Weekend Gazette 090614

Saturday September 6th 2014

Nato coalition ready to join US against IS

A coalition of Nato allies is ready to join the United States in military action against Islamic State (IS), US President Obama has announced.

Speaking at the Nato summit in Wales, he said that a "core coalition" had been formed to tackle the threat.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the group would be the US, Britain, Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Turkey.
Islamic State has seized large areas in Iraq and Syria in recent months.
President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have sought to use the gathering of ministers at the summit to enlist more countries in the fight against IS in Iraq, but ruled out the use of ground troops.
"We need to attack them in ways that prevent them from taking over territory, to bolster the Iraqi security forces and others in the region who are prepared to take them on, without committing troops of our own," Mr Kerry told the meeting.
As the meeting drew to a close Obama said that a "core coalition" stood ready to confront the militants in Iraq through military, intelligence and law enforcement as well as diplomatic efforts.
International efforts at addressing the militants were stepped up following the recent releases of shocking video footage of the beheadings of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.
Related: US rules out military co-operation with Iran against IS

ISIS grabs headlines, but Al Qaeda remains top threat to US, experts say

The Islamic State is garnering headlines and international contempt, but when it comes to mounting a serious attack on American soil, it can't match the "tradecraft" of Al Qaeda, several terror experts told FoxNews.com.
Islamic State has the fighters, money and bloodlust to pose a rapidly-expanding regional threat in Syria and Iraq. But the upstart terror organization, at least for now, likely lacks the contacts, expertise and global reach to direct a 9/11-style attack on the U.S. Al Qaeda, by contrast, has dedicated and wizened jihadists skilled in bomb-making, disguise, document counterfeiting and logistics, say experts. And Al Qaeda, which this week announced it has expanded into India, has tentacles around the world.

“When looking at them [Al Qaeda and ISIS], there are two things to consider: The ability to launch an insurgency and the ability to coordinate terror attacks,” Scott Stewart, vice president of tactical analysis at geopolitical research firm Stratfor, told FoxNews.com. “Just because you can run an offensive in Iraq or Syria doesn’t mean you can run to New York and coordinate a terror attack. Most of these [newer] groups have not shown the ability to do so. Among the jihadist actors, Al Qaeda does have the highest level of terrorist tradecraft.”
Related: Somalia warns of attacks to avenge terrorist leader's death

Al-Qaeda closes in on Syrian Christian stronghold 

Jabhat al-Nusra encircle historic town of Mhardeh – one of Syria's remaining Christian strongholds 

Al-Qaeda's branch in Syria is attacking one of the country's remaining Christian strongholds, as it presses its offensive against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Jabhat al-Nusra fighters, who have pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, are encircling the historic Christian town of Mhardeh and bombarding it with artillery, residents have told The Telegraph.

"There is shelling night and day. We have no electricity. There is only one road out and it is dangerous to use it now," said Josef, a civil engineer in Mhardeh, who spoke using a pseudonym for fear of reprisals if the jihadists enter the town.

For centuries Mhardeh was a safe haven for Syria's Greek Orthodox Christians, recently housing a population of approximately 23,000.

The spires of five carefully maintained churches are dotted on the town's horizon, and its population is proud of the city's heritage as the birthplace of Ignatius IV Hazim, the late Patriarch of Antioch. 
Related: Syria's Nusra Front Issues Warning To Lebanon

Iran ordered jet carrying Americans to land because of expenses and paperwork

• Official warns US that Iran ‘strongly defends its territory’
• Chartered jet allowed to proceed to Dubai after several hours
Iran ordered a commercial aircraft chartered by the US-led military coalition in Afghanistan to land in the Islamic Republic so it could pay expenses and complete paperwork, an official there said on Saturday.
The comments by Mansour Haghighatpour, a member of the parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, are the first official word from Iran over the diversion on Friday of the chartered flight from the Dubai-based low-cost carrier flydubai.
The plane, on its way from Bagram airfield north of Kabul to Dubai, was allowed to depart after spending several hours on the ground in Bandar Abbas in southern Iran. The flight path goes through Iranian airspace.
“The plane was ordered to land in order to pay related expenses and doing paperwork to continue its flight,” the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Haghighatpour as saying. “Americans should know that Iran strongly defends its territory in land, sea and air. They should observe international measures in this regards. Otherwise they will face such an attitude.”
Jasem Jaderi, the governor of Hormozgan province, where Bandar Abbas is the capital, told the Iranian news website yjc.ir that out of 140 passengers on the diverted flight, 110 were American.
Iranians radioed the plane’s crew to say they did not have the proper paperwork and to return to Bagram, a US official said on Friday. The pilots said they did not have enough fuel to return so the Iranian authorities told them to land in Iran.
Related: Iran 'misses' nuclear probe deadline

Egypt ex-President Morsi charged over Qatar files leak

Ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is being charged with handing over national security documents to Qatar, the state prosecutor says.

