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MEAN STREETS MEDIA
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
India ( Woman " Gang raped " over election work )
PATNA, India: A Muslim woman in eastern India has alleged she was gang-raped by more than a dozen men because of her work helping the Hindu nationalist opposition in ongoing elections, police said Tuesday.
The woman from Jharkhand state has filed a complaint with police that a mob attacked her in her home on Monday and also assaulted her 13-year-old daughter. Her husband was allegedly handcuffed during the attack.
Anurag Gupta, a senior officer and spokesman for Jharkhand police, confirmed an investigation had started but said it was too soon to confirm her allegations of a political motive for the attack.
“An investigation from all angles is on and it is very difficult at present to say the exact reason behind the incident,” Gupta told AFP.
The victim, in her 30s, was part of a so-called “minority” wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) designed to attract Muslim voters to the party, which is expected to sweep the ongoing polls.
Few Muslims are expected to vote for the BJP, which is being led by hard-liner Narendra Modi who remains tarnished by religious riots in his home state of Gujarat in 2002.
Modi, forecast by voter surveys to become prime minister after results are announced on May 16, was chief minister of Gujarat when the riots broke out. More than 1,000 people were killed, most of them Muslims.
Despite criticism that he failed to contain the violence, he has been cleared of any personal wrongdoing. A woman he later appointed to his cabinet has been jailed for life for directing rioters.
Women’s issues are high on the agenda in the parliamentary elections following the fatal gang-rape of a student on a New Delhi bus in December 2012, which touched off a national debate about sexual violence.
But fewer than a fifth of the candidates standing for the BJP or the ruling Congress party are women, according to an analysis by AFP.
In the current parliament women hold only 11 percent of seats in both houses.
The victim in Monday’s assault also alleged the attackers fled with 30,000 rupees (500 dollars) in cash and jewelry worth over 200,000 rupees.
Police inspector T. N. Singh in the police station closest to the victim’s home confirmed the gang-rape complaint to AFP.
He said villagers had used the loudspeaker of the mosque to alert others to the assault, after which the attackers fled.
The woman from Jharkhand state has filed a complaint with police that a mob attacked her in her home on Monday and also assaulted her 13-year-old daughter. Her husband was allegedly handcuffed during the attack.
Anurag Gupta, a senior officer and spokesman for Jharkhand police, confirmed an investigation had started but said it was too soon to confirm her allegations of a political motive for the attack.
“An investigation from all angles is on and it is very difficult at present to say the exact reason behind the incident,” Gupta told AFP.
The victim, in her 30s, was part of a so-called “minority” wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) designed to attract Muslim voters to the party, which is expected to sweep the ongoing polls.
Few Muslims are expected to vote for the BJP, which is being led by hard-liner Narendra Modi who remains tarnished by religious riots in his home state of Gujarat in 2002.
Modi, forecast by voter surveys to become prime minister after results are announced on May 16, was chief minister of Gujarat when the riots broke out. More than 1,000 people were killed, most of them Muslims.
Despite criticism that he failed to contain the violence, he has been cleared of any personal wrongdoing. A woman he later appointed to his cabinet has been jailed for life for directing rioters.
Women’s issues are high on the agenda in the parliamentary elections following the fatal gang-rape of a student on a New Delhi bus in December 2012, which touched off a national debate about sexual violence.
But fewer than a fifth of the candidates standing for the BJP or the ruling Congress party are women, according to an analysis by AFP.
In the current parliament women hold only 11 percent of seats in both houses.
The victim in Monday’s assault also alleged the attackers fled with 30,000 rupees (500 dollars) in cash and jewelry worth over 200,000 rupees.
Police inspector T. N. Singh in the police station closest to the victim’s home confirmed the gang-rape complaint to AFP.
He said villagers had used the loudspeaker of the mosque to alert others to the assault, after which the attackers fled.
Iran ( Banned Ebtekar newspaper allowed to reopen )
- Wednesday, Apr 30 2014
The ban on the Ebtekar Daily has been revoked four days after the newspaper was shut down by Iran's press court authorities.
Iranian media report that Mohammad Ali Vakili, the Managing Director of the newspaper, was informed that the newspaper's publication ban had been lifted.
Vakili announced that the newspaper will resume publication starting Wednesday April 30.
The newspaper was shut down after it reported on the removal of Gholamhossein Esmaili as the head of the country's prison organization following the attack on political prisoners in Ward 350 of Evin Prison.
The head of the judiciary has denied that any prisoner rights were violated at Evin and he insists that Esmaili's removal was more of a shuffle, which had been decided upon before any incident at Evin.
Ayatollah Larijani had also cautioned the media about reporting about the incident at Evin Prison in any manner that would indicate wrongdoing on the government's part.
Minister of Culture Ali Jannati had expressed his opposition to the ban on the Ebtekar Newspaper.
Radio Zamaneh
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Bahrain ( 8 people sentenced to life in prison for killing policeman )
MANAMA: Bahrain’s Supreme Criminal Court has sentenced eight people to life in prison for their part in the killing of a policeman in a bomb blast in November, the Public Prosecutor’s office said on Sunday.
The Gulf kingdom has struggled with ongoing unrest since mass pro-democracy protests erupted in 2011.
The protests were controlled but since then more sectarian elements have carried out low-level violence against security forces on an almost daily basis. Recent months have seen a rise in the use of homemade bombs.
According to the Public Prosecutor, the eight men planted a homemade bomb close to where police usually erected a checkpoint during protests, before setting tires on fire and blocking the road to lure policemen to the site.
One policeman was killed and four others were injured in the resulting blast, the prosecutor said.
The government says it has taken steps to address security forces’ violations by dismissing those responsible and introducing cameras at police stations to monitor abuses. But activists say this has not helped.
GUATEMALA CITY ( Four Gunned Down at Nightclub in Guatemala)
GUATEMALA CITY – An attack by gunmen at a nightclub in the northern city of Coban left four people dead and two others wounded, Guatemala’s PNC national police force said Friday.Roberto Cabna, 32, and Sergio Adonai Chon, 19, were pronounced dead at the scene of Thursday night’s attack, while Daniel Barrios, 26, and 21-year-old Benjamin de Jesus Medina died later at a hospital, PNC spokesman Pablo Castillo told Efe.
The two wounded survivors, a woman of 43 and a 28-year-old man, are listed in stable condition, Castillo said.
Guatemala, a nation of roughly 14 million people, suffered 6,072 homicides in 2013, or an average of 16 murders a day.
Monday, April 28, 2014
EGYPT ( 682 Muslim Brotherhood sentenced to death )
MINYA, Egypt (Reuters) - An Egyptian court sentenced the leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and 682 supporters to death on Monday, intensifying a crackdown on the movement that could trigger protests and political violence ahead of an election next month.
The Brotherhood, in a statement issued in London, described the ruling as chilling and said it would "continue to use all peaceful means to end military rule".
In another case signaling growing intolerance of dissent by military-backed authorities, a pro-democracy movement that helped ignite the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011 was banned by court order, judicial sources said.
The death sentence passed on Mohamed Badie, the Brotherhood's general guide, will infuriate members of the group, which has been the target of raids, arrests and bans since the army forced President Mohamed Mursi from power in July.
The United States and the United Nations expressed alarm over the ruling.
New Mexico ( Man arrested for " Hate Crime " regarding religion )
Department of Justice
A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against John W. Ng, 58, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, charging him with hate crime offenses related to anti-Semitic threats he made against a Jewish woman who owns and operates the Nosh Jewish Delicatessen and Bakery in Albuquerque.
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 24, 2014
New Mexico Man Charged with Federal Hate Crime for Threats Against Businesswoman
Ng was arrested by the FBI on March 7, 2014, based on a criminal complaint alleging that he interfered with the victim’s federally protected rights by threatening the victim and interfering with her business because of her religion and because she owned a Jewish restaurant. According to the indictment, on Jan. 22, 2014, and Feb. 8, 2014, Ng allegedly posted threatening, anti-Semitic notes on the door of the victim’s business. One of the notes allegedly read, “TO: The [racial slur] who should die.” Another allegedly read, “FROM: The one you scarred for life scumbags [;] TO: The [racial slur] who will die like rats.”
Ng was arrested by the FBI on March 7, 2014. He remains in federal custody pending completion of a psychiatric competency and dangerousness examination.
An indictment merely establishes probable cause, and Ng is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Each count carries a maximum statutory penalty of one year in prison.
This matter was investigated by the Albuquerque Division of the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Holland S. Kastrin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico and Trial Attorney Angie Cha of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.
14-429
Civil Rights Division
WASHINGTON ( Mexico Slams Plans for High tech radar “Virtual Fence” ) Arizona Border
WASHINGTON – The Mexican Consulate in Phoenix, Arizona, strongly criticized plans for a “virtual fence” on the southern border of that state and warned that such state projects “negatively affect” relations between the two countries and “impede” collaboration on migration matters.“The government of Mexico is watching the funding and implementation process, while recalling similar efforts that never achieved their established goals,” a communique from the Mexican Consulate in Phoenix said Friday.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law (HB 2462) a measure this week authorizing the state to install high-tech radar and cameras on 300 towers along 600 kilometers (375 miles) of the border with Mexico in order to keep a lookout for people- and drug-smuggling.
The original bill specified a funding of $30 million but the final approved text makes no mention of funds for creating a “virtual fence,” it simply authorizes that one be built.
“The government of Mexico insists that local projects of this nature negatively affect bilateral relations and impede effective collaboration between the two countries by planning to create systems of migration control different from those specified by federal legislation,” the consulate note continues.
