Gazette 081414

Thursday August 14the 2014

Hamas, Israel To Extend Truce

Israel and Hamas agreed to extend a temporary cease-fire for five days, Egyptian and Palestinian officials said Wednesday, potentially averting renewed violence and permitting the sides to continue to negotiate a substantive deal to end the war in Gaza.

Egyptian mediators had been racing to pin down a long-term cease-fire as a temporary truce was set to expire at midnight. The Israeli military said five rockets were launched at Israel in the hours leading up to the end of the cease-fire.
Egypt's foreign ministry and the head of the Palestinian negotiating team announced the extension. A spokesman for Israel's prime minister had no immediate comment.
The cease-fire extension is meant to grant both sides additional time to negotiate a longer-term truce and a roadmap for the coastal territory.
The lull in violence has also been a welcome reprieve for Israelis and Palestinians living in Gaza. During the temporary cease-fire, Israel halted military operations in the war-battered coastal territory and Gaza militants stopped firing rockets, aside from the ones late Wednesday.
"We have agreed on a cease-fire for five days," said Azzam al-Ahmad, the head of the Palestinian delegation to the Cairo talks. He noted that there had been "significant progress" but that disagreements remained over the wording regarding security arrangements, reconstruction efforts for the Gaza Strip and the permissible fishing area.
The two sides were considering an Egyptian proposal that partially addresses their demands, but deep differences have kept the deal in doubt.
Hamas is seeking an end to a crippling blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt in 2007. The blockade has greatly limited the movement of Palestinians in and out of the territory of 1.8 million people. It has also restricted the flow of goods into Gaza and blocked virtually all exports.
Related: Israel and Palestinians begin tense five-day Gaza truce

Iraq: UN sounds alarm on humanitarian crisis

The UN has declared its highest level of emergency in Iraq as a humanitarian crisis follows the rapid advance by Islamic State militants in the north.

Kurdish officials said the situation in Dohuk city, with 150,000 refugees, was now critical.
But the US said a rescue mission to aid thousands who fled to Mt Sinjar was unlikely as it had found fewer people and better conditions than expected

The UN estimates that 1.2 million Iraqis have been internally displaced.

The three other countries that have the same emergency status are Syria, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
Speeding up response
The declaration by the UN of a "Level 3 Emergency" would "facilitate mobilization of additional resources in goods, funds and assets to ensure a more effective response to the humanitarian needs of populations affected by forced displacements", said UN special representative Nickolay Mladenov.

The situation of displaced people on Mount Sinjar remained critical, he said.
The UN had estimated that tens of thousands of people, most from the Christian and Yazidi religious minorities, were besieged on the mountain after being forced to flee their homes.

US forces conducted a brief mission to Mt Sinjar to assess the situation after days of international concern.

It found fewer people than expected and that those remaining were also in a better condition than feared - partly because thousands had left the mountain each night over the past days.
Related: U.S., Kurds Free Thousands Of Trapped Yazidis

US to deliver more weapons to Lebanon to help bolster military as it faces militant threat

BEIRUT –  The United States will soon deliver additional weaponry to help bolster the Lebanese military as it faces a growing threat from Islamic militants amid the fallout from the civil war in neighboring Syria, the U.S. ambassador said Thursday.

Ambassador David Hale said the deliveries come in response to a request from the Lebanese armed forces for emergency assistance after Islamic militants overran a Lebanese town near the Syrian border, killing and kidnapping soldiers.

Hale did not say when the munitions would arrive, nor did he provide a price tag for them, but he did say the new assistance it is part of Washington's long-standing partnership with the Lebanese military. The U.S has provided more than $1 billion in military assistance since 2006, including over $120 million in training and equipment since October, he said.
That assistance dwarfs in comparison, however, to a $3 billion pledge Saudi Arabia made in late December to help strengthen Lebanon's armed forces. The grant stipulated that the military hardware must be purchased from France.
The Lebanese army is generally seen as a unifying force in the country, and draws its ranks from all of Lebanon's sects — Sunni and Shiite Muslim, Christian and Druse. But the armed forces have struggled to contain the escalating violence in the country since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict in 2011.

Britain likely to send troops to Iraq; US drones strike ISIS mortar team

LONDON: In a clear shift, Britain is thinking of sending in troops to northern Iraq to help secure the passage of refugees out of the range of ISIS fighters.

Britain had earlier clearly ruled out the use of British military force but the government on Tuesday said it might send in troops in a humanitarian capacity.

