China: Brit To Design World's Biggest Airport

Extra Tests For Pilots After Taiwan Crash

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 07 Februari 2015 | 22.57

All TransAsia Airways pilots who fly ATR propeller jets are taking proficiency tests after one of the carrier's planes crashed in Taiwan, killing at least 39 people.

The airline said it had cancelled 90 flights over the next three days to accommodate the tests, which have been ordered by Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration.

A total of 71 TransAsia pilots are involved in the programme.

Investigators believe the two pilots of the ATR-72 that went down in Taipei on Wednesday switched off a running engine after the other one went idle.

Experts say this was not part of the accepted procedure under such circumstances.

"It's a mistake," said John Cox, a former US Airways pilot and now head of a safety-consulting company.

"There are procedures that pilots go through - safeguards - when you're going to shut down an engine, particularly close to the ground. Why that didn't occur here, I don't know."

Local prosecutors have said they will be looking into the possibility of "professional error".

Moments before the plane banked sharply and hurtled into the Keelung River, one of the pilots reportedly told air traffic controllers: "Mayday, mayday, engine flameout."

Fifteen people survived the accident, which happened shortly after take-off and was captured on video by a passing motorist's dashboard camera.

Four more bodies were recovered on Saturday morning as grieving relatives looked on, taking the number of dead to 39.

Four of the 58 people on board the flight, bound for the island of Kinmen, are still missing.

The dead include the pilots, whose actions suggest they followed the line of the river to avoid high-rise buildings and banked sharply to bring the plane down in the water rather than crash on land.

Both have been hailed as heroes.

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Kayla Mueller: What We Know About IS Hostage

Islamic State claims US hostage Kayla Mueller has been killed in an airstrike by Jordanian jets, but what do we know about her?

The 26-year-old is an aid worker from Prescott in Arizona, a small town 100 miles north of Phoenix and from a young age had a single-minded determination to help others.

She was taken prisoner in Aleppo, Syria on 4 August 2013 after leaving a Spanish Doctors Without Borders hospital.

Ms Mueller is thought to be Islamic State's last remaining American hostage.

Other aid workers kidnapped at the same time are thought to have been released, but according to a CBS report last year, IS was demanding a $6.6m (£4.3m) ransom to set her free.

Ms Mueller had been helping Syrian refugees on the Turkish border since December 2012, working with aid agencies including Support to Life and the Danish Refugee Council.

In 2013, she described the desperate situation in a refugee camp, including how she helped reunite a six-year-old with his relative after the camp was bombed.

"For as long as I live, I will not let this suffering be normal," she told Prescott's Daily Courier.

"(I will not let this be) something we just accept."

"This story is not rare in Syria," she added. "This is the reality for Syrians two and a half years on.

"When Syrians hear I'm an American, they ask, 'Where is the world?' All I can do is cry with them, because I don't know."

Ms Mueller had also campaigned on behalf of genocide victims and volunteered for three years with the Save Darfur Coalition in her late teens.

A 2007 interview for the Daily Courier describes how she called and wrote to members of the US Congress, and took part in silent walks to raise awareness.

"I love cultures and language and learning about people's cultures," she told the paper as she prepared to start university in Flagstaff.

After graduating in 2009, she spent around a year living and working with humanitarian aid groups in northern India, Israel and Palestine.

Heading back to Arizona in 2011, she worked at an AIDS clinic and volunteered at a women's shelter at night.

The US government and Ms Mueller's family had kept her name secret until IS claimed she had been killed, fearing any publicity would put her in more danger.

Her parents, Carl and Marsha Mueller, said in a statement on Friday: "Kayla found this (aid) work heart-breaking but compelling; she is extremely devoted to the people of Syria.

"When asked what kept her going in her mission, she said, 'I find God in the suffering eyes reflected in mine, if this is how you are revealed to me, this is how I will forever seek you.'"

If her death is confirmed she would be the fourth American to die while being held by IS.

The others, journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and aid worker Peter Kassig were beheaded by the group.

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Family Of IS Hostage Hopeful She Is Still Alive

The family of US hostage Kayla Jean Mueller say they are hopeful she is still alive, despite Islamic State claims that she was killed in a Jordanian airstrike.

In a statement released by a family representative, Ms Mueller's parents Marsha and Carl Mueller made a personal appeal to IS.

"You told us that you treated Kayla as your guest, as your guest her safety and well-being remains your responsibility," they said, addressing "those in positions of responsibility for holding Kayla".

The statement asked IS to contact the family privately.

According to the Site Intelligence Group, which monitors extremists, IS said the 26-year-old aid worker died on Friday after Jordanian warplanes struck the building where she was being held.

