LIMA Peru ( " El Chapo " Guzman - Killed in shoot out in Guatemala ) Sinaloa Leader

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This July 10, 1993 file photo shows Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera at La Palma prison in Almoloya of Juarez, Mexico. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

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LIMA, Peru — Most-wanted drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is suspected to be dead after a shootout in Guatemala near the Mexican border.
Guatemalan authorities said Friday they are investigating the possibility a man killed in the shootout was 58-year-old Guzman, but later backtracked, saying they hadn't yet located a body or even confirmed there was a gunfight, the Associated Press reported.
If confirmed, the death of Guzman could be the highest-profile blow to the international cocaine trade since Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar died in a hail of bullets in a shootout with security forces in Medellin in 1992.
As head of the ruthless Sinaloa cartel, Guzman, said to have amassed a personal fortune of $1 billion, is thought to be responsible for the deaths of thousands, mainly in Mexico but also in the US and elsewhere in Latin America.
Forbes recently him the world’s 63rd most-powerful person and is widely viewed as the Western Hemisphere’s most-wanted criminal.
Indeed, many analysts now believe Guzman is a more powerful and dangerous operator than Escobar ever was.
That is in part because under his ruthless leadership the Sinaloa cartel has achieved what experts call “vertical integration” of the cocaine supply chain, with its tentacles stretching from the remote Andean regions where coca is grown into the heart of the world’s largest cocaine market — the United States.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration has had a $5 million reward for information leading to Guzman’s arrest for more than eight years.
And, earlier this month, Chicago even officially named the elusive 5-foot-6-inch druglord, whose “El Chapo” nickname is Mexican slang for “shorty,” public enemy No. 1. It's the first time in eight decades, since Al Capone terrorized the Windy City, that authorities there have officially used that term.
Nevertheless, if one of the corpses at the scene of the shootout in Guatemala’s jungle region of Peten does turn out to be Guzman, it's unlikely to stop the flow of cocaine into the US any more than the death of Escobar did.
Behind Guzman, crime analysts say, is a long queue of brutal, highly ambitious lieutenants eager to take their turn at the top of the Sinaloa cartel.
And most experts believe as long as demand for cocaine remains strong in the US, Europe, Asia and increasingly in Latin America, particularly Mexico and Brazil, the trafficking is unlikely to stop.

North Korea ( South Korea gets warning from North Korea' final destruction ' ) UN Sanctions

North Korea envoy warns South of 'final destruction'

South Korea faces "final destruction" if Seoul and its allies continue to push for tougher UN resolutions against North Korea's nuclear programme, Pyongyang warned on Tuesday.

Female North Korean traffic police officers gather in front of bronze statues of the late leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il to pay their respects Photo: David Guttenfelder/AP

"We have never recognised the propagandist resolutions on sanctions by the UN Security Council," North Korean envoy Jon Yong Ryong told a session of the UN Conference on Disarmament.

"As the saying goes, 'a newborn puppy knows no fear of a tiger.' South Korea's erratic behaviour could only herald its final destruction," he insisted.

North and South Korea traditionally trade barbs at the UN forum - which meets regularly in Geneva and focusses on a raft of global arms-control issues.

But in the wake of North Korea's latest nuclear test last week and a global outpouring of condemnation, the rhetoric was unusually high-pitched Tuesday.

Last week's test was North Korea's most powerful to date, with Pyongyang claiming a breakthrough with a "miniaturised" device.

North Korea's secretive regime repeatedly has rejected international calls to halt its nuclear programme, belittling international sanctions.
Jon also slammed the United States, blaming the superpower for the current stand-off with his country - known officially as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK.
"The DPRK nuclear test is just a measure for self-defence, to cope with intensified US nuclear blackmail against it," he said.
"It is the disposition and firm will of the army and people of the DPRK to counter a high-handed policy with the toughest policy and react to pressure and sanctions with an all-out counter action," he added.
"The DPRK does not make any empty talk. It will take the toughest measure against foreign aggressors and violation of sovereignty in the future," he insisted.

Iran news ( 3 Drug Dealers Executed- Western Iran yesterday )

Three prisoners were hanged in western Iran

Thursday 21 February 2013

[English] [فارسى]

 

 

Iran Human Rights, February 21: Three prisoners were hanged in the prison of Dizelabad in Kermanshah (western Iran) yesterday Wednesday February 20.
According to the Iranian national broadcasting in Kermanshah the prisoners were convicted of drug trafficking. No further details were given about the charges and identities of the prisoners.

Mali ( French troops take back key Mali town from militants )

French troops take back key Mali town from militants

French soldiers have achieved their first victories in Mali, recapturing a key town from al-Qaeda and foiling an Islamist advance towards the Niger river.

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Malian soldiers on their way Niono, 340km north of Bamako Photo: AFP

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Some 1,800 French troops are now in Mali, with the total force expected to reach 2,500 Photo: EPA

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France deployed troops to guard the bridge at Markala, while sending special forces across the river to help the Malian army to counter-attack Photo: EPA

 

By David Blair, Sarakala

6:56PM GMT 18 Jan 2013

Convoys of French armoured personnel carriers moved north of the Niger, heading past the village of Sarakala and driving into the Sahelian plains.

The national army, supported by the French, seized back the town of Konna in central Mali from "al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb" (AQIM) and its allies.

The fall of Konna last week was the key event that triggered the French intervention. Its capture left only a single weak garrison standing between AQIM and the capital, Bamako.

But the army announced that Konna was back in their hands. A military statement said: "We have wrested total control of Konna after inflicting heavy losses on the enemy." France later confirmed the Malian army's claim. The recapture of Konna lifts the immediate threat to Bamako and the rest of southern Mali.

But AQIM's fighters have also opened a new front in a different region of southern Mali, seizing the town of Diabaley on Monday and striking towards the north bank of the Niger.

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.