THE NEWS: Trump trade rows are 'destroying' growth, says German minister

Trump trade rows are 'destroying' growth, says German minister
source: AFP

AFP / Tobias SCHWARZ German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier says the trade rows initiated by US President Donald Trump are destroying economic growth

Germany's economy minister on Sunday lashed out at US President Donald Trump, slamming his global trade rows and efforts to "dictate" Europe's dealings with Iran through renewed US sanctions.

In an interview with German weekly Bild am Sonntag, Peter Altmaier warned of the damaging consequences of a full-blown US-China trade war, and expressed concern about Trump's decision to slap hefty metals tariffs on Turkey in an escalating diplomatic row.

"This trade war is slowing down and destroying economic growth, and creates new uncertainties," Altmaier said.

"The past has shown that consumers suffer most in trade wars, because goods become more expensive."

Trump has already slapped punitive tariffs on Chinese imports worth $34 billion and additional levies on $16 billion in Chinese goods will kick in later this month, with Beijing vowing to respond in kind.

Trump also announced on Friday that he would double tariffs on steel and aluminium from Turkey, pushing the lira to historic lows against the dollar.

The brewing trade conflict comes as the two NATO allies remain at loggerheads over the detention of an American pastor and a host of other issues.

Altmaier however welcomed a recent easing of transatlantic tensions after European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker and Trump agreed to hold off on imposing new tit-for-tat tariffs for now.

The deal has "secured hundreds of thousands of jobs in Germany and Europe" but was only "a first step", he told Bild.

"At the end of the day we need global trade with lower tariffs, less protectionism and open markets."

Turning to the reimposition of US sanctions on Iran after Trump unilaterally quit the 2015 nuclear pact, Altmaier stressed the importance of keeping European business deals in Iran alive.

A raft of companies including German carmaker Daimler have already announced they are pulling out of Iran because of the sanctions, which ban transactions involving US dollars.

"We will not let Washington dictate our trade relations with other countries and that's why we stand by the Vienna nuclear agreement to prevent Iran from producing atomic weapons," Altmaier said.

"Both nationally and in Europe, we are looking for ways to keep financial channels open," he added.

THE NEWS: Corruption scandal in Argentina fells titans of business

Corruption scandal in Argentina fells titans of business
source: AFP

 AFP/File / Juan MABROMATA Argentine vice president Amado Boudou (R), seen here standing next to then president Cristina Kirchner on March 1, 2014, is serving a prison sentence for corruption

Records kept in notebooks of the kinds used by schoolchildren are bringing down titans of Argentina's industry in a multimillion-dollar corruption scandal.

Dirty dealings are nothing new in Argentina.

What sets this case apart is the large number of people going down -- around 20 so far, with additional names surfacing regularly -- and their high-flying status in the business world.

The scandal involves under-the-table payments to the governments of Nestor and Cristina Kirchner, the Peronist couple who ruled before the current president, Mauricio Macri.

One big mystery is whether the money went to enrich government officials personally or was helped finance election campaigns.

Investigative Magistrate Claudio Bonadio is raising eyebrows by aggressively ordering the arrest and questioning of so many business leaders, from both ends of the political spectrum in Argentina. Most of the arrests happened on August 1.

"It is not the first time that major businessmen have gone to jail. What is new is the number and the reason," said Sergio Morresi, a political scientist at San Martin National University.

- Tycoons under arrest -


 AFP/File / Eitan ABRAMOVICH Boudou attends his trial on corruption charges in Buenos Aires on August 7, 2018


Prosecutor Carlos Stornelli has said bribes paid in the so called "corruption copybooks" case total $160 million.

Bonadio began jailing tycoons after the publication of the records by Oscar Centeno, who worked as a driver for the deputy planning and public works minister Roberto Baratta.

In these notebooks, Centeno meticulously recorded the alleged receipt of sacks of money from 2005 to 2015.

The whistleblower had been expelled from the army for bad behavior.

"There is no doubt that the copybooks describe in detail the way in which the Kirchners raised money illegally for seven years without any alarm going off at any oversight agency," said Nicolas Solari of the consultancy Poliarquia.

So far, eight business leaders have confessed and struck plea-bargain deals.

Angelo Calcaterra, a cousin of Macri, acknowledged having ordered the payment of cash requested as a bribe in order to receive government contracts.

Testifying before the judge, he said he thought this was a mandatory election campaign contribution.


NOTICIAS ARGENTINAS/AFP/File / JUAN VARGAS Luis Betnaza, an executive of Italian-Argentinian engineering company Techint, arrives to testify in court in Buenos Aires on August 10, 2018

Leaders of big multinational companies such as Argentina's Techint and Isolux of Spain have paid a visit to Bonadio's office.

"The indictment and arrest of business leaders is new, and considering the unpopularity and impunity that big business people enjoy, it will probably be well received by public opinion," said sociologist Ricardo Rouvier.



- Privileged -


 NOTICIAS ARGENTINAS/AFP/File / STR Angelo Calcaterra, a cousin of current President Mauricio Macri, acknowledged having ordered the payment of cash requested as a bribe in order to receive government contracts


Morresi, the political scientist, said "one possible result is real progress in transparency and criminal convictions."

The Buenos Aires stock market has taken a hit with the arrests.

Alberto Fernandez, who served as chief of staff to the late Nestor Kirchner, has complained that only business leaders who supported the Kirchners and their leftist Peronist governments have ended up behind bars -- not those close to the current, conservative Macri government.

A dozen or so people from the planning and public works ministry have gone before the judge -- though they have not yet been charged over the case -- and Cristina Kirchner's turn comes Monday. She now holds a seat as a senator.


AFP/File / Eitan ABRAMOVICH Former vice minister of public works Jose Lopez is accused of trying to stash some $9 million in cash and jewels at a convent

Ex-planning minister Julio de Vido and his deputy Jose Lopez have been in prison for corruption since 2017 and 2016, respectively.

They managed the federal government's public works projects under the Kirchners and were the only two ministers to survive the various cabinet reshuffles across the couple's 12 years in power.

Lope was caught red-handed hiding 160 suitcases and duffel bags containing $9 million in a convent with the help of a nun.

THE NEWS: Beatles' Indian hideaway comes together, 50 years on

Beatles' Indian hideaway comes together, 50 years on
source: AFP

AFP / Sajjad HUSSAIN Tourists take pictures of a mural at the now-derelict ashram visited by the Beatles 50 years ago, in Rishikesh in northern India

Fifty years after the Beatles came to India, the bungalows where the Fab Four lived, the post office where John Lennon sent Yoko Ono postcards and the giggling guru's house are all ruins.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram, where the world's most famous group sought refuge and spirituality in 1968 and wrote much of their seminal "White Album", fell into disuse in the early 2000s.

But thanks to the efforts of a group of locals, the site has been reclaimed from the jungle and tourists now roam where tigers and snakes were until recently the most common day trippers.

"Before, people used to sneak in, which could be dangerous," said local journalist Raju Gusain, instrumental in rescuing the area overlooking Rishikesh in northern India.


AFP / Sajjad HUSSAIN Meditation huts at the now-derelict ashram visited by the Beatles 50 years ago, in Rishikesh in northern India


"There used to be leopard paw marks and elephant dung," he told AFP on a tour of the site. "Now we have erected a fence to stop animals getting in from the tiger reserve next door."

By 1968, following the death of Beatles manager Brian Epstein the year before, fissures were beginning to show between John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

But the group found a new mentor: the magnetic Maharishi who promised them happiness and enlightenment without drugs, through transcendental meditation.