The terrorist group said no IS fighters died in the raids in their de facto capital of Raqqa, Syria.

It released images showing a damaged building it said had been targeted in airstrikes, but no photos to back their claims Ms Mueller had been killed.

The White House, State Department and Pentagon have said they can't confirm the unsubstantiated report.

"We are obviously deeply concerned by these reports," said Bernadette Meehan, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, in a statement.

"We have not at this time seen any evidence that corroborates ISIL's claim."

Jordan has also dismissed the IS claim as "criminal propaganda" and an "old and sick trick", but said its jets did carry out a second consecutive day of strikes on IS sites on Friday.

It has stepped up its operations against IS since the militants burned to death a captured Jordanian pilot.

On Saturday, Jordan carried out a third straight day of airstrikes on IS targets.

"Sorties of air force fighters today bombed bases of the Daesh terror gang," state television said, using a derogatory Arabic name for the group.

It said some of the targets were in Raqqa, but gave no other details.

Ms Mueller, of Prescott, Arizona, disappeared in August 2013 in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.

A media blackout on her abduction was recently broken by President Barack Obama, when he confirmed IS still had at least one US hostage.

He said the US was "deploying all the assets that we can" to find Ms Mueller.

Her name had not been made public due to fears for her safety.

The group has already executed three American hostages: James Foley, Peter Kassig and Steven Sotloff.

Two British hostages, David Haines and Alan Henning, and two Japanese hostages, Kenjo Goto and Haruna Yukawa, have also been killed.

British reporter John Cantlie is still being held captive.

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Ukraine Desperation As Vital Supplies Run Dry

In Luhansk, one of the areas to suffer most in the conflict, there is a growing humanitarian crisis as food and medical shortages render the population powerless.

The streets of central Luhansk are punctuated by shell damage. Shop after shop has closed down.

There has been periodic fighting nearby, but people have been living like this for eight months now.

Beyond the immediate conflict, is a growing humanitarian crisis.

Pensions here haven't been paid since September, so many people are now dependent on public canteens.

In one centre we visited staff were giving out a daily meal of soup, fruit juice, and two pieces of bread, but increasingly they find they are having to turn people away.

Social worker Igor Chaika said: "There are really a lot of people coming here, but we can only make 100 litres, which is 300 portions.

"We can't make more, some people are obviously upset by that - there is not enough for everyone."

Some of those left homeless by the conflict are living in university dorms.

We met a mother who had fled the shelling with her six-year-old son last summer. She said he still wakes up in fear at night.

Anna Kuznetsova told us: "He wakes up crying, and dresses himself up. He got used to doing that.

"A psychologist comes into the kindergarten, but he is afraid - as soon as it's loud he is afraid."

The water is off for most of the day, when it comes back on there's a long queue to fill up containers, and the water pressure is weak.

On the floor above, 77-year-old Nina Nikolayevna showed us where she is living.

She had her own flat this time last year, but now she's sharing a room with two other elderly ladies.

She said Doctors Without Borders had given them blankets and sheets, but they had seen no other humanitarian aid.

"We go to the social canteen, it starts at 11 and they feed us once, but you know what kind of food it is there," Ms Nikolayevna explained.

"They don't give us anything on Sunday, there's nothing."

One of her roommates, 64-year-old Nina Shershen, added: "No one helps us, we are people as well.

"It's not we who created this war, it is them who came here and destroyed everything - how can we live like this?"

At the city's cancer hospital, the head doctor, Dr Alexander Torba, showed us where their buildings had been shelled.

As a result, one of their nurses was killed last year.

Staff are now working without salaries and they have no running water, but their biggest concern is chemotherapy drugs.

Dr Torba says they have around one week's supply left: "The big problem is with the anti-tumour medicines. There is not enough in the pharmacies and it's expensive. People don't have money to buy it."

Irina Timachuk, 54, has stage one ovarian cancer and needs to start her next chemotherapy cycle in 20 days.

She said: "We need treatment and we want to live. We are not old yet; my life is not over yet. I want to live, that's it. If I don't receive treatment it's over."

Valentina Gukosen, 51, who has stage three ovarian cancer, added: "I want to ask for help. I want to live. I'm not that old, but what shall I do?"

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Merkel 'Uncertain' About Ukraine Peace Bid

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said a bid to resolve the Ukrainian conflict is "uncertain but worth trying", as the French President warned it was "one of the last chances" for peace.

Speaking at a security conference in Munich, Mrs Merkel also said Russia "needs to do its bit" to resolve the crisis.

