Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says he believes the foreign-sponsored terrorism in Syria has come to an end, and that the need to promote the long-lasting settlement of crisis both in the war-ravaged Arab country and the entire Middle East region is highly required.

“The war in Syria has really come to an end. The country is gradually returning to a normal, peaceful life. Some hotspots of tensions remain in the territories that are not controlled by the Syrian government, such as Idlib and the eastern bank of the Euphrates,” Russia’s Sputnik news agency cited Lavrov as saying in an exclusive interview with Russian newspaper the Trud on Thursday.

The top Russian then pointed to the provision of humanitarian aid for affected civilians and “promotion of political process on settling the crisis to achieve stable and long-lasting stabilization of the situation in the country and the whole Middle East region” as the most important issues regarding Syria.

Lavrov added, “We believe the formation and launch of a committee designed to develop the constitutional reform will be an important step in advancing the political process led and carried out by Syrians themselves with the UN assistance.”

“In fact, its convention will enable the Syrian sides – the government and the foreign-sponsored armed opposition – to begin for the first time a direct dialogue on their country’s future,” he commented.

Lavrov went on to say that Russia has taken some steps to “support the efforts of the Syrian government in its fight against terrorists, who still remain in the Idlib zone, and promote issues concerning humanitarian assistance and facilitation of the political process in the context of formation of the constitutional committee.”

The Russian foreign minister later criticized sanctions that the United States and European countries have slapped on the Syrian government, describing the measures as fully counterproductive.

Russia has been helping Syrian forces in ongoing battles across the conflict-plagued Arab country. Syrians continue to recapture key areas from Daesh and other foreign-backed terrorist groups across the country.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups that had been wreaking havoc in the country.

Militants open fire on civilians at Rukban camp  

Separately, US-sponsored militants have opened fire at displaced Syrians stranded in a camp near the Jordanian border after the latter demanded that delivered humanitarian food be distributed among them.

Head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in the Syrian Arab Republic, Major General Alexey Bakin, said members of the so-called Forces of Martyr Ahmad al-Abdo militant group have seized a significant amount of cargo delivered by the United Nations and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent to the Rukban camp, and moved the consignment to their base north of the camp.

“On September 11, militants opened fire with small arms at a market in Rukban to disperse civilians demanding food,” Bakin said.

The United Nations says about 45,000 people, mostly women and children, are trapped inside Rukban, where conditions are desperate. This is while Geneva-based international aid agency Doctors Without Borders has put the number at some 60,000.

On March 6, Lavrov said the United States needed the Rukban refugee camp in order to justify its illegitimate military presence in Syria.

“The fact that people are not allowed to leave [the camp] and are held hostage makes one suggest that the US needs this camp to continue justifying its illegitimate presence there,” Lavrov said.

“This is in line with the US policy aimed at creating something like a quasi-state on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River. It does not want these territories to get back under the control of Syria’s legitimate authorities.”

Source: Presstv

US President Donald Trump has declared as “dead” so-called peace talks with the Taliban, saying Washington is back at pounding the group’s positions in Afghanistan as part of its 18-year-long war in the country.

“They are dead. As far as I am concerned, they are dead,” Trump said at the White House on Monday, when asked about the long-running talks with the militant group in Qatar.

The talks produced a draft agreement last week that included a substantial US military drawdown from the country after 18 years of occupation, putting in sight an end to what has become the longest war in America’s history.

However, the prospect of peace in Afghanistan collapsed on Saturday, when Trump said he had called off a secret meeting with Taliban leaders in Camp David, outside Washington to discuss the deal.

The decision, Trump said, was his response to a deadly bomb blast by the Taliban, which killed 12 people in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Thursday, including an American soldier.

Trump put another nail in the coffin of the draft agreement, saying his military commanders had already stepped war against the militant group to the highest levels in a decade.

“Over the last four days, we have been hitting our Enemy harder than at any time in the last ten years!” he wrote in a tweet.

Trump’s comments were echoed by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said a day earlier that the talks were “dead” because the Taliban “tried to use terror to improve their negotiating position.”

He, too, noted that America’s military operations in Afghanistan were now back on full throttle.

“We’ve killed over a thousand Taliban in just the last 10 days,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees Washington’s military operations in Afghanistan, said the US military was likely to accelerate the pace of its operations against the Taliban.

US Marine General Kenneth McKenzie, the head of CENTOM, said during a visit to Afghanistan the Taliban overplayed its hand in the negotiations by resorting to violence.

Seemingly unrepentant, the Taliban, which is today in control of more territory than at any time since 2001 when its rule ended over the country, said Sunday that more American lives would be lost in Afghanistan if the peace talks stop.

McKenzie declined to comment on the Taliban statement but said US troops would not hesitate to hit back.

