santosamaru

OMAH KUCING

2025-12-30T12:49:00.002+07:00

STRATEGIC GROWTH BLUEPRINT: OMAH KUCING 2026-2030

OMAH KUCING

Market Domination Strategy 2026-2030

Strategic Blueprint: 5-Year Growth Plan

32.7 Juta

Total Kucing di Indonesia (2026)

15.000+

RKK & Pet House Indonesia

Rp 2.1 Triliun

Total Market Pet Bedding (2026)

45% CAGR

Target Growth Rate OMAH KUCING

Market Analysis Growth Timeline Financial Projection Distribution Network Execution Plan Competitive Edge

Indonesia Pet Market Analysis 2026

Analisis komprehensif pasar pet care Indonesia dengan fokus pada segment kucing dan peluang distribusi melalui RKK

Demografi Kucing Indonesia

Berdasarkan data Asosiasi Produsen Pakan Hewan Indonesia (APPERTINDO) dan BPS 2025:

32.7 Juta

Total Populasi Kucing

18.2 Juta

Kucing Rumahan

14.5 Juta

Kucing Liar/Community

8.3 Juta

Household dengan Kucing

RKK & Pet House Network

Potensi distribusi melalui Retail Kitab Keluarga dan Pet House terdaftar:

15.000+

Total RKK Terdaftar

8.200

Aktif & Modern RKK

3.500

Pet Shop Premium

800+

Klinik Hewan Partner

Market Size & Growth

Proyeksi pasar pet care Indonesia 2026-2030:

Rp 15.2T

Total Pet Care Market

Rp 2.1T

Pet Bedding Segment

Rp 630B

Natural Bedding Market

22%

Annual Growth Rate

RKK Distribution Potential Analysis

Geographic Distribution

4.800

Jawa

3.200

Sumatera

2.100

Sulawesi

1.900

Kalimantan

Sales Potential

Asumsi per RKK aktif:

Avg. monthly sales: 50kg × Rp 25.000 = Rp 1.25 juta
Potential through 8,200 RKK: Rp 10.25 miliar/bulan
Annual potential: Rp 123 miliar
Market coverage: 65% urban areas

Partnership Strategy

Phased approach to RKK network:

Year 1: Pilot 500 RKK in Java
Year 2: Expand to 2,000 RKK nationwide
Year 3: 5,000 RKK network
Year 5: 8,000+ RKK coverage

5-Year Strategic Growth Timeline

Phase-by-phase market penetration strategy with measurable KPIs and milestones

Phase 1: Market Consolidation & RKK Expansion

2026

Rp 25B

Revenue Target

2,500

RKK Partners

15%

Market Share

125K

Customers

Key Initiatives:

RKK Network Expansion to 2,500 outlets nationwide
Launch Premium Veterinary Line for clinics
E-commerce platform optimization for 50% sales growth
Supply chain optimization for 30% cost reduction
Brand awareness campaign targeting 50 million impressions

Phase 2: Product Innovation & Regional Dominance

2027

Rp 40B

Revenue Target

4,500

RKK Partners

22%

Market Share

220K

Customers

Key Initiatives:

Launch 3 new product lines (Clumping, Scented, Premium)
Modern retail expansion (Hypermart, Superindo, AEON)
Export market entry: Singapore & Malaysia
Subscription model achieving 30% recurring revenue
R&D center establishment for product innovation

Phase 3: Market Leadership & Digital Transformation

2028

Rp 65B

Revenue Target

6,500

RKK Partners

30%

Market Share

350K

Customers

Key Initiatives:

Digital ecosystem launch (App + IoT smart litter monitoring)
B2B expansion to 1,000+ pet hotels & breeders
Manufacturing capacity increase to 500 tons/month
Sustainability certification & carbon neutral initiative
Strategic partnerships with major e-commerce platforms

Phase 4: ASEAN Expansion & Portfolio Diversification

2029

Rp 90B

Revenue Target

8,000

RKK Partners

35%

Market Share

500K

Customers

Key Initiatives:

Full ASEAN market coverage (Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines)
Pet care ecosystem expansion (food, accessories, insurance)
Acquisition of complementary pet care brands
Advanced analytics & AI-driven customer insights
Corporate venture capital arm establishment

Phase 5: Global Brand & Strategic Exit Options

2030

Rp 125B

Revenue Target

10,000

RKK Partners

40%

Market Share

750K

Customers

Key Initiatives:

Middle East & Australia market entry
IPO preparation or strategic acquisition exploration
Global supply chain optimization
Advanced R&D for next-gen pet care solutions
ESG leadership position in pet care industry

Financial Projection 2026-2030

Detailed revenue modeling, cost structure analysis, and investment requirements

Revenue Projection

Year	Revenue (Rp)	Growth	Customers
2026	25 Miliar	—	125,000
2027	40 Miliar	60%	220,000
2028	65 Miliar	62.5%	350,000
2029	90 Miliar	38.5%	500,000
2030	125 Miliar	38.9%	750,000

CAGR 2026-2030: 49.5%

Cost Structure & Margins

Cost of Goods Sold 45%

Marketing & Sales 25%

Operations & Logistics 15%

R&D & Innovation 8%

Administrative 7%

Gross Margin 55%

Net Profit Margin 18%

Investment & Valuation

Total Investment Required 2026-2030

Rp 85 Miliar

Projected Valuation 2030 (5x Revenue)

Rp 625 Miliar

Potential ROI for Seed Investors

7.3x

Omnichannel Distribution Strategy

Integrated network leveraging RKK, modern retail, e-commerce, and direct channels

Distribution Channel Mix Projection

RKK Network

Primary Distribution

45%

of total sales by 2030

8,000+ outlet coverage
Monthly restocking system
Training & incentive programs

E-commerce

Digital Direct

30%

of total sales by 2030

Own platform + marketplaces
Subscription model focus
Social commerce integration

Modern Retail

Mass Market

15%

of total sales by 2030

National chain partnerships
Regional supermarket networks
Premium pet store placement

B2B & Veterinary

Professional Channel

10%

of total sales by 2030

Pet hotels & breeders
Veterinary clinics network
Corporate partnerships

2026 Execution Roadmap

Quarterly action plan with specific initiatives, responsible parties, and success metrics

Q1 2026: Market Penetration

1

RKK Network Expansion
Onboard 500 new RKK outlets
2

Supply Chain Optimization
Reduce logistics cost by 15%
3

Digital Marketing Launch
10M impressions campaign
4

Quality Certification
Obtain Indonesian Standard (SNI)

Q2 2026: Product Innovation

5

New Product Launch
Clumping variant introduction
6

Manufacturing Scale-up
Increase capacity to 200 tons/month
7

Veterinary Partnerships
200+ clinic network establishment
8

Customer Loyalty Program
Launch subscription model

Q3 2026: Channel Diversification

9

Modern Retail Entry
Secure 3 major chain partnerships
10

E-commerce Optimization
Launch own D2C platform
11

Regional Expansion
Enter 5 new provinces
12

Brand Awareness Campaign
National TV & digital media

Q4 2026: Growth Acceleration

13

RKK Network Target
Achieve 2,500 total outlets
14

Revenue Milestone
Rp 25 billion annual revenue
15

Export Market Testing
Pilot Singapore market entry
16

Series A Funding
Secure growth capital

Competitive Advantage Analysis

Strategic differentiation vs international competitors and local alternatives

Price Leadership Advantage

Comparative pricing analysis (per kg):

THE WORLD'S BEST Rp 450.000

CAT'S BEST Rp 420.000

FELINE PINE Rp 225.000

OMAH KUCING Rp 25.000

Price advantage: 94% cheaper than premium imports

Distribution Network Advantage

OMAH KUCING vs Competitor Distribution:

International Competitors:

Limited to premium pet stores
High import/distribution costs
Slow restocking cycles
Minimal local support

OMAH KUCING Advantage:

15,000+ RKK network access
Local manufacturing advantage
Real-time inventory management
Direct customer relationships

Sustainability & Localization

Unique value propositions:

Carbon Footprint

80% lower vs imports

Local Economy

Supporting 500+ local suppliers

Tropical Formula

Optimized for Indonesia climate

Biodegradable

100% natural decomposition

"Menjadi pemimpin pasar produk natural pet care di Indonesia dengan membangun ekosistem berkelanjutan yang menghubungkan 15.000+ RKK, mendukung perekonomian lokal, dan memberikan solusi premium terjangkau untuk 32.7 juta kucing Indonesia."

