Gazette 091214

Friday September 12th 2014

Islamic State fighter estimate triples - CIA

The CIA says the Islamic State (IS) militant group may have up to 31,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria - three times as many as previously feared.

A spokesman said the new estimate was based on a review of intelligence reports from May to August.
IS has seized vast swathes of Iraq and beheaded several hostages in recent months, leading to US airstrikes.
US Secretary of State John Kerry is visiting Turkey, seeking more support for action against IS.
US officials say retired Gen John Allen will be tasked with forming an international coalition to fight IS.
'Stronger recruitment' On Thursday, 10 Arab countries agreed to help the US attack the group in both Iraq and Syria.
The CIA had previously believed that IS had about 10,000 fighters, spokesman Ryan Trapani said.
"This new total reflects an increase in members because of stronger recruitment since June following battlefield successes and the declaration of a caliphate, greater battlefield activity, and additional intelligence," he added.
The revision comes a day after President Obama outlined a plan to "degrade and destroy" IS and to increase military support for allied forces engaged in fighting the group.
For the first time, he authorised air strikes against the group in Syria.

Syrian troops capture key central town after days of fighting

BEIRUT –  The Syrian army and an activist group say government forces have captured a central town that has changed hands several times during the civil war.
By retaking the town of Halfaya in Hama province, troops will be better positioned to defend nearby Christian and Allawite communities that support President Bashar Assad.

The army command said in a statement Friday that the offensive aims "to wipe out terrorists in northern parts of Hama."
Rami Abdurrahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that Halfaya was captured by the army on Thursday.
Central Syria is a communal patchwork, with large communities of Christians, Ismailis and Allawites, who mainly back Assad and fear Sunni extremists among the rebels fighting to topple him.

America's Arab Allies Vow To 'Do Their Share' In Fight Against ISIS

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Key Arab allies promised Thursday to "do their share" to fight

Islamic State militants, but NATO member Turkey refused to join in, signaling the struggle the U.S. faces in trying to get front-line nations to put aside their regional animosities and work together to defeat a common enemy.
The Arab states' endorsement of a broad strategy to stop the flow of fighters and funding to the insurgents, and possibly to join military action, came as the CIA doubled its assessment of how many fighters the extremist group can muster.
Both Republicans and Democrats in Congress lined up Thursday behind President Barack Obama's call to combat the militants, a day after he laid out a long-term campaign that would include expanding airstrikes against the fighters in Iraq, launching strikes against them in Syria for the first time and bolstering the Iraqi military and moderate Syrian rebels to allow them to reclaim territory from the militants.

The 10 Mideast allies announced their backing for a strategy to "destroy" the group "wherever it is, including in both Iraq and Syria," following a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in the Red Sea coastal city of Jiddah.
Kerry's visit, on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, was aimed at pinning down how much support regional allies are willing to give to the U.S. plan to beat back the Islamic State group, which has seized large chunks of Iraq and Syria. Nearly 40 nations have agreed to contribute to what Kerry said would be a worldwide fight to defeat the militants.
In remarks to reporters after the meeting, Kerry noted the "particularly poignant day" for the discussions.
"The devastating consequences of extremist hate remain fresh in the minds of all Americans, and to so many of our friends and allies around the world," Kerry said of the terror attacks on the U.S. 13 years ago. "Those consequences are felt every day here in the Middle East."

Germany to send 40 military trainers to Iraq to instruct Kurds in weapons use

BERLIN –  Germany plans to send about 40 paratroopers to Iraq to provide weapons training to Kurdish fighters battling an Islamic extremist insurgency.
The defense ministry says about six soldiers will accompany each shipment of German arms that will start being flown to Iraq later this month.

Separately, some 30 Kurdish fighters will start training on more complex weapons systems in southern Germany at the end of the month.
Germany has said it will provide the Kurds with 16,000 assault rifles, hundreds of anti-tank weapons and armored vehicles to help fight the extremist Islamic State group.
The decision to send soldiers to Iraq was first reported by the website Augen Geradeaus, which covers German military news.
Germany has traditionally been reluctant to send troops abroad because of its history of militarism.

