Last Stand For IS Fighters In Tikrit Battle

Islamic State fighters are surrounded and preparing to make a last stand in Tikrit, the Iraqi home town of Saddam Hussein.

"We don't want to be rushed because we want to avoid casualties," police Staff Major General Bahaa al-Azzawi told the AFP news agency in Albu Ajil, a village across the Tigris River from Tikrit.

He added: "Tikrit is sealed off from all sides." All towns and villages on the river's eastern bank have been under the control of anti-IS forces since Thursday.

Black and white IS flags on walls have been painted over with slogans cursing the jihadist group or praising Shia militia groups.

Tikrit is on the west bank of the Tigris and until floating bridges are put across the river by army engineers, the nearest bridge is in Samarra, nearly 30 miles to the south.

Video: 2 Mar: Iraqi Forces' Tikrit Assault

IS took Tikrit as part of an invasion from Syria last June. Recapturing Tikrit would be the Iraqi government's biggest success against them so far.

Casualty numbers are not available, but  AFP reported dozens of bodies being driven south to Najaf. IS is using suicide car bombs, snipers and booby traps against the advancing forces.

Tikrit is the birthplace of Iraq's former dictator Saddam Hussein, and is a predominantly Sunni Muslim town.

Remnants of his Baath party are said to have cooperated with the IS fighters against the Shia dominated government in Baghdad.

The fighting has raised fears of sectarian killings because most of the Iraqi forces are Shia. Militia groups backed by Shia Iran are also helping the Iraqi army.

23.17 | 0 komentar | Read More

UK Pledges £2m To Deadly Cyclone Pam Victims

The UK is giving up to £2m in aid to help the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu where a devastating tropical cyclone is feared to have flattened entire communities.

Cyclone Pam is thought to have caused widespread destruction across the 65 inhabited Vanuatu islands, killing at least eight people, aid officials have said.

Unconfirmed reports say dozens more people are feared dead after the storm, which is one of the strongest ever recorded.

Britain's Department for International Development said "up to £1m" will be made immediately available to UN organisations and international aid agencies already working in the region following a request from the Vanuatu government.

An additional £1m will be made available through the UK's Rapid Response Facility, which provides emergency support.

Video: Vanuatu President Lonsdale In Tears

The Category Five storm struck the South Pacific archipelago with winds of up to 210mph, threatening more than 267,000 residents.

The storm blew roofs off houses, uprooted trees and downed power lines. Officials in the capital Port Vila say there is no power or running water.

Save the Children's Vanuatu Country Director Tom Skirrow added: "The scene here this morning is complete devastation.

Video: Drive Shows Extent Of Island Damage

Chloe Morrison, a World Vision emergency communications officer, said: "The damage is quite extensive in Port Vila but there are so many more vulnerable islands."

Vanuatu is about a quarter of the way from Australia to Hawaii. About 47,000 people live in the capital. Most of those left their homes for the safety of shelters.

Speaking in Japan, where he was at a conference on global risk, President of Vanuatu Baldwin Lonsdale choked up as he said: "I stand to appeal on the behalf of the government and people of Vanuatu to the global community to give a lending hand in responding this very current calamities that have struck us."

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1. Gallery: Fears Dozens Killed By Powerful Cyclone Pam

   There are fears dozens of people have been killed after Cyclone Pam stuck the Pacific's Vanuatu archipelago

The streets of Porta Vila are reportedly littered with debris and uprooted trees following the storm

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Sick Baby Among 7 Dead In Helicopter Crash

A military helicopter carrying a sick baby for treatment has crashed in thick fog in Serbia, killing all seven people on board.

The aircraft had picked up the five-day-old child in the southern region of Raska after an ambulance taking the child to hospital for treatment for life-threatening respiratory problems was blocked by a landslide, according to Serbian broadcaster B92.

Serbian state television said the Mi-17 transport helicopter also had four crew members and two medical workers on board.

The helicopter came down at around 10.30pm local time (9.30pm GMT) on Friday "in the wider area" of Belgrade airport, according to the country's defence ministry.

Sunday has been declared a day of mourning in the wake of the crash

The military said contact was lost after the helicopter apparently tried to make an emergency landing as it ran out of fuel.

Floodlights at two of Belgrade's biggest football stadiums were lit to help the pilots try to land.

Several commercial flights that tried to land at the airport had to be rerouted because of poor visibility.

The helicopter had reportedly picked the baby up from the region of Raska

Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic said the aircraft was the only helicopter in the army with advanced medevac equipment.

Mr Gasic called the pilots "the best" the army had.

The government called an emergency cabinet meeting and unanimously voted to declare Sunday a national day of mourning.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has offered condolences to the families of the victims.

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India: Nun Critical After Gang-Rape By Bandits

A 72-year-old nun has been gang-raped by bandits at a Christian missionary school in eastern India.

Up to a dozen attackers broke in at around 1am on Saturday before tying up several of the nuns on the premises.

The senior sister was raped as she tried to stop the men stealing from the Convent of Jesus and Mary School, in Ranaghat, West Bengal.

