Ukraine's tough road to peace

THE decision of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to sign a controversial European Union bill could see the crisis in the country enter a new stage.

The failure of former President Victor Yanukovych to ratify the deal was one of the primary instigators leading to his overthrow in February.

The bill is widely unpopular amongst pro-Russian supporters who want to see closer ties with their powerful neighbour, something they fear increased links with the EU would prevent.

President Poroshenko's decision comes along with his announcement of plans to bring the burgeoning civil war in Ukraine to a close.

Announcing a 14 point peace plan the new leader is stepping up attempts to bring the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk back under government control.  

Under his proposals a 'peace corridor' would be set up to allow those who had disarmed to leave the embattled regions, changes to the constitution to decentralise power, an amnesty for anyone "without blood on their hands" and, perhaps most controversially, the closure of the Russian-Ukrainian border.

Without support from Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, it seems unlikely that any moves would help calm the current situation.

World leaders have called on President Putin to help de-escalate tensions and support the path to peace. The pleas may fail to have much affect though as reports warn of an increased build up of Russian forces along the border and Russian tanks being used to support the pro-separatist movement.

NATO Chief Anders Ramussen has warned Russia that any attempt to intervene in the crisis could lead to tougher international sanctions against the country.

Elsewhere in the country a spokesman from the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe has confirmed that they have been in contact with two teams who were abducted in the Eastern region last month. Any chance of a peaceful solution to the situation which meets with international approval may well hinge on the safe return of the OSCE observers.

The United Nations currently estimates that 356 people, including 257 civilians, have been killed in fighting since the 7th May.

President Poroshenko may find that his attempts to bring stability to the country and prevent further bloodshed will be a hard fought battle. His signing of the EU bill on the 27th of June is a strong statement but may be meaningless if he cannot show that a peaceful resolution can be reached with his opponents. 

 

UKIP tightens ties with far right

NIGEL Farage's claims that the United Kingdom Independence Party are not a far right group have been called into question by recent alliances within the European Union Parliament.

Despite stating otherwise during the election campaign links between UKIP and hardline right wingers in the parliament have reignited concerns that the party is moving towards an increasingly xenophobic agenda.

Mr Farage has invited two MEP's, Kristina Winbery and Peter Lundgren, from the Swedish Democrat Party and former French National Front candidate Joelle Bergeron to join his Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group (EFD).

In a statement on the formation of the voting group Mr Farage, who will be president of the EFD, said: "I am very proud to have formed this group with other MEPs and we undertake to be the peoples' voice. We will be at the forefront working for the restoration of freedom, national democracy and prosperity across Europe.

"I am excited about working together with other delegations to be effective in exerting as much change as possible in Brussels while labouring at home to alert people to the harm that EU regulation does to the lives of ordinary people. Expect us to fight the good fight to take back control of our countries' destinies. We have struggled against much political opposition to form this group and I am sure it will operate very well."

Since it's formation in 1988 the Swedish Democrat party has been riven with accusations of racism and neo-fascist views, despite attempts in recent years to re-establish itself as a more moderate political force.

A source from the EFD was reported as calling members of the party, which was founded by a former Waffen SS member and white supremacists, as "nice people": "They are a party that has changed dramatically over time. They have acknowledged their mistakes. We have met the two MEPs, they seem two very decent working-class people. They are nice people, they are not extreme. They are Swedish patriots who want the best for their country."

The alliances have been condemned by senior Liberal Democrats, who argue that UKIP is finally showing its true colours through the move. One source told reporters: "Regardless of your views on Europe, it is hard to see how British MEPs hanging around the European parliament with the dregs of the far right is going to be of any benefit to British jobs and growth."

Mrs Bergeron was elected as an MEP with the far right French National Front party, which has faced repeated condemnation over alleged fascist views, however resigned from the party after calling for immigrants to be granted some voting rights.

An EFD press release said: “Although elected on a Front National list at the last European elections she has admitted that she had joined the party with great hopes but realised that their philosophy was very different [...] Joelle Bergeron has joined the group as an independent and declares herself an Anglophile, with the desire for democratic self-determination and a respect among different nations."

