Pakistan (U.S Drone strike kills 10 suspected taliban fighters )

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - A U.S. drone strike killed at least 10 people suspected to be Taliban fighters in Pakistan's northern tribal areas on Sunday, intelligence sources said, days after another drone strike killed a top militant leader in the area.

The attack on three Taliban compounds in Babar Pehari, South Waziristan, killed between 10 and 12 people, six intelligence sources said. More militants were believed to be in the compounds when they were hit, officials said, meaning the death toll could rise.

Three of the intelligence sources and a Taliban commander said that Wali Muhammed, also known as Toofin, was among the dead. He supervised suicide bomb squads for the Pakistani Taliban.

The Pakistani Taliban has established sanctuaries in the mountainous Babar area, 140 km (87 miles) northeast of Wana, the main city of the South Waziristan region, they said.

South Waziristan is controlled by the Pakistani army, which operates under an uneasy truce with militants from the local Wazir tribe.

Sunday's strike followed the death of Mullah Nazir, a Waziri militant leader, on Wednesday. Nazir supported attacks on American forces in Afghanistan but had signed two peace deals with the Pakistani army. On Sunday, thousands of his tribesmen protested against his killing.

Many Pakistanis say drone strikes infringe the

country's sovereignty, and are angry over civilian casualties they cause.
            
Others say the drones are the only way of targeting militants who terrorize the local population in areas the Pakistani army is unwilling to patrol.

Drone strikes dramatically increased after U.S. President Barack Obama took office in 2009. There were only five drone strikes in 2007, but the number rose to 117 in 2010 before declining to 46 last year.

Exact casualty figures are difficult to verify. Most of those killed are militants, but some civilians have also been killed.

(Additional reporting by Jibran Ahmad in Peshwar; Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Daniel Magnowski and Pravin Char)

San Jose ( Man takes law into own hands- kills burglar ) Charged with murder

01-03) 16:36 PST SAN JOSE -- A San Jose maintenance worker who shot and killed an alleged repeat burglar while intending to make a citizen's arrest was charged with murder Thursday, authorities said.
Luis Ricardo Hernandez, 26, is accused of murdering 36-year-old Christopher Soriano at the apartment complex on Lewis Road where Hernandez works.


The incident started when Hernandez got a call Monday morning from his boss, Salvador Orozco Saldana, who had spotted Soriano driving a truck into the apartment complex's garage, according to a police statement included in Santa Clara County court documents released Thursday.
Saldana, a maintenance supervisor at the complex, believed Soriano had burglarized his and other apartments in the past, documents said. He didn't think police had responded promptly to the burglaries and had no confidence officers would show up this time, so he told Hernandez to help him make a citizen's arrest, police said.
Hernandez armed himself with a gun he told police he had bought illegally for self-defense, investigators said. When he and his boss tried to hold Soriano, however, the suspected burglar broke free and Hernandez shot him, police said.
An autopsy indicated that Soriano was shot from less than a foot away and was either lying on the ground or crouching when he was hit, according to the Santa Clara County medical examiner's office.
Surveillance footage from the garage shows Hernandez fighting with the suspect while holding a gun, according to police.
Soriano died at the scene at 9:55 a.m., authorities said. Saldana has not been charged with a crime.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Murder-charge-in-S-J-vigilante-shooting-4165780.php#ixzz2H9v04OmK

PHOENIX Az ( FBI looking for this bank robber- See good photo's ) Robbed B of A

PHOENIX—Phoenix FBI Special Agent in Charge James L. Turgal, Jr. announced the FBI’s Bank Robbery Task Force is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying a person of interest regarding the attempted robbery of the Bank of America located at 48th Street and Ray Road in Phoenix on Saturday, December 29, 2012. Also, the FBI is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying an unknown male who allegedly robbed the U.S. Bank at 1159 W. Chandler Boulevard on the same day as the Bank of America robbery.

Investigators are releasing store surveillance photographs from the Target store located near 48th Street and Ray Road in Phoenix for December 20, 2012, taken at approximately 7:30 p.m., of an unknown individual who is a person of interest regarding the attempted robbery of the Bank of America. At this time, the FBI is not releasing why it believes this individual is a person of interest due to the ongoing investigation. The Bank of America is offering a reward up to $25,000 for the arrest and conviction of the suspect(s).

The unknown male, who allegedly robbed the U.S. Bank, presented a demand note and left the bank on foot with an undisclosed amount of money. The robbery occurred at approximately 4:30 p.m. on the same day and within approximately five miles of the attempted robbery at the Bank of America.

The FBI Bank Robbery Task Force (BRTF) is composed of the Phoenix Police Department, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, and the Mesa Police Department. The BRTF is coordinating its investigation with the Chandler Police Department regarding the robbery of the U.S. Bank.

Anyone with information regarding the identity of the person of interest or the unknown male, please contact the FBI at (623) 466-1366 or online at www.BanditTrackerArizona.com.