It is understood the nun was not taken to hospital until the following morning.

The woman is said to have been critically injured and has had surgery after the attack.

Father Dominic Gomes, Vicar General of Kolkata (Calcutta) Archdiocese, told Indian news channel NDTV: "After tying three of the five sisters, they entered the principal's room and ransacked it, destroying property and taking money, a laptop and a mobile phone."

The attack took place in the Indian town of Ranaghat, West Bengal

Angry school students blocked a rail route and a major highway in protest after the incident.

West Bengal's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said an inquiry had been launched by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Ms Banerjee said: "We strongly condemn the incident that took place at the Ranaghat Convent. CID will be examining all aspects to this horrific crime. Swift, strongest action to be taken."

State minister for urban affairs Firhad Hakim described the attack as "heinous" and called for the death penalty to be used on anyone found responsible, the Times of India reported.

23.17 | 0 komentar | Read More

Putin Pictures Fail To Halt Sickness Rumours

Russian state television has broadcast footage purporting to show Vladimir Putin working at his official residence on Friday, as his spokesman continued to deny rumours that the president is ill.

The brief and unremarkable segment features Mr Putin meeting Supreme Court chairman Vyacheslav Lebedev at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow, talking about plans to reform the judicial system.

Photos were also posted on the Kremlin website, which announced the Russian leader would meet the president of Kyrgyzstan in St Petersburg on Monday.

Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "His health is really perfect and everything is OK with him.

International Women's Day footage of Mr Putin was reportedly pre-recorded

"He's working in accordance with his traditionally overloaded working schedule."

But speculation about the president's absence has continued on social media, with wild theories ranging from serious illness, to a coup d'etat, to tabloid rumours that a woman romantically linked to Mr Putin in the past had given birth to his child.

Video: Aliens Abduct Putin In Animation

A Ukrainian children's animation showed Mr Putin being abducted by aliens from the Kremlin roof.

Joking that he would organise a competition to find the best journalistic hoax, Mr Peskov said: "Information that a child has been born to Vladimir Putin is not true."

However, sceptics remained unconvinced, saying Friday's new footage proves nothing, as there is no way to independently verify when it was filmed.

Two state events have been cancelled in recent days, and Mr Putin has not been seen in public since a meeting with Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi in Moscow on 5 March.

A planned trip to Kazakhstan was postponed on Wednesday, with an unnamed Kazakh government official telling the Reuters news agency: "It looks like he (Putin) has fallen ill."

The second engagement - a ceremony to formalise the controversial annexation of South Ossetia - was reportedly cancelled at such short notice that the South Ossetian delegation had already arrived in Moscow.

The Russian leader was also not present at a meeting of the Federal Security Service on Thursday, which he has often attended in the past.

But Mr Putin's spokesman said the agreement with South Ossetia would be signed next week, and insisted the president had not planned to attend the security service meeting.

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1. Gallery: Vladimir Putin - Man Of Action

   Vladimir Putin has earned a reputation as something of an action man. Here in 2013 he is seen shaking hands with a walrus on a visit to the under-construction Primorsky Aquarium.

Seemingly always keen to be seen with members of the animal kingdom, he was also pictured touching a dolphin during his trip to the new attraction on the Russky Island, in the far eastern city of Vladivostok.

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Egypt Reveals Grand Plan To Build New Capital

Egypt has unveiled its plan to build a new administrative and business capital that will house five million people and feature a theme park "four times bigger than Disneyland".

Housing minister Mustafa Kamel Madbuli said the new 70,000 acre city, east of Cairo, would take five to seven years to build at a cost of $45bn (£30bn).

Details on how it would be funded were not revealed.

"The idea to build the new city originated from our awareness that Cairo's current population (18 million) will double in the next 40 years," Mr Madbuli said at a conference showcasing the details.

The proposed city would have "large green spaces, an international airport, a theme park four times bigger than Disneyland in California, 90 square kilometres of solar farms, and an electric train" to link with Cairo, Mr Madbuli said.

Parliament, presidential palaces, government ministries and foreign embassies would move to the new metropolis.

The plan for the new city was first announced in the summer of last year, but further details were kept under wraps until now.

President Abdel Fattah al Sisi is hoping the plan will help kick-start Egypt's troubled economy.

Mr al Sisi, who has positioned himself as a bulwark against Islamic extremists, said investing in the Arab world's most populous country would help stabilise the entire region.

Egypt's stability "is a cornerstone in regional stability," he told the conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh.

Arab states including Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia pledged $12bn in investment aid.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who was at the gathering, said Washington stood beside Egypt as it seeks to recover from years of turmoil.

Mr Kerry, who earlier met Mr al Sisi and the leaders of Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, told businessmen that Washington was "eager and ready and willing" to help Egypt's economic development.

But a US diplomat travelling with him said there had been "no decision" on freeing up $650m in military aid frozen during the height of a crackdown on Mr al Sisi's Islamist opponents that left hundreds dead.

23.17 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Terror Owl' Caught In Dutch City After Attacks

A bird dubbed the "terror owl" by residents of a Dutch city has been caught after it attacked more than 50 people.

