Russian cruise missiles target Syria

Fri Aug 19, 2016 | 7:00 PM EDT Russian cruise missiles target Syria 3h ago | 01:07 Syrian rebels welcome idea of 'weekly' truce Russian cruise missiles target Syria (Reuters) - Russian warships in the Mediterranean Sea fired cruise missiles at targets near Aleppo on Friday, a further sign of Moscow's broadening military effort in Syria days after it began to fly bombing missions from an airbase in Iran. Russian air power had helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad make steady advances against rebels seeking to oust him since Moscow's intervention a year ago, but a recent insurgent advance in Aleppo has checked that momentum. In northeastern Syria, warplanes from a U.S.-led coalition flew patrols on Thursday to protect local ground forces they back against Syrian government airstrikes that are targeting the Kurdish city of Hasaka, the Pentagon said. "The Syrian regime would be well advised not to interfere with coalition forces or our partners," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said. Russia's three cruise missile launches were its first against targets in Syria from the Mediterranean, with previous ones made from its Caspian Sea fleet. On Tuesday Russian bombers began flying missions in Syria from Hamedan air base in Iran. Russia's Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted the Islamist militant group Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, known as the Nusra Front until it broke formal ties with al Qaeda last month before playing a big role in the sudden rebel advances in Aleppo. The upsurge in fighting and airstrikes in and around the city, split between government-held west and rebel-held eastern sectors, has prompted growing international concern, galvanized by pictures on Thursday of a dazed, bloodied child. The plight of civilians in Aleppo has been aggravated in besieged areas by dire shortages of basic goods, leading the World Food Programme to warn of a "nightmarish" situation. In Daraya, a suburb of Damascus, rebels and a war monitor said the Syrian army's helicopters had dropped incendiary barrel bombs early on Friday, putting the opposition-held town's only hospital out of action. On Thursday Russia, Assad's most powerful military ally, said it supported a proposal for a weekly 48-hour pause in fighting in Aleppo to allow aid to reach the besieged areas and that it was ready to start the first one next week. On Friday, the main umbrella group for the Syrian opposition also cautiously welcomed the idea provided the U.N. monitored the truce and enforced compliance. During a previous humanitarian pause this year, both sides complained the other had broken the truce as fighting escalated again. DOZENS KILLED IN HASAKA On Friday Syrian Kurdish authorities evacuated thousands of civilians from Kurdish areas of Hasaka following government air strikes, a spokesman for the Kurdish YPG militia, an integral part of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said. The SDF is at the heart of Washington's military campaign against Islamic State group and last week seized the town of Manbij from the militant organization, part of a growing swathe of northern Syria it controls. The U.S.-led coalition aircraft arrived at Hasaka as two Syrian SU-24s, which had carried out the strikes, were leaving. "This is very unusual, we have not seen the regime take this kind of action against YPG before," the Pentagon's Davis said. Hasaka is divided into zones of Kurdish and Syrian government control and fighting between them has killed dozens of civilians in the past 48 hours, YPG spokesman Redur Xelil said. The YPG and the government have mostly avoided confrontation during the multi-sided war that has turned Syria into a patchwork of areas held by the state and an array of armed factions. The Syrian army said on Friday that this week's fighting was caused by Kurdish security forces attempting to take over Hasaka, prompting it to return fire on armed groups. A civilian removes the rubble in front of a damaged shop after an airstrike in the rebel held al-Saleheen neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria August 18, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail A civilian removes the rubble in front of a damaged shop after an airstrike in the rebel held al-Saleheen neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria August 18, 2016. Reuters/Abdalrhman Ismail A still image, taken from video footage and released by Russia's Defence Ministry on August 19, 2016, shows a rocket being launched from a Russian corvette in the Mediterranean Sea at Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant targets in Syria, according to the ministry. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation/Handout via Reuters A still image, taken from video footage and released by Russia's Defence Ministry on August 19, 2016, shows a rocket being launched from a Russian corvette in the Mediterranean Sea at Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant targets in Syria, according to the ministry. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation/Handout via Reuters A still image, taken from video footage and released by Russia's Defence Ministry on August 19, 2016, shows a rocket being launched from a Russian corvette in the Mediterranean Sea at Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant targets in Syria, according to the ministry. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation/Handout via Reuters A still image, taken from video footage and released by Russia's Defence Ministry on August 19, 2016, shows a rocket being launched from a Russian corvette in the Mediterranean Sea at Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant targets in Syria, according to the ministry. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation/Handout via Reuters A civilian removes the rubble in front of a damaged shop after an airstrike in the rebel held al-Saleheen neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria August 18, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail A civilian removes the rubble in front of a damaged shop after an airstrike in the rebel held al-Saleheen neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria August 18, 2016. Reuters/Abdalrhman Ismail A still image, taken from video footage and released by Russia's Defence Ministry on August 19, 2016, shows a rocket being launched from a Russian corvette in the Mediterranean Sea at Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant targets in Syria, according to the ministry. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation/Handout via Reuters A still image, taken from video footage and released by Russia's Defence Ministry on August 19, 2016, shows a rocket being launched from a Russian corvette in the Mediterranean Sea at Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant targets in Syria, according to the ministry. Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation/Handout via Reuters › Assad, backed by Russia and Iran, has focused mostly on fighting Sunni Arab rebels who have been battling to oust him in western Syria with support from countries including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United States. The YPG, or People's Protection Units, has meanwhile prioritized carving out and safeguarding predominantly Kurdish regions of northern Syria. The group has ties to Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels in Turkey. While the YPG controls most of the northeast, the Syrian government has maintained footholds in the cities of Hasaka and Qamishli at the border with Turkey. The SDF seizure of Manbij from Islamic State last week raised the prospect of possible advances towards al-Bab, near Aleppo. Families of Islamic State fighters in al-Bab and another nearby town, Jarablus, were evacuated to the militant group's stronghold of Raqqa, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitoring group, said. ALEPPO TRUCE Related Coverage Syria army says Hasaka clashes result of Kurdish take-over effort Coalition jets scrambled to defend U.S. forces from Syrian bombing SlideshowStill image shows Russian warship firing cruise missiles at Syrian targets Rebel groups, including Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, stormed a Syrian army complex in southwest Aleppo two weeks ago, breaking a siege on opposition-held parts of Aleppo and prompting fierce counter-attacks. A senior rebel commander said there was a "positive atmosphere" surrounding talk of a ceasefire. "But so far there are no details." Syrian warplanes had carried out 46 sorties in the last 24 hours, including strikes in Aleppo that destroyed a tank, a vehicle loaded with ammunition and three mortar emplacements, and killed dozens of rebel fighters, a military source said. Continuing clashes between rebels and the Syrian army and allied militias were fiercest in the southwest of city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitor of the five-year-old civil war, said on Friday. It added that air strikes and shelling in and around Aleppo had killed 422 civilians, including 142 children, this month. "We need a 48-hour pause, we need it now," WFP spokeswoman Bettina Luescher told a briefing in Geneva on Friday. While the rebel advance this month opened a narrow corridor into opposition-held areas of Aleppo, access remains very limited and dangerous, meaning aid supplies are scarce. "It's crucially important that we go in there because people are absolutely desperate," Luescher added. "From both sides, these sieges have to stop - it's inhumane, awful, disgusting, nightmarish. Not necessarily U.N. words, but that's what it is." (Reporting by Angus McDowall and Tom Perry in Beirut, Polina Devitt in Moscow, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; editing by Ralph Boulton and Richard Balmforth)

NYMEX crude oil dips beneath $30 for the first time since December 2003: TURKEY A TARGET

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(Earth is rising over the Moon's Surface), Source: https://www.facebook.com/RealEstateSA5000/photos/a.899877783394135.1073741829.899009183480995/920077631374150/?l=734b9eef72 Tue Jan 12, 2016 | 1:57 PM EST Suicide bomber kills 10 people, mainly Germans, in Istanbul 8:14 AM EST | 01:00 Syrian bomber suspected in deadly Istanbul blast: Erdogan By Ayla Jean Yackley ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A suicide bomber thought to have crossed recently from Syria killed at least 10 people, most of them German tourists, in Istanbul's historic heart on Tuesday, in an attack Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu blamed on Islamic State. All of those killed in Sultanahmet square, near the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia - major tourist sites in the center of one of the world's most visited cities - were foreigners, Davutoglu said. A senior Turkish official said nine were German, while Peru's foreign ministry said a Peruvian man also died. Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said the bomber was believed to have recently entered Turkey from Syria but was not on Turkey's watch list of suspected militants. He said earlier that the bomber had been identified from body parts at the scene and was thought to be a Syrian born in 1988. Davutoglu said he had spoken by phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to offer condolences and vowed Turkey's fight against Islamic State, at home and as part of the U.S.-led coalition, would continue. "Until we wipe out Daesh, Turkey will continue its fight at home and with coalition forces," he said in comments broadcast live on television, using an Arabic name for Islamic State. He vowed to hunt down and punish those linked to the bomber. Merkel similarly vowed no respite in the fight against international terrorism, telling a news conference in Berlin: "The terrorists are the enemies of all free people ... of all humanity, be it in Syria, Turkey, France or Germany." There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Islamist, leftist and Kurdish militants, who are battling Ankara in southeast Turkey, have all carried out attacks in the past. Several bodies lay on the ground in the square, also known as the Hippodrome of Constantinople, in the immediate aftermath of the blast. It was not densely packed at the time of the explosion, according to a police officer working there, but small groups of tourists had been wandering around. "This incident has once again shown that as a nation we should act as one heart, one body in the fight against terror. Turkey's determined and principled stance in the fight against terrorism will continue to the end," President Tayyip Erdogan told a lunch for Turkish ambassadors in Ankara. Norway's foreign ministry said one Norwegian man was injured and was being treated in hospital. The White House condemned the "heinous attack" and pledged solidarity with NATO ally Turkey against terrorism. U.N. Secretary Ban Ki-moon said he hoped those responsible for "this despicable crime" were swiftly brought to justice. Turkey, a candidate for accession to the European Union, is part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State fighters who have seized territory in neighboring Syria and Iraq, some of it directly abutting Turkey. "UNIMAGINABLE" SCENE The dull thud of Tuesday's blast was heard in districts of Istanbul several kilometers away, residents said. Television footage showed a police car which appeared to have been overturned by the force of the blast. "We heard a loud sound and I looked at the sky to