Turkish gov’t allows headscarf for fifth graders, causing uproar

The Turkish government has announced the lift of a ban on the headscarf in schools, allowing girls from the fifth grade and up to cover their hair in the public schools, drawing criticism from opposition parties.

“The change applies to middle and high schools, not to primary schools,” Education Minister Nabi Avcı told reporters Sept. 23 in comments broadcast by private news channel CNNTürk. “Beginning with the fifth grade, everyone can practice this,” he added, making it clear girls older than 10-years-old will be allowed to cover their heads in the schools.  

The government had already lifted a ban on the headscarf for university students and female civil servants in 2013, after years of pressure from its supporters.

“I know that particularly some of our female students have been yearning for it [the lift on the ban],” said Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç on Sept. 22 when he announced the lift on the ban following a Cabinet meeting amid heated debates on compulsory religious education. 

The step comes after the de facto removal of the headscarf ban in universities, in the aftermath of a long legal battle in 2008.

The Cabinet amended the regulation on students’ apparel, removing the legal provisions that stated students should “be bareheaded” during classes.

“When I gathered with students during the start of the academic year, they were waiting for this good news with excitement,” said Arınç, recalling his visit to Bursa last week.

However, the new measure has once more created controversy and debates, as opposition party deputies have shown fierce reactions to the move.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) parliamentary spokesperson, Engin Altay, accused the government of bringing the headscarf issue onto the agenda whenever it faces problems. 

“The headscarf is not an aspirin the government can take anytime it faces problems. I call on the government to cover their face in shame instead of covering girls’ heads,” said Altay at a press conference in Parliament, referring to the problems at Turkey’s border with Syria. 

In a press conference, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Ankara deputy Özcan Yeniçeri also accused the government of using the headscarf as a means to increase votes. 

“The headscarf should not be the fuel for the Justice and Development Party’s [AKP] votes. They should stop using religious symbols as a political means,” he said. 

Meanwhile, unions warned the decision means a political intervention on education.

“Our society is being dragged into the Middle Ages by exploiting faith. Now, it’s the kids’ turn to [become the instrument] of politics using religion. This decision will cause trauma in this country because it uses secular education” said Kamuran Karacan, head of the teachers’ union Eğitim-Sen.

For his part, Veli Demir, head of the union Eğitim-İş, said they will legally challenge the amendments. He also claimed the government intended to “even insert religious symbols into kindergartens.” “The change in the regulation is contrary to the Constitution. Freedom only means headscarves for them. They are not seeking secular and scientific principles in educational institutions,” Demir said.

However, not all of the unions were against the reform. 

Turkish Public Workers’ Labor Union (Kamu-Sen) President İsmail Koncuk argued the ban on headscarves should be lifted in order to avoid religion from becoming a political tool. “With the change of the regulation, secondary education institutions are no longer a space for the exploitation of religion,” Koncuk said. 

Until now, only female students enrolled in vocational Islamic schools (imam-hatip) could wear headscarves during classes.

September/23/2014

Ukraine ratifies EU trade pact in 'first step' towards membership

The Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday ratified a landmark EU trade agreement that strengthens the former Soviet state's ties with the West, in what President Petro Poroshenko called a "first step" towards European Union membership.

"Tell me, who will now dare to shut Ukraine's doors to Europe?" Poroshenko asked after the vote. "Who will be against our future membership in the EU, towards which today we are taking our first – but very decisive – step?"

A total of 355 lawmakers voted in favour of the ratification of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.

Association agreements are deals that establish closer economic and political ties between the EU and the signatory nation, granting it privileged trade status while requiring its leaders to respect "human rights and democratic principles". Such agreements often, but not always, pave the way for future membership in the European Union.

A November 2013 decision to reject the EU deal by former president Viktor Yanukovich set off months of protests that eventually led to his overthrow.

Concurrently in Brussels, the European parliament overwhelmingly voted to ratify the association pact in a live video link as lawmakers in Kiev also approved the deal.

"This is a historic moment," European parliament president Martin Schulz told the assembly in Strasbourg as legislators voted to ratify the pact by 535 to 127 votes against with 35 abstentions.

Ukraine and the EU agreed last week to delay the implementation of the free trade portion of the agreement until 2016 in what was seen as a concession to Russian concerns over EU goods flooding across its porous border with Ukraine.

