Nearly 18 years since the start of the war in Afghanistan and 16 years since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, majorities of U.S. military veterans say those wars were not worth fighting, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of veterans. A parallel survey of American adults finds that the public shares those sentiments.
Among veterans, 64% say the war in Iraq was not worth fighting considering the costs versus the benefits to the United States, while 33% say it was. The general public's views are nearly identical: 62% of Americans overall say the Iraq War wasn't worth it and 32% say it was. Similarly, majorities of both veterans (58%) and the public (59%) say the war in Afghanistan was not worth fighting. About four-in-ten or fewer say it was worth fighting.
Undated Handout picture of U.S., Taliban and Qatar officials during a meeting for peace talks in Doha, Qatar. Qatari Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
U.S. and Afghan Taliban officials have started conversations aimed at resuming peace talks that collapsed last month, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with the Taliban earlier this month in Pakistan, discussing a potential prisoner swap or cutbacks in violence, the Journal reported.
It was the first meeting with the Taliban in a month, the newspaper noted, adding that Khalilzad also met with international diplomats in New York late last month to go over similar issues.
President Xi Jinping warns any attempts to split China will result in "bodies smashed and bones ground to powder", amid four months of anti-Beijing unrest in Hong Konghttps://t.co/bl652gEfTKpic.twitter.com/yBZ1ET61Yt
(Bloomberg) -- The global economy is wobbling and whether it topples over is the big question in financial markets, executive suites and the corridors of power.
Investors cheered Friday as the U.S. struck a partial trade agreement with China and there were even signs the U.K. may strike a divorce deal with the European Union. But the debate over how close the world is to its first recession since 2009 may soon start swirling again.
There will certainly be discussions this week at the International Monetary Fund's annual meeting in Washington. Bloomberg Economics' global GDP tracker shows the pace of expansion has slowed to 2.2% in the third quarter, down from 4.7% at the start of 2018.
WNU Editor: A global recession will happen one day. Will it happen in the next year or two? Unless there is a major war in the Middle East (or elsewhere), or a trade war where duties are slapped everywhere, I do not see it happening.What I do see is a slowdown, especially in countries like Germany and China.
* Foreign Minister Abdel al-Jubeir said: 'We didn't engage in such behaviour at all' * Iran said the oil tanker was hit on Friday but denied reports it was from Saudi * Sabiti oil tank was struck by two missiles 60 miles from the port of Jeddah
A Saudi minister has denied that his country was behind a suspected missile strike against an Iranian-owned oil tanker in the Red Sea.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Abdel al-Jubeir said: 'We did not engage in such behaviour at all.
'This is not how we operate and that's not how we did it in the past.
'The story is still not complete. So let's wait and find out what happened before we jump to conclusions.'
QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuadorean police battled masked men who launched homemade projectiles at them in downtown Quito on Sunday, as protesters defied a curfew that was imposed by President Lenin Moreno in a bid to quell anti-austerity unrest.
Parts of the highland city of nearly 3 million people resembled a war zone, with armored military vehicles patrolling some streets and sounds resembling explosions and shots ringing out. In the historic center, men took shelter behind makeshift barricades amid plumes of tear gas, according to Reuters witnesses.
Ecuadoreans posted videos on social media of burning road blockades as the 11th day of unrest over cuts to fuel subsidies threatened to derail the first talks aimed at re-establishing peace.
An initial round of dialogue between the government and protest leaders began on Sunday after being delayed by three hours because of "operational difficulties," said the United Nations in Ecuador, one of the mediators.
A top Turkish official warns of bigger escalation now that Syrian Army units appear to be heading to besieged Kurdish towns along the border with Turkey.
Erdogan aide Yasin Aktay has said "conflict between the two armies" is likely if pro-Assad forces enter the northeast region which has now been abandoned by US troops.
Agreement to hand over border towns comes after more than 700 Isis affiliates escape camp
More than 700 people with links to Islamic State have escaped from a detention camp in north-east Syria, as the Kurdish-led forces in control of the area reached a deal with the Assad regime to stave off a bloody five-day-old Turkish assault.
Kurdish fighters controlling the region would surrender the border towns of Manbij and Kobane to Damascus in a deal brokered by Russia, officials said on Sunday night.
WNU Editor: President Trump gave a hint on Friday that something was in the works when he said that he hoped that Russia would step in to protect the Kurds. And make no mistake about this Syrian government - Kurd agreement, both Russia and the U.S. are behind it. For the Syrian government this is a huge win. They are now able to claim that they have re-establish their authority over a third of Syria. For the Russians this is also a win, though it will damage their relations with Turkey. For the U.S., they can now leave this quagmire and give the responsibility of it to someone else. For the Kurds. They may lose their independence in their dealings with Syria, but they are now safe from the Turks (maybe). For the Turks, Erdogan now has the choice of continuing the offensive and facing a coalition of Syria/Kurds/Russian forces (with no support from the U.S. and European governments), or back down. My gut tells me that he is going to back down, not only losing his credibility with his European and American allies, but more importantly, not being able to accomplish his goal of forming a 30 km. buffer along the border. This is what happens when you act impulsively in the Middle East. You always get burned. I also expect Erdogan to unleash another migrant wave of refugees to Europe as retaliation.
More News On Syria's Kurds Striking A Deal With Damascus
* Mobs block roads, trash or firebomb Bank of China outlets, and attack administrative buildings as well as offices of pro-establishment politicians * In one of multiple attacks on frontline police, officer is slashed in the neck with a box cutter during a confrontation in Kwun Tong
Anti-government protesters went on yet another violent rampage across Hong Kong on Sunday, attacking police officers – one of whom was slashed in the neck with a box cutter – meting out mob justice to people in their way, vandalising shops with mainland Chinese business ties, and trashing metro stations.
They blocked roads, trashed or firebombed Bank of China outlets, and attacked administrative buildings as well as offices of pro-establishment politicians to mark the 19th straight weekend of lawlessness, after more than four months of protest chaos sparked by the government's now-withdrawn extradition bill.
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping warned on Sunday that any attempt to divide China will be crushed, as Beijing faces political challenges in months-long protests in Hong Kong and U.S. criticism over its treatment of Muslim minority groups.
"Anyone attempting to split China in any part of the country will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones," he told Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in a meeting on Sunday, according to China's state broadcaster CCTV.
"And any external forces backing such attempts dividing China will be deemed by the Chinese people as pipe-dreaming!" he was quoted as saying.
Xi, the first Chinese president to visit Nepal in 22 years, arrived in Nepal on Saturday on a state visit. Both sides are expected to sign a deal expanding a railway link between the Himalayan nation and Tibet.
Nepal's Oli told Xi that the country will oppose any "anti-China activities" on its soil, CCTV reported.
WNU Editor: This is the first time that President Xi is openly threatening Hong Kong's protesters, and he means it. Albeit he does not mention Hong Kong/Tibet/Xinjiang directly, everyone knows who he is talking about.
India and China discuss long-standing trade and border disputes, but Kashmir fails to figure in 2-day informal summit.
New Delhi, India - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who met in a southern Indian temple town for a two-day informal summit, agreed to establish a new mechanism to balance bilateral trade and decided to "prudently" manage their differences.
The world's two most populous countries, however, did not issue a joint statement in what appeared to be a lack of consensus between them on the border dispute, regional security as well as bilateral trade, with concern in New Delhi over Beijing's widening trade surplus.
"[...] both sides will prudently manage their differences and not allow differences on any issue to become disputes," a statement by India's foreign ministry said at the end of the bilateral summit that concluded on Saturday.
Should Saudi Arabia, Qatar, or any other country receive the S-400, the United States would deny them the best U.S. defense technologies and redeploy any U.S. military aircraft based there.
The Pentagon had made the correct decision in sending four 360-degree AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radars to bolster the Saudi air and missile defenses, along with another Patriot air defense system and U.S. support personnel. Last month's combined missile and drone strike inflicted serious damage on the Saudi oil refineries at Abqaiq and Khurais as well as broader U.S. national security interests.
The Houthis, a rebel group in neighboring Yemen, claimed responsibility for the bombardment. Yet, the United States, France, Germany, Britain, and other governments have blamed Iran for the assault given the direction of the attack from the northwest, which side-stepped the southward-oriented Patriots near the refineries; Iran's ongoing aggressive behavior in the Gulf region; the resemblance of the offensive systems to those in Iran's arsenal; as well as the sophistication and precision of the strike.
MOSCOW - Russian leader Vladimir Putin travels to Saudi Arabia, a traditional U.S. ally, Monday, offering to act as a peacemaker between Riyadh and Tehran in a diplomatic offensive aimed at balancing Moscow's relations across the Middle East.
His second aim, say analysts, is to needle Washington. While courting Iran, Russia's ally in Syria, the Kremlin has also been wooing Tehran's top foes, Saudi Arabia and Israel, as well as other major powers in the region like Turkey, a member of the U.S.-led NATO Western military alliance.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Russia will be working on missile strike systems that would be able to surpass any missile defence system in the world.
"We will work on such missile strike systems that will certainly overcome any missile defence system. We will do it, now it is already obvious, because missile defence systems are aimed against ballistic missiles flying on a ballistic trajectory, while we have improved them many times and, moreover, have created other weapons, which no one in the world has," Putin told Al Arabiya, Sky Nеws Arabia and RT Arabic broadcasters in an interview.
Putin is due to visit Saudi Arabia on October 14. During his visit, the Russian leader is expected to meet with King Salman and the crown prince.
