The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said Tuesday they have launched a counteroffensive against the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army to take back areas near Syria's northern border with Turkey. The SDF is Washington's critical ally in Syria, targeting sleeper cells of the extremist Islamic State group scattered across the country's east. Since the fall of the totalitarian rule of Bashar al-Assad earlier this month, clashes have intensified between the U.S.-backed group and the SNA, which captured the key city of Manbij and the areas surrounding it. The intense weekslong clashes come at a time when Syria, battered by over a decade of war and economic misery, negotiates its political future following half a century under the Assad dynasty's rule. Ruken Jamal, spokesperson of the Women's Protection Unit under the SDF, told The Associated Press that their fighters are just over seven miles (11 kilometers) away from the center of Manbij in their ongoing counteroffensive. She accused Ankara of trying to weaken the group's influence in negotiations over Syria's political future through the SNA. "Syria is now in a new phase, and discussions are underway about the future of the country," Jamal said. "Turkey is trying, through its attacks, to distract us with battles and exclude us from the negotiations in Damascus." A Britain-based opposition war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says since the SNA's offensive in northern Syria against the Kurds started earlier this month, dozens from both sides have been killed. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke on Tuesday with Turkish Minister of National Defense Yasar Guler, according to Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder. He said they discussed the ongoing situation in Syria, and Austin emphasized that close and continuous coordination is crucial to a successful effort to counter IS in the country. They also discussed the importance of setting the conditions to enable a more secure and stable Syria. Ankara sees the SDF as an affiliate of its sworn enemy, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which it classifies as a terrorist organization. Turkish-backed armed groups alongside Turkish jets for years have attacked positions where the SDF are largely present across northern Syria, in a bid to create a buffer zone free from the group along the large border. While the SNA was involved in the lightning insurgency — led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — that toppled Assad, it has continued its push against the SDF, seen as Syria's second key actor for its political future. On Monday, the SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami said the group's forces pushed back the Turkish-backed rebels from areas near the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates, a key source of hydroelectric power. He said the SDF also destroyed a tank belonging to the rebels southeast of Manbij. The British-based war monitor said on Tuesday that the Kurdish-led group, following overnight fighting, has reclaimed four villages in the areas near the strategic dam. Turkish jets also pounded the strategic border town of Kobani in recent days. During Syria's uprising-turned-conflict, the Kurds carved out an enclave of autonomous rule across northeastern Syria, never fully allying entirely with Assad in Damascus nor the rebels trying to overthrow him. Even with the Assad family out of the picture, it appears that Ankara's position won't change, with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan's landmark visit to Syria maintaining a strong position on the Kurdish-led group in his meeting with de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa of HTS. "It has turned the region into a cauldron of terror with PKK members and far-left groups who have come from Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Europe," Fidan said in a news conference after the meeting. "The international community is turning a blind eye to this lawlessness because of the wardenship it provides [against IS]." With the ongoing fighting, SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi has expressed concern about a strong IS resurgence due to the power vacuum in Syria and the ongoing fighting, which has left the Kurdish-led group unable to carry out its attacks and raids on the extremist group's scattered sleeper cells. Tens of thousands of children, family members, and supporters of IS militants are still held in large detention centers in northeastern Syria, in areas under SDF control.Partisanship, merit devaluation cripple univsA stroke changed a teacher’s life. How a new electrical device is helping her move
HOUSTON (AP) — An elaborate parody appears to be behind an effort to resurrect Enron, the Houston-based energy company that exemplified the worst in American corporate fraud and greed after it went bankrupt in 2001. If its return is comedic, some former employees who lost everything in Enron’s collapse aren’t laughing. “It’s a pretty sick joke and it disparages the people that did work there. And why would you want to even bring it back up again?” said former Enron employee Diana Peters, who represented workers in the company’s bankruptcy proceedings. Here’s what to know about the history of Enron and the purported effort to bring it back. Once the nation’s seventh-largest company, Enron filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 2, 2001, after years of accounting tricks could no longer hide billions of dollars in debt or make failing ventures appear profitable. The energy company's collapse put more than 5,000 people out of work, wiped out more than $2 billion in employee pensions and rendered $60 billion in Enron stock worthless. Its aftershocks were felt throughout the energy sector. Twenty-four Enron executives , including former CEO Jeffrey Skilling , were eventually convicted for their roles in the fraud. Enron founder Key Lay’s convictions were vacated after he died of heart disease following his 2006 trial. On Monday — the 23rd anniversary of the bankruptcy filing — a company representing itself as Enron announced in a news release that it was relaunching as a “company dedicated to solving the global energy crisis.” It also posted a video on social media, advertised on at least one Houston billboard and a took out a full-page ad in the Houston Chronicle In the minute-long video that was full of generic corporate jargon, the company talks about “growth” and “rebirth.” It ends with the words, “We’re back. Can we talk?” Enron's new website features a company store, where various items featuring the brand's tilted “E” logo are for sale, including a $118 hoodie. In an email, company spokesperson Will Chabot said the new Enron was not doing any interviews yet, but that "We’ll have more to share soon.” Signs point to the comeback being a joke. In the “terms of use and conditions of sale” on the company's website, it says “the information on the website about Enron is First Amendment protected parody, represents performance art, and is for entertainment purposes only.” Documents filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office show that College Company, an Arkansas-based LLC, owns the Enron trademark. The co-founder of College Company is Connor Gaydos, who helped create a joke conspiracy theory that claims all birds are actually surveillance drones for the government. Peters said that since learning about the “relaunch” of Enron, she has spoken with several other former employees and they are also upset by it. She said the apparent stunt was “in poor taste.” “If it’s a joke, it’s rude, extremely rude. And I hope that they realize it and apologize to all of the Enron employees,” Peters said. Peters, who is 74 years old, said she is still working in information technology because “I lost everything in Enron, and so my Social Security doesn’t always take care of things I need done.” “Enron’s downfall taught us critical lessons about corporate ethics, accountability, and the consequences of unchecked ambition. Enron’s legacy was the employees in the trenches. Leave Enron buried,” she said. Follow Juan A. Lozano on X at https://x.com/juanlozano70