The European eagle owl had been swooping silently from above and attacking residents in Purmerend, north of Amsterdam, for the past year.

Many of the owl's victims were left bloody and bruised by the attacks.

"The animal was trapped by a falconer," Purmerend city council said in a statement.

"It's in good health and is currently being kept in a temporary facility awaiting a transfer once a proper permanent home has been found."

Video: Aggressive Owl 'Attacked My Client'

After the attacks became widespread, local officials advised residents to use umbrellas to protect themselves.

In one of the attacks, two members of a local athletics club were struck by the swooping bird.

One of the athletes needed stitches for six head wounds.

Owl experts said the bird's unusual behaviour was caused by it either being raised in captivity, or due to heightened hormone levels at the start of the breeding season.

City council member Mario Hegger said he had mixed feelings about the owl's capture.

"On the one hand, you would of course rather leave such a magnificent beast alone," Mr Hegger said in the statement.

"But on the other hand, the situation could not continue. We had to do something."

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Ireland Raises A Glass To Economic Recovery

By David Blevins, Ireland Correspondent

Just four years after the financial bailout, Ireland will celebrate St Patrick's Day on Tuesday as the EU's fastest-growing economy.

According to the European Commission, the Republic's economy is growing at 3.6%, almost three times the average in the Eurozone.

With Brussels predicting a 3.5% increase in GDP, Ireland's Prime Minister is confident the fragile hope can become permanent reality.

Ireland's economic growth is almost three times the average in the Eurozone

Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD said: "We're not going back to the days of the Celtic Tiger.

"That wasn't a real success story. 

"It was a veneer and had a shallowness about it that people have paid the consequence for, but I think there's an example here of a government and a people prepared to engage constructively with the institutions of Europe and beyond."

The increased confidence can be seen at Glanbia which makes formula for one in 10 of the world's baby bottles.

It has invested €235m in infrastructure - an Irish record - in preparation for the ending of milk quotas next month.

Jim Bergin, CEO at Glanbia Ingredients Ireland Limited, said: "This is the largest investment by an indigenous Irish company in the history of the state. 

"It will be the flagship for the Irish dairy industry going forward. 

"It is a huge vote of confidence in our farmers and their capability and as we know, Ireland is renowned for its quality, for its food safety and for its traceability."

Julie Sinnamon, CEO of Enterprise Ireland, added: "I think one of the challenges is to get those stories out there so that people can actually see it happening.

"They're all in small towns and villages across the country and these are the heroes that have actually continued to get on planes and travel across the world and get sales and those sales are delivering jobs."

The European Commission expects the jobless total in Ireland will fall from 11.1% in 2014 to 9.6% in 2015.

At Dublin's most popular visitor attraction - the Guinness Storehouse - they are pulling pints for the tourists and pushing unemployment down.

Managing Director Paul Carty said: "It (tourism) employs 205,000 people, which actually is one in 10, it's 10% of the workforce is employed in tourism, so it's a very, very big player and we also like to believe that it's a sign of a healthy economy, when tourism is growing it means there's consumer confidence back."

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NATO Chief: 'Deterrence Is Working In Ukraine'

NATO can not guarantee Ukraine's security in the face of Russian aggression, but a policy of deterrence is working, the alliance's Secretary General has said.

Jens Stoltenberg also told Sky News the UK must maintain its military contributions to the organisation, which is set at 2% of GDP.

But, asked if NATO would do anything stop Vladimir Putin's forces in Ukraine, he said: "Our main responsibility is to defend and to protect all NATO allies and no NATO ally has been attacked.

"So deterrence is working because everyone sees that NATO is a very strong alliance and we are now implementing the biggest reinforcement of our collective defence since the end of the Cold War.

"Ukraine is not a member of NATO, so there is a difference between Ukraine and NATO members, because the security guarantee is for NATO allies.

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1. Gallery: Ukraine: The Rubble Of Donetsk Airport

   A Ukrainian army tank destroyed in fighting with the separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic army lies outside a terminal at Donetsk airport

The once-gleaming Donetsk airport has been one of the most fiercely contested spots in east Ukraine

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Nelly Performs Kurdistan Gig For IS Victims

The US rapper Nelly has flown to one of Iraq's most unstable regions to appear at a charity concert raising funds for those who have been displaced by Islamic State.

The singer performed some of his best-known hits to a crowd of thousands, including Dilemma, Hey Porsche and Just A Dream.

"I'm honoured that this country has basically paid attention to Nelly," the 40-year-old said.

"Everybody has been so gracious and the hospitality has been first class. How could you not want to come back to a place where everyone shows so much gratitude and they're happy to have you?"

The concert, which was arranged by the Rwanga Foundation, took place in Irbil, the capital of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Last August, British nationals were advised to leave the city, as Islamic fighters advanced.

Taban Shoresh, a spokesman for the charity, said: "The event was here to celebrate the people of this city, promote peace, and a chance to raise money for the millions of people who have been affected by this ongoing conflict."

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