Abbas bids to woo striking Palestinian teachers back to work

Most of promises given by Abbas are only to take effect from September 2017 but he asks teachers to go back to work this Sunday.

Middle East Online

Three-week-old strike has closed several schools RAMALLAH (West Bank) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas pledged on Saturday to improve conditions for teachers whose three-week-old strike has closed several schools in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In a previously unscheduled television address Abbas, flanked by prime minister Rami Hamdallah, promised a 10 percent pay rise, a management review and the implementation of a 2013 work agreement. The average monthly salary for a teacher is $600. A school head with a master's degree and 25 years of service can earn $700. Abbas's West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA) has been pleading with teachers to return to class, warning that pupils otherwise risk a "lost year." Most of the promises given by Abbas on Saturday are only to take effect from September 2017 but he asked them to go back to work this Sunday, the first day of the Palestinian working week. The PA, which spends nearly half of its budget on wages for its 180,000 civil servants, has been in chronic economic crisis for years. The monthly wage bill of nearly $150 million is 16 percent of Gross Domestic Product, one of the highest in the world. The PA was supposed to have been an interim body and be replaced in 1999 by a sovereign state of Palestine but a peace treaty with Israel has proved elusive and foreign aid to the administration has halved over the past five years. Of the 45,000 teachers in Palestinian schools, nearly 36,000 are in the West Bank. In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, where close to 75 percent of residents are refugees, the United Nations runs most schools.

US to take issue of Iran missile tests to UN Security Council

United States is ‘deeply concerned’ about missile tests ‘which are provocative and destabilizing,’ Samantha Power says.

Middle East Online

Can US slow Iran's missile program? UNITED NATIONS - The United States has asked the UN Security Council to discuss Iran's recent ballistic missile launches during a meeting on Monday, the US ambassador said. The United States is "deeply concerned" about the missile tests "which are provocative and destabilizing," Samantha Power said in a statement on Friday. Iran fired two long-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday and similar tests were carried out on Tuesday, less than two months after the Iran nuclear deal was implemented. Power said Iranian military leaders had claimed that the missiles were designed to be a direct threat to Israel and added: "We condemn such threats against another UN member-state and one of our closest allies." Under the nuclear deal with Iran that came into force January 16, most sanctions resolutions against Tehran were annulled. But an arms embargo and restrictions on ballistic missile technology capable of carrying a nuclear warhead remain in place, under Resolution 2231. Iran has maintained that its missile program is not aimed at developing a nuclear capability. "We will raise these dangerous launches directly at council consultations, which we have called for, on Monday," said Power. "These launches underscore the need to work with partners around the world to slow and degrade Iran's missile program," she added. On Wednesday, Iran fired two Qadr-H and Qadr-F precision missiles fired from launcher trucks tucked in a mountain range in northern Iran, hitting targets about 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) away in the southeastern Makran area, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said. A day earlier, state media announced that short-, medium- and long-range precision guided missiles were fired from several sites to show the country's "all-out readiness to confront threats".

Turkey bombs PKK targets in northern Iraq

Air strikes, carried out by 14 F-16, F-4 fighter-bombers, hit camps, other installations run by PKK, killing 67 rebel fighters.

Middle East Online

Designated as terrorists by Turkey ISTANBUL (Turkey) - Turkey's air force bombarded Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq this week, killing 67 rebel fighters, the military said Saturday, the first such strikes in nearly a month. The air strikes, carried out by 14 F-16 and F-4 fighter-bombers, hit camps and other installations run by the PKK, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its Western allies, the military said in a statement carried by local media. It is the first such operation against PKK bases in Iraq since February 18, when the air force launched raids in retaliation for a suicide bombing in Ankara that killed 29 people, which Turkey blamed on Kurdish rebels. The Ankara attack, which targeted a convoy of five buses carrying army staff, was claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), who have been linked to the PKK. Turkey has in recent months waged an all-out assault on the PKK, which launched an insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984, fighting for greater autonomy and rights for the country's largest ethnic minority. After more than two years of ceasefire, deadly clashes restarted last year between security forces and rebels in the Kurdish-dominated southeast. Last month Turkey carried out artillery bombardments on Kurdish fighters in Syria and threatened to extend the action to include air strikes. Turkey targeted the People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, which it considers to be a terror group linked to the PKK despite support for the group from Ankara's ally Washington.

As Syria talks draw near, Kerry meets Saudi King

Emirati Foreign Minister joins top Saudi officials as they gather at northeastern King Khalid Military City base after major exercise.