Farage's new Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group includes MEP's from Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement led by the comedian Beppe Grillo, Lithuania's Order and Justice Party, the Sweden Democrats, along with single members from the Czech Republic, Latvia and, perhaps most notably for its power potential, France.

Vincenzo Scarpetta, a political analyst with pro-reform think tank Open Europe, told news outlets: "With millions of subsidies on offer, the European parliament's rules create strong incentives for parties to form groups, even when these parties are not natural bedfellows."

While Mr Farage may claim that UKIP is not a hardline right wing party his current choice of allies may make it difficult for him to prove otherwise in the long run.

UKIP tightens ties with far right

NIGEL Farage's claims that the United Kingdom Independence Party are not a far right group have been called into question by recent alliances within the European Union Parliament.

Despite stating otherwise during the election campaign links between UKIP and hardline right wingers in the parliament have reignited concerns that the party is moving towards an increasingly xenophobic agenda.

Mr Farage has invited two MEP's, Kristina Winbery and Peter Lundgren, from the Swedish Democrat Party and former French National Front candidate Joelle Bergeron to join his Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group (EFD).

In a statement on the formation of the voting group Mr Farage, who will be president of the EFD, said: "I am very proud to have formed this group with other MEPs and we undertake to be the peoples' voice. We will be at the forefront working for the restoration of freedom, national democracy and prosperity across Europe.

"I am excited about working together with other delegations to be effective in exerting as much change as possible in Brussels while labouring at home to alert people to the harm that EU regulation does to the lives of ordinary people. Expect us to fight the good fight to take back control of our countries' destinies. We have struggled against much political opposition to form this group and I am sure it will operate very well."

Since it's formation in 1988 the Swedish Democrat party has been riven with accusations of racism and neo-fascist views, despite attempts in recent years to re-establish itself as a more moderate political force.

A source from the EFD was reported as calling members of the party, which was founded by a former Waffen SS member and white supremacists, as "nice people": "They are a party that has changed dramatically over time. They have acknowledged their mistakes. We have met the two MEPs, they seem two very decent working-class people. They are nice people, they are not extreme. They are Swedish patriots who want the best for their country."

The alliances have been condemned by senior Liberal Democrats, who argue that UKIP is finally showing its true colours through the move. One source told reporters: "Regardless of your views on Europe, it is hard to see how British MEPs hanging around the European parliament with the dregs of the far right is going to be of any benefit to British jobs and growth."

Mrs Bergeron was elected as an MEP with the far right French National Front party, which has faced repeated condemnation over alleged fascist views, however resigned from the party after calling for immigrants to be granted some voting rights.

An EFD press release said: “Although elected on a Front National list at the last European elections she has admitted that she had joined the party with great hopes but realised that their philosophy was very different [...] Joelle Bergeron has joined the group as an independent and declares herself an Anglophile, with the desire for democratic self-determination and a respect among different nations."

Farage's new Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) group includes MEP's from Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement led by the comedian Beppe Grillo, Lithuania's Order and Justice Party, the Sweden Democrats, along with single members from the Czech Republic, Latvia and, perhaps most notably for its power potential, France.

Vincenzo Scarpetta, a political analyst with pro-reform think tank Open Europe, told news outlets: "With millions of subsidies on offer, the European parliament's rules create strong incentives for parties to form groups, even when these parties are not natural bedfellows."

While Mr Farage may claim that UKIP is not a hardline right wing party his current choice of allies may make it difficult for him to prove otherwise in the long run.

Liberty and security, a tightrope balancing act

CONTROVERSY over social media surveillance has hit new levels following confirmation of monitoring by British security services.

In a statement released by Charles Farr, the Director General of the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism, GCHQ is legally entitled to intercept UK residents’ Facebook and Google communications 

because they are defined as ‘external communications’.

The news comes as concerns rise over the systematic use by terrorist organisations, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), of social media to spread propaganda and recruit fighters.

