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Hopes Fade For Survivors Of Nepalese Snowstorm

Written By Unknown on Senin, 20 Oktober 2014 | 15.00

The search for survivors after a deadly blizzard in Nepal appears to be coming to an end, with rescuers now trying to recover the bodies of trekkers left trapped under layers of snow and ice.

A further 34 people who were stranded in the Himalayas have been rescued, according to local police, but their condition has not been disclosed.

Helicopters are revisiting badly-affected areas where bodies have been seen in another attempt to retrieve them.

The number killed in the snowstorm stands at 39, but is expected to rise.

A spokesman from the Trekking Agencies' Association said: "A team of experts dug through snow to recover bodies of two Indians in the Nar-Phu area. Ten bodies are [still] believed to be buried in that area."

Video: Avalanche Rescue Efforts

Since Wednesday, 483 guides and trekkers have been rescued – 292 of them foreign nationals, according to the AFP news agency.

Some survivors are believed to be suffering from severe cases of frostbite, making limb amputations likely, say Nepalese officials.

Of the 34 rescued on Sunday, 17 people were Nepalese, 10 were German, five were Australian and two were Swedish.

They may have been a group attempting the same route as victims who perished in the snowstorm.

Video: Friday: Rescuers Reach Trekkers

As a result the route has been closed by the government until further notice.

The incident is the worst mountain disaster in Nepal since 1995 when 42 people were killed in avalanches on Mount Everest.

The Foreign Office has said it is not aware of any British casualties but is working with authorities to account for every Briton thought to be in the area when the storm hit.


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US Drops Weapons For Kurds Battling IS

The US has airdropped weapons and supplies for Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State (IS) in the town of Kobani in Syria.

A statement from US Central Command said Air Force C-130 planes "delivered weapons, ammunition and medical supplies that were provided by Kurdish authorities in Iraq and intended to enable continued resistance against ISIL's (IS) attempts to overtake Kobani".

Multiple airdrops were completed near the town, which is close to the border with Turkey and would be seen as a strategic coup for IS if it is captured.

Kurdish forces said they had received a "large quantity of ammunition" from the US airdrop.

Spokesman Redur Xelil told the Reuters news agency: "It will have a positive impact on the course of military operations and certainly we are still hoping for more support."

Video: Stuart Ramsay With 'Rag Tag' Army

The US statement said 135 airstrikes near Kobani - combined with continued resistance on the ground - had slowed IS advances and killed hundreds of its fighters.

"However, the security situation in Kobani remains fragile as ISIL continues to threaten the city and Kurdish forces continue to resist," the statement added.

The Kurds have been under IS assault for more than a month - and US Commander General Lloyd Austin has warned that the city could fall.

However, airdrops are likely to anger key ally Turkey, which has said it would oppose the US helping to arm Kurdish rebels.

1/11

  1. Gallery: The Kurdish Refugees Of Kobani

    A Kurdish refugee woman and her child from the Syrian town of Kobani rest in front of their family tent in a camp in the southeastern town of Suruc, Turkey

  2. The United States is bombing targets in Kobani to relieve the defenders of the Syrian town and give them time to organise against Islamic State militants, a senior US official said

  3. A Kurdish refugee from the Syrian town of Kobani sweeps a passage in the camp

  4. A child looks out of a tent

  5. Kurdish people watch smoke billowing from Kobani as they gather on a hill overlooking the Syrian town of Kobani

  6. A child walks through the camp in Suruc

  7. A Turkish aid worker distributes food to Kurdish refugees

  8. Kurdish refugees from the Syrian town of Kobani queue to get food

  9. Smoke rises from the Syrian town of Kobani

  10. Kurdish people shout slogans while standing upon a hill opposite the Syrian town of Kobani

  11. The graves of Kurdish people killed fighting alongside People's Protection Units (YPG) against IS jihadists in Kobani

Ankara views the main Kurdish group in Syria as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an organisation that has waged a 30-year insurgency in Turkey.

The PKK is designated a terror group by the US and NATO.

Turkey has resisted pressure from the West to take a more direct role in fighting IS in Kobani.

However, in an earlier call with Barack Obama, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to "strengthen cooperation".

Video: New Video Of The Battle For Kobani

An unnamed official said that while the results of the airdrop mission were still being assessed, it appeared "the vast majority" of the 27 bundles reached the intended Kurdish fighters.

Another official suggested "you might see more" drops in the days ahead.

:: Sky's Stuart Ramsay joined the forgotten Kurds who have held off IS for more than two years with homemade weapons and armoured cars.


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How Kurds The World Forgot Are Holding Off IS

By Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent, in Sari Kani, Syria

Right now in Syria a desperate fight is under way against Islamic State (IS) forces that control so much of the north of the country.

In the east that fight is being carried out virtually unseen to the rest of the world by People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters, Syrian Kurds, who are doing so with almost no assistance.

They have been fighting IS for longer than any other group.

With homemade weapons and armoured cars and some old heavy guns, they fight in dusty villages, the countryside and larger towns to try and force IS back to the west of Syria.