125B

Target Revenue 2030 (Rp)

40%

Market Share Target

10K

RKK Network Size

750K

Customer Base

OMAH KUCING Strategic Growth Blueprint 2026-2030
Version 2.0 | December 2025 | Confidential & Proprietary
Prepared by: Strategic Planning Division | For: Board of Directors & Investors

The Power of Color Psychology in Branding: What Does Your Brand Say Without Words?

2025-04-20T10:18:00.001+07:00

When it comes to branding, first impressions are everything. Before a customer reads your tagline or explores your offerings, your brand's visual identity—especially color—does most of the talking. This is where color psychology becomes a powerful tool.

Ask Yourself:

What feeling do I want my brand to create?

What colors align with that emotion?

Are my current choices helping or hurting that intention?

An effective brand identity silently communicates your message and values, long before you speak a single word. Let’s dive into the emotions different colors evoke, based on proven psychology.

Color Psychology for Brands

1. Red

Emotions: Love, Thrill, Awareness

Best for: Creating urgency, excitement, or passion. Think Coca-Cola or Netflix.

2. Green

Emotions: Peace, Growth, Harmony

Best for: Eco-friendly, health-conscious, or nature-based brands like Whole Foods or Spotify.

3. Blue

Emotions: Harmony, Trust, Consistency

Best for: Tech, finance, and healthcare brands that need to build trust—like Facebook or PayPal.

4. Black

Emotions: Sophistication, Classic, Security

Best for: Luxury or timeless brands like Chanel or Apple.

5. Orange

Emotions: Fun, Innovation

Best for: Energetic, playful brands such as Fanta or Nickelodeon.

6. Pink

Emotions: Sweet, Romance

Best for: Feminine or lifestyle-focused brands like Barbie or Victoria’s Secret.

7. Yellow

Emotions: Focus, Optimism, Happiness

Best for: Brands that want to exude cheerfulness and positivity, like McDonald's or Snapchat.

8. Purple

Emotions: Creativity, Drive, Luxury

Best for: Premium or imaginative brands like Hallmark or Cadbury.

Final Thoughts

Every color tells a story. Whether it’s the warmth of orange or the calm of blue, your brand's color palette is silently working to create emotional connections. Choose wisely—and with intention.

What’s your biggest branding challenge?

kayu gaharu

2024-06-22T17:01:00.000+07:00

bruno mars come to indonesia

2024-04-23T20:10:00.000+07:00

Peter Gene Hernandez, known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical styles, including pop, R&B, funk, soul, reggae, disco, and rock.

will come to indonesia

jobs in the age of AI, sustainability and deglobalisation

2023-05-02T17:52:00.001+07:00

There is no doubt that the future of work will be disruptive. But it need not be dystopian. Here’s how to empower people in a world of economic uncertainty and advancing artificial intelligence (AI).

AI leads the race in the fastest-growing jobs over the next five years, according to World Economic Forum research. Here are some careers to consider.

Roles in artificial intelligence (AI) are set to be the fastest-growing job type in the next five years, according to new research.

The explosion of interest in AI in recent months, thanks to the release of tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney, has raised concerns about how the world of work is going to be affected by this new technological revolution.

Economists and work experts are trying to predict which jobs are most at risk, and what sort of new jobs are going to be created. The World Economic Forum chimed in with its Future of Work report on Monday, detailing which jobs are going to be the fastest growing over the next five years, and which are going to be in the fastest decline.

Unsurprisingly, AI and machine learning specialists were at the top of the fastest-growing job types. That was followed by sustainability specialists, business intelligence analysts, and information security analysts.

On the other end of the scale, clerks who work in banks and other similar settings are set to see their jobs dry up the fastest, according to the report.

Postal service workers, cashiers, and data entry clerks are also jobs that are going to be in rapid decline.

Here are the 10 fastest-growing, and fastest-declining jobs, according to WEF’s research.

Fastest-growing jobs

+ AI and machine learning specialists

+ Sustainability specialists

+ Business intelligence analysts

+ Information security analysts

+ Fintech engineers

+ Data Analysts and engineers

+ Robotics engineers

+ Electrotechnology engineers

+ Agricultural equipment operators

+ Digital transformation specialists

Fastest-declining jobs

+ Bank clerks and related

+ Postal service clerks

+ Cashiers and ticket clerks

+ Data entry clerks

+ Administrative and executive secretaries

+ Material-recording and stock-keeping clerks

+ Accounting, bookkeeping and payroll clerks

+ Legislators and officials

+ Statistical, financial and insurance clerks

+ Door-to-door sales workers and related

14 million jobs on the line

The WEF’s Future of Jobs report is based on survey data covering the expectations for the next five years of some of the world’s largest employers. There were 803 companies collectively employing more than 11.3 million workers involved in the survey, spanning 27 industries and 45 economies from all world regions.

It details how employers are anticipating 69 million new jobs to be created, and 83 million to be scrapped, which comes to a 2 per cent decrease in current employment, or 14 million jobs. The report credits this decrease to economic challenges including high inflation, slower economic growth, and supply shortages.

In terms of highest absolute job losses, data entry clerks fare the worst, with an expected 8 million job losses within five years, followed by administrative and executive secretaries, and accounting, bookkeeping and patrol clerks. These three occupations combined account for more than half of total expected job destruction, the Future of Jobs 2023 report notes.

Advancing technology adoption and increasing digitisation will meanwhile cause the biggest labour market churn, and will be a net positive for job creation. More than three-quarters of the companies surveyed are planning to adopt big data, cloud computing, and AI technologies in the next five years.

But the technological revolution is also the culprit for many of the expected job losses. Online banking is highlighted as a service that has increasingly led to the closure of bank branches, and bank tellers can expect to see a 40 per cent decline in the next five years.

Automation, sensor technology, and online services are also reducing the need for postal service clerks, cashiers, ticket office clerks, and data entry workers, occupations which are all expected to decline by more than a third.

“In 2023, labour-market transformations driven by technological breakthroughs, such as the coming of age of generative artificial intelligence (AI), are being compounded by economic and geopolitical disruptions and growing social and environmental pressures,” said Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum in her preface to the report.

“After widespread instability in the last three years across the world of work, we hope the outlook provided in this report will contribute to an ambitious multi stakeholder agenda to better prepare workers, businesses, governments, educators and civil society for the disruptions and opportunities to come, and empower them to navigate these social, environmental and technological transitions”.

Sustainability jobs on the rise

Global efforts to decarbonise industries, as the world tries to fight climate change, will see a marked increase in sustainability jobs in the near future, the report states.

Some 30 million jobs could be created in clean energy, efficiency and low-emissions technology by the end of the decade.

But questions are raised about how all these new workers are going to get the skills they need. Employers surveyed estimated that around 44 per cent of workers’ skills will be disrupted in the next five years, with cognitive skills like complex problem-solving seen as the most important.

Six out of 10 workers are going to need training before 2027 for this upskilling, but only half of workers are seen to have access to appropriate training opportunities right now.

One of the key skills many of the companies want to teach their employees is how to work with AI, which is expected to be adopted by nearly 75 per cent of the companies. Half of them expect AI to create job growth, while 25 per cent expect it to create job losses.

Francisco Oropesa manhunt as $80k reward revealed over five killings neighbors

2023-05-01T12:16:00.004+07:00

The victims have been identified as Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25, her eight-year-old son Daniel Enrique Laso, Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, and Josué Jonatán Cáceres, 18, according to 12 News. Guzman, a mother of three, leaves behind a two-year-old daughter and a six-month-old baby.

Francisco Oropeza, 38, is accused of fatally shooting five neighbours in the city of Cleveland, the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office said The shooting suspect who allegedly killed five, including an eight-year-old boy, is still at large nearly 48 hours after the tragedy.

The gunman, identified as 38-year-old Francisco Oropesa, shot his neighbours with an AR-15 style rifle after they asked him to stop firing rounds in his yard because they were trying to sleep. The whereabouts of Mr Oropesa, who is originally from Mexico, is considered armed and dangerous.

Sheriff Greg Capers told reporters that investigators have “zero leads” and more than 200 law enforcement personnel from several agencies continue an extensive search in the rural area just outside of Cleveland.

The office of Texas Governor Greg Abbott is offering a $50K reward for information that leads to Mr Oropesa’s arrest, Mr Capers said. FBI Special Agent James Smith said his agency is also contributing $25K to that sum, while local law enforcement is offering an extra $5K, bringing the total amount of reward to $80K.

Her family has created a GoFundMe to raise funds so Guzman and her son’s remains can be repatriated to Honduras.

The San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI have said 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza “could be anywhere” more than 24 hours after he allegedly opened fire on his next-door neighbours when they complained about him firing rounds in his yard.

