Manchester bomber was part of a network: police

The Manchester suicide bomber who killed 22 people at a concert venue packed with children was part of a network, the city's chief of police said on Wednesday as troops were deployed across Britain to help prevent further attacks.

Police made three new arrests and searched an address in central Manchester in what police chief Ian Hopkins described as a fast-moving investigation.

"I think it's very clear that this is a network that we are investigating," Hopkins told reporters outside Manchester police headquarters.

"And as I've said, it continues at a pace. There's extensive investigations going on and activity taking place across Greater Manchester as we speak."

Earlier, interior minister Amber Rudd said the bomber, Salman Abedi, had recently returned from Libya. Her French counterpart Gerard Collomb said he had links with Islamic State and had probably visited Syria as well.

Rudd scolded U.S. officials for leaking details about the investigation into the Manchester attack before British authorities were prepared to go public.

The Manchester bombing has raised concern across Europe. Cities including Paris, Nice, Brussels, St Petersburg, Berlin and London have suffered militant attacks in the last two years.

British-born Abedi, 22, blew himself up on Monday night at the Manchester Arena indoor venue at the end of a concert by U.S. pop singer Ariana Grande attended by thousands of children and teenagers.

His 22 victims included an eight-year-old girl, several teenage girls, a 28-year-old man and a Polish couple who had come to collect their daughters.

Britain's official terror threat level was raised to "critical", the highest level, late on Tuesday, meaning an attack could be imminent.

Source: Reuters

Blast in St. Petersburg metro station kills 9: authorities

Photo: Reuters

At least nine people were killed and 20 were injured when an explosion tore through a train carriage in the St. Petersburg metro system on Monday, the Russian National Anti-Terrorist Committee said.

Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying the blast, which occurred when the train was between two stations, was caused by a bomb filled with shrapnel.

President Vladimir Putin, who was in the city for a meeting with Belarus's leader, said he was considering all possible causes for the blast, including terrorism and was consulting with security services.

Ambulances and fire engines descended on the concrete-and-glass Sennaya Ploshchad metro station. A helicopter hovered overhead as crowds gathered to observe rescue operations.

"I appeal to you citizens of St. Petersburg and guests of our city to be alert, attentive and cautious and to behave in a responsible matter in light of events," St Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko said in an address.

An attack on St Petersburg, Russia's old imperial capital, would have some symbolic force for any militant group, especially Islamic State or Chechen secessionist rebels. Attacks in the past have largely concentrated on Moscow, including an attack on an airport, a theater and in 2010 a metro train.

Video showed injured people lying bleeding on a platform, some being treated by emergency services and fellow passengers. Others ran away from the platform amid clouds of smoke, some screaming or holding their hands to their faces.

A huge hole was blown open in the side of a carriage with metal wreckage strewn across the platform. Passengers were seen hammering at the windows of one closed carriage. Russian TV said many had suffered lacerations from glass shards and metal.

Russia has been the target of attacks by separatist Islamist Chechen militants in past years. Islamic State, which has drawn recruits from the ranks of Chechen rebels, has also threatened attacks across Russia in retaliation for Russian military intervention in Syria.

The Russian air force and special forces have been supporting President Bashar al-Assad in fighting rebel groups and Islamic State fighters now being driven out of their Syrian strongholds.

ALL STATIONS CLOSED

St. Petersburg emergency services at first said that there had been two explosions. But a source in the emergency services later said that there had been only one but that the explosion had occurred in a tunnel between stations.

The blast occurred at 2.40 p.m., well shy of the evening rush hour.

Authorities closed all St. Petersburg metro stations. The Moscow metro said it was taking unspecified additional security measures in case of an attack there.

Russia has been on particular alert against Chechen rebels returning from Syria and wary of any attempts to resume attacks that dogged the country several years ago.

At least 38 people were killed in 2010 when two female suicide bombers detonated bombs on packed Moscow metro trains.

