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The state of emergency has been declared in Male, the capital of the Maldives island chain, much of which has been deprived of drinking water since Dec. 5 when the city’s sole water and sewage treatment plant burned.

“I think the situation is more serious than the government admits” one resident, who requested anonymity, told local news agency Minivan News.

The Maldivian government announced Monday that there could have been no fall back plan for such a disaster.

Male is one of the most densely populated places in the world at a rate of 130,000 people in an area about two kilometers square. Faced with the shortage, people attacked shops selling mineral water, according to local media reports.

According to Maldivian Minister at the President’s Office Mohamed Hussain Shareef, Maldives 130,000 Male residents of Malé consume around 14,000 metric tonnes of water a day. The water treatment plant, when fully functional, was able to produce 20,000 tonnes, Shareef said.

The Maldives has appealed for aid from India, Sri Lanka, the US and China.

Indian authorities transported water in by air this Friday, and dispatched a Navy ship with two water purification systems on board, capable of producing 20 tons of drinking water per day.

Water was also provided by aircraft from neighboring Sri Lanka, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, as reported by the news website Minivan News. An American ship is en route with drinking water, and China has promised to help, the ministry said.

A Chinese vessel is carrying 960 tonnes of fresh water is en route, according to the Chinese Defense Ministry. China’s Foreign Ministry has also stated that 20 tonnes of bottled water was sent on two civilian flights Saturday.

For their part, Maldivian authorities tried to revive the activity of the plant, but according to Minivan News, repairs could take up to five days.

“We had water on tap for about an hour this morning, and it is hardly enough,” added Minivan’s source. Water was distributed free to residents by security forces, but only those able to show a Maldives ID card could benefit, thus excluding foreign workers from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan or Sri Lanka. This limitation was denounced local political activists.

By James Haleavy

Overnight in the Democratic Republic of Congo 36 people were killed with machetes and axes, despite the efforts of the national army and UN peacekeepers to halt the series of massacres attributed to Ugandan rebels. Between Saturday to Sunday in the eastern DRC, deaths attributed to the rebel militants since October rose to over 250.

The attacks took place on the edge of the city Oicha, about 30 kilometers northeast of Beni city in the province of North Kivu and in two nearby villages, Manzanzaba and Mulobiya. The assailants killed men, women and children.

The attackers killed 36 people, injured two, and kidnapped two, according to Jean-Baptiste Kamabu, head of the city Oicha and Colonel Célestin Ngeleka, spokesman for the DRC’s Congolese operation against the armed groups in the north of North Kivu. 

According to Kamabu, the attack took place between 20:00 and 01:00 local time, while the area is under night curfew.

The DRC’s Sokola 1 operation has reportedly dislodged the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) from most of their strongholds in the foothills of the over 5,000 meter tall Ruwenzori massif on the border between Congo and Uganda, but the mission stopped abruptly in late August with the death of the general in command. Sokola 1 was then relaunched in November after the massacres began in Beni territory.

None of the massacres committed since October in the Beni region have been claimed by the militants, and although most authorities believe they are responsible, what goal the ADF has in perpetrating the killings is considered to be unclear. The DRC government, the UN and experts have have stated that they see in the killings a continuation of the killings perpetrated by Muslim rebels in the eastern DRC since 1995 and opposed to President Yoweri Museveni.

In a statement, the head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), Martin Kobler condemned the violence of the night.

“The proliferation of joint actions by MONUSCO-FARDC is of vital urgency, and I call on all partners to strengthen cooperation to enable more immediate interventions and increase preventive patrols,” Kobler said, addressing both the staff of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and the command of the military forces for MONUSCO.

A recent report by a parliamentary fact-finding mission sent to the region stated that the situation was a “crisis of confidence between the security services, the political and administrative authorities and the population.”

The ADF have not always been hostile to the local population, according to several experts, who have noted that the ADF have longstanding relationships with the locals due to years of commercial and matrimonial ties. The rebels derive their resources from trade with the locals, including various trafficking activities, especially in wood.