On Thursday, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said that about 30 documents, both commercial and interdepartmental, were being prepared for signing ahead of Putin's visit. Putin is also due to attend the first meeting of the Russian-Saudi economic council.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an interview with Al Arabiya, Sky News Arabia and RT Arabic ahead of his visit to Saudi Arabia, in Sochi, Russia, in this undated picture released on October 13, 2019. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow is not blaming U.S. President Donald Trump for failing to improve U.S.-Russian relations, a pledge he had made during his election campaign, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with Arab broadcasters.
"We know that, including during his previous election campaign, he spoke in favor of a normalization (of U.S.-Russia relations), but unfortunately it has not happened yet," Putin told Al Arabiya, Sky News Arabia and RT Arabic.
"But we have no claims because we see what's going on in U.S. domestic politics," he said, according to a transcript published on the Kremlin's website on Sunday.
Putin said the "internal political agenda" was not allowing Trump to take steps aimed at a drastic improvement of bilateral relations, adding Moscow would in any case work with any U.S. administration to the extent that Washington itself wants.
Liberal leader and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends a rally during an election campaign visit to Mississauga, Ontario, Canada October 12, 2019. STEPHANE MAHE / REUTERS
Liberal leader's appearance at Mississauga, Ont., event Saturday was delayed 90 minutes
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau vowed he won't change how he campaigns despite being the target of an undefined threat that forced him to wear a bulletproof vest and beef up protective measures during a rally in Mississauga, Ont., on Saturday.
Speaking Sunday to reporters in Toronto, Trudeau refused to offer any specifics about the threat, saying only that his first concern was for the safety of his family and for all the Canadians at the Mississauga event.
"This will not change at all how I campaign, but I'm not going to make any further comments on it."
Trudeau's scheduled appearance at Saturday's rally, which attracted 2,000 supporters, was delayed by 90 minutes and featured a much heavier security detail once he took the stage.
WNU Editor: The crowds are showing up at Prime Minister Trudeau's campaign events. But the polls are indicating a minority government when Canadians go to the polls next week.
More News On Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau Wearing A Bulletproof Vest At A Campaign Event In Toronto On Saturday
Poland's ruling Law and Justice party is set to be victorious in the parliamentary elections, exit polls say. The main opposition parties were still hoping to gain enough support to form a coalition government together.
Exit polls are indicating that Poland's conservative ruling party Law and Justice party (PiS) will win the most votes in the country's parliamentary elections.
An exit poll projected PiS would win Sunday's parliamentary election with 43.6% of the vote. The opposition Civic Coalition, comprising the Civic Platform (PO) party formerly led by European Council President Donald Tusk and some smaller liberal parties, came second with 27.4%, according to the Ipsos poll.
The vote is Tunisia's second presidential election since the 2011 revolution.
Tunis, Tunisia - Polls have closed in Tunisia's runoff presidential contest which saw media magnate Nabil Karoui take on conservative lawyer Kais Saied.
The two self-styled "outsider" candidates delivered a shock to the Tunisian political establishment when they came in a the top two of 26 candidates during the first round of the election held on September 15.
A first exit poll is expected to be published at 8pm local time (19:00 GMT) on Sunday.
The turnout was at 39.2 percent at 15:30 local time, according to Isie (Independent High Authority for Elections).
Dealing with @LindseyGrahamSC and many members of Congress, including Democrats, about imposing powerful Sanctions on Turkey. Treasury is ready to go, additional legislation may be sought. There is great consensus on this. Turkey has asked that it not be done. Stay tuned!
President Trump tweeted Sunday that the Treasury Department is "ready to go" with sanctions against Turkey over its military operation in northern Syria, which has sparked bipartisan criticism.
"Dealing with @LindseyGrahamSC and many members of Congress, including Democrats, about imposing powerful Sanctions on Turkey," he tweeted.
"Treasury is ready to go, additional legislation may be sought," he tweeted. "There is great consensus on this. Turkey has asked that it not be done. Stay tuned!"
Kurdish-led administration in north Syria says riot broke out in camp holding women and children
At least 750 people with suspected links to Islamic State have reportedly fled a displacement camp in north-east Syria, local officials have said, raising fears that the Turkish offensive against Kurdish forces in the area could lead Isis to regain strength amid the chaos.
The news came at the same time the US ordered all 1,000 US troops to withdraw "as safely and quickly as possible" from the region after learning that the Turkish operation was likely to extend further than Ankara's proposed 20-mile (32km) "safe zone" on the border between the two countries.
WATCH: .@EsperDoD on the planned evacuation of U.S. troopers in northern Syria. "I spoke with the president last night after discussions with the rest national security team and he directed that we begin a deliberate withdrawal of forces from northern Syria." pic.twitter.com/2Ma0XmypfP
The U.S. is "preparing to evacuate" about 1,000 U.S. troops from northern Syria "as safely and quickly as possible," Defense Secretary Mark Esper told "Face the Nation" in an interview Sunday.
The move comes a week after President Trump announced the repositioning of several dozen American troops embedded with Kurdish forces in northern Syria, opening the door for a Turkish offensive against the Syrian Defense Forces (SDF), the main U.S. allies in the fight against ISIS.
"In the last 24 hours, we learned that [the Turks] likely intend to extend their attack further south than originally planned, and to the west," Esper said. "We also have learned in the last 24 hours that the ... SDF are looking to cut a deal, if you will, with the Syrians and the Russians to counterattack against the Turks in the north."
DUBAI (Reuters) - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards on Sunday to develop more advanced and modern weapons, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, amid rising regional tensions.
"The Guards should have advanced and modern weapons ... Your weapons should be modern and updated. It should be developed at home. You need to develop and produce your weapons," Khamenei said in a speech at Imam Hussein Military University in Tehran.
Tensions in the Gulf have spiked since the United States, Saudi Arabia, Britain, France and Germany publicly blamed Iran for Sept. 14 attacks on the world's biggest crude oil-processing facility in Saudi Arabia.
WNU Editor: In the past Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that Iran will not develop nuclear weapons .... Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei Claims Nuclear Weapons Absolutely Forbidden In Islam (Eurasia Review). But you have to wonder if today's remarks bu the Supreme Leader is a green light to develop and manufacture nuclear weapons?
The war of words over how to organize the prospective space force is heating up as the likelihood of major change grows. The manner in which a space force is organized will entrench certain visions of the future over others. As I discuss in a recent report, much of the current upheaval stems from the jousting of six different schools of thought capturing different visions of what future wars will look like and the role of space in those wars. While no single person falls entirely within one school, by clarifying the distinctions between these schools, we can better understand the different visions of future war the various organizational schemes and their advocates seek to institutionalize.
SEOUL – By official accounts, the pig contagion wreaking havoc across Eastern Asia has virtually skipped over North Korea, with a single outbreak reported there in May. But wayward feral pigs have stoked concern that Kim Jong Un's reclusive state is hiding an African swine fever disaster.
Three wild boars were found dead in border areas separating the two countries earlier this month before being tested positive for the viral hemorrhagic disease, officials in South Korea said. The finding reflects the freedom with which animals roam the 4-kilometer-wide (2.5 mile-wide) buffer zone that divides the nations and creates an involuntary park and refuge for fauna.
WNU Editor: If they are finding infected boars at the DMZ, it tells me that the entire country has been infected. Hogs provide 80% of the protein that North Koreans use and need. The loss of that food source will be devastating.
(MADRID) — Spain’s Supreme Court on Monday convicted 12 former Catalan politicians and activists for their roles in a secession bid in 2017, a ruling likely to inflame independence supporters in the wealthy northeastern region.
The court sentenced ex-Catalan regional Vice President Oriol Junqueras to 13 years for sedition and misuse of public funds following one of Spain’s most important trials since democracy was restored after the death of dictator Gen. Francisco Franco in 1975.
Eight received lengthy prison terms in Catalonia’s attempt to break away from Spain following an illegal independence referendum, while three received lesser sentences.
Although prosecutors had requested convictions for the more severe crime of rebellion, which under Spanish law implies the use of violence to subvert the constitutional order, judges convicted nine of sedition, implying that they promoted public disorder to subvert the law.
Regional Parliament Speaker Carme Forcadell was given 11 and a half years in prison; former Cabinet members Joaquim Forn and Josep Rull 10 and a half years each; and grassroots pro-independence activists Jordi Sánchez and Jordi Cuixart nine years.
Junqueras and three other former Cabinet members — Raül Romeva, Jordi Turull and Dolors Bassa, who were sentenced to 12 years — were also convicted for misuse of public funds.
Three other former members of the Catalan Cabinet — Santiago Vila, Meritxell Borràs y Carles Mundó — were fined for disobedience.
Grassroots pro-secession groups have said that if any of the defendants were found guilty they would organize protests and “peaceful civil disobedience.” Spanish authorities deployed hundreds of extra police to the region in anticipation of the ruling.
The court’s decision was another milestone in the long struggle for separatists who want Catalonia to break away from Spain and create a new European state. Spain insists it won’t allow it. The Spanish constitution says the country is “indivisible.”
The separatist effort fell flat when it won no international recognition. The Spanish government stepped in and fired the Catalan regional government, with prosecutors later bringing charges.
At the center of the prosecutors’ case was the Oct. 1, 2017 referendum that the Catalan government held even though the country’s highest court had disallowed it.
The “Yes” vote won, but because it was an illegal ballot most voters didn’t turn out and the vote count was considered of dubious value. The Catalan Parliament, however, unilaterally declared independence three weeks later, triggering Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.