Over 330 people, half of them children, were killed in 2004 when police stormed a school in southern Russia after a hostage taking by Islamist militants. In 2002, 120 hostages were killed when police stormed a Moscow theater to end another hostage-taking.

Putin, as prime minister, launched a 1999 campaign to crush a separatist government in the Muslim southern region of Chechnya, and as president continued a hard line in suppressing rebellion.

Source: Reuters

Obama confident Islamic State will be driven from Mosul

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday expressed confidence that Iraqi forces and their allies will force Islamic State to abandon Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.

He acknowledged, however, that the campaign to retake Mosul will be a "difficult fight."

"The start of Iraqi operations to liberate Mosul is another major step forward," Obama told reporters during a joint appearance at the White House with visiting Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

Monday saw the start of an offensive by Iraqi and Kurdish fighters aimed at liberating Mosul from IS, who have occupied the northern city since June 2014.

"There will be advances and there will be setbacks," Obama said of the military campaign, though adding that "ISIL (Islamic State) will be defeated in Mosul."

"In addition to rooting out ISIL, our focus jointly is on the safety and humanitarian aid for civilians who are escaping the fight," the president said.

The U.S. and other Western nations, including Italy, are providing support to the Iraqi push to reclaim the city.

Obama pointed out that among foreign countries, Italy is second only to the U.S. in the number of military personnel in Iraq, where the Italians have assumed responsibility for training Iraqi police.

Source: EFE

U.S. expects Islamic State to wield chemical weapons in Mosul fight

The United States expects Islamic State to use crude chemical weapons as it tries to repel an Iraqi-led offensive on the city of Mosul, U.S. officials say, although adding that the group's technical ability to develop such weapons is highly limited.

U.S. forces have begun to regularly collect shell fragments to test for possible chemical agents, given Islamic State's use of mustard agent in the months before Monday's launch of the Mosul offensive, one official said.

In a previously undisclosed incident, U.S. forces confirmed the presence of a sulfur mustard agent on Islamic State munition fragments on Oct. 5, a second official said. The Islamic State had targeted local forces, not U.S. or coalition troops.

"Given ISIL's reprehensible behavior and flagrant disregard for international standards and norms, this event is not surprising," the second official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity, and using an acronym for Islamic State.

U.S. officials do not believe Islamic State has been successful so far at developing chemical weapons with particularly lethal effects, meaning that conventional weapons are still the most dangerous threat for advancing Iraqi and Kurdish forces - and any foreign advisers who get close enough.

Sulfur mustard agents can cause blistering on exposed skin and lungs. At low doses, however, that would not be deadly.

Roughly 5,000 U.S. forces are in Iraq. More than 100 of them are embedded with Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces involved with the Mosul offensive, advising commanders and helping them ensure coalition air power hits the right targets, officials said. Still, those forces are not at the front lines, they added.

HUMAN SHIELDS

The fall of Mosul would signal the defeat of the ultra-hardline Sunni jihadists in Iraq but could also lead to land grabs and sectarian bloodletting between groups that fought one another after the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

U.S. President Barack Obama estimated on Thursday that perhaps 1 million civilians were still in Mosul, creating a challenge for Iraq and its Western backers trying to expel the group through force.

"If we aren't successful in helping ordinary people as they're fleeing from ISIL, then that makes us vulnerable to seeing ISIL return," Obama told reporters in Washington.

The International Organization for Migration’s Iraq chief, Thomas Weiss, said on Tuesday he expected Islamic State militants to use Mosul residents as human shields and lent his voice to concerns about the dangers of chemical agents.

The IOM had not managed to procure many gas masks yet, despite those risks, Weiss said from Baghdad.

"We also fear, and there has been some evidence that ISIL might be using chemical weapons. Children, the elderly, disabled, will be particularly vulnerable,” Weiss said.

Attacking Iraqi forces are still 12 to 30 miles (20 to 50 km) from the city itself and U.S. officials believe that Islamic State is most likely to use chemical weapons later in the campaign, in what could be a difficult, protracted battle.

