February 2015

Israel asks US for additional $300mn for missile defense – report

2015/02/28

An Israeli missile is launched from the Iron Dome defense missile system (Reuters/Baz Ratner)

The requested funds would be in addition to the $158 million already proposed by the Pentagon for Israel’s security needs for the fiscal year that will begin on October 1. The new allocation will allegedly finance the 'David's Sling' and 'Arrow-3' programs – designed to intercept medium- to long-range missiles – as well as provide an anti-ballistic missile system.

According to Bloomberg’s report on Friday, the director of Israel's missile defense organization Yair Ramati “visited lawmakers and aides to the congressional defense committees on February 2 and 3 to outline the case for more money and thank them for past assistance.”

Ramati completely bypassed the White House and the Pentagon. The report links the move to the tense relationship between the Obama administration and the Israeli government ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on March 3, which is likely to stress that the White House is pursuing a “bad deal” by negotiating to curb Iran’s nuclear program.

The report revealed that Ramati’s proposal included $250 million to start production of the David’s Sling system, in addition to Obama’s $37 million request for development. Another $35 million Ramati requested for the initial production of Arrow 3, in addition to the $55.7 million the US administration is seeking for development.

During his visit to Capitol Hill, Ramati “distributed one-page sheets naming US contractors that would benefit from production funds for each of the missile defense systems.” According to Bloomberg’s information, the list included Chicago-based Boeing Co.; Waltham, Massachusetts-based Raytheon Co.; Arlington, Virginia-based Orbital ATK Inc.; and Falls Church, Virginia-based Northrop Grumman Corp.

When contacted by Bloomberg, the Israeli embassy in the US declined to comment on the report.

The US already provides Israel with $3.1 billion a year as “foreign military financing,” which excludes other missile defense funds, according to the report.

For the current fiscal year, Congress has reportedly provided $620 million, including about $347 million for missile defense programs. US Congress has appropriated more than $1.2 billion since 2011 for the Iron Dome, which is designed to intercept and destroy rockets.

In light of the large amounts of distributed funds, US lawmakers have been insisting that Israel use American-based defense contractors when spending the received money.

Last year, the Israeli government agreed to spend more than half the funds provided by the Pentagon for the Iron Dome in the US by this year. Until recently, the missile system was been built solely in Israel by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.

Iran nuclear talks have created a significant rift between Israel and the US. Last week, the White House and State Department stated that Israel inaccurately provided information and twisted the official US position in nuclear talks with Iran, and accused Tel Aviv of “selectively” leaking details of sensitive talks.

Washington has also voiced suspicion that Netanyahu's office directly provided Israeli journalists with the leaked information, including an alleged offer to Iran to keep 6,500 centrifuges for uranium enrichment. A White House spokesman expressed frustration with the “cherry-picked” information released by the Israelis out of context.

Gitmo2Chicago: Activists demand probe of ‘secret interrogation facility’ (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

2015/02/28

Demonstrators protest outside a Chicago Police facility on the city's Westside on February 28, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP)

Organized by Anonymous, Occupy, and Black Lives Matter, as well as a number of other groups, the 'Shut Down Homan Square' protest gathered around 200 people outside the detention facility in the city’s West Side.

Braving Saturday's below-zero temperatures, the activists held banners and chanted slogans such as "Shut it down" and "Freedom first," as well as "Indict, convict, send the torturers to jail.” They demanded a probe and changes at the facility after a report in the Guardian claimed it is used by Chicago police as a “secret interrogation facility.”

“Hopefully with the presence we expect to have, that will put a little bit of pressure to say, ‘Hey, look – this isn’t going to go away,’” said Travis McDermott, one of the organizers of the protest, as quoted by the Guardian.

Post by Jocelyn Walker.

Later, dozens of protesters marched through nearby streets.

During Saturday's demonstration, organizers called on people to come forward if their rights have ever been violated by police.

"We need you to come forth and tell us yes you have been a victim of abuse," one organizer said, according to USA Today. "Please come forward and let the people know so we can take some action."

Anonymous took to Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms with the hashtag #Gitmo2Chicago to draw attention to the so-called secret prison. “Torture soon coming to a city near you,” it stated.

“This will not stand,” the collective said in a video message posted on February 27.

#chicago2gitmo shut down Homan Sq! http://ift.tt/1EB8JOa

— Chicago WCW (@ChicagoWCW) February 28, 2015

According to the Guardian’s report, the compound houses military-style vehicles, interrogation cells, and a cage. People have “disappeared there” for 12-15 hours before being arraigned.

The newspaper spoke to an alleged former suspect at the site and several local attorneys who reported the Homan Square compound was being used to deny people their Fifth Amendment right to due process and Sixth Amendment right to an attorney.

Protesting on Saturday, activists demanded that anyone arrested in Chicago to be “booked immediately upon arrest and given access to a phone with which they can call an attorney.”

One of the major demands is “a special meeting be called within 10 days.” It would “allow the public to ask questions of supervising CPD officers about what happens inside Homan Square and other facilities.”

What is this? RT "@vanaver8: No Gitmo in Chicago #Gitmo2Chicago http://ift.tt/1FJaIxO"

— Chicago Mayor (@RahmAntics) February 28, 2015

According to an announcement on Facebook, the group has formally submitted the request, urging for it to be approved “immediately.”

Activists also demand that posters informing people of their rights be placed at all Chicago Police Department facilities.

"Everything that happens in this facility is off the books, so they can't prove that these things never happened," McDermott said.

In its only official statement, the Chicago Police Department denied the Guardian’s allegations.

Speaking to Chicago Tonight TV program, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the report was not true. “We follow the rules,” he said.

Activists are planning another demonstration, dubbed 'Reparations Not Black Sites,' which will be held outside Emanuel’s office on March 2.

‘I am not a terrorist’: Wisconsin workers come out in force after Gov. Walker’s ISIS jibe

2015/02/28

Hundreds of union members rally outside the State Capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin February 24, 2015. (Reuters/Brendan O'Brien)

Unionists surrounded the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, in the week's third and biggest demonstration against the right-to-work legislation, which would make it illegal for private company trade unions to demand collective dues from employees who are not trade union members themselves.

.@OccupyWallStNYC Marching around State Capitol to say "right to work" is wrong for WI #wiunion #NotATerrorist http://ift.tt/1AVDEBO

— OverpassLightBrigade (@OLBLightBrigade) February 28, 2015

The demonstrators held placards reading “Kill the union death bill” and “I am not a terrorist.”

After an eight-hour debate on Wednesday – during which observers were ejected by police – the bill was passed by a narrow margin of 17 to 15. It will now go to the upper chamber next week. The Assembly, which enjoys a wide Republican majority, is expected to rubber-stamp it. It will be enacted as soon as it is signed by Governor and 2016 presidential hopeful Scott Walker.

I'm the #NotATerrorist in the middle. @GovWalker #RTW = #WRONGforWI!! http://ift.tt/1G4CHM7

— Pirjo Holmstrom (@PirjoCheerio) February 28, 2015

Wisconsin would then become the 25th US state to a adopt right-to-work law.

Walker – a renowned anti-union politician – made a gaffe earlier this week. He tried to bolster his future credentials as a US president who can tackle international terrorism, by comparing fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) with his handling of the massive Act 10 protests in Wisconsin four years ago.

“I want a commander in chief who will do everything in their power to ensure that the threat from radical Islamic terrorists does not wash up on American soil. If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world,” Walker told CPAC, a group of influential Republican donors, on Thursday in Maryland.

Rally just starting. Watch out for those protesters. #NotATerrorist http://ift.tt/1G4CJUi

— MTEA (@MTEAunion) February 28, 2015

After being roundly criticized for the comments, Walker tried to backtrack, and denied that he was making a direct comparison.

Act 10 – which reduced state workers’ bargaining power and led to union membership falling by one-fifth to around 11.7 percent – has sapped the morale of union workers. Meanwhile, the new legislation would likely result in further union membership numbers, a fall in fees – from both members and non-members – and likely less bargaining power for workers.

The governor insists that any losses will be offset by additional revenues from companies drawn to Wisconsin by the business-friendly legislation.

Opposition leader Nemtsov’s murder caught on CCTV camera (VIDEO)

2015/02/28

A visitor holds a photo at the site where Boris Nemtsov was recently murdered, in central Moscow, February 28, 2015. (Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin)

The camera captured a wide shot of Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge, near the Kremlin, where the crime took place. The quality of the footage is only good enough to distinguish the cars on the bridge and the figures of people moving along it.

