IS Or Daesh? It's A Pointless Name Game

If ever there was an example of the sometimes pointless hot air generator that the House of Commons can sometimes disintegrate into, this must have been it. The PM said that he had complained to the BBC that the broadcaster has referred to "the Islamic State" and that this was worse even than "so-called Islamic State" (the term Sky News uses). We should rather refer to the so-called Islamic State as Da’esh, the PM said.

The terror group doesn't like the term, apparently. Which is odd because it's the Arabic acronym of "ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah fī 'l-ʿIrāq wa-sh-Shām" (which should therefore be Da’ish?)

It means the Islamic State in Iraq and Shams (greater Syria). In other letters, ISIS or ISIL if you translate Shams as "the Levant".

Aside from the Prime Minister’s temerity in telling the BBC how it should speak English, this is a terrific 'so what?' amid the wider debate about how to destroy the death cult - a term that while pejorative seems to have gained currency since Sky News started using it more than a year ago.

Da’ish/IS/ISIL/ISIS - an organisation dedicated to an apocalyptic vision of the future in which the planet is burned to ash in a final end-time war ahead of a messianic redemption - manipulated "young men half in love with death" to go the whole way, and uses spectacular slaughter to political ends.

It is therefore a death cult. Muslims often say it is not Islamic and it’s not, as it claims 'The Caliphate'. So we tend to dance around those labels to avoid giving the cult any legitimacy.

But this is a debate only slightly as hollow as the marathon expositions over bombing in Syria in the Commons.

What is being debated is a tactical shift to expand the area of operations of the RAF from Iraq into Syria - in line with our key allies France and the USA.

It makes no military sense to have had limited operations in the first place, as experts have been saying for 14 months.

There is the issue of whether there are ground troops available to take the cult on. The PM has now explained, just about, that the 70,000 he said were available from the ranks of rebels would be freed up to exploit the coalition airstrikes after a ceasefire between those very rebels and the regime of Bashar al Assad.

He said that a deal could be reached in six months and that he hoped for a full transition of power in Damascus in 18 months.

That may be wishful thinking but diplomats close to the talks have been giving out consistently optimistic vibrations.

This development is new, and exciting - perhaps more important that what was going on in the Commons.

He didn’t admit that the 70,000 would not be available until a ceasefire. But argued that in the meantime airstrikes by the RAF, added to those of his allies, would not do any harm but would help to put the cult on its back hooves.

This is self-evidently true - the cult has been held back from overrunning Baghdad and been driven out of Kurdish areas by a combination of air and ground operations.

Air operations can also target the cult's command and control structures, its industrial base in oil, and logistics generally.

The UK is already at the top of the country list for attack by the cult's fellow travellers so it will not make much difference whether or not RAF operations are expanded into Syria.

So why the 150 members who wanted to speak in the Commons in a debate of no tactical importance, but little strategic significance of great note?

"Sometimes in this House we get carried away with the theatricals of this place," Jeremy Corbyn said.

New cases of diabetes are down, but here’s why the U.S. is still in trouble

New data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a bright spot in America's battle against diabetes: After more than a decade of skyrocketing new cases, the number appears to be on the decline.

CDC epidemiologists have noticed this trend for several years, but given the statistical margin for error for this kind of data, they weren't 100 percent confident it was a real drop until now.

"Whereas a couple of year ago when there was clearly no increase we called it a plateau and were perhaps nervous that things had not turned the corner. With the new data we feel quite comfortable that indeed there has been a decrease," Edward Gregg, an epidemiologist for the CDC who specializes in diabetes, said in a phone interview.

From 1980 to 2014, the number of U.S. adults ages 18-79 who were being newly diagnosed with diabetes tripled from 493,000 in 1980 to more than 1.4 million. The trend accelerated from 1991 to 2009, but appeared to decline from 2009 to 2014.

Gregg said he credits a "gradual change" in risk behaviors that include changes in diet and physical activity. He noted that the greatest reductions in cases was seen in men. For those with less than a high school education, women and minority groups, the decline wasn't statistically significant, but he said he is encouraged because the "trends are in the same direction."

Science into diabetes prevention hit an important point several decades ago when researchers theorized that if you can identify high-risk people and can educate them about the risk, you can reduce the number of people who get it. "Sometimes it takes a number of years for this to happen, for the chronic disease epidemic to change the tide," he explained.