By Dan Jackson

Agustin Gómez Pérez, 18, was lit on fire by comrades in an act of civil disobedience against the Congress of Chiapas, which, the anarchist group Frente Ricardo Flores Magon alleged, was responsible for the arrest of a comrade in May. The group is demanding the release of their comrade, one Florentino Gómez Girón, an indigenous leader who was arrested on cattle theft and robbery charges.

Demanding Florentino’s release, Perez lay motionless as his comrades doused him in flammable liquid and lit him on fire.

Perez stood up and ran burning, flailing his arms for approximately 20 seconds before being extinguished. He was taken to hospital and is being treated for third-degree burns. His situation is critical.

It was reported that the accusation against Florentino was made by Aquiles Espinosa of the political party Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) as part of a campaign to intimidate dissent in the Ixtapa region before the 2015 elections.

Members of the Ixtapa anarchist organization Frente Ricardo Flores Magon had been protesting for nearly a month in front of Congress in the city of Tuxtla Gutiérrez for the release of their comrade.

The group also conducted an act of civil disobedience Dec. 2 when they sewed their lips shut and performed a symbolic crucifixion.

The group has so far procured a promise from the state government that Florentino’s case would be reviewed.

After the burning of Perez, the anarchist organization stated that if Florentino was not released, three more people would be lit on fire, including two indigenous women.

(Warning: this video is extremely graphic and The Speaker does not wish you to watch this if you are sensitive to depictions of human suffering. This video may be very emotional and effecting.)

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A Tibetan protester died Friday–just two days after being released from prison on “medical parole.” The Tibetan was six years into a 15-year prison term for participating in the 2008 Machu Protest, at which Chinese police opened fire and killed 12 Tibetans. The man is the second Tibetan to die after being released on “medical parole” this year.

Tenzin Choedak, who had previously served at a European NGO affiliated with the Red Cross and who worked on environmental projects in Lhasa and Shigatse, began to deteriorate in prison in early November. He was taken to three different hospitals by prison authorities before being released to his family.

“Tenchoe was brought to one of the hospitals with his hands and legs heavily shackled. He was almost unrecognizable,” one source told Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD). “His physical condition had deteriorated and he had brain injury in addition to vomiting blood.”

He died two days after his release.

Choedak died at Mentsekhang, the traditional Tibetan medical institute in Lhasa city, hours after being brought to the facility by family.

Choedak was arrested in 2008 for participating in the 2008 Machu Protest, at which police opened fire on hundreds of Tibetans, killing 12.

Choedak was sentenced to 15 years and 10,000 yuan for participating in the protest, and, according to sources, was beaten and tortured in prison.

Reportedly, police interrogations focussed on Choedak’s father, one Mr Khedup, a long-time activist in Tibet before he was compelled to flee to India in 1993. Interrogation involved claims that Choedak was acting at his father’s instigation.

Earlier this year, another Tibetan protester, Goshul Lobsang, also died on “medical parole” after being released from years of torture in prison. Lobsang had also been sentenced to 10 years for “spearheading” the 2008 Machu Protest.

Read more: Tibetan protester dies of torture after being released on “medical parole”

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Russia is sending a large convoy of humanitarian aid to Transnistria, the pro-Russian region of Moldova, with the stated intention of helping the region integrate into the Euro-Asian Union, according to news PMR, a Moldovan news outlet. The Russian organization responsible for directing the deliveries met with the leader of the pro-Russian separatist government in Transnistria Wednesday, reportedly, and stated that there would be around 60 trucks in all.

“We do not know how the situation will develop around Transnistria, so we prefer to have equipment in place immediately,” said the director of the organization of Euro-Asian Union, Alexander Argunov, who also said that he had a meeting with the leader of the separatist republic, Evgeny Shevciuk, Wednesday.

