Санкції проти Росії залишаться – представник США в ОБСЄ

Виконувач обов’язків голови місії США при ОБСЄ Кейт Бернз закликає Росію припинити агресію в Україні.

«Росія, яка продовжує постачати, підтримувати і дерегувати бойові дії на сході України, досі не висловилася проти, не поклала край обстрілам та іншим нападам на цивільних на підконтрольній Україні території. Близько двох тижнів минуло з часу як комбіновані російсько-терористичні війська розпочали наступ на Авдіївку, що забрало життя щонайменше 10 українських військових, щонайменше 80 були поранені. Є чіткі свідчення військового нарощування комбінованих російсько-сепаратистських військ у регіоні перед наступом», – заявила Кейт Бернз 9 лютого на засіданні Постійної ради ОБСЄ.

«Комбіновані російсько-сепаратистські війська розширюють свої позиції в Авдіївці упродовж останніх шести місяців, включаючи райони на лінії контакту, підконтрольні Україні. Це бої, до яких Росія і сепаратисти готувалися», – зазначила вона.

Представниця США при ОБСЄ вчергове закликала Росію припинити агресію в Україні.

«Наші санкції залишатимуться. Ми знову закликаємо Росію повною мірою виконувати свої зобов’язання щодо Мінських угод», – наголосила Кейт Бернз.

Загострення ситуації на Донбасі, зокрема через бої поблизу Авдіївки, спостерігалося з 29 січня. Сторони конфлікту звинуватили одна одну у спричиненні боїв, повідомляли про загиблих і поранених, як серед бійців, так і серед цивільних.

Упродовж тижня в Авдіївці не було електропостачання. Були проблеми з водопостачанням – воду надавали за графіком. Наразі ситуація в Авдіївці дещо нормалізувалася.

США, ЄС та інші країни Заходу запровадили санкції проти Росії через анексію українського Криму і надання нею допомоги сепаратистам. Кремль заперечує причетність до постачання зброї та особового складу, визнаючи наявність у зоні бойових дій російських «добровольців».

Президент США Дональд Трамп під час своєї передвиборчої кампанії неодноразово висловлювався на користь співпраці з Росією і казав, що захоплюється лідерськими якостями російського президента Володимира Путіна.

Представниця США в Організації об’єднаних націй Ніккі Гейлі засудила дії Росії і висловила підтримку Вашингтона українському народу, який «страждає від російської окупації і інтервенції». Про це вона заявила 2 лютого на засіданні Ради безпеки ООН, де обговорюється ситуація на сході України. Гейлі також зазначила, що частина території України залишається під російською окупацією і що санкції проти Росії залишаться у силі, допоки Крим не буде повернений Україні.

Lobbyist: Trump Supports Privatizing Air Traffic Control

President Donald Trump told airline and airport executives Thursday that he supports privatizing America’s air traffic control system, according to a top airline industry lobbyist who was in the meeting.

 

Nick Calio, president and CEO of Airlines for America, the trade association that represents the major airlines, said after the White House meeting that Trump was “extraordinarily positive” when airline executives urged him to spin off air traffic control operations from the Federal Aviation Administration and place them under the control of a private, nonprofit corporation.  

 

That corporation would most likely be dominated by the major airlines.

 

Asked if Trump committed to back a bill to do that, Calio said: “I think he’s on track to do that.”

 

Airlines have complained the FAA is taking too long to modernize the air traffic system. Republican congressman Bill Shuster, chairman of the House transportation committee, introduced legislation to privatize the system last year, but the bill stalled after opposition from other top lawmakers and from business aircraft operators.

 

Business aircraft operators fear the corporation’s board would be dominated by airlines, and that they would lose access to larger airports to make more room for airlines.

WATCH:  Trump’s remarks to airline CEOs

Gary Kelly, CEO of Southwest Airlines, told Trump during the meeting the top priority for helping airlines would be to “modernize the air traffic control system.” He complained that money spent on the system has not helped improve it in the past.

 

“I hear we’re spending billions and billions of dollars, it’s a system that’s totally out of whack,” Trump said. The president asked why airline corporations had allowed the government to invest in a faulty system. Kelly said airlines are not “in control” of those decisions.

 

Trump said he believes the system could potentially work better if FAA was run by a pilot. The current administrator, Michael Huerta, a holdover from the Obama administration, isn’t a pilot.

 

FAA officials maintain that they have made significant progress over the past 10 years of the modernization effort, and that airlines have begun to reap the benefits of those changes.

 

Besides Southwest, Trump met with the chief executives of Delta, United, and JetBlue, executives from air cargo companies, and officials from several airports.

У Берліні відкривається міжнародний кінофестиваль, де покажуть фільм про Сенцова

У столиці Німеччини 9 лютого відкривається міжнародний кінофестиваль «Берлінале», у рамках якого покажуть документальний фільм режисера Аскольда Курова документальна стрічка «Процес. Російська держава проти Олега Сенцова», що розповідає про справу ув’язненого в Росії українського режисера Олега Сенцова.

