IGIHE

Tag: InternationalNews

  • Ukraine in Full Army Mobilisation

    Ukraine in Full Army Mobilisation

    Prime Minster Arseniy Yatsenyuk said the country was “on the brink of disaster”.

    US President Barack Obama has called Russian troop deployments a “violation of Ukrainian sovereignty”.

    Nato is conducting emergency talks on the crisis. Its secretary-general has said Russia’s actions “threatened peace and security in Europe”.

    Several other measures were announced on Sunday by national security officials:

    The armed forces would be put on “full combat readiness”.
    Reserves to be mobilised and trained
    Ukraine’s foreign minister will seek the help of US and UK leaders in guaranteeing its security
    Emergency headquarters to be set up
    Increased security at key sites, including nuclear plants.
    Airspace closed to all non-civilian aircraft.

    The media has seen what appear to be Russian troops digging trenches on the Crimean border.

    Heavily armed groups continue to occupy key sites on the peninsula, including airports and communications hubs, although there has been no actual violence.

    {{Military build-up}}

    Tensions are high in Crimea, with several stand-offs reported around Ukrainian military bases.

    One Ukrainian base was surrounded by Russian troops in Perevalnoe, south of the regional capital Simferopol, with another base in Sevastopol being blockaded by a pro-Russian “self-defence unit”.

    In the Crimean port city of Feodosia, a group of Ukrainian marines were also blockaded into their base.

    Armed men surrounded the base demanding that the garrison pledge loyalty to the region’s new pro-Russian authorities.

    Around 100 marines are thought to be inside the base.

    Observers have been watching a build-up of Russian military activity in Crimea – home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet – for the past few days.

    Reports say two Russian anti-submarine warships have appeared off the coast of Crimea in violation of an agreement governing the presence of Russia’s Fleet in the peninsula.

    Russian soldiers are widely reported to be guarding a number of administrative buildings and military bases in Crimea. Parliament, airports, the state television building and telecommunications hubs have also been surrounded.

    Some 6,000 extra Russian troops and 30 additional armoured vehicles are now in Crimea, Ukrainian Defence Minister Ihor Tenyukh said on Saturday.

    The newly-elected pro-Moscow leader of Crimea, Sergiy Aksyonov, said he had appealed to Mr Putin for help to ensure peace on the peninsula.

    The interim government in Kiev does not recognise Mr Aksyonov and his government, and signed a decree on Saturday that their election at an emergency session of the regional parliament this week was illegal.

    On Saturday, Mr Obama held a 90-minute telephone conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and urged him to pull forces back to bases in Crimea.

    BBC

  • Scores Dead in Mass Knife Attack in China

    Scores Dead in Mass Knife Attack in China

    {{A group of knife-wielding men attacked a train station in southwestern China on Saturday, leaving dozens dead and another hundred injured, the official Xinhua News Agency said, making it one of the deadliest attacks in China in recent years.}}

    At least 29 people were killed in the attack, while more than 130 others were injured, Xinhua reported.

    State television said on its official microblog that the incident had been deemed a “violent terror attack”.

    Kunming resident Yang Haifei told Xinhua that he was buying a ticket when he saw a group of people mostly wearing black rush into the station and start attacking bystanders.

    “I saw a person come straight at me with a long knife and I ran away with everyone,” he said. Those who were slower were caught by the attackers. “They just fell on the ground.”

    Graphic pictures on the Twitter-like microblogging service Sina Weibo showed bodies covered in blood lying on the ground at the station.

    Xinhua quoted the Kunming city government as saying evidence at the crime scene showed the attack was carried out by Xinjiang separatist forces.

    China’s domestic security chief, Meng Jianzhu, vowed those responsible would be brought to justice.

    The attack comes at a particularly sensitive time as China gears up for the annual meeting of parliament, which opens in Beijing on Wednesday and is normally accompanied by a tightening of security across the country.

    China has blamed similar incidents on Islamist extremists operating in the restive far western region of Xinjiang, though such attacks have generally been limited to Xinjiang itself.

    China says its first major suicide attack, in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in October, involved militants from Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people, many of whom chafe at Chinese restrictions on their culture and religion.

