Tens Of Thousands In Dublin Water Protest

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 11 Desember 2014 | 23.31

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Tens of thousands of people have taken part in protests in Dublin against plans to bring in water charges.

The new tax is the latest austerity measure imposed in Ireland since the country's economic crash six years ago.

Protesters from all over the country braved bitterly cold weather and forecasts of high winds to take part in a day of demonstration outside the Irish parliament building, Leinster House.

Holding banners reading "Resist Revolt, No To Water Charges!" and "Scrap Fraud Water Charges", the crowd chanted: "No way, we won't pay."

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Gallery: Anti-Austerity Protests In Dublin

Thousands of people have taken part in protests in Dublin against new water charges being brought in as part of Ireland's austerity measures

Plans to directly charge households were agreed with the EU and IMF as a condition of Ireland's bailout but have generated huge opposition

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Numbers taking part in the demonstration were estimated at 100,000 by organisers and at 30,000 by police

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Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams with Mary Lou McDoanld, standing in front of a banner bearing their names and photos

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TD Clare Daly addresses protesters

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Organiser Right2Water, a group consisting of trade unions and left-leaning political parties, said the figures numbered up to 100,000 at one stage, while police said the number of people there was "in excess of 30,000".

Although two people were arrested after missiles were fired at the police at one stage during skirmishes at a barrier sealing off a number of streets around parliament, the demonstration was generally peaceful and good-natured.

Musicians, singers, activists and politicians took part in the protest, entertaining and addressing the rally from a main stage, with Oscar-winning singer-songwriter Glen Hansard among them.

"I think there's something happening in the world, and I feel this is our version of it," he said.

"The water charge is the straw that's breaking our backs - people are essentially very dissatisfied with how we are being governed."

Hansard added: "I'm not political, but the Irish nation has now been forced to be and to come out on the streets.

"I think there is a general sense of anger, a seething dissatisfaction and I'm just like anyone else."

Hansard, who won an Academy Award for his song Falling Slowly that soundtracked the film Once, took to the stage with musician Damien Dempsey.

"You can see the rebellion in people's eyes - you can see the spirit coming back into the Irish people," Dempsey said.

Originally, the Government had signalled the water levy would be up to €600 (£474) a year for some families.

But mounting dissent and increasingly rowdy protests targeting prime minister Enda Kenny and senior ministers during public events forced a U-turn.

Householders will now be liable for charges of €60 (£47) for single adult homes and €160 (£126) for all other homes, a flat rate set for four years.

Critics claim it is a tax too far, but the government says the money needs to be raised to update Ireland's chronically and historically under-invested public water system.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams described the turnout as "real democracy".

"Nobody ever gave anybody rights," he said. "You have to take your rights. Stay on the streets until the government become the servants of the people."

Right2Water is already planning to boycott the bills when they are sent out next spring.

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Russia Raises Interest Rate Amid Economic Woes

The Bank of Russia has increased its key interest rate to 10.5%, to help spur the economy amid sanctions and sliding oil prices.

The bank raised the rate from the previous figure of 9.5%.

It confirmed it would also continue to raise the rate even higher if inflation continues to accelerates.

The central bank predicted inflation reaching 10% by year's end due to the plunging value of the rouble, and now expects growth to be flat through to 2016.

"Annual GDP growth is expected to be close to zero in 2015-2016," the bank said in a statement.

It cited depreciation of the currency and the "external conditions" of Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis and sliding oil prices.

The rouble dropped to new record lows against the US dollar on Thursday after the announcement was made.

The rate rise is insufficient to thwart further currency pressure, according to Rabobank International emerging markets foreign exchange strategist Piotr Matys.

"This is not enough to stabilise the rouble and increases the risk of a full-scale currency crisis," Mr Matys told Sky News.

"The central bank may intervene more aggressively on the market.

"But selling hard currencies already proved an insufficient tool as reflected in the worst rout since the 1998 crisis and the sharp drop in Russia's foreign reserves of almost $80bn (£64bn) so far this year."

Experts believe the central bank may need to raise rates again, at the next planned meeting on January 30, as more pressure is applied.

Mr Matys added: "In the meantime, the central bank is likely to continue selling US dollars to stem the pace of rouble depreciation, which will inevitably lead to another fall in Russia's foreign reserves."