Стрічку покажуть у спеціальній програмі 67-го Берлінського міжнародного кінофестивалю, який триватиме до 19 лютого.

Показ запланований на 11 лютого.

Московський режисер Аскольд Куров знімав засідання суду в російському Ростові-на-Дону, в ході якого український режисер Олег Сенцов був засуджений до 20 років позбавлення волі. Його картина буде показана в рамках проекту, присвяченого 30-річчю Європейської кіноакадемії, що домагається звільнення Сенцова.

Олег Сенцов був затриманий представниками російських спецслужб в анексованому Криму в травні 2014 року за звинуваченням в організації терактів на півострові.

У серпні 2015 року Північно-Кавказький окружний військовий суд в російському Ростові-на-Дону засудив Олега Сенцова до 20 років колонії суворого режиму за звинуваченням терористичної діяльності на території Криму, анексованого Росією.

Сенцов свою провину не визнав. Правозахисний центр «Меморіал» вніс його ім’я в список політв’язнів.

«Берлінале» – міжнародний кінофестиваль, який вважається одним із найпрестижніших і найбільш відвідуваних кінофестивалів світу, і щорічно проходить у Берліні.

Trump vs. Nordstrom: The Latest Bout Raising Ethical Concerns

The White House is rushing to the defense of Ivanka Trump’s company _ the latest sign the president can’t seem to separate the presidency from his family’s businesses.

President Donald Trump added to a string of presidential firsts on Wednesday, and drew fire from ethics lawyers, with a Twitter attack on Nordstrom. The Seattle-based retailer stoked Trump’s rage by dropping his daughter Ivanka’s clothing and accessory line.

 

The implication, intended or not: Hurt my daughter’s business, and the Oval Office will come after you.

 

“My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom,” the president tweeted. “She is a great person – always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!”

 

The government-led cheerleading for Ivanka Trump’s private enterprise didn’t end there.

 

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, in an interview Thursday with Fox News from the White House briefing room, encouraged people to “go buy Ivanka’s stuff.” She boasted that she was giving the brand  “a free commercial here.”

While Trump himself is not subject to the standards of ethical conduct for federal employees, Conway is. Among the rules: An employee shall not use his or her office “for the endorsement of any product, service or enterprise.”

Ivanka Trump does not have a specific role in the White House but moved to Washington with her husband, who is one of Trump’s closest advisers. She followed her father’s approach on business ties by handing over operating control of her fashion company but retaining ownership of it.

 

Though Trump has tweeted about companies such as Boeing, Carrier and General Motors, ethics experts say this time was different. It involved his daughter’s business, which raises conflict-of-interest concerns.

 

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Trump was responding to an “attack on his daughter” when he posted the tweet and that “he has every right to stand up for his family and applaud their business activities, their success.”

 

WATCH: Spicer on Trump’s Nordstrom tweet

The Ivanka Trump flare-up follows revelations that first lady Melania Trump expected to develop “multi-million dollar business relationships” tied to her presence in the White House, according to a lawsuit she filed on Monday.

 

Ethics experts have criticized Trump’s plan to separate himself from his sprawling real estate business by handing managerial control to his two adult sons. The experts want him to sell his company. Most modern presidents have sold their financial holdings and put the cash raised in a blind trust whose investments remained unknown to them.

 

Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert, said the Nordstrom tweet is problematic because other retailers may think twice now about dropping the Ivanka Trump brand for fear of getting criticized publicly by the president. She said it was especially disturbing that Trump retweeted his message on the official White House account.

 

“The implicit threat was that he will use whatever authority he has to retaliate against Nordstrom, or anyone who crosses his interest,” said Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis.

Clark defended the president’s right to use his personal Twitter account to express his views, however. She noted that government workers recently set up alt-EPA accounts to criticize the president’s policies.

“A government employee, even a president, is allowed to tweet in his personal capacity,” she said.

 

One of the president’s fiercest ethics critics, Norman Eisen, described the tweet differently – a “bullying” tactic beneath the dignity of the president’s office.

 

“This is a shot across the bow to everybody who is doing business with Trump or his family,” said Eisen, who was President Barack Obama’s chief ethics counselor. “It’s warning them: Don’t withdraw their business.”

 

Eisen joined with other legal scholars and lawyers to sue the president last month for allegedly violating a clause in the Constitution that prohibits government officials from accepting gifts or payments from foreign governments. Though other legal scholars disagree, Eisen said such payments include foreign diplomats staying at Trump’s new Washington D.C. hotel and holding events there and at the other Trump venues.

 

Trump and his top aides have repeatedly said that Americans do not care about what Eisen and other ethics critics say. “Prior to the election it was well known that I have interests in properties all over the world,” Trump wrote on Twitter Nov. 21.

 

Two surveys released in January show that’s not entirely the case. A Quinnipiac University poll found that about 60 percent of registered voters were at least somewhat concerned that the president would “veto a law that would be good for the country because it would hurt his business interests.” And a Pew Research Center poll found that 57 percent of American adults were at least somewhat concerned that Trump’s businesses could  “conflict with his ability to serve the country’s best interests.”

