Israel raid hits Gaza in response to rocket fire, army says

Israeli aircraft hit two Hamas targets in Gaza early Saturday in response to rocket fire, the army said, as the worst flare-up of violence since a 2014 war entered a fourth day.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket launch and most such fire since 2014 has been carried out by fringe Islamist groups but Israel holds Hamas responsible for all such attacks.

"Earlier today (Saturday)... a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel," the army said in a statement.

"In response... aircraft targeted two Hamas terror infrastructures in the southern Gaza Strip."

Hamas security sources said the retaliatory raid hit two brickworks in the southern city of Khan Yunis, causing damage but no casualties.

But witnesses said two missiles hit a base of Hamas's military wing east of the city, causing significant damage.

It was the fourth day of the worst violence across the border since the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas which left 2,251 Palestinians and 73 Israelis dead in 2014.

Mortar fire by Palestinian militants, and Israeli air strikes and shelling have raised concerns for the future of an informal truce that has held since the conflict ended.

An Israeli tank round killed a Palestinian woman when it hit her home east of Khan Yunis on Thursday.

Since Wednesday, Hamas and other militant groups have fired at least 12 mortar rounds at Israeli forces searching along the border and short distances inside Gaza for infiltration tunnels leading into Israel.

Such tunnels were among the most feared weapons of Hamas fighters during the 2014 conflict and one was uncovered by the army on Thursday.

Hamas's Gaza leader, Ismail Haniya, said on Friday that the group was "not calling for a new war", but would not accept Israeli incursions into Palestinian territory.

(AFP)

Morocco jails brother of presumed Paris attacks ringleade

RABAT (AFP) - 

A Moroccan court has sentenced the younger brother of suspected Paris attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud to two years in prison on charges including justifying terrorism, state media reported.

According to his lawyer, Yassine Abaaoud was unaware of the activities of his brother, who was killed in a French police raid just days after the November 13 attacks that killed 130 people in Paris.

Moroccan intelligence helped put French investigators on the trail of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a 28-year-old Belgian of Moroccan origin who had appeared in grisly Islamic State group videos and was linked to a series of plots in Europe.

Five other defendants were sentenced to between two and five years in prison on separate terrorism related cases by the same court in Rabat's twin city Sale on Thursday, the MAP state news agency reported.

Morocco, on guard against deadly attacks like those seen in Tunisia, says it has broken up 152 "terrorist cells" since 2002, including 31 with ties to jihadists in Iraq and Syria since 2013.

© 2016 AFP

The founder of an online underworld bank that allegedly laundered billions of dollars for criminals

NEW YORK (AFP) - 

The founder of an online underworld bank that allegedly laundered billions of dollars for criminals was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison.

Arthur Budovsky, 42, had pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit money laundering on January 29, three days before the scheduled start of his trial in New York.

He was also ordered to pay a $500,000 fine by US District Judge Denise L. Cote, who noted that Budovsky did not express any "genuine remorse".

"The significant sentence handed down today shows that money laundering through the use of virtual currencies is still money laundering, and that online crime is still crime," Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell for the Justice Department?s Criminal Division said in a statement.

"Liberty Reserve founder Arthur Budovsky ran a digital currency empire built expressly to facilitate money laundering on a massive scale for criminals around the globe," US Attorney Preet Bharara for the Southern District of New York was quoted as saying.

Prosecutors said Costa Rica-based Liberty Reserve operated an alternative digital currency that helped cyber criminals around the world distribute, store and launder the proceeds of illegal activity.

The company was a "financial hub" for Ponzi scheme operators, credit card traffickers, identity thieves, hackers and other criminals, authorities said.

The system became operational in 2005. By the time it was shut down in 2013, Liberty Reserve had more than 5.5 million user accounts, including more than 600,000 in the United States, the US Department of Justice said.

Overall, it had processed more than 78 million financial transactions with a combined value of more than $8 billion.

The digital exchange mechanism, which allowed depositors to mask their identities, was similar to Bitcoin and other digital currencies.

Budovsky, who was arrested in Spain in May 2013, had renounced his US citizenship and acquired Costa Rica nationality in an apparent bid to avoid prosecution.