Brent Crude inched above $65 a barrel on Thursday, as the slide in prices approaches six months.

Russia gets much of its foreign currency from petroleum products and the drop towards five-year lows further exacerbates the problems caused by sanctions.

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Prince Albert Welcomes Monaco's Royal Twins

Monaco's Prince Albert II has told of his "great joy" after his wife Charlene gave birth to twins.

The royal babies are the first set of twins born to the principality's ruling family since it was founded in the 13th century.

Princess Charlene, 36, gave birth to the girl first and the boy second, but the boy will eventually take over from his father due to Monaco's laws of succession, which favour males.

Prince Albert, 56, confirmed the heirs to the Grimaldi dynasty have been named Gabriella Therese Marie and Jacques Honore Rainier, who will bear the title Crown Prince.

In an address to the people of Monaco and the world, he said: "My dear fellow citizens and residents of the Principality.

"It is with great joy that I have the pleasure of announcing that Princess Charlene gave birth Wednesday 10 December, 2014 to a boy and a girl named Jacques Honore Rainier - who will bear the title of Crown Prince - and Gabriella Therese Marie, Princess and second in line of succession.

"I wish to share this moment of happiness with the Monegasque people, and more widely with all my country's residents. These births further bolster the feeling of community that unites us."

Gabriella was born at 5.04pm local time and her brother came two minutes later, according to a statement.

By palace decree, 42 cannon shots were fired to announce the births on Wednesday, instead of the 21 that would boom out for a single baby.

Monaco's Royal Palace was lit up to celebrate, while residents waved flags from car windows and toasted the new arrivals with champagne in the streets.

Prince Albert married the former South African Olympic swimmer, previously known as Charlene Wittstock, in front of 800 guests including world leaders, fellow royals and stars of sport and fashion in July 2011.

Guests included Sir Roger Moore, France's richest man Bernard Arnault, fashion designers Karl Lagerfeld, Roberto Cavalli and Giorgio Armani and the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

Prince Albert became head of the Grimaldi family, who have ruled the tiny principality for more than 800 years, after his father, Prince Rainier III, died in 2005.

His mother, the former film star Grace Kelly, died in a car crash in 1982.

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Mexico's Unstoppable Cycle Of Death

By Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent, In Mexico

In the hills above the town of Iguala, a group of families gather to start a search for new mass graves. They have already found three.

Above them, vultures swoop and turn in the deep blue skies.

Dogs had started turning up in nearby villages with human body parts.

Mexico has been in the grip of a staggering crime wave that saw, by some estimates, 120,000 people killed in the six years to 2012.

Another 27,000 people are missing. Rounded up by local police, they were handed to one of the country's notorious cartel gangs and "disappeared": a common expression succinct in its accurate brevity.

The families of the local "disappeared" know they are in the right place.

After about 20 minutes, another grave is identified. The searchers madly hack at the earth before a local forensics officer asks them to stop.

In the tearful exchange that follows the family members give a sense of their anger and outrage.

They berate the officer for the failings of the government, for the rampant corruption and the overarching power of the drug gangs.

"Young man, you get to finish your shift then you get to go. We can't, we have to stay here, we can't move from here," a woman shouts through her tears, pointing at the grave.

"We demand that the government come and take them out (of the ground). That they stop treating us like idiots, because that is what they have treated us like.

"People's family members are here, whether it be a brother or sister or child, they have to come and get them out."

It is heartbreaking stuff to witness. The testimonies of "disappeared" family members are uniformly upsetting and almost endless. So many people are affected it's remarkable.

The enormous illegal drug industry is to varying degrees at the root of everything.

The fate of the "disappeared" has exploded onto the national psyche once again after the abduction and probable murder of 43 students in September.

The problem for the government is the growing evidence of police and military collusion in this apparently unstoppable cycle of death.

In Iguala, for example, local villagers say that trucks bringing the latest victims of the violence passed their houses along roads closed by the police.

In their desperate attempt to recover their lost relatives, hundreds queue to give blood for DNA tests that may prove a link to bodies recovered from the hills.

They do not trust the government so an independent charity is on hand to guarantee the process.

A total of 170 families have come forward in the first couple of days of the testing process. That equates to between 400 and 500 "disappeared" people.

But this is a tiny town. State-wide and nationwide it runs into tens of thousands of dead people. Killed, often for no reason whatsoever.