The victims were identified on Sunday as Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25, her eight-year-old son Daniel Enrique Laso, Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, and Josué Jonatán Cáceres, 18, according to 12 News. Several children were at the home when the violence unfolded.

On Sunday night, the FBI said in a statement that Mr Oropeza is considered armed and dangerous and the public is advised not to approach him.

SJCSO Greg Capers said Mr Oropeza “could be anywhere,” adding that investigators have found a cell phone and clothing believed to belong to Mr Oropeza. K-9 units from the Texas Department of Correction “picked up a scent and then … lost that scent in the water,” according to Fox News.

Authorities have continued searching in the vicinity of the crime scene. Mr Capers said that authorities had widened the search to as far as 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the scene of the shooting.

@truecrimewithbrookx2 Mamhunt still continues in texas #franciscooropesa #franciscooropeza #truecrimewithbrook #breakingnews #texaspeople #breakingnewstexas #texasmanhunt #texasmurdermystery #texascrime #clevelandtexas #truecrimestoppers #truecrimestories #texaskiller #texasmostwanted #texasnews ♬ original sound - truecrimewithbrook

1st Death From the Coronavirus Surfaces in Arizona Prisons

2020-04-28T08:13:00.001+07:00

PHOENIX (AP) — The first fatality from the coronavirus in Arizona’s prisons came two weeks ago when a 64-year-old prisoner with diabetes died at a hospital in Tucson. Joseph M. Assyd died as a result of COVID-19 after suffering a respiratory infection, Pima County Medical Examiner Gregory Hess said on Monday. Over the last week, Arizona corrections officials have declined to say whether any prisoners had died from the virus.

Assyd, who serving a life sentence for convictions in 1995 for first-degree murder and kidnapping in Maricopa County, was taken to Banner University Medical Center in Tucson on March 27 and died there on April 12, according to prison records.

Forty-seven inmates in Arizona’s prisons have tested positive for the virus. The most cases were reported at the state prison in Florence, which accounted for 32 cases, including five death row inmates who have tested positive.

Only one case was reported at the state prison in Tucson where Assyd was housed before he was brought to the hospital.

Many prisons, jails and detention centers across the United States are experiencing outbreaks of the virus, including nearly 4,000 prisoners who fell ill in Ohio. Those facilities are believed to be vulnerable spots for the spread of the coronavirus because inmates with compromised health live in close quarters.

The Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry said in a statement that it hasn't received verification from the medical examiner that Assyd died from COVID-19. “At this time, the department does not have an inmate death due to COVID19 confirmed by a county medical examiner," the agency said in a statement.

Lawyers for inmates maintain prisons are unprepared, saying inmates have been given inadequate cleaning supplies and that prison health care operations suffer from staffing shortages and limited infirmary space.

Previously, corrections officials said they were separating prisoners with flu-like symptoms from the general prison population, providing soap for cleaning housing areas and hygiene, and waiving a $4 medical copayment that prisoners must pay for receiving treatment for cold and flu symptoms.

Of the state’s nearly 42,000 prisoners, the state has said 6,600 are considered medically vulnerable because of their health and being at least 60.

Overall, Arizona has more than 6,700 confirmed cases of the virus, with 275 deaths.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and death. The vast majority of people recover.

Olivia Nuzzi asked Donald Trump whether he deserved re-election if more Americans die of coronavirus

2020-04-28T08:03:00.000+07:00

New York Magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi asked President Donald Trump whether he deserved re-election if more Americans die of coronavirus than in the Vietnam War.

Nuzzi asked the question during Monday afternoon’s Coronavirus Task Force briefing. (RELATED: CNN Guest Says Media Coverage Of Candidates ‘Aids And Abets Corruption’)

“If an American president loses more Americans over the course of six weeks than died in the entirety of the Vietnam War, does he deserve to be re-elected?” Nuzzi asked.

Trump didn’t answer the question directly, instead choosing to highlight the steps his administration had taken to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

“We’ve lost a lot of people. But if you look at what original projections were, 2.2 million, we’re probably heading to 60,000, 70,000,” he said. “It’s far too many. One person is too many for this. I think we’ve made a lot of really good decisions.”

Trump mentioned his initial ban on travel from China and touted Vice President Mike Pence’s efforts in leading the task force on a day to day basis. He then noted that no one was asking about ventilators anymore, now that a shortage of ventilators doesn’t appear to be the problem many expected it to be.

“No, I think we’ve done a great job,” Trump concluded, repeating, “One person — I will say this. One person is too many.”

Nuzzi defended the question after the fact, saying, “If more than 50,000 Americans died over the course of a few weeks at any time in our history, it would be fair to ask the president if he deserves to be reelected. It wasn’t a gotcha question, it wasn’t designed to provoke, and I appreciate the fact that Trump took it seriously.”

Thailand reports nine new coronavirus cases, one new death

2020-04-27T13:36:00.001+07:00

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand on Monday reported nine new coronavirus cases and one death, bringing the country’s totals to 2,931 cases and 52 fatalities.

It is the first time since the outbreak started in January that there have been no new local transmissions reported in Bangkok, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration.Of the new cases, three were linked to previous cases, two are arrivals from overseas that have been under state quarantined, and four others were reported from the southern province of Yala, where the authorities are aggressively testing the population due to high infection rates.

The latest death was of a 64-year-old Thai woman.

Since the outbreak escalated in January 2,609 patients have recovered and gone home.

Germany reports 1,018 new coronavirus cases, 110 more deaths

2020-04-27T11:58:00.001+07:00

BERLIN (Reuters) - The number of Germany’s confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 1,018 to 155,193, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Monday.

The death toll rose by 110 to 5,750, according to the tally.

PUTIN URGES US TO HOLD OFF ON STRIKING SYRIA

2013-08-31T20:05:00.001+07:00

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin urged President Barack Obama on Saturday not to rush into a decision on striking Syria, but to consider whether strikes would help end the violence and be worth the civilian casualties they would inevitably cause.

Speaking for the first time since the suspected chemical weapons attack on Aug. 21, Putin also questioned whether Syrian government troops should be held responsible. He said it would make no sense for them to carry out such a devastating attack while they were on the offensive.

"In such conditions, to give a trump card to those who are calling for foreign military intervention is foolish nonsense," Putin said.

The United States said Friday that the attack in a rebel-held suburb of Damascus, the Syrian capital, killed 1,429 people, including more than 400 children.

The Russian leader implied the chemical attack came from among the rebels, saying he was convinced it was a provocation carried out by those who wanted to draw in the United States.

If the Americans have evidence to the contrary they should present it to the United Nations inspectors and the U.N. Security Council, he said. "If there is evidence it should be presented," Putin said. "If it is not presented, that means it does not exist."

Putin's foreign policy adviser complained Friday that Russia had not seen the U.S. intelligence that Washington insists proves the role of the Syrian government.

On Saturday, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, met with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov to provide information backing up the U.S. position, the Foreign Ministry said.

In addressing Obama, Putin said he was speaking to him not as the U.S. president but as a holder of the Nobel Peace Prize.

"We have to remember what has happened in the last decades, how many times the United States has been the initiator of armed conflict in different regions of the world," Putin said. "Did this resolve even one problem?"

He urged Obama to reflect on the results of the U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq "before taking a decision to carry out air strikes that will bring casualties, including among the civilian population."

Russia's Vladimir Putin challenges US on Syria claims

2013-08-31T20:03:00.002+07:00

Russian President Vladimir Putin has challenged the US to present to the UN evidence that Syria attacked rebels with chemical weapons near Damascus.

Mr Putin said it would be "utter nonsense" for Syria's government to provoke opponents with such attacks.

US President Barack Obama says he is considering military action against Syria after intelligence reports that 1,429 people were killed on 21 August.

UN weapons inspectors have left Syria after gathering evidence for four days.

They crossed into neighbouring Lebanon. They are due to go to the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons in the Netherlands.

The US says hundreds of children were among those killed in the suspected chemical weapons attacks, which the US says was carried out by the Syrian government.

Syria said the US claim was "full of lies", blaming rebels for the attacks.

US President Barack Obama Obama said on Friday the US was planning a "limited, narrow" military response that would not involve "boots on the ground".

Syrian official to AFP: US to attack at any moment

2013-08-31T19:54:00.001+07:00

According to Israel Radio, Kuwaiti press quotes sources in the Gulf as saying that Washington will launch strikes against Syria from bases in Turkey and Cyprus.Syria anticipates a US military attack "at any moment," a security official is quoted as telling AFP on Saturday, just hours after UN investigators probing an alleged chemical weapons attack by pro-government forces left the country.