The leader of Islamic State was reported to be among thousands of hardline militants still in the city, suggesting the group would go to great lengths to repel the coalition.

American officials believe some of Islamic State's best fighters are in Mosul.

Source: Reuters

Militants kill 12 military personnel in Egypt's Sinai

Suspected Islamic State gunmen killed 12 members of Egypt's military in North Sinai province and wounded six more in an attack on a checkpoint on Friday, the military said, adding that it killed 15 militants in return.

The incident took place 40 km (25 miles) from the town of Bir al-Abd, making it the first major attack in the central Sinai area, which had so far escaped the militant Islamists' campaign.

It was carried out using assault rifles and some heavier weapons, medical and security sources said. The wounded were taken to hospital in al-Arish.

"An armed group of terrorist elements attacked a security checkpoint in North Sinai this morning using four-wheel drives and were immediately engaged. Our forces killed 15 terrorists," the military said in a statement. "The clashes led to the martyrdom of 12 and injury of six armed forces heroes."

An Islamist insurgency in the rugged and thinly populated Sinai Peninsula gained pace after the Egyptian military overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest Islamist movement, in mid-2013 following mass protests against his rule.

The militant group staging the insurgency pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2014 and adopted the name Sinai Province. It is blamed for the killing of hundreds of soldiers and policemen, and has started to target Western targets within Egypt.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former military chief who led the overthrow of Mursi, describes Islamist militancy as an existential threat to Egypt, an ally of the United States. Islamic State controls large parts of Iraq and Syria and has a strong presence in Libya, which borders Egypt.

Source: Reuters

French warplanes join attack against IS in Iraq's Mosul

French fighter jets took off from an aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean on Friday to engage in aerial attacks against the Islamic State in the Iraqi city of Mosul, according to French media sources.

At around 04:00 am GMT, eight Aéronavale Rafale-M fighters took off from the French "Charles de Gualle" aircraft carrier, which was navigating close to Cyprus as part of France's Operation Chammal in the region, according to French BFM-TV.

The fighters' mission is to assist Iraqi government troops in their bid to expel IS members from Mosul, a current stronghold for the terrorist group.

The "Charles de Gaulle" had just arrived to the area for its third combat tour along with the international coalition led by the United States against IS in Syria and Iraq

The French minister of Defence, Jean-Yves Le Drian, announced that the aircraft carrier's deployment will take place from the end of Sept. to the end of Oct. when the ship is due for a major 18 month maintenance overhaul.

Source: EFE

Syria ceasefire seen near collapse

A Syrian ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia was in deep trouble on Monday as a rebel official said it had practically failed and signaled insurgents were preparing for a full resumption of fighting.

Already widely violated since it took effect a week ago, the ceasefire came under added strain at the weekend when Russia said jets from the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers in eastern Syria.

The U.S.-Russian agreement marks the second ceasefire negotiated by Washington and Moscow this year in the hope of advancing a political solution towards ending the war, now in its sixth year, that has killed hundreds of thousands of people.

But while the agreement has led to a significant reduction in fighting over the past week, violence has been increasing in recent days, and a planned delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged rebel-held districts of eastern Aleppo - one of the first steps in the deal - has been repeatedly postponed.

Plans to evacuate several hundred rebels from the last opposition-held district of Homs city have also overshadowed the agreement, with rebels saying it would amount to the government declaring the ceasefire over. The Homs governor said the plan had been postponed from Monday to Tuesday.

The collapse of the ceasefire, a major project of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, could doom any chance of the administration of President Barack Obama negotiating a breakthrough on Syria before it leaves office in January.

Kerry overcame scepticism of other administration officials to hammer out the truce, gambling on cooperation with Russia despite the deepest mistrust in decades between the Cold War-era superpower foes. Washington and Moscow back opposite sides in the war between insurgents and President Bashar al-Assad's government, while both oppose the Islamic State jihadist group.

The politburo chief of one prominent Aleppo rebel group, Fastaqim, said the agreement had "practically failed and has ended", adding that it remained to be seen if anything could be done "in theory" to save it.

