Israel News ( Obama to visit Israel and the West Bank )

Barack Obama to vist Israel and the West Bank

President Barack Obama plans to visit Israel, the West Bank and Jordan as part of an upcoming trip to the Middle East.

The trip marks President Barack Obama's first visit to Israel, a staunch US ally, since he became president Photo: Reuters

7:37PM GMT 05 Feb 2013

  

Earlier, Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, confirmed Mr Obama would travel to Israel in the spring, his first trip to the Jewish state since taking office, but dates for the trip were not released.

Mr Obama will meet Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Palestinian and Jordanian leaders during the tour, Mr Carney said.

The trip marks Mr Obama's first visit to Israel, a staunch US ally, since he became president.

The White House has not released the date of Obama's trip or details about Obama's itinerary, but Israel's Channel 10 reported that a visit had been scheduled for March 20.

"The start of the president's second term and the formation of a new Israeli government offer the opportunity to reaffirm the deep and enduring bonds between the United States and Israel and to discuss the way forward on a broad range of issues of mutual concern, including Iran and Syria," said National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor. 

Although Mr Obama visited Israel while running for president in 2008, he has not been back since, drawing intense criticism from some pro-Israel groups who have claimed he is insufficiently supportive of the United States' closest ally in the Middle East. Other top administration officials, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have visited.
The trip could help repair Obama's tarnished image in Israel, where many view him as cold to the Jewish state. Israelis vividly remember Obama's decision not to visit when he stopped in neighboring Egypt early in his first term to deliver a speech.

Minnesota ( AMBER alert - First time Cell phone alert suspect Busted ) Alert over cell phone

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Wednesday’s quick and safe recovery of an abducted 8-month-old Minneapolis child was not only the first time an Amber Alert was sent to Minnesota cell phones, but it was the first time in the United States that a cell phone alert successfully helped recover a missing child.


The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension issued a message via the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) on Wednesday, and a teenager, who received it on her phone, spotted the vehicle used in the abduction, and told her father who notified police.
Police located the victim and then apprehended the suspect.
Nationwide Wireless Emergency Alerts have been used to distribute Amber Alerts since Dec. 31, 2012. And currently, only newer model phones are equipped to receive WEAs. It’s expected that all cell phones manufactured in the future will have WEA capability.
The Minnesota Amber Alert program was established in 2002, and since then, there have been 28 activations and 28 safe recoveries.

Japan ( 3 year old girl starves to death after mom leaves her alone )

3-year-old girl starves to death after mother leaves country

CrimeFeb. 22, 2013 - 06:49AM JST( 9 )

GUNMA —

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.

TUCSON Az ( Man tries to KIDNAP woman by U of A campus ) See picture

Suspect grabs woman walking near UA campus

Posted: Feb 21, 2013 11:07 AM by Tania Shofron
Updated: Feb 21, 2013 11:09 AM

Rating:

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

Libya ( 4 missionaries arrested for printing Christian books )

Foreign 'missionaries' arrested in Libya

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 fundamentalists Photo: 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

New Delhi India ( 12 killed -52 injured - 3 bombs go off at movie theater )

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.

Syria ( Car bomb kills 31 people - exploded near Russian Embassy )

Car bomb shakes centre of Damascus

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