Zio-Watch News Round-up

Dr. Patrick Slattery’s News Roundup, February 14, 2015

ZIO-WATCH-LOGO

 


From the Independent

Ukraine crisis: Peace deal in ‘great danger’ as fierce fighting continues just hours before midnight ceasefire

Shelling and artillery fire has been reported as both sides engage in last-minute scramble for territory

Ukraine’s president has warned that an agreement to end the fighting ravaging the country is in “great danger” just hours before the ceasefire is due to take effect.

Battle’s raged on Saturday, as Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces rocketed each other, with shelling extending far beyond any front lines, as the clock ticked down to the agreed ceasefire of midnight.

Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko signed an agreement on Thursday morning, after 16 hours of laborious talks, raising hopes for the end of a conflict that has claimed over 5,000 lives.

But today, president Poroshenko accused Mr Putin of “significantly increasing” the Russian offensive after reports emerged of 40 tanks and almost 100 heavily armoured vehicles and missile launchers crossing the Ukrainian-Russian border yesterday.

Shelling has been heard in rebel-held city Donetsk today, with correspondents reporting that fierce fighting has continued around Debaltseve.

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From The Independent

Isis suicide bombers attack Iraqi air base with over 300 US Marines and detonate vests

No US or Iraqi troops were injured but Pentagon says most Isis fighters were killed

Isis fighters and suicide bombers attacked a US air base where over 300 Marines are training Iraqi troops, some of whom managed to detonate their vests.

Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters between 20 and 25 militants were involved in the attack on the Ain al-Asad base in Anbar province but were repelled by Iraqi security forces guarding the perimeter.

Kirby said the militants were dressed in Iraqi uniforms when they launched their attack. Most of the fighters were killed, he said, but no US or Iraqi troops were injured in the assault.

“Early indications are that yes, some of them did detonate their vests, detonate themselves,” he said. “And then they were followed by roughly something on the order of 15 or so other fighters.”

The Pentagon said initial assessments showed militants had captured the western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi, which is just five miles away from the US base.

On Friday it emerged that there had been reports of “ineffective indirect fire in the vicinity of the base”, but the Pentagon stressed there had been no direct attacks.

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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Shots fired at Copenhagen synagogue

(JTA) — Three people were reportedly shot in an attack at a synagogue in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The shooting occurred just hours after a fatal shooting at an event featuring a Danish cartoonist, Lars Vilks, who is under police protection because of his cartoons caricaturing Mohammed. It is not yet clear if the two shootings are related.

Multiple reports said two policemen and a civilian were shot in the synagogue attack, which reportedly occurred shortly after midnight on Saturday. A civilian was killed and three policemen were wounded in the earlier attack at a cafe.

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the Danish prime minister, said the attack on the cafe was a terrorist attack. Copenhagen was on high alert.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

AP report tallies civilians killed in airstrikes on homes in Gaza

(JTA) — An Associated Press investigation into Israeli airstrikes on Gaza homes during last summer’s war against Hamas concluded that 508 people, or over 60 percent of the casualties, were children, women and older men.

The report, which the Associated Press called “the most painstaking attempt to date to try to determine who was killed in strikes on homes,” was compiled by investigating 247 Israeli airstrikes and interviewing witnesses.

Israel launched air strikes after an intensification of rocket fire attacks launched from Gaza onto southern Israeli towns.

Israeli officials have accused Hamas and other groups of launching attacks from population-dense areas. According to Israel, Palestinian groups used houses to hide weapons, fighters and command centers. Israeli officials said they used safeguards against hitting civilians, including calling off strikes at the last minute when civilians appeared and delivering warnings so civilians could evacuate.
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From PressTV

Israel coerces Palestine kids into confessing: Rights group

Israeli soldiers arrest a Palestinian boy in the West Bank. (File photo)

The Israeli regime subjects arrested Palestinian children to cruel torment to obtain “coerced” confessions from them, a children’s rights group says.

“The Israeli military detention system subjects Palestinian children to several days of prolonged interrogation and isolation with the apparent goal of obtaining a confession at all costs,” said Ayed Abu Qtaish, the director of Accountability Program at the Palestine section of Defense for Children International (DCI).

The rights organization further said the Palestinian child detainees spent an average of 15 days in solitary confinement in 2014, adding that one of the Palestinian kids captured by Tel Aviv regime forces had been kept as many as 26 days in isolation for interrogation purposes.

“The military courts admit these coerced confessions as evidence to convict these children in a complete mockery of due process and fair trial standards,” the group added.

The group also said that Israel kept in excess of 56 Palestinian children, who had no right to be accompanied by an adult, in solitary confinement between 2012 and 2014.
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From The Telegraph (UK)

Italy’s birth rate drops to its lowest level in 150 years as economy tanks

  • Fewer babies were born in Italy in 2014 than in any other year since 1861
  • Number of live births last year was 509,000 – 5,000 fewer than previous year
  • Births per 1,000 people living in Italy is 8.4, down from 38.3 150 years ago
  • Babies born to natives and foreigners dropped as immigration tumbled

Italy’s birth rate has dropped to its lowest in more than 150 years amid a sluggish economy.

Fewer babies were born in Italy in 2014 than in any other year since the modern Italian state was formed in 1861, new figures have revealed.

2013 European birth rate: The number of live births last year was 509,000 - 5,000 fewer than in 2013 - rounding off half a century of decline

National statistics office ISTAT said the number of live births last year was 509,000 – 5,000 fewer than in 2013 – rounding off half a century of decline.

The number of births per 1,000 people is now at 8.4, down from 38.3 150 years ago, according to The Daily Telegraph.

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