Britain also announced on Tuesday that Tornado fighters will enter Iraqi airspace for the first time in over a decade to help the Royal Air Force drop essential supplies for thousands of displaced people on Mount Sinjar.

It is believed that Britain Prime Minister David Cameron is considering arming Kurdish fighters to take on ISIS.

"Some sort of force on the ground may well be considered," the spokesperson said.

Britain's foreign secretary meanwhile chaired an emergency response committee COBR and authorized the deployment of "a small number" of Tornados to the region which would primarily be used for "surveillance capability" to gather "better situational awareness to help with humanitarian effort".

A second round of lifesaving UK aid for displaced people was dropped on Mount Sinjar on Monday night. The supplies dropped included 3,180 reusable water purification containers filled with clean water (15,900 litres of water in total) and 816 solar lamps which can also be used to charge mobile phones.

Syria crisis: Islamic State fighters seize Aleppo towns

Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria have taken control of several towns in the northern province of Aleppo, according to reports from activists.

The group seized the town of Akhtarin, 50km (30 miles) northeast of Aleppo city, where Syrian rebels are holed up.
The BBC's Rami Ruhayem says that if confirmed, it would be a significant expansion for IS fighters. 

The group holds large swathes of Syria and Iraq, declaring the creation of a caliphate, or Islamic state.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) - an activist group that monitors the conflict - says IS took control overnight of Akhtarin and Turkmanbareh, another town close to the border with Turkey.
The militants also took a string of nearby villages from Syrian opposition groups who are fighting President Bashar al-Assad. They include Masoudiyeh, Dabiq and Ghouz, according to the SOHR.
Correspondents say the seizing of the towns and villages could threaten Syrian rebel supply lines into the city of Aleppo.
Related: Syrian troops advance on rebels in contested Damascus suburb

Egypt's Islamists hold scattered protests on anniversary of deadly dispersal of mass rallies

CAIRO –  Egyptian security forces firing tear gas have quashed small, scattered demonstrations by Islamist supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi who tried to commemorate the anniversary of the killing of hundreds of protesters.
After the military overthrew Morsi last summer amid massive demonstrations against his yearlong rule, authorities waged a sweeping crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood movement and other Islamists, with hundreds killed in street clashes and tens of thousands detained.

The deadliest such incident was exactly one year ago, when security forces dispersed two large pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo, setting off clashes and killing hundreds of demonstrators in the worst mass killing in modern Egyptian history.
Authorities have blamed the Brotherhood for a string of attacks on security forces and have branded it a terrorist organization.
Related: Sisi receives offer of fighter jets, helicopters, weapons on Russia visit

Islamabad on lockdown as Pakistan opposition leaders plan huge march

Party leaders Imran Khan and Tahir ul-Qadri call for rally over electoral reform on Independence Day, amid nationwide protests

Pakistan has blocked almost every entry point into Islamabad, with more than 20,000 police and paramilitary forces deployed to try to thwart a major anti-government rally.
Major roads were barricaded with shipping containers on Wednesday, and police used excavators to dig up smaller roads, a day before two opposition protest marches are due to converge on the capital.
The Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and Canada-based preacher Tahir-ul-Qadri plan to march on the city on Thursday, Pakistan's independence day, to demand the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, resign and call fresh elections.
Both Khan and Qadri, who led mass demonstrations in Islamabadlast year to urge electoral reform , claim the May 2013 general election was rigged. By late Wednesday afternoon, only the main road to the airport remained open and even there, shipping containers were on standby ready to be moved into place.
The heavily guarded "red zone", home to parliament, the president and prime minister's residences and foreign embassies, was already sealed with containers, barbed wire and concrete blocks. Mobile phone services were shut down in the red zone on Wednesday – a common practice on sensitive occasions in Pakistan aimed at stopping militants using mobile phones to detonate bombs.
In front of the five-star Serena hotel, the road was blocked with several containers guarded by around 50 to 60 policemen. The city streets were largely deserted on Wednesday, with almost all offices and shops closed.
The government asked the supreme court to set up a panel of judges to investigate claims of rigging in last year's general election – a move announced by Sharif late on Tuesday to try to ease political tension. The judicial probe was a key demand of Khan, who leads the country's third largest party, but he rejected Sharif's proposal and demanded he step down.
Related: Pakistan hit by anti-government protest marches