The bushy-bearded sage persuaded them to travel to his spiritual retreat in Rishikesh, and so in February 1968 they fetched up with their partners, not knowing quite what to expect.

- Come out to play -

A world away from "Swinging London", the band appeared to reconnect, penning almost 50 new songs.

Others there included fellow musicians Donovan and Beach Boy Mike Love, actress Mia Farrow and her reclusive sister Prudence, inspiration for Lennon's song "Dear Prudence".

The local wildlife -- although the song is also supposedly about heroin or Yoko Ono -- inspired "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" as well as "Blackbird".

McCartney wrote "Why Don't We Do It in the Road" after seeing monkeys openly copulating, while Love's presence helped spark "Back in the USSR", a pastiche of the Beach Boys' "California Girls".

The band -- with the exception of Starr, who brought a supply of baked beans due to his sensitive stomach and left after 10 days -- enjoyed the break and the meditation too.

"I felt like I actually was a feather floating over a hot-air pipe," McCartney recalled later of one session. "And I reported that to Maharishi, and he giggled: 'Yes, this is good!'"


AFP / Sajjad HUSSAIN Ajit Singh, 86, the owner of a music shop who fixed John Lennon's guitar and performed at George Harrison's 25th birthday in 1968 in nearby Rishikesh

One local old enough to remember is Ajit Singh, the owner of a music shop -- still open -- in the nearby town of Dehradun, who fixed Lennon's guitar and performed at Harrison's 25th birthday.

Turbaned, thin and with a croaky voice, the 86-year-old Singh recalls with twinkling eyes the band wandering into the store one day, pursued by a crowd outside, and him "inviting them home for tea".

"They were very polite with me, they were not haughty or something," he told AFP in his shop. "I always said to people that they were good people."

After a while though, relations worsened between the Beatles and the Maharishi, the atmosphere soured by the yogi's rumoured sexual advances and his evident desire to make money from his famous new pupils.

McCartney left after five weeks and Harrison and Lennon after two months. Asked the reason by the yogi, Lennon is reputed to have told the guru, "If you're so cosmic you'll know why."

- Get baksheesh -

But still, the Beatles helped put Rishikesh on the map for Westerners, and popularised meditation and Eastern spirituality. The Maharishi even made the cover of Time magazine in 1975.


 AFP / Sajjad HUSSAIN A mural at the now-derelict ashram visited by the Beatles 50 years ago, in Rishikesh in northern India


His ashram initially thrived but then went into decline and was abandoned in 2001. Nature slowly reclaimed the site, while parts of the buildings were removed and people sneaked in and left graffiti.

But in 2016, paths were cleared, a fence was put up and some of the structures were repaired. Ruins they remain, however, although a few new murals have been added.

The site now charges an entry fee -- 600 rupees ($8.75) for foreigners, 150 rupees for Indians -- and boasts a cafe and a small photo exhibition and some information signs.

One recent visitor was none other than Prudence herself, said Raju Nautiyal, a ranger with the Rajasthan Tiger Reserve who has helped in the clean-up.

"I used to sing 'Dear Prudence' and one day Prudence came to play," he said.

American visitor Atta Curzmann, 68, a "great Beatles fan" inspired to take a lasting interest in Indian spirituality, said she hoped the site would not be restored too much.

"The first time we came four or five years ago it was really run-down and we had to pay baksheesh (a bribe) to get in," she told AFP.

"But I hope they don't make it too lovely and perfect because you want to see that antiquity, that part of it that shows the history."

THE NEWS: Catalogue of abuse: seeking justice for the Rohingya

Catalogue of abuse: seeking justice for the Rohingya
source: AFP

 AFP / Munir UZ ZAMAN Different teams of investigators in the world's biggest refugee camp in Bangladesh, home to a million people, have been quietly documenting what Myanmar's Muslim minority suffered in 2017

Cross-legged in a windowless, almost pitch-black bamboo shack, the investigator pressed record on a video camera and asked the young Rohingya woman to describe the night the Myanmar soldiers came.

"They broke down our door. They took my husband outside and shot him," recalled the 20-year-old, one of around 700,000 Rohingyas driven from Myanmar into Bangladesh a year ago.

"Then they killed my son. Four of them raped me," said the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, only her eyes visible beneath a veil covering her face, as the monsoon rain fell outside.

Different teams of investigators in the world's biggest refugee camp in Bangladesh, home to a million people, have been quietly documenting what the Myanmar Muslim minority suffered in 2017.

From seasoned professionals working for governments, the UN and international rights groups, to grassroots volunteers armed with pen and paper, a trove of evidence is being amassed which it is hoped will help bring the Rohingya some justice.

Another of those giving testimony is Nurjahan, whose husband and son were also murdered.

She has taken it upon herself to secure justice for them and for all the girls in her village raped at gunpoint.

She was among the first of 400 Rohingya women to put their inked thumbs to a legal document formally requesting a probe by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The group of largely illiterate women she is part of, Shanti Mohila ("Peace Women"), has also collected victim testimonies and signatures to lobby the ICC thousands of miles away.

"We've lost our sons. Our daughters have been violated. We want justice for them," the 45-year-old told AFP.

- Unique approach -

The only other Rohingya submission before the world's only permanent war crimes court is for the victims of Tula Toli, a Myanmar village whose Muslim inhabitants were rounded up and methodically slaughtered on August 30, 2017.

Some testimony for a broader enquiry has already reached The Hague, where the ICC is being urged to investigate crimes against humanity, something that Myanmar denies.


 AFP / Munir UZ ZAMAN Rohingya volunteers collect data of alleged abuses by Myanmar soldiers at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia


There is a new Myanmar-led commission to examine abuses, but this has been denounced by many observers as an empty stunt that will fail to establish accountability.

A handful of soldiers have been charged by Myanmar for involvement in a single massacre but UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee has tempered expectations that Myanmar's generals would stand trial anytime soon.

Myanmar is not a signatory to the court but ICC prosecutors and human rights lawyers have taken a unique approach by arguing that the crime of deportation was not complete until the Rohingya crossed into Bangladesh.

And as Bangladesh is an ICC signatory, they say the court has jurisdiction.

A pre-trial chamber of ICC judges is reviewing the unprecedented request, alarming Myanmar which voiced "serious concern".

"They do feel some threat from this. I think that's important," said international lawyer Megan Hirst from Doughty Street Chambers in London, who is representing the Tula Toli villagers at the ICC.

- How many babies? -

Back at the camps in Bangladesh, another of those painstakingly pulling together evidence is Osman Jahangir, a field investigator from Bangladeshi rights watchdog Odhikar.

His grim questions hint at the savagery of the violence.


AFP / Munir UZ ZAMAN A Rohingya refugee has her picture taken by a volunteer collecting information of alleged abuses by Myanmar soldiers, at a data collection site in the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia

"Where did the gasoline come from? How many soldiers raped you? Did you see how many babies were thrown in the river?" he asked refugees.

In a dark tent, Jahangir jotted down the coordinates of a Rohingya village on Google Earth. Where possible, he also gathers medical records and smartphone footage.

In partnership with Hong Kong's Asian Legal Resource Centre, some of the findings were sent to the ICC. There are plans for a formal submission once rigorous field work is complete.

"I have studied the Bosnian war. There was a trial. They were held responsible," Jahangir told AFP. "I really hope we can bring justice to the Rohingya."

The NGOs and volunteer groups lack the resources and expertise of UN fact-finders or the US State Department, which sent veteran investigators to interview more than 1,000 refugees this year.