She accused Moscow of showing "territorial disrespect" for its neighbour, and said international law had been violated.

Mrs Merkel told the summit: "We want to shape security on Europe together with Russia not against Russia.

"Russia needs to do its bit in the Ukrainian crisis as well.

"This crisis cannot be resolved by military means."

Her comments come after she and the French President Francois Hollande met Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow, in what was widely seen as a last-ditch attempt to thrash out a deal to end fighting which has claimed the lives of more than 5,300 people.

Mr Hollande said the agreement could include a demilitarised zone and greater autonomy for the separatist eastern region.

Mrs Merkel said of the peace efforts: "It is uncertain whether it will lead to success, but from my point of view and that of the French President (Francois Hollande) it is definitely worth trying.

"I believe we owe that much to those who are affected in Ukraine."

Mr Hollande told reporters: "I think this is one of the last chances, that's why we took this initiative.

"If we don't manage to find not just a compromise but a lasting peace agreement, we know perfectly well what the scenario will be. It has a name, it's called war."

Asked at the Munich talks whether he thought the peace proposal could work, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko replied: "Yes."

Mr Putin said Russia does not want war, but was scathing of Western sanctions over Ukraine.

He told trade union members in Moscow: "There's no war, thank God.

"But there is definitely an attempt to curb our development."

He added: "But we don't plan to fight a war with anyone, we plan to cooperate with everyone."

But US Vice President Joe Biden called on Mr Biden to demonstrate this by his actions.

"Given Russia's recent history we need to judge its deeds not its words. Don't tell us, show us, President Putin," Mr Biden told the conference.

Mr Biden backed the latest Franco-German diplomatic push, but also insisted Ukraine had the right to defend itself.

He said: "Too many times President Putin has promised peace and delivered tanks, troops and weapons.

"So we will continue to provide Ukraine with security assistance, not to encourage war but to allow Ukraine to defend itself."

Addressing the conference, Mr Poroshenko brandished several passports taken from Russian soldiers in what he claimed was proof of Moscow's "presence" in his country.

"This is the best evidence for the aggression and for the presence of Russian troops," he said.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who attended the Munich talks, said: "We believe that there are good grounds for optimism to issue recommendations for conflict resolution.

"It is important for everybody to realise the scale of the problem. The world is at a turning point."

Following a meeting with his US and German counterparts at the conference, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: "It is clear that the escalation in fighting in the east of Ukraine cannot be allowed to continue and a political solution is imperative.

"Britain led the way in placing strict EU sanctions on Russia, and will continue to consider any diplomatic proposal on its merit, in pursuit of a long-lasting political outcome."

But he said any peace deal would not recognise military gains made by the rebels.

Amid a debate in Washington over whether to send weapons to help the Kiev government fight pro-Russian rebels, the German Chancellor argued this would not help end the crisis.

"There is already a large number of weapons in the region and I don't see that this has made a military solution more likely," she said.

Her comments echo those of the British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, who warned providing additional weapons could escalate the conflict.

But NATO's top military commander has said this should not be ruled out.

US Air Force General Philip Breedlove told reporters at the Munich conference: "I don't think we should preclude out of hand the possibility of the military option.

"The situation is worsening and we need to address the worsening situation.

"It is important that we use all the tools in the toolbox to address this."

Clashes between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces in the east of the country have escalated in recent weeks, despite a peace deal agreed in Minsk last September.

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Gallery: Civilians Flee Besieged Ukrainian Town

A member of the Ukrainian armed forces assists local residents onto a bus to flee fighting in Debaltseve, eastern Ukraine

Two dozen buses escorted civilians out of the town after separatist rebels and government forces agreed a brief truce to allow civilians to be evacuated. Click through for more images ...

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Jihadi Who Faked Death Gets 12 Years In Jail

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 06 Februari 2015 | 22.57

By Mark White, Home Affairs Correspondent

A British jihadi who posed with the severed heads of Syrian soldiers and faked his own death to sneak back into the UK has been jailed for 12 years.

But Imran Khawaja - who spent six months in Syria alongside insurgents linked to terror group Islamic State - has appealed to other young British Muslims not to make the same mistakes he did.

He acted as a frontman for Rayat Al Tawheed, posting dozens of photos and videos online and boasting of his weapons training and exploits on the battlefield.

He also encouraged other young men and women to become jihadis and travel to the region.

During a two-day sentencing hearing at Woolwich Crown Court in south east London, Khawaja's defence team appealed to the Judge Mr Justice Baker for leniency, claiming the 27-year-old was a "psychologically vulnerable" young man who bitterly regretted his actions.

