Diberdayakan oleh Blogger.

Popular Posts Today

Ukraine Desperation As Vital Supplies Run Dry

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 07 Februari 2015 | 10.52

In Luhansk, one of the areas to suffer most in the conflict, there is a growing humanitarian crisis as food and medical shortages render the population powerless.

The streets of central Luhansk are punctuated by shell damage. Shop after shop has closed down.

There has been periodic fighting nearby, but people have been living like this for eight months now.

Beyond the immediate conflict, is a growing humanitarian crisis.

Pensions here haven't been paid since September, so many people are now dependent on public canteens.

In one centre we visited staff were giving out a daily meal of soup, fruit juice, and two pieces of bread, but increasingly they find they are having to turn people away.

Social worker Igor Chaika said: "There are really a lot of people coming here, but we can only make 100 litres, which is 300 portions.

"We can't make more, some people are obviously upset by that - there is not enough for everyone."

Some of those left homeless by the conflict are living in university dorms.

We met a mother who had fled the shelling with her six-year-old son last summer. She said he still wakes up in fear at night.

Anna Kuznetsova told us: "He wakes up crying, and dresses himself up. He got used to doing that.

"A psychologist comes into the kindergarten, but he is afraid - as soon as it's loud he is afraid."

The water is off for most of the day, when it comes back on there's a long queue to fill up containers, and the water pressure is weak.

On the floor above, 77-year-old Nina Nikolayevna showed us where she is living.

She had her own flat this time last year, but now she's sharing a room with two other elderly ladies.

She said Doctors Without Borders had given them blankets and sheets, but they had seen no other humanitarian aid.

"We go to the social canteen, it starts at 11 and they feed us once, but you know what kind of food it is there," Ms Nikolayevna explained.

"They don't give us anything on Sunday, there's nothing."

One of her roommates, 64-year-old Nina Shershen, added: "No one helps us, we are people as well.

"It's not we who created this war, it is them who came here and destroyed everything - how can we live like this?"

At the city's cancer hospital, the head doctor, Dr Alexander Torba, showed us where their buildings had been shelled.

As a result, one of their nurses was killed last year.

Staff are now working without salaries and they have no running water, but their biggest concern is chemotherapy drugs.

Dr Torba says they have around one week's supply left: "The big problem is with the anti-tumour medicines. There is not enough in the pharmacies and it's expensive. People don't have money to buy it."

Irina Timachuk, 54, has stage one ovarian cancer and needs to start her next chemotherapy cycle in 20 days.

She said: "We need treatment and we want to live. We are not old yet; my life is not over yet. I want to live, that's it. If I don't receive treatment it's over."

Valentina Gukosen, 51, who has stage three ovarian cancer, added: "I want to ask for help. I want to live. I'm not that old, but what shall I do?"


10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Russia's Talks On Ukraine Crisis 'Constructive'

Russia's Talks On Ukraine Crisis 'Constructive'

We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.

Work is under way on a possible document aimed at ending the crisis in Ukraine following "constructive" talks with the leaders of Germany and France, Russia has said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held late-night talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande in Moscow on Friday in what was widely seen as a last-ditch attempt to thrash out a deal to end fighting which has claimed the lives of more than 5,300 people.

Clashes between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces in the east of the country have escalated in recent weeks, despite a peace deal agreed in Minsk last September.

The West accuses Russia of sending troops and weapons across the border although Moscow has consistently denied backing the rebels.

Despite no major breakthrough in negotiations, a Kremlin spokesman said Friday's talks were "substantial and constructive".

1/5

  1. Gallery: Brief Truce Allows Civilians To Flee Besieged Town Of Debaltseve

    A member of the Ukrainian armed forces assists local residents onto a bus to flee fighting in Debaltseve, eastern Ukraine

Two dozen buses escorted civilians out of the town after separatist rebels and government forces agreed a brief truce to allow civilians to be evacuated. Click through for more images ...

]]>
]]>
]]>
]]>

"At the moment joint work is under way on preparing the text of a possible joint document on implementation of the Minsk agreements - a document which would include proposals made by the president of Ukraine and proposals formulated today and added by Russian President Putin," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Mrs Merkel and Mr Hollande went to Moscow with a peace proposal discussed during a separate meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko a day earlier.