see if it was raining because I thought it was thunder but the sky was clear," said Kuwaiti tourist Farah Zamani, 24, who was shopping at one of the covered bazaars with her father and sister. Tourist sites including the Hagia Sophia and nearby Basilica Cistern were closed on the governor's orders, officials said. "They attacked Sultanahmet to grab attention because this is what the world thinks of when it thinks of Turkey," said Kursat Yilmaz, who has operated tours for 25 years from an office by the square. "We're not surprised this happened here, this has always been a possible target," he said. Ambulances ferried away the wounded as police cordoned off streets. The sound of the call to prayer rang out from the Blue Mosque as forensic police officers worked at the scene. "It was unimaginable," the police officer who had been working on the square said, describing an amateur video he had seen of the immediate aftermath, with six or seven bodies lying on the ground and other people seriously wounded. Just over a year ago, a female suicide bomber blew herself up at a police station for tourists off the same square, killing one officer. That attack was initially claimed by a far-left group, the DHKP-C, but officials later said it had been carried out by a woman with suspected Islamist militant links. TURKEY A TARGET Turkey has become a target for Islamic State, with two bombings last year blamed on the radical Sunni Muslim group, in the town of Suruc near the Syrian border and in the capital Ankara, the latter killing more than 100 people. Violence has also escalated in the mainly Kurdish southeast since a two-year ceasefire collapsed in July between the state and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, which has been fighting for three decades for Kurdish autonomy. The PKK has however generally avoided attacking civilian targets in urban centers outside the southeast in recent years. Turkey also sees a threat from the PYD and YPG, Kurdish groups in Syria which are fighting Islamic State with U.S. backing, but which Ankara says have close links to the PKK. "For us, there is no difference between the PKK, PYD, YPG, DHKP-C ... or whatever their abbreviation may be. One terrorist organization is no different than the other," Erdogan said, vowing that Turkey's military campaign against Kurdish militants in the southeast would continue. Davutoglu's office imposed a broadcasting ban on the blast, invoking a law which allows for such steps when there is the potential for serious harm to national security or public order. The attack raised fears of further damage to Turkey's vital tourism industry, already hit by a diplomatic row with Moscow which has seen Russian tour operators cancel trips. But Yilmaz, the tour operator, said he had sold a package to a tourist from Colombia just an hour after the blast. "The reality is the world has grown accustomed to terrorism. It's unfortunate, and I wish it weren't true, but terrorism now happens everywhere," he said. "The agenda changes quickly in this age. If tourism is affected by this, it will be temporary. These things pass, but the Hagia Sophia and the Sultanahmet mosque are eternal." (Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun and Ece Toksabay in Ankara, Humeyra Pamuk, Daren Butler and Melih Aslan in Istanbul, Madeline Chambers in Berlin and Joachim Dagenborg in Oslo; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by David Stamp and Gareth Jones) ================================================================ Tumbling oil trades below $30 a barrel for first time in 12 years NEW YORK | By Catherine Ngai Oil fell briefly below $30 a barrel on Tuesday, extending a relentless selloff that has wiped almost 20 percent off prices this year amid deepening concerns about fragile Chinese demand and the absence of output restraint. The day's near 4 percent drop marks a seventh day of losses for oil. Traders have all but given up attempting to predict where the new-year rout will end, with momentum-driven dealing and overwhelmingly bearish sentiment engulfing the market. Some analysts warned of $20 a barrel; Standard Chartered said fund selling may not relent until it reaches $10. By Tuesday, the crash had become almost self-fulfilling, with speculators too afraid to buy for fear of being burned by another false bottom. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude(WTI) CLc1 was down $1.19 at $30.22 per barrel as of 2:19 p.m. EST (1919 GMT), a 3.7 percent loss, after touching a low of $29.93, which was last seen in December 2003. Related Coverage › Strong dollar inflicts more pain on oil as bearish options bets build "The momentum is too strong to the bearish side, even if fundamentally nothing has changed," said Dominick Chirichella, a senior partner at Energy Management Institute. With prices now below break-even costs for many producers, particularly in the once-thriving U.S. shale patch, and the costly Canadian oil sands producers barely making $15 a barrel, an extended slump has caused financial pain to flare across the world, threatening corporate bankruptcies and fiscal strain. Benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 had dropped 97 cents to $30.58 a barrel, for a 3.1 percent loss, after hitting a low of $30.34. Related Video Video Capitulation needed for commodities to recover - strategist Prices firmed early in the day after a deadly suicide bombing rocked central Istanbul, and Nigeria's oil minister said a "couple" of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries members had requested an emergency meeting. But they then nosedived anew after the United Arab Emirates oil minister quashed talk of a possible meeting, saying the group strategy was working. OPEC has rejected calls by some of its members to curb output, opting instead to pump full throttle to defend market share rather than shore up prices. Related Coverage › Nigeria says couple of OPEC members have requested emergency meeting Oil has tumbled more than 18 percent this year alone, the worst seven-day run since the financial crisis. The long list of negative factors also includes the weakening economy and ailing stock market of No. 2 consumer China, the rising U.S. dollar, which makes oil more costly, and the surprising resilience of U.S. shale drillers in the face of the price slide. Adding to supply fears, Iraq, the second-biggest OPEC producer, plans to export a record of around 3.63 million barrels per day in February, said trade sources. (Additional reporting by Simon Falush in London, Henning Gloystein in Singapore and Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo; editing by Jason Neely and Alden Bentley) =====================================================

Is Turkey poised to invade Syria?

German weekly magazine Focus has said that last year's leaked audio of a high-level security meeting at the Turkish Foreign Ministry about possible military action in Syria via a false flag operation was recorded and then leaked by the US National Security Agency (NSA). The recording, which was posted online, featured a conversation between then-Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, National Intelligence Organization (MİT) head Hakan Fidan, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu and Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler. In the recording, the officials discussed how Turkey could start a war with Syria, what the legal grounds would be to do so and if it would be possible to create a pretext to deliberately drag Turkey into a war with Syria. They also discussed a false flag operation by having mortars firing into Turkey from Syria to create ostensibly legal grounds for a war. Only hours after the conversation was posted online, then-Prime Minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was quick to attribute the leak to the Hizmet movement, also known as the Gülen movement, without showing any evidence for his suspicions. Davutoğlu also accused Hizmet of leaking the recording and described the act as espionage. When he was later asked what evidence he had to lay the blame on Hizmet, Davutoğlu said he did not have any evidence but rather came to that conclusion based on his own convictions. The Turkish government immediately blocked access to YouTube in Turkey after the leak. The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office then initiated an investigation into the leak but after more than a year had passed, no announcement was made on any conclusion. The opposition and legal experts called on Erdoğan to prove his claim and warned that the claim would otherwise remain slander against a civilian group with millions of followers and sympathizers and cast further doubt on the credibility of the government. Erdoğan used the leak as an opportunity to attack Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who is the inspiration behind the Hizmet movement and is also critical of corruption in the government. In an election rally in Diyarbakır before the March 30 local elections last year, Erdoğan said: “A meeting was held [between state officials] about the tomb of Süleyman Şah [in Syria]. They [Hizmet members] even leaked [the recording of] this meeting to YouTube. This is villainous; this is dishonest. Who are you serving by recording such an important meeting?” According to legal experts and observers, Erdoğan violated the basic principle of the presumption of innocence with his “quick conclusion” about Hizmet. It was not the first time he has linked Hizmet to some major unpleasant developments in the country without providing any proof. Many analysts have speculated that it is probably easiest for Erdoğan to find a “scapegoat” on whom to put the blame whenever he feels cornered by accusations of mismanagement, corruption or fraud. For example, when a major graft investigation became public on Dec. 17, 2014, Erdoğan quickly attributed the probe to the work of the “parallel state,” a reference he uses for the Hizmet movement. The Focus report confirmed last year's report by Der Spiegel, another German magazine, which claimed that the NSA was instructed by the US political leadership to gather information about the “intentions” of the Turkish leadership and to monitor Turkey's operations in 18 other key areas. The magazine examined documents from the archive of US whistleblower Edward Snowden. It stated that one NSA document calls Turkey “both a partner and target. … The very politicians, military officials and intelligence agency officials with whom US officials work closely when conducting actions against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) are also considered legitimate spying targets by the NSA,” it read. According to the report, the US has two secret branch offices that operate Special Collection Service listening stations in İstanbul and Ankara. Turkey is also placed at the level of Venezuela, even ahead of Cuba, in terms of US interest in intelligence gathering, according to a US document that establishes US intelligence priorities called the National Intelligence Priorities Framework (NIPF). This document is updated and presented to the US president every six months and an April 2013 edition of it lists Turkey as one of the countries most frequently targeted by Washington for surveillance. According to the NIPF, information about the “intentions” of the Turkish government is given the second-highest priority while information about the military and its infrastructure, foreign policy goals and energy security are given the third-highest priority rating. Conducive to this aim, the NSA began a broad surveillance operation in 2006 called the “Turkish Surge Project Plan” to infiltrate the computers of Turkey's top political leaders. “It took six months for the team to achieve its goal. One document celebrates the discovery of the ‘winning combination' and reports that collection had begun: ‘They achieved their first-ever computer network exploitation success against Turkish leadership!',” according to the report. The Turkish Embassy in Washington and Turkey's UN representation in New York were also the target of spying. A classified document from 2010 states that the NSA monitored the Turkish Embassy in Washington under a program codenamed "Powder." A similar project for monitoring Turkey's representation to the United Nations carried the name "Blackhawk,” according to Der Spiegel. “Analysts had access to the telephone system in the Turkish Embassy and could tap content directly from computers. In addition, they infected computer systems used by the diplomats with spyware. The NSA also installed Trojan software at Turkey's UN representation in New York. According to the NSA document, it even has the capability of copying entire hard drives at the UN mission,” read the report. Focus's attribution of secret recording of high-level security meeting at the Turkish Foreign Ministry to the NSA was made within the report, which also unveiled how MİT set up a network of spies in Germany. It covered the indictment of Turkish national Muhammet Taha Gergerlioğlu, one of three Turks against whom the Federal Attorney General of Germany filed spying charges in May. Gergerlioğlu, an adviser of Erdoğan, ran the other defendants as agents. The three reportedly collected information on people of Turkish origin living in Germany who were critical of the Turkish government. Turkish spies in Germany are said to have been ordered to spy on Erdoğan's opponents in Germany, including members of the Kurdish minority, the Gülen movement and other Turkish nationals in Germany who were critical of the Turkish leadership. According to court