IGIHE

Tag: InternationalNews

  • UN envoy estimates 400,000 killed in Syria civil war

    {Staffan de Mistura’s estimate, which far exceeds those given by UN in the past, is not an official number.}

    The UN special envoy for Syria has estimated that 400,000 people have been killed throughout the last five years of civil war, urging major and regional powers to help salvage a crumbling ceasefire.

    Explaining that the death toll was based on his own estimate, Staffan de Mistura said on Friday that it was not an official UN statistic.

    “We had 250,000 as a figure two years ago,” said de Mistura. “Well, two years ago was two years ago.”

    The UN no longer keeps track of the death toll due to the inaccessibility of many areas and the complications of navigating conflicting statistics put forward by the Syrian government and armed opposition groups.

    De Mistura also appealed to all involved parties to help revamp negotiations between the government of President Bashar al-Assad and opposition groups.

    “Yes we do need certainly a new ISSG at ministerial level,” the envoy said, referring to the International Syria Support Group which includes the United States, Russia, the European Union, Iran, Turkey and Arab states.

    De Mistura compared the apparently stalled political talks on Syria’s future, the unravelling ceasefire agreement and the still limited humanitarian relief deliveries to the three legs of a table.

    “The level of danger to the table made of three legs – and a table of three legs is always fragile by definition – [means that help] is urgently required,” he said.

    “When one of them is in difficulty we can make it. When all three of them are finding some difficulty, it’s time to call the ISSG.”

    He gave no date or venue for the high-level ISSG.

    The envoy said he planned to continue peace talks next week, despite the “worrisome trends on the ground”, adding that he would seek clarity from government negotiators about their interpretation of political transition.

    The government, which says the future of President Bashar al-Assad is not up for discussion in Geneva, says that political transition will come in the shape of a national unity government including current officials, opposition and independent figures.
    “Is this going to be cosmetic, is this going to be real, and if it is real what does it mean for the opposition and so on?” he said.

    Opposition negotiators have rejected any proposal which leaves Assad in power. They have also accused the government of violating a February “cessation of hostilities” agreement, pointing to air strikes on rebel-held areas which have killed dozens of people this week.

    De Mistura appealed to all involved parties to help revamp negotiations between government and opposition

  • Iran: US Supreme Court ruling on Beirut blast a ‘theft’

    {Iran rejects ruling in which $2bn in frozen Iranian funds will be given to families of victims of 1983 Beirut blast.}

    Iran has rejected a ruling by the US Supreme Court that clears the way for families of victims of the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut and other attacks to collect nearly $2bn in frozen Iranian funds.

    The state IRNA news agency quoted the spokesman of Iran’s foreign ministry, Hossein Jaberi Ansari, as saying on Thursday that “such a verdict is a theft of the assets and properties of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

    From the United Nations, Ansari spoke to IRNA and said Wednesday’s ruling is “tantamount to a ridicule of justice and law”.

    The ruling directly affects relatives of victims, including families of the 241 US service members who died in the Beirut bombing.

    The lawsuit was brought by more than 1,000 Americans who have waged a long legal battle seeking compensation for attacks they say Iran orchestrated.

    The plaintiffs accused Iran of providing material support to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shia political and military group responsible for the truck bomb attack at the Marine compound in Beirut.

    Iran denies any links to the attack.

    The plaintiffs also sought compensation related to other attacks including the 1996 Khobar Towers truck bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 US service members.

    After lobbying by the families, the Obama administration, the US Senate, and a legal group representing leaders of the House of Representatives all filed court papers backing the families.

    In 2012 the US Congress passed a law stating that the frozen funds should go towards satisfying a $2.65bn judgment won by the families against Iran in US federal court in 2007.

    The blast in Beirut, the single deadliest attack on US forces abroad since World War II, claimed the lives of 241 people

  • Pop icon Prince dies aged 57

    {Prince, one of the most influential but elusive figures in music, found dead at his Minnesota home, publicist confirms.}

    Pop icon Prince, widely acclaimed as one of the most inventive musicians of his era, was found dead at his home on Thursday in suburban Minneapolis, according to his publicist. He was 57.

    A local sheriff said that police deputies called to Prince’s studio found the superstar unresponsive in an elevator at his home. Attempts to resuscitate the singer filed, the sheriff told the Associated Press news agency.

    Prince’s publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, confirmed that the singer had died at his home studio in Chanhassen.

    The Minneapolis native broke through in the late 1970s with the hits “Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?” and “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” and soared over the following decade with such albums as “1999” and “Purple Rain”.