    {wirestory}

  • Afghan Prison Tricked into Freeing Taliban Fighters

    Afghan Prison Tricked into Freeing Taliban Fighters

    {{Prison officials in Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar have been tricked into releasing a dozen Taliban fighters.}}

    The chief of security for Kandahar, Rahmatullah Atrafi, said a letter was sent to the prison on Tuesday requesting the release of 28 prisoners.

    Sixteen were due for release but the other 12 were not.

    The deception was only discovered after the inmates had been freed. Officials say two have since been recaptured.

    The search for the others continues.

    So far no group has said it was behind the deception although correspondents say the Taliban have carried out several jail breaks in recent years.

    Mr Atrafi said an investigation was being set up.

    “In this letter they added 12 prisoners, and that was fake,” he said.

    “A committee has been set up to look into the matter. In this delegation we have prison officials, prosecutors and security officials.

    “They are going to look into this and find out who was behind it. Whoever it is, they will be tried and punished.”

    The release of Taliban prisoners is a contentious issue in Afghanistan.

    In January, President Hamid Karzai’s office said scores of prisoners previously held by US forces at Bagram jail would be released.

    Washington expressed concern over the planned releases, saying it regarded them as “dangerous criminals”.

    Hundreds of prisoners at Bagram have been freed since the Afghan government took over the running of the prison in March 2013.

    BBC

  • Dead US Man Resurrects

    Dead US Man Resurrects

    {{Even in the Bible Belt, coroners don’t use the word “miracle” lightly.

    But Holmes County, Mississippi, Coroner Dexter Howard has no qualms using the word for the resurrection, as it were, of Walter Williams, who was declared dead Wednesday night.}}

    Howard received the call from Williams’ hospice nurse, who told Howard that the 78-year-old had passed away. A family member called as well, saying the same, Howard said.

    Howard and Byron Porter from Porter & Sons Funeral Home in Lexington, Mississippi, drove to Williams’ home to collect the body for funeral preparations. Howard checked Williams’ pulse about 9 p.m. and pronounced him dead.

    “There was no pulse. He was lifeless,” Howard said.

    The coroner completed his paperwork, placed Williams in a body bag and transported him to the funeral home, he said. There, something strange happened: The body bag moved.

    “We got him into the embalming room and we noticed his legs beginning to move, like kicking,” Howard said. “He also began to do a little breathing.”

    They immediately called an ambulance. Paramedics arrived and hooked Williams up to monitors. Sure enough, he had a heartbeat, so they transported him to the Holmes County Hospital and Clinics.

    “They were in shock. I was in shock. I think everybody at the hospital was in shock,” Howard said.

    Howard is an elected official and not a doctor. More than 1,500 counties in the United States elect coroners and most don’t require medical degrees.

    Neither in his 12 years as county coroner nor during his decade as deputy coroner has Howard seen anything like it. Howard was absolutely certain Williams was dead.

    The only reasonable explanation he could think of, Howard said, is that Williams’ defibrillator, implanted beneath the skin on his chest, jump-started his heart after he was placed in the body bag.

    “It could’ve kicked in, started his heart back,” Howard said. “The bottom line is it’s a miracle.”

    Overjoyed family members are thanking God for saving the life of the longtime farmer they call “Snowball.”

    “So it was not my daddy’s time,” daughter Martha Lewis told CNN affiliate WJTV. “I don’t know how much longer he’s going to grace us and bless us with his presence, but hallelujah, we thank Him right now!”

    Nephew Eddie Hester told CNN affiliate WAPT he was at Williams’ Lexington home when Howard and Porter zipped up the body bag, so he was more than a little stunned when his cousin called at 2:30 a.m. Thursday and told him, “Not yet.”

    “What you mean not yet?” Hester recalled asking his cousin. “He said, ‘Daddy’s still here.’ ”

    “I don’t know how long he’s going to be here, but I know he’s back right now. That’s all that matters,” Hester told WAPT.

    Howard visited Williams on Thursday at the hospital and said he was still “a little weak” but was surrounded by family members and talking.

    Mike Murphy, the coroner for Clark County, Nevada, and past president of the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners, said he couldn’t comment on this specific case without knowing all the details, but he’s read news reports of people returning to life at funeral homes “from time to time.”

