MEXICO CITY – A municipal official reported missing earlier this week was found with his throat slit, authorities in the western Mexican state of Michoacan said.
Clemente Mendez, 47, was discovered after police received a report about a dead body lying on a field outside the town of Taretan, the state Attorney General’s Office said.
Mendez, a member of Mexico’s ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, was Taretan’s planning chief and oversaw the municipal budget.
The slash to the victim’s throat “apparently caused instant death,” the Michoacan AG’s office said, adding that authorities were still working to determine a motive for the killing
BOGOTA – A community leader who pushed for the restoration of lands stolen from peasants was slain in the northern province of Sucre after meeting with a legislator, the office of Colombia’s national ombud said.
Carlos Eduardo Olmos Cardenas was shot seven times at the eatery he ran in the central square of Los Palmitos.
Leftist lawmaker Ivan Cepeda said that he had met with Olmos Cardenas and other activists a few hours before the murder to discuss the restitution of lands.
“It’s inconceivable that after a meeting where several complaints were made one of the main community leaders turns up murdered,” Cepeda, said, calling for a thorough investigation.
The national ombud’s office seconded the call for a full investigation and, in addition, asked that measures be taken “to safeguard the life and (physical) integrity” of Luis Felipe Vega, a colleague of Olmos Cardenas.
Human Right Watch a month ago in a report denounced the fact that dispossession, threats and displacement “are unpunished” in Colombia.
In that report, HRW said that the activities of paramilitary groups that still operate in Colombia, especially Los Urabeños, as well as a “lack of justice,” prevent the Victims and Restitution of Lands Law, promulgated in 2011 by President Juan Manuel Santos, from being successfully implemented.
Over the last three years, more than 50 people who have demanded the restoration of lands have been murdered.
Hundreds of thousands of Colombian peasants have been driven from their land over the course of a decades-long conflict among leftist guerrillas, government forces and right-wing militias.
While some of the displaced left to escape fighting, others were systematically forced out by gunmen working for powerful economic interests.
PHOENIX (CBS5) -
A Valley mother whose 6-year-old son died at his father's California mansion last year has honored his memory by helping the Lincoln Family Downtown YMCA in Phoenix to complete its Amazing Kids Center
Dina Shacknai's son, Max, died after a fall from the second floor of his father's mansion on Coronado Island, near San Diego.
The San Diego County medical examiner ruled the boy's death accidental. Shacknai doesn't believe it.
The Amazing Kids Center, located in the downtown branch, provides day care and a learning environment for children while their parents work or workout.
Shacknai's donation will allow the branch to complete the area with furnishings, toys and other essential items.
"Maxie had such a giving spirit and enjoyed playing and being around other children," Shacknai said. "I know he'd be happy that we are helping out so many children and families in the Phoenix area."
In July of 2012, one year after Max's death, Shacknai announced the formation of Maxie's H.O.U.S.E. - a non-profit foundation. It is focused on preventative safety measures and protective solutions which specifically benefit shared custody households, commonly referred to as "blended" families.
Also launched in Max's honor, Maxie's H.O.U.S.E.is intended to be a lifeline for parents who might otherwise not have the knowledge or resources to successfully navigate existing related social and/or legal systems in order to protect their children
Five people were found guilty of human trafficking
charges
A man who assaulted, raped and held a
woman prisoner after she was snatched from Slovakia and trafficked to Lancashire
has been jailed.
Azam Khan "bought" the woman and "married" her at a local mosque in a bid to
halt his deportation from the UK to Pakistan.
Five other people helped in her trafficking after she was snatched in August
2012, Preston Crown Court heard.
Khan, 34, of Brougham Street, Burnley was jailed for 12 years.
The victim's story was described by prosecutor Joe Boyd as like "something
from a 19th Century novel by Dickens". 'No money or
documents'
The Crown Prosecution Service's Emma Kehoe said the woman had been "falsely
imprisoned, beaten and raped".
"She had no money or identity documents and she was unable to speak English
or ask anyone for help," she said.
"She was threatened and told she was not allowed to leave."
The woman was brought to England on a coach and kept prisoner by Imrich
Bodor, 45, and Slovakian Petra Dzudzova, 27, both of Clipstone Street,
Bradford.
Bodor was sentenced to nine years in prison. Dzudzova is due to be sentenced
at a later date.
Before being sold to Khan, she was handed over to Afghani Abdul Sabool
Shinwary, 38, of Washington Street, Bradford, who sexually assaulted her, and
Slovakian Kristina Makunova, 37, of Girlington Road, Bradford.
Shinwary received a prison sentence of 10 years and three months.
Makunova has already served a 51-week prison sentence after previously
pleading guilty to human trafficking and false imprisonment offences.
Khan's relative Nusrat Khan, 40, of Colne Road, Burnley was also found guilty
of false imprisonment and received a jail sentence of nine months, suspended for
two years.
Iran’s ministry of communication and information technology announced that it is looking at the possibility of ending the restrictions on accessing social networking websites in Iran.
Mohabat News - The ministry issued a statement saying that a special committee is examining the blocking of websites such as Facebook and Twitter and will soon publicize its decision.
The news comes a day after the minister of communication said publicly that there was no plan to allow Iranians to access to Facebook and Twitter. He later announced that his words had been misconstrued.
Access to Facebook and Twitter in Iran is blocked by the government, and Iranian web users can only access them through the use of proxies.
The use of these websites by Iranian President Hassan Rohani and other members of his cabinet has triggered a push toward dropping restrictions against them./zamaneh
MEXICO CITY – A municipal official reported missing earlier this week was found with his throat slit, authorities in the western Mexican state of Michoacan said.
BOGOTA – A community leader who pushed for the restoration of lands stolen from peasants was slain in the northern province of Sucre after meeting with a legislator, the office of Colombia’s national ombud said.