    His other major successes included hits such as “Little Red Corvette,” “Let’s Go Crazy” and “When Doves Cry”.

    The title song from “1999” includes one of the most widely quoted refrains of popular culture: “Tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1999.”

    The man born Prince Rogers Nelson stood just 1,57m and seemed to summon the most original and compelling sounds at will, whether playing guitar in a flamboyant style that openly drew upon Jimi Hendrix, switching his vocals from a nasally scream to an erotic falsetto or turning out album after album of stunningly original material.

    Among his other notable releases: “Sign O’ the Times,” “Graffiti Bridge” and “The Black Album.”

    Fiercely independent

    He was also fiercely protective of his independence, battling his record company over control of his material and even his name.

    Prince once wrote “slave” on his face in protest of not owning his work and famously battled and then departed his label, Warner Bros., before returning a few years ago.

    “What’s happening now is the position that I’ve always wanted to be in,” Prince told The Associated Press in 2014. “I was just trying to get here.”

    In 2004, Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll of Fame, which hailed him as a musical and social trailblazer.

    “He rewrote the rulebook, forging a synthesis of black funk and white rock that served as a blueprint for cutting-edge music in the Eighties,” reads the Hall’s dedication.

    “Prince made dance music that rocked and rock music that had a bristling, funky backbone. From the beginning, Prince and his music were androgynous, sly, sexy and provocative.”

    A small group of fans quickly gathered in the rain on Thursday outside his music studio, Paisley Park, where Prince’s gold records are on the walls and the purple motorcycle he rode in his 1984 breakout movie, “Purple Rain,” is on display.

    The white building surrounded by a fence is about 30km southwest of Minneapolis.

    Steven Scott, 32, of Eden Prairie, said he was at Paisley Park last Saturday for Prince’s dance party. He called Prince “a beautiful person” whose message was that people should love one another.

    “He brought people together for the right reasons,” Scott said.

  • Obama: ‘EU makes Britain even greater’

    {Landing in London for three-day visit, US president urges voters not to back Brexit in June 23 referendum.}

    US President Barack Obama has arrived in the United Kingdom for a three-day visit to make an appeal for Britain to stay in the EU.

    In an op-ed published by the Daily Telegraph shortly after his arrival in the British capital on Thursday, Obama said being inside the EU magnifies Britain’s influence across the world.

    “As citizens of the United Kingdom take stock of their relationship with the EU, you should be proud that the EU has helped spread British values and practices – democracy, the rule of law, open markets – across the continent and to its periphery,” he said.

    In his article, Obama argued that the UK had benefitted from being inside the EU in terms of jobs, trade, financial growth and security.

    “This kind of cooperation – from intelligence sharing and counter-terrorism to forging agreements to create jobs and economic growth – will be far more effective if it extends across Europe. Now is a time for friends and allies to stick together,” he wrote.

    Obama’s intervention ahead of the forthcoming EU referendum on June 23 was welcomed by supporters of the “Remain” campaign but those who want to leave the EU accused the American president of hypocrisy.

    Tory MP Iain Duncan Smith, who campaigns for the UK to leave the EU, accused the Obama of double standards.

    “He is asking the British people to accept a situation that he patently would not recommend to the American population,” he said. “I can imagine no circumstances under which he would lobby for the US Supreme Court to be bound by the judgments of a foreign court.”

    London Mayor and Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson also criticised Obama’s involvement in the debate. Writing in the Sun, he claimed that Obama’s view was “a breathtaking example of the principle do-as-I-say-but-not-as-I-do”.

    However, in his article titled “As your friend, let me say that the EU makes Britain even greater”, Obama acknowledged that “ultimately, the question of whether or not the UK remains a part of the EU is a matter for British voters to decide for yourselves”.

    But he also said: “…the outcome of your decision is a matter of deep interest to the United States”.

    German Chancellor Angel Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and several Commonwealth leaders have already spoken out against Brexit. During his state visit last year, China’s President Xi Jinping also said Beijing wanted the UK to remain in the EU.

    During his official visit to the UK Obama will have lunch with Queen Elizabeth in Windsor Castle on Friday. He will have dinner with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the same day and he will speak at a news conference with Prime Minister David Cameron.

    Obama argued the UK had benefitted from being inside EU in terms of jobs, trade, financial growth and security

  • Syria civil war: UN evacuates four besieged towns

    {Safe passage secured for sick and wounded in four towns as government pushes renewed offensive against rebels.}

    The United Nations has started evacuating hundreds of people from besieged Syrian towns in a rare sign of humanitarian progress that came as tens of thousands of civilians fled fresh fighting.