“Mexico condemns the construction of any kind of border fence, considering that it does not resolve the migration phenomenon, nor is it consistent with a modern, secure border, and in no way contributes to the development and competitiveness of the region that both countries wish to promote,” it said.
For Mexico, the passing of HB 2462 contrasts with the “current of positive initiatives” passed in other states of the U.S. to promote the integration of immigrants as an acknowledgment of the contribution they make
Elblogdelnarco ( The blog with the "Inside Cartel News " )
Broly Banderas has been accused of being the hitman popular social networking thanks to its eagerness to portray his uncontrolled life through their Facebook accounts .
The escalation of violence in Mexico is taking almost fanciful trimmings, scandal , where those who live outside the law no longer hide from the public eye to help extol narco image as an almost mythical figure in Mexican society: if Broly Banderas is clear proof of this .
Antonio Banderas - Broly or Olalde , his real name who took his nickname from " Legendary Super Saiyan " from the anime Dragon Ball is a dangerous sign attached to the Knights Templar hitman who has been called " the most famous assassin of networks social " for their constant activity in their Facebook accounts .
Read more: http://www.elblogdelnarco.info/search?updated-max=2014-04-27T16:16:00-07:00&max-results=6#ixzz30BnUCsyKFollow us : @ MundoNarco on Twitter
The escalation of violence in Mexico is taking almost fanciful trimmings, scandal , where those who live outside the law no longer hide from the public eye to help extol narco image as an almost mythical figure in Mexican society: if Broly Banderas is clear proof of this .Antonio Banderas - Broly or Olalde , his real name who took his nickname from " Legendary Super Saiyan " from the anime Dragon Ball is a dangerous sign attached to the Knights Templar hitman who has been called " the most famous assassin of networks social " for their constant activity in their Facebook accounts .
Read more: http://www.elblogdelnarco.info/search?updated-max=2014-04-27T16:16:00-07:00&max-results=6#ixzz30BnUCsyKFollow us : @ MundoNarco on Twitter
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Saudi Arabia ( New sports arena - Can women come ? )
The Kingdom’s Western Province gets an important new landmark when the multi-use sports arena at the King Abdullah Sports City (KASC) opens on May 1 to host the final of the King's Cup.
Located about 50 km from Jeddah, King Abdullah Sports City is in a league of its own, joining the great sporting venues in the world. It also has unique features that surpass many of the world’s best.
It has already taken its place as an iconic architectural expression on the Jeddah and Saudi skyline but, behind the facade, the KASC is more than just a sports venue — it is a pillar of engineering excellence that boasts the latest in large-venue technology from the grass on the pitch, to a cutting-edge external design that promotes energy efficiency and natural air cooling.
From the Madinah Road and the Makkah-Madinah Expressway — two of the main arteries traveling north out of Jeddah — the awe-inspiring stadium comes into definition. Its bulbous outline, adorned with Arabian-style exterior design, appears like a jewel rising out of the sand.
KASC is going to be pivotal for the onward journey of the Kingdom toward athletic excellence.
“In recognition of the importance of sports, its benefits and role in the progress of humanity, and out of keenness on the welfare of Saudi youth, we have decided to establish the King Abdullah Sports City,” King Abdullah said in a 2009 royal decree.
The KASC vision is to promote health, economic and social welfare through sports, to encourage social interactions between Saudi citizens and the world and to elevate the Kingdom’s international athletic performance.
To this end, a world-class sporting facility, alongside cultural landmarks, will help advance the health of Saudi Arabia and positively develop its youth through sporting activities.
However, the vision is not just restricted to the local and the regional. One of the chief objectives is for it to be a globally recognized as a sports venue capable of attracting international events, with multifunctional sports, recreation, cultural and training facilities that will be economically, culturally and socially and environmentally sustainable.
Spectators will enjoy a crowd-management system that sees them guided conveniently to allocated seats, and free Wi-Fi allows spectators to stay connected throughout events.
Other unique factors are the four locker rooms for players, which mean that two semi-final games could be played in one day. There are separate offices for managers and separate locker rooms for coaches and a warm-up area for players with synthetic turf flooring so that they can warm up with boots on. There are flash media interview studios near the locker rooms and a state-of-the-art press conference room. More than 150 paintings by Saudi artists, displayed around all parts of the stadium, turn every hallway into an art exhibit.
KASC was constructed on 3 million square meters. It also includes a 60,000-capacity football stadium which comfortably meets the standards of the International Football Association (FIFA). One of the most distinguishing features of this stadium is that it does not include an athletics track, which puts the spectators at the heart of the event and makes it more enjoyable to them.
Another distinguishing feature is that KASC has met requirements of spectators with special needs in its design. In addition to elevators and toilets, there are hundreds of parking spots and seats for them and their companions reserved at premium locations.
The stadium’s two massive 9.5x16-meter screens add more visual enjoyment and excitement for spectators. Among its unique facilities are three outdoor football playgrounds, four football arenas, six tennis courts, outdoor running tracks and facilities as well as an office for the General Presidency for Youth Welfare.
The main stadium has nine static and 15 mobile camera locations that will help TV stations broadcast the events at the highest international standards.
The spectator seating area consists of three levels aimed at providing very clear vision to the pitch, and a canopy of hard cloth and steel mesh protects spectators from sunlight and rains.
Sports Hall: The Sports Hall is a sport specific venue for basketball, volleyball, handball, five-a-side football, badminton and table tennis. It is fully air conditioned, and it has been conceived as a “black box” to meet federation and broadcast requirements. All sports will be supported for international and high definition (HD) televising. The design maximizes flexibility and shares facilities with the stadium. Other cultural and exhibition events can be held within the building’s capacity limit, services provisions and infrastructure.
Athletics Stadium: The Athletics Stadium will boast a seating capacity of 1,000 seats and that can be extended to 2,000 seats if required. It has been designed to host National Class 2 competitions. It features an eight-lane, 400-meter track, nine lanes straight and a natural grass infield. Spectators in the Athletics Stadium will be protected from the glare of the sun and the elements.
King Abdullah requested Saudi Aramco to tackle the project, and the result is a set of facilities engineered and constructed to the highest standards employing the latest technology for energy efficiency, safety and the comfort of spectators and athletes alike.
Located about 50 km from Jeddah, King Abdullah Sports City is in a league of its own, joining the great sporting venues in the world. It also has unique features that surpass many of the world’s best.
It has already taken its place as an iconic architectural expression on the Jeddah and Saudi skyline but, behind the facade, the KASC is more than just a sports venue — it is a pillar of engineering excellence that boasts the latest in large-venue technology from the grass on the pitch, to a cutting-edge external design that promotes energy efficiency and natural air cooling.
From the Madinah Road and the Makkah-Madinah Expressway — two of the main arteries traveling north out of Jeddah — the awe-inspiring stadium comes into definition. Its bulbous outline, adorned with Arabian-style exterior design, appears like a jewel rising out of the sand.
KASC is going to be pivotal for the onward journey of the Kingdom toward athletic excellence.
“In recognition of the importance of sports, its benefits and role in the progress of humanity, and out of keenness on the welfare of Saudi youth, we have decided to establish the King Abdullah Sports City,” King Abdullah said in a 2009 royal decree.
The KASC vision is to promote health, economic and social welfare through sports, to encourage social interactions between Saudi citizens and the world and to elevate the Kingdom’s international athletic performance.
To this end, a world-class sporting facility, alongside cultural landmarks, will help advance the health of Saudi Arabia and positively develop its youth through sporting activities.
However, the vision is not just restricted to the local and the regional. One of the chief objectives is for it to be a globally recognized as a sports venue capable of attracting international events, with multifunctional sports, recreation, cultural and training facilities that will be economically, culturally and socially and environmentally sustainable.
Spectators will enjoy a crowd-management system that sees them guided conveniently to allocated seats, and free Wi-Fi allows spectators to stay connected throughout events.
Other unique factors are the four locker rooms for players, which mean that two semi-final games could be played in one day. There are separate offices for managers and separate locker rooms for coaches and a warm-up area for players with synthetic turf flooring so that they can warm up with boots on. There are flash media interview studios near the locker rooms and a state-of-the-art press conference room. More than 150 paintings by Saudi artists, displayed around all parts of the stadium, turn every hallway into an art exhibit.
KASC was constructed on 3 million square meters. It also includes a 60,000-capacity football stadium which comfortably meets the standards of the International Football Association (FIFA). One of the most distinguishing features of this stadium is that it does not include an athletics track, which puts the spectators at the heart of the event and makes it more enjoyable to them.
Another distinguishing feature is that KASC has met requirements of spectators with special needs in its design. In addition to elevators and toilets, there are hundreds of parking spots and seats for them and their companions reserved at premium locations.
The stadium’s two massive 9.5x16-meter screens add more visual enjoyment and excitement for spectators. Among its unique facilities are three outdoor football playgrounds, four football arenas, six tennis courts, outdoor running tracks and facilities as well as an office for the General Presidency for Youth Welfare.
The main stadium has nine static and 15 mobile camera locations that will help TV stations broadcast the events at the highest international standards.
The spectator seating area consists of three levels aimed at providing very clear vision to the pitch, and a canopy of hard cloth and steel mesh protects spectators from sunlight and rains.
Sports Hall: The Sports Hall is a sport specific venue for basketball, volleyball, handball, five-a-side football, badminton and table tennis. It is fully air conditioned, and it has been conceived as a “black box” to meet federation and broadcast requirements. All sports will be supported for international and high definition (HD) televising. The design maximizes flexibility and shares facilities with the stadium. Other cultural and exhibition events can be held within the building’s capacity limit, services provisions and infrastructure.
