«On the basis of the evidence obtained during our investigation […] the conclusion is that, on 21 August 2013, chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic, also against civilian, including children […] The environmental, chemical and medical samples we have collected provide clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent Sarin were used». These are UN’s inspectors’ conclusions contained in an expected 41 pages-report on August slaughter in Damascus.
“A Martian Odyssey”: that’s how Stanley Weinbaum entitled one science fiction novel of his in 1994. Same words are oddly suitable in presenting Domenico Quirico’s story.
He disappeared on 9 April in Syria and he returned home on 9 September, finally free again. Quirico has forcedly spent five months into Syrian arid lands, through what he has himself defined as «a sort of an Odyssey» through a prison term experienced within «bombs, breaks and humiliation». He felt it was just like living on the Red Planet: «as though I’ve lived on Mars for five months. And I discovered that Martians are evil […] In detention? They did not treat me properly». Those were Quirico’s first words, words that have been spoken as soon as he landed in Italy.
Croatia is the latest and 28th European Union member state. Zagreb submitted a full membership request in latest February 2003 and now the former Jugoslav federal republic joined the other twentiseven members under the starry EU flag, more than a decade later. Croatian entry into the European peace area was combined with one hope: forgetting mid-nineties’ civil war horrors and letting people moving on once for all.
Darfur, southern Sudan. On Saturday 13 July Darfur civil war (ongoing since 2003) showed its latest violence episode: around 9 am an UNAMID patrol (part of the UN-African Union joined force operating in Darfur since 2007 in order to protect civilian population and to guarantee security condition to humanitarian personnel) has fallen into an ambush approximately 25 kilometers west of the Mission's Khor Abeche team site while it was moving from one checkpoint to another. The patrol came under heavy fire from a large unidentified group which engaged the peacekeepers using light weapons and RPG rockets. Seven military personnel were killed and 17 were wounded (13 troopers and 4 police officers); their nationality has not been revealed yet but according to some newspapers they probably belonged to the Tanzanian force.
