Gazette 082814

Thursday August 28th 2014

Gaza truce holding but Israel's Netanyahu under fire at home

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An open-ended ceasefire in the Gaza war held on Wednesday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced strong criticism in Israel over a costly conflict with Palestinian militants in which no clear victor has emerged.
On the streets of the battered, Hamas-run Palestinian enclave, people headed to shops and banks, trying to resume the normal pace of life after seven weeks of fighting. Thousands of others, who had fled the battles and sheltered with relatives or in schools, returned home, where some found only rubble.
In Israel, sirens warning of incoming rocket fire from the Gaza Strip fell silent.
Netanyahu told a news conference Israel had dealt Hamas its toughest blow ever and had rebuffed its demands for a truce. He said it was "too early to say" whether the calm would be prolonged, then threatened the Islamist group:
"If it resumes fire, we will not tolerate a sprinkle of shooting at any part of Israel, what we did in response now, we will respond even more vigorously."
But Israeli media commentators, echoing attacks by members of Netanyahu's governing coalition, voiced deep disappointment over his leadership during the most prolonged bout of Israeli-Palestinian violence in a decade.
Israeli opinion polls showed his popularity plummeting, such as a survey on Channel 10 television in which viewers gave him a grade of 55 percent, down from a 69 percent score at the beginning of the month.

Egypt charges former Islamist President Morsi of leaking secret documents to Qatar

CAIRO –  Judicial officials say Egypt's state prosecutor has raised new charges against the country's ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, accusing him of leaking secret documents to Qatar, an ally of the Muslim Brotherhood group.
The latest charges mark the fourth case underway against Morsi, who was ousted last summer. They also implicate the Doha-based Al-Jazeera TV network.

The officials said Wednesday the charge sheet accuses Morsi of passing state security files to the Qataris through Al-Jazeera while in office "in a way that harms national security."
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to reporters.
Morsi also faces charges of conspiring with foreign groups, inciting murder of his opponents and orchestrating prison breaks during the 2011 uprising that toppled his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak.

Syria conflict: IS 'executes dozens of soldiers'

Jihadist militants from Islamic State (IS) appear to have executed "dozens" of Syrian army soldiers, activists say.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the soldiers were captured while attempting to flee to Hama province after IS stormed the Tabqa airbase.
Twitter accounts belonging to jihadists had boasted about 200 deaths, it added.
On Wednesday, photos and a video were posted online appearing to show more than 100 men in their underwear being marched through the desert at gunpoint.
In the video, militants shout "Islamic State" and "There is no going back".
In images published earlier this week, IS fighters wearing balaclavas could be seen shooting dead at least seven kneeling men at the airbase.
'Mass atrocities' Tabqa airbase - near the northern city of Raqqa, an IS stronghold - fell to IS on Sunday after weeks of fierce fighting.
The Observatory said 346 IS fighters and more than 170 members of the security forces were killed in the final battle, which lasted five days.
The head of the Observatory, Rami Abdul Rahman, told the AFP news agency that about 1,400 troops had been stationed at the airbase, 700 of whom managed to escape.
Two hundred appeared to have been caught and executed by IS as they attempted to cross the desert to government-held territory in the Orontes Valley to the west, he said. Another 500 men were on the run, he added.
After the airbase's capture, Syrian state television said the army was "regrouping" and that a "successful evacuation" had taken place.
On Tuesday, UN investigators said Islamic State militants had committed "mass atrocities" in Syria and had recruited children as fighters.
Their report said public killings were a "common spectacle" in areas run by the jihadist group and that local people were forced to watch.

ISIS Says It's Burning Marijuana Fields In Syria

The Islamic State militant group released a video on Tuesday purporting to show its fighters burning down a marijuana field in a town it captured in north Syria.
In the clip, which appears to be shot in the town of Akhtarin and was uploaded to YouTube by an ISIS supporter on Tuesday, the fighters denounce the evils of drug-taking, before appearing to chop down bushes and setting them ablaze.
The militants claim they discovered the farm after having captured Akhtarin from the Free Syrian Army, a rival group of opposition fighters in Syria, in recent weeks. The militants claim the farm owner fled over the nearby border with Turkey.
Syria Deeply reported in July that some farmers in north Syria have turned to pot-growing in a desperate bid to make an income amidst Syria's devastating civil war.
But the farmers have come under threat from radical Islamist fighters, such as the militants of the Islamic State, who consider drugs against Islamic law.
The Islamic State group, earlier known as ISIS, is known to impose a harsh interpretation of Islamic law in areas under its control in Iraq and Syria, and has banned cigarettes, alcohol and drugs. A United Nations commission said on Wednesday that the group's systematic abuse of civilians, including public executions and training child fighters, may amount to crimes against humanity.