Hamas Admits 'Mistakes' During Gaza Battle

Two weeks after the end of the Gaza war, there is growing evidence that Hamas militants

used residential areas as cover for launching rockets at Israel, at least at times. Even Hamas now admits "mistakes" were made.

But Hamas says it had little choice in Gaza's crowded urban landscape, took safeguards to keep people away from the fighting, and that a heavy-handed Israeli response is to blame for the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians.
"Gaza, from Beit Hanoun in the north to Rafah in the south, is one uninterrupted urban chain that Israel has turned into a war zone," said Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official in Gaza.

Increasingly, the discussion is not about whether the Hamas rockets were fired from civilian areas, but exactly how close they were to the actual buildings.
"The Israelis kept saying rockets were fired from schools or hospitals when in fact they were fired 200 or 300 meters (yards) away. Still, there were some mistakes made and they were quickly dealt with," Hamad told The Associated Press, offering the first acknowledgment by a Hamas official that, in some cases, militants fired rockets from or near residential areas or civilian facilities.
The questions lie at the heart of a brewing international legal confrontation: Did Hamas deliberately and systematically fire rockets at Israel from homes, hospitals and schools in the hope that Israel would be deterred from retaliating, as Israel claims? Or did Israel use force excessively, resulting in deaths among people not involved in combat operations?
The answers could help determine whether Israel — or Hamas — or both are ultimately accused of violating the international laws of war in a conflict that caused tremendous damage.

Ukraine crisis: New EU sanctions on Russia go into effect

New EU sanctions against Russia have gone into force, blocking loans for five big state banks and curbing EU business with oil and defence firms.

The aim is to keep pressure on Russia over its role in the Ukraine crisis. But the measures could be eased or lifted if a ceasefire in Ukraine holds.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the EU of "taking a path towards undermining the peace process".
Nato says Russia still has about 1,000 heavily armed troops in east Ukraine.
The EU sanctions will block the export of services and deep-water technology for Russia's oil industry.
Three major Russian state oil firms are targeted: Rosneft, Transneft and Gazprom Neft, the oil unit of gas giant Gazprom.
Their access to financial markets will be restricted - a serious matter for Rosneft, which last month asked the Russian government for a $42bn (£25.2bn) loan.
Big Russian state-owned banks will be barred from getting loans with a maturity longer than one month, and from getting other financial services in the EU

Related: EU imposes new sanctions on Russia for its actions in Ukraine

Australia Raises Terror Threat Level From 'Medium' To 'High'

SYDNEY, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Australia raised its terror threat level to 'high' from 'medium' on Friday, saying there was an increased likelihood of a terrorist attack at home but stressed it had no knowledge of a specific attack plan.

"Last night the director general of security raised the terror threat to high, consequently today the government is raising the public awareness level to high," Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in a news conference in Melbourne.

"I want to stress that this does not mean that a terror attack is imminent. We have no specific intelligence of particular plots. What we do have is intelligence that there are people with the intent and capability to mount attacks here in Australia."

David Irvine, the outgoing head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), has said that the number of Australians returning from fighting with Islamic State and other radical groups pose a growing risk.

Chinese court sentences three to death for railway station knife attacks

Assailants hacked at bystanders with knives and machetes, killing 29 people and injuring 141 in attack in Yunnan province

 

A court in southern China sentenced three people to death and one to life in prison on Friday for perpetrating a gruesome knife attack on a railway station this spring, an incident that shocked the country and underscored the severity of ethnic conflict in the north-western region of Xinjiang.
At the end of a one-day trial, prosecutors in Kunming, the capital of south-west China's Yunnan province, found four defendants guilty of orchestrating the attack on 1 March, in which eight black-clad assailants indiscriminately hacked at bystanders with knives and machetes, killing 29 people and injuring 141.
Police shot four attackers dead at the scene, and captured one. State media has offered conflicting accounts of when the remaining four attackers – three men and one woman – were detained.
Prosecutors charged all four suspects with intentional homicide. Iskandar Ehet, Turgun Tohtunyaz and Hasayn Muhammad were convicted of organising and leading a terror group, and sentenced to death. The fourth, Patigul Tohti, was convicted of joining a terror group and received a life sentence.
While Xinhua, the state news agency, did not explicitly state their ethnicities, it strongly implied that the four defendants were Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim, Turkic-speaking group from Xinjiang.
The region has seen an explosion of violence over the past year – 323 people have died in trouble related to the region's ethnic struggles since last April, according to the Associated Press, with police officers accounting for half of those deaths. Authorities have blamed the clashes on the spread of separatism and religious extremism, while Uighur groups abroad call them a desperate expression of economic, cultural and religious grievances.