Zakaria Malahifji, speaking to Reuters from the Turkish city of Gaziantep, also indicated rebel groups were preparing for combat: "I imagine in the near future there will be action by the factions".

Fares al-Bayoush, the head of another rebel group operating in northern Syria under the western-backed Free Syrian Army umbrella, told Reuters "the truce in its current state cannot be continued".

The Syrian army meanwhile had yet to announce any extension of the seven-day ceasefire it declared on Sept. 12, which was due to expire at 11:59 p.m. (2059 GMT) on Sunday, according to the statement issued by the army command when the truce was announced.

U.N. OFFICIAL "PAINED" AT ALEPPO AID FAILURE

The U.S.-Russian deal set out steps including a nationwide ceasefire, aid deliveries, and joint U.S.-Russian targeting of jihadists including Islamic State and a faction formerly known as the Nusra Front, which was al Qaeda's Syrian wing until it changed its name in July.

Washington hopes it will lead to talks on ending a war that has splintered Syria, uprooting 11 million people and creating the world's worst refugee crisis.

But it has faced enormous challenges from the outset, including how to disentangle nationalist rebels backed by the West from jihadists who are not covered by the deal.

And there has been no sign of compromise on the issue at the heart of the war: the future of Assad, who enjoys firm Iranian and Russian military backing that is buttressing his strongest military position in years. The dispute over his fate has made a mockery of all previous diplomatic efforts to end the fighting.

The last ceasefire, reached in February, unraveled over a period of weeks as fighting intensified, particularly in and around Aleppo, Syria's biggest city before the war and now potentially the war's biggest prize for pro-government forces.

The U.N. aid chief said an aid convoy destined for rebel-held eastern Aleppo was still stuck in Turkey.

"I am pained and disappointed that a United Nations convoy has yet to cross into Syria from Turkey, and safely reach eastern Aleppo," the U.N. Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O'Brien said in a statement.

The United Nations says it still lacks sufficient security guarantees from both sides to deliver aid to eastern Aleppo, the rebel-held half of the city which has been divided for years and which pro-government forces completely encircled this month.

Up to 275,000 people remain trapped in that part of the city without food, water, proper shelter or medical care, he added.

U.N. officials have blamed Damascus for blocking aid deliveries to other besieged, rebel-held areas.

The air strike on a Syrian army position by the U.S.-led coalition on Saturday triggered a fierce war of words between Washington and Moscow, with Russia saying it put the agreement under threat.

A U.S. official said the U.S. military believed reports that about 60 Syrian troops were killed. Two Danish F-16 fighter jets and Australian aircraft took part in the raid.

The United States relayed "regret" about the unintentional loss of life. The Danish defense minister said on Monday "more credible sources" were needed before he could draw conclusions.

"I don't want to explore different scenarios until we are certain, that we have even hit Syrian soldiers," Minister of Defense Peter Christensen told local news agency Ritzau. "So far it's only a Russian report. I think we need others and more credible sources, before I conclude anything."

Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari said on Sunday the air strikes aimed to sink the U.S.-Russian ceasefire plan.

HOMS EVACUATION

The Syrian government and its allies have mostly focused their firepower on western areas of the country that are of greatest significance to Assad, including the main cities of Damascus, Homs, Hama, Latakia, Tartous and Aleppo.

The planned evacuation of several hundred rebels from the last opposition-held district of Homs, al-Waer, has also endangered the deal. Rebels said that plan would amount to the government declaring the truce over.

The Homs governor Talal Barazi said the evacuation had been postponed due to "logistical obstacles", and negotiating committees were completing the preparations, state TV reported. He told journalists it would take place on Tuesday morning.

Barazi said on Sunday that between 250 to 300 rebels were due to be evacuated from Waer, on Monday. The opposition say such evacuations are part of a government strategy to forcibly displace its opponents after years of siege and bombardment.