The stories of the disappeared are all different; but they are linked by the involvement of crime gangs, law enforcement and the government often working hand in hand.

Susane is the wife of a senior police officer. He disappeared after a meeting with a cartel lieutenant. He was told his entire extended family would die if he failed to turn up.

She and he knew they would never see each other again.

"We knew it was either him or the family. He warned us he might not be coming back alive, that this was probably the last time we would see each other," she told me in the calm surroundings of a church.

"He thought he was the one who had to say goodbye to the family. He only asked for a blessing. We gave it to him. We kept pleading with him, but he didn't listen."

He has not been seen since.

:: You can watch an extended special report on the drugs cartels that are tearing Mexico apart, Narco State: Mexico's Drugs War, at 7.30pm on Friday, 5.30am and 4.30pm on Saturday, and 3.30am, 2.30pm and 8.30pm on Sunday.

Watch the report on on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 132 and Freesat channel 202.

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Superbugs Could Kill Over 10 Million A Year

Superbugs could kill over 10 million people a year by 2050 and cost hundreds of trillions of dollars if urgent action is not taken, it has been warned.

Drug-resistant infections already kill thousands of people across the world each year but a report by economist Jim O'Neill claims the trend is set to get worse.

The review cites as an example a type of E.coli that has now become resistant to the last-resort antibiotics carbapenems, and said there are no effective drugs currently available to treat patients with that strain of the disease.

Mr O'Neill heads the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, which was set up in July by Prime Minister David Cameron.

"Drug-resistant infections already kill hundreds of thousands a year globally, and by 2050 that figure could be more than 10 million," he said.

"The economic cost will also be significant, with the world economy being hit by up to $100trn (£63.6trn) by 2050 if we do not take action.

"We cannot allow these projections to materialise for any of us, especially our fellow citizens in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and Mint (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) world, and our ambition is such that we will search for bold, clear and practical long term solutions."

Politicians and scientists have warned of the need to find a cure for infections that have become resistant, with Mr Cameron stating it was a "very real and worrying threat" that could send medicine "back into the dark ages".

Professor Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer for England, said the latest research is "compelling".

She said: "We all know that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is important. This is a compelling piece of work, which takes us a step forward in understanding the true gravity of the threat.

"It demonstrates that the world simply cannot afford not to take action to tackle the alarming rise in resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs we are witnessing at the moment.

"I look forward to the ideas that Jim will recommend in due course for how we can begin to turn this tide globally."

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Narco State: Mexico And Its Drugs Problem

Mexico's drug trade is worth between $19 and $29bn (£12.1 and £18.5bn) a year in cash - but takes an immeasurably greater toll in human lives and misery.

Some 90% of the cocaine bound for the US goes through the country, which shares a long border with its northern neighbour.

The narcotics industry makes up between 3-4% of the country's GDP, and employs half a million people.

Murder - even mass murder - is relatively commonplace. On average, someone dies a drugs-related death every half an hour.

There have been more than 132,000 kidnappings since 2006, and the government lists a total of 22,322 people as missing.

There are 10 firearms deaths per 100,000 people - more than twice the rate of the US - despite the fact there is just one legal firearms dealer in the entire country.

Even amid this carnage, the recent abduction of 43 college students made headlines not just nationwide but around the world.

The victims were attacked by officers in the southern city of Iguala after demonstrations there.

Prosecutors say they were handed over by corrupt police officers to a drugs gang that killed them and burnt their bodies.

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Gallery: Mexico's Drug Cartels

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'Pineapple Express' Storm To Batter West Coast

By Sky News US Team

A powerful storm expected to pack hurricane-force winds and heavy rain is heading toward California, triggering emergency preparations.

Residents have been gathering sandbags and crews have been clearing storm drains. San Francisco school officials have cancelled classes for the first time since 9/11.

The storm is fuelled by a system named "Pineapple Express" - a river of tropical moisture that originates in Hawaii.

Authorities issued flood warnings, high surf and wind advisories ahead of the storm and said they feared that predicted heavy showers could cause mudslides in wildfire-scarred foothills across the state.

During the brunt of the storm, which is expected to hit Central California on Thursday evening and Southern California on Friday morning, forecasters were expecting 1 to 2in (2.5 to 5cm) of rainfall on coastlines and inland valleys and up to 4in (10cm) in mountain areas.