According to the video, the politician was gunned down at 23:31 Moscow time by a killer who was allegedly waiting for him on the stairs of the bridge.

The murder happened when Nemtsov and his companion – a woman in a white coat, who is Ukrainian model Anna Durnitskaya – were covered from the camera by a snow-clearing vehicle passing by.

The alleged killer then ran towards a car which was stopped on the bridge several meters away. He got into the passenger's seat, and the vehicle drove off.

LifeNews also obtained footage showing Nemtsov and Durnitskaya arriving separately at GUM department store facing Red Square at around 22:00 MSK.

The pair apparently had dinner at one of GUM’s restaurants and then decided to walk to the politician’s nearby apartment – the path of which required a walk across Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge.

At the moment, investigators are looking into five possible motives behind Nemtsov’s assassination. According to Vladimir Markin, spokesman for the Investigative Committee, the murder could have been a provocation to destabilize the political situation in Russia.

It could also be linked to threats Nemtsov received over his stance on the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris or the current war in Ukraine. The politician’s business activities and a possible assault related to his personal life are also being looked into.

Nemtsov, 55, gained popularity as governor of Nizhny Novgorod region from 1991-1997. He also served as energy minister and deputy prime minister under former President Boris Yeltsin. After 1998 he participated in the creation of several liberal movements and parties, serving as a member of parliament. Since 2012, he had co-chaired the liberal party RPR-PARNAS (Republican Party of Russia – People's Freedom Party), being more involved in business than politics.

Nemtsov’s murder has been condemned around the globe, with US President Barack Obama, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel urging a thorough investigation of the crime.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he will personally oversee the investigation of the assassination, which he called “vile and cynical.”

Anti-govt vs. anti-racism: Thousands gather for rival rallies in Rome (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

2015/02/28

Demonstrators march to protest against a rally held by Northern League party leader Matteo Salvini in downtown Rome, February 28, 2015. (Reuters/Yara Nardi)

Speaking at the Northern League's rally, party leader Matteo Salvini accused the government of blindly fulfilling orders given in Brussels. The protest was held at Piazza del Popolo.

"The problem isn't Renzi; Renzi is a pawn, Renzi is a dumb slave at the disposal of some nameless person who wants to control all our lives from Brussels," Salvini said.

The rally was held under the slogan 'Renzi a casa' (“Renzi go home”). According to Salvini, it is ordinary people who suffer from the current government’s policies and the ones of the European Union. The politician especially stressed the situation surrounding Italian truck drivers who have lost their jobs.

#Salvini #renziacasa: tra le guardie e i ladri, noi stiamo con le guardie! E #iostoconstacchio e con Antonio Monella! http://ift.tt/1BNrHle

— Matteo Salvini (@matteosalvinimi) 28 февраля 2015

"Europe is what's allowing our truck drivers to be squeezed out by Romanian contracts, Romanian wages and pensions that can be used to come and work in Italy because that's what Europe wants – a race to the bottom," Salvini said.

The politician also blamed banks and the Italian business establishment for the current crisis and economic problems.

“I want to change Italy so the economy is able to get back on track,” Salvini said, as quoted by Euronews. “This is currently being prevented by Brussels and crazy European policies.”

The Northern League's tough anti-immigration position suggests deportation of illegal immigrants. The leader of the party says that limited and controlled immigration is positive, but immigration through the rescue of migrants in the Mediterranean is a disaster.

Oltre a bandiere di Lega e CasaPound, a piazza del Popolo sventolano anche vessilli del genere #MaiConSalvini http://ift.tt/1wzwwHl

— Leonardo Bianchi (@captblicero) 28 февраля 2015

Numerous left wing activists call those views “racist.” Opponents of the Northern League from several organizations and Roman social centers held a simultaneous rally, protesting against the League's ideas.

Over 35,000 in Euronews estimates joined the march with banners reading “Never with Salvini!” and “Rome doesn’t want you.”

No incidents were registered at the rallies, according to the Corriere della Sera.

Oggi a #Roma gli unici clandestini sono i fascioleghisti #maiconsalvini http://ift.tt/1AGGyLR

— Manolo Luppichini (@manolo_loop) 28 февраля 2015

The Northern League, or 'Lega del Nord' in Italian, is a regionalist political party which aims to leave the eurozone, change the policy of austerity, and control immigration. Over the last five years, the party has gained popularity and become one of the largest parties in the north of the country. However, the ruling center-left Democratic Party is still supported by the majority of the population. New regional elections are to be held this spring.

Donetsk rebels announce full heavy weapons withdrawal in E. Ukraine

2015/02/28

BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher systems are withdrawn from Donetsk towards Amvrosievka as part of Minsk Agreements implementation. (RIA Novosti/Mikhail Voskresenskiy)

The self-defense forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said they completed the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the 500-kilometer demarcation line.

Heavy weapons were pulled back on Saturday in Donetsk, Torez, Dmitrovka, Pervomaisk, Bezymennoye, and Samoylovka, according to DPR spokesman Eduard Basurin.

“During the whole withdrawal operation, the DNR militia has pulled out 21 artillery groups,” he said.

The militias in Lugansk Region said they relocated most of their heavy arms, but will need a couple more days to complete the withdrawal.

"As of mid-day February 28, the corps of the people's militia has withdrawn 80 percent of heavy weapons from the demarcation line. By March 2 or 3, the process of the withdrawal of heavy weapons is planned to be completed. Of course, if there are no incidents,” a Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) statement reads.

Ukrainian forces are also withdrawing their heavy weapons, but the rebels blame Kiev for delaying the process. According to Basurin, Ukraine has so far pulled out only 15 percent of its hardware in the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions.

“There was no control from the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) and the weaponry was relocated to positions from which it can be returned within an hour,” the DPR representative said.

According to the daily report by the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission, the Ukrainian military’s staff said it can speed up the withdrawal of weapons if the ceasefire agreed during the Minks talks holds.

The report said that on Friday, observers witnessed the withdrawal of four DPR convoys and two LPR convoys, while Kiev pulled out some of is hardware from Artemovsk and Alekseyevo-Druzhkovka.

The deputy chief monitor of the OSCE mission to Ukraine, Alexander Hug, told DPA news agency that the ceasefire between Kiev and the rebels is holding along most of the demarcation line. However, the sides may require more time to complete the withdrawal of heavy weaponry than the two-week period agreed in Minsk.

The withdrawal of heavy weaponry is a mandatory step set out by the Minsk ceasefire agreements signed earlier this month. Under the deal, both sides must pull their heavy weapons back from the demarcation line to form a buffer zone of 50 to 140km, depending on the type of weapon.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told 112 channel that at “any moment, our military is ready to redeploy its hardware to the former positions if there is a need to repel the enemy.”

A prisoner exchange is also underway between the sides, with Kiev’s negotiator, Yury Tandit, saying he expects all Ukraine servicemen to be released by March 5.

The country's conflict began in April 2014, after Kiev sent its military to the southeastern regions that refused to recognize the new coup-imposed authorities in the capital. Nearly a year of fighting has led to at least 5,793 deaths, according to UN estimates. Another 14,595 people have been wounded.

Austrian man sentenced for posting ISIS atrocities on Facebook

2015/02/28

The man's name has not been made public; he has only been described as a 20-year-old Kurdish male from Vienna, Austria, Press Agency reported.

The man was among 13 people arrested by police at the end of November due to links with Mirsad O, and Islamic preacher from the Austrian capital who is accused of radicalizing youths and recruiting them to fight for the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Syria.

Security was heightened around the courtroom during the trial; eight armed guards with balaclavas covering their faces were stationed outside.

The young man was sentenced for posting images of decapitated and impaled heads and other atrocities committed by IS jihadists in Syria and Iraq on his Facebook page.

The gruesome pictures were accompanied by approving comments from the owner of the account.

According to the man, he was born in Iraq and had “nothing to do with religion until the age of 15 or 16.”

But then the realization that he was surrounded by unworthy people, like “drug dealers, gamblers and idiots” made him turn to Islam, he said.

The young man acknowledged that posting Islamic State images online was "really stupid” of him.

“Decapitating someone is really disgusting, I’m the kind of person who can’t even stand the sight of his own blood,” he told the judge, adding that by his actions he only wanted to “provoke” his former friends.