Athletics Stadium: The Athletics Stadium will boast a seating capacity of 1,000 seats and that can be extended to 2,000 seats if required. It has been designed to host National Class 2 competitions. It features an eight-lane, 400-meter track, nine lanes straight and a natural grass infield. Spectators in the Athletics Stadium will be protected from the glare of the sun and the elements.
King Abdullah requested Saudi Aramco to tackle the project, and the result is a set of facilities engineered and constructed to the highest standards employing the latest technology for energy efficiency, safety and the comfort of spectators and athletes alike.
Iran ( Iran Bans Reformist Newspaper " for telling lies " )
Saturday, Apr 26 2014
Iran has banned the reformist newspaper "Ebtekar," the third such publication to be closed by authorities in recent months.
Mohammad Ali Vakili, the newspaper's managing director, told ISNA news agency on April 26 that he received a note from the media court which said a ban has been imposed on the daily for "spreading lies."
ISNA reported that the ban was imposed because of an erroneous headline saying the prison chief was dismissed but, in fact, he had been promoted to another post.
In February, the reformist daily "Aseman" was banned for publishing an article allegedly insulting to Islam.
"Bahar," another reformist newspaper, was closed down in October over an article seen by critics as questioning Shi'ite beliefs.
An ultraconservative daily was also temporarily banned for criticizing President Hassan Rohani.
Based on reporting by ISNA, AFP, and Radio Farda
RFE/RL
RFE/RL
North Korea ( Kim Jong Un " flexes small muscles " )
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urged the army to develop to ensure it wins any confrontation with the United States, the reclusive country's news agency said on Sunday, a day after U.S. President Barack Obama warned the North of its military might.
Kim led a meeting of the Central Military Commission and "set forth important tasks for further developing the Korean People's Army and ways to do so", KCNA news agency said
Iran ( 19 political prisoners on hunger strike in Rajai Shahr prison )
Saturday, Apr 26 2014
19 political prisoners of Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj have gone on hunger strike in solidarity with the political prisoners of ward 350 of Evin prison.
According to the report of Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Afshin Heyratian, Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, Saleh Kohandel, Said Masouri, Mohammad Ali Mansouri, Rasoul Badaghi, Mohammad Banazadeh Amirkhizi, Khaled Hardani, Hamid Reza Borhani, Batir Shahr Mohammadov, Misagh Yazdan Nejad and Naseh Yousefi have gone on hunger strike since the morning of April 23rd in solidarity with the political prisoners of ward 350 of Evin prison.
Jafar Eghdami, Said Madani, Masoud Bastani, Mostafa Nili, Reza Entesari and Mehdi Mahmoudian have also shaved their hairs and gone on hunger strike since the eveningof April 23rd in solidarity with the political prisoners of ward 350. Said Razavi Faghih has shaved his hairs as well but he is not on hunger strike.
The prison guards took 32 political prisoners of ward 350 to the solitary confinement and shaved their hairs during the raiding of April 17th.
HRANA News Agency
CAIRO ( Woman killed as police clash with Brotherhood )
CAIRO: A supporter of Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood was killed on Friday in clashes with the security forces in Fayoum province, south of Cairo, medical sources said.
The woman, Reda Dahish, died after being hit by birdshot in her stomach. Six other people were injured, the sources said.
A Reuters witness saw Brotherhood supporters throwing rocks and fireworks at security forces who fired teargas and used birdshot against the protesters.
In a separate incident in Cairo, a policeman was shot dead by Brotherhood supporters, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Egypt has faced a surge in violence after the army overthrew President Muhammad Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July following mass protests against him a year after he was elected.
Mursi's supporters accuse the army of staging a coup while the army says it was siding with the will of the people.
Since Mursi was ousted the government has launched a campaign against the Brotherhood, which it has branded a terrorist organization, arresting thousands of its members including Mursi. Hundreds have been killed in clashes.
Attacks by militants have also killed around 500 people, mostly policemen and soldiers.
Egypt is due to hold a presidential election next month that former army chief Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, who led the overthrow of Mursi, is widely expected to win
The woman, Reda Dahish, died after being hit by birdshot in her stomach. Six other people were injured, the sources said.
A Reuters witness saw Brotherhood supporters throwing rocks and fireworks at security forces who fired teargas and used birdshot against the protesters.
In a separate incident in Cairo, a policeman was shot dead by Brotherhood supporters, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Egypt has faced a surge in violence after the army overthrew President Muhammad Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July following mass protests against him a year after he was elected.
Mursi's supporters accuse the army of staging a coup while the army says it was siding with the will of the people.
Since Mursi was ousted the government has launched a campaign against the Brotherhood, which it has branded a terrorist organization, arresting thousands of its members including Mursi. Hundreds have been killed in clashes.
Attacks by militants have also killed around 500 people, mostly policemen and soldiers.
Egypt is due to hold a presidential election next month that former army chief Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, who led the overthrow of Mursi, is widely expected to win
Mexico ( "Papa Smurf " self defense group leader )
Morelia , Michoacán - . Estanislao Beltran, " Papa Smurf " , one of the leaders of the General Council and Community Self-Defense Forces of Michoacan.
Bet at the entrance of one of the legendary caves Servando Gómez Martínez , " La Tuta " , accompanied by a command state and federal police , grabbed his "goat horn " and fired a burst into the air.
"Tuta ! I 'm looking for , "he shouted and gunfire echoed in the cliffs of the Tuscan hills , 20 minutes from the county seat of Arteaga, Bonnet earth , on the border with the town of Tumbiscatío .
But the only surviving leader of the Knights Templar cartel did not respond.
A few meters from " Papa Smurf " a rusty metal door and roll side gave entrance to a damp , dark cave , with fresh tracks and tennis shoe on the ground, and with a length that was possible to observe up to 100 meters deep. The cave is narrow sections that require crawling , but open to vault up to 10 meters high.
The path to the cave is interrupted by a natural pool fed by an underground tributary of a river, about seven feet long, but there is a alternating tunnel made by humans around the pool and continues the tunnel for 30 yards , after which the depth of it is lost in darkness .
Read more: http://www.elblogdelnarco.info/2014/04/ni-rastro-de-la-tuta-en-su-legendaria.html # ixzz305zuzrIuFollow us : @ MundoNarco on Twitter
Bet at the entrance of one of the legendary caves Servando Gómez Martínez , " La Tuta " , accompanied by a command state and federal police , grabbed his "goat horn " and fired a burst into the air.
"Tuta ! I 'm looking for , "he shouted and gunfire echoed in the cliffs of the Tuscan hills , 20 minutes from the county seat of Arteaga, Bonnet earth , on the border with the town of Tumbiscatío .
But the only surviving leader of the Knights Templar cartel did not respond.
A few meters from " Papa Smurf " a rusty metal door and roll side gave entrance to a damp , dark cave , with fresh tracks and tennis shoe on the ground, and with a length that was possible to observe up to 100 meters deep. The cave is narrow sections that require crawling , but open to vault up to 10 meters high.
The path to the cave is interrupted by a natural pool fed by an underground tributary of a river, about seven feet long, but there is a alternating tunnel made by humans around the pool and continues the tunnel for 30 yards , after which the depth of it is lost in darkness .
Read more: http://www.elblogdelnarco.info/2014/04/ni-rastro-de-la-tuta-en-su-legendaria.html # ixzz305zuzrIuFollow us : @ MundoNarco on Twitter
Saturday, April 26, 2014
BRASILIA (Activists Decry Murder of Retired Brazilian Colonel Who Admitted to Torture )
BRASILIA – Rights defenders on Saturday denounced the murder of a retired army colonel who testified last month that Brazil’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship tortured its political opponents, saying it was proof that the erstwhile regime’s former agents remain active.
Paulo Malhães, 74, was killed Thursday at his home in suburban Rio de Janeiro by suspected burglars, who stole computers and guns after spending nearly 10 hours inside the residence.
The victim’s wife, Cristina Batista Malhães, who was also inside the home, said the two were tied up in different rooms and that she did not know at what point the robbers killed her husband.
Police say he was suffocated.
The retired colonel testified in March to Brazil’s Truth Commission, which is investigating rights violations during the dictatorship, that he illegally detained and tortured regime opponents.
Malhães, who provided graphic details of the torments, said one of his victims was lawmaker Rubens Paiva, whose daughter said Saturday she is convinced the retired military man was murdered to prevent him from making further revelations.
Vera Paiva told the daily O Dia that agents of the former regime remain active and are seeking to prevent the “historical truth” from being exposed.
She recalled that another admitted torturer, Col. Julio Miguel Molina Dias, who was also implicated in her father’s 1971 kidnap-murder, was killed in an alleged robbery in 2012.
The Truth Commission, established in 2011 by the administration of President Dilma Rousseff, a former leftist militant who suffered torture and was imprisoned for more than two years during the dictatorship, also demanded that authorities get to the bottom of Malhães’s killing.
“The murder and its possible relation with the revelations made by Malhães ... must be rigorously and expeditiously investigated,” the commission said Friday.
Paulo Malhães, 74, was killed Thursday at his home in suburban Rio de Janeiro by suspected burglars, who stole computers and guns after spending nearly 10 hours inside the residence.
The victim’s wife, Cristina Batista Malhães, who was also inside the home, said the two were tied up in different rooms and that she did not know at what point the robbers killed her husband.
Police say he was suffocated.
The retired colonel testified in March to Brazil’s Truth Commission, which is investigating rights violations during the dictatorship, that he illegally detained and tortured regime opponents.
Malhães, who provided graphic details of the torments, said one of his victims was lawmaker Rubens Paiva, whose daughter said Saturday she is convinced the retired military man was murdered to prevent him from making further revelations.