Justice experts also worry that amateur efforts to gather testimony risk contaminating evidence and undermining prosecutors in the event of a trial.

But that does not dampen zeal in the camps.


AFP / Munir UZ ZAMAN Community leader Mohibullah has a database of abuses uploaded by Rohingya volunteers onto an ancient laptop, detailing gang rapes, torched mosques and murders


"Nobody can deny this," said community leader Mohibullah as he scrolled through a database of abuses uploaded by Rohingya volunteers onto an ancient laptop, detailing gang rapes, torched mosques and murders.

Lawyers representing the Rohingya are quietly optimistic the ICC will decide it can investigate.

"But whether that means anybody will anytime soon end up in the dock, is a less optimistic prospect," said lawyer Wayne Jordash from Global Rights Compliance, who is representing the Shanti Mohila group.

On the other side of the world, in the squalid refugee camp, his clients say they are prepared for a long wait.

"We know this could take a very long time, years even. We don't care. We just want justice," said 25-year-old Sukutara, another Shanti Mohila member.

"Even if I die, and my children one day get justice, I will be happy."

THE NEWS: Trump endorses call for Harley-Davidson boycott

Trump endorses call for Harley-Davidson boycott
source: AFP

AFP / Brendan Smialowski US President Donald Trump, seen here at a Bikers for Trump event on August 11, 2018, has endorsed calls for a boycott of Harley-Davidson

US President Donald Trump endorsed calls Sunday for a boycott of tariff-hit Harley-Davidson over its plans to move production of its iconic American motorcycles out of the country.

"Many @harleydavidson owners plan to boycott the company if manufacturing moves overseas. Great!" Trump tweeted.

"Most other companies are coming in our direction, including Harley competitors. A really bad move!"

Trump has taken it personally since Wisconsin-based manufacturer -- once a presidential favorite -- announced on Monday it is moving some production out of the US.

Harley-Davidson was targeted with EU tariffs after Trump imposed stiff duties on European steel and aluminum.

An array of US companies have complained they are being hurt by the administration's tariff policies.

But Trump has treated the issue as a loyalty test.

"I've done so much for you, and then this," Trump tweeted earlier this week. "Other companies are coming back where they belong! We won't forget, and neither will your customers or your now very HAPPY competitors!"

Last year, Harley-Davidson announced it would build a plant in Thailand after Trump pulled out of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, which would have abolished tariffs on their motorcycles across 40 percent of the world's economy.

The company has repeatedly described the Thailand factory, along with other overseas production, as vital to its long-term need to boost foreign markets to make up for sluggish sales in the US.

In January, Harley-Davidson announced it would close its Kansas City, Missouri assembly plant and consolidate jobs in York, Pennsylvania.

"A Harley-Davidson should never be built in another country-never!" Trump said earlier on Twitter.

THE NEWS: England swing kings seal second Test rout of India

England swing kings seal second Test rout of India
source: AFP
AFP / Adrian DENNIS England's Stuart Broad (L) celebrates with captain Joe Root after taking the wicket of India's Dinesh Karthik during play on the fourth day of the second Test at Lord's Cricket Ground in London on August 12, 2018

James Anderson and Stuart Broad shared eight wickets before Chris Woakes completed a brilliant return to international duty with the final blow as England thrashed India by an innings and 159 runs in the second Test at Lord's on Sunday.

India, the world's top-ranked Test side, failed to cope with overcast and swing-friendly conditions in both their innings, with a rain-marred match effectively over in under two days' standard playing time.

India were dismissed for 130 on Sunday's fourth day, having been skittled out for just 107 first-time around.

Anderson, England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker, finished with innings figures of four for for 23 as he became the first bowler to take 100 Test wickets at Lord's.

Allied to a first-innings return of five for 20, that meant Anderson had a match haul of nine for 43.

"I am not very proud of the way we played," India captain Virat Kohli told Sky Sports. "England deserved to win; we deserved to lose."

Victory left England 2-0 up in this five-match series after their 31-run win in the first Test at Edgbaston last week.

"The bowling unit were exceptional throughout the whole game," said Joe Root, the England captain.

"The conditions were in our favour but you still have to ask questions and we did."

Only once have a side come from 2-0 down to win a five-match Test series, when a Don Bradman inspired Australia recovered to beat England in 1936/37.

This match was a personal triumph for Woakes, who was recalled by England in place of Ben Stokes because of his fellow pace-bowling all-rounder's ongoing trial for affray.

Woakes's 137 not out, his maiden Test century, was the cornerstone of England's 396 for seven declared.

He also shared an England record sixth-wicket stand against India of 189 with Jonny Bairstow (93).

That partnership helped England recover from a top-order collapse that saw them slump to 89 for four at lunch on the third day.

Man-of-the-match Woakes also had overall figures of four for 43.

"To get to a position where we could declare after Jonny and Woakesy’s magnificent partnership, I am chuffed to bits for Woakesy to get a hundred," said Root.

His century saw Woakes become just the fourth cricketer after England's Gubby Allen and Ian Botham and Australia's Keith Miller to have scored a century and taken 10 or more wickets in a Test at Lord's, with the Warwickshire star returning match figures of 11 for 102 at the 'home of cricket' against Pakistan two years ago.

- 'Hundred will stay with me forever' -

"To get a hundred and be on the honours board is something that will stay with me forever," said Woakes.

AFP / Adrian DENNIS Anderson struck twice to take his tally of Test wickets at Lord's to 101


Sunday's humid and cloudy conditions were ideal for 36-year-old Lancashire swing bowler Anderson, who has now taken 553 Test wickets.

That left Anderson, fifth in the all-time Test standings, just 10 wickets behind Glenn McGrath's tally of 563 -- the most by any paceman at this level, with the top three places all belonging to spinners.

Having bowled opener Murali Vijay for nought in the first innings, it was not long before Anderson had him caught behind for a second duck -- his 100th wicket in 23 Tests at Lord's.

Vijay's fellow opener KL Rahul fell for 10 when lbw to Anderson.

- Kohli hobbled by stiff back -

After lunch, Ajinkya Rahane (13) was well caught by Keaton Jennings at third slip off Broad.

Rahane's exit brought in Kohli, the world's top-ranked batsman coming in at number five rather than his usual number four position because of a stiff back.

But Kohli, who hopes to be fit for the third Test in Nottingham starting on Saturday, could only watch as Broad's superb late inswinger knocked over off stump to bowl Cheteshwar Pujara for 17.

Kohli, needing prolonged on-field treatment, fell for 17 when caught by debutant Ollie Pope at short-leg off Broad.

And the next ball saw Broad have Dinesh Karthik plumb lbw.

Ravichandran Ashwin (33 not out) survived the hat-trick, Broad spearing the ball legside for four byes, before Woakes ended the match when Ishant Sharma was caught by Pope at leg-slip.

THE NEWS: Counter-protest overwhelms white supremacist rally in Washington

Counter-protest overwhelms white supremacist rally in Washington
source:AFP

AFP / Nicholas Kamm Police escort far-right demonstrators during a rally at Lafayette Park opposite the White House

A small white supremacist rally took place outside the White House on Sunday when only some 20 far-right supporters showed up, but they were massively outnumbered by counter-protesters.

Washington police closed streets and threw a ring of steel across a park where the rally was held to keep the demonstrators and counter-protesters apart.

The day appeared to end without major incident, though officers used pepper spray on rowdy anti-fascists a few blocks from the White House.

The tiny group of demonstrators trickled in from nearby Vienna, Virginia under heavy police escort at Washington's Foggy Bottom Metro station -- and were met by hundreds of counter-protesters screaming "Shame!" and "Get out of my city!"