 

Yet Trump seems to have calculated that his base of supporters forgives – and maybe even encourages – his protective bluster about his family businesses.

 

Nordstrom reiterated Wednesday that its decision was based on the brand’s performance, not politics. The company said sales of Ivanka Trump items had steadily declined over the past year, particularly in the last half of 2016, “to the point where it didn’t make good business sense for us to continue with the line for now.”

 

Retailers drop brands all the time because of poor performance, said brand consultant Allen Adamson. But given a highly charged political environment, perception is reality for loyal Trump fans.

 

“It is clearly hard for Nordstrom to tell the story that it is dropping [the brand] for business reasons,” said Adamson, founder of the firm Brand Simple.

Japan’s Abe to Bring Offer of Jobs, Investment to Trump

President Donald Trump’s salvos on trade and currency are rattling Japan Inc., but many here hope Prime Minister Shinzo Abe can sell him a “win-win” package of job creation and investment when they meet this week, averting a return of the Japan-bashing of the 1980s.

 

Abe moved early to build a personal rapport with Trump, meeting him in New York shortly after he was elected. With Japan’s largest export market at stake, its businesses need him to keep at it.

 

Japan’s status as the cornerstone U.S. ally in the Pacific was reassuringly reaffirmed in a recent visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. Tokyo has reiterated its commitment to spending more on its own security and buying more military aircraft and other equipment from the U.S.

 

That won’t directly affect trade figures, however, which are measured by the private sector. 

Trade surplus and TPP

Japan logged the second largest trade surplus with the U.S. last year, at $68.9 billion. That’s way below China’s, at $347 billion, and on a par with the surpluses run by Germany and Mexico.

 

Still, there’s plenty to worry about. 

 

After taking office, Trump pulled the plug on U.S. involvement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, then a dozen, now 11-member trade pact the Obama administration promoted as a way to expand U.S. exports and influence in the Pacific Rim and counter China’s growing economic sway.

 

Trump has criticized Toyota Motor Corp. for planning to build an assembly plant in Mexico, complained Japanese don’t buy enough U.S.-made cars, and accused Japan of engineering its monetary policies to help Japanese exporters. 

 

Abe won’t bring any business leaders along on his trip, which begins Thursday. But following the lead of Softbank tycoon Masayoshi Son, who met with Trump in November and promised 50,000 jobs and $50 billion in new investments, officials say they are hammering out a job-creation package of infrastructure investments to propose during Abe’s visit.

More energy imports

 

According to various versions of the proposal reported in Japanese newspapers, key areas of investment may include building high-speed trains, joint development of robotics, artificial intelligence and space technologies and ramping up imports of U.S. natural gas in Japan and elsewhere in Asia by building more liquefied natural gas facilities on this side of the Pacific. 

 

Resource-poor Japan imports almost all its energy needs since most of its nuclear reactors were shut down after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. But price and currency trends can blunt any impact on the trade balance: In 2016, Japan’s imports of liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, from the U.S. jumped nearly 44 percent by volume, but the value of those imports fell slightly. 

 

Japanese businesses have in general been supportive of so-called “Abenomics,” the prime minister’s attempts to keep Japan’s growth going. And they are applauding his effort to woo Trump. 

 

Abe’s pro-active approach makes sense, says Willian Saito, an entrepreneur, educator and adviser to the Japanese government. 

 

If the U.S. wants Japanese bullet-train technology, or if Japan wants to diversify its energy portfolio, “it’s a win-win,” Saito said. 

“I see all change as an opportunity. You can definitely make the best of it,” he said. “If we have an economic-centric plan here, this is in the interest of both leaders.” 

 

Japan jobs in US

Trump’s policies also could herald new opportunities for Japan to invest in the U.S., analysts say. 

 

The U.S. is already the top destination for Japan’s direct foreign investment, totaling $460 billion last year, more than in Europe at $398 billion, or all of Asia at $376 billion, according to Hiromichi Shirakawa, an analyst at Credit Suisse. 

 

Having seen Japanese-made vehicles smashed in earlier spells of Japan-bashing trade friction, Toyota and other manufacturers shifted much of their production to the U.S.

 

Toyota President Akio Toyoda and other business leaders have stoutly defended their role in providing U.S. jobs and investment. 

 

Toyota has invested $22 billion in the U.S. in the last 60 years, and plans another $10 billion in investments in the next five years. 

 

“We are already producing extremely large number of cars in the U.S.We are one of the American manufacturers, aren’t we? I hope President Trump understands that,’’ Toyoda recently told reporters. 

 

Japanese companies employ 383,000 Americans in manufacturing jobs, the most among all foreign-owned companies, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Including auto parts, dealerships and factories, the Japanese auto industry provided more than 1.5 million jobs in 2015, figures from the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association show.

 

Currency issues

Trump’s assertion that Tokyo is deliberately seeking to devalue its currency to aid exporters like Toyota is another big worry. Finance Minister Taro Aso, who will visit Washington with Abe, insists the central bank’s lavish monetary easing is aimed only at rekindling inflation, even though it has also coincided with a weakening of the yen against the dollar in the past five years. 