"We are expecting an attack at any moment. We are ready to retaliate at any moment," said the Syrian security official, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.With international debate raging over the proper response to President Bashar Assad's purported use of chemical weapons against innocent civilians near Damascus 10 days ago, a US-led assault on Syria is just hours away, Arab media sources said over the weekend.

According to Israel Radio, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas quoted diplomatic sources in the Gulf on Saturday as saying that Washington will launch strikes against Syria either Saturday or Sunday from a number of bases, including those in Turkey, Cyprus and Greece.

The diplomats quoted in the article said that the Americans are waiting for United Nations inspectors to wrap up their investigation of the alleged attack before giving the go-ahead to strike.

The team of inspectors arrived at Beirut International Airport on Saturday, a Reuters witness said.

The team had crossed the land border from Syria into Lebanon earlier in the day after completing its four-day investigation.In a sign that the government is growing more convinced that an American attack is imminent, Syrian propaganda authorities have instructed the various television stations in the country to begin broadcasting special "war programming" in a bid to raise morale among troops, Israel Radio reported.

According to the report, all of the country's television channels were told on Saturday morning to merge their broadcasts into one and flash images of a more patriotic nature.

Another Kuwaiti daily, Al-Rai, cites sources as indicating that Assad has instructed his armed forces to use all means necessary – including chemical arms – if and when his country comes under attack. The news item was posted on Israel Radio's website and first reported by its Arab language correspondent.

Meanwhile, Iran continues to bolster its ally, the Assad government, in its quest to squash a rebel-led campaign to unseat it. According to Israel Radio, the BBC reported that the chairman of the Iranian parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee, Aladdin Burucerdi, visited the Damascus to reassure the regime of Tehran's support.

Jimmy Carter calls for Syria peace summit

2013-08-31T17:13:00.002+07:00

Former President Jimmy Carter condemned possible chemical weapons attacks in Syria, but called for a “peace conference” and working with the United Nations, rather than using a military solution.

In a statement Friday from the Carter Center, the former president said that the U.N. investigation into possible chemical weapons attacks in Syria is under way and urged against action in the country without U.N. support.“It is imperative to determine the facts of the attack and present them to the public. Those responsible for the use of chemical weapons must bear personal responsibility,” Carter said in the statement. “The chemical attack should be a catalyst for redoubling efforts to convene a peace conference, to end hostilities, and urgently to find a political solution.”

The Carter Center urged against a military response to possible chemical weapons use without a U.N. mandate, saying the action would be “illegal under international law and unlikely to alter the course of the war.”

“Instead, all should seek to leverage the consensus among the entire international community, including Russia and Iran, condemning the use of chemical weapons in Syria and bringing under U.N. oversight the country’s stockpile of such weapons,” the center said in the statement.

Syrians Stock up Ahead of Feared US-Led Attack

2013-08-31T03:34:00.002+07:00

yrians stocked up on bread, canned food and candles Friday as the U.S. and France prepared for a potential military strike against the Syrian government, which the West alleges used chemical weapons against civilians in its civil war.

After Britain's Parliament voted against participating in military action against the regime of President Bashar Assad, the United States found itself with France as its only major partner in an armed intervention.

French President Francois Hollande pledged strong support for a U.S. operation, despite the British rejection and the Obama administration facing skepticism at home from lawmakers.

"The chemical massacre of Damascus cannot and must not remain unpunished," Hollande said in an interview published Friday by the newspaper Le Monde.

In Syria, U.N. inspectors began what was expected to be the last day of their probe into the alleged attack on Aug. 21 that the international aid group Doctors Without Borders says killed at least 355 people in a Damascus suburb. They are expected to leave Syria on Saturday and then brief U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on their findings.

President Barack Obama was convening senior national security advisers at the White House to discuss plans for possible military action against Syria. The meeting was expected to be followed by the public release of a report on intelligence the U.S. has gathered about the alleged chemical weapons attack.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, speaking from Manila, Philippines, issued an impassioned defense of the principles behind the planned strike.

"I don't know of any responsible government around the world ... that has not spoken out in violent opposition to the use of chemical weapons on innocent people," Hagel said, adding that such attacks violate basic standards of decency.

He said that Washington would continue to seek partners in its Syria mission: "Our approach is to continue to find an international coalition that will act together."

On Thursday, the U.S. administration shared intelligence with lawmakers in an effort to convince them that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its people.

Damascus shops and supermarkets were filled with people stocking up on food and other necessities ahead of the expected strikes, although there appeared to be no signs of panic or shortages. Residents complained, however, that prices have shot up because of the high demand.

Kheireddine Nahleh, a 53-year-old government employee, put on a brave face.

"We got used to the sound of shelling," he said. "Death is the same, be it with a mortar or with an American missile. I'm not afraid."

Some rebels were excitedly anticipating U.S.-led strikes, hoping it would help them advance toward Damascus and change the course of the civil war, which has killed more than 100,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands of refugees to stream into neighboring countries.

But military intervention was unappealing to many in Damascus, even among opponents of the regime.

"As a Syrian citizen, I just cannot support a Western attack on my country," said one resident who refused to give her name out of fears for her security. "I'm so scared that I haven't slept in three days."

The U.N. has said some of the inspectors will travel to laboratories in Europe to deliver the material they've collected this week during trips to the Damascus suburbs purportedly hit by toxic gas.

Russia, which as a staunch ally of the Assad regime is fiercely hostile to military intervention, expressed bewilderment at why the U.N. team was leaving so soon.

"We don't quite understand why the entire team had to be going back to The Hague when there are many questions about a possible use of chemical weapons in other areas in Syria," said Yuri Ushakov, President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy adviser.

U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said the timing reflected the urgency of getting any samples to laboratories, noting that the inspectors must do that themselves to "ensure the chain of custody." He said the inspectors intend to return to Syria to investigate other alleged attacks.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said his government would "reject any partial report published by the U.N. secretary-general before the mission finished its work and the results of analyses of samples taken by the mission are completed."

In a phone call with Ban, he also said Syria expects the U.N. to investigate the sites where Syrian troops were exposed to toxic gases.

Witnesses said they were seen visiting a military hospital Friday, possibly to take samples from Syrian soldiers that the government says inhaled poison gas earlier this week near Damascus.

Both the rebels and the Syrian government blame each other for using chemical weapons.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that military strikes would lead to long-term destabilization of Syria and the region. He has spoken against any use of force without U.N. Security Council approval, which he said would be a "crude violation of international law."

In Paris, Hollande suggested that intervention could even come ahead of Wednesday's session of the French Parliament, called to discuss the Syria situation; lawmakers' approval is not needed for Hollande to order military action.

"I will not take a decision before having all the elements that would justify it," he told Le Monde. However, noting that he had convened parliament, he added: "And if I have (already) committed France, the government will inform (lawmakers) of the means and objectives."

The British parliament voted Thursday night against military action in Syria. Italy and Germany have said they won't take part in any military action that doesn't have the backing of the U.N. Security Council, where Russia would almost certainly wield a veto.

"This is proof that most of the public realized the extent of this political game that is led by America for the interests of Israel," said Syrian lawmaker Fayez Sayegh.

Hollande said France is among the few nations capable of "inflicting a sanction by the appropriate means" and "it is ready." A decision will be made in close coordination with allies, he said.

France has historic ties to Syria, having once ruled the country; it also has warplanes and strategic interest in the region. Paris has embraced the Syrian opposition and urged a firm response against Assad over the purported Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack outside Damascus.The U.N. inspectors headed out in a three-vehicle convoy following an early morning delay.French military analysts say France's most likely role would be from the air, including use of Scalp cruise missiles that have a range of about 500 kilometers (300 miles), fired from Mirage and Rafale fighter jets. French fighters could likely fly directly from mainland France — much as they did at the start of a military campaign against Islamic radicals in Mali earlier this year — with support from refueling aircraft. France also has six Rafale jets at Al Dhafra air base, near Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates on the Persian Gulf, and seven Mirage-2000 jets at an air base in Djibouti, on the Red Sea.

Hollande reiterated that any action is aimed at punishing Assad, not toppling him.

"I won't talk of war, but of a sanction for a monstrous violation of the human person," he said. "It will have a dissuasive value."

Syria attack would be a rarity in a world that has mostly rejected chemical weapons

2013-08-31T01:46:00.003+07:00

The shelling of suburban Damascus with a suspected nerve agent last week was potentially the third large-scale use of a chemical weapon in the Middle East and may have broken the longest period in history without such an attack.