Most of the demonstrators wore masks, prompting counter-protesters to taunt them as cowards for hiding their identity.

Heavy rain helped bring the so-called "Unite the Right 2" demo to an early end, hours before the scheduled finish of what had been billed as a "white civil rights rally" protesting, among other things, the social media shut down of some voices on the extreme right.

After marching to Lafayette Square in front of the White House, the group was driven in police vans back to a different Metro station outside of Washington.

"Behold the master race," one counter-protester mockingly yelled.

By the end of the day, only six individuals remained, protected from angry counter-protesters by a ring of police officers.

AFP / Nicholas Kamm Counter-protesters gather in Washington ahead of the Unite The Right rally


"The US is for all of us, NOT just some of us," one counter-protester sign read, while another said, "Fighting Nazis: An American Tradition."

One year ago torch-bearing white supremacists in the first "United the Right" event marched through Charlottesville, Virginia in two days of chaos, chanting slogans such as "Blood and Soil" - the English version of a Nazi chant - and "White Lives Matter."

That event culminated with a man driving a car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing a woman and injuring 19 people.

Some of the white demonstrators in Charlottesville carried guns, including assault rifles, but all firearms were barred from Sunday's rally.

On Sunday the demonstrator chants, if any, were drowned out by the counter-protesters.

"Pro-white" march organizer Jason Kessler, who wore a grey suit and no mask, told reporters that he was not a white supremacist but a "civil rights advocate for white people" and wanted to "tell the truth about Charlottesville," which he claimed was "sabotaged" by city officials.

In a video posted on the Politico website, Kessler said that many sympathizers failed to show up because they were "terrified that they are going to be attacked" by counter-demonstrators.

- 'Like Nazi Germany' -

AFP / Daniel SLIM Protesters march against the Unite the Right rally


"It would be a major mistake if we allowed fascists to just walk into the nation's capital and go in unopposed," said Kei Pritsker, 22, a volunteer with the Answer Coalition that organized the counter-protest.

The white supremacist movement is enjoying a sense of empowerment under President Donald Trump, Pritsker said.

Trump drew broad criticism immediately after last year's Charlottesville clashes when he appeared reluctant to condemn the extreme right-wingers -- many of whom have rallied behind him since his election.


AFP / Nicholas Kamm About 20 white nationalists trickled in from nearby Vienna, Virginia -- under heavy police escort -- at Washington's Foggy Bottom Metro station

On Saturday, the president issued a generic condemnation of "all types of racism and acts of violence" via Twitter.

An African-American counter protester who only gave his name as Jim said that Trump has "emboldened" white racists.

"It was subtle, now it's not subtle, it's in your face. It's like Nazi Germany," he told AFP.

THE NEWS: Reunited post-Aleppo battle, Syria medics mete out 'hope'

Reunited post-Aleppo battle, Syria medics mete out 'hope'
source: AFP
AFP / Nazeer AL-KHATIB Malakeh Harbaliyya is one of a number of nurses and doctors from Aleppo who set up a new children's hospital

Her scarred hands wrapped in gloves, Malakeh Harbaliyya lifted an infant out of an incubator at a hospital in Syria's rural north, holding him gently as he guzzled milk from a bottle.

Nearly two years ago, the nurse and her brave colleagues were scrambling to save premature babies from heavy regime bombardment of Aleppo city, before ultimately being forced to quit the facility altogether.

Now the same team of doctors has reunited to open Hope Hospital in northern parts of the province still outside regime control.

"I think of the children first before thinking of myself, because their lives are in our hands," said 31-year-old Harbaliyya at the facility in rebel-held Al-Ghandura.

"Their tiny souls didn't do anything to deserve this war."

In November 2016, Harbaliyya was working in the only children's hospital still operating in rebel parts of Aleppo city when an air strike slammed into the building.

In footage of the aftermath, Harbaliyya is seen scooping up a baby in a light pink blanket, then suddenly bursting into loud sobs.

Barely eight months later, after evacuating the city, a car bomb sent Harbaliyya herself into intensive care in neighbouring Turkey.

But she has pulled through, and the severe burns on her hands have today healed into a swirl of scars.

Her hair covered by a pink-coloured scarf and dressed in a top that reads "Girls for the Future," Harbaliyya beamed as she lovingly pinched a frail infant's cheeks.

"My colleagues at the Hope Hospital -- the staff with me here -- gave me the will to live," she said.

- 'Wherever we went' -

In blue scrubs, Dr Hatem greeted his colleagues at the door before heading in to examine a girl squirming on a consultation bed from stomach pain.

The hallway features a large portrait of Mohammad Wassim Maaz, a beloved children's doctor who died in an air strike on Aleppo city in April 2016.

Later that year, after the city's Children's Hospital was knocked out of action and as a regime victory loomed, Hatem and his colleagues formulated a plan.

AFP / Nazeer AL-KHATIB Doctor Hatem treats a child at Hope hospital in the rebel held village of Al-Ghandura, northeast of Aleppo


With government troops closing in, the staff knew they would soon be evacuated from Aleppo and wanted to stay together, said the 32-year-old doctor, also the hospital's director.

"Wherever we went, we wanted to set up a children's hospital," said Hatem, preferring not to give his surname.

In under a month, a crowd-funding campaign by the Turkey-based Independent Doctors Association and Britain's CanDo charity gathered enough donations from around the world to rehabilitate and run a new hospital for a whole year.

"We would never have imagined that we could find the whole amount in just three weeks," Hatem said.

With equipment brought from Britain via neighbouring Turkey, they opened the Hope Hospital in April 2017 in the previously underserved Al-Ghandura district.

"There was not a single dispensary or anything to do with medicine in the whole area," said Hatem, who criss-crossed parts of the province still under rebel control looking for a good location.

Slowly, the facility grew into a fully-fledged children's hospital complete with nine baby incubators, a malnutrition clinic, a well-equipped lab and emergency services.

- 'Something extraordinary' -

After having to refer many women to another hospital, they added an obstetrics and gynaecology section too.


AFP / Nazeer AL-KHATIB Nurse Malakeh Harbaliyya feeds a baby at crowd-funded Hope hospital in the rebel held village of Al-Ghandura, northeast of Aleppo

"The team is mostly the same as the one in Aleppo but, because of the bigger workload here and the higher turnout, we had to increase staff," said Hatem.

As the only specialised facility for miles, his clinic set amidst tall pine trees receives 8,500 to 9,500 cases a month.

"The Hope Hospital really is a point of hope," he said.

"It allowed the staff from Aleppo to feel that there is still humanity left in the world," Hatem said of the donations that brought the facility to life.

But funds have started to run out and another crowd-funding campaign failed to meet its target.

Now, staff hope to sign a contract with the UN's children agency (UNICEF) to help run the facility for six more months.

Hospital manager Riyadh Najjar, 31, said the hospital is providing services to many in need.

"It's anguishing to leave your city, but here you have the opportunity to serve people," he said, dressed in trousers and a white t-shirt.


AFP / Nazeer AL-KHATIB A woman stands at the entrance of Hope hospital in the rebel held village of Al-Ghandura, northeast of Aleppo


Beyond the district's original inhabitants, Najjar said the hospital also serves many Syrians displaced from other parts of the country by the seven-year war.

Like the hospital staff, patients come from Aleppo city, but also the central province of Homs and northern province of Raqa.

"It's something extraordinary to be able to offer them medical services and help them," said Najjar.