Seven separatist leaders allegedly involved in the events, including ousted Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, fled the country and are regarded by Spain as fugitives.
“A total of 100 year of prison. How horrible,” Puigdemont tweeted Monday. “Now more than ever, we will be with you and your families. For the future of our sons and daughters. For democracy. For Europe. For Catalonia.”
The trial featured over 500 witnesses, including former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, and 50 nationally televised hearings.
Defense lawyers argued that the leaders of the secessionist movement were carrying out the will of roughly half of the 7.5 million residents of Catalonia who, opinion polls indicate, would like the region to be a separate country.
The Catalan leaders — jailed for nearly two years while their case was heard — have grown into powerful symbols for the separatists. Many sympathizers wear yellow ribbons pinned to their clothes as a sign of protest.
The verdict will almost certainly become another rallying point for the separatist cause, which is going through its most difficult period in years with its most charismatic leaders behind bars or abroad.
The Catalan separatist movement’s two main political parties disagree on the next moves, and the grassroots organizations that have driven the movement are starting to criticize the lack of political progress.
The verdict also came less than a month before Spain’s general election to choose a new government, and the political handling of the Catalan question will undoubtedly be one of the top issues.
_____
Associated Press writer Barry Hatton in Lisbon contributed.
(TOKYO) — Rescue crews in Japan dug through mudslides and searched near swollen rivers Monday as they looked for those missing from a typhoon that left as many as 36 dead and caused serious damage in central and northern Japan.
Typhoon Hagibis unleashed torrents of rain and strong winds Saturday that left thousands of homes on Japan’s main island flooded, damaged or without power.
Authorities warned more mudslides were possible with rain forecast for the affected area during the day Monday.
Kyodo News service, assembling information from a wide network, counted 36 deaths caused by the typhoon with 16 people missing. The official count from the Fire and Disaster Management Agency was 19 dead and 13 missing.
Hagibis dropped record amounts of rain for a period in some spots, according to meteorological officials, causing more than 20 rivers to overflow. In Kanagawa Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, 100 centimeters (39 inches) of rainfall was recorded over the last 48 hours.
Some of the muddy waters in streets, fields and residential areas have subsided. But many places remained flooded, with homes and surrounding roads covered in mud and littered with broken wooden pieces and debris. Some places normally dry still looked like giant rivers.
Some who lined up for morning soup at evacuation shelters, which are housing 30,000 people, expressed concern about the homes they had left behind. Survivors and rescuers will also face colder weather with northern Japan turning chilly this week.
Rescue efforts were in full force with soldiers and firefighters from throughout Japan deployed. Helicopters could be seen plucking some of the stranded from higher floors and rooftops of submerged homes.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government will set up a special disaster team, including officials from various ministries, to deal with the fallout from the typhoon, including helping those in evacuation centers and boosting efforts to restore water and electricity to homes.
“Our response must be rapid and appropriate,” Abe said, stressing that many people remained missing and damage was extensive.
Damage was serious in Nagano prefecture, where an embankment of the Chikuma River broke. Areas in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures in northern Japan were also badly flooded.
In such areas, rescue crew paddled in boats to each half-submerged home, calling out to anyone left stranded.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said 56,800 homes were still without electricity Monday in Tokyo and nearby prefectures that the utility serves. Tohoku Electric Power Co. said 5,600 homes were without power in Miyagi, Iwate, Fukushima and Niigata.
East Japan Railway Co. said Hokuriku bullet trains were running Monday but reduced in frequency and limited to the Nagano city and Tokyo route.
An image of the aerodynamically curved bullet trains sitting in water, was seen by many as a sad but iconic symbol of the typhoon’s devastation.
Mimori Domoto, who works at Nagano craft beer-maker Yoho Brewing Co., said all 40 employees at her company had been confirmed safe. But deliveries had temporarily halted, and an event to promote the beer in Tokyo over the weekend was canceled for safety concerns.
“My heart aches when I think of the damage that happened in Nagano. Who would have thought it would get this bad?” she said.
Tama River in Tokyo also overflowed, but damage was not as great as other areas. Areas surrounding Tokyo, such as Tochigi, also suffered damage.
Much of life in Tokyo returned to normal. People were out and about in the city, trains were running, and store shelves left bare when people were stockpiling were replenished.
(WARSAW, Poland) — Poland’s conservative governing Law and Justice party won the most votes in Sunday’s election in the deeply divided nation and appeared, according to an exit poll, to have secured a comfortable majority in parliament to govern for four more years.
The exit poll, conducted by the research firm Ipsos, projected that Law and Justice won 43.6% of the votes. That would translate into 239 seats, a majority in the 460-seat lower house of parliament.
The poll said a centrist pro-European Union umbrella group, Civic Coalition, would come in second with 27.4%. The biggest party in the coalition is Civic Platform, which governed Poland in 2007-2015.
Coalition leaders cheered and welcomed the result as a spur toward uniting society around common goals.
Other parties projected to surpass the 5% threshold to get into parliament were a left-wing alliance with 11.9%, the conservative agrarian Polish People’s Party with 9.6% and a new far-right alliance called Confederation with 6.4%.
The exit poll had a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points. Final vote results, which are expected by Tuesday, could shift, as they have in past elections.
A prominent journalist, Konrad Piasecki, said that “at the moment it looks like the largest triumph in the history of parliamentary elections” in Poland. But he also cautioned that results varying even slightly from the exit poll could mean big changes to the distribution of seats in parliament.
Law and Justice has governed Poland since 2015 and is popular for its social conservatism and generous social spending. It ran a campaign that highlighted its social programs and vowed to defend traditional Roman Catholic values.
It has been accused of weakening the rule of law in the young democracy with an overhaul of the judicial system that has given the party more power over the courts and has drawn criticism as well for using state media as a propaganda outlet and for anti-gay rhetoric.
Pawel Zerka, policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, said the high level of support for Law and Justice, known in Poland by its acronym PIS, “should not be interpreted as a sign that Poles have become nationalist or xenophobic. Rather, it reveals an effective party machine – and an ability of PIS to mobilize voters with policies based on direct social transfers.”
Party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is considered the real power behind Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s government, cautioned that the exit polls weren’t the final results but nonetheless declared victory.
“We received a lot but we deserve more,” Kaczynski told party supporters as he held high a bouquet of roses.
Civic Platform leader Grzegorz Schetyna said the fight wasn’t fair, an apparent reference to the way Law and Justice harnessed state media to pump out positive coverage of itself while casting a poor light on political rivals.
“This was not an even struggle; there were no rules in this struggle,” Schetyna said.
The left-wing party leaders celebrated their expected return to parliament after failing to get any seats in 2015.
Critics fear that four more years for Law and Justice will reverse the democratic achievements of this Central European nation, citing the changes to the judiciary and the way the party has marginalized minorities, for instance with its recent campaign depicting the LGBT rights movement as a threat.
Law and Justice’s apparent success stems from tapping into the values of the largely conservative society while also evening out extreme economic inequalities.
It is the first party since the fall of communism to break with the austerity of previous governments, whose free-market policies transformed Poland into one of Europe’s most dynamic economies.
However, many Poles were left out in that transformation and inequalities grew, creating grievances. Law and Justice skillfully addressed those concerns with popular programs, including one that gives families a monthly stipend of 500 zlotys ($125) for each child, taking the edge off poverty for some and giving others more disposable income. It says it has been able to pay for its programs thanks to a tighter tax collection system.
It has also clearly benefited from the sacrifices forced by earlier governments and the growth of Europe’s economy.
In his victory speech, Kaczynski referred to his party’s improvement of public finances and said it would continue on that path.
“We are finishing a certain stage; we are starting a new one,” he said. “It is not easier, maybe more difficult. But I hope that it will be finished with even greater success.”
(AKCAKALE, Turkey) — Syria’s Kurds said Syrian government forces agreed Sunday to help them fend off Turkey’s invasion — a major shift in alliances that came after President Donald Trump ordered all U.S. troops withdrawn from the northern border area amid the rapidly deepening chaos.
The shift could lead to clashes between Turkey and Syria and raises the specter of a resurgent Islamic State group as the U.S. relinquishes any remaining influence in northern Syria to President Bashar Assad and his chief backer, Russia.
Adding to the turmoil Sunday, hundreds of Islamic State families and supporters escaped from a holding camp in Syria amid the fighting between Turkish forces and the Kurds.
The fast-deteriorating situation was set in motion last week, when Trump ordered U.S. troops in northern Syria to step aside, clearing the way for an attack by Turkey, which regards the Kurds as terrorists. Since 2014, the Kurds have fought alongside the U.S. in defeating the Islamic State in Syria, and Trump’s move was decried at home and abroad as a betrayal of an ally.
Over the past five days, Turkish troops and their allies have pushed their way into northern towns and villages, clashing with the Kurdish fighters over a stretch of 200 kilometers (125 miles). The offensive has displaced at least 130,000 people.
On Sunday, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said all American troops will withdraw from northern Syria because of the increasing danger of getting caught in the crossfire.
“We have American forces likely caught between two opposing advancing armies, and it’s a very untenable situation,” he said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” He did not say how many would withdraw or where they would go but that they represent most of the 1,000 U.S. troops in Syria.
The peril to American forces was illustrated on Friday, when a small number of U.S. troops came under Turkish artillery fire at an observation post in the north. No Americans were hurt. Esper said it was unclear whether that was an accident.
Trump, in a tweet, said: “Very smart not to be involved in the intense fighting along the Turkish Border, for a change. Those that mistakenly got us into the Middle East Wars are still pushing to fight. They have no idea what a bad decision they have made.”