documents, the goal of the espionage group was to track and spy on Turkish and Kurdish dissidents who were then to be detained upon their return to Turkey. In late April 2014, defendant Ahmet Duran Y. told Gergerlioğlu that one of the "instigators" against Erdoğan would soon go to Turkey. Gergerlioğlu, who was always referred to as "big brother" or "governor," pledged to "finish him immediately" after entering Turkey. Gergerlioğlu and his team were allegedly sent to Germany by MİT head Fidan. In 2011, Gergerlioğlu was reportedly sent by Fidan with a fund of 25,000 euros to launch a consulting company for German-Turkish companies in the city of Bad Dürkheim with Göksel G. ===== In his first public statement following the June 7 general elections that dashed his hopes of becoming Turkey’s sole leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blasted the Syrian Kurds, and their nominal allies the United States, after they defeated the Islamic State (IS) in the northern Syrian town of Tell Abyad. Summary⎙ Print The Turkish military is concerned a military engagement in northern Syria has no international support. AuthorSemih IdizPosted July 1, 2015 “Look at the West that is striking Arabs and Turkmens in Tell Abyad and regretfully placing the terrorist groups PYD [Democratic Union Party] and PKK [Kurdistan Workers Party] in their place. … How can we consider this West to be honest?” Erdogan said, referring to the air support the United States was giving to the Syrian Kurdish PYD fighting against IS. The PKK has been waging a long-standing armed campaign for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey, for which it has been designated as a terrorist group by Ankara and Washington. It is also fighting against IS in northern Syria. Erdogan upped the ante June 27 and said Turkey would not allow any attempts to establish a Kurdish entity in northern Syria. “We will never allow a state to be established in northern Syria and in the south of our country. No matter what the cost, we will continue our struggle in this regard,” Erdogan said. He added that Turkey would allow attempts to change the region’s demography, a reference to claims that the PYD is ethnically cleansing Tell Abyad, and other areas captured from IS, of Arabs and Turkmens. Erdogan’s remarks were followed by a slew of reports in the media indicating that the Turkish military acting on orders from the government had prepared contingency plans to enter Syria and establish a buffer zone along the Turkish border of 100 kilometers (62 miles) long and 10-15 kilometers (6-9 miles) wide. These reports cited officials who argue that this will not only meet Turkey’s security requirements, but also establish a safe haven for Syrian refugees who continue to flood into Turkey. They also say it will enable Turkey to contribute more effectively to the fight against IS, thus belying claims in the Western media that Ankara is aiding such groups. Given Erdogan’s angry remarks, many believe this intervention’s main purpose is to prevent Syrian Kurds from establishing a contiguous zone in the region. Turkey’s buffer zone would fall between the Kurdish town of Kobani and Jarablus to its west, which the Kurds want to capture from IS. Although it is opposed to any Kurdish entity along Turkey’s borders, the Turkish military is said to be wary of being dragged by the government into a military adventure in Syria. Reports from the Chief of General Staff’s office leaked to the media indicate that the top brass wants Ankara to consider the international ramifications of an engagement in a complex and multilayered conflict. Serpil Cevikcan, a journalist for Milliyet who is in close contact with the military, has cited military sources who say they are ready to carry out any order from the government, but express concern about the diplomatic consequences. “The Chief of General Staff’s office has conveyed its view that for such a directive to be successful, the political, military and diplomatic infrastructure has to be established in such a way as to allay all risks that may emerge,” Cevikcan wrote in her column. She said the military wants the matter to be discussed not just with the United States, but also with Russia and Iran and the regime in Damascus, which seems unlikely given that Ankara has burned all its bridges with the Syrian regime. It is also a foregone conclusion that Moscow and Tehran would oppose a buffer zone established by Turkey in Syria, having expressed their opposition to this in the past. Retired Ambassador Umit Pamir, a member of the Global Relations Forum, also believes that entering Syria without approval from the United Nations, or the approval of a strong coalition of countries, is risky. He nevertheless believes that Moscow and Tehran can be convinced of the merits of such an operation if it is mounted against IS. But this requires Ankara to prioritize the fight against IS, which it has not done to date. “Turkey has to work with an international coalition, otherwise it will result in serious complications,” Pamir told Al-Monitor. Washington, for its part, appears unenthusiastic about a step by Turkey that many believe would be against the Kurds. Asked about the buffer zone Turkey is said to be planning in Syria, Mark Toner, a deputy spokesman for the State Department, told reporters June 29 that Washington’s position had not changed. “The creation and enforcement of a no-fly zone or any other military enforced zone presents significant challenges. … They include military, financial, but also humanitarian challenges that we need to obviously consider in the broader context,” Toner said. He added that they “don’t have any ground truth” on the reported plans by Turkey. “All we’ve seen, frankly, are press reports,” he said. Deniz Zeyrek, a veteran journalist who works for Hurriyet, indicates that the military is also concerned about mounting an operation on the orders of a caretaker government that lost its parliamentary majority in the June 7 elections. “The armed forces say that when the government’s directive is carried out there will have to be responsibility for the negative situations and risks that may emerge, and expect this to rest with the new government,” Zeyrek wrote June 27. Retired Brig. Gen. Armagan Kuloglu, a commentator on military matters, is among those who see no advantages to an operation in Syria. “Three objectives are mentioned for such an operation: to prevent IS or the PYD from gaining control of areas bordering Turkey, and to establish a safe haven for refugees. But we have multiple enemies here, and it is not clear who we are supposed to fight,” Kuloglu told Al-Monitor. He also pointed to complications if international support for this operation is not obtained. These considerations appear to have little sway on Erdogan and journalists who act as his unofficial spokesmen. Ibrahim Karagul, the editor-in-chief of Yeni Safak, who believes that the PYD is more dangerous than IS, said there is a grand design to establish a Kurdish corridor to carry oil from Kurdish northern Iraq to the Mediterranean over Syria. “The aim is to make a lasting change to the map of the entire region and to restrict countries like Turkey that have an extraordinary power to influence developments. … If successful, this will be the biggest trap set for Turkey since the invasion of Iraq,” Karagul claimed, arguing this must be prevented at all costs. Meanwhile, there are those who say Erdogan does not have the authority to declare what amounts to a “casus belli,” and point out that this authority rests with the parliament. Ibrahim Kaboglu, a professor of constitutional law, says that under the present constitution the president can only give such a directive if parliament is not sitting and there is a sudden attack on the country. “This is not the case today and so the power to give such orders rests with the Grand National Assembly,” Kaboglu told daily Cumhuriyet. The June 7 elections produced a hung parliament that is unlikely to authorize such an invasion given that opposition parties are opposed to this. Opinion polls have also shown consistently that a large portion of the Turkish public is opposed to any entanglement in Syria. There are also those who claim that Erdogan wants an intervention in Syria to divert attention away from the Justice and Development Party’s election losses and to engineer a situation suited to his political ambitions. Such speculations aside, the National Security Council — an advisory board headed by the president and comprising the prime minister, relevant ministers and senior military officials — made a statement after it met June 29 that Turkey is not on the verge of any immediate action with regard to Syria. It merely indicated Turkey was “following developments in Syria with concern.” Given the confusing and seemingly intractable situation in Syria, this appears to be all that Ankara can do at the moment if it does not want to enter a fray from which it is unlikely to extricate itself unscarred. Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/07/turkey-syria-military-intervention-no-international-support.html#ixzz3f1CtdXQO

Baghdad, Kurds strike temporary oil deal : Crisis & Opportunity

http://www.crescent.ae/?utm_source=IOR+Email+Update+Subscribers&utm_campaign=435908e38a-Email_Update&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f9870911e6-435908e38a-192733646 ------------------------------------------------------------ http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=13d058ed214708c66bc5170b2&id=435908e38a&e=2f05fd0611 www.iraqoilreport.com (http://iraqoilreport.com?utm_source=IOR+Email+Update+Subscribers&utm_campaign=435908e38a-Email_Update&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f9870911e6-435908e38a-192733646) Friday November 14, 2014 BREAKING: KRG and ‪#‎Baghdad‬ reached an agreement over oil and budget issue in which ‪#‎KRG‬ gives 150K barrels per day to Baghdad and Baghdad pays KRG $500 million. ** (http://www.iraqoilreport.com/news/baghdad-kurds-strike-temporary-oil-deal-13629/?utm_source=IOR+Email+Update+Subscribers&utm_campaign=435908e38a-Email_Update&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f9870911e6-435908e38a-192733646) ------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.iraqoilreport.com/news/baghdad-kurds-strike-temporary-oil-deal-13629/?utm_source=IOR+Email+Update+Subscribers&utm_campaign=435908e38a-Email_Update&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f9870911e6-435908e38a-192733646 ‪#‎Iraq‬ finance minister Hoshyar ‪#‎Zebari‬: Sending the salaries of the (KRG) employees is the condition of the visit by the KRG delegation (to ‪#‎Baghdad‬). ========= Hi Guys, Taken a wee while to absorb all the info that was presented yesterday - looks like the market has done the same. IMHO the most important information was imparted at the Genel capital markets day as it has implications for all the KRI players. The most important piece of information IMHO is that a KRG PSC is no longer to be regarded as sacrosanct. Genel have taken 2 of them and tossed them in the bucket. In their place they are in the process of creating a new type of PSC that amongst other things does away with Profit Oil and Cost oil as we know it and also kicks the R factor into touch. Instead of a single contract covering the disposition of all the hydrocarbons their contact splits the hydrocarbons into streams and each stream has a separate disposition. I must admit at first glance setting the KRI price for raw gas at 78 cents per mcf did not exactly have me turning somersaults given the amount of gas we have to deal with. A closer look at the Genel proposition has made me change my mind. Under the new contract Genel now get 100% of the oil until they recover 100% of their total costs for everything. The oil is then split 50-50. Note no R factor and intriguingly no mention of CBBT either. Genel get 100% of the condensate for the lifetime of the contract. Genel sell the gas to the KRG at 78 cents per mcft. The KRG have signed a contact with Turkey to sell them gas at $6.75 per mcfu i.e more than 8 times what they are paying for it. Meanwhile Turkey who are currently paying $12-13 for their gas will get gas from KRI at approx half of what they are currently paying. On the Capex front Genel have committed to $1b to pay for everything up to delivery of the gas to the processing plant while the KRG need $4b to build and operate the gas plant and any customer facing infrastructure.