UN Evacuates Staff As Warplanes Pound Yemen

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 29 Maret 2015 | 00.57

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The United Nations has evacuated its staff from the Yemeni capital Sanaa, as a Saudi-led air campaign pounds Shia rebel targets across the country.

Health officials said more than 62 people have died in the southern city Aden alone in the three-day bombardment by Saudi Arabia and its fellow Sunni-ruled allies.

A convoy of rebel fighters advancing on Aden was bombarded on Saturday, residents said.

Explosions at the city's biggest arms depot left at least nine badly injured, a health official said.

And warplanes targeted an airport in the rebel-held capital, according to residents and an official.

The air campaign is an attempt to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who was ousted from Sanaa in September by the Shia rebels, known as the Houthis.

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Gallery: Yemenis Flee As Rebels Bombed

Shia Houti rebels, wearing military fatigues, patrol Sanaa International Airport in Yemen's capital

Houthi fighters on the tarmac at the airport in Sanaa

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Inside the airport, people get ready to board flights out of the country

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Rebel fighters on patrol outside the airport

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Saudi-led airstrikes have been trying to stem advances by the rebels

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Mr Hadi also fled Aden earlier this week in the face of a military push by the rebels, who are believed to have been encouraged by Mr Hadi's ousted predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A UN source has told Reuters that more than 100 staff members have left and they would move to several countries.

It has also emerged that two Saudi warships evacuated dozens of its foreign diplomats from Aden on Wednesday - hours before the airstrikes started.

The evacuations came as Arab leaders, including Mr Hadi, meet at a summit in the Egyptian resort Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss the crisis.

Yemen's President, speaking at the meeting, called the Shia rebels "stooges of Iran" and blamed Iran for the chaos in his country.

"I tell Iran's puppet ... 'You are the one that destroyed Yemen with your political immaturity'," Mr Hadi said.

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Gallery: Yemen: Aftermath Of Airstrikes By Saudi Arabia And Gulf Allies

People search for survivors under the rubble of houses destroyed by an air strike near Sana'a Airport in Yemen. Continue through for more images

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Other leaders obliquely referenced Iran at the opening session of the Arab League summit.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi said that military intervention had been "inevitable" due to meddling by a foreign power.

He also endorsed the creation of a joint Arab military force, saying that the Arab world was facing "unprecedented" threats.

Without mentioning it by name, Mr Sisi accused Shia, non-Arab Iran of meddling in Arab affairs.

Iran and the Houthis deny that Tehran is arming the rebel movement.

Mr Hadi demanded the air campaign in his country continue until the rebels surrender and "their leaders turn themselves in to face justice."

"I call for this operation to continue until this gang surrenders and withdraws from all locations it has occupied in every province," he told the Arab summit.

He also called for peaceful demonstrations in Yemen in support of his government.

Saudi Arabian King Salman told the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting that military intervention would continue until "security" is brought to impoverished Yemen.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, at the summit, said negotiations were the only way to prevent a long-term conflict in Yemen.

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UN Evacuates Staff As Warplanes Pound Yemen

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Roger Moore Denies Racism Over Bond Comments

James Bond actor Sir Roger Moore has been forced to deny accusations of racism because he said he wanted the next bond to be "English English".

Some have interpreted his comments as suggesting that Sir Roger believes that Idris Elba, who has been widely touted as a candidate for the role, should not play the famous spy.

The 87-year-old veteran actor made his comments in the French magazine Paris Match.

Sir Roger said that the accusation of racism may have resulted from the true meaning of his comments being "lost in translation".

Soon after his comments started appearing in UK newspapers, including the Daily Mail, Sir Roger tweeted: "An interview I gave to Paris Match implies I said something racist about Idris Elba. That is simply untrue. #Lost in translation."

The Daily Mail reported that Sir Roger told Paris Match: "A few years ago, I said that [black actor] Cuba Gooding Jnr would make an excellent Bond, but it was a joke!