Argunov said that he had discussed with Shevciuk equipment for new medical clinics and kindergartens in Transnistria, which would be built using Russian resources. Russia would also help implement social projects and provide Transnistria with subsidies to help deal with economic problems associated with breaking from Moldova, Argunov said.

Read more: Ukraine Warns Moldova is Next Target for Russia, as “Little Green Men” Appear There–Moldova Warns They Will Not Have Adequate Strength in Event of Armed Conflict

Shevciuk was in Moscow in early October where he spoke about the socioeconomic situation in Transnistria following the signing of the Association Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova.

Moldova held parliamentary elections last week, in which pro-European parties took a greater number of seats than pro-Russian parties. Moldova will now form a coalition government that will have strong pro-European inclinations.

Read more: “Let us vote!” – Moldovans shout in Moscow

Argun said that the equipment being delivered to Transnistria was produced by various manufacturers in Germany, Belarus, and other nations. “We bought the best option based on price and quality, such that will suit our beneficiaries in Transnistria.”

Seven trucks arrived in Moldova in early November. Argunov said Wednesday that there would be about 60 in total, and “dozens” were currently on their way.

Argunov also commented on the complex nature of such cargo deliveries, saying that the organization shipped the most simple products first, such as furniture.

“On the example of furniture,” Argunov said, “we have seen how loads have passed through Ukraine, which was with difficulties, and what was required of the Ukrainian authorities with regards to the passage of the cargo. We assessed how things happened there [with simple products first], and then began to send more expensive medical equipment.”

The first deputy chairman of the Customs Committee of the Pridnestrovian Moldovian Republic (PMR), Svetlana Klimenkova, said that the Transnistrian side is making every effort to ensure continuity of the process and to facilitate “Eurasian integration.”

“Initially, we worked out all the possible options in terms of movement of these types of goods and provided the ability to move in such a way as to eliminate all the problems of complexity and difficulty. The process worked efficiency, “said Klimenkova.

By James Haleavy

Fighting continued in Grozny, Chechnya, as morning succeeded a night of insurgent activity in the North Caucasus city.

At approximately 1 a.m. local time last night, Chechen insurgents killed several police and occupied the Grozny Press House media facility. Current reports have five Russian police killed in addition to seven dead insurgents.

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The media building bore heavy gunfire from the Russian Army throughout the night.

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The building burned as morning came on. Russian tv channels reportedly interrupted some programming to show live reporting from Grozny.

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The Chechen Center, which identifies itself as “Independent Chechen Media, Chechnya, Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, ChRI, Ichkeria,” tweeted, “300 freedom fighters stormed the positions of Russian troops in Grozny. For our freedom and yours!”

Early in the morning, head of the Chechen Republic and a former Chechen rebel, Ramzan Kadyrov, announced that the insurgents were “about to be neutralized.”

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Kadyrov claimed to be personally supervising the anti-terrorist operation (ATO). Shortly after 8 a.m.–time appointed by Kadyrov for the end of the mission, Chechen militants blocked a school, and Russian forces assaulted the building.

Fighting continued in the streets of Grozny into the day.

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Kadyrov denied claims that the Chechen force was gaining control.

“I ask residents in areas where the (security) operation is being carried out to take precautions, and not to go outside without urgent need, nor to approach the windows,” wrote Kadyrov online. “All the talk about the city being under the control of militants is absolutely false.”

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By the night of Dec 4., 10 Russian police had been reported killed, 28 wounded. Nine Chechen fighters were also killed.

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By The Speaker staff

A force, reportedly around 300-400 strong, is fighting in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya in Russia’s North Caucasus region. The militants seized the Grozny Press House media facility and laid siege to a school, prompting a military response from Russian authorities. Russian President Vladimir Putin was transported to the Kremlin in the middle of the night by motorcade, and Moscow airspace has been closed to civilian traffic, reportedly.

“There have been casualties among law enforcement personnel there,” reported the Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC).