Vera Paiva told the daily O Dia that agents of the former regime remain active and are seeking to prevent the “historical truth” from being exposed.
She recalled that another admitted torturer, Col. Julio Miguel Molina Dias, who was also implicated in her father’s 1971 kidnap-murder, was killed in an alleged robbery in 2012.
The Truth Commission, established in 2011 by the administration of President Dilma Rousseff, a former leftist militant who suffered torture and was imprisoned for more than two years during the dictatorship, also demanded that authorities get to the bottom of Malhães’s killing.
“The murder and its possible relation with the revelations made by Malhães ... must be rigorously and expeditiously investigated,” the commission said Friday.
Mexico ( Three Found Murdered in Mexican Resort City )
MEXICO CITY – Three people were found shot to death on the outskirts of the Pacific resort city of Acapulco, a Mexican official told Efe.The victims, who were discovered in the wee hours of Thursday in the Palma Sola neighborhood, have yet to be identified.
Police collected around 45 shell casings at the scene, a source in the Guerrero state Attorney General’s Office said.
The bodies were taken to the medical examiner’s office in Acapulco, a one-time major international tourist destination that has lost its luster due in part to organized crime-related violence.
Guerrero registered 77 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2012, Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography said in a report issued last July.
The state government, with support from federal authorities, launched an operation in 2011 to bolster security in areas frequented by tourists
Thursday, April 24, 2014
CAIRO ( Police General killed when bomb went off Wednesday )
CAIRO: A police brigadier general was killed when a bomb exploded under his car on Wednesday, security officials said, in the fifth such targeted attack in Egypt’s capital within a week.The blast in the upscale western suburb of Oct. 6 killed Ahmed Zaki, a commander of Egypt’s central security forces who have spearheaded a crackdown on supporters of ousted President Muhammad Mursi.Militants have launched scores of attacks mainly targeting security forces since the military deposed Mursi last July after massive protests calling for his resignation.The general was fatally wounded as he headed for work, security officials said, adding that two conscripts were wounded in the attack.Zaki was the third senior police officer to be killed in Cairo since the start of the year. Three other police have been killed in four more attacks over the past week.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Iran ( Prison official denies attack on Evin prisoners )
Saturday, Apr 19 2014
The head of Iran's Prison Organization denies that Evin Prison was the site of any recent violence or attacks.
ILNA reports that Gholamhossein Esmaili said such rumours are merely being spread by "anti-Revolutionaries" and have no substance.
On Thursday, the Kaleme website reported that forces from the intelligence ministry, Revolutionary Guards and over 100 soldier guards swarmed Ward 350 of Evin Prison and beat more than 30 political prisoners.
The prisoners were reportedly protesting to "an aggressive inspection procedure" that had taken over five hours.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency, HRANA, also reports that many prisoners were severely injured in this incident.
The head of Tehran prisoners, Sohrab Sokeymani, also denied that the event took place.
In a new report, the Kaleme opposition website has denounced the denials of the prison authorities. The report says prisoners who had been sent to Taleghani Hospital yesterday have been collected by prison authorities and returned to Evin to avoid any further scandal.
Radio Zamaneh
TEHRAN ( Iranian woman on death row to be executed " If she tells the truth " victim will spare her life )
TEHRAN: An Iranian woman on death row for the murder of an ex-intelligence official could be forgiven if “she tells the truth,” the son of her alleged victim said Saturday.
Interior designer Reyhaneh Jabbari has been sentenced to death for the 2007 slaying of Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi, which a UN human rights monitor claims was done in self-defense against a potential rapist.
Judiciary officials say there is no date yet for her execution but her lawyer Abdolsamad Khoramshahi warned last week it could be “carried out within a month.”
Jalal, Sarbandi’s eldest son, told Iranian reformist dailies Shargh and Etemad that his family “will not even contemplate mercy until truth is unearthed.”
“Only when her true intentions are exposed and she tells the truth about her accomplice and what really went down will we be prepared to grant mercy,” he said.
According to Jalal, Jabbari, 26, testified that a man was present in the apartment where his father was stabbed to death “but she refuses to reveal his identity.”
His comments come just days after a young Iranian man convicted of murder escaped a hangman’s noose in Iran when his victim’s mother intervened, slapping him in the face and declaring forgiveness.
The UN says that more than 170 people have been executed in Iran since the beginning of 2014.
Jabbari’s case has triggered domestic and international condemnation.
Iranian actors and other prominent figures have launched an appeal against her execution, echoing similar calls being made in the West.
The United Nations and several international rights groups say Jabbari’s confession was obtained under intense pressure and threats from Iranian prosecutors.
Ahmed Shaheed, the UN’s human rights rapporteur on Iran, said on Monday that her trial had been deeply flawed and apparently acted in self-defense.
“The Iranian authorities should review her case and refer it back to court for a re-trial, ensuring the defendant’s right to due process which is guaranteed under both Iranian law and international law,” said Shaheed.
He quoted “reliable sources” as saying that the victim, Sarbandi, had offered to hire Jabbari to redesign his office and took her to an apartment where he sexually abused her.
But Jalal Sarbandi insists that his father’s murder was premeditated, adding that Jabbari confessed to having bought a knife two days earlier.
“She (also) sent a text message to her boyfriend saying she would kill him,” he said.
But Shaheed said that Jabbari only stabbed Sarbandi in the shoulder and had called for an ambulance before fleeing the scene.
Interior designer Reyhaneh Jabbari has been sentenced to death for the 2007 slaying of Morteza Abdolali Sarbandi, which a UN human rights monitor claims was done in self-defense against a potential rapist.
Judiciary officials say there is no date yet for her execution but her lawyer Abdolsamad Khoramshahi warned last week it could be “carried out within a month.”
Jalal, Sarbandi’s eldest son, told Iranian reformist dailies Shargh and Etemad that his family “will not even contemplate mercy until truth is unearthed.”
“Only when her true intentions are exposed and she tells the truth about her accomplice and what really went down will we be prepared to grant mercy,” he said.
According to Jalal, Jabbari, 26, testified that a man was present in the apartment where his father was stabbed to death “but she refuses to reveal his identity.”
His comments come just days after a young Iranian man convicted of murder escaped a hangman’s noose in Iran when his victim’s mother intervened, slapping him in the face and declaring forgiveness.
The UN says that more than 170 people have been executed in Iran since the beginning of 2014.
Jabbari’s case has triggered domestic and international condemnation.
Iranian actors and other prominent figures have launched an appeal against her execution, echoing similar calls being made in the West.
The United Nations and several international rights groups say Jabbari’s confession was obtained under intense pressure and threats from Iranian prosecutors.
Ahmed Shaheed, the UN’s human rights rapporteur on Iran, said on Monday that her trial had been deeply flawed and apparently acted in self-defense.
“The Iranian authorities should review her case and refer it back to court for a re-trial, ensuring the defendant’s right to due process which is guaranteed under both Iranian law and international law,” said Shaheed.
He quoted “reliable sources” as saying that the victim, Sarbandi, had offered to hire Jabbari to redesign his office and took her to an apartment where he sexually abused her.
But Jalal Sarbandi insists that his father’s murder was premeditated, adding that Jabbari confessed to having bought a knife two days earlier.
“She (also) sent a text message to her boyfriend saying she would kill him,” he said.
But Shaheed said that Jabbari only stabbed Sarbandi in the shoulder and had called for an ambulance before fleeing the scene.
Barcelona ( Over 30 Indigenous Groups in Colombia Threatened with Extinction )
BARCELONA, Spain – At least 34 of the more than 100 native ethnicities and indigenous communities living in Colombia are going through a “humanitarian crisis” and are threatened with extinction, according to the Autonomy and Rights Observatory for Colombia’s Indigenous Peoples (ADPI).A Colombian activist at the Observatory, Juan Manuel Avila, living in Barcelona, Spain, told Efe that Colombia’s indigenous population totals almost 1.5 million and their lifestyle is based on the principles of “balance among living creatures, harmony, give-and-take, and defense of the common good.”
But 34 of these peoples see their way of life endangered and live under the threat of their kind disappearing, as the Colombian Constitutional Court recognized in 2009. Since then, things have only gotten worse, Avila said.
ADPI is an association of organizations and individuals who work in Barcelona to defend the human rights and collectives of Colombian Indians.
Avila said these native peoples are living through a “humanitarian crisis, due chiefly to the armed conflict” between the Colombian armed forces and the FARC guerrillas, “which is being fought in some indigenous territories” and has made the Indians “victims of both sides.”
So what the indigenous movement demands, he says, is that they be “left out of the conflict and their lands demilitarized.”
Indian ethnicities have not been invited to take part in the negotiations between the government and the guerrillas, according to Avila, who says indigenous peoples like the Awa, the Nasa and the Senu particularly fear the launching of “macroprojects based on an extractive economy, because they will only generate violence for control of the territory.”
Another problem Indians have suffered is “international invisibilization” – few remember they even exist.
Mexico ( Gang members " kill 3 migrants on train" )
SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico – Four migrants were killed and three others wounded when gunmen attacked a train in southeastern Mexico, the National Migration Institute (INM) said on Thursday.“A group of suspected criminals attacked the migrants, who were traveling on the train that covers the Arriaga, Chiapas-Ixtepec, Oaxaca route, causing the deaths of four people and wounding three others,” the INM said in a statement.
The attack occurred in a remote region of Oaxaca state and “the group of criminals tried to take advantage of this to steal belongings and money from the migrants,” the INM said.
“Some migrants refused to hand over their belongings to the suspected criminals, who shot them,” the INM said.