Kobani has been surrounded for weeks by IS but there are many other towns that are under siege. From Sari Kani 100 miles or so east of Kobani the YPG have been taking back ground from IS.

They would dearly love to reach their colleagues in Kobani but, with no assistance, even they accept it will be an almost impossible mission.

Video: Travelling Through Syria

Always moving and repositioning themselves, the front line is a confused and confusing battle of attrition.

The men of the YPG and the women fighters of the Women's Protection Unit (YPJ) work together. There is no battlefield difference between the sexes. They all throw themselves into the fight. They are protecting their homeland and say to us that they can die at the front or at home, but either way they are prepared to die.

Against the odds and the better equipped IS forces, they have made ground and captured weapons. In a rear position they work on tanks captured from IS and they showed us the bodies of 20 IS jihadists they killed in a night operation.

We travelled from Iraq through Syria. The birthplace of IS is one of the most dangerous places on earth today. The YPG grip is tenuous and the vast open spaces are difficult to protect from IS incursions.

Video: Passports Reveal Turkey Link

These Syrian Kurds are hemmed in. The Turkish border lies to the north and its military considers the YPG a terrorist organisation.

To the south, east and west IS controls all the land leading to Iraq and across its border.

On the newest YPG front lines we came across a seemingly rag-tag group of fighters. But while they may look so they are in fact well trained and utterly determined.

A hill-top cemetery has become a fort. They watch across the plains and the villages that IS control. They are so close they can hear the foreign languages of the IS fighters on their walkie-talkies.

Video: Kurds Face Future Without A Home

But nobody here seems in any way frightened of IS. They laugh and joke and prepare to fight. Day in, day out.

The YPG are very canny. Their front-line positions are never static for long. Their numbers are small so they move positions and manoeuvre around the battlefield looking for signs of IS weakness. Then they attack. Both sides are doing this but one gets the sense that the Kurds are more determined.

While IS have many foreign fighters the YPG also have a small contingent. Chechens, Europeans and Americans who have decided to help fight IS.

Brian Wilson is from Ohio. A divorcee with two children, this veteran of the first Gulf War and 16 years a police sheriff in the United States decided to come here a month ago and join the fight. He was shocked that the West was doing nothing to help here.

Video: Desperate Help Needed In Kobani

"They have been holding out against DASH (IS) in this area for going on two, two and a half years," he told me on the front line.

"They are outgunned. They are brave fighters. They just need more help. If they had better technology, better weapons, they could finish IS on their own. More airstrikes would be very helpful to clear out some areas."

The YPG are fighting multiple fronts on a constant basis. Sometimes they are in cities and towns, sometimes in open countryside. But they are holding on and sometimes doing better than that.

And, as they say, they will do that to the death if necessary.


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Hong Kong Clashes As Protesters Fight Back

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 19 Oktober 2014 | 14.59

Dozens of people have been injured in new clashes in Hong Kong as pro-democracy campaigners took back an area that was cleared by police less than 24 hours earlier.

Riot officers used batons and pepper spray against protesters who pushed against police lines and shielded themselves with umbrellas.

Officers were eventually forced to retreat during violent scuffles with the crowd which numbered around 9,000.

Demonstrator Peter Yuen said: "The police have lost control of the situation. They've lost their minds. We've come here peacefully, to peacefully protest for our future."

Activists rushed to reoccupy their protest camp and rebuild makeshift barricades from packing crates and fences in an area of the Mong Kok district which police had opened to traffic just hours before.

At least 33 people were reportedly arrested in the skirmishes, while 18 officers were among the injured.

The protests, calling for fully free elections and the resignation of the territory's leader, Leung Chun-ying, have been going on for three weeks.

Video: Police Accused Of Protest Brutality

It was the third consecutive night violence had broken out after a fortnight which has been relatively quiet. The first week saw major clashes.

The latest came just hours after Mr Leung offered talks with student leaders next week in an attempt to defuse the protests.

His chief secretary, Carrie Lam, later announced discussions would take place for two hours on Tuesday.

Video: Dozens Held After Hong Kong Clashes

The Mong Kok area was calm later on Saturday with the number of protesters much smaller as activists rested. Police stood away from the barricades.

During the demonstrations, protesters have held sit-ins at three major intersections causing significant disruption to the city.

China has insisted that whoever stands to replace Mr Leung in elections in 2017 must be vetted by a committee that is expected to be loyal to Beijing.

Video: HK Protest Barriers Dismantled

But the protesters have dismissed the proposal as "fake democracy".

Hong Kong police commissioner Andy Tsang said his force had been tolerant since the rallies began in the hope that demonstrators would "calm down".

"Unfortunately these protesters chose to carry on with their unlawful acts, including acts which are even more radical and more violent," Mr Tsang said.


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Nigerian Schoolgirls Could Be Free Within Days

Nigeria hopes 219 schoolgirls kidnapped by Islamist group Boko Haram will be freed by Tuesday, according to a government source.