But prosecutor Brian Altman QC said Khawaja had featured in some disturbing footage of decapitated Syrian government soldiers.

In one video sequence, played before a hushed court, Mr Altman said Khawaja could be seen picking up severed heads from the back of a flatbed truck and saying: "Heads. Kuffar (non-Muslims) Disgusting."

Mr Altman said: "His attitude is quite clearly contemptuous. There is no sign of compulsion or revulsion."

At a court hearing last month, the former security guard pleaded guilty to preparing acts of terrorism, attending a terror training camp in Syria and receiving weapons training.

He was sentenced today alongside two other men, his cousin Tahir Bhatti, who pleaded guilty to assisting an offender and his friend Asim Ali, who admitted terrorism funding.

Bhatti, a taxi driver, was persuaded to travel to Bulgaria last June to pick up Khawaja and help smuggle him back into the UK.

He was sentenced to 21 months for assisting an offender.

Ali was given a 21-month sentence for withdrawing £300 to give to his friend on 24 January last year, two days before Khawaja left for Syria.

Throughout his almost six months in the Middle East, Khawaja's family never alerted the UK authorities.

Instead they embarked on a relentless campaign of text and social media messaging, desperately pleading with him to return home.

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Gallery: British Jihadi Imran Khawaja Jailed

Imran Khawaja, a British jihadi nicknamed "Barbie" who fled a Syrian training camp because he had "had enough" of conditions there, has been handed a 12 year sentence. All pictures are courtesy of ICSR, King's College London

Khawaja, 27, complained of a lack of toiletries, cocoa butter and condoms for "war booty" during his six-month stint with the Rayat al Tawheed insurgents in the war-torn country last year

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War-Torn Ukraine Facing AIDS Care 'Disaster'

By Nick Martin, Sky News Correspondent

Hundreds of children were born with HIV unnecessarily in Ukraine last year because of a shortage of vital drugs, a Sky News investigation has discovered.

A year of conflict has led to claims the country's AIDS programme is "breaking down" and not enough is being done to fight the epidemic, which has plagued the former Soviet state for more than 25 years.

War in the east of the country and political turmoil in Kiev has choked off the supply of antiretroviral drugs used to prevent the spread of the virus.

International organisations like Unicef are worried that one of the key indicators - the transferral of the virus from pregnant women to unborn children - is beginning to rise for the first time since 2002.

"There is potential for a real disaster," said Giovanna Barberis, Unicef's representative in Ukraine.

"Because of the crisis in Ukraine the system is breaking down and there is a shortage of antiretroviral drugs.

"They cost money, they are expensive and whilst the international community is there to support, it is probably not enough."

Many pregnant women who should have received antiretroviral therapy did not get access to the drug and have gone on to give birth to HIV-positive babies, Ms Barberis said.

Months of turmoil have left Ukraine's finances shattered and the government forced to sign a $17bn (£11bn) bailout with the International Monetary Fund.

Despite the warnings, Ukraine's new health minister Alexander Kvitashvili told Sky News the country has "a grip" on the epidemic.

"We're very well prepared to face the challenges and we are ready to send that message to our international donors," he said.

"Given the situation in the country, given the full-blown Russian aggression that we're facing, given the financial crisis, I think we have a grip on the situation."

But doctors on the frontline of the fight against HIV do not agree.

The National Treatment Centre in Kiev is home to 20 children, all of whom have HIV.

Many of them have been abandoned by their mothers and left to live in state-run orphanages.

Dr Vera Checheneva, an HIV specialist and paediatrician, is one of the few doctors who agrees to treat children with HIV - such is the level of fear among the medical profession.

"At the moment I feel I am not in Ukraine, that I am in Africa or somewhere," she said.

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Gallery: Mothers And Children Shunned In War-Torn Ukraine

These are antiretrovirals which can help alleviate the symptoms of HIV or AIDS. They are expensive and Ukraine needs constant help from international donors in order to keep up supply

Dr Vera Checheneva is an HIV specialist and Paediatrician at the Okhmadut clinic in Kiev. She is one of the few doctors in Ukraine willing to treat children with HIV and AIDS

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China: Brit To Design World's Biggest Airport

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Gallery: Brit to design Chinese Airport

The world largest airport will be built in China and is being designed by British architect Dame Zaha Hadid

A design by the prize-winning architect has been unveiled for Beijing's Daxing Airport which will be built over just three years in the Daxing district of Beijing

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Dame Zaha won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004 and the Stirling Prize in two consecutive years, 2010 and 2011

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By Mark Stone, China Correspondent in Beijing

The world's largest airport is to be built in China, designed by a British architect.