The young man was initially handed a six-month prison sentence, but due to him having no previous criminal record, his punishment was reduced to a conditional sentence and three-year probation.

The man said the arrest has “really opened his eyes,” adding that he plans to work as a trainer at a gym after his sentence is over.

Earlier this week, Austria's parliament passed controversial amendments to the country’s 1912 Islam law.

The bill, which is partly aimed at tackling radical Islam in the nation, bans foreign funding for Islamic organizations in the country and requires Austrian Muslims to submit and use a standardized German translation of the Koran.

Such restrictions are not applied to any other religion represented in Austria.

Half-a-million Muslims, the majority of whom are migrant workers from Turkey, make up around six percent of the country’s population.

Around 170 people have left Austria to fight for the jihadist Islamic State, which has established a caliphate ruled by Sharia law in parts of Syria and Iraq.

You scratch my back: Rats recognize kindness, repay favors

2015/02/28

The study, published this week in the journal Biology Letters, was set up to observe an ever elusive concept in the animal kingdom – the principle of direct reciprocity.

According to Michael Taborsky, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Bern in Switzerland who helped carry out the experiment, the practice is in fact so rare that this is the first time it has ever been scientifically observed in non-humans.

Along with his Swiss colleague Vassilissa Dolivo, the team brought together 20 female wild-type Norwegian rats. During the experiment, the team used pieces of banana as attractive awards, and pieces of carrots as less attractive rewards.

The rats were able to deliver one of these morsels to another rat in an enclosure by pulling a stick. After some time, the rat on the receiving end would begin to differentiate between the quality of its helper based on the type of food it received.

The rats then switched places, with the once-confined rodents pulling sticks to deliver cereal flakes to their previous helpers.

The results: the rats which had doled out bananas got cereal more quickly and more often than those which had given out carrots.

When asked if the rats were really returning the favor, Taborsky told National Geographic that it seemed likely, given how they had made the simple association between reward and repayment.

"Two elements are involved: recognizing an individual, and responding to the quality of service," Taborsky said.

Pointing to previous research which demonstrates the ability of rats to recognize each other and their ability to differentiate between better spots to chow down, the idea that the rodents reward each other in order to guarantee such mutually beneficial exchanges in the future "might not be as complex as we think," he added.

What impact will Nemtsov’s death have on Russian opposition?

2015/02/28

Boris Nemtsov.(RIA Novosti / Alexander Makarov)

RT: Boris Nemtsov's political prominence plays back to the 1990s...Was he in any way significant today to the Kremlin, as has been claimed by some Western media?

Dmitry Babich: No, I don’t think he was dangerous to the Kremlin politically, because his electoral support was very low. The last election that his party – the Union of Right Forces – the last election that they actually managed to show good results at was in 2001. In 2001, his party got about 10 percent of the vote. Since then, he never managed to pass the threshold of five percent. So electorally, he wasn’t strong. But, certainly, he represented a certain minority view in Russia and especially on the events in Ukraine. He full-heartedly supported the new regime in Kiev.

RT: The Russian opposition has been noted for not being united and not offering people something to go with. Is his death likely to unite or spread further the opposition here in Russia?

DB: Well, in the short run, of course, the opposition – especially the liberal opposition – will be buoyed by this death, so they will present him as a victim, as someone whom the Kremlin feared. But in the long run, I don’t think his death will have a strong impact on the opposition. The main problem of the liberal opposition is not it's being divided; its problem is that they are trying to unite around wrong ideas. Right now, the reliant point of the liberal opposition is support for the new regime in Kiev.

A certain minority in Russia may be sympathetic with that view, but certainly not the huge majority of Russians.

RT: The timing of his death comes during the very fragile – but ongoing – ceasefire in Ukraine that's been going on for two weeks...

DB: Well, that’s true. In general, I think his death is a tragedy for all Russians, even those who disagreed with him. First he was a very nice and friendly person. I, as a journalist, took a lot of interviews from him and I remember that he was one of the few politicians who actually befriended journalists. He changed his views. I would say that, for example, he was very much against the NATO strike against Yugoslavia in 1999. Now, you know, in the last few years he suddenly started to support new Ukraine. So, he was not always consequential; he was not always logical. But thanks to television, he became almost like a member of the family, you know, for a lot of Russians who watched him on television during all of the 1990s. So his death is, of course, a very, very bad blow to all of Russia.

(Un)happy brains: Research shows how opioids help to cope with romantic breakups

2015/02/28

Bad breakups and reaction to them in the two types of people proved to be instrumental to the study of the opioid system in the brain.

“Social stressors are important factors that precipitate or worsen illnesses such as depression, anxiety and other neuropsychiatric conditions. This study examined mechanisms that are involved in the suppression of those stress responses,” senior author at the University of Michigan, Dr. Jon-Kar Zubieta says.

To arrive at their conclusion, researchers scanned participants’ brains with positron emission tomography (PET) while simulating an online dating situation.

Before getting a brain scan, 17 depressed and 18 non-depressed (but otherwise similar) individuals viewed social profiles and photos belonging to hundreds of their potential romantic peers. Each picked the ones they liked most.

All the scientists had to do then was to tell each participant that the person they were into was not interested in them.

The findings, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, illustrated differences in depressed versus non-depressed people and go a long way to understanding the brain’s response to pain.

The only upside, according to the scientists, is that when depressed people feel liked by someone, it’s a more intense feeling than when regular people experience the same situation. Sadly, though, the initial joy is short-lived, so non-depressed people have it best after all.

In spite of that, researchers were surprised that there was ability for a strong positive response in the depressives, as it has been thought that any and all feelings experienced by a depressed brain should be more dulled.

Also, unlike in other similar research, participants were actually told the profiles weren’t real. But that did not impact the scans.

But the research will also prove useful in finding new ways to boost the brain’s opioid-producing response in depressed people, as well as reach a new understanding of how to decrease negative feelings brought on by social stress and promote social interaction.

The research also builds on the foundations of prior, similar work with non-depressed subjects.

“Our findings suggest that a depressed person’s ability to regulate emotions during these interactions is compromised, potentially because of an altered opioid system. This may be one reason for depression’s tendency to linger or return, especially in a negative social environment,” lead author Dr. David Hsu, now at Stony Brook university, says.

According to Hsu, the brain’s opioid system can both magnify the sadness in rejection and help sustain better feelings after a positive social interaction has finished taking place.

This ties in with older research into the mu-opioid system in the brain, which is intimately tied to physical pain, hence the opioids’ ability to also control that.

The researchers are already thinking of further progress along these established lines. “To help us understand who is most affected by social stressors, we’re planning to investigate the influence of genes, personality, and the environment on the brain’s ability to release opioids during rejection and acceptance,” Hsu says.

All the participants were enrolled in a subsequent study on the treatment of opioid-related conditions. The team said this would help them identify more accurate sub-types of depression in future.

Ukrainian photog killed in shelling outside Donetsk

2015/02/28

Multiple Ukrainian sources indicate that Nikolaev was with Nikolay Flerko, a volunteer for the nationalist Right Sector battalion, in Pesky, on the outskirts of Donetsk, when he was wounded.

На Донбассе погиб фотограф издания "Сегодня" Сергей Николаев. Он был ранен осколком мины в н.п. Пески. http://ift.tt/1wxZeby

— IT Sector Харьков (@itsector) February 28, 2015

The two men, who were reportedly not wearing bulletproof vests or helmets, were taken to a local hospital before being declared dead.

"We don't know all the details, but there was shelling in Pesky today," said Ukrainian military spokesman Andrey Lysenko to Reuters.

The government forces and anti-Kiev militias say they are withdrawing heavy weaponry from the frontline, in accordance with the internationally-mediated peace roadmap signed in Minsk earlier this month.

Pegida UK falls flat: Newcastle counter-demo outnumbers anti-Islamists by 5-to-1

2015/02/28

The anti-Pegida counter-demonstration in Newcastle (Photo: Naveed Aslam)

“We are here because nobody else who should be talking about the problems in this country is talking about them,” said Pegida’s keynote speaker, Paul Weston, from the far-right Liberty GB party, to an audience that mostly comprised white middle-aged men holding Union Jacks.

“Although there are moderate Muslims in the country, Islam is not a religion of peace.”