    Safe passage was secured for those in need of medical attention from four towns on Wednesday – a complex mission as a strained ceasefire appeared to buckle further.

    Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said plans were afoot to evacuate about 500 people, including the sick and wounded along with their family members from the four towns.

    People were evacuated from the rebel-held towns of Zabadani and Madaya near Damascus, and the government-held towns of Foua and Kefraya in northwest Idlib province.

    On the outskirts of Madaya, where dozens of residents starved to death last year, seven large white buses were used to take the people out.

    Dozens of men, women and children got out of the bus and were checked by security officials before boarding once more, the AFP news agency reported.

    Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons, reporting from the Turkish city of Gaziantep close to the Syrian border, said a convoy came under fire while carrying out the operation.

    “Whether the attacks were directly aimed at the convoy carrying people from Madaya is unclear,” he said.

    “People from Zabadani and Madaya are mostly civilians, but there are also 25 soldiers being carried to safer areas in the country.”

    In a separate statement on Wednesday, the UN said at least 40,000 Syrians had fled fighting near Aleppo, a northern city, in recent days as the government pressed an offensive against the opposition despite the truce.

    {{Four million people besieged }}

    The escalating violence has pushed people eastwards towards the strategically vital town of Azaz, which is on the border with Turkey, as well as the Bab al-Salam and Sijjou refugee camps, the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs said.

    “We are extremely concerned at the intensification of fighting in northern Syria and its impact on civilians, as well as humanitarian delivery to the area, and continue to monitor the situation closely,” Ariane Rummery of the UN refugee agency said.

    The medical charity Doctors Without Borders said that there were now more than 100,000 people trapped on the Syrian side of the Turkish border.

    It said that 35,000 of those had fled in the past week from camps that had been taken over by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or ISIS) or had become too close to a creeping frontline.

    Turkey has closed its frontier to all but the most seriously ill or wounded.

    More than four million people in Syria live in besieged or hard-to-reach areas, with limited or no access to food or medical supplies.

    Debate over Assad’s future

    The UN has long pressed the Syrian government to grant unrestricted access to these areas, and has asked all sides to end sieges.

    But, despite fierce criticism, the government frequently denies passage to aid convoys or limits what kind of assistance can enter cut-off areas.

    The opposition cited the dire humanitarian situation and the Syrian army offensive when it walked out of peace talks in Geneva this week, saying it needed a “pause”. The future of Assad also proved a major sticking point.

    The already-shaky ceasefire between the government and some rebels was severely strained on Tuesday when at least 44 people were killed in air strikes on two markets in the northwest.

    The Geneva talks are aimed at ending the five-year war by fashioning a political transition, writing a new constitution, and holding fresh elections by September 2017.

    The war has killed at least 250,000 people and scattered millions of fleeing Syrians across the world.

    Aleppo clashes have become a serious threat to the fragile truce that came into force in February

  • US vows to deter any Iran aggression on Gulf states

    {President Obama defends Iran nuclear deal, but voices “serious concerns” about Tehran’s behaviour in the region.}

    The United States will deter and confront aggression against Gulf Arab countries, who continue to have concerns about threats from Iran, President Barack Obama said after meeting their leaders to iron out strains in their alliance.

    “I reaffirmed the policy of the United States to use all elements of our power to secure our core interests in the Gulf region and to deter and confront external aggression against our allies and our partners,” Obama said in Riyadh on Thursday after the summit with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

    “Even with the nuclear deal we recognise collectively that we continue to have serious concerns about Iranian behaviour,” he said.

    There was no denying the strains that have afflicted ties between Washington and its Gulf partners, though, even as they have worked together on shared concerns such as the wars in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

    “What is true between the United States and the GCC, as is true with all of our allies and friends is that at any point of time there are going to be differences,” Obama said.

    Relations between Washington and Gulf states allies have been far from smooth recently [AP]
    The GCC states believe the United States has pulled back from the region during Obama’s presidency, giving more space to Iran.

    They were also upset by Obama’s remarks in a magazine interview that appeared to cast them as “free-riders” in US security efforts and urged them to “share” the region with Tehran.

    Obama came to Saudi Arabia hoping to allay Gulf states’ fears over Iranian influence and encourage them to ease sectarian tensions in an effort to confront the threat posed by armed groups like Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

    “On the core issues, there’s agreement about where we want to go,” Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, told reporters at a briefing in Riyadh.

