US military envisions broad defence of Syrian oilfields - Al Jazeera English

The United States will repel any attempt to take Syria's oilfields away with "overwhelming force" whether the challenger is Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) or forces backed by Russia or Syria, the Pentagon has warned.

The US military announced last week it was reinforcing its position in Syria with additional assets, including mechanised forces, to prevent oilfields from being taken over by ISIL remnants or other armed groups.

US defence chief Mark Esper offered some of his most detailed remarks to date about the mission at a news briefing on Monday.

"US troops will remain positioned in this strategic area to deny ISIS access those vital resources. And we will respond with overwhelming military force against any group that threatens the safety of our forces there," Esper told reporters.

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Pressed on whether the US military mission included denying any Russian or Syrian government forces access to the oilfields, Esper said: "The short answer is yes, it presently does."

He noted the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) relied on that oil income to fund its fighters, including the ones guarding prisons that hold captured ISIL soldiers.

"We want to make sure that SDF does have access to resources in order to guard the prisons, in order to arm their own troops, in order to assist us with the defeat-ISIS mission," he said.

"So that's our mission, to secure the oilfields."

'We're keeping the oil'

President Donald Trump recently proposed hiring an American oil company to begin repairing Syria's oil infrastructure, which has been devastated by years of war. Repeated US air strikes against facilities for oil storage, transport, processing and refining starting in 2015 inflicted heavy damage.

Esper said last week that a "mechanised" force would reinforce US positions in the oil region, meaning a force equipped with tanks or Bradley infantry carriers. On Monday he provided no details about the makeup of the force.

He referred to "multiple state and non-state" forces vying for control of Syrian territory and resources, including the oil. He said while the main US military mission is to ensure the "enduring defeat" of ISIL, that now will include denying oil income for the group.

Is Russia the new power broker in Middle East?

"The United States will retain control of oil fields in northeast Syria," Esper said, adding at the height of now-deceased ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's rule, those oil fields provided the bulk of his group's income.

Esper's remarks echoed Trump's focus on the oil in Syria.

"We're keeping the oil," Trump said during a speech in Chicago. "Remember that, I've always said that. Keep the oil. We want to keep the oil - $45m a month - keep the oil. We've secured the oil."

Confrontation?

The area has been the scene of unusual confrontations with US forces, such as a one-sided battle in February 2018 in which a pro-Syrian government force - reported to be mainly private Russian mercenaries - unleashed an artillery barrage near a small US military outpost.

As then-defence chief James Mattis recounted the episode in congressional testimony two months later, he ordered the attacking force to be "annihilated - and it was after Russian authorities insisted the attackers were not their troops.

Esper said on Monday he has seen no sign of Syrian or Russian forces challenging US control of the oilfields.

In recent days, however, US officials detected what they considered to be a significant massing of Syrian and Russian forces on the western side of the Euphrates River near Deir Az Zor, a US official said.

Russian officials were contacted by phone, and the US was given assurances the staged forces would not move east, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

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2019-10-29 09:44:00Z
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Corbyn's backing means election is on - BBC News

Now it is on.

The Labour leader has just issued a statement pressing the button on his election campaign.

In a couple of sentences, giving Boris Johnson the election he craves.

There may still be wrangling about the dates.

• Labour to back an early general election

Labour and the smaller opposition parties might still have a battle with the government in Parliament this afternoon over when the best or worst time is to ask all of us to go to the ballot boxes.

But Labour has, against the wishes of many of its MPs, shifted to supporting a December election and with that, it means we are on for the first December general election in decades.

The prime minister hopes this will give him a victory at the polls that would allow him rapidly to get his Brexit deal through Parliament and the UK out of the EU.

The Labour leader hopes for a souped-up version of his move forward at the 2017 election that would mean, contrary to the view of many of his own MPs, his project can continue and build.

The Lib Dems and SNP hope for a chance to stop Brexit happening, and expand their own political positions at a junction for the country.

But none of the parties can be remotely sure of what will happen next.

An election at this time of year is unusual and surprising.

The results, when they finally come in in several weeks time, may be the same.

Take a breath though, and don't put this in your diary until the votes in Parliament to back the election have actually been counted too.

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2019-10-29 11:04:20Z
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Pro-democracy Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong barred from election - Fox News

Hong Kong authorities on Tuesday barred high-profile pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong from participating in the Chinese territory’s upcoming district council elections, a decision likely to sow further discord within the city wracked by nearly five months of political protests.

