Number of children affected by Syrian war doubled in last year, says UNICEF

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a report released late Monday that at least 10,000 children have been killed in the Syrian conflict. However, the organization noted that the actual number was probably much higher.

After three years of civil war, hundreds of thousands of Syrian children remain trapped in besieged parts of the country, said UNICEF.

'Syria is now one of the most dangerous places on earth to be a child,' said the report. 'In their thousands, children have lost lives and limbs, along with virtually every aspect of their childhood.'

'They have lost classrooms and teachers, brothers and sisters, friends, caregivers, homes and stability,' it added. 'Instead of learning and playing, many people have been forced into the workplace, are being recruited to fight, or subjected to enforced idleness.'

UNICEF has singled out the conflict's use of child soldiers by both rebel and military fighters, launching a campaign last week aimed at ending their recruitment by government forces in the country by 2016.

'The dangers for children go beyond death and injury,' UNICEF said Monday. 'Boys as young as 12 have been recruited to join the fighting, some in actual combat, others to work as informers, guards or arms smugglers.'

Twice the number of children affected

A total of 5.5 million children have been affected by the conflict, more than twice the number UNICEF estimated in March 2013. Nearly 3 million young Syrians have been displaced inside the country, up from 920,000 last year. The total number of child refugees has risen from 260,000 a year ago to 1.2 million. Some 425,000 of those refugees are under the age of five.

The report said 2 million children were in need of some form of psychological support or treatment, while noting the war's devastating impact on schooling.

'The decline in Syrian children's access to education has been staggering,' UNICEF said. 'Today, nearly 3 million children in Syria and in neighboring countries are unable to go to school on a regular basis. That's about half of Syria's school-age population.'

The problems extend outside Syria's borders, said the report. One in every five Syrian girls in Jordan is forced into an early marriage, while one in 10 Syrian refugee children is now working.

'This war has to end so that children can return to their homes and rebuild their lives in safety with their family and friends,' said UNICEF Director Anthony Lake. 'This third devastating year for Syrian children must be the last.'

Gaza barrage prompts Israeli warnings

Islamic Jihad militants claimed responsibility for Wednesday's rocket fire from Gaza. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the Jewish state had 'no alternative' but to re-occupy the 'entire Gaza Strip.'

He made his remark to the private Israeli Channel 2 television. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu avoided a reoccupation threat but said his country would act against those who launched the rockets 'with great force.'

'We will continue to foil and hurt those who want to hurt us,' Netanyahu said in a social network message.

Israel responds with shelling

The Israeli military said its artillery and tanks stationed on the Gaza border replied by shelling at least two launching sites in Gaza.

Visiting Jerusalem, Britain's Cameron said the rocket attacks were 'completely indiscriminate.' Referring to lengthy diplomatic efforts to establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel, he said 'there is no violent route to statehood.'

Largest in two years

Wednesday's rocket barrage from Gaza was the largest since 2012, the militant group said, referring to an eight-day offensive against Gaza militants four years ago that claimed the lives of 177 Palestinians and six Israelis.

The Islamic Jihad said Wednesday it had fired the rockets to avenge an Israeli airstrike that killed three of its fighters on Tuesday.

One rocket landed in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, but caused not injuries, said Israeli officials, adding that eight rockets had impacted in built-up areas. The others fell in open areas.

Residents were told to shelter indoors. Of some 30 rockets fired, three were intercepted by Israel's 'Iron Dome' missile system, said Israel's military.

Border crossing closed

Palestinian officials said Israel also responded to the attack by closing indefinitely the Kerem Shalom border crossing for freight.

In 2005, Israel pulled its soldiers and settlers out of Gaza, which is now run by Hamas Islamists. Israel has since maintained a naval and air blockade.

Last week, Israeli special forces captured a ship in the Red Sea that was carrying rockets and other weapons that Israel claims were supplied by Iran and destined for Gaza.

Libyan ex-premier flees to Europe

Ex-premier Ali Zeidan reportedly fled to Europe on Wednesday, a day after Libya's interim parliament in Tripoli voted him out of office for failing to stop an oil export by rebels from eastern Libya.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told the state-owned Maltese television TVM that Zeidan stopped over on the Mediterranean island nation late on Tuesday.

Maltese government sources quoted by Reuters said Zeidan left on board a private plan bound for Germany. This was not confirmed by German authorities.

Zeidan lived for many years in Europe before the 2011 uprising against the late-Muammar Gadhafi encouraged exiles like him to return home.

Libya's parliament, the General National Congress (GNC), removed Zeidan on Tuesday after rebels holding three key ports in eastern Libya disobeyed government orders and let shipments be handled by the state-run National Oil Corporation.

On Tuesday, the large North Korea-flagged tanker Morning Glory, loaded with crude oil from the rebel-controlled port of Sidra, escaped through a improvised naval blockage imposed by Zeidan. The tanker then entered international waters.

Last Saturday, Zeidan had threatened to bomb the 37,000-ton vessel if it set sail.

Fighting broke out briefly later on Tuesday in the central coastal city of Sirte, between rebels and pro-government forces.

Caretaker premier

The interim parliament appointed Defense Minister Abdullah al-Thini as caretaker premier for 15 days. The parliament's speaker, Nuri Abu Sahmain, had been engaged in a power struggle with Zeidan,

Since the 2011 ouster of Gadhafi, Libya has been divided along tribal, regional and political lines, with hardline Islamists opposed to more liberal figures such as Zeidan.

