Angelina Jolie visiting the site of her school in 2011 (Getty Images) Angelina Jolie is doing it for the girls.
The 37-year-old actress – and UNHCR Goodwill ambassador – has extended her generosity to a small village outside Kabul, Afghanistan, where she has opened an all-girls elementary school, she told E! News.
The doors of the school are already open – there are 200 to 300 students enrolled – and the location was targeted not only because there is a high-refugee population, but it's also a place where the education of boys is valued higher than that of girls.
Jolie – who has six children, including three daughters, with fiancé Brad Pitt – is tapping an interesting source to fund the institution: it's bling for books! The "Maleficent" star will be expanding her Style of Jolie jewelry collection, which she creates with her long-time jeweler Robert Procop (he crafted her engagement ring, among other pieces in her personal collection), to retail stores. All of the profits – that's 100 percent – will go to her foundation The Education Partnership for Children of Conflict, which will pay for the school.
View PhotoABC News - Two 'Dangerous' Inmates Escaped From Texas Jail (ABC News)
Texas authorities are using helicopters and dogs to search for two "dangerous" Texas inmates who escaped from jail this morning by squeezing through a gate, leaving behind their black and white prison suits on the railroad tracks behind the jail.
Authorities believe Brian Tucker, 44, and John King, 39, escaped from Hopkins County Jail in Sulphur Springs, Texas, at around 8:30 a.m. today.
"Both are considered dangerous," Deputy Alvin Jordan of the Hopkins County Sheriff's Office told ABCNews.com.
Area schools are on lockdown and businesses are on high alert, according to police.
Tucker was awaiting trial in jail for capital murder charges and King had been indicted for evading arrest.
"They were put out on rec yard to have outside rec and undoubtedly squeezed through the gate and took off," Jordan said. "We did find their black and whites about 100 yards behind the facility."
Tucker and King were both segregated from other inmates because of the types of crimes they have committed, according to Jordan.
It is unknown what the men are wearing, whether they may have used some kind of transportation after leaving the jail yard and whether they are still together, Jordan said.
Asked if there is any reason to believe they could be armed, Jordan said, "At this point, unless they picked up anything from here to where they're at, the weapons part is unknown."
Their only known connection at this time is that they were inmates at the same time in the same jail with no known previous ties.
Authorities are warning people to be careful and call 911 if they see the men.
"If they're spotted, make sure they lock their doors, call 911 and tell us what area they're in," Jordan said. "Don't try to let them approach you."
Tucker is 5-foot-7-inches and about 170 pounds. He has brown eyes, brown hair and multiple tattoos. King is 5-foot-8-inches and 165 pounds. He has black hair, hazel eyes and multiple tattoos
New York Senator, IDC member, arrested today in bribery plot, NY Post reports
New York state Sens. Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, left, and John Sampson, D-Brooklyn, appear at a news conference at the Capitol in Albany in 2009. Today, Smith was arrested in a bribery plot to rig the New York City mayor's race, the New York Post reported.
Syracuse, N.Y. -- State Sen. Malcolm Smith, a Queens Democrat, was arrested this morning at his home by FBI agents investigating a plot to get Smith on the Republican ballot for New York City mayor, the New York Post is reporting. The New York Times and the Associated Press also reported the arrest this morning.
Smith was charged at his Queens home shortly after 6 a.m., the Post reported. Also charged was New York City Councilman Dan Halloran. Both men are accused of building an alliance built on cash payments and fraud to get Smith placed on the GOP mayoral ballot, the Post said.
Smith did not comment as he was arrested.
Here's more from the Post's report:
"To get on the GOP ballot, Smith allegedly enlisted Halloran, a Republican, to set up meetings with party leaders and negotiate thousands of dollars in bribes. The money was masked as payments for legal and accounting services, sources said.
"Halloran allegedly collected thousands in bribes for himself along the way, the sources said.
"He is separately charged with taking bribes from a consultant in return for up to $80,000 in City Council discretionary funding.
