Aleppo Rebels Brace For Long Syrian Government Siege
Rebel areas of Aleppo have stockpiled enough basic supplies to survive months of siege by Syrian pro-government forces that cut off their half of the city last week, even though some goods are running out, an opposition official said.Government forces backed by allies including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Russian air force advanced last week to within a few hundred meters (yards) of the only road into the rebel-held part of Aleppo, making it impassable for the several hundred thousand people living there.The advance has brought Damascus closer to achieving its long-held aim of encircling rebel districts of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and a potent symbol of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad now in its sixth year.
Rebel forces are fighting back in an attempt to reopen the Castello road. The opposition does not expect the Syrian army and its allies to storm the populous, rebel-controlled sector of Aleppo, and is preparing for the possibility of a long siege.Russian officials said Moscow was there to help Damascus in its fight because the road had been used to supply armed groups, but the United States urged Russia to put pressure on the Syrian government to cease its onslaught.
With prices rocketing in Aleppo, opposition authorities were seeking to ration consumption to prevent hoarding and prevent traders from overcharging, said Brita Hagi Hassan, president of the city council for opposition-held Aleppo.He said opposition authorities were also moving towards opening “alternative ways” into the rebel-held part of the city.“We have the capability to open new ways because the situation is still under control,” Hassan told Reuters. The plans were secret, he added, speaking from a rural area west of Aleppo after twice failing to enter the city last week.Prices of non-perishable staple foods have tripled and fresh produce has gone up by even more, if it can be found at all. A kilo (2.2 pounds) of tomatoes, which are now in season, costs at least five times more than they did before the blockade.
The city council has stockpiled flour, wheat, fuel, sugar and rice, and residents were being urged to adapt to the new situation, Hassan said. “I reassured people on this matter … we can remain for several months without a problem.“There are posters, pamphlets and there will be a press conference about this matter, so that the people are aware of the new situation, because the situation is very bad.”Operators of generators had been told to cut back their use to two hours a day, and the council had set aside fuel for essential uses such as bakeries.As part of their counter-attack, rebels bombarded government-held neighborhoods of Aleppo, where the population is estimated at slightly over 1 million people. Air strikes have also targeted rebel areas of the city.“The streets are abnormally quiet after several barrel bombs hit our neighborhood. People are waiting,” said Malek Idrees, a father of five who lives in a rebel district.“I could not find fresh produce for the last two days … but there are no severe shortages … most goods (are) still in the markets. I could not find bread yesterday,” he said.
The United Nations said it was worried about increased fighting in and around Aleppo and called for humanitarian aid access and the safe and rapid evacuation of civilians.
U.N. spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci said that intensified hostilities had cut off 300,000 people. Hassan estimated the population in the rebel zone to be 400,000.Assad is backed by Moscow, which launched air strikes in September, as well as by Iranian and Lebanese Shi’ite Hezbollah fighters. Hezbollah has said it regards Aleppo – Syria’s pre-war commercial hub – as the most important battleground in the country, equating it with the defense of the capital Damascus.
“The fact is that the (Castello) road has been very actively and heavily used to supply various terrorist groups,” Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said on Tuesday. “Clearly in that kind of a situation, the government has to fight back and we’re there to help them in this regard.”Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told a U.N. Security Council meeting Assad’s bid to encircle eastern Aleppo would have “potentially devastating consequences.“Russia, as a co-sponsor of the cessation of hostilities, should use its influence on the regime to help stop these attacks,” Power said, referring to a truce agreed in February that subsequently unraveled.
Assad’s allies say they are battling the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in Aleppo. But Western-backed nationalist insurgents loosely grouped under the banner of the Free Syrian Army say they control the rebel-held part of the city.Nusra Front said it and the Nour al-Din al-Zinki insurgent group had fought back and advanced in an area near the Castello road late on Tuesday. There was no immediate Zinki comment.