Among those voting against the pact was British eurosceptic Nigel Farage, who told the EU parliament that "if you poke the Russian bear with a stick, don't be surprised when he reacts". Farage also noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin was on the West's side in the international struggle against against Islamist extremism.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Kiev, NATO claim Ukraine truce not being upheld

The Ukrainian military accused separatists and Russian troops Sunday of continuing to shoot at government forces despite a Sept. 5 ceasefire and said Kiev would not go ahead with setting up a proposed buffer zone until the truce violations stopped.

Ukraine’s warring sides agreed on Friday to withdraw artillery and other heavy weapons to the outer limits of a 30km buffer zone, building on the ceasefire in a conflict in eastern Ukraine that has killed more than 3,000 people.

Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said the pro-Russian separatists and Russian troops were continuing to target the positions of government forces.

“In the last 24 hours we have lost two Ukrainian soldiers, eight have been wounded,” he told reporters on Sunday.

Asked about the buffer zone, he said: “One of the main points of the agreement is the ceasefire, then other points follow.

“At the moment the first point has not been fulfilled so we are not talking about the other points. If there is to be a withdrawal of forces then it should be synchronised together with the withdrawal of Russian forces,” he said.

Lysenko said separatists had carried out a further attack on the government-held international airport of Donetsk, the east’s main industrial hub. The rebels hold the city of Donetsk.

He said 40 separatist fighters had been killed in “defensive” fire by Ukrainian forces. There was no independent confirmation of this figure.

Ceasefire “in name only”

Lysenko’s comments echoed those of NATO’s top military commander US Air Force General Philip Breedlove, who said on Saturday that fighting was continuing in Ukraine and that the truce was a ceasefire “in name only”.

“The situation in Ukraine is not good right now,” US Air Force General Philip Breedlove told reporters in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius following a meeting of chiefs of defence of NATO countries. "Basically, we have a ceasefire in name only.”

“The number of events, and the number of rounds fired and the artillery used across the past few days, match some of the pre-ceasefire levels. The ceasefire is still there in name, but what is happening on the ground is quite a different story.”

Donetsk was rocked by blasts on Saturday and a plant producing industrial explosives and military munitions appeared to have been hit.

The creation of a buffer zone was decided on Friday in a nine-point memorandum signed by the separatists and envoys from Moscow and Kiev.

The comments by Kiev and NATO underline the fragility of the ceasefire, which President Petro Poroshenko reluctantly called after Ukrainian forces suffered battlefield reverses which they ascribed to the direct intervention by Russian troops.

Moscow denies sending troops to Ukraine or arming the rebels, despite what Kiev and Western governments say is overwhelming evidence of direct Russian involvement.

(REUTERS)

President Petro Poroshenko proclaimed reforms on Thursday spanning all aspects of life to make strife-torn Ukraine fit for European Union membership, warning his people that without reform they would face a future “alone with Russia.”

Latest update : 2014-09-25

President Petro Poroshenko proclaimed reforms on Thursday spanning all aspects of life to make strife-torn Ukraine fit for European Union membership, warning his people that without reform they would face a future “alone with Russia.”

He also defended his plan to end a war with pro-Russian separatists that has killed more than 3,000 people and said he would meet again soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the pivotal player in a geopolitical tussle between Russia and the West over Ukraine’s future reminiscent of the old Cold War.

Kiev and Western governments say it was direct Russian military intervention that tipped the battlefield balance in favour of rebels in eastern Ukraine and forced Poroshenko to call a ceasefire on Sept. 5 after big losses by government forces.

Russia, which opposes the pro-Western course of leadership in its fellow ex-Soviet republic, denies its troops have taken part in the war or provided arms to the rebels despite what Western governments and Kiev say is incontrovertible proof.

Poroshenko sought on Thursday to fix his people’s attention on joining the European mainstream despite fierce Russian opposition. He laid out an ambitious reform package to enable Ukraine to apply in 2020 for accession to the 28-member EU.

Russia also steadfastly opposes Ukraine, a nation of some 46 million people, ever joining NATO. Both the 28-nation EU and NATO have said they have no plans to offer membership to Kiev.

The proposed reform package, Poroshenko said, would touch all walks of life and particularly aim to root out the endemic corruption that has warped Ukrainian public life since independence in 1991 and peaked under Poroshenko’s ousted predecessor, the Moscow-backed Viktor Yanukovich.

Decentralisation and stronger law enforcement would also be important ingredients of the reform drive, he said.

