wednesday, saying "whoever lets it be known that he's transferring 10 euros and then will leave the party has no interest in social democracy."

"A short-term membership with the goal to influence our vote is contrary to our principles," he told the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland news group. The Social Democrats have been in a coalition with Merkel's bloc since 2013. But after taking a beating in September's election, many in the party have argued they would be better off in opposition focusing on core issues most important to their base.

Party leader Martin Schulz and other top Social Democrats have urged going ahead with a new coalition, however, arguing being in government power gives them better opportunities to pass legislation important to their voters.

Schulz's side narrowly won a vote Sunday to start coalition negotiations with Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and Bavaria-only sister party, the Christian Social Union. Formal talks are set to get underway Friday.

Once an agreement is reached, however, It will be submitted to a ballot of the more-than 440,000-strong membership of the Social Democrats for approval or rejection. Party member Hilde Mattheis defended the campaign for new members Wednesday, saying on Deutschlandfunk radio that anyone should be allowed to join and nobody could say how new members would vote.

Still, the party told dpa they planned to establish early next week a cut-off date for when new members could take part in the vote. The party's secretary-general, Lars Klingbeil, told public broadcaster rbb-Inforadio on Wednesday that he welcomed new members but that encouraging people to join only for the purpose of voting against a coalition deal devalued what Social Democratic membership meant.

Germany's Turks, Kurds clash over 'imported' Syria conflict

2018-01-24

BERLIN - Berlin and Ankara planned to discuss on Wednesday Turkey's cross-border offensive against a Kurdish militia in Syria, officials said, amid controversy over German-built tanks being deployed in the conflict.

German ambassador Martin Erdmann and Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli were to talk about "how the Turkish operation is equipped," said German foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr.

The German government has come under domestic pressure after battlefield images appeared to show Turkey deploying German-made Leopard 2 tanks in its offensive to oust Kurdish militants in northern Syria.

The Kurdish Community Group of Germany accused Berlin of "complicity through weapons delivery to the terror state Turkey".

German conservative lawmaker Norbert Roettgen, who heads the parliamentary committee of foreign affairs, urged Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel to halt further arms deals with Turkey.

"It is completely out of the question for Germany to increase the combat strength of the Leopard tanks in Turkey if the Turkish army is going after the Kurds in northern Syria," Roettgen told Tagesspiegel daily.

Roettgen, a leading figure in Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party, said weapons deliveries to Turkey should instead "be banned due to the human rights situation and the dismantling of the rule of law in the country."

Germany's criticism of the human rights situation in Turkey, particularly after the government's crackdown following a failed coup in 2016, badly strained ties between the NATO allies.

Relations have started to gradually thaw in recent weeks with the foreign ministers of both countries vowing to mend ties.

But Turkey's offensive against the Kurdish militia threatens to reverse the rapprochement with Germany, which is home to large ethnic Turkish and Kurdish minorities.

Berlin delivered 354 Leopard 2 tanks to Turkey between 2006 and 2011.

Under the weapons deal sealed in 2005, Ankara is prohibited only from giving or selling the tanks to third parties without prior approval from Berlin, with no other restrictions on how the tanks are used.

- Skirmishes -

Leading Turkish and Kurdish groups in Germany on Wednesday accused each other of "importing" a foreign conflict in the wake of Ankara's cross-border offensive against a Syrian Kurdish militia.

Skirmishes have erupted between the two groups in Germany since Turkey on Saturday launched its operation "Olive Branch" to oust the US-backed YPG, whom Ankara views as a terror group, from their Afrin enclave in northern Syria.

Three million ethnic Turks live in Germany, the largest diaspora and a legacy of the country's "guest worker" program of the 1960 and 70s, as well as hundreds of thousands of Kurds.

Germany's Turkish-dominated Coordination Council of Mosques said the conflict had been used as an excuse to launch a spate of "attacks on Turkish mosque groups" in Europe's biggest economy.

"The fighting in northern Syria has been taken as an opportunity to incite against Turkish infrastructure and in particular mosques, and to import terror into Germany," it said in a statement.