A design by Dame Zaha Hadid has been unveiled for Beijing's Daxing Airport, which will be built over just three years in the Daxing district to the south of the Chinese capital.

Dame Zaha won the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004 and the Stirling Prize in two consecutive years, 2010 and 2011.

Her work has become familiar in the Chinese capital, after she designed the iconic Galaxy Soho building in the city's Chaoyang District.

The airport will open in 2017 and will be the city's second international hub. The current airport, Beijing Capital International Airport, is also designed by a British architect, Sir Norman Foster, and is currently the world's second busiest by passenger numbers, handling 83 million people in 2013.

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Gallery: New Superyacht Designs Released

Award-winning architect Zaha Hadid has collaborated with renowned shipbuilders Blohm+Voss to design a new superyacht.

The designers have produced two concepts so far. On the left is the engineered design concept for a vessel named Jazz, while on the right is a master prototype.

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An exoskeleton structure would connect the boats' various levels and decks.

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The new airport will operate in addition to the current airport and will have capacity for at least 100 million passengers per year. It will have a staggering seven runways and is expected to ease congestion elsewhere.

In a statement, Zaha Hadid Associates said: "Initially accommodating 45 million passengers per year, the new terminal will be adaptable and sustainable, operating in many different configurations dependent on varying aircraft and passenger traffic throughout each day.

"With an integrated multi-modal transport centre featuring direct links to local and national rail services… the new Daxing airport will be a key hub within Beijing's growing transport network and a catalyst for the region's economic development, including the city of Tianjin and Hebei Province."

Dame Zaha, who was born in Iraq, was behind the Aquatics Centre for the London Olympics in 2012. Her trademark extravagance is on display in the new design for the vast new airport which incorporates a star-like shape with smooth curves.

It will be built with the help of engineers from France's ADPI Group, a world leader in airport design.

Beijing's current airport has three terminals. The area occupied by Terminal Three alone is larger than the whole of London's Heathrow Airport combined.

The expansion of the aviation market in China is extraordinary. The growing Chinese middle class is continuing to boost passenger numbers with more and more people able to afford air fares.

Low-cost airline options are still limited within China, but plans to expand this particular market will boost passenger numbers further.

Boeing and Airbus both expect the Chinese market to be their most important growth area over the coming decade as government regulatory reforms take hold and consumer behaviour changes.

China is determined to break the monopoly held by Airbus and Boeing with its own home-grown aviation industry.

A Chinese firm is trying to secure international certification for the C919 – a "Made-in-China" passenger plane.

Airbus already assembles its own passenger planes in China.

Boeing recently estimated that China will need 6,020 new planes over the next 20 years with its domestic route market expected to grow by 65%.

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Written By Unknown on Kamis, 05 Februari 2015 | 22.57

Greece's access to vital loans has been squeezed after the European Central Bank (ECB) stopped accepting the government's bonds as collateral.

The ECB had been accepting the junk-rated bonds, but in a statement said it was changing its mind because of uncertainty over Greece's bailout commitments.

The country's new leaders are currently jetting around Europe trying to renegotiate their €240bn (£180bn) bailout package and ease austerity obligations.

Greece's prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, wants to change the terms of the existing arrangement, which expires at the end of the month.

The ECB move turns the screw on Greece to quickly reach a new deal, but a statement from the country's finance ministry tried to deflect the pressure.

"By reaching and announcing this decision, the European Central Bank is exerting pressure on the Eurogroup to swiftly pursue a new and mutually beneficial agreement between Greece and its partners."

According to the AFP agency, a government source added: "The Greek republic does not intend to blackmail anyone but will not be blackmailed either."

The bond decision comes as Greece's finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, holds key talks in Berlin with German counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble.

Germany is seen as the strongest opponent of easing Greek debt and wants the country to stick to the existing agreement.

Austerity measures, imposed in exchange for the bailout loans, have seen the Greek economy shrink by a quarter and unemployment rise to over 25%.

The government is being pressured to sell off ports, airports and other assets to pay back what it owes.

Prime Minister Tsipras said he was "very optimistic" of easing the country's financial burden after talks in Brussels earlier this week.

Mr Tsipras, whose left-wing party swept to power last month, met European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and said he was hopeful of "a viable agreement".

If a new deal cannot be hammered out Greece could default on its debt and crash out of the euro currency union.

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Jordan Jets 'Honour Pilot' After Fresh Strikes

Jordanian jets have carried out a flypast over the hometown of the pilot burnt to death by Islamic State after returning from fresh bombing raids.

State television reported the flypast but did not say which locations had been targeted in airstrikes.