As part of his plea agreement, Budovsky admitted to laundering between $250 million and $550 million in criminal proceeds linked to US-based Liberty Reserve accounts.

Six other people with ties to Liberty Reserve face charges in the case that involved police and investigators from 17 countries.

Co-defendants Maxim Chukharev and Mark Marmilev, who also pleaded guilty, were sentenced to three and five years respectively.

Two others are set to be sentenced on May 13, while another two remain at large.

© 2016 AFP

Presidency is no reality show, Obama warns Trump

President Barack Obama on Friday called for Donald Trump’s White House bid – and his past record – to be held to close scrutiny as he warned the US presidency was not a “reality show".

With Trump seizing the mantle of presumptive Republican nominee this week after his rivals dropped out of the race, debate has turned to whether the provocative billionaire will be able to rally party faithful behind him between now and November.

Asked about Trump’s candidacy, and the resulting chaos on the Republican side, Obama offered some of his most pointed comments yet about the celebrity real estate mogul and long-time star of TV show “The Apprentice”, whose political rise has stunned the world.

“We are in serious times and this is a really serious job,” Obama told reporters at the White House. “This is not entertainment. This is not a reality show.”

“What that means is that every candidate, every nominee needs to be subject to exacting standards and genuine scrutiny.”

Trump has raised howls of protest even within his party with his harsh, free-wheeling speech and proposals ranging from banning Muslims from entering the United States to building a wall on the southern border to keep out Mexican migrants to slashing US funding for NATO so allies have to pay more.

“He has a long record that needs to be examined, and I think it’s important for us to take seriously the statements he’s made in the past,” Obama said.

When asked about a controversial tweet by Trump on the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo, the president was disdainfully uninterested.

“I have no thoughts on Mr Trump's tweets. As a general rule I don't pay attention to Mr Trump's tweets,” he said.

The president's history with Donald Trump goes back to 2011 when Trump spearheaded a campaign alleging Obama was foreign-born and not eligible to be president.

Obama released his American birth certificate and then proceeded to use the comic licence afforded by the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to mock Trump in his presence.

“No one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate to rest than the Donald. And that's because he can get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like, did we fake the moon landing?,” he said.

Trump declined an invitation to attend this year's dinner, which took place last week, where Obama once again made the presumptive Republican nominee the butt of several of his jokes.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Greece paralysed by general strike ahead of pension vote

Public transport ground to a halt in Greece on Friday as trade unions launched a 48-hour general strike against government plans to overhaul pensions and increase taxes, as demanded by international creditors.

No trains were running across the country, and boats linking the Greek mainland to the islands were anchored at ports. In the capital Athens, the metro, tram and bus systems were all stationary, leaving taxis as the only form of available public transport.

“There’s been a complete paralysis when it comes to public transportation,” reported Nathalie Savaricas, FRANCE 24’s correspondent in Athens.

“Many people were left to either walk or take taxis to go to work – or their own cars for those who have them and can afford the gas, which is increasingly expensive (in Greece) despite the fall in prices worldwide.”

The public sector was operating at a snail's pace, while most TV and radio stations were refusing to air news bulletins in the fourth crippling general strike since leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras came to office in January 2015.

Greek airports were not affected, however, and privately-run inter-city buses were still operating.

Some 7,000 protesters kicked off the strike with a protest in central Athens.

But public anger over the cutbacks is not set to culminate until Sunday, with large demonstrations due to coincide with celebrations for International Workers' Day, postponed from May 1 owing to the timing of Orthodox Easter.

The controversial pension and tax reforms are part of a package of painful measures demanded by the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for a huge €86 billion ($95 billion) bailout for debt-crippled Greece agreed last July.

Lawmakers are due to debate the latest austerity measures in parliament from Saturday morning, ahead of a vote on Sunday night.

The vote was initially scheduled for next week but Tsipras is hoping he can get the bill passed before Monday's Eurogroup meeting of eurozone finance ministers, allowing fraught talks with the creditors to move on to the crucial issue of debt reduction.