"ISIS is making effective use of startling images depicting their operations, notably including mass executions of Iraqi soldiers in Tikrit last week. Their fearsome reputation, bolstered by such images, has translated into success on the battlefield, with Iraqi security forces fleeing strategic towns and cities rather than engage the militants directly," Jordan Perry, an analyst at risk advisory company Maplecroft, has been reported as saying. "It is very likely that intelligence agencies in Europe, the US and elsewhere are monitoring the online chatter of Islamist groups – including Isis – very closely indeed."

The balancing between privacy rights and the need to forestall potential terror campaigns is not a new issue. Following leaks by former United States intelligence analyst Edward Snowden concerning the level of government surveillance observers have questioned how much liberty can be sacrificed in the name of security.

In his statement Mr Farr says: "Any regime that … only permitted interception in relation to specific persons or premises, would not have allowed adequate levels of intelligence information to be obtained and would not have met the undoubted requirements of intelligence for the protection of national security."

Meanwhile privacy rights campaigners and politicians have hit back, calling for an overhaul of the 'Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIPA) to block, what they claim, is an attempt by security agencies to circumvent the law.

Lord Macdonald, the former director of public prosecutions, was reported by the Guardian newspaper as saying: "Mr Farr's statement is the best argument I have seen for a thorough overhaul of surveillance law to bring it into the modern age. When Ripa was enacted, social media didn't exist.

"It is fatuous to pretend that elderly laws can cope with modern communications, as Mr Farr convincingly demonstrates. No doubt our intelligence agencies take their legal duties seriously, but the problem is that those legal duties fail to address the 21st century. We need new laws to counter new threats, carrying public confidence with them."

The debate over how much access to people's private information often overlooks certain considerations, however. The open nature of access to social media and the unfeasible prospect of monitoring millions of different accounts are often quoted as reasons for people not to fear scrutiny of their individual accounts.

So long as groups, such as ISIS, continue to expand their use of social networking sites to recruit impressionable young members it seems unlikely that any restriction of abilities to stop widespread terror attacks will gain the needed momentum to bring about a significant change in the law.

"I think it was obvious very early on that they (ISIS) launched their offensive with a social media campaign well planned in advance. This wasn't an afterthought. This wasn't something that they made up as they went along," said American analyst John Little, who monitors national security, conflicts and technology at Blogs of War.

An evolving argument on creationism

CALLS to have creationism banned in all science lessons have renewed following allegations of fundamentalist teaching in some British schools.

The ongoing storm about extremist Islamic views in schools in Birmingham has led to questions about religious ideology being taught as fact in other areas.

Speaking on the British Broadcasting Corporation's Newsnight program President of the

Association of Science Education, Professor Alice Roberts, gave substance to claims that some schools are still teaching a fundamentalist Christian belief as scientific fact.

Currently approximately 30 schools in the UK use the Accelerated Christian Education syllabus during science lessons. 

ACE teaches children creationism over evolution, that the world is only a matter of thousands, rather than billions, of years old and that the bible is the final authority on scientific matters.

Professor Robert's has made previous calls for creationism to be restricted to religious education, rather than being included in science lessons.

“There should be regulation that prevents all schools, not just state schools, from teaching creationism because it is indoctrination, it is planting ideas into children’s heads,” she told TES in January. “We should be teaching children to be much more open-minded.

“People who believe in creationism say that by teaching evolution you are indoctrinating them with science, but I just don’t agree with that. Science is about questioning things. It’s about teaching people to say, ‘I don’t believe it until we have very strong evidence.’”

In a statement on its website Christian Education in Europe, which sets out the ACE curriculum, defended its stance.

"Like all curricula, there are areas that may be considered sensitive and contentious depending on one’s personal social, cultural or religious beliefs, but we encourage the teacher/parent to handle these with love and sensitivity. Our curriculum does point to God as the creator; this is a view we are entitled to hold as there is enough robust debate around the question of evolution/creation within the scientific community itself to make this a valid decision, based on personal choice."

In January the UK Department of Education ratified moves to ban the teaching of creationism as science, and to remove funding from free schools which continue to do so. This has not stopped some private schools from continuing to follow the controversial curriculum. 

The debate has not been limited to the UK, however. A recent Gallup poll revealed that 42 per cent of Americans still believed that the biblical interpretation of creation held more weight than evolution. According to reports some ACE textbooks state:"The evolutionist needs some kind of a god with rules to explain what exists today, or he cannot explain it; and yet, he rejects such a god.