Mr Peskov said they would discuss the proposal further during a phone conversation with Mr Putin on Sunday. 

He indicated Mr Poroshenko would also take part.

The talks came as rebels and Ukrainian troops briefly halted fighting in the embattled eastern town of Debaltseve to allow the evacuation of civilians.

Both sides sent convoys of buses into the town to rescue residents who have been trapped without power, heat or running water for two weeks.

Rebel forces have encircled the town and are engaged in a violent battle for control with government troops.

Debaltseve is a key railway hub between the two main rebel-controlled cities of Donetsk and Luhansk which are facing a major humanitarian crisis.

Fears that the conflict is spiralling out of control have prompted the US to consider supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine, an option opposed by European nations.

Speaking in Brussels US Vice President Joe Biden said Ukraine was fighting for survival in the face of growing Russian military involvement.

"We, the US and Europe as a whole, have to stand with Ukraine at this moment," Mr Biden said.

"Russia cannot be allowed to redraw the map of Europe."

British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon warned, however, that providing additional weapons could escalate the conflict.

His comments, at the start of a security conference in Munich, were echoed by Germany's defence minister Ursula von der Leyen.

"Are we sure that we would be improving the situation for the people in Ukraine by delivering weapons?" Mrs Von der Leyen asked the conference.

"Are we really sure that Ukraine can win against the Russian military machine?" she added.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is set to meet Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the conference this weekend.

Recommended by Outbrain Recommended by Outbrain

Top Stories

  1. Breaking News: Family Of IS Hostage Hopeful She Is Still Alive
  2. US Woman Held By IS: Who Is Kayla Mueller?
  3. Tax Havens Face Blacklisting Threat From Labour
  4. Police Hunt Pair Over Cadet Beheading Threat
  5. Brown Family Brawl As Hopes Fade For Bobbi

Russia's Talks On Ukraine Crisis 'Constructive'

We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.

Work is under way on a possible document aimed at ending the crisis in Ukraine following "constructive" talks with the leaders of Germany and France, Russia has said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held late-night talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande in Moscow on Friday in what was widely seen as a last-ditch attempt to thrash out a deal to end fighting which has claimed the lives of more than 5,300 people.

Clashes between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces in the east of the country have escalated in recent weeks, despite a peace deal agreed in Minsk last September.

The West accuses Russia of sending troops and weapons across the border although Moscow has consistently denied backing the rebels.

Despite no major breakthrough in negotiations, a Kremlin spokesman said Friday's talks were "substantial and constructive".

1/5

  1. Gallery: Brief Truce Allows Civilians To Flee Besieged Town Of Debaltseve

    A member of the Ukrainian armed forces assists local residents onto a bus to flee fighting in Debaltseve, eastern Ukraine

Two dozen buses escorted civilians out of the town after separatist rebels and government forces agreed a brief truce to allow civilians to be evacuated. Click through for more images ...

]]>

]]>

]]>

]]>

"At the moment joint work is under way on preparing the text of a possible joint document on implementation of the Minsk agreements - a document which would include proposals made by the president of Ukraine and proposals formulated today and added by Russian President Putin," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Mrs Merkel and Mr Hollande went to Moscow with a peace proposal discussed during a separate meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko a day earlier.

Mr Peskov said they would discuss the proposal further during a phone conversation with Mr Putin on Sunday. 

He indicated Mr Poroshenko would also take part.

The talks came as rebels and Ukrainian troops briefly halted fighting in the embattled eastern town of Debaltseve to allow the evacuation of civilians.

Both sides sent convoys of buses into the town to rescue residents who have been trapped without power, heat or running water for two weeks.

Rebel forces have encircled the town and are engaged in a violent battle for control with government troops.

Debaltseve is a key railway hub between the two main rebel-controlled cities of Donetsk and Luhansk which are facing a major humanitarian crisis.

Fears that the conflict is spiralling out of control have prompted the US to consider supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine, an option opposed by European nations.