"Although James may have been played by a Scot, a Welshman and an Irishman, I think he should be English-English.

"Nevertheless, it's an interesting idea, but unrealistic."

The first man to play James Bond was Scotsman Sean Connery and he has since been played by Australian George Lazenby, Welshman Timothy Dalton and Irishman Pierce Brosnan.

The Chester-born current actor Daniel Craig is due to appear in the 24th installment of the franchise Spectre, which is scheduled to be released in November.

Roger Moore starred in seven Bond films between Live and Let Die in 1973 and A View to a Kill in 1985.

Like Idris Elba, he was born in London.

The interpretation of his comments has led to Sir Roger trending in the top ten of Twitter's United Kingdom trends list on Saturday.

His comments prompted a large amount of reaction on the social media site, both attacking and defending what he said.

Corey B King said: "This is nothing worse than an old racist...to live 70 plus years with all of that hatred in your heart....#rogermoore"

Jean Johansson tweeted: "What prevents @idriselba from being 'English English'? #rogermoore . Ignorant old fool."

But comic Sanjeev Bhaskar ‏tweeted: "Been reading about this @sirrogermoore is a racist crap. Utter garbage. Check his @UNICEF work against what a #tabloid reports #rogermoore".

Sir Roger recently won an apology from the Daily Mail over a 2014 article that wrongly claimed he had groped a young actress on the set of a James Bond film.

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Police Officer Charged With Murdering Wife

Police constable Otis Goldsmith has been charged with murdering his wife, Northamptonshire Police said.

The 49-year-old, who is a serving officer, was held after police arrived at a house in Wootton Hall Park at around 1pm on Thursday.

Jill Goldsmith died of a head injury a forensic post mortem concluded on Friday.

Goldsmith, who has been on the force for 28 years, appeared at Corby Magistrates' Court and was remanded in custody.

He will now appear at Northampton Crown Court on Tuesday.

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Drone-Style Systems Could Stop Future Crashes

Technology offers the hope that the Germanwings plane disaster will never happen again, experts have told Sky News.

Systems are already in place to fly unmanned planes from the ground, but they are currently only used in the military sphere.

French prosecutors have said that the captain of the Germanwings plane was locked out of the cockpit as Andreas Lupitz sent the Airbus A320 into a mountain in the French Alps.

In 2009, Honeywell was awarded a patent for a fly-by-wire system that could take control of a plane's cockpit controls and remotely pilot a commercial plane to prevent "unauthorised-flight" and maintain "stable flight".

It has been suggested that the system or others like it could have helped prevent not only the Germanwings disaster but also the disappearance of MH370 if there had been a way to alert ground staff to an on-board emergency.

Mischa Dohler, Head of King's College London's Centre for Telecommunications Research, told Sky News: "We have all the technology in place so the aircraft can talk to the ground directly or via the satellite link, so that is all possible. It's just a question of cost.

"At the end of the day, you just need to pay for the infrastructure or a data plan, in the same way as you might pay for your mobile phones.

"The airlines have to decide whether they are willing to invest that money to add that extra real-time safety to airplanes."

David Cummins, Head of Flight Operations at UMS Aerogroup and an expert on unmanned aircraft, said: "We not at the stage where we are talking about autonomous systems that will operate and look after the aircraft.

"We are talking about automated systems where ultimately man, an operator, will always be in the loop."

He told Sky News there are systems in existence that could keep a plane safer without requiring one to be controlled from the ground.

"We need a number of years (before) we will ever see the first unmanned commercial aircraft but there are checks and balances that can be put into play.

"You can look at collision avoidance - the Germanwings is an example - there is technology that exists and is in place that could help.

"There's also sense-and-avoid systems on aircraft that will also be the pilot's eyes on an aircraft. So there are a number of steps we can take.

"We are years away from doing it, but the technology exists and its about putting the time and effort and ultimately the finance.