Former first minister and DUP leader Ian Paisley has died

Former Democratic Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley, has died aged 88.

In a statement, Baroness Eileen Paisley said her husband died on Friday morning.
Mr Paisley moved from a political "never man" to Northern Ireland's first minister.
He ended up leading a power-sharing executive at Stormont - although he had supported the strike to bring one down 30 years earlier.
In her statement, Baroness Paisley said: "Although ours is the grand hope of reunion, naturally as a family, we are heartbroken," she said.
"We loved him and he adored us and our earthly lives are forever changed."
Baroness Paisley said that his funeral would be private.
Prime Minister David Cameron said Mr Paisley was "one of the most forceful and instantly recognisable characters in British politics for nearly half a century".
He said he was a controversial politician but his contribution in his later years to stability in Northern Ireland was "huge".
"In particular, his decision to take his party into government with Sinn Féin in 2007 required great courage and leadership, for which everyone in these islands should be grateful," Mr Cameron said.
"I saw him most in the House of Commons where his great oratory stood out. He had a deserved reputation as one of the most hard working and effective MPs.
"Ian Paisley will be remembered by many as the 'Big Man' of Northern Ireland politics. He will be greatly missed."

Spain Catalans Protest For Independence Following Scotland's Lead

Hundreds of thousands of Catalans energized by Scotland's upcoming independence referendum protested Thursday for a secession vote aimed at carving out a new Mediterranean nation in what is now northeastern Spain.

The events illustrated how the Scottish vote in just one week is captivating breakaway minded Europeans in several countries.
Sporting bright yellow and red shirts representing the colors of the Catalonian flag emblazoned with the phrase "Now is the time," protesters in Barcelona shouted "Independencia!"

They crowded into two avenues that look like a "V'' from the air to signal their desire for a Catalonia independence referendum that the central government in Madrid insists would be illegal.
Just how many showed up was in dispute after the protest ended Thursday evening. Barcelona police said 1.8 million people participated but the Spanish Interior Ministry's regional office in Catalonia put the number at no more than 525,000, among them retired hospital director and economist Lluis Enric Florenca.
"If the Yes wins in Scotland, and it looks like it will be close, and Europe accepts it, they will accept Catalonia, which is bigger and in relation to Spain stronger than Scotland in relation to England," said Florenca, 65. "Catalonia is potentially much more powerful."
Catalonia regional leader Artur Mas said his government is not wavering from plans to hold a Nov. 9 referendum in the region of 7.6 million people, even though experts say any attempt is sure to be blocked by Spain's Constitutional Court. Mas has repeatedly said he won't call an illegal vote.
"This is a very powerful message we are sending to Europe and the world," Mas said. "Now is the moment to sit down and negotiate the terms for the Catalan people to be able to express themselves at the polls."
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Ukraine crisis: US strengthens sanctions on Russia

The US government has imposed new sanctions on major Russian banks, defence and energy firms over Russia's support for separatists in Ukraine.

The US penalties came hours after the EU strengthened its economic sanctions against Russia.
US citizens are now prohibited from providing loans of longer than 30 days to Sberbank, Russia's biggest bank.
US sanctions will also affect Rostec, a major technology and defence firm, and technology for Russia's oil industry.
Related: EU sanctions hit Russian oil companies, lawmakers

Don’t Call It a War? Administration hit for refusing to use ‘w’ word for ISIS mission

The Obama administration is refusing to describe the expanded military campaign against the Islamic State as a war -- despite plans to launch airstrikes across two tumultuous Middle East countries, dispatch hundreds more U.S. military personnel and build a coalition of nations to ultimately “destroy” the growing terror network.
The reluctance to use that label has generated confusion on Capitol Hill, particularly in light of new intelligence estimates that the Islamic State has as many as 31,500 fighters across Iraq and Syria. That’s the size of a small army – and close to the estimated size of the Taliban a few years ago.  