Speaking in Brussels US Vice President Joe Biden said Ukraine was fighting for survival in the face of growing Russian military involvement.

"We, the US and Europe as a whole, have to stand with Ukraine at this moment," Mr Biden said.

"Russia cannot be allowed to redraw the map of Europe."

British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon warned, however, that providing additional weapons could escalate the conflict.

His comments, at the start of a security conference in Munich, were echoed by Germany's defence minister Ursula von der Leyen.

"Are we sure that we would be improving the situation for the people in Ukraine by delivering weapons?" Mrs Von der Leyen asked the conference.

"Are we really sure that Ukraine can win against the Russian military machine?" she added.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is set to meet Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the conference this weekend.

Recommended by Outbrain Recommended by Outbrain

Top Stories

  1. Breaking News: Family Of IS Hostage Hopeful She Is Still Alive
  2. US Woman Held By IS: Who Is Kayla Mueller?
  3. Tax Havens Face Blacklisting Threat From Labour
  4. Police Hunt Pair Over Cadet Beheading Threat
  5. Brown Family Brawl As Hopes Fade For Bobbi


10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kerry: Obama May Send Ukraine Weapons 'Soon'

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 06 Februari 2015 | 10.52

President Obama is considering sending lethal weapons to Ukraine as the country battles pro-Russian rebels, his Secretary of State John Kerry has said.

Mr Kerry said the US President will make a decision "soon" about supplying arms to the country, where a civil war is under way in the east of the country.

His comments came as French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Kiev for talks about a ceasefire.

Mr Kerry told a joint news conference with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk: "The president is reviewing all of his options, among those options is the possibility of providing defensive systems to Ukraine.

"The president will make his decision soon but not before he has had a chance to hear back from myself and others."

He added that Washington would prefer a diplomatic solution and that the US backed a "helpful" peace plan Mrs Merkel and Mr Hollande are expected to present to Mr Putin on Friday.

Mr Kerry said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had the ability to end the war in Ukraine.

More than 5,000 people are thought to have died in the ongoing conflict which erupted in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea last March.

Separatists allying themselves with Moscow have been fighting with Ukrainian troops as they attempt to set up independent states in the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

Kiev has accused Russia of arming the rebels and sending manpower and equipment over the border - something Russia denies.

In the US, Republican Senator and former Presidential candidate John McCain said the Senate would write legislation requiring the provision of arms to Ukraine if Mr Obama did not send them.

The US earlier agreed to give $16.4m (£10.7m) in humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

During a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Mr Kerry warned the US would not "close our eyes" to Russian tanks and fighters crossing the border.

Merkel and Francois Hollande will head to Moscow with a new initiative which they say is "based on the territorial integrity of Ukraine".

A spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said Vladimir Putin was ready to hold constructive talks with the European leaders and that Russia would "do everything it can" to help resolve the crisis in Ukraine.

However, he claimed the Ukrainian government was using weapons in the conflict zone which had effects similar to those of weapons of mass destruction.

Meanwhile, NATO defence ministers agreed to immediately set up six bases in eastern Europe and establish a spearhead force of 5,000 troops in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg revealed.

France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and Britain have agreed to take the lead in forming the spearhead force, which would be available to deploy within a week.

Britain will provide 1,000 of those troops. A Russian government spokesman said the move was "very worrying".


10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

War-Torn Ukraine Facing AIDS Care 'Disaster'

By Nick Martin, Sky News Correspondent

Hundreds of children were born with HIV unnecessarily in Ukraine last year because of a shortage of vital drugs, a Sky News investigation has discovered.

A year of conflict has led to claims the country's AIDS programme is "breaking down" and not enough is being done to fight the epidemic, which has plagued the former Soviet state for more than 25 years.

War in the east of the country and political turmoil in Kiev has choked off the supply of antiretroviral drugs used to prevent the spread of the virus.

International organisations like Unicef are worried that one of the key indicators - the transferral of the virus from pregnant women to unborn children - is beginning to rise for the first time since 2002.

"There is potential for a real disaster," said Giovanna Barberis, Unicef's representative in Ukraine.

"Because of the crisis in Ukraine the system is breaking down and there is a shortage of antiretroviral drugs.

