WASHINGTON:  For months, the U.S. military has known that the Islamic State uses the city hall in Raqqa, Syria, as an administrative center and a dormitory for scores of fighters. Some U.S. officials believe that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the group's leader, may have been in the building at times.

Yet, despite the U.S. air campaign against the Islamic State, the white, three-story building remains standing because it also houses a jail. Its inmates are mainly victims of the extremist group - men caught sneaking a cigarette, women spotted with clothes that reveal even a hint of skin, shop owners who failed to pay their bills - and for U.S. officials, the risk of killing any of them in an airstrike is too high.

The same is true of six other nearby buildings, including a mosque and court complex, which, together with city hall, compose the closest thing the Islamic State has to a headquarters.

In the aftermath of the attacks in Paris in November and the shootings this month in San Bernardino, California, President Barack Obama and European leaders pledged to intensify the campaign against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Obama, speaking last week at the Pentagon, said that the U.S.-led coalition was hitting the Islamic State "harder than ever," and added that warplanes were "going after ISIL from their stronghold right in downtown Raqqa."

But Obama also acknowledged the dilemma the United States and its allies face in Raqqa and other urban areas in Syria and Iraq, noting that the Islamic State "is dug in, including in urban areas, and they hide behind civilians."

"So even as we're relentless, we have to be smart, targeting ISIL surgically with precision," he added.

Current and former residents of Raqqa say the group's leaders move constantly, mixing with the civilian population. "The real administrators and commanders and leaders are always on the move and have no specific quarters," said an activist in Raqqa, who was interviewed via direct message and spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation from the Islamic State.

Some Republican presidential candidates, like Donald Trump, have expressed a willingness to attack targets even if civilians are present. Sen. Ted Cruz seemed to suggest in a Republican debate last week that a Cruz administration would be able to "carpet-bomb" militants without harming civilians. But White House and Pentagon have made it clear that obvious civilian targets are off limits - and that attacking them would not only violate international law but undermine the effort to defeat the Islamic State.

"We have to be very careful about how we prosecute a campaign that appears to be an indiscriminate attempt to attack ISIL and the population that surrounds it," Gen. Paul J. Selva of the Air Force, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress this month.

More than 260 civilians have been killed in coalition strikes in Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group based in Britain that tracks the conflict through a network of contacts in Syria. And the Islamic State has worked hard to exploit those deaths.

Javier Lesaca, a visiting scholar at George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs, said the Islamic State had produced 30 videos in the past two years denouncing the consequences of coalition airstrikes, adding heft to the logic of why the United States is being even more careful.

As the capital of the Islamic State's self-declared caliphate, Raqqa holds a dense concentration of potential targets: The group's top leaders work and live in the city, and the bureaucracy they have created to run the self-declared caliphate is based there. There are financial specialists, computer experts, field commanders and as many as 10,000 foot soldiers, and they congregate in dozens of places, including the headquarters buildings.

Raqqa's city hall is an example of the difficulties in targeting in an urban environment. Even the most advanced and precise missiles and bombs cannot achieve the surgical precision needed to target only militants in the city hall building, U.S. officials said.

The top floors are a dormitory for fighters from across the region, residents of Raqqa said, estimating that there are about 150 men, most of them from Saudi Arabia or Tunisia. But the rest of the building is used by civilians.

There are said to be 25 cells in the jail, and they are often cold and packed full of people, according to the activist. On the ground floor is a court that hears cases of those jailed below, and administrative offices that Raqqa's residents visit, inquiring about friends or relatives detained by the militants, or dealing with minor bureaucratic matters, like replacing identity papers.

Baghdadi, the Islamic State's leader, may have been in city hall, but according to a senior military official, he "moves constantly, and is in and out of buildings all over" areas the Islamic State controls. Locating Baghdadi with enough precision to even consider striking him has proved impossible, intelligence officials said, largely because of the care he takes to mask his movements and avoid detection.

The senior military official and a former one said they did not know of any instances in which U.S. forces had had a clear shot at him in Raqqa. The officials, like nearly a dozen others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were discussing operational details and classified intelligence.But there have been successful U.S. and allied strikes in the heart of Raqqa. Last month, Hellfire missiles fired from a Reaper drone killed Mohammed Emwazi, the Islamic State's most notorious executioner, near a major traffic circle a few blocks from city hall.

