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Al Jazeera Pair Go Free Before Retrial Starts

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 13 Februari 2015 | 20.18

Two Al Jazeera journalists have been allowed to leave prison in Egypt after spending more than a year locked up.

Baher Mohamed was freed hours after Mohamed Fahmy's release on bail following a ruling by a Cairo judge.

The men still face a retrial on charges that they supported the Muslim Brotherhood, whose leader Mohamed Morsi was ousted as president in 2013.

A third journalist for the broadcaster, Australian Peter Greste, was deported to his home country two weeks ago.

The brother of Egyptian national Baher Mohamed told the AFP news agency: "He is at home for the first time in more than a year."

Earlier on Friday, the brother of Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy tweeted that he posted $33,000 bail following the decision to release them.

The men were initially detained in December 2013 and sentenced to between seven and 10 years.

The case further strained ties between Egypt and Qatar, where Al Jazeera is based, while human rights groups and several media outlets have described the arrests as politically motivated, saying the three were just doing their job.

Mr Greste was eventually freed under a hastily drawn-up law that gave President Abdel Fattah al Sisi the power to approve the deportation of foreign prisoners.

Mr al Sisi had previously acknowledged that the sentences had a "very negative" effect on Egypt's reputation and that he regretted that the trio had ever been put on trial.

Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, who spent more than 400 days behind bars, are due back in court on February 23 for the retrial, after a ruling that their original conviction was not supported by evidence.

Al Jazeera said the men's release was a "small step in the right direction" but that the "absurd" case should be dismissed.

While the retrial could see the case thrown out, it could also see the men convicted but sentenced to time served, or even face more prison time.

In Australia, Mr Greste said it was too soon for celebrations, adding: "The trial is ongoing, and nobody has yet been acquitted.

"I'm looking forward to the day when the court declares all of us innocent of the charges. Then the party will really begin."


20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Greek Crisis: Merkel Offers Olive Branch

Germany has relaxed its fierce opposition to an easing of the bailout demands faced by Greece, though there are no signs a new deal is imminent.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered an olive branch at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels after the country's biggest creditor had previously ruled out writing off debt or allowing a relaxation of austerity.

She told reporters: "Europe always has been geared towards finding compromises. Compromises are agreed when the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Germany is ready for this."

The new Greek government - led by prime minister Alexis Tsipras - rose to power on the back of anger at the rescue deal among Greeks that it was killing off any chance of economic recovery.

Its economy is around 25% smaller than it was before the crisis and poverty and unemployment have swelled, with the youth jobless rate above 60%.

Merkel has been the key cheerleader for austerity, fearing that any relaxation of the €240bn bailout's terms would send a signal to other heavily indebted nations that they could divert from reforms.

It was confirmed on Thursday that technical discussions had begun ahead of another meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Monday after talks broke down between them on Wednesday.

Hope that a deal can be reached to support Greek economic recovery and avoid the possibility of a default and exit from the single currency helped support Greek stocks on Thursday following days of volatility.

News of German support for compromise extended the rally on Friday, with some banks enjoying gains of more than 17%.

Tsipras expressed his hope that a "mutually acceptable" debt deal could be secured as early as next week.

He said: "The Greek delegation will take part in these meetings with crystal clear proposals and we will try and convince, not blackmail, our partners about our proposals.

"Our program will respect European rules .... we will keep balanced budget, respect the fiscal rules of the EU.

"We don't want to go back to era of deficits."

Tsipras said his government will propose a set of reforms particularly dealing with the "shortcomings of the Greek state" such as corruption and tax evasion.

The Greek government sees compromise as the way forward but it has ruled out extending the current bailout programme and its associated austerity.

It wants to negotiate a so-called bridge to tide Greece over for the summer until such time as a more permanent deal can be arranged.


20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

'American Sniper' Trial Shown Arrest Video

Police camera footage has revealed the moment officers confronted the former US Marine accused of murdering American Sniper author Chris Kyle.

The video shows Eddie Routh being swarmed by officers next to the pick-up truck he had been driving, hours after Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield were shot dead at a Texas gun range.

Jurors saw dashcam footage showing one police car ramming the vehicle, but failing to stop him.

After a pursuit reaching speeds of up to 100mph, the pick-up - which belonged to Kyle - has mechanical problems and stops in the middle of a highway.

Officers are then filmed subduing the double murder suspect when he emerges from the truck with his hands up.

Another video presented to the jury on Thursday showed Routh sitting in the pick-up outside his home in Lancaster, near Dallas.