“The whole state machine is geared today towards corrupt interests. Reform today can not overcome the bureaucrats,” Poroshenko told a news conference in the capital Kiev.

Resisting reform, he implied, would only play into the hands of Russia, Ukraine’s key supplier of energy which threatened Kiev with retaliatory trade measures if it enacted a political and trade pact with the EU. Parliament ratified it on Sept. 16.

“The aim of our ambitious reform is to achieve European standards of living and in the year 2020 make our application for EU membership,” Poroshenko, a confectionary magnate, said. “The alternative is to remain alone with Russia.”

Birthday boy

The president, who will turn 49 on Friday, seemed in buoyant mood even though many inside the pro-Western establishment fear that his peace formula, by offering limited self-rule to the separatists for three years, could spawn a permanent zone of instability threatening Ukraine’s hopes of EU integration.

Earlier, he told the Ukrainian judiciary that for the first time in many months there had not been a single person killed or wounded in the past 24 hours, something indicating that his peace plan was bearing fruit.

At the same time, though, he said neither he “nor the rest of the world” would recognise the validity of local elections called by the separatists in the east for early November and he hoped Russia would not either.

His peace plan envisages local elections in separatist-held areas in December under Kiev’s supervision, though the rebels say they want no part of anything organised from Kiev.

Poroshenko, who has seen Putin in person only twice since the separatist revolt erupted in April, said he would meet him again in Europe somewhere over the next three weeks “in a multilateral format”. He gave no further details.

The Ukrainian leader said that Kiev however would be seeking further financial help from the West and global lending institutions to help its economy survive a war that it says has cost $6 million a day.

Poroshenko pledged to do all he could to protect Ukraine’s hryvnia currency, which has lost 40 percent of its value due to the upheaval. He said Kiev would seek a review of the present $17 billion loan programme with the International Monetary Fund.

Ukraine also required 1 billion euros of extra macro-financial aid from the EU and a further $1 billion in financial guarantees from the United States, he said.

After Yanukovich fled to Russia in February in the face of mass street protests, Moscow denounced a pro-Western “coup” against him, annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and subsequently backed the armed separatists in the heavily industrialised east in their drive for independence from Kiev.

The chain of events has provoked the worst crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War. The United States and the European Union have imposed economic sanctions against Russia and Moscow has lashed back with its own measures.

(REUTERS)

EU formally adopts new sanctions against Russia 

Latest update : 2014-09-09

The European Union formally agreed to a series of new sanctions against Russia on Monday but said their implementation over the coming days would depend on Russian efforts to maintain a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, said the EU was prepared to "review" the sanctions, offering Russia a chance to scale back its military actions in Ukraine in an effort to avoid the implementation of the measures.

"Depending on the situation on the ground, the EU stands ready to review the agreed sanctions in whole or in part," Van Rompuy said after a last-minute meeting of EU envoys in Brussels.

The new round of sanctions will tighten existing measures imposed in July, targeting more individuals with travel bans and asset freezes as well as tightening access to capital markets for Russian oil and defence companies.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev had earlier warned of an "asymmetrical" response should new sanctions be adopted, saying that EU airlines could be banned from flying over Russian airspace on their lucrative Asian routes.

Van Rompuy said in a statement that the measures would come into force over the next few days. "This will leave time for an assessment of the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the peace plan,” he said.

"We have noted that Russia only consented with difficulty to serious negotiations. The ceasefire is an important step, but it is only a step," Van Rompuy told Belgian television on Sunday.

'Special status' for rebel regions

The 12-point ceasefire agreement signed Friday in the Belarussian capital Minsk is seen as the most significant to date because it won the formal backing of Russian President Vladimir Putin – a decisive player in the conflict despite Russia's denials of direct involvement.

But the truce delays difficult decisions about the status of the separatist Donetsk and Lugansk regions, which account for one-sixth of Ukraine's population and a quarter of its exports. Separatist rebels there insist they will not give up their demands for independence.

The peace deal temporarily affords the two districts "special status" within Ukraine that would allow them to introduce self-government and conduct early local elections.

But Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk warned Sunday that Kiev would have to impose martial law should the ceasefire collapse.