One of the migrants died when he jumped from the moving train “to try to avoid being robbed, dying instantly,” the INM said.
Officials have not released the identities or nationalities of the victims.
An estimated 300,000 Central Americans undertake the hazardous journey across Mexico each year on their way to the United States.
The trek is a dangerous one, with criminals and corrupt Mexican officials preying on the migrants.
Gangs kidnap, rob and murder migrants, who are often targeted in extortion schemes, Mexican officials say.
At least 100 migrants were robbed by armed men aboard “La Bestia,” or “The Beast,” the freight train Central American migrants headed for the United States often ride on their journey across Mexico, on Dec. 2.
The incident occurred in Chahuite, a town in Oaxaca state near the border with Chiapas state.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Friday, April 18, 2014
Tucson AZ ( Puppy left in " Dumpster " in trash bag ) suspects wanted
Abandoned puppy in semi-critical condition
Sierra Vista - Animal Control Officers want information about an abandoned four-month female Maltese puppy found in a semi-critical condition and left in a dumpster on Sunday, April 13.
Police tell us the dog was found dirty, wet and suffering from hypothermia inside a Miracle Grow soil bag. The bag was left in a dumpster at the Oasis Apartments located at 4250 E. Busby Drive. The puppy was wearing a red, rhinestone collar.
She was taken to a veterinarian and is in a semi-critical condition due to a possible head trauma. She is slowly recovering as she learns to walk, eat and drink again.
If you have any information on the puppy or who might have left her, call the Sierra Vista Animal Control Office at (520) 458-4151 or the Sierra Vista Police Department at (520) 452- 7500.
Iran ( Iranian killer's execution halted at last minute by victim's parents )
Thursday, Apr 17 2014
Balal hanging Hosseinzadeh's mother slaps Balal. Photograph: Arash Khamooshi /Isna
When he felt the noose around his neck, Balal must have thought he was about to take his last breath. Minutes earlier, crowds had watched as guards pushed him towards the gallows for what was meant to be yet another public execution in the Islamic republic of Iran.
Seven years ago Balal, who is in his 20s, stabbed 18-year-old Abdollah Hosseinzadeh during a street brawl in the small town of Royan, in the northern province of Mazandaran. In a literal application of qisas, the sharia law of retribution, the victim's family were to participate in Balal's punishment by pushing the chair on which he stood.
But what happened next marked a rarity in public executions in Iran, which puts more people to death than any other country apart from China. The victim's mother approached, slapped the convict in the face and then decided to forgive her son's killer. The victim's father removed the noose and Balal's life was spared.
Balal hanging Hosseinzadeh's mother slaps Balal. Photograph: Arash Khamooshi /Isna
Photographs taken by Arash Khamooshi, of the semi-official Isna news agency, show what followed. Balal's mother hugged the grieving mother of the man her son had killed. The two women sobbed in each other's arms – one because she had lost her son, the other because hers had been saved.
The action by Hosseinzadeh's mother was all the more extraordinary as it emerged that this was not the first son she had lost. Her younger child Amirhossein was killed in a motorbike accident at the age of 11.
"My 18-year-old son Abdollah was taking a stroll in the bazaar with his friends when Balal shoved him," said the victim's father, Abdolghani Hosseinzadeh, according to Isna. "Abdollah was offended and kicked him but at this time the murderer took an ordinary kitchen knife out of his socks."
Hosseinzadeh Sr has come to the conclusion that Balal did not kill his son deliberately. "Balal was inexperienced and didn't know how to handle a knife. He was naive."
According to the father, Balal escaped the scene of the stabbing but was later arrested by the police. It took six years for a court to hand down a death sentence, and the victim's family deferred the execution a number of times. An date for execution was set just before the Persian new year, Nowruz, but the victim's family did not approve of the timing.
Hosseinzadeh said a dream prompted the change of heart. "Three days ago my wife saw my elder son in a dream telling her that they are in a good place, and for her not to retaliate ... This calmed my wife and we decided to think more until the day of the execution."
The noose is removed from around the neck of Balal. Photograph: Arash Khamooshi /Isna
Many Iranian public figures, including the popular TV sport presenter Adel Ferdosipour, had called on the couple, who have a daughter, to forgive the killer. Although they did so, Balal will not necessarily be freed. Under Iranian law the victim's family have a say only in the act of execution, not any jail sentence.
Saudi Arabia ( Filipino woman found raped and killed " family refuses blood money" )
The parents of a Filipino woman who was found dead in a dumpster in Jeddah on Thursday have rejected monetary compensation from her killers, local officials have said.
“The aggrieved family has rejected the offer because they want the culprits to be prosecuted for violating Islamic law,” according to Anwarudin Kuit Emblawa, a municipal councilor who is also the victim’s uncle.
Emblawa said that his niece, 44-year-old Rauda Mamison Sabdullah, had been badly beaten and had been hit on the head with a blunt object.
A police report then confirmed that the victim had been badly injured and eventually died from her injuries the same day she had been found.
Policemen have arrested a Pakistani and Lebanese expat in connection with the murder, the report said.
The victim was first reported missing on April 3.
Investigators had managed to obtain information from the victim before she succumbed to her injuries in hospital, leading them to the whereabouts of her attackers.
Other relatives suspect that Sabdullah had been abducted and taken to a house far from where she works, where she was raped and tortured.
The victim’s cadaver was released Thursday morning by hospital authorities in Jeddah prior to a decent burial, according to the office of Datu Abdullah Sangki Mayor Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu.
The mayor said she extended financial assistance to the victim’s family for the traditional prayer rites.
Filipino community leaders have cautioned fellow OFWs, especially women, to remain vigilant in the aftermath of the tragedy.
“Fellow OFWs have to be extra cautious when dealing with male strangers whatever their nationality,” said Gener L. Benter from Dammam.
“We should learn how to defend ourselves.”
“There are other stories that do not appear in the media,” said Benter.
“An OFW in Jazan, for instance, claims to have been beaten up by her sponsors and raped.”
“The aggrieved family has rejected the offer because they want the culprits to be prosecuted for violating Islamic law,” according to Anwarudin Kuit Emblawa, a municipal councilor who is also the victim’s uncle.
Emblawa said that his niece, 44-year-old Rauda Mamison Sabdullah, had been badly beaten and had been hit on the head with a blunt object.
A police report then confirmed that the victim had been badly injured and eventually died from her injuries the same day she had been found.
Policemen have arrested a Pakistani and Lebanese expat in connection with the murder, the report said.
The victim was first reported missing on April 3.
Investigators had managed to obtain information from the victim before she succumbed to her injuries in hospital, leading them to the whereabouts of her attackers.
Other relatives suspect that Sabdullah had been abducted and taken to a house far from where she works, where she was raped and tortured.
The victim’s cadaver was released Thursday morning by hospital authorities in Jeddah prior to a decent burial, according to the office of Datu Abdullah Sangki Mayor Bai Mariam Sangki-Mangudadatu.
The mayor said she extended financial assistance to the victim’s family for the traditional prayer rites.
Filipino community leaders have cautioned fellow OFWs, especially women, to remain vigilant in the aftermath of the tragedy.
“Fellow OFWs have to be extra cautious when dealing with male strangers whatever their nationality,” said Gener L. Benter from Dammam.
“We should learn how to defend ourselves.”
“There are other stories that do not appear in the media,” said Benter.
“An OFW in Jazan, for instance, claims to have been beaten up by her sponsors and raped.”
Thursday, April 17, 2014
TUCSON Az ( Vehicle fire slows traffic - I -10 )
1 hour 24 minutes ago by Nichole Szemerei
Vehicle fire on I-10 causing slowing
TRAFFIC JAMS: Vehicle on fire on I-10 EB near SUNSET RD. A lot of slowing in the area. Try Silverbell instead.CAIRO ( 120 Muhammad Mursi supporters get 3 years in jail )
CAIRO: An Egyptian court jailed 120 supporters of deposed President Muhammad Mursi for three years on Wednesday over clashes that left dozens of people dead last year, officials said.
The trial is part of
a relentless crackdown that has targeted Mursi’s supporters since the army ousted him in July.
The defendants were sentenced over clashes pitting protesters against the security forces and civilian opponents that killed 24 people and wounded 90 in the central Cairo district of Dokki on Oct. 6, the judicial officials said. Six other defendants were acquitted, and those sentenced can appeal the verdict.
A total of more than 50 people were killed that day in nationwide violence as Egypt marked the anniversary of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.
Since Mursi’s ouster his supporters have staged near-daily protests calling for his reinstatement, and their rallies have often descended into street clashes with security forces and civilian opponents.
The trial is part of
a relentless crackdown that has targeted Mursi’s supporters since the army ousted him in July.
The defendants were sentenced over clashes pitting protesters against the security forces and civilian opponents that killed 24 people and wounded 90 in the central Cairo district of Dokki on Oct. 6, the judicial officials said. Six other defendants were acquitted, and those sentenced can appeal the verdict.
A total of more than 50 people were killed that day in nationwide violence as Egypt marked the anniversary of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.
Since Mursi’s ouster his supporters have staged near-daily protests calling for his reinstatement, and their rallies have often descended into street clashes with security forces and civilian opponents.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Colombia ( Police in Colombia Seize 3 Tons of Cocaine )
BOGOTA – Colombian police on Tuesday seized 2,877 kilos (6,337 lbs.) of liquid cocaine discovered in the Caribbean port of Cartagena, where seven tons of the drug in solid form were confiscated a week ago.The liquefied cocaine was mixed with dielectric oil – an insulator – and concealed inside an electric transformer set to be shipped to the Guatemalan port of Santo Tomas de Castilla.