Tsipras defends cuts

The reforms would reduce Greece's highest pension payouts, merge several pension funds, increase contributions and raise taxes for those on medium and high incomes.

Tsipras defended the measures on Friday, telling lawmakers from his left-wing Syriza party that they would spare the poorest.

Reforming Greece's bloated pension system is crucial to prevent "the system collapsing in a few years", the prime minister added.

Tsipras holds a slim majority of 153 seats in the 300-seat parliament, and Panyiotis Petrakis, economics professor at the University of Athens, said the general strike would not threaten the passage of the bill.

"The reforms will be adopted and it's a good call to hold the vote before the Eurogroup," Petrakis told AFP

"But it is still not clear that things will reach a conclusion on Monday," he added.

"The distance between Athens and its creditors, which are demanding extra measures valued at 3.6 billion euros, remain significant."

Creditors at odds

The creditors themselves were also at odds on Friday, with a leaked letter from IMF chief Christine Lagarde, published in the Financial Times, urging eurozone finance ministers to move the much-stalled talks on to the question of debt reduction.

The issue is pressing ahead of a huge Greek payment to the European Central Bank due in July, with fears growing that it could default if the issue is not resolved.

Lagarde stressed the need to revise down the goal of Greece achieving a primary budget surplus of 3.5 percent of GDP in 2018, saying it was "counterproductive" to expect Athens to meet the target.

Greece's budget deficit has ballooned as it struggles to keep up with mammoth debt payments, which the IMF believes is unsustainable.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Much-anticipated monsoon may not solve India's drought crisis

By Juliet Perry and Huizhong Wu, CNN

(CNN)India's killer heatwave is leaving the country reeling from the worst drought in decades and a rural population struggling to survive.

Relief is due with the arrival of the monsoon in mid-June, and because of the impending La Nina weather pattern, the forecast is for above-average rainfall.

However WaterAid India's Head of Policy, Nitya Jacob, says groundwater levels are so depleted that even if a good monsoon comes in June -- and meteorologists predict there will be one that ends the drought -- it won't be enough.

"Even if the monsoon is good, it cannot compensate," Jacob told CNN.

Central Water Commission data shows that India's major reservoirs are 79% empty, and 75% of India's basins are holding less water than the 10-year average.

CNN Meteorologist, Michael Guy, says this is usually the hottest time for the subcontinent, but this year has seen an unprecedented spike in temperatures. 

"India is currently in their summer or pre-monsoon season, which lasts from April to late May, or early June," says Guy.

"This year we've seen temperatures range from the lower 40s to as high as 47˚C or 116˚Fahrenheit. For some, this is three to five degrees (Celsius) above normal."

And critically, the past two monsoon seasons have seen below average rainfall.

"This has had a huge impact on groundwater supplies," says Jacob.

Impact on the ground

The government estimates up to 330 million people could currently be affected by the dry climate conditions.

"We are seeing that people don't even have enough water for drinking," says Jacob.

In an open letter to India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April, more than 150 of India's activists and academics expressed their concern about the drought's impact on the rural population.

"In areas where rains have failed, farmers who depend mainly on rainwater to irrigate their crops have no, or very low, crop yields," they wrote.

"Those who rely on irrigation are also affected, with groundwater sinking and streams and reservoirs drying up."

The combination of heat with humidity makes India a global hot spot for heat-related illnesses and fatalities -- so far the government estimates more than 370 people have died.

2015's heatwave led to around 2,500 deaths in India, making it among the top five deadliest years in recorded history.

"It was a wake-up call for us," said K. Dhananjaya Reddy, the director of disaster management in Andhra Pradesh, a state that saw more than 1,300 deaths in 2015.

 

In 2016, as part of a prevention strategy, 10 cities across the hottest parts of India have teamed up with different organizations to create plans to combat the heat.

"All of the plans are focused on the most vulnerable population who don't have access to air conditioning, or have to work outdoors," says Anjali Jaiswal, Natural Resources Defense Council's India Initiative director.

