'Perfect storm' with vast potential for destruction: Idlib braces for Syrian assault on rebels
READ MORE
Welcome to The National Today newsletter, which takes a closer look at what’s happening around some of the day’s most notable stories. Sign up here and it will be delivered directly to your inbox Monday to Friday.
TODAY:
- UN fears use of chemical weapons as Syria appears to be readying for final assault on Idlib
- Alex Salmond, former first-minister of Scotland, has resigned from his party to concentrate on fighting sexual misconduct allegations
- Spain’s ‘war of the ribbons’ over Catalonian independence is escalating
- Missed The National last night? Watch it here
Chemical weapons fears in Idlib
An emboldened Syrian government appears to readying for a final assault on Idlib, the last rebel-held region of the country.
Speaking in Moscow this morning, Walid al-Moualem, Syria’s foreign minister, said government troops will “go all the way” in their pursuit of their “primary target” in the region, the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front. Syria “will do its utmost” to avoid civilian casualties, he added, denying rumours of government plans to unleash chemical weapons in the region.
“I assure you that we do not have chemical weapons and are not able to use them,” Moualem said.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, left, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held joint talks in Moscow this morning. (Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)The United Nations is expressing fears that an all-out battle for control of Idlib could see both sides deploy chlorine gas, repeating an all-too-familiar horror during Syria’s seven-year civil war.“The lives of 2.9 million people are at stake, and international mutually threatening messages and warnings and counter-warnings are taking place in the last few days,” Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy for Syria, warned today in Geneva.
Assad’s biggest backer, Russia, seems more than willing to let him take the gloves off.
Yesterday in Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the Idlib militants as a “festering abscess,” that “needs to be liquidated.”
UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura says a battle between Syrian troops and the more than 10,000 jihadists in Idlib is a ‘perfect storm’ with vast potential for destruction. (Denis Balibouse/Reuters)Russia says it has already reached an understanding with Turkey on the need to differentiate between the “terrorists” and more moderate opposition in the breakaway province. But the Kremlin is also warning the West not to “obstruct” the coming operations.And today Russia announced that it will be holding “war games” off the Syrian coast from Sept. 1 to 8 involving 25 warships, including a guided missile cruiser, fighter jets and strategic bombers.
“In the interests of ensuring the safety of shipping and air traffic, and in line with international law, the areas of the exercise will be declared dangerous for shipping and flights,” Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement that appears to be a not-so-subtle warning to foreign powers.
The UN has warned that an all-out assault on Idlib could displace as many as 800,000 civilians. It is appealing to all sides to set up escape corridors and allow for humanitarian assistance.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called Idlib a ‘festering abscess’ that needs to be ‘liquidated.’ (Alexander Zemlianichenko/Associated Press)De Mistura called the looming face-off between Syrian troops and more than 10,000 jihadists a “perfect storm” with vast potential for destruction in the region’s heavily populated towns and cities.For the moment, talks are taking precedence over military action.
Turkey, which backs some of the rebel groups in Idlib, is trying to find a way to stave off the offensive.
Turkish forces are seen in a convoy near the town of Saraqib in Syria’s northern Idlib province on Wednesday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there is ‘full political understanding’ between Russia and Turkey, who support opposing sides of the Syrian civil war but are currently in intense negotiations to ensure Idlib does not become a breaking point in their alliance. (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images)“A military solution here would be a disaster, not just for the Idlib region, but a disaster in terms of Syria’s future,” Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, told a news conference in Moscow today.He is scheduled to meet with Vladimir Putin tomorrow.
Alex Salmond steps down
Alex Salmond, the former first-minister of Scotland, has resigned from his party to concentrate on his fight against sexual misconduct allegations.
In a video posted on YouTube last night, the 63-year-old stalwart of Scotland’s independence movement said he has temporarily left the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) in order to clear his name, and spare his successor Nicola Sturgeon from an awkward dilemma.
Alex Salmond denies the sexual harassment allegations that have been made against him. (Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)“It seems obvious that Nicola feels under pressure from other political parties to suspend me from SNP membership, given recent party precedents,” Salmond said to the camera, wearing a red tartan tie and a Scottish flag pin on his lapel.“I did not come into politics to facilitate opposition attacks on the SNP and, with Parliament returning next week, I have tendered my resignation to remove this line of opposition attack.”
News of the allegations against Salmond, which date back to December 2013 when he was still premier, broke last week in the Daily Record newspaper.
According to reports, two government employees came forward this past January with claims of inappropriate behaviour. One incident, involving an alleged sexual assault, is said to have occurred at his official residence.
The Scottish government launched an investigation in March, and the cases have since been passed on to the police.
But Salmond, who vigorously denies the accusations, says he has not be given the opportunity to examine or question the supposed evidence against him. Last week he filed suit against the government, seeking a judicial review of the way the complaints have been handled.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon arrives for a meeting at Downing Street, in London. Salmond said he stepped down partly to spare Sturgeon from the mounting political pressure to remove him. (Will Oliver/EPA-EFE)In the video, Salmond launched a crowdfunding appeal to deal with what he said are the “huge” legal costs associated with his defence. The campaign surpassed its £50,000 goal within hours, and by late this morning had raised more than £82,000 from almost 3,400 supporters.Salmond said he was resigning in hopes of avoiding “substantial internal division” within the Scottish nationalist movement. But his appeal for donations appears to have created an instant rift.
Nicola Sturgeontook to the BBC this morning to defend her government’s handling of the allegations, saying that Scotland needs a culture where people are able to safely make complaints regardless of “how senior, how powerful, how well known or what the political allegiance is” of the person they are accusing. The first minister added that women have to be certain that their allegations will be “treated seriously and fairly.”
Later in the day, she posted several tweets pointing to a fundraising campaign for a rape crisis network and national charity to end domestic abuse.
Meanwhile, reports the Guardian, several of her MPs and senior party members appear to be contributing to the fund for Salmond’s defence.
Alex Salmond on the campaign trail in Edinburgh in May. The allegations against Salmond date back to December 2013 when he was still premier. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)Salmond’s resignation also failed to blunt opposition criticism.Rhoda Grant, the Scottish Labour Party’s spokesperson on women’s issues, accused the former first minister of abusing his power and “dragging Scotland into the gutter.”
“Decent people will rightly be furious that he is to raise money to take the Scottish government to court,” she said in a release. “It suggests that he is sending a signal to those who have made allegations that he has the upper hand.”
- Like this newsletter? Sign up and have it delivered by email.
- You may also like our early-morning newsletter, the Morning Brief — start the day with the news you need in one quick and concise read. Sign up here.
Untie a yellow ribbon …
Spain’s ‘War of the Ribbons’ is escalating.
Over the summer, there have been close to two dozen public clashes between Spanish nationalists and supporters of Catalonian independence, sparked by a proliferation of yellow ribbons that are meant as a silent protest against the continued imprisonment of separatist leaders.
A group of 80 pro-Spain activists descended yesterday on La Bisbal d’Empordà, a staunchly separatist town in northern Catalonia, and started removing pro-independence symbols and hauling them away in large trash bags.
Albert Rivera, the leader of Spanish ‘Ciudadanos’ (Citizens) party and a member of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, removes yellow ribbons in the Alella district in Barcelona on Wednesday. Catalans use the yellow ribbons as a symbol of solidarity with the imprisoned leaders of pro-independence organizations. (Alejandro Garcia/EPA-EFE)The group, who call themselves the “Brigade to Clean Yellow Ribbons,” wore masks, goggles and white hazmat suits, and came equipped with large ladders to reach up the top of lamposts and street-side balconies. There were verbal confrontations with local residents and police arrived to watch over events, but no arrests were made.
Then later in the day, two leaders of the right-wing Ciudadanos party — an anti-independence movement — travelled to the town of Alella, near Barcelona, with media in tow to cut down yellow ribbons from a railing on a downtown street while their supporters applauded and passersby shouted “Fascists!” The ribbons were replaced within minutes of their departure.
A woman in a car gestures angrily at two men cutting yellow ribbons from a street railing in the Alella district of Barcelona on Wednesday. (Alejandro Garcia/EPA-EFE)The party has been leading a campaign to “reclaim” Catalonia’s public spaces from independence supporters.Tensions are growing as the first anniversary of Catalan’s Oct. 1 secession referendum approaches, and anger rises over the Spanish government’s bid to have the movement’s leaders jailed for up to 30 years on charges of sedition and rebellion.
Police have generally refused to intervene in the confrontations. María José Segarra, Spain’s attorney general, has resisted calls for charges, calling both the tying and removing of ribbons “part of freedom of expression.”
Local residents place yellow ribbons at a building in La Bisbal D’Emporda in Catalonia, north eastern Spain, on Wednesday. (Robin Townsend/EPA-EFE)Violence has flared, however. During an incident in Barcelona last weekend, for example, an argument over ribbons in a public park ended with a Ciudadanos supporter having her nose broken. (A man has since been charged with committing a hate crime, but he claims he was concerned about littering, rather than Catalan’s political future.)Early next week, the debate over Spain’s treatment of Catalonia will shift stages to a Belgian courtroom and the beginning of a civil suit that the breakaway region’s former president, Carles Puigdemont, has brought against Supreme Court Justice Pablo Llarena.
Carles Puigdemont, exiled former President of Catalunya, speaks to media in Brussels on Monday. He is trying to have Supreme Court Justice Pablo Llarena, the man who was overseeing attempts to extradite him, declared biased. (Aris Oikonomou/AFP/Getty Images)Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium last fall to escape arrest, is trying to have Llarena, the man who was overseeing attempts to extradite him, declared biased on the basis of his past rulings, and is seeking symbolic damages of one euro.The Spanish government has hired a Belgian law firm to defend Llarena, who is expected to testify on Tuesday.
A few words on …
Supply management.
What the heck is supply management, why is it so important to NAFTA and how will the dairy industry be affected in Canada? a href=”https://t.co/LMfW7aDiyi”pic.twitter.com/LMfW7aDiyi/a
mdash;@CBCTheNational
Quote of the moment
“This decision reinforces our belief that the Trans Mountain Expansion Project must not proceed, and we tell the Prime Minister to start listening and put an end to this type of relationship. It is time for Prime Minister Trudeau to do the right thing.”
– Khelsilem, a councillor and spokesperson for British Columbia’s Squamish Nation, reacts to this morning’s Federal Court of Appeals ruling quashing federal government approvals for the pipeline project.
Khelsilum is the spokesperson for the Squamish nation. (Angela Sterritt)
What The National is reading
- Three suspects in Manitoba Mountie shooting captured by RCMP (CBC)
- Argentina ask IMF to release $50 billion loan as crisis worsens (BBC)
- Diamonds and jewels from Swissair Flight 111 still missing, 20 years on (National Post)
- Astronauts are repairing a hole in the wall of the International Space Station (CBC)
- Ferrari designers to create new bus shelters (Miami Herald)
- Treaty banning dangerous chemicals helped Arctic wildlife, study shows (CBC)
- Nervous Usain Bolt prepares for pro-soccer debut (Agence France Presse)
- PETA wants roadside tombstone for lobsters that died in Maine crash (Press Herald)
Today in history
Aug. 30, 1979: The Canadarm — ‘What is this big arm?’
The Canadarm works just like yours, provided it’s 15-metres long and covered in a thermal blanket. Bill Chisholm, who was overseeing the electronic design work at Montreal’s Spar Aerospace, explains how hard it is to get a multi-jointed arm to accelerate, slow down and grab things in zero gravity. But however powerful the robotic limb is in space, it’s a weakling on Earth, unable to pick up even a coffee table.
Sign up here and have The National Today newsletter delivered directly to your inbox Monday to Friday.
Please send your ideas, news tips, rants, and compliments to thenationaltoday@cbc.ca.
A note to readers
I’ll be off tomorrow celebrating National Trail Mix Day, and conserving my strength to seize the means of production on Monday. The National Today returns on Sept. 4.
Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-government-spending-budget-1.4622518?cmp=rss
Comments
Post a Comment