Ukraine refuses to permit Russian aid convoy to enter country

West fears 280-truck operation is a prelude to invasion while Moscow insists it wants to help residents trapped by conflict

A Russian convoy allegedly carrying humanitarian aid to eastern Ukraine appeared to be in western Russia on Wednesday night after the Kiev government said it would not permit the supplies to enter its territory.
The 280 military trucks hastily repainted white by Russian soldiers had been expected to

reach the Ukrainian border near Kharkiv on Wednesday afternoon, but after the Ukrainian prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said the country would only accept humanitarian aid from the Red Cross an emergencies ministry camp set up to receive the convoy was dismantled.
Photographs taken on Wednesday suggested the convoy was still in western Russia. It had spent Tuesday night in Voronezh, and in fact may have never left. An Associated Press reporter tweeted a photo on Wednesday afternoon of a white truck he said was from the convoy near a Voronezh military base.
Another location was claimed by a Russian journalist travelling with the convoy who tweeted a photograph of a Russian city he said had been taken from a "hill in the Rostov region," farther to the south. The border crossings still controlled by pro-Russian rebels lie between Luhansk, which is the place most in need of humanitarian aid, and the Rostov region.
If the convoy entered Ukraine there, it would likely further inflame tensions between Moscow and Kiev. The west fears the operation may be a prelude to a Russian invasion, but Moscow insists it is designed to relieve the suffering of besieged residents trapped by conflict.
Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday night that the convoy was continuing to move through Russia but he didn't provide a more exact location.
Related: Russian aid convoy starts moving again, appears bound for rebel-held checkpoint

No Solution In Sight On China Sea Dispute

Despite U.S. and Asian calls for self-restraint and new impetus for the resolution of territorial disputes involving China, a high-profile Asian security summit ended over the weekend where it began, with no solution of the rifts in sight.

China dismissed a new U.S. proposal for a freeze on hostile actions that could heighten tensions in the disputed South China Sea, leaving Washington unable to overturn an impression that it can do little to back up allies at odds with Beijing over the contested waters and islands. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, remains divided and is similarly unable to pressure China to back down.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was overseeing multiple crises unraveling in Iraq, Gaza and Ukraine as he flew to Myanmar's capital of Naypyitaw to attend the annual ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia's premier security gathering of 27 Asian and Western countries, including China.

Under Kerry's proposal, China and the four ASEAN members that have long disputed strategic South China Sea territories — Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam — should voluntarily halt provocative actions, including occupying new islands or reclaiming land to enlarge naturally submerged reefs. Taiwan, which is not an ASEAN member, also contests the territories.

The Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally, backed Kerry's proposal and also urged the full enforcement of a 2002 accord that also called for an end to tension-producing actions as well as long-term arbitration that could eventually resolve the claims under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

North Korea test-fires missiles as pope visits South

Francis calls for renewed efforts to forge peace in speech in Seoul on first trip to Asia

North Korea test-fired five missiles on Thursday as Pope Francis began a visit to its southern neighbour with a call for renewed efforts to forge peace.
Pyongyang, which has a long history of making sure it is not forgotten during high-profile events in the South, fired three missiles into the sea less than an hour before the pope landed in Seoul, and two more a short time later.
In the first speech of his first trip to Asia, Francis said peace required forgiveness and mutual respect. He said diplomacy must be encouraged so that dialogue replaced "mutual recriminations, fruitless criticisms and displays of force".
During his visit, Francis plans to beatify 124 Korean martyrs and encourage a vibrant and growing local church seen as a model for the future of Catholicism. He is also expected to continue to push for peace on the peninsula, in speeches and especially during a mass in Seoul's main cathedral on Monday.
North Korea has conducted an unusually large number of short-range missile and artillery test firings this year. Pyongyang has expressed anger over annual military drills by the United States and South Korea, which it says are invasion preparations.
A new round of the drills, which Seoul and Washington call routine and defensive, is expected to start in coming days.
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Michael Brown shooting: Anger at crackdown on protests

Police in the US state of Missouri have clashed with protesters for a fourth night amid growing anger at the fatal shooting of a black teenager by police.

Heavily armed riot police fired tear gas as they moved in on demonstrators in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson who had ignored an order to disperse.
Several people were arrested, two of them journalists who said they were assaulted before being released.
The tension was sparked by the death of Michael Brown, 18, on Saturday.
Details about the incident have been disputed but eyewitnesses said the unarmed teenager had his arms raised when he was shot multiple times by a police officer.
Police say there was a struggle and the officer suffered facial injuries.

Congress looking at another partial shutdown? Place your bets now

Congress returns to session in early September, immediately after the National Football League kicks off its first weekend of play.
Handicappers regard the Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts to be the NFL's crème-de-la-crème. Bookmakers list those seven teams as favorites to win the Super Bowl.

But, this is the "Any Given Sunday" NFL. Lurking nearby are the Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Diego Chargers, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals. All have a legitimate shot at hoisting the Lombardi Trophy come February. The sound money is on teams like the Seahawks, Patriots and Packers. But one can never dismiss the possibility that the Bengals, Steelers or Eagles could win it all.
There are parallels between Congress and those pigskin pontifications.
The first (and perhaps only) order of business for Congress in September is approving a comprehensive spending bill to fund the government and avoid another shutdown by Oct. 1, the start of Washington's fiscal year. Last fall's partial shutdown padlocked the federal government for more than two weeks. The debacle waylaid Republicans, many of whom linked keeping the government open to defunding ObamaCare. Congressional Democrats and President Obama summarily dismissed that option, triggering the impasse. The episode was so painful that few political observers are talking about a repeat this fall. In short, the odds favor lawmakers funding the government and sidestepping a shutdown -- especially with the midterm elections less than three months off. The possibility of no shutdown aligns with the chances of the Packers, Seahawks or 49ers winning the title. That's a safe wager.

Here's What Barack Obama And Hillary Clinton Were Doing During The Chaos In Ferguson

President Barack Obama attended a birthday party in Martha's Vineyard on Wednesday

evening, the same night protests in Ferguson, Missouri, escalated after the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager who was shot and killed by a police officer last week.

According to a White House spokesman, "a good time was had by all."

From Principal Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz:
Tonight, the President and First Lady attended the birthday celebration for Mrs. Ann Jordan at an event at the Farm Neck Golf Club. There were approximately 150 guests in attendance.

Among the attendees seated with the Jordans and the President and First Lady were former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Valerie Jarrett and her mother Mrs. Barbara Bowman, Ursula Burns, Kenneth Chenault and his wife Kathy, along with other friends and family of Mrs. Jordan. President Obama honored Mrs. Jordan with a toast before dinner, as did Mr. Jordan and Secretary Clinton and others. The President and First Lady have known the Jordans for over twenty years, and were grateful to have been able to share this special evening with them.

The President and First Lady also were happy to have the chance to spend time with Secretary Clinton and former President Clinton.

A little color: in his toast for Mrs. Jordan, President quipped that he met Vernon and first, but liked Ann more. The menu consisted of surf and turf and pasta. The Obamas danced nearly every song. A good time was had by all.
Sent from my iPhone

US defends John Kerry stay in blacklisted Myanmar hotel

The US has defended Secretary of State John Kerry's decision to stay in a blacklisted hotel in Myanmar (also known as Burma).

Mr Kerry and his delegation stayed at the Lake Garden hotel in Naypyidaw on Saturday night while attending the Asean Regional Summit.
The hotel is owned by U Zaw Zaw, who is blacklisted for having close ties to the country's former military junta.
But hotels are not included in these sanctions, a US official has said.
However, the slight whiff of hypocrisy is a reminder of the difficulties foreign companies face trying to find Burmese business partners who are not somehow connected to the old regime, says the BBC's Myanmar correspondent Jonah Fisher.
Many of the sanctions imposed on Myanmar during its military rule have been lifted.
But the US government has continued to keep a blacklist of those closely connected to the former government.
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Dispute? What dispute? Clinton and Obama make up at vacation party 

President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday tried to wind down the latest in a series of occasional public tensions and awkward slights.
The two and their spouses were among 150 guests at a birthday celebration near where the president and his wife, Michelle, are spending their August vacation.
The Obamas “were happy to have the chance to spend time with Secretary Clinton and former President Clinton,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said. “The Obamas danced nearly every song. A good time was had by all.”
But as to the hug that Clinton said would seal good relations between the power duo? No details from Schultz, alas. 
This round of discomfort between the two, arguably their biggest since their slugfest for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president, started when Clinton told the Atlantic magazine that the administration’s failure to block the rise of Islamic terrorists in Syria was now giving rise to the violence in Iraq.
Obama’s former top foreign policy hand also dissed her old boss’ onetime foreign policy mantra – “Don’t do stupid stuff” – as small bore.
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