    He said strains in ties in recent years reflected differences over tactics rather than goals. “This summit allows us to align our approaches and strategies,” he said.

    United against ISIL

    Obama said the United States and its Gulf allies were united in the war against ISIL.

    “We remain united in our fight to destroy ISIL or Daesh which is a threat to all of us,” Obama told reporters, after talks with leaders of the GCC, consisting of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE and Oman.

    Obama said that the GCC countries pledged to increase their contributions to battling ISIL, which controls large territory in Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

    “We will continue to support Iraq as it liberates and stabilises towns and cities from ISIL control,” he said,

    The regional conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Libya and Iraq were discussed during the meeting in Saudi capital.

    Obama came to Saudi Arabia hoping to allay Gulf states' fears over Iranian influence in the region

  • Israel: Any war with Hezbollah will be devastating

    {Major General Yair Golan says the Lebanese armed group has more than 100,000 rockets and missiles in its arsenal.
    }
    A top Israeli military leader has issued a stern warning to the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, saying that any future war between the two enemies will unleash “devastating” damage on Lebanon.

    Major General Yair Golan, Israel’s deputy chief of staff, told international journalists on Wednesday that Hezbollah had developed capabilities that present “unprecedented” threats to Israel.

    Israel estimates that the group has more than 100,000 rockets and missiles in its arsenal.

    Golan said any future war will be “much harsher” than anything experienced in the past 20 years, and Israel will unleash all of its military capabilities.

    He said “that could create devastating damage to Lebanon.”

    Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in the summer of 2006 that ended in a stalemate. The fighting left more than 1,100 Lebanese and 159 Israelis killed.

    The conflict, the last between the two sides, lasted for more than a month.

    The war between the two countries last more than a month

  • Yemen peace talks set to begin in Kuwait after delay

    {Houthis agreed to take part in UN-brokered talks after assurances that pro-government forces would respect truce.}

    Peace talks between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and government are set to begin in Kuwait after the Houthis agreed to participate following assurances that pro-government forces would respect a ceasefire, the United Nations has said.

    A delegation of Houthi representatives and their allies flew out of Sanaa on Wednesday to join the talks, saying the UN had assured them over the truce.

    “The Yemeni peace negotiations will start tomorrow in Kuwait under the auspices of the United Nations,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said from New York.

    The UN-brokered talks had been set to open in Kuwait on Monday but were put off after the Iran-backed fighters failed to show up over alleged violations of the ceasefire, which took effect on April 11.

    The Yemeni government delegation, which arrived in Kuwait at the weekend, had threatened to pull out if the talks did not start on Thursday morning.

    The delegation, in a statement, also accused the Houthi rebels of violating the ceasefire in many areas.

    The talks are the most important attempt yet to resolve Yemen’s devastating conflict, which the United Nations says has killed more than 6,400 people and forced almost 2.8 million from their homes.

    An Arab coalition launched air strikes in Yemen 13 months ago after the rebels, who had seized control of Sanaa in 2014, advanced in other parts of the country.

    President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s government fled to main southern city Aden but its members still spend most of their time in Riyadh.

    Government loyalists have managed since July to reclaim large parts of the south, including Aden, but have been unable to oust the Houthi rebels and their allies from Sanaa and other key areas.

    On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had urged Hadi’s government and the rebels to work with his envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed “so that talks can start without further delay”.

    A representative of the rebel-allied General People’s Congress party, Yasser Alawadi, had said on Twitter that his delegation would travel to Kuwait on Thursday.

    The GPC is led by former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who ruled the country for 33 years until 2012 and has joined forces with the Houthis.

    Yemeni sources close to the talks say the fighters are demanding the lifting of UN sanctions against Saleh and Houthi leaders.

    Yemen’s internationally recognised government is demanding the Houthis abide by a Security Council resolution calling for a political process and for the rebels to withdraw from cities they seized while surrendering their weapons.

    The peace talks were suspended after Houthi representatives pulled out amid accusations of ceasefire violations by both sides

  • A frail Fidel Castro bids farewell in ‘last speech’

    {Ex-Cuban leader speaks of death in farewell speech to Communist Party congress and calls for preserving party ideals.}

    Fidel Castro, Cuba’s longtime former president, has delivered a farewell speech to the Communist party Congress in the capital, Havana, and called for safeguarding communist ideals.

    The leader of the 1959 revolution, which overthrew the US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista, emerged from seclusion on Tuesday to muse about death and provide encouragement to his followers in a rare speech.