Yazidis still stranded on Mount Sinjar: 'We need weapons now more than food or water'

For the US and its allies, Mount Sinjar is a success story: a humanitarian disaster alleviated by US air power. But hundreds, if not thousands, of Iraqis – mostly sick and old – remain atop the mountain, with no relief on its way.
Satellite images taken on 21 August by the firm ImageSat International and interviews with members of the Yazidi religious minority still on the mountain indicate a humanitarian emergency continuing to unfold. While thousands have fled down the mountain’s north face, making a dangerous trek into Iraqi Kurdistan through Syria, those on the southern side remain in crisis. 
There has not been a US airdrop of food, water or medicine since 13 August, after a reconnaissance team of US special operations forces that had briefly been on the mountain reported that conditions were not as dire as Washington initially thought.
Survivors of the Islamic State (Isis) siege describe leaving behind their elderly and infirm relatives. The younger Yazidis who have stayed behind talk of fighting Isis until they either liberate Sinjar city below or they die.
One Yazidi man, Abu Sulaiman, described the situation on the mountain now as “heartbreaking”.
“My pillow is a small rock, and my bed is crumpling ground where there is no water, no food, no single cigarette to smoke. Sometimes, my brother would get me a piece of bread, but I’m too ill and have no appetite to eat. I just want to be lifted out of here,” he said.
Those still on the mountain are effectively abandoned, while the Obama administration considers the Mount Sinjar operation a success. The Pentagon estimated two weeks ago that 4,000 to 5,000 people remained on the mountain, and says it cannot offer a more current estimate. The US Agency for International Development assesses that perhaps 2,000 people do not intend to leave. The United Nations mission to Iraq pegged the residual population at “a few hundred who did not want to leave,” said spokeswoman Eliana Nabaa.

Hard-Line Splinter Group, Galvanized by ISIS, Emerges From Pakistani Taliban

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The Pakistani Taliban has suffered its second major split in three months, with militant leaders this week confirming the emergence of a hard-line splinter group inspired by the success of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The new group, known as Jamaat-e-Ahrar, is composed of disaffected Taliban factions from four of the seven tribal districts along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, according to a video released by the group. Counterterrorism experts said the group was effectively controlled by Omar Khalid Khorasani, an ambitious Taliban commander with strong ties to Al Qaeda.

Mr. Khorasani’s faction, which is based in the Mohmand tribal agency near Peshawar, had emerged as one of the most active Taliban elements this year. It is believed to have carried out a bombing in Islamabad that sought to derail peace talks between the Taliban and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government.

The formation of Jamaat-e-Ahrar is one of the most serious internal threats to the Pakistani Taliban, officially known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, since it was formed seven years ago.

Libya: France urges special UN support 

France is calling for "exceptional support" for Libya, warning the country could fall into chaos without United Nations intervention.

If no action is taken, French President Francois Hollande warned, "terrorism will spread across the region."
His comments come a day after the UN Security Council called for an immediate ceasefire in Libya.
It is also seeking sanctions against those involved in the surge in violence between rival militias.
The names of those to face sanctions have not yet been decided.
However, the Security Council has been alarmed by the increase in fighting between militia groups and Libya's army factions in recent weeks.
On 23 August a coalition of militias, including some Islamist groups, operating under the banner Libya Dawn, seized control of the international airport in the capital, Tripoli from a Zintan-based militia.
The victory, which secures the alliance's control over the capital, ends a five-week siege.

Afghan Candidate Pulls Out Of Election Audit, Threatening Crisis

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's troubled presidential election was rocked by more turmoil on Wednesday as both candidates vying to succeed Hamed Karzai pulled their observers out of a ballot audit meant to determine the winner of a June runoff.
First, Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister, pulled his monitors from the audit to protest the process that his team claims is fraught with fraud.
Then, the United Nations, which is helping supervise the U.S.-brokered audit, asked the other candidate, former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, to also pull out his observers in the interest of fairness.
The U.N. team said the audit then proceeded without both candidates' teams.
It was not immediately clear if the pullout meant the two candidates would reject the audit results — and thereby also the final result of the election. That could have dangerous repercussions in a country still struggling to overcome ethnic and religious divides and battling a resurgent Taliban insurgency.