The government has been seeking to conclude local agreements with rebels in besieged areas to give them safe passage to the insurgent stronghold of Idlib in northwestern Syria.

Source: Reuters

Turkey to fight IS, Kurdish militias in Syria, says Interior Minister

The Turkish Interior Minister said the military operation launched early Wednesday in Syria against the Islamic State was also directed against several terrorist organizations, including Kurdish militias.

During an interview with state-run Anadolu Agency, Efkan Ala said the Islamic State iwas the operation's most important target, but that there were other terrorist groups that posed a threat to Turkey.

Source: EFE

Estado Islâmico divulga vídeo de terrorista francês que matou policiais

A agência de notícias "Amaq", vinculada ao grupo jihadista Estado Islâmico (EI), divulgou nesta terça-feira um vídeo do terrorista que na segunda-feira assassinou dois policiais que estavam em casa ao norte de Paris, Larossi Abballa, no qual confessa ter matado ambos os agentes e jura lealdade à organização terrorista.

"Graças a Alá, acabo de matar um policial e a sua mulher", afirmou Abballa em francês na gravação, realizada antes de ser morto pelas forças da ordem horas depois do duplo assassinato.

No vídeo, cuja autenticidade não pôde ser comprovada, o terrorista também ameaçou fazer ataques no território francês durante a realização da Eurocopa.

O agressor também incentivou os muçulmanos da França a perpetrarem ataques contra policiais, agentes penitenciários e jornalistas porque "venderam a religião, traíram Alá e seu profeta". Além disso, pedoi que matem os "rappers" porque, segundo ele, são os "aliados de Satã", e também deputados e prefeitos.

O terrorista também enviou uma mensagem às autoridades francesas: "Vocês fecharam as portas da emigração para as terras do califado, portanto, nós abrimos a porta da jihad no seu território".

Abballa foi abatido horas depois do duplo assassinato na mesma casa do casal de policiais (ele comandante e ela também funcionária da corporação) pelas forças da ordem, que conseguiram resgatar o filho de três anos dos agentes.

Esses incidentes ocorrem em plena Eurocopa, que começou na sexta-feira terminará no dia 10 de julho, quando a França segue em alerta terrorista após os ataques jihadistas de 13 de novembro do ano passado, em Paris.

Fonte: EFE

Investigation reveals terrorism links in Orlando shooting massacre

The first investigation into the mass murderer of 50 victims in a gay club in Orlando, Florida, USA, today revealed possible ties between the perpetrator and terrorist groups.

Less than 24 hours after the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub, frequented by the LGBT community, the FBI released some information about Omar Mir Seddique Mateen, a 29 year-old US citizen, who was shot dead at the scene by the police.

At the same time, identities of seven of the 50 fatalities from this "an act of terror and an act of hate," according to US President Barack Obama, were revealed.

The families of these first identified were already notified. Their names are Sotomayor Edward Jr., Stanley Almodovar III, Omar Luis Ocasio-Capo, Juan Ramon Guerrero, Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz and Luis S. Vielma.

The Pulse nightclub had organized a 'Latin Night' this Saturday so it is very likely that a high percentage of the victims are Hispanic, a community that represents some 29 percent of the population in Orlando, famous worldwide for its theme and amusement parks.

Before the attack, New York-born Siddique Mateen, who is of Afghan descent, called the emergency number 911 and pledged his allegiance to the terrorist group Islamic State (IS), according to a newspaper report.

The Islamic State-linked Amaq News Agency said in a statement that "the attack that targeted a nightclub for homosexuals in Orlando, Florida, and that left more than 100 dead and wounded was carried out by an Islamic State fighter."

This information was not yet confirmed by official U.S. sources.

FBI Agent Ron Hopper said at a press conference that it is early to conclude that the massacre is linked to terrorism but said the alleged gunman drew the attention of the authorities for the first time in 2013.

According to Hopper, back then Siddique Mateen "made inflammatory remarks to co-workers alleging possible terrorist ties" and was investigated on two occasions.