Relations between Egypt and Qatar have been strained since the military ousted Mr Morsi in July 2013 after protests against his one-year rule.
Qatar supports the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group to which he belongs.
He faces several trials for charges including espionage. He has called the court illegitimate.
Several other Muslim Brotherhood leaders, as well as hundreds of ordinary members, have already been sentenced to death.
A crackdown by the authorities over the past year has seen more than 1,400 people killed and 16,000 others detained, rights activists say.
Mr Morsi will be tried for having "handed over to Qatari intelligence documents linked to national security... in exchange for $1m (£610,000)", the prosecutor said in a statement quoted by AFP news agency.
Related: Thousands of Egyptians evicted without compensation for Suez project

Ukraine Ceasefire Holds Despite Mistrust Between Rebels, Kiev

DONESTSK/MARIUPOL, Ukraine, Sept 6 (Reuters) - An uneasy calm prevailed in eastern Ukraine on Saturday after Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists signed a ceasefire as part of a drive to end a war that has triggered a deep crisis in relations between Russia and the West.

The peace roadmap, approved by envoys in Minsk on Friday, includes the exchange of prisoners-of-war. A separatist leader said this process would begin later on Saturday, though the Ukrainian side said details were still being worked out.

The two sides remain far apart on the future status of the rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine and both residents and combatants said they did not expect the ceasefire to last long, but there were no reports of serious violations on Saturday.

"The forces of the anti-terrorist operation support the ceasefire and are closely observing the order of the commander-in-chief," the spokesman for Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, Andriy Lysenko, told a daily briefing in Kiev.

In rebel-held Donetsk, the region's industrial hub with a pre-war population of about one million, separatist commanders said they did not believe the five-month war was over.

"The ceasefire is looking good for now but we know they (the Ukrainian side) are only using it to bring in more forces here and ammunition and then to hit us with renewed strength," said one rebel commander known by his nickname Montana.

"Come what may, I would not trust (Ukraine's President Petro) Poroshenko. And it's not him making the call anyway but the Americans and that is even worse."

Poroshenko agreed to the ceasefire after Ukraine accused Russia of sending troops and arms onto its territory in support of the separatists, who had suffered big losses over the summer. Moscow denies sending troops or arming the rebels. 

Related: Tensions rise as Russia detains Estonian officer

Russia dispatches naval force to reopen Arctic base

President Vladimir Putin last year ordered the military to return to a base on the far-northern New Siberian Islands that was abandoned in 1993

Russia on Saturday sent six ships carrying personnel and equipment to a Soviet-era military base in the Arctic that it is reopening to bolster its presence in the region, Russian news agencies reported.

Moscow is ramping up its military presence in the pristine but energy-rich region as other countries such as Canada and Norway are also staking claims to access its resources.

President Vladimir Putin last year ordered the military to return to a base on the far-northern New Siberian Islands that was abandoned in 1993.

On Saturday, a fleet of six ships including two large landing ships set off from the port of Severomorsk in northern Russia, a spokesman for the Western military district, Vadim Serga, told ITAR-TASS news agency.

The ships will be accompanied by several icebreakers.

Russia warns of reaction to fresh EU economic sanctions

EU says measures could be suspended if Russian troops quit east Ukraine, but Moscow hits out at 'support to party of war in Kiev'

 

Russia has warned that there will be a reaction if the European Union imposes fresh economic sanctions against it over the crisis in Ukraine.
The comment by the Russian foreign ministry came as a tentative ceasefire agreed between Kiev and separatist rebels appeared to be largely holding on Saturday.
The EU has said the sanctions, targeting more Russian individuals, will come in on Monday but could be suspended if Russia withdraws troops from east Ukraine and continues to observe the current truce agreed in Minsk.
But the Russian foreign ministry said that by announcing new sanctions the EU's leadership "is practically sending a signal of direct support to the 'party of war' in Kiev, which is not happy with the results of the Minsk meeting".
The statement continued: "If they are passed, there will undoubtedly be a reaction from our side."
According to an EU diplomat, the new sanctions would target Russia's access to capital markets and the trade in arms and defence technology.
"If certain processes get under way, we are prepared to suspend sanctions" against Russia, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, had said on Friday.
Both sides in the Ukraine conflict claimed on Saturday that the other had violated the ceasefire.
Colonel Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's national security council, said rebels had fired at Ukrainian forces on 10 occasions after the ceasefire was supposed to take effect, but all the incidents he detailed were on Friday night.
Related: EU agrees on tough new sanctions against Russia

Pakistan Army Chief 'Overruled Generals Calling For Coup'

Weeks of mounting anti-government protests in Pakistan had been enough to convince five of the powerful army's 11 Corps Commanders that it was time for them to step in and force embattled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign.