The drugs seized Tuesday belonged to Los Urabeños, a gang made up of former right-wing paramilitaries, Colombian police said.
Colombia’s largest-ever seizure of liquid cocaine came just a week days after authorities in the port of Cartagena discovered seven tons of cocaine bound for Europe.
The national police recently sent a special investigative team to Cartagena to look into suspicions that some cops assigned to the port were colluding with drug traffickers, Bogota daily El Tiempo said Tuesday.
The amount of cocaine confiscated at Colombia’s ports has been on the increase since mid-2013, prompting authorities to increase scrutiny of maritime terminals, the newspaper said.
Mexico ( Vigilantes Cut Deal with Mexican Government )
MORELIA, Mexico – The leaders of the community self-defense groups in 20 cities in the western Mexican state of Michoacan have reached an agreement with federal officials to begin demobilizing, officials said.The vigilantes also agreed to work with federal authorities to strengthen efforts to identify Caballeros Templarios drug cartel “targets,” the office of the federal commissioner for security and development in Michoacan, Alfredo Castillo Cervantes, told Efe.
Federal officials met with Jose Manuel Mireles Valverde, who represented the vigilante groups, on Monday in Tazumbos, a community in the western state of Jalisco.
The leaders of the self-defense groups in the cities of Buenavista, Tancitaro, Los Reyes, Periban, Uruapan, Aguililla, Aquila, Chinicuila, Taretan, Patzcuaro, Coalcoman, Coahuayana, Lombardia, Ziracuaretiro, Apatzingan, Tepalcatepec, Churumuco, La Huacana, Mugica and Huetamo also attended the meeting.
Castillo and the vigilante leaders reached agreements covering legalization and coordination; demobilization; dialogue; compensation; legal solutions; and protection for leaders at the gathering, federal officials said.
One of the agreements calls for the creation of a rural state police force by May 11 that will be staffed by self-defense group members.
The first vigilante group was formed in Michoacan on Feb. 24, 2013, to fight the Caballeros Templarios cartel.
Vigilante groups operate in 30 of the state’s 113 cities.
The federal government deployed soldiers and police in Michoacan on Jan. 13 in an effort to end the wave of drug-related violence in the state.
Federal security forces killed the Caballeros Templarios cartel’s two top leaders, Nazario Moreno Gonzalez and Enrique Plancarte Solis, in February and March, respectively.
Moreno and other members of the Familia Michoacana gang formed the Caballeros Templarios organization after he was reported killed by the government in 2010.
The Caballeros Templarios cartel, which deals in both synthetic and natural drugs, commits murders, stages kidnappings and runs extortion rackets that target business owners and transport companies in Michoacan.
The cartel uses Michoacan’s 270 kilometers (168 miles) of coastline to smuggle chemical drug precursors for the production of synthetic drugs into Mexico.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
London ( North Korea told London hairdresser to take picture down of Kim Jong-Un ) Oh brother ?
London (AFP) - British police said Tuesday they had intervened after North Korean embassy officials reportedly told a London hairdresser to take down a discount haircuts advert featuring leader Kim Jong-Un.
Mo Nabbach said two officials identifying themselves as being from the Stalinist state's mission took pictures of his M&M Hair Academy in Ealing, west London.
They then demanded to know his name and ordered him to remove the "disrespectful" poster from the salon window, he told the Evening Standard newspaper.
The poster featured a large picture of Kim's distinctive short-back-and-sides hairdo with the slogan: "Bad hair day? 15 percent off all gent cuts through the month of April."
"I told them this is England and not North Korea and told them to get their lawyers," the newspaper quoted Nabbach as saying.
"The two guys were wearing suits and they were very serious. It was very threatening."
Nabbach, who is also a fashion photographer, said he had since removed the offending picture.
His son Karim said they had put up the poster in response to a recent unconfirmed story that North Korean men are now only allowed to wear the same haircut as their young leader, who took power after the death of his father Kim Jong-il in December 2011.
"We didn't realise but the North Korean embassy is a 10-minute walk from the salon. The next day we had North Korean officials pop into the salon asking to speak to the manager," he said.
"He (Mo Nabbach) went to Ealing police station afterwards to file a report just in case anything happened to the salon overnight. Apparently they (the apparent North Korean officials) went to the police as well."
"We haven't had any trouble since then, if anything the poster has become a tourist attraction. It was just something that had been in the news, and the North Korean officials didn't even have the haircut.
"We always put up little offers in the window, it's harmless. We were just making light of a bad situation in North Korea."
Police confirmed that they had stepped in to resolve the issue.
Syria ( Syrian government and rebel forces say poison gas has been used in a central village )
BEIRUT: The Syrian government and rebel forces say poison gas has been used in a central village, injuring scores of people, while blaming each other for the attack.
Syrian state television and medical sources in central Hama province swapped accusations Saturday over the attack that reportedly caused “suffocation and poisoning” of residents.
The main Western-backed opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, says dozens of people were hurt in a poison gas attack Friday in the village of Kfar Zeita.
State-run Syrian television on Saturday blamed members of the Nusra Front for using chlorine gas at Kfar Zeita, killing two people and injuring more than 100.
In August, a chemical attack near the capital, Damascus, killed hundreds of people. The US and its allies blamed the Syrian government for that attack, which nearly sparked Western airstrikes against President Bashar Assad’s forces. Damascus denied the charges and accused rebels of staging the incident.
Medics quoted by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights NGO said people choking from poisoning had been hospitalized after air raids with barrel bombs Friday on the town of Kafr Zita.
“Regime planes bombed Kafr Zita with explosive barrels that produced thick smoke and odours and led to cases of suffocation and poisoning,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
But state television reported that Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front had released chlorine gas in a deadly attack on the town.
“There is information that the terrorist Al-Nusra Front released toxic chorine... leading to the death of two people and causing more than 100 people to suffer from suffocation,” it said.
“There is information that Al-Nusra Front is preparing to hit Wadi Deif in Idlib province and Morek in Hama province with toxic chorine or sarin,” the state broadcaster added.
There was no independent verification of either of the claims, which come after a chemical weapons attack outside Damascus last year.
The opposition and much of the international community blamed that attack, which reportedly killed as many as 1,400 people, on the Syrian regime.
The regime denied responsibility, in turn blaming rebels, but agreed under threat of US military action to turn over its chemical weapons stockpile for destruction.
Syrian state television and medical sources in central Hama province swapped accusations Saturday over the attack that reportedly caused “suffocation and poisoning” of residents.
The main Western-backed opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, says dozens of people were hurt in a poison gas attack Friday in the village of Kfar Zeita.
State-run Syrian television on Saturday blamed members of the Nusra Front for using chlorine gas at Kfar Zeita, killing two people and injuring more than 100.
In August, a chemical attack near the capital, Damascus, killed hundreds of people. The US and its allies blamed the Syrian government for that attack, which nearly sparked Western airstrikes against President Bashar Assad’s forces. Damascus denied the charges and accused rebels of staging the incident.
Medics quoted by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights NGO said people choking from poisoning had been hospitalized after air raids with barrel bombs Friday on the town of Kafr Zita.
“Regime planes bombed Kafr Zita with explosive barrels that produced thick smoke and odours and led to cases of suffocation and poisoning,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
But state television reported that Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front had released chlorine gas in a deadly attack on the town.
“There is information that the terrorist Al-Nusra Front released toxic chorine... leading to the death of two people and causing more than 100 people to suffer from suffocation,” it said.
“There is information that Al-Nusra Front is preparing to hit Wadi Deif in Idlib province and Morek in Hama province with toxic chorine or sarin,” the state broadcaster added.
There was no independent verification of either of the claims, which come after a chemical weapons attack outside Damascus last year.
The opposition and much of the international community blamed that attack, which reportedly killed as many as 1,400 people, on the Syrian regime.
The regime denied responsibility, in turn blaming rebels, but agreed under threat of US military action to turn over its chemical weapons stockpile for destruction.
California ( Sex offenders kill " while wearing GPS trackers ) failed system
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Two parolees raped and killed at least four women while
wearing GPS trackers, and there may be more victims, a California police chief alleged Monday.
Franc Cano and Steven Dean Gordon, both registered sex offenders, were both wearing ankle bracelets when the women were assaulted and killed last fall and earlier this year, Anaheim police Chief Raul Quezada said at a news conference.
Authorities at the news conference did not explain how Cano and Gordon allegedly managed to carry out the killings while under supervision, but Quezada said data from the GPS devices "was one of the investigative tools we used to put the case together."
Anaheim police Lt. Bob Dunn earlier said the two were complying with a requirement to check in monthly with authorities and police had no reason to watch them more closely and hadn't received any such request from other agencies.
The discovery of one woman's body on a conveyor belt at an Anaheim trash-sorting plant last month was the key to breaking the case, Quezada said. Investigators were seeking the other bodies.
"They put a stop to a serial killing that would likely have continued beyond this point," District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said at the news conference.
Quezada said authorities were confident that there was at least a fifth victim and perhaps more.
The department has contacted other places with missing-persons cases across the country, Dunn said earlier.
Police believe the men killed a woman in Anaheim this year and three in Santa Ana last October and November while on parole.
Cano, 27, and Gordon, 45, were arrested by investigators on Friday. Each man was charged Monday with four felony counts of special circumstances murder and four felony counts of rape.
If convicted, they could face a minimum sentence of life without parole or the death penalty. They were being held without bail and expected to be arraigned Tuesday.
Police at first didn't link the disappearances of the four women to the suspects, considering them missing persons rather than murder victims.