Authorities earlier said they had agreed a ceasefire with the militant group to make the release possible.

"I can confirm the Federal Government is working hard to meet its own part of the agreement so that the release of the abductees can by effected either on Monday or latest by Tuesday next week," the source said.

But Bana Lawan, chairman of Chibok Local Government Area urged caution and said: "We don't know how true it is until we prove it. We will know the negotiations were successful when we see the girls physically.

"Then we will know it is true. And then we will celebrate."

Community leader Pogu Bitrus said: "People rejoiced, but with caution."

Both men said residents have been disappointed too many times in the past by reports of progress by Nigeria's government and military that later proved to be false.

And this caution seemed well-founded with suspected Boko Haram militants carrying out two deadly attacks on Nigerian villages after the announcement of the ceasefire.

On Friday, French President Francois Hollande had told a news conference in Paris that the girls' release "could happen in the coming hours and days".

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  1. Gallery: Profile: Boko Haram Leader

    Abubakar Shekau is the leader of Boko Haram. He took control of the Islamist group after the death of founder Mohammed Yusuf in 2009.

  2. Little is known about him, although he was born in Shekau village in the northeastern state of Yobe and is now thought to be in his early 40s.

  3. Shekau is Nigeria's most-wanted man and was designated a terrorist by the U.S. government in 2012. A reward of $7m (£4.6m) and 50m Nigerian naira (£182,000) has been issued for information leading to his location.

  4. Shekau is also known as "Darul Tawheed", a reference to his knowledge of an orthodox doctrine of Islam centred on the oneness of Allah.

  5. Nigerian authorities thought he had been killed in 2009 during clashes with security forces, but he reappeared in a video in 2010 to claim leadership of Boko Haram.

  6. Shekau is believed to have been behind the August 2011 bombing of the UN compound in the capital Abuja, which killed at least 21 people.

  7. In a video released after the abduction of 276 girls from a boarding school in the village of Chibok on April 14, he described the youngsters as "slaves" and threatened to "sell them in the market".

France had been involved in negotiations that led to the release of several of its citizens kidnapped by Boko Haram in Cameroon.

Boko Haram (their name means 'education is sinful') kidnapped the 276 girls at gunpoint from a school in Chibok, northeastern Nigeria, on April 14.

Some of the girls managed to escape in the aftermath of their kidnap or during fighting among militants, but 219 are still unaccounted for.

The group has demanded the release of detained extremists in exchange for the girls.

Video: Nigeria 'Optimistic' Over Girls

Sky's Special Correspondent Alex Crawford said Boko Haram had "assured Nigerian authorities that the Chibok schoolgirls are well and safe".

The country's leader, Goodluck Jonathan, has faced strong criticism over a deteriorating security situation in Nigeria, with areas in the northeast Borno state inaccessible due to the threat from Boko Haram.


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Anni Dewani's Honeymoon Hitman Dies In Jail

One of the men convicted of killing newlywed Anni Dewani has died in a prison in Cape Town, a South African official has confirmed.

Xolile Mngeni, who was branded "merciless and evil" by a judge during his sentencing, was jailed for life for shooting Mrs Dewani while she was on honeymoon in Cape Town in 2010.

The 27-year-old had been diagnosed with a rare brain tumour while awaiting trial four years ago and had surgery to remove it.

The court had heard he would probably have only two to five years to live if the tumour returned.

Mngeni's death comes 12 days after British businessman Shrien Dewani went on trial in South Africa accused of murdering his wife.

The 34-year-old denies plotting to kill Mrs Dewani on their luxury getaway to Cape Town in November 2010, as they took a taxi ride through a township.

Video: Gunman 'Paid £1000 For Dewani Kill'

The care home owner, from Westbury-on-Trym near Bristol, is accused of paying three men to kill his Swedish-born wife, days after their lavish £200,000 wedding in Mumbai.

Dewani said he and his wife were kidnapped at gunpoint as they drove through Gugulethu in Cape Town in a taxi. He was released unharmed, but Mrs Dewani's body was found in the abandoned car the next day. She had been shot.

He denies the five charges against him, which include murder and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

Video: 'All I Ask For Is The Full Story'

Mngeni was convicted of shooting Mrs Dewani, while taxi driver Zola Tongo and Mziwamadoda Qwabe are also serving jail terms in connection with the murder.

Reports suggest prosecutors in South Africa had spoken to Mngeni but had not planned to call him as a witness in the trial because of the poor state of his health.

Mngeni was found guilty at the Western Cape High Court in 2012 of premeditated murder.

Video: Anni Dewani's Bedroom Now A Shrine

He was also convicted of robbery with aggravating circumstances and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, but acquitted of Mrs Dewani's kidnapping.

During sentencing, Judge Robert Henney said Mngeni deserved the maximum punishment for killing Mrs Dewani.

He said: "He had no regard to her right to freedom, dignity, and totally disregarded and showed no respect to her right to life by brutally killing her with utter disdain."


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