Wong, 23, said he was the only person among a pool of 1,100 candidates prevented from participating in the upcoming district council elections on Nov. 24, posting a copy of the letter he received to his Twitter page that said his nomination was no longer valid. 

He slammed the decision made by returning officer Laura Aron, who abruptly replaced another election official last week, as proof that Beijing is manipulating the election through political censorship and screening. Wong is the secretary general of Hong Kong's pro-democracy Demosisto party.

NBA 'ACTING LIKE A WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY OF CHINA,' PENCE SAYS AMID CONTROVERSY OVER HONG KONG TWEET

The government confirmed Wong's disqualification, without identifying him. It indicated the problem was related to a candidate advocating "self-determination" for Hong Kong, which it said conflicts with the requirement for candidates to declare they'll pledge allegiance to the city and uphold its constitution.

Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets since June, originally due to a since-withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed Hong Kong nationals to be sent to mainland China to be tried in Communist party-controlled court. The protests evolved into calls for political reforms, police accountability and democratic elections in the Chinese territory, representing the largest populist challenge to Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012, Reuters reported.

MURDER SUSPECT WHO SPARKED HONG KONG PROTESTS RELEASED FROM PRISON

In this Sept. 11, 2019, file photo, Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong addresses the media during a press conference in Berlin, Germany. (AP)

Wong became known as the young face of Hong Kong's "Umbrella Movement" that peacefully occupied streets for 79 days in 2014, and he has since been repeatedly arrested and jailed. He has been less important to the current protest movement, which has been leaderless and whose participants have sought to remain anonymous. In a message on his Facebook page posted Saturday, Wong said he was against Hong Kong independence but supported a non-binding referendum for citizens to have influence over the territory’s future, Reuters reported.

His activities have nonetheless made him a target of China's communist leaders, who have used him to accuse foreign powers of colluding with anti-China separatists to foment unrest. Wong’s disqualification comes as Hong Kong's leader, Carrie Lam, ruled out finding a political resolution before ending protest violence. She also warned that the Asian financial hub was on the brink of an economic recession.

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"For the government to resort to measures that will appease the violent rioters, I don't think that is the solution," she told reporters. "Until and unless we tackle the violence and put an end to it, it is very difficult to continue the political dialogue we have done."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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2019-10-29 08:50:56Z
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Trump Officials Had No Clue Where He Got 'Whimpering' Detail in His Baghdadi Raid Account - The Daily Beast

The killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi marked a significant win for the United States in the war against the terror group and a major achievement for Donald Trump’s national security policy. But within 24 hours of the raid being announced, the president’s penchant for embellishment had complicated the victory lap he was hoping to take. 

Announcing Baghdadi’s death, Trump claimed that the ISIS leader was “whimpering” and likened him to a “dog” in his attempt to escape U.S. forces. Five senior Trump administration officials who watched in real time as the president spoke on Sunday morning each told The Daily Beast that they had no idea where the president got the “whimpering and crying and screaming” detail. Two officials recounted how after they heard that on Sunday, they immediately began messaging each other questions and comments like, “uh where is he getting that?”

The comments confused officials in the Pentagon as well, some of who told The Daily Beast that there was no way Trump could have heard Baghdadi’s voice on the Situation Room live stream Saturday night because it did not have audio. Two senior officials said while President Trump could have spoken to commandos on the ground who carried out the raid but said that has not often been the case in past operations.

And on Monday, questions about where the president got his information continued to make its way to administration officials. At a press briefing Monday afternoon reporter peppered acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley with questions about Trump’s remarks about Baghdadi “whimpering” and “crying”. Asked whether he too had heard the whimpering and crying from Bagdadi, Esper said: “I don’t have those details.” Milley said the president had planned to talk to unit members involved in the raid but that he didn’t know the source of the Baghdadi description Trump used.

Baghdadi had commanded forces from hideouts in both Syria and Iraq and was responsible for the killing of thousands of individuals in both those countries. He also inspired the kidnapping and killing of American aid workers and journalists as well as spectacular attacks overseas. His death was celebrated as a major breakthrough in a years-long effort to limit ISIS’ reach and operational capacity; and, as such, questions over the validity of Trump’s account of the raid mounted were dismissed by his supporters and Republican operatives as the gripings of a press corps determined to find superficial ways to ding him. 

But if history is any guide, those questions could pose real headaches in the weeks and months ahead. In 2011 then-Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan told reporters Osama bin Laden was armed during a U.S. special operations raid. When White House press secretary Jay Carney later had to reverse that account the Obama administration was criticized with trying to embellish the specifics of that similarly historic raid.

