Posted: 11 May 2014 02:29 PM PDT

Polling stations have closed in Ukraine’s self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk after a referendum on independence from the Kiev government. The turnout reached over 70 percent, according to organizers of the poll.
The last polling stations in Lugansk and Donetsk regions wrapped up their work at 23:00 local time (20:00 GMT).
There is no minimum voter turnout required for the “people’s republics’” self-determination referendum, but local authorities claim that in Lugansk it has been over 79%, while in Donetsk region it reached 74.87%, Ria Novosti reports.
According to first preliminary results, only 5% of those who cast their ballots said ‘no’ answering to a question whether they “support the Act of state self-rule” of the Lugansk People’s Republic respectively, the leader of local “people’s front” Aleksey Chmilenko told Interfax.
“I think this number [5 %] will not rise, but it may decrease,” he added.
According to preliminary results in Donetsk region, 89.7% votes were cast in favor of self-rule, Donetsk election committee said.
Ahead of the vote, local self-defense forces boosted security, fearing that Kiev could stage provocations to disrupt the self-determination vote. In several areas the day did result in new violence and new casualties as the Ukrainian army continues its military operation against “separatists” as it calls pro-autonomy activists.
In Mariupol, recovering from Friday’s deadly clashes, only eight polling stations were opened, according to the coordinator of the central election commission of the “Donetsk People’s Republic”, Boris Litvinov. Those willing to vote had to wait for their turn in huge queues.
Almost simultaneously with the opening of polling stations, sounds of shooting and artillery fire were heard on the outskirts of Slavyansk, in southeast Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
Activists in Slavyansk described the attacks to RT by phone.
“The artillery fire was so loud, that the earth and houses shook,” said one man, who only gave his first name, Vlad. “I have been trying to call the people at the checkpoint but they don’t pick up. There are snipers in the area and it’s too dangerous to speak on the phone.”
Slavyansk already witnessed mortar shelling of its outskirts by Ukrainian forces on the eve of the referendum. In the embattled city the stations will close at 15:00 GMT for security reasons.
Some 1,471 polling stations in Lugansk region and around 1,500 in Donetsk region opened their doors for voters at 8:00 local time (5:00 GMT) and will close at 22:00 (19:00 GMT). Security has been tightened around them.
“We sent additional self-defense units to polling stations and also to the most important social institutions,” a Lugansk self-defense leader, Aleksey Chmilenko, told Interfax. “So far everything is normal, there are no incidents.”
RT’s Paula Slier, currently in Donetsk, reported that Roman Lyagin, chair of the central election commission in the region, believed that a provocation was planned and said that anti-government activists were ready for it.
The people’s governor of the Donetsk region, Pavel Gubarev, told journalists that Donetsk and Lugansk will emerge as new legal entities as a result of the referendum.
“The referendum for us is about creating a new state paradigm,” he said.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said the results of the referendum in Donetsk and Lugansk regions would not affect the country’s territorial integrity and form of government.
“Organizers of this criminal farce have consciously violated the Ukrainian constitution and laws, and have neglected calls coming from the authorities in Ukraine and from the international community,” the ministry’s statement read.
Citizens of the two southeastern regions of Ukraine were asked if they “support the Act of state self-rule” of Donetsk People’s Republic or Lugansk People’s Republic. The election commission officials explained that the people are not choosing between staying within Ukraine and joining Russia, as widely reported, but instead are asked to support regions’ right for political self-determination.
Over 3 million ballot papers were printed for Donetsk region. All in all, the organizers spent about 20,000 hryvnas (US$ 2,000) preparing for the vote in Ukraine’s industrial region, the heart of the country’s coal-mining. “The referendum will be considered valid whatever voter turnout will be,” Roman Lyagin, the head Donetsk election commission told reporters on Saturday.
In Donetsk, western observers were not present at the polling stations, commission officials said, as nobody expressed willingness to oversee the vote in the turbulent region. “We did not refuse anyone, there were no applications,” Lyagin said, adding though that over 470 international journalists were accredited in Donetsk.
Some 30 international observers were monitoring the voting in Lugansk region, where some 1.8 million are expected to take part in the referendum. “According to a survey, 83% of Lugansk residents are ready to support the Act of state self-rule of the People’s Republic of Lugansk,” said Igor Shakhov, the head of the local election commission.
The referendums, announced back in March, went ahead as planned despite Russian President Putin’s call on pro-federalization activists to postpone them due to the deteriorating and unpredictable security situation in Ukraine.
The Kiev government as well as many western countries, including the US, France and Germany called the referendums “illegal” and urged dialogue between all conflicting parties in Ukraine, at the same time showing no readiness to stop the punitive military operation in the east of the country.
The Unites States and EU have denounced the referendum and said they would not recognize the result of the vote on self-rule held by rebels.
“The so-called referenda in… parts of Lugansk and Donetsk regions were illegal and we do not recognize the outcome. Those who organized the referenda have no democratic legitimacy,” said Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
If a majority of voters answer “yes” on Sunday the regions will gain full moral right to officially state they do not accept what is happening in the country, anti-coup protesters say. The combined population of Donetsk and Lugansk industrial regions, rejecting the legitimacy of the coup-installed Kiev authorities, stands at about 6.7 million in a country of 45 million.