The low-tech solutions range from warning systems, to medical training, to enforcing cuts to power and water supplies during cooler times. In Bihar, according to The Hindu, the increased threat of wildfires has even resulted in a cooking ban between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Weird weather

El Niño is a periodic weather event characterized by warming ocean temperatures. The most serious effects are heat waves and water scarcity, and we are currently coming to the end of one of the worst El Niño periods in two decades.

Why this El Nino could be the biggest on record

While the effects of El Niño are global and widespread, it hits Asian countries the hardest: heat waves and drought become a more common occurrence, leading to energy, food and water insecurity. 

The good news is that this current El Nino system is fading, and the impending monsoon rains are offering rural villagers, as well as those locked into sweltering cities, some cause for optimism.

Meteorologists also say that the upcoming La Niña impacted monsoon is expected to be heavier than normal. "The forecast is quite positive," says CNN Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

At the start of the hottest month of the year, with forecast rains still weeks away, and no certainty that the coming rains will be enough, only time will tell how India will cope.

North Korea puts on once-in-a-generation political event

By Will Ripley and Ralph Ellis, CNN

(CNN)North Korea, one of the world's most secretive nations, is putting on its biggest political event in 36 years.

The 7th Congress of Workers' Party began Friday in Pyongyang, the nation's capital and biggest city.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the event will "lay out the brilliant blueprint that will advance the final victory of our revolution," according to the state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun.

But the secrecy surrounding the event continues, even with the presence of more than 100 international media outlets.

About 3,000 party members have poured in for this once-in-a-generation political gathering, officials tell CNN.

The congress will be held at a convention center called April 25 House of Culture. While the building also hosted the previous party congress in 1980, it was not officially announced as this year's venue until the day before the gathering.

There will be plenty of spectacle as thousands of costumed North Koreans will parade and perform choreography in this scrubbed-down metropolis.

Political pronouncements are likely, though nobody is sure what Kim has in mind.

The meeting, which was initially reported in October, is being convened to reflect "the demand of the party and the developing revolution," the official state Korean Central News Agency reports.

What will Kim do?

There is speculation Kim could move away from his father's "military first" ideology and reinforce his own brand of simultaneous nuclear and economic development.

The congress is also likely to see Kim announce the continuation of North Korea's nuclear weapons program. That, along with military intelligence, is a major reason why many South Korean and U.S. government officials believe a fifth nuclear test could happen at some point during the congress.

Kim ordered what was claimed to be a hydrogen bomb test on the same week of his birthday in January. It was followed a month later by a satellite launch, which led the United States and its allies to push for a new round of strong sanctions aimed at halting the regime's nuclear and missile programs.

Those sanctions have made it difficult to improve the North Korean economy, another major issue facing Kim.

"The goal of this congress is really to consolidate Kim's hold on power," said Mike Chinoy, author of "Meltdown: The inside story of the North Korean nuclear crisis."

"During the rule of Kim Jong Il the focus was very much on 'military first,' the armed forces had even more influence than before. Kim Jong Un has been shifting power back to the ruling Korean Workers' Party."

Doing so, along with continued nuclear tests, may enable Kim to reduce the amount resources spent maintaining a traditional army, Chinoy said.

Speculation on reasons for the congress

Last congress in 1980

Kim's birth date is unknown, but he's thought to be in his early 30s, meaning he wasn't even alive when the last congress was held in 1980.

At that time, his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, North Korea's founder and president, elevated his son Kim Jong Il to No. 2 in the party, solidifying his position as successor. Kim Jong II took power in 1994 when his father died and never held a congress.

He died in December 2011, and his son took command of the military.

The new congress has involved much more than politicians.

To prepare for visitors, thousands of regular North Koreans have engaged in a "70-day Battle" to clean up Pyongyang. They have hung banners, swept sidewalks and planted flowers ahead of the event.

Student bands even played patriotic tunes to lift the spirits of citizens and encourage them to work harder to make their capital look its best.

According to state TV, the campaign concluded with "144% achievement," with Rodong Sinmun adding that it had united the people around Kim in a way that "cannot be reversed by any enemy."

CNN's KJ Kwon and James Griffiths, and journalist Sol Han contributed to this story.