 

Currency rates are critical for Japanese manufacturers and other businesses that earn a large share of their revenue overseas: Every 1 yen rise against the dollar erases about 40 billion yen (about $3.6 million) in Toyota’s operating profits. 

 

Rising U.S. interest rates are already pushing the dollar higher against the yen. And if the economy continues to strengthen under Trump, rising consumer spending is likely to increase imports from Japan, worsening the trade imbalance. 

 

Golf game a must-lose for Abe

Apart from his package of proposals for creating jobs and promoting cooperation and investment, Abe has said that in lieu of the region-wide TPP, Japan may strike a bilateral trade deal with the U.S. 

 

Koya Miyamae, a senior economist with SMBC Nikko Securities, says such a deal could be tougher than the TPP for Japan, resulting in tariffs for its exports or other regulations. 

 

The joke these days in Tokyo is that Abe should make sure to lose when the two leaders play golf this weekend at Trump’s club in Palm Beach, Florida. 

 

“Japan is in serious trouble,” said Miyamae, adding with a laugh: “Japanese custom says that the host must always lose in ‘settai’ or entertainment, golf. But in this case, Abe is doing the courting. So he has to lose.” 

7 Months in, Expanded Panama Canal Still Faces Challenges

Loaded with more than 6,000 cargo containers, the ship Ever Living prepared for the final leg of its journey through the newly expanded Panama Canal when things hit a snag: The last of the massive steel lock doors failed to open all the way.

The pilots controlling the ship and the captains of the tugboats tethered to huge vessel opted to continue guiding it through the narrowed passageway, passing nerve-wrackingly close to the side of the locks to avoid running into the stuck door.

“These are things that shouldn’t happen,” tugboat captain Mauricio Perez said. “Sometimes the only thing we can do is pray.”

A little over seven months after authorities launched a much-ballyhooed, $5.25 billion canal expansion to accommodate many of the world’s largest cargo vessels, they have yet to fully work out a significant kink: With little margin for error, ships are still scraping the walls and prematurely wearing out defenses designed to protect both the vessels and the locks themselves.

The Associated Press traveled on a recent voyage by a tugboat guiding the Ever Living through the canal’s Cocoli locks toward the Pacific Ocean. Along the way there were multiple places where the black rubber cushion defenses were visibly worn down, hanging into the water or missing entirely. In one spot a pile of dislodged bumpers sat on the side of the locks, apparently waiting to be hauled away.

Even before the canal opened in late June, tugboat pilots had expressed concern about what they said was insufficient training for maneuvers that are now required – and that are a radical departure from the previous system.

In the old locks, which are still in use, ships get tethered to powerful locomotives on both sides that keep them centered in the canal. In the new locks, that responsibility falls to the tugs, one tied to the bow and another to the stern.

Especially at first, pilots on the bridge of the cargo ships and tug operators would sometimes deliberately nudge up against the barriers as a way to properly align the vessels. That has lessened somewhat, but the battered bumpers are evidence that not all passages are smooth.

“The fears and dangers remain, although the boats are going through,” Perez said. “Throughout the entire maneuver, there are critical moments.”

The Panama Canal Authority attributed the malfunction of the lock door during the AP’s transit to a failure in a water-level sensor caused by vegetation and debris accumulated from neighboring Gatun Lake. It said the problem has been fixed.

According to the authority, between June and January there were only 15 incidents that resulted in damage to locks or ships, or about 2 percent of the 700 total transits through the new waterway. Officials say the first seven months have been a learning process but they are optimistic.

Manuel Benitez, deputy administrator of the canal, said it has been “pretty positive the way our people have been able to navigate that (learning) curve.”

And the incidents reported “have not been of a magnitude that could affect the operation of the locks,” he said. “The ships have not run aground; they continue their routes.”

Still, shipping companies have multimillion-dollar vessels at stake, and any delay due to an accident can cost them money. In perhaps the most serious incident involving the new waterway, a Chinese vessel struck a lock wall a few weeks after the June inauguration, gashing its hull and delaying its itinerary.

The Canal Authority declined to say how much money is being spent on repairing the new bumpers or whether such repairs have been forced ahead of schedule.

Captains who navigate the canal told AP the defenses were anticipated to last at least a couple of years before wearing out. Pilots have argued they should be replaced with a system of floating bumpers like those used in some European locks.

Authorities say they intend to continue to operate with the current system of defenses, though they don’t rule out changes as part of future upgrades.

“Thanks to the expertise of our practices, these incidents are happening less and less,” Benitez said.

Some experts say it’s still early to make a final judgment on the locks’ safety.

“It seems there is a consensus between authorities and captains to pay more attention (to) the issue of the defenses,” said Paul Bingham, vice president of the Boston-based Economic Development Research Group.

“I do not know if it is a design flaw or evidence of how the walls of the locks may need to be better protected,” he said via email. “It is possible that the operations of the tugs in controlling the vessels inside the lock chambers need to be improved as well.”

