OP's News

Syria war: Turkey suffers deadliest day in Afrin offensive

Turkish tank transported to the Syrian border — Image captionThe Turkish-led offensive is intended to drive Kurdish militias out of Afrin

The Turkish military has suffered the deadliest day in its current offensive against Kurdish militias inside Syria, with seven soldiers killed.

Five of the troops died when their tank was attacked near Afrin.

The “Olive Branch” operation was launched on 20 January to drive the Kurdish YPG militia out of Afrin region.

Thousands of Kurds protested outside the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on Saturday against the offensive.

Turkey views the YPG (People’s Protection Units) as a terrorist group and an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has fought for Kurdish autonomy in south-eastern Turkey for three decades.

In addition to those killed when the US-backed YPG attacked the tank, two other soldiers were killed earlier – one in the same area and one in another part of northern Syria. One soldier was also killed on the Turkish side of the border.

Turkey has now lost 14 soldiers in fierce clashes during the offensive.

Turkey says it has killed some 900 Kurdish fighters, but this cannot be independently verified.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Turkish troops were taking high ground and would now head towards the town of Afrin itself, saying: “There is not much to go.”

In Strasbourg, Kurdish protesters carried banners reading “Erdogan assassin” and “defend Afrin”, and shouted slogans such as “silence kills” outside the Council of Europe offices.

One protester, Suleyman Akguc, told Agence France-Presse: “We want to sound the alarm because the Kurds in Afrin have fought against the Islamic State and are being massacred today. The silence of the European leaders is deadly,”

Thousands of people have been displaced by the Turkish-led offensive that also involves 10,000 Syrian rebels.

Separately, Human Rights Watch on Saturday accused Turkish border guards of firing on would-be asylum seekers trying to enter from Syria.

A government official denied the accusation, saying Turkey had an “open-door policy”.

Turkey has taken more Syrian refugees than any other nation.

Egypt unveils 4,400-year-old tomb of ancient priestess

A woman takes a photo inside the tomb of an Old Kingdom priestess adorned with well-preserved and rare wall paintings on the Giza plateau in Cairo that was unveiled on 3 February 2018 — Image captionThe tomb belonged to a top official in the royal palace during the end of the Fifth Dynasty

Archaeologists in Egypt have unveiled the newly discovered tomb of an ancient priestess that dates back 4,400 years.

The tomb found near Cairo is adorned with well-preserved and rare wall paintings depicting the priestess, Hetpet, in a variety of scenes.

Hetpet was a priestess to the goddess of fertility Hathor, who assisted women in childbirth.

It was found during excavations near the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt’s antiquities ministry says.

This site, in Giza’s western cemetery, housed officials from the Old Kingdom’s Fifth Dynasty, some of which have already been dug up since 1842.

“We know of course that she was a high official and that she had a strong link with the royal palace,” Egyptian Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani said, describing Hetpet on Saturday.

Egyptians look at well-preserved and rare wall paintings inside the tomb of an Old Kingdom priestess in Saqqara, on the Giza plateau on the southern outskirts of Cairo, that was unveiled on 3 February 2018,

The tomb “has the architectural style and the decorative elements of the Fifth Dynasty, with an entrance leading to an ‘L’ shaped shrine,” the ministry said.

The wall paintings inside were in “a very good conservation condition depicting Hetpet standing in different hunting and fishing scenes or… receiving offerings from her children”.

You might also be interested in:

Scenes of music and dancing performances, as well as monkeys featured as domestic animals were also depicted.

One wall painting shows a monkey dancing in front of an orchestra.

An Egyptian archaeologist points to wall paintings inside the tomb of an Old Kingdom priestess on the Giza plateau on the southern outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, 3 February 2018.

“Such scenes are rare… and have only been found previously in the (Old Kingdom) tomb of ‘Ka-Iber’ where a painting shows a monkey dancing in front of a guitarist not an orchestra,” Mostafa Waziri of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told AFP news agency.

Minister Anani said he was hopeful of further discoveries at the site, which is located about 20km (12 miles) south of Cairo.

“We’re going to continue digging in this area and I believe that very soon we’re going to discover something.”