"If we have a peace plan that the EU and the US support, and which Russia implements, then of course we do not need martial law," Yatseniuk told Ukrainian television. "But if this truce ends the same way as all the other truces, and not just in Ukraine, then we will have no other choice."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Date created : 2014-09-08

World Bank warns Russia's economy to stagnate over next two years 

Wed Sep 24, 2014 7:02am EDT 

* World Bank sees GDP at no more than 0.5 pct in 2014-2015

* Says unclear economic policy, lack of reforms hinder growth

* Sees 2014 inflation at 8 pct against Central Bank forecast of 7.5 pct (Adds background, comment)

By Lidia Kelly

MOSCOW, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Russia's economy is set to stagnate in the next two years as the country pays the price for the Ukraine crisis, lack of structural reforms and uncertain economic policy, the World Bank said on Wednesday.

In a much more pessimistic outlook than the Russian government's, the Washington-based lender forecast theeconomy would grow by just 0.3 percent next year and could contract if the Ukraine crisis escalates.

In 2016 Russian gross domestic product will increase by 0.4 percent, it said. The government estimates growth of 1.2 percent in 2015 and 2 percent in 2016.

"We don't believe that investment growth is picking up as much as the government believes," Birgit Hansl, the World Bank's economist for Russia, told journalists.

"Their assumption is that monopolies will be investing ... We expect less strong investment impulse," she said.

Sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe over Russia's involvement in Ukraine will dampen investment, while consumption growth in coming years - a major driver behind Russia's economy - will be subdued.

"More restricted access for Russian companies and banks to external financing (due to sanctions) is likely to have already affected investment decisions, leading to a delay or a scaling back of investment programmes," the World Bank said in its bi-annual report onRussia.

"We expect that this trend will worsen during the second half 2014 and throughout 2015, when the impact of the additional sanctions will be felt and may lead to a period of near stagnation."

Consumption growth will likely slow to 0.5 percent in 2015 from about 2 percent this year, the bank forecasts.

It expects the economy to grow 0.5 percent this year, in line with the government's forecast, after predicting in March after Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region, that Russia was at risk of sliding into recession.

"The good news is that Russia did escape recession," Hansl said.

RISKY FISCAL STANCE

The Bank's forecasts assume no new sanctions either on or by Russia over the Ukraine crisis. The Bank warned that if the conflict around Ukraine escalates, the economy may contract by 0.9 percent in 2015.

Policy uncertainty and a continuing lack of structural reforms remain the "deciding" factors for the outlook, it said.

"Structural reforms would need to focus on improving economic institutions to ensure that public finances are stable and economic volatility well-managed," the Bank said.

"Stabilisation, education, and competition should be the reform priorities for the next decade."

The bank commended the central bank for its perseverance in shifting policy to focus on inflation targeting as of next year and away from controlling the rouble, but it said the central bank is in a tough position.

"It might become challenging to operate in an environment that has now both high inflation and low growth risks," the bank said in the report.

It forecasts inflation of 8 percent this year, above the central bank's forecast of 7.5 percent.

The Bank also warned that Russia's recent decision, pencilled in the budget, to allow taking funds from the two oil windfall funds - the National Wealth Fund and the Reserve Fund - next year if the government needs to support the economy is risky.

"Russia's fiscal position is becoming even more tightly linked to oil revenues and global oil prices," the Bank said.

Russia's non-oil deficit is likely to remain persistently high at above 10 percent of GDP, it warned.

"Use of these (the Reserve Fund and the National Wealth Fund) should be prudent," Hansl said. (Editing by Jason Bush and Susan Fenton)

Germany tries its first suspected Islamic State jihadist 

Latest update : 2014-09-16

An alleged German jihadist went on trial Monday accused of fighting in Syria for the Islamic State group (IS), amid calls for tougher action to prevent attacks in Europe by militants.

In the first German criminal proceedings involving IS, Kreshnik Berisha, a 20-year-old born near the business capital Frankfurt to a family from Kosovo, has been charged with membership of a foreign terrorist organisation.

He could face 10 years in prison if convicted by the city's superior regional court.

However the court proposed a deal as the trial opened in which Berisha would get a lighter sentence in exchange for a full confession. Defence lawyers said they would respond to the offer this week.

The heavyset Berisha, wearing a full beard, a black T-shirt, hoodie and grey sweatpants, sat impassively as proceedings began.

The trial is taking place under tight security amid a Western crackdown on IS over the threat posed by citizens returning home from Syria and Iraq, after gaining weapons training and combat experience. 

Berisha, who reportedly belonged to a local Jewish football club in his youth, is believed to have become radicalised when he fell in with a group of Muslim fundamentalists while on a job training programme.