Filmed before the police chase, it shows officers trying to coax him into surrendering as he makes remarks such as "Anarchy has been killing the world", "I don't know if I'm going insane" and "Is this about hell walking on Earth right now?".

Routh, 27, is said to have driven to his sister's house after the shootings in February last year, telling his sister that "people were sucking his soul".

Police lieutenant Michael Smith told the court in Stephenville that Routh "told us he'd taken a couple of souls and he had more souls to take".

Routh is pleading not guilty to murder by reason of insanity, but prosecutors say he was a drug user who knew right from wrong regardless of any mental illness.

Ex-Navy SEAL Kyle, 38, had been asked by Routh's mother to help her son deal with personal problems that had seen him admitted to a psychiatric hospital. The small arms technician had served in Iraq before leaving the Marines in 2010.

Lawyers for Routh say he was under severe mental strain and believed Kyle and Littlefield, who had taken him to the rural shooting range in their efforts to give him support and friendship, planned to kill him.

The court heard Kyle and Littlefield were armed when they were shot, but their weapons apparently had not been removed from their holsters. Kyle was shot six times and Littlefield seven.

The case is drawing intense interest thanks largely to the popularity of the Oscar-nominated film based on Kyle's memoir, which details his tours of Iraq and his record as the deadliest sniper in US military history.

The film, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Bradley Cooper as Kyle, has become the highest grossing war film ever.

Routh faces life in prison without parole if convicted of capital murder.


20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

More Fighting In Ukraine After Peace Deal

At least 11 service personnel have been killed and dozens wounded in the last 24 hours in eastern Ukraine, officials have reported.

It comes despite the ceasefire agreement reached on Thursday, which is due to come into force this weekend.

"In the Donbass, this night was not a calm one. The enemy shelled positions of the 'anti-terrorist operation' forces with the same intensity as before," a statement by the military said.

It said fighting had been particularly intense around Debaltseve, a key railway junction linking the rebel strongholds of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Pro-Russia separatists had used rockets and artillery to attack government forces holding the town, the statement added.

Rebel authorities said three civilians had been killed and five wounded in shelling by government troops on Luhansk.

Another two civilians were killed and six injured on Friday morning when a shell fired by separatists hit a busy cafe in the nearby town of Shchastya, the Kiev-controlled regional administration said.

Russia has been warned sanctions will be stepped up if the truce to end the 10-month Ukraine conflict is not fully implemented.

The ceasefire, which comes into effect on Sunday, was agreed after 16 hours of talks between Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany in the Belarusian capital Minsk.

A previous truce was violated almost immediately by both sides and there are doubts the latest one will hold.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the deal provided "a glimmer of hope - no more, no less".

Russia has already been hit with financial and diplomatic sanctions for allegedly supplying the separatists with heavy weapons and fighters - which it denies.

Mrs Merkel warned: "We hold open the possibility, if these new agreements are not implemented, that we must take further measures."

European Council President Donald Tusk said previously-agreed sanctions against 19 Russian and Ukrainian individuals and nine entities would still come into force next week.

"Our trust in the goodwill of (Russian) President Putin is limited, this is why we have to maintain our decision on sanctions," he said.

The terms of the ceasefire include a withdrawal of heavy weapons, Ukraine taking control of its Russian border, the granting of special status to rebel regions and addressing the humanitarian crisis created by the fighting.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko admitted to having doubts, saying: "It was very difficult negotiation and we expect a not easy implementation process."

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe has said it plans to send 350 of its observers to eastern Ukraine to ensure the terms of the truce are monitored.

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  1. Gallery: Ukraine Crisis: Fighting Increases (February 11)

    Local residents look at the remains of a rocket shell on a street in the town of Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine

Seven civilians have been killed and 26 wounded in rocket strikes on the town of Kramatorsk

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20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ceasefire In Eastern Ukraine From Sunday

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 12 Februari 2015 | 20.18

Ceasefire In Eastern Ukraine From Sunday

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A ceasefire in eastern Ukraine has been agreed after all-night talks in Belarus involving the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany.

It will come into effect on 15 February and will be followed by the withdrawal of heavy weapons, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"We have managed to agree on the main things," he told reporters after the talks, which began on Wednesday evening and lasted 16 hours.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said: "The main thing which has been achieved is that from Saturday into Sunday there should be declared without any conditions at all, a general ceasefire."

The truce was signed by the so-called "contact group", comprising pro-Russian separatist leaders, Russian and Ukrainian envoys and European mediators.