Egyptian excavation workers labour outside the tomb of an Old Kingdom priestess on the Giza plateau on the southern outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, 3 February 2018.

Russia condemns US nuclear bomb plans

An unarmed cruise missile during testing in Utah — Image captionThe US military is concerned that Russia is underestimating US capability

Moscow has condemned US military proposals to develop new, smaller atomic bombs mainly to deter any Russian use of nuclear weapons.

Russia’s foreign minister called the move “confrontational”, and expressed “deep disappointment”.

The proposals stem from concerns that Russia may see current US nuclear weapons as too big to be used.

This could mean, according to the US military, that those weapons are no longer an effective deterrent.

Russia’s counterblast

The Russian foreign ministry accuses the US of warmongering in its statement, issued less than 24 hours after the US proposals were published.

The latest thinking was revealed in a Pentagon policy statement known as the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR).

Russia says it will take “necessary measures” to ensure Russian security.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at talks on Syria in Sochi, 30 January 2017 — Image captionRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov – “disappointed”

“From first reading, the confrontational and anti-Russian character of this document leaps out at you,” the statement says.

A foretaste of Mr Lavrov’s anger came in a statement on Friday from the Russian senator and defence expert Frantz Klintsevich, who dubbed it “a very dangerous bet on breaking up the world strategic balance of forces” in favour of the US.

What is behind the US proposals?

They are not just about Russia.

The US military is worried about the nuclear arsenal becoming obsolete and potential threats from countries such as China, North Korea and Iran.

A map showing the nuclear armed states and how many weapons each country is estimated to own.

But a major US concern is over Russian perceptions. The document argues that smaller nuclear weapons – with a yield of less than 20 kilotons – would challenge any assumption that US weapons are too massive to serve as a credible deterrent.

Such bombs would have the same explosive power as the one dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki at the end of World War Two, killing more than 70,000 people.

“Our strategy will ensure Russia understands that any use of nuclear weapons, however limited, is unacceptable,” the document says.

The proposed “tactical” nuclear weapons would not increase America’s arsenal, which is already considerable, but would repurpose existing warheads.

Critics have accused the Trump administration of challenging the spirit of non-proliferation agreements.

What is the US doing to its nuclear weapons?

Land-based ballistic missiles, submarine-launched missiles, and air-delivered weapons – to be extensively modernised as begun under ex-President Obama
Proposed modification of some submarine-launched nuclear warheads to give a lower-yield or less powerful detonation
Return of sea-based nuclear cruise missiles

Russian fighter jet ‘shot down’ in Syria’s Idlib province

Image captionFile photo of a Sukhoi-25 in action over the Syrian city of Saraqib

A Russian Sukhoi-25 fighter jet has been shot down in a rebel-held area near Idlib in north Syria, reports say.

The pilot was said to have ejected before the crash and been captured, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

Video posted on social media appeared to show the plane being hit, while other video showed burning wreckage on the ground, with a red star on a wing.

Russia has acted alongside its Syrian allies targeting rebels in the area.

Syrian government troops launched a major offensive around Idlib in late December, backed by Russian jets. The UN says some 100,000 civilians have been displaced.

The fate of the pilot has not yet been confirmed, nor which group shot his plane down or captured him.

Hardline rebel groups including the jihadist, al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham are active in the north-western province.

Why is there a war in Syria?

The Sukhoi-25 is a close-support ground-attack aircraft.

Russian air force losses have been rare since it began its Syria campaign in September 2015.

All five people on board a helicopter were killed when it was shot down over Syria in August 2016.

Local hero to take to stage as a musical

Image captionThe 1983 film made a red phone box in the Aberdeenshire village of Pennan famous

A musical based on the classic 1983 film Local Hero will have its world premiere in Edinburgh next year.

The Royal Lyceum will be the first to perform the musical, which has been adapted by the theatre’s artistic director David Greig and Bill Forsyth.

The Scottish filmmaker wrote and directed the original movie.

International music star Mark Knopfler has written the music and lyrics for the new production, which will open in Spring 2019.

Knopfler, who rose to fame in multi-million selling band Dire Straits, wrote the score for the 1983 film.