"They cost money, they are expensive and whilst the international community is there to support, it is probably not enough."

Many pregnant women who should have received antiretroviral therapy did not get access to the drug and have gone on to give birth to HIV-positive babies, Ms Barberis said.

Months of turmoil have left Ukraine's finances shattered and the government forced to sign a $17bn (£11bn) bailout with the International Monetary Fund.

Despite the warnings, Ukraine's new health minister Alexander Kvitashvili told Sky News the country has "a grip" on the epidemic.

"We're very well prepared to face the challenges and we are ready to send that message to our international donors," he said.

"Given the situation in the country, given the full-blown Russian aggression that we're facing, given the financial crisis, I think we have a grip on the situation."

But doctors on the frontline of the fight against HIV do not agree.

The National Treatment Centre in Kiev is home to 20 children, all of whom have HIV.

Many of them have been abandoned by their mothers and left to live in state-run orphanages.

Dr Vera Checheneva, an HIV specialist and paediatrician, is one of the few doctors who agrees to treat children with HIV - such is the level of fear among the medical profession.

"At the moment I feel I am not in Ukraine, that I am in Africa or somewhere," she said.

1/18

  1. Gallery: Mothers And Children Shunned In War-Torn Ukraine

    These are antiretrovirals which can help alleviate the symptoms of HIV or AIDS. They are expensive and Ukraine needs constant help from international donors in order to keep up supply

Dr Vera Checheneva is an HIV specialist and Paediatrician at the Okhmadut clinic in Kiev. She is one of the few doctors in Ukraine willing to treat children with HIV and AIDS

]]>
10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pilot's Father Denounces IS 'Wild Beasts'

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 05 Februari 2015 | 10.52

The father of the Jordanian pilot who was burned alive by Islamic State has told Sky News his son's killers are "wild beasts".

His condemnation came as Jordan's King Abdullah pledged a "relentless war" against the extremists as he flew home early from Washington for crisis talks over the response to the murder of Mu'ath Al Kassasbeh.

His country's response was swift, taking revenge by executing two prisoners after a horrific video of Mr Al Kassasbeh's killing was published online.

One of them was the Iraqi would-be suicide bomber Sajida al Rishawi, who the extremists had wanted freed.

Safi, the dead pilot's father, said: "My feeling is that of every father - I am mourning my own son.

"The whole world, the Arab world, the Jordanian society is mourning with me.

"What they did is more than criminal - it's never been seen before in history.

"Even animals couldn't do this - they are wild beasts, they have no connection to Islam.

"They are not human beings let alone Muslims.

"I think the reaction of Jordan will be very strong."

There has been widespread condemnation of the fighter pilot's death, with Saudi Arabia's new King Salman describing his murder as "inhuman and contrary to Islam".

Mr Al Kassasbeh was captured by the militants in December when his F-16 crashed near Raqqa, Syria, the de facto capital of the Islamic State group's self-styled caliphate.

The 26-year-old's murder appeared to be aimed at pressuring the government of Jordan - a close US ally - to leave the coalition that has carried out months of airstrikes on IS positions in Syria and Iraq.

But experts say the brutality shown by the extremists against a fellow Muslim could backfire and serve to galvanise opposition against the militants.


10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

IS Seeks Reinvention Through Pilot Murder Video

The video is new, but Jordanian pilot Mu'ath Al Kassasbeh was killed more than a month ago.

A resistance group - based in Syria - uses social media to chart life under IS rule.

Early in January it tweeted: "A group of ISIS fighters in Raqqa were talking among them enthusiastically about the execution of Jordanian pilot who was burned to death by ISIS - the reports are unconfirmed yet."

A member of the group today told Sky News: "On 8 January, one of our members who was in a public place - we don't want to say where exactly for his security and to protect him - he saw some IS fighters, including one of their biggest leaders were celebrating.

"They were boasting that they had burned the Jordanian pilot that day."

Instead of publicising the murder on social media, Islamic State has kept extremely quiet online, and spent that time working on an elaborate, highly-produced video.

That shows how important they think these videos are.

This one is the most sophisticated yet.