There have been notable improvements in operations. Average transit times have dropped to 2 1/2 to 3 hours, according to the tugboat pilots, compared with 4 hours when the locks first opened. With experience, captains have become more comfortable taking ships straight down the center of the locks, especially when weather conditions are favorable.

But it’s still a delicate operation.

As the 1,098-foot-long Ever Living maneuvered into the 1,400-foot lock chamber, sailors and dock workers tied the ship off right up against the walls to keep it in place while it awaited passage to the next level. The tight space left precious little room for the tugs ahead of and behind the vessel, and tug captains still fear their boats could be crushed against the walls if things get out of control during a squall or high winds.

“They are betting on our professionalism and on improvisation,” Perez said.

Captains also regret that no alignment wall was built at the Pacific entry to the Agua Clara locks, which would help with lining the vessels up and offer protection from strong currents. This is where the Chinese vessel had its accident.

“It is like threading the eye of a needle,” said pilot Alvaro Moreno.

Brexit Bill Support Overwhelming from British Lawmakers

Britain is set to begin the process of leaving the European Union at the end of March. Members of the House of Commons voted Wednesday to back the legislation, and it goes to the House of Lords. Zlatica Hoke reports the legislation received strong backing in Parliament’s lower chamber.

Russia Loses Right To Host Biathlon World Championships In 2021

Russia lost the right to host another major athletic event on February 8 due to its doping scandal.

Macedonia Blasts U.S. Congressman’s Claim It’s ‘Not A Country,’ Should Be Divided

Macedonia angrily rejected a U.S. Republican lawmaker’s assertion that it “is not a country” and it should be divided between neighboring Bulgaria and Kosovo.

European Ministers Agree To Fortify Blockade Of Migrants’ Balkans Route

Ministers from 15 European countries have agreed to come up with new measures to ensure that the so-called Western Balkans route to the European Union remains shut for migrants.

Republican Senators Propose Cuts in Legal Immigration to US

Two Republican senators say they are sponsoring legislation that would make major changes in the U.S. immigration system, slashing the number of foreign nationals admitted into the country each year by up to 50 percent.

The proposal, which by some estimates would reduce immigration from 1 million to 500,000 people per year, would align the federal government with policies that conservative, “restrictionist” groups have advocated for years, if not decades.

The bill being proposed by Senators Tom Cotton and David Perdue would reduce immigration by limiting admission for migrants’ family members, ending the diversity visa lottery program and making the process of obtaining “green card” work permits much more difficult.

Perdue and Cotton, who represent the states of Georgia and Arkansas, respectively, said Tuesday they hope to see their proposal reach the Senate floor this year, but that they do not expect quick action on the bill. Both men said they spoke to President Donald Trump before announcing their plans.

Reaction

America’s Voice, a group which lobbies for political rights for immigrants, criticized the bill, calling it part of a broader campaign to restrict immigration to the United States.   

Deputy Director of America’s Voice Lynn Tramonte told NBC News her pro-immigration group is “very concerned about additional restrictions on legal immigration, as it’s all of a piece, coming from the same dark place.”

The proposed Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment Act, or RAISE, would allow only spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents to enter the U.S. as immigrants. It would exclude preferential treatment for extended family members and adult relatives of U.S. residents, such as parents, siblings and adult children.

Cotton told reporters that a waiver could be granted to the parents of a legal permanent U.S. resident in case of illness – as long as the family guaranteed the new arrivals would not rely on public benefits for support or health care.

He and Perdue said in a statement they would eliminate the “outdated” diversity visa lottery, which they claim “is plagued with fraud [and] advances no economic or humanitarian interest.” The lottery program currently provides 50,000 visas per year.

A summary of the RAISE proposal said “green cards,” the documents that denote permanent resident status and permit foreign nationals to work legally in the United States, would be restricted to a maximum of 50,000 per year. The summary estimated the average waiting time for such permits would rise to 13 years.

Immigrants with special skills “who come and help our economy” would still be allowed in, the senators said, and there would be no restriction on foreign nationals who have visas connected to their employment in the U.S.

Analysts familiar with the proposal said the bill is intended to prevent foreign nationals willing to work for low wages from competing with less-educated American workers, whose incomes have been declining in recent years.

“Unless we reverse this trend, we are going to create a near-permanent underclass for whom the American dream is always just out of reach,” Cotton told reporters.

His aides estimated the RAISE legislation would cut immigration to the U.S. by 40 percent in its first year, and 50 percent over the next 10 years.

Kremlin Critic Navalny Found Guilty In Retrial

Russian anti-corruption campaigner and Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny has been found guilty in a politically-charged embezzlement case. A judge in the city of Kirov read out the verdict against him on February 8, in a conviction which would make him ineligible to run for president. (Reuters)

Turkish, Rebel Fighters Seize Area Around Key Syrian Town

Turkey’s military said Wednesday that Syrian rebel forces with Turkish support have taken control of strategic hills surrounding the Islamic State-held town of al-Bab.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war in Syria, said Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels launched an operation late Tuesday and seized territory on the western outskirts of al-Bab.