Pentagon officials said Emwazi, known as "Jihadi John," was targeted in a predawn strike when streets were largely empty to reduce the risk to civilians.

Even so, Baghdadi is such a valuable target that if the coalition got a clear shot at him it might take it and accept the risk of civilian deaths.

"Our threshold for collateral damage increases with the value of the target we're going after," Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told Congress this month.

Since the air campaign against the Islamic State began in August last year, the United States and its allies have, according to the Pentagon, conducted about 9,000 airstrikes and dropped about 32,000 bombs and other weapons - including nearly 3,300 in November alone, more than in any other single month.

And despites its limits, the bombing does appear to have blunted the advance of Islamic State fighters in most areas of Syria and Iraq by forcing them to disperse and conceal themselves. Obama said at the Pentagon that the Islamic State had lost 40 percent of the territory it originally seized in Iraq in June last year.

The coalition has in recent weeks also increased attacks on the Islamic State's oil wells, refineries and more than 400 tanker trucks that ferry the illicit cargo. U.S. aircraft dropped warning leaflets and made strafing runs near the trucks to persuade the civilian drivers to abandon their vehicles before the bombing began, military officials said.

"The U.S. has indeed been successful in minimizing civilian harm in its airstrikes against ISIS, and should continue to take precautions even as they intensify airstrikes," said Federico Borello, the executive director of the Center for Civilians in Conflict, an advocacy group.

The three-month-old Russian air campaign has stood in stark contrast to the caution of U.S. military planners. The Russian campaign has mostly targeted rebel groups in northwestern Syria that are opposed to the government of President Bashar Assad, and it has deployed fighter jet that use largely unguided bombs to strike their targets, killing hundreds of civilians, human rights groups say.

The fear among many in Syria and the West is that the Russian campaign is handing the Islamic State and other militants a major propaganda victory. U.S. officials say that if the United States were to go the same route, it would be likely to alienate the local Sunni tribesmen whose support is critical to ousting the militants, and the Sunni Arab countries that are part of the fragile U.S.-led coalition.

"We want to kill terrorists, but not in a way that will help new generations of them," said a senior U.S. military official in Iraq.

LONDON:  Prime Minister David Cameron told The Sunday Telegraph newspaper he wanted to see female British soldiers training to fight on the front line in 2016.

Cameron has asked the Ministry of Defence to be ready to post women in ground close-combat roles by the end of next year, after Washington announced this month its military will open all positions, including frontline combat roles to women.

"The Defence Secretary (Michael Fallon) and I are united in wanting to see all roles in our armed forces opened up to women in 2016," Cameron said.

"We've already lifted a number of barriers in our armed forces with the introduction of female submariners and women reaching the highest ranks in all services.

"We should finish the job next year and open up ground combat roles to women."

Female troops make up around 10 percent of Britain's armed forces.
Women are currently banned from ground combat units "where the primary role is to close with and kill the enemy".

A review found "no compelling evidence to prove women impair effectiveness in close combat situations", Fallon said.

However, the study called for further research by mid-2016 into the physiological demands of such roles over time.

"I hope that, following further work on our training regimes and equipment, we can open up combat roles to women in 2016," Fallon wrote in The Sunday Telegraph.

The minister insisted that whatever the outcome of the review, "combat effectiveness remains paramount".

"Training standards cannot be lowered in order to accommodate women," he said, adding that not all female soldiers would pass the tests.

"But by ensuring ability, not gender, determines who succeeds, we are giving everyone a chance to compete for any military role."

Some front line jobs were opened to women two decades ago, notably for medics, engineers and the artillery.

The new changes would predominantly apply to roles in the infantry, Royal Marines, Royal Armoured Corps and the Royal Air Force Regiment.

US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter announced this month that the US military will open up all positions to women, in a sweeping move officially ending centuries of men-only tradition.

The historic step served as a rebuke to a Marine Corps call this year for a partial exemption, after it argued mixed-gender combat units were not as effective as male groups.

US President Barack Obama welcomed the change, saying it would improve the US military just as racial de-segregation did in the 1950s.

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cILANGKAP, INDONESIA:  Indonesia will deploy more than 150,000 security personnel and several religious organizations to safeguard churches and public places around the country during Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations, the military chief said late on Friday
"We call on all communities, such as Islamic and Hindu youth organizations, to participate in safeguarding churches during Christmas," armed forces Chief Gatot Nurmantyo told reporters at the national military headquarters on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta.