“We’re certainly not going to sit still and let them carry out some self-described race to victory. That’s not going to happen,” McKenzie told reporters during a stop at Bagram Airfield in northeastern Afghanistan on Monday.

The CENTCOM chief said pledged a “spectrum” of attacks against the Taliban, which will also include airstrikes and raids involving Afghan commandos.

Any increase in US military action would correspond to an acceleration of Taliban attacks, he added.

According to a United Nations report that came out on September 3, airstrikes by US-led foreign forces and Afghan aircraft in Afghanistan reached 506 between May 10 and August 8, around 57 percent increase from the same period in 2018.

Source: Presstv

Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s first post-independence leader, has died aged 95.

He died after battling ill health, his family confirmed to the BBC. Mr Mugabe had been in hospital in Singapore since April.

He was ousted in a military coup in November 2017, ending three decades in power.

He won Zimbabwe’s first election after independence, becoming prime minister in 1980. He abolished the office in 1987, becoming president instead.

Mugabe’s early years were praised for broadening access to health and education for the black majority. But his controversial land reform programme sparked an economic collapse and his latter years were marked by rights abuses and corruption.

His successor, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, expressed his “utmost sadness”, calling Mr Mugabe “Zimbabwe’s founding father” and “an icon of liberation”.

Mr Mnangagwa had been Mr Mugabe’s deputy before replacing him.

‘Liberation icon’

Mr Mugabe was born on 21 February 1924 in what was then Rhodesia.

He was imprisoned for more than a decade without trial after criticising the government of Rhodesia in 1964.

In 1973, while still in prison, he was chosen as president of the Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu), of which he was a founding member.

Once released, he adopted a militant stance, heading to Mozambique and directing guerrilla raids into Rhodesia. But he was also seen as a skilled negotiator.

Political agreements to end the crisis resulted in the new independent Republic of Zimbabwe, elections for which were first held in 1980.

Mr Mugabe, with his high profile in the independence movement, secured an overwhelming victory.

Robert Mugabe – key dates

1924: Born

Later trained as a teacher

1964: Imprisoned by Rhodesian government

1980: Wins post-independence elections

1996: Marries Grace Marufu

2000: Loses referendum, pro-Mugabe militias invade white-owned farms and attack opposition supporters

2008: Comes second in first round of elections to Tsvangirai who pulls out of run-off amid nationwide attacks on his supporters

2009: Amid economic collapse, swears in Tsvangirai as prime minister, who served in uneasy government of national unity for four years

2017: Sacks long-time ally Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, paving the way for his wife Grace to succeed him

November 2017: Army intervenes and forces him to step down

Culled from the BBC

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi as well as a number of Democratic presidential candidates have called for stricter gun laws following a mass shooting on Saturday in Texas.

The shooting, which happened in the western city of Midland, reportedly left at least five people killed and more than 21 others injured.

A gunman opened fire, shooting randomly at bystanders at a Home Depot department store before moving on to a Movie theater in neighboring city of Odessa, where he was shot and killed by police.

Following the incident, Schumer and Pelosi took to Twitter, calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to introduce legislation that would expand background checks on gun purchases.

Chuck Schumer✔@SenSchumer

Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, & everyone injured in the shooting in Odessa & Midland, TX.

Thank you to the first responders who risked their lives to stop the threat.@senatemajldr should bring up H.R. 8 the week Congress returns. We must #endgunviolence.

Pelosi also said that McConnell should end Senate GOP “obstruction.”

Nancy Pelosi✔@SpeakerPelosi

Enough is enough. Every day, the gun violence epidemic inflicts a devastating toll in communities across America, this time
in West Texas. The @SenateGOP must end its obstruction & finally pass House-approved legislation to #EndGunViolence. https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/83119 Pelosi Statement on Shooting in Midland and Odessa, Texas“America’s heart is broken by the senseless and horrific mass shooting tonight in Texas.speaker.gov7,4692:27 AM – Sep 1, 2019

Meanwhile, several presidential contenders from the Democratic Party condemned the shooting.

“We do know that this is f-cked up. We know that this has to stop in our country,” Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) said at a campaign stop in Virginia.

Former Vice President Joe Biden also tweeted that “we must end this epidemic.”

Joe Biden✔@JoeBiden

I’m heartbroken, sickened, & angry. Weeks after the horror in El Paso, another community in Texas has been terrorized by gun violence. Enough. We must end this epidemic.@DrBiden & I send our thoughts to those affected & thank our law enforcement who responded at great risk.5,7302:02 AM – Sep 1, 2019

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Twitter called on Congress to take action to stop gun violence.

“We’ve already lost far too many to gun violence—Congress must act now.”

It is not yet clear what motivated the carnage and whether the incident was racially motivated as was the case in a massacre a month earlier the Texas city of El Paso, where a white young male targeted mostly native Mexican residents, killing 22 and wounding nearly 30 more.

