Southern Philippines ( 14 Die in Clash Between Philippine Soldiers, Muslim Militants )

BANGKOK – Fourteen people were killed in a clash between soldiers and militants of the radical Islamic group Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines, media outlets said.

Seven soldiers and seven radicals were killed in a shootout last Saturday in the Patikul district of Sulu province.

The soldiers were part of a reconnaissance group that ran into the Muslim extremists by chance and the battle ensued, military sources said.

Founded in 1991 by Philippine Muslims who fought the Soviets in Afghanistan, Abu Sayyaf is a local chapter of Jamiat Islamiya, the Southeast Asian branch of al-Qaeda.

Considered a terrorist group by the Philippine and United States governments, it has been blamed for some of the bloodiest attacks n recent years, as well as for numerous kidnappings. EFE

Colombia ( Jaguar Kills Fisherman on Colombia’s Caribbean Coast )

BOGOTA – A fisherman was killed by a jaguar in a rural area outside Turbo, a city in northern Colombia, in the second attack of this kind in the area since April, media reports said.

Matias Escarpeta, who was originally from the city of Quibdo in Choco province but lived in Turbo, was killed by the big cat on Thursday, the El Colombiano newspaper reported.

Escarpeta’s body was taken to the morgue in Turbo on Friday, the newspaper said.

Escarpeta was attacked and killed while checking his nets in Bocas del Atrato, a village on the Gulf of Uraba, police said.

Jaguars are common in the area and have managed to survive even though palm plantations have destroyed their natural habitat.

A jaguar killed a heavy machine operator in Bocas del Atrato in April.

The case has been referred to the Uraba Public Development Corporation, or Corpouraba, the agency responsible for protecting the area’s wildlife and plants, in the hopes that it can prevent residents from hunting the jaguar, police said

TACOMA WA ( Father arrested for putting baby in freezer to stop her from crying )

Father accused of putting baby in freezer to stop her crying

Photographer: Christopher Furlong
Copyright Getty Images

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TACOMA, WA - A 25-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly putting his 6-week-old daughter in a freezer in their home to stop her from crying, authorities said Sunday.

The baby was rushed to the hospital with a body temperature of 84 degrees.

Doctors at Tacoma's Mary Bridge Children's Hospital expect the infant to recover, Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman Ed Troyer said Sunday.

The infant's 22-year-old mother called 911 at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday and said she had found her boyfriend, Tyler Deutsch, taking the baby out of the freezer in their home in the 7600 block of 320th Street South, near the city of Roy, Troyer said.

The child is believed to have been in the freezer for about an hour.

Deutsch told sheriff's deputies he put the infant in the freezer to stop the girl from crying, Troyer said.

He was booked into the Pierce County Jail on a charge of suspicion of attempted murder. He has no criminal history.

 

 

Nike Factory ( Cambodian police used cattle prods to stun workers protesting - pregnant woman shocked )

Cambodian police used cattle prods to stun workers protesting over pay at a factory that makes clothing for U.S. sportswear company Nike - injuring at least 23 women and causing one to miscarry her baby.
Police dressed in riot gear were deployed to move around 3,000 predominantly female workers who had blocked a road outside their factory owned by Sabrina (Cambodia) Garment Manufacturing in Kampong Speu province, west of the capital, Phnom Penh, in Cambodia today.
Among the 23 women injured in the incident was a two-months pregnant worker who lost her child after military police pushed her to the ground, Sun Vanny, president of the Free Trade Union (FTU) at Sabrina said.

Police clashed with around 3,000 predominantly female workers protesting over pay outside a factory owned by Sabrina Garment Manufacturing in Kampong Speu which makes sportswear for Nike (stock image)

'There was a pregnant woman among them. She lost blood and then she lost the baby,' he said.
According to the International Monetary Fund, garments accounted for 75 pct of Cambodia's total exports of $5.22 billion in 2011.
Low-cost labour has attracted manufacturers making clothes and shoes for Western brands but strikes over pay and working conditions have become common.
This month, two workers were killed at a factory making running shoes for Asics when part of a warehouse fell in on them. Police revised the original death toll of three given by a minister.
A series of deadly incidents at factories in Bangladesh, including the collapse of a building last month that killed more than 1,000 people, has focused global attention on safety in factories in Asia makes goods for Western companies.

Quebec ( Students suspected of cheating - strip-searched by their teacher ) Hmm

High school students suspected of cheating on final exams were subjected to a strip-search by their teacher who was looking for a missing cell phone.
An internal investigation is underway at Cap-Jeunesse High School, in Saint-Jerome, Quebec, regarding the May 24 incident which involved 28 students.
According to reports, during a math exam, the teacher asked all the students to hand in their cellphones to avoid cheating.

A school board has launched an internal investigation after staff at this school strip searched 28 sophomore students to find a cellphone during a year-end exam

When it was discovered that one was missing, she allegedly stopped the exam and ordered each girl into another room where they were strip searched, according to reports.
One teenage girl, who did not want to be named, told QMI Agency: 'They put us in a small room. They said "take off your bra, then raise your arms". They even tapped us on the back.'
The school board said the principal was not told of the incident.
The parents of the students involved were later contacted and the situation was explained.
Spokeswoman for the school Nadyne Brochu told Sun News that it was a 'disproportionate action under the circumstances'.
The school board said that 'the decision seemed best' to the teacher at that time but later acknowledged she 'lacked judgement'.
They also acknowledged that the 'climate was not conducive to a good test' so they were allowed to retake the test if they wanted.
It is not known if any of the teachers involved will face disciplinary action.