THE NEWS: Koreas to hold Pyongyang summit in September

Koreas to hold Pyongyang summit in September
source: AFP

 KOREA POOL/AFP / Hong Geum-pyo South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyun met with his North Korean counterpart Ri Son Gwon at the northern side of the border truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)

North and South Korea agreed Monday to hold a summit in Pyongyang in September after high-level talks in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula.

The two sides "agreed at the meeting to hold a South-North summit in Pyongyang in September as planned", the joint statement said, without giving a precise date.

A trip by the South's President Moon Jae-in to the North's capital would be the first such visit for more than a decade, as the diplomatic thaw on and around the peninsula builds.

But despite the rapprochement, international sanctions against the North for its nuclear and missile programmes have kept economic cooperation between the two Koreas from taking off, while little progress has been made on the key issue of Pyongyang's denuclearisation.

"The September summit can be viewed as North Korea's strategy to find a breakthrough in its stalled talks with the US," said Asan Institute of Policy Studies analyst Go Myong-hyun.

"For South Korea, President Moon wants to improve inter-Korean ties but that's hard without progress in US-North Korea talks," he told AFP.

At the historic first summit between Moon and the North's leader Kim Jong Un in Panmunjom in April they agreed the South's president would visit Pyongyang during the autumn.

The first South Korean president to go to the North's capital was Kim Dae-jung, who met the current leader's father and predecessor Kim Jong Il in 2000 and later won the Nobel Peace Prize, in part for his efforts at inter-Korean reconciliation.

Pyongyang saw a second inter-Korean summit in 2007, when Roh Moo-hyun also met Kim Jong Il.

But relations subsequently soured as the North accelerated its pursuit of nuclear weapons and the South elected conservative governments.

Monday's high-level talks, taking place on the northern side of the truce village in the Demilitarized Zone, were proposed by the North last week as it lashed out at Washington for pushing ahead with sanctions.

Afterwards the North's chief delegate Ri Son Gwon said the meeting had gone well and the date for the summit was "ready", but they had not announced it as "reporting would be more fun when reporters are curious".

Earlier he used a proverb describing a very intimate friend to refer to inter-Korean ties, saying: "We have opened an era where we are advancing hand in hand rather than standing in each other's way."

The summit would probably be held after the 70th anniversary of the North's foundation on September 9, the South's presidential office suggested.

"It would be difficult in early September, which means until September 10," Moon's spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters, citing a "reason all reporters can guess".

Pyongyang has previously lavishly celebrated the occasion with military parades or mass games involving thousands of people performing acrobatic choreography in unison, and is expected this time to hold its first mass games for five years, boosting tourism revenues.

- Rapid rapprochement -

The rapid rapprochement between the two neighbours began this year ahead of the Winter Olympics in the South and paved the way for a landmark meeting between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore in June.

Cross-border exchanges between the two Koreas have significantly increased since then, with the neighbours planning to hold reunions for war-separated families next week for the first time in three years.


YONHAP/AFP / - South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon is leading the South's delegation


But although Trump touted his summit with Kim as a historic breakthrough, the nuclear-armed North has since criticised Washington for its "gangster-like" demands of complete, verifiable and irreversible disarmament.

Meanwhile the US has urged the international community to maintain tough sanctions on the isolated regime -- Seoul has caught three South Korean firms importing coal and iron from the North last year in violation of the measures.

Experts say Moon could try to act as a mediator between the US and North Korea, having salvaged the Singapore meeting when Trump abruptly cancelled it.

"They are trying to send a message externally that the North-South dialogue momentum has been established and that it will be maintained regardless of the outcome of US-North Korea talks," said analyst Go.

"Whether that is true is in doubt but they are trying to indirectly pressure the US, especially on sanctions, by showing an improvement in North-South ties and that peace has been established between them."

Moon and Kim agreed at their summit in April to officially declare an end to the 1950-53 Korean War, which concluded with an armistice instead of a peace treaty, by the end of the year.

But Harry Harris, the US ambassador to South Korea, said Monday it was too soon for such a declaration, Yonhap reported.

"It's too early for that even as we seek improvement in relations between the North and the South and between the North and the United States," Harris said, adding the allies share the "same goal" of the "final, fully verified denuclearisation" of the peninsula.

THE NEWS: Erdogan accuses US of seeking to stab Turkey 'in the back'

Erdogan accuses US of seeking to stab Turkey 'in the back'
source: AFP

AFP/File / ADEM ALTAN President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the United States of seeking to stab Turkey "in the back" over a diplomatic row sparked by the detention of an American pastor that has sent the lira into a tailspin

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday accused the United States of seeking to stab Turkey "in the back" over a diplomatic row sparked by the detention of an American pastor that has sent the lira into a tailspin.

"You act on one side as a strategic partner but on the other you fire bullets into the foot of your strategic partner," Erdogan told a conference in the capital Ankara.

"We are together in NATO and then you seek to stab your strategic partner in the back. Can such a thing be accepted?" Erdogan asked.

Turkey and the United States, two NATO allies, have been locked in bitter disputes over a string of issues from a pastor's detention on terror charges to the war in Syria.

The dispute has severely hit the Turkish currency which has been in the free fall since Friday.

Erdogan said Turkey was facing an "economic siege", slamming the currency movements as an "attack against our country."

US President Donald Trump said Friday he had doubled steel and aluminium tariffs on Turkey.

But Erdogan advised Turks not to worry.

"It is not at all like we sank and we are finished. The dynamics of the Turkish economy are solid, strong and sound and will continue to be so."

Erdogan also blasted the "economic terror" on social media, vowing that the judiciary had taken necessary measures to punish so-called speculators.

The Interior Ministry launched an investigation into 346 social media accounts on grounds of "provocative sharings on social media", the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

THE NEWS: Kabul deploys more soldiers to embattled Ghazni city

Kabul deploys more soldiers to embattled Ghazni city
source: AFP

 AFP / ZAKERIA HASHIMI President Ashraf Ghani's office announced it was sending reinforcements to the strategic city of Ghazni, which is some two hours from Kabul, after a late-night meeting at the presidential palace

Afghanistan is sending fresh reinforcements to the embattled provincial capital of Ghazni, officials said Monday, where residents described Taliban fighters openly roaming the streets as dead bodies lie on the roadsides.

Four days after the Taliban launched an assault on the strategic city, the government insists it remains in control of key offices.

But the UN warned of growing humanitarian fears as residents said food and medicine were running short, while an AFP reporter said militants were going door to door and commandeering supplies including water, tea, and wheelbarrows to move injured fighters.

President Ashraf Ghani's office announced Monday the reinforcements for Ghazni, which is barely two hours drive from Kabul, after a late-night meeting at the presidential palace.

The reinforcements will be sent "as soon as possible," said Mohammad Haroon Chakhansuri, a spokesman with the president's office.

Ghazni residents told AFP late Sunday that the dead bodies of militant and soldiers continue to litter the streets, while government offices have been set ablaze by Taliban fighters.

The city's power remained cut, with food prices rising, they said.

"Everyone wanted to find a way to flee the city. Most of the people are still hiding in their basements as fighting is going from street to street," said Ghazni journalist Fayeza Fayez, who arrived in Kabul late Sunday after fleeing the city.

Communication networks remained mostly down, and officials have been reticent, making any information difficult to verify. Most officials contacted by AFP in Ghazni and Kabul had switched their phones off.

Interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said that 30 Afghan security forces had been killed since fighting began late Thursday, while more than 150 Taliban fighters were killed and wounded. Officials have denied reports of higher casualties.

- Gateway to the south -

The United Nations called on all parties to respect the rights of civilians caught in the crossfire.