Source

Posted: 11 May 2014 02:03 PM PDT

Tensions have flared up on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea issued its latest nuclear threat two days after Seoul said Pyongyang was making final preparations to conduct its fourth nuclear test.
North Korea has “clarified its resolute stand that it would take countermeasures including nuclear test to protect the sovereignty and dignity of the” country, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Saturday, citing the ruling party’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper.
The threat comes just two days after South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said North Korea was making final preparations to conduct its fourth nuclear test.
The defense minister also noted that South Korean and US forces had stepped up surveillance status across the troubled region to prepare for contingencies.
Seoul has warned that Pyongyang would face serious consequences if it conducts another nuclear test.
North Korea staged three nuclear tests, in 2006, 2009 and 2013, at the Punggye-ri site.
Tensions between the two Koreas have erupted in recent months following Pyongyang’s missile tests in March.
Pyongyang fired short-range missiles in a show of force against the ongoing military drills between Seoul and Washington.
Last year’s drills fuelled tensions, with Pyongyang threatening a pre-emptive nuclear strike and US stealth bombers flying over the peninsula.
Senior North Korean officials have often accused Washington of plotting with regional allies to topple the country’s government.
Source

Posted: 11 May 2014 01:34 PM PDT

Fast food giant Subway has removed ham and bacon from almost 200 outlets, and switched to halal meat alternatives in an attempt to please its Muslim customers.
It has confirmed turkey ham and turkey rashers will be used instead in 185 of its stores, where all the meat will now be prepared according to halal rules.
The chain, which has around 1,500 outlets across the UK, explained its decision by saying it had to balance animal welfare concerns with ‘the views of religious communities’.
Traditional halal slaughter sees animals have their throats slit before bleeding to death. But Subway stressed that the meat served in its sandwiches would come from animals that have been stunned first, a practice that aims to reduce any suffering.
In Arabic the word halal means ‘permitted’ or ‘lawful’ and defines anything that is allowed or lawful according to the Qur’an.
It is often used to indicate food – particularly meat – has been prepared in accordance with Muslim principles and techniques.
Muslims are forbidden from eating any non-halal food and meat from pigs and Subway said customers can identify those stores selling halal food by the special ‘All meats are Halal’ sign, which must be displayed in participating branches.
In the halal-only branches ham and bacon has been substituted for turkey ham and rashers.
Many animal charities condemn halal slaughter as being cruel to animals.
Traditionally in halal abattoirs the throats of the animals are cut while they are fully conscious – an act many campaigners say is inhumane and needlessly cruel.
In non-halal abattoirs, livestock are stunned before killing to prevent any unnecessary suffering.
Some halal butchers also practise pre-stunning, though it is not permitted by some Islamic scholars.
In Britain, killing an animal without prior stunning is illegal, but the law gives special exemption to Muslim and Jewish meat producers on the grounds of religion.
There are thought to be around 12 abattoirs dedicated to unstunned slaughter in the UK, while hundreds practise stunned halal slaughter.
A Subway spokeswoman told MailOnline all halal meat served in the participating branches is from animals who were stunned prior to slaughter.
She said: ‘The growing popularity of the Subway chain with the diverse multicultural population across the UK and Ireland means we have to balance the values of many religious communities with the overall aim of improving the health and welfare standards of animals.
‘We put a programme into place in 2007 to ensure that the population demographic is taken into account when new store openings are considered in order that we meet consumer demand in each location.
