Iran ( The family of Pastor Saeed Abedini has finally been allowed to visit him in Prison )

By Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter

November 19, 2013|1:30 pm

The family of Pastor Saeed Abedini in Iran has finally been allowed to visit him in Rajai Shahr Prison, where he was abruptly transferred to earlier this month.  But the U.S. citizen is still being denied the medication that he needs.

"Pastor Saeed's situation remains dire. However, we are encouraged that his Iranian family was allowed visitation – and that his Iranian family was able to see him face-to-face and communicate with him. Pastor Saeed, however, has yet to receive the medication he has been prescribed for internal injuries suffered at the hands of his captors," the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) reported in an update on the pastor's condition on Monday.
The update served as the first physical confirmation of Pastor Saeed's condition and life since he was taken out of Evin Prison earlier this month and transferred to Rajai Shahr. The law group, which represents Abedini's wife and two children in the U.S., noted that the pastor is being kept inside the violent criminal ward and is sharing a cell with other prisoners.
A number of human rights groups have condemned the conditions inside Rajai Shahr, and noted that prisoners are often killed by other criminals when they are sent there.
Abedini is currently serving an 8-year sentence in Iran because of his Christian faith, though international efforts and numerous petitions headed by the ACLJ have called for his release. President Barack Obama has also spoken with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani about the U.S. citizen's situation, but so far Iranian authorities have refused to grant his release.
Last week, Abedini's father was prevented from visiting his son in prison and giving him medication and blankets that he needs. ALCJ Executive Director Jordan Sekulow has warned that while the pastor's medical condition had been improving in Evin prison, the lack of proper medication in his new prison is likely to lead to his health quickly deteriorating.

Mexico ( Mexican City Offers Reward for Tips in Massacre of Family )

MEXICO CITY – The mayor of the Mexican border metropolis of Ciudad Juarez posted a reward of 300,000 pesos ($23,300) for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons behind the slaughter of eight members of a family inside their home.

Juarez authorities will cooperate with the Chihuahua state Attorney General’s Office to solve the case, Enrique Serrano told a press conference.

The eight victims, including three children under 10, were stabbed to death in the wee hours of Sunday.

The bodies of the children and two young women were left in the bedrooms of the residence on Ciudad Juarez’s south side. Police found the adult male victims tied to chairs.

The mayor was joined for the press conference by Chihuahua’s deputy attorney general for the northern part of the state, Enrique Villarreal, who said investigators are pursuing several lines of enquiry.

Ruling out involvement by organized crime, Villarreal noted that three vehicles had been stolen from in front of the residence and suggested friends or relatives might have been involved in the crime.

A child and nine adults were fatally shot inside their Juarez- area home on Sept. 23.

Assailants attacked the residence during a party to celebrate victory in a baseball game, the Chihuahua AG’s office said at the time.

Chihuahua, which borders Texas, is one of the most violent states in Mexico, thanks largely to the presence of the Juarez, Sinaloa and Zetas drug cartels.

Mexico ( Residents Kill 9 Drug Cartel members in Western Mexican City )

MEXICO CITY – Residents of Tancitaro, a city in the western Mexican state of Michoacan, armed themselves and killed nine members of the Caballeros Templarios drug cartel, a self-defense group leader said.

The incident occurred on Saturday after residents armed with rifles and pistols gathered in the city’s plaza after hearing the bells at the main Catholic church pealing, Jose Manuel Mireles, a physician and leader of one of the nine self-defense groups operating in Michoacan, told Efe.

Armed civilians and members of the vigilante groups in the nearby cities of Buenavista Tomatlan, Tepalcatapec and Coalcoman provided support to the armed residents in Tancitaro.

Residents put up barricades on the five main thoroughfares in Tancitaro to control access.

An armed group of vigilantes riding in four armored SUVs seized from the cartel in February drove into El Pareo, a village in a forested area that is a base for Los Caballeros Templarios, Mireles said.

Two members of the vigilante group were seriously wounded when drug traffickers opened fire with assault rifles and threw fragmentation grenades at the convoy, Mireles said.

The vigilantes took cover at an abandoned construction site and repelled the attack, killing nine drug traffickers, Mireles said.

Tancitaro residents took over city hall and ordered the mayor to leave, Michoacan Gov. Fausto Vallejo Figueroa, a member of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, said in a statement.

Self-defense groups are active in the cities of Aguililla, Tepalcatepec, Buenavista, Coalcoman, Aquila, Los Reyes, Cheran, Paracho and Tancitaro.

The vigilante groups were formed on Feb. 24 to deal with a wave of murders, kidnappings, rapes and other crimes by drug traffickers.

Mexico City’s Milenio newspaper reported earlier this month, citing a government intelligence report, that the Caballeros Templarios were paying 325 million pesos (nearly $25 million) in bribes annually to different officials in Michoacan.

Los Caballeros Templarios, which was founded in March 2011 by former members of the La Familia Michoacana cartel, deals in both synthetic drugs and natural drugs.

The gang commits murders, stages kidnappings and runs extortion rackets that target business owners and transport companies, affecting everyday life.

Michoacan’s forests and mountains are used by drug traffickers to grow marijuana and produce synthetic drugs.

Los Caballeros Templarios operates in Michoacan, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Mexico, Colima, Chiapas, Tabasco, Morelos, Baja California and Tamaulipas states.

Arnold ( Put that Cookie down " Now " )

Mexico ( 400 vigilantes take over town - Kicked police out of station )

The Michoacan state government said in a statement that the "self-defense" units seized the town hall and main square of Tancitaro on Saturday.
Some 400 vigilantes kicked out the municipal police and took over security in the town, a source in the CISEN intelligence agency told AFP.


Before taking Tancitaro, the self-defense force exchanged fire with suspected organized crime members in the nearby town of Pareo, said Marco Vinicio Aguilera, an official in the state prosecutor's office.
"Three bodies belonging to members of an armed group were recovered," he said, adding that two vigilantes were wounded in the clash.
The government said the vigilantes were from the towns of Buenavista and Tepalcatepec. Soldiers and state and federal police were deployed to the area.

Arizona Football Game ( Player gets " Dreadlocks pulled out of Head " ) Video Taunting ?

Football Game ( Eagles player rips down " Redskins Flag " )