Gregg cautioned that while there is good news in the new numbers, we are still in a crisis. In fact, about 1 out of 10 Americans has diabetes even with the decline in new cases.

"In terms of incidence, our rates are still 60 percent higher than in the '90s and prevalence is still two times as high," he said. "It is still a huge problem — we shouldn’t take this data as excuse to become complacent and not continue to try to change risk. This is still one of the largest public health problems we are facing."

Gregg also said he remains concerned that the data are so broad that some of what's happening in high-risk subgroups may be hidden. "Our greatest concern is in communities with high poverty and low education, and we don't have all the data to know whether some of the highest-risk parts of America are seeing this improvement as well," he said.

Meanwhile, diabetes continues to take a huge economic toll, with an annual cost of $245 billion — similar to the revenues of a number of countries, such as Mexico and Sweden.

Prince Harry Moved By Slaughtered Rhino And Calf

Prince Harry paid tribute to anti-poaching rangers. Pic: Kensington Palace

The Prince visited the scene where the environmental rangers were gathering evidence in the hope of eventually catching the killers.

During the summer, Harry spent time with the team there as part of a private visit to learn about the work being done to protect endangered animals.

Talking to them next to the dead animal, he said: "This belongs to South Africa and it's been stolen by other people. But these people will be caught."

His trip to the national park and visit to the Southern Africa Wildlife school was to highlight the bravery of the rangers taking on poachers on a daily basis.

In a speech, he said: "In recent years Kruger has also become a major killing field.

"The numbers of rhinos poached in South Africa has grown by nearly 500% in just five years, with most of these occurring in Kruger.

"Already this year 1,500 rhinos have been killed in this country.

"That is four every day.

"If current poaching rates continue there will be no wild African elephants or rhinos left by the time children born this year - like my niece, Charlotte - turn 25."

To reinforce his message he also released his own private photos and videos to raise awareness of the plight of at risk species.

Posted on the Kensington Palace Instagram account, they were taken on Prince Harry's phone either by him or by people he was working with.

In one he is holding oxygen tubes going into a rhino as it is de-horned, while another shows him assisting in a facial reconstruction of a rhino that has been attacked and left for dead.

In one poignant photo, the Prince is lying with his arms extended and his head down over a sedated elephant.

Writing about the photo he said, "After a very long day in Kruger National Park, with five rhinos sent to new homes and three elephants freed from their collars - like this sedated female - I decided to take a moment.

"I know how lucky I am to have these experiences, but hearing stories from people on the ground about how bad the situation really is, upset and frustrated me."

"How can it be that 30,000 elephants were slaughtered last year alone?

"None of them had names, so do we not care? And for what? Their tusks?

"Seeing huge carcasses of rhinos and elephants scattered across Africa, with their horns and tusks missing is a pointless waste of beauty."

The number of incidents in South Africa has dramatically increased in the past five years.

Apple Music streaming is coming to Sonos speakers on December 15th

Sonos users rejoice: Apple Music support now has a date, December 15th. Sonos support for Apple Music fulfills a promise made by Apple in June to bring the subscription service to the connected speakers by the end of the year. Opening the Apple Music catalog for subscribers and free trial members makes brings a massive collection of content to Sonos speakers. If you’re looking to jump into the Sonos ecosystem, 9to5Toys recently highlighted an excellent Play:1 Starter Set deal for $349, which includes two Sonos Play:1 units (reg. $199 each). Sonos also offers a medium-packaged Play:3 ($299) and a larger, all-new Play:5($499, previewed here).

The Sonos speakers already supported a huge library of streaming music services including Beats Music and Spotify as well as DRM-free local music on iPhones and Macs, but Apple Music has been unsupported. Trying to stream or playback a song from the subscription music service serves up a DRM error message, requiring line-in connections to work which eliminates wireless and multi-room playback. Starting with a public beta in a couple weeks, Sonos users will be able to stream anything from the Apple Music collection to single or multiple connected speakers simultaneously.

Sonos support is also notable because of brings Apple Music closer to feature parity with Beats Music, which it is based on and replaces. Apple already delivered on its promise to bring Apple Music to Android,albeit in beta, as a fall release.

