Turkey targets Kurdish forces south of Syria's Jarablus

Turkish jets and artillery have targeted Kurdish forces south of the strategic town of Jarablus, according to a monitor and local sources, as Turkey continues a major military offensive inside northern Syria. Turkey first sent tanks across the border on Wednesday as part of a two-pronged operation against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters, as well as Kurdish-led forces. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday's air strikes and shelling hit the village of Amarneh, which was captured recently by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Turkish-backed rebels secure Jarablus in northeastern Syria The strikes came as Turkish-backed Syrian rebels clashed with Kurdish fighters on the ground. The Jarablus Military Council, which is allied with the SDF, said the air strikes in Amarneh marked an "unprecedented and dangerous escalation" after Turkish artillery shelling targeted Kurdish YPG forces, the backbone of the SDF alliance, on Friday. The council said there were injuries, without giving any further details, but warned that the escalation threatened to "endanger the future of the region" and vowed to stand its ground. Wladimir van Wilgenburg, an analyst based in the nearby Kurdish-controlled city of Qamishli, told Al Jazeera that the clashes had increased throughout Saturday. "There have been reports that SDF fighters have blown up a Turkish tank. The fighting is ongoing," he said. Later on Saturday, one Turkish soldier and three others were wounded in a rocket attack on a Turkish tank south of Jarablus late on Saturday, according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency, in the military's first fatality since the launch of its offensive to partly help Syria rebels capture Jarablus from ISIL, also known as ISIS. Turkish military sources said the rocket was fired from territory held by the Kurdish YPG. Earlier on Saturday, the Northern Sun Battalion, an SDF faction, had said in a statement that it was heading to "Jarablus fronts" to help the council against "threats made by factions belonging to Turkey". Ankara has long accused the YPG, or the Kurdish People's Protection Units, of being linked to Kurdish fighters in its own southeast. It has ordered the group, a well-trained force that has been the US-led coalition's most effective ground partner in the war against ISIL, to withdraw to the east bank of the Euphrates River, which crosses the Syria-Turkey border at Jarablus. ISIL has controlled territory along the Syria-Turkey border since 2013. And in 2014, US-backed Kurdish forces began a push to retake the border area. After the Kurdish-led SDF seized the nearby city of Manbij from ISIL earlier this month, it left ISIL with Jarablus as its only border stronghold. The Turkish offensive pre-empted an attempt by the Kurdish-led forces to take control of Jarablus first. John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, said on Wednesday during a visit to Turkey that the YPG should withdraw east of the Euphrates, and that a refusal to do so would mean an end to Washington's support for the group. Emin Bozoglan, head of the Syrian Turkmen Assembly, told Turkish media on Saturday that the operation in Jarablus is aimed at taking ISIL-controlled al-Bab, near the divided city of Aleppo. The Kurds have also set their sights on al-Bab. Their forces aim to connect the main part of Kurdish-controlled territory to the east of the Euphrates with the Kurdish-controlled town of Efrin to the West. Manbij and al-Bab lie directly in between the two Kurdish de-facto autonomous zones. "Syrian Kurdish civilians here are worried that it won't be possible to connect the two sides and make one region," said van Wilgenburg. "Now, as both sides push toward al-Bab, things could deteriorate." Kerry said late on Friday in Geneva that the US had supported Kurdish fighters on a "limited basis" and remained in close coordination with Turkey. "We are for a united Syria. We do not support an independent Kurd initiative." And while battles between Turkish-backed rebels and Kurdish forces increase to the west of the Euphrates, Kurdish sources said Turkey had also crossed into Syria near Kobane, a symbolic town to the east of the Euphrates, to begin constructing a wall. "Basically the aim is to shut down all cross-border activity. To stop the cross-border smuggling and to strangle the Kurdish administration," said van Wilgenburg.

Last BHS stores to close for final time after 88 years

The last BHS stores are set to close their doors for the final time, ending an 88-year presence on the High Street.

The closure of the final 22 shops dotted around the UK comes after the retailer was placed into administration in March but failed to find a buyer.

Previous owners Dominic Chappell and Sir Philip Green have been criticised for mismanaging the chain and failing to protect the company pension scheme.

Administrators have already made 141 store closures over recent weeks.

These included its flagship store on Oxford Street in London's West End.

British Homes Stores, a name that was a fixture on most UK High Streets, will then disappear nearly a century after first opening in Brixton, south London.

Years of under-investment and failing to react effectively to intense competition led to the slow demise of BHS over the past two decades.

Its most recent owners have also been blamed following an investigation by a joint committee of MPs last month.