"Medication at the main hospital is reportedly becoming scarce and people are unable to safely bring casualties for treatment," said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The onslaught was the latest attempt by the Taliban to overrun an urban centre, and comes as pressure increases on the insurgents to begin peace talks with the government to end the nearly 17-year-old war.

It was also the largest tactical operation launched by the Taliban since an unprecedented truce in June brought fighting between security forces and the Taliban to a temporary pause, providing war-weary Afghans some welcome relief.

Ghazni lies along the major Kabul-Kandahar highway, effectively serving as a gateway between Kabul and the militant strongholds in the south.

Some reports Monday claimed the highway had also been blocked in parts by the Taliban, after officials had said the road was open over the weekend. The claims could not be verified by AFP.

Confusion over one deployment of commandos headed for Ghazni also raised concerns, with local media reporting up to 100 special forces troops were missing.

An official at the Ministry of Defense denied the reports.

bur-mam-emh-ds/st/ceb

THE NEWS: Mali counts votes after poll worker slain

Mali counts votes after poll worker slain
source: AFP

AFP / Michele CATTANI

Vote counting was underway across Mali on Monday after a tense presidential runoff marked by violence, polling station closures and low turnout.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, 73, is the clear frontrunner in a reprise of his faceoff against former finance minister Soumaila Cisse, 68.

In a reminder of the jihadist threat that was a major campaign issue, the overseer of a polling station in Arkodia, in the northern region of Timbuktu, was shot dead by armed Islamist militants, local officials said.

On the eve of voting, authorities said they had disrupted a plot to carry out "targeted attacks" in the capital Bamako.

More than a hundred other stations in the restive north and centre were closed by security fears, according to local monitors POCIM (the Mali Citizen Observation Pool), which had more than 2,000 observers deployed around the country.

The closure figure compares with a total of 23,000 polling stations nationwide and several hundred closures in the first round.

Turnout was just 22.38 percent, POCIM said. Participation in the first round was 42.7 percent.

The European Union's observer mission said Monday it was able to get to the northern town of Gao, but not to Timbuktu or Kidal, also in the north, or to Mopti in the centre.

But in 300 polling stations that its observers visited, "we didn't see any major incident," the mission's leader, Cecile Kyenge, said.

- Keita the favourite -

In the first-round vote on July 29, Keita was clearly ahead, with 42 percent against 18 percent for Cisse.


AFP / Michele CATTANI A girl poses with a metal bowl over her head on the sidelines of a protest against incumbent Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in Bamako

Despite fierce criticism of Keita for his handling of the security crisis, Cisse failed to rally the support of other parties behind him for the runoff, leaving the incumbent seemingly on track for a second consecutive landslide.

Results are expected by mid-week at the earliest.

The three main opposition candidates had mounted a last-ditch legal challenge to the first-round result, alleging ballot-box stuffing and other irregularities.

But their petition was rejected by the Constitutional Court.

Cisse's party told AFP in the early hours of Sunday that ballot papers were already circulating, several hours before polls opened.

At least six stations in the capital of Bamako, voting reports -- which give the number of voters and votes cast for each candidate -- were signed before the numbers were filled in, an AFP journalist witnessed.

- Violence -

Mali, a landlocked nation home to at least 20 ethnic groups where the majority of people live on less than $2 a day, has battled jihadist attacks and intercommunal violence for years.

Beyond its borders, the international community hope is that the winner will consolidate a 2015 accord that the fragile Sahel state sees as its foundation for peace.

The deal brought together the government, government-allied groups and former Tuareg rebels.


AFP / William ICKES Mali

But jihadist violence has spread from the north to the centre and south of the vast country and spilled into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, often inflaming communal conflicts.

A state of emergency heads into its fourth year in November.

France still has 4,500 troops deployed alongside the UN's 15,000 peacekeepers and a regional G5 Sahel force, aimed at rooting out jihadists and restoring the authority of the state.

THE NEWS: Turkey lira crisis highlights emerging currencies plight

Turkey lira crisis highlights emerging currencies plight
source: AFP

GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP / Drew Angerer Global investors wonder whether emerging economies are still worth the risk

Much of the Turkish lira's plight may be homegrown, but it shares some key vulnerabilities with other emerging countries whose currencies are now also plunging as fear of contagion spreads, analysts say.

South Africa, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and Russia have all seen their currencies slip over the past week because, like Turkey, they remain heavily dependent on foreign capital, especially the dollar.

"This is a typical 'flight to quality' move from foreign investors out of emerging markets to safer, developed countries," Agathe Demarais, lead Turkey analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, told AFP.

The rand and the ruble have both lost around eight percent against the US currency over the past week, while Brazil's real slipped four percent, and the Argentinian peso nearly six percent.

"Emerging markets as a whole do not look attractive at the moment as they have large foreign debts," Yusuke Tanaka, senior dealer at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, told AFP.

The MSCI index which groups around 20 emerging market currencies is at its worst level seen in a year.

- 'Feeling jumpy' -

"Investors are feeling jumpy," said Gavin Keeton, an economist at Rhodes University in South Africa wrote in Business Day, "largely because of concerns about Turkey, which are dragging other emerging market currencies down too."

Emerging currencies usually fluctuate as a function of investors' confidence in the ability of their governments to repay their foreign currency debt.


 AFP / Yasin AKGUL It's all about the ability to pay off dollar-denominated debt


But a rapidly falling currency like the Turkish lira undermines that confidence as much more local money is needed to service foreign debt -- making default that much more likely.

As investors flee emerging countries they typically buy the safe-haven dollar, boosting the American unit even more as local currencies continue to fall and thus creating a vicious circle.

Economic orthodoxy demands interest rate hikes to defend a suffering currency, something that Turkey has refused to do, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appearing to have tied the central bank's hands.

- 'Animal spirits' -

But although Turkey is under fire for failing to raise rates to stem the outflow, there is actually only so much that central banks can do to restore confidence, said Jameel Ahmad, Global Head of Currency Strategy at FXTM.

"I fear that because the markets are being driven by 'animal spirits' stemming from external headwinds, there is very little these central banks can do and it would risk concerning investors even further if they start pushing the 'panic' button," he said.

Even before the current crisis, the international monetary environment had started turning against emerging currencies as central banks in developed economies, especially the Federal Reserve, began increasing rates as their economies improve.

Higher US rates make the dollar more attractive to hold, offering investors an extra incentive to switch out of risky emerging country assets.

This, in turn, makes imports more expensive, creating the kind of inflationary pressures that foreign investors find scary.

US political and economic pressures helped push Turkish over the brink, but exchange-rate related downward pressure on the lira has been going on for many months.

- Global growth safe? -

Financial markets are now waiting to see what Turkey does next, after a raft of measures unveiled Monday did little to stem the tide.


AFP / AGUSTIN MARCARIAN Turkey could ask the IMF for help, like Argentina did

A rise in interest rates is still on the cards, analysts say, as could be a possible loan from the International Monetary Fund to tide Ankara over, just like Argentina recently negotiated a $50 billion loan with the IMF to stem the decline of the peso which fell 35 percent between April and June.

While analysts worry about Turkey and other emerging economies in their own right, they seem confident for now that advanced economies have little to fear, including the neighbouring eurozone.

"Turkey does not trigger such a devastating series of crises in other emerging markets that the combined impact could dent growth in the developed world in a meaningful way," said Holger Schmieding, an economist with Berenberg Bank.

Turkey contributes about one percent to the world's total economic output, slightly less than the Netherlands.