    Asked if he’d ever heard of a case in which a defibrillator played a role in bringing someone back to life, Murphy said he hadn’t, “but just because I haven’t heard it doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened.”

    CNN

  • Sexual Home Appliance Expo in Tokyo

    Sexual Home Appliance Expo in Tokyo

    Twenty-four manufacturers and brands of sex goods from around the world, including from mainland China and Hong Kong, are showcasing their latest adult products at the “Pink Tokyo” sex fair.

    The three-day show, which runs until Sunday, is the largest of its kind in the Japanese capital since 2007, with a wealth of vibrators, lubricant oil and artificial vaginas on offer.

    “Sex goods are becoming more and more sophisticated and stylish,” said Minori Kitahara, president of Love Piece Club, a Tokyo sex goods store for women.

    “Products that are safe and made with high quality materials, which can operate very quietly, are becoming the mainstream. They are also warranted for a year, just like home appliances.”

    Japanese sex aid maker Rends demonstrated its latest artificial vagina — the A10 Cyclone SA — a sleek cylinder, about 30 centimetres (12 inches) long, which can be remotely connected to a computer or a smart phone.

    The rotating barrel inside has seven different speeds, the company said, advertising it as a “sexual home appliance”.

    “Feel free to use at night when your family is sleeping, without worries,” it said.

    AFP

  • Ahmadinejad ‘Lookalike’ Banned From Acting

    Ahmadinejad ‘Lookalike’ Banned From Acting

    {Mahmoud Basiri has been given 8 years acting ban.}

    {{A well-known Iranian actor has said he was banned from acting for eight years because of his resemblance to former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

    Mahmoud Basiri made the revelation in an interview with the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA).}}

    He said he would not play the role of Mr Ahmadinejad unless he received consent from the former leader.

    The 66-year-old actor is renowned in Iran for playing mainly comic roles on TV during his long career.

    No laughing matter Mr Basiri, who is almost a decade older than the former president, said he had learned of the ban when he received calls from lawyers asking if he was aware that he was no longer allowed to perform.

    This was following the 2005 election which Mr Ahmadinejad won. “I used to laugh it off at first and could not believe it but the rumours gradually became a reality,” Mr Basiri said.

    He complained that apart from a few fellow actors, no-one else seemed to care about what happened to him after he was banned. Mr Basiri said his picture had even been removed from review clips of his TV shows in the eight years since he has been banned.

    He said he had no issue with anyone and that he was fundamentally against character roles that make fun of individuals. Mahmoud Basiri turned down a film offer that he said was “a project related to the presidential elections”.

    {agencies}

  • Guantanamo Briton Faces Syria Charge

    Guantanamo Briton Faces Syria Charge

    Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg and a 44-year-old woman have been charged with terror offences related to Syria, West Midlands Police have said.

    The force said Mr Begg, 45, of Hall Green, Birmingham, is accused of providing terrorist training and funding terrorism overseas.

    The woman, Gerrie Tahari, of Sparkbrook, Birmingham, is charged with facilitating terrorism overseas.

    They will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Saturday.

    Both were arrested on Tuesday. Two other men arrested the same day remain in police custody.

    They are a 36-year-old man from Shirley, Solihull, and a 20-year-old man from Sparkhill, Birmingham, who were held on suspicion of facilitating terrorism overseas.

    {wirestory}

  • Crimean Leader Appeals to Russia’s Putin

    Crimean Leader Appeals to Russia’s Putin

    {{A Kremlin source said it would “not leave unnoticed” the request from Sergiy Aksyonov.}}

    US President Barack Obama warned Moscow against intervention after mysterious troop movements.

    Ukraine’s interim Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, accused Russia of seeking to provoke an escalation.

    He was speaking at the first meeting of his cabinet, installed after the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych.

    The spectre of armed conflict in Crimea will be at the top of a long agenda, the BBC’s Mark Lowen reports from the region.

    Heavily armed unidentified soldiers took up position outside the regional parliament in Crimea’s capital, Simferopol, on Saturday. Another airfield in the region was reportedly seized overnight, in addition to two airports and communications centres on Friday.