The town is a key area in northern Syria that increasingly is becoming a focal point of the multi-party conflict.

Syrian forces have advanced from the south to within about 3.5 kilometers of al-Bab, the Observatory says. Turkish and rebel fighters are coming from the north, while Syrian Kurds hold territory to the east and west. All of those groups have fought to push out Islamic State fighters, but what happens if the militants are routed from al-Bab remains a looming issue.

The Syrian government has long complained about Turkish activity in Syria, particularly since Turkey launched what it calls Operation Euphrates Shield in August. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the offensive was in response to a series of attacks in Turkey, and that he wanted to end threats from “terror” groups that included Islamic State and the Syrian Kurdish fighters.

Turkey sees the Syrian Kurds as aligned with Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or PKK, rebels who have carried out a decades-long insurgency based in southeastern Turkey.

Syria last week sent letters to the United Nations again condemning Turkey’s military actions, including the push toward al-Bab. The letters further accused Turkey of supporting terrorist organizations in Syria.

Turkey supports rebels who opposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Assad’s government routinely refers to any opposition fighters as terrorists.

The many parties involved in the fighting have not made finding a resolution any easier. The United Nations is holding its next round of peace talks beginning February 20 in Geneva. A spokeswoman for U.N. envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said invitations for the talks were due to be sent on Wednesday.

The U.N. has sponsored several rounds of talks in recent years, but none have produced much progress in ending the fighting. The process has worked off a framework that calls for a total cease-fire and a Syrian-led political transition that includes a new constitution and elections.

Assad’s future is not part of the outline, and disagreements about whether he should remain in power or leave have been one of the main sticking points in past negotiations.

 

Red Cross Says Six Workers Killed In Afghan Attack

Six Afghan employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have been killed in an attack in the northern Afghan province of Jowzjan, officials say.

Islamic State Kills 6 ICRC Employees in Afghanistan

Authorities in northern Afghanistan say Islamic State terrorists have killed at least six local employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Jowzjan province government spokesman Reza Ghafoori told VOA Wednesday’s attack occurred in the Qushtipa district and the assailants also took away two ICRC workers.  He said the ICRC staff were bringing animal food to farmer families in the district when IS militants ambushed their convoy.

An ICRC statement said the charity is, “Shocked and devastated,” and confirmed that six ICRC staff were killed and two are missing in Jowzjan province.

IS has also claimed responsibly for Tuesday’s suicide bombing in Kabul and identified the bomber as Tajik.  The attack killed at least 22 people and wounded 40 others in Kabul.

Most of the victims Tuesday were employees of the Afghan Supreme Court.  Female judges and prosecutors were among those killed and wounded.  

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, Wednesday condemned the suicide attack outside the court building as “nothing short of an atrocity” and called for those responsible must be brought to justice.

“Since the beginning of 2015 alone, UNAMA has documented 74 attacks targeting judges, prosecutors and judicial staff, which have resulted in 89 dead and 214 injured,” according the mission’s statement issued in Kabul.

IS has been trying to establish a foothold in Afghanistan and has stepped attacks around the country, mainly targeting Shia Muslim minority community.

The number of civilian casualties caused by IS terrorists in Afghanistan increased nearly 10 times in 2016 compared to the previous year, according to a UNAMA report released earlier this week. It said that more than 200 people were killed and 700 wounded in comparison to 39 deaths and 43 injured in 2015.

Turkey-Backed Syrian Rebels Close In On IS-Held City

Syrian rebels backed by Turkish forces have seized control of strategically important hills around the Islamic State (IS)-controlled town of Al-Bab, Turkey’s military says.

If You Ghost Do You Throw Shade? US Dictionary Adds New Words

The next time someone throws shade at you for ghosting them so you can binge-watch a TV show or retreat to your safe space, you can let them know your behavior has been recognized by the United States’ leading dictionary publisher.

Merriam-Webster on Tuesday added more than 1,000 new words and definitions, ranging from conversational to scientific, to its website, Merriam-webster.com, the dictionary’s most significant update in years, said Merriam-Webster spokeswoman Meghan Lungi.

The last time the dictionary updated its website and print edition was in 2014, when it added only 150 words, she said.

“Throwing shade,” for example, originated from black and Latino gay culture in the 1980s and has been popularized more recently through social media. It means to express contempt through indirect or subtle insults.

“Ghosting,” meanwhile, is to abruptly cut off contact with another person, usually a former friend or romantic partner.

Another new entry, “microaggression,” is a discriminatory comment or action that subtly – and sometimes unconsciously – expresses prejudice toward a member of a marginalized group.

Other terms include “binge-watch,” meaning to view many or all episodes of a TV series in quick succession; “prosopagnosia,” an inability to recognize faces; “arancini,” fried rice balls; and “safe space,” a place intended to be free of bias, conflict and criticism.

“This is a significant addition of words … and it reflects both the breadth of English vocabulary and the speed with which that vocabulary changes,” the dictionary’s chief digital officer and publisher, Lisa Schneider, said in a statement.

