Ukraine ceasefire not holding, OSCE monitors say

Monitors from the OSCE, which is monitoring the ceasefire between Kiev and separatist rebels in east Ukraine, told FRANCE 24 on Monday that the truce is not being respected in critical areas nor with regard to the withdrawal of heavy weapons.

Alexander Hug, the deputy chief monitor of the special mission to Ukraine for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), warned that fighting had continued over the weekend and urged both Ukrainian troops and Russian-backed rebels to disclose information about the current positions of the heavy artillery that is to be pulled back from the front line as part of the ceasefire agreement.

“The [OSCE] mission concludes that the ceasefire is not holding in critical, strategic points, such as to the east of the city of Mariupol, at and around the Donetsk airport, and in the city of Debaltseve, to which we had access only last Saturday,” Hug told FRANCE 24 from Kiev.

Hug said residents of the now rebel-held town of Debaltseve were in a “dire situation” and urged the warring sides to uphold the terms of the agreement, which was carved out in the Belarusian capital of Minsk earlier this month, notably the withdrawal of heavy artillery on both sides.

“We need to have certain baseline information, and we call on the parties to tell us where the weapons are now, what roads will be taken to take them out and where they will store these weapons once they have withdrawn them,” Hug said.

FRANCE 24

RAF scrambles jets after Russian bombers spotted near Cornwall coast

RAF scrambles jets after Russian bombers spotted near Cornwall coast

David Cameron says Moscow ‘trying to make a point’, while Kremlin hits back at defence secretary’s warning over threat to Baltic states

Haroon Siddique Thursday 19 February 2015 12.28 EST

Sending UK advisers to Ukraine will not lead to mission creep, Fallon tells MPs

 Defence secretary says Britain will not deploy combat troops to Ukraine, following surprise announcement of deployment of miliary trainers 

Patrick Wintour, political editor Wednesday 25 February 2015 08.52 EST

Blast kills two at memorial rally in east Ukraine's Kharkiv

Text by NEWS WIRES

Latest update : 2015-02-23

Ukraine said on Sunday it feared unrest could spread beyond territory held by pro-Russian separatists, after an explosion killed two people at a memorial rally in an eastern city far from the front line.

Kiev said it arrested four people who had been armed and trained in Russia after the blast, which killed a policeman and a demonstrator at the rally in Kharkiv, the biggest city in the east, 200 km (125 miles) from the war zone.

A week after a ceasefire agreement that Moscow-backed rebels ignored to capture a strategic town, Kiev and its Western allies are trying to determine whether the separatists will now halt, or advance deeper into territory the Kremlin calls “New Russia”.

Germany and France mediated the peace deal that came into effect a week ago, and say they still hope it can be resurrected, even though the rebels ignored it to inflict one of the worst defeats of the war, seizing the town of Debaltseve after encircling thousands of Ukrainian troops.

In signs that there may be at least a pause now that the rebels achieved that objective, government and separatist forces exchanged prisoners overnight. The rebels said on Sunday they would begin withdrawing artillery from the front.

But Kiev said Moscow was moving more troops and armour into eastern Ukraine near a port it fears is the next target. Russia denies it has troops in eastern Ukraine.

Two charged in connection with Copenhagen shooting

Text by FRANCE 24 Follow france24_en on twitter

Latest update : 2015-02-16

Two men have been charged in connection with weekend attacks in Copenhagen that killed two people, one of their lawyers said Monday. A police statement confirmed the men face charges of "aiding and abetting the perpetrator".

The deadly double shooting at a cultural centre and a synagogue also left five policemen wounded. The suspects have denied the allegations.

"They are accused of getting rid of one of the firearms and giving him (the gunmen) a place to hide afterwards and they are denying that completely," said Michael Juul Eriksen, the lawyer for one of the men, in comments to AFP.

Police confirmed the charges against the two men, who were arrested on suspicion "of aiding and abetting the perpetrator" of the attacks.

“The two men are charged with helping through advice and deeds the perpetrator in relation to the shootings at Krudttonden and in Krystalgade,” a police statement said earlier, referring to the locations of the attacks.

The suspects, who appeared in court on Monday following their arrest on Sunday, cannot be named for legal reasons.

Both suspects are from an immigrant background, tabloid Ekstra Bladet reported.

The gunman himself, who was killed in a pre-dawn shootout with police on Sunday, has been identified in the media as Omar El-Hussein, a 22-year-old with a history of violent crime.

Ekstra-Bladet said he had been released from prison two weeks ago after serving a term for aggravated assault, raising fears he may have become radicalised behind bars.

Police carried out a series of operations in the Copenhagen area on Sunday, including a raid on an Internet cafe in the inner city district of Noerrebro, the same area where the gunman was killed.