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Two Teenagers Killed In Shooting At Florida Nightclub
A shooting outside a party at a Florida nightclub that left two male teenagers dead and as many as 18 other people wounded early on Monday was not an act of terror, police in Fort Myers said.The latest burst of gun violence to wrack the state this summer occurred just after 12:30 a.m. EDT (0430 GMT) in the parking lot of Club Blu, which was hosting an event open to teenagers, the Fort Myers Police Department said in a statement.
Police said Stef’An Strawder, an 18-year-old basketball star at a local high school, and Sean Archilles, 14, were killed. Two other people have potentially life-threatening injuries, local hospital officials said.Although police said they did not know the motive for the shooting, they confirmed in a statement that “this incident is not an act of terror (as it has been referred) or terrorism.”Police said three people had been detained for questioning and that the area around the club was deemed safe, although roads in the vicinity remained closed.
Hospitals affiliated with the Lee Memorial Health System received 19 patients ranging in ages from 12 to 27 years from the nightclub shooting. Lisa Sgarlata, chief administrative officer for Lee Memorial Hospital, said an additional victim was pronounced dead at the scene.Four patients remain hospitalized at Lee Memorial Hospital. Two have potentially life-threatening injuries and are in a surgical intensive care unit, Dr. Drew Mikulaschek told reporters at a news conference.
The shooting came six weeks after a massacre at a nightclub in the Florida city of Orlando, where a lone gunman who sympathized with Islamist extremist groups killed 49 people in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.club Blu, located about 150 miles southwest of Orlando in the Gulf Coast city of Fort Myers, was hosting a “swimsuit glow party” for people all ages, according to a flyer posted on Twitter by local television station WINK. To enter, patrons were not required to show proof that they were the legal age to drink alcoholic beverages.The nightclub said on its Facebook page that the shooting occurred when the venue was closing and parents were picking up their children.“We tried to give the teens what we thought was a safe place to have a good time,” the statement said, pointing out that armed security guards were posted inside and outside the club. “It was not kids at the party that did this despicable act.”
In a video interview with local media, Syreeta Gary said her daughter and a friend ran for cover from the gunshots, seeking safety at a nearby apartment complex.“Dodging bullets and running, dropping between cars, it’s ridiculous that these kids have to go through this,” Gary said in an interview posted on Twitter by a reporter for Fort Myers Fox affiliate WFTX. “They can’t enjoy themselves.”
Her daughter got out unscathed, but a bullet struck a friend in the leg, Gary said.The teens who died both attended schools in Lee County, district spokeswoman Lauren Stillwell said. Archilles was due to enter the eighth grade at Royal Palm Exceptional Center, while Strawder was to start his senior year at Lehigh Senior High School.
Strawder’s mother, Stephanie White, told the News-Press newspaper that her son was shot in his right shoulder as he walked out of the club. His 19-year-old sister survived a gunshot wound in the leg, White said.Police said shots were also fired at a nearby residence, where there was one minor injury.Fort Myers police and the Lee County’s Sheriff’s Office were canvassing the area for other people who may have been involved, a police statement said.
Over a Million Taxpayers Set to Lose Unclaimed 2012 Refunds
More than 1 million taxpayers risk losing refunds if they don\\\'t finally submit their 2012 federal tax returns by next month.USA Today reports the late-filers have to put in the paperwork if they want their share of the more than $950 million-plus in unclaimed refunds.\\\"The clock is ticking for taxpayers who didn\\\'t file a 2012 federal income tax return, leaving nearly $1 billing in refunds unclaimed,\\\" IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said in a statement, USA Today reports.
\\\"We especially encourage students and others who didn\\\'t earn much money to look into this situation because they may still be entitled to a refund.\\\"
Federal law gives most taxpayers a three-year window to claim an IRS refund. If they miss the deadline, the money goes into the Treasury. For 2012 tax returns, the window closes April 18 — and a day later for taxpayers in Maine and Massachusetts.The IRS estimates $718 is the midpoint for potential refunds for 2012 – meaning half are worth more, and half are worth less.