Later in the day Sunday, Kurdish officials announced they will work with the Syrian government to fend off the Turkish invasion, deploying side by side along the border. Syrian TV said government troops were moving to the north to confront the Turkish invasion but gave no details.
The Kurdish fighters had few options after the United States abandoned them, and it had been anticipated they would turn to Assad’s government for support.
A return by Assad’s forces to the region where Syrian Kurds have built up autonomy in the north would be a major shift in Syria’s long-running civil war, further cementing Assad’s hold over the ravaged country. Late Sunday, Syrian TV broadcast from the northern town of Hassakeh where residents took to the streets to celebrate the announcement of cooperation between the Syrian government and the Kurds, and many vowed to defeat the Turkish invasion.
It would also mean that U.S. troops no longer have a presence in an area where Russia and Iranian-backed militias now have a role.
It was not clear what Russia’s role was in cementing the agreement. But Russian officials have been mediating low-level talks between the Kurds and Damascus. Syria is allied with Russia, and Turkey, though it is a NATO member, has drawn close to Moscow in recent years under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The U.S. withdrawal leaves open the question of what happens to the Kurdish-run prisons and detention centers that hold thousands of Islamic State prisoners, including more than 2,000 foreign militants.
On Sunday, heavy fighting reached a Kurdish-run displaced-persons camp in Ein Eissa, some 35 kilometers (20 miles) south of the border, that is home to some 12,000 people, including around 1,000 wives and widows of Islamic State fighters and their children.
The Kurdish-led administration in northern Syria said in a statement that 785 Islamic State supporters escaped after attacking guards and storming the gates. It was not immediately possible to confirm that figure.
“It gets worse by the hour,” Esper said of the fighting. “These are all the exact things” that U.S. officials warned Erdogan would probably happen in urging him not to invade.
Erdogan on Sunday ruled out any mediation in the dispute with the Kurds, saying Turkey won’t negotiate with “terrorists.”
Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency said Turkey-backed Syrian forces had advanced into the center of a Syrian border town, Tal Abyad, on the fifth day of Turkey’s offensive. Turkey’s Defense Ministry tweeted that its forces had taken control of the main highway running between Hassakeh, a major town and logistics hub, and Ein Eissa, the administrative center of the Kurdish-held areas.
Casualties mounted. On Sunday, at least nine people, including five civilians, were killed in Turkish airstrikes on a convoy in the Syrian border town of Ras al-Ayn, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Syrian Kurdish officials.
Images of the attack showed bodies and severed limbs strewn in the street. Some of those killed appeared to be carrying guns. Activists said the gunmen were guarding the convoy.
Turkey said 440 Kurdish fighters have been killed since the operation began Wednesday. The SDF said 56 of its fighters have died. Turkey also said four of its soldiers were killed, along with 16 allied Syrian fighters.
(QUITO, Ecuador) — Residents of Ecuador’s capital ventured out into the streets Sunday despite a 24-hour military curfew, picking their way through piles of burnt tires, chunks of pavement and tree trunks smoldering after a day of violent protests across Quito.
The government and indigenous protesters planned to begin negotiations aimed at defusing more than a week of demonstrations against a plan to remove fuel subsidies as part of an International Monetary Fund austerity package. The protests have paralyzed Ecuador’s economy and cut off more than half of the country’s production of oil, Ecuador’s most important export.
The United Nations and Ecuadorian Bishops’ Conference said negotiations would begin at 3 p.m. local time (4 p.m. EDT) between President Lenín Moreno’s government and the Confederation of Indigenous Nations, which has brought thousands of indigenous protesters to the capital and organized protests across the country, from the Andes high sierra to the Amazon rainforest.
“We trust in the will of everyone to establish a dialogue in good faith and find a quick solution to the complex situation the country is living,” the U.N.’s Ecuador office said in a statement.
However, the protests have drawn in thousands of Ecuadorians from outside the indigenous minority and many said they would continue demonstrating despite the negotiations. On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people defied the curfew and headed toward the main protest site, some carrying wooden poles. Police let them enter the park and surrounding area but searched people’s bags for potential weapons.
Michael Limaico, a 35-year-old unemployed sign-maker, stood on a corner in the Carcelen neighborhood near a line of burned tires that blocked one of the city main thoroughfares on Saturday. Limaico said that he and his wife had struggled for years to feed and house their three children, ages 9 to 15, with their earnings of about $600 a month from odd jobs around northern Quito.
Then, prices of food and other basic goods rose sharply after Moreno removed fuel subsidies on Oct. 2. Limaico said it had become impossible to make ends meet, and he had been protesting for days with neighbors who have blocked Diego de Vazquez Avenue as it passes through Carcelen.
“This isn’t a protest of thieves, of gangsters,” he said. “This is the people, and we’re fed up.”
Demonstrations in Quito took three distinct forms on Saturday, the most tumultuous in 10 days of protests against Moreno’s austerity measures. Thousands of indigenous people protested outside the National Assembly in the city center. Front-line troops of young people, both whites and mestizos from inside Quito and indigenous from the countryside, fought police with stones, Molotov cocktails and improvised mortars. Several dozen broke into the national comptroller office, smashing windows and setting the building afire.
Elsewhere in the city, groups of masked men attacked media offices, setting fires before they were driven off by police.
Lastly, across Quito, groups of neighbors — indigenous, white and mixed, or mestizo — blocked streets, burned tires and banged pots and pans to protest Moreno’s austerity package. Others, tired of the chaos, banged pots and pans to protest the demonstrations and call for a return to normality.
“Every citizen that disagrees with government decisions can protest in the right way but let’s not mix that up with vandalism and robbery,” said James Baez, a 78-year-old retired employee of an ARamnmerican tire company. He said he supported Moreno and the decision to impose a curfew.
On Sunday morning, soldiers and had retaken control of the epicenter of the protests in Quito — the park and streets leading to the National Assembly and the national comptroller’s office.
Moreno said the military would enforce the round the clock curfew in Quito and around critical infrastructure like power stations and hospitals in response to the day’s violence. It was the first such action imposed since a series of coups in the 1960s and ’70s, although there was little military or police presence on most Quito streets Sunday morning and thousands of people were out walking, driving and trying to run errands like getting money from cash machines.
Moreno said his government would address some concerns of protesters, studying ways to ensure resources reach rural areas and offering compensation for those who lost earnings because of the recent upheaval.
“We’ll negotiate with those who have decided to do so,” Moreno said in remarks broadcast on radio and television. “The process is moving forward and I hope to give you good news soon, because different organizations and sectors have confirmed their willingness to talk.”
Moreno said the masked protesters had nothing to do with the thousands of indigenous Ecuadorians who have protested for more than a week over a sudden rise in fuel prices as part of an International Monetary Fund-backed austerity package. He blamed the violence on drug traffickers, organized crime and followers of former President Rafael Correa, who has denied allegations he is trying to topple Moreno’s government.
Moreno served Correa as vice president before he become president and the two men went through a bitter split as Moreno pushed to curb public debt amassed on Correa’s watch.
Ecuador, a former OPEC member, was left deeply in debt by a decade of high-spending governance and the oil price drop. Moreno is raising taxes, liberalizing labor laws and cutting public spending in order to win more than $4 billion in emergency financing from the IMF.
As part of that plan, Moreno eliminated subsidies on the price of fuel on Oct. 2, driving the most popular variety of gasoline from $1.85 to $2.39 a gallon and diesel from $1.03 to $2.30. Panic and speculation sent prices soaring, with costs of some products doubling or more.
Ecuador’s indigenous people, poor and underserved by government programs, were infuriated. Over the last week, thousands of streamed into Quito.
In the country’s Amazon oil fields, protests at installations, described by some government officials as attacks, have halted or slowed production.
Ecuador had been producing 430,000 barrels a day, a figure that had dropped to 176,029 barrels by Sunday, said an official at state oil producer Petroamazonas who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information. That has led to a loss of about $14 million a day, the official said.
An indigenous leader and four other people have died during the unrest, according to the public defender’s office. The president’s office has reported two deaths.
_______
Correspondent Raisa Ávila contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Amid growing chaos in Syria, President Donald Trump has ordered all U.S. troops to withdraw from the country’s north to avoid a bloody conflict between Turkey and U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters that “gets worse by the hour,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Sunday.
Esper, who spoke in two TV interviews, did not say the approximately 1,000 U.S. troops in Syria are leaving the country entirely. Trump’s national security team planned to meet later Sunday to assess the situation, Esper said, as U.S. officials continue to urge Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to halt his incursion.
Asked whether he thought Turkey, a NATO ally, would deliberately attack American troops in Syria, Esper said, “I don’t know whether they would or wouldn’t.”
He cited an incident on Friday in which a small number of U.S. troops fell under artillery fire at an observation post in the north. Esper called that an example of “indiscriminate fire” coming close to Americans, adding it was unclear whether that was an accident.
Esper said he spoke to Trump on Saturday night amid growing signs that the Turkish invasion, which began Wednesday, was growing more dangerous.
Lefteris Pitarakis—APIn this photo taken from the Turkish side of the border between Turkey and Syria, in Akcakale, Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey, smoke billows from fires on targets in Tel Abyad, Syria, caused by bombardment by Turkish forces, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019. The United Nations says at least 130,000 people have been displaced by the fighting in northeastern Syria with many more likely on the move as a Turkish offensive in the area enters its fifth day.
