. At the weekend , a local police chief told the media that Isis had been using residents of villages on the outskirts of the city as human shields , raising fears that the militant group could do the same again to slow the Iraqi military ’s offensive . The UN high commissioner for refugees said 800 civilians had so far fled Falluja , often travelling on foot and escaping through disused irrigation pipes .
“ I have spent almost all my savings , ” he said . “ Last year , $ 500 a month was enough for a family to live on , but now even $ 1,000 is not enough because prices are twice or even five times what they used to be . ” Refugees speak of starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstspreading throughout the city under the impact of this economic siege . “ For me , I could stand the bad treatment and lack of food , but when my toddler of 11 months began to starve it became impossible to stay , ” said Fatima . Baby milk has not been available for six months and other foodstuffs are prohibitively expensive .
Despite this apparent extension of the halt in Russian raids , " many people think it 's only a matter of time before Russia and its allies launch the final assault on Aleppo " , Challands said . Some analysts think the period between now and January , when a new United States president will take office , is a time when raids on east Aleppo may intensify , believing US President Barack Obama will be reluctant to confront Russia militarily before he steps down . On Friday , though , the US rejected the idea that the pause in the air assault on eastern Aleppo has provided much relief to civilians , accusing the Syrian government of using starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstas a weapon of war . The AFP news agency , quoting a US official , said that " the [ Syrian ] regime has rejected UN requests to deliver aid to eastern Aleppo - using starvation as a weapon of war " . Close shave for Russian and US jets
North Korea 's worst human rights abuses 11 show all North Korea 's worst human rights abuses 1/11 Starvation A UN report said that policies leading to mass starvationlife.injure.nain North Korea amounted to crimes against humanity . Deaths peaked during the 1990s North Korean famine . Al Jazeera
The United Nations has called on Moscow and Washington to help restore the ceasefire to prevent the complete collapse of talks aimed at ending the five - year conflict in which more than 250,000 people have been killed and millions displaced . Agencies have continued to deliver aid in the west of the country , but say that access is not regular enough and that many Syrians in need still can not be reached . The International Committee for the Red Cross said aid had begun to enter the towns of Zabadani and Madaya , where there were reports of starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstearlier this year due to a siege by government forces and their allies . Trucks simultaneously entered al - Foua and Kefraya in the northwest province of Idlib , which are surrounded by insurgents . ( Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy in Cairo and Tim Ahmann in Washington ; Editing by Robin Pomeroy , Marguerita Choy and Bernard Orr )
" It is the same member of this Council that has recently caused a new wave of massive displacement due to its continued aerial bombardments especially in north and northwest Syria . " Those responsible for such abhorrent violations of international law are not in a position to lecture anyone , " Çevik said . " The Syrian regime continues to resort to all means to prolong its grip on power , keeps employing all instruments of force and violence available to itself , be it chemical weapons , barrel bombs , ballistic missiles , targeted killings , arbitrary detentions , torture , systematic abuse , starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstand forced displacement , " Çevik added . He also raised concern about intensified Russian aerial bombardments targeting civilians in Syria , noting that such airstrikes had targeted hospitals and schools in the past 24 hours . The UN says up to 50 civilians , including children , were killed in attacks against five hospitals and two schools in Aleppo and Idlib on Monday .
Targeting civilians ? “ We did n't take any decision to attack any area that does n't include terrorists . ” Widespread allegations his forces are using starvationlife.injure.naas a weapon of war in sieges on rebel - held areas ? “ How do we prevent them from having food and we do n't prevent them from having armaments to kill us ... This is not logic , ” he laughed .
Aid agencies expressed alarm Thursday about dire conditions in a besieged town west of Damascus where people have been eating cats and grass to stay alive and as many as 23 people are reported to have died of hunger . No food has arrived in the rural town of Madaya since October , and desperate residents have posted photographs on the Internet showing frail , skeletal corpses and emaciated people , including children . The medical charity Doctors Without Borders said 23 people have died of starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstsince Dec. 1 at a clinic the group supports in Madaya , six of them infants less than 1 year old . The town has become “ an open - air prison , ” Brice de le Vingne , director of operations for Doctors Without Borders , said in a statement . Desperate people who try to flee have been injured or killed by bullets or by land mines planted around the town , he added .
