position:afp reporter

Question on Saudi democracy gives State Dept pause
▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/afp/2017/05/us-diplomacy-saudi-media-politics-vote.html

Long silence éloquent de la diplomatie US quand on l’interroge sur la démocratie saoudienne...

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Jones is a respected career diplomat and former US ambassador to both Iraq and Jordan who has been thrust into the limelight as the administration has been slo w to fill more senior posts.

He accompanied Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Saudi Arabia and Israel last week and took to the State Department podium to brief reporters on their achievements.

His account of success in building ties with Saudi and other Muslim and Arab leaders matched the later White House briefing in substance, if not in Spicer’s hyperbolic language.

But when an AFP reporter asked him whether the United States believes that democratic governance could help limit the spread of extremism, he fell silent.

Combats à Qamishli entre la police kurde (Asayish) et le YPG d’une part, et la milice pro-régime (Forces de Défense nationale) et une milice syriaque pro-régime (Sootoro), d’autre part.
La ville jusqu’ici partagée entre PYD et régime, connaît pour la première fois de tels combats avec plusieurs morts de part et d’autre.
▻https://www.yahoo.com/news/kurds-regime-deadly-clashes-northeast-syria-190019093.html

Qamishli (Syria) (AFP) - Deadly clashes between Syrian pro-government fighters and Kurdish forces raged on Wednesday in the northeastern city of Qamishli, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
Loud blasts from rocket fire and heavy machineguns could be heard throughout the city into the evening as warplanes screeched above, the reporter said.
Qamishli is under the shared control of the Syrian regime and Kurdish authorities, who have declared zones of “autonomous administration” across parts of north and northeast Syria.
The clashes broke out between government forces and the local Kurdish police force, known as the Asayish, at a checkpoint earlier on Wednesday, a Kurdish security source told AFP.

Malgré un accord de cessez-le-feu passé entre le YPG et le régime - à la suite de ces incidents rapportés par l’AFP ci-dessus, les combats auraient repris quelques heures après selon al-Masdar (site pro-régime) :
▻https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/temporary-truce-falls-apart-qamishli-kurdish-government-forces-clash

AFP reporter injured in east Ukraine shelling - Yahoo News
▻http://news.yahoo.com/afp-reporter-injured-east-ukraine-shelling-154540144.html

A local reporter working for Agence France-Presse (AFP) covering the war in eastern Ukraine was injured in the leg by shrapnel on Sunday in the separatists’ de facto capital Donetsk.

Alexander Gayuk, 33, said he was “wounded in the knee, probably by shrapnel” during another round of intense shelling in the biggest city in the war zone.

The video and photo journalist, who has covered the 14-month conflict extensively and lives in eastern Ukraine, said he was checked out of hospital after receiving 12 stitches and has been advised to rest for a few days.

Turkish troops attack #Kurds with tear gas, water cannon
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/turkish-troops-attack-kurds-tear-gas-water-cannon

Turkish soldiers on Wednesday fired tear gas and water cannon at Kurds protesting plans to build military barracks in the southeast of the country. Soldiers launched an operation early Wednesday to break up a 12-day sit-in by some 400 protesters in the Lice district of Kurdish majority Diyarbakir province. Protesters hurled stones and fireworks at the soldiers, an AFP reporter witnessed. Clashes were still ongoing and there were no immediate reports of casualties or arrests. read more

#PKK #turkey

#erdogan urges youths not to answer “terrorist” calls to protest
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/erdogan-urges-youths-not-answer-terrorist-calls-protest

Thousands of Turkish police mobilized Saturday in central #Istanbul ahead of demonstrations to mark the first anniversary of last year’s protests that mushroomed into a revolt against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rule. Erdogan’s government deployed thousands of riot police and police in civilian clothes to enforce a ban on protests at #Taksim Square, the epicenter of last year’s demonstrations, an AFP reporter said. read more

#Gezi #turkey

The “systems” effect as viewed through the Western media in #syria
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/systems%E2%80%9D-effect-viewed-through-western-media-syria

http://english.al-akhbar.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/4cols/leading_images/press_ducking_for_cover.jpg.size_.xxlarge.letterbox.jpg

AFP reporter Sammy Ketz takes cover during snipper fire in the Syrian town of Maalula. (Photo: AFP-Anwar Amro) AFP reporter Sammy Ketz takes cover during snipper fire in the Syrian town of Maalula. (Photo: AFP-Anwar Amro)

At first glance, he appears like a model of high-caliber, professional #Journalism. The German reporter heads to the Syrian city of #Aleppo, the scene of fierce battles between the two sides of the conflict, documenting everything with photos and videos on his way. Thirty seconds into his televised report, the reporter, who is wearing an ordinary jacket, says, “It’s better to wear an additional ordinary jacket over the bulletproof vest to conceal the press label. We are told the soldiers on the other side (...)

#Opinion #Articles #Free_Syrian_Army #journalists #systems_theory

Turkish forces use tear gas on #May_Day demonstrators
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/turkish-forces-use-tear-gas-may-day-demonstrators

Turkish police used water cannons and tear gas on Thursday to disperse thousands of protesters who tried to defy a Labor Day ban on demonstrations on Istanbul’s Taksim Square, the scene of protests that have dogged the government for months. After giving a final warning, hundreds of riot police backed by water cannons moved in on the protesters in the Besiktas district as they tried to breach the barricades leading up to the symbolic square, according to an AFP reporter. read more

#Top_News #turkey

Syria army, rebels agree new #Damascus area #truce
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/18674

Syria’s army and rebels agreed a truce in the capital’s southern suburb of Babbila Monday, the latest in a series of local ceasefires in Damascus flashpoints, an AFP reporter said. The truces come more than a year into fierce daily battles in and around several areas of the city that have led to rebels and President Bashar al-Assad’s forces deciding to compromise, with neither side able to claim victory. In addition to Babbila, deals have been struck for local ceasefires in Qudsaya, Moadamiyet al-Sham, Barzeh, Beit Sahem, Yalda and Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp. read more

#Syria_conflict #Top_News

#Libya's #Amazigh to boycott constitution talks, as ex-rebels end oil refinery blockade
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/libyas-amazigh-boycott-constitution-talks-ex-rebels-end-oil-refin

Libya’s Berber minority will boycott a committee to draft a new national constitution, Berber leaders and the election commission said, in a move that complicates attempts to end oil and gas protests. Meanwhile, former rebels demanding medical care lifted on Wednesday a three-day blockade of an oil refinery in the Libyan town of Zawiya that had brought production to a halt, an AFP reporter said. read (...)

#Top_News

Southern autonomists stage sit-in during #Yemen dialogue session
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/southern-autonomists-stage-sit-during-yemen-dialogue-session

A session of Yemen’s national dialogue was called off on Wednesday after representatives of southern autonomists and northern rebels protested that they were being marginalized. A team representing the Southern Movement, demanding a north-south federation, and another for Zaidi Ansarullah rebels held a sit-in at the Sanaa hall where the meeting was to be held, an AFP reporter said. This forced organizers to postpone the session until Thursday. read (...)

#Top_News