Scotland votes ' No ' ..[ 4662 ]

Scotland votes No: How the No side won the referendum

By Vanessa Barford BBC News  //  19 September 2014 Last updated at 05:21 GMT

Scotland has voted No to independence in a referendum, meaning its 300-year old union with the UK will continue. So how did the No campaign win?8

The No side had a head a start

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1. They were always the favourites The No camp had a head start. When the Edinburgh Agreement was signed on 15 October 2012, paving the way for a referendum in 2014, polls suggested about a third of Scotland's 4.2m voters wanted independence.
A plethora of polls over the next 18 months consistently put the No camp ahead.
In June - by which time there had been 65 opinion polls - all bar one had put the No side in the lead, according to polling expert Professor John Curtice.
"The No side were always favourites to win, which is why the YouGov poll for the Sunday Times which put the Yes vote ahead about 10 days ago created such an upset," he says.
Happily for the No side, most of the following polls put them back in the lead again and they were able to finish ahead of the underdogs on polling day.

One in three Scots say they are "equally Scottish and British"

 

2. The Scottish feel British A resurgence of Britishness - either caused by, or coinciding with the referendum - is credited with giving the pro-union No campaign a boost.
The number of people living in Scotland who chose British as their national identity rose from 15% in 2011 to 23% in 2014, according to the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey. The number of people who chose Scottish fell from 75% to 65% over the same period.
However, there is also evidence that the rising tide of British sentiment in Scotland has taken place over a longer timescale.
Almost one third of Scots now say they are "equally Scottish and British" - the highest proportion since former Labour PM Tony Blair came to office in 1997, according to the survey. Less than one in four describe themselves as "Scottish not British".
"At the end of the day, Scotland still feels moderately British," says Prof Curtice.

No leaflets often emphasised risks such as pensions, jobs and money

3. The risk factor The No campaign came under fire from the Yes campaign for being negative, with some dubbing it "Project Fear".
However, the No vote suggests Better Together was successful in "drawing people back from the prospect of taking a risk that was not necessary," according to Prof Curtice. Just two days ahead of the polls, voters were twice as likely (49%) to regard independence as a risk than staying in the Union (25%), he says.
In April, Scotland's First Minster Alex Salmond called the No campaign "the most miserable, negative, depressing and thoroughly boring" in modern times. In contrast, he said the "Yes" campaign was "positive, uplifting and hopeful".
More recently the leader of the SNP criticised the "scaremongering" of No, saying the Yes side was "determined to focus on opportunity".
The Better Together campaign always denied being too negative, saying the campaign was a positive one, emphasising what the union had achieved with Scotland in it, and how much more could be done when the UK "stands together".
However, it often accused Mr Salmond of not giving answers, with Mr Darling saying voters were "very alive to the risks" and uncertainty of independence.
Earlier this week, UK Prime Minister David Cameron told Scottish voters it was his "duty" to warn them of the stark costs of a "painful divorce".

What the 'No' vote means for Scotland and rest of the UK

• Scotland's 'No' vote - what happens now?
• How the 'No' could still rattle the UK
• Bridget Kendall: Downside for UK on world stage
• Go to the BBC's Scotland Decides page for more details

The YouGov poll for the Sunday Times suggested that 51% planned to back independence

 

4. They stemmed the Yes surge The Sunday Times YouGov poll which put the Yes camp in the lead 10 days ago led to a surge of momentum, and increased mobilisation, in the Yes camp. Suddenly the prospect of a victory was in sight.
The response of the No camp was swift. Mr Cameron and labour leader Ed Miliband skipped their weekly Prime Minister's Questions clash to travel to Scotland. Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg went too. The Saltire was flown above Downing Street.
Former prime minister Gordon Brown, who has high approval ratings in Scotland, set out a timetable for boosting the Scottish Parliament's powers if voters reject independence, promising a draft new law for a new Scotland Act would be published in January.
Then came "the vow" to devolve more powers and preserve the Barnett funding formula if Scotland voted No.
Prof Curtice says the interventions of "the three wise men heading north" didn't really change people's opinions of devolution, or their view on the referendum. It did yield an eight point rise in those who thought Scotland would get more more powers though, he says.
What the No campaign's final actions successfully managed was to halt the momentum of the Yes campaign. "It stemmed the tide," he says.

Currency was a key issue in the referendum debate

 

5. For richer, for poorer? This was one of the biggest questions for voters, if not the biggest question.
Both sides battled hard over the economy, with claims and counter-claims over currency, oil and business playing a big part of the debate. The No vote suggests Scots were not convinced that an independent Scotland would be better off.
The pound was at the heart of the disagreement, with the Scottish government consistently stressing a currency union would be in the "best interest" of both Scotland and the rest of the UK - something the UK government strenuously rejected, along with a currency union.
How much of the North Sea oil it would be entitled to - and what it might be worth - and the future of financial institutions and businesses north of the border were also the subject of heated discussion.
So was the amount of money in people's wallets. The Scottish government calculated that "each Scot would be £1,000 better off" after 15 years. However the UK Treasury claimed Scotland, as part of the UK, would be able to have lower tax or higher spending than under independence. This "UK Dividend" is estimated to be worth £1,400 per person in Scotland in each year from 2016-17 onwards.
Ultimately, no-one knows whether an independent Scotland will be better off or not. There are too many variables on issues such as productivity, tax and employment levels.
But the No vote suggests people in Scotland were more persuaded by Better Together's arguments.

Scotland's referendum.[ 4659 ]

Scotland's voters to make their choice in independence referendum

By Laura Smith-Spark, CNN

September 18, 2014 -- Updated 0602 GMT (1402 HKT)

Yes activists gather in George Square on September 17, 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland, one day before the country goes to the polls.

(CNN) -- Scotland's voters headed to the polls Thursday to cast their ballots in the country's landmark independence referendum.

There, they will face a straightforward yes/no question: Should Scotland be an independent country?

More than 4.2 million people have registered to vote, the largest electorate ever in Scotland, and turnout in the referendum is expected to be high.

 
Should Scotland be independent?

 
What Scottish independence would look like

 
What happens if Scotland divorces U.K.?

A vote for independence would mean Scotland, with its population of about 5.3 million, splits from the rest of the United Kingdom, made up of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. local time (2 a.m.-5 p.m. ET) across 32 voting districts nationwide, from the remote highlands and islands to the big cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Results are expected to come in overnight into Friday morning local time.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has led the pro-independence "Yes Scotland" campaign.

The main parties in Westminster, the seat of the UK government, have joined forces behind the pro-union "Better Together" campaign.

For the first time, the vote has been extended to 16- and 17-year-olds living in Scotland.

Voters in the referendum do not have to be British citizens; Commonwealth, Irish and EU citizens who live in Scotland and are registered to vote there can cast a ballot. However, Scots living outside Scotland do not have a say.

CNN's Richard Allen Greene contributed to this report.

Scotland Independence referendum nears ..[ 4654 ]

Iconic Union Jack makeover looms as Scotland Independence referendum nears

The union jack has long been an inspiration for artists, fashion and an enduring symbol in pop culture. But with Scotland's independence referendum just months away, there's growing talk about whether the iconic flag will need a makeover. There are already several designs around and RT's Laura Smith went to find out what people in London think about them.

RT (Russia Today) is a global news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. RT is the first news channel to break the 1 billion YouTube views benchmark.

Scottish referendum..[ 4651 ]

Now I Get It: Scottish Independence Vote

 2:39 mins

Scotland and the United Kingdom could part ways after a vote on September 18th

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Kατά του Ισλαμικού Κράτους και η Ελλάδα..[ 4636 ]

Στην παγκόσμια συμμαχία κατά του Ισλαμικού Κράτους και η Ελλάδα

Ναυτεμπορικη.gr // Παρασκευή, 12 Σεπτεμβρίου 2014 18:25 // UPD:18:31

REUTERS/YOUSSEF BOUDLAL Η σημαία του Ισλαμικού Κράτους.

Θετική ήταν η απάντηση του ελληνικού υπουργείου Εξωτερικών στην ιδέα «δημιουργίας μιας παγκόσμιας συμμαχίας κρατών», που θα συντονίζει τις αντιδράσεις κατά του Ισλαμικού Κράτους οι ενέργειες του οποίου προκαλούν «τον αποτροπιασμό και την ομόθυμη καταδίκη όλου του πολιτισμένου κόσμου».
Στη συγκεκριμένη πρόταση, ήδη από τη σύνοδο του Κάρντιφ, έχουν δηλώσει την ετοιμότητα συμμετοχής τους η Βρετανία, Γαλλία, Γερμανία, Ιταλία, Πολωνία, Δανία, Τουρκία, η Αυστραλία και ο Καναδάς.
Στην ανακοίνωση του ελληνικού υπουργείου Εξωτερικών, υπογραμμίζεται η «πολιτική υποστήριξη» της Αθήνας στη συγκεκριμένη διεθνή πρωτοβουλία ταυτόχρονα με την «αλληλεγγύη» της προς την Ιρακινή κυβέρνηση, τους χριστιανούς, τις εθνικές και θρησκευτικές κοινότητες της περιοχής «που υπέστησαν τα πάνδεινα από την πρωτόγονη και βάρβαρη δράση του λεγόμενου «Ισλαμικού Χαλιφάτου», μιας ακραίας τζιχαντιστικής οργάνωσης, που πρέπει να εξαλειφθεί».

England, will you take us back?..[ 4633 ]

Scotland, you want out? We'll take your place

By David R. Wheeler

September 12, 2014 -- Updated 2055 GMT (0455 HKT)

Your video will play in 4 secs

Editor's note: David R. Wheeler lives in Lexington, Kentucky, where he is a freelance writer and a journalism professor at Asbury University. Follow him on Twitter @David_R_Wheeler The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) -- Here's a question that seems to be lost in the debate over the Scottish independence vote scheduled for September 18:

If Scotland votes to secede, does that open up a spot for another country? And if so -- Scotland, can we take your place?

David Wheeler

I realize that Americans fought a bloody war of independence from England in the late 1700s, but our rifts have healed over the past 240 years. In 2013, the Pew Research Center reported that England topped America's list of favorite nations, in a near-tie with our beloved northern neighbor, Canada.

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In the past few years, as America has degenerated into political and economic chaos, it has become increasingly clear that we would be far better off if we apologized for our revolt against the Crown and requested to rejoin the United Kingdom.

 

Parting Shots: Over the sea to Skye

 

RBS: If Scotland goes solo, we're out

 

UK leaders urging Scotland to vote 'no'

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There are four main ways America would benefit from unification with the UK: Brits have better health, less inequality, excellent manners and -- let's face it -- a superior culture. Let's improve our quality of life by joining them.

Want to live longer? Then let's become Stateland — the 50-state replacement for Scotland.

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Brits have greater longevity than Americans, and the British health care system, while far from perfect, is indescribably better than ours. In my visits to the United Kingdom, I've noticed that just about anyone who can afford private health insurance buys it, which allows Brits to supplement their free, government-provided health care. That means there's a baseline of care that every person receives, and if you want something faster or better, you pay for it yourself.

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Meanwhile, America's needlessly complicated arrangement of government- and employer-provided health care, in a clumsy compromise with insurance companies, costs way more than other developed countries' while producing worse results.

Next, Britain is a more equitable society. Although America has a higher GDP per capita, most of us -- that is, the 99% -- are not happy because of our ever-widening wealth gap. Brits have less inequality, and their median incomes (unlike ours) have risen in the past decade.

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America's middle class used to be the richest in the world; now we're overtaken by Canada. Unless you are the 1% in America, chances are your wages are stagnant. Living a good life -- owning a house and a car and being able to support a family -- seems like a struggle, especially when compared with your parents' generation.

Americans could also learn a few lessons from the Brits when it comes to good manners.

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When I took students with me to film news reports of the 2012 Olympics in London, we dealt with unimaginable crowds on the street, in the shopping centers and on the Tube. Did we hear groans of exasperation when we accidentally bumped into Brits in Parliament Square while trying to get a better view of Big Ben? Never. Did we see looks of frustration when our cameras accidentally knocked into innocent people in Piccadilly Circus? Not even once.

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This patience and politeness stands in stark contrast to the attitude in big American cities, where cab drivers curse at you just for your mere existence, and TSA agents at American airports compete for the title of Biggest Emotional Abuser.

Finally, America would benefit from a closer association with Britain's culture. The country that produced Shakespeare, the world's best storyteller, has also given us some of the best entertainment and media of modern times. Our imitation of British television (e.g. "The Office") speaks for itself. Has any band ever topped the Beatles?

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And nothing against PBS and NPR, but the BBC produces some of the best publicly funded journalism, putting much of the world's radio and television news programs to shame. The world respects the United Kingdom, in part, because the BBC is so trustworthy. That's called soft power.

.

But wait, you ask. What's in it for the Brits? Three things. Natural resources (oh so much land!), the majestic Grand Canyon and a sport called "American football." They'll love it.

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So remember, Americans, if Scotland votes for independence on September 18, let's improve our lives by asking to take their place -- if not officially, then at least in spirit. We hold this truth to be self-evident: Brits have a superior society.

.

Americans claim we don't want a monarchy, but deep down, we're just as hungry as our British cousins for news about Queen Elizabeth, Princes William and Harry, and those adorable royal babies.

England, will you take us back?

Read CNNOpinion's new Flipboard magazine

Permanent Ceasefire in Ukraine..[ 4585 ]

Ceasefire agreement in Ukraine

Early Start|Added on September 3, 2014

 Ukraine president announces deal with Putin on permanent ceasefire. CNN's Reza Sayah has more.
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Sergey Lavrov :only the United States can do it," he..[ 4579 ]

Putin's '2 weeks to Kiev' out of context: aide

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV 1 hour ago

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KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian military forces have been spotted in both major rebel-held cities in eastern Ukraine, an official said Tuesday, prompting Ukraine to declare that it now has to fight the Russian army, not just the separatists.

The statement on the Russians by Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's National Security Council, came after the country's defense minister said Ukraine's armed forces are expanding their strategy from just fighting separatists to facing the Russian army in a war that could cost "tens of thousands" of lives.
Lysenko told reporters Russian troops had been seen in the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as other locations throughout the east. The claim could not be confirmed independently. Lysenko also said 15 servicemen had been killed over the previous day.
In Moscow, a Kremlin aide sharply criticized EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso for breaching confidentiality when he quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying that Moscow could take over Kiev in two weeks if it wished.
Yuri Ushakov, the Russian leader's foreign policy adviser, told reporters that Putin's statement was "taken out of context and carried a completely different meaning."
Ushakov lashed out at Barroso, saying it was a breach of diplomatic practices and "unworthy of a serious politician" to speak publicly about a private conversation. Barroso had briefed the EU's 28 leaders hours after the phone conversation at a summit in Brussels — from where the information eventually leaked.
Putin's comment reportedly came in response to Barroso pointing out Ukrainian and Western reports that Russia had sharply escalated the conflict in eastern Ukraine by sending regular army units into Ukraine. NATO estimates that at least 1,000 Russian soldiers have entered Ukraine, helping turn the tide in the last week in favor of the pro-Russian insurgents. The military alliance also says 20,000 other Russian soldiers have been positioned along the Ukraine-Russian border.
Ushakov on Tuesday reaffirmed Moscow's repeated denial that it has sent any soldiers into Ukraine, even though a rebel leader said last week that Russian servicemen on leave were among some 4,000 Russians fighting in Ukraine.

 

A Pro-Russian rebel prepares arms for the the assault on the positions of Ukrainian army in Donetsk  …

Ukrainian Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey said on his Facebook page that the counter-insurgency operation against the rebels is over and the nation's military was now facing the Russian army.
"This is our Great Patriotic War," he wrote, using the local terminology for World War II.
Russia's Foreign Ministry dismissed Heletey's remarks as "shocking" and accused him of trying to shift blame and keep his position amid a series of defeats suffered by the Ukrainian military.
Pro-Russian rebels have been fighting Ukrainian government troops since mid-April in a conflict that has left more than 2,500 people dead and forced at least 340,000 to flee. In the last week, the rebels have scored significant gains on the ground, launching a new offensive along the Sea of Azov coast.
Efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the hostilities, which followed the ouster of Ukraine's pro-Russian president and Russia's annexation of Crimea in March, have failed.
Representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the pro-Russian rebels and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe made another attempt Monday to reach an accord in Minsk, the Belarusian capital. Rebels presented a negotiating platform that dropped their previous demand for full independence and expressed readiness to negotiate a settlement that would respect Ukraine's territorial integrity in exchange for a broad autonomy for its eastern provinces.
The talks lasted several hours and were adjourned until Friday, when the parties are expected to discuss a possible cease-fire and a prisoners' exchange.
However, the prospect of talks between Ukraine and the rebels appear dim.

"We don't cooperate with terrorist organizations," said Iryna Herashchenko, the presidential envoy for eastern Ukraine, according to the Interfax news agency.

And Oleh Tyanhybok, leader of the nationalist Svoboda party, said "I would warn the president and diplomats from sitting at the talks table" with rebels.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday urged the United States to use its influence with Ukraine to encourage efforts to reach a political settlement.

"It's necessary to restrain the party of war in Kiev and only the United States can do it," he said at a briefing.

___

Vladimir Isachenkov and Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow contributed to this report.

Islamic State 'back to the Stone Age'..[ 4577 ]

Cruz fires up conservatives, says bomb Islamic State 'back to the Stone Age' Published August 31, 2014 FoxNews.com ====== Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, made clear this weekend his foreign policy strategy for dealing with the militant group Islamic State: “bomb them back to the Stone Age.” "They want to go back and reject modernity," he said. "Well, I think we should help them. We ought to bomb them back to the Stone Age." Cruz made his remarks Saturday in Dallas at a summit for Americans for Prosperity, the political arm of the billionaire GOP donors Charles and David Koch. The influential gathering of conservatives also included speeches by a few other potential 2016 GOP White House candidates -- Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. Cruz also staked out his position on such domestic issues as the U.S. border-illegal immigration crisis and the Affordable Care Act. “In the year 2017, a Republican president in the Rose Garden is going to sign a bill repealing every word of ObamaCare," he said. Cruz joked about inviting President Obama to the southern border to see where thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children have poured into the country. The president declined such an invitation from Perry. "I figured out the only way there is a chance in heaven he might come (is if) I'm inviting him to come to a golf course," Cruz said. A crowd of more than 3,000 at a hotel ballroom serenaded him with calls of "Run Ted, Run." However, Cruz ignored direct questions about a presidential campaign when he met with reporters after the speech. He told conservatives in the audience, "Each of you is here because we are part of a grassroots fire that is sweeping this country. … We are building an army." On Friday, Perry and Paul pounced on Obama's "we don't have a strategy yet" comments earlier in the week regarding the violent militant faction of Islamic State attacking cities in Iraq. "Yesterday, the president admitted he had no strategy to deal with ISIS," Perry said, drawing hoots and hisses from a packed convention hall. "The deepening chaos in Iraq, Syria, Gaza, and Ukraine is all the clear and compelling evidence the world needs of a president one step behind, lurching from crisis to crisis." Paul fired up the audience by suggesting that Obama's lack of leadership showed he'd been on the job too long. Republicans criticizing Obama's foreign policy is nothing new, but there are deepening divisions within the GOP over how to move forward. The broader debate pits those who favor the GOP's traditional muscular foreign policy -- a group that includes Perry and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio -- and those, like Paul and Cruz, who prefer a smaller international footprint. The so-called isolationist approach plays well with grassroots activists and a war-weary public, but worries many Republican officials and donors who prefer an aggressive American role in world affairs. The intra-party divisions largely weren't much on display at the Americans for Prosperity event, but will become clearer as the crowded group of possible presidential candidates tries to distinguish themselves in the coming months. Pence didn't mention Obama's comments. He told the Associated Press afterward only that “the president of the United States is the commander of chief of our armed forces. I wouldn't want to prejudge what his military advisers counsel." The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Cameron warns of ISIS threat..[ 4518 ]

Iraq crisis: Cameron warns of IS threat to UK

BBC,,17 August 2014 Last updated at 17:04 GMT

An ISIS video purports to show Reyaad Khan (c) and Nasser Muthana (r) from Cardiff as two of an estimated 400 Britons fighting with the group

Islamic State militants could grow strong enough to target people on the streets of Britain unless action is taken, David Cameron has warned.

The PM, writing in the Sunday Telegraph, said a "humanitarian response" to IS was not enough and a "firm security response" was needed.
It comes as Church leaders expressed concern that the UK had no "coherent" approach to tackling Islamic extremism.
IS has seized large parts of northern Iraq and Syria over the summer.
There are also continuing reports of massacres of non-Muslims by the extreme Sunni group, which is seeking to build a new Islamic state spanning Iraq and Syria.
Kurdish forces, supported by US air strikes, said they had recaptured part of Mosul dam from IS fighters in northern Iraq on Sunday. The Pentagon says it destroyed or damaged 19 IS vehicles and a checkpoint near the dam.

Analysis

By Robin Brant, BBC political correspondent
The language is very strong - "a battle against a poisonous ideology" - and the warning is stark - "a terrorist state on the shores of the Mediterranean" - as the prime minister seeks to make the case for Britain returning to Iraq.
After a week that has seen UK military aircraft drop humanitarian aid, David Cameron makes it clear that alone is not enough to defeat IS. He talks repeatedly about Britain using its "military prowess" and military action, alongside diplomacy, to defeat the group.
The talk is tough, but Downing Street insists this is not an escalation. The Ministry of Defence has been reminding people that the UK has played no role in supporting the latest round of US air strikes on IS targets across northern Iraq.
The prime minister's message is as much about home as well as abroad. People walking around with an Islamic State flag "will be arrested", he says. That is a nod to the growing concern about Britons who have gone to fight jihad, in Syria or Iraq, returning home with the intention of carrying on the struggle.

'Terrorist state' Mr Cameron said: "True security will only be achieved if we use all our resources - aid, diplomacy, our military prowess - to help bring about a more stable world.
"If we do not act to stem the onslaught of this exceptionally dangerous terrorist movement, it will only grow stronger until it can target us on the streets of Britain."
He warned that if IS was able to "carve out its so-called caliphate", the UK would be "facing a terrorist state on the shores of the Mediterranean and bordering a Nato member".
The UK has made aid drops to people stranded in northern Iraq but the prime minister warned a "broader political, diplomatic and security response" was needed, in addition to humanitarian action.
"We need a firm security response, whether that is military action to go after the terrorists, international co-operation on intelligence and counter-terrorism or uncompromising action against terrorists at home," he wrote.
In Britain, the prime minister suggested, anyone "walking around with Isil flags or trying to recruit people to their terrorist cause" should be arrested.
Mr Cameron also made clear that he did not see this as a "war on terror" but as "a battle between Islam on the one hand and extremists who want to abuse Islam on the other".
Moral obligation Speaking on Radio 5 live, communities minister Stephen Williams said any British citizen encouraging people to join IS should face "the full force of the law".

 

The Yazidis are among the non-Muslims being targeted by IS

Mr Cameron's remarks come as the Bishop of Leeds warned "many" senior clergy in the Church of England were seriously concerned about Britain's approach to the handling of the Iraq crisis.
The Right Rev Nicholas Baines has written to Mr Cameron asking about the government's overall strategy in response to the humanitarian situation and to IS.
"Behind this question is the serious concern that we do not seem to have a coherent or comprehensive approach to Islamist extremism as it is developing across the globe," he wrote, in a letter published on his website and backed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
He criticised an "increasing silence" about the plight of tens of thousands of persecuted Christians in Iraq, and questioned whether they would be offered asylum in the UK.
Speaking to Radio 4's Sunday programme, the Bishop of Manchester, the Right Rev David Walker, said the government had a "moral obligation that it is repeatedly failing to rise to".
Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander said the letter from Church leaders had raised "serious questions" about the government's approach to the Middle East and the plight of Christians facing persecution in Iraq and it was "right that [Mr Cameron] now responded".
"The UK government rightly took steps to help avert humanitarian catastrophe in Iraq and Labour has welcomed decisions to now offer support to the Kurdistan regional government and assist Kurdish forces with technical and logistical military equipment.
"But alongside steps to support the Kurdish forces, the UK must now work to engage regional partners to help build a more inclusive and stable government in Iraq.
"That regional approach must focus on supporting and stabilising Jordan, which now shares a border with the ISIS-held areas, as well as brining countries like Turkey into efforts to secure regional stabilisation," he said.
'Plotting attacks' Earlier this year, Mr Cameron warned that fighters from IS - then named Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) - were plotting terror attacks against the UK.
It is estimated the group has up to 400 recruits from the UK, and some 69 people suspected of Syria-related jihadist activities have now been arrested in the UK.
In late June this year, IS declared that it had created a caliphate, or Islamic state, stretching from Aleppo in Syria to the province of Diyala in Iraq.
IS-led violence has so far driven an estimated 1.2 million Iraqis from their homes.
Whole communities of Yazidis and Christians have been forced to flee in the north, along with Shia Iraqis, whom IS do not regard as true Muslims.

Europe 'shot itself in foot' with sanctions.[ 4510 ]

Europe 'shot itself in foot' with Russia sanctions: Hungary PM

By By Gergely Szakacs 7 hours ago

Russia Retaliates Against West Over Sanctions



BUDAPEST (Reuters) - The European Union has harmed itself economically with the sanctions it has imposed on Russia over Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday, calling for a rethink..

Orban's remarks came a day after his Slovak counterpart, Robert Fico, criticised the sanctions as "meaningless", saying they would threaten economic growth in the 28-member bloc.

"The sanctions policy pursued by the West, that is, ourselves, a necessary consequence of which has been what the Russians are doing, causes more harm to us than to Russia," Orban said in a radio interview. "In politics, this is called shooting oneself in the foot."

Export-driven Hungary is heavily reliant on energy imports from its former Communist overlord and early this year Budapest agreed with Russian power firm Rosatom to expand Hungary's only nuclear plant in a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) deal.

Russia is also Hungary's largest trading partner outside the European Union, with exports worth 2.55 billion euros in 2013.

"The EU should not only compensate producers somehow, be they Polish, Slovak, Hungarian or Greek, who now have to suffer losses, but the entire sanctions policy should be reconsidered," Orban said.

EU foreign ministers are holding an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss conflicts in Ukraine and Iraq.

Orban had already signalled opposition to economic sanctions against Russia for fear of damaging the domestic economy. On Friday, he said he would seek ways to facilitate a rethink.

"I will do my utmost - of course we are all aware of Hungary's weight, so the possibilities are clear - but I am looking for partners to change the EU's sanctions policy, which I think has not been considered thoroughly enough," he said.

Hungary's Agriculture Ministry said on Tuesday that farming exports would not be harmed significantly by a Russian import ban on a range of foods from the EU.

It said the banned products account for less than 30 percent of Hungary's agricultural exports to Russia and only one percent of its total farming exports.

Amid weaker growth in the EU's east, Hungary was among the bright spots, with Thursday's preliminary GDP figures in Slovakia, Bulgaria and Hungary all better than expected, led by the latter's 0.8 percent quarterly expansion.
(Editing by Louise Ireland)

Τhe "new Βin Laden."..[ 4503 ]

ISIS leader: 'See you guys in New York'

The Situation Room | Added on August 12, 

 Todd reports on ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, known as the "Invisible Sheikh" and the "new bin Laden."
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Turkish Erdogan wins presidency..[ 4439 ]

Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan wins presidency

By Alan Duke, CNN

August 11, 2014 -- Updated 0924 GMT (1724 HKT)

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses nomadic Turkish groups in Ankara, Turkey, on Wednesday, August 6.

(CNN) -- Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan will become the country's first directly-elected president by a wide margin of votes, according the semi-official Anadolu News Agency.

Erdogan stopped short of declaring victory when he spoke Sunday night.

"We will continue to work for our nation, we will continue to serve our homeland," Erdogan told a crowd in Istanbul. "We will continue our fight for advanced democracy and sovereignty of democracy standards."

 

Turkey's first direct vote for president

With nearly 98% of the votes counted, Erdogan avoided a runoff by winning more than 52% of the votes, according to CNN Turk and Anadolu News Agency.

Diplomat Ekmeleddin Mehm Ihsanoglu came in second with 38% of the votes. Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas was a distant third with 9%.

Russia bans all imports from the USA and Europe,..[ 4429 ]

Russia bans all U.S. food, EU fruit and vegetables in sanctions response; NATO fears invasion

By By Polina Devitt and Maria Tsvetkova August 6, 2014 7:48 PM

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Russia bans U.S. and E.U. imports over Western sanctions

\\\MOSCOW/DONETSK Ukraine (Reuters) - Russia will ban all imports of food from the United States and all fruit and vegetables from Europe, the state news agency reported on Wednesday, a sweeping response to Western sanctions imposed over its support for rebels in Ukraine.

The measures will hit consumers at home who rely on cheap imports, and on farmers in the West for whom Russia is a big market. Moscow is by far the biggest buyer of European fruit and vegetables and the second biggest importer of U.S. poultry.
RIA quoted the spokesman for Russia's food safety watchdog VPSS, Alexei Alexeenko, as saying all European fruit and vegetables and all produce from the United States would be included in a ban drawn up on the orders of President Vladimir Putin to punish countries that imposed sanctions on Russia.
Earlier, Alexeenko told Reuters bans on EU and U.S. goods would be "quite substantial", and would specifically include U.S. poultry, although he declined to give a full list of banned goods. He could not be reached again after the RIA report.
The war of economic sanctions has escalated even as fighting has intensified on the ground in eastern Ukraine in the three weeks since a Malaysian airliner was shot down over territory held by pro-Russian rebels.

 

A Ukrainian serviceman checks a car at a checkpoint near the eastern Ukrainian town of Debaltseve Au …

NATO said on Wednesday Russia had massed around 20,000 combat-ready troops on Ukraine's border and could use the pretext of a humanitarian mission to invade. It was the starkest warning yet from the Western alliance that Moscow could mount a ground assault on its neighbour.
As rebels have lost ground to Ukrainian government troops, Russia announced military exercises this week near the border.
"We're not going to guess what's on Russia's mind, but we can see what Russia is doing on the ground – and that is of great concern. Russia has amassed around 20,000 combat-ready troops on Ukraine’s eastern border," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said in an emailed statement.
Moscow could use "the pretext of a humanitarian or peace-keeping mission as an excuse to send troops into Eastern Ukraine", she said. A NATO military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia's build-up at the border included tanks, infantry, artillery, air defence systems, logistics troops, special forces, and aircraft.
A Russian defence ministry spokesman dismissed the NATO accusations: "We've been hearing this for three months already."

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Ukrainian servicemen drive a military armoured vehicle along a road in Donetsk region August 6, 2014 …

Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in the Black Sea in March, and Western countries say it has funded and armed pro-Russian rebels since they rose up in east Ukraine in April.

Over the past two months, government troops have fought back, gaining ground against the rebels, who are led almost exclusively by Russian citizens and have managed to acquire tanks, missiles and other heavy weaponry that Kiev and its Western allies say can only have come from across the frontier.

Kiev said 18 Ukrainian servicemen had been killed and 54 injured in 25 separate clashes over the past day in eastern Ukraine. Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said troops had been shelled from inside Russian territory and frontier guards had come under a four-hour mortar and artillery attack.

Fighting has intensified since Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed on July 17, killing all 298 people on board. Western countries say it was shot down by rebels with an advanced anti-aircraft missile supplied by Russia. Moscow denies blame, and the Russians who command the rebels deny they had such missiles.

The United States and the EU imposed sanctions on Russia that were mild at first but have been tightened sharply since the airliner was brought down, now targeting Russia's defence, oil and financial sectors.

Armed pro-Russian separatists stand guard at a checkpoint in the settlement of Yasynuvata outside Do …

On Wednesday, Putin ordered his government to come up with a list of agricultural products from countries that had imposed sanctions on Russia, which would be banned in retaliation. He told the government to avoid measures that would hurt Russian consumers, but the blanket bans reported by RIA were about as sweeping as could be.

Russia imported $43 billion worth of food last year. According to the European Commission, Russia bought 28 percent of EU fruit exports and 21.5 percent of its vegetables in 2011.
It was the second biggest buyer of U.S. poultry after Mexico last year, accounting for 8 percent of U.S. chicken meat exports, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. U.S. poultry has been ubiquitous in Russia since the early days after the Soviet Union, when cheap American chicken quarters sold at street markets were called "Bush's legs" after the president.
SIEGE Kiev's military offensive has pushed the rebels out of many of their strongholds, leaving them largely besieged in the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, which the rebels have proclaimed capitals of two "people's republics".
Residents in Donetsk, east Ukraine's main industrial hub and now the principal rebel redoubt, said Ukrainian warplanes had carried out air strikes overnight.

 

Ukrainian servicemen are seen inside army vehicles on a road in Donetsk region August 6, 2014. REUTE …

Reuters journalists heard the planes roar overhead and massive explosions during the night. In the morning, an industrial district 2-3 km (1-2 miles) from the city centre was pocked with craters, including two huge holes 7 metres (7 yards) wide and 2 metres deep, ripped into the asphalt.
"The planes were flying low. Then there were two massive explosions and the glass was blown out of the window. It was terrifying. This is war. There will never be peace," said Nadezhda, a woman who lived nearby.

Government military spokesman Lysenko denied Ukrainian planes had carried out air strikes: "The Ukrainian military does not bomb the towns of Donetsk and Luhansk or any other similar populated places," he said.

Many residents have fled the two cities, but hundreds of thousands of people are still living in them, increasingly fearful that they will bear the brunt of a full-blown assault.

The latest Russian troop build-up on the border is not the first time Moscow has concentrated forces there: NATO estimated Russia had as many as 40,000 troops in place earlier in the crisis before Putin pulled them back in June.

 

A convoy of military armoured vehicles is seen near a checkpoint on a road in Donetsk region August  …

But the government's advance since then may be prompting new action from the Kremlin, after months in which state-controlled Russian media have mounted a sustained campaign of anti-Ukrainian agitation and nationalist pride focused on Crimea.

Since March, Putin has vowed to use military force to protect Russian-speaking "compatriots" across the former Soviet Union. He branded southern and eastern Ukraine "New Russia", a name the rebels took up as catch-all for most militia groups.

Most people in eastern and southern Ukraine identify themselves as ethnic Ukrainians who speak Russian as a native language. Outside of the two provinces partly occupied by the armed separatist fighters, most have rallied behind Kiev, despite reservations about the government there.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday the threat of a direct intervention by Russia's military in Ukraine has risen over the last couple of days.

A senior U.S. official said Washington was keeping a "very close eye" on Russian activity at the border.

“The last few weeks have not been good ones for the Russians. They have seen the separatists lose ground and the Malaysian airliner shoot-down was a public relations disaster for the Russians. Unfortunately we have not seen a sense that the Russians are acting on the negative feedback and looking to deescalate. In fact we’ve see signs that Putin seems to be doubling down,” said the official.

“There’s the buildup on the border, no change in the propaganda machine in Russia, talk of the need for humanitarian peacekeeping in Ukraine itself."

(Additional reporting by Natalia Zinets and Richard Balmforth in Kiev, Lina Kushch in Donetsk, Barbara Lewis and Tom Koerkemeier in Brussels, Dmitry Zhdannikov and Maria Kiselyova in Moscow, Matt Spetalnick and Mark Hosenball in Washington and Adrian Croft in London; Writing by Peter Graff; editing by David Stamp)