El-Hussein was wanted by police in November 2013 for stabbing a fellow passenger on a train, according to Ekstra-Bladet.

This was corroborated by a statement issued by Danish police in 2013 describing an incident in which a man identified as Omar El-Hussein had stabbed a train passenger repeatedly with "a big knife".

Police said earlier it was investigating if the man had received help from others and if he had travelled to conflict zones such as Syria and Iraq.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)

http://www.france24.com/en/20150216-two-charged-copenhagen-shooting-denmark/

Copenhagen on high alert after deadly shootings

Text by FRANCE 24 Follow france24_en on twitter

Latest update : 2015-02-15

Denmark was on high alert on Sunday after two people were killed and five wounded in shootings at a free speech event featuring an artist who had caricatured the Prophet Mohammed and a synagogue in the capital Copenhagen.

The incidents have stirred fears that another terror spree was underway in Europe a month after 17 people were killed in attacks in Paris.

Police couldn’t say whether the shootings at a cultural centre Saturday afternoon and in front of the synagogue early Sunday were connected, but didn’t rule it out. In both shootings, the gunman got away.

“We are looking for two perpetrators,” police spokesman Allan Wadsworth-Hansen told reporters.

Two hours later, police announced they had shot and killed a man who shot at them near a train station and were investigating whether he could be linked to the two shootings. The police statement posted online says the shooting occurred after they had put an address near the train station under observation. The statement said no police officers were wounded.

The first shooting happened shortly before 4pm Saturday. Danish police said the gunman used an automatic weapon to shoot through the windows of the Krudttoenden cultural centre during a panel discussion on freedom of expression following the Paris attacks. A 55-year-old man attending the event was killed, while three police officers were wounded. Two belonged to the Danish security service PET, which said the circumstances surrounding the shooting “indicate that we are talking about a terror attack.”

The gunman then fled in a carjacked Volkswagen Polo that was found later a few kilometres away, police said.

Lars Vilks, a Swedish artist who has faced numerous death threats for caricaturing the Prophet Mohammed, was one of the main speakers at the event, titled “Art, blasphemy and freedom of expression.” He was whisked away by his bodyguards unharmed as the shooting began.

EU gives France until 2017 to fix budget deficit

·         

© Emmanuel Dunand, AFP file picture| Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commission vice president for the Euro and Social Dialogue, at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels on February 18, 2015

Latest update : 2015-02-25

The EU on Tuesday gave France a further two years until 2017 to bring its budget deficit back into line with Brussels' rules, meaning the eurozone's second biggest economy avoids a fine for now.

Paris must however present a reform plan to Brussels by April to show how it intends to get its finances back in order, added the European Commission, the executive body of the 28-nation EU.

Drones spotted over Paris for a second night

Latest update : 2015-02-25

Small civilian drones have been spotted in the skies over the French capital for a second night in a row, police said on Wednesday, once again flying over the US embassy and several iconic Paris landmarks.

At least five drones were spotted over central Paris by both witnesses and police, sources told French media.

The tiny aircraft were seen near the US embassy, the Invalides military museum, the Eiffel Tower, the French Senate and several major thoroughfares leading into and out of the French capital.

Kerry: Moscow lying 'to my face' over Ukraine

Secretary of State John Kerry accuses Russia of engaging in the "most extensive propaganda exercise" since the Cold War

February 25, 2015 5:20AM ET

US Secretary of State John Kerry has accused Russian leaders of lying to him about Moscow's involvement in the conflict in Ukraine. 

"Russia has engaged in a rather remarkable period of the most overt and extensive propaganda exercise that I've seen since the very height of the Cold War," Kerry told a Senate committee in Washington on Tuesday.

Strangers in their own land: Displaced Ukrainians face uncertain future

In Kharkiv, frustration builds between locals and 140,000 displaced eastern Ukrainians

February 25, 2015 5:00AM ET

KHARKIV, Ukraine — Natalia Kuprina left the rebel-held city of Donetsk on May 27, the day after the first attack by separatists on the city’s modern airport left dozens dead and the mother of two trembling with fear about what might lie ahead.

She grabbed her 1-year-old, her teenage daughter and a few belongings and convinced a driver to take them north about 180 miles to Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine. When she arrived, she reached out to a network of others who had fled the fighting that was engulfing swaths of Ukraine. They helped her find space at Romashka, a rundown former Soviet Pioneer children’s camp on the outskirts of the city.

Hungary's governing Fidesz party loses supermajority

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© AFP | Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban

Text by NEWS WIRES

Latest update : 2015-02-23

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party on Sunday lost the two-thirds supermajority it held in parliament since 2010, which allowed it to pass a new constitution and other legislation without input from the opposition.