"These individuals were not on our radar whatsoever," Santa Ana Police Chief Carlos Rojas said of the suspects. "Our three missing in Santa Ana just completely went off the grid and we were trying to follow up as much as we could."
Santa Ana police searched a canyon, examined the women's cellphone records, alerted hospitals, put the word out on social media and even checked motels they were known to frequent but without success in finding them.
Then the naked body of Jarrae Nykkole Estepp, 21, was found March 14 on a conveyor belt at an Anaheim trash-sorting plant.
Once investigators concluded that Estepp was killed and that she had "a similar profile to our victims, we were able to ... move forward," Rojas said.
Police believe Cano and Gordon have known each other since cutting their ankle bracelets in 2012 and boarding a Greyhound bus to Las Vegas using fake names. The men were arrested by federal agents on May 8, 2012, after a two-week stay at Circus Circus Hotel & Casino, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Nevada.
Both were wanted fugitives: Gordon traveled using the alias Dexter McCoy and Cano chose Joseph Madrid, authorities said.
Cano and Gordon were previously ordered to register as sex offenders after being convicted in separate cases of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14.
Gordon was convicted in 1992 and also has a 2002 kidnapping conviction, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. Cano's conviction dates back to 2008, prosecutors said.
After fleeing Los Angeles in 2012, the two were rearrested and both pleaded guilty to failure to register as a sex offender. They were ordered to provide DNA samples and have their computers monitored by federal agents, according to the federal documents, which were first obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
The men also checked in with Anaheim police every 30 days, as required, and provided updated photos, fingerprints and addresses, Dunn said.
In fact, both men checked in earlier this month, Dunn said.
Cano was wearing a state-issued ankle bracelet and Gordon was wearing a federal GPS device, he said.
The string of disappearances in Santa Ana began in October after Kianna Jackson, 20, of Las Vegas, arrived in the city for a court hearing on four misdemeanor charges of prostitution and loitering to commit prostitution. Her mother said she stopped responding to her text messages soon after she arrived in Santa Ana.
Josephine Monique Vargas, 34, was last seen Oct. 24 after leaving a family birthday party to go to a store. The Times said Vargas had a rough past that at times involved drug use and prostitution, but her mother said she had been trying to better her life.
Martha Anaya, 28, asked her boyfriend to pick up their 5-year-old daughter so she could work on Nov. 12, then stopped responding to his messages later that night. Police said she also had a history of prostitution.
In the weeks before she was found dead at the trash-sorting plant, Estepp, had become a regular on a strip of Beach Boulevard in Anaheim long known for prostitution.
wearing GPS trackers, and there may be more victims, a California police chief alleged Monday.
Franc Cano and Steven Dean Gordon, both registered sex offenders, were both wearing ankle bracelets when the women were assaulted and killed last fall and earlier this year, Anaheim police Chief Raul Quezada said at a news conference.
Authorities at the news conference did not explain how Cano and Gordon allegedly managed to carry out the killings while under supervision, but Quezada said data from the GPS devices "was one of the investigative tools we used to put the case together."
Anaheim police Lt. Bob Dunn earlier said the two were complying with a requirement to check in monthly with authorities and police had no reason to watch them more closely and hadn't received any such request from other agencies.
The discovery of one woman's body on a conveyor belt at an Anaheim trash-sorting plant last month was the key to breaking the case, Quezada said. Investigators were seeking the other bodies.
"They put a stop to a serial killing that would likely have continued beyond this point," District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said at the news conference.
Quezada said authorities were confident that there was at least a fifth victim and perhaps more.
The department has contacted other places with missing-persons cases across the country, Dunn said earlier.
Police believe the men killed a woman in Anaheim this year and three in Santa Ana last October and November while on parole.
Cano, 27, and Gordon, 45, were arrested by investigators on Friday. Each man was charged Monday with four felony counts of special circumstances murder and four felony counts of rape.
If convicted, they could face a minimum sentence of life without parole or the death penalty. They were being held without bail and expected to be arraigned Tuesday.
Police at first didn't link the disappearances of the four women to the suspects, considering them missing persons rather than murder victims.
"These individuals were not on our radar whatsoever," Santa Ana Police Chief Carlos Rojas said of the suspects. "Our three missing in Santa Ana just completely went off the grid and we were trying to follow up as much as we could."
Santa Ana police searched a canyon, examined the women's cellphone records, alerted hospitals, put the word out on social media and even checked motels they were known to frequent but without success in finding them.
Then the naked body of Jarrae Nykkole Estepp, 21, was found March 14 on a conveyor belt at an Anaheim trash-sorting plant.
Once investigators concluded that Estepp was killed and that she had "a similar profile to our victims, we were able to ... move forward," Rojas said.
Police believe Cano and Gordon have known each other since cutting their ankle bracelets in 2012 and boarding a Greyhound bus to Las Vegas using fake names. The men were arrested by federal agents on May 8, 2012, after a two-week stay at Circus Circus Hotel & Casino, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Nevada.
Both were wanted fugitives: Gordon traveled using the alias Dexter McCoy and Cano chose Joseph Madrid, authorities said.
Cano and Gordon were previously ordered to register as sex offenders after being convicted in separate cases of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14.
Gordon was convicted in 1992 and also has a 2002 kidnapping conviction, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. Cano's conviction dates back to 2008, prosecutors said.
After fleeing Los Angeles in 2012, the two were rearrested and both pleaded guilty to failure to register as a sex offender. They were ordered to provide DNA samples and have their computers monitored by federal agents, according to the federal documents, which were first obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
The men also checked in with Anaheim police every 30 days, as required, and provided updated photos, fingerprints and addresses, Dunn said.
In fact, both men checked in earlier this month, Dunn said.
Cano was wearing a state-issued ankle bracelet and Gordon was wearing a federal GPS device, he said.
The string of disappearances in Santa Ana began in October after Kianna Jackson, 20, of Las Vegas, arrived in the city for a court hearing on four misdemeanor charges of prostitution and loitering to commit prostitution. Her mother said she stopped responding to her text messages soon after she arrived in Santa Ana.
Josephine Monique Vargas, 34, was last seen Oct. 24 after leaving a family birthday party to go to a store. The Times said Vargas had a rough past that at times involved drug use and prostitution, but her mother said she had been trying to better her life.
Martha Anaya, 28, asked her boyfriend to pick up their 5-year-old daughter so she could work on Nov. 12, then stopped responding to his messages later that night. Police said she also had a history of prostitution.
In the weeks before she was found dead at the trash-sorting plant, Estepp, had become a regular on a strip of Beach Boulevard in Anaheim long known for prostitution.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Black Sea ( Russian fighter Jet makes close-range passes near U.S warship )
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Russian fighter jet made multiple, close-range passes near an American warship in the Black Sea for more than 90 minutes Saturday amid escalating tensions in the region, U.S. military officials said Monday.
In the first public account of the incident, the officials said the Russian Fencer made 12 passes, and flew within 1,000 yards of the USS Donald Cook, a Navy destroyer, at about 500 feet above sea level.
The U.S. warship issued several radio queries and warnings using international emergency circuits, but the Russian aircraft did not respond.
"This provocative and unprofessional Russian action is inconsistent with international protocols and previous agreements on the professional interaction between our militaries," said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.
The fighter appeared to be unarmed and never was in danger of coming in contact with the ship, said the officials. The passes, which occurred in the early evening there, ended without incident. A second Russian fighter jet flew at a higher altitude and was not a concern, said Warren.
A U.S. military official also said that a Russian Navy ship, a frigate, has been shadowing the U.S. warship, remaining within visual distance but not close enough to be unsafe. The official was not authorized to discuss the incident publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.
Warren said that he is not aware of any official communication or protests by the U.S. to the Russians about incident.
The USS Donald Cook has been conducting routine operations in international waters east of Romania. The ship, which carries helicopters, was deployed to the Black Sea on April 10, in the wake of the Russian military takeover of Ukraine's Crimea region and ongoing unrest there. U.S. military officials have said the deployment is part of an effort to reassure allies and partners in the region.
Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov on Monday called for the deployment of United Nations peacekeeping troops in the east of the country, where pro-Russian insurgents have occupied buildings in nearly 10 cities. The gunmen are demanding more autonomy from the central government and closer ties with Russia.
The West has accused Moscow of fomenting the unrest. And European Union foreign ministers are meeting in Luxembourg Monday to consider additional sanctions against Russian officials because of Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
The USS Donald Cook is now in port at Constanta, Romania.
Romanian President Traian Basescu visited the ship Monday and said a second U.S. Navy warship - a frigate from the Navy's Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea - is also heading to the Black Sea.
"My visit to the ship is symbolic, which first of all shows our respect to our NATO allies' reaction who have strengthened their presence in the Black Sea after Russia's annexation of Crimea," said Basescu, who is a former ship captain. He said the Russians "had created a circle of fire around the Black Sea."
The U.S. frigate, which has not yet been identified, is expected to arrive in the Black Sea in the next two weeks. According to a U.S. military official, the frigate is likely to replace the USS Donald Cook, which is expected to return to the Mediterranean Sea.
The U.S. warship issued several radio queries and warnings using international emergency circuits, but the Russian aircraft did not respond.
"This provocative and unprofessional Russian action is inconsistent with international protocols and previous agreements on the professional interaction between our militaries," said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.
The fighter appeared to be unarmed and never was in danger of coming in contact with the ship, said the officials. The passes, which occurred in the early evening there, ended without incident. A second Russian fighter jet flew at a higher altitude and was not a concern, said Warren.
A U.S. military official also said that a Russian Navy ship, a frigate, has been shadowing the U.S. warship, remaining within visual distance but not close enough to be unsafe. The official was not authorized to discuss the incident publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.