“ The Muslim migrants arriving to Europe are for the most part not refugees but job seekers who belong to what is de facto an invasion , ” Rom , nee Norbert Kurtzman , told JTA after the Russia premiere of the film “ The Children of Tehran ” in the city of Kazan during its Limmud FSU conference of Jewish learning . “The attempts to pass off the new arrivals , people who left and in many cases participated in a murderous civil war , as refugees and then to liken their experiences to what Holocaust survivors had to endure is false , ” Rom , who survived the Holocaust with his sister , said last month . The rebuke by Rom , a supporter of the left - wing Meretz party and one of the founders of Kibbutz Afikim , followed the publication in August of an op - ed in The New York Times titled “ Anne Frank Today Is a Syrian Girl , ” in which the journalist and two - time Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof argued that the reasons for the opposition to absorbing Jewish Holocaust refugees in the United States “ were the same as they are for rejecting Syrians or Hondurans today . ”While some European Jews have repeated the analogy , others have been careful to avoid it amid the arrival to Europe of 1.5 million immigrants since 2015 from the war - torn Middle East and Africa . While many of those arriving file for refugee status , critics of EU immigration policies have argued for stricter screening against job seekers , citing the heavy presence among the newcomers of work - age men . The Tehran Children trekked a tormented 8,000 miles to Israel through Siberia , Uzbekistan , Tehran , India , Egypt and finally prestate Israel . Rom and his sister , Ziva , were given up for adoption in the Uzbeki city of Samarkand by their parents , Karol and Ethel , who were starving and opted to part with their two older children in the hope of saving their baby brother , Uzi . Karol died of starvationlife.injure.naand disease in Samarkand . Natan and Ziva eventually were reunited with their mother and baby brother . The arrival of the Tehran Children to Israel in 1943 is widely considered the first encounter between the yishuv , prestate Israel ’s Jewish population , and any large group of refugees from the Holocaust .
" We kept coming across dead chicks , " Ruxton recalls of Howe Island . " We opened 10 of their stomachs which were so full of plastic they were swollen ... These birds were dying of starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstwith their stomachs bulging full . " But the most disturbing find was on the South Pacific island of Tuvalu . Health impact
Targeting civilians ? “ We did n't take any decision to attack any area that does n't include terrorists . ” Widespread allegations his forces are using starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstas a weapon of war in sieges on rebel - held areas ? “ How do we prevent them from having food and we do n't prevent them from having armaments to kill us ... This is not logic , ” he laughed .
Yoshinori Ohsumi , a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology , reacts to winning the Nobel Prize . ( Kyodo / via Reuters ) -- The Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to Japanese scientist Yoshinori Ohsumi for his work on a fundamental process for autophagy , or “ cell recycling . ” According to the Stockholm - based prize committee , his work involves a series of experiments using baker 's yeast that helped expand our understanding of how cells adapt to starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstand respond to infection . ( Ariana Eunjung Cha ) -- First in the 202 – New Ann Kirkpatrick ad ties John McCain to Trump : With Trump heading to Arizona tomorrow and polls showing the presidential race somewhat close , the Democratic nominee for Senate has a new spot linking the GOP incumbent with his party ’s presidential nominee .
Some analysts think the period between now and January , when a new United States president will take office , is a time when raids on east Aleppo may intensify , believing US President Barack Obama will be reluctant to confront Russia militarily before he steps down . On Friday , though , the US rejected the idea that the pause in the air assault on eastern Aleppo has provided much relief to civilians , accusing the Syrian government of using starvation as a weapon of war . The AFP news agency , quoting a US official , said that " the [ Syrian ] regime has rejected UN requests to deliver aid to eastern Aleppo - using starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstas a weapon of war " . Close shave for Russian and US jets A Russian fighter jet flew dangerously close to a US fighter jet over eastern Syria , US defence officials said on Friday , highlighting the risks of a serious mishap in the increasingly crowded airspace .
Aid agencies expressed alarm Thursday about dire conditions in a besieged town west of Damascus where people have been eating cats and grass to stay alive and as many as 23 people are reported to have died of hunger . No food has arrived in the rural town of Madaya since October , and desperate residents have posted photographs on the Internet showing frail , skeletal corpses and emaciated people , including children . The medical charity Doctors Without Borders said 23 people have died of starvationlife.injure.nasince Dec. 1 at a clinic the group supports in Madaya , six of them infants less than 1 year old . The town has become “ an open - air prison , ” Brice de le Vingne , director of operations for Doctors Without Borders , said in a statement . Desperate people who try to flee have been injured or killed by bullets or by land mines planted around the town , he added .
