Campaign presentation

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Ukraine soldiers killed in renewed Sloviansk fighting

Four Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and an army helicopter shot down by pro-Russian militants near the eastern city of Sloviansk, Kiev says.

It says the gunmen used heavy weapons against Ukraine's units involved in the "anti-terror" operation. Casualties were also reported among the rebels.

The militants are reported to have retreated towards the city centre which is now quiet, a BBC correspondent says.

The rebel stronghold remains sealed off by Ukrainian troops.

Pro-Russian militants have seized government buildings in a dozen or more Ukrainian cities in the east.

Kiev accuses Moscow of supporting and arming the gunmen - a claim denied by the Kremlin.

'Lull in fighting'

Speaking to reporters near Sloviansk, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov accused the militants of trying to ambush government forces on the outskirts of Sloviansk on Monday morning.

Separatist armoured vehicles and a number of rebels were seen in retreat

Pro-Russian gunmen in Sloviansk are maintaining a watchful eye on Ukrainian troops on the outskirts

Residents in the city have been building barricades in preparation for the Ukrainian soldiers' advance

He blamed the rebels for using heavy weapons, including mortars.

The Ukrainian military later said that four soldiers had been killed and about 30 injured.

In a statement, the defence ministry confirmed that a helicopter has been shot down near Sloviansk.

The crew of the aircraft survived, largely because the helicopter crashed into a river, the ministry added. It was the third Ukrainian military helicopter to be downed over the city in recent days.

A BBC team which has reached the centre of Sloviansk says there has been a lull in the fighting between about 800 pro-Russian militants and Ukrainian troops.

Trading accusations

On Sunday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk accused Russia of executing a plan "to destroy Ukraine and its statehood".

He was speaking two days after dozens were killed in violence in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa.

"Russia's aim was to repeat in Odessa what is happening in the east of the country," he said, insisting Kiev had not lost control of the region.

The clashes on Friday left more than 40 dead, mostly pro-Russian separatists killed in a building fire.

Russia warned on Monday that failure to halt the escalating unrest would threaten peace across Europe.

Moscow called on Ukraine and the international community to step up "joint efforts" to end "racism, xenophobia, ethnic intolerance, (and) the glorification of the Nazis" - a reference to extremists Russia claims are committing "mass" rights violations in Ukraine.

Kiev describes the claims as blatant propaganda, and instead accuses the Russian authorities of turning their country into an authoritarian state.

Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown by pro-Western protesters in February.

Russia then annexed the Crimean peninsula - part of Ukraine but with a Russian-speaking majority - in a move that provoked international outrage.

Despite the latest violence, Ukraine plans to hold a presidential election on 25 May.

Proposition to the EU

If I had to ask the EU something in order to make it better, I would ask them to think about the conditions in which some very poor and homeless people are living throughout the EU and try and make them better as well as trying to solve the problem we have nowadays with the recession.

Trip to Ireland

Just before Easter 16 of us went to Ireland to take part in the exchange we've been looking forward to since the start of the school year. It was an incredible experience and I learnt lots of things about irish culture, traditions and way of living. I enjoyed every minute of it and I think that the ones who went to Manchester missed out an incredible opportunity to meet other people and lear about their culture.

Campaign, what we've done

Eneko and I have been working on the campaign. when we had to decide what part of the the project we had to work on , we immediately went for the campaign because we thought it would be fun and interesting to make the whole school take part in some sort of activity. Even though it may seem like we haven't worked hard, we've spent a lot of time rhinking about what we could do. we feel like it's the hardest job to do because it's hard to find an activity which is fun and meaningful at the same time. We came up with a few ideas but our classmates didn't think think they were good enough and we feel like they don't appreciate the effort we've put into the campaign.
First of all, we thought we could organise a football match where the participants had to bring food for peaople who are struggling in order to plau. Most of the class wasn't keen on doing somethin sporty so we decided no to do it.
After that, we thought we could interview several students and see what they think about what is going on in the world regarding poverty, hunger, exclusion and so on. We decided not to do it because it ment that only a small group of people would take part.
Finally, related to our first prposition about recollecting food, we decided to join the economy class and help them get as much food as possible. Everyone thought it was the best idea so this is what we've done.
Because we had some time left, helped by Beñat and Martin, we wrote some questions to ask the students to see what they think about the world in it's present state.

Collectives in danger

Dangers of Being Homeless?

There are many dangers of being homeless. The primary concerns are food and shelter. Homeless people often face starvation when unable to purchase food. If they cannot find shelter with a charity, friend, or family, they are at risk for exposure in bad weather, especially hypothermia in winter. They also are at increased risk to become victims of violence. Homelessness is a serious issue, and those at risk may be eligible for programs which provide food and shelter.

ONG close to me

I feel quite close to the WWF because I've always donated money for them to help animals that are in danger of extinction.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation,research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States. It is the world's largest independent conservation organization with over 5 million supporters worldwide, working in more than 100 countries, supporting around 1,300 conservation and environmental projects. WWF is a foundation, in 2010 deriving 57% of funding from individuals and bequests, 17% from government sources (such as the World Bank, DFID, USAID) and 11% from corporations.

The group says its mission is "to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature." Currently, much of its work focuses on the conservation of three biomes that contain most of the world's biodiversity: oceans andcoasts, forests, and freshwater ecosystems. Among other issues, it is also concerned with endangered species, pollution and climate change.