If confirmed, the attack, which U.S. officials say warrants a decisive military response from the West, would dash hopes that the world would never again see the large-scale use of chemical weapons, a prospect that had appeared increasingly realistic in recent years as all but a handful of nations signed a treaty agreeing to destroy their stockpiles.

If the weapons were deployed by the Syrian government, as Western officials allege, it would represent the first major chemical weapons attack by a nation against its own citizens since Saddam Hussein gassed Kurds in northern Iraq in 1988, an act so barbaric it galvanized the movement for a world free of chemical weapons.

The other two large-scale chemical weapons attacks in the region were carried out by Iraq against Iran during their war in the 1980s and by Egypt, which backed southern Yemen during the Yemen war in the 1960s.

Chemical weapons attacks have at times elicited strong and visceral reactions from the international community. Their possible occurrence in Syria is no exception, having drawn the United States and its allies closer than they have ever been to intervening militarily in a messy conflict in which the West has enemies on both sides of the front lines.

Although U.S. and other Western officials have alleged that Syria previously used chemical weapons on a smaller scale, the latest incident has prompted a more vigorous response.

“What we saw in Syria last week should shock the conscience of the world,” Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Monday at the State Department, vowing that the Syrian government would be held accountable for what he called a “moral obscenity.”

Kerry said he had been repulsed by footage of “bodies contorting in spasms” and a searing image of a father holding up his child’s corpse, calling them pictures of “human suffering we can never ignore or forget.”

While tens of thousands of Syrians have been killed in shelling, bombings, ambushes and shootings, no other act in the country’s conflict, which has been raging since 2011, has drawn such strong condemnation from the United States. Experts say the alleged use of nerve agents is particularly jarring because such attacks are indiscriminate, lead to blood-curdling footage of the aftermath and have long-lasting consequences for survivors.

“There is something kind of grotesque about these weapons,” said Jeffrey Lewis, an expert on weapons of mass destruction at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. “It’s a pretty awful way to die, and there are long-term effects for victims, who are left with ugly health-care problems.”

World War I was the first conflict that featured widespread use of chemical weapons. At least 90,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands more were wounded with those munitions during the war, according to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which monitors global disarmament efforts.

During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union raced to build enormous chemical weapons stockpiles. In 1969, President Richard Nixon, alarmed by the cost of America’s chemical and biological weapons, announced that the United States would shut down its offensive programs for both types of weapons, saying that their use was “repugnant to the conscience of mankind.”

Both countries embarked on a costly and protracted effort to destroy their stockpiles. The undertaking gained steam as the United States ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty in 1997 and vowed to get rid of its roughly 30,500 tons of munitions by 2012. Washington missed the deadline, but the Army remains committed to destroying the chemical weapons still securely stored at a handful of sites.

The only countries that have not signed the treaty are Angola, Egypt, North Korea, South Sudan and Syria. Israel has signed but not ratified it.

Experts think Syria has one of the world’s largest stockpiles of chemical weapons, including sarin, tabun, mustard gas and the nerve agent VX.

Several Middle Eastern nations stocked up on chemical weapons over the past century, along with the rest of the world, but few deployed them. Egypt did so in the 1960s during the civil war in North Yemen, using Soviet-supplied munitions. But Western nations, which were eager to build partnerships with Egypt at the time, largely ignored evidence of those attacks.

Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi dictator, used nerve agents during his country’s war with Iran in the 1980s. Washington, which feared an Iranian victory, was well aware of Iraq’s use of chemical weapons but nonetheless supplied Baghdad with intelligence, according to declassified intelligence reports disclosed Monday by Foreign Policy.As that conflict was coming to a close, Hussein ordered a massive gas attack on Halabja, a Kurdish village in northern Iraq, killing thousands. The operation, launched to quell a Kurdish uprising, was the largest chemical attack in history and was one reason Iraq became a global pariah in the following decades.

U.S. officials have said military action in response to last week’s attack in Syria is imminent, but they have not said exactly what they are contemplating. The Obama administration has been extraordinarily reluctant to inject itself militarily into the conflict, in large part because it is not confident that doing so would influence the war in a way that would advance U.S. interests.

Iran and the Shiite Lebanese militant group Hezbollah are backing the Syrian government, while Sunni insurgents affiliated with al-Qaeda are among the most effective fighters on the rebel side.

“This is why you haven’t seen anything happen,” said Cindy Vestergaard, a senior researcher who specializes in chemical weapons at the Danish Institute for International Studies. “There is a big potential for a proxy war with Iran.”

Syria strike still "on the table" in France after U.K. lawmakers yank Britain out of Obama's coalition

2013-08-31T01:42:00.002+07:00

French President Francois Hollande said his country could go ahead with plans to strike Syria for allegedly using chemical weapons despite the British parliament's failure to endorse military action.

"The chemical massacre of Damascus cannot and must not remain unpunished," Hollande said in an interview with the newspaper Le Monde, published on Friday.

The French president reiterated that France wants a "proportional and firm action" but said when asked about the type of intervention that "all options are on the table."

The Obama administration, meanwhile, was to release on Friday a declassified version of its intelligence report on the purported Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack in the eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus, a senior administration official told CBS News late Thursday.The official also said the administration would release its legal justification for taking military action on the Syrian regime if and when President Obama orders a strike -- a move which White House officials indicated to CBS News that the president might make even without the backing of Britain, Washington's closest ally.

The administration said it expects to have rhetorical support from many nations, but no longer considered British military participation vital, deeming it preferable, but not necessary.

"We don't have to wait for them," a senior administration official told CBS News. "We want to be helpful, but we'll act on our own decision-making."

Speaking during visit Friday to the Philippines, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said the Obama administration was still consulting with allies to "further develop the facts" about last week's alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria, and options for a response.

Speaking at a news conference in Manila, Hagel said the administration also would continue to seek input from members of Congress on how the U.S. should respond to the deadly attack.

Hagel said Thursday's consultation by high-level Obama administration officials with congressional leaders was "not to convince anyone of anything." He said it was intended as an update and a chance to solicit lawmakers' views on possible U.S. military or other action.

"As we continue to consult with our allies, we'll further develop the facts and intelligence on what happened," he said.

Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi issued a statement after the consultation, saying she "agreed with Speaker Boehner and other Members who stated that there needs to be more consultation with all Members of Congress and additional transparency into the decision making process and timing, and that the case needs to be made to the American people.

"It is clear that the American people are weary of war. However, Assad gassing his own people is an issue of our national security, regional stability and global security. We must be clear that the United States rejects the use of chemical weapons by Assad or any other regime.""Tonight the Administration informed us that they have a 'broad range of options' for Syria but failed to layout a single option," said Oklahoma GOP Sen. Jim Inhofe in a statement. "They also did not provide a timeline, a strategy for Syria and the Middle East, or a plan for the funds to execute such an option."

Meanwhile, in Damascus, the U.N. experts charged with determining definitively whether there was in fact a large-scale chemical weapons attack in Ghouta, and if there was, what weapons were used and how they were delivered, delayed the start of what was expected to be the last day of their probe into the attack. Humanitarian aid group Doctors Without Borders has said at least 355 people died in the attack.

A convoy of U.N. vehicles left the inspectors' hotel in central Damascus early Friday, but returned minutes later. It was not clear why the team turned back, and the U.N. could not be reached for comment.

The U.N. said Thursday the inspectors would wrap up their investigation Friday into the Aug. 21 attack, and leave Syria the following day. Some of the experts will travel to laboratories in Europe to deliver the material they've collected this week.

Iran threatens payback on Syria; Russia sends warships

2013-08-31T01:12:00.001+07:00

Iran and Russia are working together to prevent a Western military attack on Syria. Russia even sent warships to the Mediterranean where U.S. destroyers are in position to strike if ordered.

Military analysts said Syria's allies' options to stop the United States or make it pay a price after a strike are limited.

"The Russians can help Syria politically and diplomatically in the United Nations and provide supplies, but they're not nearly as capable as they were at the end of the Cold War," said Chris Harmer, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War who worked on military plans for the Persian Gulf as a commander in the Navy.

Although Iran may want to retaliate, it usually does so through the Lebanese Shiite terror group Hezbollah, which "is task-saturated between helping (Bashar) Assad stay in power and protecting (Shiite) neighborhoods in Beirut from retaliatory car bombs," Harmer said. "I don't think Iran can run the risk of retaliating on their own."

Other analysts, such as Phillip Smyth, who documents Shiite militias fighting in Syria on the Jihadology website, said that although Syrian President Assad's forces and Hezbollah may be stretched thin in Syria and Lebanon, Iran's ability to retaliate should not be counted out.