Scuffles at Pegida's first ever UK rally: http://t.co/6F5nimZsYq FOLLOW LIVE: http://t.co/xdzhHPiAhz http://ift.tt/1vJYyEV

— Ruptly (@Ruptly) February 28, 2015

To uncoordinated cheers from the wind-battered crowd, speakers aired their grievances against Muslims, citing UK-raised ISIS recruits, such as executioner Mohammed Emwazi, known as Jihadi John, and the failure of police and local government in Rotherham to investigate Pakistani gangs that groomed hundreds of girls over a period of more than 15 years.

First #Pegida 'anti-Islamisation' rally staged in #Britain http://t.co/S9YpottDWC http://ift.tt/1vJYyEW

— ST Foreign Desk (@STForeignDesk) February 28, 2015

Speakers insisted that Pegida, inspired by demonstrations that began in Germany last year, was not a political movement, but a public awareness group that wanted to “open up public debate.”

There was a heavy security presence, with mounted police watching the entirely peaceful demonstration impassively, alongside an international media contingent.

Several hundreds of yards away, a much larger counter-demonstration gathered, which united trade unionists, Muslims, socialist anti-fascists and community groups.

A drum circle was set up at the heart of the crowd, as demonstrators chanted “Pegida are not welcome here!”

After a short march, the crowd, which organizers claim numbered up to 3,000, gathered before a platform where they were addressed by left-wing MP George Galloway, who attracted the most media attention throughout, Newcastle United footballer Moussa Sissoko, and local Labour MP Chi Onwurah.

'No to this failed fascist German import' - Galloway speaks at Pegida counter-demo http://t.co/v1fXsdswH0 http://ift.tt/1vJYwgl

— Ruptly (@Ruptly) February 28, 2015

“I wish this wasn’t necessary. What we’d like is for Pegida to have not picked our great city to march in,” said Onwurah.

“But to see people of all cultures and backgrounds, from across the political spectrum and including many football fans, turn out really shows Newcastle is united against these outsiders.”

Onwurah said it would be “obscene” if a single person had their Muslim beliefs shaken by the Pegida demonstration.

VIDEO: "If theres 1 child who thinks wearing a hijab or reading the Koran is wrong, that's obscene" #NewcastleUnites http://ift.tt/1vJYyEX

— Michael Brown (@mjeffbrown) February 28, 2015

As the speeches finished, the two crowds were funneled away by the police, but did end up about 100 yards from each other. Several demonstrators on both sides began to shout slogans through a heavy police presence.

Police lines separate Pegida from the counter demonstrators @RuptlyNewsroom #pegida #newcastle http://ift.tt/1DCVU43

— Jon Scammell (@JonScammell) February 28, 2015

Five people were arrested after what appeared to be a series of minor scuffles.

Police arrest a man on Newgate St following the #Pegida and #NewcastleUnites protests http://ift.tt/1AUBRNt

— Michael Brown (@mjeffbrown) February 28, 2015

UK’s Pegida has been modeled on the marches in Germany that began in October in Dresden, and gathered over 25,000 for their best-attended weekly demonstrations, before numbers fell off as the group's leadership found itself mired in controversy.

UK’s Pegida was organized mostly by members of far-right street movement English Defence League (EDL), which also focuses on an anti-immigrant agenda, and other marginal groups.

Newcastle was chosen as it was the site of the two best-attended EDL marches in 2010 and 2013. Organizers say they will stage their next anti-Islamization protest in London.

Egyptian court declares Hamas terrorist organization

2015/02/28

"The court ruled that Hamas should be included as a terrorist organization," Samir Sabry, a lawyer involved in the case, told Reuters.

The decision follows Egyptian court’s ban on the Izza-Din al-Qassam Brigades, an armed wing of Hamas, in Egypt that was pronounced in January. The authorities accused the group of smuggling weapons into the country to provide assistance to Islamists who fight against the current government. They also alleged Hamas’ armed wing had planned and carried out terrorist attacks in Egypt, including the shooting in Sinai on January 29, in which 33 people were killed.

Egypt has for many years been the main mediator between Israel and Hamas and helped to reach agreements on ceasefires, including a truce last August that stopped the war in Gaza which is ruled by Hamas. However, the relations have soured after the ousting of Mohamed Morsi, who was backed by Muslim Brotherhood.

"The Egyptian court's decision to list the Hamas movement as a terror organization is shocking and is dangerous, and it targets the Palestinian people and its factions of resistance," the Hamas statement said Saturday.

"They are now saying that the [Palestinian] resistance and struggle against the occupation is a crime," Ghazi Hamad, a deputy foreign minister for Hamas in Gaza told Al Jazeera following the ruling.

A source also hinted Reuters in January that Hamas would stop using Egypt as mediator for talks with Israel.

The Hamas organization is an offshoot of Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood which was also listed as a terrorist organization in Egypt after Morsi was toppled in 2013. On Saturday a court in Cairo has sentenced 14 members of the movement, including its head Mohammed Badie, to life in prison for inciting murder.

Hamas was created in 1987 with the declared aim to liberate Palestine, including the territories which are now under Israel, from occupation and to establish an Islamic state. The military wing of Hamas has been launching attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians using suicide bombings and rocket strikes.

The organization began taking part in politics in 2004. In 2005 Hamas won 91 places of 118 in municipal elections. In 2006, Hamas won a majority in the Palestinian parliament.

Hamas is recognized as a terrorist organization by various countries, including Israel, the US, Canada and Japan.

Still last December, the EU General Court ordered Hamas be removed from the bloc’s terror blacklist. The court said that the decision to remove Hamas from the list was not based on an examination of Hamas’ activities, but rather on an examination of the procedures used to institute the 2003 ban. However, a funding freeze against the group and sanctions against its members will remain in place for three more months.

German sole: Man bests downstairs neighbor in loud footstep court battle

2015/02/28

The conflict came to a head in the German seaside resort of Travemünde, on the Baltic Sea. The dueling neighbors are residents of the Maritim complex, a 30 story, 70s-era building, which houses 320 apartments.

The bone of contention was one less of decorum and more of decor; namely, whether the upstairs neighbor had gotten off on the wrong foot by ripping up the carpet and opting for parquet flooring.

The case, which came before The Federal Supreme Court (BGH) in Karlsruhe, argued both that the resident had no right to uproot the carpet due to the upscale nature of the apartment, and that in doing so, he was violating the noise ordinance.

Both the arguments, however, fell on deaf ears.

The court said that his footsteps fell within the maximum level of 63 decibels. A normal conversation, meanwhile, is anywhere between 60-65 decibels, while a telephone dial tone is 80 decibels.

As for the “binding upscale” amenities, the court ruled that the buildings designation as an upmarket complex did not entail that the floors remain carpeted, even if they were “chic in the 70s”, the Local's German edition cites Judge Christina Stresemann as saying.

The defendant’s legal council also noted that 53 apartments in the building already had installed different types of flooring.

Olive tree-killing bacteria may spread across Europe

2015/02/28

The bacteria, called Xylella fastidiosa, or olive leaf scorch, have affected thousands of trees in Italy's southernmost Apulia region. The microbe hampers fluid movement in affected plants, making their leaves and branches dry out and die. Insects spread the disease to new plants.

According to the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa), the problem already affecting Italy may soon spread to other EU nations, unless contamination procedures are implemented. But Italian olive growers say the government will not allocate money to tackle the problem.

"If it expands its range further, the entire Mediterranean basin risks being contaminated," Giovanni Melcarne, the president of an oil-producing consortium in Otranto, was quoted by The Telegraph as saying on Friday.

Since the bacterium was first detected in Italy in September 2013, it has spread dramatically from 8,000 hectares to 230,000 hectares. Olive trees as old as 1,000 years, which are considered a national heritage in Italy, are affected.

There is no cure for the disease and combatting it has a cost both in monetary terms and in terms of environmental damage. Stopping the aphid carriers from traveling to new areas requires creating wide stripes of ploughed soil treated with insecticides around the contaminated areas.

The spread of the bacterium is facilitated by Italy's long-time tradition of planting olive trees along the roads, which now gives the infection ready routes.

“There is serious concern that this disease could spread from the Apulia region as it has been increasing in the last few months,” Enrico Brivio, a European Commission spokesman, told the Guardian. “We will evaluate the situation and decide if additional measures are necessary at a standing committee meeting on the 19-20 January.”

The Xylella outbreak coincides with a particularly bad year for Italian olive growers last year. An unusually cold and wet summer meant that olive trees lost many buds. And those that managed to produce olives were attacked by olive fly, which lays its larvae in the olives.