It uses multiple camera angles, was made using expensive equipment, and employs a lot of whizz-bang visual effects and graphics.

One aim is obviously to terrorise the population in the areas they control.

Every film needs a screening and the same resistance activist told us: "Yesterday, IS projected the video on big screens in the street to show the people of Raqqa the execution.

"The reaction was one of shock, they couldn't believe what had happened.

"One person asked a fighter why they burnt him as in Islam that is forbidden. They said it was an eye for an eye, and that they had killed our women and children with their airstrikes."

The video does indeed try to strike a more emotive note than previous releases.

It also shows how the Islamic State is trying to rewrite its story.

The style is like a spy film with its graphics and treatments, compared to the all-out combat of previous videos.

It is presented as "a security database" and there's a detailed 3D breakdown of the weapons and vehicles used by those fighting IS.

The message - they are not scrappy desert fighters any more, training by jumping through fiery hoops and engaging in limp hand-to-hand combat.

Now they are a sophisticated intelligence network.

Of course, they are not.

The whole aim of the video is to make them seem much more sophisticated than they actually are.

Finally, as polished as it is, the video is not a product, but a continuation of a dialogue.

When Mr Al Kassasbeh was shot down at the end of last year, a hashtag spread through Twitter, asking IS supporters how he should be killed.

One user suggested a bulldozer.

This video ends with another call to action.

It shows the names and purported address of other Jordanian air force pilots, and offers a reward for their murder.

The real sophistication of this video, and of IS generally, is involving others in their story online.

Artur Beifuss, author of Branding Terror, said: "ISIS is not only at war with the so-called West, but also in competition with other terrorists groups that offer the same product.

"Think about the competition: Boko Haram in Nigeria, 9/11 or the Taliban killing 144 school children in Pakistan in December 2014.

"The product is the same, but only one group will be the most notorious one."


10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Iraqi Militant Executed After IS Murders Pilot

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 04 Februari 2015 | 10.52

Jordan has executed two prisoners after Islamic State murdered one of their pilots, a government spokesman has said.

One of those executed was Iraqi would-be suicide bomber Sajida al Rishawi, who was on death row for her role in a hotel attack that killed 60 people.

The other was Ziad al Karbouli, who had been an aide to the late former leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq and who confessed to a number of killings in 2006.

Jordan had promised a swift and lethal response after IS released a video showing captured pilot Mu'ath Al Kassasbeh being burned alive in a cage.

More follows...


10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Jordan Will Have Revenge For Murdered Pilot

Jordan Will Have Revenge For Murdered Pilot

We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.

It's slickly produced with iconography and graphics fitting for a thriller or spy movie.

It even uses 'flashbacks' as the condemned man looks into the sky and contemplates just how justified his punishment is going to be compared to the 'crimes' he has committed.

The latest murder video from the death cult that calls itself Islamic State is revealing not for the visible 'power' of the movement but for its weakness.

Indeed the whole saga of the Japanese hostages and murder of flight lieutenant Mu'ath Al Kassasbeh begins to reveal a picture of an organisation that is losing its grip.

It has already abandoned Kobani after losing 1,200 men. It has been driven from some key towns and villages in the east of Iraq, and now it would appear to be incoherent in its kidnap policy.

Last year it made about £30m ($45m) from negotiating the release of foreigners.

It murdered Britons and Americans on camera because the shocking snuff movies of their deaths generated a level of publicity that outweighed the profits it might have raised from desperate families.

Throughout the talks aimed at swapping Sajida al Rishawi, a failed suicide bomber on death row in Amman, IS was unable to provide proof that Flt Lt Kassasbeh was alive.

Activists in Raqqa said on 8 January that they believed he had been killed.

1/11

  1. Gallery: Tension Mounts Over IS Hostages' Plight

    Japanese television networks reveal the plight of hostage Kenji Goto, whose release in exchange for freedom for a jailed female jihadist is being negotiated through the Jordanian capital Amman

Supporters of Mr Goto take part in a vigil outside Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Tokyo office

]]>

A Japanese journalist at the protest headquarters in Amman for the family of pilot Muath al Kasaesbeh, who has been held hostage by IS since December

]]>

The father of the missing pilot has led the campaign for his son's release

]]>

Public protest is increasing in Jordan over the pilot's fate, with pressure growing on King Abdullah, as supporters continue to revere his father King Hussein

]]>
Jordan Will Have Revenge For Murdered Pilot

We use cookies to give you the best experience. If you do nothing we'll assume that it's ok.