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  1. Gallery: Ukraine Crisis: Fighting Increases (February 11)

    Local residents look at the remains of a rocket shell on a street in the town of Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine

Seven civilians have been killed and 26 wounded in rocket strikes on the town of Kramatorsk

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The body of a woman killed by the recent shelling lies on a street in the town's residential sector

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Members of the Ukrainian armed forces ride on an armoured personnel carrier (APC) near Debaltseve, eastern Ukraine

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Ceasefire In Eastern Ukraine From Sunday

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

A ceasefire in eastern Ukraine has been agreed after all-night talks in Belarus involving the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany.

It will come into effect on 15 February and will be followed by the withdrawal of heavy weapons, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"We have managed to agree on the main things," he told reporters after the talks, which began on Wednesday evening and lasted 16 hours.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said: "The main thing which has been achieved is that from Saturday into Sunday there should be declared without any conditions at all, a general ceasefire."

The truce was signed by the so-called "contact group", comprising pro-Russian separatist leaders, Russian and Ukrainian envoys and European mediators.

1/25

  1. Gallery: Ukraine Crisis: Fighting Increases (February 11)

    Local residents look at the remains of a rocket shell on a street in the town of Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine

Seven civilians have been killed and 26 wounded in rocket strikes on the town of Kramatorsk

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The body of a woman killed by the recent shelling lies on a street in the town's residential sector

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Members of the Ukrainian armed forces ride on an armoured personnel carrier (APC) near Debaltseve, eastern Ukraine

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20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Egypt Bails Al Jazeera Journalists

Al Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed have been freed on bail by an Egyptian court after spending more than a year behind bars.

A judge in Cairo ordered that the pair should be released at the start of their retrial on charges of spreading lies.

Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian national Baher Mohamed had spent more than four hundred days in jail. 

Mr Fahmy's fiancee cheered "long live justice" as the decision to grant bail was announced.

The men's colleague, Peter Greste, was released last week and returned to his native Australia.

He was freed under a decree which authorised the country's leader to approve the deportation of foreign prisoners.

Mr Greste took to Twitter to congratulate his colleagues when their release was announced: "This is a huge step forward. Not time to declare it over, but at least you get to go home!"

The three were arrested in 2013 followed the ousting of Egypt's Islamist president and Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi by the military.  

The men were accused by the new government of acting as a mouthpiece for the Muslim Brotherhood, which had been designated as a terrorist organisation.

Their case provoked an international outcry and widespread calls for their freedom.

Human rights groups and several media outlets condemned the men's detention as being politically-motivated, saying the three were just doing their job.

Mr Fahmy and Mr Mohamed's case has been adjourned until 23 February.


20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

On The Front Line Of Battle Against Boko Haram

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent

The terror group Boko Haram is "perpetually mutating" according to Cameroon military leaders - and it has a well-organised structure with constantly changing tactics.

Sky News has been given rare access to special forces in Cameroon who are at the forefront of the battle against the extremist militant group.

The group is increasingly conducting its operations over Nigeria's borders and mounting attacks into neighbouring countries like Cameroon.

Our team travelled to the north of the country and its border with Nigeria where the militant group was born.

We joined the Cameroon elite unit, the rapid response battalion or BIR, as it attempted to plug the long, porous border with Nigeria.

The Sky News team was the sole British news organisation to travel with the troops to Amchide, Kolofata and Kerawa - three towns along the border which have all suffered at the hands of Boko Haram.

The army commanders told us the extremist group already had a self-declared caliphate in at least one area of Nigeria - in Gwoza.

"Behind that mountain is Nigeria and a Boko Haram state," said Major Garangsou Clement, commander of Kolofata post.

"There is no Nigerian Government there. It is Boko Haram's caliphate."

The militant group has also developed a new favourite form of attack: roadside bombs or IEDs.

They are much more deadly for the troops and a lot less dangerous for the militants.

We drove past a wrecked army pickup. "IED," one of the soldiers told us.

"Two of our soldiers died there."

In front of Amchide army post there are more charred vehicles: an armoured personnel carrier and a pick-up truck.

The militants almost got to the gate of the post in a large attack last October, before being repelled.

Amchide town appears deserted now.

More troops and heavier weapons have been sent to the border town, but so far the residents do not seem to have been persuaded to return.


20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

IS Magazine 'Interviews' Hayat Boumeddiene

A magazine run by Islamic State has published what it claims is an interview with the widow of a terrorist who attacked a Paris supermarket last month.