THE NEWS: Iran's Khamenei: 'No war, no negotiations with the US'

Iran's Khamenei: 'No war, no negotiations with the US'
source: AFP

 KHAMENEI.IR/AFP / - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gestures during a rally in the capital Tehran on August 13, 2018

Iran's supreme leader said Monday there would be neither war nor negotiations with the United States, and that the country's problems were the result of government mismanagement more than renewed sanctions.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments add to the pressure on President Hassan Rouhani following a collapse in the currency and widespread protests over high prices and corruption.

They also appeared to rule out any hope of fresh talks with Washington, which US President Donald Trump had proposed after walking out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal and reimposing sanctions.

"Beside sanctions, they are talking about war and negotiations... let me say a few words to the people: THERE WILL BE NO WAR, NOR WILL WE NEGOTIATE WITH THE U.S.," Khamenei said via his official Twitter account in English.

There was also a show of military resolve as Defence Minister Amir Hatami unveiled a next generation short-range ballistic missile and vowed to further boost the country's missile capabilities.

State broadcaster IRIB said the new Fateh Mobin missile had "successfully passed its tests" and could strike targets on land and sea.

- 'Problems are internal' -

Despite renewed sanctions, many Iranians -- including many at the highest levels of the establishment -- see US hostility as only a contributing factor to long-standing problems inside the country.

"Today's livelihood problems do not emerge from outside, they are internal," Khamenei said in another tweet.


 AFP / ATTA KENARE A man exchanges Iranian rials for dollars at a money changer in Tehran on August 8, 2018


"Not that sanctions don't have an impact, but the main factor is how we handle them," he added.

Khamenei mirrored recent criticism of Rouhani's economic management from senior members of the clergy and the Revolutionary Guards -- particularly over the collapse of the rial, which has lost around half its value since April.

A fortnight ago, Guards commander Mohammad Ali Jafari told Rouhani to take "revolutionary actions to control prices and prevent the enormous increase in the price of foreign currency and gold," in an open letter published by the conservative Tasnim news agency.

But Khamenei criticised conservatives who called for Rouhani's resignation, saying they were inadvertently "playing into the hands of the enemy".

"The government must stay in office and powerfully carry out its duties to resolve the problems," he said.

- Crackdown -

Part of the strategy has been an effort to show action against Iran's deeply entrenched corruption, which Khamenei once described as "a seven-headed dragon".

The judiciary said Sunday it had arrested 67 people under a sweeping corruption crackdown and prevented 100 government employees from leaving the country.

Khamenei approved a written request from the head of the judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, to set up special revolutionary courts to try people quickly for economic crimes.

Some lawmakers have criticised the move, with high-profile MP Ali Motahari saying on Monday that parliament must not be "by-passed" when writing new rules.

With the nuclear deal crumbling, Rouhani finds himself with little to show for his five years in power and increasingly under fire from all sides.

Although the other parties to the agreement -- Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia -- have vowed to resist US sanctions, many foreign companies have already abandoned projects in Iran for fear of US penalties.

A significant cut in oil sales is also expected when the US reimposes a second phase of sanctions in November -- with some analysts estimating a drop of 700,000 barrels per day from its current level of 2.3 million.

State news agency IRNA reported on Monday that Iran is offering oil and gas at a discount to Asian customers in a bid to retain sales.

Khamenei's tweets followed a speech in Tehran, in which he described Trump's offer of talks as "a dangerous game" and his administration as a "bullying, fraudulent regime".

"Even if we ever -- impossible as it is --negotiated with the US, it would never ever be with the current US administration," he added

THE NEWS: At least 100 security forces killed in fight for Afghan city

At least 100 security forces killed in fight for Afghan city
source: AFP

AFP / Mohammad Anwar DANISHYAR Volunteers carry an injured woman on a stretcher to a hospital in Ghazni, eastern Afghanistan, on August 12, 2018

At least 100 Afghan security forces have been killed as troops backed by US airpower struggled to push the Taliban from embattled Ghazni city, officials said Monday, while residents reported food and medicine shortages four days after fighting began.

The Afghan government said it had sent reinforcements to the strategic city, which lies barely two hours drive from Kabul on the main highway connecting the capital with the country's south. US forces in Afghanistan said they had been conducting airstrikes daily since the fighting began.

The assault, which the Taliban launched late Thursday, comes as the insurgents are under increasing pressure to join peace talks and highlights the difficulty of repelling their repeated attacks on urban centres crowded with civilians, with residents among the dead.

"About 100 security forces have lost their lives and between 20 and 30 civilians have been killed," defence minister Tariq Shah Bahrami told a press conference in Kabul, offering the first high-level official casualty figure since the insurgents entered the city.


AFP/File / AFP Map of Afghanistan locating a Taliban attack in Ghazni which began on August 10


He also said that 194 insurgents had been killed and 147 wounded.

The Taliban swiftly responded, saying the government's claims were "baseless" and that talks were "under way for their surrender".

Doctors were struggling to treat dozens of wounded at hospitals in the eastern provincial capital, where residents said insurgents roamed the streets.

At a hospital in the city wounded people could be seen groaning in agony on stretchers, while uncovered wooden coffins filled with bodies were laid on the floor.

A doctor in the hospital's intensive care unit said they had received over 80 dead bodies as of Sunday and had treated more than 160 patients, many of whom were had been injured by gunshots or shrapnel.

"There are no police or soldiers to guard the hospital. They bring their wounded and then leave," the doctor, Mohammad Arif Omari, said.

"The hospital is overwhelmed," Andrea Catta Preta, a spokeswoman for the International Red Cross in Kabul, told AFP.

With residents reporting power remained out in the city, she said the Red Cross was able to reach the hospital on Monday during a brief lull in fighting, providing nearly 200 litres of fuel for its generator and medical supplies for over 100 people.


 AFP/File / Mohammad Anwar DANISHYAR Screen grab from an AFPTV video taken on August 12, 2018 shows an injured man receiving medical treatment at Ghazni Provincial Hospital in the eastern Afghan city of Ghazni

"Everybody is requesting assistance, so we have been doing what we can whenever we have a window of security to do something," she added.

An AFP reporter in the city said late Sunday that militants were going door to door and commandeering supplies including water, tea, and wheelbarrows to move injured fighters.

- Confusion and rumour -

Ghazni residents who arrived in Kabul after fleeing the violence told AFP that the dead bodies of militants and soldiers continued to litter the streets, while government offices have been set ablaze by Taliban fighters and food prices are rising.

"Everyone wanted to find a way to flee the city. Most of the people are still hiding in their basements as fighting is going from street to street," said Ghazni journalist Fayeza Fayez, who arrived in Kabul late Sunday after fleeing the city.

Communication networks in Ghazni remained mostly down, and officials have been reticent, making any information difficult to verify and fuelling rumours of high tolls. Most officials contacted by AFP in Ghazni and Kabul had switched their phones off.

The United Nations called on all parties to respect the rights of civilians caught in the crossfire.


AFP/File / STRINGER Screen grab from AFPTV video taken on August 10, 2018 shows smoke rising after Taliban militants launched an attack on the Afghan provincial capital of Ghazni


The onslaught was the latest attempt by the Taliban to overrun an urban centre, and comes as pressure increases on the insurgents to begin peace talks with the government to end the nearly 17-year-old war.

It was also the largest tactical operation launched by the Taliban since an unprecedented truce in June brought fighting between security forces and the Taliban to a temporary pause, providing war-weary Afghans some welcome relief.

Ghazni lies along the major Kabul-Kandahar highway, effectively serving as a gateway between Kabul and the militant strongholds in the south.