Later, in 2014, he was investigated for his alleged connection with Moner Mohammad Abusalha, a US citizen terrorist who died in a suicide attack in Syria but it was resolved that "the contact was minimal and did not constitute a substantive relationship or a threat at that time."

The security firm G4S today confirmed in a statement that Siddique Mateen was one of its employees since 2007 and said that it is "shocked" by what happened.

According to G4S, the man was not on duty when he committed the mass shooting and the company is cooperating with authorities.

The family of the alleged perpetrator of the massacre also spoke. According to the father, Mir Siddique, his son was angry when he saw two men kissing in Miami about two months ago.

That may be the cause of the killings, which, in his opinion, "has nothing to do with religion".

Siddique Mateen's ex wife, who asked not to be identified, told the Washington Post today that he was not a "stable person" and abusive.

"He beat me. He would just come home and start beating me up because the laundry wasn't finished or something like that," said the woman who married him in March 2009 but got divorced a few months afterwards.

According to his ex-wife, the alleged murderer never showed signs of being radicalized, owned a small-caliber pistol and worked as a guard at a center for juvenile offenders.

A group of policemen today inspected and removed several objects from a house owned by Omar Siddique Mateen in the town of Fort St. Lucie, about 180 kilometers from Orlando, and also found three cars parked there, according to what Efe could verify at the scene.

Efe could see several boxes and an Apple computer being placed in police cars.

In addition to the fifty dead, the massacre also left 53 injured, some of which are in "critical condition", according to medical authorities of Orlando, who appealed to citizens to donate blood.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dye said today that 39 of the 50 people were killed on the premises, including Siddique Mateen, and the other 11 were pronounced dead at the hospital.

John W. Mina, City of Orlando Chief of Police, explained how it happened.

At approximately 02.00 am (0600 GMT), a police officer responded to shots fired at him by the suspect.

"The suspect at some point went back inside the club where more shots were fired. This did turn into a hostage situation," said Mina.

He added that officials from various security agencies came to the scene and at about 05.00 am local time (09.00 GMT) the decision to rescue the hostages was taken, and SWAT agents entered the nightclub and that the suspect died after being shot.

According to Mayor Dyer, an explosive device was placed on one of the walls of the nightclub and an armored vehicle then tore down the wall.

Mateen Siddique was armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and a pistol when he was killed.

Mina said that there were eleven special police officers and three deputies engaged in the gun battle with the gunman and that only one suffered an eye injury.

Source: EFE

Nuclear terrorist attack would 'change our world', says Obama

The world has taken "concrete" steps to prevent nuclear terrorism, he told the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington.

But the so-called Islamic State (IS) obtaining a nuclear weapon is "one of the greatest threats to global
security," he added.

More than 50 nations are represented at the summit.

IS has already used chemical weapons in Syria.

"There is no doubt that if these mad men ever got their hands on a nuclear bomb or nuclear material, they would certainly use it to kill as many people as possible," he said.

"The single most effective defence against nuclear terrorism is fully securing this material so it doesn't fall into the wrong hands in the first place."

He said the world cannot be "complacent" and must build on its progress in slowing the stockpiling of nuclear weapons.

Mr Obama hailed his own nuclear agreement with Iran, which has been criticised by Republicans and other groups for the sanctions relief it provides. He called it a "substantial success".

"This is a success of diplomacy that hopefully we will be able to copy in the future," he said.

World leaders convening in Washington for the summit expressed concern about North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, and Russia's lack of attendance exemplified the struggle of worldwide unity on preventing nuclear attacks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to attend the summit, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan cancelled his trip after the deadly bombing in Lahore. Both countries are nuclear-armed.

Source: BBC

Dalai Lama afima que diálogo é única via para enfrentar o EI

O Dalai Lama afirmou que o diálogo é o único caminho para enfrentar o grupo jihadista Estado Islâmico (EI), e disse que o islã é uma religião de paz, em entrevista ao jornal italiano La Stampa.