"Some of the youth organizations have stated their readiness," he added.

Over 80 percent of Indonesia's population is Muslim, but the country recognises five other religions including Catholicism, Hinduism, and Buddhism.

Police in Indonesia will be on their highest alert level between December 24 and January 2, national police chief Badrodin Haiti told reporters earlier this week.

Military and police troops will be on standby at airports, train stations, houses of worship, and public celebrations, Haiti said, as millions of people travel across the archipelago for the holidays.

The government has warned that Indonesians fighting for IS in Syria and Iraq could attempt to return and mount attacks, though security officials have said they do not see credible or specific threats of an attack here in the near future.

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SAN BERNARDINO:  President Barack Obama met with the families of most of the San Bernardino shooting victims on Friday for nearly three hours, and said he was moved by their emphasis on tolerance following the December 2 attacks
"As difficult as this time is for them and for the entire community, they also represent the strength and the unity and the love that exists in this community and in this country," Obama told reporters after the meeting.

Fourteen people died in the shootings in San Bernardino, California on December 2, when radicalized Muslims Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik opened fire on Farook's co-workers at a holiday party.

The president and his wife Michelle spent nearly three hours offering their condolences to the family members of victims and first responders in the library of Indian Spring High School, the White House said.

The Obamas, who were greeted on arrival in San Bernardino by Mayor Carey Davis and County Supervisor James Ramos, made the visit on their way to Hawaii, where they will spend the holidays.

On Thursday, federal authorities charged Enrique Marquez with providing material support to Farook and Malik. Marquez allegedly purchased two rifles used in the attack and had plotted to carry out attacks with Farook in 2011.


Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey said on Wednesday there was no indication that Farook or Malik were part of an organized cell or had any contact with overseas militant groups.

ADDIS ABABA:  The African Union has agreed to send troops to stop violence in Burundi, a senior official said today, after talks in which the 54-member bloc warned it would not allow "another genocide".

The AU's Peace and Security Council (PSC) "took a decision yesterday to send troops to protect civilians," senior AU official Bonaventure Cakpo Guebegde told AFP.

"These troops will be under the banner of the East African Standby Force (EASF)."

No decision has been made on the potential size of any force, which would require the agreement of Burundi, or a vote by AU presidents before any deployment is approved.

Burundi has so far dismissed proposals for any peacekeeping force.

"We have two options: we send troops with Burundi government consent, or we wait for African Union heads of states' consent, which means that two-thirds at least should agree," Guebegde said.

He could not comment on whether Bujumbura had reacted to the proposal.

"Our favourite option is to reach an agreement with Burundian government," he said.

On Thursday, AU security council chief Smail Chergui said there was "a very clear message" from the meeting, that "the killings in Burundi must stop immediately."

Ministers were briefed Thursday on "contingency planning" on the military capabilities of its regional East African Standby Force without giving further details.

"The number of troops to send has not been fully determined yet," Guebegde said.

'No more genocide'

The 10-nation EASF includes Burundi itself, and is one of five AU regional bodies with a mandate to boost "peace and security". It has never deployed and is currently a force in principle only.

Burundi descended into bloodshed in April when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced his intention to run for a controversial third term, which he went on to win in July.

"Africa will not allow another genocide to take place on its soil," the PSC said on Twitter during Thursday's meeting.

AU rights investigators this week returned from a fact-finding mission to Burundi expressing "great concern" after witnessing some of the heaviest fighting in the troubled country for months.

The AU team said they had reports of "arbitrary killings and targeted assassinations" as well as arrests, detentions and torture. Their concerns have been widely echoed.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned this week that Burundi was on "the brink of a civil war that risks engulfing the entire region," and said he was dispatching an envoy to push for urgent talks to end the crisis.

Earlier this month Ban said that deploying UN peacekeepers to Burundi was an option to quell the violence but recommended that a UN team be first sent to help bolster dialogue.

WASHINGTON:  US President Barack Obama has promised Sikhs to look into their demand to allow them to serve in the American military "without restrictions" on their articles of faith like growing a beard and wearing a turban, according to a prominent community organisation.

Rajwant Singh, Chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education, met Obama at the White House on Wednesday and pressed him to allow Sikhs in US Armed Forces without any restrictions, the organisation said in a release.

Mr Singh and his wife were invited to the White House Holiday reception hosted by the First Family.