US forces in Kabul denied reports that the highway had been blocked by the insurgents, saying Afghan forces remained in control of the area and were carrying out a clearance operation targeting militants.

Confusion over one deployment of commandos headed for Ghazni also raised concerns, with local media reporting up to 100 special forces troops were missing.

An official at the Ministry of Defense denied the reports.

bur-us-emh-ds/st/gle

THE NEWS: Why has Turkey's currency fallen so sharply?

Why has Turkey's currency fallen so sharply?
source: AFP

AFP / Yasser Al-Zayyat The lira fell by about 16 percent on August 10

Turkey's lira has bled value against the dollar, leaving the country under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan facing its most serious economic challenge since a financial crisis in 2001.

The crash on Turkey's "Black Friday" of August 10 -- when the lira fell by some 16 percent -- was precipitated by a tweet from US President Donald Trump doubling aluminium and steel tariffs on Turkey.

But analysts argue that the malaise of Turkey -- a high-growth economy with widely-acknowledged potential and importance -- goes far deeper to policy and imbalances that have been allowed to persist for too long.

- Crisis in US ties -

The first warning sign trouble could be afoot came when Trump said on July 26 Turkey would be facing sanctions over its holding for almost two years of US pastor Andrew Brunson on terror-related charges.

Days later, the US imposed sanctions against Turkey's interior and justice ministers using legislation drawn up to punish foreign officials following the death of a lawyer in Russian jail. Turkey followed suit with reciprocal measures.

The tensions spooked investors already worried by the fallout of a row between Turkey and its NATO ally, with the lira falling sharply last week. And Trump then hurled fuel on the flames with his tweet over the tariffs, prompting Friday's crash.

The US imposition of sanctions "is causing capital inflows to dry up", said economists from Capital Economics.

- Economic imbalances -

Economists say there was already trouble brewing even before the current spat erupted -- many believe the government brought forward polls due in November 2019 to June this year to pre-empt any problems.

Erdogan won a new mandate in the polls with enhanced powers.

"The unnecessary diplomatic spat between Turkey and the US over the jailed pastor... has exacerbated" an already emerging economic crisis, Paul T. Levin, director of the Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies, told AFP.

The structural problems in the Turkish economy -- which enjoyed impressive growth of 7.4 in 2017 -- are seen as high inflation which is now close to 16 percent, a widening current account deficit and a banking system with foreign currency denominated debt.

Hussein Sayed, Chief Market Strategist at FXTM, said Turkey has "limited choices" against this background coupled with the US dispute.

Erdogan insisted Monday that the dynamics of the Turkish economy were "solid, strong and sound and will continue to be so".

- Unorthodox policies -

Since coming to power in 2003 Erdogan has built his popularity on growth and transforming areas, especially in the conservative interior of the country, with newly-found wealth.

Economists say he wants to keep the growth ticking and has thus made clear interest rates get in the way, with Erdogan describing them as the "mother and father of all evil".

Erdogan has also repeatedly aired the unorthodox view that low interest rates can help bring down inflation.

Levin argued that despite the official emphasis on the crisis with the US "it has been clear for some time to anyone following Turkey that the government's political and economic mismanagement would have consequences".

- Interest rate caution -

The route of hiking rates now appears cut off to the nominally independent central bank which is ready to use virtually any policy tool save this one, raising fears Erdogan has the bank under his influence.

The bank in May helped boost the lira's value with a 300 basis point rate hike that came just before the elections.

However one month after the elections, the bank dashed market expectations by leaving rates unchanged and has steadfastly refused to heed calls for an emergency hike.

Instead on Monday it vowed to make available "all the liquidity" needed by the banks.

"The measures to improve liquidity are not addressing the main issue which is lira's decline. Ergodan's unwillingness to raise interest rates suggests that the situation might not be defused soon," said Konstantinos Anthis, head of research at ADSS.

- Policymaking team -

The elections on June 24 marked a watershed in Turkish politics. Erdogan was inaugurated in July under a new system which entirely dispensed with the office of prime minister.

Former deputy prime minister Mehmet Simsek, a reassuring figure for investors, was conspicuously absent from the new government which is a vertical power structure under Erdogan.

The president also appointed his son in law and former energy minister Berat Albayrak as finance minister to head a newly expanded finance ministry, a move that was given an immediate cold shoulder by markets.

"It's arguably the lack of prompt, firm, and rational responses from Turkish authorities that has now sent the lira into a tailspin," said Levin.

THE NEWS: 'Queen of Soul' Aretha Franklin 'gravely ill': reports

'Queen of Soul' Aretha Franklin 'gravely ill': reports
source: AFP

 GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File / Dimitrios Kambouris Aretha Franklin is shown here performing at the Elton John AIDS Foundation event in New York in November 2017 -- her last known public performance

Music legend Aretha Franklin is "gravely ill" and surrounded by family and friends in Detroit, reports said Monday, as prayers and well wishes poured in for the Grammy-winning 'Queen of Soul'.

The 76-year-old Franklin -- who influenced generations of pop divas with hits such as "Respect" (1967), "Natural Woman" (1968) and "I Say a Little Prayer" (1968) -- was said to be at a Detroit hospital and has asked that details of her condition not be made public.

Franklin cemented her place in American music history with her powerful, bell-clear voice that stretched over four octaves -- in her decades-long career, her hits spanned the genres, from soul to R&B to gospel and pop.

She was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

Franklin's serious condition was first disclosed on the Showbiz 411 website late Sunday by Roger Friedman, a reporter and family friend. He wrote that she was "gravely ill in Detroit. The family is asking for prayers and privacy."

Local television stations later confirmed Franklin's illness.

"Right now, Aretha is asking people here in the city of Detroit, where she calls home, to pray for her," WDIV journalist Evrod Cassimy said on air, adding that Franklin had asked the network not to disclose any details.

Robert Smith, the current pastor at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit where Franklin's father was the reverend, told AFP that Franklin's representatives asked him Monday to "keep praying for her."

"Everybody's fearful," Smith said. "I really don't know what it would be like not to have her."

Artists from across the musical spectrum offered well wishes to the legendary singer who has lived in Detroit -- the Motor City, the home of Motown music -- most of her life.

"My prayers are with Aretha Franklin and her family during this difficult time," tweeted rapper Missy Elliott. "We MUST CELEBRATE the Living Legends while they are here to see it. So many have given us decades of Timeless music."

Boy George said: "This is sad news. Aretha Franklin, what a voice."

- Legacy in American music -

Franklin -- who is mainly known by only her first name, in true diva style -- rose from singing gospel in her father's church to regularly the top rhythm and blues and pop charts in the 1960s and 1970s.

Beyond "Respect," her powerful cover of the Otis Redding tune that became her calling card, Franklin had dozens of Top 40 singles, according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Other hits include "Day Dreaming" (1972), "Jump to It" (1982), "Freeway of Love" (1985), and "A Rose Is Still A Rose" (1998).

Her style influenced pop divas from Mariah Carey and the late Whitney Houston -- whose mother was a backup singer for Franklin -- to Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige and Amy Winehouse.


AFP/File / ROBYN BECK Singer Aretha Franklin performed at the inaugurations of two US presidents including for Barack Obama in 2009, as shown here


She won 18 Grammy awards throughout her storied career, including one for Lifetime Achievement.

In 2005, Franklin was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the highest award for an American civilian -- by then-president George W. Bush.

She sang at the inaugurations of two presidents -- Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

But in 2010, she suffered serious health problems. She nevertheless continued to perform until late last year.

Franklin last sang in November 2017 for the Elton John AIDS Foundation in New York. That same year, Detroit named a street after her.