Middle East Online

Kerry: I think we need to talk about Syria RIYADH - US Secretary of State John Kerry met Saudi Arabia's King Salman and his most senior ministers Friday, as Washington and its Arab allies pushed for new Syrian peace talks. The United Nations hopes to host indirect talks between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime and rebel leaders in Geneva on Monday, to reinforce a tentative ceasefire on the ground. The United States and Saudi Arabia are two of the chief sponsors of opposition forces in the five-year-old civil war, and will be key to getting them to the table. "I think we need to talk about Syria," Kerry said, as he sat down with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef and senior Saudi officials after his reception with King Salman. Top Saudi officials, including Defence Minister Mohammad Bin Salman al-Saud and Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir, had gathered at a military base after a major exercise. They were joined by Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan at the northeastern King Khalid Military City base, scene this week of the "Northern Thunder" exercise. According to a senior State Department official, Kerry "emphasized that now is the time to keep moving forward toward ending the conflicts in Syria and Yemen". A Saudi-led coalition -- including Emirati forces -- has been bombing Iranian-backed Huthi rebels for a year in support of Yemen's beleaguered government, amid mounting civilian casualties. "In Yemen, the United States welcomes the reduction of violence on the Yemen-Saudi border and the increased delivery of humanitarian relief," the US official said. "We continue to support the efforts of the UN Special Envoy to bring all parties back to the table in pursuit of a peaceful political transition as soon as possible." On Saturday, Kerry was due to head to Paris to meet his French, British, German and Italian opposite numbers, seeking to coordinate efforts to try to end the Middle East crises. Earlier Friday, UN peace envoy Staffan de Mistura called for Syrians to hold elections within 18 months. But in a worrying development ahead of the negotiations, government raids reportedly killed five civilians in Syria's second city, Aleppo, despite the fragile ceasefire. The truce has prompted a nearly two-week lull in fighting between the Russian-backed regime and non-jihadist rebels since coming into force on February 27. In Washington, the State Department said the truce is "largely holding," despite government attacks on civilians and opposition forces. But spokesman John Kirby also warned that the conflict, in which more than 270,000 people have been killed since it broke out in March 2011, had reached "a critical moment".

Sadr urges followers to ramp up Iraq pro-reform rallies

Moqtada Sadr says sit-in demanding reshuffle of cabinet perceived as corrupt and ineffective will begin next Friday, on March 18.

Middle East Online

Sadr: Get ready! BAGHDAD - Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr on Saturday urged his followers to ramp up pro-reform rallies by setting up tents in front of Baghdad's 'Green Zone' and camping out until their demands are met. The Shiite cleric said in a statement that the sit-in demanding the reshuffle of a cabinet perceived as corrupt and ineffective would begin next Friday, on March 18. "I make a historical call to every honest, reform-loving Iraqi to rise up and start a new phase in the peaceful popular protests," the statement said. Sadr urged protesters to stay there for the 10 remaining days of an ultimatum he gave the government last month. "Get ready and organise yourselves to establish sit-in tents. This is your time to root out corruption and the corrupt," he said. A month ago, Sadr gave Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi a 45-day deadline to present the names of technocrats for a new government. Abadi has been pushing for a government of technocrats in a bid to revive reform pledges that he made last year but have remained largely a dead letter. Despite some of the ministers seen as the most corrupt being from his own political movement, Sadr has, with some success, attempted to make the new reform drive his own. Sadrists have held a series of massive rallies in central Baghdad, with thousands turning out on Friday for the latest protest to press their demands. The presence a week earlier of armed Sadr supporters outside the Green Zone -- where Abadi's office, parliament and the US embassy are located -- sparked intense security concerns. In the protest that he attended in Baghdad two weeks ago, Sadr threatened that his supporters could storm the Green Zone if their demands were not met. The Sadr rallies saw thousands of the Najaf-based cleric's supporters and members of his Peace Brigades militia bused in from the south of Iraq. They stifled what was left of a secular protest movement that also demonstrated against corruption but was launched last year over the lack of basic services such as water and electricity.

The world’s news in pictures for the week of March 7-13

The world’s news in pictures for the week of March 7-13, as selected by FRANCE 24’s newsroom.

On March 7, inhabitants of France’s infamous Basroch camp begin moving to the country’s first migrant camp to meet international sanitary standards.

Mehdi Chebil / FRANCE 24

While the EU and Turkey meet to discuss the migrant crisis on March 7, a migrant child stands trapped behind a barbed wire fence near the Greek border village of Idomeni after Macedonia shut its borders.

Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton stumps at a meeting in Detroit on March 7 before losing the Michigan primary to rival Bernie Sanders.

Geoff Robins / AFP

More than 500 people take to the streets in France’s Calais on March 7 to protest the deteriorating situation of the already financially-strained port city. Calais has become a magnet for migrants wanting to make their way across the English Channel, which has taken a huge toll on the city’s tourism industry.