The United Nations said the Syrian government promised Thursday to allow aid to be delivered “ in the coming days ” to Madaya as well as the two northern towns surrounded by rebels . Read more : Videos appear to show starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstused as a weapon in Syrian town of Madaya Haunting images from Aleppo : ‘ Syrian children are at the heart of this catastrophe ’ U.N. Security Council approves plan for Syrian peace process
“ The Muslim migrants arriving to Europe are for the most part not refugees but job seekers who belong to what is de facto an invasion , ” Rom , nee Norbert Kurtzman , told JTA after the Russia premiere of the film “ The Children of Tehran ” in the city of Kazan during its Limmud FSU conference of Jewish learning . “The attempts to pass off the new arrivals , people who left and in many cases participated in a murderous civil war , as refugees and then to liken their experiences to what Holocaust survivors had to endure is false , ” Rom , who survived the Holocaust with his sister , said last month . The rebuke by Rom , a supporter of the left - wing Meretz party and one of the founders of Kibbutz Afikim , followed the publication in August of an op - ed in The New York Times titled “ Anne Frank Today Is a Syrian Girl , ” in which the journalist and two - time Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof argued that the reasons for the opposition to absorbing Jewish Holocaust refugees in the United States “ were the same as they are for rejecting Syrians or Hondurans today . ”While some European Jews have repeated the analogy , others have been careful to avoid it amid the arrival to Europe of 1.5 million immigrants since 2015 from the war - torn Middle East and Africa . While many of those arriving file for refugee status , critics of EU immigration policies have argued for stricter screening against job seekers , citing the heavy presence among the newcomers of work - age men . The Tehran Children trekked a tormented 8,000 miles to Israel through Siberia , Uzbekistan , Tehran , India , Egypt and finally prestate Israel . Rom and his sister , Ziva , were given up for adoption in the Uzbeki city of Samarkand by their parents , Karol and Ethel , who were starving and opted to part with their two older children in the hope of saving their baby brother , Uzi . Karol died of starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstand disease in Samarkand . Natan and Ziva eventually were reunited with their mother and baby brother . The arrival of the Tehran Children to Israel in 1943 is widely considered the first encounter between the yishuv , prestate Israel ’s Jewish population , and any large group of refugees from the Holocaust .
“ I ’ve been offering it for six cents a pound for a week and nobody has pulled the trigger , ” he said . And he was “ expecting an additional 250,000lbs of squash , ” similarly marked , in his warehouse a fortnight later . “ There is a lot of hunger and starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstin the United States , so how come I have n’t been able to find a home for this six - cents - a - pound food yet ? ” Johnson asked . Such frustrations occur regularly along the entirety of the US food production chain – and producers and distributors maintain that the standards are always shifting . Bountiful harvests bring more exacting standards of perfection .
North Korea 's worst human rights abuses 11 show all North Korea 's worst human rights abuses 1/11 Starvation A UN report said that policies leading to mass starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstin North Korea amounted to crimes against humanity . Deaths peaked during the 1990s North Korean famine . Al Jazeera
“ I have spent almost all my savings , ” he said . “ Last year , $ 500 a month was enough for a family to live on , but now even $ 1,000 is not enough because prices are twice or even five times what they used to be . ” Refugees speak of starvationlife.injure.naspreading throughout the city under the impact of this economic siege . “ For me , I could stand the bad treatment and lack of food , but when my toddler of 11 months began to starve it became impossible to stay , ” said Fatima . Baby milk has not been available for six months and other foodstuffs are prohibitively expensive .
The Russian Defense Ministry on October 27 issued a statement saying that neither Russian nor Syrian government aircraft had conducted any air strikes in the Aleppo area over the last nine days . Aleppo 's ' Apocalyptic Horror ' Later , in a tumultuous meeting of the UN Security Council on the siege of Aleppo , UN humanitarian chief Stephen O'Brien accused Russia and Syria of using starvationlife.injure.natactics and turning the city into a " kill zone . " Describing what he called an " apocalyptic horror " in the city , where 400 people have been killed in less than a month , O'Brien accused Syria and Russia of waging a deliberate campaign to " make life intolerable , make death likely . " O'Brien said leaflets dropped on rebel - held areas of Aleppo by Syrian and Russian aircraft made their intentions " chillingly clear . "
Biden then concluded , “ He woulda loved Stalin . ” This , of course , is ridiculous . Stalin was as horrific a world figure as Hitler ; he was responsible for the massacres of political opponents , the starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstof millions in forced land redistribution policies , the imprisonment of tens of millions in gulags . To suggest that Trump would have supported Stalin is a serious slur . More importantly , there ’s a far better shot that Biden and Hillary Clinton would have supported Stalin .