"É preciso dialogar com o ISIS", declarou, utilizando um dos nomes do EI.

"É necessário escutar, compreender, sempre é necessário respeitar o outro, não há outra via", completou o líder espiritual tibetano em uma entrevista em Bangalore, sul da Índia, onde participa em uma conferência sobre paz e economia.

"O islã é uma religião de paz, os intolerantes prejudicam sua própria fé e seus próprios irmãos", disse.

O Dalai Lama também condenou a perseguição em Miannmar, país majoritariamente budista, da minoria muçulmana dos rohingyas.

Fonte: Exame/Abril

Hollande pedirá a Obama e Putin uma coalizão única contra EI

O presidente da França, François Hollande, reivindicou nesta segunda-feira a criação de uma "única coalizão internacional" contra o Estado Islâmico (EI), para o que se reunirá nos próximos dias com os presidentes dos Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, e da Rússia, Vladimir Putin.

Em discurso no Palácio de Versalhes perante o parlamento reunido de forma extraordinária em sessão bicameral, Hollande assinalou que seu país pedirá uma reunião "no prazo mais breve" do Conselho de Segurança da ONU para aprovar uma resolução contra o EI.

"Até então, a França intensificará suas operações" na Síria, disse, acrescentando que a incorporação do porta-aviões Charles de Gaulle aos bombardeios, a partir de 18 de novembro, "triplicará nossas capacidades operativas".

Em um discurso repleto de medidas e anúncios, o presidente francês explicou que deu instruções a seu ministro da Defesa, Jean-Yves Le Drian, para que peça a seus colegas da União Europeia (UE) que quando um Estado-membro seja agredido "todos os demais" o ajudem.

"A Síria se transformou na maior fábrica de terroristas", declarou em seu discurso, de pouco mais de meia hora de duração.

Hollande considerou "vital" que a Europa acolha os imigrantes que pedem asilo, mas também pediu "controles sistemáticos e coordenados" nas fronteiras da UE e reivindicou a aprovação do arquivo europeu de passageiros aéreos (PNR) antes do final de ano.

Fonte:Exame/Abril

Ataques franceses destroem depósitos de armas do EI na Síria

Vários bombardeios executados por aviões franceses destruíram neste domingo à noite um campo de treinamento e depósitos de armas em Raqa, reduto do grupo Estado Islâmico (EI) na Síria, anunciou a ONG Observatório Sírio dos Direitos Humanos (OSDH).

"Durante a noite aconteceram pelo menos 36 explosões em Raqa, algumas provocadas por bombardeios aéreos, outras apenas por explosivos", afirmou à AFP Rami Abdel Rahman, diretor do OSDH, que tem uma grande rede de fontes na Síria.

"As explosões sacudiram toda a cidade, aconteceram bombardeios ao norte e ao sul de Raqa", completou Abdel Rahman, para quem as explosões podem ter sido provocadas pelos ataques aéreos franceses.

Entre os alvos, o OSDH citou a "Brigada 17", um campo de treinamento que abriga depósitos de armas. O diretor do OSDH não soube informar se os ataques deixaram vítimas.

O ministério da Defesa da França informou que 10 caças lançaram 20 bombas no domingo à noite na região norte da Síria, destruindo um posto de comando e um campo de treinamento do EI.

O grupo jihadista reivindicou no sábado os atentados de sexta-feira em Paris que deixaram 129 mortos e mais de 350 feridos.

Doze aviões, incluindo 10 caças, participaram simultaneamente, a partir dos Emirados Árabes Unidos e Jordânia, na operação em Raqa.

O presidente francês, François Hollande, advertiu no sábado que o país seria "implacável" tanto a nível interno como externo após os atentados, que chamou de "ato de guerra".

A França participa há um ano na coalizão internacional contra o EI no Iraque e desde setembro ampliou as operações à Síria.

