UNITED NATIONS Nike Air Max 95 Sale Outlet , Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- The UN Children's Fund ( UNICEF) called Friday on all conflict parties to keep children out of harm's way following deadly attacks on schools in Ukraine and Syria this week, which it said were a "horrific reminder" of the terrible price youngsters are paying in the wars.

Mortar rounds shelled a primary school on Wednesday in the district of Qaboun in eastern Damascus, capital of Syria Nike Air Max 90 Sale Outlet , killing at least 11 children and injuring many more, said Hanaa Singer, UNICEF representative for Syria.

The Qaboun assault is the latest in a series of indiscriminate attacks on schools Nike Air Max 1 Sale Outlet , teachers and students. In the first nine months of 2014 alone, the United Nations in Syria has verified at least 35 such incidents that killed 105 children and injured 293 others.

"The real numbers are surely higher, and there are indications that attacks in some areas may have been deliberate Nike Air Max Sale Outlet ," Singer said, expressing her deepest sympathies to the families of the children who had lost their lives or been injured.

Also on Wednesday, at least two children were killed and four others injured in Ukraine when an artillery shell hit a school sports field in Donetsk city.

UNICEF representative Christophe Boulierac said the agency is outraged to learn of the casualties and expressed sympathy to the families of the children.

Boulierac stressed that UNICEF has repeatedly called on all parties to the conflict to uphold their responsibility to protect children Air Max 95 Sale Outlet , schools, and other civilian infrastructure from the conflict.

Schools should be zones of peace and safe havens where children could learn without fear of death or injury, he said.

He reminded that all parties to any conflicts have specific obligations under international humanitarian and human rights laws to afford children special protection.

SHANGHAI Air Max 90 Sale Outlet , Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai will stage a leg of the International Skating Union short track speedskating World Cup series from Dec. 14 to 18, organizers said here on Wednesday.

More than 170 skaters from 26 countries and regions including China, South Korea Air Max 1 Sale Outlet , Canada and Russia will be competing in the 500m, 1000m, 1500m and relays.

China has decided to field a young team aged between 16 and 23 at the event Air Max Sale Outlet , and only four of them took part in the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014, said Liu Hao, team leader of Chinese team.

Two-time Olympic champion Zhou Yang will miss the competition.？

MONTE CARLO， Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Sprinting superstar Usain Bolt won the IAAF male Athlete of the Year for an unprecedented sixth time， wihle Almaz Ayana took the female title on Friday.

Bolt， who bagged three golds for the third Games in a row in Rio last summer， claimed the track and field's world governing body's year-ending prize ahead of Britain's distance runner Mo Farah and South African Wayde van Niekerk.

The Jamaican nine-time Olympic champion of men's 100 meters， 200m and 4X100m relay was previously named Athlete of the Year in 2008， 2009， 2011， 2012 and 2013.

"It's definitely a big deal，" Bolt told a press conference ahead of the evening's awards gala held at Sporting Monte Carlo.

"When you get to be athlete of the year， it means that all the hard work has paid off，" said the 30-year-old. "So， if I can win it for a sixth year， it means as much as the first one."

His award was presented by IAAF President Sebastian Coe， who sang high praise of the Jamaica， saying "there's been nobody since Muhammad Ali who's got remotely near to what this guy has done in terms of grabbing the public imagination."

"I live for the moments when I walk into a stadium and I hear a loud roar and Rio was outstanding，" commented Bolt. "One of the main reasons I'm continuing for another year is because of the fans; they don't want me to retire. I have to give thanks to them."

Ethiopia's Ayana， who broke a 23-year-old record of the women's 10，000m in Rio， won the prize over Bolt's countrywoman Elain Thompson， the 100 and 200m golds winner in Rio， and Poland's Olympic hammer champion and world record holder Anita Wlodarczyk.

She becomes the third Ethiopian woman to win this award， following Genzebe Dibaba in 2015 and Meseret Defar in 2007.

Canada's Rio 200m silver and 100m bronze medalist Andre De Grasse， 21， was named male rising star of the year， with Belgian Nafissatou Thiam， the heptathlon champion at the Rio Olympics， taking the women's award.

NAIROBI， Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's ministry of agriculture and law enforcement agencies said on Wednesday they will crack down on cartels behind the theft of coffee beans in the central parts of the country.

Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture， Richard Lesiyampe， said the authorities will take punitive actions on cartels behind the massive theft of coffee beans in the custody of rural cooperatives.

"In recent weeks， there have been complaints from farmers in the central Kenyan counties of Nyeri， Kirinyaga and Muranga about coffee theft in cooperative societies. The government will take action against this criminal offense and prosecute the culprits，" Lesiyampe told reporters in the capital Nairobi on Wednesday.

Kenyan media has in recent months reported a spike in coffee thefts that has resulted in huge losses of income to smallholders.

Lesiyampe said the theft of coffee beans has impacted negatively on Kenya's export earnings and morale of small scale growers.

He revealed that 467 bags of coffee valued at 50，000 U.S. dollars have been stolen from the stores owned by rural cooperatives this year.

"Though coffee theft has been prevalent in this country for decades， it spiked to crisis levels this year. Criminal syndicates have taken advantage of lax security to cart away coffee beans and later sell them in the black market，" said Lesiyamp.