    Ukraine’s interim President, Olexander Turchynov, accused Russia of sending hundreds of soldiers and military aircraft to reinforce its Black Sea Fleet, which is based in Crimea.

    Moscow says troop movements on the Crimean peninsula do not infringe international agreements and it denies involvement in the seizing of airports.

    Under the agreement governing the Black Sea Fleet, the Russians must coordinate all troop movements outside the fleet’s base areas with the Ukrainian authorities beforehand.

    {{‘Only my orders’}}

    Mr Aksyonov, who leads the main pro-Russian party in Crimea, was elected prime minister of Crimea by the region’s parliament this week in an emergency session, replacing Anatoliy Mohylyov.

    In the same vote, the parliament called a referendum on increasing the autonomy of Crimea, a region dominated by ethnic Russians.

    Mr Aksyonov’s election has not been approved by the new authorities in Kiev, who traditionally appoint the prime minister of Crimea, in consultation with the regional parliament.

    “I appeal to the president of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, to provide assistance in ensuring peace and tranquillity on the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea,” Mr Aksyonov said in a statement.

    He went on to announce that he was taking control of security in Crimea “on a temporary basis”.

    “All commanders are to obey only my orders and instructions,” Mr Aksyonov said. “I ask all those who refuse to do so to resign.”

    BBC

  • Roger Federer to Meet Novak Djokovic in Dubai Semi-Finals

    Roger Federer to Meet Novak Djokovic in Dubai Semi-Finals

    {{Roger Federer will play world number two Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships after beating Lukas Rosol in straight sets.}}

    Fourth seed Federer beat Rosol of the Czech Republic 6-2 6-2 and will face Djokovic on Friday.

    The Serb advanced to the last four after Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny withdrew through illness.

    Philipp Kohlschreiber plays Tomas Berdych in the second semi-final.

    Federer recovered from an early deficit against the sixth seed to win 12 of the final 14 games, completing victory in only 58 minutes.

    Federer lost his opening service game for the fourth successive set to fall 2-0 behind, but he broke back to love and won six games in a row to take the set.

    Federer saved a break point to avoid losing his first service game in the second set, but then broke Rosol twice more to complete a routine success.

    Returning to the tour more than five weeks since the loss of his Australian Open title, Djokovic goes into the meeting with Switzerland’s Federer with a little more than two hours court time from his two matches in Dubai.

    Earlier on Thursday, Germany’s Kohlschreiber beat Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri 6-2 6-3 for his 300th win of his career, and Berdych, of the Czech Republic, beat France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 6-3.

    Kohlschreiber said: “It’s always great to win many matches on the tour, especially a few rounds in a row. I think I produced a very solid and good performance today. It’s great that I have 300 victories under my belt.”

    BBC

  • China Hits Back at US in Human Rights Report

    China Hits Back at US in Human Rights Report

    {{China on Friday issued a report on human rights in the US, denouncing it for foreign drone strikes, state-sponsored spying and “rampant” gun crime after Washington criticised its rights record.}}

    Beijing said the US “concealed and avoided mentioning its own human rights problems”, such as a government-run intelligence programme known as Prism which it said “seriously infringes on human rights”.

    The document came after the State Department issued its annual global human rights report on Thursday.

    The report, released by China’s State Council, or cabinet, singled out the US for criticism for drone strikes in countries such as Pakistan, which it said have caused “heavy civilian casualties”.

    It also said the US suffers from “rampant gun violence”, while its agricultural sector employs a “large amount of child labourers”.

    Washington’s report released on Thursday praised China for some successes in human rights, such as the abolition of some labour camps and a change to the one-child policy.

    But it added that “repression and coercion, particularly against organisations and individuals involved in civil and political rights advocacy… were routine”.

    It also noted Beijing’s continued repression of ethnic Uighurs and Tibetans.

    Human rights are a long-standing source of tensions between China and the US, which imposed sanctions on Beijing after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protesters which left hundreds or thousands dead.

    References in the Chinese document showed that much of it was sourced from US media reports.

    China’s ruling Communist Party tightly controls its own domestic media and has repeatedly imprisoned those who openly challenge its right to rule.

    China often says that its rapid economic development in recent decades has lead to a greater respect for human rights, and that other countries are not entitled to criticise its record.

    AFP