Meanwhile, in another shooting in Alabama, a 17-year-old reportedly shot 10 teenagers – ranging in age from 15 to 18 — following a high school football game in the city of Mobile.

The shooting victims were taken to a local hospital Saturday morning as Mobile Police Department spokesman Laderrick Dubose identified the teenage shooter as Deangelo Parnell, further declaring that there were no fatalities as the result of the incident.

Source: Presstv

Another mass shooting in the US state of Texas has reportedly left at least five people killed and more than 21 others injured while an earlier shooting incident at a high school football game in the southeastern state of Alabama left 10 teenagers wounded.

The Texas shooting began in the western city of Midland Saturday afternoon, where up to three suspects were seen shooting randomly at bystanders at a Home Depot department store before moving on to a Movie theater in neighboring city of Odessa, where one of the shooters was reported shot and killed by police.

“It has been confirmed that the active shooter was shot and killed at the Cinergy in Odessa,” the Midland Police Department declared in a Facebook post, adding: “There is no active shooter at this time. All agencies are investigating reports of possible suspects.”

“We believe there are two shooters in two separate vehicles. One suspect is believed to be at the Cinergy [theater] in Midland and the other is believed to be driving on Loop 250 in Midland. The two vehicles in question are: gold/white small Toyota truck and a USPS Postal Van. Please stay away from these areas and stay indoors,” the police statement further said.

Moreover, Midland’s Mayor Jerry Morales was also cited in local press reports as saying that two suspects and a possible third shooter were firing randomly at passersby, initially adding: “We have two fatalities and up to 20 injuries.”

Morales further stated that one of the suspected shooters was shot and wounded by police, saying: “One suspect is in custody. I’m not sure if he is alive.” However, later reports said the suspect was killed by police, identifying him as 30-year-old white man.

It is not yet clear what motivated the mass carnage and whether the incident was racially motivated as was the case in a massacre a month earlier the Texas city of El Paso, where a white young male targeted mostly native Mexican residents, killing 22 and wounding nearly 30 more.

Alabama high school shooting injures 10 teenagers

In the Alabama shooting, a 17-year-old was apprehended by police officers after 10 teenagers – ranging in age from 15 to 18 — were shot following a high school football game in the city of Mobile.

The shooting victims were taken to a local hospital Saturday morning as Mobile Police Department spokesman Laderrick Dubose identified the teenage shooter as Deangelo Parnell, further declaring that there were no fatalities as the result of the incident.

Meanwhile, Mobile Police Chief Lawrence Battiste admonished young people for “bringing their beefs that they have with each other in their neighborhoods” into public settings and “putting people in harm’s way.”

“Why are young people bringing this type of violence to public events?” Battiste said at a news conference. “We’re gonna have to be more aggressive on our end as a city as to how we hold these individuals accountable.”

The incident “may have been a directed threat at one or two individuals and other people just happened to fall prey to their carelessness,” he further added.

In yet another recent US mass shooting in early August nine people were killed and 17 others were left wounded in Dayton, Ohio.

Source: Presstv

Iran-Israel Proxy Flare-Up – On Sunday, Israel confirmed it bombed an Iran-backed militia group in Syria that it says was preparing to launch “killer drones” against Israeli targets. Israel is also thought to be behind attacks on Iranian-allied groups in Lebanon and Iraq, and hits on Hamas targets in Gaza. The governments of Iraq and Lebanon condemned the strikes, while Hezbollah promised retaliation. With three weeks to go until snap elections that will determine Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s (Bibi) political fate, we’re watching to see whether this flare-up escalates, and whether it boosts Bibi’s election chances against former Israel Defense Forces chief Benny Gantz.

Clashes in Cameroon – English-speaking regions of majority Francophone Cameroon are on lockdown following a violent weekend in which clashes between the army and Anglophone separatists killed 40 people and sent tens of thousands of residents fleeing for safety. The conflict started in 2016, when the central government cracked down on English speakers protesting a move to impose French on local schools and courts. The flare-up in recent days came a week after 10 prominent Anglophone separatists were handed life sentences for rebellion. So far, more than 2,000 people have died and more than 500,000 have been displaced in the three-year-old conflict.

Brexit Battles – Will Europe give UK prime minister Boris Johnson a better Brexit deal than the one they offered his predecessor, Theresa May? Not bloody likely. Yes, Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Emmanuel Macron have pledged to consider any credible new ideas from Johnson on how to handle the Irish border. But that’s not a European concession; that promise of flexibility is already in the existing Withdrawal Agreement. Merkel and Macron want to appear flexible so that Boris takes the blame when the issue can’t be resolved. Inside the UK, meanwhile, opposition party leaders made a show on Tuesday of agreeing on the need to avoid a Hard Brexit. But while they agree they have a problem, the solution remains unclear. With the clock ticking down toward the October 31 Brexit deadline, we’re watching to see if some political Houdini can pick these locks before everyone sinks to the bottom of the river.