At least two mosques of the Turkish-controlled Ditib group were hit in western Germany's Minden and the eastern city of Leipzig, said the council.

Windows of the buildings were smashed and walls vandalized, said the council, without naming possible suspects.

It also pointed to a brawl that broke out between Kurds and Turkish passengers at Hanover Airport on Monday, which forced police to intervene to separate the two sides.

"We condemn these attacks and call for calm on all sides," said the council.

The Kurdish Community of Germany, for its part, accused Ditib imams of calling for jihad against the Kurds in Syria.

"The believers are told to pray for a victory of the Turkish army in the war against the Kurds," the Kurdish group said, deploring the "instrumentalisation of religion and mosques for a war".

"Mosques, that are partly financed by taxes and donations from citizens in Germany, are praying for glorious victory and death through jihad, the holy war," added the group's deputy leader Mehmet Tanriverdi.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=86911.

Hundreds evacuated around Paris as Seine keeps swelling

January 25, 2018

PARIS (AP) — Almost 400 people were evacuated from their homes in the Paris region as a precaution Thursday as rivers across France kept swelling. Thirteen departments across the country remained on alert for floods as heavy rainfall continued to batter many regions.

In addition to Paris, where the Seine river is expected to keep rising until Saturday, the other regions threatened are in the north and east of the country. Seven other departments in central France have been placed on alert for snow and ice.

Meteo France said that exceptionally high levels of rain this winter were to blame for the floods, with rainfall in Paris twice as high as normal. The Seine reached 5.53 meters (over 18 feet) Thursday evening at the Austerlitz bridge in the east of the city. It was expected to keep rising, reaching 6.1 meters (20 feet) by Saturday, as high as the June 2016 flooding when authorities were forced to close several monuments, including the Louvre Museum.

Paris police said in a statement Thursday 395 people have been evacuated protectively from their homes along the banks of the river in the Paris region. No major incident was observed. The Louvre museum remains open for now but the lower level of the department of Islamic Art has been closed to the public until at least Sunday.

Two years ago, the Louvre was closed for four days due to flooding and 35,000 artworks were moved to safe zones. "Since then, a large number of reserve collections has been packed to ensure their rapid evacuation in the event of flooding, and staff have also been trained," the Louvre said in a statement.

The situation was far less severe than during the 1910 Great Flood, when the Seine water level rose to 8.62 meters (more than 28 feet), forcing many Parisians to evacuate their homes.

Rivers keep swelling in France, disrupting services

January 24, 2018

PARIS (AP) — Rivers across France kept swelling on Wednesday despite a pause in the rain, with train service disrupted in Paris as the Seine River rose and flooded walkways. In one outlying suburb, soldiers were on alert to intervene. In another, small boats were put at the disposal of town folk.

Meteo France, the national weather agency, said 23 departments remained on orange alert, the second highest level of vigilance, urging people to limit their movement and to stay vigilant. In Paris, the Seine River reached 5.18 meters (nearly 17 feet) by noon at the Austerlitz bridge in the east, the Transport Ministry said. It was expected to keep rising, reaching 6.10 meters (20 feet) by Saturday — as high as the June 2016 flooding when authorities were forced to close several monuments, including the Louvre Museum.

Roads along the shores of the Seine remained closed on Wednesday as well as seven train stations alongside the river. In the southeastern Paris suburb of Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, which is crossed by both the Seine and its Yerres tributary, local mayor Sylvie Altman said soldiers will be deployed to help evacuate the population. Police forces and fire brigades were on site, patrolling flooded streets on small boats.

Altman told France Info radio that water levels were expected to keep rising until Friday. "We should get military trucks to help us evacuate and make people move along," she said. In the flooded village of Conde-Sainte-Libiaire, east of Paris, where the Seine and the Morin rivers pass, small boats were made available so residents could keep appointments, deputy mayor Rene Salacroup told BFM TV.

West of Paris, the Seine River burst its banks in some spots and spread to almost twice its usual breadth between the towns of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Le Pecq. The area is well downstream of Paris.