“In the last 24 hours, we learned that they (the Turks) likely intend to expand their attack further south than originally planned — and to the west,” Esper said.
The U.S. also has come to believe that the Kurds are attempting to “cut a deal” with the Syrian army and Russia to counter the invading Turks, he said. As a result, Trump “directed that we begin a deliberate withdrawal of forces from northern Syria,” Esper said.
Trump, in a tweet Sunday, said: “Very smart not to be involved in the intense fighting along the Turkish Border, for a change. Those that mistakenly got us into the Middle East Wars are still pushing to fight. They have no idea what a bad decision they have made. Why are they not asking for a Declaration of War?”
Esper said he would not discuss a timeline for the U.S. pullback, but said it would be done “as safely and quickly as possible.”
Esper did not say how many U.S. troops will leave the north, but he says they represent most of the 1,000 troops in Syria.
The Americans have been working for five years with a Kurd-led Syrian group known as the Syrian Democratic Forces to combat the Islamic State group. Turkey has long objected to the U.S.-Kurd alliance because Turkey considers elements of that force to be terrorists tied to an insurgency inside Turkey.
The Pentagon had said before the operation began that the U.S. military would not support it, and the U.S. pulled about 30 special operations troops out of observation posts along the invasion route on the Syrian border.
Esper said he was aware of reports of hundreds of IS prisoners escaping as a result of the Turkish invasion and of atrocities being committed against Syrian Kurds by members of a Turkish-supported Syrian Arab militia.
“It gets worse by the hour,” Esper said. “These are all the exact things” that U.S. officials warned Erdogan would likely happen by ignoring U.S. urgings not to invade northern Syria.
Esper said there was “no way” U.S. forces could have stopped the Turks, who assembled a force of about 15,000 troops on the Syrian border, supported by air power.
“We did not sign up to fight Turkey, a longstanding NATO ally, on behalf of the (Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces). This is a terrible situation,” he said.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held out the possibility of quick action to impose economic sanctions on Turkey, a move that Trump has repeatedly threatened if the Turks were to push too far into Syria.
“We’ll be taking in new information and we’re ready to go at a moment’s notice to put on sanctions,” Mnuchin said. “Now we have warned the Turks. … They know what we will do if they don’t stop these activities.”
Esper appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation” and “Fox News Sunday.” Mnuchin was interviewed on ABC’s “This Week.”
(LONDON) — British media are reporting that the wife of an American official who left the U.K. after being involved in a fatal road accident no longer has diplomatic immunity.
BBC and Sky News said Sunday that U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab had told the family of Harry Dunn that “immunity is no longer pertinent” because the suspect has left the U.K.
The Foreign Office declined to comment.
Dunn, 19, was killed in August when his motorcycle collided with a car outside a British air force base in southern England used by the U.S. military. The alleged car driver, Anne Sacoolas, who is married to a U.S. official, subsequently left Britain.
Sacoolas’ lawyer, Amy Jeffress of Arnold and Porter, said: “Anne is devastated by this tragic accident” and wants to meet Dunn’s parents.
(HONG KONG) — Tearing a page out of ancient Chinese military philosophy, black-clad protesters in Hong Kong changed tactics and wreaked havoc by popping up in small groups in multiple locations across the city Sunday, pursued by but also often eluding police who made scores of muscular arrests.
Violence spiraled as protests stretched from Sunday afternoon into the night, with police struggling to restore order.
A savage beating after dark by a group of masked protesters left a man bleeding profusely. Police said an officer was attacked from behind with a sharp weapon earlier in the day and was left with a bleeding neck wound.
Video broadcast on Hong Kong television also showed a masked, black-clad protester dropping a riot officer with a flying high kick, followed by two other protesters who beat the officer on the ground and tried unsuccessfully to snatch his gun.
The guerrilla-like tactics sought to maximize the disruption and visibility of protests at a time when anti-government demonstrations have, as a whole, been showing signs of flagging as they stretch into a fifth month. Pressure from a government ban on the face masks worn by many protesters and extreme violence earlier this month appear to have cooled the ardor of some demonstrators and whittled down protest numbers.
Online calls for gatherings to start at 2 p.m. in dozens of malls, parks, sports grounds and other locations triggered an afternoon of mayhem and marked a shift from earlier more concentrated rallies in fewer spots.
“We’re going to be more fluid and flexible,” said Amanda Sin, 23, an office worker who joined a peaceful protest outside police headquarters in central Hong Kong. “We are interchanging different tactics.”
Roaming clumps of hardcore protesters — too numerous, elusive and fast-moving to be policed — popped up out of nowhere, vandalizing stores, blocking traffic with makeshift barricades and spraying protest graffiti, often holding up umbrellas to shield their activities from view.
Masked protesters wielding hammers wrecked a Huawei store that was apparently targeted because of the brand’s links to mainland China. On another store broken into and trashed, protesters sprayed, “We are not stealing.” The words “black heart” were sprayed in black inside a vandalized Starbucks, another frequent target of the anti-government and anti-China protests that have gripped the semi-autonomous Chinese territory since June.
Changing strategies to adapt to shifting circumstances is a notion deeply engrained in Chinese thinking, notably detailed in the ancient military treatise “The Art of War,” and inspiring Mao Zedong’s Communist revolutionaries on their route to seizing power in China in 1949.
In Hong Kong, protesters speak of being “like water,” fluid and adaptable.
“It’s a guerilla-kind of demonstration,” said Edmund Tang, 59, who slept overnight at the rally outside police headquarters that started Saturday and was still going strong Sunday with about 200 people, many of them retirees.
He said the week-old ban that makes the wearing of masks at rallies punishable by one year in jail dissuaded some demonstrators who had taken part in larger previous demonstrations.
“It’s no longer possible to get 100,000 people to come out,” he said. The idea of protesting in small, diffuse groups was in part aimed at complicating policing efforts, Tang added.
“Keep the hunt dogs running everywhere, getting crazier and crazier, without catching the prey. That’s best,” he said.
Police adapted, too, fanning out in multiple locations and quickly making arrests. Speeding police vans were on the scene within minutes after black-clad protesters set up a makeshift roadblock in a shopping district in Kowloon. One van rammed through a barricade of piled-up bamboo poles and officers sprinted off in pursuit of suspects.
Police pinned detainees to the floor and hauled them away. They held aloft blue banners ordering people to disperse. In one incident, officers fired tear gas rounds from a van before speeding away. Other patrols pointed riot-control guns and cans of pepper spray to keep crowds at bay and hammered on their plastic riot shields as they cleared streets. Bystanders responded with torrents of abuse.
As police hared after suspects in one area, protesters sprang up in others like the “Whac-A-Mole” arcade game, overwhelming the spread-out policing effort.
One of the largest gatherings brought several hundred people together in a shopping mall in Shatin. A masked protester played the saxophone. On the closed metal shutters of a subway station, another protester dressed head-to-toe in black sprayed, “When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes our duty.”
Before dawn Sunday, protesters also clambered up a peak and erected a 4-meter- (13-foot-) tall white statue of a demonstrator in a gas mask, dubbed “The Lady Liberty of Hong Kong,” that gazed over the restive city.
The protests gripping the international business hub began in response to a now-withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be sent for trial in Communist Party-controlled courts in mainland China. The movement then ballooned to encompass broader clamors for universal suffrage, an independent inquiry of the policing methods used against protesters and other demands.
___
Associated Press writer Yanan Wang in Beijing contributed to this report.
(AKCAKALE, Turkey) — Syrian government troops will deploy along the border with Turkey to help Kurdish fighters fend off Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria, the Kurds said Sunday, hours after President Donald Trump ordered all U.S. troops to withdraw from the area to avoid getting caught in the middle of the fast-escalating conflict.
The announcement represents a major shift in alliances for Syria’s Kurds after they were abandoned by the U.S., with whom they were longtime partners in the fight against the Islamic State group.
Adding to the turmoil, hundreds of Islamic State families and supporters escaped from a holding camp in northern Syria amid heavy clashes between Turkish forces and the Kurds.
The dizzying developments reflected the rapidly growing chaos that has unfolded in the week since Trump ordered U.S. forces in the region to step aside, clearing the way for the Turkish attack on the Kurdish fighters it considers terrorists.
Trump’s decision has been broadly condemned at home and abroad by critics who accuse him of betraying the Kurds, who long fought alongside the U.S. to help defeat the Islamic State group in Syria.
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said all American troops will withdraw from northern Syria because of the increasing danger posed by the fighting.
“We have American forces likely caught between two opposing advancing armies, and it’s a very untenable situation,” he said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” He did not say how many would withdraw or where they would go but that they represent most of the 1,000 U.S. troops in Syria.
The peril to American forces was illustrated on Friday, when a small number of U.S. troops came under Turkish artillery fire at an observation post in the north. No Americans were hurt. Esper said it was unclear whether that was an accident.
Trump, in a tweet, said: “Very smart not to be involved in the intense fighting along the Turkish Border, for a change. Those that mistakenly got us into the Middle East Wars are still pushing to fight. They have no idea what a bad decision they have made.”
Meanwhile, Esper said the U.S. also has come to believe that the Kurds are attempting to “cut a deal” with the Syrian army and Russia to counter the invading Turks.
Shortly afterward, Kurdish officials announced they will work with the Syrian government to fend off the Turkish invasion, deploying side by side along the border. Syrian TV said government troops were moving to the north to confront the Turkish invasion but gave no details.