( apparently their are loads of Turkish contractors ready to step in here). The deal works better for those with more oil which suites Genel at Miran - less so for Bina Bawi so OMV have taken the opportunity to cash their chips and bow out. A decision I suspect not completely unrelated to the kicking they are getting as a 10% partner in Pearl. Genel propose to start with a horizontal well at Miran to tap the oil there first of all before drilling the gas wells. Win win all round. Turkey gets a 50% reduction in its energy bill for their Power Stations KRI gets really cheap gas with an export contact worth 8.5 times cost price while being able to provide domestic gas cheaply at a profit. Genel and their shareholders get a 15% return on the deal and TH is happy with that. What does that mean for GKP and the other contractors. From the Q&A it was made clear that this deal was made between Genel and the KRG without recourse or thought for the other contractors. What comes out of it for the other contractors is purely happenstance. The contact only works if Genel get paid for their oil. If Genel don't get paid for their oil then the KRI don't get the cheap gas and Turkey don't get a 50% cut in their electricity generation bill. This puts tremendous pressure on both the KRG and Turkey to get a solid payments mechanism in place as their benefits come at the back end of this deal so the quicker it is in place the better. This will benefit all the KRI contractors, us probably most of all. The breaking of the sanctity of the KRG PSC shows what is now possible. Your assets now have 2 or more valuations. They can be valued using the standard PSC which we all understand but there is now also a value for ingenuity as well for those that come up with more creative methods for monetising the assets. Not all the hydrocarbon streams have to be valued the same way under the PSC- Genel have shown this. Depending on the composition of your hydrocarbons there must now be an incentive for some operators to come up with a proposition that at the very least removes the "R" factor and, can we even whisper it, removes the CBBT as well. On the down side if you stick with the standard PSC and have a lot of gas then it becomes a liability, a cost if you like that we have to dispose of. The type of deal that was outlined yesterday by Genel was of a breadth,scope and imagination the we as GKP shareholders once thought would be generated by GKP when PW were hired for their expertise in this area. That did not happen, but now the ice has been broken, surely it is time to have another look at our assets and see if value can be enhanced by a more creative regime for their monitisation. At the very least the imperative that lies with the KRG and Turkey to get the payments sorted should see all the operators share price ourselves included head north. GLA BF ===== Emirates resumes Erbil flights on Sunday ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Emirates will fly into Erbil on Sunday for the first time since Islamic State came within kilometers of the regional capital this summer, the airline announced on Thursday. The United Arab Emirates carrier, the largest in the Middle East, was one of several airlines to suspend flights to Erbil “due to increased security concerns” when the Islamic State (ISIS) came within 25 kilometers of the city in early August, causing thousands of citizens in the city to panic and leave. US-led coalition airstrikes halted the ISIS advance, and the Iraqi Peshmerga have since re-established control over key areas near the city with international help, although the militants remain in control of Mosul 90 kilometers away. Emirates continued to fly to Basra and Baghdad throughout the period, and fellow Dubai-based airline flydubai continued flights to Kurdistan’s second city, Sulaimani. The carrier will offer two flights a week between Erbil and Dubai, which hosts the region’s largest airport, and provide four flights a week starting 4 December. “We have been closely monitoring the situation in Iraq and after a thorough review of all operational factors, we have decided to resume our services,” Emirates executive Sheikh Majid Al Mualla said in a press release Thursday. “The resumed service will be of particular benefit to passengers connecting to the GCC and points to the United States and Europe.” ==== Author 7Macca View Profile Add to favourites Ignore Date posted Friday 18:54 Subject BUY THE MOST UNDERVALUED OIL COMPANY IN THE WORLD!!!!!! (re post) Votes for this Posting BUY THE MOST UNDERVALUED OIL COMPANY ON EARTH By Christian A. DeHaemer | Thursday, November 13th, 2014 There is still an oil war going on in Iraq. Here are just a few of today's headlines: "Kobani Kurdish Forces Cut ISIS Supply Route From Raqqa, Take Back Part Of Strategic Hill" — International Business Times "Sen. Tim Kaine said Wednesday there's no legal authority for the current U.S. mission against ISIS in Iraq and Syria" — CNN "Fate of ISIS leader still unknown. — CBS News Oh yes, the decades-long oil war is still running hot — it's just been rebranded a little bit. ISIS, or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, is really the runt end of Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist army coupled with Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn, known in America as Al-Qaeda. Together, they form a barbarous group of Sunni killers that are as evil as any that walked the earth. War for Oil But as usual, it's all about black gold. And this fight goes back a long way. In 1918, British troops invaded Mosul, Iraq in hopes of gaining control of the massive oil fields in the northern portion of the country. What they found was world-class reserves that could rebuild the British Empire left shattered after WWI. Oil Map of Iraq Source: BBC News The Brits created the Iraq Petroleum Company, which gave them a virtual monopoly on all oil exploration and production in Iraq. But it didn't last... In 1972, the monopoly was broken as Iraq’s oil sector was nationalized, banishing outside countries from access and giving Iraq full control of its oil rights for the first time since the early 1900s. And when Saddam Hussein rose to power in 1979, he was primed to take Iraq to the height of its oil glory. Yet, as usual, Saddam failed. Iraq could produce 12 to 16 million barrels of oil a day. Instead, on a good day, it pumps 3.5 million bpd. The reason for this is that Hussein purposely overlooked one of the largest oil fields in his OWN country — one that holds 13.7 billion barrels of oil: the SHAIKAN oil field. You can see it located up there on the map between Mosul and Kirkuk. And still, due to politics, war, or lack of funding... the massive oil resource in northern Iraq remains largely untouched. But that's all about to change, and soon... $1 Stock Corners the Wolfberry Shale A small oil company has taken over a huge swath of land in West Texas. It now has a stranglehold on a region that is producing nearly 2 million barrels per day, and it's only a matter of time before herd investors take notice. We cover all of the details — including the potential 1,000% gain — for this $1 stock right here. One Small Company There’s one tiny company that has its hands on the lion’s share of the oil in this profit-rich region of Iraq. And if that’s not enough, it also has the rights to three other prime chunks of oil-rich land in addition to the one I’ve been telling you about — and ALL of them have the very same oil-promising geography as the first. This company is already pumping 40,000 barrels of oil out of the ground on a daily basis, and that number is expected to more than quadruple within 18 months. All told, these guys are sitting on a whopping 13.7 billion barrels of oil — a true game changer for such a small company. To put that in perspective, Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD), a company with rights in the Eagle Ford, is sitting on 11 billion barrels of oil. Pioneer has a market capitalization of $23.87 billion. For those who don't know, “market capitalization” is the value you get when you multiply the number of shares outstanding by the price per share. It gives you the total market value of a stock. Another well-known company, Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO), has claimed 4.3 billion barrels of oil and has a market capitalization of $21.86 billion. Massive Value The company I'm talking about has a market capitalization of less than $1 billion, and yet it is sitting on 3.18 times the amount of oil Marathon has. That means this Kurdish oil company would have to go up by 2,208.34% just to equal one-third the valuation of Marathon Oil. That's absurd. Look, I'm very excited about this new profit opportunity. However, due to the time lag involved in the publishing process, my free research report won't be available until November 18, 2014 — less than one week from today. That said, if you would like to get ahead of the crowd, I've convinced my publisher to open a pre-order window that allows you to join my investment service, Crisis and Opportunity, today. Click here for access. Don't wait — yesterday, the stock jumped 11%. As ISIS fades (and this is already starting to happen), this stock will come roaring back off its five-year lows. All the best, Christian DeHaemer Since 1995, Christian DeHaemer has specialized in frontier market opportunities. He has traveled extensively and invested in places as varied as Cuba, Mongolia, and Kenya. Chris believes the best way to make money is to get there first with the most. Christian is the founder of Crisis & Opportunity and Managing Director of Wealth Daily. He is also a contributor for Energy & Capital. = No guarantees Baghdad-Erbil oil deal will stick ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi and Kurdish leaders struck a deal over the contentious issue of independent Kurdish oil exports in Erbil on Thursday, but analysts are skeptical this draws either side closer to a permanent solution. The deal involved an upfront payment of $500 million by Baghdad to pay the salaries of Kurdish civil servants. In return, Kurdistan would provide the federal government 150,000 barrels of Kurdish oil a day. “This covers the month of October,” Iraqi Finance Minister told Rudaw on Thursday. “In November, there will be another payment of $1 billion and the KRG will again hand over 150,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) to the federal government.” But until the money and oil are delivered, analysts remain cautious, remembering a similar deal that fell apart in March. “It is not a permanent solution, and it is dependent upon both sides implementing it - and this is not at all obvious that it will happen,” said Gareth Stansfield, an Iraq expert at the University of Exeter. Stansfield suggested that both sides were driven to the negotiation table by necessity. “Both sides were in appallingly weak positions,” he said. “It was this shared weakness that allowed them to find a stopgap solution – and that is just what it is.” Both the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi Federal Government are suffering from fiscal pressures. The KRG hasn’t received its share of the national budget since January because of the oil dispute, and both sides are grappling to fund the fight against ISIS amidst falling global oil prices, with oil the largest source of revenue for both parties. The Kurdistan Region has exported 34.5 million barrels of oil since January, but after costs it’s net revenue was only $1.7 million. Before January, the KRG received slightly over a billion dollars a month, roughly 11 percent of the national income. “KRG oil exports, while quite significant, have been nowhere near the levels needed to generate the amounts needed to fund the KRG salaries and projects, the refugee crisis, and the expansion of the Peshmerga (or even the paying of the Peshmerga at a normal level),” Stansfield told Rudaw. “They have been quickly accruing significant amounts of debt and credit lines are becoming more and more difficult to find.” “The issues Baghdad face are similarly acute,” he added. “Due to mismanagement, corruption, and chaos, Baghdad is also financially broken, with very limited reserves, and with the bottleneck of oil in Basra limiting exports.” Other factors push both sides towards a deal. Baghdad and other western powers fighting ISIS has an interest in keeping Kurds engaged in government and ensuring a strong security situation in the country’s north, where Kurdish Peshmerga are defend a 1,050 km border against militant attacks. “Remember there’s huge pressure from the Americans to try and keep the country united and to make concessions to keeping Iraq unified while they all try and tackle the problem of ISIS,” said Michael Stephens of the Royal United Service Institute, a defense think-tank. “For now the last thing anyone needs is Erbil and Baghdad bickering over oil, there are bigger problems to solve,” and for that reason he believes “it will hold, for now.” Iraq’s new oil minister, Adil Adbul-Mahdi has had close ties with the Kurds in the past during his term as Vice President and during his time in exile. Zebari credited his “good” relationship with Abdul-Mahdi with having facilitated the agreement. But some remain doubtful that Prime Minister Abadi is interested in finding a permanent solution. “Abdul-Mahdi clearly wanted this, but it is important to note that the people talking about this, none of them are close to Abadi,” says Kirk Sowell, who runs newsletter Inside Iraqi Politics. “I don't see any indication Abadi is prepared to compromise on the lines [former lead negotiator with the KRG over oil policy] Hussein Shahristani laid down in the spring,” namely that the KRG sell the oil through the Iraqi marketing company SOMO, sell at global prices, and accept payment at the Development Fund for Iraq account at the Federal Reserve in New York. Sowell argues that it will only make economic sense for Abadi to strike a deal if the Kurds are selling more than 300,000bpd through the federal system. Likewise the KRG will need far more than $500 million a month to cover their costs, making this agreement only a partial fix for both sides. “It is a goodwill gesture to get [Kurdish Prime Minister] Nechirvan Barzani to come to Baghdad to negotiate,” Sowell says. This does' t necessarily mean that the deal will “open the way” for a lasting solution, as Abdul-Mahdi said in a statement on Friday. Barzani is set to arrive in Baghdad in the “coming days,” according to a KRG press release, where he will negotiate with Abadi himself. Only time will tell if he can accomplish the ambitious and challenging goal of reaching a “comprehensive, fair and constitutional solution to all outstanding differences between the federal