They described billionaire retailer Sir Philip Green, who owned BHS from 2000 to 2015, as the "unacceptable face of capitalism".

Sir Philip, who has promised to sort out a £600m pensions blackhole at BHS, could also be stripped of his knighthood.

If talks between Sir Philip and the pensions regulator fail, then the 11,000 BHS staff who have lost their jobs will get a smaller pension than expected.

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Europe migrant crisis: Germany expects 'up to 300,000' this year

Germany expects up to 300,000 migrants to arrive in the country, according to the head of Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.

Frank-Juergen Weise told the Bild am Sonntag paper (in German) his office would struggle if more people came.

But he said he was confident the number of new arrivals would remain within the estimate.

More than one million migrants from the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa arrived in Germany last year.

The German interior ministry says more than 390,000 people applied for asylum in the first six months of this year.

It is not clear how many of these may have arrived in the country in 2015.

Mr Weise said Germany would try to get as many of them on the job market as possible.

But he said the migrants' integration in German society "would take a long time and cost a lot".

A poll this month showed just over half of Germans thought Chancellor Angela Merkel's migrant policy was bad.

Support for anti-immigrant groups has risen.

On Saturday, members of a far-right movement scaled Berlin's Brandenburg Gate and unfurled a banner to protest against what they called the "Islamisation" of Germany.

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Hinkley Point: EDF boss Vincent de Rivaz urges go-ahead

The boss of the energy company hoping to build a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset has made a plea for the government to approve it.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, EDF chief executive Vincent de Rivaz accuses critics of "overlooking the positive impact" of the scheme.

EDF's board voted to approve the £18bn nuclear power plant in late July.

But the UK government postponed a final decision shortly after Theresa May became prime minister.

It has since said that arguments for and against the plant are still being examined.

A final decision is now expected within weeks.

Mr de Rivaz writes: "Hinkley Point will have a lasting impact on our industrial capacity and will create thousands of jobs and hundreds of apprenticeships.

"Billions of pounds will be invested into the economy of south-west of England. Across Britain, dozens of companies and our own workforce are ready to deliver this project. Their motivation remains high and they are looking forward to getting on with the job.

"Detractors have filled many column inches and broadcast hours. We have chosen to let policymakers focus on the facts.

"However, some critics risk losing sight of the bigger picture by overlooking the positive impact and importance of this investment for Britain - and ignoring the basic and unchanged facts which underpin the project."

BBC political correspondent Chris Mason says that with Mrs May now back from holiday and set to meet her cabinet this week, Mr de Rivaz is seeking to publicly persuade and reassure.

EDF is investing in Hickley Point C jointly with Chinese state-owned nuclear company CGN.

"We know and trust our Chinese partners," writes Mr de Rivaz.

He adds that the plant cannot be hacked into online: "The control systems at Hinkley Point C will be isolated from IT systems and the internet."

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Italy earthquake: Museums to donate Sunday revenue to quake relief

Sunday's proceeds from public museums across Italy will be dedicated to rebuilding work after the earthquake that killed 291 people on Wednesday.

Many churches and other medieval buildings were destroyed when the 6.2 magnitude quake struck Amatrice and other parts of the central region.

Amatrice's mayor said he wanted to restore his town to its former glory.

The country's prime minister and president both attended a funeral for 35 victims on Saturday.

Lingering after the service at a sports hall in the town of Ascoli Piceno, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi talked to some of the mourners.

"We will decide all together how to get going again," he told one young person. "But don't give up, that is crucial."

Bishop Giovanni D'Ercole told the congregation that people had to be brave enough to rebuild their lives, and their towns.

Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said 293 culturally important sites in the area affected, many of them churches, had either collapsed or been seriously damaged.

He urged Italians to go out in force on Sunday to visit museums and archaeological sites "in a concrete sign of solidarity" with quake victims, who would be supported by the money raised.

The appeal to rebuild was echoed by Sergio Pirozzi, the mayor of Amatrice, the worst-affected town which lost 235 inhabitants in the earthquake.

"We want to restore Amatrice to what it was when they were here," he told the BBC's Newshour programme.

"Getting down to work - for them - is the right thing to do. It would be a wonderful way to make them happy. Their sacrifice means that we owe it to them."

Italy's government has been criticised for failing to prevent deaths after the 2009 earthquake in nearby L'Aquila left 300 dead.

Historic towns do not have to conform to anti-quake building regulations, which are also often not applied when new buildings are put up.

Amatrice's mayor said he would not stop until building regulations had been tightened.

He called for an "Italy that isn't just good during the World Cup or the Olympics or during emergencies but also one that can ensure the highest possible standards of security for its citizens".
Map showing the towns affected by an earthquake in central Italy

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