According to a minister close to military circles, top generals met in the garrison city of Rawalpindi at the end of August as demonstrations raged in nearby Islamabad. Thousands of protesters had just tried to storm Sharif's residence.

At the tense, four-hour conclave, Pakistan's democratic process was once again in peril, with the military pondering another intervention in a country that has seen power change hands more often through coups than elections.

But army chief Raheel Sharif decided the time was not right to overthrow the civilian leadership, and moved to quell any disagreement in his ranks by overruling the hawks and declaring the crisis must be solved through politics, not force.

Soon afterwards, the army issued a brief statement, reaffirming its commitment to democracy, and the threat of a coup, at least for now, had passed.

The minister, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of discussing the inner workings of the military, said at least five generals had been pushing for weeks for the army to take a more "active role" in defusing the crisis.

"The time for the army to be neutral is over," was how the minister summed up the message from dissenters around the table.

Two military sources confirmed this version of events. They, like the minister, spoke on condition of anonymity.

A senior security source added: "Raheel Sharif is not interested in direct intervention. The tanks aren't going to come rolling in. This army believes in compromise." 

Related: Sikh man gunned down in northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar

London suspected-beheading accused appears in court

A man accused over the suspected beheading of a grandmother in north London has been remanded in custody.

Nicholas Salvador, of Gilda Avenue, Enfield, is accused of killing Palmira Silva, 82, who was found in a garden in Edmonton, on Thursday.
He is also charged with assaulting a police officer.
Mr Salvador, 25, was remanded in custody during a hearing at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court and is due to appear at the Old Bailey on Tuesday.
Suspect Tasered The defendant was taken to the dock in the magistrates' court by four police officers, the BBC's Sophie Long said.
She said one officer had to confirm Mr Salvador's name to the court as he would not answer.
Police found Ms Silva's body behind a property, in Nightingale Road, after being called to the area following reports an animal had been attacked.
Officers evacuated nearby homes before the suspect was Tasered.
Neighbours described Ms Silva as a "lovely lady" and said she was an Italian widow who ran a cafe in Church Street, near Edmonton Green station.

 

 Al Shabab Leader Ahmed Godane Killed In U.S. Strike: Pentagon

U.S. airstrikes earlier this week killed the leader of the al-Shabab terrorist group in Somalia, the Pentagon said Friday. President Barack Obama said the death of Ahmed Abdi Godane demonstrated U.S. counterterrorism resolve and was an example of his deliberate approach to dismantling al-Qaida affiliated groups.

The Pentagon's press secretary, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, announced the death in a brief written statement. It took the Pentagon four days to conclusively determine that Godane had not survived Monday's airstrikes.
Al-Shabab has not publicly confirmed Godane's death.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud urged al-Shabab militants to renounce violence, saying they have an opportunity to embrace peace following Godane's death.
"While an extreme hardcore may fight over the leadership of al-Shabab, this is a chance for the majority of members of al-Shabab to change course and reject Godane's decision to make them the pawns of an international terror campaign," he said in a statement.
The Somali president said the U.S. operation was carried out "with the full knowledge and agreement of" his government and that Somalis "greatly value the support of our international allies" in the fight against al-Shabab.

Benghazi attack: book alleging CIA failures dismissed by Democrats

New book alleging CIA obstructed rescue operation in 2012 attack on US embassy criticised as attempt to politicise incident
A new book alleging the CIA stood in the way of a rescue mission that could have saved US ambassador Chris Stephen from an attack on a diplomatic compound in Bengahzi has been criticised by Democrats as a fresh attempt to politicise the incident.
Five private contractors working as security guards at a secret CIA base in the Libyan city say they were prevented from rushing to help defend the nearby compound by the agency’s station chief who was wary of blowing its cover.
In their account, 13 Hours, which is published next week, the guards allege they were told to “stand down” and delayed by a crucial 30 minutes.
“I strongly believe if we’d left immediately, they’d still be alive today,” said one of the men, John Tiegen, in an interview with Fox News aired on Friday.
Their account is not substantively different from that of Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time and has been targeted by Republicans for failing to respond adequately to the attack.
“Two vehicles of armed officers left the CIA post for the diplomatic compound about 20 minutes after the attack had begun,” she wrote in her memoir Hard Choices.
But the suggestion that CIA officers were initially reluctant to intervene has been angrily rejected by the intelligence community, which argues officers were simply trying to rally a more concerted response.
Adam Schiff, a Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said the allegations were “old myths” that had been rejected by its investigation.
“These so-called new allegations were examined in detail by both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, which concluded that there was no ‘stand down’ order,” he said in a statement on Friday.

Deadly plague and botulism microbes found in US lab

A number of long-forgotten deadly microbes have been uncovered in US government laboratories.