The country has no effective army or police and its Tripoli-based government risks running out of money because of rebel activities

Academy members voted for 12 Years without watching it

Director and producer Steve McQueen celebrates after accepting the Oscar for Best Picture for 12 Years a Slave with Lupita Nyong’o and Benedict Cumberbatch at the Academy Awards. PHOTO: FILE

In the lead up to the 86th annual Academy Awards, one prevalent meme on social media was that some Oscar voters simply didn’t want to watch the film 12 Years a Slave. There was the lurking suspicion that the film’s triumph might have had as much to do with its subject matter as its actual quality. A recent report by The Los Angeles Times revealed that that was actually true. Two anonymous members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences apparently never saw Steve McQueen’s eventual Best Picture winner, despite placing the film atop their Oscar ballots.

As host Ellen DeGeneres put it, to equal laughs and winces from the audiences: “Possibility number one: 12 Years a Slave wins best picture. Possibility number two: You’re all racists.”

Worse than the chance that some Academy members bypassed their critical faculties after viewing Steve McQueen’s film and voted for it out simply as a sense of duty though, is new reports claiming that some plumped for it without even having watched the movie.

One anonymous voter admitted to the Hollywood Reporter that the reason she did not watch the film was to avoid “more terrible stuff to keep in my head.” The voter claimed that they “never liked movies with severe violence”.

Putting aside the fact that grown adults couldn’t bring themselves to watch not a snuff film but a historical drama, in spite of that being their one job, the report lends weight to the view that cinematic excellence does not always come first at the Academy Awards. These voters are a worrying statistic but they are, so far, in the minority. There are more than 6,000 members in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and only two voters categorically confirmed that they chose not to watch the film before voting for it.

Satyamev Jayate 2: Javed Akhtar speaks up for Aamir Khan

Aamir Khan. PHOTO: AFP

MUMBAI: Veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar finds it a “shame” that certain people have abused actor-filmmaker and “Satyamev Jayate 2″ host Aamir Khan and doubted his intentions of amassing donations via the social issue-based TV show.

“Shame! Instead of appreciating Aamir, the great grandson (great grand nephew) of Maulana Azad for highlighting the real issues, some sick people are abusing him,” Akhtar posted on his Twitter page Monday.

Aamir made his TV debut with “Satyamev Jayate” (SMJ) in May 2012 and the show, dealing with sensitive social issues like female foeticide, domestic violence and child abuse, received a warm welcome from TV viewers after it went on air on Star Plus.

Some of the episodes dealing with female foeticide and malpractices in the medical field recorded the highest ratings.

The show’s second season went on air on STAR India channels March 2. Its first episode dealt with the issue of rape, and the second episode, beamed Sunday, talked about police force.

A defamatory campaign against Aamir began on a social networking site, alleging that when at the end of the show, Aamir asks for donations for Humanity Trust, the money is used for masjid construction assistance and placement assistance for Muslim youth.

In reaction to it, Aamir registered a complaint with the Mumbai police and clarified that the “malicious messages are wrong and baseless”.

Did you know? : Lady Gaga’s charity spends more on expenses than grants

Pop sensation Lady Gaga, who has made millions go gaga over her eccentric persona and music, has been accused of spending her charity foundation’s millions  on expenses instead of philanthropic efforts.

According to tax records, she took in more than $2.5 million in 2012 for her Born This Way foundation, but only paid a single $5,000 grant, reports the Daily Mail.

The charitable foundation spent millions on consultants, lawyers and publicity experts. In addition, it spent more than $500,000 on its 23 day event Born To Be Brave bus tour, which covered cities in the United States, ‘inspiring’ the disillusioned youth.

In what are whopping and shocking numbers, the non-profit organisation paid $406,552 for legal fees, $300,000 for ‘strategic development’ and $150,000 for ‘philanthropic consulting’ out of its $2.66 million revenue.

The New York Post reports that the total expenses reached $1.85 million. Woah!

Gaga, who topped the ‘Top 20 Celebs Gone Good’ list (DoSomething.org) in 2012, launched the organisation in 2011 with a personal donation worth $1.2 million and also gave $1 million to victims of Hurricane Sandy (2012).

300’ sequel conquers the weekend box office

300: Rise of an Empire, based on Frank Miller’s latest graphic novel Xerxes, is the sequel to 2006 blockbuster 300. PHOTO: FILE

LOS ANGELES: 

The action film 300: Rise of an Empire, battled its way to $45 million in ticket sales to win the weekend box office race, smashing its way past the animated filmMr Peabody & Sherman.

Set in ancient Greece, 300: Rise of an Empire is the blood-splattered sequel to the 2006 blockbuster 300. It takes place before and after the earlier film when 300 Spartans marched to their deaths in a battle against the Persians.

In the sequel, an alliance of Greek city-states wage battle on the seas against the Persians.

Mr Peabody & Sherman, based on the Peabody’s Improbable History segments in the 1960s animated TV show starring the characters Rocky and Bullwinkle, collected ticket sales of $32.5 million at US and Canadian theatres.

The movie, which features the talking dog Mr Peabody and his adopted boy, Sherman, exceeded studio 20th Century Fox’s expectations for an opening from about $25 million to $30 million. The movie was directed by Rob Minkoff, who also directed the 1994 animated film The Lion King, which was nominated for four Academy Awards and won two for its soundtrack.

Last week’s box office winner, Non-Stop, was third with $15.4 million in sales. The film stars Liam Neeson as an alcoholic US air marshal racing to stop a string of murders on an international flight.

The Lego Movie, took the No. 4 overall spot with $11 million, according to Rentrak. The animated hit based on the colourful plastic building blocks has now totaled $225 million since its February 7 release.

Rounding out the top five, Son of God, based on The Bible television mini-series produced bySurvivor producer Mark Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey, collected sales of $10 million