The National Election Office said that Zoltan Kesz, an independent supported by the left-wing opposition parties, defeated Fidesz candidate Lajos Nemedi in a district centered on the city of Veszprem. With 98 percent of the votes counted, Kesz led Nemedi by 42.6 percent to 33.6 percent. A candidate for the far-right Jobbik party was third with 14.1 percent.

Kesz said the result was a warning from voters to the governing parties, “because they will no longer accept the plundering of the country ... and millions being driven into poverty.”

The election was needed because Fidesz’s Tibor Navracsics, who won the seat in April, has since become a European Union commissioner.

Orban’s Fidesz party and a much smaller ally have also used their supermajority in the 199-seat legislature to dominate institutions including the state media authority and the constitutional court by electing only government-backed nominees.

While “this result is totally unexpected for Fidesz,” the opposition victory was largely symbolic because the government parties will be only one vote short of the supermajority, said Tamas Boros, an analyst at Policy Solutions.

Fidesz easily won three elections last year - parliamentary, local elections and for the European parliament - but unpopular proposals and laws since October have seen it drop substantially in opinion polls.

The government abandoned a plan to tax Internet use after huge national protests but since adopted unpopular measures including forcing most shops to close on Sundays and greatly expanding the toll system for most roads.

The government also rejected investigating alleged corruption at the national tax office, though some of its officials have been banned from entering the United States because of the allegations.

“Fidesz now seems like a fragmented party burdened by corruption scandals,” Boros said. “Fidesz has started to meddle in the people’s lifestyle and it was its own voters who became hesitant and stayed at home.”

(AP) France 24

Pro-Russia rebels 'to withdraw weapons from Ukraine frontline’

Latest update : 2015-02-22

A senior pro-Russian rebel commander said separatist forces were due to begin withdrawing heavy weapons from the frontline in east Ukraine on Sunday, a step towards implementing an internationally brokered peace deal.

Eurozone approves Greek bailout extension

© Louisa Gouliamaki, AFP I Greek and EU flags near the Acropolis in Athens on February 19

Text by NEWS WIRES

Latest update : 2015-02-24

Greece secured a four-month extension of its financial rescue on Tuesday when its euro zone partners approved a reform plan that backed down on key leftist measures and promised that spending to alleviate social distress would not derail its budget.

France arrests 8 more with alleged jihadist links

(CNN)French counter terrorism police arrested eight people with alleged links to jihadist cells in Lyon and the Paris suburbs Tuesday morning, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said at a Paris press conference.

He said 161 legal investigations into terrorism are currently ongoing, with 547 people implicated in the inquiries.

Of those 547 people, 167 people have been arrested, 95 are under investigation and 80 are in jail, he said.

Cazeneuve also announced that "a new counter-terrorism" decree would go into effect on Wednesday.

He plans to travel to Brussels, Belgium, on the same day to persuade the EU Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs to move forward with the EU Passenger Name Record. This is a draft law currently under debate that would require airlines to maintain and share data on passengers entering and leaving the European Union, in an effort to fight crime and terrorism.

"The fight against terrorism, is a race against time -- we are fully determined," Cazeneuve said.

France last month suffered its worst terror attacks in decades when 17 people were killed in shooting incidents in Paris. Since then, it has been cracking down on those with suspected jihadist links.

France launches website to counter jihadist propaganda

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/03/europe/france-terror-arrests/index.html

Greece economy: Merkel rules out more debt relief

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out cancelling any of Greece's debt, saying banks and creditors have already made substantial cuts.

Ukraine crisis: Hollande and Merkel in key truce talks in Moscow

French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are due to hold talks in Moscow to try to end escalating fighting in east Ukraine.

Turkey revokes passport of bitter Erdogan rival Gulen

Turkish president's former ally has denied accusations that he tried to orchestrate "parallel state" within the country

February 3, 2015 6:44PM ET

The Turkish government has canceled the passport of ally-turned-foe Fethullah Gulen, local media reported on Tuesday, the latest salvo in a bitter feud between the U.S.-based Muslim cleric and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) accuse Gulen and his supporters of seeking to establish a "parallel state" in Turkey and of orchestrating a corruption investigation in 2013 which briefly threatened to engulf the government.

Gulen, who denies the accusations, stepped up his own criticism of Erdogan, saying he was leading Turkey "toward totalitarianism.”

CNN Turk said on its website that Turkey had informed U.S. officials on Jan. 28 that it was revoking Gulen's passport because it was issued based on a "false statement.” Gulen has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999.

A Turkish foreign ministry official said he could not confirm the media reports.

Separatists in eastern Ukraine ‘to mobilise 100,000 men’

Text by FRANCE 24 

Latest update : 2015-02-02

Pro-Russian separatists fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine plan a “general mobilisation” under which thousands of men will be called up, one of their main leaders was quoted as saying on Monday.

