In Ukraine 18 people died in just one very cold month: SHAFAQNA exclusive
SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – As temperatures dropped below minus 10 degrees, Reuters reported that 18 people have died of severe cold weather in Ukraine so far this month, most of them last weekend. Night temperatures are expected to drop to minus 28 degrees in northern, central and eastern Ukraine this week, weather forecasters said on Monday.
The Ukraine Health Ministry said 12 people were found dead on the streets, three in their homes and three died while receiving medical treatment. The very cold spell followed heavy snow which left some areas covered with as much as 53 cm of snow. Tens of people have been admitted to hospitals with cold-related problems and the Emergencies Department said it was setting up tents where people could get hot drinks and receive first aid.
Last February, as Ukraine went through its coldest winter in six years, over 130 people died of cold in the country of 45 million. The amount of snow that Ukraine's Capital, Kiev has seen during the past few days equals to what the city normally sees during two winter months. The head of the Kiev City State Administration urged all residents to come out into the streets to remove the snow. Drivers are recommended not to use their cars.
Ukraine lawmakers brawl in parliament for second day running
SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- Seconds out, Round 2! Fights broke out in the Ukrainian parliament for a second time in two days on Thursday, Agence France-Presse reports.
The opening session of the Verkhkovna Rada on Wednesday began in a typically raucous fashion as a fight erupted in the chamber between opposition MPs and two deputies whom they accused of defecting to the pro-government camp. Several lawmakers from the opposition nationalist Svoboda group chased two men they called "turncoats" — a father and a son — to prevent them from taking the oath.
Ukraine's parliament has seen several physical confrontations in recent years amid bitterness between opposition and pro-government camps.
Ukraine fights worst HIV epidemic in Europe
SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) - Andrei Mandrykin, an inmate at Prison No. 85 outside Kyiv, has HIV. He looks ghostly and much older than his 35 years. But Mandrykin is better off than tens of thousands of his countrymen, because is he receiving treatment amid what the World Health Organization says is the worst AIDS epidemic in Europe. www.shafaqna.com/English