government and the KRG.” ======= Appologies if already posted 10 German MPs unfurl PKK flag in parliament, urge lifting of ban COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Ten MPs from the left wing Die Linke party unfurled the flag of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) inside the German parliament building on Friday, urging the lifting of a ban on the group. The act was also in solidarity with fellow party member Nicole Gohlke, who lost her parliamentary immunity last month after waving a PKK flag at a Munich demonstration. That protest was in support of Kobane, the Kurdish town in Syria where PKK-affiliated fighters have been resisting an Islamic State (ISIS) takeover for some two months. “Instead of lifting Nicole Gohlke’s immunity, we urge the federal government to remove the ban on the PKK,” the deputies said in a statement. The German Bundestag waived Gohlke’s parliamentary privilege a month after she waved a PKK flag at an October 18 demonstration in Munich. "The Kurdish people have fought for freedom, democracy and human rights under this flag," she had said. The PKK, which fought a three-decade war for autonomy in Turkey after beginning peace talks last year, has been banned in Germany since 1993. It is also considered a terrorist organization by the European Union, the United States and the rest of NATO. But recent events have raised the PKK’s profile: in Kobane, the PKK-affiliated People’s Protection Units (YPG) have been supplied with some Western weapons and backed by US-led air strikes in the war against ISIS. “The ban against the PKK is now outdated,” Ulla Jelpke, one of the Die Linke MPs involved in the flag protest, told Rudaw. “The PKK is now an effective force struggling against ISIS, especially in Kobane. Therefore, they should immediately be delisted from the European Union’s terrorist list,” Jelpke added. But Tobias Huch, a Liberal Party MP, told Rudaw that, although he did not support the PKK, the unfurling of the flag highlighted the need for a discussion on the issue. “We have to re-examine whether the PKK really is a terrorist organization -- such as Hamas, whose flag is not banned in Germany ,” Huch said, referring to the hardline Palestinian movement. "In the context of Kobani, numerous reports were made revealing that large weapon shipments were delivered to the heavily armed battalions of the ‪#‎ISIL‬ by Turkey for the offensive on Kobani. One journalist, Serena Shim, would pay for her life for trying to document this. ‪#‎SerenaShim‬, a Lebanese-American working for Iran’s English-language Press TV news network, would reveal that weapons were secretly being delivered to the insurgents in Syria through Turkey in trucks carrying the logo of the UN World Food Organization. SerenaShim would be killed shortly after in a mysterious car accident on October 19 after being threatened by the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) for spying for the 'Turkish opposition.'" ======== Top officials meeting in Erbil see resumption of limited exports via SOMO, October payment to KRG as step in the right direction. Perhaps when the SP is 88.8p on Monday or Tuesday next week someone will buy 888k of shares. Is it a SINO things to come? to spread more light on the 6k trades (icebergs). GKP's 'normal market size' (NMS) is 15k. The LSE have 'rules' to not let any 'icebergs' be less than 40% of the NMS. Hence, 40% of 15k is 6k. Now we all know there is plenty icebergs at sizes less than 6k, these orders are more complex orders where the trade is executed via high frequency algorithm's where as soon as an order is filled it will immediately replace itself (a more complicated iceberg), typically institutional, or generally speaking 'complex' market orders. But, as a general basic rule, for basic orders, the LSE does not let you put an iceberg on the book at anything less than 40% of the NMS. Hope this helps. Have a great weekend one and all! ========= Halliburton can stump up $30 bln for Baker Hughes That’s if the $46 bln U.S. oil services giant finds cost cuts worth 5 pct of its rival’s sales, in line with past deals in the sector. Banding together makes sense in an industry downturn. And Halliburton could offset the risk of paying a potential 40 pct premium by using shares. Tax code, not bankers, deserves Congress's ire Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren reckons working on inversions rules Lazard’s top dealmaker Antonio Weiss out of a Treasury job. Such transactions may be dumb, but were neither unlawful nor unethical. It’s skewed rules that Washington needs to banish, not all of Wall Street. Review: Through a distorting mirror, darkly William Gibson’s novel “The Peripheral” paints future worlds that are built of present fears writ large. Algorithms not only roil financial markets, they travel in time. Nanotech eats people. Money corrupts and spies surveil (To keep under surveillance.), even more than now. Yet human decency has a chance. Breakingviews TV: NY's modern art bonanza Antony Currie and Richard Beales discuss this week's record $853 mln auction of contemporary works by Christie's – and explain how EU rules have helped shift the market to the Big Apple. Watch the view Follow Breakingviews on Facebook | Follow Breakingviews on Twitter Introductions If you have received this email from a Breakingviews user and would like to trial our service free, please click here Help If you are having problems with story links or for general help please contact us: EMEA/UK: +800 738 837 70 or +44 20 7542 5565 Americas: +1-800-738-8377 Asia: +612 9321 8140 Client Support: +800 8727 8326, rm.clientsupport@thomsonreuters.com ==== Capricorn-Sagittarius cusps (those born from December 22 to December 28) are considered to be slightly different from the typical Capricorn, being more outgoing, jovial and less ambitious and money orientated than the Capricorn who is not born on a cusp.[ In astrology, Capricorn is considered an earth sign. Modern astrological figure for Capricorn as a fish-tailed goat derives from the depictions of the Sumerian god of water Enki, who was associated with semen and amniotic fluid, and hence with fertility, and commonly represented as a half-goat, half-fish creature. Due to the precession of the equinoxes the December solstice no longer takes place while the sun is in the constellation Capricornus, as it did until 130 BCE, but the astrological sign called Capricorn begins with the solstice. The solstice now takes place when the Sun is in Sagittarius. The sun's most southerly position, which is attained at the northern hemisphere's winter solstice, is now called the Tropic of Capricorn, a term which also applies to the line on the Earth at which the sun is directly overhead at noon on that solstice. The Sun is now in Capricorn from late January through mid-February.[3]Precessional movement of the Earth – the Earth rotates (white arrows) once a day about its axis of rotation (red); this axis itself rotates slowly (white circle), completing a rotation in approximately 26,000 years. The relationship between the apses, seasons and precession of Earth's axis, as viewed from the north. The seasons indicated pertain to the Northern Hemisphere and are reversed for the Southern Hemisphere. The tilt of Earth's axis and the eccentricity of its orbit are exaggerated. The precession of Earth's axis as viewed from above north pole. The Equinox seasons pertain to the Northern Hemisphere and are reversed for the Southern. The tilt of Earth's axis and the eccentricity of its orbit are exaggerated but apisides of Earth's orbit are not. consequence of the precession is a changing pole star. Currently Polaris is extremely well suited to mark the position of the north celestial pole, as Polaris is a moderately bright star with a visual magnitude of 2.1 (variable), and it is located about one degree from the pole.[16] On the other hand, Thuban in the constellation Draco, which was the pole star in 3000 BC, is much less conspicuous at magnitude 3.67 (one-fifth as bright as Polaris); today it is invisible in light-polluted urban skies. The brilliant Vega in the constellation Lyra is often touted as the best north star (it fulfilled that role around 12,000 BC and will do so again around the year 14,000); however, it never comes closer than 5° to the pole. When Polaris becomes the north star again around 27,800, due to its proper motion it then will be farther away from the pole than it is now, while in 23,600 BC it came closer to the pole. Precession of Earth's rotational axis due to the tidal force raised on Earth by the gravity of the Moon and Sun. As a Cardinal sign, you are one of the leaders of the zodiac. It's your level head and wisdom that makes you that. Your ability to work consistently towards any goal also helps. driven and seems to have it together, who can keep their cool in the middle of mayhem, who's reserved but hot, odds are they are Capricorn. This doesn't mean that you are 100% bound to be a teacher yourself. But it does indicate that you are someone who can teach others lessons and also someone who learns by the lessons life A setback doesn't seem like the end of the world to you and even bad news is something you can deal with. It's far better to work with the truth than to live in some airy-fairy floaty world - for Capricorns. Some say you're a tad cold, but as far as you can see, there's enough mushy stuff in the world without you blathering as well! You are also the sign that relates most to the passage of time. You are aware and respectful of the past and you welcome change because you know it's progress. Some would see your ability to let the past go as cool bordering on cold. That's their lookout. You know better that the past is indeed over and the present and future is what counts. You are down to earth and an Earth sign for that matter and you are not at all afraid of taking on responsibilities. But it's not all work and building and constructive growth. Capricorns are as soft and mushy inside as the next human being, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise! November sees you all fired up about... pretty much anything and everything. This could make you into the person you've been trying so hard not to be – that angry one who stomps around when things go awry! OR you could use the energies to make some amazing changes in your life. Harness the good by breathing through any anger and/or releasing it via meditation or sport. Also release someone or something you've outgrown. See yourself as the amazing and powerful person you are, and you'll achieve big things. = The Capricorn Star Sign in Short Capricorns are lucky. They are the ones who look younger as they get older. They are very attractive and neat and once they get over their shyness they are quite aggressive. They can be trusted to keep a secret and are really great in emergencies. Sometimes they are a little bit impulsive but as their intuition is pretty strong, they usually make the right decisions. They’re creative, sensitive and patient. On a bad day they can be jealous, selfish and moody. They are very close to their family and are usually the last ones to leave home. More About Capricorn Capricorns are patient, realistic and responsible and they take life seriously. They need security but they may find this difficult to achieve. Many live on a treadmill of work, simply to pay the bills and feed the kids. They will never shun family responsibilities, even caring for distant relatives if this becomes necessary. However, they can play the martyr while doing so. These people hate coarseness, they are easily embarrassed and they hate to annoy anyone. Capricorns believe fervently in keeping the peace in their families. This doesn’t mean that they cannot stand up for themselves, indeed they know how to get their own way and they won’t be bullied. They are adept at using charm to get around prickly people. Capricorns are ambitious, hard working, patient and status-conscious and they will work their way steadily towards the top in any organisation. If they run their own businesses, they need a partner with more pizzazz to deal with sales and marketing for them while they keep an eye on the books. Their nit-picking habits can infuriate others and some have a tendency to ‘know best’ and not to listen. These people work at their hobbies with the same kind of dedication that they put into everything else. They are faithful and reliable in relationships and it takes a great deal to make them stray. If a relationship breaks up, they take a long time to get over it. They may marry very early or delay it until middle age when they are less shy. As an earth sign, Capricorns are highly sexed but they need to be in a relationship where they can relax and gain confidence. Their best attribute is their genuine kindness and their wonderfully dry, witty sense of humour. Capricorn at Work There won’t be any upset customers or partners as long as you are in charge of keeping relationships on solid ground. You are an expert at playing the diplomat and can turn an angry client into your greatest advocate within minutes of talking with them. Being as level-headed as you are has benefited your business in more ways than you realise. It allows you to consistently make the right decisions and if one of them doesn’t work out, you’ll learn from it and won’t ever make that mistake again. You are ambitious and hard working, though you do need to let someone else with a bit more pizzazz drive your sales and marketing strategies for you. Try not to get too caught up with the mundane day-to-day tasks that you tend to burden yourself with. It’s time to revive your interest by introducing some of those activities you’ve thought of doing for the past year and you should also try to bring out more of that wonderfully dry and witty sense of humour. =