    “Soon I will be 90 years old,” he said. “Soon I will be like all the rest. Everybody’s turn comes,” Castro, whose birthday is August 13, told 1,300 party activists gathered at a Havana convention centre where he delivered countless, hours-long speeches during his rule.

    Castro held power for nearly five decades before ill health led him to make way for his brother Raul Castro, 84, in 2006.

    “Perhaps this will be one of the last times I speak in this room,” said Castro, sporting a blue tracksuit jacket, glasses and wispy gray beard.

    “The ideas of Cuban Communists will remain,” he said, “as proof that on this planet, if you work hard and with dignity, you can produce the material and cultural goods human beings need.”

    Cries of “Fidel, Fidel” once again rang out as the now frail former leader made his most extensive public appearance in years, speaking with a strong, if slightly hoarse voice.

    “We must tell our brothers in Latin America and the world that the Cuban people will be victorious.”

    But the twice-a-decade Communist Party congress proved a disappointment to many residents, especially the youth, re-electing an aging leadership and proposing little new to tackle the country’s economic problems.

    As well as being the president, Raul Castro, 84, is also the party’s first secretary – a position considered at least as powerful as the presidency even after he is presumably replaced by a younger president in 2018.

    The Cuban president indicated that he may also step down before the next congress in 2021.

    As with other stage-managed appearances in recent years Castro was not shown standing, but he looked healthier than he did for a long time after a serious illness that led him to relinquish power 10 years ago.

    The congress reviewed difficulties the party faces implementing market reforms, maintaining its leadership over an increasingly diverse and informed population and dampening expectations raised by detente with the United States and President Barack Obama’s visit to the country last month.

    The visit provoked Castro earlier to charge Obama was sweet-talking Cubans and had nothing to offer them, a view repeated by various delegates at the congress.

    Fidel Castro took power in a 1959 revolution and led the country until 2006, when he fell ill. He now lives in relative seclusion but occasionally writes opinion pieces or appears meeting with visiting dignitaries.

    Fidel Castro held power for nearly five decades before ill health led him to make way for his brother Raul (right) in 2006

  • Syria civil war: Aleppo clashes displace 40,000 people

    {UN says it is deeply concerned about the fate of people forced from their homes as government goes after rebels.}

    At least 40,000 Syrians have fled fighting near the northern city of Aleppo in recent days as government forces continue an offensive against opposition fighters despite a truce, the United Nations said.

    Escalating violence has pushed people eastwards towards the strategically vital border town of Azaz, as well as the Bab al-Salam and Sijjou refugee camps, the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Wednesday.

    “Taking into account the previous influx of over 75,000 internally displaced people into the Azaz sub-district in January and February, humanitarian needs are expected to rise exponentially,” OCHA said in a statement.

    The UN expressed deep worry on Wednesday over the fate of the thousands displaced by the fresh fighting.

    “We are extremely concerned at the intensification of fighting in northern Syria and its impact on civilians, as well as humanitarian delivery to the area, and continue to monitor the situation closely,” Ariane Rummery of the UN refugee agency said.

    {{Border closed}}

    Aid agencies have distributed food baskets and blankets, jerry cans, mattresses and plastic sheeting for thousands of newly displaced people and are preparing to scale up the response, she said.

    The medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said that there were now more than 100,000 people trapped on the Syrian side of the Turkish border, with 35,000 having fled in the past week from camps that had been taken over by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) fighters or had become too close to the frontline.

    Turkey has closed the frontier to all but the most seriously ill or wounded people.

    “Yet again we see tens of thousands of people forced to flee but with almost nowhere safe to go – trapped in this bloody, brutal conflict,” said Muskilda Zancada, MSF’s mission chief in Syria, in a statement.

    {{Fragile ceasefire}}

    Fighting around Aleppo has become the biggest threat to the fragile cessation of hostilities that came into force on February 27.

    It has also has contributed to the decision by the main opposition delegation to suspend its formal participation in peace talks.

    The opposition accuses the government of violating the cessation of hostilities agreement to launch a new offensive to capture Aleppo, Syria’s most populous city before the war, which has been divided between government-controlled and rebel-held zones for years.

    The government and its Russian allies say that they are only fighting against ISIL and al-Qaeda fighters, who are not covered by the truce, and blame the opposition for violating the ceasefire in other parts of Syria.

    Fighting around Aleppo has become the biggest threat to the fragile ceasefire that came into force on February 27