In the 1980s, while Iran was fighting a major war with Iraq, it sent hundreds of members of its Revolutionary Guards to southern Lebanon and built Hezbollah to counter Israel and the United States, Smyth said. Hezbollah's bombings of the U.S. Embassy and the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut killed 58 American diplomats and Lebanese citizens and 241 Marines in 1983.

On Thursday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in statements carried by several Iranian state-controlled media outlets that Iran and Russia would work in "extensive cooperation" to prevent any military action against Syria. Western military action against Syria would be an "open violation" of international laws, Rouhani said.

"Military action will bring great costs for the region," Rouhani said, and "it is necessary to apply all efforts to prevent it."

Wall Street climbs on rosy data, Syria delay

2013-08-30T00:23:00.000+07:00

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday on better-than-expected economic data, while a potential Western military strike on Syria appeared to be delayed for now. Data showed the U.S. economy grew more quickly than expected in the second quarter due to a surge in exports, and weekly initial jobless claims fell last week in a possible sign of improved hiring in August.

"There is no doubt (in) the last couple of days, the markets have bounced and continued to recover from Tuesday's selloff; a lot of that you can point to the better than expected second quarter GDP numbers this morning," said David Lyon, investment specialist at JP Morgan Private Bank in San Francisco, California.

Over the past two sessions, the S&P has gained about 0.9 percent but remains down 1.1 percent for the week.The robust data could bolster the case for the Federal Reserve to soon wind down a major economic stimulus program that has driven a rally of more than 15 percent in the S&P 500 this year. Many market participants expect an announcement about scaling back the Fed's asset purchases after its next meeting in mid-September.

"I don't think the market or investors fear the actual tapering effects at this point, the market still needs clarity about how the process and the tapering will unfold."

Retaliation over the Syrian government's alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians could be delayed, not only by the U.N. weapons inspectors' continued presence in Syria, but by the Obama administration's efforts to coordinate with international partners and growing demands for consultation with U.S. lawmakers.

U.S.-listed shares of Vodafone Group (VOD.O) jumped 8.1 percent to $31.80 as the biggest percentage gainer on the Nasdaq 100 index .NDX, after the company said it was in talks with Verizon Communications (VZ.N) to sell its 45 percent stake in their U.S. joint venture, Verizon Wireless. Verizon shares rose 3.2 percent to $48.07 as one of the top boosts to the Dow.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 86.27 points, or 0.58 percent, to 14,910.78, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 11.21 points, or 0.69 percent, to 1,646.17 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXICadded 41.728 points, or 1.16 percent, to 3,635.077.

Brent crude fell 0.6 percent as traders reassessed supply risks emerging in the Middle East, but prices remained near their highest since February.

US Airways Group Inc (LCC.N), American Airlines and the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday they were open to settling a court fight over whether the two companies should be allowed to merge. US Airways shares rose 4.4 percent to $16.01.

Guess Inc (GES.N) shares jumped 12.2 percent to $30.64 in the wake of second-quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates, bucking a trend of falling sales for apparel retailers.

Fast-food workers from McDonald's (MCD.N), Wendy's Restaurants (WEN.O), Burger King Worldwide (BKW.N) and others across the United States are expected to stage their largest strike to date on Thursday in an almost year-long campaign to raise wages in the service sector.

Syria: Western intervention looms after reported chemical weapons attacks

2013-08-29T17:39:00.000+07:00

DAMASCUS, Syria (CNN) -- Global powers are working furiously to prepare for the possibility of a strike on Syria -- looking at military options, holding emergency meetings and stressing the need for swift international action.

Meanwhile, survivors of the apparent chemical weapons attack that triggered the international machinations are working to get through each day.

"After the chemicals, they woke us up and told us to put masks on," a 6-year-old boy in Zamalka said, describing last week's attack.

"I told my dad I can't breathe. My father then fainted and I fainted right after that, but we were found and taken to the emergency room."

CNN obtained video of the boy and other survivors who spoke to a journalist in the area.

One man said he evacuated two dead bodies during the attack. "Then there was another explosion. I couldn't breathe, I had cramps and I couldn't see. The doctors helped me."

The horror of the attack on civilians has jolted the world into potential action on a crisis that has lasted more than two years and killed more than 100,000 people, according to the United Nations.

Last week was not the first time chemical weapons are believed to have been used in the conflict. But it was by far the worst.

"Syria is now undoubtedly the most serious crisis facing the international community," Lakhdar Brahimi, U.N. and Arab League special envoy to Syria, said Wednesday.

"It does seem that some kind of substance was used that killed a lot of people," he said of last week's attack. The death toll could be in the hundreds, or possibly more than a thousand, he said.

"This is of course unacceptable. This is outrageous," Brahimi said in Geneva. "This confirms how dangerous the situation in Syria is and how important for the Syrians and the international community to really develop the political will to address this issue seriously and look for solutions for it."

After a meeting Wednesday, NATO issued a warning.

"The Syrian regime maintains custody of stockpiles of chemical weapons. Information available from a wide variety of sources points to the Syrian regime as responsible for the use of chemical weapons in these attacks. This is a clear breach of long-standing international norms and practice.

"Any use of such weapons is unacceptable and cannot go unanswered. Those responsible must be held accountable. We consider the use of chemical weapons as a threat to international peace and security," NATO said in a statement. Some Syrians have told CNN they doubt their government used chemical weapons.

U.S. 'ready'

U.S. warships armed with cruise missiles plow the waters of the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

U.S. forces are ready, if an order to strike comes down, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the BBC Tuesday.

A senior Defense Department official told CNN that any strike could be completed "within several days."

And U.S. officials are all but telling United Nations inspectors in Syria to get out of the way.

"We clearly value the U.N.'s work -- we've said that from the beginning -- when it comes to investigating chemical weapons in Syria," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Tuesday. "But we've reached a point now where we believe too much time has passed for the investigation to be credible and that it's clear the security situation isn't safe for the team in Syria."

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon seemed to ask for a reprieve Wednesday for the sake of the inspectors. "The team needs time to do its job," he said from The Hague, where he visited the International Criminal Court.

He said the inspectors had already collected valuable evidence.

Syria: 'We are in a state of war'

Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Jaafari insisted Wednesday, "We are not warmongers. We are a peaceful nation seeking stability in the area because instability would serve the Israeli interests."

"We are in a state of war," and preparing for the possibility of such a scenario, he said at U.N. headquarters in New York. "The Syrian government is looking for stability."

Jaafari accused rebels of obtaining material to produce chemical weapons "from outside powers -- mainly speaking, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar."

Jaafari agreed with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on one point: that the use of chemical weapons is "a moral obscenity," he said.

U.S. officials accuse the Syrian government of carrying out the attack.

Vice President Joe Biden made clear the administration's view, saying Tuesday that "there is no doubt who is responsible for the heinous use of chemical weapons -- the Syrian regime."

A U.S. independent intelligence report about the chemical weapons attack will come out later this week, White House press secretary Jay Carney said.

Israeli military intelligence provided intercepts among Syrian military commanders that discussed the movement of chemical weapons to the area of the attack before it happened, a diplomatic source told CNN Wednesday.

U.S. ruled out ground troops

For almost two years, President Barack Obama has avoided direct military involvement in Syria's bloody civil war as the death toll skyrocketed to more than 100,000, according to U.N. estimates.

But Obama had warned that a chemical attack would cross a "red line."

The White House has ruled out sending ground troops to Syria or implementing a no-fly zone to blunt al-Assad's aerial superiority over rebels.

Obama continues to review options, Carney said Tuesday, adding that "nothing has been decided."

Those options include peaceful diplomacy, which critics have called a "do nothing" approach.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, a former U.S. Army Ranger and current member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, believes that the most realistic option would be cruise missiles launched from U.S. Navy ships at sea.

"We can have precision weapons that could be fired and keep our aircraft out of Syrian airspace and away from their anti-aircraft systems," he said.

"The most effective targets would have command-and-control, because you could send a signal to the Syrian regime that if they don't agree to international standards, if they don't make it clear and make it obvious that they're not going to use these weapons, and that we can inflict additional damage on their command-and-control," he added.

Russia: The West acts like monkey with a grenade

The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council met Wednesday, but there were no announcements from the United States or Britain -- the two permanent members leading the charge for a tough new resolution.

Britain drafted a resolution "condemning the chemical weapons attack by Assad and authorizing necessary measures to protect civilians," Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted Wednesday.