Reportedly, five police officers were killed when the militants stormed the building at around 1:00 a.m. local time. The militants arrived in three cars and attacked the police guard, then entered the building on the corner of Lorsanov and Mayakovsky.

Read more: Russia sending 60 humanitarian aid convoy trucks to pro-Russian region of Moldova

The Ministry of the Interior in Chechnya reported that there were five or six members of armed illegal groups in the building.

 

The Chechen fighters also laid siege to a school.

A Russian anti-terrorist operation has been launched, and authorities in the region are fighting the rebel insurgents.

“At the direction of the head of the operations headquarters of the NAC in Grozny, a counter-terrorist operation has been initiated,” read an NAC statement.

Russian media is reporting burning cars and firefights in the streets.

Russian tanks, troops and armored troop vehicles have surrounded locations where the fighting is taking place. Gunfire continues. The counter-terrorist operation includes increased public protection measures, checking of all documents in designated areas and communication with police and other competent authorities for identity verification. Vehicles in the affected area will be towed, and cellular phone communication may be blocked.

Airspace over Moscow has been closed to all civilian traffic, reportedly.

Several sources on Twitter are reporting that Putin’s motorcade was seen travelling to the Kremlin in the middle of the night, with helicopters flying around the building.

The attacks come just hours before Putin was scheduled to deliver a speech before the Russian Federation Council. The speech has been much anticipated, as the last such speech made to Russia’s upper house followed shortly after Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

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Some of the videos posted of the fighting claim that the assault is being led by the Mujahideen of the Caucasus Emirate, Amir Khamzat, a close associate of the late Dokku Umarov, the former leader of the Emirate who was killed by Russia in Sept. 2013.

Chechen rebellion against Russia dates back centuries. The First Chechen War began in 1991, and the Second Chechen War continued the conflict after a five year intermission from 1994 to 1999. During the Second Chechen War, Grozny was almost completely destroyed by Russia before Chechnya was put under direct control of Moscow. Since that time, low-level insurgency has continued, first under Shamil Basayev, then under Umarov and now under Khamzat.

See ongoing updates: Grozny updates

A group of coffins returned to a far eastern Russian city from the fighting in Eastern Ukraine. The coffins were marked as “Cargo 200” and best efforts were made by Russian officials to keep the funeral secret.

“The first 17 zinc coffins were returned to the city, which caused some shock among the local people,” stated a former Russian soldier who spoke on condition of anonymity to Crime.in.UA, who called the man in the city of Ussuriysk.

Information about where the deaths of the Russia soldiers took place was not released by Russian officials, who attempted to keep the funeral as secret as possible, according to the source.

However, the former Russian soldier said that the corpses appeared to be professional soldiers (“kontrakniki”) from the 14th Brigade of the GRU Spetsnaz Russian Federation (Special Forces of the Russian General Staff), although the source qualified that it was difficult to say with certainty from which military unit the soldiers had served.

Read more: Russian Soldiers Families to Russian Government: “Give Us Back Our Children” Killed in Undeclared War 

The source said that the Russian corpses had been killed in one of the battles for the Donetsk airport in Eastern Ukraine.

The zinc coffins were returned to Ussuriysk, a city of 165,000 people located on an arm of Russian territory at the very eastern edge of Russia, surrounded by China, North Korea and the Sea of Japan. Around 500 Russian soldiers who had been based in Ussuriysk after 2012 had been flown to the Rostov oblast–“the West,” as locals referred to it–earlier this year.

“It was clear that Russian special forces operate at the [Donetsk] airport,” said the source, “but it really could not be confirmed. Now everything fits together.”

Fighting around Donetsk, particularly at the Donetsk airport continues despite the Sept. 5 peace agreement. Russia sent an eighth convoy of 39 unauthorized, uninspected vehicles to refortify its fighters in Eastern Ukraine with food, fuel, weapons and ammunition Nov. 30.