Erdogan added that Germany is the “ last country ” to make judgements on genocide , given its “ history of massacres . ” The German Empire carried out racially - motivated mass killings of tens of thousands of Namibians during colonial wars waged on the territory of modern - day Namibia from 1904 to 1907 . According to various estimates , between 24,000 and 100,000 ethnic Herero and 10,000 Nama tribal people died as a result of starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirst, abuse , and diseases during the course of the warfare and in concentration camps . However , in contrast to Ankara ’s defiant stance on the Armenian Genocide , the German parliament admitted that the Namibian killings were a part of a “ race war ” that should be considered a “ genocide ” in 2015 . Erdogan praised Turkish history as one “ of mercy and compassion , ” while blaming the West for exploiting millions of African immigrants for cheap labor .
Mass killer wins case against Norway over human rights They visited alongside troops from Nigeria , whose top military generals Amnesty say should be on trial for war crimes . The human rights group produced a 133-page dossier alleging Nigerian forces caused the deaths of 8,000 people through murder , starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirst, suffocation and torture during security operations against Islamist militants Boko Haram . A senior military official told Amnesty that Nigerian solders respond to Boko Haram attacks by going “ to the nearest place and kill[ing ] all the youths ” whether they were armed or not . Andrew Smith , of Campaign Against Arms Trade , said Britain should not be “ colluding ” with countries it was well aware were led by authoritarian regimes .
Falluja was a key hotbed in the insurgency that raged in Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and saw two separate large - scale offensives by the US military in 2004 that destroyed much of the city . Isis may face Falluja bloodbath , but new offensive shows power to spread terror Read more This time , an estimated 50,000 civilians remain trapped and besieged , facing starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirst. At the weekend , a local police chief told the media that Isis had been using residents of villages on the outskirts of the city as human shields , raising fears that the militant group could do the same again to slow the Iraqi military ’s offensive . The UN high commissioner for refugees said 800 civilians had so far fled Falluja , often travelling on foot and escaping through disused irrigation pipes .
They “ fired ” the top 1 percent of people who set the direction for society and created the basis for something different . Both countries had a history of horrendous poverty . When the 1 percent was in charge , hundreds of thousands of people emigrated to avoid starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirst. Under the leadership of the working class , however , both countries built robust and successful economies that nearly eliminated poverty , expanded free university education , abolished slums , provided excellent health care available to all as a matter of right and created a system of full employment . Unlike the Norwegians , the Swedes did n’t find oil , but that did n’t stop them from building what the latest CIA World Factbook calls “ an enviable standard of living . ”
The United Nations said the Syrian government promised Thursday to allow aid to be delivered “ in the coming days ” to Madaya as well as the two northern towns surrounded by rebels . Read more : Videos appear to show starvationlife.injure.naused as a weapon in Syrian town of Madaya Haunting images from Aleppo : ‘ Syrian children are at the heart of this catastrophe ’ U.N. Security Council approves plan for Syrian peace process
That ’s four times more than any of the other 192 UN member states . There were four resolutions on Israel . And one on North Korea — a country that is home to government policies of torture , starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirst, enslavement , rape , disappearances , and murder – to name just some of its crimes against humanity . Four resolutions on Israel . And one on Syria .
“ We were eating leaves and grass , but these days there are no more leaves because of the snow , ” he said , speaking by telephone . “ There is nothing left but salt and water . ” The United Nations said in a statement that it has received “ credible ” reports of people dying of starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstand being killed while trying to leave the town . It welcomed what it said was a commitment from the Syrian government to allow aid to be delivered soon . Madaya is an opposition stronghold that has been besieged by pro - government forces since July .
" We kept coming across dead chicks , " Ruxton recalls of Howe Island . " We opened 10 of their stomachs which were so full of plastic they were swollen ... These birds were dying of starvationlife.injure.nawith their stomachs bulging full . " But the most disturbing find was on the South Pacific island of Tuvalu . Health impact
“ The [ moderate ] Syrian Free Army will then be able to take back the Castello road . That is all we need . “ The regime is using starvationlife.injure.naas a weapon and the west does not seem bothered by it . Our food and water is not going to last . There is so much destruction from the Russians – the attacks are non - stop .
He noted that the Republican presidential nominee has voiced praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin and the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein . If Trump likes them , " He would have loved " Joseph Stalin , leader of the Soviet Union until his death in 1953 . Scholars estimate that under Stalin , more than 1 million people were executed in political purges and millions more died as a result of harsh labor and cruel treatment in the vast gulag prison camp system , mass starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstin Ukraine and southern Russia , and deportations of ethnic minorities . _ _ _ 2:10 p.m.
