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Berlin Marks Fall Of Wall Amid Cold War Fears

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 09 November 2014 | 10.52

By Robert Nisbet, Europe Correspondent

Germany will mark today's 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall by releasing 8,000 balloons along a nine-mile stretch of the former concrete frontier.

The lit balloons will be untethered at 7.18pm local time, to celebrate the moment the first East Germans started to clamber across the divide into the west on Thursday 9 November, 1989.

The wall was built around West Berlin in 1961 by the German Democratic Republic, which called it the "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart".

The Wall's main purpose, however, was to prevent defections to the west.

In its 28-year history, the Berlin Wall became a potent symbol of the Cold War with its watchtowers and so-called "death-strip" where an estimated 5,000 people risked their lives to escape the hardline regime.

But cracks started to appear in the imposing edifice when mainly bloodless revolutions in Poland and Hungary heralded the loosening of communism's grip in eastern Europe.

Video: Remembered: The Day The Wall Fell

The pursuit of the policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was the precursor to these historic events.

The 83-year-old is in Berlin to join the commemoration ceremonies which include a concert at the Brandenburg Gate and the reopening of a museum dedicated to the Wall.

But Mr Gorbachev has warned that the world has failed to learn the lessons from the bitter enmity which divided Europe after World War Two.

Video: What Is Berlin Now?

Referring to the current stand off between the west and Russia's Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, he said: "The world is on the brink of a new Cold War. Some are even saying that it's already begun."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was born in Hamburg but grew up in the east, will lead today's events by making a speech at the Berlin Wall Memorial.

She has spoken in the past about the significance of the Wall's collapse to every German citizen.

Video: Sound And Vision: Berlin Wall Fall

"Even today when I walk through the Brandenburg Gate, there's a residual feeling that this wasn't possible for many years of my life, and that I had to wait 35 years to have this feeling of freedom," Mrs Merkel said last week.

"That changed my life," she added.

German unification took almost a year to complete after the Wall fell and since then an estimated two trillion euros has been spent on trying to level the playing field.

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  1. Gallery: 25 Years Since The Berlin Wall Fell

    West Berlin policemen and East German Volkspolizei face each other across the border in Berlin, circa 1955

1961: Soldiers build the Berlin Wall, as instructed by the East German authorities, in order to strengthen the existing barriers dividing East and West Berlin

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Two IS Leaders Killed By Airstrikes - Reports

Coalition airstrikes have targeted a gathering of Islamic State leaders at a house in northern Iraq, a US defence official has said.

Senior IS officers were meeting in al Qaim, a town near Mosul which is under the Islamist group's control. After the strikes began, militants evacuated a nearby hospital and used loudspeakers to ask for blood donors.

The bodies of 50 militants have since been transported to a morgue in Mosul, according to Reuters.

Unconfirmed reports from the news agency suggest that the leader of IS, along with his deputy, were killed in the attack.

It is unclear whether top commander Abu Bakr al Baghdadi was among the militants targeted, a US official said.

Video: More Airstrikes Hit IS In Kobani

Hailed as the world's most wanted man, al Baghdadi has declared himself the caliph, or supreme leader, of the vast areas of territory in Iraq and Syria under IS control.

Washington has offered a $10m (£6m) reward for his capture.

US national security analyst Arash Aramesh told Sky News: "If he is in fact dead, yes it will deal a major blow to the organisation but let's not forget there are other commanders both in the military and political wings that can replace al Baghdadi.

Video: Airstrikes 'Missing IS Targets'

"This organisation with one dead leader is not going to be finished. This is going to be a continued, long-term campaign not just to rid the region of IS but from the ideology that creates organisations like IS, al Qaeda, Boko Haram and the Taliban."

The airstrikes also destroyed a convoy of 10 armed IS trucks, US Central Command said.

In a statement, its spokesperson added: "This strike demonstrates the pressure we continue to place on the IS terrorist network and the group's increasingly limited freedom to manoeuvre, communicate and command."

Video: First Video Of Islamist Leader

Meanwhile, a series of explosions have killed dozens of people across Iraq.

Four bombings killed least 43 people in and around Baghdad on Saturday. The deadliest blast hit the city's Shi'ite district of Sadr City, where a car bomb tore through a commercial area killing 11 people.

On Friday, a suicide truck bomber struck the convoy of a top Iraqi police officer killing eight people, including the ranking official. Iraqi authorities said the attack bore the hallmarks of IS.

Video: Sept: First RAF Airstrikes On IS

US President Barack Obama has authorised the deployment of up to 1,500 more US troops to bolster Iraqi forces, including into Anbar province, where battles with IS militants have been fierce.

A statement from Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al Abadi's office said: "This step is a little late, but we welcome it."


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