Kurdish convoy heads to Syria to take on Islamic State

SURUC, Turkey (AP) — Iraqi peshmerga troops were cheered Wednesday by fellow Kurds in southeastern Turkey as the fighters slowly made their way toward the Syrian Kurdish border town of Kobani to try to break a siege there by Islamic State militants. But the ability of the small force to turn the tide of battle will depend on the effectiveness of their weapons and on continued U.S.-led airstrikes against the extremists. "We are waiting for the peshmerga. We want to see what weapons they have," said 30-year-old Nidal Attur, who arrived in Suruc two weeks ago from a small village near Kobani. He and other euphoric Kurds waited for hours along streets in Suruc to catch a glimpse of the peshmerga troops they consider to be heroes. Most were seeing them for the first time. After a rousing send-off from thousands of cheering supporters a day earlier in the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Irbil, the peshmerga forces landed early Wednesday at the Sanliurfa airport in southeastern Turkey. They left the airport in buses escorted by Turkish security forces and were expected to travel to Kobani later Wednesday. Others traveled to Turkey in trucks and vehicles loaded with cannons and heavy machine guns. They crossed into Turkey through the Habur border gate before daybreak Wednesday and were driving about 400 kilometers (about 250 miles) to Suruc. The peshmerga troops — about 150 in all — were expected to join up along the road to the Mursitpinar border crossing, where they were to enter Kobani. Separately, a small group of Syrian rebels entered Kobani from Turkey on Wednesday in a push to help Kurdish fighters there against the militants, activists and Kurdish officials said. The group of about 50 armed men is from the Free Syrian Army and is separate from Iraqi peshmerga fighters. The FSA is an umbrella group of mainstream rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad. The political leadership of the Western-backed FSA is based in Turkey, where fighters often seek respite from battle. Kurdish fighters in Syria, known as the People's Protection Units or YPG, have been struggling to defend Kobani against the Islamic State group since mid-September, despite dozens of coalition airstrikes against the extremists. It is not clear what impact this small but battle-hardened combined force of FSA and peshmerga fighters — and their combined weaponry — will have in the battle for Kobani. Kurdish fighters are already sharing information with the coalition to coordinate strikes against IS militants there, but the new force may help improve efforts and offer additional battlefield support. Nawaf Khalil, Europe-based spokesman for Syria's leading Kurdish Democratic Union Party, said the peshmerga force was "symbolic in number" but their weapons will play a positive role in Kobani. Syrian Kurds have begged the international community for heavy weapons — like the ones delivered by the U.S. and its allies to Iraq's Kurds — to bolster the outgunned defenders of Kobani. Earlier this month, the U.S. dropped weapons, ammunition and other supplies for the first time following concern that Kobani was about to fall. That, along with daily U.S. airstrikes and a fierce determination by the Kurdish fighters, has stalled the IS advance. "Kurds will remember this moment in history. They will speak of 'before and after Kobani' from now on," Khalil said of the peshmerga force's participation. Emotions were high among residents of Suruc, a predominantly Kurdish border town, as people waited for the peshmerga in a square and along a main street, where police patrolled with loudspeakers. "We are expecting them to go there and throw out IS from Kobani so we can go back to our homes," said Ahmed Boza, 68, from Kobani. Another Kobani resident, 57-year-old Mohammed Osman, said: "We are waiting for the peshmerga because we (Kurds) are all brothers. We are all part of one whole. If one side hurts, we are all in pain." The Islamic State group's offensive on Kobani and nearby Syrian villages has killed more than 800 people, activists say. The Sunni extremists captured dozens of Kurdish villages and control parts of Kobani. More than 200,000 people have fled into Turkey. The coalition has carried out dozens of airstrikes against the militants in and around Kobani, helping stall their advance. The U.S. Central Command said eight airstrikes struck near Kobani on Tuesday and Wednesday. The fighting in Kobani has deadlocked recently, with neither side getting the upper hand. Under pressure to take greater action against the IS militants — from the West as well as from Kurds in Turkey and Syria — the Turkish government agreed to let the fighters cross through its territory. But it only is allowing the peshmerga forces from Iraq, with whom it has a good relationship, and not those from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. Ankara views the Syrian Kurds defending Kobani as loyal to what it regards as an extension of the PKK. That group has waged a 30-year insurgency in Turkey and is designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and NATO. Kurdish fighters in Syria have repeatedly said they did not need more fighters, only weapons. Kurds in Syria distrust Turkey's intentions, accusing it of blocking assistance to the Kobani defenders for weeks before giving in to pressure and shifting its stance. Many suspect Ankara is trying to dilute YPG influence in Kobani by sending in the peshmerga and the Turkey-backed FSA. The battle for Kobani is a small part in a larger war in Syria that has claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people since 2011, according to activists. The conflict began with largely peaceful protests calling for reform. It eventually spiraled into a civil war as people took up arms following a brutal crackdown by Assad on the protest movement. Elsewhere in Syria, at least 10 civilians were killed Wednesday when army helicopters dropped two barrel bombs that landed at a makeshift refugee camp in the northern province of Idlib, opposition activists said. Video posted online by activists showed bodies scattered among torn tents in a wooded area and civil defense workers gathering remains of the dead. A car bomb exploded in a government-held district of the city of Homs, killing at least one person and wounding 25 others, a local official said. Karam reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Albert Aji and Diaa Hadid contributed from Damascus, Syria. Subjects General news, Militant groups, War and unrest, Civil wars People Bashar Assad Locations Turkey, Syria, Middle East, Iraq Organisations Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Free Syrian Army, Kurdistan Workers Party ================================================== Kurdish convoy heads to Syria to take on Islamic State Wed, Oct 29 15:43 PM EDT image 1 of 12 By Dasha Afanasieva and Alexander Dziadosz SURUC Turkey/BEIRUT (Reuters) - A convoy of peshmerga fighters from northern Iraq headed across southeastern Turkey on Wednesday towards the Syrian town of Kobani to try to help fellow Kurds break an Islamic State siege which has defied U.S.-led air strikes. Kobani, on the border with Turkey, has been under assault for more than a month and its fate has become a test of the U.S.-led coalition's ability to combat the Sunni Muslim insurgents. Weeks of air strikes on Islamic State positions around Kobani and the deaths of hundreds of their fighters have failed to break the siege. The Kurds and their international allies hope the arrival of the peshmerga, along with heavier weapons, can turn the tide. The Kurdish fighters were given a heroes' welcome as their convoy of jeeps and flatbed trucks, some bearing heavy machineguns, snaked its way for around 400 km (250 miles) through Turkey's mostly Kurdish southeast after crossing the border from northern Iraq. The presence of Kurdish forces passing with government permission through a part of Turkey which has seen a three-decade insurgency by local Kurdish PKK militants was an extraordinary sight for many residents. Villagers set bonfires, let off fireworks and chanted by the side of the road as the convoy passed. Thousands took to the streets of the border town of Suruc, descending on its tree-lined main square and spilling into side streets, some with faces painted in the colors of the Kurdish flag. "All the Kurds are together. We want them to go and fight in Kobani and liberate it," said Issa Ahamd, an 18-year-old high school student among the almost 200,000 Syrian Kurds who have fled to Turkey since the assault on Kobani began. An initial group of between 90 and 100 peshmerga fighters arrived by plane amid tight security in the nearby city of Sanliurfa early on Wednesday, according to Adham Basho, a member of the Syrian Kurdish National Council from Kobani. Saleh Moslem, co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said the peshmerga were expected to bring heavy arms to Kobani - known as Ayn al-Arab in Arabic. "It's mainly artillery, or anti-armor, anti-tank weapons," he said. The lightly armed Syrian Kurds have said such weaponry is crucial to driving back Islamic State insurgents, who have used armored vehicles and tanks in their assault. Kurdistan's Minister of Peshmerga, Mustafa Sayyid Qader, told local media on Tuesday that no limits had been set to how long the forces would remain in Kobani. The Kurdistan Regional Government has said the fighters would not engage in direct combat in Kobani but rather provide artillery support. RADICAL ISLAM Islamic State has caused international alarm by capturing large expanses of Iraq and Syria, declaring an Islamic "caliphate" that erases borders between the two. Its fighters have slaughtered or driven away Shi'ite Muslims, Christians and other communities who do not share their ultra-radical brand of Sunni Islam. Fighters from the Nusra Front, al Qaeda's official affiliate in the Syrian civil war, have meanwhile seized territory from moderate rebels in recent days, expanding their control into one of the few areas of northern Syria not already held by hardline Islamists. Nearly 10 million people have been displaced by Syria's war and close to 200,000 killed, according to the United Nations. A Syrian army helicopter dropped two barrel bombs on a displaced persons camp in the northern province of Idlib on Wednesday, killing many, camp residents said. In Iraq, security forces said they had advanced to within 2 km (1.2 miles) of the city of Baiji on Wednesday in a new offensive to retake the country's biggest oil refinery that has been besieged since June by Islamic State. Islamic State has threatened to massacre Kobani's defenders, triggering a call to arms from Kurds across the region. The U.S. military conducted 14 air strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command. Eight of the raids destroyed Islamic State targets near Kobani, it said. At least a dozen shells fired by Islamic State fighters fell on the town overnight as clashes with the main Syrian Kurdish armed group, the YPG, continued, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It said preparations were being made at a border gate which Islamic State fighters have repeatedly tried to capture before the arrival of the peshmerga, while YPG and Islamic State forces exchanged fire in gun battles on the southern edge of the town. The Observatory also said 50 Syrian fighters had entered Kobani from Turkey with their weapons, though it was unclear which group they belonged to. Turkey has pushed for moderate Syrian rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad to join the battle against Islamic State in Kobani. Rebel commander Abdul Jabbar al-Oqaidi said he had led 200 Free Syrian Army fighters into Kobani but there was no independent confirmation of this. The FSA describes dozens of armed groups fighting Assad but with little or no central command. It is widely outgunned by Islamist insurgents. DELICATE PARTNERSHIP The Iraqi Kurdish region's parliament voted last week to deploy some peshmerga forces to Syria and, under pressure from Western allies, Turkey agreed to let then cross its territory. The United States and its allies in the coalition have made clear they do not plan to send troops to fight Islamic State in Syria or Iraq, but they need fighters on the ground to capitalize on their air strikes. Syrian Kurds have called for the international community to provide them with heavier weapons and munitions and they have received an air drop from the United States. But Turkey accuses Kurdish groups in Kobani of links to the militant PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party), which has fought the insurgency against the Turkish state and is regarded as a terrorist group by Ankara, Washington and the European Union. That has complicated efforts to provide aid. A Syrian Kurdish official said in Paris on Wednesday that France, which has taken part in air strikes in Iraq and given Iraqi peshmerga fighters weapons and training, had yet to fulfill a promise to give support to Kurds in Syria. "France has said it was ready to help the Kurds, but we haven't been received by the French authorities. There has been no direct or indirect contact," Khaled Eissa, representative in France of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said. French officials confirmed there had been no meetings in large part due to concern about historic links to the PKK. Ankara fears Syria's Kurds will exploit the chaos by following their brethren in Iraq and seeking to carve out an independent state in northern Syria, emboldening PKK militants in Turkey and derailing a fragile peace process. The stance has enraged Turkey’s own Kurdish minority, about a fifth of the population and half of all Kurds across the region. Kurds suspect Ankara, which has refused to send in its forces to relieve Kobani, would rather see Islamic State jihadists extend their territorial gains than allow Kurdish insurgents to consolidate local power. (Additional reporting by Isabel Coles in Arbil, Omer Berberoglu and Sasa Kavic in Sanliurfa, Tom Perry in Beirut, John Irish in Paris; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Giles Elgood and David Stamp) =======================================================