It tells the story of an American oil company representative who is sent to the fictional Ferness on the west coast of Scotland to buy the village and its land in order to build a refinery.

Image captionThe village of Pennan was the setting for many scenes in the film

However, “Mac” MacIntyre adapts to Scottish village life and becomes worried the deal will ruin the place he has come to love.

It was made in several locations around Scotland but most of the Ferness village scenes were filmed in Pennan on the Aberdeenshire coast.

A red phone box in the village, where Mac makes phone calls to his boss in Texas, played by Burt Lancaster, became one of the most famous images of Scottish cinema.

Image captionBill Forsyth and David Greig at the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh

Glasgow writer and director Forsyth’s other films include Gregory’s Girl and Comfort and Joy.

David Greig, an acclaimed playwright as well as theatre director, said: “Local Hero is one of those great Scottish stories that has captured the imaginations of people across the world, it has been one of my favourite films since I first saw it as a teenager.”

Local Hero is due to open at The Lyceum in Spring 2019 before transferring to The Old Vic in London.

Man injured in attack outside snooker club in Glasgow

police at scene — Image captionThe area around the scene was cordoned off on Friday evening

A 29-year-old man is being treated in hospital after being assaulted outside a snooker club in Glasgow city centre.

Police said the incident happened at about 18:10 on Friday outside Reardon’s on Hope Street.

The man was taken to Glasgow Royal Infirmary to be treated for his injuries. His condition is not known.

Officers have been checking CCTV and have appealed for any witnesses to contact them.

Grandmother burgled during brain surgery

Image captionChristine McCartney and her late husband on their 50th wedding anniversary

A grandmother has made an emotional plea to burglars who stole her jewellery while she was in hospital having brain surgery.

Christine McCartney’s engagement ring and a chain given to her by her late husband, before they were married, were both taken.

Rings given to her by her daughter, who died suddenly in April last year, were also stolen.

The 78-year-old said it would mean “everything” to get the pieces back.

Stolen rings — Image captionThe 78-year-old said it would mean “everything” to get the pieces back

It is thought the thieves took a crowbar to Mrs McCartney’s door in Shanreagh Park in Limavady, County Londonderry, while she was at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast between 26 and 31 January.

“All the cupboards and drawers were pulled out and looked through,” said Mrs McCartney.

“They have taken all my good, gold rings, my engagement ring and sapphire rings and my mother’s wedding ring.

“The only one I have now is my eternity ring because it was safe at the jewellers being resized.

“Everything else in that box was taken. I have no idea what the value of the rings is, but they meant everything to me.

“There was a wee cross and chain that my husband got me the day we got engaged.”

Mrs McCartney said it was “horrible” to think about the thieves being in her house.

“I am really furious that someone would do that to me when I was in the hospital, I think it’s absolutely diabolical.”

Forced entry

Her son, Gordon McCartney, believes the thieves knew his mother.

“Nothing else was taken from the house,” he told BBC News NI.

“How else would they have known she wasn’t around?”

Police in Limavady said they were appealing for information following the report of a burglary at a house in the Shanreagh Park area on 31 January.

Det Sgt McColgan said: “Sometime over the past week, entry was forced into the property and rooms were ransacked. It is understood various items of sentimental jewellery were stolen.”

‘Swan walk’ near route of new A6 road at Toombridge

Whooper swans at Lough Beg — Image captionWhooper swans at Aughrim Hill, part of the A6 route past Toome

A “guided swan walk” is taking place near an internationally protected wetland which has been the subject of a high-profile court challenge to the route of the new A6 dual carriageway.

The wetland at Lough Beg, County Antrim, is a important habitat for birds, including Whooper swans.

Last year, environmental campaigner Chris Murphy lost his legal challenge to the A6 road project.

He argued the route would cut through key feeding grounds for the swans.

Mr Murphy lost his initial case against Stormont’s Department for Infrastructure and later lodged an appeal.

However, the court that heard his appeal in September ruled that the proposed road would have “no direct impact” on the birds.

Image captionThe A6 upgrade will cover a 9 mile stretch from the Toome bypass to Castledawson

At the time, Mr Murphy said he intended to take his case to the Supreme Court in London.