Separatist news agency DAN reported that Alexander Zakharchenko, leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, had said that the call-up would mobilise as many as 100,000 men. It was unclear, however, how the recruitment would be handled.

"There will be general mobilisation in the (separatist) Donetsk People's Republic in 10 days' time, we plan on mobilising up to 100,000 men," the separatist leader was quoted as saying.

Zakharchenko, who was elected in a vote in November that was not recognised by Kiev or the West, did not say how many separatists were currently fighting in east Ukraine.

Ukraine, NATO and Western governments say they have evidence that Russia has sent troops and weapons to back the separatists but Moscow denies this. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko put the number of Russian troops in the east last month at 9,000.

Fighting has increased in eastern Ukraine in the past few weeks and hopes of easing the situation faded after peace talks collapsed on Saturday.

Ukraine has also mobilised more troops because of the surge in fighting.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)

http://www.france24.com/en/20150202-ukraine-pro-russian-separatists-mobilise-100000-men/

Next Charlie Hebdo issue ‘to hit stands on February 25’

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© Martin Bureau, AFP file picture | Charlie Hebdo cartoonist Luz holds up the cover of the satirical magazine’s ‘survivor’s issue’ which was released on January 14

Text by NEWS WIRES

Latest update : 2015-02-02

The next edition of Charlie Hebdo will appear on February 25, a journalist from the French satirical magazine said Monday, less than a month after 12 people were killed at their offices.

"Finally. A bit more patience, but Charlie Hebdo will come out on February 25 at all good kiosks," said Laurent Leger on his Twitter account.

A so-called "survivors' issue" published on January 14 had a print run of seven million, with a first batch selling out within minutes. Before the attacks, the weekly sold around 30,000 copies.

The front cover of the last issue featured a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed holding a sign "Je Suis Charlie", which became a rallying cry for freedom of expression since the deadly attacks, and the words "all is forgiven" over the cartoon.

The cover sparked deadly demonstrations in some parts of the Muslim world, where depicting the prophet is seen as deeply offensive.

The new publishing director of the magazine said last month that there would "probably not" be a cartoon of the prophet in the next edition.

On January 7, two Islamist gunmen stormed into Charlie Hebdo's offices in Paris and killed 12 people, most of them journalists and cartoonists.

They said they were acting in revenge for the cartoon's previous portrayals of the prophet.

The attack marked the start of three days of bloodshed that culminated in twin siege dramas and left a total of 17 people dead.

(AFP)

http://www.france24.com/en/20150202-next-charlie-hebdo-issue-hit-stands-february-25/

Iceland's volcanic eruption stokes toxic gas fears

The Holuhraun eruption is emitting high volumes of toxic gases and raising health and environmental concerns.

Lowana Veal | 03 Feb 2015 10:11 GMT | 

Eruption of Holuhraun volcano in Iceland [Birkefeldt Moller Pedersen/Al Jazeera]

Reykjavik, Iceland - For the past five months, Icelandic weather forecasts have included daily updates on the movement of noxious gas plumes emitted by the ongoing Holuhraun volcanic eruption.

Poisonous gas appeared in late August last year soon after Holuhraun began to spew molten rock. "Most of the gas is sulphur dioxide, water and carbon dioxide," said Thorolfur Gudnason, a medical professional with Iceland's Directorate of Health. "The other gases occur in much lower quantities."

Shelling kills at least 5 in eastern Ukraine

Hospital and six schools damaged in Donetsk; President Poroshenko expresses confidence US will send weapons

February 4, 2015 8:30AM ET

Heavy shelling in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday killed at least five people and damaged a hospital and six schools, local officials said.

The rebel-run Donetsk News Agency reported five people killed inside and near the hospital in Tekstilshchik district. A Reuters cameraman saw three bodies — one near the hospital and two others on the street near neighboring buildings.

Ukrainian military spokesman Vladislav Seleznev said two government troops had been killed and 18 injured in the past 24 hours. The most intense fighting is now focused near the railway hub of Debaltseve where, according to Seleznev, the rebels mounted an offensive against Ukrainian troops.

Senior officers detained as France probes police leaks

·         © AFP / The headquarters of French police's criminal investigation unit in Paris, known as the 36 quai des Orfèvres

Latest update : 2015-02-04

Top-level police and former officers have been arrested in France as part of an investigation into leaks, government officials said Wednesday.

Stéphane Le Foll, the government spokesman, confirmed arrests of “high-level police” after Europe 1 radio reported that Bernard Petit, the head of the Paris judicial police, was among several current and former officers being questioned.

Europe 1 said Petit is under investigation over leaks to a suspect in an ongoing probe. It is illegal under French law to release names or other details while a case is under investigation -- a process that can take months or even years.

Ukraine crisis: Renewed fighting 'catastrophic' says UN

A house burns in the city of Donetsk after shelling on Tuesday

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