Three French female jihadists face possible death penalty in Iraq

2018-01-23

PARIS - Three French women who joined the Islamic State group before being captured by Iraqi forces could be facing the death penalty as they await trial in Baghdad, sources close to their cases said.

The women were detained after Iraqi fighters ousted the jihadists from Mosul last July, one source said, confirming a report on RMC radio.

One 28-year-old woman left in 2015 for the group's "caliphate" stretching over parts of Syria and Iraq along with her husband, who has reportedly been killed.

She is being detained with her daughter, who was born after their arrival.

"We don't know what exactly she is accused of, what her detention conditions are like and whether she is being allowed the means to defend herself," said the woman's lawyer, .

He said he had received "no response" from France's foreign ministry on the case, for which the Red Cross has been his only source of information.

A second woman, a 27-year-old named as Melina, also left for the region in 2015, and is being held with her baby. Her three older children have been returned to France.

"We expect France, if Melina is sentenced to death, to mobilize with the same intensity it has for other French citizens sentenced to death, in particular Serge Atlaoui," said her lawyers, William Bourdon and Vincent Brengarth.

French diplomats have waged an intense campaign to free Atlaoui, who is being held in Indonesia and facing the death penalty on drug trafficking charges.

But government officials have said French fighters arrested in Syria and Iraq should be tried there if they can be guaranteed a fair trial.

Defense minister Florence Parly said Sunday that "we can't be naive" regarding French citizens who left to join IS.

"When they are caught by local authorities, as far as possible they should be tried by these local authorities," she told France 3 television.

- Children detained -

On Sunday, an Iraqi court condemned a German woman to death by hanging after finding her guilty of belonging to IS, the first such sentence in a case involving a European woman.

In December, an Iraqi-Swedish man was hanged along with 37 others accused of being IS or Al-Qaeda members, despite efforts by Sweden to have the prisoner serve a life sentence instead.

Iraqi authorities have not disclosed how many jihadists are being held prisoner since the counter-offensive that dislodged IS fighters from the country's urban centers last year.

Around 40 French citizens, both men and women, are currently in detention camps or prisons in Syria and Iraq, including about 20 children, a source close to the matter has said.

On Monday, Parly reiterated that she had "no qualms" regarding the fate of French jihadists, despite requests by some of them to be repatriated.

"These jihadists have never had any qualms about what they're doing, and I don't see why we should have any for them," she said.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=86899.

Israel slams bill to outlaw blaming Poles for crimes of WWII

January 28, 2018

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli leaders angrily criticized pending legislation in Poland that would outlaw blaming Poles for the crimes of the Holocaust, with some accusing the Polish government of outright denial Saturday as the world marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the proposed law "baseless" and ordered his country's ambassador to Poland to meet with Polish leaders to express his strong opposition. "One cannot change history, and the Holocaust cannot be denied," he said.

The lower house of the Polish parliament on Friday passed the bill, which prescribes prison time for using phrases such as "Polish death camps" to refer to the killing sites Nazi Germany operated in occupied Poland during World War II.

Many Poles fear such phrasing makes some people incorrectly conclude that Poles had a role in running the camps. But critics say the legislation could have a chilling effect on debating history, harming freedom of expression and opening a window to Holocaust denial.

The bill still needs approval from Poland's Senate and president. However, it marks a dramatic step by the country's current nationalist government to target anyone who tries to undermine its official stance that Poles only were heroes during the war, not Nazi collaborators who committed heinous crimes.

Netanyahu's government generally has had good relations with Poland, which has been recently voting with Israel in international organizations. At Auschwitz on Saturday evening, Israel's ambassador to Poland, Anna Azari, abandoned a prepared speech to criticize the bill, saying that "everyone in Israel was revolted at this news."

In Israel, which was established three years after the Holocaust and is home to the world's largest community of survivors, the legislation provoked outrage. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, noting that exactly 73 years had passed since the Auschwitz death camp on Polish soil was liberated, cited the words of a former Polish president about how history could not be faked and the truth could not be hidden.