Jordan's King Abdullah, visiting Mu'ath Al Kassasbeh's grieving family, pointed at the planes as he sat next to the pilot's father

In a statement, he said retribution would "be harsh because this terrorist organisation is not only fighting us, but also fighting Islam and its pure values".

He also promised to hit the group "hard in the very centre of their strongholds".

A video showing 26-year-old Al Kassasbeh being killed in a cage was released earlier this week - although it is thought it happened a month ago.

The pilot was captured in December when his F-16 crashed near Raqqa in Syria.

His father told Sky News the killers were worse than animals and had no connection with Islam.

"My feeling is that of every father - I am mourning my own son," he said.

"The whole world, the Arab world, the Jordanian society is mourning with me. What they did is more than criminal - it's never been seen before in history.

"Even animals couldn't do this - they are wild beasts, they have no connection to Islam.

"They are not human beings, let alone Muslims."

Jordan is a key Western ally in the Middle East and is part of a US-led alliance bombing IS positions in Syria and Iraq.

It swiftly executed two IS-linked prisoners after the pilot's killing but the precise details and magnitude of its military response remains to be seen.

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IS Reaches Out To Women With Inequality Message

Women should "remain hidden and veiled", only leaving their homes in exceptional circumstances, according to an Islamic State manifesto intended as a recruitment tool.

The document includes a curriculum for teaching young girls how to be homemakers and mothers who are "sedentary, still and stable" - and condemns the notion of gender equality.

It also criticises the West's obsession with studying "the brain cells of crows, grains of sand and fish arteries", and suggests such educational pursuits are a distraction from worshipping God, which is "the only reason for their existence".

Circulated widely on jihadist forums, the text was apparently released in an attempt to recruit women living in Saudi Arabia.

"Woman was created to populate the Earth just as man was," one passage reads.

"But, as God wanted it to be, she was made from Adam and for Adam. Beyond this, her creator ruled there was no responsibility greater for her than that of being a wife to her husband."

The fashion industry and beauty salons are deemed as the work of Satan.

"He wishes to bring her from her Paradise of covering and decency, and encourages her to spend huge amounts of money to change God's creation and demand that surgeons change her nose, ear, chin and nails," the document states.

"This is the 'real fashion of women' - things hanging from ears, hair shaved in some places and not in others."

A plan for "the ideal education of our girls" is also included, which takes place when they are between seven and 15 years old. Religious studies, knitting, cooking and Sharia law feature prominently in the curriculum.

"It is considered legitimate for a girl to be married at the age of nine," the text adds. "Most pure girls will be married by 16 or 17, while they are still young and active."

In another section, IS authors state: "Women gain nothing from the idea of their equality with men apart from thorns.

"Under 'equality' they have to work and rest on the same days as men, even though they have 'monthly complications' and pregnancies - in spite of the nature of her life and responsibilities to their husband, sons and religion."

The Quilliam Foundation, which translated the document from Arabic, has labelled it as "fundamentally misogynist".

The think-tank added: "This (treatise) enables us to get into the mindset of the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of women who willingly join its ranks.

"Its objective is clear. This is a piece of propaganda aimed at busting myths and recruiting supporters."

According to the group, the manifesto was not translated into English by IS because it would have been "ineffective – perhaps even counterintuitive - in achieving its propagandistic aims with a Western audience".

:: Watch the special report - IS: The New Terror - at 4.30pm and 8.30pm on Sky News, skynews.com and our mobile apps - channels Sky 501, Virgin Media 602, Freesat 202, Freeview 132.

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India Frees Hundreds Of Child Labourers

Police have rescued hundreds of children working in factories in a southern Indian city despite laws banning child labour.

At least 350 youngsters have been saved from leather tanning and plastic factories in Hyderabad in the past 10 days, officials said.

Child welfare officers accompanied them as they were put on a special train to be reunited with their parents in Bihar, one of India's poorest states.

Police arrested five men accused of supplying children to factory owners.

A senior police official said those rescued were working long hours in deplorable conditions.

"We found the children confined to their work place in inhuman conditions," said R.V. Chandravan.

"They were forced to work for nearly 12 hours a day without any respite.

"Many were suffering from skin and other diseases as they were forced to work in unhygienic and unventilated dark rooms."

Mr Chandravan said their employers would monitor them with video cameras and any child who stopped working would be beaten.

Raids on factories in Hyderabad to check for child workers will be carried out twice a month in future, a labour welfare official said.

"We are taking effective measures to eradicate the mafia behind bringing children from other states to work in hazardous industries here," said Mr Chandravan.