"It's a short amount of time for that amount of water," weather service forecaster Diana Henderson said.

"We are anticipating some localised flooding, maybe some downed trees and downed power lines. It could have an effect on a wide range of people."

Big waves are expected along the coast. Authorities urged residents to stay off jetties, piers and rocks to avoid getting washed into the surf.

Forecasters said some local sets could hit 25ft (7.5m) along the Central California coast, with 8 to 12ft (2.4 to 3.6m) waves in Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

As the West braces for "Pineapple Express", much of the East Coast has been battered by heavy winds and snow, triggering several traffic accidents on icy roads. One person died in a car crash in upstate New York.

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Military Jet Crashes Into French Care Home

One person has been killed and five injured after a military training jet crashed into a home for the disabled in central France.

The accident, involving an Alpha Jet trainer on a night flying exercise, took place in the Vouvray region, near the city of Tours in the Loire Valley.

The pilot and student pilot parachuted to safety after making for "a dark area that appeared to be uninhabited," said airforce base commander Colonel Cyril Duvivier.

The 63-year-old resident who was killed had been living in the home "for several years".

One of the residents who was injured in the accident is said to be in serious condition in hospital.

Health minister Marisol Touraine travelled to Vouvray late on Wednesday evening to see the site for herself.

She has called for a full and transparent investigation into the accident.

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Hong Kong Police Clear Democracy Protest Camp

Hong Kong police have moved in on the main pro-democracy protest camp and started clearing tents.

A number of arrests have been made, with one protester reportedly shouting "We want democracy. We'll be back," as he was carried away.

Protesters were warned to disperse from the site or face arrest, in what is likely to be a final showdown after more than two months of demonstrations by the Occupy Central movement.

"Police will lock down the occupied area and set up a police cordon area ... If anyone refuses to leave police will take action to disperse or arrest," said senior officer Kwok Pak-chung.

Protesters were allowed to leave the site - made up of tents, art installations and supply stalls and stretching for a kilometre along the highway - during the 30-minute lockdown.

Bailiffs armed with cutters and pliers moved in first to remove barricades around the camp in the heart of the business district, but despite the police ultimatum a hardcore of a few hundred refused to leave.

There are fears that radical splinter groups will dig in for a last stand, after violent demonstrations outside a government building at the end of November.

The remaining crowds shouted their demands for free leadership elections, and vowed the clearance would not end the campaign, which has left relations with Beijing on a knife-edge.

Protesters were joined by more than 20 pro-democracy lawmakers and other prominent figures ahead of the police action.

Media mogul Jimmy Lai, a fierce critic of Beijing, said he would stay at the site "until I am arrested".

He said: "Definitely you will miss the people you have spent over two months with, other than that we're looking forward to the next one."

Pro-demovcracy lawmaker Claudia Mo said: "This is not the end of the movement. The political awakening amongst the young is irreversible and we will fight on."

The Admiralty site has been the focal point of protests since September, after China's Communist authorities insisted that candidates in Hong Kong's 2017 leadership election would have to be vetted by a loyalist committee.

Hong Kong's leadership had warned they would take "resolute action" against any protesters who resisted the clearance, which they said was being carried out to restore public order and reopen roads.

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French Students Vanish In The Pyrenees

Police are hunting for two French students who have disappeared in the Pyrenees.

Julien Perez-Piguet, 22, and Sarah Mazerolles, 21, have not been seen since last Friday, according to the newspaper Le Parisien.

They are believed to have left the Spanish town of Saragossa - where they are at university - that evening, but never arrived back to their homes in the Bearn region of France.

At around 6pm, Sarah had telephoned her mother to tell her that she was driving back with Julien, in his white Peugeot 206.

The two physiotherapy students are understood to have been carpooling.

It is unclear whether they knew each other before they decided to make the journey together.

The last trace of the pair was at 8.30pm, when a signal from Sarah's mobile phone was picked up in Canfranc, on the Spanish side of the border.

Investigators reviewing CCTV from the Somport tunnel - which links France and Spain - say there is no evidence the car passed through.

Police on both sides of the border have scoured the steep sides of the mountain pass, but have found nothing.

Relatives, friends and many fellow students have also joined the search.

Police have appealed for witnesses on Facebook.

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