"It's a disaster of Biblical proportions," Johnny Madge, a British producer who has been making olive oil in the Sabine Hills region, north of Rome, told the Telegraph. "In this region, production will be almost zero."

The harvest was the worst in decades, down 40 to 50 percent. With Italy and Spain accounting for some 70 percent of Europe's olive output, industry organizations warn of an imminent price hike.

NSA spying program renewed ahead of congressional showdown

2015/02/28

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) gave a green light to the government to let the US telephone metadata collection program continue until June 1, when the provisions in the Patriot Act legalizing the practice will expire.

At that point, lawmakers will have the option of reauthorizing the law, allowing it to expire or replace it altogether.

Under the current program, the NSA can gather phone metadata, including call duration, location, and who called who and when, although the actual content of the phone conversations is off limits.

The government has thus far been required to reauthorize the program every 90 days. Friday’s renewal marks the fifth time the Obama administration has extend the program since promising to overhaul the United States domestic surveillance practices in January 2014.

In a statement released by White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, failure to reform the program has been placed at the feet of Congress.

“In January 2014, President Obama directed an end to the Section 215 bulk telephony metadata program as it then existed, and called for the establishment of a mechanism that would preserve the program’s essential capabilities without the government holding the bulk data,” the statement read.

“In March 2014, based on a recommendation from the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General, the President proposed that the data should remain at the telephone companies rather than with the government, with a new legal mechanism that would allow the government to obtain data from these companies pursuant to individual court orders.”

The statement goes on to say that Congress has thus far failed to pass legislation to implement these reforms, known as the USA Freedom Act.

The House of Representatives passed the USA Freedom Act on in May 2014. The measure, however, was later shot down in the Senate after falling short by two votes.

Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell at the time called the bulk collection of Americans’ metadata a vital tool in the fight against terrorism.

"This is the worst possible time to be tying our hands behind our backs," he said.

The White House said that Congress has a “limited window” to act to overhaul the telephony metadata program, “while preserving key intelligence authorities.”

“The Administration continues to stand ready to work with the Congress on such legislation and would welcome the opportunity to do so.”

Knowledge of the program was first made public by NSA-leaker Edward Snowden in 2013. Since that time, the Obama administration has made minor alterations to the program, including a provision that requires a court order before the information can be queried.

Some civil liberties advocates had asked Obama to forgo the latest renewal, though the president has said he will not act unilaterally. Proponents say it has provided a vital tool in the battle against terrorism, though critics argue it has never provided actionable intelligence and poses a grave risk to the right to privacy.

Everything will be done to punish those behind Nemtsov’s death - Putin

2015/02/28

“Everything will be done for the organizers and executors of this vile and cynical murder to receive the punishment they deserve," the statement on the Russian President’s official website said.

Boris Nemtsov, a veteran opposition figure in Russia, was gunned down in a drive-by attack in central Moscow overnight Friday.

The murder, which happened just away from the Kremlin, triggered worldwide condemnation and calls to bring the killers to justice.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW

Washington supplying Kiev with satellite intelligence of conflict in east – report

2015/02/28

FILE PHOTO: Donetsk, Ukraine (via Google Map)

A debate has been on in the US for some time on whether the Obama administration should provide the Kiev government with actionable intelligence. As with providing “defensive” weapons, the disagreements are similar.

However, imagery reduced in quality has apparently been green-lighted, but only arriving to the Ukrainians 24 hours late at the least. This step is apparently to ensure the US isn’t in any way thought of as a participant in the conflict, the newspaper said, referencing its own sources.

Another reason for why the images are somewhat degraded is in the event of the photos accidentally ending up with the Russians, who as a result would learn more about American spy satellite capabilities.

Ukraine does not like the way things are at the moment, complaining that it hampers its efforts against what it calls Russia-backed troops.

“This assistance is not sufficient… We don’t have a day to wait for satellite images. The information should be real time,” Andriy Parubiy, first deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Rada told WSJ.

Moscow has repeatedly denied aiding the rebels.

Parubiy, on the other hand, adds that a deal is already in place with Canada to supply more real-time and more high-resolution data.

His concerns about timeliness and quality are shared by many within the American political elite, especially the famously anti-Russian Senator John McCain, who has been making claims of weapons support for the uprising from Russia.

Nonetheless, the White House has last year agreed to Kiev’s request for intelligence on east Ukraine, albeit after things are done to it. This also allegedly includes blacking out Russian territory.

These compromises are there allegedly to give the Ukrainians a better idea of what they’re dealing with at home, rather than what takes place a stone’s throw away on foreign soil.

Ukraine meanwhile continues to pressure the US for weapons as well, from radars to missiles to drones, but only getting so much, as it’s not a NATO member – unlike Russia’s other immediate neighbors Poland, Lithuania and Estonia, who have all got Javelin missiles.

Ukraine’s non-membership is thought to have led to a consensus among NATO members to hold off on supplying it with lethal aid, according to an unnamed military official.

‘Nemtsov’s death a tragedy for opposition, Russia - and Putin’

2015/02/28

People lay flowers at a murder scene of politician Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead on Moscow's Moskvoretsky bridge in the early hours of February 28, 2015.(RIA Novosti / Ramil Sitdikov)

RT:There's been reaction to the killing from around the world - the UK Foreign Office also said earlier it was saddened and appalled by the murder. Tell us more about the reaction in Britain.

Aleksandra Nerozina: The reaction here is quite understandable. It’s a world support for the family member who lost their loved one and a friend. That’s the number one. The second line is base line which has been projected recently quite strongly that somehow it is bad thing for Russia where things like that should be looked from this point of view whatsoever. This is a murder which all Russians are appalled by because it is clearly not something that is savoury by any means.

I can base it on my experience with similar events happening in the past and clearly every time used in accordance not to condemn the situation but rather to put the finger on Russia. Unfortunately it’s an uprising voice of Putin and the Kremlin, which is an absolute nonsense from all points of view. You all remember the famous death of Berezovsky who himself – and I knew him personally well enough – he was saying to me numerous times: “I will never ever be destroyed or killed by the Kremlin.”

It’s nobody’s business at the moment to judge what happened. We have to wait for the investigation to take the place first to see what will actually be found but all the scenarios are possible. What we should abstain from is using this situation to blame Putin and Russia.

What I will say to Russian people who are stronger and who know what is happening exactly. It will unite them even more against such a violent act. Imagine, you have the Kremlin; you have one of the members of the opposition who was absolutely harmless.

Mind me, don’t forget who Putin is. If he wanted to take somebody out, it would have been taken with so many ways without it being such a public display which is quite ridiculous. What is upsetting is that when I look through at what is already the voices raising quietly but sharply, a voice of disappointment, yet again point at Russia for something that Russia is actually upset with the west. I won’t be surprised if some proof will be found with some western counterparts, whether it would be Ukraine involved or CIA, or MI6, MI5. It could be anybody’s game if we play the blame game. We should not be doing that.

We should be waiting for the results. We should wait what is happening exactly rather than speculate in such this absolutely disgusting manner and I want for the world to remember that it’s Russia’s loss, not theirs, and they should be given condolences to Russian people, to Russian president, to support him.

Because, as any other president, Putin needs opposition. And that’s one of the known facts in politics. Every politician requires and needs to have an opposition without which they simply cannot be a democratic society. Nemtsov, however harmless he was, he was an oppositionist with very few votes [for] him – as you know, Russians overwhelmingly support Putin.

And again coming and comparing it to Berezovsky I can only state that Berezovsky at his time - he was saying that he would never be touched because “Putin needs me. He needs that opposition. He needs that devil on the other side for west to pet somebody who will open opposition.”

Nemtsov murder: Russian investigators probing provocation, Charlie Hebdo links

2015/02/28

A murder scene of politician Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead on Moskvoretsky bridge.(RIA Novosti / Iliya Pitalev)

“There is no doubt that this crime was carefully planned. The location and timing of the killing indicated that as well. The investigation found out that Boris Nemtsov was going with his female friend to his apartment, which is located close to the murder scene. The organizers and the executers apparently knew his route,” Vladimir Markin, spokesman for the Investigative Committee, told journalists.

Markin said the best detectives and forensic experts are involved in the case, which is considered a top priority by law enforcement authorities.

Preliminary results show that the politician was killed from a Makarov pistol. Experts found six 9-mm cartridge cases at the scene, Markov said. The cartridges were produced by several different manufacturers, he added.