Kidnappings, bombings hit Basra; IA Aviation Mil Mi-35 and IA Bell 407 helicopters downed by #IS with FN-6 MANPADS

IA Aviation Mil Mi-35 and IA Bell 407 helicopters downed by #IS with FN-6 MANPADS in the vicinity of Bayji: pic.twitter.com/9CTKHZqDW7

— MemlikPasha (@MemlikPasha) October 9, 2014 Basra federalists still have only 20K signatures demanding referendum for new federal region. Need more than 100K, goal not reached in 2009. #Basra federalist leader promises constitution for new federal region in oil-rich south of #Iraq before referendum #BREAKING Rosneft scraps purchase of Morgan Stanley's oil trading business IA Aviation Mil Mi-35 and IA Bell 407 helicopters downed by #IS with FN-6 MANPADS in the vicinity of Bayji: The Chinese FN-6 is an updated version of the Russian 9K38 Igla-S MANPADS. FN-6 send by Saudi for FSA... Now we are sure that no further advanced weapons will be sent to them. I wait for the TOW Missille in the hand of ISIS...US aircraft at Kobane operate well over the maximum range of the MANPADS. ISIS need SA-3(S125PechoraM)available in Latakia/Tartous/Damascus &othr #ASAAD basis,accordng to IISS(2010) #Kweris had some but was not taken by #ISIS. These have a ceiling of 59k feet,FN6 are based on SA16/18(9K38)not on SA24 and have 12kfeet ceiling hat could be the reason for the absence of manpads at kobane?? Limited no.s only or kept for something big? A family photo of sorts for #MANPADS, good for comparison: http://imgur.com/gallery/KFH6b04 @MemlikPasha 2013-06-01 Panorama of Alasala Watanmia Front in Aleppo Syria by jurassicbark Background on this group and their MANPADS: "9K338 Igla-S (SA-24) and other MANPADS in Syria" via armsresearch.org by N.R. Jenzen-Jones I made this panorama from video after seeing the group deploy one of the MANPADS today. Most notable is the various anti-air missile systems displayed: 9K32M Strela-2M , Chinese FN-6, 9K338 Igla-S, 9K310 Igla-1. =========== To stem extremists, Iraq to reduce Baghdad's power By SAMEER N. YACOUB and VIVIAN SALAMA Oct. 10, 2014 3:26 AM EDT Mideast Iraq Decentralization In this Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014 photo,Basra residents chant slogans supporting the creation of... BAGHDAD (AP) — To get a home or an office built in the central Iraqi province of Salahuddin, contractors have usually had to pay hefty bribes to corrupt officials in Baghdad to clear away the red tape. It was just one example of the heavy hand that the central government holds over even the smallest details of life in Iraq's provinces. That hand was often corrupt as well. Around 70 percent of the projects that the government committed to fund in Salahuddin existed only on paper, according to Najih al-Mizan, a Sunni lawmaker from the province. "Some of the funds allocated to the province go missing in Baghdad," said al-Mizan. The combination of interference and neglect from the Shiite-led government in Baghdad was one reason why many among the predominantly Sunni population of Salahuddin saw the Islamic State group as a possible alternative when its extremist fighters swept into the province the past month, al-Mizan said. People there were so fed up with Baghdad, they were desperate for something new. Now, Iraq's new government, beleaguered by the Sunni militant onslaught over much of the country, is making a concerted effort to empower local and provincial governments. The aim is in part to draw Sunni support away from the extremists. But it is also a calculation that it is better to have a controlled decentralization of power than to see the country outright fall apart into Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish fragments, as many fear. Until recently in Iraq, getting anything done on a provincial level — even routine business like hiring a street cleaner — required approval from Baghdad. Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish populations alike have long complained that the central government monopolized power and horded resources, leaving outlying regions to fend for themselves. Provinces that are home to the Sunni minority have long felt the brunt of discrimination from Shiite authorities in Baghdad, who the Sunnis say would often either neglect their needs or exploit them through corruption. But Shiite provinces were neglected as well, particularly those dominated by Shiite parties not in favor in the capital. The exclusion intensified feelings of resentment toward the government of then-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, even among one-time loyalists. That resentment finally led to al-Maliki's replacement last month. The Islamic State group, which now holds territory stretching from northern Syria across Sunni regions of northern and western Iraq down to the edges of Baghdad, has intentionally sought to benefit from the Sunni resentments of Baghdad. Part of its core strategy has been to establish administration over the land that it controls to win over the population. The group administers courts, cleans streets, fixes roads and even polices traffic. Haider al-Abadi, named Iraq's prime minister on Sept. 8, has made decentralization a paramount theme in his platform. He plans to give greater autonomy to provincial governments and construct a national guard in which recruits and leadership are conscripted from local populations. "We have to move away from governing from the center, which is Baghdad, and having to decide all the details for the different governorates — that's important for us," al-Abadi said in a Sept. 17 interview with The Associated Press. "We want to have a real federal state according to the constitution," by giving provinces more power and involving them more in the central government's decision-making for the whole of Iraq. Decentralization has failed to take off in the past. In 2013, parliament revised a law on provincial powers to spread authorities but the changes were never carried out. The constitution itself — written under heavy U.S. influence after the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein — has strong provisions for decentralization. It allows several provinces to vote to form a region together that would have a large degree of autonomy. That raises the possibility of a Sunni-dominated region in the center and a Shiite-dominated one in the south, similar to the already existing semi-autonomous Kurdish region in the north. No individual province has tried to officially start the process to create a region, but there have been calls. This week, protesters in the southern city of Basra held demonstrations demanding greater decentralization. But decentralization also gets lost in the thicket of disputes between Baghdad and the provinces over issues ranging from annual budgets, investment, security, sharing of resources and balance of powers. The Shiite-majority city of Basra, for example, has everything and nothing. It has little access to drinking water, systematic garbage collection or decent health care — ironic, since Basra is the biggest contributor to Iraq's annual budget with its robust oil reserves. "We are not even able to build houses for poor people because we have no control over most of Basra's land," said Sabah al-Bazaouni, a member of Basra's provincial council. "The Oil Ministry has the upper hand in this issue (and) does not care whether our people are living in houses or on the sidewalk." Iraq has had a long history of autocratic rule since gaining independence from the British in 1932, with the central government in Baghdad maintaining a tight grip on all provincial matters. At the time, only the Kurds fought the centralized model of governance as it stymied their ambitions for an independent Kurdish state. But in the decades that followed, Shiites clashed with the Sunni-led government claiming that they were treated like second-class citizens, persecuted, arrested, and denied basic rights. When the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam in 2003, tables turned and Sunnis expressed similar grievances about the Shiites who came to power. One complaint voiced particularly by Sunnis and Kurds is over abuses by the security forces and Shiite militias. Al-Maliki inflamed tensions in the military by dismissing some Sunni officers and replacing them with Shiite officers loyal to him. Al-Abadi cited the problem of indiscriminate shelling of urban areas by the military as a source of bitterness toward the central government, and within days of taking office he banned the armed forces from such shelling. The national guard plan also aims to reduce the resentments by bringing locals more into security duties. But the fear over decentralization has always been that empowering provinces will only get the ball rolling faster toward the disintegration of the war-torn nation. "There is the risk that federalism may eventually lead to secessionism," said Ramzy Mardini, an Iraq expert at the Washington-based Atlantic Council. "It has already taken root in Iraqi Kurdistan, and once the territorial integrity of Iraq is compromised, there's no assurance that things won't unravel further." ========================================== Islamic State seizes large areas of Syrian town despite air strikes Thu, Oct 09 18:43 PM EDT image 1 of 7 By Daren Butler and Oliver Holmes MURSITPINAR Turkey/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters seized more than a third of the Syrian border town of Kobani, a monitoring group said on Thursday, as U.S.-led air strikes failed to halt their advance and Turkish forces looked on without intervening. With Washington ruling out a ground operation in Syria, Turkey said it was unrealistic to expect it to mount a cross-border operation alone to relieve the mainly Kurdish town. The U.S. military said Kurdish forces appeared to be holding out in the town, which lies within sight of Turkish territory, following new air strikes in the area against a militant training camp and fighters. Washington said U.S. forces launched nine air strikes on Thursday against Islamic State militants north and south of Kobani, striking some fighting units and destroying four buildings held by the group. U.S. forces also conducted two air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq. But the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Islamic State, still widely known by its former acronym of ISIS, had pushed forward on Thursday. "ISIS control more than a third of Kobani - all eastern areas, a small part of the northeast and an area in the southeast," said Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Observatory, which monitors the Syrian civil war. The commander of Kobani's heavily outgunned Kurdish defenders confirmed that the militants had made major gains, after a three-week battle that has also caused the worst street clashes in years between Turkish police and Kurdish protesters. In Turkey's eastern province of Bingol, two police officers were killed and a police chief was seriously wounded in an attack, CNN Turk television reported, while clashes elsewhere killed four protesters. Militia chief Esmat al-Sheikh put the area controlled by Islamic State, which controls large amounts of territory in Syria and neighboring Iraq, at about a quarter of the town. "The clashes are ongoing, street battles," he said by telephone from the town. Explosions rocked Kobani throughout the day, with black smoke visible from the Turkish border a few km (miles) away. Islamic State hoisted its black flag in the town overnight and a stray projectile landed 3 km (2 miles) inside Turkey. The town's defenders say the United States is giving only token support with its air strikes, while Turkish tanks sent to the frontier look on but do nothing to defend the town, where the United Nations says only a few hundred remain. Over 180,000 people from the city and surrounding area have fled into Turkey. UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, played down the chances of its forces going to the aid of Kobani. "It is not realistic to expect Turkey to conduct a ground operation on its own," he told a news conference with visiting NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg. He added: "We are holding talks ... Once there is a common decision, Turkey will not hold back from playing its part." Ankara resents suggestions from Washington it is not pulling its weight, and wants broader joint action that also targets the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"We strongly reject allegations of Turkish responsibility for the ISIS advance," said a senior Ankara government source. "Our allies, especially the U.S. administration, dragged their feet for a very long time before deciding to take action against the catastrophic events happening in Syria," he added.