It's slickly produced with iconography and graphics fitting for a thriller or spy movie.

It even uses 'flashbacks' as the condemned man looks into the sky and contemplates just how justified his punishment is going to be compared to the 'crimes' he has committed.

The latest murder video from the death cult that calls itself Islamic State is revealing not for the visible 'power' of the movement but for its weakness.

Indeed the whole saga of the Japanese hostages and murder of flight lieutenant Mu'ath Al Kassasbeh begins to reveal a picture of an organisation that is losing its grip.

It has already abandoned Kobani after losing 1,200 men. It has been driven from some key towns and villages in the east of Iraq, and now it would appear to be incoherent in its kidnap policy.

Last year it made about £30m ($45m) from negotiating the release of foreigners.

It murdered Britons and Americans on camera because the shocking snuff movies of their deaths generated a level of publicity that outweighed the profits it might have raised from desperate families.

Throughout the talks aimed at swapping Sajida al Rishawi, a failed suicide bomber on death row in Amman, IS was unable to provide proof that Flt Lt Kassasbeh was alive.

Activists in Raqqa said on 8 January that they believed he had been killed.

1/11

  1. Gallery: Tension Mounts Over IS Hostages' Plight

    Japanese television networks reveal the plight of hostage Kenji Goto, whose release in exchange for freedom for a jailed female jihadist is being negotiated through the Jordanian capital Amman

Supporters of Mr Goto take part in a vigil outside Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Tokyo office

]]>

A Japanese journalist at the protest headquarters in Amman for the family of pilot Muath al Kasaesbeh, who has been held hostage by IS since December

]]>

The father of the missing pilot has led the campaign for his son's release

]]>

Public protest is increasing in Jordan over the pilot's fate, with pressure growing on King Abdullah, as supporters continue to revere his father King Hussein

]]>

10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cocktail Of Misery Feeds French Radicalisation

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 03 Februari 2015 | 10.52

Anxiously eyeing the upper floors of a tower block, the gendarme admitted: "I don't want to stay here long".

Why not?

"Someone might drop a washing machine on my head," he replied.

This comic-book image provoked an unstifled snigger.

But what France's Gendarmerie and police now face, according to their own Prime Minister, is operating on the front lines of decades of a failed philosophy of ethnic integration.

Major Denis Mottier is a combat veteran of Afghanistan. Now he's in L'Ariane, a suburb of Nice, dealing with crime and the steady infiltration of extreme Islamist ideology.

He explains that the area, which sits just two miles up an industrial valley from the centre of Nice, faces severe unemployment, drugs, and organised crime - a cocktail of misery that can feed the radicalisation of young people, especially immigrants.

In France, until about 10 days ago, there was no such thing as community.

No Tunisian community. No communities of Congolese, Senegalese, Chechens or Libyans.

France, it was deeply believed, had a unifying culture that was as indomitable as Asterix and inclusive of all.

"We have a different approach to Britain," said colonel Gael Marchand, the commander of the Gendarmerie for the Alpes-Maritime region.

"There you have multi-culturalism. You have communities from all the immigrant groups. Differences are celebrated. Here we see everyone as French. Just French."

Partly derived from the French colonial approach which favoured assimilation of races over separation, the French mono-cultural view has been the bedrock of policy throughout the Fifth Republic.

Until Prime Minister Manuel Valls dropped an A-Bomb. He admitted the unthinkable.

France, he said, had become an apartheid state that had confined people to the urban fringes and excluded them from the mainstream of life because of their skin colour, their surnames or their sex.

The problems of immigrants in the banlieux  were not new. Thousands rioted in 2005 after a group of young people died while allegedly being chased by police in Paris.

But the evolution of Islamo-fascism alongside the alienation of young men and women of immigrant stock has grown and born bloody fruit in the form of the Charlie Hebdo slaughter - killings carried out by men born French but feeling other.