Russia PM warns of ' new cold war ' amid Syria accusations Read more Turkey , which already hosts 2.6 million Syrian refugees , has kept the latest arrivals on the Syrian side of the border , in part to pressure Russia to cease its air support for Syrian government forces near the city of Aleppo . Davutoğlu condemned the attacks in Aleppo as “ barbarity , tyranny , a war strategy conducted with a medieval mentality ” and said hundreds of thousands of people in the region faced the danger of starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstif a humanitarian corridor was not opened . “ We will help our brothers in Aleppo with all means at our disposal . We will take those in need but we will never allow Aleppo to be emptied through an ethnic massacre , ” he said .
Starting in 2011 , this campaign went into overdrive in Syria , where the Saudis and their Western and regional allies have sided with and sponsored the Takfiri militants fighting to conquer and “ cleanse ” the Levant . That axis is being opposed by “ Crescent ” powers and by Russia . In 2015 , another front opened up in Yemen , where the Saudis began a US - supplied brutal air war against that country ’s new Shiite Houthi government and a starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstblockade of its people . This war has helped the Takfiri terrorists of AQAP ( Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ) conquer territory in the country . With the beheading of Nimr , this proxy war between the Saudis and Iran has threatened to become a direct conflict .
On June 22 , 1941 , Germany broke its Non - Aggression Pact with the Soviet Union , launching the bloodiest theater of the war . Though the estimates vary greatly , Russia suffered the most war casualties of any nation in World War II -- as many as 13.8 million military deaths . Estimates of civilian deaths from military action , crimes against humanity , starvationlife.injure.naand disease are as high as 9 million . Hide Caption 8 of 38 Photos : World War II in pictures A view of U.S. ships in Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , after the Japanese attack on December 7 , 1941 .
" Russia has invested very seriously in this crisis , politically , diplomatically and now also militarily , " Vitaly Churkin told Kommersant daily , referring to an international agreement to cease hostilities sealed in Munich last week . " Therefore we would like Assad also to respond to this , " he said , adding that the Syrian leader 's stance " is not in accord with the diplomatic efforts that Russia is making . " At their meeting in Munich , the 17-nation group backing Syria 's peace process agreed to work for a ceasefire , the lifting of starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstsieges and the resumption of talks . In an interview with AFP last week , Assad defiantly pledged to retake the whole of the country , speaking before the plan for a nationwide " cessation of hostilities " in Syria was announced . Asked to comment to journalists on the unusually outspoken criticism of Assad , Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday said President Vladimir Putin backed the Syrian peace process but stressed that the ceasefire had not yet been implemented .
Turkey 's disquiet has been heightened by the tens of thousands of people fleeing to the Turkish border after attacks by Russian - backed Syrian government forces , swelling refugee numbers in the area to 100,000 . Turkey , which already hosts 2.6 million Syrian refugees , has kept the latest arrivals on the Syrian side of the border , in part to pressure Russia to cease its air support for Syrian government forces near the city of Aleppo . Davutoglu earlier condemned the attacks in Aleppo as " barbarity , tyranny , a war strategy conducted with a medieval mentality " and said hundreds of thousands faced the danger of starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstif a humanitarian corridor was not opened . " We will help our brothers in Aleppo with all means at our disposal . We will take those in need but we will never allow Aleppo to be emptied through an ethnic massacre , " he said .
Employment conditions and pay have deteriorated and women work less because of security concerns . About 13.8 million Syrians have lost their source of livelihood . Madaya again facing starvationlife.injure.illnessdegradationhungerthirstas report warns of extent of sieges Read more “ The common characteristics across all regions are lack of security , the allocation of all resources to the fighting , the creation of violence - related job opportunities and imposition of authority by force . ” The shrinking of the population by 21 % helps explain the waves of refugees reaching Turkey and Europe .
" Russia has invested very seriously in this crisis , politically , diplomatically and now also militarily , " Vitaly Churkin told Kommersant daily , referring to an international agreement to cease hostilities sealed in Munich last week . " Therefore we would like Assad also to respond to this , " he said , adding that the Syrian leader 's stance " is not in accord with the diplomatic efforts that Russia is making . " At their meeting in Munich , the 17-nation group backing Syria 's peace process agreed to work for a ceasefire , the lifting of starvationlife.injure.nasieges and the resumption of talks . In an interview with AFP last week , Assad defiantly pledged to retake the whole of the country , speaking before the plan for a nationwide " cessation of hostilities " in Syria was announced . Asked to comment to journalists on the unusually outspoken criticism of Assad , Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday said President Vladimir Putin backed the Syrian peace process but stressed that the ceasefire had not yet been implemented .