"The Jewish people, the State of Israel, and the entire world must ensure that the Holocaust is recognized for its horrors and atrocities," Rivlin said. "Also among the Polish people, there were those who aided the Nazis in their crimes. Every crime, every offense, must be condemned. They must be examined and revealed."

Today's Poles have been raised on stories of their people's wartime suffering and heroism. Many react viscerally when confronted with the growing body of scholarship about Polish involvement in the killing of Jews.

In a sign of the sensitivities on both sides, Yair Lapid, head of Israel's centrist Yesh Atid party and the son of a survivor, got into a heated Twitter spat Saturday with the Polish Embassy in Israel.

"I utterly condemn the new Polish law which tries to deny Polish complicity in the Holocaust. It was conceived in Germany but hundreds of thousands of Jews were murdered without ever meeting a German soldier. There were Polish death camps and no law can ever change that," Lapid wrote.

That sparked the Embassy to respond: "Your unsupportable claims show how badly Holocaust education is needed, even here in Israel." "My grandmother was murdered in Poland by Germans and Poles," Lapid responded. "I don't need Holocaust education from you. We live with the consequences every day in our collective memory. Your embassy should offer an immediate apology."

To which the embassy retorted: "Shameless." Israel's foreign ministry said the deputy Polish ambassador to Israel had been summoned for a clarification. For decades, Polish society avoided discussing the killing of Jews by civilians or denied that anti-Semitism motivated the slayings, blaming all atrocities on the Germans.

A turning point was the publication in 2000 of a book, "Neighbors," by Polish-American sociologist Jan Tomasz Gross, which explored the murder of Jews by their Polish neighbors in the village of Jedwabne. The book resulted in widespread soul-searching and official state apologies.

But since the conservative and nationalistic Law and Justice party consolidated power in 2015, it has sought to stamp out discussions and research on the topic. It demonized Gross and investigated whether he had slandered Poland by asserting that Poles killed more Jews than they killed Germans during the war.

Holocaust researchers have collected ample evidence of Polish villagers who murdered Jews fleeing the Nazis. According to one scholar at Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, of the 160,000-250,000 Jews who escaped and sought help from fellow Poles, about 10 percent to 20 percent survived. The rest were rejected, informed upon or killed by rural Poles, according to the Tel Aviv University scholar, Havi Dreifuss.

At Auschwitz, however, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki stressed the Poles who helped Jews risking their own lives, noting that some 7,000 had been recognized by Yad Vashem but suggesting that the Polish sacrifices have not been acknowledged adequately.

"Jews, Poles, and all victims should be guardians of the memory of all who were murdered by German Nazis. Auschwitz-Birkenau is not a Polish name, and Arbeit Macht Frei is not a Polish phrase," Morawiecki said later on Twitter.

Yad Vashem issued a statement Saturday night opposing the Polish legislation and trying to put into historical context the "complex truth" regarding the Polish population's attitude toward its Jews. "There is no doubt that the term 'Polish death camps' is a historical misrepresentation," the Yad Vashem memorial said. "However, restrictions on statements by scholars and others regarding the Polish people's direct or indirect complicity with the crimes committed on their land during the Holocaust are a serious distortion."

Vanessa Gera contributed from Warsaw.

Russia at work on new station, lunar trips: says top rocket scientist

Moscow (Sputnik)
Jan 24, 2018

Russia is set to spend the next decade working on a potential new station that might be built if the International Space Station (ISS) project is terminated, as well as a spacecraft capable of making trips to the Moon, General Designer of Russia's Manned Programs Yevgeny Mikrin said Tuesday.

The ISS participants have agreed to maintain the program until 2024, but it is unclear what will happen afterward. In April last year, Igor Komarov, director general of the Russian national space agency, Roscosmos, said the Russian side was open to extending the program until 2028. However, no final decision has been made on the future of the project. The participants include Russian, US, Japanese, European and Canadian space agencies.

"If the decision is made to stop the work of the ISS, a Russian station may be set up... It is planned to include five modules," Mikrin said at the Academic Space Conference in Moscow.

The station would be able to house a crew of three and it would weigh about 60 tonnes, that is, almost seven times less than the ISS.