Ukraine rebel leader reportedly admits thousands of Russians fighting with separatists

A leader of pro-Russian separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine has reportedly admitted that thousands of Russians have been fighting alongside his troops. 
The BBC report that Alexander Zakharchenko told Russian television that he estimated that between 3,000 and 4,000 Russians had joined the ranks, and claimed that they were either former Russian service members or current military personnel on leave. However, he also insisted that any Russians who went to flight did so voluntarily and not on orders from superiors in Moscow. 

Ukraine and its Western allies have repeatedly accused Russia of providing weapons and training to the rebels, who declared independence from Kiev in two eastern districts this past April following Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Moscow, in turn has repeatedly denied the accusations. 
Zakharchenko's admission came as the rebels appeared to have captured the strategic town of Novoazovsk in southeastern Ukraine. On Thursday morning, an Associated Press journalist saw rebel checkpoints at the outskirts and was told he could not enter. One of the rebels said there was no fighting in the town. 
Novoazovsk, which lies along the road connecting Russia to the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula, had come under shelling for three days, with the rebels entering on Wednesday. The southeastern portion of Ukraine along the Azov Sea previously had escaped the fighting engulfing areas to the north. The loss of Novoazovsk could open the way for the rebels to advance on the much larger port of Mariupol. 
The new southeastern front raised fears that the separatists are seeking to create a land link between Russia and Crimea. If successful, it could give them or Russia control over the entire Sea of Azov and the gas and mineral riches that energy experts believe it contains. Ukraine already has lost roughly half its coastline, several major ports and significant Black Sea mineral rights in March when Russia annexed Crimea.

Ebola zone countries isolated as airlines stop flights

FREETOWN: The three nations at the centre of the west African Ebola outbreak were left increasingly isolated as more airlines suspended flights to the crisis zone.

Air France has agreed to Paris's request for a "temporary suspension" of services to Sierra Leone, leaving its capital Freetown and Monrovia in neighbouring Liberia with just one regular service, from Royal Air Morocco.

"In light of the analysis of the situation and as requested by the French government, Air France confirms it is maintaining its program of flights to and from Guinea and Nigeria," the flag carrier said yesterday.

Air France's decision came a day after British Airways said it was suspending flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone until next year due to Ebola concerns.

Health ministers from west African nations hit by Ebola will gather in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, today to discuss responses to the epidemic.

Authorities in the worst-hit nations are scrambling to contain the most serious outbreak of the lethal tropical virus in history, which has killed more than 1,400 people since it erupted early this year.

The United Nations' envoy on Ebola, David Nabarro, earlier this week took a swipe at airlines who have scrapped flights to Ebola-hit countries, saying the growing isolation "makes it difficult for the UN to do its work". 
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FBI probe JP Morgan 'cyber-attack'

The FBI says it is investigating reports in the US media of recent cyber-attacks against several US banks.

The reports suggest between two and five banks have been targeted, including Wall Street giant JP Morgan Chase.
JP Morgan Chase declined to comment on the reports directly, but said companies of its size experienced cyber-attacks "nearly every day".
The FBI did not indicate who it suspected of being behind the attacks.
A statement from the bureau said it was working with the US secret services to determine the scope of the attacks.
But Bloomberg News, which first reported the attacks, said the investigation was looking at the possible involvement of Russia, amid worsening relations with the US over crises in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Bloomberg quoted security experts saying that the capabilities of the hackers to breach several layers of security appeared to be "far beyond the capability of ordinary criminal hackers".
Eastern Europe But others questioned why this attack involved the apparent theft of data, rather than the disruption of services more characteristic of retaliatory attacks from state actors.
"This is very different from the alleged Iranian attacks earlier in 2012 and late 2013 that were purely of a denial-of-service nature," said Amichai Shulman, chief technology officer at security firm Imperva.

Second American killed fighting with ISIS in Syria identified, sources say

A second American reportedly killed fighting with the Islamic State group in Syria has been identified as Abdirahmaan Muhumed, of Minneapolis, two sources told Fox News late Wednesday. 
KMSP-TV in Minneapolis reported that Muhumed was killed in the same battle as Douglas McAuthur McCain, who grew up outside Minneapolis in the town of New Hope and most recently lived in San Diego. The State Department confirmed McCain's death earlier this week, but spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday that the U.S. has no independent confirmation of the second American's death. "We're looking into it," she said.