He is to find out if the judges will agree to hear his case later this month.

‘Enormous importance’

On Saturday, Mr Murphy will be among the speakers attending an event to celebrate the wildlife at the wetland, including Whooper swans.

Environmentalists and nature lovers are gathering at Lough Beg to learn more about the migratory swans, which overwinter in nearby fields.

As well the guided nature walk and speeches on the environmental importance of wetlands, the family-friendly event also includes face-painting, origami and other arts and craft activities.

Speaking to BBC News NI ahead of the event, Mr Murphy said the Lough Beg wetland was of “enormous importance” to him personally and to the island of Ireland as a whole.

“I have given up 18 months of my life for this – my family and everything has been on hold,” he said.

Image captionChris Murphy, seen here at an earlier court appearance, lost his legal challenge

He claimed the wetland would have “no value” if the road proceeds along the proposed route.

He said he would continue to speak up for the “children of the future” and the swans, as they “have no voice”.

‘Key infrastructure project’

Mr Murphy’s legal challenge centred on his claim that the road project would cut through key feeding grounds for the Whooper swans, which are a protected species.

He claimed the Department of Infrastructure had not carried out an appropriate assessment of the road’s impact, but department said its environmental information was up to date.

The swans have arrived for the winter and the department has agreed not to start any work until they leave.

Image captionWhooper swans from Iceland pictured at Lough Beg

Mr Murphy has always said that he is not against the £160m road, just the route. He claims an alternative is available.

The department said the road is a key infrastructure project which is badly needed to improve road safety and journey times between Belfast and Londonderry.

On its website, it states: “DfI Roads has carried out extensive research and consultation to ensure that the new dual carriageway between Toome and Castledawson does not upset the ecologically important wetlands around Lough Beg.

It adds: “The Whooper swan feeding habitat, affected by the road, is entirely outside the nationally and internationally protected wetlands and measured against the vast Lough Neagh and Lough Beg wetland, the area lost is very tiny.”

Lurgan community hub damaged in burglary bid

Windows have been smashed and damage has been caused during an attempted burglary at a community centre in Lurgan, County Armagh overnight.

The break-in at Mount Zion House in Edward Street was reported to police just after midnight on Saturday.

Police said they believe the burglary was “interrupted” and as a result, nothing was stolen but office furniture inside the building was damaged.

Mount Zion House is home to a number of community and charitable projects.

‘Seen running away’

Upper Bann DUP MLA Carla Lockhart said: “This is a disgusting attack on Mount Zion House and one I unreservedly condemn.

“The building for many years has been used as a safe, shared space for children, young people and various charities and businesses.

“In the past it has also been utilised for social housing. This is an attack on the whole community,” she added.

A police spokeswoman said officers are “keen to speak to a man who was seen running away towards the Shankill area of the town”.

“He is described as being around 35 years old, of heavy build and with facial stubble. He was reported to be wearing a dark hat and jacket and light-coloured jeans,” she added.

Clasper Village demolition resumes as final resident leaves

Demolition work has resumed at a Tyneside housing estate after being halted for several months as the final resident refused to leave his home of almost 50 years.

Bulldozers moved on to Gateshead’s Clasper Village Estate in early 2015.

However, work came to a standstill last year with Michael Crossman declining offers from the local authority for his two-bedroom flat.

Gateshead Council said Mr Crossman left his property in December.

He had lived on the estate’s Palmerston Walk since 1970 with his late wife and had been the sole remaining resident on the estate for at least six months.

Mr Crossman in his Palmerston Walk flat — Image captionMr Crossman rejected initial offers from the council

On announcing its plan for the site in 2011, the council said it would be cheaper to build new social housing rather than refurbish the existing flats and tackle anti-social behaviour.

‘Good memories’

Speaking to the BBC in July 2017, Mr Crossman said: “There’s so many good memories of me and my wife’s marriage.

“We never had an argument in our whole marriage.”

Mr Crossman was described by local media as the “last man standing”.

Boarded up homes at Clasper Village — Image captionSurrounding properties on Palmerston Walk have been boarded up for several months