India has laws aimed at fighting child labour by making education compulsory up to age 14 and prohibiting their employment in hazardous occupations.

But grinding poverty means many children are still forced into work, with factory agents promising their wages to their parents.

A census in 2011 found that about 4.35 million children between the ages of five and 14 were in employment.

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Mothers Of Hostages Criticise US Policy

By Sky News US Team

The parents of two American journalists kidnapped in Syria have criticised the Obama administration's hostage policies.

Speaking to Sky News, the mothers of James Foley and Austin Tice cast doubt on whether media blackouts and a blanket ban on ransom payments are truly effective.

They also voiced shock at the "horrific" recent killings of a Jordanian pilot and two Japanese men by Islamic State militants.

Speaking at an event on press freedom in Washington DC, Mrs Foley said she hoped a new White House-ordered review on Americans held captive by terrorists overseas would bring changes.

Mrs Foley said the US government had kept her "totally" in the dark about her son, who was beheaded by Islamic State militants in August last year.

"Jim was let down big time," she said, adding that the family now regretted abiding by the media blackout.

The Foley family was left to negotiate by email with the captors, she said, after the FBI refused to discuss a ransom, angering the militants.

"There was no communications from our government agencies to us," she told Sky News at the Newseum.

"They were constantly asking us for information but nothing came back to us.

"We never knew a thing. They always told us Jim was the highest priority, trust us, don't talk to the media."

Mrs Foley said she never received any official notification of his death, only learning their nightmare had come true from a reporter.

Debra Tice, whose son Austin Tice was abducted in August 2012, said she was now hoping to "raise the volume" on his case.

She said her family's relationship with the FBI had "become acrimonious in a middle-school kind of way, unfortunately" because of the "information vacuum" from the agency.

A month after the 33-year-old freelance reporter went missing, a brief video uploaded to YouTube showed him blindfolded, apparently being walked through rocky terrain by Islamist militants.

The State Department raised the possibility at the time that the former US Marine was actually in the custody of the Syrian government. No ransom demands have been made.

The mothers also said the recent immolation of a Jordanian pilot in an Islamic State video had appalled them.

"The pain that family's feeling, it's just a horrific thing to go through again," said Mrs Foley.

Douglas Frantz, US Assistant Secretary of State for public affairs, accepted some of their points.

"We have had difficulty communicating consistently with families and I'm confident that the (hostage) review is going to fix this," he said.

He told Sky News the National Counterterrorism Center would report back with recommendations in the spring.

Mr Frantz also said the State Department was working "very hard" to free a 26-year-old female aid worker who is the Islamic State's last known US captive.

But he said ransom payments "put targets on the back of every American overseas and feed the kidnap economy".

22.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Greece's Tsipras 'Optimistic' After EU Talks

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 04 Februari 2015 | 22.57

Greece's prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has said he is "very optimistic" of finding agreement over easing his country's debt burden after meeting EU chiefs in Brussels.

Mr Tsipras met European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker as he attempts to renegotiate Greece's €240bn (£180bn) bailout package and ease austerity obligations.

"I'm very optimistic after these discussions that we are in a good way," he said.

"We don't have already an agreement but we are in a good direction to find a viable agreement."

The left-wing government is aiming to end its existing arrangement with the EU, the European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund when its aid deadline expires on 28 February.

Until now, it has avoided those institutions, choosing to go direct to European governments, including meeting UK Chancellor George Osborne on Monday.

Mr Tsipras also held talks with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Parliament President Martin Schulz during his Brussels visit.

He now heads to France to meet French President Francois Hollande.

Commission chief Mr Juncker has said the EU will show flexibility over Greece's obligations but has ruled out major changes to the bail-out terms.

The EU will "adapt a certain number of our policies but we are not going to change everything," he said on the eve of the meeting.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis is also continuing his own push for debt concessions as he jets around the continent.

He met European Central Bank President Mario Draghi in Frankfurt in what he called a "very fruitful discussion".

"I had the opportunity to present to him our government's utter and unwavering determination that it can't possibly be business as usual in Greece," said Mr Varoufakis.

The stringent bailout measures had contributed to "a major humanitarian crisis" in his country, said the finance minister.

Sky News Economics Editor Ed Conway said the meeting was vital as the ECB was effectively providing "life support" for Greece's banking system.

"It is providing emergency liquidity assistance for a number of Greek banks," said Conway.

"If the ECB decided to withdraw that ... it would be disastrous for the Greek economy. It's essential for Greece's finance minister that he keeps that support."

Greece's austerity measures, imposed in exchange for the bailout loans, have seen its economy shrink by a quarter and unemployment rise to over 25%.