Both moves show Apple is dedicated to bring Apple Music to as many users as possible, although it has no plans to support Windows Phone like Beats Music did (for marketshare reasons). Apple Music is also available on the fourth-gen Apple TV with Siri support in the works on the new set-top box and subscribers can download tracks locally to Apple Watch for wireless playback without iPhones.

Sonos recently released Trueplay, a feature for fine-tuning Sonos wireless speakers for their surroundings to offer the best sound for the room. Trueplay works with both PLAY:5 speakers as well as all PLAY:1 and PLAY:3 speakers.

Sonos customers interested in trying Apple Music on December 15th ahead of its general launch in 2016 can sign up here to participate. The release is timely as Beats Music shuts down today. Because Sonos provides a Controller app to manage streaming media sources from the cloud to its sources, the update will not require an iOS update like 9.2 as it will work through the Sonos app and not Apple’s Music app.

Islamic State Targeting Africa: Top Africom Commander Tells VOA

The militant group has grown to about 2,000 strong in and around the city of Sirte, Libya, according to the U.S. Africa Command's Deputy for Military Operations, Vice Admiral Michael Franken. Back in February, there were a mere 200 Islamic State fighters in the city.

"If Raqqa [Syria] is the nucleus, the nearest thing to the divided nucleus is probably Sirte,“ said Franken, speaking in an interview at Africom headquarters in Stuttgart. “From there they look to export their terror into Europe and elsewhere.”

It is beginning to appear that any counter-Islamic State strategy needs "serious elements" not only in regard to Syria and Iraq, but also Libya and Yemen, according to Brookings defense policy expert Michael O'Hanlon.

"Access from Libya to Europe is disturbingly easy," O'Hanlon told VOA. "Sirte looks like a real stronghold — and one with little prospect of being taken away from ISIL anytime soon."

Libya has become an importer of terrorists and the most important nexus for the Islamic State group in Africa, according to Franken. Libyan government officials have reported hundreds of foreign fighters in Libya, with many pouring in from neighboring Tunisia and Yemen.

A Somali policeman runs through the wreckage outside the Sahafi Hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia, Nov. 1, 2015.

Somalia shift

The terror group has now expanded its reach to war-torn Somalia, where about two dozen al-Shabab militants switched their allegiance from al-Qaida to Islamic State in late October.

Franken called the presence of 20-some Islamic State fighters in Somalia “insignificant.” The allegiance switch has proved “unhealthy,” he explained, as al-Shabab has managed to keep the shift “to a minimum” by attacking members who pledge loyalty to Islamic State.

VOA reported last week that al-Shabab fighters killed veteran group official Sheikh Hussein Abdi Gedi and four others after Gedi reportedly tried to convince members to make the switch to Islamic State.

Last month, nine al-Shabab members, including the allegedly pro-IS commander Sheikh Bashir Abu Numan, died in a factional clash near the town of Saakow.

A policeman walks past dozens of people, who have been displaced from their communities after attacks by the Islamist group Boko Haram, at a camp for internally displaced people in Maiduguri, August 3, 2015.

Boko Haram

The latest developments in East Africa come months after West African terror group Boko Haram pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

“We know there have been some Boko Haram fighters that went north and joined [Islamic State]. Fortunately, not many of them came back,” said Franken.

While the allegiance so far has failed to lead to “substantive cooperation,” Franken told VOA, the U.S. does expect that Islamic State has shared some tactics and techniques with the group. One example of this is the increased use of suicide bombers, which has raised Boko Haram’s lethality.

The tie between Boko Haram and other terror groups is why defense expert O'Hanlon also would like to see elements added in Mali and Nigeria to any counter-Islamic State or counter-al-Qaida plan.

The Islamic State group has thrived in volatile nations scarred by corruption, a problem that will take time to fix.

The U.S. has managed to create time and space for governments with its military operations across the continent, according to the admiral, but has “lagged” in making sure the tenets of good governance and society follow the operations.

Franken said more State Department workers and development officials are needed — more so than U.S. troops conducting counterterrorism and training operations — to right the African continent’s course.

Chuck Hagel: Climate Change Is a National Security Problem

It is remarkable that French security forces are taking on the international climate change conference in Paris in the shadow of the recent attacks. Then, the city reminded the world of the threat of terrorism. Now, it offers a promise for world leaders to address another national security challenge: climate change.

The agreement in Paris is expected to feature all countries voluntarily committing to reduce their emissions, and ensuring that their commitments are transparent and verifiable.

