Russia: Hundreds detained to prevent ethnic clashes

Russian police detained hundreds of people in Moscow and St.Petersburg on Wednesday, aiming to prevent new outbreaks of ethnic violence that erupted in the capital last weekend.

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Law enforcement authorities turned out in force near the central Kievsky railway station in Moscow, where nationalist ethnic Russian youths and migrants from the Caucasus and Central Asia had been gathering for a rumoured confrontation. About 800 people were detained during the day-long operation, many of whom were armed with knives, clubs or stun guns, Moscow police spokesman Viktor Biryukov said, according to Russian news agencies. In St.Petersburg Russian police detained more then eighty people near one of the central metro stations. The police said they had managed to take control of the situation and no violence or serious injuries were reported in the city. Simmering tension between ethnic-Russian nationalists and minorities from the largely Muslim Caucasus and Central Asia escalated after the fatal shooting of a soccer fan last week in a Moscow street fight between members of the two groups.

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Russia ethnic violence: Hundreds rounded up, arms seized

Russian police detained hundreds of people in Moscow and St.Petersburg on Wednesday, aiming to prevent new outbreaks of ethnic violence that erupted in the capital last weekend.

Law enforcement authorities turned out in force near the central Kievsky railway station in Moscow, where nationalist ethnic Russian youths and migrants from the Caucasus and Central Asia had been gathering for a rumoured confrontation. About 800 people were detained during the day-long operation, many of whom were armed with knives, clubs or stun guns, Moscow police spokesman Viktor Biryukov said, according to Russian news agencies.

In St.Petersburg Russian police detained more then eighty people near one of the central metro stations. The police said they had managed to take control of the situation and no violence or serious injuries were reported in the city. Simmering tension between ethnic-Russian nationalists and minorities from the largely Muslim Caucasus and Central Asia escalated after the fatal shooting of a soccer fan last week in a Moscow street fight between members of the two groups.

Thousands of soccer fans and nationalists rioted in Moscow central square outside the Kremlin on Saturday (December 11) and attacked passersby who appeared not to be Slavs — violence President Dmitry Medvedev denounced as pogroms.Medvedev vowed on Monday to ensure those responsible for the violence were punished, in a warning that suggested the Kremlin is worried ethnic violence could intensify and spread.European Russia, and particularly Moscow, is home to a volatile mix of disenchanted ethnic-Russian youth and migrants from the Caucasus, part of which is in Russia, and impoverished ex-Soviet republics of Central Asia.

Egypt: Donor’s conference to help Darfur

A donor meeting to help Sudan’s Darfur region began in Cairo, with the aim for development and reconstruction of the war torn region.

The host Egypt urged that investment in infrastructure, health, education and agriculture is vital to ending conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region and nurturing the relative peace from recent ceasefire deals.

The one-day development and reconstruction conference, co-chaired by Turkey, aims to raise $2 billion for projects such as cement plants, roads and villages for displaced people.

Turkey announced it will give $60-75 million from now until 2015 for water, education and agricultural projects, while Algeria said it would give $10 million with a focus on health and job training.

Australia: Queensland Hit By Cyclone Ului

Winds hit speeds of up to 200 kilometres an hour hit the coastal towns of northern Queensland, Australia.

Cyclone Ului crossed the coastline during the early hours of the morning. Weather officials said the cyclone has been downgraded to a tropical low as it moves inland but there are still fears of flooding.

Businesses shut down and people stayed indoors as many tourists and backpackers fled the area. Millions of dollars of damage was caused to boats smashed up against sea walls and onto the shore. There have been no injuries but it is premature to say how much damage has occurred.

Persian new year 2010

Persian new year 2010 news updates :- Iranians around the globe celebrate the Persian New Year, Nowruz, marking the first day of spring, as a time of renewal, hope and change.

For Iranians, Nowruz is a celebration of new beginnings, a time to visit relatives and friends, and pay respect to senior family members.

Preparation for Nowruz begins with spring cleaning, buying new clothes and setting the Haft Seen, a table containing seven items starting with the letter ‘S’ — Sabzeh (freshly grown greens), Samanu (sweet wheat paste), Senjed (jujube), Seeb (apple), Seer (garlic), Somagh (sumac) and Serkeh (vinegar).

Senior family members give presents to their juniors and people renew their friendships and start the New Year with kindness and amity.

Meaning ‘new day,’ Nowruz is celebrated by over 300 million people worldwide on March 21st, the day of the vernal equinox.

The ancient tradition of Nowruz and the rebirth of nature is observed in the Balkans, the Black Sea Basin, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Middle East.

The United Nations General Assembly recognized March 21st as the International Day of Nowruz during its sixty-fourth session on Feb. 23, 2010.