22.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ukraine: Deadly Shelling Hits Donetsk Hospital

Up to 10 people have been killed after shells hit a hospital and other buildings in the rebel-controlled Ukrainian city of Donetsk.

The hospital in the Tekstilshchik district was damaged by shrapnel and the windows blown out.

The city's administration said it was still assessing the death toll but Ukraine's Prosecutor's Office said up to 10 people had been killed in and around the hospital.

A reporter said a body lay under a blanket in front of the building and two more dead civilians could be seen lying outside a nearby residential building.

"The firing hit in front of and behind the hospital. The children's playground and a school were hit too," local resident Denis Gladkov said.

Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian military said two of its soldiers had been killed and 18 wounded in fighting with pro-Russian forces in the previous 24 hours.

Over nine months of fighting, around 5,300 people have been killed, with a surge in the violence since the latest peace talks collapsed last weekend.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has said he is confident the US will donate weapons to help Ukraine in its fight.

US President Barack Obama has previously opposed the idea but a senior administration official said the White House is now reviewing that policy.

Mr Poroshenko will make his case to US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is to visit Kiev later this week.

He said: "I don't have a slightest doubt that the decision to supply Ukraine with weapons will be made by the United States as well as by other partners of ours, because we need to have the capabilities to defend ourselves."

Germany and France have said that the oppose the idea of arming Kiev.

French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said: "We have no intention of delivering weapons at this stage to Ukraine.

"We think that we need to find a political solution to this crisis."

EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini has called for an immediate truce and artillery to be withdrawn from cities in east Ukraine to allow civilians to escape from the region.

She said: "The spiral of ever increasing violence in eastern Ukraine needs to stop."

22.57 | 0 komentar | Read More

Jordan Will Have Revenge For Murdered Pilot

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It's slickly produced with iconography and graphics fitting for a thriller or spy movie.

It even uses 'flashbacks' as the condemned man looks into the sky and contemplates just how justified his punishment is going to be compared to the 'crimes' he has committed.

The latest murder video from the death cult that calls itself Islamic State is revealing not for the visible 'power' of the movement but for its weakness.

Indeed the whole saga of the Japanese hostages and murder of flight lieutenant Mu'ath Al Kassasbeh begins to reveal a picture of an organisation that is losing its grip.

It has already abandoned Kobani after losing 1,200 men. It has been driven from some key towns and villages in the east of Iraq, and now it would appear to be incoherent in its kidnap policy.

Last year it made about £30m ($45m) from negotiating the release of foreigners.

It murdered Britons and Americans on camera because the shocking snuff movies of their deaths generated a level of publicity that outweighed the profits it might have raised from desperate families.

Throughout the talks aimed at swapping Sajida al Rishawi, a failed suicide bomber on death row in Amman, IS was unable to provide proof that Flt Lt Kassasbeh was alive.

Activists in Raqqa said on 8 January that they believed he had been killed.

1/11

Gallery: Tension Mounts Over IS Hostages' Plight

Japanese television networks reveal the plight of hostage Kenji Goto, whose release in exchange for freedom for a jailed female jihadist is being negotiated through the Jordanian capital Amman

Supporters of Mr Goto take part in a vigil outside Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Tokyo office

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A Japanese journalist at the protest headquarters in Amman for the family of pilot Muath al Kasaesbeh, who has been held hostage by IS since December

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The father of the missing pilot has led the campaign for his son's release

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Public protest is increasing in Jordan over the pilot's fate, with pressure growing on King Abdullah, as supporters continue to revere his father King Hussein

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During the same period, when negotiating over a $200m ransom for the two Japanese citizens, the usual videos were replaced with print-outs of photos of the murder of Haruna Yukawa who was killed first.

His friend Kenji Goto was beheaded on video - but not in the open location that previous crimes had been committed.

One could over-interpret such clues, it is true. But so-called IS appears to be having to keep its hostages on the move, rush out its demands, and has resorted to a form of murder that could galvanise support against them in the very communities they most need it.

The aim of the latest killing is to force a wedge between King Abdullah II of Jordan and the Bedouin tribes who traditionally support him.

There have been small elements within them, especially in the south, that have drifted towards the ideology of Salafism, the Islamo-fascist creed of al Qaeda and IS.

Some Jordanians are dismayed at their country's involvement in fighting IS in Syria and Iraq.

The hostage killers want these people to blame their kind for his death.

But this is a gamble. Bedouin tribes have already been fighting IS in Syria. And now the large Kasasbeh clans are locked in a blood feud.

As Jordan's army has already sworn - it will have revenge.

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