A Syrian Kurdish official and a war monitor also said Syrian government forces were poised to enter Kurdish-controlled towns from which U.S. troops are pulling out, following a deal reached through Russia.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deal covered the towns of Kobani and Manbij. U.S. troops were deployed in the towns after they were cleared of Islamic State militants in 2015.
The Kurdish fighters had few options after the United States abandoned them, and it had been anticipated they would turn to the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and its Russian allies for support.
The Syrian troop movements raise the risk of a clash between Syria and Turkey.
In addition, a return by Assad’s forces to the region where Syrian Kurds have built up an autonomy in the north would be a major shift in Syria’s long-running civil war, further cementing Assad’s hold over the war-ravaged country.
It would also mean that U.S. troops no longer have presence in an area where Russia and Iranian-backed militias now have a role.
Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency, meanwhile, said Turkey-backed Syrian forces have advanced into the center of a Syrian border town, Tal Abyad, on the fifth day of Turkey’s offensive. Turkey’s Defense Ministry tweeted that its forces had taken control of the main highway running between Hassakeh, a major town and logistics hub, and Ein Eissa, the administrative center of the Kurdish-held areas.
Casualties mounted. On Sunday, at least nine people, including five civilians, were killed in Turkish airstrikes on a convoy in the Syrian border town of Ras al-Ayn, according to the Observatory and Syrian Kurdish officials.
Images of the attack showed bodies and severed limbs strewn in the street. Some of those killed appeared to be carrying guns. Activists said the gunmen were guarding the convoy.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday ruled out any mediation in the dispute with the Kurds, saying Turkey won’t negotiate with “terrorists.” NATO member Turkey views the Syrian Kurdish fighters as terrorists because of their links to the Kurdish insurgency inside Turkey.
The fighting has raised fears that some of the thousands of Islamic State members and sympathizers held by the Kurds will escape or be released in the chaos, allowing the battered extremist group to make a comeback and sow terror at will.
On Sunday, heavy fighting reached a displaced-persons camp in Ein Eissa, some 35 kilometers (20 miles) south of the border, that is home to some 12,000 people, including around 1,000 wives and widows of Islamic State fighters and their children, held in a special detention area.
The Kurdish-led administration in northern Syria said in a statement that 950 IS supporters escaped after attacking guards and storming the gates. It was not immediately possible to confirm that figure.
“It gets worse by the hour,” Esper said of the fighting. “These are all the exact things” that U.S. officials warned Erdogan would probably happen in urging him not to invade.
The United Nations said more than 130,000 Syrians have fled since the operation began last week. Turkey said 440 Kurdish fighters have been killed since the operation began Wednesday. The SDF said 56 of its fighters have died. Turkey also said four of its soldiers were killed, along with 16 allied Syrian fighters.
___
El Deeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Zeynep Bilginsoy in Istanbul contributed.
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CHANCELLOR of Germany Angela Merkel has voiced some impatience towards the new Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen saying her EU must be 'effective as soon as possible'.
FRANCE is strongly opposing the ascension of North Macedonia and Albania into the EU, despite other European ministers calling for the Western Balkan countries to join other member states.
CHINA is using covert tactics to create a climate of fear in order to "divide and conquer" Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, leading activists have claimed.
IVANKA TRUMP, senior adviser to US President Donald Trump, was "swept off by the Secret Service" after an interview in Kansas City, KCTV5 News' Caroline Sweeney has claimed.
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GTU Result 2019 announced. Check out GTU PDDC Sem I, BPH SemI & II, BVOC SemII Results released on 11th October 2019. The Gujarat Technological University has declared May Month conducted GTU Result BE Sem 1,2 Regular & Remedial 2019 for various courses. Aspirants who have attended the examination under the Gujarat Technological University can check out the article to find the updated regular and supplementary results for the Diploma, Under Graduate and Post Graduate Courses. Examiners can find the GTU Results First Semester in the below section. Check out the Gujarat Technological University Official Website @www.gtu.ac.in to know more details.
GTU Result BE I, II SemRegular & Remedial 2019
The Gujarat Technological University has announced the GTU Result 2019 Diploma, UG and PG Programming Courses. Students who have undergone the examination under the Gujarat Technological University can check out the examination results along with the revaluation results. Here are the updated Ahmedabad GTU Result 2019 Diploma for Summer and for the Winter Examination. Get all the updates about the GTU Semester Examination from this article. We have also included the Updates of GTU Result PDDC Sem I, BPH Sem I & II, BVOC II Sem Regular & Remedial 2019included with GTU Result 2019 Diploma.
Gujarat Technological University (GTU) is ahead scholarly and investigates organization which has driven better approaches for intuition since its 2007 establishing, set up by the Government of Gujarat vide Gujarat Act No. 20 of 2007. Today, GTU is a scholarly goal that attracts motivated researchers to its grounds, keeping GTU at the nexus of thoughts that challenge and change the world. GTU is a State University with 486 associated schools in its overlap working over the territory of Gujarat through its FIVE zones at Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Rajkot, and Surat. The University obliges the fields of Engineering, Architecture, Management, Pharmacy, and Computer Science. The University has around 4,00,000 understudies taken a crack at countless Diploma, Under Graduate, Post Graduate projects alongside the powerful Doctoral program.
GTU Supplementary/ Revaluation Results
Those students who have attended the regular examination under the Gujarat Technological University and still failed. Here comes one more opportunity to clear the examination. To increase your scoring along with that students to fail in the previous examination will get a chance to clear through GTU Result BE Sem 4 Regular 2019. For each and every semester Students can apply for the revaluation after the announcement of the main examination results. The Gujarat Technological University will take a week or more to process the exam papers to announce the Revaluation results. Do stay updated with the University to know about the Revaluation Exam Results.
MUMBAI: One of the successful conglomerates to participate in the Atal Behari Vajpayee government's disinvestment in Hindustan Zinc and Balco, which later transformed in scale and profits for his group, Vedanta Resources chairman Anil Agarwal feels the State should revisit its 'style' for a speedier and smarter transfer of its assets to private players.In an interview with ET late last week, Agarwal said that going by the way the government has put a fresh batch of assets on the block, it may take "20 years (a long time, he meant)" for an effective disinvestment to take place. "If you carry out the process company by company, it may take a long time," he said."My suggestion which, I feel, is possible and will find little objection is for the government to bring down its stake to 50% (in all state-owned companies). You get enough cash for the diluted stake, and the company gets an independent board and chief executive. Also, with a 50% stake, the company will be treated like a normal corporate and will not have to report to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG)," Agarwal said.The Union Cabinet had earlier this month approved a new process to strategically dilute stake in some government enterprises like Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, Shipping Corporation of India, Container Corporation (Concor), North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) and THDC.Vedanta has the largest private sector oil and gas exploration company in India through Cairn Oil & Gas. Asked if it would be interested in BPCL, Agarwal seemed guarded and said the company is waiting for more clarity in disinvestment terms.Vedanta has been one of the players at the forefront of buying and turning around both government and private stressed assets in the country - be it Hindustan Zinc or Balco or the more recently acquired Electrosteel.While the country's largest aluminium producer will be looking out for stressed power assets to serve its facilities, Agarwal said certain aspects need to improve to attract investor interest. He identified forest clearance as a major hurdle in the ease of doing business and batted for "self-certification". India also needs a "natural resource policy" because of the falling oil exploration rates, he said.Agarwal called the ongoing slowdown in demand a "slackness" due to the USChina trade war. "Demand in India has definitely come down. Some recession is there but it is very temporary," he said.Vedanta is in talks with Japanese players for technology for its ambitious $10-billion LCD panel project that is expected to bring down the import of flat panel displays, semiconductors etc. ET had reported in June that the project may fall flat due to failure of getting requisite subsidies."We have definitely not given up on it. It's taking slightly more time but within three months, we will be in a position to announce something," Agarwal said. He plans to bring the project up in Nagpur, Maharashtra.The company is also looking at producing 1,400 tonnes of silver through Hindustan Zinc, while it is doubling the production at Electrosteel to 3 million tonnes and take it to 5 million tonnes later.Agarwal, however, said he wants to stay on in iron ore mining and steel making is a mandate to add value to the ore. "I want to always remain in mining (for iron ore). My vision is to create the next Palabora Mining Company," he said.
HYDERABAD: Two retail investors in Alok Industries have approached the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), opposing new owner Reliance Industries' move to delist the textile firm that they claimed would erode the value of their stake.The two shareholders claimed that they were representing an informal group of more than a thousand retail investors in Alok Industries, which RIL had bought out of bankruptcy in a Rs 5,050-crore deal in March. The resolution professional (RP) who managed Alok Industries through bankruptcy had set a five-year moratorium on delisting of its shares while calling for expressions of interest in the company.The telecom-to-energy conglomerate sought an exemption on this condition to delist the shares, but the Ahmedabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) didn't consider it while approving the resolution proposal. RIL then approached the appellate tribunal, relying its arguments on a Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) notification that relaxed the listing conditions for companies facing insolvency proceedings.The regulator in May last year made exemptions applicable when the resolution plan clearly specified delisting of shares and provided for an exit option to the public shareholders at a specified price.Responding to Reliance's plea last month, a two-member NCLAT bench headed by chairman Justice SJ Mukhopadhaya impleaded SEBI in the matter. The appellate tribunal also directed the RP and the company's committee of creditors to file their responses and posted the hearing for October 15. Reliance didn't respond till press time Sunday to ET's email seeking comment.The petition filed by the retail investors argued that the RP had initiated the resolution proceedings stating that the successful resolution applicant would not be permitted to delist the stock for five years after acquisition, one of the petitioners, Anil Subhash Chandra Agrawal, told ET. ET has seen a copy of the petition.Karia Manisha, the counsel for the shareholders, said the petition was filed on Friday, to come up for hearing on Tuesday when the case would be taken up by the NCLAT.The resolution applicant, Reliance, was well aware of the lock-in period of five years when its offer was accepted in March this year, the petitioners claimed, adding that the company did not then seek amendments to the condition based on the regulator's notification. The petitioners said they "would stand robbed of all the value" if the delisting was permitted.