The highly poisonous substances were found in a hunt triggered by the accidental discovery in July of vials of smallpox at a lab in the National Institutes of Health near Washington.
They included vials of ricin and pathogens that cause botulism, the plague and a rare tropical infection.
The substances, some dating from nearly a century ago, have now been destroyed.
Officials from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said some of its laboratories were cleared to use poisonous substances and were checked regularly.
But the recent finds were from historical collections that were once allowed to be stored without regulation.
 

'Constant vigilance' They included a bottle of ricin, a highly poisonous toxin, found in a box with microbes thought to be 85 to 100 years old.
"NIH takes this matter very seriously. The finding of these agents highlights the need for constant vigilance in monitoring laboratory materials in compliance with federal regulations on biosafety,'' a memo from the agency said.
The authorities said the newly discovered toxins had been improperly stored but were in sealed containers and no employees were in danger of infection.
The search for unregulated toxic substances was initiated after the discovery of long-forgotten vials of smallpox in July.
The virus, believed dead, was located in six freeze-dried and sealed vials. It was said to be the first time unaccounted-for smallpox has been discovered in the US.

‘Severing the link’: Lawmakers, experts call for coordinated attack on ISIS headquarters in Syria

As President Obama and U.S. allies weigh the next steps in the fight against the Islamic State, lawmakers and military analysts say the strategy for uprooting the terror network must involve striking at its headquarters in Raqqa, Syria – using airstrikes as well as allies on the ground. 
“You must hit the enemy at the source and that is Raqqa,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., told Fox News. 

Obama administration officials, at the close of a NATO summit on Friday, held a meeting on the Islamic State with allies including Britain, France, Germany and Canada. 
So far, Obama has not committed to expanding airstrikes into Syria. In a joint statement Friday from the NATO summit, Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel only briefly addressed the issue, saying: “We will form a multinational task force to share more information about the flow of foreign fighters into Syria and from Syria into Iraq." 
But even Democratic lawmakers are starting to take a more hawkish view of the matter. 
“Go after the head of the snake -- the head of the snake is in Syria,” Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., told Fox News earlier this week, urging a combination of airstrikes by the U.S. and attacks by ground forces from the moderate Syrian opposition and others. 
Col. Derek Harvey, a former senior adviser to Gen. David Petraeus in Iraq, likewise said the key to defeating the Islamic State, or ISIS, requires “severing the link among Raqqa, Mosul and Tikrit,” areas the group has taken over in recent months that have become ISIS power centers. “You must cut off their communication and supply lines. This will put great stress on ISIS,” he said. 
Harvey agreed with Kinzinger that strikes inside eastern Syria at the Islamic State’s base in Raqqa would hurt ISIS and said airstrikes would meet minimal resistance. "The SA-6s and SA-4s [surface-to-air missile launchers] are located in the west in Damascus, Latakia, Aleppo, and we would not be flying in those areas. You don’t need permission to fly into Syria," Harvey said. He also said that U.S. special operations forces could embed with Sunni tribes in the Euphrates River basin, tribes that are currently fighting both the Assad regime and ISIS.

Brain-to-brain 'telepathic' communication achieved for first time

Team of US-led researchers successfully achieves brain-to-brain communication between humans from India to France

For the first time, scientists have been able to send a simple mental message from one person to another without any contact between the two, thousands of miles apart in India and France.

Research led by experts at Harvard University shows technology can be used to transmit information from one person's brain to another's even, as in this case, if they are thousands of miles away.

"It is kind of technological realisation of the dream of telepathy, but it is definitely not magical," Giulio Ruffini, a theoretical physicist and co-author of the research, told AFP by phone from Barcelona.

"We are using technology to interact electromagnetically with the brain."

For the experiment, one person wearing a wireless, internet-linked electroencephalogram or EEG would think a simple greeting, like "hola," or "ciao."

A computer translated the words into digital binary code, presented by a series of 1s or 0s.
Then, this message was emailed from India to France, and delivered via robot to the receiver, who through non-invasive brain stimulation could see flashes of light in their peripheral vision.
The subjects receiving the message did not hear or see the words themselves, but were correctly able to report the flashes of light that corresponded to the message.
"We wanted to find out if one could communicate directly between two people by reading out the brain activity from one person and injecting brain activity into the second person, and do so across great physical distances by leveraging existing communication pathways," said co-author Alvaro Pascual-Leone, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School.
"One such pathway is, of course, the internet, so our question became, 'Could we develop an experiment that would bypass the talking or typing part of Internet and establish direct brain-to-brain communication between subjects located far away from each other in India and France?'"
Ruffini added that extra care was taken to make sure no sensory information got in the way that could have influenced the interpretation of the message.
Researchers have been attempting to send a message from person to person this way for about a decade, and the proof of principle that was reported in the journal PLOS ONE is still rudimentary, he told AFP.
"We hope that in the longer term this could radically change the way we communicate with each other," said Ruffini.
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