Federal prosecutors say Berisha travelled to Syria via Turkey in July 2013 with other Islamists planning to join the fighting to create an Islamist "caliphate" straddling Syria and Iraq.

"He wanted to take part in building a theocracy under Sharia law," prosecutor Horst Salzmann told the court.

"He gave an oath. He was ready to die for their goals."

Soon after his arrival, Berisha allegedly underwent firearms training and was put to work as a medic and a guard.

In the six months he spent in Syria, he is believed to have fought in at least three battles on the side of the jihadists against President Bashar al-Assad's troops.

He returned home for reasons that are unclear to German authorities in December 2013 and was arrested at Frankfurt airport.

Prosecutors say there is no evidence he was plotting an attack in Germany. A verdict is not expected before mid-November.

'Not a dangerous person'

The three judges hearing the case said they had held talks before the trial with the defence and the prosecution about a shorter jail sentence of between three years and three months and four years and three months.

In exchange, Berisha would confess to the charges against him and provide detailed responses to questions about IS's inner workings.

"We don't want to do everything in our power to obstruct his future," presiding judge Thomas Sagebiel said.

Defence attorney Mutlu Gunal, who said his client would reply to the offer at the next hearing on Friday, insisted that Berisha was "grateful" to be back in Germany.

"The fact that he returned of his own accord shows he turned his back (on IS)," he said, adding that he believed Berisha suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from his experiences in Syria.

"I can assure you, this is not a dangerous person."

The court heard phone conversations Berisha had with his family while still in Syria.

A woman, apparently his sister, is heard telling him to come home: "Your 'brothers' there won't love you like your family does," she said. "You are young, dumb and naive."

Authorities estimate around 400 German nationals have travelled to Iraq and Syria to battle for the militants.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere announced Friday that Germany had outlawed active support of Islamic State including the recruitment of fighters and social media propaganda.

"We must prevent radical Islamists bringing their jihad to our cities," he said.

Germany has launched 140 criminal probes against alleged IS fighters or supporters, news weekly Der Spiegel reported.

France on Monday hosted an international conference to shore up a coalition against IS militants.

(AFP)

Date created : 2014-09-16

France launches first strikes on ISIL in Iraq

Two fighter jets took part in US-led operation that destroyed logistics depot held by rebels, President Hollande says

Hollande says the French military operations against ISIL will continue in coming days [Reuters]

France has carried out its first air strikes in Iraq against positions of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, joining a US-led operation to defeat the rebel group. In a statement issued on Friday, French President Francois Hollande said the strike destroyed a logistics depot held by ISIL.It said that at least two Rafale fighter jets were involved in the operation in northeastern Iraq, and that the target was "entirely destroyed".

Why Scotland said no to independence

Why did Scotland reject what First Minister Alex Salmond dubbed a “once in a lifetime opportunity” for independence from the UK on Thursday? FRANCE 24 takes a closer look.

The win for the ‘no’ camp was a decisive blow to Scotland's independence movement and Salmond in particular who, on Friday, announced he would be stepping down as both First Minister and leader of the SNP.

The debate on the country's continued membership of the UK is now seemingly settled for at least a generation.

Opinion polls in the run up to the vote had but the “no” camp just marginally ahead, with one, a YouGov poll for the Sunday Times, even claiming a slight lead for the "yes" campaign. In the end, “no” won by 55 percent to 45 percent, a ten point gap that, while still close, was certainly more decisive than many of the polls had predicted.

So, what happened in the final days and hours of campaigning to swing the vote in favour of staying in the union?

According to polling expert John Curtice, professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, the first thing to note is that, despite the attention grabbed by that Sunday Times, which put the yes vote ahead on 51 percent 10 days before the referendum, the no campaign was always the firm favourite.

“There was never at any point in the campaign a period in which an average of the polls put the “yes” vote ahead,” he told FRANCE 24.

Furthermore, a swing towards “no” when people headed to the polling stations was always to be expected, he argues.

“It’s true more often than not that in votes over constitutional change like this that polls overestimate the support for that change. Change is usually seen as the riskier option and when it comes to actually voting people row back from risk.”

Economics of "yes" failed to convince

If that explains the discrepancy between the polls and the final vote, it still leaves the question as to why Scottish people were unconvinced by the independence argument in the first place.

Though the “yes” campaign sought to stir up people’s passion for an independent homeland, ultimately many people voted over very pragmatic issues, particularly the economy, says Professor Curtice.