"The feds were already investigating Halloran when they got wind of the alleged ballot-manipulating plan in November, the sources said. Smith met with his alleged co-conspirators as recently as February."
Smith became the fifth member of the Independent Democratic Conference in December, just days before the IDC publicly joined with the Senate Republicans to take charge of Albany's upper house. Sen. David Valesky, D-Oneida, is also a member of the IDC. The coalition left traditional Democrats -- who would have controlled the Senate if the IDC had not broken away -- in the minority.
Smith's trouble would not upset the current coalition configuration, at least by the numbers. Currently, there are 31 Republicans, 27 Democrats (including one who caucuses with the GOP) and the five breakaway Democrats. It takes 32 members to control the Senate.
SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States has positioned a warship off the Korean coast as a shield against ballistic missile attack as South Korea's new president vowed swift retaliation against a North Korean strike amid soaring tensions on the peninsula. But Washington also said it had seen no worrisome mobilization of armed forces by the North Koreans despite bellicose rhetoric over a ramping up of international sanctions against Pyongyang over nuclear weapons tests.
"If there is any provocation against South Korea and its people, there should be a strong response in initial combat without any political considerations," South Korean President Park Geun-hye told the defense minister and senior officials.
North Korea says the region is on the brink of a nuclear war in the wake of U.N. sanctions in response to its February nuclear test and a series of joint U.S. and South Korean military drills that have included a rare U.S. show of aerial power.
In Washington, the White House has said the United States takes seriously North Korea's war threats. But White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday: "I would note that despite the harsh rhetoric we are hearing from Pyongyang, we are not seeing changes to the North Korean military posture, such as large-scale mobilizations and positioning of forces."
Committee of Human Rights Reporters - Imprisoned blogger Pourshajari who is in serious need of medical care, continues to be deprived of medical furlough. His daughter said to Kaleme: “They lied to my father and told him to get ready to be taken to a doctor, but instead they transferred him to Ghazal Hesar prison. The physicians have advised that he must undergo surgery yet the prison officials say they will not allow him to leave even for one hour.”
As reported earlier by CHRR, three physicians at the prison facility by the names of Amjadi, Nejadbahram and Gholizadeh made requests for this political prisoner to be transferred to a medical facility outside the prison. They revealed that the prisoner has blocked arteries, which could result in cardiac arrest and his sudden death.
Mitra Pourshajari, daughter of this blogger in Ghezel Hesar prison said to Kaleme: “When I asked the prison official why he refuses to sign off father’s release papers when he is so sick, he responded that he would not put himself in any danger and would not even grant a one hour furlough. I asked why. He said with the crimes that he committed, your father is a danger to the nation. We are not going to jeopardize ourselves with this type of dossier. If the judiciary wanted to grant furlough they would have done so themselves instead of sending the file to us.”
Mohammad Reza Pourshajari is a 53-year-old political prisoner and blogger who wrote under the pen name Siamak Mehr. On September 12, 2010 he was detained at his home in Karaj and transferred to the Security Ward of the IRGC in Rajai Shahr prison. He was eventually tried in Branch 109 of the Karaj Revolutionary Court presided by Judge Gholam Sarabi who handed him a 4-year prison sentence. He endured 7 months in solitary confinement during his “temporary detention” and was subjected to brutal psychological and physical torture. He was beaten with electric rods, and tortured with mock executions prompting him to attempt suicide by cutting his wrists with his glasses, leaving scars.
After spending close to a year at Rajai Shahr, he was inflicted with several illnesses that required him to undergo medical care under supervision outside of prison. But rather than provide him with the necessary medical care, the prison authorities transferred him to his present location at Ghezel Hesar prison, a substandard facility that is reserved for dangerous criminals.
Mohammad Reza Pourshajari has compared the conditions in the prison to an unkempt zoo. His daughter said to Kaleme: “With the price hike that has hit the country for all goods, the same has happened inside prisons. The price for necessary merchandise sold in prisons is a few times higher than it was before. Most prisoners can no longer afford cleaning products to keep their cells clean and this has caused sanitary issues. Warm water and showers are provided only a few hours a week.
