A 3-year-old girl apparently died of starvation in Oizumi, Gunma Prefecture, after being left in the care of her 14-year-old sister while their mother was out of the country, police said Thursday.
According to police, the children were left alone with food and spending money by their mother, while she went home for a visit to the Philippines on Feb 9. TBS reported that police received an emergency call from the woman’s 14-year-old daughter at about 7 p.m. on Feb 18, saying that her younger sister had collapsed. Emergency workers rushed to the scene where the child was confirmed dead.
Police say there were no obvious signs of injury, but that they suspect the girl may have starved to death. Investigators say they are planning to question the girl’s mother when she returns to Japan and said she may faces a charge of abandonment leading to death. The single mother, who is 37, lived with her two daughters.
Posted: Feb 21, 2013 11:07 AM by Tania Shofron Updated: Feb 21, 2013 11:09 AM
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TUCSON - Tucson Police are trying to identify a man they believe tried to kidnap a woman walking near the University of Arizona campus last weekend.
The alleged incident happened Sunday, February 17 at about 9:15 in the morning. The female victim was walking in the area of North 3rd Avenue and East University Boulevard when an unknown male suspect approached her in a vehicle and asked for directions. The victim said he then offered her money to personally guide him.
The victim refused to go with the suspect and he drove away, but returned shortly after on foot. That is when the victim says the man said something, then picked her up and carried her to a nearby alley. When she began to scream, he dropped her and ran away. She was not injured.
The suspect is described as a Caucasian male, 30-40 years of age, approximately 5'08" tall, with a medium build, graying black hair, blue eyes, and an unkempt beard. He was last seen wearing a black leather jacket with brown stripes on the sleeves and faded blue jeans.
The vehicle he was initially seen driving was a white 1990's model SUV.
If you recognize this man or have any information, please call 911 or 88-Crime
Four foreigners suspected of carrying out Christian missionary activities
have been arrested in the Libyan city of Benghazi.
The main Catholic Church's
clergyman in Libya have said that Christians are being driven out of eastern
Libya by Muslim fundamentalistsPhoto:
ALAMY
9:17PM GMT 17 Feb 2013
Hussein bin Hameida, a security official, told the AFP news agency that an
Egyptian, a South African, a South Korean and a Swedish-American were arrested
at a printing house, "where they were printing books calling for conversion to
Christianity."
"Libya is a Muslim country
and preaching another religion is a crime under Libyan law," he said.
Mr bin Hameida said an investigation was still under way and the suspects
"will be handed over to the intelligence services soon."
Since the 2011 fall of Col Muammar Gaddafi's regime, the small Christian
community fears for its safety, especially after a church bombing in December
killed two people in the Mediterranean town of Dafniya.
The main Catholic Church's clergyman in Libya have said that Christians are
being driven out of eastern Libya by Muslim fundamentalists.
The Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli, Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, has said the
situation was "critical" and the "atmosphere very tense."
Two religious communities in the east of the country – the Congregation of
the Holy Family of Spoleto and the Franciscan Sisters of Child Jesus – were
forced to leave "after being pressured by fundamentalists."
Source: AFP
At least 12 killed and dozens injured as three bombs tear through Indian
city
At least 12 people were killed and 52 injured when three bombs shook the
southern Indian city of Hyderabad late on Thursday, police said.
A relative at the Omini hospital
Kothapet after bomb blasts in Hyderabad Photo:
AFP
3:13PM GMT 21 Feb 2013
"I can confirm that 12 people have lost their lives and at least 52 people
have been injured," Amit Garg, a senior police officer at the scene of one of
the explosions, told AFP.
The blasts occurred about 10 minutes apart outside a movie theater and a bus
station, police officer Syed Anwarul Huda said.
Television images showed the injured being taken to hospitals.
The last major bomb attack in India was a September 2011 blast outside the
high court in New Delhi that killed 13 people.
A car bomb has shaken central Damascus, exploding near the headquarters of
the ruling Baath party and the Russian Embassy, eyewitnesses and opposition
activists said.
Opposition activists said at least 31 people were killed in the bombing.
Syrian state television reported the blast in the central Mazraa
neighborhood, calling it a "terrorist" attack on a heavily populated area. It
did not say what caused the explosion but reported that there were casualties
and that the wounded included four children.