The figures seem to back this up. A YouGov poll on the day of the referendum found that only 35 percent thought Scotland would be economically better off under independence while 47 percent thought it would be worse off. Other polls gave similar results throughout the campaign.

Both sides made claim and counter claim as to what would happen to Scotland’s economy under independence. But Thursday’s vote suggests the “no” camp won this battle.

“People simply weren’t convinced by the economic case for independence,” says Professor Curtice.

This is not to say sentimental reasons did not also play a significant role in the decision to spurn independence. In particular, the way people in Scotland see their own identify seems to have been a key factor.

Despite the drive for independence, surveys show that a significant proportion of Scots identify, in part or in full, as being British, and such people were always more likely to vote “no” to independence.

“The dual sense of identity many Scots have as both Scottish and British was a big factor,” says Professor Curtice. “People didn’t ask themselves ‘do I want independence?’, they asked themselves ‘do I want to leave the UK?’ and there is still a very significant section of the population that very much indentifies itself as British.”

Ultimately, however, too many people were simply unwilling to take a chance on the unknown, believes Professor Curtice, preferring the safe option that staying in the union represented.

“Polls showed that people were more likely to see independence as a risk,” he says, “and at the end of the day there just wasn’t enough appetite for that risk.”

Did "yes" camp get it wrong?

Indeed, the “no” campaign often sought to play up the dangers that leaving the UK would bring, warning of the threats to jobs, pensions and the economy.

This led to accusations of seeking to play on people’s fears. The “yes” camp, in contrast, sought to portray itself as the voice of hope.

Does the defeat for the independence movement suggest the “yes” campaign got it wrong, therefore?

Not according to Dr Alan Convery, an expert on Scottish politics from the University of Edinburgh.

He believes Scots voted “no” despite the “yes” campaign, not because of it.

“It was perceived as being a very good, well run campaign that gained lots of grass roots support and captured people’s passion in a way the ‘no’ campaign failed to do,” he says.

“Historically, support for independence in Scotland has always been around the 33 percent mark,” he continued. “The ‘yes’ campaign managed to take that up to almost half the country, that’s still a considerable achievement.”

Date created : 2014-09-19

• 

• September 24, 2014, 4:55 AM ET

2014 Tougher for the Balkans–So Far

ByLaurence Norman

While 2013 was a year of unusual progress for Serbia and Kosovo — both in developing bilateral ties and in steps towards European Union membership — 2014 has been grueling.

Last December, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was buoyant about the reconciliation talks between Serbia and Kosovo, its former province that declared independence in 2008. A historic agreement was signed in April 2013 pledging to normalize the situation in the Serbian-dominated northern enclave of country where ethnic Albanians are in a majority.

Ms. Ashton was eyeing a second agreement that could ramp up Pristina-Belgrade ties. There was even talk that Ms. Ashton and the Serbian and Kosovo leaders were in the running for a Nobel Peace prize.

Acknowledging that progress, the EU agreed in June 2013 to start accession talks with Belgrade this year and embarked on a pre-accession accord with Kosovo.

However, so far this year, progress has been sporadic at best.

EUROPE

24 September 2014 Last updated at 11:08 ET

Ukraine crisis: Nato sees 'significant' Russian troop pullback

Nato says it has observed a "significant" withdrawal of Russian troops from eastern Ukraine, but adds that some forces still remain there.

Nato spokesman Lt Col Jay Janzen says it is difficult to determine the number of soldiers in Ukraine, as pro-Russian rebels control some border crossings.

Moscow denies arming the rebels and sending Russian troops to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

UN officials say 3,245 people have been killed since fighting began in April.

A shaky ceasefire has held since 5 September, and the two sides have since agreed to set up a 30km (19 miles) buffer zone.

But there were reports of overnight shelling in Donetsk, Avdiivka and Debaltseve.

In March, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea southern peninsula - a move condemned by Ukraine and the West.

The European Union and the United States later imposed sanctions against Russia over its role in the Ukraine conflict.

France’s Hollande pledges $1 bn to global climate change fund

French President François Hollande announced that France will contribute $1 billion to a near-empty global fund to help developing nations adapt to the effects of climate change as he spoke at a United Nations climate summit on Tuesday.

“France will contribute a billion dollars over the next few years,” Hollande said.

Previously, German Chancellor Angela Merkel had been the only leader to make such a large contribution, pledging $1 billion over four years in July to the fund known as the Green Climate Fund. Developing countries have called for a target total of $15 billion in 2014.