Children in the Nice banlieux often drop out of school at 13. They are easy prey for radical preachers who have a political and theological explanation for why hope fades for many in their teens.

As in England and across Europe vulnerable young people are told they are "hated" by the indigenous communities and that the West is a decadent brothel-cum-casino that should be purged.

These arguments combined with the prospect of getting into gunfights and the thrill of Holy War, are powerful magnets that have drawn thousands from Europe to the ranks of terror groups in Syria.

Many dozens have travelled from Nice. Now 64 ghettos have been officially identified in across France. Six are around Nice, including L'Ariane.

Nearly half of young people living in them are unemployed and the average income is about €11,000 (£8,300) and more than half of families have a single parent.

So France has admitted it has a problem. It's just the solution that eludes the Republic - just as it does the United Kingdom.


10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

France Targets 'Ghettos' In Anti-Terror Fight

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

Counter-terrorism operations have been launched across France in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, with the Prime Minister declaring the country has collapsed into "apartheid".

A total of 64 suburbs in many major cities have been identified as ghettos and Manuel Valls' admission that geographic, social and ethnic apartheid exists in France signals a seismic change in the country's approach to immigration

It also highlights the scale of the problem.

France has not been able to concede that significant proportions of its population were being left behind economically, marginalised into ethnic enclaves, leaderless and vulnerable to Islamist radicalisation.

Because until now French political thought refused to recognise the notion of the nation having different communities within it.

But the 64 ghettos identified in dozens of cities share startling statistical characteristics.

Unemployment is at 23% in the banlieux. Among the young that figure soars to 45%.

The average income is €11,000 (£8,300) a year. Between a third and half of all families are single-parent and about half are made up of immigrants or their children.

Meanwhile, the French interior ministry has designated around 15 Priority Security Zones across the country, which have been seen to be hotbeds of crime and potential hot houses of jihadism.

These zones have been reinforced by extra intelligence and uniformed officers, as well as quick-reaction units which set up road blocks and random checks to look for drugs and weapons.

"There is a very blurred and small gap between organised crime and terrorism," said colonel Gael Marchand, head of the Gendarmerie for the Alpes-Maritime region.

"Terrorists need funding and they are often recruited in prisons. If you're a terrorist and a former criminal you know where and how to get weapons."

He said guns were easily obtained via smuggling routes through Italy from eastern Europe.

France has launched an internet campaign attacking Islamic State's online recruitment drive and warning potential jihadis they will die a "lonely death far from home".

But the colonel said the majority of the most effective indoctrination was conducted by individual preachers who were able to speak directly to potential recruits beyond the scrutiny of members of mosques and prayer rooms.

Anne Mamadou lost his son to jihad. He was radicalised by Omar Omsen, a notorious Muslim convert, originally from Senegal, who settled in Nice and took "dozens" of volunteers with him when he went to fight in Syria.

"It's been very hard to get hold of him," he said.

"The last I heard is that he was fighting somewhere near Kobani in the north.

"He was brought up a Muslim in the correct way. He got a good education and then he suddenly disappeared - just after getting married and having his first baby.

"He's probably too proud to come back and say: 'Daddy, I made a mistake'."

Bekri Boubekeur is an Imam and member of the local Muslim council who was part of a group that built and funded the first mosque in the region, which sits across the road from a drug den in L'Ariane, a ghetto on the outskirts of Nice.

He said young people who signed up for Jihad were "committing slow suicide".

"They probably don't know they're doing it at the time, but they are," he said.


10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ukraine: Psychiatric Care On The Frontline

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 01 Februari 2015 | 10.52

By Katie Stallard, Sky Correspondent, in Donetsk

At the psychiatric hospital in western Donetsk, an elderly man stands reciting Pushkin.

The shelling has been getting closer, the patients are being told what is happening, but it's difficult for many of them to understand.

Inside, on the ward, the staff are trying to keep things as normal as possible, but they're frightened too.

The doctor shows us a picture of one of their nurses - Irinia Radchenko - she was killed in shelling at home a few days ago.