Iran rejects IAEA resolution as “illegal”

TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected on Wednesday as “illegal” a U.N. nuclear watchdog resolution over the country’s disputed nuclear activities, state television reported.

Ahmadinejad also said Israel could not do a “damn thing” to stop the Islamic state’s nuclear programme, which the West suspects is a front to build bombs. Iran denies the claim.

“Under pressure of a few superficially powerful countries … the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passed an illegal resolution against the Iranian nation,” Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech in the central city of Isfahan.

The IAEA passed a resolution on Friday censuring Iran for covertly constructing a second enrichment plant near the holy city of Qom, in addition to its IAEA-monitored one at Natanz, and demanding a construction halt.

Tehran said on Sunday it would build 10 more uranium enrichment sites in retaliation for the resolution, which sailed through with unusual Russian and Chinese support.

Israel, which Iran refuses to recognise, has said a nuclear- armed Iran would be a threat to its existence and points to Ahmadinejad’s calls for Israel to be wiped off the map.

That has raised concerns that Israel could ultimately carry out a military strike against Iranian nuclear sites.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Washington wanted Iran’s nuclear dispute to be resolved through diplomacy but has not ruled out other options.

Ahmadinejad said Israel could not harm Iran, ruling out any further talks with six major powers over the nuclear dispute.

“The Zionist regime (Israel) and its (Western) backers can not do a damn thing to stop Iran’s nuclear work,” Ahmadinejad told a crowd to chants of “Death to Israel” and “death to America”.

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Iran rejects IAEA resolution as “illegal” was first posted on December 2, 2009 at 8:07 pm.

Islamist rebels claim Russian rail bombing

MOSCOW: Islamist militants on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a bombing that derailed a Russian express train, killing 26 people, and vowed further “acts of sabotage” in a letter posted on a rebel website.

Friday night’s attack on the luxury Nevsky Express running between Moscow and St Petersburg was the worst in Russia outside the North Caucasus in five years and raised fears of a new wave of bombings in major cities.

“This operation was prepared and carried out … pursuant to the orders of the Emir of the Caucasus Emirate Doku Umarov,” the KavkazCenter.com website said, quoting a letter it said it received from Islamist rebels.

Umarov is Russia’s most wanted guerrilla leader and leads a jihad insurgency which aims to free the mainly Muslim North Caucasus from Moscow’s rule.

A second, smaller bomb detonated by mobile phone injured Russia’s top detective as he visited the crime scene on Saturday. The Investigative Committee said its chief Alexander Bastrykin was hospitalised as a result of the blast but would not comment on his condition.

The militants’ letter said the train bombing was part of a campaign of sabotage against strategic economic targets.

“These acts of sabotage will continue for as long as those occupying the Caucasus do not stop their policy of killing ordinary Muslims,” the letter said.

Financial markets, hardened to violence in Russia, shrugged off the news. The RTS stock index .IRTS was up 0.38 percent on the day by midday while the rouble RUB held stable against the dollar.

Chechnya’s Moscow-backed authorities could not immediately be reached for comment. But many ordinary Chechens in the region’s capital Grozny were visibly disgruntled by what they said was unfair blame of Chechens by federal authorities.

“Government forces did it, it is a clear provocation from them in Moscow,” a 25-year-old construction worker who gave his name only as Aslanbek, told Reuters. “Why would Doku try blow up enemies there when he’s got plenty here.”

Isa Musayev, an artist aged 50, echoed him: “They blame everything on us, from pickpocketing to bad driving, and now this terrorist act … It’s pretty clear they are doing this so they can launch a military operation here.”

Russia has been fighting a low-level Islamist insurgency in the North Caucasus republics of Dagestan and Ingushetia for more than a decade, following two wars in Chechnya to crush separatists.

Officials claim some success in pacifying Chechnya but the situation elsewhere has deteriorated, with regular shootings and bombings. President Dmitry Medvedev last month described the North Caucasus as Russia’s biggest domestic problem.

On Monday, another bomb exploded under a train en route from Siberia to Azerbaijan in Russia’s troubled Dagestan region but there were no deaths. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin described that blast as a “similar act of terror” to the Friday attack.

The KavkazCenter rebel website has in the past carried claims of responsibility for guerrilla attacks which law enforcement officials have subsequently disputed.

In August rebels used the site to claim responsibility for for a Siberian dam disaster that killed over 70 people, but which authorities insisted was due to a technical fault.

The theory that Islamists were behind the train bombing has gained momentum in recent days.

The follow-up explosion “is a tactic used by terrorists in the North Caucasus,” top detective Bastrykin told state newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta. His spokesman declined to comment on Wednesday’s claim of responsibility.

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Islamist rebels claim Russian rail bombing was first posted on December 2, 2009 at 8:10 pm.