Almost two decades ago, in the lead up to 1997’s U.N. climate negotiations in Kyoto, the late Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia and I drafted a U.S. Senate resolution laying out conditions for the Senate to support an international agreement on greenhouse gas emissions: (1) that all nations must commit to limit greenhouse gas emissions, and (2) that any agreement should not cause “serious harm” to the American economy.

The resolution passed the Senate in July 1997 by a vote of 95-0.

I led the Global Climate Change Observer Group to Kyoto, a bipartisan group that included Senators John Kerry, John Chafee, Joseph Lieberman and others. There, the Clinton administration ignored the Byrd-Hagel Resolution and signed the Kyoto Protocol in December 1997. President Bill Clinton never submitted the Kyoto Protocol to the Senate for ratification.

The Kyoto Protocol did not meet the conditions of Byrd-Hagel. Today, I believe that a Paris agreement could meet these conditions, laying out a path that is more realistic, effective and economically sound, and that would help catalyze a new global energy economy.

This is why, along with a bipartisan group of other former Secretaries of Defense and State and national security leaders, I recently signed a statement urging global cooperation on climate change. The statement said we must work to address these threats as a national security imperative. The military has defined climate change as a global threat multiplier that could exacerbate instigators of conflict such as resource disputes, ethnic tensions and economic discontent. Preparing for climate change is about risk—even if we do not understand every aspect of the scientific predictions, we know that the consequences of not acting may be significant.

In 2007, I authored bipartisan legislation, along with Senators Richard Durbin, Richard Lugar, Joseph Biden, Dianne Feinstein and Kerry, that directed the intelligence community to perform a National Intelligence Estimate of the threats of climate change. When the chairman of the National Intelligence Council testified about their assessment in 2008, he stated that climate change “will have wide-ranging implications for U.S. national security interests.” Senator John Warner authored similar legislation at the time, which I supported, directing the Department of Defense to identify and act on the threats of climate change.

While I was Secretary of Defense, we prioritized preparing for climate change as a national security issue. The 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review warned that climate change was a “threat multiplier,” identifying the specific risks to security we face from a changing climate. With Arctic sea ice melting faster as a result of climate change, we developed the Department of Defense’s first-ever Arctic strategy to ensure a secure and stable region where U.S. national interests are safeguarded, the U.S. homeland is protected, and nations are working cooperatively to address challenges. I announced this new strategy at the Halifax International Security Forum in November 2013.

U.S. leadership on climate change resulted in last year’s climate agreement with China. China has made impressive commitments on climate change, committing to peak their emissions and planning to install as much clean energy as the entire U.S. electricity system. China is already a world leader in renewable energy. India and Brazil have also shown commitment to climate issues, committing to significant clean energy goals. They know action is clearly in their self-interest.

Ahead of Paris, the United States has submitted a common-sense plan that is achievable under current law. We know that American innovation and technology can grow our GDP while reducing emissions.

As my Senate resolution co-author, Sen. Byrd, wrote in an op-ed shortly before his death: “The future of American industrial power and our economic ability to compete globally depends on our ability to advance energy technology.”

Congress should play an active role in the negotiations—not by blocking the deal, but by sending a new Global Climate Change Observer Group to report on the proceedings in Paris and closely evaluate other countries’ climate plans. Strong oversight is necessary to ensure that other countries are meeting their commitments. In addition, Congress should work with the President to develop policies that will position America to lead on clean energy.

The Kyoto Protocol did not meet the Senate-passed requirements of the Byrd-Hagel resolution. The U.S. has an opportunity to help make the Paris Climate Change Agreement meet the conditions that will deserve the support of Congress and strengthen our country by bringing together a more unified global climate effort.

Chuck Hagel is a former Secretary of Defense.

US sanctions on Sudan under the spotlight

After an official week-long visit to Sudan to study the effect of sanctions placed on the country, United Nations Special Rapporteur Idriss Jazairy has concluded that the measures are harming ordinary people. 

The visit, which took place at the request of the Sudanese government, came weeks after the United States renewed its sanctions on Sudan for another year, from November 3. 

"The reality on the ground has proved that these measures do not have a negative impact on officials or on any elite group," Jazairy said in a statement after his visit. "Their full impact is on innocent citizens and on a deepening of the gap in income distribution within the Sudanese society and between provinces... This encourages the emergence of a parallel economy which was exposed to a variety of possible illegal practices."