But Russia, a close ally of Syria, is expected to use its veto power to block a resolution.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov insists there is no proof yet Syria's government is behind the chemical weapons attack.

The ministry accused Washington of trying to "create artificial groundless excuses for military intervention."

"The West handles the Islamic world the way a monkey handles a grenade," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin tweeted.

China, which also has a permanent seat on the council, would also probably object to military measures.

"It's time that the United Nations Security Council shouldered its responsibilities on Syria, which for the past two and a half years it's failed to do," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Wednesday.

He added that even if China and Russia veto a resolution, "We and other nations still have a responsibility" to act.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, meanwhile, warned Wednesday of "graver conditions" if strikes are carried out against Syria.

"If any country attacks another when it wants, that is like the Middle Ages," he said.

Obama not 'trigger-happy,' U.N. envoy says

Brahimi said international law requires that the Security Council approve military action.

"I do know that President Obama and the American administration are not known to be trigger-happy," he said. "What they will decide I don't know."

Outside of the United Nations, a military coalition is taking shape among Western powers.

Along with Britain, France has also signaled it would join Western military intervention against forces supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

French President Francois Hollande said France is "ready to punish those who made the decision to gas these innocent people."

The French parliament will hold a session next week to debate the situation in Syria.

Australia said Wednesday it will not send troops to Syria.

Polls: Americans oppose military intervention

Some Americans are pushing back against talk of intervention.

Opinion polls show getting involved military in the conflict is unpopular among Americans.

A group of 31 Republican and six Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday sent a letter to the president urging him "to consult and receive authorization" before signing off on any military action.

Some fear a U.S. strike could stoke the conflict, not calm it. Others don't want the administration to go it alone. Reed of Rhode Island said NATO allies must be involved, as well as members of the Arab League.

Former U.S. Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia is dead set against it. "Both sides are bad," he wrote in a commentary for CNN.

"There is no victory to be had there."

Syria: Russia Ships 'Bound For Mediterranean'

2013-08-29T16:35:00.000+07:00

Russia is to send an anti-submarine ship and a missile cruiser to the Mediterranean, according to Russian news agency Interfax.

An armed forces source reportedly said the planned deployment was in response to the "well-known situation" - a clear reference to the conflict in Syria.

The navy has denied the deployment is linked to events in Syria, saying it is part of a planned rotation of its ships in the Mediterranean.

Russia is strongly against any military intervention in Syria, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov believing it would seriously destabilise the region.

The country has started to pull its citizens out of Syria as the likelihood of military action increases.

The reports come after US President Barack Obama said any strike would be to "send a shot across the bow" to deter future chemical weapons attacks.

He said the US had concluded that the Syrian government carried out the large-scale chemical weapons attack against civilians last week.

President Obama said the US had examined evidence and did not believe the rebels possessed chemical weapons or the means to deliver them.

But he added that the US had not yet made a firm decision about how to respond.

United Nations weapons inspectors set out on Thursday morning for the Damascus suburbs in a third day of investigations.

Last week's alleged chemical attack is claimed to have killed 1,300 pepole.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has pleaded for all sides to hold off on any military strikes.

He said his inspection team would soon finish its investigation, leaving Syria on Friday and report their findings to him the following day.

Britain's draft resolution on authorising military force failed to win the approval of the UN Security Council yesterday as Russia reiterated its objections.

Russia, along with China, has blocked past attempts to sanction the Assad government.

However, the Obama administration has said it could take action even without the backing of allies or the United Nations.

Britain's involvement in any strike will be debated today by politicians in the House of Commons.

Immigrants come out of the shadows to fulfill a dream

2012-10-24T20:00:00.000+07:00

Carlos Roa celebrated this summer when the Obama administration announced a new program to defer deportation for young undocumented immigrants.But two months into the program, the 25-year-old activist has yet to apply.Roa, whose parents brought him here from Venezuela when he was two, is facing many of the same worries and complications as thousands of the other young immigrants, who call themselves "Dreamers" after the failed Dream Act legislation of 2010 that sought to put them on a path to citizenship.Stepping out of the shadows may identify other family members as undocumented and put them at risk of deportation.

And after living for years under the radar, sometimes working off the books, immigrants can find it difficult to assemble all the documentation needed to prove their "continued presence" in the U.S. for at least five years, as the law requires.Further, some eligible young people have decided to wait until after the November 6 election to file papers, worried that if Republican candidate Mitt Romney becomes president he might cancel or modify the executive order, leaving them vulnerable to prosecution.

OFF TO A SLOW START

Since August 15, when the federal government began accepting applications, through October 10, almost 180,000 people submitted requests. So far 4,591 have been approved, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS.

The number of applicants is a fraction of the 1.7 million potentially eligible for the program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research organization."That didn't surprise me at all," said Laura Lichter, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), who practices law in Denver."I look at my own cases, and it took me two weeks to pull in documents for the simple ones."

While some applicants have expired visas to prove the date they entered the country, others were small children when their parents led them across the border, with no documentation of the event.School records are crucial to meeting requirements for DACA, including the requisite continuous presence in this country.

After high school graduation, however, many students stop leaving a paper trail. While thousands have made it to private colleges on scholarships or money earned through side jobs - allowing them to use transcripts as proof of their presence - others who couldn't afford the tuition and lacked documentation for the less expensive in-state public colleges had to survive for years working off the books for cash and now lack a solid record of their whereabouts.

ASSURANCE ABOUT 'LION'S DEN'

What's more, Lichter said, clients and their families live in a climate of fear and uncertainty. Though the immigration service issued reassurances that applicants' information won't be turned over to enforcement agents, concerns are stoked by record-level deportations and an upcoming presidential election that could affect the future of the deferral program.Romney said in early October that if elected he would honor approved deferrals but scrap the program in favor of broader reforms. But some fear that his immigration reform might exclude Dreamers altogether, noting that he previously opposed the Dream Act.

Unlike that legislation, deferred action does not confer legal status but instead offers relief from deportation and a work permit for two years, after which applicants can seek a renewal. They also can obtain Social Security numbers.

To qualify, applicants must pay a $465 fee and show they were under age 31 on June 15; arrived in the country before age 16; have lived here continuously for the last five years; and are in school, have graduated from high school, obtained a GED, or served in the military.Suspected national security threats, felons or those convicted of "serious" misdemeanors involving drugs or sexual abuse will be turned down.

Despite initial reservations and difficulties paying the fee, more undocumented immigrants are coming forward to apply, said Doug Stump, an Oklahoma immigration lawyer who has 120 applications ready to file."The kids just wanted further assurance that they weren't walking into the lion's den," Stump said.

SOCIAL MEDIA HELPS

This generation's comfort with the Internet significantly aids the process. AILA and other groups set up free online screening programs and are developing an iPhone application to help Dreamers figure out if they qualify.Lawyers like Mayra Calo in Tampa rely on Twitter and dated photos on Facebook to help fill in gaps to prove clients' continued presence.

"For most of the girls, if they are working at home or with their parents, most of them don't have anything," Calo said, referring to documents after high school.Indeed, Facebook and the Internet helped drive what has become a virtual social movement of young undocumented immigrants. For the past five or six years they have used social media tools, including Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube and blogs, to tell their stories and encourage each other to "come out" while also successfully pressuring officials to halt numerous deportations.

"They are a force to be reckoned with now," said Cheryl Little, Miami-based executive director of Americans for Immigrant Justice, which offers pro bono legal help to undocumented immigrants.

Roa is one of her clients and one of four students who walked 1,500 miles from Miami to Washington in 2010 to lobby for deferred action, a journey they called the Trail of Dreams.But Little has struggled to prove Roa's presence between 2007 and 2008.Though Roa's grandfather was a U.S. citizen, he died before Roa's father could obtain a green card.

After high school graduation in 2005, Roa worked jobs in a warehouse and in construction, saving up to study architecture at Miami Dade College in 2009. Those intervening years created a gap in the documents."The one blessing is that I came out as an undocumented immigrant in 2007," he said. That year, a New York Times reporter featured Roa in an article about the Dream Act, though it did not use his last name.

Little is submitting the article with his application. If approved, Roa is looking forward to getting a driver's license and not having to rely on buses to get around.That will help him with his ultimate goal of being accepted at a top-notch university to finish his architectural studies after he graduates in December with an associate's degree.

The courage of Dreamers coming forward in the media inspired Oscar Gutierrez, 18. For years the high school senior from Clearwater, Florida, kept his undocumented status a secret - until more than a week ago, when he got word that his deferred action application was approved."I can get a job now, I can get a driver's license," Gutierrez said, adding that his father wrapped him in a big hug the day they got the news.