The pro-regime station Al-Ikhbariya showed images of what appeared to be at
least four dead bodies on the ground and cars on fire. The footage shows
firefighters trying to douse cars on fire and lifeless bodies lying on the grass
of a public garden.
Eyewitnesses at the scene said a car had exploded at a security checkpoint
between the Russian Embassy and the central headquarters of the ruling Baath
party of President Bashar Assad.
The aftermath of the car bomb that
exploded near the headquarters of Syria's ruling Baath party in the centre of
Damascus (AFP/Getty Images)
Ambulances rushed to the scene of the blast, which also shattered windows and
sent up a huge cloud of smoke visible throughout much of the city, eyewitnesses
said.
"It was huge, everything in the shop turned upside down," one local resident
said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution for speaking
with foreign media.
Damascus has so far mostly avoided the large-scale violence that has
destroyed other Syrian cities, though deadly car bombings have targeted
government buildings in the capital.
The blast followed two mortar attacks in as many days on the capital. On
Wednesday, two mortar shells exploded near a soccer stadium in Damascus, killing
one player. The day before, two mortar shells went off near one of Assad's three
palaces in the city, causing only material damage.
Not long after the first blast Thursday, a security official reported a
second blast in the capital's northeastern Barzeh neighborhood. He had no other
information and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to
brief the media.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two car bombs had
exploded near security centers in Barzeh. It gave no further details.
Syria's conflict began in March 2011 with political protests against the
government and has since evolved into a civil war between Assad's regime and
hundreds of rebel groups seeking to topple it. The U.N. says some 70,000 people
have been killed in the conflict so far.
Source: Associated Press
Three British men who have been held for seven months without trial on drugs
charges in Dubai were tortured by police with beatings and electric shocks, a
human rights charity has claimed.
Left to right: Grant Cameron,
Karl Williams and Suneet Jeerh, three British men who have been held for seven
months without trial on drugs charges in Dubai.Photo:
PA
12:21AM GMT 21 Feb 2013
Grant Cameron and Karl Williams, both 25 and from London, and Suneet Jeerh,
25, from Essex, were arrested while on holiday on July 10 last year by police
who claimed to have found a quantity of a synthetic cannabis known as "spice" in
their car.
The men signed documents in Arabic - a language none of them understands -
after being threatened by having guns put to their heads and in Williams' case,
having electric shocks administered to the testicles, Reprieve lawyer Marc
Calcutt said.
They have denied charges of "consumption and possession with intent to
distribute" and will appear at their first trial hearing tomorrow after spending
seven months in custody.
In a draft witness statement provided to Mr Calcutt, Williams said: "I
remember that the police put a towel on my face so I could not see. They kept
telling me I was going to die. I was so scared.
"Once I had been knocked to the ground, the police picked me up and put me on
the bed. They pulled down my trousers, spread my legs and started to electrocute
my testicles. It was unbelievably painful. I was so scared. Then they took off the towel and I could see that there was a gun pointed at my
head. All I could think was that the gun in my face could go off if the
policeman slipped, and it would kill me. I started to believe that I was going
to die in that room."
The torture took place in the desert, it was claimed, where the men were
initially taken after their arrest, and subsequently in a hotel room.
Williams and Cameron have been held at Port Rashid police station since their
arrest, while Jeerh was moved and is now in Al Awir Central Jail.
Mr Calcutt said: "The idea that young British tourists on holiday can find
themselves arrested and tortured in this way is truly appalling.
"Being electrocuted in the testicles is about as brutal a torture as can be
imagined. The Dubai authorities need to immediately drop the charges against the
men and conduct an independent investigation into how these terrible events
occurred.
"If they do not, I am sure this story will linger in people's memories -
particularly when it comes to booking their holidays."
A man stole 70,000 yen from a convenience store in Kita-Ibaraki City, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Sunday morning.
According to police, the man entered the 7-Eleven store at about 4 a.m., threatened the 47-year-old male clerk with a knife and demanded money. He was described as being about 40, 170 cms tall and was wearing a dark blue parka with a hood and white face mask.
Nobody was injured in the incident, police said.
GUNMA — 
The aftermath of the car bomb that
exploded near the headquarters of Syria's ruling Baath party in the centre of
Damascus (AFP/Getty Images) 