At the moment the investigation is focused on questioning the eyewitnesses and studying mobile traffic data in the immediate area of the crime, which may provide an insight into communications of the criminals.Footage from CCTV cameras is also being studied.

The investigation is looking into several possible motives behind the high-profile assassination, Markin said.

“The murder could be a provocation to destabilize the political situation in the country. Nemtsov could have been chosen as a sort of 'sacral sacrifice' by those who don't hesitate to use any methods to reach their political goals,” he said.

“There are reports that Nemtsov received threats due to his position over the shooting of Charlie Hebdo staff in Paris,” Markin said, adding that a possible link to the Ukrainian civil war was also being investigated.

“It's no secret that both sides of that conflict have among their ranks very radical figures who take no orders from any authority,” he said.

The Kremlin called on political commentators not to pressure the investigators.

“This is a top priority case now and it's important that the investigation produces results as soon as possible. Don't hamper their work, just be patient and wait,” presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Dozhd television.

Boris Nemtsov, a veteran opposition figure in Russia, was gunned down in a drive-by attack in central Moscow on Friday night. The murder triggered worldwide condemnation and calls to bring the killers to justice.

US hammers out ‘bottom lines’ for Iran nuclear deal

2015/02/28

A general view of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, some 1,200 km (746 miles) south of Tehran.(Reuters / Mohammad Babaie)

The White House is showing optimism after “sticking to its guns” and remaining patient through an extended negotiation process with Tehran “because we have held firm to certain bottom lines,” a senior US administration official said.

“We will only accept an agreement that cuts off the different pathways to the fissile material that Iran needs for a nuclear weapon,” the official told AFP.

Washington’s demands that Iran “reduces significantly” its present number of operating centrifuges and agree to “unprecedented” inspections of both nuclear and production facilities, including uranium mines and other similar sites.

The US also wants Tehran to be prevented from developing weapons-grade plutonium at its Arak reactor as well as agree not to use its Fordo nuclear plant to enrich uranium. That would leave only Iran’s Natanz plant capable of enriching uranium, which at high grades can be used in nuclear weapons.

“We are insisting…that sanctions can snap back into place if Iran were to violate the agreement,” the US official said.

Tehran says it is pursuing a nuclear energy program for its civilians, rejecting Western allegations of a secret bomb agenda.

At a speech to mark the 36th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani expressed confidence that an agreement would be concluded.

"In recent months we have shown the flexibility necessary to resolve this political issue," he said. "We hope that the other negotiating party can show more than before. If so... in a short time the disputes can be resolved."

Earlier this month, the supreme leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei, favored an agreement, but he warned that Iran would reject any accords if they contradict national interests.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif mentioned in January a fatwa issued by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei that placed a religious ban on the possession and use of nuclear weapons, saying, "We believe that all nuclear weapons should be dismantled," the FARS news agency reported

US Secretary of State John Kerry is heading for Switzerland, where he will meet with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif as part of the P5+1 negotiating group.

Several factors have increased tensions over the negotiation process, including a controversial visit to Washington next week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will address a joint session of Congress.

Netanyahu’s invitation to speak before Congress, extended to the Israeli leader by Republican House Speaker John Boehner without the previous knowledge of the White House, which is standard protocol in such cases, has driven US-Israeli relations to their lowest levels in many years.

Meanwhile, negotiators are under pressure to reach an agreement with Iran before a March 31 deadline, with the final technical details to be finished by June 30.

US officials remain cautiously optimistic, saying “the negotiations have advanced substantially, gaps have narrowed.”

“When we have an agreement it has to be measured against the alternatives,” the US administration official was quoted as saying.

The United States in the past has warned that “all options remain on the table” regarding Iran.

ISIS too reliant on oil, can’t survive without new territories – report

2015/02/28

Without doing so, the terrorists could not be certain how long they could keep up their current levels of spending, the Paris-based investigation revealed. The FATF is comprised of government officials from across the world and is tasked with investigating money laundering.

The group supported the assertion that ISIS (Islamic State) has been branching out into all sorts of activity, including the seizure of resources like oil fields, extortion, theft and other criminal ventures.

The investigators came to the conclusion that ISIS is a special breed of terrorist organization where funding “is central and critical to its activities,” with proceeds from occupied territories being their primary source of revenue.

Aside from this, the FATF says abuse of NGOs and charities by terrorist donors is also commonplace.

Kidnapping for ransom and cash smuggling are other sources. The investigation also found the ISIS has been making good use of crowdfunding and other internet-related sources of gathering support.

According to US officials, the militants started imposing taxes on all kinds of economic activity in the city of Mosul, northern Iraq, even before it was seized by them in June. They threatened to kill those who were reluctant to pay.

From Mosul alone, Islamic State was reaping $8 million a month from extortion, another analysis by the Council on Foreign Relations said. When the group seized the city, it grabbed millions of dollars in cash from banks.

But the overwhelming dependence on oil business and looting leaves the Islamic State vulnerable and, therefore, “cutting off these vast revenue streams is both a challenge and opportunity for the global community to defeat this terrorist organization,” it says in the report, which goes on to give a surface review of the Islamic State’s conquests in the oil field and reservoir category.

FATF also believes the coalition airstrikes and the huge slump in oil prices have proven beneficial in “significantly [diminishing]” ISIS earnings with respect to extracting, refining and selling oil. Included in this is the terrorist group’s own reliance on the resource.

The next logical step in stepping up the fight against ISIS is to identify the financial and resource channels, the “middlemen, buyers, carriers, traders and routes” the terrorists use to traffic captured resources, FATF said.

Boris Nemtsov: From reformist wonder boy to disgruntled opposition leader

2015/02/28

Boris Nemtsov (RIA Novosti / Mikhail Mordasov)

The killing of Nemtsov just next to the Kremlin came as a shock to Russia, with many people from various political camps condemning the crime and demanding a swift and thorough investigation.

“Boris' death is a tragedy for my family and me,” tweeted Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the Russian opposition figure arguably known best outside of the country. “We all love him. A reckless, but good fellow.”

“It's a tragedy. I didn't agree with him on some things. That's my right. But what happened, for whatever reason, cannot be justified. I condole,” said Leonid Roshal, a prominent Russian doctor and public figure.

Irina Khakamada, a one-time political ally of Nemtsov’s, wrote that the killing was “an outrageous provocation that crosses the line. On the eve of the protest march. It's like terrorism.”.

Nemtsov was born in the southern Russian city of Sochi into the family of a construction official and a pediatrician on October 9, 1959. His family moved to the city of Gorky (now renamed Nizhniy Novgorod) while Nemtsov was still a boy.

He studied physics at a Gorky university under his maternal uncle Vilen Eidman, and later worked as a post-graduate student. Nemtsov published more than 60 scientific papers on quantum physics, thermodynamics and acoustics, with academic colleagues describing him as a gifted scientist.

In the last years of the Soviet Union, Nemtsov pursued a political career as an elected member of parliament. During the early 1990s, he was appointed by President Boris Yeltsin as the governor of Nizhniy Novgorod region. He won the first-ever election as the region's head in 1995.

During his term, he championed sweeping liberalization, including a pioneering land reform that allowed sale of land in the region. He is also credited for creating unprecedentedly free environment for the media in the region, although critics said it was part of his populist policies and that in the actual governing Nemtsov showed authoritarian trends.

In 1997, Nemtsov's political career brought him to Moscow, where he served as Energy Minister and later Deputy Prime Minister of Russia. At the time Russia was undergoing a period of political and economic turbulence, with five cabinet reshuffles in a period of just two years. Nemtsov served in two of them, but eventually resigned in 1998.

At the time of his appointment, he was considered a popular politician with a chance of winning the presidency one day. His public image however suffered from association with the government of Sergey Kirienko, which led Russia into the default of 1998.

Nemtsov was also marred by a scandal involving his donor and protegee, Boris Brevnov, who received a management position in Russian energy monopolist RAO UES. He was later accused by the financial watchdog of wasting the indebted company's money on jet flights for his family and other extravagant spending.

After leaving the government Nemtsov focused on party-building. In 1999 he co-founded the Union of Right Forces (SPS), a rightist political coalition, along with Anatoly Chubais and Irina Khakamada. In the parliamentary election that year, SPS scored 8.52 percent of votes and formed an opposition faction. It was the only electoral success of SPS at the national level, with the bloc failing to pass the 5 percent threshold necessary to win parliamentary seats in 2003 and 2007. SPS was disbanded in 2008.