Since elementary school, when his parents told him not to tell anyone he was brought from Mexico as an infant, he had lied about where he was born, afraid he and his parents would be deported and separated from his younger sisters, both U.S.-born citizens.He's glad to step out of the shadows."I don't have to lie that I wasn't born here ... I don't have limits to what I can do now."

Gov. Jerry Brown OKs bill on illegal immigrant licenses

2012-10-01T19:54:00.001+07:00

SACRAMENTO, California. Some illegal immigrants could get California driver's licenses under a bill that Gov. Jerry Brown announced he signed into law late Sunday.AB2189 by Democratic Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, will let the Department of Motor Vehicles issue licenses to illegal immigrants eligible for work permits under a new Obama administration policy. The bill requires the department to accept as proof of legal residence whatever document the federal government provides to participants in its deferred action program.Democratic Assemblyman Gil Cedillo said his bill will make roads safer while letting young immigrants drive to school and to work. His reasoning drew support from several Republican lawmakers, while other Republicans argued the state should leave immigration issues to the federal government.

"It is a victory for those who were brought here through no choice of their own, played by the rules, and are only asking to be included in and contribute to American society," Cedillo said in a statement.He said California is the first state to grant driver's' licenses to the group singled out under the Obama administration's policy. Cedillo praised Brown for choosing "public safety over politics" by signing the bill."President Obama has recognized the unique status of these students, and making them eligible to apply for driver's licenses is an obvious next step," Brown spokesman Gil Duran said.

Meanwhile, Brown vetoed AB1081, which could have protected illegal immigrants from deportation if they committed minor infractions. The bill has been dubbed "anti-Arizona" legislation, a reference to that state's immigrant identification law.The so-called Trust Act would have let California opt out of some parts of a federal program that requires local law enforcement officers to check the fingerprints of people they arrest against a federal immigration database and hold those who are in the country illegally.It would have barred local law enforcement officers from detaining suspects for possible deportation unless they are charged with serious or violent felonies.Brown backed comprehensive federal immigration reform, and said in a veto message that federal agents "shouldn't try to coerce local law enforcement officials into detaining people who've been picked up for minor offenses and pose no reasonable threat to their community."

However, he said the list of serious or violent felonies in the bill is "fatally flawed because it omits many serious crimes." He said those include child abuse, drug trafficking, and weapons violations, among others. He promised to work with lawmakers to fix the bill's wording.California law enforcement officials have turned over about 80,000 illegal immigrants for deportation since 2009, though fewer than half had committed a serious or violent felony. The majority of those deported by the federal government under the Secure Communities program have come from California. Supporters say the program targets otherwise law-abiding immigrants who commit minor traffic infractions, sell food without a permit or are arrested on misdemeanors charges but never convicted. Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano said the program wastes local resources and causes mistrust between immigrants and law enforcement agencies.

DREAM Act would lead to the increased economic gains.

2012-10-01T18:55:00.000+07:00

If illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children were given legal status, their improved access to college and better jobs would add $329 billion and 1.4 million jobs to the nation's economy over two decades, according to a report set for release today.The report found that up to 223,000 of the 2.1 million young illegal immigrants eligible for the DREAM Act would have an easier time enrolling, paying for and finishing college, which would lead to the increased economic gains.

The study was released by the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based, left-leaning think tank that supports the DREAM Act, and the Partnership for a New American Economy, which was created by independent New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch. The center has pushed Congress to pass the DREAM Act and other bills that would grant more visas to foreign students that specialize in science, technology, engineering and mathematics."This report proves a fundamental truth about the contributions of immigrants to the American economy: we absolutely need them to continue our economic growth," Bloomberg said in a statement.

The report provides an argument in favor of the DREAM Act, which would grant legal residency to illegal immigrants brought to the country as children who have completed some college or served in the military.When the DREAM Act was first introduced in 2001, it was a bipartisan effort sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. But it has since become more partisan. The House of Representatives passed it in 2010 with minimal Republican support, and it failed in the Senate when only three Republicans voted for it.

President Obama has supported the bill, and recently used his executive authority to give some relief to DREAMers. He created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that does not grant legal residency or U.S. citizenship, but gives young illegal immigrants deferred deportations and work permits for two years. Republican nominee Mitt Romney said he would veto the current version of the DREAM Act if it came before him, but supports legalizing young illegal immigrants who have served in the military.

In recent years, supporters of the DREAM Act have tried to sell the bill by personalizing the people it would affect. Durbin has told stories on the Senate floor of individual DREAMers, and young illegal immigrants have increasingly "outed" themselves in recent years, revealing their status to draw attention to their situation.That argument is one that even opponents of the act find persuasive. Steven Camarota, director of researcher at the Center for Immigration Studies, which opposes the DREAM Act, said the moral argument is one that "carries weight with most Americans."

So he's confused why supporters would push an economic argument that opens up the DREAM Act to criticism. With unemployment remaining over 8%, Camarota wonders why supporters would draw attention to just how many new, young, college-educated people would be fighting native-born Americans for jobs.

"Somebody came here as child -- is it fair to ask them to go back to another country? That's the argument I find persuasive," he said. "But even their own study shows that their effect on the economy is trivial. It's so tiny relative to the size of the U.S. economy that you can't even measure it. That's why they do it over 20 years."

Angela Kelley, vice president for immigration policy at the Center for American Progress, said the newly legalized workers would not be competing job-for-job with unemployed Americans. Instead, she pointed to the example of Sergey Brin, who was born in the Soviet Union but co-founded Google in the U.S."It's not as if that was a job that was taken from an American worker," she said.

Kelley said the report does not represent a new strategy for garnering support for the DREAM Act but simply another way to show Americans what it can do."We're trying to round out the picture of what the DREAM Act would mean, not only to the individuals who would benefit from it ... but also what it would mean for the country as a whole," she said.

Undocumented students lukewarm on Obama immigration policy

2012-09-05T21:18:00.002+07:00

Tania Chairez

Undocumented students at Penn are preparing to take advantage of a new federal policy that is one step closer toward making the DREAM Act a reality.In mid-August, undocumented students across the country began the process of applying for special protection from deportation under a new deferred action directive announced by President Barack Obama on June 15.

Engineering sophomore Alfredo Muniz, an undocumented immigrant who was brought to the United States from Mexico by his parents when he was 1, is among many who are optimistic about the new policy.“It’s one of the best laws I think, at least for me and people in my situation who didn’t have a choice but ended up committing a crime,” he said.

However, he acknowledged that the new policy is a temporary measure and that there is no path to citizenship yet for undocumented students like himself.“The funny thing is that it doesn’t grant you legal status,” he said. “It’s like you’re legally illegal.”

The program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, allows non-U.S. citizens to remain in the U.S. temporarily. To be eligible, the person applying for DACA must have arrived in the United States prior to their 16th birthday and have lived in the country for at least five years since June 15, 2007. They must also be between 15 to 30 years old, as of June 15, 2012.

Those applying must currently be enrolled in school or in the military. Students who have completed a General Equivalency Degree or graduated are also eligible.Though some believe the new policy is a step forward for undocumented youth, others are reserving their judgment.

Wharton junior and Penn for Immigration Rights co-founder Tania Chairez, another undocumented immigrant, sees DACA as something that is being used by the Obama administration to appeal to Hispanic voters.

“I am very, very cautious in the way I feel about it, just because there have been other attempts by the administration to cater to the Hispanic vote,” she said.However, Chairez who was arrested in March at an immigration protest does plan to apply for protection from deportation.

“I think undocumented immigrants should look at all the requirements and the stipulations. If they qualify and they have nothing to lose then they should apply,” she said. “With the right guidance, it should be good.”David Bennion, an immigration attorney and member of immigration rights group DreamActivist Pennsylvania, also urged those who are applying to be cautious.

“Any arrests, any contacts with the criminal justice system, any contact with immigration those are going to be the red flags [in the application],” he said. “If somebody is able to use an attorney to do it, they should.”

Currently, many nonprofits like DreamActivist have held or are planning to hold information sessions for those who will be impacted by the law. While no groups at Penn will hold similar sessions, students still plan to be active on this front.“This is the type of thing we want to get moving on campus, just increasing the dialogue on immigration in general,” said College sophomore Sheila Quintana, an undocumented student and Daily Pennsylvanian contributing writer.

At the end of the day, Penn President Amy Gutmann, who has spoken out in favor the DREAM Act in the past, said she supports Obama’s policy.“This is not the full enactment of the DREAM Act but it is better than nothing,” she said.