"You have to allow Sikhs to serve in the Army without any restriction. They are only able to serve if Pentagon gives them an exception. This needs to go. Please do not leave office without taking away this restriction against Sikhs," Mr Singh told the President.

Mr Obama, in turn, promised to look into the matter and agreed to follow up

"US President promised to look into the matter and agreed to follow up," the release said.

It further quoted Mr Obama as saying: "Sikhs are great warriors. I will look into it and will follow up."

Mr Singh also pointed out to Mr Obama that Canada has a turban wearing Sikh as its defence minister, which the President acknowledged.

Earlier this month, in a rare exception, an active-duty Sikh combat soldier in the US army was granted a temporary religious accommodation that allowed him to grow his beard and wear a turban.

Travel Industry Embraces Virtual Reality as a Marketing Tool

From roller coasters to cruises to destinations, virtual reality is exploding as a way to market travel.

You can parasail and paddle-board using virtual reality content produced by Florida's Visit St. Pete/Clearwater Tourism Board. You can land a jet on Hamilton Island in Queensland, Australia, then go swimming with tropical fish in the Great Barrier Reef. You can watch the opening song "Circle of Life," recorded at a live Broadway performance of "The Lion King," and peer around the theater at everything from the aisles and audience, to the performers and props, to the conductor and backstage. And even if you can't afford Dubai's luxury Burj Al Arab Jumeirah hotel, you can take a 3D online tour of a royal suite, lobby, helipad, bar, spa, restaurants, marble staircase with cheetah-print carpet and rotating canopy bed.

"VR is taking the world by storm, similar to what mobile did seven years ago," said Abi Mandelbaum, CEO of YouVisit, which has created over 300 VR experiences for destinations, from Vatican City to Mexico's Grand Velas Riviera Maya. "Virtual reality is the most realistic experience you can have of a place without being there. It's powerful. It gets people excited and engaged and interested in having that experience in real life."

Virtual reality offers immersive, 3D experiences via videos and images with 360-degree perspectives, using a $100 headset from Samsung or a virtually free cardboard contraption designed by Google. You need your own smartphone, and the $100 (roughly Rs. 6,700) headset works only with certain Samsungmodels. You can also watch VR videos online with a 360-degree view, though they're not as immersive as using a headset because you're not shutting out your surroundings.

Whichever your method, by moving the device or cursor in different directions, you can see the sky, the floor, down a hallway or around a corner. Mandelbaum said the average user spends 10 minutes on a VR experience, "an eternity" in the digital world.

Dolly Parton's theme park, Dollywood, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, created a VR experience to introduce a new ride, Lightning Rod, billed as the "world's fastest wooden coaster."

"You can take your phone and spin it up and down, look behind you, to the left or right, to get an idea of what this ride is like," said Dollywood spokesman Wes Ramey, comparing the VR experience to looking at photos or reviews before booking a trip. "The ride will not open until March, but this builds buzz around it. It gives people an opportunity to ride it virtually before it's completed."

Mall of America in Minnesota is launching its first VR videos this month, showing its onsite aquarium, Nickelodeon Universe theme park, Santa exhibit, a shopping wing and a choral performance. Carnival Corp.'s new Fathom brand, which plans voluntourism cruises to the Dominican Republic and Cuba, is working on VR content that shows participants in onshore activities like planting seedlings in a reforestation program, reciting English with school children, dancing to Latin music and sharing a meal with locals.

Because so few consumers own viewing devices, some VR producers set up at trade shows, shopping malls, pop-up stores and even on the street where they can provide the headsets. The Miami-based Newlink public relations firm created a VR experience for the Dominican Republic that can be seen on YouTube in a simple 360-degree version, but the company also showed it at trade shows, supplying VR headsets so viewers could get the full effect. As a marketing technique, said Newlink spokeswoman Lourdes Perez, "it is the next big thing."

Is there a risk that viewers will be so satisfied by the VR experience that they won't need to see the real thing? Visitors to Seattle's Space Needle observatory sometimes focus less on real views of the city out the windows because they're so mesmerized by virtual views on the observatory's walls, screens and videos.

But Mandelbaum's not worried. When YouVisit set up tents in Manhattan where more than 1,000 visitors used VR headsets to experience a Carnival cruise, "the reactions were incredible. They would say, 'I didn't know I could do all that on a cruise.' Once they see what it's like, they're more inclined to book."