United Kingdom ( War memorials defaced and mosque firebombed )

 Two of Britain's most celebrated war memorials have been defaced, apparently with the word 'Islam' scrawled across them and inscriptions scrubbed out with red paint.

Police have confirmed they are investigating the vandalism of the RAF Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park and the Animals In War Memorial in Park Lane, both in central London.
Pictures taken today show that the damage has now been covered over with plastic or white sheets.

Scotland Yard said there have not been any arrests, so it not clear if it has been done by Muslim protesters or far-right groups attempting to stir-up hatred.

Message: This image shows the word 'Islam' daubed on the Animals In War Memorial, but police are not sure if it was carried out by Muslim protesters or far-right groups trying to stir up trouble

Attack: The Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park, London, was also targeted in the past 24 hours and was then covered in black plastic and guarded by police

A tarpaulin covers part of the Animals in War Memorial on Park Lane, which police say they found at 5am

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: 'At 5am this morning police discovered graffiti on both the RAF Bomber Command War Memorial in Green Park and the Animals in War Memorial on Park Lane.
'Royal Parks' officers and Westminster police are investigating. There have been no arrests at present.'
The Bomber Command Memorial remembers the sacrifice and bravery of the 55,573 RAF crew who lost their lives in the Second World War and was unveiled by the Queen last summer.
Just last week Dame Judi Dench described herself as being 'very proud' to be the first patron of a new campaign to preserve it for generations to come.


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Uganda ( Police raid News outlets in Media crackdown- authorities are trying to censor news )

Police raid news outlets in media crackdown in Uganda

Police stand outside the offices of the Daily Monitor. (Daily Monitor)

Nairobi, May 21, 2013--Ugandan police surrounded the Kampala offices of two private newspapers for seven hours on Monday, barring access to the premises, disabling printing presses, and effectively halting publication indefinitely, according to news reports. The police said they had search warrants to find documents related to a letter written by an army official that described an assassination plot.

One of the newspapers, Daily Monitor, had reportedon an April 29 letter written by Gen. David Sejusa, or Tinyefuza, Coordinator of Security Agencies, to the director general of Uganda's Internal Security Organisation earlier this month. The letter, which Sejusa confirmed writing, called for an investigation into an alleged plot to assassinate senior government officials who were opposed to Brigadier Muhoozi Kainerugaba, son of President Yoweri Museveni, assuming the presidency in 2016, the Monitorreported. Museveni, who has been in office since 1986, is expected to step down in 2016.
Police surrounded the offices of the Monitor in the Namuwongo district of the capital on Monday, shut down the paper's printing press, and tried to shut down the paper's website, local journalists told CPJ. "Instead of carrying out the search, the armed men disabled the printing press, computer servers, and radio transmission equipment," the paper's managing director, Alex Asiimwe, said, according to news reports. Asiimwe said that the police had a search warrant to find the original letter written by Sejusa and other unspecified documents.
Police are continuing the search today and have refused most staff entry into the compound while the newspaper and website remain indefinitely shut down, Editor Charles Mwanguhya told CPJ. "We get the impression the [police] operation is not only a search but designed to punish the media house," he said.

Yellow crime scene tape cordons off the offices of Red Pepper. (Patrick Mugumya)

Police also surrounded the Red Pepper offices in Namanve on Monday and disabled the paper's printing press, according to the paper's managing director, Arinaitwe Rugyendo, and news reports. "We were just having our editorial meeting when roughly 30 armed police surrounded the station," Rugyendo said. Local journalists told CPJ they were finally allowed to leave the premises on Monday at around 6 p.m.
On May 15, Red Pepper had published a press release said to have been written by Sejusa's lawyer that discussed the general's letter, according to a statementby the paper. The statement said that the paper had already complied with a court order and handed a copy of the document to the police, but that police had decided to search the paper's premises anyway. Police have also denied Red Pepper reporters access to the office.
Judith Nabakooba, a spokesman for the police, said in a statement that Ugandan police would continue to search the offices until the documents were found. In its statement, Red Pepper said they did not know what further documents police were looking for.
Around 2 p.m. Monday, police also shuttered two radio stations, Dembe FM and KFM, which are owned by Monitor Publications Limited and are based in the same compound, local journalists told CPJ. Godfrey Mutabazi, chairman of the state-controlled broadcast regulator the Uganda Communications Commission, said the stations were temporarily suspended while the search at Monitor continued. News accounts reported that the commission said that broadcasts related to the Sejusa letter earlier this month were "not professional," according to news reports.
"Ugandan authorities are trying to censor news that is crucial to the public interest," CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes said. "Authorities should immediately halt their efforts to silence Daily Monitor and Red Pepper, and they must allow these publications and related news outlets to do their jobs without further harassment."
Last week, a judge ordered Monitor to present its sources for Sejusa's letter, lawyer James Nangwala told CPJ. The publishers filed a challenge to the order, citing journalists' privilege in protecting their sources, he added.
Police also interrogatedMonitor Managing Editor Don Wanyama and reporters Richard Wanambwa and Risdel Kasasira about their sources last week. The journalists were accused of non-cooperation with police requests for their sources for the Sejusa story, Wanyama told CPJ.
Civil society activists issued an impromptu protest outside of the Monitor'soffices around 5 p.m. Monday but were chased away by police with tear gas, Monitor journalists inside the office told CPJ.
Monitor and Red Pepper have been raided and their printing presses shut down before. Gunmen raidedthe Red Pepper premises in July 2008 and set fire to the paper's generator and printing press, Rugyendo told CPJ. The paper believed the assailants were security operatives, he said. Police also raidedthe Monitor in October 2002 after the paper published a story that claimed former rebels in northern Uganda, the Lord's Resistance Army, had shot down a government helicopter, according to local journalists.