In November 1999, Nemtsov joined other Russian liberals in supporting Vladimir Putin for the presidency, calling him the most worthy candidate for the position. Later he said he regretted that decision and that he didn't vote for Putin at the 2000 presidential election.

Arguably the most controversial episode of Nemtsov's political career came in October 2002 during the terrorist attack at a Moscow theater. His name was on the list of people whom the hostage-takers agreed to talk to directly. His fellow SPS politician, Irina Khakamada, went into the besieged theater, but Nemtsov “vanished,” according to Iosif Kobzon, another negotiator. Years later the politician claimed that he received a direct order from Putin not to go.

In recent years, Nemtsov remained a vocal critic of Putin’s leadership, publishing since 2008 no less than four searing reports on what he called Putin’s failures and misdeeds as a public official. Another report focused on the Sochi Olympic Games, its cost and alleged corruption in the project.

He also penned three autobiographical books, with the best-known called “A rebel's confession.”

While Nemtsov himself blamed his dwindling public support on persecution from the Russian government, some analysts say this was an overly simplistic view. His name is tied in the eyes of many Russians with the painful liberal reforms of the 1990s and the social injustices they brought about. Many of his public statements are at odds with the general Russian public, the latest being his criticism of Crimea's move to reunite with Russia.

He was also reportedly a difficult political ally, having an uncompromising and somewhat prima donna-like attitude to fellow opposition leaders and activists.

Nemtsov's latest electoral efforts were largely unsuccessful. He ran mayor of Sochi in 2013, just as the city was preparing to host the Olympic Games, and scored 13.6 percent of the popular vote, losing the race. In the same year, he became the sole member of the regional parliament of the Yaroslavl Region from his latest political party, RPR-PARNAS.

Nemtsov allegedly struggled with severe depression during the last few months of his life, according to Meduza, a Russian news website. There are reports that he didn’t feel like being a member of a regional parliament matched his skill set, while at the same time understanding that he couldn’t regain prominence on a national level.

One of his latest ventures was the organization of the Vesna (“Spring”) opposition rally planned for March 1 in Moscow. Organizers said they canceled the demonstration due to Nemtsov's death and that a mourning march will be held instead in the center of Moscow.

Nemtsov is survived by his estranged wife Raisa, with whom he had a daughter. He had longtime relationships with two other women, who bore him three children.

EPA sued over shrinking monarch butterfly population

2015/02/27

The lawsuit, filed Friday by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in federal district court in New York, argues that an ingredient in the herbicide – glyphosate – has had devastating effects on monarch butterflies, causing the population to halve in seven years.

Glyphosate destroys milkweed, the only food consumed by monarch butterflies in their migration. The lawsuit states that federal law requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ensure that the pesticides it approves will not cause “unreasonable adverse effects on the environment, including wildlife.” The suit alleges the agency never considered glyphosate’s impacts on monarchs.

A year ago, the NRDC and other environmental groups submitted a petition to the EPA asking them to review a large body of scientific evidence showing the effects of glyphosates, but the EPA did not respond to the petition.

As we debate #TheDress, @NRDC sues EPA to force action on #whiteandgold Monarch butterflies http://t.co/1ZwkYU3KQF http://ift.tt/1Dk7wpZ

— Isabel Keating (@IsabelXKeating) February 27, 2015

In response, the EPA issued a statement saying it is taking several steps to protect the butterflies, but that the science on the issue "is still evolving."

"There are multiple factors that may be affecting monarchs including loss of habitat, weather and pesticides," the EPA said.

The orange-and-black spotted monarchs are renowned for migrating several thousand miles across the US, Canada, and Mexico. The Center for Biological Diversity said their numbers have fallen dramatically in recent years. The lawsuit states the population was tallied at one billion in 1997 and this winter was down to 56.5 million butterflies, the second-lowest number ever measured.

The suit seeks a court order forcing the EPA to evaluate glyphosate's effects on monarchs and impose measures to mitigate harm to the butterflies.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service said at the end of December 2014 that it would conduct a one-year status review of the butterfly to determine if the species is warranted protection under the Endangered Species Act. This month it announced it was helping launch a $3.2 million campaign aimed at saving the butterfly’s habitat.

Last year, the NRDC sued the EPA in federal court in Washington, DC over its approval of the DowAgro Sciences pesticide ‘Enlist Duo,’ which contains glyphosate. The NRDC said at the time of filing that while the group recognizes that deforestation and climate change have contributed to the decline in the butterfly species, “the massive loss of milkweed habitat is the main culprit.”

“…Glyphosate has wiped out the milkweed they need to survive,” said Sylvia Fallon, a senior scientist at NRDC. “EPA completely ignored the impact on monarchs when it granted this new approval, and seriously underestimated the toxicity for people.”

Nemtsov's death: ‘Putin is the last person to be interested’

2015/02/27

Boris Nemtsov (RIA Novosti / Grigoriy Sisoev)

Dmitry Babich: It’s clearly a huge tragedy. It’s a very cruel murder. But certainly I would not say that Mr. Nemtsov was in any way a threat to President Putin. He had absolutely zero chances of winning any elections at least since the 1990s, when he had some electoral successes. So to say that Nemtsov was killed in order to influence Russian policy on Ukraine, I think it’s clearly an exaggeration.

RT: And of course, the last person in the world who was interested in this murder is President Putin, because it’s quite clear how this story is going to be spun by the Western media.

DB: In general I would say that, if you look at history, whenever there is a deterioration of relations between Russia and the West, opposition figures, sometimes liberal politicians, are murdered under mysterious circumstances. And all of them at a certain moment had connections with powerful oligarchs, like Mr. Berezovsky – who is now also dead – and others. And these are always shady stories. So it’s a tragedy of the Russian liberal movement that almost all of its leaders die violent deaths under mysterious circumstances.

RT: So, what about the reaction to Nemtsov’s death? What are people saying out there?

DB: Liberal opposition leaders, people like Alexei Kudrin (former finance minister) and Mikhail Kasyanov (former prime minister), they all say this is a tragedy for Russia, that he was a great politician. I wouldn’t quite agree that he was a successful politician, at least during the last 15 years of his political activity. But certainly, his figure is connected to the 90s. And various people have various feelings about this period. It was the period of, I would say, political youth of Russia, when we first got a taste of democracy, and Mr. Nemtsov is associated in our memory with that time – which was difficult, but also interesting. So I don’t think a lot of people consider Mr. Nemtsov a hero, but certainly everybody has been made very sad and angry by the cruelty of this murder.

Boris Nemtsov killed in Moscow LIVE UPDATES

RT: Another opposition figure, Mikhail Kasyanov, has said that he has no clue who could possibly want Nemtsov dead. What do you think the possible motives could be? We know that he was an opposition figure, a popular opposition figure. What could these motives be? We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, and we know this is speculation.

DB: Well I agree with former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov that it is very difficult to guess who would be interested in this murder. Certainly, I would repeat my thought that President Putin is the last person to be interested in this kind of development. Nemtsov was not only a critic of Putin; he insulted Putin many times – in public, in the mass media. He was an open political opponent of Putin, to put it mildly. So having that person killed right now, of course it’s a huge gift to Putin-haters in the West, who will immediately start spinning the story the same way they spun the story of the murder of Anna Politikovskaya, or the murder of Sergei Yushchenkov…These terrible murders were always blamed by the mainstream media on President Putin, although absolutely no facts would support those theories.

RT: Moving on down the road, what possible implications could we be seeing of Nemtsov’s murder for the Russian political arena?

DB: Well I think the main implications will be in the way the Western press will react to it, because I don’t foresee any significant changes in the Russian political landscape. Since the 1990s, Nemtsov was not a successful politician. He was not particularly popular among the general public. Just about six months ago, he won a small regional election in Yaroslavl, became a deputy in the local legislature. Before that, for about 10 years, he could not win a single election. So, most of the implications will be in the media sphere, how the Western media will play this terrible tragedy, especially in the context of the war in Ukraine, which the Western media also blames on Putin and on Russia, I think quite unjustly.

Nemtsov was no threat to Russian govt - presidential spokesperson

2015/02/27

Boris Nemtsov was killed Friday evening in the center of Moscow. A veteran of Russian politics, he was an influential figure in the 1990s and held the post of deputy prime minister under former President Boris Yeltsin. Though he had been more involved in business than politics since 2003, he was a critic of the Russian government.