Trump has made similar overstatements before. Two people close to the president say that when they heard about his comments on the “crying” late ISIS leader, it reminded them of how Trump privately, as well as publicly, enjoys reflexively insulting his enemies in situations much less weighty than an anti-Islamic State raid. “Whether they’re actually crying or not, [Trump] will very often accuse some person he’s in a fight with, like a celebrity or a politician, of being weak and just crying all over the place,” one of the sources said. “It’s a favorite insult of his.”

When it came to Baghdadi’s death, the president wasn’t the only one who seemed to get over his skis. On Sunday, President Barack Obama’s White House photographer Pete Souza suggested that a picture from the situation room featuring Trump had been staged after the attack had concluded based on an erroneous belief of when the raid took place. Souza wasn’t alone either. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) retweeted a tweet declaring that the picture was taken 95 minutes after the raid. 

But Trump wasn’t hampered on Monday by a fondness for hyperbole alone. He also seemed incapable of stopping himself from quickly veering back into the familiar territories of personal and cultural grievance. In his first visit to Chicago since he was sworn in as president, Trump delivered a speech on Monday blasting the city as a national embarrassment for its gang violence, crime stats, and immigration policies.

“It’s embarrassing to us as a nation,” Trump said at a convention for police chiefs. “All over the world they’re talking about Chicago. Afghanistan is a safe place by comparison.”

During the speech, the president took a shot at Jussie Smollett, the Empire actor who Chicago police said faked a violent hate crime on himself and then tried to pin it on nameless Trump supporters.

Eddie Johnson, the city’s police superintendent, made a point of boycotting Trump’s speech, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot posted to Twitter on Monday: “Rather than belittle Chicago’s communities with hateful and dishonest rhetoric, he needs to go back to D.C. and face his fate” during the ongoing impeachment inquiry.

Right after trashing Chicago within its city limits, President Trump headed back to D.C. to attend a Halloween event for trick-or-treaters at the White House. He also resumed a preferred pastime: hate-posting on Twitter.

“Can you believe that Shifty Adam Schiff, the biggest leaker in D.C., and a corrupt politician, is upset that we didn’t inform him before we raided and killed the #1 terrorist in the WORLD!? Wouldn’t be surprised if the Do Nothing Democrats Impeach me over that! DRAIN THE SWAMP!!” he tweeted on Monday evening.

That was sent minutes after he retweeted a December 2015 post by “Steph,” detailing why she called herself a devoted Trump follower: “I'm an American citizen, sick of being pillaged & endangered by my government for every faction, race, religion and cause other than my own.”

—With additional reporting by Sam Stein

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2019-10-29 08:32:00Z
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Deadly earthquake hits southern Philippine island of Mindanao - Al Jazeera English

At least four people were killed after a 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck the southern Philippines on Tuesday, just over a week since a strong tremor jolted the same area and left seven people dead.

The quake's epicentre was located inland northeast of Tulunan town in Cotabato province, 972km (604 miles) south of Manila, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

Seismology experts said there were no threats of a tsunami.

A 15-year-old high-school student from Davao del Sur province was confirmed dead after being hit by a hollow blocks during the quake, the public information office of Magsaysay town in the province was quoted by news reports as saying.

CNN Philippines is also reporting that a 66-year-old man died in Koronadal City, South Cotabato after sustaining head injuries during the incident.

A father and his child was also killed in the town of Arakan, Cotabato, according to ABS-CBN News.

A Manila-based radio station also reported that several children in Tulunan were injured when their school collapsed. 

The quake was initially reported as magnitude 6.8 but was later downgraded to 6.6.

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The quake struck at 9:04am (0104 GMT), rattling buildings and forcing people to rush out of offices, schools and hospitals in the affected areas, according to initial information from the institute and videos shared on social media.

Photos posted on social media also showed a collapsed school building in Tulunan and several injured students.

In an interview with Manila-based radio station DZMM, Renato Solidum, head of the country's earthquake monitoring agency, warned of more aftershocks.

Tulunan Mayor Reuel Limbungan said he had ordered classes and work to be suspended to allow engineers to check buildings.

"All patients in hospitals should also be moved outdoors for now," he told Manila radio station DZMM. "This was a stronger earthquake from last time."

Dibu Tuan, mayor of the neighbouring town of T'boli, South Cotabato described the earthquake on Tuesday as "stronger" than the tremor that hit earlier this month.

On October 16, a 6.3-magnitude quake struck almost the same area, with the epicentre located southwest of Makilala town in nearby North Cotabato province.

Seven people were killed in that quake, which also left 215 people injured, disaster relief officials said.

The Philippines is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where about 90 per cent of the world's earthquakes strike.

PANOORIN: Mga empleyado ng mall na nasa ika-5 palapag sa GenSan, nagsigawan at nag-iyakan kasunod ng naramdamang intensity 5 na lindol | via @JayDayupay / Kuha ni Jaime Rogelio Espina #MindanaoQuake pic.twitter.com/QhYx2CBgqf

— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) October 29, 2019

The last major quake to hit the country was a 7.1-magnitude tremor that killed more than 220 people in the central Philippines in October 2013.

In July 1990, more than 2,400 people were killed in the northern island of Luzon in a magnitude-7.8 quake, one of the strongest ever to hit the country.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

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2019-10-29 08:05:00Z
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Hong Kong's leader issues fresh recession warning - BBC News

Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam said the territory is likely to record negative growth for the year as months of protests have knocked the economy.

The unrest has disrupted businesses and dealt a particularly heavy blow to the tourism and retail sectors.

The warning comes ahead of preliminary gross domestic product figures due on Thursday that are expected to show Hong Kong entered a technical recession.

That is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

In a briefing in Hong Kong on Tuesday, Ms Lam said the third quarter growth numbers are likely to show that outcome.

To combat the slowdown, she said the city has so far injected more than HK$20bn ($2.6bn; £2bn) to support the economy including the transport, tourism and retail sectors.

Ms Lam said the government will deliver more relief measures, without giving specific details.

Her comments follow a similar warning from the territory's Finance Secretary Paul Chan over the weekend. He said it would be "extremely difficult" to hit the government's pre-protest forecast of growth of between 0% and 1% for 2019.

"The blow to our economy [from the protests] is comprehensive," Mr Chan said.

The demonstrations began over a proposed extradition bill between the territory and mainland China, and have evolved into demands for greater freedoms.

Hong Kong is part of China, but its citizens have more autonomy than those on the mainland.

Clashes between police and activists have become increasingly violent, with police using tear gas and protesters storming parliament.

Those protests have led to a sharp decline in tourist arrivals, with visitor numbers expected to have slumped 50% in October.

Hong Kong was one of the world's most visited cities last year, with 30 million tourists.

Retailers have also been hard hit. Some shops have been forced to shorten trading hours, while workers report fears over their safety as well as getting to work.

Mr Chan said in August that retail sales had plunged more than 25% - the biggest monthly drop on record.

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2019-10-29 05:07:52Z
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Baghdadi's death: More details emerge from US raid: Live updates - CNN

An aerial view taken on October 27, 2019 shows the site that was hit by helicopter gunfire which reportedly killed nine people near the northwestern Syrian village of Barisha. Omar Haj Kadour/AFP/Getty Images

The covert operation started around 5 p.m. on Saturday evening as eight helicopters carrying teams of elite US troops, including Delta Force operators, flew exactly one hour and ten minutes over "very, very dangerous territory" towards the compound, according to President Donald Trump on Sunday.

"We flew very, very low and very, very fast. It was a very dangerous part of the mission. Getting in and getting out, too. Equal. We wanted an identical -- we took an identical route," Trump told reporters on Sunday while providing a detailed account of the secret mission.

While in transit, the helicopters were met with local gunfire. US aircraft returned fire and eliminated the threat, Trump said speaking to the media.

After arriving at the compound, US troops breached a wall to avoid a booby trapped entrance and that's when "all hell broke loose," the President added.

While clearing the compound, US forces killed a "large number" of ISIS fighters during a gun battle without suffering casualties, according to Trump.

At least two ISIS fighters were captured and 11 children were taken into custody. Two of Baghdadi's wives were killed during the operation and their suicide vests remained unexploded.

Ultimately Baghdadi, who was also wearing a suicide vest, took refuge in a "dead end" tunnel with three children.

He reached the end of the tunnel, as our dogs chased him down. He ignited his vest, killing himself and the three children. His body was mutilated by the blast. The tunnel had caved in on it in addition," Trump said.

DNA tests that positively confirmed Baghdadi's identity began "about 15 minutes after he was killed" and US teams on the ground "brought body parts back," sources told CNN.

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2019-10-28 13:10:34Z
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