Turkey has long advocated action against Assad during the civil war, which grew out of a popular uprising in 2011. But the United States called off air strikes on Damascus government forces at the last minute last year when Assad agreed to give up his chemical weapons. It has also managed so far to fly sorties across Syria with tacit consent from Assad. Kerry said Islamic State's advance on Kobani was a tragedy but would not deter the U.S. coalition from its long-term strategy in the region. "Kobani is a tragedy because it represents the evil of ISIS, but it is not the definition either of the strategy or the full measure of what is happening with response to ISIS," he told reporters in Boston. "We are only a few weeks into building the coalition," Kerry said. "The primary goal of this effort has been to provide the space for Iraq to be able to get its government in place and to begin to push back and to begin to be able to deprive them (Islamic State militants) of their command and control, their supply centers and their training. That is taking place." Retired U.S. General John Allen, asked by President Barack Obama to oversee the creation and work of the anti-Islamic State coalition, was in Ankara on Thursday for two days of talks with Turkey's leaders. President Tayyip Erdogan wants the U.S.-led alliance to enforce a "no-fly zone" to prevent Assad's air force flying over Syrian territory near the Turkish border, and to create a safe area for around 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey to return. Stoltenberg said neither had been discussed by NATO. TURKISH CLASHES The anger felt by Turkey's Kurds over Ankara's failure to help their brethren in Syria threatens to unravel a fragile peace process that Erdogan hoped would end a 30-year armed struggle for autonomy by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). At least 25 people died in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey on Wednesday during clashes between security forces and Kurds demanding that the government do more to help Kobani. On Thursday, two policemen came under attack in Bingol's city center while they were inspecting shops damaged in demonstrations earlier this week. No group claimed responsibility for the killings. Four people were killed and 20 were wounded in the southern border province of Gaziantep when armed clashes broke out between protesters demonstrating in solidarity with Kobani and groups opposing them. The violence had prompted curfews to be imposed in five southeastern provinces, restrictions unseen since the height of the PKK's war against Turkish forces in the 1990s, and streets were calmer as a result. Erdogan said protesters had exploited the events in Kobani as an excuse to sabotage the peace process. Selahattin Demirtas, head of the Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), which had urged Turkish Kurds to take to the streets this week, denied that they had provoked violence. He appealed for calm and said jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan had called for talks with the government to be stepped up. Kurdish leaders in Syria have asked Ankara, so far in vain, to establish a corridor through Turkey to allow aid and possibly arms and fighters to reach Kobani. Ankara is suspicious of Syria's Kurds for having achieved self-rule by tacit agreement with Assad after he lost control of the region to anti-government rebels, and fears this could revive secessionist aspirations among its own Kurds. Turkish police fired tear gas against Kurdish protesters in the town of Suruc near the border overnight, and the shutters of most shops remained closed in a traditional mark of protest. Ferdi, a 21-year-old Turkish Kurd watching the smoke rising from Kobani, said if the town fell, the conflict would spread to Turkey. "In fact," he said, "it already has spread here." (Additional reporting by Tom Perry, Mariam Karouny in Beirut, Humeyra Pamuk in Istanbul and Orhan Coskun, Tulay Karadeniz and Jonny Hogg in Ankara, Scott Malone in Boston and Peter Cooney in Washington; Editing by David Stamp, Kevin Liffey and Ken Wills) ============= Iraqi soldiers man a checkpoint in Basra, in December 2007. (ATEF HASSAN/Reuters) By Ali Abu Iraq and Ben Lando of Iraq Oil Report Published Thursday, October 9th, 2014 Four people were kidnapped Wednesday in Basra, including an Iraqi oil worker – the latest in a series of violent incidents that have prompted provincial leaders to revise security plans.Iraq's oil capital is far south of the territory controlled by militants of the so-called Islamic State (IS), whose war against the Iraqi state has effectively shut down the country's northern oil sector. To counter that threat, many Basra security force regulars have been called up north, leaving something. ========== Iraq’s north export infrastructure destroyed Iraq’s north export infrastructure destroyed Iraq’s Oil Police secure the site of a burning oil pipeline near the northern city of Kirkuk on July 3, 2006, after it was bombed by insurgents. (MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP/Getty Images) By Ben Lando, Ben Van Heuvelen, Patrick Osgood, Rawaz Tahir and Staff of Iraq Oil Report Published Thursday, September 11th, 2014 Key infrastructure along the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline (ITP) corridor that has been fully controlled by insurgents since June has been damaged so badly that, even if security were restored, it would take years to repair.The long-term incapacitation of Iraq's northern export pipeline deprives the country of a major revenue stream and creates an added incentive for Baghdad to pursue political reconciliation with the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which has built pipelines that cou... ================= Shootout between ‘allies’ underscores Iraq divisions Shootout between ‘allies’ underscores Iraq divisions Shia militiamen brandish their weapons in the town of Tuz Khurmatu on Aug. 31, 2014. (STRINGER/Reuters) By By Christine van den Toorn, Shwan Lacky and Staff of Iraq Oil Report Published Wednesday, October 8th, 2014 Ethnic and sectarian tensions are approaching a breaking point in the volatile northern city of Tuz Khurmatu, following an Oct. 3 gun battle between Shia militia and Kurdish fighters.The shootout, which injured at least four people, highlighted not only a rivalry between Kurds and Shia, but also the widespread mistrust and mistreatment of Sunnis. It was another worrying sign that violence and sectarianism will continue to plague Iraq even after the extremist militants of the so-called Islam... ================ UPDATE 1-Iraq cuts output targets in revised oil deals with BP, CNPC Thu, Sep 04 08:21 AM EDT (Adds BP comment, details, quotes, background) By Aref Mohammed BASRA, Iraq, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Iraq signed revised contracts with foreign oil companies for two southern oilfields on Thursday that reduced their production targets and extended the life of the deals, Iraqi oil officials said. The revised deal with oil major BP for Iraq's giant Rumaila oilfield cut the planned plateau level to 2.1 million barrels per day from 2.85 million bpd, Salah Mohammad, general manager of the Rumaila Operating Organisation, told Reuters. Iraq also agreed with China's CNPC to slash the final output target from the Halfaya oilfield to 400,000 bpd from 535,000 bpd, Adnan Noshi, head of state-run Maysan Oil Co, said. Iraq had set an overall production capacity target of 12 million bpd by 2020, which would rival that of top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, after it signed service contracts in 2009-2010 to develop its southern oilfields. Oil majors working in Iraq include BP, leader at Rumaila; ExxonMobil, in charge of West Qurna 1; and Royal Dutch Shell, operator of Majnoon. But crumbling infrastructure, red tape and a lack of clear oil legislation have stunted investor interest. Iraq has repeatedly failed to reach its ambitious targets, and current output from the southern fields is around 3 million bpd. Baghdad has reduced the overall capacity target to 8.5-9 million bpd and returned to the negotiating table to discuss revised plateau production rates with oil companies. NEW GOALS Rumaila, the workhorse of Iraq's oil industry which BP operates with CNPC, has estimated reserves of 17 billion barrels. It currently produces around 1.3 million bpd, Salah said, adding he expected that output level to remain steady for the rest of the year. Officials from BP and Iraq's oil ministry signed the amendment to the existing contract, originally agreed in 2009, in a closed-door meeting at Rumaila on Thursday. "Iraq and BP have reached an agreement to cut Rumaila's production target to 2.1 million bpd," Salah said. "It was (also) agreed to extend the timeframe to reach the new final production of 2.1 million bpd to 10 years from seven years that had been agreed upon before," he added. A BP spokesman said that under the amendment to the existing technical service agreement, the partners "plan to raise plateau production by about 800,000 b/d within the next decade to some 2.1 million b/d". CNPC, operator of Halfaya, is developing the field with France's Total and Malaysian state company Petronas . Maysan's Noshi said Halfaya's amended contract had been extended to 30 years from 20. Halfaya currently produces 200,000 bpd and it is expected to boost output to 230,000 bpd by the end of this year, he added. Iraq's giant southern fields have not been affected by Baghdad's fighting with Islamist insurgents. (Reporting by Aref Mohammed; Additional reporting and writing by Rania El Gamal; editing by Jane Baird) ========= Siege of Kobani: Insider video shows ISIS militants advance Published time: October 11, 2014 18:54 Conflict, Military, Syria, Terrorism, Turkey, War As fierce fighting continues for the Kurdish city of Kobani near the Turkish-Syrian border, a video was posted online showing the advance of the jihadists. There are widespread fears the town’s capture may result in a bloody massacre. The video was posted online on Friday by a group connected to ISIS to show militants using rocket propelled grenades and sledgehammers while advancing inside the besieged city of Kobani. As of Friday, the jihadists controlled 40 percent of the area. ISIS now controls 40% of Kobani – top US official The two-minute long clip shows the scenes of fight in the streets, militants changing dispositions and aiming fire. The jihadists are equipped with different kinds of weapons including tommy-guns and shotguns. AP reported that the video has been authenticated against known locations and events by regional experts. AP cites a Kurdish official as saying that fighting was mainly taking place in the southern and eastern parts of the city. READ MORE: Battle for Baghdad: ISIS now within 8 miles of airport, armed with MANPADS Many Kurds in neighboring Turkey took part in protests appealing to the government to intervene and to let Turkish Kurds cross the border and participate in defense of the town. Despite airstrikes by the US-led coalition, the IS fighters advanced this week. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the town's Kurdish fighters are being outgunned by the militants. UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura warned Friday that if Kobani falls to ISIS, thousands of civilians there would “most likely be massacred.” He urged Turkey to prevent the slaughter. "Do you remember Srebrenica? We do. We never forgot and probably we never forgave ourselves," de Mistura told journalists. READ MORE: 1.8 million fleeing ISIS in deadly, life-threatening situation - UN At least 500 people have been killed and more than 200,000 forced to flee into Turkey since the IS jihadists started an assault on Kobani in mid-September. =========