Fonte:Exame/Abril

Em encontro do Brics, Dilma defende "combate sem tréguas" contra o terrorismo

Ao lado de lideranças de Rússia, da Índia, da China e da África do Sul, presidente pede cooperação internacional

A presidente Dilma Rousseff e os líderes da Rússia, da China e da África do Sul defenderam neste domingo (15) o fortalecimento da cooperação dentro do bloco de nações emergentes e também com outras nações, para o combate ao terrorismo.

Dilma Rousseff e os presidentes Xi Jiping, da China, Vladimir Putin, da Rússia, e Jacob Zuma, da África do Sul, além do primeiro-ministro da Índia, Narendra Modi, reuniram-se em Antalya, na Turquia, antes de participar da reunião do Grupo das 20 (G20) principais economias mundo.

Rousseff discursou no encontro do Brics e reiterou seu repúdio aos ataques ocorridos em Paris, na última sexta-feira (13). "Essa atrocidade torna ainda mais urgente uma ação conjunta de toda comunidade internacional no combate sem tréguas ao terrorismo", disse Dilma Rousseff.

A presidente brasileira afirmou também que a coordenação do país no G20 irá priorizar temas como os investimentos em infraestruturas, a redução da volatilidade dos mercados globais, a reforma das instituições financeiras e o combate à pobreza e à desigualdade.

Rousseff defendeu uma administração internacional mais "equilibrada e representativa", a reforma do Fundo Monetário Internacional (FMI) e considerou o grupo do Brics como uma "força positiva para a retomada do crescimento global".

Os líderes do Brics divulgaram, em comunicado conjunto, que a recuperação da economia mundial "ainda não é sustentável, o que realça a importância do fortalecimento da coordenação e da cooperação em políticas macroeconómicas entre os membros do G20, para evitar repercussões negativas e de modo a lograr crescimento forte, equilibrado e sustentável".

O grupo extremista Estado Islâmico reivindicou em comunicado, os atentados de sexta-feira em Paris, que causaram 129 mortos, 352 feridos, 99 em estado grave.
Sete terroristas foram encontrados mortos nos locais dos ataques, segundo informação das autoridades francesas.

Os ataques ocorreram em pelo menos seis locais diferentes da cidade, entre eles uma sala de espetáculos e o Stade de France, onde ocorria um jogo de futebol entre as seleções de França e da Alemanha.

Fonte: Último segundo/IG

Anonymous declaram guerra ao Estado Islâmico

O grupo de piratas informáticos Anonymous declarou guerra ao Estado Islâmico depois dos ataques terroristas da passada sexta-feira, em Paris. "A guerra foi declarada. Preparem-se", diz o grupo através de uma mensagem vídeo.

Os ataques terroristas da passada sexta-feira, 13 de Novembro, na capital francesa, não passaram despercebidos aos Anonymous. O grupo de "hackers" reagiu esta segunda-feira, 16 de Novembro, num vídeo publicado no YouTube declarando guerra ao Estado Islâmico.

"Vamos lançar a maior operação de sempre contra vocês. Esperem vários ataques informáticos", ameaça, em francês, um dos membros do grupo num vídeo de 2.30 minutos publicado no YouTube.

"Estes ataques não podem passar impunes", refere o vídeo dos Anonymous, uma rede internacional de piratas informáticos ativistas. O grupo não deu detalhes dos ataques que está a preparar.

O elemento dos Anonymous que aparece no vídeo usando a tradicional máscara de Guy Fawkes, popularizada no filme "V for Vendetta", reforça que "nós não perdoamos e nós não esquecemos".

Os Anonymous já tinham reagido contra o Estado Islâmico depois dos ataques contra a redacção do Charlie Hebdo, em Janeiro deste ano, com uma mensagem em que também ameaçavam o Estado Islâmico com vários ataques informáticos.

Segundo dados da revista norte-americana Foreign Policy, o grupo de "hacktivistas" já foi responsável pelo desmantelamento de perto de 150 sites associados ao grupo extremista islâmico, 100 mil contas de Twitter e 5.900 vídeos de propaganda extremista.

Fonte: Negocios.pt