MUMBAI: Ford's decision to partner Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) for its Indian operations has its fair share of sceptics, but the leadership at the SUV and tractor-maker believes the second alliance in as many decades between the two points to a mutually beneficial journey ahead.Some analysts said the latest tie-up would do little to boost capacity utilisation at the locally listed automaker in the current demand environment, while others cited Mahindra's 'far-from successful' previous alliances with Navistar and Renault.Pawan Goenka, the M&M managing director, disagreed about the fate of the latest venture. "We parted ways as friends. These JVs were never failures," Goenka said, referring to the previous tie-ups."For the foreign partners, the collaboration was for entering the Indian market, while we wanted to learn sourcing, advanced technology and manufacturing. We met our objectives, and they met theirs. After 15 years, Ford and Mahindra are back together, which shows the confidence we have in each other."M&M and Ford (India) recently announced a joint venture, with the former holding a 51% stake. The JV includes the automotive business of Ford India (FIPL), excluding the Sanand powertrain facility that feeds Ford's global markets.Through the JV, M&M gets access to two new mid-size SUVs on FIPL's platform, leading to a shorter model introduction cycle. In addition, upcoming emission regulations in India would have increased the company's R&D expenses. The JV will help both to reduce vehicle development costs.Also, with access to Ford's BEV platform, M&M is likely to navigate the regulatory hurdles with relative ease, a recent JM Financial Institutional Security report said.It is critical for M&M to get its next few launches right and start gaining market share. Edelweiss says there is lack of clarity on whether M&M will be able to leverage Ford's petrol engine expertise, which could help M&M in its BS-VI transition.Even as it strengthens its weakening SUV business, earnings could come under pressure in FY20-21 given weak tractor and LCV demand and BS6 emission headwinds in SUVs, CLSA said in a report.Recently, VW-Skoda also announced the merger of their India business. Similarly, Suzuki and Toyota are also working on India-specific alliances.The M&M management is not unduly concerned about questions over sourcing synergies or capacity utilization."It also means that for several years, neither Mahindra nor the JV will need to invest in building capacity," Goenka said. "There is also a huge opportunity in exports, both for Mahindra and Ford.Mahindra will be able to leverage the Ford distribution network in emerging markets and Ford will be able to leverage Mahindra's products." Exports account for about 7-8% (approximately 3,000 units a month) at M&M, and the JV will help enhance shipments through Ford networks, particularly in the Gulf and Asean countries.Ford is the biggest exporter of PVs from India, shipping out 162,800 units in FY19. 71571089 In the short term, the venture will improve sourcing and operational efficiency. In the medium term, export volumes will rise, while product development will be the longterm benefit of the alliance, Goenka said.Jeffries in a report said that despite potential cost savings, M&M may not gain much from the capacity addition due to Ford's weak domestic franchise and high reliance on exports. Over the past three years, Ford has utilised 55-60% of its capacity, with its domestic market share largely stuck around 3%.To be sure, a recent Narnolia report expects the alliance to do well. It has pencilled in cost savings of 35-40%, as both companies would jointly work on common product development platforms.
NEW DELHI: The highest government echelons are assessing the health of the telecom industry, which is under financial stress, and looking at ways of restoring its viability. People familiar with the matter said the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has met senior officials of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) more than half a dozen times in the past month and some concrete steps are under active consideration."There have been several rounds of meetings between officials of the PMO and the DoT — over half a dozen," said a senior official. "The PMO is concerned about the falling revenue of the sector and discussions are broadly around how to revive the profitability of the industry."In the second term of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, which began earlier this year, a new set of officers has been handling telecom in the Prime Minister's Office. Telecom industry revenue has been falling sharply since FY17, with sectoral debt exceeding Rs 7 lakh crore. Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has written to FM Nirmala Sitharaman seeking relief measures, pointing out that adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of the sector had shrunk to Rs 1.39 lakh crore in FY19 from Rs 1.85 lakh crore in FY17, reflecting its poor health.71572739 'Can't Afford One More Exit'The minister has sought a cut in levies such as licence fees, besides offsetting the Rs 36,000 crore input tax credit on goods and services tax (GST), which is yet to be refunded to companies, against future GST levies. "Some of the telcos have individually approached the government for some intervention on tariffs.However, this is beyond the domain of the government. Tariffs fall within the purview of the Trai (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India)," the official said, elaborating on discussions at the top-level meetings. "Secondly, we cannot come out with relief for a specific company, the government has to come out with a package for the entire sector and right now we are working on that."Senior Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel executives have met senior DoT officials, seeking some relief and pushed for a mechanism that would allow tariffs — which are at all-time lows due to a price war — to increase. Last month, Vodafone Global CEO Nick Read met senior government functionaries and sought a two-year moratorium on the payment of spectrum-related dues, given the telco's precarious financial health with quarterly losses of nearly Rs 5,000 crore. Reliance Jio Infocomm, the only telco in the black in India, is against any kind of relief package. The official said the telcos would have to resolve tariff issues among themselves or approach the regulator. "Someone needs to smoke the peace pipe," he said.The price war since Jio's entry in September 2016 has shrunk the industry into three non-state players from eight, with some exiting the country, some merging and two — Aircel and Reliance Communications — going out of business. Experts said India's telecom sector can ill-afford a third operator exiting the market or going bankrupt as this will hurt all stakeholders, including consumers, equipment vendors and tower companies, besides leading to more job losses.To be sure, the industry recorded a near 9% sequential jump in AGR in the June quarter, which is the sharpest on-quarter growth on this score since Jio's entry, data collated by the telecom regulator showed, signaling that the worst is perhaps over for the financially stressed sector amid some stability in tariffs. Also, Jio recently announced that it would be charging for voice calls made to rival telcos on account of the 6 paise a minute that it pays to other telcos as interconnect usage charge (IUC). Analysts view this as relief for the industry, offering Airtel and Vodafone Idea scope to raise rates in some form, thus helping in revenue and profit recovery. IUC is the charge a telco pays when its customer dials into another a network.
MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate's (ED) move to attach the properties of Bhushan Power & Steel (BPSL) is a "vindication" of its stand, JSW Steel said on Sunday.India's second-largest steelmaker has offered to acquire BPSL, but sought immunity from litigation related to alleged frauds at the bankrupt company. "The move vindicates JSW Steel's stand of seeking immunity from attachment of properties of the corporate debtor," said Seshagiri Rao, joint managing director, JSW Steel, on Sunday. "This may happen even in other cases, where the control is changed under the (Insolvency and) Bankruptcy Code."ED Says BPSL Diverted FundsOn Saturday, ED attached immovable BPSL assets worth Rs 4,025 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), in connection with investigation into an alleged bank fraud. These properties include the building, plant and machinery of a 3.5-million tonne steel plant in Odisha.71572889 In September, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) allowed JSW Steel to acquire BPSL. However, JSW did not get relief from the scope of ongoing probes against BPSL, leading it to challenge NCLT in a court of appeals. A Delhi High Court ruling in April had held that relevant laws on money laundering take precedence over the bankruptcy law, and JSW Steel was worried that assets of BPSL would get attached as "proceeds of crime." This would affect the financial health of the company after JSW Steel had taken it over."The insolvency code is a commercial law, and anybody acquiring an asset under it has the basic right to demand that the asset be free from encumbrances," said Alok Dhir, managing partner, Dhir & Dhir Associates. "Laws need to let the acquirer control an asset without (having to deal with) the pre-acquisition period overhang. Also, the legislature's interpretation of such laws has to be purposive; if it's not, investors may not show interest in stressed assets in the future."JSW Steel has offered Rs 19,700 crore for BPSL, but ownership change is linked to future higher court verdicts. An appeals tribunal is scheduled to hear on Monday the acquiring steelmaker's petition for immunity from ongoing probes into BPSL fraud cases. JSW Steel has also challenged the clause that says profits generated by BPSL during insolvency be distributed among financial creditors.Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate alleged that BPSL had used various means to divert funds obtained as loans from several banks. "An amount of Rs 695.14 crore was introduced as capital by Sanjay Singal (then chairman and managing director) and his family members in BPSL out of artificially generated long-term capital gains by diversion of bank loan funds of BPSL," the agency's statement said, according to a PTI report. Long-term capital gains didn't attract income tax at the time.
NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister's Office is keeping close tabs on developments related to fraud-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank, two senior officials said.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and finance ministry have started working on an improved framework for the oversight of cooperatives, they said. The cap of Rs 25,000 on withdrawals from PMC is also under review and the central bank could enhance it soon, said one of the officials. "The interests of depositors, and revival are the foremost priorities," he said. "RBI and the finance ministry have started work on a tighter framework for oversight of such entities."Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has discussed the issue with RBI governor Shaktikanta Das. "Spoken to RBI governor on the PMC Bank matter," Sitharaman tweeted on Saturday. "He assured me that clients and their concerns will be kept on top priority. I wish to reiterate that the finance ministry will ensure that customers' concerns are comprehensively addressed. We understand the justified worries of the customers."71572835 Some PMC Bank depositors had met Sitharaman in Mumbai on Thursday to represent their case. Another official said a thorough assessment of the bank's assets and loan collateral is being carried out. All options to revive the bank, including a merger with another entity, are being looked at.Regulations Need Urgent Overhaul: GovtGrant Thornton is also carrying out a forensic audit for RBI and has begun to ascertain the veracity of the accounts. The government has decided that gaps in the oversight of cooperative banks and societies need to be plugged on an urgent basis, in view of the wider risks they pose to the financial sector.RBI had ordered the multi-state urban cooperative bank to stop all business activities for six months and capped withdrawals at Rs 1,000 on September 23, a limit that was subsequently raised to Rs 10,000 and further enhanced to Rs 25,000 on October 3. The Rs 25,000 limit, RBI had said, would allow 70% of the bank's depositors to withdraw their entire balance.This clampdown on cash withdrawals was said to have been largely aimed at stopping the management from siphoning the bank's cash holdings. Incidentally, two cooperative societies of current and former RBI employees continue to hold deposits of about Rs 200 crore with PMC Bank that are yet to be withdrawn. Most cooperative deposits in PMC Bank are restricted to a 5% limit to rule out any contagion effect.
Domestic equities ended the week gone by with over 1 per cent gains amid strong volatility, which led both Sensex and Nifty to finish above their crucially important 38,100 and 11,300 levels, respectively.IT bellwether TCS and Infosys posted September quarter earnings more or less in-line with expectations."While the Street has built in the slowdown effect in earnings, if actual earnings turn out to be worse, then the market could slip and vice versa. A partial trade deal between the US and China may also lift sentiment, though it could also have negative implications in terms of higher crude and commodity prices," said Sanjeev Zarbade, VP for PCG Research at Kotak Securities.Going by the buzz on Dalal Street, here are five key factors that are likely to chart market direction in the week ahead:US-China partial trade deal: The US and China took an initial step on Friday to cement a trade agreement that had been derailed for months. President Trump said the US would call off planned tariff increases on Chinese goods next week, while Beijing pledged to buy $40 billion to $50 billion worth of American agricultural products. This isn't the deal stock markets were hoping for. Yet, US stocks rallied on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 242.87 points, or 0.9%, to 26,816, while the S&P 500 index advanced 0.6% to 2970.27, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9% to 8,057. The Dow and the S&P500 snapped three-week losing streaks, while the Nasdaq has now gained for two straight weeks.Macro data: Traders will keep an eye on wholesale price (WPI) and consumer price (CPI) inflation prints for September, which are slated to be released next week. Further, they will also be awaiting for India's balance of trade number for September, which is scheduled to be released on October 15. India's trade deficit narrowed to $13.45 billion in August from $17.92 billion in the same month last year and below market expectations of $13.60 billion.Q2 earnings: Some important earnings are lined up for the week ahead. They include of numbers from HUL, ACC, Ambuja Cement, Wipro, L&T Finance and TVS Motor besides Delta Corp, GTPL Hathway, Karnataka Bank, MCX, SBI Life Insurance Company, Aditya Birla Money, Chennai Petroleum Corporation, Cyient, Larsen & Toubro Infotech, PVR, South Indian Bank, ICICI Lombard, L&T Finance Holdings and Sasken Technologies.RBI MPC meet minutes: The Reserve Bank of India will release the minutes last monetary policy committee meeting held during October 1-4 this week on October 18. The MPC decided to cut policy rates by 25 basis points, bringing it to the lowest level in a decade at 5.15 per cent.Budgetary exercise begins: The Finance Ministry will kick off budgetary exercise for 2020-21 from October 14 and will continue it till the first week of November, when financial advisers of different ministries will prepare revised estimates for this financial year and to make preparations for the next. Further, the Finance Minister will hold a review meeting with CEOs of public sector banks (PSBs) on October 14 to discuss various issues, including progress on credit offtake.Global cues: On the global front, market participants will watch key economic data from the US, starting from Redbook on October 15 followed by Retail Sales, Beige Book, Treasury International Capital on October 16, Jobless Claims, Fed Balance Sheet, Money Supply on October 17, and finally Baker-Hughes Rig Count on October 18. A number of data from China will also be on the market radar, including loan growth and trade balance prints due on October 14 and industrial production data to be released on October 18.
New Delhi: Foreign portfolio investors withdrew over Rs 6,200 crore from Indian capital markets in the first two weeks of October, as global recession fears and trade war concerns weighed on sentiments.Foreign investors pulled out a net amount of Rs 4,955.2 crore from the equities and Rs 1,261.9 from the debt segment, taking the total net withdrawal to Rs 6,217.1 crore during October 1-11, as per latest depositories data.Overseas investors were net buyers in the preceding month and had infused a net sum of Rs 6,557.8 crore in the domestic capital markets (both equities and debt), according to the data.The foreign portfolio investors (FPI) in October went back in "hibernation mode" after remaining net sellers in September when the inflows were driven by slew of economic reforms announced by the government, said Himanshu Srivastava, senior analyst manager research at Morningstar Investment."However, things have remained muted after that, as FPIs have turned risk-averse with fears of global recession and trade war gaining momentum. Moreover, the Indian economy has also been facing significant headwinds and has failed to pick pace so far. More recently, world bodies like IMF, ADB and Moody's have cut growth forecasts of India, which dented sentiments further," Srivastava added.Harsh Jain, co-founder and COO at Groww said: "The new FPI/FDI classification might affect the mood of foreign investors for some time. The reduced GDP forecast by Moody's and other institutions seems to be affecting the foreign investors also. India's troubled banking and financial sector is definitely making investors jittery".Arun Mantri, technical and derivative analyst at Karvy Stock Broking, said the FPIs have been net sellers so far in October "tracking global headwinds"."This has occurred despite the government's major announcements to revive animal spirits. The major reason behind the selling is the rising fear is a global recession, and weak investor sentiment due to the ongoing trade war between US and China," he added.For the future course of FPI flows, he said, in the short to medium term, FPIs flows will depend on the corporate earnings, global trade developments and government actions to curb the slowdown in the economy.
There is definite hunger and desire among the Indian enterprises to move their workloads to the Cloud and with Oracle Gen 2 data centre now open in Mumbai, we have ensured that sensitive data remains within the boundaries of the country, a top company executive has said.The Indian CEOs and CTOs are clear on one thing: It's from my data that I'm going to learn my customers' behaviour, understand my product better, receive new insights and innovate on top of those."Every organization is a data organization today; it's all about the information and how to analyse it, parse it and create AI-based Cloud models that help the organization grow. We have now fulfilled the most challenging demand coming from the Indian businesses: If the data doesn't stay on-premise, let it stay within the country," Andrew Sutherland, SVP-Technology, Oracle EMEA and JAPAC, told IANS.For Sutherland, it is big leap for Oracle at a time when not only companies but the governments too recognize the value of information and how data is core to the success of any firm across verticals."We're becoming increasingly conscious that there are strong data jurisdictions and we need to respond to that in a sensible way. By putting Gen 2 Cloud data centre here in India, we hope that we will meet those requirements," the executive noted.Over 100 enterprise customers in the country have already moved their workloads onto the Gen 2 Cloud data center in Mumbai, which is being run solely by Oracle without any third-party involvement.The Cloud major has plans to open another Gen 2 Cloud data centre in Hyderabad next year.Customers and partners in India can now harness the power of Oracle Cloud and leading services like Autonomous Database to unlock innovation and drive business growth.The Gen 2 enterprise cloud supports all legacy workloads while delivering modern cloud development tools, so enterprises in India can bring forward their past as they build their future.According to Sutherland, to help enterprises achieve greater insights and deliver better customer experiences, we need to have a whole new Cloud architecture that is built around cost, scalability, agility and self-repairing capabilities."In the new Oracle Cloud infrastructure (OCI), the multi-layered security provides a different security architecture with incorporating intelligence into it. We're asking data to look after itself with autonomous database in this infrastructure. That's what we are confident it will help unlock the modern Cloud era for enterprises," he elaborated.Not just big enterprises, Sutherland is confident the new Oracle Cloud will help small and medium businesses (SMBs) shun the legacy infrastructure and begin their Cloud journey."There's hunger and desire to move onto the Cloud among SMBs in India. I don't think there's any cultural resistance in any way. There is boldness in their approach. The next step is where to take the first bite to eat and for that, we are here to help," said the Oracle executive.
World Bank slashes India's GDP forecast from 7% to 6% for FY 2019-20 After a broad-based deceleration in the initial quarters of this fiscal, India's growth rate is projected to fall to 6% in 2019-20, the World Bank said on Sunday, in what was the sharpest downward revisions of its growth projections for South Asian countries. However, the bank in its latest edition of the South Asia Economic […]
RCEP trade ministers' talks end in impasse No joint statement will be issued, as certain key issues are yet to be resolved, even after two days of intense negotiations on October 11 and 12, according to one of the sources.
Air India privatisation: Govt to make national airline debt-free before sale As on March 31, 2019, AI's debt and other liabilities had stood close to `70,000 crore.
Cost-plus cover for NTPC stymies power sector revival Private players had cried foul and lodged complaints to the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) claiming that PPAs were signed "with a clear intention of bypassing the impending competitive bidding requirements".
Big brands go after trust factor, employ nano-influencers for promos Casual purchase categories, including beauty, cosmetics, fashion, lifestyle, smartphones and often even other electronics, are among the top categories that make use of the nano-influencers.
BE SEM 1 – Remedial (MAY 2019) Re-check-Re-Assess