Indiana To Test Donald Trump’s Staying Power
Donald Trump’s success in the race for the White House may well ride on the support of Republican evangelicals made wary as the front-runner reveals a more liberal side to his social views.A case in point is Tuesday’s nominating contest in Indiana, a conservative Midwestern U.S. state that has voted Republican in nine of the last 10 presidential elections.A New York businessman who has never held public office, Trump has had some success with evangelicals in states such as South Carolina. But there have been signs of slippage.Trump, 69, has taken stances on Planned Parenthood family clinics and gay and transgender rights that raise Christian conservative concerns, including in such states as Indiana where they make up a high proportion of voters.
A new NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist opinion poll shows Trump with a wide lead in Indiana, 49 percent, to 34 percent for his nearest rival, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, and 13 percent for Ohio Governor John Kasich.Most previous Indiana opinion polls showed a tighter race with Trump leading Cruz by only a few points. A Trump win in the state could be pivotal to his chances of securing the nomination but may also offer a gauge of whether he can rally evangelicals.Cruz, 45, emphasizes his Christian faith on the campaign trail. He is focusing heavily on Indiana. He says Trump is not an authentic Republican.If evangelicals are unenthusiastic, they could sit out the Nov. 8 general election, potentially handing the White House to former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, or her rival, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.“The fear is a lot of them are going to stay home,” said Bob Vander Plaats, a leading evangelical activist in Iowa. “You can’t win without our base.”
TRANSGENDER LAWTrump rankled some social conservatives by criticizing North Carolina’s controversial law that requires transgender people to use the bathroom of the gender of their birth. “The restroom thing is big with a lot of people,” said Shan Rutherford, a pastor in Greenwood, Indiana.Rutherford said he was initially drawn to Trump’s message, but was put off by his stance on social issues and his insulting demeanor on the campaign trail. Rutherford, who backs Cruz, said if the White House race came down to Trump versus Clinton, he might not vote.
The Pew Research Center says 45 percent of registered Republican voters nationwide identify themselves as “born-again” or “evangelical.” Pew also found that only 44 percent of Republicans view Trump as a religious person. By contrast, 76 percent viewed Cruz that way.Cruz has assailed Trump for his stance on the North Carolina bathroom law. Trump has said there have been few problems with transgender people using bathrooms. He also has said the question should be left to states to decide.Cruz charges allowing grown men in bathrooms with little girls is “opening the door for predators.”On Friday, Cruz was endorsed by Indiana Governor Mike Pence, a social conservative who last year signed a bill that critics said could be used by business owners to deny services to same-sex couples.
Trump has said he supports prohibiting companies from firing employees based on sexual orientation, although he has criticized last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage.Cruz has deployed his father, Rafael Cruz, an evangelical minister, as a surrogate in churches in Indiana.
VOTER TURNOUT KEY
A Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll showed 19 percent of respondents would not vote in a White House race between Trump and Clinton. But when filtered to those who attend church nearly every week, the number jumped to 28 percent.The party cannot afford a low turnout in November. Demographic trends in recent years have favored Democrats, with the pool of Republican voters, overwhelmingly white and older, steadily shrinking.Eric Houseman, a paramedic from Indianapolis who attended a Cruz rally in Franklin, Indiana, predicted Trump would lose support through such missteps as inaccurately referring in January to a book of the Bible as “Two Corinthians” rather than Second Corinthians or Corinthians II.“People are beginning to see he’s a lot of talk,” Houseman said.Upstate, Ron Johnson, pastor at the Living Stones Church in Crown Point, votes Republican but was adamant that he would not vote for Trump. Trump does not share his Christian values, Johnson said.“I am not going to be part of the demise of this country,” he said.But Mark Burns, a South Carolina pastor who has become a leading Trump surrogate in the media, said Trump’s appeal to evangelicals does not stem from the strength of his religious views.