“Snollygoster,” an unprincipled but shrewd person, has also returned to the dictionary after being dropped in 2003 because it had “fallen nearly completely from use,” according to the dictionary’s website.

Originally used in the name-calling politics of 19th-century America, snollygoster was brought back into the mainstream due to conservative TV host Bill O’Reilly’s frequent use of in recent years.

 

Russian Filmmakers Protest Attempts To ‘Censor’ Film About Young Tsar

Filmmakers in Russia say a State Duma deputy and Russian Orthodox activists are trying to prevent a romantic film about Tsar Nicholas II from being screened in Russia.

National Parks Traveler Finds Paradise in US Islands

Some people may be surprised to learn that in addition to its 50 states and Washington, DC, the United States includes more than a dozen territories located in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. They include Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. National parks traveler Mikah Meyer, who’s on a mission to visit all of the more than 400 sites within the National Park Service, visited several pristine National Park Service sites in and around those islands. VOA’s Julie Taboh has more.

Russia to Host Wider Regional Conference on Afghanistan

Russia will host a regional conference on Afghanistan later this month to discuss efforts aimed at settling the protracted Afghan conflict and containing “spillover effects” of Islamic State terrorists trying to get a foothold in the war-ravaged nation.

Moscow organized a tripartite meeting on the subject late December where it only invited Pakistan and China.  The dialogue prompted strong reaction and protest from the Afghan government for being left out of it.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday Afghanistan now has been formally invited to another round due in mid-February where senior officials from China, Iran, India and Pakistan also will be in attendance.

Lavrov made the statement in Moscow after talks with visiting Afghan counterpart, Salahuddin Rabbani, saying most of the countries already have confirmed their participation.  

IS emerged in Afghanistan about two years ago, and has been conducting extremist attacks in the country and in parts of Pakistan under its regional name of Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP).  But the terrorist group has not been able so far to extend its activities beyond few districts in eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan.

The violent IS campaign has worried Pakistan, which shares a nearly 2,600-kilometer border with Afghanistan.

Russia defends its active Afghan diplomacy, saying continued fighting between Afghan forces and the Taliban would allow IS to extend its activities to northern Afghan regions in its bid to infiltrate bordering Central Asian republics, and ultimately undermine Moscow’s national security interests.

“Russia is much more concerned about the growth of IS in Afghanistan because they regard IS as a threat.  So, they don’t want this force [IS] to knock at the Central Asian and Caucasian doors,” said Pakistani prime minister’s foreign policy advisor Sartaj Aziz while speaking to VOA.

He added that Moscow apparently is trying to form a regional platform to prevent Afghan instability from spilling over into neighboring countries.

“So, they need a regional approach and a cooperative approach to make sure that this turmoil does not go in their sphere of influence so that is their main motivation and that is our priority also to make sure that terrorism does not spread from this area to other parts,” said Aziz.

Pakistani authorities maintain that IS militants operating in Afghan border regions have been behind recent deadly attacks in their country.

Advisor Aziz emphasized the need for seeking an urgent negotiated settlement of the Afghan conflict by encouraging peace talks between the Taliban and the Kabul government.  He insisted that continuation of hostilities will only fuel instability in Afghanistan.

Speaking Tuesday in Moscow, Foreign Minister Lavrov also underscored Russia’s support for involving the Taliban in peace talks to end the Afghan war.

“We have confirmed our common stance that Taliban should be involved in a constructive dialogue in keeping with the criteria contained in the U.N. Security Council resolutions,” Russian media quoted Lavrov as saying.

The Taliban has shown no willingness to engage in peace talks with the Afghan government, and instead has expanded its insurgent activities across the country, capturing more territory and inflicting more casualties on Afghan security forces, as well as civilians.

The United Nations also has documented a sharp increase in IS attacks against civilians, particularly against the Shia Muslim religious minority in Afghanistan last year.

It noted in its annual report, issued Monday, the number of civilian casualties perpetrated by ISKP increased nearly 10 times in 2016 when 899 civilian casualties occurred, including 209 deaths. The figures stood at 82, including 39 deaths in 2015.

Russian officials maintain IS militants fleeing counter-terrorism operations in Syria and Iraq are seeking refuge in Afghanistan, and they are using the conflict-hit country to expand their extremist activities to neighboring countries.  China and Iran also have expressed similar concerns.

 

 

Lavrov Says Trump Position On Ukraine Differs From Obama’s

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he views U.S. President Donald Trump’s opinion about the conflict in Ukraine as “a qualitative change” compared to that of Barack Obama.

Putn’s Navalny Dilemma

The Kremlin appears to have no idea what to do with Aleksei Navalny. They seem afraid to imprison him; they’ve been unable to co-opt him; and no matter how much they harasses him, they just can’t seem to neutralize him.

Peru Opens Corruption Probe into ex-President Toledo

Peruvian prosecutors opened a formal investigation Monday into suspicions that former President Alejandro Toledo took bribes from a Brazilian construction firm at the heart of a major corruption scandal shaking politicians across Latin America.

 

The move came after police searched Toledo’s home in Lima on Saturday.