"It is more responsible and more reasonable to presuppose that God exists and then pick up the Bible and read 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth' (Genesis 1:1).

"Then you can see purpose in Creation, understand change, accept miracles, and know that His purpose has a goal." 

 

   

Blair's blame game

AS THE conflict in Iraq escalates comments made by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair have caused outrage among observers.

Reports of mass killings of Iraqi soldiers by members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) have added fuel to calls for the international community to take action in the violence ridden state. Aid groups have warned that America and Britain need to intervene to prevent a wide scale humanitarian crisis emerging, telling leaders that they must take some responsibility for leaving the country ill-prepared to deal with threats following the 2003 invasion.

Meanwhile Mr Blair, who was made United Nations envoy to the Middle East in 2007, told the British Broadcasting Corporation that the current situation was inevitable and the West cannot be held accountable.

Claiming that the concept Iraq would be more stable if former leader Saddam Hussein had been left in power was simply not credible".

"Even if you'd left Saddam in place in 2003, then when 2011 happened - and you had the Arab revolutions going through Tunisia and Libya and Yemen and Bahrain and Egypt and Syria - you would have still had a major problem in Iraq," he said.

"Indeed, you can see what happens when you leave the dictator in place, as has happened with Assad now. The problems don't go away."

Mr Blair's statement has been heavily criticised by politicians, aid agencies and former military and diplomatic officials.

Writing in the Telegraph on Monday London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "I have come to the conclusion that Tony Blair has finally gone mad. He wrote an essay on his website on Sunday that struck me as unhinged in its refusal to face facts. In discussing the disaster of modern Iraq he made assertions that are so jaw-droppingly and breathtakingly at variance with reality that he surely needs professional psychiatric help.

Tony Blair now believes that all this was “always, repeat always” going to happen. As an attempt to rewrite history, this is frankly emetic"

The British Ambassador to the United Nations at the beginning of the American led 2003 invasion, Sir Christopher Meyer,  was reported as saying: ""We are reaping what we sowed in 2003. This is not hindsight. We knew in the run-up to war that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein would seriously destabilise Iraq after 24 years of his iron rule."

Both Britain and America have ruled out sending ground troops to support the embattled Iraqi forces of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. 

Mr Blair's blinkered approach to the situation may further inflame anger that his role in the 2003 invasion has not been fully investigated, and that reports on the war remain partially obscured to the public's eyes.

Threat to US and Britain on doorstep following Iraq escalation

WITH America and Britain unwilling to become involved in the escalating conflict in Iraq fears have arisen of home-grown terrorists joining the fighting in the Middle East.

Concerns have started to grow that British and American nationals have been recruited by fundamentalist groups to fight in Iraq and Syria.

The American Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently investigating allegations that approximately 15 men travelled to Syria to join up with groups against the hardline forces of President Bashar A-Assad. On Thursday a spokesman from  the FBI’s Minneapolis office, Kyle Loven, was reported as saying that the bureau had received information indicating that 10 to 15 men from the region's large Somali community had travelled from the Minneapolis-St Paul area to Syria.

While it has been known for some time that both British and American nationals have been joining with terrorist groups in the Middle East fears that some may have linked up with the ultra-radical group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) have added a new dimension to the nature of international interference in the region.

According to a statement from the office of British Prime Minister the insurgency in Iraq is part of an “arc of extremism” which is starting to engulf the Middle East. The British Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6, suspects that approximately 500 British citizens have travelled to Syria to take part in the campaign, and may now have joined up with ISIS in Iraq.

The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman was reported as saying: “Our Security Services and all the relevant agencies will be monitoring those types of risks very closely. Clearly there is a very porous border between parts of Syria and parts of Iraq.

“As the PM has said, the greatest extremist activity and jihadist threats to the international community are in Syria. We need to keep these things under very close watch.”

While America and Britain have claimed that they have no intention of re-engaging in Iraq to combat the growing insurgent threat both countries may find that the conflict is brought to their doors.