In 1993, the US designated Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism - a distinction currently shared by just two other countries, Iran and Syria. As a result, the US imposed economic sanctions on Sudan, including certain restrictions on financial transactions.

Then, in 1997, former US President Bill Clinton issued an executive order that imposed a comprehensive trade embargo on Sudan and froze its government's assets in the US. In 2006, Clinton's successor, George W Bush, issued another executive order targeting those involved in the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

Alden Young, an assistant professor of history and Africana Studies at Drexel University in the US, said that the sanctions imposed during the Clinton administration, and Bush's declaration that the world was divided between allies of the US and its enemies, has made the Sudan "supportive of US foreign policy in Africa - from counterterrorism to support of US allies in the region, such as Saudi Arabia".

He added that the Sudanese government's "desire to reduce the government and society's isolation may even have encouraged the NCP [Sudan's ruling party] and its supporters to allow the partition of Sudan into Sudan and South Sudan. However, it is doubtful if sanctions alone have been able to force the government in Khartoum to do things that the regime did not want to do."

The sanctions absolutely serve the purpose of pressuring the government into changing some of its policies. Mastoor Ahmed Mohammed, Sudanese Congress Party

The US has exempted some Sudanese groups from the sanctions, especially those that work in agriculture, health education, publishing, and personal hardware and software products.

Sudanese children hold a banner reading 'Lift the injustice' during a protest against US sanctions in Khartoum last month [EPA]

Al Jazeera was not able to reach the public affairs and political and economic section of the US embassy in Khartoum for comment, despite repeated attempts.

Recently, a charity organisation named Sadagaat was granted a special license from the US treasury department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to receive money transfers directly from the US. The move surprised some in Sudan because Sadagaat is a charity with Islamic roots, and operates internationally as well as in Sudan.

"The OFAC license allows for the transfer of $50,000 for specific approved projects," said Mohammed Abd Alrahman, a spokesperson for the organisation, which has been active since 2002. Sadagaat provides food and medical aid to vulnerable members of society, and runs a home taking care of abandoned infants born out of wedlock.

Despite occasional exemptions, though, "the large portion of the sanctions remains in place, and it affects citizens as well", said Khalid Saad, editor-in-chief of Ilaf, a weekly newspaper that focuses on economic issues. "The Sudanese economy is hugely dependent on the service sector that is affected by the sanctions."

Saad said the sanctions have also forced many Sudanese to open bank accounts in nearby countries in order to make money transfers. For example, he noted that Western Union forbids the transfer of money by Sudanese nationals to non-Sudanese nationals, unless the latter is a spouse or a supervising academic professor.

Yassir Mahdi is one of those affected by the restrictions. "My late father worked for the IATA [International Air Transport Association], and in order to receive his pension, which is transferred from Montreal, we had to set up a bank account in Dubai," Mahdi said.

Rabie Abd Alaatie, a member of the NCP's leadership office, said the sanctions have also affected Sudan's imports. "The foreign currency reserve is very scarce due to the sanctions. This affects the importation of goods, sometimes vital commodities such as wheat," he explained.

"The comprehensive trade embargo is the set of measures which are affecting the lives of the Sudanese citizens. They have so far not been able to serve the purpose of modifying the policies of the government of Sudan, but have for sure affected many regular people's ability to conduct business, transfer money, and go about regular everyday life activities," Abd Alaatie said.

He also blames sanctions for the national airline's decline. "Spare parts for aircraft cannot be bought," said Abd Alaatie, adding that they also force Sudanese passengers to pay higher airfares.

However, some opposition groups have a different take on the sanctions' effects. Mastoor Ahmed Mohammed of the Sudanese Congress Party said that although sanctions have made monetary transactions more difficult, "the sanctions absolutely serve the purpose of pressuring the government into changing some of its policies, and if lifted, the government and companies owned by the government … will benefit more than any regular citizen".

Although Young agrees that the sanctions have succeeded in altering Sudan's regional and international policies, he said they have also "imposed very heavy costs on the ordinary citizens of Sudan, particularly the middle classes in Khartoum, by denying them the ability to make international banking transactions and significantly raising the transaction costs of performing ordinary economic transactions as part of the international economy".