"It was Wednesday," Dr Valentina Vozovikova told us.

"She was at home after work when the place was heavily shelled and she died.

"She was killed by a big piece of shell. It went through her chest.

"We are really afraid. Today on my way to work when I was almost at the bus station the shelling began so I lay on the ground.

"It was really scary, but I made it to work because the shells didn't land too near to me."

Dr Vozovikova showed us around the ward and asked us to film a 92-year-old retired schoolteacher - neighbours found her lying on the floor at home.

The doctor hoped relatives abroad might recognise the frail lady and be able to help.

"Her name is Vera Feodorovna Pismenova," Dr Vozovikova said, "She has nephews in Russia, maybe someone will see that she is alive, that she cannot look after herself."

"We brought her here and we don't know if we can save her or not but we hope we can."

In another room, we met 77-year-old Nina Pavlovna, she was found begging near a church.

"The shelling began … I had nowhere to live," Mrs Pavolovna explained.

"I was begging on the street so they took me here, washed me, changed my clothes and I'm grateful for that."

Staff said their salaries had not been paid for four months, and the hospital was running low on food and medication, that they only had a few days' supply of some drugs left.

Medical aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) - also known as Doctors Without Borders - has warned of an increasingly dire situation in the region, as hospitals are stretched to breaking point with dwindling supplies, and an increasing number of patients.

MSF is working on both sides of the conflict zone, transporting medical supplies to frontline hospitals, but heavy fighting is restricting access to some areas.

We filmed Dr Wael Abdelrahman Ahmed delivering medication to an elderly care home in Makiivka, north-east of Donetsk, who explained the difficulties facing doctors in the region.

"There is a really big problem with medications," he said.

"We're getting different requests from different hospitals - they need support."

"We are doing our best now to support them - for instance with maternity and chronic disease kits."

The organisation said their teams had twice been turned back over the last week, trying to reach the hospital in the frontline city of Gorlovka, and urged both sides to allow humanitarian aid to reach those who desperately need it.


10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ukraine Peace Talks Break With No Solution

Peace talks aimed at ending the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine have broken up with no plans to resume, according to Sky News sources.

The main members of the so-called contact group - Ukrainian former president Leonid Kuchma, a Russian diplomat and an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe official - had met at a state residence in the Belarussian capital Minsk, where they were joined by two separatist officials.

Diplomatic sources told Sky's Katie Stallard the talks broke up with no conclusion.

She was told their resumption on Sunday was not likely and differences were very wide - with the atmosphere described as not fruitful.

It came on a day when 12 civilians were killed by separatist shelling in Debaltseve, which lies to the northeast of Donetsk, according to a police chief.

Ukraine's Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak, meanwhile, said 15 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 30 wounded in clashes across the east.

The day before Sky News had witnessed the aftermath of a shell strike in Donetsk, at which correspondent Katie Stallard counted five bodies.

The two sides in Ukraine's civil war have held only one inconclusive meeting since agreeing a ceasefire last September.

That truce collapsed with a new rebel advance last week.

Rebels are fighting to remove the two regions of Donetsk and Luhansk from Kiev's control.

Both sides have accused each other of deadly artillery and mortar strikes on civilian targets in the past two weeks, including the one on a cultural centre seen by Sky's correspondent.

Since September, the separatists, who Kiev says are supported by Russian troops, have seized more than 500 sq km (193 sq miles) of territory.

Debaltseve, where the fighting has been intense, is on the main road between Donetsk and the other big rebel-controlled city of Luhansk. It is also on a vital rail route for goods traffic from Russia.

The rebels were also continuing to threaten Mariupol, a town of 500,000 people in the southeast of the country, an official said.

1/9

  1. Gallery: Ukrainian Army's New Conscripts

    Conscripts attend a ceremony marking their enrolment in the Ukrainian army in Kiev

Relatives react as they attend the ceremony. Ukraine's parliament voted to refresh its front-line forces and resume partial conscription after a top security official warned Russian forces backing rebels had sharply increased military activity in the country's east. Continue through for more images

]]>
10.52 | 0 komentar | Read More
techieblogger.com Techie Blogger Techie Blogger