Warren said that he is not aware of any official communication or protests by the U.S. to the Russians about incident.
The USS Donald Cook has been conducting routine operations in international waters east of Romania. The ship, which carries helicopters, was deployed to the Black Sea on April 10, in the wake of the Russian military takeover of Ukraine's Crimea region and ongoing unrest there. U.S. military officials have said the deployment is part of an effort to reassure allies and partners in the region.
Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov on Monday called for the deployment of United Nations peacekeeping troops in the east of the country, where pro-Russian insurgents have occupied buildings in nearly 10 cities. The gunmen are demanding more autonomy from the central government and closer ties with Russia.
The West has accused Moscow of fomenting the unrest. And European Union foreign ministers are meeting in Luxembourg Monday to consider additional sanctions against Russian officials because of Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
The USS Donald Cook is now in port at Constanta, Romania.
Romanian President Traian Basescu visited the ship Monday and said a second U.S. Navy warship - a frigate from the Navy's Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea - is also heading to the Black Sea.
"My visit to the ship is symbolic, which first of all shows our respect to our NATO allies' reaction who have strengthened their presence in the Black Sea after Russia's annexation of Crimea," said Basescu, who is a former ship captain. He said the Russians "had created a circle of fire around the Black Sea."
The U.S. frigate, which has not yet been identified, is expected to arrive in the Black Sea in the next two weeks. According to a U.S. military official, the frigate is likely to replace the USS Donald Cook, which is expected to return to the Mediterranean Sea.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Pleasant Grove ( Woman arrested for 6 counts of murder -police found 7 infants in her home)
A woman has been arrested on six counts of murder after authorities found the bodies of seven infants packed into separate cardboard boxes at a home in Utah, police said.
Police arrested Megan Huntsman, 39, of Pleasant Grove, on Saturday following a gruesome discovery at a residence formerly occupied by the woman who they say moved out in 2011.
Officers responding to a phone call from a family member who is currently living at the Pleasant Grove residence arrived at the home to find the first baby which "appeared to be a full term," according to a police statement.
"A family member was cleaning out the garage and came across a box that looked suspicious. Upon opening the box they found the infant inside," Capt. Michael Roberts of the Pleasant Grove Police Department told ABC News.
Authorities obtained a search warrant to inspect the home, where they found six more infant bodies inside, packaged in separate containers, the police statement said.
Roberts said that through their investigations, they had reason to believe that Huntsman had given birth to the six other babies in the period between 1996 and 2006 and murdered them.
Authorities arrested Huntsman and booked her at the Utah County Jail on six murder counts, but did not comment on why she was not charged with seven counts.
The adult residents of the home claimed to have no knowledge of the dead babies, police said. Roberts could not confirm whether Huntsman had any other children or if she was married.
"It's still an ongoing case so we're still working on some information we've received ," Roberts said.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Phoenix Az ( Woman arrested for throwing shoe at "hillary clinton" slips by security )
"Ms. Ernst appeared to be in an agitated state but aware of what she had just done," the report said.
Ernst could face up to a year in the county lockup if she is convicted of violating a county ordinance during the Thursday incident at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino.
She is accused of bypassing security and walking quickly toward a rope line about six rows from the front of a conference audience. Police say she reached into a purse, removed the shoe and threw it overhand toward the stage.
Clinton ducked and wasn't struck. She appeared startled but quickly cracked a couple of jokes before continuing her keynote speech to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries. The audience applauded.
Ernst was ushered by security guards out of the ballroom with her hands in the air and sat calmly afterward on a sofa in a hallway. She wore a blonde wig, blue dress and thong sandals.
She told an Associated Press reporter she threw a shoe and dropped some papers but did not identify herself or explain the action. Security officers ushered reporters and photographers away.
Brian Spellacy, Secret Service supervisory special agent in Las Vegas, said an orange and black athletic shoe was recovered from the stage.
Clinton has Secret Service protection because former presidents and their spouses are covered for their lifetime, Spellacy said.
Authorities said Ernst wasn't a credentialed conference attendee and wasn't supposed to have been in the ballroom, which had more than 1,000 people.
Friday, April 11, 2014
Colombia ( Colombia to Extradite Accused Killers of U.S. DEA Agent )
BOGOTA – President Juan Manuel Santos announced Thursday that he signed the order to extradite to the United States the seven Colombians accused of the June 2013 kidnapping and murder of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent.Santos made the announcement in an interview with La FM radio, eight days after Colombia’s Supreme Court authorized the extraditions after determining that James Terry Watson was a protected person in the United States.
“I already signed it,” the president responded to a question on the matter without making any further comment.
The measure affects Andres Alvaro Oviedo Garcia, Hector Leonardo Lopez, Julio Stiven Garcia Ramirez, Edgar Javier Bello Murillo, Wilson Daniel Peralta Bocachica, Omar Fabian Valdes Gualtero and Edwin Gerardo Figueroa Sepulveda, and now it only remains to set the date on which the transfer will be made.
Watson was killed on June 20, 2013, in a leisure area in northern Bogota by a gang of robbers who specialized in staging “millionaire” kidnappings, whereby they force their victim to remove money from ATMs.
The DEA agent took a taxi after leaving a restaurant and immediately members of the band tried to rob him, but Watson resisted, which led to a struggle in which he was stabbed several times and injured with electric shocks.
Although Watson managed to get out of the taxi alive, he died a few hours later at a Bogota hospital.
A few days later, the Colombian police identified and arrested the seven members of the gang and a U.S. federal grand jury in Virginia handed down indictments against them last July.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Pittsburgh ( Student Stabs 22 People at Pittsburgh-Area High School )
WASHINGTON – Twenty-one students and an adult were injured, at least two of whom are in critical condition, when a teenage boy dressed in black and armed with knives attacked students and staff at a high school in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, officials said.“A critical incident has occurred at the high school. All elementary schools are canceled, the middle school and high school students are secure,” said the Westmoreland County school district in a statement posted on its Web site.
A 16-year-old boy – identified by authorities as Alex Hribal – was arrested after the incident at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Pittsburgh, and police said he is the attacker and is a student at the school, the spokesman for the county’s Emergency Department, Dan Stevens, told reporters.
He added that the attack began shortly before the first class of the day, lasted only minutes and the attacker wielded two knives 20 and 25 centimeters (8 and 10 inches) long.
The suspect was later questioned by police and taken to a hospital for minor head injuries.
Initial reports broadcast by local television say that the attacker went through the high school’s halls acting “crazy” and stabbing as many students as he could before he was overpowered.
Several of the injured were taken to medical centers by helicopter with eight of them being transported to the Forbes Regional Hospital in Monroeville with stab wounds, Pittsburg’s Channel 4 TV reported.
Forbes Hospital physician Mark Rubino said that three of the students required surgery and two are in critical condition. Other medical authorities said that at least seven people were seriously injured with cuts and penetrating wounds in the chest and abdomen.
Murrysville police chief Thomas Seefeld said that the school’s assistant principal, Sam King, was the person who grabbed and subdued the knife-wielding teen before police arrived but not before a security guard who had confronted the attacker was stabbed in the abdomen.
U.S. President Barack Obama sent a message of solidarity to the relatives and victims of the attack from Texas, where he is attending the funeral services for the victims of the shooting attack last week that left four people dead and 16 wounded on the Fort Hood military base.
Franklin High School has about 1,200 students.
ISLAMABAD ( 16 Dead in Blast on Train in Pakistan )
ISLAMABAD – At least 16 people died and 40 were wounded Tuesday in an explosion aboard a passenger train in the southwestern town of Sibi, Pakistani police told Efe.The blast occurred about 1:30 p.m. inside a passenger car where more than 80 people were riding, according to Mohammed Akbar, a spokesman for the police in Sibi, which is in Baluchistan province.
The train was headed north from Quetta, the provincial capital, to Rawalpindi.
The explosion and subsequent fire could have been produced by a bomb that was detonated long-distance, according to sources cited by the daily Dawn.
Some of the injured are in critical condition.
The blast occurred after on Monday at least 22 insurgents died in combat with members of Pakistan’s Frontier Corps in Baluchistan.
Three people have been killed and more than 60 wounded so far this year in attacks on Pakistan’s rail network.
Several of the attacks were in Baluchistan, a region that is very much affected by insurgent violence linked to Islamist groups and independence-minded Baluchi organizations.
Mexico City ( More Missing Persons Located in Mexico Children’s Shelter Scandal )
MEXICO CITY – Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office said it has located three people who went missing six years ago from a children’s shelter in this capital, two of whom are now adults.It said in a statement that its organized crime unit and the local branch of the AG’s office in the central state of Puebla located the three individuals on April 2.
The AG’s office noted that 15 kids went missing in 2008 from the Casitas del Sur children’s refuge in Mexico City and two other private shelters for minors in northern and southeastern Mexico, prompting the Federal District Attorney’s Office to raid the Mexico City establishment and arrest its administrators.
The AG’s office also launched a search for the youths and members of the evangelical Restored Christian Church who operated the shelters and “were responsible for removing the minors and giving them to other members of the same congregation,” the statement said.
To date, the AG’s office’s organized crime and people-trafficking units have recovered 12 of the 15 missing persons, who have been fully identified and reunited with their relatives, the statement said.
The scandal erupted in 2008 when a woman reported that her granddaughter had disappeared from the Casitas del Sur shelter.
At least seven people – including Restored Christian Church leader Antonio Domingo Paniagua Escandon, a dual Spanish-Mexican citizen – are currently being prosecuted for the disappearance of the minors.
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