Sarah Leduc / FRANCE 24

For International Women’s Day on March 8, the international photojournalist collective #Dysturb turns the spotlight on migrants who have fled to Europe. In this photo, a female refugee stares out the window of a train in Macedonia.

Sergey Ponomarev for the New York Times / #Dysturb

On March 9, French students vent their anger in the streets of Paris, protesting the country’s proposed labour reforms. The reform package is commonly referred to as the El Khomri law, after Labour Minister Myriam El Khomri.

Mehdi Chebil / FRANCE 24

Thousands of Tunisians gather in the town of Ben Guerdane on March 9 for the funeral of two people killed in a jihadist terror attack that left at least 45 people dead two days before.

Fathi Nasri / AFP

Football team Paris Saint-Germain secures a 2-1 win against Chelsea on March 9 to qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals. PSG’s Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates after scoring his team's second goal.

Ben Stansall / AFP

Japan marks the fifth anniversary of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that claimed some 18,500 lives and set off the country’s worst nuclear disaster in a generation.

Toru Yamanaka / AFP

The liberal Jewish religious group, Women of the Wall, pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City on March 11, one and a half months after the Israeli government approved the creation of a mixed male and female prayer zone.

Gali Tibbon / AFP

IS group expands control in Libya, says UN report

© AFP Photo/ HO/ Welayat Tarablos | Image made available by propaganda Islamist media outlet Welayat Tarablos on February 18, 2015, allegedly shows members of the Islamic State (IS) group parading in a street in Libya's coastal city of Sirte.

Text by FRANCE 24

Latest update : 2016-03-11

The political and security vacuum in Libya is being exploited by the Islamic State group which has "significantly expanded" the territory it controls in the North African nation, said a UN report released Thursday.

The experts monitoring UN sanctions against Libya said the militant group has successfully recruited marginalized communities in the central city of Sirte, which it controls. It has also increased its operational capacity in the city of Sabratha and the capital Tripoli through local recruitment reinforced by foreign fighters, the experts said.
"While ISIL does not currently generate direct revenue from the exploitation of oil in Libya, its attacks against oil installations seriously compromise the country's economic stability," the six-member panel said in the report, using an alternate acronym for the IS group. "Libyans have increasingly fallen victim to the terrorist group's brutalities, culminating in several mass killings."
Libya has effectively been a failed state since the 2011 ouster and death of longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi, which led to the country's military collapse and fragmentation by powerful militias.
Since 2014, an internationally recognized government has convened in the far east of the vast, oil-rich country while a rival Islamist government is based in Tripoli. The UN has been trying to help forge a unity government to revive services to millions of people and confront IS group extremists.
According to the experts, Libya has become increasingly attractive to foreign fighters and their presence in the south "is symptomatic of the regional dimension of the conflict". It added that countries in the region have been providing political support - and possibly more - to various groups, further fueling the continuation of fighting.
The experts said in the report to the UN Security Council that all parties in the conflict are continuing to receive illicit arms transfers, some with support from UN member countries.
These weapons are not only influencing the instability but are having "a negative impact on the security situation in Libya and its political transition", the report said.
The experts called for the arms embargo -- which allows the government to seek exemptions -- to remain in place and be enforced.
As for the financing of Libyan armed groups, the report said, "government salaries are continuing to be paid to enlisted combatants, regardless of their human rights record or their ties with spoilers or terrorist groups".
The experts said armed groups and criminal networks in Libya have further diversified their sources of financing, including through kidnapping and smuggling migrants, oil products, subsidized goods and profits from foreign currency exchange schemes.
EU prepares sanctions against Libyan ‘spoilers’
Meanwhile, the EU is preparing possible sanctions against officials in Libya blamed for undermining the peace process and blocking the formation of a unity government.
EU diplomats say a small list of "spoilers" could be targeted as soon as next week. The diplomats declined to be named because the process is sensitive and ongoing.
Unconfirmed reports suggest Nouri Abu-Sahmain, head of the Tripoli parliament, and Khalifa Ghweil, prime minister of the Tripoli Salvation government, could be in the EU's sights.
EU foreign ministers will hold informal talks on Libya in Brussels on Monday. Because their talks are informal, no legal decisions to impose sanctions can be taken, the diplomats explained, but a process for a decision will be agreed on when member states are ready.
UN Libya envoy Martin Kobler will brief the ministers on recent developments.
Britain and France are driving the sanctions effort, but the move has broad support among other nations in the 28-country bloc, one diplomat said.
Other countries would like the move coordinated more closely with the United Nations.
"Because of the dynamics in the UN Security Council, UN imposed sanctions talk didn't go anywhere," said Libya expert Carlo Binda.
But he noted that "carrots have worked only so far, and now the sticks are being prepared", adding that EU sanctions would probably hurt the "spoilers".
(FRANCE 24 with AP)