Hayat Boumeddiene is France's most wanted woman after her partner Amedy Coulibaly shot dead a policewoman in Paris and then killed four shoppers the next day at a kosher shop.

Now, Islamic State's French-language magazine, Dar al Islam, has published what it claims is an interview which shows that she is in the militant group's territory in Iraq and Syria.

Speaking of her journey to the Islamic State, she is reported to have said: "I did not encounter any difficulties... it is good to live in the land that is governed by the laws of God."

There has been no independent confirmation of the interview's authenticity but the new issue, entitled 'May Allah Curse France', reportedly shows a picture of the Eiffel Tower.

Seventeen people, including journalists and policemen, were killed in three days of violence in Paris that began with the storming of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo on 7 January and ended with the hostage-taking.

Coulibaly was fatally shot with at least 40 bullets as the siege came to a violent end.

Boumeddiene, 26, has apparently told Dar al Islam that Coulibaly had been an Islamic State supporter.

There was confusion at first about whether Boumeddiene had been in the supermarket when police stormed it, and had escaped.

But CCTV footage emerged last month which apparently shows that she arrived at Istanbul airport in Turkey on 2 January - five days before the start of the attacks.

She is seen in the video images at passport control with another passenger.

Turkish officials say Boumeddiene stayed at a hotel in Istanbul with another person before crossing into Syria on 8 January - the day after the Charlie Hebdo newspaper massacre, and the same day her partner shot dead the policewoman.

Boumeddiene's last phone signal was also on 8 January, from the Turkish border town of Akcakale, where she is believed to have crossed over into Islamic State-controlled territory.


20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Belgian Islamists Convicted On Terror Charges

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 11 Februari 2015 | 20.18

A Belgian court has convicted the leader of an Islamist group and many of his followers for sending jihadists to Syria.

Fouad Belkacem, the chief of the now disbanded Sharia4Belgium group, was led into the court in handcuffs and smiled as he was jailed for 12 years.

Only eight of the 46 accused appeared in Antwerp's tightly secured courtroom during the five-month trial, with the remainder believed to be in Syria or to have died fighting.

Judge Luc Potargent said: "Belkacem is responsible for the radicalisation of young men to prepare them for Salafist combat, which has at its core no place for democratic values.

"Sharia4Belgium recruited these young men for armed combat and organised their departure for Syria."

Belgium has more jihadist fighters per head of population than any other European country, with authorities estimating 350 Belgians have left for Syria, and the sentence comes with the country on high alert after a plot to kill police was uncovered last month.

Belkacem, 32, a Moroccan-born car engineer, is already serving a two-year sentence for inciting hatred against non-Muslims.

He is known for his street sermons and was a leading figure in persuading young Belgians to fight in Syria, despite never having been there himself.

The aim of his group of radicals was to establish Sharia law in Belgium, an intention he expressed in a series of YouTube videos.

Public prosecutor Ann Fransen told reporters: "Belkacem's words can only be interpreted as a call to violence and jihad."

One of the young men Belkacem was accused of radicalising is 20-year-old Jejoen Bontinck, who was charged with belonging to Sharia4Belgium.

Bontinck later became a key prosecution witness and was given a 40-month suspended sentence.

The teenager claimed he had travelled to Syria to help victims of the conflict, but his father, Dimitri, who brought him home, said he knew his son was being indoctrinated.

The other members of the group were sentenced to between three and five years in prison, with some of the sentences being suspended.


20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

TransAsia Offers £307,000 To Crash Families

Taiwan's TransAsia Airways will pay nearly half a million US dollars in compensation to relatives of each victim following a plane crash earlier this month.

The offer of $14.9m Taiwanese New Dollars (£307,000) for each family comes seven months after the airline made a similar payout to the families of 48 passengers killed in another crash last July.

TransAsia Airways Flight GE235 crashed last Wednesday just minutes after taking off from Taipei's Songshan airport.

There were 53 passengers and five crew on board and at least 42 of these were killed.

Dramatic footage captured by a bystander showed the plane hitting a road and cart-wheeling into the Keelung River.

The compensation deal comes after private discussions held in Taipei between the airline and representatives of some of the families affected.

A spokesman for the airline said the amount was offered as compensation for each person who died in the accident, adding: "We hope to reach a settlement with the families.

"We can fully understand that it would be hard for the families to accept it immediately. Still we hope the representatives could take the proposal back and take it into consideration."

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  1. Gallery: Survivors Of TransAsia Plane Crash

    Rescuers are working to help survivors. Click through for more photos

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20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More
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