Even though my father was already sick, the substandard conditions of this facility, the extreme dirtiness, no peace of mind has worsened my father’s physical condition to a very worrisome level. The physicians who had earlier tested him recommended that he receive surgery but the prison doctors have not even prescribed some medication to give him some temporary relief. My father is held in an uncertain situation while his health is deteriorating day by day.”
In a letter provided to CHRR in February, Mohammad Reza Pourshajari wrote from prison:
I Mohammad Reza Pourshajari, aka Siyamak Mehr, blogger for the blog “Gozareshe Khake Iran,” hereby request from honorable lawmakers and attorneys, to accept my gratitude for their efforts if circumstances permit to represent me in court. I give them my power of attorney to lodge a lawsuit on my behalf against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the judiciary of this regime in any suitable court of law in the United States, for my illegal arrest and severe torture, my 4-year prison sentence on baseless and ridiculous charges such as “propaganda against the regime,” and “insult” to an absurd concept called “Supreme Leader.”
The lawsuit is to condemn the opinions issued in the Islamic courts and to demand compensation from Iranian officials for my emotional duress and physical complications along with the losses endured during my prison term. In hopes that this action will condemn the oppressive regime of Iran and encourage other Iranians sentenced in the courts of the oppressive Islamic regime and victims of clergy crimes to also step forward and in this manner of lodging complaints in the courts of the United States of America, make a loud case that can be heard in the rest of the world.
The bodies of two men were found hanging Saturday morning from an overpass located between Ignacio Zaragoza Boulevard and Lechería-Chamapa Highway, in the neighborhood of Las Torres de Atizapán, Mexico State.
The men, between 20 and 30 years old, apparently were shot and then hung with ropes from the bridge.
On the road they found several shell casings and a narcomensaje, which is not, as of yet, being shared.
One of the victims was wearing gray sweatshirt and dark green pants, while the other wore blue sweatshirt and blue pants.
Prosecution personnel of Atizapán were made aware of the matter. Municipal, state police and municipal Civil Protection arrived on the scene.
Following the discovery, an officer from the Special Police secured the perimeter of about 50 meters from the bridge Ignacio Zaragoza, so that the railways towards the City were closed to traffic.
At about 7:05 and with the help of a ladder, fire personnel released the bodies to the Forensic Medical Service.
To 8:00 traffic was restored in both directions and retired emergency services.
This is the second time that the bodies of dead people were found hanging from bridges in the state of Mexico. the first was on Paseo de Interlomas, Huixquilucan on August 11, 2011 where a decapitated man was hung from a bridge with a message from La Mano con Ojos. On November 17 2011, a body of another male was found hanging from the bridge Valle del Júcar, in the neighborhood Valle de Aragón, Ecatepec.
Puffing on a cigarette, with an AK-47 rifle slung casually on his shoulders, this seven-year-old Syrian boy’s childhood appears well and truly over.
The stark shots show Ahmed, the son of a rebel fighter, standing guard in the neighbourhood of Salahadeen, one of Aleppo’s front lines.
The image comes as the British Prime Minister’s wife was moved to claim innocent childhoods were being “smashed to pieces” by the civil war in Syria.
Seven-year-old Ahmed, the son of a Syrian rebel fighter puffs on a cigarette while cradling an AK-47
Samantha Cameronwas this week visiting refugees fleeing the conflict in neighbouring Lebanon in her role as an ambassador for Save the Children.
During a trip to a clinic for new mothers and pregnant refugees, she said: "As a mother, it is horrifying to hear the harrowing stories from the children I met today. No child should ever experience what they have.
"With every day that passes, more children and parents are being killed, more innocent childhoods are being smashed to pieces."
The child was pictured neighbourhood of Salahadeen, one of Aleppo’s front lines
Save the Children chief executive Justin Forsyth, who accompanied her on the visit, said: "Samantha Cameron's support... helps draw attention to the plight of children caught up in this terrifying conflict.
Angelina Jolie visiting the site of her school in 2011 (Getty Images)