“With all due respect to the memory of Boris Nemtsov, in political terms he did not pose any threat to the current Russian leadership or Vladimir Putin. If we compare popularity levels, Putin’s and the government’s ratings and so on, in general Boris Nemtsov was just a little bit more than an average citizen,” Peskov said on Saturday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned the assassination and expressed his condolences to the family, Peskov added. “Putin has stressed that this brutal murder has all [the] signs of a contract murder and is extremely provocative.”

Irina Khakamada, an opposition figure who was Nemtsov's ally in the SPS party (Union of Right Forces), called the murder a "provocation" aimed at destabilizing Russia.

"It is definitely not beneficial to Putin and it is aimed at destabilizing everything to tatters," she said.

Human Rights Watch representative Tanya Cooper called for a “thorough” and “unbiased” investigation into Nemtsov’s murder, adding that police must consider all angles, including the victim’s political career.

US President Barack Obama has condemned Nemtsov’s death, describing it as a “brutal murder,” the White House National Security Council said on Twitter. The council also called on Russia to conduct a “prompt, impartial and transparent investigation” and to “ensure those responsible are brought to justice.”

Nemtsov was a real patriot, who believed in the possibility of Russia's greatness. I cry now both for his family & the country he so loved.

— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) February 27, 2015

US Secretary of State John Kerry said he was “shocked” when he found out about Nemtsov’s death, and called on Russian authorities to investigate what happened.

“Nemtsov committed his life to a more democratic, prosperous, open Russia, and to strong relationships between Russia and its neighbors and partners, including the United States,” Kerry stated.

The UK's Foreign Office said it will closely follow the developments of Nemtsov’s murder investigation.

“We are shocked and saddened by news that former Russian deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov has been shot and killed in Moscow. Our thoughts are with his family and we offer our condolences to them. We deplore this criminal act. Those responsible must be brought to justice. We will continue to follow the situation closely,” a Foreign Office spokeswoman said.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called Nemtsov a friend and “a bridge between Ukraine and Russia.” He said on Twitter that he is sure those responsible for Nemtsov's death will be found.

" Shocked. Boris was killed. Hard to believe this. I do not doubt that the murderers will be punished,” Poroshenko said.

Pentagon walks back plans for spring offensive against ISIS stronghold Mosul

2015/02/27

Fighters of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (Reuters / Rodi Said)

According to a new report by the Daily Beast, military officials said Friday it is more realistic for Iraqi and Kurdish troops to try and retake Mosul from the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS or ISIL) in the fall.

“I can’t put a date certain…nor say April is out,” said Defense Department spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby to the website. “I don’t think we are there yet. There are gaps and seams that need to be closed.”

A group within the US government pushed for a spring offensive out of concern that the next opportunity to launch such a campaign would not be until the fall, but policymakers were trumped by concerns that Iraqi forces were nowhere near ready for an attack.

#ISIS has Pentagon to thank for anticipating Mosul battle.Step 1:blow up Runways.V @SajadJiyad http://t.co/w936ieTuvU http://ift.tt/1LU0bUC

— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) February 27, 2015

Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that it would be “six to nine months, best estimate” before Iraqi forces could launch a counter-offensive against ISIS.

“It is an Iraqi decision but we don’t want to do anything until they are ready and can win decisively,” a military official told the Daily Beast. “They cannot now.”

Earlier this month, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) briefed reporters on a plan to retake the northern city of Mosul, an ISIS stronghold, with the US providing air support for Iraqi and Kurdish troops in the “April, May timeframe.” The goal was to capture the city before Ramadan began on June 17.

Iraqi officials and prominent Republican Senators were stunned the offensive was being telegraphed in advance to the enemy. They were equally appalled when Pentagon officials leaked specifics of the number of fights and configuration – “five Iraqi brigades and three brigades of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters composing a total force of 25,000 troops.”

Iraqi Defense Minister Khaled Obeidi, in a televised briefing this week, wouldn’t confirm the timeline.

“This is urban warfare and we have civilian populations. It is very important to take time and accuracy in setting the plan for this battle,” said Obeidi.

Republican Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) blasted CENTCOM’s announcement in a letter to President Barack Obama, calling the disclosure a risk to “the success of our mission, but could also cost the lives of US, Iraqi and coalition forces.”

‘Rings of peace’: Hundreds surround Swedish synagogue, lock hands in Denmark

2015/02/27

"This is the real Sweden," Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven told Swedish Radio News as he took part in the action Friday afternoon.

Ring of #Peace swedish PM Löfven joining Muslim initiated peace initiative outside Stockholm synagogue tonight http://ift.tt/1Boyksq

— Mattias Wachtmeister (@mattiaswac) 27 февраля 2015

People took each other’s hands and formed a human chain around the Stockholm synagouge.

The event was organized by several activist groups, including Young Muslims Against Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia and Young Roma.

According to Emir Selimi, chairman of Young Roma, the project is about understanding, love, and trust.

“I think it's really important for us to show that even if we see a lot of hatred in the world, we are all just people," Selimi said.

Another action took place in neighboring Denmark, where hundreds of people also formed a human chain in City Hall Square.

“A mad man must not succeed in creating a rift," Frank Jensen, the mayor of the Danish capital, told AP.

The solidarity actions follow a vigil in Oslo, Norway that took place last Saturday. Over 1,000 people took part in the rally of solidarity following increased anti-Semitism in Europe, including a fatal shooting in Denmark on February 14.

“There's a human solidarity that goes beyond our identities as Jews, Muslims or Roma,” Ingrid Lomfors, secretary of the Jewish Association, told Sveriges Radio on Friday. “We are all people. And we are all as keen to protect the idea of human equality.”

Violence against Jews has been in the spotlight since attacks in Paris in January, when Islamists first assaulted the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and then took hostages in a kosher shop. In February, a gunman also launched an attack at a free speech event in Copenhagen, killing two people. A Jewish guard at a synagogue in the city was killed just hours later.

The spate of attacks has prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to urge European Jews to immigrate to Israel if they feel unsafe.

1bn at risk of hearing loss from music, noise – WHO

2015/02/27

Data analyzed by the UN agency indicates that almost half the population of developed countries between the ages of 12 and 35 are exposed to unsafe levels of noise from personal audio devices, while 40 percent risk hearing damage at entertainment venues.

“More and more young people are placing themselves at risk of hearing loss,” warned Dr. Etienne Krug, director at the World Health Organization's Department for Management of Noncommunicable Diseases, Disability, Violence and Injury Prevention.

Potential hearing loss has been linked to both sound volume and the duration and frequency of exposure. While a noise level of 85 dB can be safe for up to eight hours a day, an audio device at maximum volume registers at 105 dB, and is safe for just four minutes. A loud concert at 120 dB stops being safe after 28 seconds, while sirens or vuvuzelas – South African trumpets that became notorious during the 2010 FIFA World Cup – threaten hearing loss after just nine seconds.

“Once you lose your hearing, it won’t come back,” warned Krug.

Startling report from the @WHO claims more than 1 hour of music per day will damage hearing http://t.co/OqZfvBnGFD http://ift.tt/1AD7j3Z

— DJ MAG Canada (@djmagcanada) February 27, 2015

Individuals, venues, and governments have all been urged to take steps towards preventing hearing loss. The WHO has urged governments to organize public information campaigns, and develop and enforce “strict legislation on recreational noise.” Managers of entertainment venues such as bars, clubs, and concert halls are advised to use sound limiters, issue earplugs, and set aside “chill-out rooms” for patrons. Individuals can prevent hearing loss by turning down the volume on their audio devices, and by using “carefully fitted, and if possible, noise cancelling” earphones.

The WHO estimates that 360 million people around the world suffer from disabling hearing loss, citing exposure to excessive noise as one of the leading causes after injury and infectious disease. The report comes on the eve of International Ear Care Day, marked annually on March 3.

The WHO-recommended safe listening times are:

85 dB (the level of noise inside a car) – eight hours

90 dB (lawn mower) – two hours and 30 minutes

95 dB (an average motorcycle) – 47 minutes

100 dB (car horn or underground train) – 15 minutes

105 dB (music player at maximum volume) – four minutes

115 dB (loud rock concert) – 28 seconds

120 dB (vuvuzela or sirens) – nine seconds

Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )