Leaders renew backing of tattered Ukraine ceasefire

Kiev (AFP) - The leaders of Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia on Thursday pledged renewed support for a tattered ceasefire in eastern Ukraine despite violations -- including the storming of a key town by pro-Russian rebels.

 

As the leaders condemned the fighting and urged both sides to observe the truce, there was strident opposition from the separatists and Moscow to a plea from Ukraine for international peacekeepers to enforce the ceasefire.

Washington said pro-Russian rebels had broken the ceasefire more than 250 times since it came into force on Sunday.The Ukrainian army, meanwhile, said 90 troops had been captured and 82 were still missing after the rebels seized the strategic town of Debaltseve.

The seizure of the town, a transport hub sandwiched between the rebel strongholds of Donetsk and Lugansk, sent government troops into retreat.

The insurgents claimed to have captured as many as 300 government soldiers.

One of the rebel leaders, Alexander Zakharchenko, said that 3,000 to 3,500 troops died in the assault, although such casualty counts on both sides are often greatly exaggerated for propaganda effect.

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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko addresses the Security and Defence Council in Kiev on February  …

"Let Kiev take their dead," he said.

- Peacekeeper call -

Kiev's defeat in Debaltseve, which has had many Ukrainians questioning the competence of their military leaders, prompted Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to appeal for international peacekeepers to be deployed in the east.

Poroshenko again raised the proposal in a four-way telephone conversation Thursday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Russian President Vladimir Putin, his office said.

He found little apparent support, however, with none of the others mentioning it in statements from their offices, and Moscow denying it was mentioned at all.

Instead, the four called for the implementation of the full package of measures agreed in Minsk, including a full ceasefire, withdrawal of heavy weapons and the release of prisoners, according to the French presidency.

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Armed pro-Russian rebels stand near a wrecked building in Uglegorsk, near Debaltseve, on February 19 …

They also called for observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to be able to carry out their task of monitoring the ceasefire.

West Bank - Freed Palestinian schoolgirl insists on her innocence

BEITIN, West Bank (AFP) -- A 14-year-old girl who has become a symbol for Palestinian minors arrested by Israel insisted on Saturday after serving a 45-day sentence that she had been unjustly imprisoned.
"I do not admit to any crime: I was not throwing stones -- I had no knife on me," Malak al-Khatib told AFP.

She was arrested on her way home from school on Dec. 31, and a military court sentenced her in late January to two months as part of a plea bargain in which she admitted to picking up a stone to throw at Israeli cars.

Malak was convicted of being in possession of a knife with the intention of using it to stab security personnel if arrested.

"After two hours of interrogation, a soldier forced me to sign a paper in Hebrew," said Malak, who does not understand the language.

A white and black Palestinian kuffiyeh scarf draped across her shoulders, Malak sat among friends as relatives, Palestinian officials and journalists paraded through the family home, as they have since her release on Friday. 

"I'll definitely have plenty to tell my classmates when I go back to school" in three days, she said at her house in Beitin near Ramallah in the West Bank, such as "how cold it is inside prison."

She served her time in a cell with three older Palestinian girls. The Palestinian Prisoner's Society said two weeks were deducted from the sentence because of her age.

Israel arrests around 1,000 children every year in the West Bank, often on charges of stone-throwing, according to rights group Defense for Children International Palestine.

Malak's arrest attracted more attention than most cases because she is a girl.

The Prisoners' Club estimates that of 200 Palestinian minors in Israeli prisons, only four are female and Malak was the youngest.

Her family repeatedly said that none of its members had ever been arrested by the Israelis before, a rarity in the occupied West Bank.

Her father Ali al-Khatib said on Saturday he was "very pleased and touched by the many visitors who came to congratulate Malak."

But his daughter was beginning to show the strain, whispering to her mother: "Do you think this will go on for long? I'm tired of all these visits."

Tucson AZ - Cold Case homicide -see photo

On September 22, 2011, the Tucson Police Department received a 9-1-1 call requesting a welfare check on a resident that had been living at 190 W. Valencia Road #226.  

Management personnel at the apartment complex had called to report a foul odor coming from the apartment and facilitated officers getting into the apartment.  Once inside the apartment, officers discovered the body of Jorge Martinez-Torres.  Martinez-Torres had obvious signs of trauma and it appeared that he had been deceased for several days.

Detectives from the Homicide Unit continue the investigation and are now seeking the public's assistance in identifying and locating the below pictured subject.  It is believed that he may have information pertinent to this investigation.  Anyone with information 

regarding his identity or whereabouts is asked to call the Tucson Police Department Homicide Unit at 520-791-4800 or 911.  In addition, anonymous tips can be called in to 88-Crime or Submit a Web Tip here.

Tucson AZ - Cold Case homicide -see photo

 

Killed am/pm clerk

The Tucson Police Department is again seeking the public's assistance in identifying the suspect in the May 17, 2013 homicide of 22 year old Erick Bridges.

Mexican Oil and Drug Cartels: Cocaine & Crude (Full Length)

Cyber attacks on Israel traced to Gaza

 WASHINGTON (AFP) -- A series of cyber attacks against Israel since mid-2013 appears to be coming from "Arab parties located in the Gaza Strip" and elsewhere, US security researchers say.


A research report by Trend Micro said the effort appears to be using "spear phishing" emails with an attachment disguised as a pornographic video.

When a user clicks on the attachment, it installs malware that allows for remote access of documents on the infected computer, the report said.

The researchers said in a report released Sunday that this highly targeted campaign dubbed "Arid Viper" is a sort of "smash-and-grab" first seen in the middle of 2013, and which uses network infrastructure located in Germany.

The security firm said those behind the scheme are using sophisticated methods with the goal of stealing sensitive data from Israeli-based organizations -- government, transport, military and academia and one organization based in Kuwait.

A similar campaign which uses some of the same techniques and infrastructure has also been hitting targets in Egypt. This less sophisticated effort has been called Operation Advtravel by Trend Micro.

The researchers said both campaigns are hosted on the same servers in Germany and can be tied back to activity from Gaza.

"On one hand, we have a sophisticated targeted attack, and on the other a less skilled attack that has all the hallmarks of beginner hackers. So why would these groups be working together?" Trend Micro said in a blog post.

"Our working theory (and subject of continuing investigation) is that there may be an overarching organization or underground community that helps support Arab hackers fight back against perceived enemies of Islam. They may do this by helping set up infrastructures, suggest targets and so on."

The report suggests there will be an increase of such "cyber militia" activity in the Arab world, where non-state actors fight against other organizations that would traditionally be considered enemies.

A separate report by the Russian security firm Kaspersky said it had uncovered "the first known Arabic group of cyber mercenaries to develop and run full-scale cyber-espionage operations."

Kaspersky said the group has targeted military and government entities, media outlets, security companies and other organizations.

Kaspersky said it identified more than 3,000 victims in 50 countries, with more than one million files stolen by the group it called "Desert Falcons."

Activity was found mainly in Egypt, Palestinian territories, Israel and Jordan, but also in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Lebanon, Norway, Turkey, Sweden, France, the United States and Russia.

The Falcons used emails secretly loaded with malware to infect computers for the scheme, Kaspersky said.

Palestinian Christians urge unity against IS in Jerusalem march

 JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Some 200 Palestinian Christians staged a candlelit march in occupied East Jerusalem Wednesday to mourn Egyptian Copts killed by the Islamic State group in Libya and call for Muslim-Christian unity across the region.


The demonstrators carried four cardboard coffins decorated with gold crosses, and held up banners showing pictures of the 21 Coptic Christians who were beheaded by IS militants in a graphic video released Sunday.

"We call on the international community to respond to the killing of innocents," one banner read, as an Orthodox priest read out a eulogy for the dead.

The sombre march made its way to Jerusalem's Coptic monastery, where banners were displayed featuring stills from the IS video and passages from the Bible.

"We want to express solidarity with Egyptians and Copts, and to show how sad Palestinian Christians and Muslim friends are" about the deaths, said Nashat Filmon, 39.

"It doesn't make up for the barbaric way they were slaughtered, so we pray for this region to wake up and reject (IS)," he said.

Joseph George, 25, said the international community should intensify its fight against the group.

"If the US could destroy Saddam Hussein's regime in a week, why can't they do it to a small group?" he asked.

"Christianity originated in the Middle East, but now there's no more place for us -- we've been fleeing for years," he said.

"Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek ... but if someone tries to kill you for no reason, you should defend yourself."

Marches also took place on Tuesday evening in Bethlehem and Beit Sahour, where they were attended by both Muslim and Christian residents opposed to the killings.

Cairo carried out strikes against IS in Libya after the video was released.

IS militants have been hammered by US-led air strikes in Iraq and Syria after taking over swathes of the two countries, and the group has active affiliates in Egypt and Libya.

Ma'an staff contributed to this report.