‘All our suppliers comply with EU animal welfare legislation as a minimum and we require suppliers of halal products to adopt the stunning of animals prior to their slaughter.
‘All halal meats are certified by the appropriate halal authorities.
‘All halal Subway stores have numerous signs stating that they serve halal food.
‘These are situated on the menu panels, nutritional information and in the front window of the store.’
Animal campaigning charity PETA urged people to opt for a vegetarian diet to ensure they have the best interests of animals at heart.
A spokesman said: ‘At the best of times, meat is a product of a bloody and violent industry with no respect for other living beings who value their lives in the same way that we do and experience the same pain and terror that Subways’ customers would if they were killed for a sandwich.
‘Most religions, including Islam, preach kindness to animals, but words are one thing and practice another.
‘As the Dalai Lama said, “My religion is kindness”. And a diet that expresses kindness, is open to all religions and truly respects animal rights is a vegan one.
‘Subway-goers, no matter what their religion, can eat with a clear conscience by opting for the veggie patty, the veggie delight or, heaven forbid, a salad.’
Speaking about the general issue of halal slaughter, an RSPCA spokeswoman added: ‘Scientific research has clearly shown that slaughter of an animal without stunning can cause unnecessary suffering, and the RSPCA is opposed to the slaughter of any animal without first making it insensible to pain and distress.
‘At present, the only legal exemptions to stunning during slaughter exist for kosher and halal methods of slaughter, however, it is important to differentiate between ‘religious’ and ‘non-stun’ slaughter as around 90 per cent of all halal in the UK receives a stun before slaughter.
‘Our concern has nothing to do with the expression of religious belief but with the practice of killing by throat cutting without pre-stunning.
‘We believe that meat produced from animals stunned or not stunned before slaughter should be clearly labelled to allow consumer choice, and continue to press for changes in the law that would improve the welfare of all farm animals at the time of slaughter.’
Source

Posted: 11 May 2014 01:18 PM PDT

The United States and European Union are causing an international scandal by committing genocide in east Ukraine, a political analyst tells Press TV.
“[US Secretary of State] Mr. John Kerry and Victoria Nuland at the State Department and President [Barack] Obama, who seems to be just funking the issue, and also the EU apparatus like [British Foreign Minister] William Hague, they all should be ashamed of themselves for endorsing the massacre of innocent civilians in the Slavyansk and the other towns,” William Spring said in an interview.
It seems that the US State Department goes along with this policy of the Kiev junta “to effectively engage in genocide” in eastern Ukraine, particularly in Donetsk and Slavyansk regions, he added.
“It’s clear that [Ukraine's acting Jewish Prime Minister Arseniy] Yatsenyuk and the other chaps in charge of the so-called interim government in Kiev are war criminals of the worst type,” the commentator said.
He added that the Kiev interim government is determined to kill as many Ukrainians as it is possible.
The US does not recognize the Russian-speaking Ukrainians as human beings but regards them as “some sort of aberration, some sort of animal who can be just wiped out,” he emphasized.
The analyst further lashed out at the EU for its inaction over the ongoing massacre in the eastern provinces of Ukraine, stressing that this is an “absolute and total disgrace.”
Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which are home to about 7.3 million of the 46 million population of Ukraine, have seen deadly clashes between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia protesters in recent weeks.
The acting government in Kiev launched a military operation in mid-April in a bid to root out the pro-Russia demonstrations after protesters occupied government buildings in over a dozen eastern and southern cities.
More than 100 people have been killed over the past week in intensified Kiev crackdown on the flashpoint city of Slavyansk as well as Odessa and Mariupol.
Source