By James Haleavy

Read more: Head of Russian Soldiers’ Mothers Group Denounces Putin for Sending Soldiers to “the Bloody Battlefields” in Undeclared War

Russia’s proposed South Stream pipeline–which would connect Russia to southern Europe without crossing Ukraine–was scrapped Monday in the wake of EU objections to the project. Instead, Russia is naming Turkey as its preferred piped gas partner.

Russia has been for several years in the planning stage for an undersea pipeline to that would feed 63 billion cubic meters into Turkey annually. The pipeline would run under the Black Sea at a depth of up to 1.5 miles.

The Blue Stream pipeline which already connects the two nations opened officially in 2005. Even in 2005, Russian President Vladimir Putin had stated that there was an opportunity to expand the pipeline to pump gas across Turkey into southern Italy, the south of Europe an Israel. Turkey also viewed Blue Stream as a step towards becoming a player in world energy markets.

Citing EU objections to South Stream, which would have brought gas into the EU via Bulgaria, Russia’s chief executive of Gazprom, Alexei Miller, told reporters in Ankara that South Stream was “closed.” “That’s it,” said the official.

Putin publicly stated that Russia would grant Turkey a six percent discount on imported gas next year. Turkey is seeking a 15 percent discount for Russian gas, however.

“As our cooperation develops and deepens, I think we will be ready for further price reductions,” Miller told reporters in Ankara. “As we develop our joint projects… the level of gas price for Turkey could reach the one Germany has today.”

Putin also accused the EU of denying Bulgaria its sovereign rights by blocking the South Stream project. Putin counselled that the EU objections were “against Europe’s economic interests” and were “causing damage”

Currently, Russia supplies around 30 percent of Europe’s gas needs via pipelines through Ukraine. Many nations–including Hungary, Austria and Bulgaria–have expressed concern that the South Stream pipeline would be risky, citing Russia’s gas disruptions and threatened disruptions via Ukraine pipelines after Russia invaded Ukraine early this year.

By James Haleavy

Germany’s foreign ministry spoke on the question of Ukraine’s joining NATO Sunday, stating that the idea could not be on the agenda and that Ukraine was not on the way towards NATO, as far as he was concerned. The minister expressed concern over “adding fuel to the fire” over a continuingly dangerous conflict.

“I am all for transparency in the matter, as, I believe, it would not be helpful if we were to not speak about it,” said Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in an interview with ZDF television channel.

Steinmeier said that it would be necessary to inform the public of the questions that it would be better not to ask for fear of “adding fuel to the fire.”

It was necessary to “remain realists,” said the minister. “We are in the centre of a dangerous conflict.”

Steinmeier said that the situation in Ukraine left much to be desired, but further escalation was still possible and he remained concern about the possible repercussions of Ukraine joining NATO.

“For me, Ukraine’s membership in the North Atlantic Alliance cannot be on the agenda. Anyway, I cannot see Ukraine on the way towards NATO,” he said.

The minister characterized the dispute with Russia as “major.”

““I keep saying, it may take just 14 days to provoke a conflict, but it could take 14 years to settle it.”

By James Frank Haleavy

 

Unable to vote, hundreds of Moldovans remained at closed polling stations in Moscow, shouting, “Let us vote!” Officials, citing a shortage of ballot papers midway into the vote, stated that no more ballot papers would be issued, and the vote would not be extended.

Parliamentary election voting was cut short in the Russian capital after ballot papers ran out, according to election commission chairman Anatoly Patrashku.

Ballot papers ran out during the opening hours of polling at the Moldovan consulate building in Moscow.

“It has been decided that the work of the polling stations will not be extended since all of the 3,000 ballot papers have been used, said Patrashku.

Across Russia, the Moldovan government opened only five polling stations for the Sunday vote, despite the number of 700,000-one million Moldovans who reside in Russia. These stations were located within Moscow, Ramenskoye (Moscow region), Novosibirsk, St Petersberg and Sochi.

According to Moldovan election regulations, each polling station cannot have more than 3,000 ballot papers.

By James Haleavy