Yet in television interviews on Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry repeatedly avoided the term “war” to describe the mission, instead calling it a “major counterterrorism operation” that could last a long time.
“It’s hard to find a response to that,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told Fox News, when asked about Kerry’s comments. “Then what was the president talking about [Wednesday] night?”
McCain and other lawmaker suggest Kerry’s comments do not square with President Obama’s stated goal of defeating the Islamic State, or ISIS.
“This is John Kerry, vintage,” McCain said.

Congress Likely To Duck War Powers Question Until After Elections

WASHINGTON -- Congress was torn Thursday over whether President Barack Obama actually has the authority to broaden a war against the so-called Islamic State. And with elections coming, and the itch to campaign becoming more difficult to ignore, ducking a vote on that authority until at least mid-November is a distinct possibility.
"At this point I will have to say it’s quite likely," Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told The Huffington Post, when asked if he thought Congress would wait until after the elections to vote on authorizing airstrikes in Syria. "That could change because there is definitely growing momentum behind the idea that Congress needs to vote on this, that the prior authorizations are insufficient. But I’m not sure that will be enough given the compressed time schedule."
Senior Republicans echoed Schiff, saying granting the president new war authority was not at the top of the docket for now.

"That's not been a part of this discussion so far," said Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.)
For the White House, whether Congress votes on authorization before the election or after -- or even at all -- is partially a moot point. During a national address on Wednesday announcing an escalated war campaign, Obama said he would use his existing authority to ramp up airstrikes against the Islamic State and appealed to Congress for $500 million to facilitate the training and arming of Syrian rebels battling the extremist group in Iraq and Syria. The latter part of his strategy is the only one that White House officials say Congress needs to approve.
As for embarking on a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar military operation, administration officials said they welcome Congress' imprimatur, to the extent it shows unity and adds legitimacy. But officials also told lawmakers in classified briefings on Thursday that it's not required, because they believe the operations are covered already under the Authorization for Use of Military Force Congress passed in 2001 to target al Qaeda. Most lawmakers -- even the skeptics -- seemed ready to let the matter slide until the lame-duck session.

US navy searches for pilot after two FA-18 fighter jets crash in Pacific

Navy says one pilot has been rescued after fighter jets crash into ocean, but that the search continues for a second pilot

Pentagon officials say two US navy jets have crashed into the western Pacific Ocean and that one pilot was rescued and a search is on for the other.
The FA-18 Hornet fighter jets were from Carrier Air Wing 17 based at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The air wing is embarked on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.
The navy says the rescued pilot was returned to the carrier and is being treated. It says the planes haven’t been recovered.
Officials say other aircraft still in the air in the vicinity were safely recovered.
An FA-18E Super Hornet crashed in June as it prepared to land on the Carl Vinson off the southern California coast. The pilot was able to eject safely.

RadioShack seeks rescue and warns of bankruptcy

US electronics retailer RadioShack has said that it is in talks to restructure the firm but warned that if an investment is not secured soon, it could be forced to declare bankruptcy.

The chain has struggled to offload its costly real estate portfolio, even as it has shuttered stores.
Shares in the firm surged more than 18% on news that bailout talks were still progressing.
RadioShack reported a loss of $137m (£84m) in the second-quarter.

It operates approximately 4,485 stores in the US, which sell everything from mobile phone accessories to converters.

However, the company said that over the early summer period, sales at stores plummeted 20% from a year earlier.
Earlier attempts to close nearly 1,000 stores were blocked when lenders did not agree to the plans.
RadioShack chief executive Joe Magnacca said in a conference call on Thursday that the firm was considering several options, including a restructuring, a sale of the company, or a near-term investment.
The company said it had just $30.5m in cash on 2 August, although it had nearly $150m available to it under a line of credit.
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