"What the aviation industry is very good at is not knee-jerk reaction. You've got to remember that this is still an incredibly safe method of travel."

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Cameron Vows 'Truly Seven-Day-A-Week' NHS

David Cameron has launched his party's election campaign in Manchester with a pledge to deliver a "truly seven-day NHS" for England if he is returned to power on 7 May.

The Prime Minister used Conservative spring conference to set out plans for patients to be able to access hospital services at weekends as well as during the week.

It came the day after Labour leader Ed Miliband promised a "double lock" to safeguard the future of the NHS - £2.5bn of new investment and limits on further privatisation.

Mr Cameron said that under Tory plans, hospitals across England will offer consultant-level services seven days a week by the end of the next parliament in 2020.

The changes will start with emergency and urgent care together with supporting services, such as diagnostics.

It follows the commitment to ensure patients can access GP surgeries seven days a week, between 8am and 8pm.

"For years it's been too hard to access the NHS out of hours. But illness doesn't respect working hours. Heart attacks, major accidents, babies - these things don't just come from nine to five," Mr Cameron said.

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"With a future Conservative government, we would have a truly seven day NHS."

However, the proposals have been met with scepticism by the British Medical Association (BMA).

"The £2bn extra funding that has been pledged falls far short of what is needed to deliver existing services, let alone fund additional care," said BMA council chair Dr Mark Porter.

"The NHS is recovering from one of the worst winter crises on record, during which some hospitals were forced to close their doors because they couldn't cope.

"With existing services stretched to breaking point… the NHS needs far more than just words to deliver extra care.

"Without a detailed, fully-costed plan, this is at best an empty pledge and at worst shameless political game playing with the NHS ahead of the election."

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Crash Victim's Father: Pilot Motive Irrelevant

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The father of a British man who died on Germanwings flight 4U9525 has said the co-pilot's motive for crashing the plane is "not relevant".

Philip Bramley, whose 27-year-old son Paul was among 150 people who died in the French Alps tragedy, said his focus was on seeing that "this never happens again".

Mr Bramley said: "What happened on the morning of 24 March was the act of a person who at the very least was ill.

"If there was a motive or reason we don't want to hear it, it's not relevant.

"What is relevant is this should never happen again. My son and everyone on that plane should not be forgotten ever."

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Gallery: The Victims Of The Germanwings Crash

American Emily Selke, a recent graduate, was on the plane with her mother Yvonne. Raymond Selke has described his wife and daughter as 'amazing people'. Pic: Facebook

Iranian sports journalist Hussein Javadi was on his way to Austria to cover a football match. A friend said he was 'a kind, loving, caring man'. Pic: Maysam Bizær/Hossein Javadi

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Argentinian Sebastian Greco was on board with his girlfriend. Pic: Facebook

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Argentinian Gabriela Maumus, 28, was the daughter of a firefighter. Pic: Facebook

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Spanish victim Carles Milla Masanas, 37. The businessman was on his way to a food industry fayre. Pic: Facebook

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He added: "I believe the airlines should be more transparent and our finest pilots looked after properly. We put our lives and our children's lives in their hands."

Paul Bramley, who had been studying hospitality and hotel management in Switzerland, was flying back to Britain via Germany after a holiday with friends.

He was one of three Britons, 75 Germans and at least 50 Spaniards on board the fateful flight.

German media has reported that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz received treatment for a "serious depressive episode" six years ago during his training. He also allegedly received treatment for an eye condition, according to the New York Times.

French investigators have said his mental health is a "serious lead" in the inquiry - but not the only one.

Meanwhile, an ex-lover of Lubitz revealed to German newspaper Bild that he told her last year: "One day I will do something that will change the whole system, and then all will know my name and remember it."

Hundreds of people attended a memorial service on Saturday morning at Digne-les-Bains, near where searchers are still looking for bodies and evidence.

The tragedy, which occurred after the pilot was locked out of the cockpit, has prompted a review of safety procedures by airlines.

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