|
|
|
|
|
Ukraine marks defiant national day
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Boko Haram leader proclaims ‘Islamic caliphate’ in Nigeria
14 killed in Israeli strikes on 48th day of Gaza war
Islamic State seizes air base in Syria Talks fail to break Pak deadlock
|
|
Ukraine marks defiant national day
Kiev/Donetsk, August 24 Ukrainian forces are trying to snuff out a pro-Moscow separatist rebellion in the east of the country, and on Sunday intense artillery fire could be heard around the rebel stronghold of Donetsk. In Kiev's Independence Square - scene of the protests that pushed out a Moscow-backed president and precipitated the crisis - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko reviewed columns of men and armoured vehicles. Some of the troops in the march-past were, Poroshenko said, shortly heading to the front line in eastern Ukraine. In a defiant and emotional speech, Poroshenko said his country was fighting "a war against external aggression, for Ukraine, for its freedom, for its people, for independence." That was directed at Moscow, which Kiev alleges is behind the rebellion. "It is clear that in the foreseeable future, unfortunately, a constant military threat will hang over Ukraine. And we need to learn not only to live with this, but also to be always prepared to defend the independence of our country." Poroshenko announced about $3 billion would be spent on re-equipping the army in 2015-2017. Ukraine's armed forces are only a fraction of the size of those in Russia. After protests ousted Ukraine's Kremlin-backed leader, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in March and parts of the Russian-speaking east rebelled against Kiev. Kiev and its Western allies say Moscow has responded to advances by government forces by funnelling weapons and men clandestinely into eastern Ukraine to shore up the struggling rebellion, an allegation that Moscow denies. Diplomats say Tuesday's meeting between Putin and Poroshenko in the Belarussian capital of Minsk is the best chance yet of ending a conflict that has left ties between Russia and the West at their most toxic since the Cold War and sparked sanctions that are hurting economies in Europe and Russia. In Donetsk, the main separatist stronghold, about a hundred people introduced over a public address system as Ukrainian prisoners of war were marched through the central Lenin Square. They looked dirty and unshaven, and bowed their heads as they passed. Some had bandaged arms and heads. They were guarded by rebel fighters with guns, their bayonets fixed. Ukraine plans $3 bn defence boost
Ukraine’s President owed to boost military spending by $3 billion in the next three years as government forces seek to overpower pro-Russian separatists in the east. President Petro Poroshenko made his pledge during a speech marking Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Speaking to a crowd of thousands in Kiev's Independence Square, Poroshenko says the country will increase military spending by $3 billion by 2017. Ukraine's military has pleaded for more resources to oust pro-Russian rebels, who still hold two major cities.
— Reuters |
|
|
Boko Haram leader proclaims ‘Islamic caliphate’ in Nigeria
Kano, August 24 "By the grace of Allah we will not leave the town. We have come to stay," said Shekau, who has been designated a global terrorist by the United States and sanctioned by the UN Security Council. The United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) earlier this month confirmed reports that Gwoza was under rebel control. Boko Haram is also believed to be in control of other areas near Gwoza in southern Borno, as well as large swathes of territory in northern Borno and at least one town in neighbouring Yobe state. Mapping the precise areas which have fallen into Islamist hands is nearly impossible. There are few humanitarian workers on the ground in the northeast, travel is dangerous and the region, which has been under a state of emergency since May of last year, has poor mobile phone coverage. Experts have described Boko Haram's gains in recent weeks as unprecedented, saying the group was closer than ever to achieving its goal of carving out a strict Islamic state across northern Nigeria. But many analysts believe the military has the capacity to reverse the insurgents' advance. Soldiers this week refused to deploy to Gwoza without better weapons in an apparent mutiny. — AFP Iran FM in Iraq as militants target main refinery
|
|
|
14 killed in Israeli strikes on 48th day of Gaza war Gaza/Jerusalem, August 24 Israel today took its military campaign to a new level by flattening a 13-storey apartment tower in Gaza following a warning to residents to evacuate. The strikes in the southern town of Rafah came 13-storey building with 44 apartments. Around 30 people were wounded in the strikes, but no one was killed, Palestinian officials said. The targeting of large buildings appears to be part of a new military tactic by Israel. Over the weekend, the army began warning Gaza residents in automated phone calls that it would target buildings harbouring "terrorist infrastructure" and that they should stay away. Elsewhere, Israeli air strikes killed eight Palestinians in Gaza today and militants kept up rocket fire into Israel. Likening Hamas to the brutal Islamic State (IS) terror group in Iraq, Netanyahu today vowed to continue with Israel's Operation Protective Edge in Gaza "until all of its goals are achieved and this can take time". "We decided that there will be no immunity for anyone who fires rockets, and that is relevant for every front and any person," Netanyahu told his cabinet. — PTI
|
|
|
Ebola taking toll on West African economy
Monrovia, August 24 On Friday health officials said the fever had spread to every corner of Liberia, the worst-hit country in the grip of the epidemic where 624 people have died so far. But beyond the mounting death toll, the disease is also undermining the region's economic growth. Across the resource-rich countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria, companies are suspending operations due to fears of the haemorrhagic fever, which is spread through contact with bodily fluids. — AFP
|
|
Islamic State seizes air base in Syria
Beirut, August 24 The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 346 Islamic State fighters were killed and more than 170 members of government forces had died since Tuesday in the fight over Tabqa base, making it one of the deadliest confrontations between the two groups since the start of Syria's war. The Observatory, which monitors violence in Syria, said fighting raged inside the air base on Sunday. It was the Syrian army's last foothold in an area otherwise controlled by Islamic State, which has seized large areas of Syria and Iraq. In nearby Raqqa city, an Islamic State stronghold, there was celebratory gunfire and several mosques announced through their loudspeakers that the base had fallen to the Islamists and cheered "God is greatest". IS fighters displayed the severed heads of Syrian army soldiers in the city, a witness said, adding that Syrian warplanes were heard over Raqqa following the air base attack. Kidnappers free US journalist
DUBAI: Kidnappers in Syria have freed a US journalist missing since 2012. In a statement announcing the release of Theo Curtis, US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday said the United States was using “every diplomatic, intelligence and military tool” at its disposal to secure the release of Americans held hostage in Syria. News of Curtis's release emerged just days after IS militants killed US journalist James Foley.
— Reuters
|
||||||
Strong California quake causes injuries, damage
Libya in fresh crisis as Islamists seize airport China moves closer to developing supersonic sub
|
||||||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Gaza/Jerusalem, August 24
accept nothing less than Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's resignation," Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Khan told his supporters as they continued the siege of the parliament.
With government rejecting the protesters' demand that Sharif step down, the political deadlock entered the 11th day today with no breakthrough yet. The third round of talks between government negotiators and Imran-led PTI) last night failed to break the logjam.
— PTI