A source told Fox News that Muhumed's family had been sent a photo of his body from Syria, but had not been formally notified by the State Department. Fox News was unable to contact the family. 
A profile of Muhumed by Minnesota Public Radio this past June described him as a 29-year-old Somali-American who had been married more than once and was a father of nine children. MPR reported, citing the FBI, that at least 15 young men from the Twin Citites' Somali-American community had traveled to Syria to join Islamic State, the militant group formerly known as ISIS that has captured wide swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq. 
In a Facebook messages to an MPR reporter, Muhumed wrote "I give up this worldly life for Allah" and "Allah loves those who fight for his cause." A picture posted on the social network showed Muhumed carrying a Koran in one hand and a rifle in the other.

Long-Simmering Anger Over Police Violence Erupts At St. Louis Forum

This article was made possible in part by HuffPost readers through their support of the Ferguson Fellowship. Here's how you can back more reporting like this from Ferguson and St. Louis over the next year.
ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- It was roughly two hours into the forum on Tuesday night, hosted in a college auditorium by local hip-hop station HOT 104.1, when Cary Ball Sr. decided he had heard enough.
Ball, a large man wearing a plain white T-shirt, gray fitted baseball cap and cargo shorts, was here to attend a discussion about the issues raised in the wake of the death of an unarmed, black 18-year-old in the nearby suburb of Ferguson earlier this month.

Michael Brown was killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9. Both the Saint Louis County Police and the FBI are investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting that ended Brown's life. The Ferguson Police Department wasn't represented on the stage Tuesday night, and many people in attendance were from the greater St. Louis area rather than Ferguson specifically. But everyone in the audience seemed ready to unleash their long-simmering frustration over policing as well as de facto segregation in the greater St. Louis area, which Brown's death has brought into the media spotlight.

Detroit accused of exaggerating $18bn debts in push for bankruptcy

Report by thinktank Demos says Detroit has made 'extreme assumptions' to make city's problems seem worse than they are.

Detroit's debts are a fraction of the $18bn lawyers pushing for bankruptcy say they are, and their costs are "irrelevant, misleading and inflated," according to a report released Wednesday.
A Demos thinktank report, issued as a city judge decides whether to allow Detroit to file for the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history, lays the blame for the city's woes at the feet of falling revenues, Wall Street banks and "extreme assumptions" calculated to make its problems worse than they are.
"There is no doubt that the city has suffered from structural decline and that state and city policies have not successfully addressed that decline. But that is not the immediate issue in a municipal insolvency. The issue is that the cash currently available does not cover the current expenses of the city," said Walter Turbeville, the report's author, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker and a leading expert in infrastructure finance and public private partnerships.
Kevyn Orr, the state appointed emergency manager, has argued that the city's pension and healthcare liabilities are a leading cause of the city's woes. City workers and retirees face draconian cuts on the $3.5bn in pension payments, and another $6bn in healthcare benefits they are owed. The average Detroit pensioner gets $19,000 a year. Under a deal now being discussed they would be given 16 cents to the dollar, cutting the average pension to $3,040.
The report claims Orr's focus on cutting benefits and other debts are "inappropriate and, in important ways, not rooted in fact."
Turberville questions the necessity of those cuts and the assumptions that underpin Orr's foundation for the $18bn total. According to the report:

Steven Sotloff's mother in plea to IS: Free my son

The mother of Steven Sotloff, a US journalist being held by Islamic State (IS) militants, has made an emotional video appeal for his release.

Shirley Sotloff addressed her plea directly to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the militant group.
Mr Sotloff, who vanished last year in Syria, appeared in a video showing the killing of US journalist James Foley.
The militant on the video said his life depended on the next move of US President Barack Obama.
The US has recently carried out dozens of air strikes against IS targets in Iraq.
In her video message, Mrs Sotloff described her son as a journalist who had travelled to the Middle East to cover the "suffering of Muslims under the hands of tyrants".
"Steven has no control over the actions of the US government. He's an innocent journalist. I've always learned that you, the caliph, can grant amnesty. I ask you to please release my child," said Mrs Sotloff.
"I ask you to use your authority to spare his life and to follow the example set by the Prophet Muhammad."
Mr Sotloff's case was not widely reported after his mother was told by IS militants he would be killed if she publicised it.
But last week, Mr Sotloff appeared at the end of an IS video showing the beheading of James Foley.
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