For the time being, however, Russia is planning to finish the second phase of the construction of the Russian segment of the ISS and add three new modules to it. The modules are designed in a way that would allow them to become the basis for a new independent station.

A new cargo spacecraft with larger payload capacity that is being designed at Russia's Rocket and Space Corporation Energia may be used to deliver supplies to the new station.

Federation

The flight and docking of the Federation manned spacecraft to the ISS, planned for 2024, is among the plans for the existing program, however, the Federation will be capable of a wide range of operations, including travel to the Moon.

The spacecraft, according to Mikrin, will be able to land on the surface of the Moon with a precision of 4.3 miles.

"The advantages of the new spacecraft is the possibility of multiple use of the landing section, up to 10 times, soft landing on a special landing device, the increase of the landing precision up to seven kilometers, ensuring the crew safety throughout the launch phase and increased comfort," Mikrin explained.

The Federation can carry a crew of four and is intended for transporting cargo and people to the orbital station and to the Moon. The designer said that the Moon program is expected to culminate in the establishment of a Moon base, where it will be possible to mine for rare and precious resources, among other things.

The Federation spacecraft is capable of being in an autonomous flight for up to 30 days and a part of an orbital station for up to a year.

The first Federation is expected to be built by 2021.

Off to Moon With RD-150

The new hydrogen engine for the upper part of the super heavy-lift launch vehicle will be named RD-150, according to the designer.

The third-stage launcher will be designed based on RD-120 made for Buran project, a reusable spacecraft program that began in the 1970s.

Mikrin added that the first two stages would be designed based on the first stages of the Soyuz-5 rocket, currently under development.

The super heavy-lift launch vehicle is expected to be first used in 2023-2035 to deliver the Federation spacecraft to the Moon's polar orbit.

Source: Moon Daily.
Link: http://www.moondaily.com/reports/Russia_Top_Space_Designer_Says_Work_on_Potential_New_Station_Moon_Trips_Ongoing_999.html.

TRAPPIST-1 System Planets Potentially Habitable

Tucson AZ (SPX)
Jan 24, 2018

Two exoplanets in the TRAPPIST-1 system have been identified as most likely to be habitable, a paper by PSI Senior Scientist Amy Barr says.

The TRAPPIST-1 system has been of great interest to observers and planetary scientists because it seems to contain seven planets that are all roughly Earth-sized, Barr and co-authors Vera Dobos and Laszlo L. Kiss said in "Interior Structures and Tidal Heating in the TRAPPIST-1 Planets" that appears in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

"Because the TRAPPIST-1 star is very old and dim, the surfaces of the planets have relatively cool temperatures by planetary standards, ranging from 400 degrees Kelvin (260 degrees Fahrenheit), which is cooler than Venus, to 167 degrees Kelvin (-159 degrees Fahrenheit), which is colder than Earth's poles," Barr said.

"The planets also orbit very close to the star, with orbital periods of a few days. Because their orbits are eccentric - not quite circular - these planets could experience tidal heating just like the moons of Jupiter and Saturn."

"Assuming the planets are composed of water ice, rock, and iron, we determine how much of each might be present, and how thick the different layers would be. Because the masses and radii of the planets are not very well-constrained, we show the full range of possible interior structures and interior compositions." Barr said. The team's results show that improved estimates of the masses of each planet can help determine whether each of the planets has a significant amount of water.

The planets studied are referred to by letter, planets b through h, in order of their distance from the star. Analyses performed by co-author Vera Dobos show that planets d and e are the most likely to be habitable due to their moderate surface temperatures, modest amounts of tidal heating, and because their heat fluxes are low enough to avoid entering a runaway greenhouse state. A global water ocean likely covers planet d.

The team calculated the balance between tidal heating and heat transport by convection in the mantles of each planet. Results show that planets b and c likely have partially molten rock mantles. The paper also shows that planet c likely has a solid rock surface, and could have eruptions of silicate magmas on its surface driven by tidal heating, similar to Jupiter's moon Io.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/TRAPPIST_1_System_Planets_Potentially_Habitable_999.html.