India ( Rape victim- Lying on the street naked bleeding beaten for 30 minutes )

Police in New Delhi have refuted comments made by the male companion of an Indian gang-rape victim that police officers debated jurisdiction for 30 minutes before taking the victim and her friend to a hospital.
At a news conference on Saturday, Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police Vivek Gogia said police vans had reached the spot where the rape victim and her friend were dumped within three minutes of receiving the alert.
The victim's male companion said in an interview broadcast on Friday on Indian TV station Zee News that police delayed taking her to a hospital, after passers-by neglected to help her even though she was naked and bleeding.
The 23-year-old woman died last weekend from massive internal injuries suffered during the December 16 attack.
Gogia said the police vans left the spot for hospital with the victims within 12 minutes and that time had been spent borrowing bed sheets from a neighbouring hotel to cover the naked rape victim and her friend.


"Zebra 54 [Police response vehicle] left the spot along with the victims at 10:39 [17:09 GMT]. This time was utilised in placing the victim in the van, after organising a bed sheet from a neighbouring hotel to cover the victims," Gogia said.
"Zebra 54 brought the victims to Safdarjung Hospital at 10:55 [17:25 GMT]. These findings have been ascertained through the logs generated by the multi-computer configuration global positioning system," he said.
Legislation criticised
The attack has sparked outrage and daily protests across India and led to calls for tougher rape legislation and reforms of a police culture that often blames rape victims and refuses to file charges against accused attackers.
A senior opposition figure in the Indian government asked on Saturday what kind of "teachings and training the government of India has given to its police in Delhi?"

Ravi Shankar Prasad, deputy leader of India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) condemned police for the alleged delay in helping the victims.

"Saving the life of critically injured people is more important, or fighting over jurisdiction is more important?" Prasad asked.

Also on Saturday, a court asked police to produce five men accused of raping the student for pre-trial proceedings on Monday.

Police have charged them with murder, rape and other crimes that could result in the death penalty.

A sixth suspect, listed as a 17-year-old, is expected to be tried in a juvenile court, where the maximum sentence would be three years in a reform facility.

TEHRAN ( Iran Attempt's to control bloggers on twitter ) Hmm

Iran says it is developing software to control social networking sites

By The Associated Press | Associated Press – 2 hrs 45 mins ago

Iran attempt's to control bloggers ( hmm)

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's police chief says the Islamic Republic is developing new software to control social networking sites.

Gen. Esmail Ahmadi Moghadam was quoted in Iranian newspapers Saturday as saying the new software will prevent Iranians from being exposed to malicious content online while allowing users to enjoy the benefits of the Internet. He did not say when the software would be introduced.

Moghadam also did not specify which social networking sites would be affected, but both Facebook and Twitter are popular in Iran.

Iranians currently have access to most of the Internet, although authorities block some sites affiliated with the opposition, as well as those that are seen as promoting dissent or considered morally corrupt.

Iran created a government agency last year to oversee Internet usage in the country.

Iran ( Man on Death row - for being a Yari faith follower )

Younes Aghayan on Hunger Strike in Solitary Confinement

Saturday, 05 January 2013 18:31 admin1

HRANA News Agency – Younes Aghayan, ethnic prisoner sentenced to death who was transferred from Mahabad prison to solitary confinement in Urmia prison on Wednesday, December 26, 2012, is on hunger strike from that day.

According to a report by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Younes Aghayan, a follower of the Yari faith (Ahl-e Haq), ethnic prisoner who is sentenced to death, was transferred from Mahabad prison to solitary confinement in Urmia prison. He is on hunger strike from the day he was transferred to solitary confinement. There is fear of his execution.

Younes Aghayan is a follower of the Yari faith (Ahl-e Haq) from the village of Ooch Tappeh, near Miandoab. In October 2004, police raided Ooch Tappeh village to remove signs with religious writings of Yari faith. When villagers resisted the raid and confronted the police, Younes Aghayan, 21, and another Yari faith follower by the name of Mehdi Ghassemzadeh (Aghayan’s uncle) were arrested. In January 2005, the two men were put on trial by Branch Two of Mahabad Revolutionary Court, and were sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “carrying ammunition and arms,” and to death on charges of “armed resistence against the Islamic Republic of Iran.” After the Supreme Court confirmed the sentences, Mehdi Ghassemzadeh was executed in 2008, and Younes Aghayan has remained on death row inside Orumiyeh Prison since then. Mehdi Ghassemzadeh was executed without the knowledge of his family and his court-appointed lawyer, and according to the source, his body was never returned to his family for burial.

Prison Break ( Cat busted bringing tools into jail- Duct taped to body ) Rio de Janeiro

• Enlarge PhotoObjects that were found wrapped …

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - A cat carrying a saw and a mobile phone was "detained" as it entered a prison gate in northeast Brazil, Brazilian media reported on Saturday.

Prison guards were surprised when they saw a white cat crossing the main gate of the prison, its body wrapped with tape. A closer look showed the feline also carried drills, an earphone, a memory card, batteries and a phone charger.

All 263 detainees in the prison of Arapiraca, a city of 215,000 people in the state of Alagoas, are considered suspect in the plot, which is being investigated by local police.

"It's tough to find out who's responsible for the action as the cat doesn't speak," a prison spokesperson told local paper Estado de S.Paulo.

The cat was taken to an animal disease center to receive medical care.

The incident took place on New Year's day but was first reported by national media on Saturday.

(Reporting by Walter Brandimarte; Editing by Vicki Allen)