Culled from Gzeromedia

Violent clashes between African migrants and Mexican military police erupted in Tapachula on Tuesday, as migrants demanded the right to travel north to the US and Canada.

Hundreds of African migrants are currently trapped at the Mexican southern border, after the Latin American country decided to strengthen its border controls following US threats of imposing tariffs on Mexican goods.

(Source: Ruptly) 

China has reportedly denied a US navy warship entry to its port city of Qingdao, in the second such move this month, which comes amid mounting tensions between Beijing and Washington.

A US military official told Reuters on the condition of anonymity on Tuesday that a US destroyer was supposed to visit Qingdao on Sunday but China denied a request for the visit.

Asked why the US request was denied, the official said the question should be directed to Beijing.

China has yet to comment on the report.

In a similar move this month, China denied two US Navy ships entry to Hong Kong.

The US official said American warships had occasionally made visits to China, most recently in 2017.

The last US warship to have visited Qingdao was the destroyer Benfold, which docked at a Chinese port in 2016.

China has long been engaged in a dispute with Washington in the East and South China Seas, over which it claims sovereignty. The US usually dispatches its warships and warplanes to the waters as part of patrols it describes as “freedom of navigation” and without seeking an authorization from Beijing.

The two sides are also locked in a trade war, which started when the administration of US President Donald Trump imposed unusually high tariffs on imported goods from China after he took office.

Trump claimed on Monday that there were hopes for a deal with Beijing to de-escalate the dispute.

He said that Chinese officials had requested to return back to the negotiation table in a telephone conversation with “our top people.” China, however, denied the claim.

Source: Presstv

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday called off a visit to Denmark scheduled for early September after the country’s prime minister rebuffed his idea of purchasing Greenland.

“Denmark is a very special country with incredible people, but based on Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s comments, that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of Greenland, I will be postponing our meeting scheduled in two weeks for another time,” Trump said in a post on Twitter.

“The Prime Minister was able to save a great deal of expense and effort for both the United States and Denmark by being so direct. I thank her for that and look forward to rescheduling sometime in the future!”

A White House official said Trump had dropped the Sept. 2-3 stop in Denmark, a NATO ally. Trump had been due to discuss the Arctic in meetings in Copenhagen with Frederiksen, who took office in June, and Prime Minister Kim Kielsen of Greenland.

He is due to visit Poland on August 31.

Frederiksen said on Sunday the idea of selling Greenland to the United States was absurd after an economic adviser to Trump confirmed US interest in buying the world’s largest island.

“Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland. I strongly hope that this is not meant seriously,” Frederiksen told the newspaper Sermitsiaq during a visit to Greenland.

Trump confirmed to reporters on Sunday that he had recently discussed the possibility of buying Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, although he said such a move was not an immediate priority.

“The concept came up and … strategically it’s interesting,” Trump told reporters in Morristown, New Jersey.

A defense treaty between Denmark and the United States dating back to 1951 gives the US military rights over the Thule Air Base in northern Greenland.

Trump’s interest in buying Greenland has been met with incredulity and humor. Lars Lokke Rasmussen, who recently stepped down as Danish prime minister, tweeted last week: “It must be an April Fool’s Day joke.”

On Monday, Trump retweeted an image of a golden Trump tower looming over a cluster of houses on the Arctic island, and wrote: “I promise not to do this to Greenland!”

(Source: Reuters)

Most of the sailors kidnapped off the Cameroon coast last week were Filipinos, not Chinese as first reported, according to an official document seen by AFP Sunday.

On Friday, an official in the port of Douala told AFP that 17 crew had been abducted, including “nine Chinese civilian sailors” from one of the two ships attacked, along with Ukrainians.

The attacks took place on Thursday in Cameroonian waters off Douala, located at the apex of a gulf that has become a hotspot of seaborne crime. The port document said instead that “nine hostages, all Filipinos,” were seized from a Greek-owned ship while “eight (three Russians, four Filipinos and a Ukrainian)” were taken from a German-owned vessel.

Noel Choong, head of the information service of the International Maritime Bureau based in Kuala Lumpur, confirmed the figures but said he could not be sure of the nationalities on the second ship.

“The IMB has issued a warning to all ships at Douala. We ask all ships to take additional precautions,” Choong said Friday.

In Moscow, press reports citing the foreign ministry said three of the victims were Russian.

The Gulf of Guinea, whose coastline stretches in a huge arc from Liberia to Gabon, is notorious for piracy as well as oil theft, illegal fishing and human and drugs trafficking.

Source: AFP