Posted: 11 May 2014 12:45 PM PDT

Recent satellite images show that Kiev is deliberately trying to cut off Crimea peninsula’s water supply by building a dam. In the meantime Russian scientists are trying to find ways to supply Crimea with fresh water.
Experts from the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources are developing ways to supply fresh water to the Crimea from the Kuban River in the Krasnodar region to the North Crimean Canal which now receives limited water-flow, as Kiev tightens the lid on Simferopol.
“As one of options of providing the peninsula with water, we are considering an option of drawing water supply from the Kuban River and channeling it through the Strait of Kerch to the end portion of North Crimean Canal,” director of the department of public policy and regulation in the field of water resources ministry of Russia Dmitry Kirillov told Ria Novosti.
He added in order to do so the transfer an underground pipeline has to be built in three segments, with each stretching about 130 kilometers.
The options of laying a pipeline through the sea bed of Kerch Strait on special supports or as part of a bridge is now only in the design stage. Transferring water stock from the Kuban River via the Kerch Strait is estimated to cost up to 100 billion rubles ($ 2.8 billion).
“The topography allows to run the water in the opposite direction, from the east to north-west, using the cut off North Crimean Canal. Water from Kuban will be enough to meet the needs of housing, utilities, and agriculture of Crimea,” Kirillov explained.
Before Crimea joined Russia in March, Ukraine provided up to 85 percent of the peninsula’s water needs, through the canal stretching from the Dnepr River. The Crimean authorities have repeatedly asked Kiev to renegotiate water supply contracts.
Instead Ukrainian authorities cut the flow of water from the normal spring level of 80-85 cubic meters per second to 4 cubic meters per second, the lowest technically feasible volume. Kiev justified their action by claiming that Crimea has an outstanding debt on water supplies.

Recently released satellite photos seem to confirm earlier reports that Ukraine is purposefully trying to create a drought in Crimea by building a dam.
The new sand bag construction is being erected in the Kherson region about 40km from the border with Crimea. Photos depict cranes operating on the side of the Armyansk – Kherson highway on a bridge in the town of Kalanchak.
“With the help of cranes and other construction equipment, the dam in the canal is being built right from the bridge,” one eyewitnesses told Itar-Tass.
However the head of Kherson Regional State Administration, Yuriy Odarchenko, claimed that the newly built dam is related to construction of a “water metering station” which “will be finished soon” and will give precise measurement on the “amount of water that will be transferred to the Crimean peninsula,” RBK Ukraine reported.

Kiev closed sluices of the North Crimean Canal in April. At the time of the closure, Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov called Kiev’s move an act of sabotage.
“Ukraine’s act of sabotage to limit the supply of water to the republic through the North Crimean Canal is nothing but a deliberate action against Crimeans,” he said, hinting at the possibility of drilling wells to compensate for water shortages on the peninsula, especially for the agricultural sector.
“The rice situation … is the worst. Crimea is redrawing the map of crop areas in regions where irrigation may not be available,” he added.
Crimean farmers are estimated to lose up to 5 billion rubles ($140 million), according to Russia’s Agriculture Ministry.
“The harvest will be partially or fully lost across 120,000 hectares of farmland that should be irrigated [by water from the canal],” Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov said in April, as cited by the Moscow Times.
Fyodorov said that Russia is willing to compensate farmers for some of their losses, as he stressed that Kiev refused to accept advance payments for Crimean water.
According to the Crimean Economic Development and Trade Ministry, the agriculture sector is responsible for around 10 percent of Crimea’s economy, estimated at $4.3 billion in 2012.
Source