Day: September 1, 2019

Russia has accused the U.S. of endangering a cease-fire in the Syrian province of Idlib by conducting an airstrke there.

Russia said the “indiscriminate” attack was launched Saturday “without advance notice” to Russia or Turkey, which have troops in Idlib.

The U.S. Central Command said Saturday that “U.S. Forces conducted a strike against al-Qaida in Syria [AQ-S] leadership at a facility north of Idlib.”

The statement said the operation “targeted AQ-S leaders responsible for attacks threatening U.S. citizens, … partners and innocent civilians.”

Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement the attack “compromised the cease-fire in the de-escalation zone of Idlib.”

The ministry said “great losses and destruction” were caused by the strike.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the air strikes killed at least 40 militants.

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Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Saturday she’s “alive” and on her way to being “very well” following radiation treatment for cancer.

Ginsburg, 86, made the comments at the Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington. The event came a little over a week after Ginsburg disclosed that she had completed three weeks of outpatient radiation therapy for a cancerous tumor on her pancreas and is now disease-free.

It is the fourth time over the past two decades that Ginsburg, the leader of the court’s liberal wing, has been treated for cancer. She had colorectal cancer in 1999, pancreatic cancer in 2009 and lung cancer surgery in December. Both liberals and conservatives watch the health of the court’s oldest justice closely because it’s understood the Supreme Court would shift right for decades if Republican President Donald Trump were to get the ability to nominate someone to replace her.

On Saturday, Ginsburg, who came out with the book “My Own Words’‘ in 2016, spoke to an audience of more than 4,000 at Washington’s convention center. Near the beginning of an hour-long talk, her interviewer, NPR reporter Nina Totenberg, said, “Let me ask you a question that everyone here wants to ask, which is: How are you feeling? Why are you here instead of resting up for the term? And are you planning on staying in your current job?”

“How am I feeling? Well, first, this audience can see that I am alive,” Ginsburg said to applause and cheers. The comment was a seeming reference to the fact that when she was recuperating from lung cancer surgery earlier this year, some doubters demanded photographic proof that she was still living.

Ginsburg went on to say that she was “on my way” to being “very well.” As for her work on the Supreme Court, which is on its summer break and begins hearing arguments again Oct. 7, Ginsburg said she will “be prepared when the time comes.”

Ginsburg, who was appointed by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1993, did not directly answer how long she plans to stay on the court. Earlier this summer, however, she reported a conversation she had with former Justice John Paul Stevens, who retired from the court in 2010 at age 90. Ginsburg said she told Stevens, “My dream is to remain on the court as long as you did.” Stevens responded, “Stay longer.” He died in July at age 99.

Ginsburg said Saturday that she loves her job.

“It’s the best and the hardest job I’ve ever had,” she said. “It has kept me going through four cancer bouts. Instead of concentrating on my aches and pains, I just know that I have to read this set of briefs, go over the draft opinion. So I have to somehow surmount whatever is going on in my body and concentrate on the court’s work.”

Ginsburg’s appearance Saturday was not her first following her most recent cancer announcement. Earlier this week she spoke at an event at the University at Buffalo, where she also accepted an honorary degree. At the time she talked only briefly about her most recent cancer scare, saying she wanted to keep her promise to attend the event despite “three weeks of daily radiation.”

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence joined local leaders on Sunday to commemorate 80 years since the start of World War II in Poland, where the conflict is still a live political issue.

Few places saw death and destruction on the scale of Poland. It lost about a fifth of its population, including the vast majority of its 3 million Jewish citizens.

After the war, its shattered capital of Warsaw had to rise again from ruins and Poland remained under Soviet domination until 1989.

Ceremonies began at 4:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) in the small town of Wielun, site of one of the first bombings of the war on Sept.

1, 1939, with speeches by Polish President Andrzej Duda and his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Parallel events, attended by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and European Commission deputy chief Frans Timmermans, were held in the coastal city of Gdansk, site of one

of the first battles of the war.

Morawiecki spoke of the huge material, spiritual, economic and financial losses Poland suffered in the war.

“We need to talk about those losses, we need to remember, we need to demand truth and demand compensation,” Morawiecki said.

For Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, the memory of the war is a major plank of its “historical politics”, aiming to counteract what it calls the West’s lack of appreciation for Polish suffering and bravery under Nazi occupation.

PiS politicians have also repeatedly called for war reparations from Germany, one of Poland’s biggest trade partners and a fellow member of the European Union and NATO. Berlin says all financial claims linked to World War II have been settled.

Critics say the party’s ambition is to fan nationalism among voters at a time when populists around the world are tapping into historical revisionism. PiS says the country’s standing on the global stage and national security are at stake.

Articles paid for by a foundation funded by state companies, showing Poland’s experience in the war, appeared in major newspapers across Europe and the United States over the weekend.

The Polish National Foundation also paid for supplements in some papers consisting of a copy of their front pages from Sept. 2, 1939, that highlighted the German army’s attack on Poland.

Apportioning blame, cost

Wartime remembrance has become a campaign theme ahead of a national election due on Oct. 13, with PiS accusing the opposition of failing to protect Poland’s image.

“Often, we are faced with substantial ignorance when it comes to historical policy … or simply ill will,” Jaroslaw Sellin, deputy culture minister, told Reuters.

Merkel and Pence, who arrived on Sunday after President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled a planned trip due to a hurricane, called it an honor to participate in events later in the day in Warsaw.

“We look forward to celebrating the extraordinary character and courage and resilience and dedication to freedom of the Polish people and it will be my great honor to be able to speak to them,” Pence said.

The cancellation of Trump’s visit is a disappointment to the PiS government, which is seen as one of Washington’s closest allies in Europe. Polish and U.S. officials have said another visit could be scheduled in the near future.

For PiS, a high-profile visit by Trump would serve as a counterargument to critics who say the country is increasingly isolated under its rule because of accusations by Western EU members that it is breaching democratic norms.

Opinion polls show PiS is likely to win the October ballot.

The party’s ambition is to galvanize voters and disprove critics by winning a majority that would allow it to change the constitution.

PiS agrees with the Trump administration on a range of issues including migration, energy and abortion.

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The Saudi-led coalition said it launched an airstrike Sunday on a Houthi target in southwestern Yemen.

Yemen rebels, known as Houthis, said the coalition hit a detention center, killing 60 people.

The coalition said it hit a facility in Dhamar where drones and missiles were stored and “all precautionary measures were taken to protect civilians.”

A rebel spokesman told the Associated Press that 170 captured government fighters were housed in the center.

Local residents, however, told AP that family members who were critical of the Houthis were housed in the center.

More than five years of fighting between the Houthi rebels and the Saudi-led coalition helping the Yemeni government have led to the deaths of thousands of civilians who are already facing severe food shortages and a lack of quality medical care.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reaffirming his pledge to impose Israeli sovereignty on West Bank settlements.

Speaking Sunday at a ceremony opening the new school year in the settlement of Elkana, Netanyahu says there “will be no more displacements” and all the communities will be “part of the state of Israel.”

Such a move would be a sharp departure from long-standing Israeli government policy. Netanyahu made a similar pledge to begin annexing part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank on the eve of April elections this year but did not act on it.

With just more than two weeks to go to repeat elections, Netanyahu looks to be seeking to shore up his right-wing base again.

More than 600,000 Israelis live on war-won land, two-thirds of them in the West Bank. 
 

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