 

Authorities in Peru and throughout Latin America have been moving fast to charge officials accused of taking some $800 million in bribes that construction firm Odebrecht acknowledged paying in a plea agreement signed in December with the U.S. Justice Department.

 

The bribes, used to win business in 12 countries, include some $29 million in Peru for projects built during the administrations of Toledo (2001-2006), Alan Garcia (2006-2011) and Ollanta Humala (2011-2016). So far three officials from Garcia’s government have been arrested.

 

In the case of Toledo, authorities are looking into whether he pocketed some $20 million in exchange for awarding Odebrecht a major highway project stretching from Peru’s border with Brazil.

 

The payments were believed to be made through Toledo’s friend, Peruvian-Israeli businessman Josef Maiman, who prosecutors said Monday they are also investigating along with the Odebrecht’s former boss in the country, whose testimony triggered the probe.

 

Prosecutors are expected to appear before a judge in the next 48 hours during which they could request Toledo be arrested.

 

The former president is believed to be in Paris but has denied any wrongdoing. Although he said he has plans to travel to Stanford University in California, where he is a visiting scholar, he said he would return to Peru as long as he could be assured of a fair trial.

 

“Say when, how and where and in what bank they’ve given me $20 million,” an angry Toledo said in an interview with a local radio station over the weekend.

 

Toledo failed to win much support in a bid last year to regain the presidency, finishing in eighth place, but the idea that the pro-democracy activist who led street protest which forced strongman Alberto Fujimori’s resignation might now be joining his arch-nemesis behind bars has come as a shock to many Peruvians.

 

“It’s a betrayal to the Peruvian people,” President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who served as Toledo’s economy minister and prime minister, said in an interview over the weekend. “It’s very sad.”

United States Disburses $98M to El Salvador

The United States granted El Salvador $98 million on Monday, as part of a plan to combat lawlessness and corruption and diminish the flow of migrants heading north.

The funds, which were approved by the U.S. Congress in 2015, will be used to prioritize security and development strategies in 50 impoverished areas of the Central American country, which is plagued by drug gangs.

The money will also be earmarked to strengthen government institutions such as the attorney general’s office, which leads the country’s fight against corruption, Salvadoran Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez told a news conference.

“These additional funds support the country in addressing the root causes of irregular migration, such as insecurity, lack of economic and educational opportunities, and family disintegration,” said U.S. ambassador Jean Manes.

In 2016, El Salvador reported 5,278 homicides, or 81.7 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest murder rates in the world.

The “Plan of the Alliance for Prosperity in the Northern Triangle” aims to boost economic growth in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala and was drawn up after a wave of Central American migrants flocked to the southern U.S. border in 2014.

Israeli Parliament Legalizes 4,000 Jewish Settlements on Private Palestinian Land

Israel’s parliament has passed a new law on settlements which is sure to be challenged in court and bring global wrath against Israel.

The Knesset voted 60-52 Monday night to retroactively legalize 4,000 Jewish settlements on private Palestinian land in the West Bank — land Palestinians want for a future state.

Israeli lawmakers on the right and left emotionally debated the controversial measure. The opposition called it de facto annexation of the West Bank and will land Israel before the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

‘More instability and chaos’

One lawmaker said the measure is an “acute danger to the State of Israel” and says it goes against Israeli law. Israel’s attorney general has called it unconstitutional.

Nationalist lawmakers say the Jewish people have a connection to the land and a right to it. They say legalizing the settlements is in Israel’s interest and denies it is a path toward annexation.

The Palestinians are, naturally, furious.

“This is an escalation that would only lead to more instability and chaos,” a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said, calling the law “unacceptable.”

A spokesman for the Palestine Liberation Organization condemned it as “legalized theft,” even if the bill contains provisions to compensate the Palestinians or give them other land in exchange.

Netanyahu away

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was flying back from London when the vote took place.

He had expressed opposition to the law and said he wanted to coordinate it with U.S. President Donald Trump before signing it.

Israel believes the Trump administration would be friendlier than the Obama White House, which believed Jewish settlements hurt the chances for peace.

The White House put out a statement last week saying Trump has not yet taken an official position on settlement activity and “while we don’t believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal.”

The law passed Monday would impose Israeli law in a portion of the West Bank that is not officially part of Israel, but is under Israeli military and civilian rule.

This would legalize 4,000 Jewish settlements on private Palestinian property — something Israeli courts have always ruled is illegal.

Settlement demolished

Israeli police demolished the Jewish settlement of Amona last week, forcing about 200 Jewish families to find somewhere else to live.

Palestinians say Jewish settlements on West Bank land they want as part of a future state is the major roadblock to peace. Israel says Palestinian refusal to recognize the Jewish state is what is holding up peace talks.

Israel was furious when the United States, under former President Barack Obama, abstained instead of vetoing a U.N. Security Council resolution in December, calling the settlements illegal and demanding Israel stop building them.

Top Shots

Some of the most compelling photographs from RFE/RL’s broadcast region and beyond for the sixth week of 2017.